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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mystic Christianity, by Yogi Ramacharaka
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Mystic Christianity
+
+Author: Yogi Ramacharaka
+
+Release Date: August 9, 2004  [eBook #13143]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Keith M. Eckrich, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY
+
+Or, The Inner Teachings of the Master
+
+by
+
+YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+Author of "Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental
+Occultism," "Hatha Yoga," "Science of Breath," "Advanced Course in
+Yogi Philosophy," "Raja Yoga," "Psychic Healing," "Gnani Yogi," etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PUBLISHERS' NOTICE.
+
+
+The lessons which compose this volume originally appeared in monthly
+form, the first of which was issued in October, 1907, and the twelfth
+in September, 1908. These lessons met with a hearty and generous
+response from the public, and the present volume is issued in response
+to the demand for the lessons in a permanent and durable form. There
+has been no change in the text.
+
+The publishers take the liberty to call the attention of the readers
+to the great amount of information condensed within the space of each
+lesson. Students have told us that they have found it necessary to
+read and study each lesson carefully, in order to absorb the varied
+information contained within its pages. They have also stated that
+they have found it advisable to re-read the lessons several times,
+allowing an interval between the readings, and that at each reading
+they would discover information that had escaped them during the
+course of the previous study. This has been repeated to us so often
+that we feel justified in mentioning it, that others may avail
+themselves of the same plan of study.
+
+Following his usual custom, the writer of this volume has declined to
+write a preface for this book, claiming that the lessons will speak
+for themselves, and that those for whom they are intended will receive
+the message contained within them without any prefatory talk.
+
+
+THE YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY.
+September 1, 1908.
+
+INDEX
+
+
+LESSON
+
+ 1. The Coming of the Master
+
+ 2. The Mystery of the Virgin Birth
+
+ 3. The Mystic Youth of Jesus
+
+ 4. The Beginning of the Ministry
+
+ 5. The Foundation of the Work
+
+ 6. The Work of Organization
+
+ 7. The Beginning of the End
+
+ 8. The End of the Life Work
+
+ 9. The Inner Teachings
+
+10. The Secret Doctrine
+
+11. The Ancient Wisdom
+
+12. The Message of the Master
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE COMING OF THE MASTER.
+
+
+
+THE FORERUNNER.
+
+Strange rumors reached the ears of the people of Jerusalem and the
+surrounding country. It was reported that a new prophet had appeared
+in the valley of the lower Jordan, and in the wilderness of Northern
+Judea, preaching startling doctrines. His teachings resembled those of
+the prophets of old, and his cry of "Repent! Repent ye! for the
+Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," awakened strange memories of the
+ancient teachers of the race, and caused the common people to gaze
+wonderingly at each other, and the ruling classes to frown and look
+serious, when the name of the new prophet was mentioned.
+
+The man whom the common people called a prophet, and whom the exalted
+ones styled an impostor, was known as John the Baptist, and dwelt in
+the wilderness away from the accustomed haunts of men. He was clad in
+the rude garments of the roaming ascetics, his rough robe of camel's
+skin being held around his form by a coarse girdle of leather. His
+diet was frugal and elemental, consisting of the edible locust of the
+region, together with the wild honey stored by the bees of the
+wilderness.
+
+In appearance John, whom men called "the Baptist," was tall, wiry, and
+rugged. His skin was tanned a dark brown by the winds and sun which
+beat upon it unheeded. His long black hair hung loosely around his
+shoulders, and was tossed like the mane of a lion when he spoke. His
+beard was rough and untrimmed. His eyes gleamed like glowing coals,
+and seemed to burn into the very soul of his hearers. His was the face
+of the religious enthusiastic with a Message for the world.
+
+This wild prophet was most strenuous, and his teachings were couched
+in the most vigorous words. There was no tact, policy, or persuasion
+in his message. He hurled his verbal thunderbolts right into his
+crowd, the very force and earnestness emanating from him serving to
+charge his words with a vitality and magnetism which dashed itself
+into the crowd like a spark of electricity, knocking men from off
+their feet, and driving the Truth into them as if by a charge of a
+powerful explosive. He told them that the spiritual grain was to be
+gathered into the garners, while the chaff was to be consumed as if by
+a fiery furnace; that the axe was to be laid to the root of the trees
+which brought not forth good fruit. Verily, the "Day of Jehovah," long
+promised by the prophets, was near to hand to his hearers and
+followers.
+
+John soon gathered to himself a following, the people flocking to him
+from all parts of the country, even from Galilee. His followers began
+to talk among themselves, asking whether indeed this man were not the
+long promised Master--the Messiah for whom all Israel had waited for
+centuries. This talk coming to the ears of the prophet, caused him to
+answer the question in his discourses, saying: "There cometh one
+mightier than I, after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy
+to stoop down and unloose; he that cometh after me is mightier than
+I." And thus it became gradually known to his following, and the
+strangers attending his meetings, that this John the Baptist, mighty
+preacher though he be, was but the herald of one much greater than he,
+who should follow--that he was the forerunner of the Master, according
+to the Oriental imagery which pictured the forerunner of the great
+dignitaries, running ahead of the chariot of his master, crying aloud
+to all people gathered on the road that they must make way for the
+approaching great man, shouting constantly, "Make ye a way! make ye a
+way for the Lord!" And accordingly there was a new wave of excitement
+among John's following, which spread rapidly to the surrounding
+country, at this promise of the coming of the Lord--the
+Master--perhaps even the Messiah of the Jews. And many more came unto
+John, and with him waited for the Coming of the Master.
+
+This John the Baptist was born in the hill country of Judea, nearly
+thirty years before he appeared as a prophet. His father was of the
+priestly order, or temple caste, who had reached an advanced age, and
+who lived with his aged wife in retirement, away from the noise and
+confusion of the world, waiting the gradual approach of that which
+cometh to all men alike. Then there came to them a child of their old
+age, unexpected and unhoped for--coming as a mark of especial favor
+from God--a son, to whom they gave the name of _Johanan_, which in the
+Hebrew tongue means "Jehovah is gracious."
+
+Reared in the home of his parents--the house of a priest--John
+saturated himself with all the Inner Teachings reserved for the few,
+and withheld from the masses. The Secrets of the Kaballah, that system
+of Hebrew Occultism and Mysticism in which the higher priests of Judea
+were well versed, were disclosed to him, and occult tradition has it
+that he was initiated into the Inner Circle of the Hebrew Mystics,
+composed of only priests of a certain grade, and their sons. John
+became an Occultist and a Mystic. When the boy reached the age of
+puberty, he departed from the home of his parents, and went into the
+wilderness, "looking to the East, from whence cometh all Light." In
+other words, he became an Ascetic, living in the wilderness, just as
+in India even to-day youths of the Brahmin or priestly class sometimes
+forsake their homes, renouncing their luxurious life, and fly to the
+jungle, where they wander about for years as ascetics, wearing a
+single garment, subsisting on the most elementary food, and developing
+their spiritual consciousness. John remained a recluse until he
+reached the age of about thirty years, when he emerged from the
+wilderness to preach the "Coming of the Lord," in obedience to the
+movings of the Spirit. Let us see where he was, and what he did,
+during the fifteen years of his life in the wilderness and hidden
+places of Judea.
+
+The traditions of the Essenes, preserved among Occultists, state that
+while John was an ascetic he imbibed the teachings of that strange
+Occult Brotherhood known as the Essenes, and after having served his
+apprenticeship, was accepted into the order as an Initiate, and
+attained their higher degrees reserved only for those of developed
+spirituality and power. It is said that even when he was a mere boy he
+claimed and proved his right to be fully initiated into the Mysteries
+of the Order, and was believed to have been a reincarnation of one of
+the old Hebrew prophets.
+
+
+THE ESSENES.
+
+
+The Essenes were an ancient Hebrew Occult Brotherhood, which had been
+in existence many hundred years before John's time. They had their
+headquarters on the Eastern shores of the Dead Sea, although their
+influence extended over all of Palestine, and their ascetic brothers
+were to be found in every wilderness. The requirements of the Order
+were very strict, and its rites and ceremonies were of the highest
+mystical and occult degree. The Neophyte was required to serve a
+preliminary apprenticeship of one year before being admitted to even
+partial recognition as a member and brother. A further apprenticeship
+of two more years was required before he was admitted to full
+membership, and extended the right hand of fellowship. Additional time
+was required for further advancement, and even time alone did not
+entitle the member to certain high degrees, the requirements being
+that actual knowledge, power and attainment must first be manifested.
+As in all true Occult Orders the candidate must "work out his own
+salvation," neither money nor influence having any weight.
+
+Absolute obedience to the Rules of the Order; absolute poverty of
+material possessions; absolute sexual continence--these were the
+conditions of membership to be observed by both Neophyte and Initiate,
+as well as High-degree Master. Understanding this, one may imagine the
+disgust inspired in John by the amorous solicitations of Salome, which
+caused him to lose his life rather than to break the vows of his
+Order, as is so startlingly pictured in the stage productions of
+modern times.
+
+One of the ceremonies of the Essenes was that of Baptism (literally,
+"dipping in water") which was administered to Candidates, with
+appropriate solemnity and rites. The mystic significance of the
+ceremony which is understood by all members of Occult Orders, even
+unto this day, was a part of the ritual originated by the Essenes, and
+the rite itself was a distinctive feature of their Order. The
+performance of this rite by John the Baptist, in his ministry, and its
+subsequent acceptance by the Christian Church as a distinctive
+ceremonial, of which the "sprinkling of infants" of to-day is a
+reminder and substitute, forms a clear connecting link between the
+Essenes and Modern Christianity, and impresses the stamp of Mysticism
+and Occultism firmly upon the latter, as little as the general public
+may wish to admit it in their ignorant misunderstanding and
+materialistic tendencies.
+
+The Essenes believed in, and taught the doctrine of Reincarnation; the
+Immanence of God; and many other Occult Truths, the traces of which
+appear constantly in the Christian Teachings, as we shall see as we
+progress with these lessons. Through its Exalted Brother, John the
+Baptist, the Order passed on its teaching to the early Christian
+Church, thus grafting itself permanently upon a new religious growth,
+newly appearing on the scene. And the transplanted branches are still
+there!
+
+Of course, the true history of the real connection between the Essenes
+and Christianity is to be found only in the traditions of the Essenes
+and other ancient Mystic Orders, much of which has never been printed,
+but which has passed down from teacher to pupil over the centuries
+even unto this day, among Occult Fraternities. But in order to show
+the student that we are not making statements incapable of proof by
+evidence available to him, we would refer him to any standard work of
+reference on the subject. For instance, if he will consult the "New
+International Encyclopedia" (Vol. VII, page 217) article on "Essenes,"
+he will read the following words:
+
+     "It is an interesting question as to how much Christianity
+     owes to Essenism. It would seem that there was room for
+     definite contact between John the Baptist and this
+     Brotherhood. His time of preparation was spent in the
+     wilderness near the Dead Sea; his preaching of righteousness
+     toward God, and justice toward one's fellow men, was in
+     agreement with Essenism; while his insistence on Baptism was
+     in accord with the Essenic emphasis on lustrations."
+
+The same article contains the statement that the Essenic Brotherhood
+taught a certain "view entertained regarding the origin, present
+state, and future destiny of the soul, _which was held to be
+pre-existent, being entrapped in the body as in a prison_," etc. (The
+above italics are our own.)
+
+John emerged from the wilderness when he had reached the age of about
+thirty years, and began his ministry work, which extended for several
+years until his death at the hands of Herod. He gathered around him a
+large and enthusiastic following, beginning with the humbler classes
+and afterward embracing a number of higher social degree. He formed
+his more advanced followers into a band of disciples, with prescribed
+rules regarding fasting, worship, ceremonial, rites, etc., closely
+modeled upon those favored by the Essenes. This organization was
+continued until the time of John's death, when it merged with the
+followers of Jesus, and exerted a marked influence upon the early
+Christian church.
+
+As we have stated, one of his principal requisites enjoined upon all
+of his followers, was that of "Baptism"--the Essenic rite, from which
+he derived his familiar appellation, "The Baptist." But, it must be
+remembered that to John this rite was a most sacred, mystic, symbolic
+ceremony, possessing a deep occult meaning unperceived by many of his
+converts who submitted themselves to it under the fervor of religious
+emotion, and who _naïvely_ regarded it as some magical rite which
+"washed away sin" from their souls, as the dirt was washed from their
+bodies, a belief which seems to be still in favor with the multitude.
+
+John worked diligently at his mission, and the "Baptists" or
+"Followers of Johanan," as they were called, increased rapidly. His
+meetings were events of great moment to thousands who had gathered
+from all Palestine to see and hear the prophet of the wilderness--the
+Essene who had emerged from his retirement. His meetings were often
+attended with startling occurrences, sudden conversions, visions,
+trances, etc., and many developed possession of unusual powers and
+faculties. But one day there was held a meeting destined to gain
+world-wide fame. This was the day when there came to John the Baptist
+the MASTER, of whose coming John had frequently foretold and promised.
+JESUS THE CHRIST appeared upon the scene and confronted his
+Forerunner.
+
+The traditions have it that Jesus came unannounced to, and
+unrecognized by John and the populace. The Forerunner was in ignorance
+of the nature and degree of his guest and applicant for Baptism.
+Although the two were cousins, they had not met since childhood, and
+John did not at first recognize Jesus. The traditions of the Mystic
+Orders further state that Jesus then gave to John the various signs of
+the Occult Fraternities to which they both belonged, working from the
+common signs up until Jesus passed on to degrees to which John had not
+attained, although he was an eminent high-degree Essene. Whereupon
+John saw that the man before him was no common applicant for Baptism,
+but was, instead, a highest-degree Mystic Adept, and Occult
+Master--his superior in rank and unfoldment. John, perceiving this,
+remonstrated with Jesus, saying that it was not meet and proper, nor
+in accordance with the customs of the Brotherhoods, for the inferior
+to Baptize the superior. Of this event the New Testament takes note in
+these words: "But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized
+of thee, and comest thou to me?" (_Matt. 3:14._) But Jesus insisted
+that John perform the rite upon him upon the ground that He wished to
+go through the ceremonial in order to set His stamp of approval upon
+it, and to show that he considered himself as a man among men, come
+forth to live the life of men.
+
+In both the occult traditions and the New Testament narrative, it is
+stated that a mystical occurrence ensued at the baptism, "the Spirit
+of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him," and a voice from
+Heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
+
+And with these words the mission of John the Baptist, as "Forerunner
+of the Master," was fulfilled. _The Master_ had appeared to take up
+his work.
+
+
+THE MASTER.
+
+
+And, now, let us turn back the pages of the Book of Time, to a period
+about thirty years before the happening of the events above mentioned.
+Let us turn our gaze upon the events surrounding the birth of Jesus,
+in order that we may trace the Mystic and Occult forces at work from
+the beginning of Christianity. There are occurrences of the greatest
+importance embraced in these thirty years.
+
+Let us begin the Mystic Narrative of Jesus the Christ, as it is told
+to the Neophyte of every Occult Order, by the Master Instructor, by a
+recital of an event preceding his birth by over one year.
+
+In Matthew 2:1-2, the following is related:
+
+     "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days
+     of Herod the king, behold, there came Wise Men from the East
+     to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the
+     Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to
+     worship him."
+
+In these simple words is stated an event that, expressed in a much
+more extended narrative, forms an important part of the Esoteric
+Teachings of the Mystic Brotherhoods, and Occult Orders of the Orient,
+and which is also known to the members of the affiliated secret orders
+of the Western world. The story of THE MAGI is embedded in the
+traditions of the Oriental Mystics, and we shall here give you a brief
+outline of the story as it is told by Hierophant to Neophyte--by Guru
+to Chela.
+
+To understand the story, you must know just who were these "Wise Men
+of the East"--The Magi. And this you shall now be taught.
+
+
+THE MAGI, OR WISE MEN.
+
+
+The translators of the New Testament have translated the words naming
+these visitors from afar as "the Wise Men from the East," but in the
+original Greek, Matthew used the words "_The Magi_" as may be seen by
+reference to the original Greek versions, or the Revised Translation,
+which gives the Greek term in a foot-note. Any leading encyclopedia
+will corroborate this statement. The term "the Magi" was the exact
+statement of Matthew in the original Greek in which the Gospel was
+written, the term "the Wise Men" originating with the English
+translators. There is absolutely no dispute regarding this question
+among Biblical scholars, although the general public is not aware of
+the connection, nor do they identify the Wise Men with the Oriental
+Magians.
+
+The word "Magi" comes to the English language direct from the Greek,
+which in turn acquired it by gradual steps from the Persian, Chaldean,
+Median, and Assyrian tongues. It means, literally, "wonder worker,"
+and was applied to the members of the occult priestly orders of
+Persia, Media, and Chaldea, who were Mystic Adepts and Occult Masters.
+Ancient history is full of references to this body of men. They were
+the custodians of the world's occult knowledge for centuries, and the
+priceless treasures of the Inner Teachings held by the race to-day
+have come through the hands of these men--the Magi--who tended the
+sacred fires of Mysticism and kept The Flame burning. In thinking of
+their task, one is reminded of the words of Edward Carpenter, the
+poet, who sings: "Oh, let not the flame die out! Cherished age after
+age in its dark caverns, in its holy temples cherished. Fed by pure
+ministers of love--let not the flame die out."
+
+The title of "Magi" was highly esteemed in those ancient days, but it
+fell into disrepute in the latter times owing to its growing use as an
+appellation of the practitioners of "Black Magic," or "evil
+wonder-workers" or sorcerers, of those days. But as a writer in the
+New International Encyclopedia (Vol. XII, page 674) has truly said:
+
+     "The term is employed in its true sense by Matthew (2:1) of
+     the wise men who came from the East to Jerusalem to worship
+     Christ. The significance of this event must be observed
+     because the Messianic doctrine was an old and established
+     one in Zoroastrianism."
+
+The same article says of the Magi: "... they believed in a
+resurrection, a future life, and the advent of a savior."
+
+To understand the nature of the Magi in connection with their occult
+"wonder working," we must turn to the dictionaries, where we will see
+that the word "Magic" is derived from the title "Magi;" the word
+"Magician" having been originally "Magian", which means "one of the
+Magi." Webster defines the word "Magic" as follows: "The hidden wisdom
+supposed to be possessed by the Magi; relating to the occult powers of
+nature; mastery of secret forces in nature", etc. So you may readily
+see that we are right in stating to you that these Wise Men--the Magi
+who came to worship the Christ-child, were in reality the
+representatives of the great Mystic Brotherhoods and Occult Orders of
+the Orient--Adepts, Masters, Hierophants! And thus do we find the
+Occult and Mystic "wonder workers"--the high-degree brethren of the
+Great Eastern Lodges of Mystic Occultism, appearing at the very
+beginning of the Story of Christianity, indicating their great
+interest in the mortal birth of the greater Master whose coming they
+had long waited--the Master of Masters! And all Occultists and Mystics
+find pleasure and just pride in the fact that the first recognition of
+the Divine Nature of this human child came from these Magi from the
+East--from the very Heart of the Mystic Inner Circles! To those
+so-called Christians to whom all that is connected with Mysticism and
+Occultism savors of the fiery sulphur and brimstone, we would call
+attention to this intimate early relation between The Musters and THE
+MASTER.
+
+
+THE STAR IN THE EAST.
+
+
+But the Mystic story begins still further back than the visit of the
+Magi to Bethlehem. Did not the Magi say, "Where is He? We have seen
+His star in the East and have come to worship him." What is meant by
+the words, "We have seen his star in the East"?
+
+To the majority of Christians the "Star of Bethlehem" means a great
+star that suddenly appeared in the heavens, like a great beacon light,
+and which miraculously guided the steps of the Magi, mile by mile, on
+their weary journey, until at last it rested in the heavens,
+stationary over the house in which the child Jesus lived, between the
+ages of one and two years. In other words, they believe that this star
+had constantly guided these skilled mystics, occultists and
+astrologers, in their journey from the far East, which occupied over a
+year, until it at last guided them to Bethlehem and then stopped
+stationary over the house of Joseph and Mary. Alas! that these vulgar
+traditions of the ignorant multitude should have served so long to
+obscure a beautiful mystic occurrence, and which by their utter
+improbability and unscientific nature should have caused thousands to
+sneer at the very true legend of the "Star of Bethlehem." It remains
+for the Mystic traditions to clear away the clouds of ignorance from
+this beautiful story, and to re-establish it in the minds of men as a
+natural and scientific occurrence.
+
+This story of the "traveling star" arose from the superstitious and
+ignorant ideas of many of the Christians of the first, second, and
+third centuries after Christ's death. These tales were injected into
+the manuscripts left by the disciples, and soon began to be regarded
+as a part and portion of the authentic Gospels and Epistles, although
+the skilled Biblical critics and scholars of to-day are rapidly
+discarding many of these additions as wilful forgeries and
+interpolations. It must be remembered that the oldest manuscripts of
+the books of the New Testament are known to Biblical scholars to have
+been written _not less than three hundred years after the time of the
+original writing_, and are merely _copies of copies_ of the originals,
+undoubtedly added to, altered, and adulterated by the writers through
+whose hands they had passed. This is not merely the statement of an
+outside critic--it is a fact that is clearly stated in the writings of
+the scholars in the Churches engaged in the work of Biblical study,
+and the Higher Criticism, to which works we refer any who may have
+reason to doubt our statement.
+
+That portion of the verse (_Matt. 2:9._) in which it is said that "and
+lo; the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came
+and stood over where the young child was," is known to the Mystic and
+Occult Orders to be a rank interpolation into the story of the Magi.
+It is contrary to their own traditions and records, and is also
+contrary to reason and to scientific laws, and this distorted story
+alone has been the cause of the development of thousands of "infidels"
+who could not accept the tale.
+
+All intelligent men know that a "star" is not a mere tiny point of
+flame in the dome which shuts us out from a Heaven on the other side
+of the blue shell, although this view was that of the ancient people,
+and many ignorant men and women to-day. Educated people know that a
+"star" is either a planet of our solar system, similar to the sister
+planet which we called the Earth, or else is a mighty sun, probably
+many times larger than our sun, countless millions of miles distant
+from our solar system. And they know that planets have their
+invariable orbits and courses, over which they travel, unceasingly, so
+true to their course that their movements may be foretold centuries
+ahead, or calculated for centuries back. And they know that even the
+great fixed stars, those distant suns and centers of great solar
+systems akin to our own, have their own places in the Universe, also
+their Universal relations and movements. All who have studied even the
+most elementary school book on astronomy know these things. And yet
+such people are asked to swallow whole this story of the "moving
+star," traveling on a little ahead of the shepherds for over a year,
+and at last standing right over the home of Jesus, and thus indicating
+that the search was ended. Let us compare this unscientific tale, with
+the traditions and legends of the Mystics, and then take your choice.
+
+Had there been any such star in appearance, the historians of that day
+would surely have recorded it, for there were learned and wise men in
+the East in those days, and as astrology was a science closely
+studied, it would have been noted and passed on to posterity by both
+writings and tradition. But no such record or tradition is to be found
+among the Eastern peoples, or the records of the astrologers. But
+another record and tradition _is_ preserved, as we shall see in a
+moment.
+
+Yes, there really _was_ a "Star of Bethlehem" which led the feet of
+the Magi to the home of the infant Jesus. We have the following proof
+of this fact:
+
+     (1) the traditions and teachings of the Mystic Orders which
+     have been handed down from teacher to student for centuries;
+
+     (2) the statements and records of the Ancient Astrologers,
+     which may be proven by modern astronomical calculations; and
+
+     (3) the calculations made by modern astronomers, which shall
+     be stated a few paragraphs further on. These three sources
+     of information give us the same tale, as we shall see.
+
+Before proceeding to a consideration of this three-fold evidence, let
+us pause for a moment and consider the relation of the Magi to
+Astrology. To understand the narrative of the Magi's Visit to Jesus,
+we must remember that they were the very Masters of Astrological Lore.
+Persia and the surrounding Oriental countries were the fountain-head
+of Astrological Teaching. And these Magi were Masters, and Adepts, and
+Hierophants, and consequently knew all that was known to the greatest
+schools of Astrology of that day. Much of their Ancient Astrological
+Lore has been lost to the race of to-day, but to these ancient learned
+men it was as much of a science as chemistry and astronomy are to the
+learned ones of our day.
+
+The Magi had long waited for the appearance and incarnation of a Great
+Master of Masters, whose appearance had been predicted centuries
+before by some of the great Occult Fathers of the Mystic Orders, and
+each generation hoped that the event would come in his day. They had
+been taught that when the event took place, they would be informed by
+means of the planets, according to the Higher Astrology. All students
+of even our modern fragmentary astrology will understand this. And so
+they waited and carefully scanned the heavens for the sign.
+
+Now the traditions of the Occult Orders inform us that at last the
+Magi witnessed a peculiar conjunction of planets; first, the
+conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, in the Constellation of Pisces, the
+two planets being afterward joined by the planet Mars, the three
+planets in close relation of position, making a startling and unusual
+stellar display, and having a deep astrological significance. Now, the
+Constellation of Pisces, as all astrologers, ancient and modern, know,
+is the constellation governing the national existence of Judea. Seeing
+the predicted conjunction of the planets, occurring in the
+Constellation having to do with Judea (as well as the relative
+positions of the other planets, all of which played its part in the
+observation), the Magi knew two things, _i.e._, (1) that the birth of
+the Master of Masters had occurred; and (2) that He had been born in
+Judea, as indicated by the constellation in which the conjunction
+occurred. And, so, making the calculation of the exact moment of the
+conjunction, they started on their long journey toward Judea in search
+of the Master of Masters.
+
+Now, again, the records of the Astrologers, preserved in the Oriental
+Occult Brotherhoods, in their monasteries, etc., show that at a period
+a few years before the Christian Era such a peculiar conjunction and
+combination of the planets occurred in the Constellation symbolizing
+the destinies of Judea, which was interpreted as indicating the
+appearance of an Incarnation or Avatar of a Great Divine Soul--a
+Master of Masters--a Mystic of Mystics. It must be remembered that
+these Orders are composed of non-Christians--people that the average
+Christian would call "heathens," and that therefore this testimony
+must be regarded as free from bias toward Christianity or the
+corroboration of its legends.
+
+And, in the third place, the calculations of Modern Astronomy show
+without possibility of contradiction that in the Roman year 747 (or
+seven years before the Christian Era) _the planets Saturn and Jupiter
+farmed a conjunction in the Constellation of Pisces_, and that these
+two planets, still in close position to each other, were joined by the
+planet Mars in the Spring of 748. The great astronomer Kepler first
+made this calculation in the year 1604, and it has been since verified
+by modern calculations. To those who would object that all this
+occurred seven years before the commonly accepted date of the birth of
+Christ, we would say that any modern work on New Testament Chronology,
+or any encyclopedia or reference work on the subject, will show that
+the former calculations were several years out of the way, and that
+the records of other events mentioned in the Bible, such as the
+"enrollment" of the people, which brought Joseph and Mary to
+Bethlehem, enable modern Biblical scholars to fix the date of the
+birth of Christ at about six or seven years before the usually
+accepted time. So that modern research fully corroborates the
+astrological record and the Mystic traditions.
+
+And so it would appear that the coming of the Wise Men--the Magi--was
+in accordance with the astrological signs, of the interpretation of
+which they were adepts and masters. When this truth is known, how
+puerile and petty seems the myth of the "traveling star" of the
+commonly accepted exoteric version? And the pictures of the Wise Men
+being led by a moving heavenly body, traveling across the skies and at
+last standing still over the cottage of Joseph, with which the Sunday
+school books are filled, must be relegated to the same waste-paper
+basket which contains the Bible illustrations, formerly so popular,
+which picture Jehovah as a bald-headed old man with a long white
+beard, clad in flowing robes designed to hide his body. Is it any
+wonder that skeptics, infidels, and scoffers of the spiritual truths
+have arisen in great numbers, when they have been asked to accept
+these things or be damned?
+
+And is not this connection of Astrology with Early Christianity a
+rebuke to the modern Christian Church which sneers and scoffs at the
+science of astrology as a "base superstition" fit only for fools and
+ignoramuses? Does not this picture of the Magi give a clear view of
+that which was formerly regarded as a mere fable, to be solemnly
+smiled over and taught to the children, with whom the story has always
+been a favorite owing to their intuitive perception of an underlying
+truth. And now with this Mystic version, cannot _you_ enjoy the legend
+with the children? In this connection let us once more quote from the
+New International Encyclopedia (Vol. II, 170), a standard reference
+work, as you know, which says:
+
+     "Some of the earlier Christian Fathers argued against the
+     doctrines of the earlier astrology, while others received
+     them in a modified form; and indeed it formed a part of the
+     basis of their religion in the Gospel narrative of the visit
+     to Bethlehem of the Wise Men of the East, who were Chaldean
+     Magi or Astrologers."
+
+Here is the testimony in all of the standard reference books, and yet
+how many of you have known it?
+
+To understand the importance of the event which drew the steps of the
+Magi to Bethlehem, we must realize that the Coming of the Master was a
+favorite subject of speculation and discussion among Occultists and
+Mystic organizations all over the Oriental countries. It had been
+foretold, in all tongues, that a Great Master would be given to the
+world--a mighty _avatar_ or appearance of Deity in human form, who
+would incarnate in order to redeem the world from the materiality
+which threatened it. The Sacred Writings of India, Persia, Chaldea,
+Egypt, Media, Assyria, and other lands had foretold this event for
+many centuries, and all the mystics and occultists longed for the day
+"when the Master would appear." The Jews also had many traditions
+regarding the coming of a Messiah, who would be born of the seed of
+David, at Bethlehem, but their Messiah was looked upon as likely to be
+an earthly king, destined to free Israel from the Roman yoke. And so,
+the tradition of the Jews was regarded as of inferior moment to their
+own predictions, by the Mystic and Occult Brotherhoods of the East. To
+them it was to be an _avatar_ of Deity--God in human form come to take
+his rightful seat as the Grand Master of the Universal Grand Lodge of
+Mystic--a descent of pure Spirit into matter. This conception
+certainly was very much higher than that of the Jews.
+
+And so, knowing these things, we may readily understand why the Magi
+pursued their search with such ardor and enthusiasm. They had many
+weary miles of travel to Bethlehem, over a year being consumed in the
+journey. They reached Bethlehem over a year after the birth of Christ
+and the appearance of the Star, the sight of which had started them on
+their quest. They sought not a new-born babe, as common belief has
+it--they searched for a child born over a year before. (We refer the
+student to any reference work, for a verification of this last
+statement. The illustrations in the Sunday school books showing the
+Wise Men worshipping a new born babe in the manger are on a par with
+the others mentioned. The Wise Men had nothing to do with the stable
+or the manger--for Joseph, Mary and the Babe were lodged in a house by
+that time, as we shall see as we proceed.)
+
+At last after their long and weary wandering over hill and plain,
+mountain and desert, the Magi found themselves in Jerusalem, inquiring
+diligently as to the whereabouts of the Master of Masters--the
+Promised One, whose coming had been the subject of prophecy for
+centuries among the Eastern peoples. The Jews of whom they inquired,
+although not familiar with the predictions regarding a Mystic Master,
+or _avatar_ of Deity, were nevertheless thoroughly familiar with the
+prophecies of the coming of the Hebrew Messiah, and naturally thought
+that it was of this expected earthly King of the Jews that the Magi
+inquired, and so they reported it far and wide that these Great Men
+from the East had come to Jerusalem to find the Messiah--the King of
+the Jews, who was to deliver Israel from the Roman yoke. And, as the
+Gospel of Matthew (2:3) informs us: "When Herod the king heard it, he
+was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." Naturally so, when it is
+remembered that it was an Earthly Kingdom that they expected the
+Messiah would inherit. And so, gathering the chief priests and scribes
+of Jerusalem around him, he bade them tell him the particulars
+regarding the prophecies regarding the Messiah--where he was expected
+to be born. And they answered him, saying: "In Bethlehem of Judea for
+so hath the prophets spoken."
+
+And hearing the testimony of the scribes and priests, the wily Herod,
+who feared the realization of this old Hebrew prophecy which
+threatened to cost him his throne if fulfilled, called the Magi to his
+palace and in private consultation inquired of them the reason of
+their search. And when they told him of the astrological
+indications--of the "Star"--he was still more wrought up, and wished
+to locate the dangerous child. And so he inquired of them the exact
+date at which the star had appeared, that he might be better able to
+find the infant, knowing its date of birth in Bethlehem. (See Matthew
+2:7.) And learning this he bade them go to Bethlehem and find the
+child they sought, and cunningly added, "And when ye have found him,
+bring me word, that I also may come and worship him." Thus craftily
+concealing his intentions to seize and kill the child, he endeavored
+to press the Magi into his service as detectives, by pretending to
+join in their desire to locate the Divine Child.
+
+The Magi traveled on to Bethlehem, and arriving there made diligent
+inquiry regarding infants that had been born about the time that the
+star appeared. There were many infants born in Bethlehem during the
+same month, of course, and the search was difficult. But they soon
+heard strange rumors about a babe that had been born to travelers in
+Bethlehem about that time, the birth of whom had been attended by a
+strange occurrence. This peculiar happening is related in Luke 2:8-20,
+in which it is stated that at the time of the birth of Jesus in the
+manger, certain shepherds keeping the night-watch over their flocks
+saw an angel standing by them, and "the glory of the Lord" shining
+around about them. And the angel bade them be not afraid, for to them
+was to be given tidings of great joy, for there was born that very
+day, in Bethlehem, one who was to be the Anointed Lord of the world.
+And the angel further directed them that the babe would be found lying
+in a manger in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes which was to be
+their sign. And then suddenly the place was filled with a multitude of
+supernatural beings, praising God, singing, "Glory to God in the
+highest, and on earth peace and good-will among men." And the
+shepherds flocked to the town, and there found the child in the
+manger. And they spread abroad the report of the wonderful event
+accompanying the birth of the child. And consequently the child and
+its parents became objects of more or less public interest.
+
+And so when the Magi instituted their search they were in due time
+informed of this strange occurrence. And they visited the house of
+Joseph and Mary and saw the Babe. Making close inquiry of the parents,
+they found that the time of the child's birth tallied precisely with
+the moment of the astrological signs. Then they cast the Child's
+horoscope and they knew that their shepherd's vision coincided with
+their own science, and that here indeed was He for whom the Eastern
+Occultists and Mystics had waited for centuries. They had found the
+Master! The Star Child was before them!
+
+Then these Great Men of their own lands--these Adepts, Masters and
+Hierophants--prostrated themselves on the ground before the child and
+gave him the salutation due only to the great Occult Master of Masters
+who was come to take his seat upon the Throne of the Grand Master of
+the Great Lodge. But the child knew naught of this, and merely smiled
+sweetly at these strange men in gorgeous foreign robes, and reached
+out his little hand toward them. But Occult tradition has it that the
+tiny fingers and thumb of his right hand, outstretched toward the
+Magi, unconsciously assumed the mystic symbol of the Occult
+Benediction, used by the Masters and Hierophants (and now used by the
+Pope in Papal Benediction) and gave to the worshippers that Master's
+benediction. The tiny Master of Masters thus gave his first blessing
+to his followers, and exalted worshippers. But His Throne was not that
+of the Great Lodge, but a still higher place--the knees of a Mother!
+
+And the Magi then made mystic and symbolic offerings to the
+child--Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh offered they Him. Gold, signifying
+the tribute offered to a Ruler, was the first symbol. Then came
+Frankincense, the purest and rarest incense used by the Occult and
+Mystic Brotherhoods and Orders, in their ceremonies and rites, when
+they were contemplating the sacred symbol of the Absolute Master of
+the Universe--this Frankincense was their symbol of worship. Then,
+last symbol of all, was the Myrrh, which in the occult and mystic
+symbolism indicated the bitterness of mortal life, bitter though
+pungent, preserving though stinging--this was the meaning of the
+Myrrh, that this child, though Divine in his inner nature, was still
+mortal in body and brain, and must accept and experience the bitter
+tang of life. Myrrh, the strength of which preserves, and prevents
+decay, and yet which smarts, and tangs, and stings ever and ever--a
+worthy symbol of Mortal Life, surely. Wise Men, indeed, ye Magi! Gold,
+Frankincense, and Myrrh--a prophecy, symbol, and revelation of the
+Life of the Son of Man, with His indwelling Pure Spirit.
+
+And the Magi, having performed their rites and ceremonies, departed
+from Bethlehem. But they did not forget the Child--they preserved a
+careful watch over his movements, until they saw him again. Saw Him
+again? you ask? _Yes, saw him again!_ Though the Gospels say naught of
+this, and are silent for a period of many years in the Life of Jesus,
+yet the records and traditions of the Mystics of the East are filled
+with this esoteric knowledge of these missing years, as we shall see
+as we proceed. Left behind by the Magi, but still under their loving
+care, the Child waxed strong and grew in mind and body.
+
+But the Magi, being warned by higher intelligences in a vision, did
+not return to the wily and crafty Herod, but "departed unto their own
+country another way." (_Matt. 2:12._) And Herod waited in vain for
+their return, and finally discovering their escape wrathfully ordered
+the massacre of all male children that had been born in Bethlehem and
+its suburbs of two years of age and under. He calculated the two years
+from the witnessing of the "star" by the Magi. Matthew 2:16 states the
+story of the fixing of the time as follows:
+
+     "And slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and
+     all the borders thereof, from two years old and under,
+     _according to the time which he exactly learned of the wise
+     men_."
+
+Herod sought to kill the feared Messiah--the King of the Jews, who
+threatened to drive him from his earthly throne--by killing all the
+male infants in Bethlehem that had been born since the astrological
+indication as stated by the Magi.
+
+But this plot failed, for Joseph had been warned by "an angel in a
+dream" (which mystics teach was the Astral Form of one of the Magi)
+and was told to take the mother and child and flee into Egypt, and to
+stay there until the death of Herod. And so Joseph, Mary, and Jesus
+then fled from the wrath of Herod, and stole silently away to Egypt.
+And the Occult traditions have it that the expenses of the journey of
+this poor carpenter and his family--that journey into strange lands,
+hurried, and without the chance to earn money along the way--was
+accomplished by the means of the Gold that the Magi had offered to
+Jesus, and which they had insisted upon his parents storing away for
+His use. And so the gold of these Occult Mystics saved the founder of
+Christianity from massacre. And how poorly has Christianity repaid the
+debt, when one thinks of the persecutions of the Oriental "heathen" by
+the so-called Christians of all times!
+
+And note this--they carried the child to Egypt, the home of Mystery
+and Occultism--the land of Isis! A worthy resting place for the Great
+Occult Master that was to be! And Occult tradition also has it that
+one night, wearied with their long journey, the family halted and
+passed the night in the place of the Sphinx and Pyramids. And that the
+Mother and Babe rested between the outstretched forepaws of the mighty
+Sphinx, which held them safe and secure, while Joseph threw himself on
+the base before them, and slept on guard. What a scene--the Master as
+an infant protected by the Sphinx, that ancient Occult emblem and
+symbol, while close by, reared like mighty watchful sentinels, stood
+the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the master work of Egypt's Mystics, every
+line and inch of which symbolizes an Occult Teaching. Verily, indeed
+is Christianity cradled in the lap of Mysticism.
+
+Thus endeth our First Lesson. The Second Lesson will take up the
+Mystic Teachings regarding the Divine Incarnation of the Spirit in the
+mortal body of Jesus--a subject of the greatest importance to all who
+are troubled with this difficult point. We hope to be able to shed the
+Mystic light of Truth upon this corner which so many have found dark,
+non-understandable, and contrary to reason, natural law and science.
+The Mystic Teachings are the great Reconciler of Faith and Reason.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE MYSTERY OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH.
+
+One of the points of conflict between Established Theology on the one
+hand and what is known as Rationalism, the Higher Criticism, and
+Comparative Mythology, on the other hand, is what is known as "the
+Virgin Birth" of Jesus. Perhaps we may show the points of difference
+more clearly by simply stating the opposing views and, afterwards,
+giving the traditions of the Occult Brotherhoods and Societies on the
+subject. We are enabled to state the opposing views without prejudice,
+because we rest upon the Occult Teachings with a feeling of being
+above and outside of the theological strife raging between the two
+schools of Christian theologians. We trust that the reader will
+reserve his decision until the consideration of the matter in this
+lesson is completed. We think that it will be found that the Occult
+Teachings give the Key to the Mystery and furnish the Reconciliation
+between the opposing theological views which threaten to divide the
+churches into two camps, i.e., (1) the adherents of the established
+orthodox theology, and (2) the adherents of the views of the
+Rationalists and the Higher Critics.
+
+The school of theology which clings to the old orthodox teachings
+regarding the Virgin Birth and which teachings are commonly accepted
+without question by the mass of church-goers, hold as follows:
+
+     Mary, a young Jewish maiden, or virgin, was betrothed to
+     Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth in Galilee. Before her
+     marriage, she was informed by an angelic vision that she
+     would miraculously conceive a son, to whom she would give
+     birth, and who would reign on the Throne of David and be
+     called the Son of the Highest. This teaching is based solely
+     upon certain statements contained in the Gospels of Matthew
+     and Luke. Matthew's account is as follows:
+
+     "Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as
+     his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
+     together, she was found with the child of the Holy Ghost.
+     Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing
+     to make her a public example was minded to put her away
+     privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the
+     angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
+     Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
+     thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
+     Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
+     his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their
+     sins. And now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled
+     which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold
+     a virgin shall be with a child and shall bring forth a son,
+     and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
+     interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from
+     sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
+     unto him his wife: And knew her not until she had brought
+     forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus."
+     (_Matt. 1:18-25._)
+
+Luke's account is as follows:
+
+     "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God
+     unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused
+     to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and
+     the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her
+     and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is
+     with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw
+     him she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind
+     what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said
+     unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with
+     God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
+     forth a son and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be
+     great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the
+     Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.
+     And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of
+     his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the
+     angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the
+     angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
+     upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
+     thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
+     thee shall be called the Son of God." (_Luke 1:26-33._)
+
+And so, this then is the commonly accepted, orthodox teachings of
+Christian theology. It is embodied in the two best-known creeds of the
+church and is made an essential article of belief by the majority of
+the orthodox churches.
+
+In the Apostle's Creed, which has been traced back to about the year
+A.D. 500, and which is claimed to have been based on an older creed,
+the doctrine is stated thusly: "... and in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
+our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin
+Mary," etc. In the Nicene Creed, which dates from A.D. 325, the
+doctrine is stated thusly: "... and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only
+begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father ... and was incarnate by
+the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary," etc.
+
+And so, the doctrine is plainly stated and firmly insisted upon by the
+orthodox churches of today, although such was not always the case for
+the matter was one which gave rise to much conflict and difference of
+opinion in the early centuries of the Church, the present view,
+however, overcoming those who opposed it, and finally becoming
+accepted as beyond doubt or question by the orthodox, believing
+Christian.
+
+But the present time finds many leading minds in the churches, who
+refuse to accept the doctrine as usually taught, and the voice of the
+Higher Criticism is heard in the land in increasing volume and many
+doctrines unquestioningly held by the pews are being abandoned by the
+pulpits, usually in the way of "discreet silence" being maintained.
+But here and there courageous voices are heard stating plainly that
+which their reason and conscience impels. We shall now consider these
+dissenting opinions.
+
+We have to say here, at this point, that we have no sympathy for the
+so-called "infidel" opinion, which holds that the whole tale of the
+Virgin Birth was invented to conceal the illegitimate birth of Jesus.
+Such a view is based neither on intelligent investigation or
+criticism, or upon the occult teachings. It was merely "invented"
+itself, by those who were unable to accept current theology and who,
+when driven from the churches, built up a crude system of
+reconstructed Biblical History of their own. And so we shall not stop
+to even consider this view of the matter, but shall pass on to the
+scholarly objectors and their views and thence to the Occult
+Teachings.
+
+In the first place, the theologians who favor the views of the Higher
+Criticism object to the idea of the Virgin Birth upon several general
+grounds, among which the following are the principal ones:
+
+     (1) That the story of the Divine Conception, that is the
+     conception by a woman of a child without a human father, and
+     by means of a miraculous act on the part of Deity, is one
+     found among the traditions, legends and beliefs of many
+     heathen and pagan nations. Nearly all of the old Oriental
+     religions, antedating Christianity by many centuries,
+     contain stories of this kind concerning their gods, prophets
+     and great leaders. The critics hold that the story of the
+     Virgin Birth and Divine Conception were borrowed outright
+     from these pagan legends and incorporated into the Christian
+     Writings after the death of Christ;
+
+     (2) that the idea of the Virgin Birth was not an original
+     Christian Doctrine, but was injected into the Teachings at a
+     date about one hundred years, or nearly so, after the
+     beginning of the Christian Era; this view being corroborated
+     by the fact that the New Testament Writings themselves
+     contain very little mention of the idea, the only mention of
+     it being in two of the Gospels, those of St. Matthew and St.
+     Luke--St. Mark and St. John containing no mention of the
+     matter, which would not likely be the case had it been an
+     accepted belief in the early days of Christianity--and no
+     mention being made of it in the Epistles, even Paul being
+     utterly silent on the question. They claim that the Virgin
+     Birth was unknown to the primitive Christians and was not
+     heard of until its "borrowing" from pagan beliefs many years
+     after. In support of their idea, as above stated, they call
+     attention to the fact that the New Testament writings, known
+     to Biblical students as the oldest and earliest, make no
+     mention of the idea; and that Paul ignores it completely, as
+     well as the other writers;
+
+     (3) that the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke bear
+     internal evidences of the introduction of the story at a
+     later date. This matter we shall now consider, from the
+     point of view of the Higher Criticism within the body of the
+     Church.
+
+In the first place, let us consider the Gospel of St. Matthew. The
+majority of people accept this as having been written by St. Matthew,
+with his own hand, during his ministry; and that the Gospel, word for
+word, is the work of this great apostle. This idea, however, is not
+held for a moment by the educated clergy, as may be seen by a
+reference to any prominent theological work of late years, or even in
+the pages of a good encyclopedia. The investigators have made diligent
+researches concerning the probable authorship of the New Testament
+books and their reports would surprise many faithful church-goers who
+are not acquainted with the facts of the case. There is no warrant,
+outside of tradition and custom, for the belief that Matthew wrote the
+Gospel accredited to him, at least in its present shape. Without going
+deeply into the argument of the investigators (which may be found in
+any recent work on the History of the Gospels) we would say that the
+generally accepted conclusion now held by the authorities is that the
+Gospel commonly accredited to St. Matthew is the work of some unknown
+hand or hands, which was produced during the latter part of the first
+century A.D., written in Greek, and most likely an enlargement or
+elaboration of certain Aramaic writings entitled, "Sayings of Jesus,"
+which are thought to have been written by Matthew himself. In other
+words, even the most conservative of the critics do not claim that the
+Gospel of St. Matthew is anything more than an enlargement,
+elaboration or development of Matthew's earlier writings, written many
+years before the elaboration of the present "Gospel." The more radical
+critics take an even less respectful view. This being the fact, it may
+be readily seen how easy it would have been for the latter-day
+"elaborator" to introduce the then current legend of the Virgin Birth,
+borrowed from pagan sources.
+
+As a further internal evidence of such interpolation of outside
+matter, the critics point to the fact that while the Gospel of Matthew
+is made to claim that Joseph was merely the _reputed father_ of the
+child of Mary, the same Gospel, in its very first chapter (_Matt. 1_)
+_gives the genealogy of Jesus from David to Joseph_ the husband of
+Mary, _in order to prove that Jesus came from the "House of David_,"
+in accordance with the Messianic tradition. The chapter begins with
+the words, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of
+David, the son of Abraham" (_Matt. 1_), and then goes on to name
+fourteen generations from Abraham to David; fourteen generations from
+David to the days of the carrying away into Babylon; and fourteen
+generations from the Babylonian days until the birth of Jesus. The
+critics call attention to this _recital of Jesus's descent, through
+Joseph, from the House of David_, which is but one of the many
+indications that the original Matthew inclined quite strongly to the
+view that Jesus was the Hebrew Messiah, come to reign upon the throne
+of David, rather than a Divine Avatar or Incarnation.
+
+The critics point to the fact that _if Joseph were not the real father
+of Jesus, where would be the sense and purpose of proving his descent
+from David through Joseph?_ It is pertinently asked, _"Why the
+necessity or purpose of the recital of Joseph's genealogy, as applied
+to Jesus, if indeed Jesus were not truly the son of Joseph_?" The
+explanation of the critics is that the earlier writings of Matthew
+contained nothing regarding the Virgin Birth, Matthew having heard
+nothing of this pagan legend, and that naturally he gave the genealogy
+of Jesus from David and Abraham. If one omits the verses 18-25 from
+Matthew's Gospel, he will see the logical relation of the genealogy to
+the rest of the account--otherwise it is paradoxical, contradictory
+and ridiculous, and shows the joints and seams where it has been
+fitted into the older account.
+
+"But," you may ask, "what of the Messianic Prophecy mentioned by
+Matthew (1:23)? Surely this is a direct reference to the prophecy of
+Isaiah 7:14." Let us examine this so-called "prophecy," of which so
+much has been said and see just what reference it has to the birth of
+Jesus.
+
+Turning back to Isaiah 7, we find these words, just a little before
+the "prophecy":
+
+     "Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a
+     sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in
+     the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither
+     will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of
+     David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye
+     weary my God also?" (_Isaiah 6:13._)
+
+Then comes the "prophecy": "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you
+a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call
+his name Immanuel." This is the "prophecy" quoted by the writer of the
+Gospel of Matthew, and which has been quoted for centuries in
+Christian churches, as a foretelling of the miraculous birth of Jesus.
+As a matter of fact, intelligent theologians know that it has no
+reference to Jesus at all, in any way, but belongs to another
+occurrence, as we shall see presently, and was injected into the
+Gospel narrative merely to support the views of the writer thereof.
+
+It may be well to add here that many of the best authorities hold that
+the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "_almah_" into the equivalent
+of "virgin" in the usual sense of the word is incorrect. The Hebrew
+word "_almah_" used in the original Hebrew text of Isaiah, does not
+mean "virgin" as the term is usually employed, but rather "a young
+woman of marriageable age--a maiden," the Hebrews having an entirely
+different word for the idea of "virginity," as the term is generally
+used. The word "_almah_" is used in other parts of the Old Testament
+to indicate a "young woman--a maiden," notably in Proverbs 30:19, in
+the reference to "the way of a man with a maid."
+
+But we need not enter into discussions of this kind, say the Higher
+Critics, for the so-called "prophecy" refers to an entirely different
+matter. It appears, say they, that Ahaz, a weakling king of Judea, was
+in sore distress because Rezin the Syrian king, and Pekah the ruler of
+Northern Israel, had formed an offensive alliance against him and were
+moving their combined forces toward Jerusalem. In his fear he sought
+an alliance with Assyria, which alliance was disapproved of by Isaiah
+who remonstrated with Ahaz about the proposed move. The king was too
+much unnerved by fear to listen to Isaiah's arguments and so the
+latter dropped into prophecy. He prophesied, after the manner of the
+Oriental seer, that the land would be laid waste and misery entailed
+upon Israel, should the suicidal policy be adopted. But he held out a
+hope for a brighter future after the clouds of adversity had rolled
+by. A new and wise prince would arise who would bring Israel to her
+former glory. That prince would be born of a young mother and his name
+would be Immanuel, which means "God with us." All this had reference
+to things of a reasonably near future and had no reference to the
+birth of Jesus _some seven hundred years after_, who _was not a
+prince_ sitting upon the throne of Israel, and who did not bring
+national glory and renown to Israel, for such was not his mission.
+Hebrew scholars and churchmen have often claimed that Isaiah's
+prophecy was fulfilled by the birth of Hezekiah.
+
+There is no evidence whatever in the Jewish history of the seven
+hundred years between Isaiah and Jesus, that the Hebrews regarded
+Isaiah's prophecy as relating to the expected Messiah, but on the
+contrary it was thought to relate to a minor event in their history.
+As a Jewish writer has truly said, "Throughout the wide extent of
+Jewish literature there is not a single passage which can bear the
+construction that the Messiah should be miraculously conceived." Other
+writers along this line have stated the same thing, showing that the
+idea of a Virgin Birth was foreign to the Jewish mind, the Hebrews
+having always respected and highly honored married life and human
+parentage, regarding their children as blessings and gifts from God.
+
+Another writer in the Church has said, "Such a fable as the birth of
+the Messiah from a _virgin_ could have arisen anywhere else easier
+than among the Jews; their doctrine of the divine unity placed an
+impassable gulf between God and the world; their high regard for the
+marriage relation," etc., would have rendered the idea obnoxious.
+Other authorities agree with this idea, and insist that the idea of
+the Virgin Birth never originated in Hebrew prophecy, but was injected
+into the Christian Doctrine from pagan sources, toward the end of the
+first century, and received credence owing to the influx of converts
+from the "heathen" peoples who found in the idea a correspondence with
+their former beliefs. As Rev. R.J. Campbell, minister of the City
+Temple, London, says in his "New Theology," "No New Testament passage
+whatever is directly or indirectly a prophecy of the virgin birth of
+Jesus. To insist upon this may seem to many like beating a man of
+straw, but if so, the man of straw still retains a good deal of
+vitality."
+
+Let us now turn to the second account of the Virgin Birth, in the
+Gospels--the only other place that it is mentioned, outside of the
+story in Matthew, above considered. We find this second mention in
+Luke 1:26-35, the verses having been quoted in the first part of this
+lesson.
+
+There has been much dispute regarding the real authorship of the
+Gospel commonly accredited to Luke, but it is generally agreed upon by
+Biblical scholars that it was the latest of the first three Gospels
+(generally known as "the Synoptic Gospels"). It is also generally
+agreed upon, by such scholars, that the author, whoever he may have
+been, was not an eye witness of the events in the Life of Christ. Some
+of the best authorities hold that he was a Gentile (non-Hebrew),
+probably a Greek, for his Greek literary style is far above the
+average, his vocabulary being very rich and his diction admirable. It
+is also generally believed that the same hand wrote the Book of Acts.
+Tradition holds that the author was one Luke, a Christian convert
+after the death of Jesus, who was one of Paul's missionary band which
+traveled from Troas to Macedonia, and who shared Paul's imprisonment
+in Caesarea; and who shared Paul's shipwreck experiences on the voyage
+to Rome. He is thought to have written his Gospel long after the death
+of Paul, for the benefit and instruction of one Theophilus, a man of
+rank residing in Antioch.
+
+It is held by writers of the Higher Criticism that the account of the
+Virgin Birth was either injected in Luke's narrative, by some later
+writer, or else that Luke in his old age adopted this view which was
+beginning to gain credence among the converted Christians of pagan
+origin, Luke himself being of this class. It is pointed out that as
+Paul, who was Luke's close friend and teacher, made no mention of the
+Virgin Birth, and taught nothing of the kind, Luke must have acquired
+the legend later, if, indeed, the narrative was written by him at all
+in his Gospel.
+
+It is likewise noted that Luke also gives a genealogy of Jesus, from
+Adam, through Abraham, and David, and Joseph. The words in parenthesis
+"as was supposed," in Luke 3:23, are supposed to have been inserted in
+the text by a later writer, as there would be no sense or reason in
+tracing the genealogy of Jesus through a "supposed" father. The verse
+in question reads thusly: "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty
+years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the
+son of Heli," etc. Students, of course, notice that the line of
+descent given by Luke differs very materially from that given by
+Matthew, showing a lack of knowledge on the part of one or the other
+writer.
+
+On the whole, scholars consider it most remarkable that this account
+of the Virgin Birth should be given by Luke, who was a most ardent
+Pauline student and follower, in view of the fact that Paul ignored
+the whole legend, if, indeed, he had ever heard of it. Surely a man
+like Paul would have laid great stress upon this wonderful event had
+he believed in it, or had it formed a part of the Christian Doctrine
+of his time. That Luke should have written this account is a great
+mystery--and many feel that it is much easier to accept the theory of
+the later interpolation of the story into Luke's Gospel, particularly
+in view of the corroborative indications.
+
+Summing up the views of the Higher Criticism, we may say that the
+general position taken by the opponents and deniers of the Virgin
+Birth of Jesus is about as follows:
+
+     1. The story of the Virgin Birth is found only in the
+     introductory portion of two of the four Gospels--Matthew and
+     Luke--and even in these the story bears the appearance of
+     having been "fitted in" by later writers.
+
+     2. Even Matthew and Luke are silent about the matter after
+     the statements in the introductory part of their Gospels,
+     which could scarcely occur had the story been written by and
+     believed in by the writers, such action on their part being
+     contrary to human custom and probability.
+
+     3. The Gospels of Mark and John are absolutely silent on the
+     subject; the oldest of the Gospels--that of Mark--bears no
+     trace of the legend; and the latest Gospel--that of
+     John--being equally free from its mention.
+
+     4. The rest of the New Testament breathes not a word of the
+     story or doctrine. _The Book of Acts, generally accepted as
+     having also been written by Luke, ignores the subject
+     completely_. Paul, the teacher of Luke, and the great writer
+     of the Early Church, seems to know nothing whatever about
+     the Virgin Birth, or else purposely ignores it entirely, the
+     latter being unbelievable in such a man. Peter, the First
+     Apostle, makes no mention of the story or doctrine in his
+     great Epistles, which fact is inconceivable if he knew of
+     and believed in the legend. The Book of Revelation is
+     likewise silent upon this doctrine which played so important
+     a part in the later history of the Church. The great
+     writings of the New Testament contain no mention of the
+     story, outside of the brief mention in Matthew and Luke,
+     alluded to above.
+
+     5. There are many verses in the Gospels and Epistles which
+     go to prove, either that the story was unknown to the
+     writers, or else not accepted by them. _The genealogies of
+     Joseph are cited to prove the descent of Jesus from David,
+     which depends entirely upon the fact of Joseph's actual
+     parentage. Jesus is repeatedly and freely mentioned as the
+     son of Joseph._ Paul and the other Apostles hold firmly to
+     the doctrine of the necessity of the Death of Jesus; his
+     Rising from the Dead; and his Ascension into Heaven, etc.
+     But they had nothing to say regarding any necessity for his
+     Virgin Birth, or the necessity for the acceptance of any
+     such doctrine--they are absolutely silent on this point,
+     although they were careful men, omitting no important detail
+     of doctrine. Paul even speaks of Jesus as "of the seed of
+     David." (_Rom. 1:3._)
+
+     6. The Virgin Birth was not a part of the early traditions
+     or doctrine of the Church, but was unknown to it. And it is
+     not referred to in the preaching and teaching of the
+     Apostles, as may have been seen by reference to the Book of
+     Acts. This book, which relates the Acts and Teachings of the
+     Apostles, could not have inadvertently omitted such an
+     important doctrine or point of teaching. It is urged by
+     careful and conscientious Christian scholars that the
+     multitudes converted to Christianity in the early days must
+     have been ignorant of, or uninformed on, this miraculous
+     event, which would seem inexcusable on the part of the
+     Apostles had they known of it and believed in its truth.
+     This condition of affairs must have lasted until nearly the
+     second century, when the pagan beliefs began to filter in by
+     reason of the great influx of pagan converts.
+
+     7. There is every reason for believing that the legend arose
+     from other pagan legends, the religions of other peoples
+     being filled with accounts of miraculous births of heroes,
+     gods, and prophets, kings and sages.
+
+     8. That acceptance of the legend is not, nor should it be, a
+     proof of belief in Christ and Christianity. This view is
+     well voiced by Rev. Dr. Campbell, in his "New Theology,"
+     when he says "The credibility and significance of
+     Christianity are in no way affected by the doctrine of the
+     Virgin Birth, otherwise than that the belief tends to put a
+     barrier between Jesus and the race, and to make him
+     something that cannot properly be called human.... Like many
+     others, I used to take the position that acceptance or
+     non-acceptance of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was
+     immaterial because Christianity was quite independent of it;
+     but later reflection has convinced me that in point of fact
+     it operates as a hindrance to spiritual religion and a real
+     living faith in Jesus. The simple and natural conclusion is
+     that Jesus was the child of Joseph and Mary, and had an
+     uneventful childhood." The German theologian, Soltau, says,
+     "Whoever makes the further demand that an evangelical
+     Christian shall believe in the words 'conceived by the Holy
+     Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,' wittingly constitutes
+     himself a sharer in a sin against the Holy Spirit and the
+     true Gospel as transmitted to us by the Apostles and their
+     school in the Apostolic Age."
+
+And this then is the summing up of the contention between the
+conservative school of Christian theologians on the one side and the
+liberal and radical schools on the other side. We have given you a
+statement of the positions, merely that you may understand the
+problem. But, before we pass to the consideration of the Occult
+Teachings, let us ask one question: _How do the Higher Critics account
+for the undoubted doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood, as clearly stated
+all through the New Testament_, in view of the proofs against the
+Virgin Birth? Why the frequent and repeated mention of Jesus as "the
+Son of God?" What was the Secret Doctrine underlying the Divine
+Parentage of Jesus, which the pagan legends corrupted into the story
+of the Virgin Birth of theology? We fear that the answer is not to be
+found in the books and preachments of the Higher Criticism, nor yet in
+those of the Conservative Theologians. Let us now see what light the
+Occult Teachings can throw on this dark subject! There is an Inner
+Doctrine which explains the mystery.
+
+Now, in the first place, there is no reference in the Occult Teaching
+to any miraculous features connected with the physical birth of Jesus.
+It is not expressly denied, it is true, but the Teachings contain no
+reference to the matter, and all the references to the subject of
+Jesus' parentage speak of Joseph as being His father, and Mary His
+mother. In other words, the family is treated as being composed of
+father, mother and child just as is the case with any family. The
+Occult Teachings go into great detail concerning the _Spiritual
+Sonship_ of Jesus, as we shall see presently, but there is no mention
+of any miraculous _physical_ conception and birth.
+
+We can readily understand why the Virgin Birth legend would not appeal
+to the Occultists, if we will but consider the doctrines of the
+latter. The Occultists pay but little attention to the physical body,
+except as a Temple of the Spirit, and a habitation of the soul. The
+physical body, to the Occultist, is a mere material shell, constantly
+changing its constituent cells, serving to house the soul of the
+individual, and which when cast off and discarded is no more than any
+other bit of disintegrating material. They know of the existence of
+the soul separate from the body, both after the death of the latter
+and even during its life, in the case of Astral Travel, etc. And in
+many other ways it becomes natural for the Occultist to regard his
+body, and the bodies of others, as mere "shells," to be treated well,
+used properly, and then willingly discarded or exchanged for another.
+
+In view of the above facts, you may readily see that any theory or
+doctrine which made the Absolute--God--overshadow a human woman's body
+and cause her to physically conceive a child, would appear crude,
+barbarous, unnecessary and in defiance of the natural laws established
+by the Cause of Causes. The Occultist sees in the conception _of every
+child_, the work of the Divine Will--_every conception and birth a
+miracle_. But he sees Natural Law underlying each, and he believes
+that the Divine Will always operates under Natural Laws--the seeming
+miracles and exceptions thereto, resulting from the mastery and
+operation of some law not generally known. But the Occultist knows of
+no law that will operate to produce conception by other than the
+physiological process.
+
+In short, _the Occultist does not regard the physical body of Jesus as
+Jesus Himself_--he knows that the Real Jesus is something much greater
+than His body, and, consequently, he sees no more necessity for a
+miraculous conception of His body than he would for a miraculous
+creation of His robe. The body of Jesus was only material
+substance--the Real Jesus was Spirit. The Occultists do not regard
+Joseph as the father of the Real Jesus--_no human being can produce or
+create a soul_. And so, the Occultist sees no reason for accepting the
+old pagan doctrine of the physical Virgin Birth which has crept into
+Christianity from outside sources. To the Occultist, there is a real
+Virgin Birth of an entirely different nature, as we shall see
+presently.
+
+But, not so with the people who flocked to the ranks of Christianity
+toward the close of the first century--coming from pagan people, and
+bringing with them their pagan legends and doctrines. These people
+_believed that the Body was the Real Man_, and consequently attached
+the greatest importance to it. These people were almost materialists
+as the result of their pagan views of life. They began to exert an
+influence on the small body of original Christians, and soon the
+original teachings were smothered by the weight of the pagan
+doctrines. For instance, they failed to grasp the beautiful ideas of
+Immortality held by the original Christians, which held that _the
+soul_ survived the death and disintegration of the body. They could
+not grasp this transcendental truth--they did not know what was meant
+by the term "_the soul_," and so they substituted their pagan doctrine
+of the resurrection of the physical body. They believed that at some
+future time there would come a great Day, in which the Dead would
+arise from their graves, and become again alive. The crudeness of this
+idea, when compared to the beautiful doctrine of the Immortality of
+the Soul of the original Christians, and by the advanced Christians
+to-day, is quite painful. And yet these pagan converts actually
+smothered out the true teachings by their crude doctrine of
+resurrection of _the body_.
+
+These people could not understand how a man could live without his
+physical body, and to them future life meant a resurrection of their
+dead bodies which would again become alive. To them the dead bodies
+would remain dead, until the Great Day, when they would be made alive
+again. There is no teaching among these people regarding the soul
+which passes out of the body and lives again on higher planes. No,
+nothing of this kind was known to these people--they were incapable of
+such high ideas and ideals--they were materialists and were wedded to
+their beloved animal bodies, and believed that their dead bodies would
+in some miraculous way be made alive again at some time in the future,
+when they would again live on earth.
+
+In view of modern knowledge regarding the nature of matter, and the
+fact that what is one person's body to-day, may be a part of another's
+to-morrow--that matter is constantly being converted and
+reconverted--that the universal material is used to form bodies of
+animals, plants, men, or else dwell in chemical gases, or combinations
+in inorganic things--in view of these accepted truths the
+"resurrection of the body" seems a pitiful invention of the minds of a
+primitive and ignorant people, and not a high spiritual teaching. In
+fact, there may be many of you who would doubt that the Christians of
+that day so taught, were it not for the undisputed historical records,
+and the remnant of the doctrine itself embalmed in the "Apostle's
+Creed," in the passage _"I believe in the resurrection of the body_"
+which is read in the Churches daily, but which doctrine is scarcely
+ever taught in these days, and is believed in by but few
+Christians--in fact, is ignored or even denied by the majority.
+
+Dr. James Beattie has written, "Though mankind have at all times had a
+persuasion of the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the
+body was a doctrine peculiar to early Christianity." S.T. Coleridge
+has written, "Some of the most influential of the early Christian
+writers were materialists, holding the soul to be material--corporeal.
+It appears that in those days some few held the soul to be
+incorporeal, according to the views of Plato and others, but that the
+orthodox Christian divines looked upon this as an impious,
+unscriptural opinion. Justin Martyr argued against the Platonic nature
+of the soul. And even some latter-day writers have not hesitated to
+express their views on the subject, agreeing with the earlier orthodox
+brethren. For instance, Dr. R.S. Candlish has said,
+
+     "You live again in the body,--in the very body, as to all
+     essential properties, and to all practical intents and
+     purposes, in which you live now. _I am not to live as a
+     ghost, a spectre, a spirit, I am to live then as I live now,
+     in the body_."
+
+The reason that the early Church laid so much stress on this doctrine
+of the Resurrection of the Body, was because an inner sect, the
+Gnostics, held to the contrary, and the partisan spirit of the
+majority swung them to the other extreme, until they utterly denied
+any other idea, and insisted upon the resurrection and re-vitalizing
+of the physical body. But, in spite of the official fostering of this
+crude theory, it gradually sank into actual insignificance, although
+its shadow still persists in creed and word. Its spirit has retreated
+and passed away before the advancing idea of the Immortality of the
+Soul which returned again and again to Christianity until it won the
+victory. And as Prof. Nathaniel Schmidt has said, in his article on
+the subject in a leading encyclopaedia, "... The doctrine of the
+natural immortality of the human soul became so important a part of
+Christian thought that the resurrection naturally lost its vital
+significance, and it has practically held no place in the great
+systems of philosophy elaborated by the Christian thinkers in modern
+times." And, yet, the Church continues to repeat the now meaningless
+words, "I believe in the Resurrection of the Body." And while
+practically no one now believes it, still the recital of the words,
+and the statement of one's belief in them, forms a necessary requisite
+for admission into the Christian Church to-day. Such is the persistent
+hold of dead forms, and thoughts, upon living people.
+
+And, so you can readily see from what has been said, why the early
+Christians, about the close of the first century A.D., attached so
+much importance to _the physical conception and birth_ of Jesus. To
+them the physical body of Jesus was Jesus Himself. The rest follows
+naturally, including the Virgin Birth and the Physical Resurrection.
+We trust that you now understand this part of the subject.
+
+We have heard devout Christians shocked at the idea that Jesus was
+born of a human father and mother, in the natural way of the race.
+They seemed to think that it savored of impurity. Such a notion is the
+result of a perverted idea of the sacredness of natural functions--a
+seeing of impurity--where all is pure. What a perversion, this
+regarding the sacredness of human Fatherhood, and Motherhood, as
+impure! The man of true spirituality sees in the Divine Trinity of
+Father, Mother and Child, something most pure and sacred--something
+that brings man very close indeed to God. Is the beautiful babe, held
+close in its mother's fond embrace, a symbol and type of impurity? Is
+the watchful care and love of the Father of the babe, an impure result
+of an impure cause? Does not one's own heart tell him the contrary?
+Look at the well known picture of the Journey to Egypt, with Mary
+carrying the babe, and both guarded and protected by the husband and
+father--Joseph--is this not a beautiful symbol of the sacredness of
+Parenthood? We trust that the majority of those who read these pages
+have advanced spiritually beyond the point where The Family is a thing
+of impure suggestion and relationship.
+
+And, now, what are the Occult Teachings--the Secret Doctrine--regarding
+the Real Virgin Birth of Jesus? Just this: that the Spirit of Jesus
+was fresh from the bosom of the Absolute--Spirit of SPIRIT--a Virgin
+Birth of Spirit. His Spirit had not traveled the weary upward path of
+Reincarnation and repeated Rebirth, but was Virgin Spirit fresh from
+the SPIRIT--a very Son of the Father--begotten not created. This Virgin
+Spirit was incarnated in His body, and there began the life of Man, not
+fully aware of His own nature, but gradually awakening into knowledge
+just as does every human soul, until at last the true nature of His
+Being burst upon him, and he saw that he indeed was God incarnate. In
+his short life of thirty-three years--thirty years of preparation, and
+three years of ministry, Jesus typified and symbolized the Life of the
+Race. Just as he awakened into a perception of his Divine Nature, so
+shall the race awaken in time. Every act in the Life of Jesus typified
+and symbolized the life of every individual soul, and of the race. We
+all have our Garden of Gethsemane--each is Crucified, and Ascends to
+Higher Planes. This is the Occult Doctrine of the Virgin Birth of
+Christ. Is it not a worthy one--is it not at least a higher conception
+of the human mind, than the physical Virgin Birth legend?
+
+As we proceed with our lessons, we shall bring out the details of the
+Occult Teachings concerning the Divine Nature of Christ--the Spirit
+within the Human Form. And, in these references and instruction, you
+will see even more clearly that nature of the Spiritual Virgin Birth
+of Jesus.
+
+The original Christians were instructed in the Truth concerning the
+Virgin Birth, that is, those who were sufficiently intelligent to
+grasp it. But after the great Teachers passed away, and their
+successors became overzealous in their desire to convert the outside
+peoples, the influx of the latter gradually overcame the original
+teachings, and the physical Virgin Birth and the Resurrection of the
+Body, became Doctrines and Articles of Faith, held of vital importance
+by the new orthodox leaders. It has taken centuries of mental
+struggle, and spiritual unfoldment to bring the Light of the Truth to
+bear upon this dark corner of the Faith, but the work is now fairly
+under way, and the great minds in the Church, as well as those out of
+the Church, are beginning to lay the old legend aside as a worn out
+relic of primitive days when the cloud of Ignorance overshadowed the
+Light of Truth.
+
+In concluding this lesson, let us glance once more at the words of the
+eminent divine, Dr. Campbell, in his _New Theology_, in which he
+states:
+
+     "But why hesitate about the question? The greatness of Jesus
+     and the value of his revelation to mankind are in no way
+     either assisted or diminished by the manner of his entry
+     into the world. Every birth is just as wonderful as a virgin
+     birth could possibly be, and just as much a direct act of
+     God. A supernatural conception bears no relation whatever to
+     the moral and spiritual worth of the person who is supposed
+     to enter the world in this abnormal way.... Those who insist
+     on the doctrine will find themselves in danger of proving
+     too much, for pressed to its logical conclusion, it removes
+     Jesus altogether from the category of humanity in any real
+     sense."
+
+Let us trust that these Higher Critics may become informed upon the
+truths of the Occult Teachings, which supply the Missing Key, and
+afford the Reconciliation, and which show how and why Jesus is, in all
+and very truth, THE SON OF GOD, begotten and not created, of one
+substance from the Father--a particle of Purest Spirit fresh from the
+Ocean of Spirit, and free from the Karma of past Incarnations--how He
+was human and yet more than human.
+
+In our next lesson we shall take up the narrative of the secret life
+of Jesus from the time of his appearance, as a child at the Temple,
+among the Elders, until when at the age of thirty years he appeared at
+the scene of the ministry of John the Baptist, and began his own brief
+ministry of three years which was closed by the Crucifixion and
+Ascension. This is a phase of the subject of intense interest, and
+startling nature, because of the lack of knowledge of the occult
+traditions on the part of the general public.
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE MYSTIC YOUTH OF JESUS.
+
+In our last lesson we promised to tell you the esoteric story of the
+youth of Jesus. And there is such a story to tell, although the
+churches know little or nothing about it. The churches have nothing
+but the husks that have always been the property of the masses. The
+real kernels of truth have been possessed by but the few elect ones.
+The legends of the mystic brotherhoods and occult orders have
+preserved the story intact, and you shall now be given the essence of
+the mystic legends and traditions.
+
+At the end of our first lesson we left Joseph, Mary and the infant
+Jesus in Egypt, the land to which they had flown to escape the wrath
+of the tyrant Herod. They dwelt in Egypt for a few years, until the
+death of Herod. Then Joseph retraced his steps, and returned toward
+his own country, bringing with him his wife and the babe. For some
+reasons unknown to those familiar with the legends and traditions,
+Joseph decided not to locate in Judea, but instead, bent his way
+toward the coast and returned to Nazareth where Mary and he had
+originally met and become betrothed. And, so, in Nazareth, the humble
+little mountain town the boyhood days of Jesus were spent, the
+grinding poverty of the family being relieved (according to the occult
+legends) by the yearly presents of gold from the hands of disguised
+messengers of the Magi.
+
+The traditions relate that Jesus began His study of the Hebrew Law
+when He was but five years of age. It is related that He displayed an
+unusual ability and talent in the direction of mastering not only the
+text, but also the spirit of the Hebrew Scripture, and far outstripped
+His fellow students. It is also related that He displayed an early
+impatience at the dreary formalism of His Hebrew teachers, and a
+disposition to go right to the heart of the text before Him, that He
+might discern the spirit animating it. So much was this the case that
+He frequently brought down upon His head the censure of His
+instructors who overlooked the spirit of the teachings in their
+devotion to the forms and words.
+
+Nazareth was an old-fashioned place and it and its inhabitants were
+made the target for the jests and witticisms of the people of Judea.
+The word "Nazarene" was synonymous with "lout"; "boor"; "peasant";
+etc., to the residents of the more fashionable regions. The very
+remoteness of the town served to separate it in spirit from the rest
+of the country. But this very remoteness played an important part in
+the early life of Jesus. Nazareth, by reason of its peculiar location,
+was on the line of several caravan routes. Travelers from many lands
+traveled through the town, and rested there overnight, or sometimes
+for several days. Travelers from Samaria, Jerusalem, Damascus, Greece,
+Rome, Arabia, Syria, Persia, Phoenicia, and other lands mingled with
+the Nazarenes. And the traditions relate that Jesus, the child, would
+steal away and talk with such of these travelers as were versed in
+occult and mystic lore, and would imbibe from their varied founts of
+learning, until He was as thoroughly informed on these subjects as
+many a mystic of middle age. The traditions have it that the boy would
+often delight and astonish these traveling occultists with His
+wonderful insight into their secret doctrines and knowledge. And it is
+also told that some of the wisest of these, seeing the nature of the
+child, would overstay their allotted time of sojourn, that they might
+add here and there to the various parts of general occult lore
+possessed by the child. It is also taught that the Magi informed some
+of these travelers regarding the boy, that they might impart to him
+some truth or teaching for which He was ready.
+
+And so the boy grew in knowledge and wisdom, day by day, year by year,
+until, finally, there occurred an event in His life, which has since
+been the subject of greatest interest to all Christians and students
+of the New Testament, but which without the above explanation is not
+readily understood.
+
+The Feast of the Passover occurred in its allotted time of the
+year--April--when Jesus was in his thirteenth year. This feast was one
+of the most important in the Jewish calendar, and its observance was
+held as a most sacred duty by all Hebrews. It was the feast set down
+for the remembrance and perpetuation of that most important event in
+the history of the Jewish people when the Angel of Death swept over
+all of Egypt's land smiting the first-born child of every house of the
+natives, high and low, but sparing all the houses of the captive
+Hebrews who marked their door-sills with the sacrificial blood as a
+token of their faith. This is no place to give the explanation of this
+apparently miraculous event, which students now know to be due to
+natural causes. We merely mention it in passing.
+
+The Law-givers of Israel had appointed the Feast of the Passover as a
+perpetual symbol of this event so important by the nation, and every
+self-respecting Jew felt obligated to take part in the observance and
+sacrament. Every pious Jew made it a point to perform a pilgrimage to
+Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of the Passover, if he could in any
+way manage to do so.
+
+At the time of the Passover celebration of which we are speaking,
+Jesus had just entered into His thirteenth year, which age entitled
+Him, under the ecclesiastical law, to the privilege of sitting with
+the adult men of His race at the Passover supper, and also to publicly
+join with the male congregation in the thanksgiving service in the
+synagogues.
+
+And so, on this year, He accompanied His father and mother to
+Jerusalem and made His _second_ visit to the Holy City. It will be
+remembered that His _first_ visit there was made when as an infant He
+was carried thither from Bethlehem in His mother's arms in accordance
+with the Jewish law, and at which time an aged priest and an old
+prophetess had publicly acknowledged the divine nature of the child.
+
+The father, mother and child--the divine trinity of Human
+relationship--traveled slowly over the highway that led from Nazareth
+to Jerusalem. The father and mother were concerned with the details of
+the journey, mingled with pious thoughts concerning the sacred feast
+in which they were to take part. But the boy's mind was far away from
+the things that were occupying his parent's thoughts. He was thinking
+over the deep mystic truths which He had so readily absorbed during
+the past few years, and He was looking forward in delightful
+anticipation to His expected meeting with the older mystics in the
+temples and public places of Jerusalem.
+
+It must be remembered that underlying the Jewish ecclesiastical
+teachings and formalism, which were all that the mass of the people
+knew, there was a great store of Jewish occultism and Mysticism known
+to the few elect. The Kaballah or Jewish occult writings were closely
+studied by the learned Jews, and this work with other similar
+teachings were transmitted verbally from teacher to student, and
+constituted the Secret Doctrine of the Hebrew religion. And it was
+toward the learned teachers of this Secret Doctrine that Jesus
+directed His mind and steps, although His parents knew it not.
+
+Four or five days were consumed in the journey, and at last the Holy
+City--Jerusalem--came into full view, the wonderful Temple of Israel
+showing plainly above the other buildings. The bands of pilgrims, of
+which the family of Joseph formed a part, formed into orderly array
+and led by flute-players they solemnly marched into the streets of the
+Holy City, singing and chanting the Sacred Songs used by the faithful
+upon this solemn occasion. And the boy walked with the rest, with
+bowed head, and eyes that seemed to see things far removed from the
+scene around them.
+
+The Passover rites were carried out--the duties were performed--the
+ceremonies were observed. The Passover Feast extended over a full
+week, of which the first two days were the most important, and during
+which two days the obligatory ceremonies were performed. Each family
+made the offering of the sacrificial lamb--each family baked and ate
+the unleavened bread. The beautiful idea of the Passover had
+degenerated into a horrible feast of blood, for it is related that
+upon these occasions over a quarter-million of poor innocent lambs
+were slaughtered and offered up as a sacrifice pleasing to Jehovah,
+who was supposed to delight in this flood of the blood of innocents.
+In pursuance of this barbarous idea, the altars and courts of the
+Temple of the Living God ran red with the life-blood of these poor
+creatures, and the hands and garments of the anointed priests of
+Jehovah were stained like those of butchers, that the vanity of a
+barbarous conception of Deity might be fed.
+
+All this for "the Glory of God!" Think of it! And think of the feeling
+that must have been aroused in the mystic mind of Jesus at this
+horrible sight. How His soul must have been outraged at this
+prostitution of the sacred rite! And what would have been His thoughts
+had He known that centuries after, a great religion would stand,
+bearing His name, the followers of which would be carried away with
+this same false idea of sacrificial blood, which would be voiced in
+hymns about "A fountain filled with blood, flowing from Immanuel's
+veins," and about "sinners plunged beneath that bloody flood losing
+all their guilty stains?" Alas, for the prostitution of sacred truths
+and teachings. No wonder that a people so saturated with the
+abominable ideas of a Deity delighting in this flow of blood should
+have afterward put to death the greatest man of their race--a Being
+who came to bring them the highest mystic and occult truths. And their
+prototypes have survived through the centuries, even unto today,
+insisting upon this idea of blood sacrifice and death atonement,
+unworthy of any people except the worshipers of some heathen devil-god
+in the remote sections of darkest Africa.
+
+Disgusted and outraged by this barbarous sight, Jesus, the boy, stole
+away from the side of His parents, and sought the remote chambers and
+corridors of the Temple where were to be found the great teachers of
+the Law and of the Kaballah, surrounded by their students. Here the
+boy sat and listened to the teachings and disputations of the teachers
+and exponents of the doctrines. From one group to another He wandered,
+and listened, and pondered, and thought. He compared the teachings,
+and submitted the various ideas to the touchstone of the truth as He
+found it within His own mind. The hours rapidly passed by unnoticed by
+the boy, who found Himself amidst such congenial environments for the
+first time. The talks with the travelers of the caravans paled into
+insignificance when compared with these of the great occult teachers
+of Israel. For be it remembered that it was the custom of the great
+teachers of that day to so instruct those who were attracted to their
+company. And Jerusalem being the centre of the culture and learning of
+Israel, the great teachers dwelt there. And so it will be seen that
+Jesus now found Himself at the very fountain-head of the Hebrew Secret
+Doctrines, and in the actual presence of the great teachers.
+
+On the third day, there began a breaking-up of the vast gathering of
+the two million of people who had made the pilgrimage to the Holy
+City. Those poorer in purse were the first to leave, after the
+obligatory rites of the first two days had been performed. And Joseph
+and Mary were among those preparing to retrace their steps to their
+distant homes. Their friends and neighbors gathered together, and the
+preparations for the return were completed. But at the last moment,
+the parents discovered that the boy, Jesus, was missing. They were
+alarmed, but friends told them that their boy had been seen in the
+company of kinsmen and neighbors traveling along the same road, who
+had preceded them but a few hours. Somewhat reassured, the parents
+left with their company, hoping that they would overtake the boy
+before nightfall. But when they reached the first station on the
+caravan route--a village called Beroth--and the night descended upon
+them, and the boy failed to appear among the neighbors and kinsmen,
+the parents were sorely distressed. They slept but little that night,
+and when the first rays of dawn appeared, they parted from the
+company, and retraced their way back to Jerusalem, in search of the
+boy apparently lost in the great capital amid the hundreds of
+thousands of pilgrims.
+
+Every mother and father will enter into the feelings of Joseph and
+Mary in their frantic return to the city, and in their subsequent
+search for the lost child. They inquired here and there for the boy,
+but not a trace of him was found. And night came without a ray of
+hope. And the next day was likewise barren of results. And the next
+day after. For three days the devoted parents searched high and low
+for their beloved child--but no word of encouragement came to them.
+The boy had seemingly dropped out of sight in the vast crowds and
+winding streets. The parents reproached themselves for their lack of
+care and caution. None but a parent can imagine their anguish and
+terror.
+
+They visited the many courts of the Temple many times, but no sight or
+word of the boy rewarded their search. The bloody altars, the showy
+costumes of the priests; the chants; the readings; seemed like mockery
+to them. They wished themselves back in their humble village, with
+their boy by their side. They prayed and besought Jehovah to grant
+their hopes and desire, but no answer came.
+
+Then, on the last day, a strange event occurred. The weary and heart
+broken parents wandered once more into the Temple--this time visiting
+one of the less frequented courts. They saw a crowd gathered--something
+of importance was occurring. Almost instinctively they drew near to the
+crowd. And then amidst the unusual silence of the people they heard a
+boyish voice raised to a pitch adapted to a large circle of hearers,
+and speaking in the tones of authority. It was the voice of the boy,
+Jesus!
+
+With eager feet the couple pushed forward, unto the very inner row of
+the circle. And there, wonder of wonders, they saw their child in the
+centre of the most celebrated teachers and doctors of the Law in all
+Israel. With a rapt expression in his eyes, as if He were gazing upon
+things not of this world, the boy Jesus was standing in a position and
+attitude of authority, and around him were grouped the greatest minds
+of the day and land, in respectful attention, while at a further
+distance stood the great circle of the common people.
+
+When one remembers the Jewish racial trait of reverence for age, and
+the consequent submission of Youth, one will better understand the
+unusual spectacle that burst upon the gaze of Joseph and Mary. A mere
+boy--a child--daring to even speak boldly in the presence of the aged
+teachers was unheard of, and the thought of such a one actually
+presuming to dispute, argue and teach, in such an assembly, was like
+unto a miracle. And such it was!
+
+The boy spoke with the air and in the tones of a Master. He met the
+most subtle arguments and objections of the Elders with the power of
+the keenest intellect and spiritual insight. He brushed aside the
+sophistries with a contemptuous phrase, and brought back the argument
+to the vital point.
+
+The crowd gathered in greater volume, the gray heads and beards grew
+more and more respectful. It was evident to all that a Master had
+arisen in Israel in the form of a boy of thirteen. The MASTER was
+apparent in tone, gesture, and thought. The Mystic had found his first
+audience, and his congregation was composed of the leading thinkers
+and teachers of the land. The insight of the Magi was verified!
+
+Then in a momentary pause in the argument, the stifled cry of a woman
+was heard--the voice of the Mother. The crowd turned impatient,
+reproachful glances upon Mary, who had been unable to restrain her
+emotion. But the boy, looking sadly but affectionately at his lost
+parents, gave her a reassuring glance, which at the same time bade her
+remain still until he had finished his discourse. And the parents
+obeyed the newly awakened will of their child.
+
+The teaching ended, the boy stepped from his position with the air of
+one of the Elders, and rejoined his parents, who passed as rapidly as
+possible from the wondering crowd. Then his mother reproached him,
+telling him of their distress and wearisome search. The boy listened
+calmly and patiently until she had finished. Then he asked, with his
+newly acquired air of authority, "Why sought ye me?" And when they
+answered him in the customary manner of parents, the boy took on still
+a greater air of authority, and in tones that though kindly, were full
+of power, he replied, "Knew ye not, that I must be in my Father's
+House? I must be about the things of my Father." And the parents,
+feeling themselves in the presence of the Mystery that had ever been
+about the child, followed Him silently from the Temple grounds.
+
+And here closes the New Testament story of the boy Jesus at the age of
+thirteen, which story is not resumed until His appearance at the place
+of the preaching of John the Baptist, _over seventeen years later_,
+when the boy had reached the age of a man of thirty years. When and
+how did he spend those seventeen years? The New Testament is totally
+silent on this score. Can anyone who has read the above imagine that
+Jesus spent these years as a growing youth and young man, working at
+His father's carpenter bench in the village of Nazareth? Would not the
+Master, having found his strength and power, have insisted upon
+developing the same? Could the Divine Genius once self-recognized be
+content to be obscured amid material pursuits? The New Testament is
+silent, but the Occult Traditions and Mystic Legends tell us the story
+of the missing seventeen years, and these we shall now give to you.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The legends and traditions of the mystic and occult organizations and
+brotherhoods tell us that after the occurrence of Jesus and the Elders
+in the Temple, and his recovery by his parents, the latter were
+approached by members of the secret organization to which the Magi
+belonged, who pointed out to the parents the injustice of the plan of
+keeping the lad at the carpenter's bench when He had shown evidences
+of such a marvelous spiritual development and such a wonderful
+intellectual grasp of weighty subjects. It is told that after a long
+and serious consideration of the matter the parents finally consented
+to the plan advanced by the Magi, and allowed them to take the lad
+with them into their own land and retreats that He might there receive
+the instructions for which His soul craved, and for which His mind was
+fitted.
+
+It is true that the New Testament does not corroborate these occult
+legends, but it is likewise true that it says nothing to the contrary.
+It is silent regarding this important period of between seventeen and
+eighteen years. It is to be remembered that when He appeared upon the
+scene of John's ministration, the latter did not recognize Him,
+whereas had Jesus remained about His home, John, his cousin, would
+have been acquainted with his features and personal appearance.
+
+The occult teachings inform us that the seventeen or eighteen years of
+Jesus' life regarding which the Gospels are silent, were filled with
+travels in far and distant lands, where the youth and young man was
+instructed in the occult lore and wisdom of the different schools. It
+is taught that He was taken into India, and Egypt, and Persia, and
+other far regions, living for several years at each important center,
+and being initiated into the various brotherhoods, orders, and bodies
+having their headquarters there. Some of the Egyptians' orders have
+traditions of a young Master who sojourned among them, and such is
+likewise the case in Persia and in India. Even among the lamasaries
+hidden in Thibet and in the Himalayan Mountains are to be found
+legends and stories regarding the marvelous young Master who once
+visited there and absorbed their wisdom and secret knowledge.
+
+More than this, there are traditions among the Brahmans, Buddhists and
+Zoroastrians, telling of a strange young teacher who appeared among
+them, who taught marvelous truths and who aroused great opposition
+among the priests of the various religions of India and Persia, owing
+to his preaching against priestcraft and formalism, and also by his
+bitter opposition to all forms of caste distinctions and restrictions.
+And this, too, is in accord with the occult legends which teach that
+from about the age of twenty-one until the age of nearly thirty years
+Jesus pursued a ministry among the people of India and Persia and
+neighboring countries, returning at last to his native land where He
+conducted a ministry extending over the last three years of His life.
+
+The occult legends inform us that He aroused great interest among the
+people of each land visited by Him, and that He also aroused the most
+bitter opposition among the priests, for He always opposed formalism
+and priestcraft, and sought to lead the people back to the Spirit of
+the Truth, and away from the ceremonies and forms which have always
+served to dim and becloud the Light of the Spirit. He taught always
+the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. He sought to bring
+the great Occult Truths down to the comprehension of the masses of
+people who had lost the Spirit of the Truth in their observance of
+outward forms and pretentious ceremonies.
+
+It is related that in India He brought down upon His head the wrath of
+the Brahmin upholders of the caste distinctions, that curse of India.
+He dwelt in the huts of the Sudras, the lowest of all of the Hindu
+castes, and was therefore regarded as a pariah by the higher classes.
+Everywhere He was regarded as a firebrand and a disturber of
+established social order by the priests and high-caste people. He was
+an agitator, a rebel, a religious renegade, a socialist, a dangerous
+man, an "undesirable citizen," to those in authority in those lands.
+
+But the seeds of His wisdom were sown right and left, and in the Hindu
+religions of today, and in the teachings of other Oriental countries,
+may be found traces of Truth, the resemblance of which to the recorded
+teachings of Jesus, show that they came from the same source, and have
+sorely disturbed the Christian missionaries that have since visited
+these lands.
+
+And so, slowly and patiently, Jesus wended his way homeward toward
+Israel, where He was to complete His ministry by three years' work
+among His own race, and where He was to again raise up against Himself
+the opposition of the priests and the upper classes which would
+finally result in His death. He was a rebel against the established
+order of things, and He met the fate reserved for those who live ahead
+of their time.
+
+And, as from the first days of His ministry to His last, so it is
+today, the real teachings of the Man of Sorrows reach more readily the
+heart of the plain people, while they are reviled and combatted by
+those in ecclesiastical and temporal authority, even though these
+people claim allegiance to Him and wear His livery. He was ever the
+friend of the poor and oppressed, and hated by those in authority.
+
+And so, you see the Occult teachings show Jesus to have been a
+world-wide teacher, instead of a mere Jewish prophet. The world was
+his audience, and all races His hearers.
+
+He planted His seeds of Truth in the bosom of many religions instead
+of but one, and these seeds are beginning to bear their best fruit
+even now at this late day, when the truth of the Fatherhood of God and
+the Brotherhood of Man is beginning to be felt by all nations alike,
+and is growing strong enough to break down the old which have divided
+brother from brother, and creed from creed. Christianity--true
+Christianity--is not a mere creed, but a great human and divine Truth
+that will rise above all petty distinctions of race and creed and will
+at last shine on all men alike, gathering them into one fold of
+Universal Brotherhood.
+
+May the Great Day be hastened!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And so we leave Jesus, wending his way slowly homeward toward Judea,
+the land of His father and the place of His birth. Dropping a word
+here--planting a seed there--onward He pursued His way. Visiting this
+mystic brotherhood, and resting a while in another occult retreat, He
+slowly retraced the journey of His youth. But while His outward
+journey was that of a student traveling forth to complete His
+education, He returned as a Master and Teacher, bearing and sowing the
+seeds of a great Truth, which was to grow and bring forth great fruit,
+and which, in time, would spread over all the world in its primitive
+purity, notwithstanding its betrayal and corruption at the hands of
+those in whose keeping He left it when he passed away from the scene
+of His labors.
+
+Jesus came as a World Prophet, not as a mere Jewish holy-man, and
+still less as a Hebrew Messiah destined to sit upon the throne of His
+father David. And He left His mark upon all of the great peoples of
+earth by His journey among them. Throughout Persia are found many
+traditions of Issa, the young Master who appeared in that land
+centuries ago, and who taught the Fatherhood of God and the
+Brotherhood of Man. Among the Hindus are found strange traditions of
+Jesoph or Josa, a young ascetic, who passed through the Hind long
+since, denouncing the established laws of caste, and consorting with
+the common people, who, as in Israel, "heard him gladly." Even in
+China are found similar tales of the young religious firebrand,
+preaching ever the Brotherhood of Man--ever known as the Friend of the
+Poor. On and on He went, sowing the seeds of human freedom and the
+casting off of the yoke of ecclesiastical tyranny and formalism, which
+seeds are springing unto growth even at this late day. Yea, the Spirit
+of His real teachings are even now bearing fruit in the hearts of men,
+and though nearly two thousand years have passed by the "soul" of His
+social teachings still "goes marching on" round and round the world.
+
+
+
+
+THE FOURTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE BEGINNING OF THE MINISTRY.
+
+When Jesus reached his native land, after the years of travel in
+India, Persia and Egypt, he is believed by the occultists to have
+spent at least one year among the various lodges and retreats of the
+Essenes. By reference to the first lesson of this series you will see
+who and what was this great mystic organization--the Essenic
+Brotherhood. While resting and studying in their retreats His
+attention was diverted to the work of Johannen--John the Baptist--and
+He saw there an opening wedge for the great work that He felt called
+upon to do among His own people. Dreams of converting His own
+race--the Jews--to His conception of Truth and Life, crept over Him,
+and he determined to make this work His great life task.
+
+The feeling of race is hard to overcome and eradicate, and Jesus felt
+that, after all, here He was at last, at home, among His own people,
+and the ties of blood and race reasserted themselves. He put aside His
+previous thoughts of a world-wandering life, and decided to plant the
+standard of the Truth in Israel, so that from the capital of the
+Chosen People the Light of the Spirit might shine forth to all the
+world. It was Jesus the man--Jesus the Jew--that made this choice.
+From the broader, higher point of view He had no race; no country; no
+people;--but His man nature was too strong, and in yielding to it he
+sowed the seeds for His final undoing.
+
+Had he merely passed through Judea as a traveling missionary, as had
+done many others before Him, he would have escaped the punishment of
+the government. Although He would have aroused the hatred and
+opposition of the priests, He would have not laid Himself open to the
+charge of wishing to become the King of the Jews, or the Jewish
+Messiah, come to resume the throne of David, His forefather. But it
+avails us nought to indulge in speculations of this kind, for who
+knows what part Destiny or Fate plays in the Great Universal plan--who
+knows where Free-Will terminates and Destiny moves the pieces on the
+board, that the Great Game of Universal Life be played according to
+the plan?
+
+While among the Essenes, as we have said, Jesus first heard of John,
+and determined to use the ministry of the latter as an opening wedge
+for His own great work. He communicated to the Essenic Fathers His
+determination to travel to John's field of work later on, and the
+Fathers sent word of this to John. The legends have it that John did
+not know who was coming, being merely informed that a great Master
+from foreign parts would join him later on, and that he, John, should
+prepare the people for his coming.
+
+And John followed these instructions from his superiors in the Essenic
+Brotherhood to the letter, as you will see by reference to our first
+lesson, and to the New Testament. He preached repentance;
+righteousness; the Essenic rite of Baptism; and above all the Coming
+of the Master. He bade his hearers repent--"repent ye! for the Kingdom
+of Heaven is at hand"!--"repent ye! for the Master cometh!" cried he
+in forceful tones.
+
+And when his people gathered around him and asked whether he, John,
+were not indeed the Master, he answered them, saying, "Nay, I am not
+He whom thou seekest. After me there cometh one whose sandals I am not
+worthy to unloose. I baptize thee with water, but He shall baptize
+thee with the Fire of the Spirit that is within Him!" It was ever and
+always this exhortation toward fitness for the coming of the Master.
+John was a true Mystic, who sank his personality in the Work he was
+called on to do, and who was proud to be but the Forerunner of the
+Master, of whose coming he had been informed by the Brotherhood.
+
+And, as we have told you in the first lesson, one day there came
+before him, a young man, of a dignified, calm appearance, gazing upon
+him with the expressive eyes of the true Mystic. The stranger asked to
+be baptized, but John, having perceived the occult rank of the
+stranger by means of the signs and symbols of the Brotherhood,
+rebelled at the Master receiving baptism at the hands of himself, one
+far below the occult rank of the stranger. But Jesus, the stranger,
+said to John, "Suffer it to be," and stepped into the water to receive
+the mystic rite again, as a token to the people that He had come as
+one of them.
+
+And then occurred that strange event, with which you are familiar,
+when a dove descended as if from Heaven and rested over the head of
+the stranger, and a soft voice, even as the sighing of the wind
+through the trees, was heard, whispering, "This is my beloved son, in
+whom I am well pleased." And then the stranger, evidently awed by the
+strange message from the Beyond, passed away from the multitude, and
+bent his way toward the wilderness, as if in need of a retreat in
+which he could meditate over the events of the day, and regarding the
+work which He could now dimly see stretching its way before Him.
+
+The average student of the New Testament passes over the event of
+Jesus in the Wilderness, with little or no emotion, regarding it as a
+mere incident in His early career. Not so with the mystic or
+occultist, who knows, from the teachings of his order, that in the
+Wilderness Jesus was subjected to a severe occult test, designed to
+develop His power, and test His endurance. In fact, as every advanced
+member of any of the great occult orders knows, the occult degree
+known as "The Ordeal of the Wilderness" is based upon this mystic
+experience of Jesus, and is intended to symbolize the tests to which
+He was subjected. Let us consider this event so fraught with meaning
+and importance to all true occultists.
+
+The Wilderness toward which Jesus diverted His steps, lay afar off
+from the river in which the rites of Baptism had been performed.
+Leaving behind him the fertile banks, and acres, of cultivated land,
+He approached the terrible Wilderness which even the natives of that
+part of the country regarded with superstitious horror. It was one of
+the weirdest and dreariest spots in even that weird and dreary portion
+of the country. The Jews called it "The Abode of Horror"; "The
+Desolate Place of Terror"; "The Appalling Region"; and other names
+suggestive of the superstitious dread which it inspired in their
+hearts. The Mystery of the Desert Places hung heavy over this place,
+and none but the stoutest hearts ventured within its precincts. Though
+akin to the desert, the place abounded in dreary and forbidding hills,
+crags, ridges and canyons. Those of our readers who have ever traveled
+across the American continent and have seen some of the desolate
+places of the American Desert, and who have read of the terrors of
+Death Valley, or the Alkali Lands, may form an idea of the nature of
+this Wilderness toward which the Master was traveling.
+
+All normal vegetation gradually disappeared as He pressed further and
+further into this terrible place, until naught remained but the
+scraggy vegetation peculiar to these waste places--those forms of
+plant life that in their struggle for existence had managed to survive
+under such adverse conditions as to give the naturalist the impression
+that the very laws of natural plant life have been defied and
+overcome.
+
+Little by little the teeming animal life of the lower lands
+disappeared, until at last no signs of such life remained, other than
+the soaring vultures overhead and the occasional serpent and crawling
+things under foot. The silence of the waste places was upon the
+traveler, brooding heavily over Him and all around the places upon
+which He set His foot, descending more heavily upon Him each moment of
+His advance.
+
+Then came a momentary break in the frightful scene. He passed through
+the last inhabited spot in the approach to the heart of the
+Wilderness--the tiny village of Engedi, where were located the ancient
+limestone reservoirs of water which supplied the lower regions of the
+territory. The few inhabitants of this remote outpost of primitive
+civilization gazed in wonder and awe at the lonely figure passing them
+with unseeing eyes and with gaze seemingly able to pierce the
+forbidding hills which loomed up in the distance hiding lonely
+recesses into which the foot of man had never trodden, even the
+boldest of the desert people being deterred from a visit thereto by
+the weird tales of unholy creatures and unhallowed things, which made
+these places the scene of their uncanny meetings and diabolical
+orgies.
+
+On, and on, pressed the Master, giving but slight heed to the desolate
+scene which now showed naught but gloomy hills, dark canyons, and bare
+rocks, relieved only by the occasional bunches of stringy desert grass
+and weird forms of cacti bristling with the protective spines which is
+their armor against their enemies.
+
+At last the wanderer reached the summit of one of the higher
+foot-hills and gazed at the scene spreading itself before Him. And
+that scene was one that would have affrighted the heart of an ordinary
+man. Behind Him was the country through which He had passed, which
+though black and discouraging was as a paradise to the country which
+lay ahead of Him. There below and behind Him were the caves and rude
+dwellings of the outlaws and fugitives from justice who had sought the
+doubtful advantage of security from the laws of man. And far away in
+the distance were the scenes of John the Baptist's ministry, where He
+could see in imagination the multitude discussing the advent of the
+strange Master, who had been vouched for by the Voice, but who had
+stolen swiftly away from the scene, and had fled the crowds who would
+have gladly worshipped Him as a Master and have obeyed His slightest
+command.
+
+Then as the darkness of the succeeding nights fell upon Him, He would
+sleep on some wild mountain cliff, on the edge of some mighty
+precipice, the sides of which dropped down a thousand feet or more.
+But these things disturbed Him not. On and on He pressed at the
+appearance of each dawn. Without food He boldly moved forward to the
+Heart of the Hills, where the Spirit guided Him to the scene of some
+great spiritual struggle which he intuitively knew lay before Him.
+
+The Words of the Voice haunted Him still, though He lacked a full
+understanding of them, for He had not yet unfolded the utmost recesses
+of His Spiritual Mind. "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well
+pleased"--what meant these words? And still, no answer came to that
+cry of His soul which sought in vain for a freeing of that riddle.
+
+And still on and on He pressed, until at last He mounted the steep
+sides of the barren forbidding mountain of Quarantana, beyond which He
+felt that His struggle was to begin. No food was to be found--He must
+fight the battle unaided by the material sustenance that ordinary men
+find necessary for life and strength. And still He had not received
+the answer to the cry of His soul. The rocks beneath His feet--the
+blue sky above His head--the lofty peaks of Moab and Gilead in the
+distance--gave no answer to the fierce insistent desire for the answer
+to the Riddle of the Voice. The answer must come from Within, and from
+Himself only. And in the Heart of the Wilderness He must remain,
+without food, without shelter, without human companionship, until the
+Answer came. And as it was with the Master, so is it with the
+follower--all who attain the point of unfoldment at which the Answer
+is alone possible, must experience that awful feeling of "aloneness"
+and spiritual hunger, and frightful remoteness from all that the world
+values, before the Answer comes from Within--from the Holy of Holies
+of the Spirit.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To realize the nature of the spiritual struggle that awaited Jesus in
+the Wilderness--that struggle that would bring Him face to face with
+His own soul, we must understand the Jewish longing and expectation of
+the Messiah. The Messianic traditions had taken a strong hold upon the
+minds of the Jewish people, and it needed but the spark of a strong
+personality to set all Israel into a blaze which would burn fiercely
+and destroy the foreign influences which have smothered the national
+spirit. The idea of a Messiah springing from the loins of David, and
+coming to take His rightful place as the King of the Jews, was
+imbedded in the heart of every Jew worthy of the name. Israel was
+oppressed by its conquerors, and made subject to a foreign yoke, but
+when the Messiah would come to deliver Israel, every Jew would arise
+to drive out the foreign invaders and conquerors--the yoke of Rome
+would be thrown off, and Israel would once more take its place among
+the nations of the earth.
+
+Jesus knew full well the fact of this national hope. It had been
+installed into His mind from childhood. He had pondered over it often
+during the time of His wanderings and sojourn in foreign lands. The
+occult legends, however, make no mention of His having ever thought of
+Himself as the Messiah until he was about to re-enter His own land
+after His years of foreign study and ministry. It is thought that the
+idea of His being the long expected Messiah was first suggested by
+some of the Essenic teachers, when He rested with them for awhile
+before appearing before John the Baptist. It was pointed out to Him
+that the marvelous events surrounding His birth indicated that He was
+a marked individual destined to play an important part in the history
+of the World. Then why was it not reasonable to believe that that role
+was to be that of the Messiah come to sit on the throne of His father
+David, and destined to bring Israel from her now obscure position to
+once more shine as a bright star in the firmament of nations? Why was
+it not reasonable that He was to lead the Chosen People to their own?
+
+Jesus began to ponder over these things. He had absolutely no material
+ambitions for Himself and all His impulses and inclinations were for
+the life of an occult ascetic. But the idea of a redeemed and
+regenerated Israel was one calculated to fire the blood of any Jew,
+even though the element of personal ambition might be lacking in him.
+
+He had always realized that in some way He was different from other
+men, and that some great work lay ahead of Him, but He had never
+understood His own nature, nor the work He was to do. And it is not to
+be wondered that the talk among the Essenes caused Him to ponder
+carefully over the idea expressed by them. And then the wonderful
+event of the dove, and the Voice, upon the occasion of His baptism,
+seemed almost to verify the idea of the Essenes. Was He indeed the
+long-expected Deliverer of Israel? Surely He must find this out--He
+must wring the answer from the inmost recesses of His soul. And so, He
+sought refuge in the Wilderness, intuitively feeling that there amidst
+the solitude and desolation, He would fight His fight and receive His
+answer.
+
+He felt that He had come to a most important phase of His life's work,
+and the question of "What Am I?" must be settled, once and for
+all,--then and there. And so He left behind Him the admiring and
+worshipful crowds of John's following, and sought the solitude of the
+waste places of the Wilderness, in which He felt He would come face to
+face with His own soul, and demand and receive its answer.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And up in the inmost recesses of the Heart of the Wilderness,
+Jesus wrestled in spirit with Himself for many days, without
+food or nourishment, and without shelter. And the struggle was
+terrific--worthy of such a great soul. First the body's insistent
+needs were to be fought and mastered. It is related that the climax of
+the physical struggle came one day when the Instinctive Mind, which
+attends to the physical functions, made a desperate and final demand
+upon Him. It cried aloud for bread with all the force of its nature.
+It tempted Him with the fact that by His own occult powers He was able
+to convert the very stones into bread, and it demanded that He work
+the miracle for His own physical needs--a practice deemed most
+unworthy by all true occultists and mystics. "Turn this stone into
+bread, and eat" cried the voice of the Tempter. But Jesus resisted the
+temptation although He knew that by the power of His concentrated
+thought He had but first to mentally picture the stone as bread and
+then _will_ that it be so materialized. The miraculous power which
+afterward turned water into wine, and which was again used to feed the
+multitude with the loaves and the fishes, was available to Him at that
+moment in order to satisfy the cravings of His body, and to break His
+fast.
+
+None but the advanced occultist who has known what it was to be
+tempted to use his mysterious powers to satisfy his personal wants,
+can appreciate the nature of the struggle through which Jesus passed,
+and from which He emerged victorious. And like the occult Master that
+He was, He summoned His Inner Forces and beat off the Tempter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But a still greater temptation than this arose to try Him to the
+utmost. He found Himself brought face to face with the idea of
+Messiahship, and Kingship of the Jews, of which we spoke. Was He the
+Messiah? And if so, what must be His course of life and action? Was He
+destined to throw aside the robe and staff of the ascetic, and to don
+the royal purple and the sceptre? Was He to forsake the role of the
+spiritual guide and teacher, and to become the King and Ruler over the
+people of Israel? These were the questions He asked His soul, and for
+which He demanded an answer.
+
+And the mystic legends tell us that His Spirit answered by showing Him
+two sets of mental pictures, with the assurance that _He could choose
+either, at will, and cause it to become realized_.
+
+The first picture showed Him true to His spiritual instincts, and
+loyal to His mission, but which rendered Him indeed the "Man of
+Sorrows." He saw himself continuing to sow the seeds of Truth, which
+would, centuries after, spring up, blossom and bear fruit to nourish
+the world, but which would now bring down upon His head the hatred and
+persecution of those in power and authority. And He saw each
+successive step, each showing the approach of the end, until at last
+He saw Himself crowned with thorns and meeting the death of a criminal
+on the cross, between two base criminals of the lowest classes of men.
+All this He saw and even His brave heart felt a deadly sickness at the
+ignominious end of it all--the apparent failure of His earthly
+mission. But it is related that some of the mighty intelligences which
+dwell upon the higher planes of existence, gathered around Him, and
+gave Him words of encouragement and hope and resolve. He found Himself
+literally in the midst of the Heavenly Host, and receiving the
+inspiration of its presence.
+
+Then this picture--and the Host of Invisible Helpers--faded away, and
+the second picture began to appear before the vision of the lonely
+dweller of the Wilderness. He saw the picture of Himself descending
+the mountain, and announcing Himself as the Messiah--the King of the
+Jews--who had come to lead His Chosen People to victory and
+deliverance. He saw Himself acclaimed as the Promised One of Israel,
+and the multitude flocking to His banners. He saw Himself at the head
+of a great conquering army, marching toward Jerusalem. He saw Himself
+making use of His highly developed occult powers to read the minds of
+the enemy and thus know their every movement and intention, and the
+means to overcome them. He saw Himself miraculously arming and feeding
+His hosts of battle. He saw Himself smiting the enemy with His occult
+powers and forces. He saw the yoke of Rome being cast off, and its
+phalanxes fleeing across the borders in terror and disgraceful defeat.
+He saw Himself mounting the throne of David, His forefather. He saw
+Himself instituting a reign of the highest type, which would make of
+Israel the leading nation of the world. He saw Israel's sphere of
+influence extending in all directions, until Persia, Egypt, Greece and
+even the once-feared Rome, become tributary nations. He saw Himself in
+the triumphant chariot on some great feast day of victory, with Caesar
+himself tied to the tail of His chariot--a slave to Israel's King. He
+saw His royal court outrivaling that of Solomon, and becoming the
+center of the world. He saw Jerusalem as the capital of the world, and
+He, Jesus of Nazareth, son of David the King, as its Ruler, its hero,
+its demi-god. The very apotheosis of human success showed in the
+picture of Himself and His Beloved Israel in the picture.
+
+And then the Temple was seen to be the Center of the Religious thought
+of the World. The Religion of the Jews, as modified by His own
+advanced views, would be the religion of all men. And he would be the
+favored mouthpiece of the God of Israel. All the dreams of the Hebrew
+Fathers would be realized in Him, the Messiah of the New Israel whose
+capital would be Jerusalem, the Queen of the World.
+
+And all this by simply the exercise of his occult powers under the
+direction of HIS WILL. It is related that accompanying this second
+picture and attracted by its mighty power, came all the great
+thought-waves of the world which had been thought by men of all times
+who thought and acted out the Dreams of Power. These clouds settled
+down upon Him like a heavy fog, and their vibrations were almost
+overpowering. And also came the hosts of the disembodied souls of
+those who while living had sought or gained power. And each strove to
+beat into His brain the Desire of Power. Never in the history of man
+have the Powers of Darkness so gathered together for attack upon the
+mind of a mortal man. Would it have been any wonder had even such a
+man as Jesus succumbed?
+
+But He did not succumb. Rallying His Inner Force to His rescue He beat
+back the attacking horde, and by an effort of His Will, He swept both
+picture and tempters away into oblivion, crying indignantly "Thou
+darest to tempt even me, thy Lord and Master. Get thee behind me thou
+Fiends of Darkness"!
+
+And so the Temptation of the Wilderness failed, and Jesus received His
+answer from His soul, and He descended the mountains, back to the
+haunts of men--back to the scene of His three years' labors and
+suffering, and back to His Death. And He knew full well all that
+awaited Him there, for had He not seen the First Picture?
+
+Jesus had chosen His career.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Master descended from the mountains and forsook the Wilderness for
+the place in which John and his followers were gathered. Resting for a
+time, and refreshing Himself with food and drink, He gathered together
+His energies for His great work.
+
+The followers of John gathered around Him, filled with the idea that
+He was the Messiah come to lead them to victory and triumph. But He
+disappointed them by His calm, simple manner, and His disavowal of
+royal claims. "What seek ye of me?" he asked them, and many, abashed,
+left His circle and returned to the crowd. But a few humble souls
+remained and around these few gathered a few more, until at last a
+little band of faithful students was formed--the first band of
+Christian disciples. This band was composed almost entirely of
+fishermen and men of similar humble occupations. There was an absence
+of people of rank or social position. His people were of the "plain
+people" which have furnished the recruits for every great religion.
+
+And after a time, Jesus moved away from the place, followed by His
+band of disciples, which drew new members from each place of
+gathering. Some stayed but for a short time, while others replaced the
+faint hearted ones of little faith. But the band steadily grew, until
+it began to attract the attention of the authorities and the public.
+Jesus constantly disclaimed being the Messiah, but the report that
+such indeed He was, began to spread and the authorities began that
+system of spying and watching which followed His footsteps for three
+years, and which finally resulted in His death on the Cross. And this
+suspicion was encouraged by the Jewish priesthood which began to hate
+the young teacher whose opposition to their tyranny and formalism was
+quite marked.
+
+The band one day came to a small village in Galilee, and Jesus began
+His usual meetings and teaching. Near where they gathered was a house
+at which preparations were being made for a wedding feast. The wedding
+ceremony has always been an important occasion among the Jews. The
+most elaborate preparations consistent with the size of the purse of
+the girl's parents are indulged in. Relatives from far and near gather
+to the feast. Jesus happened to be a distant kinsman of the bride, and
+according to custom He was bidden to the feast.
+
+The guests began to gather, each depositing his sandals in the outer
+court, and entering the guest chamber barefooted, after carefully
+bathing his feet and ankles after the custom still prevailing in
+Oriental countries. Jesus was accompanied by a few of His faithful
+followers. His mother, and His several brothers were also among the
+blood-relations present at the feast.
+
+His appearance caused much interest and comment among the other
+guests. To some He was simply a traveling religious teacher, not
+uncommon in that land, to others He was an inspired prophet, bringing
+a wonderful Message to the Jewish people, as He had to the Persians,
+Egyptians and Hindus; to others he was more than this, and whispers of
+"He is the Messiah"; "The King of Israel," etc., began to circulate
+among those present, causing interest, uneasiness or disgust,
+according to the views of the hearers. But whenever He moved, He
+attracted attention by His manner, attitude and expression. All felt
+that here indeed was an Individual. Strange stories of His wanderings
+in strange lands added additional interest to His presence.
+
+A feeling that something unusual was about to happen began to creep
+over the crowd, as is the case often preceding such events. Mary, His
+mother, watched her son with longing eyes, for she saw that some
+strange change had come over Him, that was beyond her comprehension.
+
+Toward the end of the feast, it began to be whispered around among the
+near relatives that the supply of wine was about exhausted, the
+attendance having been much greater than had been expected. This, to a
+Jewish family, was akin to a family disgrace, and anxious looks began
+to be exchanged among the members of the immediate family.
+
+Tradition has it that Jesus was besought for aid by His mother and
+other female kinswoman. Just what they expected Him to do is not
+clear, but it is probable that they unconsciously recognized His
+greatness, and accorded Him the place of the natural Head of the
+Family, as being the most prominent member. At any rate, they asked
+His aid. What arguments they used, or what reasons they urged, we do
+not know, but whatever they were, they succeeded in winning Him to
+their side, and gaining from Him a promise of aid and assistance. But
+not until after He had remonstrated that these things were of no
+concern of His--that His powers were not to be trifled away in this
+manner. But His love for His mother, and His desire to reward her
+devotion and faith in Him, prevailed over the natural disinclination
+of the mystic to be a "wonder worker" and to exhibit his occult powers
+to grace a wedding-feast. He had long since learned the necessary but
+comparatively simple occult feat from His old Masters in far off
+India, that land of wonder-working. He knew that even the humbler
+Yogis of that land would smile at the working of such a simple
+miracle. And so the matter seemed to Him to be of but slight moment,
+and not as a prostitution of some of the higher occult powers. And
+feeling thus, He yielded to their requests for aid.
+
+Then moving toward the court in which were stored a number of great
+jars of water, he fixed a keen, burning glance upon them, one by one,
+passing His hand rapidly over them, in a quick succession, He made the
+Mental Image that precedes all such manifestations of occult power,
+and then manifesting His power by using His Will in the manner known
+to all advanced occultists, He rapidly materialized the elements of
+the wine in the water, within the jars, and lo! the "miracle" had been
+wrought.
+
+A wave of excitement passed over the crowded house. The guests flocked
+around the jars to taste of the wine that had been produced by occult
+power. The priests frowned their displeasure, and the authorities
+sneered and whispered "charlatan"; "fraud"; "shameful imposture"; and
+other expressions that always follow an occurrence of this kind.
+
+Jesus turned away, in grief and sorrow. Among the Hindus such a simple
+occult occurrence would have caused but little comment, while here
+among His own people it was considered to be a wonderful miracle by
+some, while others regarded it as a trick of a traveling conjurer and
+charlatan.
+
+What manner of people were these to whom He had decided to deliver the
+Message of Life? And, sighing deeply, He passed from the house, and
+returned to His camp.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIFTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORK.
+
+There is but an imperfect record in the Gospels of the first year of
+Jesus' ministry among the Jews. Theologians have spoken of it as the
+"Year of Obscurity," but the Occult traditions speak of it as a most
+important year of His ministry, for in it He laid firm foundations for
+His future work.
+
+He travelled all over the country, establishing little circles of
+disciples and centres of interest. In cities, towns, villages and
+hamlets, He left behind Him little bands of faithful students who kept
+alive the flame of Truth, which steadily kindled the lamps of others
+who were attracted by the light. Always among the humblest He labored,
+seemingly impressed with the idea that the work must be begun on the
+lowest rounds of society's ladder. But after a while a few of the more
+pretentious people began to attend the meetings, often brought there
+by curiosity. They came to smile and be amused, but many were
+impressed and remained to pray. The leaven had been well mixed in the
+loaf of Jewish society and it was beginning to work.
+
+Once more the season of the Feast of the Passover arrived and found
+Jesus with His followers in Jerusalem and in the Temple. What memories
+the scene awakened in His mind. He could see the same scenes in which
+He had participated seventeen years before. Once more He saw the
+pitiful slaughter of the innocent lambs, and witnessed the flow of the
+sacrificed blood over the altars and the stones of the floor of the
+courts. Once more He saw the senseless mummery of the priestly
+ceremonies, which seemed more pitiful than ever to His developed mind.
+He knew that His vision had shown that He was to be slaughtered even
+as the sacrificial lambs, and there arose in His mind that comparison
+which stayed with Him ever after--that picture of Himself as the Lamb
+sacrificed on the Altar of Humanity. As pure as was this figure in His
+mind, it seems pitiful that in the centuries to come His followers
+would fall into the error (as equally cruel as that of the Hebrews) of
+imagining that His death was a sacrifice demanded by a cruel Deity to
+satisfy the Divine Wrath which had been kindled by the sight of Man's
+shortcomings and sins. The barbarous conception of a wrathful God
+whose anger against His people could be appeased only by the bloody
+slaughter of innocent creatures, is fully equalled by the theological
+dogmas that the same Divine Wrath could be, and was, appeased by the
+blood of Jesus, the Master who had come to deliver the Message of
+Truth. Such a conception is worthy of only the most barbarous and
+primitive minds. And yet it has been preached and taught for
+centuries--in the very name of Jesus Himself--and men have been
+persecuted and put to death because they refused to believe that the
+Supreme Creator of the Universe could be such a malignant, cruel,
+revengeful Being, or that the One Mind of All could be flattered and
+cajoled into forgiveness by the sight of the death of the Man of
+Sorrows. It seems almost incredible that such a teaching could have
+arisen from the pure teachings of Jesus, and that such has been Man's
+incapacity to grasp the Inner Teachings, that the Church built upon
+Jesus' ministry has adopted and insisted upon the acceptance of such
+dogmas. But this baneful cloud of ignorance and barbaric thought is
+gradually lifting, until even now the intelligent minds in the Church
+refuse to accept or teach the doctrine in its original crudity, they
+either passing it over in silence, or else dressing it in a more
+attractive garb.
+
+Jesus taught no such barbarous things. His conception of Deity was of
+the highest, for He had received the most advanced teachings of the
+Mystics, who had instructed Him in the Mystery of the Immanent God,
+abiding everywhere and in all things. He had advanced far beyond the
+conception of Deity which pictured the One as a savage, bloodthirsty,
+vengeful, hating, tribal deity, ever crying for sacrifices and
+burnt-offerings, and capable of the meanest of human emotions. He saw
+this conception as He saw the conception of other races and peoples,
+all of which had their tribal or national gods, which loved that
+particular tribe or people, and which hated all other races or
+nationalities. He saw that back of, and behind, all these barbarous
+and primitive conceptions of Deity there dwelt an ever calm and serene
+Being, the Creator and Ruler of countless Universes--millions and
+millions of worlds--filling all space, and above all of the petty
+attributes that had been bestowed upon the petty gods of human
+creation. He knew that the God of each nation, of each person in fact,
+was but a magnified idea of the characteristics of the nation or
+individual in question. And he knew that Hebrew conception was no
+exception to this rule.
+
+To anyone having grown to an appreciation of the grandeur and
+greatness of the idea of an Immanent Universal Being, the dogma of a
+Deity demanding a blood sacrifice to appease its wrath is too pitiful
+and degrading to be worth even a moment's serious consideration. And
+to such a one the prostitution of the high teachings of Jesus by the
+introduction of such a base conception is a source of righteous
+indignation and earnest protest. The Mystics in the Christian Church
+throughout the centuries have never accepted any such teachings,
+although the persecution of the church authorities have prevented
+their protests being made openly until of late years. The Mystics
+alone have kept alive the Light of the Truth through the Dark Ages of
+the Christian Church. But now has come the dawn of a new day, and the
+Church itself is seeing the Light, and the pulpits are beginning to
+resound with the truth of Mystic Christianity. And in the years to
+come the Teachings of Jesus, the Master, will flow pure and clear,
+once more freed from the corrupting dogmas which so long polluted the
+Fount.
+
+As Jesus wandered silently through the courts and chambers of the
+Temple, His indignation was aroused by a sight which seemed to Him to
+portray more forcibly than aught else the degradation which had fallen
+upon the Temple by reason of the corruption of the priesthood. Grouped
+around the steps and outer courts of the Temple He saw the groups of
+brokers, money-changers and merchants who were doing a thriving
+business with the thousands of strangers attending the Feast. The
+money-changers were exchanging the coins of the realm for the inferior
+coins of the outlying regions, charging a large commission for the
+exchange. The brokers were buying articles, or loaning money on them,
+from the poor pilgrims, who were sacrificing their personal belongings
+for cash with which they might purchase the animals for the sacrifice.
+The merchants had droves of cattle, flocks of sheep and cages of doves
+within the sacred precincts of the Temple, which they were selling to
+the pilgrims who wished to offer sacrifices. Tradition has it that the
+corrupt priesthood profited by the sale of these "privileges" granted
+to this horde of traffickers in the Temple precincts. The vile
+practice had gradually crept in and established a firm foothold in the
+Temple, although contrary to the ancient practice.
+
+To Jesus the horrible scenes of the Temple sacrificial rites seemed to
+focus in this final exhibition of greed, materialism and lack of
+spirituality. It seemed to be blasphemy and sacrilege of the most
+glaring type. And His very soul felt nauseated and outraged by the
+sight. His fingers twitched, and laying hold of a bundle of knotted
+cords which had been used by some cattle-driver to urge forward his
+herd, He rushed forward upon the horde of traffickers, whirling His
+instrument of chastisement over the shoulders and backs of the
+offenders, driving them out in a frantic rout, upsetting their benches
+and paraphernalia, crying in a voice of authority, "Out, ye wretches!
+This is the House of the Lord, and ye have made it a den of thieves."
+The "Meek and lowly Nazarene" became an avenger of the prostitution of
+the Temple.
+
+The brokers, money-changers and merchants fled before His mighty
+charge, leaving their scattered money over the floors of the Temple.
+They dared not return, for Jesus had aroused the wrath of the people
+against them, and a cry arose for the old practice of protecting the
+sacred place against such invasion. But the traffickers sought out the
+High-priests and complained bitterly of this annulment of their
+"privileges" and "franchises," for which they had paid so highly. And
+the High-priests, being compelled to refund the price paid for the
+concessions, were much wrought up over the matter, and then and there
+swore vengeance against the Master who had dared interfere with their
+system of what the world now calls by the suggestive name of "graft."
+And this vengeance and hatred waxed stronger each moment, and was to a
+great extent the moving factor in the schemes and intrigues which two
+years later resulted in the frightful scene on Calvary.
+
+The succeeding months were filled with wanderings up and down the
+land, spreading the work and making new converts and followers. Jesus
+did not take the position of a great preacher at this time, but seemed
+to be rather a teacher of the few whom He gathered around Him at each
+point and place. He observed but few ceremonies, that of Baptism being
+the principal one, and which, as we have shown, was an Essenic rite
+having an occult and mystical significance. The students of the New
+Testament may read between its leaves the history of the ministry of
+Jesus at this time, noting the working of the leaven in the mass of
+the Jewish mind.
+
+About this time Jesus was sorely distressed at the terrible news which
+reached Him regarding the fate of his cousin, John the Baptist, who
+had been His Forerunner. The Baptist had dared to thrust his
+preachings and rebukes into the very precincts of a corrupt court, and
+had brought down upon his head the natural consequences of his
+rashness. Herod had thrust him into a gloomy dungeon and there were
+rumors of a worse fate yet in store for him. And that fate soon
+overtook him. Refusing the chance of life and liberty that was
+promised him if he would but break his vows of asceticism and indulge
+the passionate desires of a royal princess,--turning away from the
+base proposal with the horror of the true mystic,--he met his fate
+like a man knowing the Truth, and the head which graced the royal
+platter bore upon its face no expression of fear or regret. John had
+conquered even in Death.
+
+Jesus retired once more into the Desert upon the news of John's death
+reaching him. Added to His sorrow came the conviction that there was a
+new work set before Him to do. John's death necessitated a combining
+of the work of the Baptist with that of Jesus' own ministry. The
+followers of the two teachers must be combined into one great body,
+under the supervision of the Master Himself, aided by the most worthy
+and capable of His disciples. The tragic death of John played a most
+important part in the future ministry of the Master, and He sought the
+solace and inspiration of the Desert in His consideration of the plans
+and details of His new work. Students will note that from the time He
+emerged from the Desert He threw off the cloak of reserve and
+retirement and stepped boldly before the people as an ardent preacher
+to multitudes and an impassioned orator and public speaker. No more
+the little circle of appreciative students--the rostrum with the great
+crowds of hearers were His from that time.
+
+Returning from His work in Samaria and Judea, He once more made
+Galilee the scene of His principal work. The new spirit which He now
+threw into His preaching attracted the attention of the public, and
+enormous crowds attended His meetings. He spoke now with a new air of
+authority, differing greatly from His former mild tones as a teacher
+of the few. Parables and allegories and other rich Oriental figures of
+speech fell from His lips, and many of the educated classes flocked to
+hear the wonderful young orator and preacher. He seemed to have an
+intuitive insight into the minds of His hearers, and His appeals
+reached their hearts as personal calls to righteousness, right
+thinking and right living. From this time on His ministry assumed the
+character of an active propaganda, instead of the usual quiet mission
+of the Mystic.
+
+And here began that remarkable series of wonder workings or "miracles"
+which He evidently employed to attract the attention of the public and
+at the same time to perform kindly and worthy acts. Not that He used
+these wonder-workings as a bid for sensational interest or
+self-glory--the character of Jesus rendered such a course
+impossible--but He knew that nothing would so attract the interest of
+an Oriental race as occurrences of this kind, and He hoped to then
+awaken in them a real spiritual interest and fervor, which would rise
+far above the demand for "miracles." In adopting this course Jesus
+followed the example of the holy men in India, with whose works He was
+personally familiar, owing to His sojourn in that land.
+
+And, then let us say, that advanced occultists see nothing
+"supernatural" nor incredible in these "miracles" of Jesus. On the
+contrary, they know them to be the result of the application of
+certain well established natural laws, which, while almost unknown to
+the masses of people, are still known and occasionally made use of by
+the advanced occultists of all lands. Skeptics and unbelievers may
+sneer at these things, and many faint-faith Christians may wish to
+apologize or "explain" these wonderful happenings, but the advanced
+occultist needs no "explanations" nor apologies. He has more faith
+than the church-goer, for he knows of the existence and use of these
+occult powers latent in Man. There is no material effect or phenomenon
+that is "supernatural"--the Laws of Nature are in full operation on
+the material plane and cannot be overcome. But there are among such
+Natural Laws certain phases and principles that are so little known to
+the average mind that when they are manifested Nature's Laws seemed to
+be transcended, and the result is called "a miracle." The occult
+tradition tells us that Jesus was a past-master in the knowledge and
+application of the occult forces of nature, and that even the wonders
+that He wrought during His Jewish ministry were but as child's play
+when compared with those that He might have manifested had He seen fit
+to do so. In fact, it is believed that some of His greatest
+wonder-workings have never been recorded, for He always impressed upon
+His chosen followers the advisability of refraining from laying too
+much stress on these things. The "miracles" recorded in the Gospels
+were only those which were most widely known among the people. The
+greater-wonders were deemed too sacred for common gossip.
+
+When the Master and His followers reached Cana, which, by the way, had
+been the scene of his first "miracle"--the changing of the water into
+wine at the wedding feast--one of the most striking of His earlier
+manifestations of occult power occurred. An influential citizen of
+Capernaum, a town a score of miles distant, who met Him and besought
+His aid and power in the interest of his young son, who lay dying at
+his home. The man besought Jesus to hasten to Capernaum to heal the
+youth ere he die. Jesus smiled kindly upon him and bade him return to
+his son, for the youth was even now restored to health and strength
+and life. His hearers were astounded at the reply and the doubters
+smiled knowingly, foreseeing a defeat for the young Master when the
+news of the youth's death should become known. Those of His followers
+who were faint of heart and weak of faith felt most uncomfortable and
+began to whisper the "if" of doubt. But Jesus continued His working
+with a calm air of certainty, without further remarks. It was _the
+seventh hour_ of the day when the words were spoken.
+
+The father hastened homeward to see whether the Master had succeeded
+or failed. A day or two passed with no word from Capernaum. The
+scoffers of the wedding feast repeated their sneers and revilings--the
+word "charlatan" was again heard passing from lip to lip. Then came
+news from the distant village, and upon its arrival the voice of scorn
+was stilled, and the hearts of the faint again beat freely. The word
+came that when the father had reached his house he was greeted by the
+household with cries of joy and news that _at the seventh hour_ the
+fever had abated and the crisis had been passed.
+
+And yet the "miracle" above recorded was no greater than many
+occultists have performed in all times--no greater than the many
+similar cures that have been performed by the modern healers of the
+many metaphysical cults. It was simply an application of the subtle
+forces of nature called into operation by mental concentration. It was
+an instance of what in modern phrase is called "absent treatment"
+along metaphysical lines. In saying this we wish in no way to detract
+from the wonder that Jesus had wrought, but merely to let the student
+know that the power is still possessed by others and is not a
+"supernatural" thing but the operation of purely natural laws.
+
+About this time there occurred another event in His life, and a
+manifestation of His power which is noted in the New Testament and
+which is told in the occult tradition with somewhat more detail. It
+occurred when Jesus visited his home town of Nazareth on the eve of
+the Jewish Sabbath. He rested over night and then the following
+morning betook Himself to the regular services in the local synagogue.
+He took the seat which He had occupied as a young boy with Joseph. No
+doubt the familiar scene awakened memories of His strange youthful
+history in His mind. Then, much to His surprise, He heard Himself
+called to the platform to conduct the service. It must be remembered
+that Jesus was a regular rabbi, or priest, by birth, education and
+training, and was entitled to Conduct the Jewish service. No doubt His
+townspeople wished to hear their young townsman address and exhort
+them. He took the place of authority in the synagogue and proceeded to
+read the regular service in the accustomed manner, as prescribed by
+the custom and laws of the church. The prayers, chantings and readings
+succeeded each other in their regular order. Then came the preaching
+of the sermon. Taking the sacred roll from its receptacle, He read the
+text from Isaiah, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath
+anointed me to preach the good tidings," etc. Then He began his
+exposition of the text He had just read.
+
+But instead of the expected customary words and
+illustrations--technical theological hair-splitting and dreary
+platitudes--He began to preach in a manner unknown to the Nazarenes.
+His opening sentence broke the silence and greatly startled and
+disturbed the congregation. "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in
+your ears," were his opening words. And then He began a statement of
+His conception of His ministry and His Message. Thrusting aside all
+precedent and musty authority, He boldly proclaimed that He had come
+to establish a new conception of the Truth--a conception that would
+overturn the priestly policy of formalism and lack of spirituality--a
+conception that would ignore forms and ceremonies, and cleave close to
+the spirit of the Sacred Teachings. And then He began a scathing
+denunciation of the lack of spiritual advancement among the Jewish
+people--their materialism and desire for physical enjoyments and their
+drifting away from the highest ideals of the race. He preached the
+mystic doctrine, and insisted that they be applied to the problems of
+every-day life and conduct. He brought down the teachings of the
+Kaballah from the cloudy heights, and set them before the people in
+plain, practical form. He bade them aspire to great spiritual heights,
+forsaking the base ideals to which they had clung. He ran counter to
+every custom and prejudice of the people before Him, and showed a lack
+of reverence for all of their petty forms and traditions. He bade them
+leave the illusions of material life and follow the Light of the
+Spirit wherever it might lead them. These and many other things told
+He them.
+
+And then arose a disturbance among the congregation. They began to
+interrupt and question Him, and many were the contradictions and
+denials hurled at Him from the benches. Some began to sneer at His
+pretensions as the Bearer of the Message, and demanded that He work a
+wonder or "miracle" and give them a sign. This demand He flatly
+refused to grant, not deeming the same proper, or in accordance with
+the occult custom which always frowned upon wonder-working in response
+to such a demand. Then they began to abuse Him and cries of
+"charlatan" and "fraud" began to resound from the walls of the
+synagogue. They reminded Him of His humble birth and condition of His
+parents, and refused to believe that any such person as He had any
+right to claim extraordinary powers or privileges. Then came from His
+lips the famous saying, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his
+own country."
+
+Then He began a fresh assault upon their prejudices and narrow
+views--their pet superstitions and bigotry. He stripped from them
+their garb of hypocrisy and assumed piety, and showed them their naked
+souls in all their ugliness and moral uncleanliness. He poured burning
+invective and vitriolic denunciations into their midst, and spared no
+terms that could properly be applied to them. In a short time the
+congregation was beside itself with rage, and the pretended righteous
+indignation of a flock of hypocrites and formalists who had heard
+themselves described in disrespectful terms by one they regarded as an
+upstart young man from the lower classes of their virtuous community.
+They felt that they had bestowed a flattering honor upon Him, as a
+mark of consideration for a young townsman upon His return from a
+foreign and domestic missionary tour. And now to think that He had
+thus basely betrayed their courtesy and showed in how little esteem He
+really held them--surely this was beyond human endurance. And then the
+storm broke upon Him.
+
+Leaving their seats in the synagogue, the congregation rushed upon the
+young preacher, and tearing Him from the platform, they pushed Him out
+of the building. And then the jostling, hustling, pushing crowd
+carried Him before them along the village streets and out into the
+suburbs. He resisted not, deeming it unworthy to struggle with them.
+At last, however, He was compelled to defend Himself. He perceived
+that it was the intention of the mob to push Him over a precipice that
+had been formed on the side of a hill just beyond the town limits. He
+waited patiently until they had urged Him to the very brink of the
+decline, and until it needed but one strong push to press Him over its
+edge and into the gorge below. And then He exerted His occult forces
+in a proper self-defense. Not a blow struck He--not a man did He smite
+with the wondrous occult power at His command, which would have
+paralyzed their muscles or even have stretched them lifeless at His
+feet. No, he controlled Himself with a firm hand, and _merely bent
+upon them a look_. But such a look!
+
+A glance in which was concentrated the mighty Will developed by mystic
+knowledge and occult practice. It was the Gaze of the Occult Master,
+the power of which ordinary men may not withstand. And the mob,
+feeling its mighty force, experienced the sensation of abject fear and
+terror. Their hair arose, their eyes started from their sockets, their
+knees shook under them, and then, with a wild shout of horror they
+began to scatter and fly, making a wide pathway for the Man of Mystery
+who now strode through their ranks with that awful gaze which seemed
+to pierce the veil of mortality and to peer at things ineffable and
+beyond human ken. And with His eyes refusing to look again upon the
+familiar scenes of His youth, He departed from Nazareth, forsaking it
+forever as His home place. Verily, indeed, the Prophet hath no honor
+in His own land. Those who should have been His staunchest supporters
+were the first in His own land to threaten Him with violence. The
+attempt of Nazareth was the prophecy of Calvary, and Jesus so knew it.
+But He had set his feet upon The Path, and drew not back from it.
+
+Turning His back upon Nazareth, Jesus established a new centre or home
+in Capernaum, which place remained the nearest approach to home to Him
+during the remainder of His Ministry and until His death. The
+traditions have it that His mother came to live also at Capernaum,
+together with some of His brothers. It is also related that his
+sisters and brothers, both those remaining at Nazareth and those
+removing to Capernaum, were sorely vexed with Him at His conduct at
+the synagogue, which they deemed not "respectable" nor proper, and
+they accordingly looked upon Him as an eccentric relative whose
+vagaries had brought disrepute upon the family. He was regarded much
+in the light of a "black-sheep" and "undesirable relation" by all of
+His family except His mother, who still clung to her beloved
+first-born. The mother made her home with some of the brothers and
+sisters of Jesus, but He was not made welcome there, but was looked
+upon as an outcast and wanderer. He once spoke of this, saying that
+while the birds and beasts had nests and homes, He, the Son of Man,
+had nowhere to lay his head. And so He wandered around in His own
+land, as He had in foreign countries, an ascetic, living upon the alms
+of the people who loved Him and listened to His words. And in so doing
+He followed the plans and life of the Hindu ascetics, who even unto
+this day so live, "with yellow-robe and begging bowl," and "without
+money or scrip in their purses." The Jewish ascetic--for such was
+Jesus--has His counterparts in the wandering holy-men of India and
+Persia today.
+
+But it must be remembered that even in Jesus' time, the spectacle of a
+rabbi living this ascetic life, forsaking the emoluments of His
+priestly rank and deliberately taking up the roll of a poverty-stricken
+mendicant, was a rare one. It ran contrary to all the thrifty and
+prudent customs and ideals of the race. It was an importation from
+the Essenes, or from the strange people of far-off lands, and it was
+not relished by the Jewish authorities, or people who preferred the
+synagogues and Temple, with their sleek, well-fed priests, with fancy
+robes and attractive ceremonies.
+
+Making His base at Capernaum, Jesus began to form His band of
+disciples with more show of a working organization. To some He
+delegated certain authority, and bade them perform certain dues of the
+ministry. For some reason He selected some of His leading lieutenants
+from the ranks of the fishermen who plied their vocation along the
+waters of that port of the country. The fishers of fish became the
+fishers of men. Jesus became very popular among the fishing
+fraternity, and the legends, as well as the New Testament narratives,
+tell of instances in which He bade His poor fishermen friends (who had
+been unfortunate in their day's haul) to let down their nets at some
+point indicated by Him, when to their surprise and joy their nets
+would be filled to overflowing.
+
+Little acts of kindness bestowed here and there among the humbler
+classes tended to have Jesus looked upon and spoken of as a friend of
+the people, but which reputation excited the jealousy of the
+authorities who held that such acts could be prompted by none other
+than a selfish motive, and that motive the incitement of the masses to
+rebellion in the interest of Himself as a Messiah. And so, we see His
+very acts of kindness and compassion served to increase the suspicion
+and hatred which the authorities, both ecclesiastical and temporal,
+had always felt toward Him.
+
+His desire to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and wretched took
+Him much among these people and away from the so-called higher
+classes. The "plain people" were regarded by Him as the salt of the
+earth, and they, in turn, regarded Him as their champion and advisor.
+And especially to the sick did He devote His time and powers. He made
+many marvellous cures, a few only of which were recorded in the New
+Testament narratives. The occult legends state that these cures were
+of daily occurrence and that wherever He went He left behind Him a
+trail of people healed of all kinds of disorders, and that people
+flocked for miles to be healed of their infirmities. The Gospels
+relate that He cured great numbers of people by the simple process of
+laying on of hands (a favorite method of occult healers) "he laid his
+hands on every one of them and healed them."
+
+It is related that at Capernaum his attention was directed toward a
+madman, who suddenly cried out, "I know Thee, Thou Holy One of God,"
+whereupon Jesus spoke a few authoritative words and cured him of his
+malady, by methods that will describe the nature of the man's psychic
+disturbance to any advanced student of occultism. Demoniac possession
+is not believed in by orthodox Christians of today, but Jesus
+evidently shared the belief in obsession held by students of Psychism
+and similar subjects, judging from the words He used in relieving this
+man from his malady. We advise our students to read the Gospel records
+in connection with these lessons, in order to follow the subject along
+the old familiar paths, but with the additional light of the
+interpretation of Mystic Christianity.
+
+The growing reputation of Jesus as a healer of the sick soon taxed His
+physical powers to the utmost. He felt Himself called upon to do the
+work of a dozen men, and His nature rebelled at the unequal task
+imposed upon it. It seemed as if all Capernaum were sick. Her streets
+were crowded by seekers after health and strength. At last He
+perceived that His work as a Teacher was being submerged in His work
+as a Healer. And, after a period of prayer and meditation, He put
+aside from Him the claims of humanity for the healing of physical
+ills, and turning His back upon the waiting patients at Capernaum, He
+once more started forward on His pilgrimage as a Preacher of the
+Message, and thereafter would heal physical ills only occasionally,
+and, instead, devote the main portion of His time to preaching the
+Truth to those who were ready to hear it. It was a hard thing for a
+man with the tender heart of Jesus to leave behind Him the crowd of
+patients at Capernaum, but it was necessary for Him to do so, else He
+would have remained merely an occult healer of physical ailments
+instead of the Messenger of the Truth whose work it was to kindle in
+many places the Flame of the Spirit, that would serve as the true
+Light of the World long after the physical bodies of all then living
+had been again resolved to dust.
+
+And so, leaving behind Him Capernaum and its wailing multitudes, He,
+followed by His disciples, moved out toward the open country, to
+spread the glad tidings and to bring to the hearts of many "that peace
+which passeth all understanding."
+
+
+
+
+THE SIXTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE WORK OF ORGANIZATION.
+
+Leaving Capernaum behind Him, with its crowds of invalids seeking
+healing, and fighting off the demands that would have rendered Him a
+professional healer instead of a Teacher and preacher of the Message
+of Truth, Jesus passed on to other parts of the land, taking with Him
+the band of disciples and faithful followers who now traveled with
+Him.
+
+But He did not altogether relinquish His healing work. He merely made
+it an incident of His ministry, and did not allow it to interfere with
+His preaching and teaching. The Gospel narratives show a number of
+remarkable cures made by Him at this time, and the few recorded cases
+are, of course, merely occasional incidents that stand out in the
+minds of the people among hundreds of less noticeable cases.
+
+The cure of the leper is one of such remarkable cases. Leprosy was a
+foul disease much dreaded by the people of Oriental countries. And the
+unfortunate person afflicted by it became an outcast and pariah from
+whom all others fled as from an unclean and impure thing.
+
+There was a leper in the part of the country in which Jesus was
+traveling and teaching. He heard of the wonderful gift of healing
+accredited to the young preacher, and he determined to get into His
+presence and beg His aid. How the leper managed to get through the
+crowds and into the presence of Jesus is not known, but it must have
+required great strategy on his part, for such people were not
+permitted to pass in and among crowds of other people. But in some way
+the leper contrived to come face to face with Jesus as the latter
+walked alone in meditation, away from his followers.
+
+The loathsome creature raised its repulsive form, the picture of human
+misery and woe, and confronting the Master, demanded from Him the
+exercise of the Gift of Healing. No doubt of His power was in the
+leper's mind--his face shone with faith and expectation. Jesus gazed
+earnestly into the distorted features that shone with the fire of a
+fervent faith such as is rarely seen on the face of man, and touched
+with this testimony to His power and motives, He moved toward the
+leper, defying the laws of the country, which forbade the same. Not
+only this, but He even laid His hands upon the unclean flesh, defying
+all the laws of reason in so doing, and fearlessly passed His hand
+over the leper's face, crying aloud, "Be thou clean!"
+
+The leper felt a strange thrill running through his veins and over his
+nerves, and every atom of his body seemed to be tingling with a
+peculiar burning and smarting sensation. Even as he looked he saw the
+color of his flesh changing and taking on the hue of the flesh of the
+healthy person. The numbness departed from the affected portion of his
+body, and he could actually feel the thrill and tingle of the life
+currents that were at work with incredible speed building up new
+cells, tissue and muscle. And still Jesus held His hands against the
+flesh of the leper, allowing the life current of highly vitalized
+_prana_ to pour from His organism into that of the leper, just as a
+storage battery of great power replenishes and recharges an electrical
+appliance. And back of it all was the most potent, trained Will of the
+Master Occultist directing the work.
+
+And then He bade the healed man depart and comply with the laws
+regarding purification and change of garments, including the
+appearance before the priests to receive a certificate of cleanliness.
+And He also bade him that nothing should be said regarding the nature
+or particulars of the cure. For some good reason He wished to escape
+the notoriety or fame that the report of such a wonderful cure would
+be sure to excite.
+
+But alas! this was asking too much of human nature, and the healed
+leper, running with great leaps and bounds, began shouting and crying
+aloud the glad tidings of his marvelous cure, that all men might know
+what a great blessing had come to him. In spite of the injunction laid
+upon him, he began to sing aloud the praises of the Master who had
+manifested such an unheard-of power over the foul disease that had
+held him in its grasp until a few hours before. With wild gestures and
+gleaming eyes he told the story again and again, and it was taken up
+and repeated from person to person, until the whole town and
+countryside were familiar with the great news. Imagine such an event
+occurring in a small country town in our own land today, and you will
+realize what an excitement must have been occasioned in that home
+place of the leper.
+
+And then occurred that which Jesus had doubtless seen when He
+forbade the leper to repeat the news of the cure. The whole region
+became excited and immense crowds gathered around Him and His
+disciples, crying aloud for new wonders and miracles. The curious
+sensation-seekers were there in full force, crowding out those whom He
+wished to reach by His teachings. And more than this, great numbers of
+sick and crippled people crowded around Him crying for aid and cure.
+The scenes of Capernaum were repeated. Even the lepers began flocking
+in, in defiance of law and custom, and the authorities were beside
+themselves with anger and annoyance. Not only the temporal authorities
+and the priests were arrayed against Him, as of old, but now He
+managed to arouse the opposition of the physicians of those days, who
+saw their practice ruined by this man whom they called a charlatan and
+deceiver threatening and destroying the health of the people, whose
+physical welfare was safe only in their (the physicians') hands and
+keeping.
+
+And so Jesus was compelled to close His ministry at this place and
+move on to another village.
+
+Another case which attracted much attention was that which occurred in
+Galilee when He was preaching in a house. In the midst of His
+discourse both He and His audience were startled by the sight of a
+figure on a bed being lowered down among the crowd of listeners from
+the roof surrounding the open court in the center of the house. It was
+a poor paralyzed man whom friends had contrived to hoist up and then
+lower down before Jesus in such a manner as could not escape the
+attention of the Master. It is related that the piteous appeal of the
+sufferer, and the faith which had inspired such great energy on the
+part of his friends, attracted the interest and sympathy of Jesus, and
+He paused in His discourse and made another of those instantaneous
+cures which are possible only to the most advanced adepts in the
+science of spiritual healing.
+
+Then came the scene of the Wells of Bethesda--a region abounding in
+"healing waters" to which the sick and afflicted came to regain their
+health. The crowds of sick were being carried to the springs by
+friends or paid attendants, who pushed aside the weaker ones and
+fought their way to the wells. Jesus walked among the crowds, and at
+last His attention was attracted toward a poor fellow who lay upon his
+cot away off from the waters. He had no friends to carry him nearer,
+nor money for paid attendants. And he had not strength enough to crawl
+there himself. He filled the air with his moans and cries and
+bewailings of his unfortunate lot. Jesus walked up to him, and holding
+his attention by a firm look of authority and power, cried to him
+suddenly in a voice that demanded obedience, "Take up thy bed and
+walk!" The man, startled into obedience, did as directed, and much to
+his surprise, and that of the crowd gathered around, found that he was
+able to move about freely--a well man.
+
+This cure also aroused not only the greatest interest but also the
+antagonism of the ecclesiastical authorities. It appears that the cure
+had been made on the Sabbath day, and that it was against the
+ecclesiastical law to heal the sick in any way upon that day; and also
+that the patient had performed manual work on the Sabbath in carrying
+his bed upon the orders of the Healer. And the good pious folk, urged
+on by the priests, began to abuse and condemn the Healer and patient,
+after the manner of the formal pietists of all lands and times, even
+of our own. Clinging to the letter of the law, these people overlook
+its spirit--bound by the forms, they fail to see the meaning lying
+back of all forms and ceremonies.
+
+Braving the storm that was arising around Him, Jesus boldly walked to
+the Temple. He was plunged in a sea of conflicting opinions and
+voices. On the one hand was the healed man and those who sympathized
+with him, in earnest argument concerning the righteousness of the
+deed. But arrayed against these few were the good folk of the place
+who loudly denounced the Sabbath-breaker and demanded His punishment.
+Were the ancient laws of Moses to be thus defied by this presumptuous
+Nazarene, whose religious ideas were sadly lacking in orthodoxy?
+Surely not! Punish the upstart! And again Jesus was in actual peril of
+bodily hurt, or perhaps even death, owing to the religious bigotry of
+the orthodox people.
+
+Jesus was ever a foe to the stupid formalism and ignorant fanaticism
+regarding "holy days," which is ever a characteristic of certain
+classes of mind among people. On the above occasion, as well as upon
+other occasions, and notably upon the occasion of the Sabbath when He
+directed His hungry disciples to pick corn to satisfy their hunger,
+Jesus opposed the strict, ironclad law of Sabbath observance. He was
+ever filled with the idea that the "Sabbath was made for man, and not
+man for the Sabbath." There was nothing Puritanical about the Master,
+and in view of His attitude regarding this matter it is surprising to
+witness the attitude of some in our own time who, wearing His livery,
+oppose these teachings of His in theory and practice.
+
+And so, driven out once more by the intolerance and bigotry of the
+public, Jesus returned again to Galilee, His land of retreat and rest,
+and the scene of much of His best work. Galilee was filled with His
+many followers and admirers, and He was less in danger of disturbance
+and persecution there than in the neighborhood of Jerusalem. Large
+congregations attended His ministry there, and His converts were
+numbered by the thousand. The village contained many persons healed by
+His power, and His name was a household word.
+
+And upon His return He entered into a new stage of His work. He had
+decided to divide His ministry among His twelve most advanced
+disciples, as it had now reached proportions beyond His ability to
+personally control. And, as was customary to Him upon all great
+occasions, He sought the solitudes for meditation and spiritual
+strength before finally investing His twelve Apostles with the high
+authority of their mission. He spent the night on one of the hills
+near Capernaum, from which He descended the following morning, wearied
+in body from want of rest, but strong in soul and spirit.
+
+Then He gathered the Twelve around Him, and in a secret meeting
+divulged to them certain deep truths and secrets, adding certain
+instructions regarding healing work, and calling upon them for the
+highest allegiance to Him and His work.
+
+The Gospel narratives have but very little to say regarding Jesus'
+work in the instruction of the Twelve for their future mission. And
+the average student of the narratives goes on without thinking of the
+marvelous mental and spiritual development that must have been
+manifested by the Apostles during their transition from humble
+fishermen, and men of similar vocations, to highly developed teachers
+of advanced spiritual truths. To the occultist especially this
+ordinary view seems astounding, for he realizes the many arduous steps
+necessary to be trodden by the feet of the Neophyte before he becomes
+an Initiate, and the higher steps awaiting the Initiate before he may
+become a Master. And such a one realizes the mighty task that Jesus
+performed in developing and unfolding the spiritual natures of such a
+body of men until they become worthy to be His chosen representatives
+and teachers. The occult traditions have it that Jesus had pursued a
+systematic course of instruction of His chosen disciples, bringing
+them up rapidly through degree after degree of mystic attainment and
+occult knowledge, until finally they were ready for the finishing
+touches at His hands. And the occasion that we are now considering was
+the time when the final degrees were imparted to them.
+
+It must be remembered that the Apostles were endowed with the mastery
+of the occult forces of nature which enabled them to perform the
+"miracles" of healing similar to those of Jesus. And it must not be
+supposed for a moment that an occult Master of so high a degree of
+attainment as that reached by Jesus would have allowed His disciples
+to use such mighty power without also instructing them fully in the
+nature of the forces they were using, and of the best methods of
+employing the same. And such knowledge could not be imparted without
+the fundamental truths of nature being understood by them, which
+understanding was possible only to those who had grasped the great
+Basic Truths of the Science of Being.
+
+In short, the traditions are that the Twelve Apostles were gradually
+initiated into the great degrees of the Occult Brotherhoods of which
+and in which Jesus was a Master. He gathered together a great store of
+occult information and mystic lore, and condensing the same into a
+plain, practical, simple system, He imparted it fully and thoroughly
+to those whom He had elected to be His chief co-workers and His
+successors after His death, which He knew full well was not far off.
+
+These facts must be fully understood by the student of Mystic
+Christianity who wishes to grasp the secret of the early Christian
+Church after the death of Christ. The wonderful headway manifested by
+the movement could not have been given by mere followers and believers
+in the Master. It usually follows that when the great head of an
+organization dies the movement disintegrates or loses power unless he
+has been able to "communicate his spirit" to some chosen followers.
+And this Jesus did. And it was only to men who thoroughly grasped the
+fundamental truths and principles of His teachings that such "spirit"
+could have been imparted.
+
+There was an exoteric teaching for the multitude, and an esoteric
+teaching for the Twelve. There are many Scriptural passages which go
+to show this fact, which was well known to the early Fathers of the
+Church. And upon the occasion which we have mentioned the last great
+Basic Truths were explained to the Twelve, and from that time
+henceforward they were regarded and treated as Masters by Jesus, and
+not as mere students, as had been the case before that time. And
+arising from that final instruction came the Sermon of the Mount.
+
+The Sermon of the Mount, that most wonderful and complete of any of
+the public utterances of Jesus, was delivered almost immediately after
+the Choosing of the Twelve Apostles. And it was intended even more for
+them than for the multitudes gathered around to hear His preaching. He
+knew that the Twelve could interpret it by reason of the Inner
+Teachings that they had received from Him. And almost forgetting the
+congregation gathered around and about Him, He elucidated the Inner
+teachings for the benefit of the Chosen Few.
+
+The Sermon of the Mount can be understood only by means of the Master
+Key of the Inner Teachings, which opens the door of the mind to an
+understanding of the hard sayings and veiled mystic import of many of
+His precepts. We shall devote considerable space in one of our later
+lessons of this series to a consideration of the Inner Meaning of this
+great sermon and teaching, and therefore shall not go into details
+regarding it in the present lesson, deeming it better to proceed with
+the story of the Master's Work.
+
+A few days after the delivery of the Sermon of the Mount, the Master
+left Capernaum and traveled from town to town visiting His various
+centers of teaching, as was His custom. On the journey Jesus performed
+a feat of occult power that proved Him to be one of the Highest Adepts
+of the Occult Brotherhoods, for to none other would such a
+manifestation have been possible. Even some of the highest Oriental
+Masters would have refused to undertake the task that He set before
+Himself to do.
+
+The company was leisurely proceeding on its way, when nearing a small
+town they met a funeral procession coming in their direction. Preceded
+by the band of women chanting the mournful dirges according to the
+Galileean custom, the cortege slowly wended its way. The etiquette of
+the land required strangers to join in the mourning when they came in
+contact with a funeral procession, and the company assumed a mournful
+and respectful demeanor, and many joined in the dirge which was being
+chanted by the procession.
+
+But Jesus invaded the privacy of the procession in a manner shocking
+to those who held closely to the familiar forms and customs. Stepping
+up to the bier, He stood in front of it and bade the carriers halt and
+set it down. A murmur of indignation ran through the ranks of the
+mourners, and some strode forward to rebuke the presumptuous stranger
+who dared to violate the dignity of the funeral in this way. But
+something in His face held them back. Then a strange feeling passed
+over the crowd. Jesus was known to a number of the mourners, and some
+of those who had witnessed some of His wonder-workings began to
+whisper that strange things were about to happen, and the ranks were
+broken as the people flocked around the Master at the bier.
+
+The corpse was that of a young man, and his widowed mother stood
+beside the pale figure stretched upon the bier, and spreading her arms
+in front of it, she seemed to ward off the profaning touch of the
+strange man who confronted it. But the stranger looked upon her with a
+look of transcendent love, and in a voice vibrant with the tenderest
+feeling said unto her, "Mother, weep not--cease thy mourning." Amazed,
+but impressed, she turned an appealing gaze to Him who had thus bidden
+her. Her mother love and instinct caught a new expression in His eyes,
+and her heart bounded with a wonderful hope of something, she knew not
+what. What did the Nazarene mean? Her boy was dead, and even God
+Himself never disturbed the slumber of the body from which the spirit
+had flown. But still what meant that expression--why that leap and
+throbbing of her heart?
+
+Then with a gesture of authority the Master caused the crowd to draw
+back from the bier, until at last there remained only the corpse, the
+mother and Himself in a cleared space in the center. Then a strange
+and wonderful scene began. With His gaze fixed upon the face of the
+corpse, and in an attitude that indicated a supreme effort of His
+will, the Master was seen to be making some mighty effort which called
+into play the highest forces at His command. The Apostles, having been
+instructed by Him in Occult power, recognized the nature of the
+manifestation, and their faces paled, for they knew that He was not
+only pouring out His vital force into the body in order to recharge it
+with _prana_, but that He was also essaying one of the highest and
+most difficult of occult feats--that of summoning back from the Astral
+Plane the higher vehicles and the Astral Body--the very soul of the
+youth--and forcing it once more into its mortal frame, which He had
+recharged with vital energy and strength. They knew that He, by the
+mightiest effort of His will, was reversing the process of death. And
+with a full appreciation of the real nature of the wonder that was
+being worked before them, their limbs trembled beneath them and their
+breath came from them in gasps.
+
+Then cried the people, "What saith this man to the corpse?" "Arise,
+youth! Open thine eyes! Breathe freely! Arise, I say unto
+thee--arise!" Did this stranger dare to defy God's own decree?
+
+The corpse opened its eyes and stared around in wild amaze, the glare
+not fully faded away! Its chest heaved in great agonizing gasps as if
+fighting again for life! Then its arms were lifted up--then its legs
+began to move--now it raised itself upright and began to babble
+meaningless words--now the look of recognition came into its eyes, and
+its arms clasped themselves around the mother's neck, while sob after
+sob broke from its lips! The dead lived--the corpse had come to life.
+
+The people fell back overcome with the awful terror of the sight, and
+the funeral procession scattered in all directions, until only the
+sobbing mother and the youth remained, weeping in their mutual love
+and joy, and forgetting even the Master and His followers in their
+great flood of affection.
+
+And, leaving them thus, Jesus and His followers passed away on their
+pilgrimage. But the fame of the miracle spread from town to town, even
+up to the great capital, Jerusalem. And men wondered or doubted,
+according to their natures, while the temporal and ecclesiastical
+authorities began to again ask themselves and each other whether this
+man were not a dangerous person and an enemy to established custom and
+order.
+
+In one of His journeys Jesus found Himself invited to the house of a
+leading citizen of the town in which He was preaching. This citizen
+was one of the class known as Pharisees, whose characteristics were an
+extreme devotion and adherence to forms and ceremonies and a bigoted
+insistence upon the observance of the letter of the law. The Pharisees
+were the ultra-orthodox center of an orthodox people. They were the
+straight-laced brethren who walked so erect that they leaned backward.
+They were the people who thanked God that they were not like unto
+other men. They were the "uncommonly good" members of church and
+society. The very name stands even unto this day as a synonym for
+"pious sham."
+
+Just why this Pharisee had invited the Master to dine with him is not
+easily understood. It is likely that it was a combination of curiosity
+and a desire to entrap his guest into statements and admissions that
+might be used against him. At any rate, the invitation was given and
+accepted.
+
+The Master noted that certain little ceremonies usually extended by
+the Hebrews to a guest of equal standing were omitted by His host. His
+head was not anointed with the ceremonial oil, as was the custom in
+houses of this character when the guest was honored as an equal or
+desirable addition to the family gathering. Clearly He was regarded as
+a curiosity or "freak" rather than as a friend, and had been invited
+in such a spirit. But He said nothing, and passed over the slight. And
+the meal passed along smoothly up to a certain point.
+
+The host and his guests were reclining easily, after the Oriental
+fashion, discussing various topics, when a woman pressed her way into
+the banquet hall. Her dress proclaimed her to be one of the women of
+easy virtue abounding in all Oriental towns. She was clad in showy
+apparel and her hair fell loosely over her shoulders after the custom
+of the women of her kind in that land. She fixed her eyes upon the
+Master and moved slowly toward him, much to the annoyance of the host,
+who feared a scene, for the Master would most likely administer a
+rebuke to the woman for presuming to intrude upon the presence of Him,
+a spiritual teacher.
+
+But the woman still pressed forward toward Him, and at last, bending
+down low, her head touching His feet, she burst into tears. She had
+heard the Master preach some time before, and the seeds of His
+teaching had taken root and had now blossomed within her heart; and
+she had come to acknowledge her allegiance and to render an offering
+to Him whom she revered. The coming into His presence was her token of
+a spiritual regeneration and a desire to begin a new life. Her tears
+flowed over His feet, and she dried them off with her long hair. Then
+she kissed His feet, as a token of her allegiance and worship.
+
+From her neck hung a chain holding a little box filled with precious
+perfumed oil, which she esteemed highly, as did all the people of her
+race. The oil was of the nature of attar of roses and was the
+essential oil extracted from fragrant blossoms. She broke the seal and
+poured the fragrant oil over the hands and feet of the Master, who
+rebuked her not, but who accepted the tribute even from such a source.
+The host began to indulge in thoughts not flattering to the
+intelligence of his guest, and a scarcely concealed sneer appeared on
+his lips.
+
+Then Jesus turned to His host and with a smile said to him: "Simon, in
+thy mind thou thinkest these words: 'If this man be indeed a prophet,
+would he not know what manner of woman this be who toucheth him, and
+would he not rebuke her and drive her from him?'" And the Pharisee was
+sorely confused, for the Master had read his thought word for word by
+the method known to occultists as telepathy. And then in gentle
+raillery the Master called his host's attention to the fact that the
+woman had performed the service which he, the host, had neglected to
+observe. Had she not bathed and dried His feet, as the Pharisee would
+have done had his guest been deemed worthy of honor? Had she not
+anointed Him with precious oil, as the host would have anointed an
+honored guest? Had she not impressed upon even His feet the kiss that
+etiquette required the host to impress upon the cheek of the esteemed
+visitor to his house? And as for the character of the woman, it had
+been fully recognized and forgiven. "Much hath been forgiven her, for
+she hath loved greatly." And, turning to the woman, He added, "Go in
+peace, for thy sins are forgiven thee." And the woman departed with a
+new expression on her face and a firm resolve in her heart, for the
+Master had forgiven and blessed her.
+
+But by this act Jesus brought upon His head the hatred of the Pharisee
+and his friends. He had dared rebuke the host in his own palace, and
+had moreover arrogated to Himself the sacred rite to pronounce
+remission of sins, a right vested solely in the high-priest of the
+Temple, upon the performance of certain ceremonies and sacrifices upon
+the altar. He had flung defiance at vested ecclesiastical right and
+functions, even in the house of one of the stanchest adherents of
+formalism and authority--a Pharisee.
+
+In this incident was shown not only the broadness of Jesus' views and
+the universality of His love, as well as His courage in defying the
+hated formalism, even in the palace of its stanchest advocates, but
+also His attitude toward women. The Jews as a race held women in but
+scant esteem. They were not deemed worthy to sit with the men in the
+synagogue. It was deemed unworthy of a man to mention his female
+relations in general company. They were regarded as inferior in every
+way to men, and were treated as almost unclean in their most sacred
+natural functions.
+
+Toward fallen women especially Jesus was ever considerate. He saw
+their temptation and the social cruelty of their position. He resented
+"the double standard" of virtue which allowed a man to commit certain
+offenses and still be respected, while the woman who committed the
+same offense was damned socially, reviled and treated as a shameful
+outcast. He was ever ready to voice a defense for women of this kind,
+and seemed to be ever actuated by the sense of injustice in the
+attitude of men toward them, which finally voiced itself on a notable
+occasion when called upon to pass judgment upon the woman taken in
+adultery: "Let him among ye who is without sin cast the first stone."
+No wonder that the outcast woman kissed His feet and poured out the
+precious ointment upon Him. He was the Friend to such as she.
+
+
+
+
+THE SEVENTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
+
+The ministry of Jesus went on in about the same channels. Wandering
+here and there throughout the country, preaching and teaching in this
+town and that village, gathering around Him new followers, Jesus
+continued His work. He adapted Himself to His audience, giving to each
+what it needed, and not making the mistake of speaking over the heads
+of the people. He gave the general public the broad general teachings
+that they required, but He reserved the Inner Teachings for the Inner
+Circle of His followers whom He knew to be fit to receive the same. In
+this He showed a deep knowledge of men, and a strict accordance with
+the established custom of the mystics, who never make the mistake of
+giving the higher spiritual mathematics to the students who are
+learning the addition, subtraction and division rules of the occult.
+He cautioned His apostles regarding this point of teaching, even going
+so far as warning them positively and strongly against "casting pearls
+before swine."
+
+One night He was in a boat crossing the lake of Gennesaret, in company
+with some of His fisherman followers. Tired out by the strenuous work
+of the day, He wrapped Himself up in His robe and fell into a deep
+sleep, from which He was later awakened by a noise and commotion among
+the crew and passengers. A terrible lake storm had sprung up, and the
+little vessel was tossing and pitching about among the waves in a
+manner which gave concern to even the experienced fishermen who manned
+her. The sails had been torn off, carrying away with them a portion of
+the mast, and the boat refused to respond to her rudder, the steering
+gear being rendered useless. The crew became panic-stricken and
+rushing to Jesus besought Him to save them from death in the storm.
+"Master! Master! Help ere we perish. The boat is foundering! Save us,
+Master!"
+
+The Master arose and, using His occult power, caused the winds to
+cease their tempestuous activity, and the waves to become calm. He
+followed the Oriental occultists' custom of voicing His commands in
+words, not that the words had any virtue in themselves, but because
+they served a vehicle for His concentrated thought and focused will
+which He was using in his manifestation of occult power. With this
+knowledge of the process, occultists smile when they read the _naïve_
+account of the occurrence in the Gospels, where Jesus is described as
+addressing and rebuking the rebellious winds and then gently and
+kindly soothing the waters with words of "Peace, be still!" The
+fishermen who witnessed the occurrence, and from whom the reports
+thereof spread among the people, not understanding the nature of
+occult manifestations, thought that He was addressing the winds as
+actual entities, rebuking them and bidding them cease their vicious
+work, and soothing the sea in the same manner.
+
+They did not comprehend the mental processes back of the words, and in
+their simplicity thought that He was actually rebuking the wind and
+soothing the waters. All occultists know that in "treating" material
+conditions the process is rendered much easier and simpler if we will
+but think of and "speak to" the condition as if it had intelligence
+and actual being, thus more easily directing the forces.
+
+Obeying the thought and will of the Master, the winds abated their
+fury and the waters ceased their troubling. Gradually the boat rested
+easily upon the bosom of the lake, and the crew breathed freely once
+more, and then began their work of righting the mast and steering
+gear. And they wondered as they worked and asked each other "What
+manner of man is this, whom even the winds and the waters obey?" And
+Jesus, looking sadly at them, voiced that cry of the mystic who knows
+of the inherent and latent powers of man over material conditions,
+awaiting the exercise of the Will that may be exercised only in
+response to a great Faith. He answered them, saying, "Oh, ye of little
+Faith. What had you to fear?"
+
+To the mystic it seems strange that people are able to read the Gospel
+accounts of the above and similar events and yet see no more in them
+than a mere recital of miracles wrought by some supernatural power. To
+the reader who has learned the fundamental truths, the New Testament
+record of the wonder-working of Jesus, even as imperfect as that
+record is, is full of advanced occult instructions stated so plainly
+that it seems as if even the casual reader must recognize it. But no,
+the old rule is still in force--each reads only that for which he is
+ready--each must bring something to a book, before he may expect to
+take anything away from it--to him that hath shall be given. Ever the
+same old mystic truth, manifest ever and ever, at all times and in all
+places. It is a fundamental law of the mind.
+
+The journey across the lake was attended by another manifestation of
+occult power which is often passed over by the church teachers without
+comment, or at least with a labored endeavor to "explain" the evident
+meaning of the narrative. The modern materialistic trend of thought
+has invaded even the churches and has caused the preachers and
+teachers to endeavor to escape the accusation of "believing in
+spirits" and similar phenomena of the Astral World.
+
+When the company reached the coast of Gergesa, on the opposite side of
+the lake, it disembarked and Jesus and His disciples pressed in toward
+the coast towns. As they passed among the cliffs lining the shore,
+they perceived two uncanny wandering figures which, gibbering,
+followed them along. The two maniacs, for such they were, approached
+the party, and one of them began to address the Master in a strange
+manner, beseeching Him to relieve the two of the devils possessing
+them. He called aloud, "O Master, thou Son of the Living God, have
+mercy upon us, and drive away the unclean things that we have allowed
+to enter into us."
+
+The Gospels say nothing regarding the cause of this demoniac
+obsession, and the preachers prefer to pass over it rapidly, or else
+to treat it as a delusion of the insane, notwithstanding the direct
+statement of the New Testament narrative and its sequel or concluding
+statement. But the occult traditions have it that these two men were
+victims of their dabbling into certain phases of psychic phenomena,
+i.e., the "raising up of spirits" by the arts of Black Magic. In other
+words, these men had been experimenting along the lines of Jewish
+Necromancy, or Invocation and Evocation of Disembodied Astral
+Intelligences by means of Conjuration. They had raised up Astral
+Intelligences that had then refused to retire to their own plane, but
+which had taken possession of the physical organisms of their invokers
+and had remained in possession, causing the men to be regarded as
+maniacs, which resulted in their becoming outcasts among the caves
+with which the cliffs abounded, the same places being also the tombs
+of the dead. We do not wish to go into details here regarding this
+matter, but we wish to give the occult explanation of this little
+understood "miracle" of Jesus, which, however, is clearly understood
+by all occultists.
+
+Jesus fully understood the nature of the trouble, and began at once to
+drive out these invading Astral Intelligences by means of his occult
+power. In a few moments, a cry was heard from the hills near by, and a
+great herd of swine were seen rushing down the hill, and in a moment
+were over the precipice and were soon drowned. The Gospel narrative is
+perfectly plain on this subject--it states that the legions of devils
+had passed from the men into the swine and the latter had plunged in
+terror into the water and were drowned. Jesus had distinctly and
+positively spoken to the demons, calling them "unclean spirits," and
+bidding them "come out" of the men. And all advanced students of
+Occultism understand why the pigs were used as intermediate
+instruments of the driving back of the Astral Intelligences to their
+own plane of life, which reason, however, is not in place or keeping
+in this work intended for general public reading.
+
+The maniacs were restored to their normal condition, and the
+traditions say that the Master instructed them regarding the evil
+courses which they had been pursuing, and bade them desist from their
+nefarious practices which had wrought such evil consequences upon
+them.
+
+The church and its preachers, with but few exceptions, have seen fit
+to ignore the frequent Biblical allusions to "devils," "demons," etc.;
+their position being practically that the writers of the events of
+Jesus' ministry (whom they otherwise consider to have been "inspired")
+must have been superstitious, credulous people believing in "the
+absurd demonology of their times." They ignore the fact that Jesus
+Himself repeatedly spoke to these intelligences, bidding them depart
+from the people whom they had been obsessing. Does the church wish to
+hold that the Master was also an ignorant, credulous peasant, sharing
+popular superstitions? It would seem so. We must except the Catholic
+Church from this criticism, for its authorities have recognized the
+true state of affairs and have warned its followers against indulging
+in the dark practices of Necromancy or Invocation of Astral
+Intelligences.
+
+Occult science informs its students of the various planes of life,
+each of which contains its inhabitants. It teaches that on the Astral
+Plane there are disembodied entities which should not be transplanted
+to our plane. And it warns all against the dark practices, so common
+in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, of invoking and evoking these
+undesirable denizens of that plane. It is to be regretted that some of
+the modern Psychic Researchers ignore these plain warnings, for some
+of them are laying themselves open to grave consequences by reason of
+their wilful folly. We urge upon our readers to refrain from this
+dabbling in the phenomena of the Astral Plane. Some writer has well
+compared "Psychism" to a great machine, in the cog-wheels of which
+persons may become entangled only to be afterward drawn into the
+machine itself. Keep away from the wheels!
+
+This "miracle" of Jesus aroused great excitement, and it was urged
+against Him that He was going about the country driving devils into
+people's flocks and herds, causing their destruction. The priests
+fomented the popular feeling, and encouraged the distrust, hatred and
+fear which the orthodox portion of the community was beginning to
+entertain toward the Master. The seeds of Calvary were being sown
+among the people. And their awful fruit was latent in them. Hate and
+bigotry were the essence of both seed and fruit.
+
+Jesus returned to Capernaum, and once more the little town was crowded
+with people seeking instruction and crying to be healed. The news of
+his wonderful healing power spread far and near, and people were
+carried on litters for many miles in order that they might be touched
+by the hands of the Master.
+
+About this time there came to Him one Jairus, a man of eminence in the
+community and in the church. Jairus had a little daughter about twelve
+years of age, who was taken seriously ill, and who had been given up
+as incurable by the physicians.
+
+With his daughter lying at death's door, Jairus hastened to the scene
+of the Master's meetings, and, throwing himself at His feet, besought
+Him to heal his beloved child ere she passed beyond the dark portals
+of the unknown. The Master, feeling compassion for the father's great
+grief, paused in His teaching and started toward Jairus' home. His
+mind charged with the concentration of healing thought, and His
+organism filled with the vital forces aroused to perform the task, He
+felt some one touch the hem of His garment in search of healing power,
+and He at once recognized the occurrence, saying, "The power hath been
+drawn from me. Who touched my garment?" As they approached the house
+of Jairus, the servants came running out with wild cries and
+lamentations, announcing that the child had died while awaiting the
+coming of the Healer. The father broke down at this terrible news,
+coming at the very moment of his greatest hope. But Jesus bade him to
+have faith and still believe. Then, accompanied by three of His
+disciples--John, Peter and James--He entered the chamber of death.
+Waving back the weeping family and the neighbors who had gathered,
+"Stand back," He cried, "the child is not dead--she but sleepeth."
+
+An indignant cry went up from the orthodox relatives and friends at
+these words of the Master. How dared He so mock the very presence of
+the dead, whom the physicians had left, and over whom the priests had
+already begun the last sacred rites? But, heeding them not, the Master
+passed His hands over the child's head, and took her little cold palms
+within his own. Then began a strange happening. The little chest began
+to heave, and the white wan cheeks began to show traces of color. Then
+the arms and hands began to move, and the wasted limbs drew slightly
+up. Then, opening her eyes with a wondering look, the child gazed at
+the Healer and smiled gently at Him. Then the Master, with a look of
+gentle tenderness, withdrew from the room, after ordering that
+nourishing food be brought for the child.
+
+Then began the usual dispute. Some declared that another had been
+raised from the dead, while others declared that the child had but
+been in a trance and would have awakened anyway. Had not even the
+Healer declared that she only slept? But Jesus heeded not the
+disputants, but returned to the scene of His work.
+
+The work went on in its accustomed way. He began to send His apostles
+away on longer and more extended tours, having fully instructed them
+in the occult methods of healing. Great success attended their efforts
+and the best reports came in from all sides. The authorities
+recognized to a still greater extent the growing influence of the
+young Master, and His actions were still more closely watched by the
+spies. Reports of His teachings and work were carried to Herod, who,
+recognizing in them the same note that had been struck by John the
+Baptist, who had been put to death, perceived that though men might
+die, the spirit of their teachings would still live on. No wonder the
+guilty ruler should cry in terror, "This verily is the spirit of John,
+whom I put to death, risen from the grave to wreak vengeance upon me!"
+And the authorities reported to Rome that here was a young fanatic,
+whom many believed to be the Messiah and coming King of the Jews, who
+had thousands of followers all over the land. And word came back from
+Rome, in due time, to watch carefully over the man, who was
+undoubtedly striving to incite an insurrection, and to imprison Him or
+put Him to death as soon as the evidence was sufficient to convict
+Him.
+
+Jesus about this time was near a small fishing town called Bethseda,
+on the lake about seven miles from Capernaum. Near this place His boat
+landed at a place on the beach where He had hoped to take a few days'
+rest. But, alas, a great crowd had hastened to the place of
+disembarkation, and now gathered around Him, demanding teaching and
+healing. Putting aside His mental and physical fatigue, He attended to
+the wants of the crowd. Healing now, and then teaching, He threw
+Himself into His work with fervor and zeal. There were over five
+thousand people gathered together around Him, and toward evening the
+cry went up that there was not sufficient food in the camp to begin to
+feed the multitude. A great tumult arose among the crowd, and
+complaints and even curses began to be heard. The spiritual wants were
+forgotten, and the physical began to manifest itself in a most
+insistent manner. What was to be done?
+
+He called together those of His company who had been entrusted with
+the care of the food which the little company carried with it. And, to
+His sorrow, He learned that the entire stock of food consisted of five
+loaves of bread and two fishes. And the little band carried
+practically no money with it, for they depended upon the hospitality
+of the country and the offerings by the faithful. The disciples
+advised that the Master order the crowd to disperse and return to
+Bethseda for food. But Jesus felt loath to do this, particularly when
+there were so many invalids in the gathering who had traveled so many
+miles to see Him, and who had not yet been healed. And so He decided
+to give the company its food by means of His power.
+
+He bade His people divide the multitude into little groups of fifty
+people, who were then instructed to be seated for a meal. Then He
+ordered the scanty supply of available food to be brought before Him,
+and, placing His hands over it, He offered a blessing, then ordered
+His people to serve the throng. They began to serve out the food with
+looks of wonder and amazement. Had the Master lost His senses? But in
+some way the food seemed miraculously to increase and multiply, until
+at last all of the five thousand had been fully supplied and their
+hunger appeased. And then, after all had been served and had eaten,
+the scraps and fragments which were gathered up filled many wicker
+baskets and were distributed to the poorer people in the company for
+tomorrow's use.
+
+But trouble arose. The people, with well filled stomachs, feeling that
+here indeed was royal bounty and the power with which to feed them
+forever free of charge, began to wax enthusiastic and shouts ascended.
+"The Messiah! King of the Jews! Provider of the People! Son of David!
+Ruler over Israel!" were the words which soon swept the crowd off of
+its feet. And then some of the bolder ones, or else the hired spies
+who wished to place Him in a compromising position, began to suggest
+that the crowd form itself into an army and march from city to city
+with Jesus at its head, until at last they would place Him upon the
+throne of Israel at Jerusalem. Jesus, recognizing the peril to His
+mission, managed to dissuade the hot-heads from their plans, but still
+fearing that the authorities might come down upon the assemblage,
+ordered that the Twelve take the boat and put out for the other side
+of the lake. He sent them off as a precaution, but He, Himself,
+remained with the crowd and faced the threatened danger.
+
+He retired to the hills near by and spent the night in meditation.
+Then early in the morning, He noticed that a storm was rising over the
+lake and that the tiny boat containing His disciples would be in great
+danger. In a few moments they might be overwhelmed. He wished to be
+with them to comfort and re-assure them. No boat being handy, he
+stepped boldly out upon the water and walked rapidly toward the
+direction in which He knew the boat must be. Scarcely conscious of the
+occult power of levitation that He was using to overcome the power of
+gravitation, He moved rapidly toward His followers. Soon He overtook
+them, and they, seeing a white figure moving swiftly over the water
+toward them, were affrighted, believing it to be a spirit or ghost.
+"It is I, be not afraid!" called out the Master to them. Then Peter
+cried out, "Lord, if Thou it be, direct me to walk to Thee also on the
+waves!" And the Master, smiling, so directed him. And Peter, whose
+latent occult power was aroused by his great faith in the Master,
+sprang over the side and took several steps toward Him. But, suddenly
+losing his faith and courage, his power also left him, and he began to
+sink beneath the waves. But the Master grasped his hand and led him in
+safety to the boat and both entered it. Then the crew fell to and with
+great enthusiasm righted the boat and proceeded to the shore near
+Capernaum.
+
+In the case of Peter and his experience in walking on the water, we
+have a striking instance of the well known power of the mental
+attitude of Faith in the manifestation of occult power. All occultists
+know this, and without feeling an implicit faith in the Power with
+them, they do not attempt certain forms of manifestation. They know
+that with Faith miracles may be performed which are impossible
+otherwise. So long as Peter held his Faith he was able to counteract
+certain laws of nature by means of other laws not so well known. But
+as soon as Fear took the place of Faith his power left him. This is an
+invariable occult principle, and in the recital of this story of Peter
+on the water is to be found a whole volume of occult instruction--to
+those who are able to read it.
+
+Arriving safely on the shores of the lake, Jesus resumed His work
+while the ever-present gathering of people went on in its accustomed
+way. But on the opposite shore of the lake the crowd who had been fed
+on the loaves and fishes were in an angry mood. They cried out that
+they had been deserted by their leader, and that the expected loaves
+and fishes--the free meals that they had expected would continue--had
+been denied them. They also complained bitterly that the reign of
+miracles had not continued. And they began to revile the Master that
+they had acclaimed the night before. And so Jesus experienced the
+ingratitude and the unreasonable words of the public just as all great
+teachers have done. The seekers after the loaves and the fishes,
+demanding to be fed and clothed without their own work--the seekers
+after miracles, demanding fresh wonder-workings--have ever been the
+bane of the great Teachers of the Truth. It is a hard and bitter
+truth, but all teachers and true lovers of the Truth must learn to
+meet and understand it. The mob which reveres a spiritual Master today
+is equally ready to rend him to pieces tomorrow.
+
+And still more trouble arose from this mistaken kindness which led
+Jesus to feed the crowd by His occult powers, which, by the way, He
+knew to be in opposition to the well-established custom of the Occult
+Brotherhoods. The formalists, Pharisees and Scribes, having heard of
+the occurrence, gathered about the Master and accused Him of violating
+one of the forms and ceremonies prescribed by the ecclesiastical
+authorities--the rite which required the faithful to wash their hands
+before beginning a meal. They accused Him of heresy and false
+teaching, which tended to lead the people away from their accustomed
+ceremonies and observances. Jesus waxed indignant and, turning on His
+critics, hurled burning replies upon them. "Ye hypocrites!" He cried,
+"You cling to the commandments of men and neglect the commandments of
+God! You cleanse your hands but not your souls! You are the blind
+leaders of the blind, and both yourselves and your followers fall in
+the mire and ditches! Away with you and your hypocrisy!" But the
+adverse comment aroused by His actions would not down, and,
+discouraged and disheartened by the evidences of the barrenness of the
+soil in which He had been sowing the precious seeds of the Truth, He
+gathered together His followers and departed into Tyre and Sidon, a
+quieter region, that He might rest and meditate over new plans and
+work. He could see the beginning of the end.
+
+To understand the nature of the position of the Master at this time,
+it must be remembered that His strong hold had ever been with the
+masses of the people, who were His enthusiastic admirers. So long as
+He remained entrenched in the heart of the populace, the temporal and
+ecclesiastical authorities dared not attack Him without a popular
+uprising of no mean proportions. But now that they had managed to wean
+away His public from Him they pressed Him harder and harder with their
+persecutions and complaints. And so at last they had managed to render
+Him almost an unpopular outcast. They forced Him away from the larger
+towns, and now He was wandering among the less populous regions of the
+country, and even there the spies and agents of the authorities hunted
+Him down, seeking to further entrap and compromise Him.
+
+About this time Jesus revealed to His apostles the facts of His Divine
+origin which was now plain to Him. He also told them of the fate which
+awaited Him, and which He had willingly chosen. He told them not to
+expect the fruits of His work at this time, for He was but sowing the
+seeds of the fruit which would not grow and bear fruit for many
+centuries. He gave them the Mystic secret of the nature of His work,
+which is taught to the Initiates of the Occult Brotherhoods even unto
+this day. But even these chosen men scarcely grasped the true import
+of His teachings, and once He was rendered almost broken hearted at
+over-hearing a discussion among them regarding high offices which they
+hoped to acquire.
+
+Jesus now felt that the time had come for Him to move on to Jerusalem
+to meet there the crowning act of His strange career. And, knowing
+full well that such a course would be virtually thrusting His head
+into the very jaws of the lion of ecclesiastical and temporal
+authority, He set His feet firmly on the road which led to Jerusalem,
+the capital city, and the center of ecclesiastical influence. And that
+road was a hard one to travel, for, as He neared the capital, His
+enemies increased in number and the opposition to Him grew stronger.
+At one village He had been denied the right of shelter, an indignity
+almost unknown in Oriental lands. In another place a large rock was
+hurled at Him and wounded Him severely. The mob had turned against Him
+and was repaying His kind services with abuse and personal violence.
+And this is ever the lot of the teacher of the Truth who scatters the
+sacred pearls of Truth before the swine of the unworthy multitude of
+people. Over and over again has this fact been brought home to those
+who would labor for the good of the world. And still we hear the
+querulous complaint that the Inner Teaching is reserved for the
+Few--why not scatter it broadcast among the people? The stake, the
+rack, the stones, the prison cell, the cross and their modern
+prototypes--these are the silent answers to the question.
+
+Moving on toward Jerusalem the little company reached Perea, a number
+of miles from Bethany, at which latter place dwelt a family of His
+friends--the two sisters, Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus.
+At this place He was met by a messenger from Bethany, who bore the sad
+news that His friend Lazarus was sick unto death, and who also begged
+the Master to return to Bethany and cure the man. But this Jesus
+refused to do, and allowed several days to pass without answering the
+summons. At the end of the several days He started toward Bethany,
+telling His disciples that Lazarus was dead. And reaching Bethany they
+found that it was indeed so--Lazarus was dead and in the tomb.
+
+Jesus was received with scowling antagonism. The people seemed to say,
+"Here is this heretical imposter again. He feared to come even to the
+aid of His dying friend. His power has failed Him and He now stands
+discredited and exposed!" Then came Martha, who reproached the Master
+with His indifference and delay. He answered her that Lazarus should
+rise again, but she doubted His word. Then came Mary, whose grief
+brought tears even from the Master, who had seen so much of human
+suffering as to have found his eyes refuse to weep.
+
+Then asked the Master, "Where have you laid him away?" and they took
+Him to the tomb, followed by the curious mob hungering for the sight
+of more wonders from the man whom they feared even while hating and
+reviling Him. Jesus stood before the dreary tomb and bade the men roll
+away the stone that closed the mouth of the tomb. The men hesitated,
+for they knew that a corpse lay within, and they even perceived the
+characteristic odor of the tomb issuing therefrom. But the Master
+insisting upon it, they rolled away the stone and Jesus stood full in
+front of the dark opening to the cavern.
+
+He stood there for a few moments wrapt in meditation and showing
+evidences of strong mental concentration. His eyes took on a strange
+look, and in every muscle He showed that He was summoning to the task
+every particle of the power at His command. He was throwing off the
+matters that had been occupying His mind during the past weeks, that
+He might hold his mind "one-pointed," as the Oriental occultists term
+it--that He might concentrate clearly and forcibly upon the task
+before Him.
+
+Then, arousing His reserve force, in a mighty effort, He cried loudly,
+in a voice of authority and power, "Lazarus! Lazarus! Come forth!"
+
+The people gasped with horror at this calling forth a corpse which was
+in the process of disintegration and decay, and a cry of remonstrance
+went up, but Jesus heeded it not. "Lazarus! Lazarus! Come forth, I
+command thee!" he cried again.
+
+And then at the mouth of the cavern could be seen something startling.
+It was a ghastly figure, bound and clad in the grave-clothes of that
+country, which was struggling to free itself and to move toward the
+light. It was indeed Lazarus! And, after tearing off the stained
+grave-clothes which still retained the horrid stench of decaying
+matter, his body was found to be sweet and clean and pure as that of
+the infant. Jesus had performed a wonder-work far beyond any
+manifestation He had heretofore shown to the world.
+
+The excitement occasioned by this crowning wonder, coming to Jerusalem
+after a lull in which it had thought that the Master had retired into
+insignificant seclusion, aroused again into activity the authorities,
+who now determined to make an end to the matter and to suppress this
+pestilent charlatan once and for all. Raising a decaying corpse from
+the tomb, indeed! What new fraudulent marvels would He not work next
+in order to delude the credulous people and to bring them once more
+around his rebellious standard? The man was dangerous without doubt,
+and must be put where He could do no harm--and that at once.
+
+Within a few hours after the receipt of news that Lazarus had walked
+from the tomb, the Sanhedrin, the great Jewish ecclesiastical council,
+was in session, called hastily by its officers to take vigorous action
+concerning this impious, heretical imposter who had been allowed to
+mock at established order and religion for too long a time. He must be
+quieted ere he arouse the people once more. The Roman authorities were
+warned by the Jewish ecclesiastics that this dangerous man now
+approaching the capital claimed to be the Jewish Messiah, and that His
+aims were to overturn the Temple authorities first, and then establish
+Himself as King of the Jews, and place Himself at the head of a
+revolutionary army which would attempt to defy and defeat the rule of
+mighty Rome herself.
+
+And so all the machinery was set in motion, and the officers of the
+law were all on the alert to take advantage of the first overt act of
+Jesus and His followers, and to throw them into prison as enemies of
+society, religion and of the state. The Roman authorities were
+agitated at the reports coming to them from the highest Jewish
+authorities, and were prepared to crush the rebellion at the first
+sign. The Jewish priests were in solemn convocation and at the
+instigation of Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jews, they determined
+that nothing but the death of this false Messiah would put an end to
+the agitation which threatened to drive them from power and authority.
+And so the die was cast.
+
+And meanwhile Jesus was resting in Bethany, surrounded by great
+throngs who were pouring into the place to see Lazarus, and to renew
+their allegiance to the Master whom they had so basely forsaken.
+Time-servers ever, the latest miracles had revived their fading
+interest and waning faith, and they flocked around the Master as
+noisy, enthusiastic and as full of fulsome praise as ever. And
+yesterday they had damned Him, and tomorrow they would cry "Crucify
+Him!" For such is the nature of the multitude of men. Of the
+multitudes of Jesus' followers, none remained to acknowledge
+allegiance in His hour of arrest--even among the chosen twelve, one
+betrayed Him, one denied Him, and _all_ fled away when He was taken
+captive. And for _such_ the Son of Man lived and taught and suffered.
+Surely His _life_ was the greatest miracle of all.
+
+
+
+
+THE EIGHTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE END OF THE LIFE WORK.
+
+Resting for a short time before His formal entry into Jerusalem, the
+Master sought the seclusion of the sparsely settled districts near the
+wilderness. In and around the village of Ephraim, in Perea, in parts
+of Galilee, He wandered with the Twelve. But even there He continued
+His work of healing and teaching.
+
+But even this temporary respite from the inevitable lasted but a short
+time. Jesus determined to march direct to the seat of the
+ecclesiastical and temporal authority which was arrayed against Him.
+And so, just before the coming of the Passover time, He gathered
+together the Twelve and set out on the final stage of the journey. The
+pilgrims journeying to the capital were burning with curiosity and
+excitement concerning this journey of the Master to the home of His
+foes. Rumors were circulated that He intended to gather His forces
+together and sweep the enemy from its seats of power. It was known
+that the Sanhedrin intended to attempt to punish Him, and the people
+asked why should He move on to face His foes unless He contemplated a
+fight to the finish?
+
+This belief in His determination caused a revulsion of feeling of the
+people in His favor, and many who had deserted Him now again gathered
+around Him. They dreamt again of victory, and scented again an
+unfailing supply of loaves and fishes. They crowded around Him wishing
+to be among the victorious host. But He encouraged them not--neither
+spoke He a word to them. He knew them for the time-servers that they
+were.
+
+The crowds of Jerusalem hearing of His approach, and moved by
+curiosity to witness His triumphant entry into the City, flocked
+around the suburbs through which He would approach. At last the cry
+went up, "Here He comes!" and to their amazement and disgust the crowd
+saw Him riding quietly info the City mounted on an ass, without
+display, pretense or pose. The crowd scattered, sneering and reviling
+Him. But the pilgrims were becoming more and more enthusiastic, and
+they strewed His way with palms, shouting, "Blessed be our Messiah!
+The King of Israel approacheth."
+
+The Master proceeded directly to the Temple and performed the
+customary rites. So amazed were the authorities by His fearless
+demeanor, that they deferred laying violent hands upon Him. They
+feared a trap, and moved cautiously. They even allowed Him to retire
+to Bethany and spend the night. The next morning He returned to the
+city and dwelt among His friends there. He attended the Temple
+regularly, and pursued His work of teaching and healing in its very
+shadows.
+
+Meanwhile the clouds of the persecuting forces gathered closely around
+His head. One of the Twelve, Judas Iscariot, who was sorely
+disappointed at the Master having refused to take advantage of the
+support of the crowd to assist His claim as the Messiah and King of
+the Jews, and also fearing that he would become involved in His
+inevitable downfall, began a series of bargainings and dickerings with
+the authorities, which had for their object the betrayal of the Master
+into the hands of the authorities, the reward to be immunity from
+persecution for himself and a few pieces of silver for his pocket in
+addition.
+
+And so the time passed on, the nights being spent at Bethany and the
+days at the Temple in the capital. Finally the priests made an
+important move. They confronted Him in their official capacity and
+demanded that He prove His ordination as a Jewish Rabbi and consequent
+right to preach to the orthodox members of the church. Jesus answered
+them by asking questions that they feared to answer. Then they began
+to question Him, hoping to involve Him in ecclesiastical heresies
+which would give them their excuse to arrest Him. But He evaded them
+skilfully. They sought also to compel Him to state opinions contrary
+to the Roman authority, but He likewise escaped this net.
+
+Finally, however, they drew from Him a savage attack upon authority,
+and He cried out in indignation:
+
+     "Woe unto you, ye generation of vipers! Ye serpents! Ye
+     hypocrites! Ye oppressors of the poor! Ye professed
+     shepherds, who are but as wolves in disguise, seeking but to
+     devour the sheep whom ye have in charge! Woe unto you, ye
+     Scribes, Hypocrites, Pharisees!"
+
+Then He left the Temple and returned to Bethany to spend the night,
+after foretelling the destruction of the Temple, when there should not
+be left one of its stones upon another.
+
+That night he had a heart-to-heart talk with the Twelve. He told them
+that the end was in sight--that He was to die before many hours had
+passed--that they, the Twelve, were to become wanderers on the face of
+the earth--hunted and persecuted in His name and for His sake. A
+terrible revelation to some among them who had dreamt of earthly
+grandeur and high positions for themselves! And then Judas felt that
+the time to act had come, and he stole away to meet the High-priest
+and to close the frightful bargain with him which was to make his name
+the synonym for treachery throughout the ages.
+
+The next day, Wednesday, He rested in Bethany the whole twenty-four
+hours, evidently gathering together his reserve forces to meet the
+ordeal which He now knew was before Him. He kept apart from even His
+disciples and spent the time in meditation. And likewise was passed
+the early part of the following day, Thursday. But when the even time
+had come, He sent for the Twelve and gathered them around Him for the
+Paschal Supper, one of the rites of the Passover time.
+
+Even this last solemn occasion was marred by a petty squabble among
+the disciples regarding the order of precedence to be observed in
+their seats at the table. Judas succeeded in gaining the seat of honor
+next to the Master. Jesus startled the company by insisting upon
+washing the feet of the Twelve, an act which placed them on a pedestal
+above Him. This occult ceremony, which was not comprehended by the
+Twelve, apparently was one which the Hierophants of the Occult
+Brotherhoods performed for their associates when the latter had been
+chosen to carry out some important office or mission, or when a
+successor was about to take the place of one of them. And Jesus
+evidently so intended it. Then He bade them wash one another's feet,
+in token of the recognition of each of the high mission of the others.
+
+Then Jesus, overcome by the knowledge of the morrow, burst out in
+anguished tones, saying: "And even one of you, my chosen ones, shall
+betray me!" And several asked Him in turn, in a tone of reproach, "Is
+it I?" And Jesus shook His head at each question. But Judas asked not,
+but overcome with confusion he reached over and took a portion of
+bread from the plate before the Master. Then Jesus took a bit of bread
+and, moistening it from His plate, handed it to Judas, saying to him
+firmly, "Judas, do thy work without loss of time." And Judas, abashed,
+slunk away from the table.
+
+Then began that remarkable conversation of the Last Supper, as
+recorded in the Gospels. Then also was performed that first
+celebration of the Holy Communion, the Mystic significance of which
+shall be explained in a later lesson. Then Jesus chanted the Passover
+hymn.
+
+Then shortly after, the company left the room and walked into the
+streets, and over the meadows near by. Then under the trees of the
+Garden of Gethsemane, apart from His disciples, now reduced to Eleven,
+He gave Himself up to prayer and meditation. He called aloud to The
+Father to give Him strength for the final ordeal. Struggling with His
+doubts and fears and misgivings--conquering His physical inclination
+and impulses--He gave utterance to that supreme cry: "O Father, Thy
+will, not mine, be done!" and in so saying He cast behind Him forever
+His right of choice to stay the awful course of events which was
+pressing upon Him. Resigning His mighty occult power of defense, He
+laid Himself upon the altar of sacrifice even as the Paschal Lamb.
+
+Leaving behind Him the Garden in which He had just performed this
+greatest miracle of all--the miracle of Renunciation--He stepped out
+among His disciples, saying, "The hour has come--the betrayer is here
+to do his work."
+
+Then were heard sounds of clanking arms, and martial tread, and in a
+moment the military guard appeared on the scene, accompanied by a
+delegation of ecclesiastics, and with them, walking in advance, was
+Judas Iscariot. Judas, walking as one in a trance, approached the
+Master and, saluting Him with a kiss, cried, "Hail, Master," which was
+the signal to the guard, arranged between Judas and the High Priest.
+Then cried Jesus, "Ah, with a kiss--thou, Judas, betrayeth the Son of
+Man with a kiss! Oh!" And in that moment it seemed that the Master's
+grief had reached its utmost limit. Then the guard closed around Him
+and carried Him away.
+
+But He resisted them not. As they approached Him He called out, "Whom
+seek ye?" And the leader answered, "We seek him whom men call Jesus of
+Nazareth." Then answered the Master, "I am He whom thou seeketh!" But
+the disciples resisted the arrest, and Peter cut off the ear of one of
+the party, a servant of the High-priest. But Jesus bade His followers
+desist, and, approaching the wounded man, placed his severed ear in
+place and healed it instantly. Then He rebuked His disciples, telling
+them that, had He so desired, the whole of the legions of heaven would
+have come to His assistance. Then He bade the leader conduct Him from
+the place. But alas! as He left, He turned to bid farewell to His
+disciples, and lo! to a man they had fled and deserted Him, leaving
+Him alone in His hour of trial--yea! as every humble soul must be
+alone in its moments of supreme struggle--alone with its Creator.
+
+Then down toward the city they led Him--the Master of All Power, an
+humble captive, non-resistant and awaiting the course of The Will.
+They took Him to the palace of the Jewish High-priest, where the
+Sanhedrin was assembled in secret session awaiting His coming. And
+there He stood erect before these ecclesiastical tyrants to be
+judged--bound with the cord as a common criminal. He, whose single
+effort of His will would have shattered the whole palace to pieces and
+have destroyed every human being within its walls!
+
+And this was but the beginning. During the next eight hours He was
+subjected to six separate trials, if indeed such mock proceedings
+might be so designated. Subjected to blows, and all manner of low
+insults, the Master remained a Master. Perjured witnesses testified,
+and all manner of crimes and heresies were charged against Him. Then
+Caiaphas asked Him the all-important question, "Art thou the Christ?"
+and Jesus broke His silence to answer positively, "I am!" Then the
+High-priest cried out vehemently, rending His sacred robes in his
+pious indignation, "He has blasphemed!"
+
+From that moment there was no possible chance of escape for the
+Master. He had virtually condemned Himself by His own words. There was
+no retreat or reprieve. He was roughly pushed from the hall and like a
+common criminal was turned over to the taunts and revilings of the
+mob, which availed itself of its privileges to the full in this case.
+Insults, curses, revilings, taunts, and even blows, came fast and
+furiously upon Him. But He stood it all without a murmur. Already His
+thoughts had left earthly things behind, and dwelt on planes of being
+far above the wildest dreams of men. With His mind firmly fixed on the
+Real, the Unreal vanished from His consciousness.
+
+In the early part of the day following the night of His arrest, Jesus
+was taken before Pontius Pilate, the Roman official, for His trial by
+the civil authorities. Pilate, in his heart, was not disposed to
+condemn Jesus, for he believed that the whole trouble consisted in
+theological and ecclesiastical differences with which the civil law
+should not concern itself. His wife had warned him against becoming
+involved in the dispute, for she had a secret sympathy for the Master,
+for some reason. But he found arrayed against him the solid influence
+of the Jewish priesthood, whose power must not be opposed lightly,
+according to the policy of Rome. Then the priests had made out a civil
+case against Jesus, claiming that He had sought to incite a rebellion
+and proclaim Himself King of the Jews; that He had created public
+disorder; that He had urged the people to refuse to pay taxes to Rome.
+The case against Him was weak, and Pilate was at a loss what to do.
+Then some one of the priests suggested that as Jesus was a Galilean,
+He be turned over for trial to Herod, in whose territory the principal
+crimes were committed, and Pilate gladly availed himself of this
+technical excuse to rid himself of responsibility in the matter. And
+so the case was transferred to Herod, who happened to be in Jerusalem
+at that time on a visit. To Herod's palace the captive was taken, and
+after suffering indignities and humiliation at the hand of the tyrant,
+He was remanded back to Pilate for trial, under Herod's orders.
+
+Back to Pilate's court, followed by the crowd, went Jesus. Pilate was
+greatly annoyed that Herod should have shifted the responsibility once
+more upon his (Pilate's) court. Then he bethought himself of an
+expedient. He took advantage of the Jewish custom, observed by the
+Roman rulers, which led to the pardoning of a notorious criminal on
+the occasion of the Passover. And so he announced that he would pardon
+Jesus according to custom. But from the Jewish authorities came back
+the answer that they would not accept Jesus as the subject of the
+pardon, but demanded that Barabbas, a celebrated criminal, be pardoned
+instead of the Nazarene. Pilate found himself unable to escape the
+designs of the Jewish priesthood, and so, yielding in disgust, he
+pardoned Barabbas, and condemned Jesus to death. The cries of the mob,
+incited by the priests, sounded around the court. "Crucify him!
+Crucify him!" Pilate appeared before the priests and the populace,
+and, washing his hands in a basin, according to the Oriental custom,
+he cried to the Jews, "I wash my hands of this man's blood--upon you
+be it!" And the crowd responded with a great shout, "Upon us and our
+children be his blood!"
+
+Jesus, in the meantime, had been cruelly scourged by the barbarous
+instruments of torture of the time. His body was lacerated and
+bleeding, and He was faint from the torture and loss of blood. Upon
+His head had been thrust, in ghastly mockery, a crown of thorns which
+pressed deep into His flesh. He was refused the usual respite of
+several days before sentence and execution--He was to die that very
+day.
+
+His cross was tied to His back and He was compelled to carry it,
+fainting though He was from fatigue and torture. He staggered along
+and fell, unable to bear His heavy burden. Finally Golgotha, the place
+of the crucifixion, was reached, and the Man of Sorrows was nailed to
+the cross and raised aloft to die a lingering and painful death. On
+either side was a criminal--two thieves--His companions in suffering.
+
+He refused to partake of the drug which was granted to criminals to
+relieve their intense suffering. He preferred to die in full
+possession of His faculties. Above His head was a tablet bearing the
+inscription, "The King of the Jews," which had been placed there by
+Pilate in a spirit of ironical mockery of the Jews who had forced him
+to place this man on the cross.
+
+As the cross was raised into position the Master cried aloud, "O
+Father, forgive them--they know not what they do."
+
+Taunted by the crowds, He hung and suffered the terrible agonies of
+the cross. Even one of the crucified criminals reviled Him, asking Him
+why He did not save Himself and them? The crowd asked Him why He who
+saved others could not save Himself? But He, who could have brought
+forces to bear which would have wrought the miracle they demanded,
+answered not, but awaited the end.
+
+Then set in the delirium of death in which He cried aloud to the
+Father, asking if He had been forsaken in His misery. But the end was
+near.
+
+There arose a strange storm--darkness fell over the place--weird
+electrical disturbances manifested themselves. The winds abated and a
+strange quiet fell over all the scene, which was lighted by a ghastly
+glow. And then came the earthquake, with strange groanings and
+moanings of the earth; with frightful stenches of sulphur and gas. And
+the very foundations of Jerusalem quaked and shivered. The rocks
+before the tombs flew off, and the dead bodies were exposed to view.
+In the Temple, the veil before the Holy of Holies was rent in twain.
+
+The cries of the people as they rushed to and fro in mortal terror
+took the attention of all from the cross. Then the Roman officer in
+charge of the execution, glancing upward, saw that all was over, and,
+falling before the cross, he cried out, "Verily, this man was a god!"
+
+Jesus the Master had passed out from the body which had served as His
+tenement for thirty-three years. His body was borne away for burial,
+in a secret place. Embalmed by loving friends, it was carried to a
+place of last earthly rest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now we come to a portion of the narrative in which the occult
+traditions and teachings diverge from the account stated in the
+Gospels. We should have said _apparently_ diverge, for the two
+accounts vary only because of the varying points of view and different
+degrees of understanding of the teachers.
+
+We allude to the events of the Resurrection.
+
+It must be remembered that Jesus had informed His disciples that in
+three days He would "rise from the dead" and appear once more among
+them. To the ordinary understanding these events seem to indicate that
+the Master would once more occupy His physical body, and that His
+reappearance was to be so understood. And the Gospel narrative
+certainly seems to verify this idea, and was undoubtedly so stated
+that it might be more readily understood by the popular mind.
+
+But the occult traditions hold otherwise. They hold that Jesus really
+appeared to His disciples three days after His death, and abode with
+them for a time teaching and instructing them in the deeper mysteries
+and secret doctrines. But the mystics have always held and taught that
+His reappearance _was in the Astral Body_, and not in the discarded
+physical form.
+
+To the popular mind the physical body was almost everything, as we
+have shown in one of the earlier lessons of this series. So much was
+this so that the mass of the people expected that all mankind would
+arise from the dead at the Last Day clad in their former physical
+forms. And so, any other teaching would have been unintelligible to
+them.
+
+But to the occultists and mystics who understood the truth about the
+more ethereal vehicles of the soul, such an idea appeared crude and
+unscientific, and they readily grasped the Inner Teachings regarding
+the Resurrection, and understood the reason why Jesus would use the
+Astral Body as the vehicle of His reappearance.
+
+The Gospel narrative informs us that a guard was placed around the
+tomb to prevent the body being stolen and a consequent assertion of
+the Resurrection which the priests well knew to be expected. It
+further states that the tomb was sealed and guarded by a squad of
+Roman soldiers, but that notwithstanding these precautions the body of
+the Master actually came to life and emerged from the tomb, and that
+His followers were disturbed by the evidences that His body had been
+stolen.
+
+The occult traditions, however, state that the close friends of Jesus,
+aided by a prominent Jew who was a secret believer, obtained from the
+willing Pilate a secret order which enabled them to deposit the body
+in a safe and secret resting place where it gradually resolved itself
+into the dust to which all that is mortal must return. These men knew
+that the Resurrection of the Master had naught to do with mortal
+fleshly form or body. They knew that the immaterial soul of the Master
+still lived and would reappear to them clad in the more ethereal body
+made manifest to their mortal senses. Every occultist will understand
+this without further comment. To others we advise that they read the
+occult teachings concerning the Astral Body and its characteristics.
+This is no place in which to again describe at length the phenomena of
+the Astral Body of Man.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The first to see the Master in His Astral Form was Mary of Magdala, a
+woman admirer and follower of her Lord. She was weeping beside the
+empty tomb, when looking up she saw a form approaching. The Astral
+Form was indistinct and unfamiliar, and at first she did not recognize
+it. Then a voice called her name, and looking up she saw the form
+growing more distinct and familiar, and she recognized the features of
+her Master.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+More than this, the occult legends assert the truth of some of the
+traditions of the early Christian Church, namely, that in the three
+days succeeding the scene of Calvary there appeared in and around
+Jerusalem the disembodied forms of many persons who had died a short
+time previously. It is said that the Astral Bodies of many dead Jews
+revisited the scenes of their former life, and were witnessed by
+friends and relatives.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then Jesus appeared in His Astral Body to the disciples. The
+traditions have it that two of the eleven met Him on the afternoon of
+the day when He first appeared to Mary--Easter Sunday. Strange to say,
+they did not at first recognize Him, although they walked the road
+with Him and afterward ate at the same table. This failure to
+recognize the Master is wholly beyond ordinary explanation and the
+churches make no real attempt to make it understandable. But the
+occult traditions say that Jesus had not wholly materialized His
+Astral Body at first, for reason of prudence, and that consequently
+His features were not distinctly and clearly marked; then at the meal
+He caused His features to be fully materialized so that the disciples
+might readily recognize Him. All occultists who have witnessed the
+materialization of an Astral Body will readily understand this
+statement. The orthodox theory of Jesus having reappeared in His
+physical body wholly fails to explain this nonrecognition by His
+disciples, who had been His everyday companions before His death. The
+slightest consideration should show which statement is nearer the
+bounds of reasonable probability.
+
+Jesus remained visible to the chosen few for forty days. The testimony
+of several hundred people attested the fact. There are a number of
+mystic legends about some of His appearances, which are not mentioned
+in the Gospel narratives. One of these states that He appeared before
+Pontius Pilate and forgave him for the part he had played in the
+tragedy. Another that Herod witnessed His form in his bedchamber.
+Another that He confronted the High-priests in the Temple and brought
+them to their knees in terror. Another that He came one night to the
+Eleven, who sat behind bolted doors in hiding, and saying to them,
+"Peace be unto you, my beloved," vanished from sight.
+
+The Gospels record another appearance before the Eleven, upon which
+occasion Thomas, the doubter, satisfied himself of the identity of the
+Astral Body by placing his fingers in the wounds, which, of course,
+were reproduced in the Astral Form according to the well known laws
+regarding the same.
+
+This coming and going of Jesus--these sudden appearances and
+disappearances--these manifestations of His form only to those whom He
+wished to see Him, and His concealment from those whom He desired to
+remain in ignorance of His return, all show conclusively to every
+occultist the nature of the vehicle which He used for manifestation
+upon His return. It would seem incredible that there could be any
+general doubt on the subject were the public informed on the laws
+concerning the Astral World phenomena.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Gospel narrative shows that the disciples recognized that Jesus
+was not a "spirit" in the sense of being an airy, unsubstantial form.
+They felt His body, and saw Him eat--but what of that? The laws of
+materialization of Astral forms make it possible, under certain
+conditions, that the Astral Form become so thoroughly materialized
+that it may not only be seen but actually felt. Even the records of
+the English Society for Psychical Research prove this fact, leaving
+out of account the phenomena with which all advanced occultists are
+familiar.
+
+Then, one day He appeared to the disciples, and they accompanied Him
+to the hills, Jesus talking to them regarding their future work on
+earth. He then bade them farewell, and began to fade away from their
+sight. The common account pictures Him as ascending into the air until
+out of sight, but the mystic account informs us that His astral form
+began to slowly dematerialize and He gradually faded away from the
+sight of His beloved followers, who stood gazing in wistful longing at
+His form which, each moment, grew more and more ethereal in structure,
+until finally the dematerialization was complete and His soul had cast
+off all material form, shape and substance, and so passed on to the
+higher planes of being.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In view of this explanation, does not the commonly accepted version
+seem childish and crude? Can any one at all familiar with the laws and
+phenomena of the land Behind the Veil, suppose that _a physical body_
+could or would pass on to the planes in which the ordinary forms of
+matter do not exist? Such ideas are fit only for minds which find it
+necessary to think of the "resurrection of the body" of all departed
+souls, in order to conceive of Immortality. To the occultist, the
+physical body is merely a temporary vehicle for the soul which the
+latter discards at the proper time. It has nothing to do with the real
+being of the soul. It is merely the shell which is discarded by the
+soul, as the chrysalis shell is discarded by the butterfly when it
+spreads its wings for its aerial flight into a new world.
+
+All these ideas about the immortality of the mortal body are the
+product of materialistic minds unused to thinking of the higher planes
+of life, and unable to grasp even the mental concept regarding the
+same. Of the earth, earthly, are these conceptions and ideas. And the
+sooner that Christianity sheds them as discarded shells the sooner
+will the church experience that revival of true spirituality that
+devout souls see the need of, and for which they are so earnestly
+praying.
+
+The churches are so wedded to materialistic thought that a preacher
+does not even hint at the existence of phases of life above the
+physical lest he be termed "a spiritualist" or accused of being
+"spooky." In the name of Truth, is the teaching, that _man is a
+spiritual being_, inconsistent with the teachings of Christ and the
+records of the Scripture? Must one forego all such beliefs, in favor
+of a heathenish creed of "physical body" resurrection of the dead--an
+immortality in the worn-out mortal body long since discarded? Which is
+the true spiritual teaching? Can there be any doubt regarding the same
+in a mind willing to think for itself? It seems sad that the orthodox
+churches do not see this, and cease forcing out of their congregations
+all thinkers who dare assert the existence of a soul independent of
+the physical body.
+
+What is the use of a soul, if the physical bodies of the dead are to
+be resurrected in order that their owners may enjoy immortality? And
+where are the souls of these dead bodies now residing and abiding
+pending the coming of the Last Day? Are the souls of the dead with
+their bodies? If not, then they must be living a life independent of
+the physical body--and if such be the case, why should they afterward
+be required to take on their worn-out physical bodies which they have
+managed so well without during their disembodied life? What becomes of
+those who had diseased, deformed or frail bodies during their mortal
+life--will they be compelled to inhabit these bodies through all
+eternity? Will the owners of aged, worn out bodies be compelled to
+re-assume them at the Last Day? If not, why the necessity of a
+physical body at all, in the future life? Do the angels have physical
+bodies? If not, why should souls require them on higher planes? Think
+over these questions and then realize how materialistic is the current
+Christian conception, when compared with that of Mystic Christianity,
+which teaches spiritual evolution from lower to higher planes of
+being, and on to planes of being beyond even the faintest conception
+of men of the present day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The occult traditions teach that during the forty days of Jesus'
+appearance in the Astral Body, He imparted many of the Higher Truths
+to His disciples. They state that He even took some of them out of
+their bodies and showed them the higher Astral Planes of Being. He
+also informed them regarding the real nature of His mission which He
+now clearly saw with His spiritual mind, the cloud of His mortal mind
+being now removed.
+
+He told them that the real work of His followers was the sowing of the
+seed of the Truth, without regard to immediate results. He told them
+that the real fruition would not come for many centuries--yea, not
+until the passing of over two thousand years or more. He told them
+that the passage of the centuries would be like the preparing of the
+soil for the great work of the Truth, and that afar in the distance
+would be the real fruit season.
+
+He taught them regarding the Second Coming of Christ, when the real
+Truth of His teachings should become apparent to mankind and the true
+Life of the Spirit should be lived by the race. He taught them that
+their work was to keep alight the Flame of the Spirit and to pass it
+on to worthy followers.
+
+This and many other things He told them, before He passed on.
+
+And the mystics teach that He still lives in the world, diffused among
+all the living souls on earth, striving ever to lead them to a
+recognition of the Real Self--the Spirit Within. He is with us ever as
+an Abiding Spirit, a Comforter, a Helper, an Elder Brother.
+
+He is not gone from us! He is here with us now and forever, in Actual
+Spirit Communion!
+
+The Lord hath indeed Risen--Risen from Mortal Form to Immortal
+Spiritual Existence!
+
+
+
+
+THE NINTH LESSON.
+
+
+THE INNER TEACHINGS.
+
+The first and main phase of the Inner Teachings of Mystic Christianity
+is that connected with the Mystery of the Life of Jesus. The outer
+teachings give but an imperfect view of the real life and nature of
+the Master, and theologians have built up an edifice of dogmatic
+theory around the same. The Mystery of the Life of Jesus forms the
+subject of some important Inner Teachings of the Mystic Fraternities
+and Occult Brotherhoods, and is considered by them to be the
+foundation of the other teachings. And so we shall consider this phase
+of the subject at this point.
+
+In the first place we must remember that the soul of Jesus was
+different from the souls of other men. His was a "virgin birth"--not
+in the commonly accepted sense of the term, but in the occult sense as
+explained in the second lesson of this series. His soul was fresh from
+the hand of the Creator--His spirit had not been compelled to work
+through repeated incarnations, pressing forward for expression through
+humble and ignoble forms. It was free from taint, and as pure as the
+Fountain from which is flowed. It was a virgin soul in every sense of
+the term.
+
+This being so, it follows that it was not bound by the Karma of
+previous incarnations--as is the case with the ordinary soul. It had
+no entangling ties--it had no seeds of desire and action planted in
+previous lives, which were pressing forward toward expression in His
+life. He was a Free Spirit--an Unbound Soul. And therefore He was not
+only unbound by any Karma of His own, but was also free (by nature)
+from the Karma of the race or of the world.
+
+The absence of personal Karma left Him free from the selfish personal
+Desire which binds men to the wheel of action and personal ambition.
+He had no desire or thought for personal aggrandizement or glory, and
+was perfectly free (by nature) to work for the good of the race as an
+outside observer and helper, without suffering the pains and sorrows
+of race-life, had He so wished. But He chose otherwise, as we shall
+see in a moment.
+
+The absence of Race-Karma, or World-Karma, freed Him from the
+necessity of the pains of humanity, which are a part of its collective
+Karma. He would have been perfectly able to live a life absolutely
+free from the pains, trials and troubles that are the common lot of
+Man, owing to the Race-Karma. He would have escaped persecution,
+physical and mental pains, and even death, had He so elected. But He
+chose these things of His own free will, in order to accomplish the
+great work that He saw before Him as a World-Savior.
+
+In order for Jesus to enact His part as the Redeemer and Savior of the
+race, it was necessary for Him to take upon Himself His share of the
+Karma of the race--virtually taking upon Himself the "sins of the
+world." Before He could lift the burden from the race of men, He must
+become a man among men.
+
+To understand this more clearly we must remember that to a being such
+as Jesus--a soul free from Karma--there would be no such thing as
+temptation, longings, desires, or any of the mental states of the
+ordinary man with the Karma of successive past incarnations resting
+within him as seeds of action pressing forward ever for unfoldment and
+expression.
+
+Jesus, the free soul, would have been practically an outside observer
+of the world's affairs, and not influenced by any of its ordinary
+incentives to action. In this state He could have aided the world as a
+teacher and instructor, but He would not have been able to accomplish
+His great task of Redeeming the world, in its highest spiritual
+significance, as we shall see as we proceed. It was necessary for Him
+to take upon Himself the burden of the earth-life in order to become
+the Savior of the people of the earth.
+
+The occult teachings inform us that during His sojourn abroad, Jesus
+was simply a teacher, with but a dim perception of His real mission.
+But gradually He began to experience periods of Illumination in which
+He recognized His real nature and the difference between Himself and
+other men. Then came to Him the conviction of the mighty work that lay
+before Him in the redemption of the race, and He began to see the
+necessity of entering into the Karmic circle of the race in order to
+carry out the plan. This came gradually, by slow degrees, and the
+final sacrifice was made only in the Wilderness after His Baptism by
+John.
+
+In the Wilderness, after His long fast and His days of meditation, the
+way opened up for Him to take upon Himself the burden of the Karma of
+the earth people. In that scene of the most tremendous spiritual
+struggle that the earth has ever witnessed, Jesus deliberately bent
+His shoulders that the weight be placed upon His back. From that
+moment the earth-souls received a blessing far beyond the
+comprehension of the mind of the ordinary man. Into the Karma-bound
+circle came this mighty soul, animated by Pure Spirit, for the purpose
+of lifting a great portion of the burden, and of joining in the work
+of the actual unfoldment and redemption of the race.
+
+For be it remembered that, being a free soul animated by Pure Spirit,
+Jesus was A GOD--not a man, although inhabiting the fleshly garments
+of humanity. His power was superior to that of many of the high
+intelligences scattered throughout the universe, and playing important
+parts in the cosmic processes. Jesus was Pure Spirit incarnate in
+human form, with all the powers of a God. Although of course
+_subordinate in expression_ to the Absolute--the Great Spirit of
+Spirit--He was in His essential nature the same in substance. Verily,
+as He Himself said, "I and the Father are One."
+
+His youthful mind was not able to grasp the truth of His real nature,
+but as that human instrument became perfected by age and training, He
+realized the Truth and perceived His own Divinity.
+
+But even a God, such as he, could not raise up the world from its
+burden of Karma, by acting _from the outside_. Under the Cosmic Laws,
+established by the Absolute, such work could be performed only _from
+within_ the circle of earth-life. And so Jesus saw that to raise up
+Man, He must become a Man. That is, to help lift the earth's Karma, He
+must enter into it, and place Himself within its Circle of Influence.
+_And this He did_.
+
+We wonder if our readers can realize, even faintly, just what this
+sacrifice meant? Think of a Pure Spirit--a Free Soul--so filled with
+the love for the race of men as to renounce deliberately, for aeons of
+time, total immunity from all mortal existence, and willingly to place
+itself under the burden of pain, woe, misery and sin which formed the
+earth-people's Karma. It was a thousand-fold greater sacrifice than
+would be that of a Man of the Highest spiritual and mental
+development--an Emerson, for example--who, in order to raise up the
+race of earth-worms, would deliberately place himself within the being
+and nature of the Group-Soul animating the race of earthworms, and
+then stay within its influence, striving ever upward and onward until
+finally, after aeons and aeons of time, he was able to bring up the
+earthworm Group Soul to the level of Man. Think of this, and then
+realize what a sacrifice Jesus made of Himself.
+
+In the Wilderness, when Jesus took the final steps of renunciation and
+sacrifice, He at once passed within the circle of the Race Karma and
+laid Himself open to all the pain, misery, temptations and limitations
+of a Man. His power, of course, remained with Him, but He was no
+longer a God outside of the world-life, but an imprisoned God working
+from within the race, using His mighty power, but bound by the Karmic
+Law. He became open to influences from which previously He had been
+immune. For instance when He was "tempted" by the Devil of Personal
+Attainment, and urged to seek worldly glory and renown, He was tempted
+only because He had taken on the world's Karma and was subject to its
+laws. As a God, He would not have felt the temptation any more than a
+man would feel the temptation of the earthworm. But as a man He was
+subject to the desires and ambitions that perplex and "devil" the
+race. And according to the rule that the greater the mental
+development the greater the power of such temptation toward
+self-aggrandizement (because of the mind being able to see more
+clearly the opportunities), Jesus was subjected to a test that would
+have been impossible to an ordinary man.
+
+Jesus, knowing full well that He had in His possession the power to
+manifest the things with which He was tempted, was compelled to fight
+off the temptation to place Himself at the head of the race as its
+ruler--as the King of the World. He was shown this picture to compare
+with the other whose last scene was Calvary--and He was called upon to
+feel the desire of the race for such things, even unto its highest
+degree. Imagine the desire for personal aggrandizement of all the
+world thought beating upon His mind demanding the expression which
+could be had through Him alone. And then imagine the struggle
+required to defeat this opposing power. Think of what the ordinary
+man has to meet and overcome to conquer the desire for Personal
+Aggrandizement--and then think of what the Master had to fight, with
+the focussed desire of the entire Race-Thought striving to express
+itself through Him! Truly the Sins of the World bore down upon Him
+with their mighty weight. And yet He knew that He had taken upon
+Himself this affliction by entering upon the Life of Man. And He met
+it like a Man of Men.
+
+It was only by fixing His mind fully and firmly upon what He knew to
+be His Real Self--the Spirit Within His soul, and holding His mind
+"one-pointed" upon the fact--that He was able to fight the fight and
+conquer. Seeing the Truth, He could see the folly and illusion of all
+that the world had to offer, and He could put forth His mighty Will
+bidding the Tempter retire from the scene and from His mind. It was in
+this full knowledge of His Spirit--His Real Self--that He was able to
+rebuke the Tempter, saying, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God!"
+He held fast to His realization of the God Within--the Spirit that was
+within Him and all men--and thus denied out of existence the power of
+the earth-things--the illusions of mortality--the _maya_ of the race.
+
+But not alone this and other weaknesses of man's mortal nature were
+constantly besieging the mind of the Master after He had taken upon
+Himself the Karma of the Earth. He had also taken upon Himself the
+mortal life consequent of the human frame which He inhabited. He must
+live, suffer and die--even as all men--and according to the law of
+mortality. And so He moved forward toward the end, knowing fully what
+lay before Him. He, a God, had taken upon Himself all these attributes
+of mortality, in order to be able to perform His work as the Redeemer
+and Savior of the race.
+
+And so, He lived, and suffered and died--even as you and I. He drank
+the cup to the dregs, suffering as only such a finely organized mental
+nature could suffer. And, men, poor creatures, speak of His sufferings
+as terminating with the last breath upon the cross. Why, they only
+_began_ there!
+
+For know ye, that Jesus the Christ is still within the race of men,
+suffering their woes, paying with them their penalty, every day, every
+hour--yea, and must remain so throughout the ages, until finally the
+soul of every man, yea, even that of the last man; the most degraded
+man in the world, is fully cleansed of the Karmic taint, and thus
+fully "redeemed" and "saved." And within the soul of every man is
+found the Christ Principle, striving ever to elevate and lift up the
+individual toward that realization of the Real Self--and this is what
+"redemption" and "salvation" really means. Not a saving from
+hell-fire, but a saving from the fire of carnality, and mortality. Not
+a redemption from imaginary sins, but a redemption from the muck and
+mire of earth-life. The God within you is like the fabled Hindu god
+who descended into the body of a pig and then forgot Himself. It is to
+bring you to a realization that you are a god and not a pig, that
+Jesus, the Master, is working within your soul as the Christ
+Principle. Have you never heard His voice, crying from within your
+soul, "Come out--come out of your pig-nature and realize the god that
+you verily are!" It is this "recognition, realization and
+manifestation of the god within you" that constitutes "salvation" and
+"redemption."
+
+The Occult Teachings tell us that Jesus, after His final disappearance
+from before the eyes of His apostles, passed on to the higher planes
+of the Astral World where He rapidly discarded all of His astral and
+mental vehicles which the soul had used in its manifestation. The
+Astral Body and its corresponding higher sheaths were cast off and
+discarded. That is, all except the very highest of all. Had He
+discarded every vestige of individual soul-existence His spirit would
+have immediately merged itself with the One Spirit--the Absolute--from
+which it had originally proceeded and Jesus, as an entity, would have
+disappeared entirely within the Ocean of the One Spirit. _This highest
+state of all He had deliberately resigned until the passage of ages,
+in order that He might accomplish His work as the World-Savior_.
+
+He retained the highest vehicle--the Spiritual Mind in its highest
+shade of expression--in order that as an entity He might labor for the
+race. And so, He exists at this time--one in substance with the
+Father, but yet maintaining an apparently separate entity-existence.
+But this must be remembered, that Jesus, _as Jesus the son of Mary and
+Joseph_, no longer exists. When He cast off the lower vehicles of His
+personality, His personality disappeared. But His _individuality_
+persisted--that is, He is still HE, although His personality has
+disappeared, leaving Him--the real Him--existing as the CHRIST
+PRINCIPLE.
+
+By the above statement, we mean that when a soul reaches the highest
+spiritual stage short of absolute absorption into the One Spirit, _it
+is no longer a person_, but exists as _a principle_. But that
+principle is not an inanimate mechanical force--it is a living,
+knowing, acting principle of life. This occult fact cannot be
+explained in the words of men, for no terms have been coined by which
+men can speak of it. It is only indirectly that we can hope to have
+even the advanced student grasp the fact.
+
+Jesus exists today, as the Christ Principle which _actually lives_ and
+acts, but which is not confined in a body of any kind, using the word
+"body" in its accustomed sense. As the Christ Principle or "The
+Christ" He is mingled with the life of the human race, and may be
+found immanent in the mind of every man, woman and child that has ever
+existed, does now exist, or will exist _so long as Man is Man_. Not
+only is this true of those who have lived since His passage from the
+physical body, but it is equally true of those who lived before His
+birth. This apparently paradoxical statement may be understood when we
+remember that these souls did not "die," but only "passed on" to the
+Astral Plane, from whence they re-incarnated in due time. The Christ
+(for so we shall speak of the present-state of Jesus) even entered
+into, and still abides in, the Astral Plane, as well as upon the
+Material Plane, for wherever the souls of men abide--or whatever place
+their residence may be--there is found The Christ, ever working for
+the salvation and redemption of the race.
+
+On the Astral Plane He is working in the minds of the souls abiding
+there, urging them to cast off the dross of earth-desires and to fix
+the aim upon higher things, to the end that their re-incarnations may
+be under improved conditions. On the Physical Plane He is working in
+the hearts and minds of the earth-people, striving ever to uplift to
+higher things. His aim is ever toward the liberation of the Spirit
+from its material bonds--the Realization of the Real Self. And so, in
+the hearts of all men, Christ is living, suffering, and being
+crucified every day, and this must continue until Man is redeemed and
+saved, even the last man.
+
+This wonderful sacrifice of Christ far surpasses the physical
+sacrifice of Jesus, the man. Try to imagine, if you can, even the
+faintest pangs of a being so exalted compelled to dwell in the world
+of the hearts and minds of a humanity so steeped in materiality as our
+race, knowing always the possibilities of the souls if they would but
+reach upward to higher things, and yet constantly suffering the
+knowledge of the base, carnal, material thoughts and acts flowing from
+these souls. Is not this the extreme refinement of torture? Does not
+the agony of the cross sink into insignificance beside such spiritual
+agony? You rail at the cruelty of the Jews who crucified their Savior,
+and yet you crucify _your_ Savior, with a thousandfold degree of
+torture, every day of your life, by your persistence in the
+carnalities and foolishness of mortal thought and action.
+
+The mighty uplift of the world since the death of Jesus, of which the
+present is but a faint prophecy of the future, has been due largely to
+the energizing influence of The Christ in the hearts and minds of the
+race. The sense of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man,
+which is now manifesting so powerfully in the world of Men, is but an
+instance of the work of the Christ--the Savior and Redeemer. And the
+highest dreams of the exalted souls of this generation are but
+inadequate visions of what the future will hold for the race. The work
+is just beginning to bud--the blossom and the fruit will render this
+earth a far more glorious place than even the highest ideals of heaven
+entertained by the faithful in the past. But even these things of the
+future will be poor things, when compared with the life of the higher
+planes which await the race when it has demonstrated its fitness to
+pass on and on and on to these greater glories. And ever and ever The
+Christ is working, and toiling and striving and suffering, in His
+efforts to raise humanity even one petty degree in the spiritual scale
+of being.
+
+The Christ is always with us, and if we but recognize His presence we
+shall be able to feel that warm, loving response to our soul-hunger
+and spiritual thirst which will result in our being given that we are
+so longingly craving. Here within us dwells The Christ, ever
+responding to the cry of Faith, "Believe in Me and ye shall be saved."
+What a promise this is seen to be when properly understood! What a
+source of power and comfort is opened up to every human soul when the
+Inner Truth underlying the teachings is understood! Mystic
+Christianity brings this Message of Truth to each and all of you who
+read these lines. Will you accept it?
+
+We would ask our students to pause at this point and contrast the
+teachings of Mystic Christianity regarding the doctrine of Christ, the
+Savior, with the corresponding teachings of the current Orthodox
+Theology.
+
+On the one hand we have Jesus the God-Man deliberately choosing the
+work of the World Redemption and Salvation, and descending into the
+circle of the World-Karma, relinquishing the privilege of His Godhood
+and taking upon Himself the penalties of Manhood; not only undergoing
+the sufferings of the physical man, but also binding Himself upon the
+Cross of Humanity for ages, that by His spiritual presence in and of
+the race He might lift up humanity to godhood.
+
+On the other hand, we have a picture of an angry Deity, manifesting
+purely human emotion and temper, bent on revenging himself upon the
+race which he had created, and demanding its eternal punishment in
+hell-fire; then the same Deity creating a Son whom he sent into the
+world, that this Son might be the victim of a blood-atonement and
+death upon the cross, that the Deity's wrath might be appeased and the
+blood of this Divine Lamb be accepted to wash out the sins of the
+world.
+
+Can you not see which is The Truth and which is the perversion? The
+one is from the pure fountain of Spiritual knowledge--the other
+originated in the minds of ignorant theologians who were unable to
+grasp and understand the Mystic teachings, but who built up a system
+of theology in accordance with their own undeveloped minds; making a
+God who was but a reflection of their own cruel animal natures,
+demanding, as did they themselves, blood and pain--physical torture
+and death--in order to appease a most un-Divine wrath and vengeance.
+Which of the two conceptions seems most in accord with the intuitive
+promptings of the Something Within? Which brings the greater approval
+from The Christ within your heart?
+
+
+THE CHRISTIAN CREED.
+
+There are three creeds recognized by the Christian Church--the
+Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Of these,
+the first two are commonly used, the third being not so well known and
+being seldom used.
+
+The Apostles' Creed, which is the most commonly used, is believed (in
+its present form) to be of later origin than the Nicene Creed, and
+many authorities believe it to be a corrupted rendering of the
+original declaration of faith of the Early Christians. It is as
+follows:
+
+     "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and
+     earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was
+     conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,
+     suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and
+     buried; he descended into hell; the third day he arose again
+     from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
+     right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall
+     come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy
+     Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
+     the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and
+     the life everlasting."
+
+The Nicene Creed was drawn up and adopted by the Council of Nice in
+the year A.D. 325. As originally adopted it ended with the words "I
+believe in the Holy Ghost," the present concluding clauses being added
+by the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381, excepting the words "and
+the Son," which were inserted by the Council of Toledo, A.D. 589. It
+is as follows:
+
+     "I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of Heaven
+     and earth, and all things visible and invisible; and in one
+     Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of
+     his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light,
+     very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one
+     substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who
+     for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and
+     was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was
+     made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius
+     Pilate; he suffered and was buried and the third day he rose
+     again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven,
+     and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall
+     come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead,
+     whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy
+     Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the
+     Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son is
+     worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets; and I
+     believe in one catholic and apostolic church; I acknowledge
+     one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the
+     resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."
+
+Let us now briefly examine the principal statements of these creeds,
+which were compiled centuries after Jesus' death, viewing them by the
+light of Mystic Christianity.
+
+"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and
+earth, and all things visible and invisible."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+The form of the above fundamental principle of Christian belief is
+taken from the Nicene Creed, which is somewhat fuller than the similar
+declaration in the Apostles' Creed. It requires no comment. It is a
+statement of belief in a One Creative Power, from which all things
+have proceeded. There is no attempt made to "explain" the nature of
+the Absolute, or to endow it with any of the human attributes which
+theologians have delighted in bestowing upon the One. It merely
+asserts a belief in the existence of One Supreme Being--which is all
+that is possible to man--all else is ignorant impertinence.
+
+"And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the
+Holy Ghost."--(_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten
+of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God
+of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the
+Father."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+In this declaration, the belief in the Divinity of Jesus is made. The
+Apostles' Creed shows the cruder conception, rather inclining toward
+the perverted idea of the conception of the Virgin by the aid of the
+Holy Ghost, similar to the origin of the hero-gods of the different
+religions in which the father was one of the gods and the mother a
+woman. But the Nicene creed gives at least a strong hint of the mystic
+teachings. It speaks of Him as "begotten of his Father"--"begotten,
+not made." The expressions, "God of God; Light of Light; very God of
+very God," show the idea of identical spiritual substance in the
+Spirit. And then the remarkable expression, "being of one substance
+with the Father," shows a wonderful understanding of the Mystery of
+The Christ. For, as the mystic teachings show, Jesus was a pure
+Spirit, free from the entangling desires and clogging Karma of the
+world. Identical in substance with the Father. "The Father and I are
+one," as He said. Is there anything in the Orthodox Theology that
+throws such light on this subject as is shed by Mystic Christianity's
+teaching regarding the nature of the soul of Jesus?
+
+"Born of the Virgin Mary."--(_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was
+incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made
+man."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+The Nicene Creed here gives a surprisingly clear statement of the
+Mystic teachings. "Who for us men and our salvation came down from
+heaven" shows the purpose of the incarnation. "Came down from heaven"
+shows pre-existence in the bosom of the Absolute. "And was incarnate"
+shows the descent of the Spirit into the flesh in the womb of Mary.
+"And was made man" shows the taking on of the physical body of the
+infant in the womb. Does not the Mystic teaching give a clearer light
+on this statement of the Creed?
+
+"Was crucified, dead and buried; he descended into hell; the third
+day he rose again from the dead."--(_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again
+according to the scriptures, and sitteth on the right hand of the
+Father."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+The "descent into hell" of the Apostles' Creed of course meant the
+passing to the place of disembodied souls--the lower Astral Plane.
+Even the orthodox teachers do not now pretend that the term "hell"
+meant the place of torture presided over by the Devil, which theology
+has invented to frighten people into the churches. "The third day he
+arose from the dead" (and the corresponding passage in the Nicene
+Creed) refers to the appearance in the Astral Body--the return from
+the Astral Plane in which He had sojourned for the three days
+following the crucifixion. "And ascended into heaven"--this passage
+shows the belief that He returned to the place from which He came, for
+the Nicene Creed has stated that he "_came down from heaven_ and was
+incarnate ... and was made man."
+
+The passage in both creeds stating that He then took his place "on the
+right hand of the Father" is intended to show that He took the place
+of the highest honor in the gift of the Father. The mystic teachings
+explain this by showing that The Christ is separated from The Father
+by but the most ethereal intervening of spiritual substance, and that
+He is a Cosmic Principle second in importance only to the Father.
+Truly this is the place of honor on "the right hand of the Father."
+
+"He shall come to fudge the quick and the dead."
+
+In this passage we see the intimation that not only with the "quick"
+or living people is The Christ concerned, but also with the "dead,"
+that is, with those who "passed out" before and after His time and who
+have passed on to the Astral World, as we have explained in this
+lesson. Whether or not the framers of the Creed so understood
+it--whether or not they were deluded by the tradition of the "Day of
+Judgment"--certainly the Early Christians, or rather, the mystics
+among them, understood the teachings as we have given them and spoke
+of Him as "living in the dead as well as in the living," as one of the
+occult records expresses it.
+
+"The communion of saints" is the spiritual understanding of the
+Mysteries by the Illumined Ones. "The forgiveness of sins" is the
+overcoming of the carnal mind and desires. "The resurrection of the
+dead and the life of the world to come" is the promise of life beyond
+the grave, and not the crude idea of the physical resurrection of the
+body, which has crept into the Apostles' Creed, evidently having been
+inserted at a later date in order to bolster up the pet theories of a
+school of theologians. Note that the Nicene Creed says merely "the
+dead" and not "the body." The version of the teachings preserved by
+the Mystics has a corresponding passage, "And we know the _truth_ of
+the _deathlessness of the soul_." (The italics are ours.)
+
+The consideration of remaining passages in the creeds, relating to the
+existence of the "Holy Ghost," must be deferred until our next lesson.
+
+
+
+
+THE TENTH LESSON
+
+
+
+THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
+
+The concluding statement of the Creeds (brought over from the
+preceding lesson) refers to the Holy Ghost.
+
+"I believe in the Holy Ghost." (_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life."
+(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+To the average Christian the nature of the Holy Ghost--one of the
+beings of the Trinity--is veiled in obscurity, and is generally
+pronounced "not to be understood." A careful examination of the
+orthodox Christian writings will show the student that the Church is
+very much at sea regarding this subject, which should be of the
+greatest importance to its priests and congregations. Ask the average
+intelligent churchman regarding the nature of the Holy Ghost, and see
+for yourself the vague, contradictory and unsatisfactory concepts held
+by the person questioned. Then turn to the encyclopaedias and other
+books of reference, and see how little is known or taught regarding
+this important subject.
+
+It is only when the teachings of Mystic Christianity are consulted
+that one receives any light on the subject. The Occult Teachings are
+quite explicit on this subject so fraught with difficulty and lack of
+comprehension on the part of the orthodox teachers and students.
+
+The teaching of Mystic Christianity, regarding the Holy Ghost, may be
+summed up by the great general statement that: _The Holy Ghost is the
+Absolute in its phase of Manifestation, as compared to its phase of
+Unmanifestation_--_Manifest Being as compared with Unmanifest
+Being_--_God Create as compared with God Uncreate_--_God acting as the
+Creative Principle as compared to God as The Absolute Being_.
+
+The student is asked to read over the above general statement a number
+of times and to concentrate his or her attention carefully upon it,
+before proceeding further with the lesson.
+
+To understand the above statement it is necessary for the student to
+remember that the Absolute may be thought of as existing in _two
+phases. Not as two persons or beings_, remember, but as in _two
+phases_. There is but One Being--there can be but One--but we may
+think of that One as existing in two phases. One of these phases is
+Being Unmanifest; the other, Being Manifest.
+
+_Being Unmanifest_ is the One in its phase of Absolute Being,
+undifferentiated, unmanifested, uncreated; without attributes,
+qualities, or natures.
+
+It is impossible for the human mind to grasp the above concept of
+Being Manifest in the sense of being able to think of it as a "Thing,
+or Something." This because of the essential being of it. If it were
+like anything that we can think of, it would not be the Absolute, nor
+would it be Unmanifest. Everything that we can think of as a "thing"
+is a relative thing--a manifestation into objective being.
+
+But we are compelled by the very laws of our reason to admit that the
+Absolute Being Unmanifest exists, for the Manifest and Relative
+Universe and Life _must have_ proceeded and emanated from a
+Fundamental Reality, which must be Absolute and Unmanifest. And this
+Being which our highest reason causes us to assume to exist is Being
+Unmanifest--God the Father--who cannot be known through the
+senses--whose existence is made known to us only through Pure Reason,
+or through the workings of the Spirit within us. In the material sense
+"God is Unknowable"--but in the higher sense He may be known to the
+Spirit of Man, and His existence may be _known_ and proven by the
+exercise of the highest faculties of the reason.
+
+Being Unmanifest is the One in its _actual_ existence and being. If
+all the world of objective life and manifestation, even to its highest
+forms, were withdrawn from manifestation, then there would be
+left--what? Simply and solely, Being Unmanifest--God the Father,
+alone. Into His Being all else would be withdrawn. Outside of Him
+there would be _nothing_. He would be Himself--One--existing in the
+phase of Being Unmanifest.
+
+We are aware that this idea may seem to be "too abstruse" for the
+minds of some of our students at first reading--it may appear like an
+assertion of a Being who is Non-Being. But, be not too hasty--take
+time--and your mind will assimilate the concept, and will find that it
+has a corresponding Truth imbedded in its inmost recesses, and then it
+will know this to be the Truth. And then will it recognize the
+existence of God the Father, as compared with God, the Holy Ghost.
+
+The Holy Ghost, as we have said, is the Absolute in its phase of
+Manifest Being. That is, it is God as manifest in the Spirit of Life,
+which is immanent in, and manifest in, all objective life and
+phenomena in the Cosmos or Universe.
+
+In previous series of lessons in the Yogi Philosophy, we have shown
+you that there was a Spirit of Life immanent in, and manifesting
+through, all forms of life. We have also shown you that everything in
+the Universe is alive--down to even the minerals, and the atoms
+composing matter. We have shown you that inasmuch as the Spirit of
+Life is the source of all Manifestations in the universe, and the "God
+in the machine" of all phenomena of force, matter and life, then it
+naturally follows that there can be nothing dead in the world--that
+there is LIFE manifesting in every object, varying only in the degree
+of manifestation. In our "Advanced Lessons" and in "Gnani Yoga" this
+subject is considered in detail. Then what is this Spirit of Life? If
+God is All, then it cannot be Something other than God. But it cannot
+well be God the Uncreate--the Absolute in its Absolute phase--the
+Being Unmanifest. Then what can it be?
+
+The student will see that the natural and logical answer to the
+question with which we have closed the preceding paragraph must be:
+Being Manifest--God in Creation--the Holy Ghost! And this is the
+Occult Teaching concerning this great mystery of Christianity. And see
+how well the framers of the Nicene Creed grasped the traditions of the
+Early Church, when it said: "And I believe in the Holy Ghost, _the
+Lord and Giver of Life_."
+
+The teaching regarding the Immanent God lies at the foundation of all
+of the Mystic teachings of all peoples, races, and times. No matter
+under what names the teaching is promulgated--no matter what the name
+of the creed or religion in which it is found imbedded--it is still
+the Truth regarding the God Immanent in all forms of life, force, and
+matter. And it always is found forming the Secret Doctrine of the
+philosophy, creed or religion. The Outer Teaching generally confines
+itself to the instruction of the undeveloped minds of the people, and
+cloaks the real Truth behind some conception of a Personal Deity, or
+Deities--gods and demi-gods, who are supposed to dwell afar off in
+some heavenly realm--some great Being who created the world and then
+left it to run itself, giving it but occasional attention, and
+reserving his consideration principally for the purpose of rewarding
+those who gave him homage, worship and sacrifices and punishing those
+who failed to conform with the said requirements. These personal
+deities are believed generally to favor the particular people who give
+them their names and temples, and accordingly to hate the enemies of
+the said tribe or nation.
+
+But the Secret Doctrine or Esoteric Teaching of all religions has
+brushed aside these primitive conceptions of undeveloped minds, and
+teach the Truth of the Immanent God--the Power inherent in and abiding
+in all life and manifestations. And Christianity is no exception to
+the rule, and in its declaration of faith in the Holy Ghost its
+esoteric principle is stated.
+
+While the tendency of the orthodox churches today is to say very
+little about God the Holy Ghost, for the reason that it cannot explain
+the meaning of the term, Mystic Christianity boldly declares its
+allegiance to this principle of the earlier teachings and reverently
+repeats the words of the Nicene Creed, "I believe in the Holy Ghost,
+THE LORD AND GIVER OF LIFE."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That there is a Secret Doctrine of Christianity is not generally known
+to the majority who claim the name of "Christian." But it has always
+been known to the mystics in and out of the church, and its flame has
+been kept steadily alight by a few devoted souls who were chosen for
+this sacred task.
+
+The Secret Doctrine of Christianity did not originate with Jesus, for
+He, Himself, was an Initiate of Mysteries which had been known and
+taught for centuries before His birth. As St. Augustine has said:
+
+     "That which is called the Christian Religion existed among
+     the ancients _and never did not exist_, from the beginning
+     of the human race until Christ came in the flesh, at which
+     time the true religion which already existed began to be
+     called Christianity."
+
+We would like to quote here a few paragraphs from the writings of a
+well known writer on religious subjects, with which statement we
+heartily agree, although our views on certain other points of teaching
+do not agree with those of this writer. He says:
+
+     "It may be said that in the present day these doctrines are
+     simply not taught in the churches; how is that? It is
+     because Christianity has forgotten much of its original
+     teachings, because it is now satisfied with only part, and a
+     very small part, of what it originally knew. 'They still
+     have the same scriptures,' you will say. Yes, but those very
+     scriptures tell you often of something more, which is now
+     lost. What is meant by Christ's constant references to the
+     'Mysteries of the Kingdom of God'--by His frequent statement
+     to His disciples that the full and true interpretation could
+     be given only to them, and that to others He must speak in
+     parables? Why does He perpetually use the technical terms
+     connected with the well known mystery-teaching of antiquity?
+     What does St. Paul mean when he says, 'We speak wisdom among
+     them which are perfect'--a well known technical term for the
+     men at a certain stage of initiation? Again and again he
+     uses terms of the same sort; he speaks of 'the wisdom of God
+     in mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the
+     world began, and which none even of the princes of this
+     world know'--a statement which could not by any possibility
+     have been truthfully made if he had been referring merely to
+     ordinary Christian teaching which is openly preached before
+     all men. His immediate followers, the Fathers of the Church,
+     knew perfectly well what he meant, for they all use
+     precisely the same phraseology. Clement of Alexandria, one
+     of the earliest and greatest of all, tells us that 'It is
+     not lawful to reveal to the profane persons the Mysteries of
+     the Word.'"
+
+     "Another consideration shows us clearly how much of this
+     early teaching has been lost. The church now devotes herself
+     solely to producing good men, and points to the _saint_ as
+     her crowning glory and achievement. But in older days she
+     claimed to be able to do much more than that. When she had
+     made a man a saint, her work with him was only just
+     beginning, for then only was he fit for the training and
+     teaching which she _could_ give him then, but cannot now,
+     because she has forgotten her ancient knowledge. Then she
+     had three definite stages in her course of
+     training--Purification, Illumination and Perfection. Now she
+     contents herself with the preliminary Purification, and has
+     no Illumination to give."
+
+     "Read what Clement says: 'Purity is only a negative state,
+     valuable chiefly as the condition of insight. He who has
+     been purified in Baptism and then initiated into the Little
+     Mysteries (has acquired, that is to say, the habits of
+     self-control and reflection) becomes rife for the Greater
+     Mysteries for the Gnosis, the scientific knowledge of God.'
+     In another place he says: 'Knowledge is more than faith.
+     Faith is a summary knowledge of urgent truths, suitable for
+     people who are in a hurry; but knowledge is scientific
+     faith.' And his pupil Origen writes of 'the popular,
+     irrational faith' which leads to what he calls physical
+     Christianity, based upon the gospel history, as opposed to
+     the spiritual Christianity conferred by the Gnosis of
+     Wisdom. Speaking of teaching founded upon historical
+     narrative, he says, 'What better method could be devised to
+     assist the masses?' But for those who are wise he has always
+     the higher teachings, which are given only to those who have
+     proved themselves worthy of it. This teaching is not lost;
+     the church cast it out when she expelled the great Gnostic
+     Doctors, but it has nevertheless been preserved, and it is
+     precisely that Wisdom which we are studying--precisely that
+     which we find to answer all the problems of life, to give us
+     a rational rule by which to live, to be to us a veritable
+     gospel of good news from on high."
+
+St. Paul indicates the existence of the Secret Doctrine of
+Christianity, when he says to the Corinthians:
+
+     "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
+     spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. I
+     fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able
+     to bear it; nay, not even now are ye able, for ye are yet
+     carnal." (_I Cor. 3:1._)
+
+Jesus said: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
+your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their
+feet, and turn and rend you." (_Matt. 7:6._)
+
+St. Clement of Alexandria has said regarding the above saying of
+Jesus:
+
+     "Even now I fear, as it is said, 'to cast the pearls before
+     swine, lest they tread them underfoot, and turn and rend
+     us.' For it is difficult to exhibit the really pure and
+     transparent words respecting the true Light to swinish and
+     untrained hearers."
+
+In the first century after Christ, the term "The Mysteries of Jesus"
+was frequently used by the Christian teachers, and the Inner Circle of
+Christians was recognized as a body of advanced souls who had
+developed so far as to be able to comprehend these mysteries.
+
+The following passage from St. Mark (4:10-12) is interesting in this
+connection:
+
+     "And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the
+     twelve asked of Him the parables. And He said unto them,
+     'Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but
+     unto them that are without, all things are done in parables:
+     that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they
+     may hear, and not understand.'"
+
+The same writer says (4:33-34):
+
+     "And with many such parables spake He the word unto them, as
+     they were able to hear it; and without a parable spake He
+     not unto them; but privately to His own disciples He
+     expounded all things."
+
+Jesus said to His disciples (_John 16:12._): "I have yet many things
+to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now." The Occult Teachings
+state that when He returned in His astral form, after the crucifixion,
+He taught them many important and advanced mystic truths, "speaking of
+the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." (_Acts 1:3._)
+
+The early Christian Fathers spake and wrote openly regarding the
+Christian Mysteries, as all students of Church History well know.
+Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, writes to certain others hoping that they
+are "well versed in the sacred Scriptures and that nothing is hidden
+from you; but to me this privilege is not yet granted." (_The Epistle
+of Polycarp, chapter 7._) Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, says that he is
+"not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For I now begin to be a disciple,
+and I speak to you as my fellow disciple." He also addresses them as
+being "initiated into the Mysteries of the Gospel, with St. Paul, the
+holy, the martyred." Again:
+
+     "Might I not write to you things more full of mystery? But I
+     fear to do so, lest I should inflict injury on you who are
+     but babes. Pardon me in this respect, lest, as not being
+     able to receive their weighty import, ye should be strangled
+     by them. For even I, though I am bound and am able to
+     understand heavenly things, the angelic orders, and the
+     different sorts of angels and hosts, the distinction between
+     powers and dominions, and the diversities between thrones
+     and authorities, the mightiness of the aeons, and the
+     preëminence of the cherubim and seraphim, the sublimity of
+     the Spirit, the kingdom of the Lord, and above all the
+     incomparable majesty of Almighty God--though I am acquainted
+     with these things, yet am I not therefore by any means
+     perfect, nor am I such a disciple as Paul or Peter."
+
+Ignatius also speaks of the High Priest or Hierophant, of whom he
+asserts that he was the one "to whom the holy of holies has been
+committed, and who alone has been entrusted with the secrets of God."
+(_Epistles of Ignatius._)
+
+St. Clement of Alexandria was a mystic of high rank in the Inner
+Circle of the Church. His writings are full of allusions to the
+Christian Mysteries. He says among other things that his writings were
+"a miscellany of Gnostic notes, according to the time philosophy,"
+which teachings he had received from Pontaemus, his instructor or
+spiritual teacher. He says of these teachings:
+
+     "The Lord allowed us to communicate of those divine
+     Mysteries and of that holy light, to those who are able to
+     receive them. He did not certainly disclose to the many what
+     did not belong to the many; but to the few to whom He knew
+     that they belonged, who were capable of receiving and being
+     moulded according to them. But secret things are intrusted
+     to speech, not to writing, as is the case with God. And if
+     one say that it is written, 'There is nothing secret which
+     shall not be revealed, nor hidden, which shall not be
+     disclosed,' let him also hear from us, that to him who hears
+     secretly, even what is secret shall be manifested. This is
+     what was predicted by this oracle. And to him who is able
+     secretly to observe what is delivered to him, that which is
+     veiled shall be disclosed as truth; and what is hidden to
+     the many shall appear manifest to the few. The mysteries are
+     delivered mystically, that what is spoken may be in the
+     mouth of the speaker; rather not in his voice, but in his
+     understanding. The writing of these memoranda of mine, I
+     well know, is weak when compared with that spirit full of
+     grace, which I was privileged to hear. But it will be an
+     image to recall the archetype to him who was struck with the
+     Thyrsus."
+
+(We may state here that the Thyrsus was the mystic-wand carried by the
+Initiates in the Mystic Brotherhoods--the Initiate being first tapped
+with it, and then receiving it from the Hierophant, at the ceremony of
+formal Initiation.) Clement adds:
+
+     "We profess not to explain secret things sufficiently--far
+     from it--but only to recall them to memory, whether we have
+     forgot aught, or whether for the purpose of not forgetting.
+     Many things, well I know, have escaped us, through length of
+     time, that have dropped away unwritten. There are then some
+     things of which we have no recollection; for the power that
+     was in the blessed men was great."
+
+"There are also some things which remain unnoted long, which have now
+escaped; and others which are effaced, having faded away in the mind
+itself, since such a task is not easy to those not experienced; these
+I revive in my commentaries. Some things I purposely omit, in the
+exercise of a wise selection, afraid to write what I guarded against
+speaking; not grudging--for that were wrong--but fearing for my
+readers lest they should stumble by taking them in a wrong sense; and,
+as the proverb says, we should be found 'reaching a sword to a child.'
+For it is impossible that what has been written should not escape,
+although remaining published by me. But being always revolved, using
+the one only voice, that of writing, they answer nothing to him that
+makes inquiries beyond what is written; for they require of necessity
+the aid of someone, either of him who wrote or of someone else, who
+walked in his footsteps. Some things my treatise will hint; on some it
+will linger; some it will merely mention. It will try to speak
+imperceptibly, to exhibit secretly, and to demonstrate silently."
+(_The Stromata of St. Clement._)
+
+St. Clement, in the same work from which the above quotation was
+taken, has a chapter entitled "The Mysteries of the Faith, not to be
+Divulged to all." In it he states that inasmuch as his writings might
+be seen by all men, the unwise as well as the wise, "it is requisite,
+therefore, to hide in a Mystery the wisdom spoken, in which the Son of
+God is taught." He then adds, "For it is difficult to exhibit the
+really pure and transparent words to swinish and untrained hearers.
+For scarcely could anything which they could bear be more ludicrous
+than these to the multitude; nor any subjects on the other hand more
+admirable or more inspiring to those of noble nature. But the wise do
+not utter with their mouths what they reason in council. 'But what ye
+hear in the ear,' said the Lord, 'proclaim upon the houses; bidding
+them receive the _secret traditions of the true knowledge_, and
+expound them aloft and conspicuously; and as we have said in the ear,
+so to deliver them to whom it is requisite; but _not enjoining us to
+communicate to all without distinction_ what is said to them in
+parables. But there is only a delineation in the memoranda, which have
+the truth sown sparse and broadcast, that it may escape the notice of
+those who pick up seeds like jackdaws; but when they find a good
+husbandman, each of them will germinate and will produce corn."
+
+"Those who are still blind and dumb, not having understanding, or the
+undazzled and keen vision of the contemplative soul, must stand
+outside of the divine choir. Wherefore, in accordance with the method
+of concealment, the truly sacred Word, truly divine and most necessary
+for us, deposited in the shrine of truth, was by the Egyptians
+indicated by what were called among them _adyta_, and by the Hebrews
+'the veil.' Only the consecrated were allowed access to them. For
+Plato also thought it not lawful for 'the impure to touch the pure.'
+Thence the prophecies and oracles are spoken in enigmas, and to the
+untrained and uninstructed people. Now, then, it is not wished that
+all things should be exposed indiscriminately to all and sundry, or
+the benefits of wisdom communicated to those who have not even in a
+dream been purified in soul, for it is not allowable to hand to every
+chance comer what has been procured with such laborious efforts. Nor
+are the Mysteries of the Word to be expounded to the profane. The
+Mysteries were established for the reason that it was more beneficial
+that the holy and the blessed contemplation of realities be conceded.
+So that, on the other hand, then, there are the Mysteries which were
+hid till the time of the apostles, and were delivered by them as they
+received from the Lord, and, concealed in the Old Testament, were
+manifested to the saints. And on the other hand, there is the riches
+of the glory of the mysteries of the Gentiles, which is faith and hope
+in Christ. Instruction, which reveals hidden things, is called
+Illumination, as it is the teacher only who uncovers the lid of the
+ark." (_The Stromata of St. Clement_.)
+
+St. Clement also quotes approvingly the saying of Plato, that: "We
+must speak in enigmas; that should the tablet come by any mischance on
+its leaves either by sea or land he who reads may remain ignorant." He
+also says, concerning certain Gnostic writings:
+
+     "Let the specimen suffice to those who have ears. For it is
+     not required to unfold the mystery, but only to indicate
+     what is sufficient for those who are partakers in knowledge
+     to bring it to mind."
+
+We have quoted freely from St. Clement, for the purpose of showing
+that he, a man in a very exalted position in the Early Christian
+Church, recognized, and actually taught, the Inner Teachings, or
+Secret Doctrine of Mystic Christianity--that the Early Christian
+Church was an organization having a Mystic Centre for the few, and
+Common Outer for the multitude. Can there be any doubt of this after
+reading the above words from his pen?
+
+But not only St. Clement so wrote and taught, but many others in
+authority in the Early Christian Church likewise voiced their
+knowledge of, and approval in, the Inner Teachings. For example,
+Origen, the pupil of St. Clement, a man whose influence was felt on
+all sides in the early days of the Church. Origen defended
+Christianity from the attacks of Celsus, who charged the Church with
+being a secret organization which taught the Truth only to a few,
+while it satisfied the multitude with popular teachings and
+half-truths. Origen replied that, while it was true that there were
+Inner Teachings in the Church which were not revealed to the general
+public, still the Church, in that respect, was but following the
+example of all teachers of Truth, who always maintained an esoteric
+side of their teachings for those fitted to participate in them, while
+giving the exoteric side to the general body of followers. He writes:
+
+     "And yet the Mystery of the Resurrection, not being
+     understood, is made a subject of ridicule among unbelievers.
+     In these circumstances, to speak of the Christian doctrine
+     as a _secret system_ is altogether absurd. But that there
+     should be certain doctrines, not made known to the
+     multitude, which are divulged after the exoteric ones have
+     been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but
+     also of philosophic systems in which certain truths are
+     exoteric and others esoteric. Some of the hearers of
+     Pythagoras were content with his _ipse dixit;_ while others
+     were taught in secret those doctrines which were not deemed
+     fit to be communicated to profane and insufficiently
+     prepared ears. Moreover, all the Mysteries that are
+     celebrated everywhere throughout Greece and barbarous
+     countries, although held in secret, have no discredit thrown
+     upon them, so that it is in vain he endeavors to calumniate
+     the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing that he does
+     not correctly understand its nature."
+
+     "I have not yet spoken of the observance of all that is
+     written in the Gospels, each one of which contains much
+     doctrine difficult to be understood, not merely by the
+     multitude, but even by certain of the more intelligent,
+     including a very profound explanation of the parables, which
+     Jesus delivered to 'those without' while reserving the
+     exhibition of their full meaning for those who had passed
+     beyond the stage of exoteric teaching, and who came to Him
+     privately in the house. And when he comes to understand it,
+     he will admire the reason why some are said to be 'without'
+     and others 'in the house.'" (_Origen against Celsus_.)
+
+In the same work Origen considers the story of the Syria-Phoenician
+woman (_Matt. Chap. 15_) and says concerning it:
+
+     "And perhaps, also, of the words of Jesus there are some
+     loaves which it is possible to give to the more rational, as
+     to the children, only; and others as it were crumbs from the
+     great house and table of the well-born, which may be used by
+     some souls like dogs."
+
+And, again,
+
+     "He whose soul has, for a long time, been conscious of no
+     evil, especially since he yielded himself to the healing of
+     the Word, let such a one hear _the doctrines which were
+     spoken in private by Jesus to His genuine disciples_."
+
+And, again,
+
+     "But on these subjects much, and that of a mystical kind,
+     might be said: in keeping with which is the following: 'It
+     is good to keep close to the secret of a king,' in order
+     that _the doctrine of the entrance of souls into bodies_ may
+     not be thrown before the common understanding, nor what is
+     holy given to the dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine. For
+     such a procedure would be impious, being equivalent to a
+     betrayal of the mysterious declaration of God's wisdom. It
+     is sufficient, however, to represent in the style of a
+     historic narrative what is intended to convey a secret
+     meaning in the garb of history, that those who have the
+     capacity may work out for themselves all that relates to the
+     subject."
+
+He also says, in the same work:
+
+     "If you come to the books written after the time of Jesus,
+     you will find that those multitudes of believers who hear
+     the parables are, as it were, 'without,' and worthy only of
+     exoteric doctrines, while the disciples learn in private the
+     explanation of the parables. _For, privately, to His own
+     disciples did Jesus open up all things, esteeming above the
+     multitudes those who desired to know His wisdom._ And He
+     promises to those who believe on Him to send them wise men
+     and scribes."
+
+In another work, Origen states that:
+
+     "The Scriptures have a meaning, not only such as is apparent
+     at first sight, but also another, which escapes the notice
+     of most men. For such is written in the forms of certain
+     Mysteries, and the image of divine things. Respecting which
+     there is one opinion throughout the whole Church, that the
+     whole law is indeed spiritual; _but that the spiritual
+     meaning which the law conveys is not known to all_, but to
+     those only on whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is bestowed
+     in the word of wisdom and knowledge." (_De Principiis_.)
+
+We could fill page after page with live quotations from the writings
+of the Early Christian Fathers, and their successors, showing the
+existence of the Inner Teachings. But we must rest content with those
+which we have given you, which are clear and to the point, and which
+_come from undoubted authority_.
+
+The departure of the Church from these Inner Teachings was a great
+calamity, from which the Church is still suffering. As that well-known
+occultist, Eliphias Levi, has said:
+
+     "A great misfortune befell Christianity. The betrayal of the
+     Mysteries by the false Gnostics--for the Gnostics, that is,
+     _those who know_, were the Initiates of primitive
+     Christianity--caused the Gnosis to be rejected, and
+     alienated the Church from the supreme truths of the Kabbala,
+     which contains all the secrets of transcendental
+     theology.... Let the most absolute science, let the highest
+     reason become once more the patrimony of the leaders of the
+     people; let the sarcerdotal art and the royal art take the
+     double sceptre of antique initiations and the social world
+     will once more issue from its chaos. Burn the holy images no
+     longer; demolish the temples no more; temples and images are
+     necessary for men; but drive the hirelings from the house of
+     prayer; let the blind be no longer leaders of the blind;
+     reconstruct the hierarchy of intelligence and holiness, and
+     recognize only _those who know_ as the teachers of _those
+     who believe_." (_The Mysteries of Magic, Waite
+     translation_.)
+
+And now, you ask, what were taught in these Christian Mysteries--what
+is the Inner Teaching--what the Secret Doctrine? Simply this, good
+students--the Occult Philosophy and Mystic Lore which has been taught
+to the Elect in all times and ages, and which is embodied in our
+several series of lessons on THE YOGI PHILOSOPHY AND ORIENTAL
+OCCULTISM, _plus the special teaching regarding the nature, mission,
+and sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, as we have tried to explain in the
+present series of lessons_. The Truth is the same no matter under what
+name it is taught, or who teaches it. Strip it of the personal
+coloring of the teacher and it is seen to be the same--THE TRUTH.
+
+In these lessons we have tried to give you the Key to the Mysteries,
+but unless you have studied the other lessons in which the Occult
+Teachings have been set forth, you will not be able to see their
+application in Mystic Christianity. You must bring Knowledge to these
+lessons, in order to take away knowledge.
+
+
+
+
+THE ELEVENTH LESSON
+
+
+
+THE ANCIENT WISDOM.
+
+The doctrine of Metempsychosis or Re-incarnation has its roots deeply
+imbedded in the soil of all religions--that is, in the Inner Teachings
+or Esoteric phase of all religious systems. And this is true of the
+Inner Teachings of the Christian Church as well as of the other
+systems. The Christian Mysteries comprised this as well as the other
+fundamental occult doctrines, and the Early Church held such teachings
+in its Inner Circle.
+
+And, in its essence, the doctrine of Re-birth is the only one that is
+in full accord with the Christian conception of ultimate justice and
+"fairness." As a well known writer has said concerning this subject:
+
+     "It relieves us of many and great difficulties. It is
+     impossible for any one who looks around him and sees the
+     sorrow and suffering in the world, and the horrible
+     inequality in the lives of men--not inequality in wealth
+     merely, but inequality in opportunity of progress--to
+     harmonize these facts with the love and justice of God,
+     unless he is willing to accept this theory that this one
+     life is not all, but that it is only a day in the real life
+     of the soul, and that each soul therefore has made its place
+     for itself, and is receiving just such training as is best
+     for its evolution. Surely the only theory which enables a
+     man rationally to believe in Divine justice, without
+     shutting his eyes to obvious facts, is a theory worthy of
+     study.
+
+     "Modern theology concerns itself principally with a plan for
+     evading divine justice, which it elects to call 'Salvation,'
+     and it makes this plan depend entirely upon what a man
+     believes, or rather upon what he says that he believes. This
+     whole theory of 'salvation,' and indeed the theory that
+     there is anything to be 'saved' from, seems to be based upon
+     a misunderstanding of a few texts of scripture. We do not
+     believe in this idea of a so-called divine wrath; we think
+     that to attribute to God our own vices of anger and cruelty
+     is a terrible blasphemy. We hold to the theory of steady
+     evolution and final attainment for all; and we think that
+     the man's progress depends not upon what he believes, but
+     upon what he does. And there is surely very much in the
+     bible to support this idea. Do you remember St. Paul's
+     remark, 'Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a
+     man soweth, that shall he also reap'? And again, Christ said
+     that 'They that _have done good_ shall go unto the
+     resurrection of life'--not they that have believed some
+     particular doctrine. And when He describes the day of
+     judgment, you will notice that no question is raised as to
+     what anybody has believed, but only as to the works which he
+     has done."
+
+In this connection, we think that it is advisable to quote from the
+address of a well known English churchman upon this important subject.
+The gentleman in question is The Ven. Archdeacon Colley, Rector of
+Stockton, Warwickshire, England, who said:
+
+     "In the realm of the occult and transcendental, moved to its
+     exploration from the Sadducean bias of my early days, I have
+     for the best part of half a century had experiences rarely
+     equaled by any, and I am sure, surpassed by none; yet have
+     they led me up till now, I admit, to no very definite
+     conclusions. With suspension of judgment, therefore, not
+     being given to dogmatize on anything, and with open mind I
+     trust, in equipoise of thought desiring to hold an even
+     balance of opinion 'twixt this and that, I am studious still
+     of being receptive of light from every source--rejecting
+     nothing that in the least degree makes for righteousness,
+     hence my taking the chair here tonight, hoping to learn what
+     may help to resolve a few of the many perplexities of life,
+     to wit: Why some live to the ripe old age of my dear father
+     while others live but for a moment, to be born, gasp and
+     die. Why some are born rich and others poor; some having
+     wealth only to corrupt, defile, deprave others therewith,
+     while meritorious poverty struggles and toils for human
+     betterment all unaided. Some gifted with mentality; others
+     pitiably lacking capacity. Some royal-souled from the first
+     naturally, others with brutal, criminal propensities from
+     beginning to end.
+
+     "The sins of the fathers visited upon the children unto the
+     third and fourth generation may in heredity account for
+     much, but I want to see through the mystery of a good father
+     at times having a bad son, as also of one showing genius and
+     splendid faculties--the offspring of parentage the reverse
+     of anything suggesting qualities contributive thereto. Then
+     as a clergyman, I have in my reading noted texts of Holy
+     Scripture, and come across passages in the writings of the
+     Fathers of the Early Church which seem to be root-thoughts,
+     or survivals of the old classic idea of re-incarnation.
+
+     "The prophet Jeremiah (1:5) writes, 'The word of the Lord
+     came unto me saying, before I formed thee, I knew thee, and
+     before thou wast born I sanctified thee and ordained thee a
+     prophet.'
+
+"Does this mean that the Eternal-Uncreate chose, from foreknowledge of
+what Jeremiah would be, the created Ego of His immaterialized servant
+in heaven ere he clothed his soul with the mortal integument of flesh
+in human birth--schooling him above for the part he had to play here
+below as a prophet to dramatize in his life and teaching the will of
+the Unseen? To the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda, whose
+infirmity was the cruel experience of eight and thirty years, the
+Founder of our religion said (_John 5:14._), 'Behold, thou art made
+whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.' Was it
+(fitting the punishment to the crime proportionately) some outrageous
+sin as a boy, in the spring of years and days of his inexperienced
+youth of bodily life, that brought on him such physical sorrow, which
+youthful sin in its repetition would necessitate an even worse ill
+than this nearly forty years of sore affliction? 'Who did sin, this
+man or his parents, that he was born blind?' (_John 9:2._), was the
+question of the disciples to Jesus. And our query is--Sinned _before_
+he was born to deserve the penalty of being born blind?
+
+"Then of John the Baptist--was he a reincarnation of Elijah, the
+prophet, who was to come again? (_Malachi 4:5._). Jesus said he _was_
+Elijah, who indeed had come, and the evil-minded Jews had done unto
+him whatsoever they listed. Herod had beheaded him (_Matt. 11:14_ and
+_17:12._).
+
+"Elijah and John the Baptist appear from our reference Bibles and
+Cruden's Concordance to concur and commingle in one. The eighth verse
+of the first chapter of the second Book of Kings and the fourth verse
+of the third chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel note similarities in them
+and peculiarities of dress. Elijah, as we read, was a 'hairy man and
+girt a leathern girdle about his loins,' while John the Baptist had
+'his raiment of camel's hair and a leathern girdle about his loins.'
+Their home was the solitude of the desert. Elijah journeyed forty days
+and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God in the Wilderness of
+Sinai. John the Baptist was in the wilderness of Judea beyond Jordan
+baptizing. And their life in exile--a self-renunciating and voluntary
+withdrawal from the haunts of men--was sustained in a parallel
+remarkable way by food (bird--brought on wing--borne). 'I have
+commanded the ravens to feed thee,' said the voice of Divinity to the
+prophet; while locusts and wild honey were the food of the Baptist.
+
+"'And above all,' said our Lord of John the Baptist to the disciples,
+'if ye _will_ receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.'
+
+"Origen, in the second century, one of the most learned of the Fathers
+of the early Church, says that this declares the pre-existence of John
+the Baptist as Elijah before his decreed later existence as Christ's
+forerunner.
+
+"Origen also says on the text, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have
+hated,' that if our course be not marked out according to our works
+before this present life that now is, how would it not be untrue and
+unjust in God that the elder brother should serve the younger and be
+hated by God (though blessed of righteous Abraham's son, of Isaac)
+before Esau had done anything deserving of servitude or given any
+occasion for the merciful Almighty's hatred?
+
+"Further, on the text (_Ephesians 1:4._), 'God who hath chosen us
+before the foundation of the world,' Origen says that this suggests
+our pre-existence ere the world was.
+
+"While Jerome, agreeing with Origen, speaks of our rest above, where
+rational creatures dwell before their descent to this lower world, and
+prior to their removal from the invisible life of the spiritual sphere
+to the visible life here on earth, teaching, as he says, the necessity
+of their again having material bodies ere, as saints and men made
+'perfect as our Father which is in heaven is perfect,' they once more
+enjoy in the angel-world their _former_ blessedness.
+
+"Justin Martyr also speaks of the soul inhabiting the human body more
+than once, but thinks as a rule (instanced in the case of John the
+Baptist forgetting that he had been Elijah) it is not permitted us to
+remember our former experiences of this life while yet again we are in
+exile here as strangers and pilgrims in an uncongenial clime away from
+our heavenly home.
+
+"Clemens Alexandrinus, and others of the Fathers, refer to
+re-incarnation (or transmigration or metempsychosis, as it is called
+in the years that are passed of classic times and later now as
+_re-birth_) to remind us of the vital truth taught by our Lord in the
+words, '_Ye must be born again_.'"
+
+These words, falling from the lips of a man so eminent in the staid
+conservative ranks of the Church of England, must attract the
+attention of every earnest seeker after the Truth of Christian
+Doctrine. If such a man, reared in such an environment, could find
+himself able to bear such eloquent testimony to the truth of a
+philosophy usually deemed foreign to his accepted creed, what might we
+not expect from a Church liberated from the narrow formal bounds of
+orthodoxy, and once more free to consider, learn and teach those noble
+doctrines originally held and taught by the Early Fathers of the
+Church of Christ?
+
+While the majority of modern Christians bitterly oppose the idea that
+the doctrine of Metempsychosis ever formed any part of the Christian
+Doctrine, and prefer to regard it as a "heathenish" teaching, still
+the fact remains that the careful and unprejudiced student will find
+indisputable evidence in the writings of the Early Christian Fathers
+pointing surely to the conclusion that the doctrine of Metempsychosis
+was believed and taught in the Inner Circle of the Early Church.
+
+The doctrine unquestionably formed a part of the Christian Mysteries,
+and has faded into comparative obscurity with the decay of
+spirituality in the Church, until now the average churchman no longer
+holds to it, and in fact regards as barbarous and heathenish that part
+of the teachings originally imparted and taught by the Early Fathers
+of the Church--the Saints and Leaders.
+
+The Early Christians were somewhat divided in their beliefs concerning
+the details of Re-birth. One sect or body held to the idea that the
+soul of man was eternal, coming from the Father. Also that there were
+many degrees and kinds of souls, some of which have never incarnated
+in human bodies but which are living on many planes of life unknown to
+us, passing from plane to plane, world to world. This sect held that
+some of these souls had chosen to experiment with life on the physical
+plane, and were now passing through the various stages of the
+physical-plane life, with all of its pains and sorrows, being held by
+the Law of Re-birth until a full experience had been gained, when they
+would pass out of the circle of influence of the physical plane, and
+return to their original freedom.
+
+Another sect held to the more scientific occult form of the gradual
+evolution of the soul, by repeated rebirth, on the physical plane,
+from Lower to Higher, as we have set forth in our lessons on "Gnani
+Yoga." The difference in the teachings arose from the different
+conceptions of the great leaders, some being influenced by the Jewish
+Occult Teachings which held to the first above mentioned doctrine,
+while the second school held to the doctrine taught by the Greek
+Mystics and the Hindu Occultists. And each interpreted the Inner
+Teachings by the light of his previous affiliations.
+
+And so, some of the early writings speak of "pre-existence," while
+others speak of repeated "rebirth." But the underlying principle is
+the same, and in a sense they were both right, as the advanced
+occultists know full well. The fundamental principle of both
+conceptions is that the soul comes forth as an emanation from the
+Father in the shape of Spirit; that the Spirit becomes plunged in the
+confining sheaths of Matter, and is then known as "a soul," losing for
+a time its pristine purity; that the soul passes on through rebirth,
+from lower to higher, gaining fresh experiences at each incarnation;
+that the advancing soul passes from world to world, returning at last
+to its home laden with the varied experiences of life and becomes once
+more pure Spirit.
+
+The early Christian Fathers became involved in a bitter controversy
+with the Greek and Roman philosophers, over the conception held by
+some of the latter concerning the absurd doctrine of the
+transmigration of the human soul into the body of an animal. The
+Fathers of the Church fought this erroneous teaching with great
+energy, their arguments bringing out forcibly the distinction between
+the true occult teachings and this erroneous and degenerate perversion
+in the doctrines of transmigration into animal bodies. This conflict
+caused a vigorous denunciation of the teachings of the Pythagorean and
+Platonic schools, which held to the perverted doctrine that a human
+soul could degenerate into the state of the animal.
+
+Among other passages quoted by Origen and Jerome to prove the
+pre-existence of the soul was that from Jeremiah (1:5): "Before thou
+comest from the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet."
+The early writers held that this passage confirmed their particular
+views regarding the pre-existence of the soul and the possession of
+certain characteristics and qualities acquired during previous birth,
+for, they argued, it would be injustice that a man, before birth, be
+endowed with uncarnal qualities; and that such qualities and ability
+could justly be the result only of best work and action. They also
+dwelt upon the prophecy of the return of Elijah, in Malachi 4:5. And
+also upon the (uncanonical) book "The Wisdom of Solomon," in which
+Solomon says: "I was a witty child, and had a good Spirit. Yea,
+rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled."
+
+They also quoted from Josephus, in his book styled "De Bello Judico,"
+in which the eminent Jewish writer says: "They say that all souls are
+incorruptible; but that the souls of good men are only removed into
+other bodies--but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal
+punishment." They also quoted from Josephus, regarding the Jewish
+belief in Rebirth as evidenced by the recital of the instance in
+which, at the siege of the fortress of Jotapota, he sought the shelter
+of a cave in which were a number of soldiers, who discussed the
+advisability of committing suicide for the purpose of avoiding being
+taken prisoners by the Romans. Josephus remonstrated with them as
+follows:
+
+     "Do ye not remember that all pure spirits who are in
+     conformity with the divine dispensation live on in the
+     loveliest of heavenly places, and in the course of time they
+     are sent down to inhabit sinless bodies; but the souls of
+     those who have committed self-destruction are doomed to a
+     region in the darkness of the underworld?"
+
+Recent writers hold that this shows that he accepted the doctrine of
+Re-birth himself, and also as showing that it must have been familiar
+to the Jewish soldiery.
+
+There seems to be no doubt regarding the familiarity of the Jewish
+people of that time with the general teachings regarding
+Metempsychosis. Philo positively states the doctrine as forming part
+of the teachings of the Jewish Alexandrian school. And again the
+question asked Jesus regarding the "sin of the man born blind" shows
+how familiar the people were with the general doctrine.
+
+And so, the teachings of Jesus on that point did not need to be
+particularly emphasized to the common people, He reserving this
+instruction on the inner teachings regarding the details of Re-birth
+for his chosen disciples. But still the subject is mentioned in a
+number of places in the New Testament, as we shall see.
+
+Jesus stated positively that John the Baptist was "Elias," whose
+return had been predicted by Malachi (4:5). Jesus stated this twice,
+positively, i.e., "This is Elijah that is to come" (_Matt. 11:14_);
+and again, "But I say unto you that Elijah is come already, but they
+knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would.... Then
+understood the disciples that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist."
+(_Matt. 17:12-13._) The Mystics point out that Jesus saw clearly the
+fact that John was Elijah re-incarnated, although John had denied this
+fact, owing to his lack of memory of his past incarnation. Jesus the
+Master saw clearly that which John the Forerunner had failed to
+perceive concerning himself. The plainly perceptible characteristics
+of Elijah reappearing in John bear out the twice-repeated, positive
+assertion of the Master that John the Baptist was the re-incarnated
+Elijah.
+
+And this surely is sufficient authority for Christians to accept the
+doctrine of Re-birth as having a place in the Church Teachings. But
+still, the orthodox churchmen murmur "He meant _something else_!"
+There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
+
+Another notable instance of the recognition of the doctrine by Jesus
+and His disciples occurs in the case of "the man born blind." It may
+be well to quote the story.
+
+     "And as he passed by he saw a man blind from his birth. And
+     his disciples asked him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this
+     man or his parents, that he should be born blind?' Jesus
+     answered, 'Neither did this man sin nor his parents.'"
+     (_John 9:1-3._)
+
+Surely there can be no mistake about the meaning of this question,
+"Who did sin, this man or his parents?"--for how could a man sin
+before his birth, unless he had lived in a previous incarnation? And
+the answer of Jesus simply states that the man was born blind neither
+from the sins of a past life, nor from those of his parents, but from
+a third cause. Had the idea of re-incarnation been repugnant to the
+teachings, would not He have denounced it to His disciples? Does not
+the fact that His disciples asked Him the question show that they were
+in the habit of discoursing the problems of Re-birth and Karma with
+Him, and receiving instructions and answers to questions propounded to
+Him along these lines?
+
+There are many other passages of the New Testament which go to prove
+the familiarity of the disciples and followers of Jesus with the
+doctrine of Re-birth, but we prefer to pass on to a consideration of
+the writings of the Early Christian Fathers in order to show what they
+thought and taught regarding the matter of Re-birth and Karma.
+
+Among the great authorities and writers in the Early Church, Origen
+stands out pre-eminently as a great light. Let us quote from a leading
+writer, regarding this man and his teachings:
+
+     "In Origen's writings we have a mine of information as to
+     the teachings of the early Christians. Origen held a
+     splendid and grandiose view of the whole of the evolution of
+     our system. I put it to you briefly. You can read it in all
+     its carefully, logically-worked-out arguments, if you will
+     have the patience to read his treatise for yourselves. His
+     view, then, was the evolutionary view. He taught that forth
+     from God came all Spirits that exist, all being dowered with
+     free-will; that some of these refused to turn aside from the
+     path of righteousness, and, as a reward, took the place
+     which we speak of as that of the angels; that then there
+     came others who, in the exercise of their free-will, turned
+     aside from the path of deity, and then passed into the human
+     race to recover, by righteous and noble living, the angel
+     condition which they had not been able to preserve; that
+     others, still in the exercise of their free-will, descended
+     still deeper into evil and became evil spirits or devils. So
+     that all these Spirits were originally good; but good by
+     innocence, not by knowledge. And he points out also that
+     angels may become men, and even the evil ones themselves may
+     climb up once more, and become men and angels again. Some of
+     you will remember that one of the doctrines condemned in
+     Origen in later days was that glorious doctrine that, even
+     for the worst of men, redemption and restoration were
+     possible, and that there was no such thing as an eternity of
+     evil in a universe that came from the Eternal Goodness, and
+     would return whence it came."
+
+And from the writings of this great man we shall now quote.
+
+In his great work "De Principiis," Origen begins with the statement
+that only God Himself is fundamentally and by virtue of His essential
+nature, Good. God is the only Good--the absolute perfect Good. When we
+consider the lesser stages of Good, we find that the Goodness is
+derived and acquired, instead of being fundamental and essential.
+Origen then says that God bestows free-will upon all spirits alike,
+and that if they do not use the same in the direction of
+righteousness, then they fall to lower estates "one more rapidly,
+another more slowly, one in a greater, another in a less degree, each
+being the cause of his own downfall."
+
+He refers to John the Baptist being filled with the Holy Ghost in his
+mother's womb and says that it is a false notion to imagine "that God
+fills individuals with His Holy Spirit, and bestows upon them
+sanctification, not on the grounds of justice and according to their
+deserts, but undeservedly. And how shall we escape the declaration,
+'Is there respect of persons with God?' God forbid. Or this, 'Is there
+unrighteousness with God?' God forbid this also. For such is the
+defense of those who maintain that souls come into existence with
+bodies." He then shows his belief in re-birth by arguing that John had
+earned the Divine favor by reason of right-living in a previous
+incarnation.
+
+Then he considers the important question of the apparent injustice
+displayed in the matter of the inequalities existing among men. He
+says, "Some are barbarians, others Greeks, and of the barbarians some
+are savage and fierce and others of a milder disposition, and certain
+of them live under laws that have been thoroughly approved, others,
+again, under laws of a more common or severe kind; while, some, again,
+possess customs of an inhumane and savage character rather than laws;
+and certain of them, from the hour of their birth, are reduced to
+humiliation and subjection, and brought up as slaves, being placed
+under the dominion either of masters, or princes, or tyrants. Some
+with sound bodies, some with bodies diseased from their early years,
+some defective in vision, others in bearing and speech; some born in
+that condition, others deprived of the use of their senses immediately
+after birth. But why should I repeat and enumerate all the horrors of
+human misery? Why should this be?"
+
+Origen then goes on to combat the ideas advanced by some thinkers of
+his times, that the differences were caused by some essential
+difference in the nature and quality of the souls of individuals. He
+states emphatically that all souls are essentially equal in nature and
+quality and that the differences arise from the various exercise of
+their power of free-will. He says of his opponents:
+
+     "Their argument accordingly is this: If there be this great
+     diversity of circumstances, and this diverse and varying
+     condition by birth, in which the faculty of free-will has no
+     scope (for no one chooses for himself either where, or with
+     whom, or in what condition he is born); if, then, this is
+     not caused by the difference in the nature of souls, i.e.,
+     that a soul of an evil nature is destined for a wicked
+     nation and a good soul for a righteous nation, what other
+     conclusion remains than that these things must be supposed
+     to be regulated by accident or chance? And, if that be
+     admitted, then it will be no longer believed that the world
+     was made by God, or administered by His providence."
+
+Origen continues:
+
+     "God who deemed it just to arrange His creatures according
+     to their merit, brought down these different understandings
+     into the harmony of one world, that He might adorn, as it
+     were, one dwelling, in which there ought to be not only
+     vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay (and
+     some, indeed, to honor, and others to dishonor) with their
+     different vessels, or souls, or understandings. On which
+     account the Creator will neither appear to be unjust in
+     distributing (for the causes already mentioned) to every one
+     according to his wants, nor will the happiness or
+     unhappiness of each one's birth, or whatever be the
+     condition that falls to his lot, be accidental."
+
+He then asserts that the condition of each man is the result of his
+own deeds.
+
+He then considers the case of Jacob and Esau, which a certain set of
+thinkers had used to illustrate the unjust and cruel discrimination of
+the Creator toward His creatures. Origen contended that in this case
+it would be most unjust for God to love Jacob and hate Esau before the
+children were born, and that the only true interpretation of the
+matter was the theory that Jacob was being rewarded for the good deeds
+of past lives, while Esau was being punished for his misdeeds in past
+incarnations.
+
+And not only Origen takes this stand, but Jerome also, for the latter
+says: "If we examine the case of Esau we may find he was condemned
+because of his ancient sins in a worse course of life." (_Jerome's
+letter to Avitus_.) Origen says:
+
+     "It is found not to be unrighteous that even in womb Jacob
+     supplanted his brother, if we feel that he was worthily
+     beloved by God, according to the deserts of his previous
+     life, so as to deserve to be preferred before his brother."
+
+Origen adds, "This must be carefully applied to the case of all other
+creatures, because, as we formerly remarked, the righteousness of the
+Creator ought to appear in everything." And again, "The inequality of
+circumstances preserves the justice of a retribution according to
+merit."
+
+Annie Besant (to whom we are indebted for a number of these
+quotations), says, concerning this position of Origen:
+
+     "Thus we find this doctrine made the defense of the justice
+     of God. If a soul can be made good, then to make a soul evil
+     is to a God of justice and love impossible. It cannot be
+     done. There is no justification for it, and the moment you
+     recognize that men are born criminal, you are either forced
+     into the blasphemous position that a perfect and loving God
+     creates a ruined soul and then punishes it for being what He
+     has made it, or else that He is dealing with growing,
+     developing creatures whom He is training for ultimate
+     blessedness, and if in any life a man is born wicked and
+     evil, it is because he has done amiss and must reap in
+     sorrow the results of evil in order that he may learn wisdom
+     and turn to good."
+
+Origen also considers the story of Pharaoh, of whom the Biblical
+writers say that "his heart was hardened by God." Origen declares that
+the hardening of the heart was caused by God so that Pharaoh would
+more readily learn the effect of evil, so that in his future
+incarnations he might profit by his bitter experience. He says:
+
+     "Sometimes it does not lead to good results for a man to be
+     cured too quickly, especially if the disease, being shut up
+     in the inner parts of the body, rage with greater
+     fierceness. The growth of the soul must be understood as
+     being brought about not suddenly, but slowly and gradually,
+     seeing that the process of amendment and correction will
+     take place imperceptibly in the individual instances, during
+     the lapse of countless and unmeasured ages, some
+     outstripping others, and tending by a swifter course towards
+     perfection, while others, again, follow close at hand, and
+     some, again, a long way behind."
+
+He also says: "Those who, departing this life in virtue of that death
+which is common to all, are arranged in conformity with their actions
+and deserts--according as they shall be deemed worthy--some in the
+place called the 'infernus,' others in the bosom of Abraham, and in
+different localities or mansions. So also from these places, as if
+dying there, if the expression can be used, they come down from the
+'upper world' to this 'hell.' For that 'hell' to which the souls of
+the dead are conducted from this world is, I believe, on account of
+this destruction, called 'the lower hell.' Everyone accordingly of
+those who descend to the earth is, according to his deserts, or
+agreeably to the position that he occupied there, ordained to be born
+in this world in a different country, or among a different nation, or
+in a different mode of life, or surrounded by infirmities of a
+different kind, or to be descended from religious parents, or parents
+who are not religious; so that it may sometimes happen that an
+Israelite descends among the Scythians, and a poor Egyptian is brought
+down to Judea." (_Origen against Celsus_.)
+
+Can you doubt, after reading the above quotation that Metempsychosis,
+Re-incarnation or Re-birth and Karma was held and taught as a true
+doctrine by the Fathers of the Early Christian Church? Can you not see
+that imbedded in the very bosom of the Early Church were the
+twin-doctrine of Re-incarnation and Karma. Then why persist in
+treating it as a thing imported from India, Egypt or Persia to disturb
+the peaceful slumber of the Christian Church? It is but the return
+home of a part of the original Inner Doctrine--so long an outcast from
+the home of its childhood.
+
+The Teaching was rendered an outlaw by certain influences in the
+Church in the Sixth Century. The Second Council of Constantinople
+(A.D. 553) condemned it as a heresy, and from that time official
+Christianity frowned upon it, and drove it out by sword, stake and
+prison cell. The light was kept burning for many years, however, by
+that sect so persecuted by the Church--the Albigenses--who furnished
+hundreds of martyrs to the tyranny of the Church authorities, by
+reason of their clinging faith to the Inner Teachings of the Church
+concerning Reincarnation and Karma.
+
+Smothered by the pall of superstition that descended like a dense
+cloud over Europe in the Middle Ages, the Truth has nevertheless
+survived, and, after many fitful attempts to again burst out into
+flame, has at last, in this glorious Twentieth Century, managed to
+again show forth its light and heat to the world, bringing back
+Christianity to the original conceptions of those glorious minds of
+the Early Church. Once more returned to its own, the Truth will move
+forward, brushing from its path all the petty objections and obstacles
+that held it captive for so many centuries.
+
+Let us conclude this lesson with those inspiring words of the poet
+Wordsworth, whose soul rose to a perception of the Truth, in spite of
+the conventional restrictions placed upon him by his age and land.
+
+     "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,
+        The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
+      Hath elsewhere had its setting,
+        And cometh from afar.
+      Not in entire forgetfulness,
+      And not in utter nakedness,
+      But trailing clouds of glory do we come
+      From God, who is our home."
+
+
+
+
+THE TWELFTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE MESSAGE OF THE MASTER.
+
+Running throughout nearly all of the teachings and messages of Jesus,
+is to be found the constant Mystic Message regarding the existence of
+the Spirit within the soul of each individual--that Something Within
+to which all can turn in time of pain and trouble--that Guide and
+Monitor which stands ever ready to counsel, advise and direct if one
+opens himself to the Voice.
+
+"Seek ye first the Kingdom, and all things shall be added unto you."
+And, again, as if to explain: "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you."
+This is the Mystic Message which gives one a key to the Mysteries of
+the Inner Teachings.
+
+Let us take up a few of His sayings and endeavor to interpret them by
+the light of these teachings. But before doing so we must call the
+attention of the student to the fact that, in order to understand
+intelligently what we are saying, he must carefully re-read the
+"Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy" wherein the details of the
+teachings are set forth--that is the fundamental truths are explained.
+In the "Advanced Course" and in "Gnani Yoga" the higher phases of the
+teachings are presented. And, although in the said works there is
+little or no reference made to Christianity, yet the teachings are so
+fundamental that the Inner Teachings of all religions--including
+Christianity--may be understood by one who has acquainted himself with
+these fundamental truths.
+
+There is but one real Occult Philosophy, and we find it in evidence
+everywhere--once the Truth is grasped, it is found to be the Master
+Key with which to unlock the various doors leading to the esoteric
+phase of any and all religions or philosophies. The Yogi Fathers,
+centuries and centuries ago, solved the Riddle of the Universe, and
+the highest efforts of the human mind since that time have but
+corroborated, proven and exemplified the original Truth as voiced by
+these Venerable Sages.
+
+Let us read the words of Jesus in the light of this Ancient Wisdom.
+
+Let us consider the Sermon on the Mount as given in Matthew (_Chapters
+5; 6; 7_).
+
+"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of
+Heaven." (_Matt. 5:3._)
+
+By these words Jesus indicated the occult teachings that those who
+renounced the vain glory and petty ambitions of this world would be on
+the road to the realization of the Real Self--the Something
+Within--the Spirit. For is it not written that "the Kingdom of Heaven
+is within you"?
+
+"Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." (_Matt.
+5:4._)
+
+By these words Jesus pointed out the occult teachings that those who
+had so far advanced that they could see the folly of human ambition,
+and who consequently felt the pain that comes to all who stand above
+the crowd, and who mourned by reason of their realization of the folly
+and uselessness of all for which men strive so hard? would, in the
+end, be comforted by that "peace which passeth all understanding"
+which comes only to those who enter into a realization of the Kingdom
+of Heaven which is within them.
+
+"Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." (_Matt.
+5:5._)
+
+By these words Jesus sought to teach that those who had acquired the
+attitude of obedience to the Power of the Spirit Within them would
+become as Masters of the things of earth. This message is frequently
+misunderstood by reason of the lack of perception of the Mystic
+meaning contained in the words. The word "meek" does not mean that
+"I'm so meek and humble" attitude and expression of the hypocritical
+followers of form. Jesus never taught this--and never acted it. He was
+always the Master, and never sought to make of his followers cringing
+creatures and whining and sniveling supplicants. He asserted His
+Mastery in many ways and accepted the respect due him--as for instance
+when the vial of precious ointment was poured upon Him. His use of the
+word, which has been poorly translated as "meek," was in the sense of
+a calm, dignified bearing toward the Power of the Spirit, and a
+reverent submission to its guidance--not a hypocritical and cowardly
+"meekness" toward other men. The assurance that such should "inherit
+the earth" means that they should become masters of things
+temporal--that is, that they should be able to rise above them--should
+become lords of the earth by reason of their "entering into the
+Kingdom of Heaven" within them.
+
+"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for
+they shall be filled." (_Matt. 5:6._)
+
+This is the promise of the Master that they who sought the Kingdom of
+Heaven (within them) should find it--that their spiritual hunger and
+thirst should be satisfied in the only way possible.
+
+"Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy." (_Matt.
+5:7._)
+
+Here is taught the blessing for forbearance, kindness, tolerance and
+absence of bigotry, and the reward that comes as a natural consequence
+of such a mental attitude.
+
+"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." (_Matt.
+5:8._)
+
+Here is the assurance that "to those who are pure all things are
+pure"--that the purity of one's own heart, and the recognition of the
+God Within, leads to a perception of the God within everything. "He
+who sees God within himself, sees Him in everything," says an old
+Persian writer. And verily such a one "sees God" where He abides--and
+that is _Everywhere_.
+
+"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called sons of God."
+(_Matt. 5:9._)
+
+Here is the call to the disciple to use his wisdom and power in the
+direction of remedying the strife that arises from the differing
+conceptions of Deity and Truth prevailing among men. He who is able to
+point out the Truth underlying all religions and beliefs indeed
+becomes as a beloved son of God. He who is able to show that under all
+forms and ceremonies, under various names and titles, behind various
+creeds and dogmas, there is but one God, to whom all worship
+ascends--he is a Peacemaker and a Son of God.
+
+     "Blessed are they that have been persecuted for
+     righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
+     Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute
+     you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my
+     sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your
+     reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets that
+     were before you." (_Matt. 5:10-12._)
+
+In these words Jesus sought to comfort and encourage those who would
+be called upon to carry the Message in the centuries to follow. And
+one has but to look over the list of names of the courageous souls who
+have sought to keep the flame alight--to preserve the teachings in
+their original purity--to protect them from the cant, hypocrisy,
+self-seeking and formalism of those who sought and obtained places of
+power in the Church. The gibbet; the stake; the dungeon;--was their
+reward. But the Faith that was called into manifestation during the
+persecutions served to bring them to the realization of the Spirit,
+and thus indeed "theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
+
+"But ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its
+savor wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing,
+but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men." (_Matt. 5:13._)
+
+Here Jesus warned against the failure of the Illumined to serve as the
+yeast which should leaven the mass of men by their thoughts and
+actions. The use of the term "salt" in this connection is familiar to
+all students of ancient mysticism. Food without salt was deemed
+unpalatable and undesirable. The Few were the salt of the earth,
+designed to render it worthy and perfect as a whole. But where a grain
+of salt had parted with its savor, there was naught else that could
+impart saltiness to it, and it became worthless and fit only for the
+refuse heap. The duty of the "salt" is to impart savor--the duty of
+the Elect is to impart savor to the race of men.
+
+     "Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot
+     be hid. Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a
+     bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are
+     in the house. Even so let your light shine before men; that
+     they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is
+     in heaven." (_Matt. 5:14-16._)
+
+These words, like those preceding it, teach the Elect to shed abroad
+the light which has come to them. They are warned against concealing
+it beneath the cover of conventional conduct, but are urged to live
+and act so that men may perceive the light that is within them--the
+Light of the Spirit--and may see the right road by means of its rays.
+A man having the Light of the Spirit shining bright within him is able
+to rouse the lamps of understanding in the minds of other men, to
+become kindled and alight. That is the experience of the majority of
+those who read these words--they have had their lamps of knowledge
+kindled by the rays of the Spirit emanating from some soul, either by
+word of mouth, writings, or by personal contact. Spirituality is
+contagious! Therefore spread it! This is the meaning of this passage.
+
+     "Think not that I came to destroy the law of the prophets:
+     I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto
+     you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle
+     shall in no wise pass away from the law till all things be
+     accomplished." (_Matt. 5:17-18._)
+
+In this passage Jesus asserted positively the fact that He was not
+teaching a new doctrine, but had come simply to carry on the work of
+those who had preceded Him. He asserted the validity of the Ancient
+Wisdom, and told that the Law that had been in force would so continue
+until heaven and earth should pass away--that is, until the end of
+this great World Cycle. In these words Jesus proclaimed His allegiance
+to the Occult Teachings. To those who would claim that He referred to
+the current Jewish teachings we would point out the fact that these he
+_did_ come to destroy, for Christianity is opposed to the Jewish
+formalism and outer teachings. Jesus referred to the Inner Teachings,
+not to the outer religious creeds or forms. He came not to destroy the
+old Teachings, but merely to "fulfill," that is, to give a new impetus
+to the Ancient Wisdom.
+
+     "Whoever therefore shall break one of these least
+     commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least
+     in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
+     them, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For
+     I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed
+     the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in
+     no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." (_Matt.
+     5:19-20._)
+
+Here Jesus cautions against violating the fundamental occult
+teachings, or of teaching false doctrines. He also again bids men to
+do and preach the truth. Note the reference to the "kingdom of
+heaven." Again He points out that the "righteousness" required to gain
+the "kingdom of heaven" is a far different thing from the formalism,
+ceremonialism and "churchism" of the scribes and pharisees--people
+who, in that day, stood for that which the "churchy" preachers and
+their bigoted, narrow flock of sheep-like parishioners stand for
+today. It requires more than "faithful performance of church duties"
+to enter into the real "kingdom of heaven." Jesus was ever a foe of
+the narrow formalism which clings close to the empty forms and words,
+and which ignores the Spirit. Were He to return today, He would drive
+from the temples the horde of money-making preachers and hypocritical
+followers who make a mock of sacred things.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou
+     shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger
+     of the judgment: but I say unto you that every one who is
+     angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment;
+     and whosoever shall say to his brother 'Raca,' shall be in
+     danger of the council; and whosoever shall say 'Thou fool'
+     shall be in danger of the hell of fire. If therefore thou
+     art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest
+     that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy
+     gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled
+     to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with
+     thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him; lest haply
+     thine adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge
+     deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
+     Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out
+     thence till thou hast paid the last farthing." (_Matt.
+     5:21-26._)
+
+These verses emphasize the teachings that sin consists not only of
+deeds and actions performed, but equally of _thoughts and desires
+entertained and encouraged in the mind_. The desire and thought, made
+welcome in the mind of a person, is the seed and germ of the sin or
+crime, even though they may never be manifested in action. To wish to
+kill is a sin, just as is the deed of killing. This is an old occult
+teaching, imparted to all candidates for Initiation.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said Thou shalt not commit
+     adultery, but I say unto you that every one that looketh on
+     a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
+     already in his heart. And if thy right eye causeth thee to
+     stumble pluck it out and cast it from thee; for it is
+     profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish
+     and not thy whole body be cast into hell. And if thy right
+     hand causeth thee to offend, cut it off and cast it from
+     thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members
+     should perish and not thy whole body go into hell. It was
+     said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give
+     her a writing of divorcement, but I say unto you that every
+     one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of
+     fornication, maketh her an adulteress, and whosoever shall
+     marry her when she is put away committeth adultery."
+     (_Matt. 5:27-32._)
+
+In this passage, Jesus expressed the abhorrence of all advanced
+occultists for the abuse of the functions of sex. Not only the act,
+but the thought behind the act was condemned by him. The advanced
+occult teaching is that the function of the sex organization is
+entirely that of procreation--aught else is a perversion of nature.
+Jesus speaks in strong words to men and women, in this passage,
+regarding this great question. The concluding portion of the passage
+is a condemnation of the abuse of the marriage relation, and the
+privilege of divorce, which was being strongly agitated in His time.
+He aimed a blow at the careless contracting of marriages, and the
+consequent careless dissolution of the tie. Jesus believed in the
+sacredness of the home life, and the welfare of the family. His
+utterance on this subject is unmistakably clear and forcible.
+
+     "Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,
+     Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the
+     Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all;
+     neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by
+     the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; nor by
+     Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; neither
+     shall thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one
+     hair white or black. But let your speech be Yea, yea, Nay,
+     nay: for whatever is more than these is of the evil one."
+     (_Matt. 5:33-37._)
+
+Here Jesus attacks the custom of swearing, which was so prevalent in
+His time among the Jews and other Oriental peoples. He urges
+simplicity and moderation of speech. In this He is true to the Occult
+traditions, which teach the value of simple thought and simple speech
+to all the Initiates and the Neophytes.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a
+     tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you, Resist not him that
+     is evil, but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn
+     to him the other also, and if any man would go to law with
+     thee and take away thy coat, let him have. And whosoever
+     shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. Give to
+     him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee
+     turn not away." (_Matt. 5:38-42._)
+
+In this passage Jesus alludes to the Law of Non-Resistance, which in
+its esoteric aspect is fully understood by all Initiates. This law is
+for application on the Mental Plane, and those who understand it, know
+that the precepts refer to the Mental Attitude of the Initiates toward
+others, which attitude is in itself a defense against imposition. Love
+turneth away Hate and Anger. The high thought neutralizes the evil
+designs of others.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said Thou shall love thy
+     neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your
+     enemies and pray for them that persecute you, that ye may be
+     sons of your Father who is in heaven, for he maketh his sun
+     to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the
+     just and the unjust. For if ye love them that love you, what
+     reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if
+     ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
+     Do not even the Gentiles the same? Ye therefore shall be
+     perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." (_Matt.
+     5:43-48._)
+
+Here is taught that broad tolerance, charity and love that form such
+an important part of all of the mystic teachings. It is a doctrine
+entirely at variance with the orthodox idea of tolerance only to those
+who agree with one, or who may live in accordance with one's own views
+of life and conduct. It is the great broad doctrine of Human
+Brotherhood. Jesus teaches that God's love is bestowed upon all--the
+just and the unjust--and that this perfect love is the aim and goal of
+all who desire to attain to "the kingdom" of Spirit.
+
+     "Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to
+     be seen of them; else ye have no reward with your Father who
+     is in heaven. When, therefore, thou doest alms sound not a
+     trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
+     and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily
+     I say unto you They have received their reward. But when
+     thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right
+     hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret and thy Father,
+     who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee." (_Matt.
+     6:1-4._)
+
+This is another denunciation of ostentatious "churchiness" and
+"goodness," and religious posing. It is a lesson needed as much today
+as in the time of Jesus.
+
+     "And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites, for
+     they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the
+     corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily
+     I say unto you, They have received their reward. But thou,
+     when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and
+     having shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret,
+     and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.
+     And in praying use not vain repetitions as the Gentiles do,
+     for they think that they shall be heard for their much
+     speaking. Be not therefore like unto them, for your Father
+     knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. After
+     this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven,
+     Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as
+     in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread,
+     And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
+     debtors; And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us
+     from the evil one. For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
+     your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye
+     forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father
+     forgive your trespasses." (_Matt. 6:5-15._)
+
+Here are the words of Jesus regarding the subject of Prayer. He
+cautions against the ostentatious exhibition of "piety," so prevalent
+in all churches, in all lands, in all times. He bids one approach the
+Father in a reverent spirit, devoid of all public notice. Then He
+gives to his disciples the famous "Lord's Prayer," in which is
+condensed a wealth of true religious instruction and precept. This
+glorious prayer needs no special interpretation. _Let all students
+read the words themselves, filled with the realisation of the Spirit;
+and each will receive a message fitted to his requirements and
+development. The Lord's Prayer is a very Arcanum of the Mystic
+Message_.
+
+     "Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a
+     sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they
+     may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have
+     received their reward. But, thou, when thou fastest, anoint
+     thy head and wash thy face, that thou be not seen of men to
+     fast, but of thy Father, who is in secret, and thy Father,
+     who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee." (_Matt.
+     6:16-18._)
+
+This is a caution against the "sanctimonious" attitude and pose
+assumed by certain "good" people of the churches, who would make a
+display of their adherence to and observance of forms. Jesus, as a
+true mystic, detested all religious posing and neglected no
+opportunities to condemn the same.
+
+     "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where
+     moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and
+     steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
+     neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not
+     break through and steal: for where thy treasure is there
+     will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye; if
+     therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
+     of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be
+     full of darkness! No man can serve two masters; for either
+     he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will
+     hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
+     Mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your
+     life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for
+     your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than
+     the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of
+     the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
+     gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them.
+     Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by
+     being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his
+     life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider
+     the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
+     neither do they spin, yet I say unto you that even Solomon
+     in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if
+     God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and
+     tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more
+     clothe you, ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious,
+     saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or
+     wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things
+     do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that
+     ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first then his
+     kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things shall
+     be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow;
+     for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto
+     the day is the evil thereof." (_Matt. 6:19-34._)
+
+This is the most remarkable passage in the New Testament. It is the
+most remarkable saying of Jesus of Nazareth. In it is condensed the
+whole of the occult teachings regarding the Conduct of Life. It
+condenses, in a few lines the entire doctrine of Karma Yoga--that
+branch of the Yogi Philosophy. It forms a veritable epitome of that
+which has been styled "The New Thought" as taught and expounded by its
+various cults and schools. There is no need of one reading and
+studying the various Metaphysical "Sciences" which have sprung into
+such favor of late years, if one will but read, ponder, study and
+practice the precepts of this wonderful passage of the Sermon on the
+Mount. Every sentence is a gem--a crystal of the highest mystic and
+occult philosophy. Book after book could be written on this one
+passage, and even then the subject would be but merely approached. The
+doctrine of single-mindedness toward the Spirit and the things of the
+Spirit, is taught. The folly of being tied to material things is
+pointed out. The lesson of non-attachment is forcibly put. But the
+great Truth expounded in this passage is the Power of FAITH. Faith is
+the Great Secret of all Occult Teachings and is the Key to its Inner
+Mysteries. Faith is the Master-Key that unlocks the doors of the
+Castle of Attainment. We trust that all students of these lessons will
+take this single passage from the Sermon on the Mount and memorize it.
+Make it a part of yourself--make it a part of your life--make it your
+rule of action and living. The life taught by this passage is the true
+life of the Spirit. Here is the true Light on the Path, for the
+guidance of the feet of all Mystics and Occultists!
+
+     "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment
+     ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete
+     it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the
+     mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the
+     beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy
+     brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye, and lo,
+     the beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first
+     the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see
+     clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
+     (_Matt. 7:1-5._)
+
+Here Jesus deals another powerful blow to the self-righteousness of
+the Pharisaical "good" people of the sects, creeds and cults of all
+lands, time and religions. He warns against that "Thank God! I am
+holier than thou" attitude that so many vain formalists affect in
+their dealings with other men. In these immortal words Jesus has sent
+ringing down the aeons of time a scathing rebuke to the hypocritical
+judges of other men--those men who wish to "reform" others to conform
+to their own standards. Out of the mouth of their Master are many
+so-called followers rebuked.
+
+"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls
+before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet and
+turn and rend you." (_Matt. 7:6._)
+
+Here is the warning to Initiates not to spread out a feast of their
+highest teachings to the mob, who with swinish instincts would defile
+the Divine Feast, and tear to pieces those who had spread it for them.
+The truth of this warning has been attested by the fate of those
+glorious souls who, disregarding it, attempted to give the Truth to
+the animal minds of the mob and were done to death for their folly.
+Even Jesus Himself met His fate from neglecting this very rule,--for
+allowing His sympathy to overcome His judgment.
+
+     "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find;
+     knock and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone that
+     asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him
+     that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of
+     you who if his son ask him for a loaf will give him a stone,
+     or if he shall ask for a fish will give him a serpent? If ye
+     then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your
+     children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven
+     give good things to them that ask him? All things therefore
+     whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do
+     ye also unto them, for this is the law and the prophecy."
+     (_Matt. 7:7-12._)
+
+Here is another burning message to men to live by the light of Faith
+in the Spirit. And a warning that unless one would act toward other
+men rightly, he could not expect to be dealt with rightly. It is the
+lesson of sowing and reaping--the lesson of the Law of Karma. Jesus is
+most emphatic in these statements. He does not alone say "Do this! Do
+that!" He states emphatically: "This is _the Law_!" And so it is--men
+are punished by their wrong deeds, not _for_ them.
+
+     "Enter ye in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and
+     broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many are
+     they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate and
+     straitened the way that leadeth unto life, and few are they
+     that find it." (_Matt. 7:13-14._)
+
+This is the highest occult teaching. How few are they who find their
+way to the Realization of their own Divinity? Narrow indeed is the
+gate and straitened the way that leadeth to the goal. The masses
+follow the broad path, like fools--but few even see the narrow
+entrance to The Path.
+
+     "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's
+     clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits
+     ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs
+     of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
+     fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A
+     good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
+     corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that
+     bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the
+     fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not
+     every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
+     the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of the
+     Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
+     Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name
+     cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And
+     then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from
+     me, ye that work iniquity." (_Matt. 7:15-23._)
+
+Here is the notable warning against the perverted use of the occult
+powers--the prostitution of the Gifts of the Spirit--Black Magic, in
+short. For, as all well know, the occult forces may be applied to base
+as well as worthy uses. By their fruits shall ye know the good from
+the evil. He whose teachings render men weak, sheeplike and cringing,
+credulous leaners upon leaders, is a tree that bringeth forth evil
+fruit. Such are wolves in sheep's clothing, who fatten upon the
+bodies, substance and souls of their dupes. But those who lead men to
+be Men--yea, Super-Men--bring forth the good fruit of the Spirit. Be
+ye not deceived by names, words, creeds nor claims--nay, not even by
+miracles. Look always at the effect produced--the fruits of the
+tree--and govern yourself accordingly.
+
+     "Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine and
+     doeth them shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his
+     house upon the rock, and the rain descended and the floods
+     came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it
+     fell not, for it was founded upon the rock. And every one
+     that heareth these words of mine and doeth them not shall be
+     likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the
+     sand, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
+     winds blew and smote upon that house and it fell, and great
+     was the fall thereof." (_Matt. 7:24-27._)
+
+In these parting words of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave a Message
+to all who would hear, or read His words, and profess to be His
+followers. He bade such build upon the eternal rock of the Truth--the
+rock of ages, that had its foundations in the very basic principles of
+Being. He warned them against building upon the shifting sands of
+theology and dogmatism, which would be surely swept away by the storms
+of Time. Upon the eternal Mystic Truths is Mystic Christianity
+founded. And it is still standing untouched by the storms of
+criticism, opposition and knowledge that have swept away many
+theological edifices in the past, and which are now beating with
+renewed vigor upon the remaining frail structures, which are even this
+day quivering under the strain. Mystic Christianity invites the "New
+Theology," the "Higher Criticism," the "Criticism of Science"; for
+these will only tend to prove the truths of its fundamental
+principles. In Mystic Christianity, Religion, Philosophy and Science
+are known to be one and the same thing. There is no conflict between
+Science and Religion; Philosophy and Religion; or Philosophy and
+Science. They are all but names for the One Truth. There be but one
+Truth--there cannot be more than one. And so call it by the name of
+Religion--the name of Science, the name of Philosophy--it matters not,
+for the same thing is meant. There is naught but Truth--nothing else
+really exists. All that is not Truth is Illusion, _Maya_, Nothing. And
+Mystic Christianity is based upon the Rock of Truth, fearing not the
+winds nor the storms that try out the stability of all structures of
+thought. Like its founder, it has always existed--always will
+exist--from the Beginningless Beginning to the Endless Ending. The
+same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
+
+
+
+
+A SERIES OF LESSONS IN GNANI YOGA (THE YOGA OF WISDOM)
+
+
+By YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+This course gives the highest Yogi teachings regarding the Absolute
+and its Manifestations--the relations between the One and the
+Many--the Secret of the One Life--the Mystery of the Evolution of the
+Soul--the Law of Spiritual Cause and Effect--the Group-Soul--the Birth
+of the Ego--the Unfoldment of the Self--the Cycles of the Race--the
+Chain of Worlds--the Truth about Nirvana--the Divine Paradox--the
+Problem of Consciousness--the Reality and the Illusory--the offices of
+Will and Desire--the Future of the Race--the Past History of Man and
+the Races--the Adepts and Masters--the Brotherhoods--the Problems of
+Life--the Riddle of Existence. These and many other subjects of equal
+importance are taken up, explained and the dark corners illuminated.
+Some of the teachings to be given are entirely new to the general
+Western public, and partake of the nature of the Inner Teachings of
+the occultists.
+
+Bound in Blue Silk Cloth, 302 Pages.
+
+PRICE $1.10 POSTPAID.
+
+E.B., North Side, Pittsburgh, Pa., writes she has just finished
+reading your book "Science of Breath," and considers it priceless.
+
+I have studied many Occult and Mental Science works, but none Of which
+ever developed Spiritual Illumination or produced that Tranquil state
+of mind that I derived by studying the Yogi Philosophy.---N.R.B. New
+Zealand.
+
+
+
+
+JESUS THE LAST GREAT INITIATE
+
+
+By EDOUARD SCHURE
+
+Mr. Schure in this volume, has done much to strengthen the belief that
+Jesus was an Essene, in whom a Messianic consciousness was awakened by
+special initiation.
+
+A remarkable full account is given of his experiences among the
+Essenes and how his early life, (about which the Bible is so reticent)
+was spent studying with the advanced Occult masters.
+
+The problem of how Jesus became the Messiah, he holds to be not
+capable of solution without the aid of intuition and esoteric
+tradition.
+
+The life of the great Teacher as pictured by the writer is one to be
+dreamed over and capable of imparting both knowledge and stimulus to
+that inner life which is in so many undeveloped and even unsuspected.
+
+Bound Silk Cloth.
+
+PRICE $0.80 POSTPAID.
+
+
+
+
+KRISHNA AND ORPHEUS
+
+
+THE GREAT INITIATES OF THE EAST AND WEST
+
+
+By EDOUARD SCHURE
+
+The lives and teachings of these two great Masters who preceded Jesus
+are very much like the latter's. You cannot help noting the remarkable
+resemblance they bear to each other.
+
+Krishna's Virgin Birth, His Youth, Initiation, The Doctrine of the
+Initiates, Triumph and Death, are all told in a fashion that shows
+that Mr. Schure has devoted much time to thought and research work.
+The mighty religious of India, Egypt and Greece are passed in rapid
+review and the author declares that while from the outside they
+present nothing but chaos, the root idea of their founders and
+prophets presents a key to them all.
+
+Bound in Silk Cloth.
+
+PRICE $0.80 POSTPAID.
+
+
+
+
+THIS IS OUR COMPLETE LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
+
+                                                            PRICE
+                                                            POSTPAID
+
+Hatha Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Cloth                              $1.10
+
+Science of Breath. By Ramacharaka. Bound in paper .53; Cloth     .75
+
+Fourteen Lessons in Yogi-Philosophy, and Oriental Occultism.
+  By Ramacharaka.                                               1.10
+
+Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental Occultism.
+  By Ramacharaka.                                               1.10
+
+Raja Yoga. By Ramacharaka.                                      1.10
+
+Gnani Yoga. By Ramacharaka.                                     1.10
+
+Philosophies and Religions of India. By Ramacharaka.            1.12
+
+Psychic Healing. By Ramacharaka.                                1.10
+
+The Hindu-Yogi Practical Water Cure. By Ramacharaka.             .55
+
+Mystic Christianity. By Ramacharaka.                            1.10
+
+Bhavagad Gita. By Ramacharaka.                                   .80
+
+Kybalion. By Three Initiates.                                   1.08
+
+Reincarnation and Law of Karma. By Wm. W. Atkinson.             1.10
+
+Secret of Success. By Wm. W. Atkinson.                           .50
+
+Inner Consciousness. By William Walter Atkinson.                 .50
+
+Practical Mental Influence. By W.W. Atkinson.                    .50
+
+Practical Mind Reading. By W.W. Atkinson.                        .50
+
+Practical Psychomacy and Crystal Gazing. By W.W. Atkinson.       .50
+
+Light on the Path and Illumined Way. By M.C. Cloth.              .44
+
+Light on the Path. By M.C. Paper.                                .10
+
+A Visit to Gnani. By Edward Carpenter. Paper.                    .28
+
+Jesus: The Last Great Initiate. By Edouard Schure.               .80
+
+Krishna and Orpheus. By Edouard Schure.                          .80
+
+Karma. By A.P. Sinnett. Occult Novel. Cloth.                     .60
+
+The Spirit of the Upanishads.                                    .55
+
+Mystery of Being. Heeralal Dhole.                                .50
+
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mystic Christianity, by Yogi Ramacharaka
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Mystic Christianity
+
+Author: Yogi Ramacharaka
+
+Release Date: August 9, 2004  [eBook #13143]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Keith M. Eckrich, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY
+
+Or, The Inner Teachings of the Master
+
+by
+
+YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+Author of "Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental
+Occultism," "Hatha Yoga," "Science of Breath," "Advanced Course in
+Yogi Philosophy," "Raja Yoga," "Psychic Healing," "Gnani Yogi," etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PUBLISHERS' NOTICE.
+
+
+The lessons which compose this volume originally appeared in monthly
+form, the first of which was issued in October, 1907, and the twelfth
+in September, 1908. These lessons met with a hearty and generous
+response from the public, and the present volume is issued in response
+to the demand for the lessons in a permanent and durable form. There
+has been no change in the text.
+
+The publishers take the liberty to call the attention of the readers
+to the great amount of information condensed within the space of each
+lesson. Students have told us that they have found it necessary to
+read and study each lesson carefully, in order to absorb the varied
+information contained within its pages. They have also stated that
+they have found it advisable to re-read the lessons several times,
+allowing an interval between the readings, and that at each reading
+they would discover information that had escaped them during the
+course of the previous study. This has been repeated to us so often
+that we feel justified in mentioning it, that others may avail
+themselves of the same plan of study.
+
+Following his usual custom, the writer of this volume has declined to
+write a preface for this book, claiming that the lessons will speak
+for themselves, and that those for whom they are intended will receive
+the message contained within them without any prefatory talk.
+
+
+THE YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY.
+September 1, 1908.
+
+INDEX
+
+
+LESSON
+
+ 1. The Coming of the Master
+
+ 2. The Mystery of the Virgin Birth
+
+ 3. The Mystic Youth of Jesus
+
+ 4. The Beginning of the Ministry
+
+ 5. The Foundation of the Work
+
+ 6. The Work of Organization
+
+ 7. The Beginning of the End
+
+ 8. The End of the Life Work
+
+ 9. The Inner Teachings
+
+10. The Secret Doctrine
+
+11. The Ancient Wisdom
+
+12. The Message of the Master
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE COMING OF THE MASTER.
+
+
+
+THE FORERUNNER.
+
+Strange rumors reached the ears of the people of Jerusalem and the
+surrounding country. It was reported that a new prophet had appeared
+in the valley of the lower Jordan, and in the wilderness of Northern
+Judea, preaching startling doctrines. His teachings resembled those of
+the prophets of old, and his cry of "Repent! Repent ye! for the
+Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," awakened strange memories of the
+ancient teachers of the race, and caused the common people to gaze
+wonderingly at each other, and the ruling classes to frown and look
+serious, when the name of the new prophet was mentioned.
+
+The man whom the common people called a prophet, and whom the exalted
+ones styled an impostor, was known as John the Baptist, and dwelt in
+the wilderness away from the accustomed haunts of men. He was clad in
+the rude garments of the roaming ascetics, his rough robe of camel's
+skin being held around his form by a coarse girdle of leather. His
+diet was frugal and elemental, consisting of the edible locust of the
+region, together with the wild honey stored by the bees of the
+wilderness.
+
+In appearance John, whom men called "the Baptist," was tall, wiry, and
+rugged. His skin was tanned a dark brown by the winds and sun which
+beat upon it unheeded. His long black hair hung loosely around his
+shoulders, and was tossed like the mane of a lion when he spoke. His
+beard was rough and untrimmed. His eyes gleamed like glowing coals,
+and seemed to burn into the very soul of his hearers. His was the face
+of the religious enthusiastic with a Message for the world.
+
+This wild prophet was most strenuous, and his teachings were couched
+in the most vigorous words. There was no tact, policy, or persuasion
+in his message. He hurled his verbal thunderbolts right into his
+crowd, the very force and earnestness emanating from him serving to
+charge his words with a vitality and magnetism which dashed itself
+into the crowd like a spark of electricity, knocking men from off
+their feet, and driving the Truth into them as if by a charge of a
+powerful explosive. He told them that the spiritual grain was to be
+gathered into the garners, while the chaff was to be consumed as if by
+a fiery furnace; that the axe was to be laid to the root of the trees
+which brought not forth good fruit. Verily, the "Day of Jehovah," long
+promised by the prophets, was near to hand to his hearers and
+followers.
+
+John soon gathered to himself a following, the people flocking to him
+from all parts of the country, even from Galilee. His followers began
+to talk among themselves, asking whether indeed this man were not the
+long promised Master--the Messiah for whom all Israel had waited for
+centuries. This talk coming to the ears of the prophet, caused him to
+answer the question in his discourses, saying: "There cometh one
+mightier than I, after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy
+to stoop down and unloose; he that cometh after me is mightier than
+I." And thus it became gradually known to his following, and the
+strangers attending his meetings, that this John the Baptist, mighty
+preacher though he be, was but the herald of one much greater than he,
+who should follow--that he was the forerunner of the Master, according
+to the Oriental imagery which pictured the forerunner of the great
+dignitaries, running ahead of the chariot of his master, crying aloud
+to all people gathered on the road that they must make way for the
+approaching great man, shouting constantly, "Make ye a way! make ye a
+way for the Lord!" And accordingly there was a new wave of excitement
+among John's following, which spread rapidly to the surrounding
+country, at this promise of the coming of the Lord--the
+Master--perhaps even the Messiah of the Jews. And many more came unto
+John, and with him waited for the Coming of the Master.
+
+This John the Baptist was born in the hill country of Judea, nearly
+thirty years before he appeared as a prophet. His father was of the
+priestly order, or temple caste, who had reached an advanced age, and
+who lived with his aged wife in retirement, away from the noise and
+confusion of the world, waiting the gradual approach of that which
+cometh to all men alike. Then there came to them a child of their old
+age, unexpected and unhoped for--coming as a mark of especial favor
+from God--a son, to whom they gave the name of _Johanan_, which in the
+Hebrew tongue means "Jehovah is gracious."
+
+Reared in the home of his parents--the house of a priest--John
+saturated himself with all the Inner Teachings reserved for the few,
+and withheld from the masses. The Secrets of the Kaballah, that system
+of Hebrew Occultism and Mysticism in which the higher priests of Judea
+were well versed, were disclosed to him, and occult tradition has it
+that he was initiated into the Inner Circle of the Hebrew Mystics,
+composed of only priests of a certain grade, and their sons. John
+became an Occultist and a Mystic. When the boy reached the age of
+puberty, he departed from the home of his parents, and went into the
+wilderness, "looking to the East, from whence cometh all Light." In
+other words, he became an Ascetic, living in the wilderness, just as
+in India even to-day youths of the Brahmin or priestly class sometimes
+forsake their homes, renouncing their luxurious life, and fly to the
+jungle, where they wander about for years as ascetics, wearing a
+single garment, subsisting on the most elementary food, and developing
+their spiritual consciousness. John remained a recluse until he
+reached the age of about thirty years, when he emerged from the
+wilderness to preach the "Coming of the Lord," in obedience to the
+movings of the Spirit. Let us see where he was, and what he did,
+during the fifteen years of his life in the wilderness and hidden
+places of Judea.
+
+The traditions of the Essenes, preserved among Occultists, state that
+while John was an ascetic he imbibed the teachings of that strange
+Occult Brotherhood known as the Essenes, and after having served his
+apprenticeship, was accepted into the order as an Initiate, and
+attained their higher degrees reserved only for those of developed
+spirituality and power. It is said that even when he was a mere boy he
+claimed and proved his right to be fully initiated into the Mysteries
+of the Order, and was believed to have been a reincarnation of one of
+the old Hebrew prophets.
+
+
+THE ESSENES.
+
+
+The Essenes were an ancient Hebrew Occult Brotherhood, which had been
+in existence many hundred years before John's time. They had their
+headquarters on the Eastern shores of the Dead Sea, although their
+influence extended over all of Palestine, and their ascetic brothers
+were to be found in every wilderness. The requirements of the Order
+were very strict, and its rites and ceremonies were of the highest
+mystical and occult degree. The Neophyte was required to serve a
+preliminary apprenticeship of one year before being admitted to even
+partial recognition as a member and brother. A further apprenticeship
+of two more years was required before he was admitted to full
+membership, and extended the right hand of fellowship. Additional time
+was required for further advancement, and even time alone did not
+entitle the member to certain high degrees, the requirements being
+that actual knowledge, power and attainment must first be manifested.
+As in all true Occult Orders the candidate must "work out his own
+salvation," neither money nor influence having any weight.
+
+Absolute obedience to the Rules of the Order; absolute poverty of
+material possessions; absolute sexual continence--these were the
+conditions of membership to be observed by both Neophyte and Initiate,
+as well as High-degree Master. Understanding this, one may imagine the
+disgust inspired in John by the amorous solicitations of Salome, which
+caused him to lose his life rather than to break the vows of his
+Order, as is so startlingly pictured in the stage productions of
+modern times.
+
+One of the ceremonies of the Essenes was that of Baptism (literally,
+"dipping in water") which was administered to Candidates, with
+appropriate solemnity and rites. The mystic significance of the
+ceremony which is understood by all members of Occult Orders, even
+unto this day, was a part of the ritual originated by the Essenes, and
+the rite itself was a distinctive feature of their Order. The
+performance of this rite by John the Baptist, in his ministry, and its
+subsequent acceptance by the Christian Church as a distinctive
+ceremonial, of which the "sprinkling of infants" of to-day is a
+reminder and substitute, forms a clear connecting link between the
+Essenes and Modern Christianity, and impresses the stamp of Mysticism
+and Occultism firmly upon the latter, as little as the general public
+may wish to admit it in their ignorant misunderstanding and
+materialistic tendencies.
+
+The Essenes believed in, and taught the doctrine of Reincarnation; the
+Immanence of God; and many other Occult Truths, the traces of which
+appear constantly in the Christian Teachings, as we shall see as we
+progress with these lessons. Through its Exalted Brother, John the
+Baptist, the Order passed on its teaching to the early Christian
+Church, thus grafting itself permanently upon a new religious growth,
+newly appearing on the scene. And the transplanted branches are still
+there!
+
+Of course, the true history of the real connection between the Essenes
+and Christianity is to be found only in the traditions of the Essenes
+and other ancient Mystic Orders, much of which has never been printed,
+but which has passed down from teacher to pupil over the centuries
+even unto this day, among Occult Fraternities. But in order to show
+the student that we are not making statements incapable of proof by
+evidence available to him, we would refer him to any standard work of
+reference on the subject. For instance, if he will consult the "New
+International Encyclopedia" (Vol. VII, page 217) article on "Essenes,"
+he will read the following words:
+
+     "It is an interesting question as to how much Christianity
+     owes to Essenism. It would seem that there was room for
+     definite contact between John the Baptist and this
+     Brotherhood. His time of preparation was spent in the
+     wilderness near the Dead Sea; his preaching of righteousness
+     toward God, and justice toward one's fellow men, was in
+     agreement with Essenism; while his insistence on Baptism was
+     in accord with the Essenic emphasis on lustrations."
+
+The same article contains the statement that the Essenic Brotherhood
+taught a certain "view entertained regarding the origin, present
+state, and future destiny of the soul, _which was held to be
+pre-existent, being entrapped in the body as in a prison_," etc. (The
+above italics are our own.)
+
+John emerged from the wilderness when he had reached the age of about
+thirty years, and began his ministry work, which extended for several
+years until his death at the hands of Herod. He gathered around him a
+large and enthusiastic following, beginning with the humbler classes
+and afterward embracing a number of higher social degree. He formed
+his more advanced followers into a band of disciples, with prescribed
+rules regarding fasting, worship, ceremonial, rites, etc., closely
+modeled upon those favored by the Essenes. This organization was
+continued until the time of John's death, when it merged with the
+followers of Jesus, and exerted a marked influence upon the early
+Christian church.
+
+As we have stated, one of his principal requisites enjoined upon all
+of his followers, was that of "Baptism"--the Essenic rite, from which
+he derived his familiar appellation, "The Baptist." But, it must be
+remembered that to John this rite was a most sacred, mystic, symbolic
+ceremony, possessing a deep occult meaning unperceived by many of his
+converts who submitted themselves to it under the fervor of religious
+emotion, and who _naively_ regarded it as some magical rite which
+"washed away sin" from their souls, as the dirt was washed from their
+bodies, a belief which seems to be still in favor with the multitude.
+
+John worked diligently at his mission, and the "Baptists" or
+"Followers of Johanan," as they were called, increased rapidly. His
+meetings were events of great moment to thousands who had gathered
+from all Palestine to see and hear the prophet of the wilderness--the
+Essene who had emerged from his retirement. His meetings were often
+attended with startling occurrences, sudden conversions, visions,
+trances, etc., and many developed possession of unusual powers and
+faculties. But one day there was held a meeting destined to gain
+world-wide fame. This was the day when there came to John the Baptist
+the MASTER, of whose coming John had frequently foretold and promised.
+JESUS THE CHRIST appeared upon the scene and confronted his
+Forerunner.
+
+The traditions have it that Jesus came unannounced to, and
+unrecognized by John and the populace. The Forerunner was in ignorance
+of the nature and degree of his guest and applicant for Baptism.
+Although the two were cousins, they had not met since childhood, and
+John did not at first recognize Jesus. The traditions of the Mystic
+Orders further state that Jesus then gave to John the various signs of
+the Occult Fraternities to which they both belonged, working from the
+common signs up until Jesus passed on to degrees to which John had not
+attained, although he was an eminent high-degree Essene. Whereupon
+John saw that the man before him was no common applicant for Baptism,
+but was, instead, a highest-degree Mystic Adept, and Occult
+Master--his superior in rank and unfoldment. John, perceiving this,
+remonstrated with Jesus, saying that it was not meet and proper, nor
+in accordance with the customs of the Brotherhoods, for the inferior
+to Baptize the superior. Of this event the New Testament takes note in
+these words: "But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized
+of thee, and comest thou to me?" (_Matt. 3:14._) But Jesus insisted
+that John perform the rite upon him upon the ground that He wished to
+go through the ceremonial in order to set His stamp of approval upon
+it, and to show that he considered himself as a man among men, come
+forth to live the life of men.
+
+In both the occult traditions and the New Testament narrative, it is
+stated that a mystical occurrence ensued at the baptism, "the Spirit
+of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him," and a voice from
+Heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
+
+And with these words the mission of John the Baptist, as "Forerunner
+of the Master," was fulfilled. _The Master_ had appeared to take up
+his work.
+
+
+THE MASTER.
+
+
+And, now, let us turn back the pages of the Book of Time, to a period
+about thirty years before the happening of the events above mentioned.
+Let us turn our gaze upon the events surrounding the birth of Jesus,
+in order that we may trace the Mystic and Occult forces at work from
+the beginning of Christianity. There are occurrences of the greatest
+importance embraced in these thirty years.
+
+Let us begin the Mystic Narrative of Jesus the Christ, as it is told
+to the Neophyte of every Occult Order, by the Master Instructor, by a
+recital of an event preceding his birth by over one year.
+
+In Matthew 2:1-2, the following is related:
+
+     "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days
+     of Herod the king, behold, there came Wise Men from the East
+     to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the
+     Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to
+     worship him."
+
+In these simple words is stated an event that, expressed in a much
+more extended narrative, forms an important part of the Esoteric
+Teachings of the Mystic Brotherhoods, and Occult Orders of the Orient,
+and which is also known to the members of the affiliated secret orders
+of the Western world. The story of THE MAGI is embedded in the
+traditions of the Oriental Mystics, and we shall here give you a brief
+outline of the story as it is told by Hierophant to Neophyte--by Guru
+to Chela.
+
+To understand the story, you must know just who were these "Wise Men
+of the East"--The Magi. And this you shall now be taught.
+
+
+THE MAGI, OR WISE MEN.
+
+
+The translators of the New Testament have translated the words naming
+these visitors from afar as "the Wise Men from the East," but in the
+original Greek, Matthew used the words "_The Magi_" as may be seen by
+reference to the original Greek versions, or the Revised Translation,
+which gives the Greek term in a foot-note. Any leading encyclopedia
+will corroborate this statement. The term "the Magi" was the exact
+statement of Matthew in the original Greek in which the Gospel was
+written, the term "the Wise Men" originating with the English
+translators. There is absolutely no dispute regarding this question
+among Biblical scholars, although the general public is not aware of
+the connection, nor do they identify the Wise Men with the Oriental
+Magians.
+
+The word "Magi" comes to the English language direct from the Greek,
+which in turn acquired it by gradual steps from the Persian, Chaldean,
+Median, and Assyrian tongues. It means, literally, "wonder worker,"
+and was applied to the members of the occult priestly orders of
+Persia, Media, and Chaldea, who were Mystic Adepts and Occult Masters.
+Ancient history is full of references to this body of men. They were
+the custodians of the world's occult knowledge for centuries, and the
+priceless treasures of the Inner Teachings held by the race to-day
+have come through the hands of these men--the Magi--who tended the
+sacred fires of Mysticism and kept The Flame burning. In thinking of
+their task, one is reminded of the words of Edward Carpenter, the
+poet, who sings: "Oh, let not the flame die out! Cherished age after
+age in its dark caverns, in its holy temples cherished. Fed by pure
+ministers of love--let not the flame die out."
+
+The title of "Magi" was highly esteemed in those ancient days, but it
+fell into disrepute in the latter times owing to its growing use as an
+appellation of the practitioners of "Black Magic," or "evil
+wonder-workers" or sorcerers, of those days. But as a writer in the
+New International Encyclopedia (Vol. XII, page 674) has truly said:
+
+     "The term is employed in its true sense by Matthew (2:1) of
+     the wise men who came from the East to Jerusalem to worship
+     Christ. The significance of this event must be observed
+     because the Messianic doctrine was an old and established
+     one in Zoroastrianism."
+
+The same article says of the Magi: "... they believed in a
+resurrection, a future life, and the advent of a savior."
+
+To understand the nature of the Magi in connection with their occult
+"wonder working," we must turn to the dictionaries, where we will see
+that the word "Magic" is derived from the title "Magi;" the word
+"Magician" having been originally "Magian", which means "one of the
+Magi." Webster defines the word "Magic" as follows: "The hidden wisdom
+supposed to be possessed by the Magi; relating to the occult powers of
+nature; mastery of secret forces in nature", etc. So you may readily
+see that we are right in stating to you that these Wise Men--the Magi
+who came to worship the Christ-child, were in reality the
+representatives of the great Mystic Brotherhoods and Occult Orders of
+the Orient--Adepts, Masters, Hierophants! And thus do we find the
+Occult and Mystic "wonder workers"--the high-degree brethren of the
+Great Eastern Lodges of Mystic Occultism, appearing at the very
+beginning of the Story of Christianity, indicating their great
+interest in the mortal birth of the greater Master whose coming they
+had long waited--the Master of Masters! And all Occultists and Mystics
+find pleasure and just pride in the fact that the first recognition of
+the Divine Nature of this human child came from these Magi from the
+East--from the very Heart of the Mystic Inner Circles! To those
+so-called Christians to whom all that is connected with Mysticism and
+Occultism savors of the fiery sulphur and brimstone, we would call
+attention to this intimate early relation between The Musters and THE
+MASTER.
+
+
+THE STAR IN THE EAST.
+
+
+But the Mystic story begins still further back than the visit of the
+Magi to Bethlehem. Did not the Magi say, "Where is He? We have seen
+His star in the East and have come to worship him." What is meant by
+the words, "We have seen his star in the East"?
+
+To the majority of Christians the "Star of Bethlehem" means a great
+star that suddenly appeared in the heavens, like a great beacon light,
+and which miraculously guided the steps of the Magi, mile by mile, on
+their weary journey, until at last it rested in the heavens,
+stationary over the house in which the child Jesus lived, between the
+ages of one and two years. In other words, they believe that this star
+had constantly guided these skilled mystics, occultists and
+astrologers, in their journey from the far East, which occupied over a
+year, until it at last guided them to Bethlehem and then stopped
+stationary over the house of Joseph and Mary. Alas! that these vulgar
+traditions of the ignorant multitude should have served so long to
+obscure a beautiful mystic occurrence, and which by their utter
+improbability and unscientific nature should have caused thousands to
+sneer at the very true legend of the "Star of Bethlehem." It remains
+for the Mystic traditions to clear away the clouds of ignorance from
+this beautiful story, and to re-establish it in the minds of men as a
+natural and scientific occurrence.
+
+This story of the "traveling star" arose from the superstitious and
+ignorant ideas of many of the Christians of the first, second, and
+third centuries after Christ's death. These tales were injected into
+the manuscripts left by the disciples, and soon began to be regarded
+as a part and portion of the authentic Gospels and Epistles, although
+the skilled Biblical critics and scholars of to-day are rapidly
+discarding many of these additions as wilful forgeries and
+interpolations. It must be remembered that the oldest manuscripts of
+the books of the New Testament are known to Biblical scholars to have
+been written _not less than three hundred years after the time of the
+original writing_, and are merely _copies of copies_ of the originals,
+undoubtedly added to, altered, and adulterated by the writers through
+whose hands they had passed. This is not merely the statement of an
+outside critic--it is a fact that is clearly stated in the writings of
+the scholars in the Churches engaged in the work of Biblical study,
+and the Higher Criticism, to which works we refer any who may have
+reason to doubt our statement.
+
+That portion of the verse (_Matt. 2:9._) in which it is said that "and
+lo; the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came
+and stood over where the young child was," is known to the Mystic and
+Occult Orders to be a rank interpolation into the story of the Magi.
+It is contrary to their own traditions and records, and is also
+contrary to reason and to scientific laws, and this distorted story
+alone has been the cause of the development of thousands of "infidels"
+who could not accept the tale.
+
+All intelligent men know that a "star" is not a mere tiny point of
+flame in the dome which shuts us out from a Heaven on the other side
+of the blue shell, although this view was that of the ancient people,
+and many ignorant men and women to-day. Educated people know that a
+"star" is either a planet of our solar system, similar to the sister
+planet which we called the Earth, or else is a mighty sun, probably
+many times larger than our sun, countless millions of miles distant
+from our solar system. And they know that planets have their
+invariable orbits and courses, over which they travel, unceasingly, so
+true to their course that their movements may be foretold centuries
+ahead, or calculated for centuries back. And they know that even the
+great fixed stars, those distant suns and centers of great solar
+systems akin to our own, have their own places in the Universe, also
+their Universal relations and movements. All who have studied even the
+most elementary school book on astronomy know these things. And yet
+such people are asked to swallow whole this story of the "moving
+star," traveling on a little ahead of the shepherds for over a year,
+and at last standing right over the home of Jesus, and thus indicating
+that the search was ended. Let us compare this unscientific tale, with
+the traditions and legends of the Mystics, and then take your choice.
+
+Had there been any such star in appearance, the historians of that day
+would surely have recorded it, for there were learned and wise men in
+the East in those days, and as astrology was a science closely
+studied, it would have been noted and passed on to posterity by both
+writings and tradition. But no such record or tradition is to be found
+among the Eastern peoples, or the records of the astrologers. But
+another record and tradition _is_ preserved, as we shall see in a
+moment.
+
+Yes, there really _was_ a "Star of Bethlehem" which led the feet of
+the Magi to the home of the infant Jesus. We have the following proof
+of this fact:
+
+     (1) the traditions and teachings of the Mystic Orders which
+     have been handed down from teacher to student for centuries;
+
+     (2) the statements and records of the Ancient Astrologers,
+     which may be proven by modern astronomical calculations; and
+
+     (3) the calculations made by modern astronomers, which shall
+     be stated a few paragraphs further on. These three sources
+     of information give us the same tale, as we shall see.
+
+Before proceeding to a consideration of this three-fold evidence, let
+us pause for a moment and consider the relation of the Magi to
+Astrology. To understand the narrative of the Magi's Visit to Jesus,
+we must remember that they were the very Masters of Astrological Lore.
+Persia and the surrounding Oriental countries were the fountain-head
+of Astrological Teaching. And these Magi were Masters, and Adepts, and
+Hierophants, and consequently knew all that was known to the greatest
+schools of Astrology of that day. Much of their Ancient Astrological
+Lore has been lost to the race of to-day, but to these ancient learned
+men it was as much of a science as chemistry and astronomy are to the
+learned ones of our day.
+
+The Magi had long waited for the appearance and incarnation of a Great
+Master of Masters, whose appearance had been predicted centuries
+before by some of the great Occult Fathers of the Mystic Orders, and
+each generation hoped that the event would come in his day. They had
+been taught that when the event took place, they would be informed by
+means of the planets, according to the Higher Astrology. All students
+of even our modern fragmentary astrology will understand this. And so
+they waited and carefully scanned the heavens for the sign.
+
+Now the traditions of the Occult Orders inform us that at last the
+Magi witnessed a peculiar conjunction of planets; first, the
+conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, in the Constellation of Pisces, the
+two planets being afterward joined by the planet Mars, the three
+planets in close relation of position, making a startling and unusual
+stellar display, and having a deep astrological significance. Now, the
+Constellation of Pisces, as all astrologers, ancient and modern, know,
+is the constellation governing the national existence of Judea. Seeing
+the predicted conjunction of the planets, occurring in the
+Constellation having to do with Judea (as well as the relative
+positions of the other planets, all of which played its part in the
+observation), the Magi knew two things, _i.e._, (1) that the birth of
+the Master of Masters had occurred; and (2) that He had been born in
+Judea, as indicated by the constellation in which the conjunction
+occurred. And, so, making the calculation of the exact moment of the
+conjunction, they started on their long journey toward Judea in search
+of the Master of Masters.
+
+Now, again, the records of the Astrologers, preserved in the Oriental
+Occult Brotherhoods, in their monasteries, etc., show that at a period
+a few years before the Christian Era such a peculiar conjunction and
+combination of the planets occurred in the Constellation symbolizing
+the destinies of Judea, which was interpreted as indicating the
+appearance of an Incarnation or Avatar of a Great Divine Soul--a
+Master of Masters--a Mystic of Mystics. It must be remembered that
+these Orders are composed of non-Christians--people that the average
+Christian would call "heathens," and that therefore this testimony
+must be regarded as free from bias toward Christianity or the
+corroboration of its legends.
+
+And, in the third place, the calculations of Modern Astronomy show
+without possibility of contradiction that in the Roman year 747 (or
+seven years before the Christian Era) _the planets Saturn and Jupiter
+farmed a conjunction in the Constellation of Pisces_, and that these
+two planets, still in close position to each other, were joined by the
+planet Mars in the Spring of 748. The great astronomer Kepler first
+made this calculation in the year 1604, and it has been since verified
+by modern calculations. To those who would object that all this
+occurred seven years before the commonly accepted date of the birth of
+Christ, we would say that any modern work on New Testament Chronology,
+or any encyclopedia or reference work on the subject, will show that
+the former calculations were several years out of the way, and that
+the records of other events mentioned in the Bible, such as the
+"enrollment" of the people, which brought Joseph and Mary to
+Bethlehem, enable modern Biblical scholars to fix the date of the
+birth of Christ at about six or seven years before the usually
+accepted time. So that modern research fully corroborates the
+astrological record and the Mystic traditions.
+
+And so it would appear that the coming of the Wise Men--the Magi--was
+in accordance with the astrological signs, of the interpretation of
+which they were adepts and masters. When this truth is known, how
+puerile and petty seems the myth of the "traveling star" of the
+commonly accepted exoteric version? And the pictures of the Wise Men
+being led by a moving heavenly body, traveling across the skies and at
+last standing still over the cottage of Joseph, with which the Sunday
+school books are filled, must be relegated to the same waste-paper
+basket which contains the Bible illustrations, formerly so popular,
+which picture Jehovah as a bald-headed old man with a long white
+beard, clad in flowing robes designed to hide his body. Is it any
+wonder that skeptics, infidels, and scoffers of the spiritual truths
+have arisen in great numbers, when they have been asked to accept
+these things or be damned?
+
+And is not this connection of Astrology with Early Christianity a
+rebuke to the modern Christian Church which sneers and scoffs at the
+science of astrology as a "base superstition" fit only for fools and
+ignoramuses? Does not this picture of the Magi give a clear view of
+that which was formerly regarded as a mere fable, to be solemnly
+smiled over and taught to the children, with whom the story has always
+been a favorite owing to their intuitive perception of an underlying
+truth. And now with this Mystic version, cannot _you_ enjoy the legend
+with the children? In this connection let us once more quote from the
+New International Encyclopedia (Vol. II, 170), a standard reference
+work, as you know, which says:
+
+     "Some of the earlier Christian Fathers argued against the
+     doctrines of the earlier astrology, while others received
+     them in a modified form; and indeed it formed a part of the
+     basis of their religion in the Gospel narrative of the visit
+     to Bethlehem of the Wise Men of the East, who were Chaldean
+     Magi or Astrologers."
+
+Here is the testimony in all of the standard reference books, and yet
+how many of you have known it?
+
+To understand the importance of the event which drew the steps of the
+Magi to Bethlehem, we must realize that the Coming of the Master was a
+favorite subject of speculation and discussion among Occultists and
+Mystic organizations all over the Oriental countries. It had been
+foretold, in all tongues, that a Great Master would be given to the
+world--a mighty _avatar_ or appearance of Deity in human form, who
+would incarnate in order to redeem the world from the materiality
+which threatened it. The Sacred Writings of India, Persia, Chaldea,
+Egypt, Media, Assyria, and other lands had foretold this event for
+many centuries, and all the mystics and occultists longed for the day
+"when the Master would appear." The Jews also had many traditions
+regarding the coming of a Messiah, who would be born of the seed of
+David, at Bethlehem, but their Messiah was looked upon as likely to be
+an earthly king, destined to free Israel from the Roman yoke. And so,
+the tradition of the Jews was regarded as of inferior moment to their
+own predictions, by the Mystic and Occult Brotherhoods of the East. To
+them it was to be an _avatar_ of Deity--God in human form come to take
+his rightful seat as the Grand Master of the Universal Grand Lodge of
+Mystic--a descent of pure Spirit into matter. This conception
+certainly was very much higher than that of the Jews.
+
+And so, knowing these things, we may readily understand why the Magi
+pursued their search with such ardor and enthusiasm. They had many
+weary miles of travel to Bethlehem, over a year being consumed in the
+journey. They reached Bethlehem over a year after the birth of Christ
+and the appearance of the Star, the sight of which had started them on
+their quest. They sought not a new-born babe, as common belief has
+it--they searched for a child born over a year before. (We refer the
+student to any reference work, for a verification of this last
+statement. The illustrations in the Sunday school books showing the
+Wise Men worshipping a new born babe in the manger are on a par with
+the others mentioned. The Wise Men had nothing to do with the stable
+or the manger--for Joseph, Mary and the Babe were lodged in a house by
+that time, as we shall see as we proceed.)
+
+At last after their long and weary wandering over hill and plain,
+mountain and desert, the Magi found themselves in Jerusalem, inquiring
+diligently as to the whereabouts of the Master of Masters--the
+Promised One, whose coming had been the subject of prophecy for
+centuries among the Eastern peoples. The Jews of whom they inquired,
+although not familiar with the predictions regarding a Mystic Master,
+or _avatar_ of Deity, were nevertheless thoroughly familiar with the
+prophecies of the coming of the Hebrew Messiah, and naturally thought
+that it was of this expected earthly King of the Jews that the Magi
+inquired, and so they reported it far and wide that these Great Men
+from the East had come to Jerusalem to find the Messiah--the King of
+the Jews, who was to deliver Israel from the Roman yoke. And, as the
+Gospel of Matthew (2:3) informs us: "When Herod the king heard it, he
+was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." Naturally so, when it is
+remembered that it was an Earthly Kingdom that they expected the
+Messiah would inherit. And so, gathering the chief priests and scribes
+of Jerusalem around him, he bade them tell him the particulars
+regarding the prophecies regarding the Messiah--where he was expected
+to be born. And they answered him, saying: "In Bethlehem of Judea for
+so hath the prophets spoken."
+
+And hearing the testimony of the scribes and priests, the wily Herod,
+who feared the realization of this old Hebrew prophecy which
+threatened to cost him his throne if fulfilled, called the Magi to his
+palace and in private consultation inquired of them the reason of
+their search. And when they told him of the astrological
+indications--of the "Star"--he was still more wrought up, and wished
+to locate the dangerous child. And so he inquired of them the exact
+date at which the star had appeared, that he might be better able to
+find the infant, knowing its date of birth in Bethlehem. (See Matthew
+2:7.) And learning this he bade them go to Bethlehem and find the
+child they sought, and cunningly added, "And when ye have found him,
+bring me word, that I also may come and worship him." Thus craftily
+concealing his intentions to seize and kill the child, he endeavored
+to press the Magi into his service as detectives, by pretending to
+join in their desire to locate the Divine Child.
+
+The Magi traveled on to Bethlehem, and arriving there made diligent
+inquiry regarding infants that had been born about the time that the
+star appeared. There were many infants born in Bethlehem during the
+same month, of course, and the search was difficult. But they soon
+heard strange rumors about a babe that had been born to travelers in
+Bethlehem about that time, the birth of whom had been attended by a
+strange occurrence. This peculiar happening is related in Luke 2:8-20,
+in which it is stated that at the time of the birth of Jesus in the
+manger, certain shepherds keeping the night-watch over their flocks
+saw an angel standing by them, and "the glory of the Lord" shining
+around about them. And the angel bade them be not afraid, for to them
+was to be given tidings of great joy, for there was born that very
+day, in Bethlehem, one who was to be the Anointed Lord of the world.
+And the angel further directed them that the babe would be found lying
+in a manger in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes which was to be
+their sign. And then suddenly the place was filled with a multitude of
+supernatural beings, praising God, singing, "Glory to God in the
+highest, and on earth peace and good-will among men." And the
+shepherds flocked to the town, and there found the child in the
+manger. And they spread abroad the report of the wonderful event
+accompanying the birth of the child. And consequently the child and
+its parents became objects of more or less public interest.
+
+And so when the Magi instituted their search they were in due time
+informed of this strange occurrence. And they visited the house of
+Joseph and Mary and saw the Babe. Making close inquiry of the parents,
+they found that the time of the child's birth tallied precisely with
+the moment of the astrological signs. Then they cast the Child's
+horoscope and they knew that their shepherd's vision coincided with
+their own science, and that here indeed was He for whom the Eastern
+Occultists and Mystics had waited for centuries. They had found the
+Master! The Star Child was before them!
+
+Then these Great Men of their own lands--these Adepts, Masters and
+Hierophants--prostrated themselves on the ground before the child and
+gave him the salutation due only to the great Occult Master of Masters
+who was come to take his seat upon the Throne of the Grand Master of
+the Great Lodge. But the child knew naught of this, and merely smiled
+sweetly at these strange men in gorgeous foreign robes, and reached
+out his little hand toward them. But Occult tradition has it that the
+tiny fingers and thumb of his right hand, outstretched toward the
+Magi, unconsciously assumed the mystic symbol of the Occult
+Benediction, used by the Masters and Hierophants (and now used by the
+Pope in Papal Benediction) and gave to the worshippers that Master's
+benediction. The tiny Master of Masters thus gave his first blessing
+to his followers, and exalted worshippers. But His Throne was not that
+of the Great Lodge, but a still higher place--the knees of a Mother!
+
+And the Magi then made mystic and symbolic offerings to the
+child--Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh offered they Him. Gold, signifying
+the tribute offered to a Ruler, was the first symbol. Then came
+Frankincense, the purest and rarest incense used by the Occult and
+Mystic Brotherhoods and Orders, in their ceremonies and rites, when
+they were contemplating the sacred symbol of the Absolute Master of
+the Universe--this Frankincense was their symbol of worship. Then,
+last symbol of all, was the Myrrh, which in the occult and mystic
+symbolism indicated the bitterness of mortal life, bitter though
+pungent, preserving though stinging--this was the meaning of the
+Myrrh, that this child, though Divine in his inner nature, was still
+mortal in body and brain, and must accept and experience the bitter
+tang of life. Myrrh, the strength of which preserves, and prevents
+decay, and yet which smarts, and tangs, and stings ever and ever--a
+worthy symbol of Mortal Life, surely. Wise Men, indeed, ye Magi! Gold,
+Frankincense, and Myrrh--a prophecy, symbol, and revelation of the
+Life of the Son of Man, with His indwelling Pure Spirit.
+
+And the Magi, having performed their rites and ceremonies, departed
+from Bethlehem. But they did not forget the Child--they preserved a
+careful watch over his movements, until they saw him again. Saw Him
+again? you ask? _Yes, saw him again!_ Though the Gospels say naught of
+this, and are silent for a period of many years in the Life of Jesus,
+yet the records and traditions of the Mystics of the East are filled
+with this esoteric knowledge of these missing years, as we shall see
+as we proceed. Left behind by the Magi, but still under their loving
+care, the Child waxed strong and grew in mind and body.
+
+But the Magi, being warned by higher intelligences in a vision, did
+not return to the wily and crafty Herod, but "departed unto their own
+country another way." (_Matt. 2:12._) And Herod waited in vain for
+their return, and finally discovering their escape wrathfully ordered
+the massacre of all male children that had been born in Bethlehem and
+its suburbs of two years of age and under. He calculated the two years
+from the witnessing of the "star" by the Magi. Matthew 2:16 states the
+story of the fixing of the time as follows:
+
+     "And slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and
+     all the borders thereof, from two years old and under,
+     _according to the time which he exactly learned of the wise
+     men_."
+
+Herod sought to kill the feared Messiah--the King of the Jews, who
+threatened to drive him from his earthly throne--by killing all the
+male infants in Bethlehem that had been born since the astrological
+indication as stated by the Magi.
+
+But this plot failed, for Joseph had been warned by "an angel in a
+dream" (which mystics teach was the Astral Form of one of the Magi)
+and was told to take the mother and child and flee into Egypt, and to
+stay there until the death of Herod. And so Joseph, Mary, and Jesus
+then fled from the wrath of Herod, and stole silently away to Egypt.
+And the Occult traditions have it that the expenses of the journey of
+this poor carpenter and his family--that journey into strange lands,
+hurried, and without the chance to earn money along the way--was
+accomplished by the means of the Gold that the Magi had offered to
+Jesus, and which they had insisted upon his parents storing away for
+His use. And so the gold of these Occult Mystics saved the founder of
+Christianity from massacre. And how poorly has Christianity repaid the
+debt, when one thinks of the persecutions of the Oriental "heathen" by
+the so-called Christians of all times!
+
+And note this--they carried the child to Egypt, the home of Mystery
+and Occultism--the land of Isis! A worthy resting place for the Great
+Occult Master that was to be! And Occult tradition also has it that
+one night, wearied with their long journey, the family halted and
+passed the night in the place of the Sphinx and Pyramids. And that the
+Mother and Babe rested between the outstretched forepaws of the mighty
+Sphinx, which held them safe and secure, while Joseph threw himself on
+the base before them, and slept on guard. What a scene--the Master as
+an infant protected by the Sphinx, that ancient Occult emblem and
+symbol, while close by, reared like mighty watchful sentinels, stood
+the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the master work of Egypt's Mystics, every
+line and inch of which symbolizes an Occult Teaching. Verily, indeed
+is Christianity cradled in the lap of Mysticism.
+
+Thus endeth our First Lesson. The Second Lesson will take up the
+Mystic Teachings regarding the Divine Incarnation of the Spirit in the
+mortal body of Jesus--a subject of the greatest importance to all who
+are troubled with this difficult point. We hope to be able to shed the
+Mystic light of Truth upon this corner which so many have found dark,
+non-understandable, and contrary to reason, natural law and science.
+The Mystic Teachings are the great Reconciler of Faith and Reason.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE MYSTERY OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH.
+
+One of the points of conflict between Established Theology on the one
+hand and what is known as Rationalism, the Higher Criticism, and
+Comparative Mythology, on the other hand, is what is known as "the
+Virgin Birth" of Jesus. Perhaps we may show the points of difference
+more clearly by simply stating the opposing views and, afterwards,
+giving the traditions of the Occult Brotherhoods and Societies on the
+subject. We are enabled to state the opposing views without prejudice,
+because we rest upon the Occult Teachings with a feeling of being
+above and outside of the theological strife raging between the two
+schools of Christian theologians. We trust that the reader will
+reserve his decision until the consideration of the matter in this
+lesson is completed. We think that it will be found that the Occult
+Teachings give the Key to the Mystery and furnish the Reconciliation
+between the opposing theological views which threaten to divide the
+churches into two camps, i.e., (1) the adherents of the established
+orthodox theology, and (2) the adherents of the views of the
+Rationalists and the Higher Critics.
+
+The school of theology which clings to the old orthodox teachings
+regarding the Virgin Birth and which teachings are commonly accepted
+without question by the mass of church-goers, hold as follows:
+
+     Mary, a young Jewish maiden, or virgin, was betrothed to
+     Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth in Galilee. Before her
+     marriage, she was informed by an angelic vision that she
+     would miraculously conceive a son, to whom she would give
+     birth, and who would reign on the Throne of David and be
+     called the Son of the Highest. This teaching is based solely
+     upon certain statements contained in the Gospels of Matthew
+     and Luke. Matthew's account is as follows:
+
+     "Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as
+     his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
+     together, she was found with the child of the Holy Ghost.
+     Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing
+     to make her a public example was minded to put her away
+     privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the
+     angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
+     Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
+     thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
+     Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
+     his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their
+     sins. And now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled
+     which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold
+     a virgin shall be with a child and shall bring forth a son,
+     and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
+     interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from
+     sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
+     unto him his wife: And knew her not until she had brought
+     forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus."
+     (_Matt. 1:18-25._)
+
+Luke's account is as follows:
+
+     "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God
+     unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused
+     to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and
+     the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her
+     and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is
+     with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw
+     him she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind
+     what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said
+     unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with
+     God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
+     forth a son and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be
+     great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the
+     Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.
+     And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of
+     his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the
+     angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the
+     angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
+     upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
+     thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
+     thee shall be called the Son of God." (_Luke 1:26-33._)
+
+And so, this then is the commonly accepted, orthodox teachings of
+Christian theology. It is embodied in the two best-known creeds of the
+church and is made an essential article of belief by the majority of
+the orthodox churches.
+
+In the Apostle's Creed, which has been traced back to about the year
+A.D. 500, and which is claimed to have been based on an older creed,
+the doctrine is stated thusly: "... and in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
+our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin
+Mary," etc. In the Nicene Creed, which dates from A.D. 325, the
+doctrine is stated thusly: "... and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only
+begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father ... and was incarnate by
+the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary," etc.
+
+And so, the doctrine is plainly stated and firmly insisted upon by the
+orthodox churches of today, although such was not always the case for
+the matter was one which gave rise to much conflict and difference of
+opinion in the early centuries of the Church, the present view,
+however, overcoming those who opposed it, and finally becoming
+accepted as beyond doubt or question by the orthodox, believing
+Christian.
+
+But the present time finds many leading minds in the churches, who
+refuse to accept the doctrine as usually taught, and the voice of the
+Higher Criticism is heard in the land in increasing volume and many
+doctrines unquestioningly held by the pews are being abandoned by the
+pulpits, usually in the way of "discreet silence" being maintained.
+But here and there courageous voices are heard stating plainly that
+which their reason and conscience impels. We shall now consider these
+dissenting opinions.
+
+We have to say here, at this point, that we have no sympathy for the
+so-called "infidel" opinion, which holds that the whole tale of the
+Virgin Birth was invented to conceal the illegitimate birth of Jesus.
+Such a view is based neither on intelligent investigation or
+criticism, or upon the occult teachings. It was merely "invented"
+itself, by those who were unable to accept current theology and who,
+when driven from the churches, built up a crude system of
+reconstructed Biblical History of their own. And so we shall not stop
+to even consider this view of the matter, but shall pass on to the
+scholarly objectors and their views and thence to the Occult
+Teachings.
+
+In the first place, the theologians who favor the views of the Higher
+Criticism object to the idea of the Virgin Birth upon several general
+grounds, among which the following are the principal ones:
+
+     (1) That the story of the Divine Conception, that is the
+     conception by a woman of a child without a human father, and
+     by means of a miraculous act on the part of Deity, is one
+     found among the traditions, legends and beliefs of many
+     heathen and pagan nations. Nearly all of the old Oriental
+     religions, antedating Christianity by many centuries,
+     contain stories of this kind concerning their gods, prophets
+     and great leaders. The critics hold that the story of the
+     Virgin Birth and Divine Conception were borrowed outright
+     from these pagan legends and incorporated into the Christian
+     Writings after the death of Christ;
+
+     (2) that the idea of the Virgin Birth was not an original
+     Christian Doctrine, but was injected into the Teachings at a
+     date about one hundred years, or nearly so, after the
+     beginning of the Christian Era; this view being corroborated
+     by the fact that the New Testament Writings themselves
+     contain very little mention of the idea, the only mention of
+     it being in two of the Gospels, those of St. Matthew and St.
+     Luke--St. Mark and St. John containing no mention of the
+     matter, which would not likely be the case had it been an
+     accepted belief in the early days of Christianity--and no
+     mention being made of it in the Epistles, even Paul being
+     utterly silent on the question. They claim that the Virgin
+     Birth was unknown to the primitive Christians and was not
+     heard of until its "borrowing" from pagan beliefs many years
+     after. In support of their idea, as above stated, they call
+     attention to the fact that the New Testament writings, known
+     to Biblical students as the oldest and earliest, make no
+     mention of the idea; and that Paul ignores it completely, as
+     well as the other writers;
+
+     (3) that the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke bear
+     internal evidences of the introduction of the story at a
+     later date. This matter we shall now consider, from the
+     point of view of the Higher Criticism within the body of the
+     Church.
+
+In the first place, let us consider the Gospel of St. Matthew. The
+majority of people accept this as having been written by St. Matthew,
+with his own hand, during his ministry; and that the Gospel, word for
+word, is the work of this great apostle. This idea, however, is not
+held for a moment by the educated clergy, as may be seen by a
+reference to any prominent theological work of late years, or even in
+the pages of a good encyclopedia. The investigators have made diligent
+researches concerning the probable authorship of the New Testament
+books and their reports would surprise many faithful church-goers who
+are not acquainted with the facts of the case. There is no warrant,
+outside of tradition and custom, for the belief that Matthew wrote the
+Gospel accredited to him, at least in its present shape. Without going
+deeply into the argument of the investigators (which may be found in
+any recent work on the History of the Gospels) we would say that the
+generally accepted conclusion now held by the authorities is that the
+Gospel commonly accredited to St. Matthew is the work of some unknown
+hand or hands, which was produced during the latter part of the first
+century A.D., written in Greek, and most likely an enlargement or
+elaboration of certain Aramaic writings entitled, "Sayings of Jesus,"
+which are thought to have been written by Matthew himself. In other
+words, even the most conservative of the critics do not claim that the
+Gospel of St. Matthew is anything more than an enlargement,
+elaboration or development of Matthew's earlier writings, written many
+years before the elaboration of the present "Gospel." The more radical
+critics take an even less respectful view. This being the fact, it may
+be readily seen how easy it would have been for the latter-day
+"elaborator" to introduce the then current legend of the Virgin Birth,
+borrowed from pagan sources.
+
+As a further internal evidence of such interpolation of outside
+matter, the critics point to the fact that while the Gospel of Matthew
+is made to claim that Joseph was merely the _reputed father_ of the
+child of Mary, the same Gospel, in its very first chapter (_Matt. 1_)
+_gives the genealogy of Jesus from David to Joseph_ the husband of
+Mary, _in order to prove that Jesus came from the "House of David_,"
+in accordance with the Messianic tradition. The chapter begins with
+the words, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of
+David, the son of Abraham" (_Matt. 1_), and then goes on to name
+fourteen generations from Abraham to David; fourteen generations from
+David to the days of the carrying away into Babylon; and fourteen
+generations from the Babylonian days until the birth of Jesus. The
+critics call attention to this _recital of Jesus's descent, through
+Joseph, from the House of David_, which is but one of the many
+indications that the original Matthew inclined quite strongly to the
+view that Jesus was the Hebrew Messiah, come to reign upon the throne
+of David, rather than a Divine Avatar or Incarnation.
+
+The critics point to the fact that _if Joseph were not the real father
+of Jesus, where would be the sense and purpose of proving his descent
+from David through Joseph?_ It is pertinently asked, _"Why the
+necessity or purpose of the recital of Joseph's genealogy, as applied
+to Jesus, if indeed Jesus were not truly the son of Joseph_?" The
+explanation of the critics is that the earlier writings of Matthew
+contained nothing regarding the Virgin Birth, Matthew having heard
+nothing of this pagan legend, and that naturally he gave the genealogy
+of Jesus from David and Abraham. If one omits the verses 18-25 from
+Matthew's Gospel, he will see the logical relation of the genealogy to
+the rest of the account--otherwise it is paradoxical, contradictory
+and ridiculous, and shows the joints and seams where it has been
+fitted into the older account.
+
+"But," you may ask, "what of the Messianic Prophecy mentioned by
+Matthew (1:23)? Surely this is a direct reference to the prophecy of
+Isaiah 7:14." Let us examine this so-called "prophecy," of which so
+much has been said and see just what reference it has to the birth of
+Jesus.
+
+Turning back to Isaiah 7, we find these words, just a little before
+the "prophecy":
+
+     "Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a
+     sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in
+     the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither
+     will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of
+     David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye
+     weary my God also?" (_Isaiah 6:13._)
+
+Then comes the "prophecy": "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you
+a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call
+his name Immanuel." This is the "prophecy" quoted by the writer of the
+Gospel of Matthew, and which has been quoted for centuries in
+Christian churches, as a foretelling of the miraculous birth of Jesus.
+As a matter of fact, intelligent theologians know that it has no
+reference to Jesus at all, in any way, but belongs to another
+occurrence, as we shall see presently, and was injected into the
+Gospel narrative merely to support the views of the writer thereof.
+
+It may be well to add here that many of the best authorities hold that
+the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "_almah_" into the equivalent
+of "virgin" in the usual sense of the word is incorrect. The Hebrew
+word "_almah_" used in the original Hebrew text of Isaiah, does not
+mean "virgin" as the term is usually employed, but rather "a young
+woman of marriageable age--a maiden," the Hebrews having an entirely
+different word for the idea of "virginity," as the term is generally
+used. The word "_almah_" is used in other parts of the Old Testament
+to indicate a "young woman--a maiden," notably in Proverbs 30:19, in
+the reference to "the way of a man with a maid."
+
+But we need not enter into discussions of this kind, say the Higher
+Critics, for the so-called "prophecy" refers to an entirely different
+matter. It appears, say they, that Ahaz, a weakling king of Judea, was
+in sore distress because Rezin the Syrian king, and Pekah the ruler of
+Northern Israel, had formed an offensive alliance against him and were
+moving their combined forces toward Jerusalem. In his fear he sought
+an alliance with Assyria, which alliance was disapproved of by Isaiah
+who remonstrated with Ahaz about the proposed move. The king was too
+much unnerved by fear to listen to Isaiah's arguments and so the
+latter dropped into prophecy. He prophesied, after the manner of the
+Oriental seer, that the land would be laid waste and misery entailed
+upon Israel, should the suicidal policy be adopted. But he held out a
+hope for a brighter future after the clouds of adversity had rolled
+by. A new and wise prince would arise who would bring Israel to her
+former glory. That prince would be born of a young mother and his name
+would be Immanuel, which means "God with us." All this had reference
+to things of a reasonably near future and had no reference to the
+birth of Jesus _some seven hundred years after_, who _was not a
+prince_ sitting upon the throne of Israel, and who did not bring
+national glory and renown to Israel, for such was not his mission.
+Hebrew scholars and churchmen have often claimed that Isaiah's
+prophecy was fulfilled by the birth of Hezekiah.
+
+There is no evidence whatever in the Jewish history of the seven
+hundred years between Isaiah and Jesus, that the Hebrews regarded
+Isaiah's prophecy as relating to the expected Messiah, but on the
+contrary it was thought to relate to a minor event in their history.
+As a Jewish writer has truly said, "Throughout the wide extent of
+Jewish literature there is not a single passage which can bear the
+construction that the Messiah should be miraculously conceived." Other
+writers along this line have stated the same thing, showing that the
+idea of a Virgin Birth was foreign to the Jewish mind, the Hebrews
+having always respected and highly honored married life and human
+parentage, regarding their children as blessings and gifts from God.
+
+Another writer in the Church has said, "Such a fable as the birth of
+the Messiah from a _virgin_ could have arisen anywhere else easier
+than among the Jews; their doctrine of the divine unity placed an
+impassable gulf between God and the world; their high regard for the
+marriage relation," etc., would have rendered the idea obnoxious.
+Other authorities agree with this idea, and insist that the idea of
+the Virgin Birth never originated in Hebrew prophecy, but was injected
+into the Christian Doctrine from pagan sources, toward the end of the
+first century, and received credence owing to the influx of converts
+from the "heathen" peoples who found in the idea a correspondence with
+their former beliefs. As Rev. R.J. Campbell, minister of the City
+Temple, London, says in his "New Theology," "No New Testament passage
+whatever is directly or indirectly a prophecy of the virgin birth of
+Jesus. To insist upon this may seem to many like beating a man of
+straw, but if so, the man of straw still retains a good deal of
+vitality."
+
+Let us now turn to the second account of the Virgin Birth, in the
+Gospels--the only other place that it is mentioned, outside of the
+story in Matthew, above considered. We find this second mention in
+Luke 1:26-35, the verses having been quoted in the first part of this
+lesson.
+
+There has been much dispute regarding the real authorship of the
+Gospel commonly accredited to Luke, but it is generally agreed upon by
+Biblical scholars that it was the latest of the first three Gospels
+(generally known as "the Synoptic Gospels"). It is also generally
+agreed upon, by such scholars, that the author, whoever he may have
+been, was not an eye witness of the events in the Life of Christ. Some
+of the best authorities hold that he was a Gentile (non-Hebrew),
+probably a Greek, for his Greek literary style is far above the
+average, his vocabulary being very rich and his diction admirable. It
+is also generally believed that the same hand wrote the Book of Acts.
+Tradition holds that the author was one Luke, a Christian convert
+after the death of Jesus, who was one of Paul's missionary band which
+traveled from Troas to Macedonia, and who shared Paul's imprisonment
+in Caesarea; and who shared Paul's shipwreck experiences on the voyage
+to Rome. He is thought to have written his Gospel long after the death
+of Paul, for the benefit and instruction of one Theophilus, a man of
+rank residing in Antioch.
+
+It is held by writers of the Higher Criticism that the account of the
+Virgin Birth was either injected in Luke's narrative, by some later
+writer, or else that Luke in his old age adopted this view which was
+beginning to gain credence among the converted Christians of pagan
+origin, Luke himself being of this class. It is pointed out that as
+Paul, who was Luke's close friend and teacher, made no mention of the
+Virgin Birth, and taught nothing of the kind, Luke must have acquired
+the legend later, if, indeed, the narrative was written by him at all
+in his Gospel.
+
+It is likewise noted that Luke also gives a genealogy of Jesus, from
+Adam, through Abraham, and David, and Joseph. The words in parenthesis
+"as was supposed," in Luke 3:23, are supposed to have been inserted in
+the text by a later writer, as there would be no sense or reason in
+tracing the genealogy of Jesus through a "supposed" father. The verse
+in question reads thusly: "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty
+years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the
+son of Heli," etc. Students, of course, notice that the line of
+descent given by Luke differs very materially from that given by
+Matthew, showing a lack of knowledge on the part of one or the other
+writer.
+
+On the whole, scholars consider it most remarkable that this account
+of the Virgin Birth should be given by Luke, who was a most ardent
+Pauline student and follower, in view of the fact that Paul ignored
+the whole legend, if, indeed, he had ever heard of it. Surely a man
+like Paul would have laid great stress upon this wonderful event had
+he believed in it, or had it formed a part of the Christian Doctrine
+of his time. That Luke should have written this account is a great
+mystery--and many feel that it is much easier to accept the theory of
+the later interpolation of the story into Luke's Gospel, particularly
+in view of the corroborative indications.
+
+Summing up the views of the Higher Criticism, we may say that the
+general position taken by the opponents and deniers of the Virgin
+Birth of Jesus is about as follows:
+
+     1. The story of the Virgin Birth is found only in the
+     introductory portion of two of the four Gospels--Matthew and
+     Luke--and even in these the story bears the appearance of
+     having been "fitted in" by later writers.
+
+     2. Even Matthew and Luke are silent about the matter after
+     the statements in the introductory part of their Gospels,
+     which could scarcely occur had the story been written by and
+     believed in by the writers, such action on their part being
+     contrary to human custom and probability.
+
+     3. The Gospels of Mark and John are absolutely silent on the
+     subject; the oldest of the Gospels--that of Mark--bears no
+     trace of the legend; and the latest Gospel--that of
+     John--being equally free from its mention.
+
+     4. The rest of the New Testament breathes not a word of the
+     story or doctrine. _The Book of Acts, generally accepted as
+     having also been written by Luke, ignores the subject
+     completely_. Paul, the teacher of Luke, and the great writer
+     of the Early Church, seems to know nothing whatever about
+     the Virgin Birth, or else purposely ignores it entirely, the
+     latter being unbelievable in such a man. Peter, the First
+     Apostle, makes no mention of the story or doctrine in his
+     great Epistles, which fact is inconceivable if he knew of
+     and believed in the legend. The Book of Revelation is
+     likewise silent upon this doctrine which played so important
+     a part in the later history of the Church. The great
+     writings of the New Testament contain no mention of the
+     story, outside of the brief mention in Matthew and Luke,
+     alluded to above.
+
+     5. There are many verses in the Gospels and Epistles which
+     go to prove, either that the story was unknown to the
+     writers, or else not accepted by them. _The genealogies of
+     Joseph are cited to prove the descent of Jesus from David,
+     which depends entirely upon the fact of Joseph's actual
+     parentage. Jesus is repeatedly and freely mentioned as the
+     son of Joseph._ Paul and the other Apostles hold firmly to
+     the doctrine of the necessity of the Death of Jesus; his
+     Rising from the Dead; and his Ascension into Heaven, etc.
+     But they had nothing to say regarding any necessity for his
+     Virgin Birth, or the necessity for the acceptance of any
+     such doctrine--they are absolutely silent on this point,
+     although they were careful men, omitting no important detail
+     of doctrine. Paul even speaks of Jesus as "of the seed of
+     David." (_Rom. 1:3._)
+
+     6. The Virgin Birth was not a part of the early traditions
+     or doctrine of the Church, but was unknown to it. And it is
+     not referred to in the preaching and teaching of the
+     Apostles, as may have been seen by reference to the Book of
+     Acts. This book, which relates the Acts and Teachings of the
+     Apostles, could not have inadvertently omitted such an
+     important doctrine or point of teaching. It is urged by
+     careful and conscientious Christian scholars that the
+     multitudes converted to Christianity in the early days must
+     have been ignorant of, or uninformed on, this miraculous
+     event, which would seem inexcusable on the part of the
+     Apostles had they known of it and believed in its truth.
+     This condition of affairs must have lasted until nearly the
+     second century, when the pagan beliefs began to filter in by
+     reason of the great influx of pagan converts.
+
+     7. There is every reason for believing that the legend arose
+     from other pagan legends, the religions of other peoples
+     being filled with accounts of miraculous births of heroes,
+     gods, and prophets, kings and sages.
+
+     8. That acceptance of the legend is not, nor should it be, a
+     proof of belief in Christ and Christianity. This view is
+     well voiced by Rev. Dr. Campbell, in his "New Theology,"
+     when he says "The credibility and significance of
+     Christianity are in no way affected by the doctrine of the
+     Virgin Birth, otherwise than that the belief tends to put a
+     barrier between Jesus and the race, and to make him
+     something that cannot properly be called human.... Like many
+     others, I used to take the position that acceptance or
+     non-acceptance of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was
+     immaterial because Christianity was quite independent of it;
+     but later reflection has convinced me that in point of fact
+     it operates as a hindrance to spiritual religion and a real
+     living faith in Jesus. The simple and natural conclusion is
+     that Jesus was the child of Joseph and Mary, and had an
+     uneventful childhood." The German theologian, Soltau, says,
+     "Whoever makes the further demand that an evangelical
+     Christian shall believe in the words 'conceived by the Holy
+     Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,' wittingly constitutes
+     himself a sharer in a sin against the Holy Spirit and the
+     true Gospel as transmitted to us by the Apostles and their
+     school in the Apostolic Age."
+
+And this then is the summing up of the contention between the
+conservative school of Christian theologians on the one side and the
+liberal and radical schools on the other side. We have given you a
+statement of the positions, merely that you may understand the
+problem. But, before we pass to the consideration of the Occult
+Teachings, let us ask one question: _How do the Higher Critics account
+for the undoubted doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood, as clearly stated
+all through the New Testament_, in view of the proofs against the
+Virgin Birth? Why the frequent and repeated mention of Jesus as "the
+Son of God?" What was the Secret Doctrine underlying the Divine
+Parentage of Jesus, which the pagan legends corrupted into the story
+of the Virgin Birth of theology? We fear that the answer is not to be
+found in the books and preachments of the Higher Criticism, nor yet in
+those of the Conservative Theologians. Let us now see what light the
+Occult Teachings can throw on this dark subject! There is an Inner
+Doctrine which explains the mystery.
+
+Now, in the first place, there is no reference in the Occult Teaching
+to any miraculous features connected with the physical birth of Jesus.
+It is not expressly denied, it is true, but the Teachings contain no
+reference to the matter, and all the references to the subject of
+Jesus' parentage speak of Joseph as being His father, and Mary His
+mother. In other words, the family is treated as being composed of
+father, mother and child just as is the case with any family. The
+Occult Teachings go into great detail concerning the _Spiritual
+Sonship_ of Jesus, as we shall see presently, but there is no mention
+of any miraculous _physical_ conception and birth.
+
+We can readily understand why the Virgin Birth legend would not appeal
+to the Occultists, if we will but consider the doctrines of the
+latter. The Occultists pay but little attention to the physical body,
+except as a Temple of the Spirit, and a habitation of the soul. The
+physical body, to the Occultist, is a mere material shell, constantly
+changing its constituent cells, serving to house the soul of the
+individual, and which when cast off and discarded is no more than any
+other bit of disintegrating material. They know of the existence of
+the soul separate from the body, both after the death of the latter
+and even during its life, in the case of Astral Travel, etc. And in
+many other ways it becomes natural for the Occultist to regard his
+body, and the bodies of others, as mere "shells," to be treated well,
+used properly, and then willingly discarded or exchanged for another.
+
+In view of the above facts, you may readily see that any theory or
+doctrine which made the Absolute--God--overshadow a human woman's body
+and cause her to physically conceive a child, would appear crude,
+barbarous, unnecessary and in defiance of the natural laws established
+by the Cause of Causes. The Occultist sees in the conception _of every
+child_, the work of the Divine Will--_every conception and birth a
+miracle_. But he sees Natural Law underlying each, and he believes
+that the Divine Will always operates under Natural Laws--the seeming
+miracles and exceptions thereto, resulting from the mastery and
+operation of some law not generally known. But the Occultist knows of
+no law that will operate to produce conception by other than the
+physiological process.
+
+In short, _the Occultist does not regard the physical body of Jesus as
+Jesus Himself_--he knows that the Real Jesus is something much greater
+than His body, and, consequently, he sees no more necessity for a
+miraculous conception of His body than he would for a miraculous
+creation of His robe. The body of Jesus was only material
+substance--the Real Jesus was Spirit. The Occultists do not regard
+Joseph as the father of the Real Jesus--_no human being can produce or
+create a soul_. And so, the Occultist sees no reason for accepting the
+old pagan doctrine of the physical Virgin Birth which has crept into
+Christianity from outside sources. To the Occultist, there is a real
+Virgin Birth of an entirely different nature, as we shall see
+presently.
+
+But, not so with the people who flocked to the ranks of Christianity
+toward the close of the first century--coming from pagan people, and
+bringing with them their pagan legends and doctrines. These people
+_believed that the Body was the Real Man_, and consequently attached
+the greatest importance to it. These people were almost materialists
+as the result of their pagan views of life. They began to exert an
+influence on the small body of original Christians, and soon the
+original teachings were smothered by the weight of the pagan
+doctrines. For instance, they failed to grasp the beautiful ideas of
+Immortality held by the original Christians, which held that _the
+soul_ survived the death and disintegration of the body. They could
+not grasp this transcendental truth--they did not know what was meant
+by the term "_the soul_," and so they substituted their pagan doctrine
+of the resurrection of the physical body. They believed that at some
+future time there would come a great Day, in which the Dead would
+arise from their graves, and become again alive. The crudeness of this
+idea, when compared to the beautiful doctrine of the Immortality of
+the Soul of the original Christians, and by the advanced Christians
+to-day, is quite painful. And yet these pagan converts actually
+smothered out the true teachings by their crude doctrine of
+resurrection of _the body_.
+
+These people could not understand how a man could live without his
+physical body, and to them future life meant a resurrection of their
+dead bodies which would again become alive. To them the dead bodies
+would remain dead, until the Great Day, when they would be made alive
+again. There is no teaching among these people regarding the soul
+which passes out of the body and lives again on higher planes. No,
+nothing of this kind was known to these people--they were incapable of
+such high ideas and ideals--they were materialists and were wedded to
+their beloved animal bodies, and believed that their dead bodies would
+in some miraculous way be made alive again at some time in the future,
+when they would again live on earth.
+
+In view of modern knowledge regarding the nature of matter, and the
+fact that what is one person's body to-day, may be a part of another's
+to-morrow--that matter is constantly being converted and
+reconverted--that the universal material is used to form bodies of
+animals, plants, men, or else dwell in chemical gases, or combinations
+in inorganic things--in view of these accepted truths the
+"resurrection of the body" seems a pitiful invention of the minds of a
+primitive and ignorant people, and not a high spiritual teaching. In
+fact, there may be many of you who would doubt that the Christians of
+that day so taught, were it not for the undisputed historical records,
+and the remnant of the doctrine itself embalmed in the "Apostle's
+Creed," in the passage _"I believe in the resurrection of the body_"
+which is read in the Churches daily, but which doctrine is scarcely
+ever taught in these days, and is believed in by but few
+Christians--in fact, is ignored or even denied by the majority.
+
+Dr. James Beattie has written, "Though mankind have at all times had a
+persuasion of the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the
+body was a doctrine peculiar to early Christianity." S.T. Coleridge
+has written, "Some of the most influential of the early Christian
+writers were materialists, holding the soul to be material--corporeal.
+It appears that in those days some few held the soul to be
+incorporeal, according to the views of Plato and others, but that the
+orthodox Christian divines looked upon this as an impious,
+unscriptural opinion. Justin Martyr argued against the Platonic nature
+of the soul. And even some latter-day writers have not hesitated to
+express their views on the subject, agreeing with the earlier orthodox
+brethren. For instance, Dr. R.S. Candlish has said,
+
+     "You live again in the body,--in the very body, as to all
+     essential properties, and to all practical intents and
+     purposes, in which you live now. _I am not to live as a
+     ghost, a spectre, a spirit, I am to live then as I live now,
+     in the body_."
+
+The reason that the early Church laid so much stress on this doctrine
+of the Resurrection of the Body, was because an inner sect, the
+Gnostics, held to the contrary, and the partisan spirit of the
+majority swung them to the other extreme, until they utterly denied
+any other idea, and insisted upon the resurrection and re-vitalizing
+of the physical body. But, in spite of the official fostering of this
+crude theory, it gradually sank into actual insignificance, although
+its shadow still persists in creed and word. Its spirit has retreated
+and passed away before the advancing idea of the Immortality of the
+Soul which returned again and again to Christianity until it won the
+victory. And as Prof. Nathaniel Schmidt has said, in his article on
+the subject in a leading encyclopaedia, "... The doctrine of the
+natural immortality of the human soul became so important a part of
+Christian thought that the resurrection naturally lost its vital
+significance, and it has practically held no place in the great
+systems of philosophy elaborated by the Christian thinkers in modern
+times." And, yet, the Church continues to repeat the now meaningless
+words, "I believe in the Resurrection of the Body." And while
+practically no one now believes it, still the recital of the words,
+and the statement of one's belief in them, forms a necessary requisite
+for admission into the Christian Church to-day. Such is the persistent
+hold of dead forms, and thoughts, upon living people.
+
+And, so you can readily see from what has been said, why the early
+Christians, about the close of the first century A.D., attached so
+much importance to _the physical conception and birth_ of Jesus. To
+them the physical body of Jesus was Jesus Himself. The rest follows
+naturally, including the Virgin Birth and the Physical Resurrection.
+We trust that you now understand this part of the subject.
+
+We have heard devout Christians shocked at the idea that Jesus was
+born of a human father and mother, in the natural way of the race.
+They seemed to think that it savored of impurity. Such a notion is the
+result of a perverted idea of the sacredness of natural functions--a
+seeing of impurity--where all is pure. What a perversion, this
+regarding the sacredness of human Fatherhood, and Motherhood, as
+impure! The man of true spirituality sees in the Divine Trinity of
+Father, Mother and Child, something most pure and sacred--something
+that brings man very close indeed to God. Is the beautiful babe, held
+close in its mother's fond embrace, a symbol and type of impurity? Is
+the watchful care and love of the Father of the babe, an impure result
+of an impure cause? Does not one's own heart tell him the contrary?
+Look at the well known picture of the Journey to Egypt, with Mary
+carrying the babe, and both guarded and protected by the husband and
+father--Joseph--is this not a beautiful symbol of the sacredness of
+Parenthood? We trust that the majority of those who read these pages
+have advanced spiritually beyond the point where The Family is a thing
+of impure suggestion and relationship.
+
+And, now, what are the Occult Teachings--the Secret Doctrine--regarding
+the Real Virgin Birth of Jesus? Just this: that the Spirit of Jesus
+was fresh from the bosom of the Absolute--Spirit of SPIRIT--a Virgin
+Birth of Spirit. His Spirit had not traveled the weary upward path of
+Reincarnation and repeated Rebirth, but was Virgin Spirit fresh from
+the SPIRIT--a very Son of the Father--begotten not created. This Virgin
+Spirit was incarnated in His body, and there began the life of Man, not
+fully aware of His own nature, but gradually awakening into knowledge
+just as does every human soul, until at last the true nature of His
+Being burst upon him, and he saw that he indeed was God incarnate. In
+his short life of thirty-three years--thirty years of preparation, and
+three years of ministry, Jesus typified and symbolized the Life of the
+Race. Just as he awakened into a perception of his Divine Nature, so
+shall the race awaken in time. Every act in the Life of Jesus typified
+and symbolized the life of every individual soul, and of the race. We
+all have our Garden of Gethsemane--each is Crucified, and Ascends to
+Higher Planes. This is the Occult Doctrine of the Virgin Birth of
+Christ. Is it not a worthy one--is it not at least a higher conception
+of the human mind, than the physical Virgin Birth legend?
+
+As we proceed with our lessons, we shall bring out the details of the
+Occult Teachings concerning the Divine Nature of Christ--the Spirit
+within the Human Form. And, in these references and instruction, you
+will see even more clearly that nature of the Spiritual Virgin Birth
+of Jesus.
+
+The original Christians were instructed in the Truth concerning the
+Virgin Birth, that is, those who were sufficiently intelligent to
+grasp it. But after the great Teachers passed away, and their
+successors became overzealous in their desire to convert the outside
+peoples, the influx of the latter gradually overcame the original
+teachings, and the physical Virgin Birth and the Resurrection of the
+Body, became Doctrines and Articles of Faith, held of vital importance
+by the new orthodox leaders. It has taken centuries of mental
+struggle, and spiritual unfoldment to bring the Light of the Truth to
+bear upon this dark corner of the Faith, but the work is now fairly
+under way, and the great minds in the Church, as well as those out of
+the Church, are beginning to lay the old legend aside as a worn out
+relic of primitive days when the cloud of Ignorance overshadowed the
+Light of Truth.
+
+In concluding this lesson, let us glance once more at the words of the
+eminent divine, Dr. Campbell, in his _New Theology_, in which he
+states:
+
+     "But why hesitate about the question? The greatness of Jesus
+     and the value of his revelation to mankind are in no way
+     either assisted or diminished by the manner of his entry
+     into the world. Every birth is just as wonderful as a virgin
+     birth could possibly be, and just as much a direct act of
+     God. A supernatural conception bears no relation whatever to
+     the moral and spiritual worth of the person who is supposed
+     to enter the world in this abnormal way.... Those who insist
+     on the doctrine will find themselves in danger of proving
+     too much, for pressed to its logical conclusion, it removes
+     Jesus altogether from the category of humanity in any real
+     sense."
+
+Let us trust that these Higher Critics may become informed upon the
+truths of the Occult Teachings, which supply the Missing Key, and
+afford the Reconciliation, and which show how and why Jesus is, in all
+and very truth, THE SON OF GOD, begotten and not created, of one
+substance from the Father--a particle of Purest Spirit fresh from the
+Ocean of Spirit, and free from the Karma of past Incarnations--how He
+was human and yet more than human.
+
+In our next lesson we shall take up the narrative of the secret life
+of Jesus from the time of his appearance, as a child at the Temple,
+among the Elders, until when at the age of thirty years he appeared at
+the scene of the ministry of John the Baptist, and began his own brief
+ministry of three years which was closed by the Crucifixion and
+Ascension. This is a phase of the subject of intense interest, and
+startling nature, because of the lack of knowledge of the occult
+traditions on the part of the general public.
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE MYSTIC YOUTH OF JESUS.
+
+In our last lesson we promised to tell you the esoteric story of the
+youth of Jesus. And there is such a story to tell, although the
+churches know little or nothing about it. The churches have nothing
+but the husks that have always been the property of the masses. The
+real kernels of truth have been possessed by but the few elect ones.
+The legends of the mystic brotherhoods and occult orders have
+preserved the story intact, and you shall now be given the essence of
+the mystic legends and traditions.
+
+At the end of our first lesson we left Joseph, Mary and the infant
+Jesus in Egypt, the land to which they had flown to escape the wrath
+of the tyrant Herod. They dwelt in Egypt for a few years, until the
+death of Herod. Then Joseph retraced his steps, and returned toward
+his own country, bringing with him his wife and the babe. For some
+reasons unknown to those familiar with the legends and traditions,
+Joseph decided not to locate in Judea, but instead, bent his way
+toward the coast and returned to Nazareth where Mary and he had
+originally met and become betrothed. And, so, in Nazareth, the humble
+little mountain town the boyhood days of Jesus were spent, the
+grinding poverty of the family being relieved (according to the occult
+legends) by the yearly presents of gold from the hands of disguised
+messengers of the Magi.
+
+The traditions relate that Jesus began His study of the Hebrew Law
+when He was but five years of age. It is related that He displayed an
+unusual ability and talent in the direction of mastering not only the
+text, but also the spirit of the Hebrew Scripture, and far outstripped
+His fellow students. It is also related that He displayed an early
+impatience at the dreary formalism of His Hebrew teachers, and a
+disposition to go right to the heart of the text before Him, that He
+might discern the spirit animating it. So much was this the case that
+He frequently brought down upon His head the censure of His
+instructors who overlooked the spirit of the teachings in their
+devotion to the forms and words.
+
+Nazareth was an old-fashioned place and it and its inhabitants were
+made the target for the jests and witticisms of the people of Judea.
+The word "Nazarene" was synonymous with "lout"; "boor"; "peasant";
+etc., to the residents of the more fashionable regions. The very
+remoteness of the town served to separate it in spirit from the rest
+of the country. But this very remoteness played an important part in
+the early life of Jesus. Nazareth, by reason of its peculiar location,
+was on the line of several caravan routes. Travelers from many lands
+traveled through the town, and rested there overnight, or sometimes
+for several days. Travelers from Samaria, Jerusalem, Damascus, Greece,
+Rome, Arabia, Syria, Persia, Phoenicia, and other lands mingled with
+the Nazarenes. And the traditions relate that Jesus, the child, would
+steal away and talk with such of these travelers as were versed in
+occult and mystic lore, and would imbibe from their varied founts of
+learning, until He was as thoroughly informed on these subjects as
+many a mystic of middle age. The traditions have it that the boy would
+often delight and astonish these traveling occultists with His
+wonderful insight into their secret doctrines and knowledge. And it is
+also told that some of the wisest of these, seeing the nature of the
+child, would overstay their allotted time of sojourn, that they might
+add here and there to the various parts of general occult lore
+possessed by the child. It is also taught that the Magi informed some
+of these travelers regarding the boy, that they might impart to him
+some truth or teaching for which He was ready.
+
+And so the boy grew in knowledge and wisdom, day by day, year by year,
+until, finally, there occurred an event in His life, which has since
+been the subject of greatest interest to all Christians and students
+of the New Testament, but which without the above explanation is not
+readily understood.
+
+The Feast of the Passover occurred in its allotted time of the
+year--April--when Jesus was in his thirteenth year. This feast was one
+of the most important in the Jewish calendar, and its observance was
+held as a most sacred duty by all Hebrews. It was the feast set down
+for the remembrance and perpetuation of that most important event in
+the history of the Jewish people when the Angel of Death swept over
+all of Egypt's land smiting the first-born child of every house of the
+natives, high and low, but sparing all the houses of the captive
+Hebrews who marked their door-sills with the sacrificial blood as a
+token of their faith. This is no place to give the explanation of this
+apparently miraculous event, which students now know to be due to
+natural causes. We merely mention it in passing.
+
+The Law-givers of Israel had appointed the Feast of the Passover as a
+perpetual symbol of this event so important by the nation, and every
+self-respecting Jew felt obligated to take part in the observance and
+sacrament. Every pious Jew made it a point to perform a pilgrimage to
+Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of the Passover, if he could in any
+way manage to do so.
+
+At the time of the Passover celebration of which we are speaking,
+Jesus had just entered into His thirteenth year, which age entitled
+Him, under the ecclesiastical law, to the privilege of sitting with
+the adult men of His race at the Passover supper, and also to publicly
+join with the male congregation in the thanksgiving service in the
+synagogues.
+
+And so, on this year, He accompanied His father and mother to
+Jerusalem and made His _second_ visit to the Holy City. It will be
+remembered that His _first_ visit there was made when as an infant He
+was carried thither from Bethlehem in His mother's arms in accordance
+with the Jewish law, and at which time an aged priest and an old
+prophetess had publicly acknowledged the divine nature of the child.
+
+The father, mother and child--the divine trinity of Human
+relationship--traveled slowly over the highway that led from Nazareth
+to Jerusalem. The father and mother were concerned with the details of
+the journey, mingled with pious thoughts concerning the sacred feast
+in which they were to take part. But the boy's mind was far away from
+the things that were occupying his parent's thoughts. He was thinking
+over the deep mystic truths which He had so readily absorbed during
+the past few years, and He was looking forward in delightful
+anticipation to His expected meeting with the older mystics in the
+temples and public places of Jerusalem.
+
+It must be remembered that underlying the Jewish ecclesiastical
+teachings and formalism, which were all that the mass of the people
+knew, there was a great store of Jewish occultism and Mysticism known
+to the few elect. The Kaballah or Jewish occult writings were closely
+studied by the learned Jews, and this work with other similar
+teachings were transmitted verbally from teacher to student, and
+constituted the Secret Doctrine of the Hebrew religion. And it was
+toward the learned teachers of this Secret Doctrine that Jesus
+directed His mind and steps, although His parents knew it not.
+
+Four or five days were consumed in the journey, and at last the Holy
+City--Jerusalem--came into full view, the wonderful Temple of Israel
+showing plainly above the other buildings. The bands of pilgrims, of
+which the family of Joseph formed a part, formed into orderly array
+and led by flute-players they solemnly marched into the streets of the
+Holy City, singing and chanting the Sacred Songs used by the faithful
+upon this solemn occasion. And the boy walked with the rest, with
+bowed head, and eyes that seemed to see things far removed from the
+scene around them.
+
+The Passover rites were carried out--the duties were performed--the
+ceremonies were observed. The Passover Feast extended over a full
+week, of which the first two days were the most important, and during
+which two days the obligatory ceremonies were performed. Each family
+made the offering of the sacrificial lamb--each family baked and ate
+the unleavened bread. The beautiful idea of the Passover had
+degenerated into a horrible feast of blood, for it is related that
+upon these occasions over a quarter-million of poor innocent lambs
+were slaughtered and offered up as a sacrifice pleasing to Jehovah,
+who was supposed to delight in this flood of the blood of innocents.
+In pursuance of this barbarous idea, the altars and courts of the
+Temple of the Living God ran red with the life-blood of these poor
+creatures, and the hands and garments of the anointed priests of
+Jehovah were stained like those of butchers, that the vanity of a
+barbarous conception of Deity might be fed.
+
+All this for "the Glory of God!" Think of it! And think of the feeling
+that must have been aroused in the mystic mind of Jesus at this
+horrible sight. How His soul must have been outraged at this
+prostitution of the sacred rite! And what would have been His thoughts
+had He known that centuries after, a great religion would stand,
+bearing His name, the followers of which would be carried away with
+this same false idea of sacrificial blood, which would be voiced in
+hymns about "A fountain filled with blood, flowing from Immanuel's
+veins," and about "sinners plunged beneath that bloody flood losing
+all their guilty stains?" Alas, for the prostitution of sacred truths
+and teachings. No wonder that a people so saturated with the
+abominable ideas of a Deity delighting in this flow of blood should
+have afterward put to death the greatest man of their race--a Being
+who came to bring them the highest mystic and occult truths. And their
+prototypes have survived through the centuries, even unto today,
+insisting upon this idea of blood sacrifice and death atonement,
+unworthy of any people except the worshipers of some heathen devil-god
+in the remote sections of darkest Africa.
+
+Disgusted and outraged by this barbarous sight, Jesus, the boy, stole
+away from the side of His parents, and sought the remote chambers and
+corridors of the Temple where were to be found the great teachers of
+the Law and of the Kaballah, surrounded by their students. Here the
+boy sat and listened to the teachings and disputations of the teachers
+and exponents of the doctrines. From one group to another He wandered,
+and listened, and pondered, and thought. He compared the teachings,
+and submitted the various ideas to the touchstone of the truth as He
+found it within His own mind. The hours rapidly passed by unnoticed by
+the boy, who found Himself amidst such congenial environments for the
+first time. The talks with the travelers of the caravans paled into
+insignificance when compared with these of the great occult teachers
+of Israel. For be it remembered that it was the custom of the great
+teachers of that day to so instruct those who were attracted to their
+company. And Jerusalem being the centre of the culture and learning of
+Israel, the great teachers dwelt there. And so it will be seen that
+Jesus now found Himself at the very fountain-head of the Hebrew Secret
+Doctrines, and in the actual presence of the great teachers.
+
+On the third day, there began a breaking-up of the vast gathering of
+the two million of people who had made the pilgrimage to the Holy
+City. Those poorer in purse were the first to leave, after the
+obligatory rites of the first two days had been performed. And Joseph
+and Mary were among those preparing to retrace their steps to their
+distant homes. Their friends and neighbors gathered together, and the
+preparations for the return were completed. But at the last moment,
+the parents discovered that the boy, Jesus, was missing. They were
+alarmed, but friends told them that their boy had been seen in the
+company of kinsmen and neighbors traveling along the same road, who
+had preceded them but a few hours. Somewhat reassured, the parents
+left with their company, hoping that they would overtake the boy
+before nightfall. But when they reached the first station on the
+caravan route--a village called Beroth--and the night descended upon
+them, and the boy failed to appear among the neighbors and kinsmen,
+the parents were sorely distressed. They slept but little that night,
+and when the first rays of dawn appeared, they parted from the
+company, and retraced their way back to Jerusalem, in search of the
+boy apparently lost in the great capital amid the hundreds of
+thousands of pilgrims.
+
+Every mother and father will enter into the feelings of Joseph and
+Mary in their frantic return to the city, and in their subsequent
+search for the lost child. They inquired here and there for the boy,
+but not a trace of him was found. And night came without a ray of
+hope. And the next day was likewise barren of results. And the next
+day after. For three days the devoted parents searched high and low
+for their beloved child--but no word of encouragement came to them.
+The boy had seemingly dropped out of sight in the vast crowds and
+winding streets. The parents reproached themselves for their lack of
+care and caution. None but a parent can imagine their anguish and
+terror.
+
+They visited the many courts of the Temple many times, but no sight or
+word of the boy rewarded their search. The bloody altars, the showy
+costumes of the priests; the chants; the readings; seemed like mockery
+to them. They wished themselves back in their humble village, with
+their boy by their side. They prayed and besought Jehovah to grant
+their hopes and desire, but no answer came.
+
+Then, on the last day, a strange event occurred. The weary and heart
+broken parents wandered once more into the Temple--this time visiting
+one of the less frequented courts. They saw a crowd gathered--something
+of importance was occurring. Almost instinctively they drew near to the
+crowd. And then amidst the unusual silence of the people they heard a
+boyish voice raised to a pitch adapted to a large circle of hearers,
+and speaking in the tones of authority. It was the voice of the boy,
+Jesus!
+
+With eager feet the couple pushed forward, unto the very inner row of
+the circle. And there, wonder of wonders, they saw their child in the
+centre of the most celebrated teachers and doctors of the Law in all
+Israel. With a rapt expression in his eyes, as if He were gazing upon
+things not of this world, the boy Jesus was standing in a position and
+attitude of authority, and around him were grouped the greatest minds
+of the day and land, in respectful attention, while at a further
+distance stood the great circle of the common people.
+
+When one remembers the Jewish racial trait of reverence for age, and
+the consequent submission of Youth, one will better understand the
+unusual spectacle that burst upon the gaze of Joseph and Mary. A mere
+boy--a child--daring to even speak boldly in the presence of the aged
+teachers was unheard of, and the thought of such a one actually
+presuming to dispute, argue and teach, in such an assembly, was like
+unto a miracle. And such it was!
+
+The boy spoke with the air and in the tones of a Master. He met the
+most subtle arguments and objections of the Elders with the power of
+the keenest intellect and spiritual insight. He brushed aside the
+sophistries with a contemptuous phrase, and brought back the argument
+to the vital point.
+
+The crowd gathered in greater volume, the gray heads and beards grew
+more and more respectful. It was evident to all that a Master had
+arisen in Israel in the form of a boy of thirteen. The MASTER was
+apparent in tone, gesture, and thought. The Mystic had found his first
+audience, and his congregation was composed of the leading thinkers
+and teachers of the land. The insight of the Magi was verified!
+
+Then in a momentary pause in the argument, the stifled cry of a woman
+was heard--the voice of the Mother. The crowd turned impatient,
+reproachful glances upon Mary, who had been unable to restrain her
+emotion. But the boy, looking sadly but affectionately at his lost
+parents, gave her a reassuring glance, which at the same time bade her
+remain still until he had finished his discourse. And the parents
+obeyed the newly awakened will of their child.
+
+The teaching ended, the boy stepped from his position with the air of
+one of the Elders, and rejoined his parents, who passed as rapidly as
+possible from the wondering crowd. Then his mother reproached him,
+telling him of their distress and wearisome search. The boy listened
+calmly and patiently until she had finished. Then he asked, with his
+newly acquired air of authority, "Why sought ye me?" And when they
+answered him in the customary manner of parents, the boy took on still
+a greater air of authority, and in tones that though kindly, were full
+of power, he replied, "Knew ye not, that I must be in my Father's
+House? I must be about the things of my Father." And the parents,
+feeling themselves in the presence of the Mystery that had ever been
+about the child, followed Him silently from the Temple grounds.
+
+And here closes the New Testament story of the boy Jesus at the age of
+thirteen, which story is not resumed until His appearance at the place
+of the preaching of John the Baptist, _over seventeen years later_,
+when the boy had reached the age of a man of thirty years. When and
+how did he spend those seventeen years? The New Testament is totally
+silent on this score. Can anyone who has read the above imagine that
+Jesus spent these years as a growing youth and young man, working at
+His father's carpenter bench in the village of Nazareth? Would not the
+Master, having found his strength and power, have insisted upon
+developing the same? Could the Divine Genius once self-recognized be
+content to be obscured amid material pursuits? The New Testament is
+silent, but the Occult Traditions and Mystic Legends tell us the story
+of the missing seventeen years, and these we shall now give to you.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The legends and traditions of the mystic and occult organizations and
+brotherhoods tell us that after the occurrence of Jesus and the Elders
+in the Temple, and his recovery by his parents, the latter were
+approached by members of the secret organization to which the Magi
+belonged, who pointed out to the parents the injustice of the plan of
+keeping the lad at the carpenter's bench when He had shown evidences
+of such a marvelous spiritual development and such a wonderful
+intellectual grasp of weighty subjects. It is told that after a long
+and serious consideration of the matter the parents finally consented
+to the plan advanced by the Magi, and allowed them to take the lad
+with them into their own land and retreats that He might there receive
+the instructions for which His soul craved, and for which His mind was
+fitted.
+
+It is true that the New Testament does not corroborate these occult
+legends, but it is likewise true that it says nothing to the contrary.
+It is silent regarding this important period of between seventeen and
+eighteen years. It is to be remembered that when He appeared upon the
+scene of John's ministration, the latter did not recognize Him,
+whereas had Jesus remained about His home, John, his cousin, would
+have been acquainted with his features and personal appearance.
+
+The occult teachings inform us that the seventeen or eighteen years of
+Jesus' life regarding which the Gospels are silent, were filled with
+travels in far and distant lands, where the youth and young man was
+instructed in the occult lore and wisdom of the different schools. It
+is taught that He was taken into India, and Egypt, and Persia, and
+other far regions, living for several years at each important center,
+and being initiated into the various brotherhoods, orders, and bodies
+having their headquarters there. Some of the Egyptians' orders have
+traditions of a young Master who sojourned among them, and such is
+likewise the case in Persia and in India. Even among the lamasaries
+hidden in Thibet and in the Himalayan Mountains are to be found
+legends and stories regarding the marvelous young Master who once
+visited there and absorbed their wisdom and secret knowledge.
+
+More than this, there are traditions among the Brahmans, Buddhists and
+Zoroastrians, telling of a strange young teacher who appeared among
+them, who taught marvelous truths and who aroused great opposition
+among the priests of the various religions of India and Persia, owing
+to his preaching against priestcraft and formalism, and also by his
+bitter opposition to all forms of caste distinctions and restrictions.
+And this, too, is in accord with the occult legends which teach that
+from about the age of twenty-one until the age of nearly thirty years
+Jesus pursued a ministry among the people of India and Persia and
+neighboring countries, returning at last to his native land where He
+conducted a ministry extending over the last three years of His life.
+
+The occult legends inform us that He aroused great interest among the
+people of each land visited by Him, and that He also aroused the most
+bitter opposition among the priests, for He always opposed formalism
+and priestcraft, and sought to lead the people back to the Spirit of
+the Truth, and away from the ceremonies and forms which have always
+served to dim and becloud the Light of the Spirit. He taught always
+the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. He sought to bring
+the great Occult Truths down to the comprehension of the masses of
+people who had lost the Spirit of the Truth in their observance of
+outward forms and pretentious ceremonies.
+
+It is related that in India He brought down upon His head the wrath of
+the Brahmin upholders of the caste distinctions, that curse of India.
+He dwelt in the huts of the Sudras, the lowest of all of the Hindu
+castes, and was therefore regarded as a pariah by the higher classes.
+Everywhere He was regarded as a firebrand and a disturber of
+established social order by the priests and high-caste people. He was
+an agitator, a rebel, a religious renegade, a socialist, a dangerous
+man, an "undesirable citizen," to those in authority in those lands.
+
+But the seeds of His wisdom were sown right and left, and in the Hindu
+religions of today, and in the teachings of other Oriental countries,
+may be found traces of Truth, the resemblance of which to the recorded
+teachings of Jesus, show that they came from the same source, and have
+sorely disturbed the Christian missionaries that have since visited
+these lands.
+
+And so, slowly and patiently, Jesus wended his way homeward toward
+Israel, where He was to complete His ministry by three years' work
+among His own race, and where He was to again raise up against Himself
+the opposition of the priests and the upper classes which would
+finally result in His death. He was a rebel against the established
+order of things, and He met the fate reserved for those who live ahead
+of their time.
+
+And, as from the first days of His ministry to His last, so it is
+today, the real teachings of the Man of Sorrows reach more readily the
+heart of the plain people, while they are reviled and combatted by
+those in ecclesiastical and temporal authority, even though these
+people claim allegiance to Him and wear His livery. He was ever the
+friend of the poor and oppressed, and hated by those in authority.
+
+And so, you see the Occult teachings show Jesus to have been a
+world-wide teacher, instead of a mere Jewish prophet. The world was
+his audience, and all races His hearers.
+
+He planted His seeds of Truth in the bosom of many religions instead
+of but one, and these seeds are beginning to bear their best fruit
+even now at this late day, when the truth of the Fatherhood of God and
+the Brotherhood of Man is beginning to be felt by all nations alike,
+and is growing strong enough to break down the old which have divided
+brother from brother, and creed from creed. Christianity--true
+Christianity--is not a mere creed, but a great human and divine Truth
+that will rise above all petty distinctions of race and creed and will
+at last shine on all men alike, gathering them into one fold of
+Universal Brotherhood.
+
+May the Great Day be hastened!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And so we leave Jesus, wending his way slowly homeward toward Judea,
+the land of His father and the place of His birth. Dropping a word
+here--planting a seed there--onward He pursued His way. Visiting this
+mystic brotherhood, and resting a while in another occult retreat, He
+slowly retraced the journey of His youth. But while His outward
+journey was that of a student traveling forth to complete His
+education, He returned as a Master and Teacher, bearing and sowing the
+seeds of a great Truth, which was to grow and bring forth great fruit,
+and which, in time, would spread over all the world in its primitive
+purity, notwithstanding its betrayal and corruption at the hands of
+those in whose keeping He left it when he passed away from the scene
+of His labors.
+
+Jesus came as a World Prophet, not as a mere Jewish holy-man, and
+still less as a Hebrew Messiah destined to sit upon the throne of His
+father David. And He left His mark upon all of the great peoples of
+earth by His journey among them. Throughout Persia are found many
+traditions of Issa, the young Master who appeared in that land
+centuries ago, and who taught the Fatherhood of God and the
+Brotherhood of Man. Among the Hindus are found strange traditions of
+Jesoph or Josa, a young ascetic, who passed through the Hind long
+since, denouncing the established laws of caste, and consorting with
+the common people, who, as in Israel, "heard him gladly." Even in
+China are found similar tales of the young religious firebrand,
+preaching ever the Brotherhood of Man--ever known as the Friend of the
+Poor. On and on He went, sowing the seeds of human freedom and the
+casting off of the yoke of ecclesiastical tyranny and formalism, which
+seeds are springing unto growth even at this late day. Yea, the Spirit
+of His real teachings are even now bearing fruit in the hearts of men,
+and though nearly two thousand years have passed by the "soul" of His
+social teachings still "goes marching on" round and round the world.
+
+
+
+
+THE FOURTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE BEGINNING OF THE MINISTRY.
+
+When Jesus reached his native land, after the years of travel in
+India, Persia and Egypt, he is believed by the occultists to have
+spent at least one year among the various lodges and retreats of the
+Essenes. By reference to the first lesson of this series you will see
+who and what was this great mystic organization--the Essenic
+Brotherhood. While resting and studying in their retreats His
+attention was diverted to the work of Johannen--John the Baptist--and
+He saw there an opening wedge for the great work that He felt called
+upon to do among His own people. Dreams of converting His own
+race--the Jews--to His conception of Truth and Life, crept over Him,
+and he determined to make this work His great life task.
+
+The feeling of race is hard to overcome and eradicate, and Jesus felt
+that, after all, here He was at last, at home, among His own people,
+and the ties of blood and race reasserted themselves. He put aside His
+previous thoughts of a world-wandering life, and decided to plant the
+standard of the Truth in Israel, so that from the capital of the
+Chosen People the Light of the Spirit might shine forth to all the
+world. It was Jesus the man--Jesus the Jew--that made this choice.
+From the broader, higher point of view He had no race; no country; no
+people;--but His man nature was too strong, and in yielding to it he
+sowed the seeds for His final undoing.
+
+Had he merely passed through Judea as a traveling missionary, as had
+done many others before Him, he would have escaped the punishment of
+the government. Although He would have aroused the hatred and
+opposition of the priests, He would have not laid Himself open to the
+charge of wishing to become the King of the Jews, or the Jewish
+Messiah, come to resume the throne of David, His forefather. But it
+avails us nought to indulge in speculations of this kind, for who
+knows what part Destiny or Fate plays in the Great Universal plan--who
+knows where Free-Will terminates and Destiny moves the pieces on the
+board, that the Great Game of Universal Life be played according to
+the plan?
+
+While among the Essenes, as we have said, Jesus first heard of John,
+and determined to use the ministry of the latter as an opening wedge
+for His own great work. He communicated to the Essenic Fathers His
+determination to travel to John's field of work later on, and the
+Fathers sent word of this to John. The legends have it that John did
+not know who was coming, being merely informed that a great Master
+from foreign parts would join him later on, and that he, John, should
+prepare the people for his coming.
+
+And John followed these instructions from his superiors in the Essenic
+Brotherhood to the letter, as you will see by reference to our first
+lesson, and to the New Testament. He preached repentance;
+righteousness; the Essenic rite of Baptism; and above all the Coming
+of the Master. He bade his hearers repent--"repent ye! for the Kingdom
+of Heaven is at hand"!--"repent ye! for the Master cometh!" cried he
+in forceful tones.
+
+And when his people gathered around him and asked whether he, John,
+were not indeed the Master, he answered them, saying, "Nay, I am not
+He whom thou seekest. After me there cometh one whose sandals I am not
+worthy to unloose. I baptize thee with water, but He shall baptize
+thee with the Fire of the Spirit that is within Him!" It was ever and
+always this exhortation toward fitness for the coming of the Master.
+John was a true Mystic, who sank his personality in the Work he was
+called on to do, and who was proud to be but the Forerunner of the
+Master, of whose coming he had been informed by the Brotherhood.
+
+And, as we have told you in the first lesson, one day there came
+before him, a young man, of a dignified, calm appearance, gazing upon
+him with the expressive eyes of the true Mystic. The stranger asked to
+be baptized, but John, having perceived the occult rank of the
+stranger by means of the signs and symbols of the Brotherhood,
+rebelled at the Master receiving baptism at the hands of himself, one
+far below the occult rank of the stranger. But Jesus, the stranger,
+said to John, "Suffer it to be," and stepped into the water to receive
+the mystic rite again, as a token to the people that He had come as
+one of them.
+
+And then occurred that strange event, with which you are familiar,
+when a dove descended as if from Heaven and rested over the head of
+the stranger, and a soft voice, even as the sighing of the wind
+through the trees, was heard, whispering, "This is my beloved son, in
+whom I am well pleased." And then the stranger, evidently awed by the
+strange message from the Beyond, passed away from the multitude, and
+bent his way toward the wilderness, as if in need of a retreat in
+which he could meditate over the events of the day, and regarding the
+work which He could now dimly see stretching its way before Him.
+
+The average student of the New Testament passes over the event of
+Jesus in the Wilderness, with little or no emotion, regarding it as a
+mere incident in His early career. Not so with the mystic or
+occultist, who knows, from the teachings of his order, that in the
+Wilderness Jesus was subjected to a severe occult test, designed to
+develop His power, and test His endurance. In fact, as every advanced
+member of any of the great occult orders knows, the occult degree
+known as "The Ordeal of the Wilderness" is based upon this mystic
+experience of Jesus, and is intended to symbolize the tests to which
+He was subjected. Let us consider this event so fraught with meaning
+and importance to all true occultists.
+
+The Wilderness toward which Jesus diverted His steps, lay afar off
+from the river in which the rites of Baptism had been performed.
+Leaving behind him the fertile banks, and acres, of cultivated land,
+He approached the terrible Wilderness which even the natives of that
+part of the country regarded with superstitious horror. It was one of
+the weirdest and dreariest spots in even that weird and dreary portion
+of the country. The Jews called it "The Abode of Horror"; "The
+Desolate Place of Terror"; "The Appalling Region"; and other names
+suggestive of the superstitious dread which it inspired in their
+hearts. The Mystery of the Desert Places hung heavy over this place,
+and none but the stoutest hearts ventured within its precincts. Though
+akin to the desert, the place abounded in dreary and forbidding hills,
+crags, ridges and canyons. Those of our readers who have ever traveled
+across the American continent and have seen some of the desolate
+places of the American Desert, and who have read of the terrors of
+Death Valley, or the Alkali Lands, may form an idea of the nature of
+this Wilderness toward which the Master was traveling.
+
+All normal vegetation gradually disappeared as He pressed further and
+further into this terrible place, until naught remained but the
+scraggy vegetation peculiar to these waste places--those forms of
+plant life that in their struggle for existence had managed to survive
+under such adverse conditions as to give the naturalist the impression
+that the very laws of natural plant life have been defied and
+overcome.
+
+Little by little the teeming animal life of the lower lands
+disappeared, until at last no signs of such life remained, other than
+the soaring vultures overhead and the occasional serpent and crawling
+things under foot. The silence of the waste places was upon the
+traveler, brooding heavily over Him and all around the places upon
+which He set His foot, descending more heavily upon Him each moment of
+His advance.
+
+Then came a momentary break in the frightful scene. He passed through
+the last inhabited spot in the approach to the heart of the
+Wilderness--the tiny village of Engedi, where were located the ancient
+limestone reservoirs of water which supplied the lower regions of the
+territory. The few inhabitants of this remote outpost of primitive
+civilization gazed in wonder and awe at the lonely figure passing them
+with unseeing eyes and with gaze seemingly able to pierce the
+forbidding hills which loomed up in the distance hiding lonely
+recesses into which the foot of man had never trodden, even the
+boldest of the desert people being deterred from a visit thereto by
+the weird tales of unholy creatures and unhallowed things, which made
+these places the scene of their uncanny meetings and diabolical
+orgies.
+
+On, and on, pressed the Master, giving but slight heed to the desolate
+scene which now showed naught but gloomy hills, dark canyons, and bare
+rocks, relieved only by the occasional bunches of stringy desert grass
+and weird forms of cacti bristling with the protective spines which is
+their armor against their enemies.
+
+At last the wanderer reached the summit of one of the higher
+foot-hills and gazed at the scene spreading itself before Him. And
+that scene was one that would have affrighted the heart of an ordinary
+man. Behind Him was the country through which He had passed, which
+though black and discouraging was as a paradise to the country which
+lay ahead of Him. There below and behind Him were the caves and rude
+dwellings of the outlaws and fugitives from justice who had sought the
+doubtful advantage of security from the laws of man. And far away in
+the distance were the scenes of John the Baptist's ministry, where He
+could see in imagination the multitude discussing the advent of the
+strange Master, who had been vouched for by the Voice, but who had
+stolen swiftly away from the scene, and had fled the crowds who would
+have gladly worshipped Him as a Master and have obeyed His slightest
+command.
+
+Then as the darkness of the succeeding nights fell upon Him, He would
+sleep on some wild mountain cliff, on the edge of some mighty
+precipice, the sides of which dropped down a thousand feet or more.
+But these things disturbed Him not. On and on He pressed at the
+appearance of each dawn. Without food He boldly moved forward to the
+Heart of the Hills, where the Spirit guided Him to the scene of some
+great spiritual struggle which he intuitively knew lay before Him.
+
+The Words of the Voice haunted Him still, though He lacked a full
+understanding of them, for He had not yet unfolded the utmost recesses
+of His Spiritual Mind. "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well
+pleased"--what meant these words? And still, no answer came to that
+cry of His soul which sought in vain for a freeing of that riddle.
+
+And still on and on He pressed, until at last He mounted the steep
+sides of the barren forbidding mountain of Quarantana, beyond which He
+felt that His struggle was to begin. No food was to be found--He must
+fight the battle unaided by the material sustenance that ordinary men
+find necessary for life and strength. And still He had not received
+the answer to the cry of His soul. The rocks beneath His feet--the
+blue sky above His head--the lofty peaks of Moab and Gilead in the
+distance--gave no answer to the fierce insistent desire for the answer
+to the Riddle of the Voice. The answer must come from Within, and from
+Himself only. And in the Heart of the Wilderness He must remain,
+without food, without shelter, without human companionship, until the
+Answer came. And as it was with the Master, so is it with the
+follower--all who attain the point of unfoldment at which the Answer
+is alone possible, must experience that awful feeling of "aloneness"
+and spiritual hunger, and frightful remoteness from all that the world
+values, before the Answer comes from Within--from the Holy of Holies
+of the Spirit.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To realize the nature of the spiritual struggle that awaited Jesus in
+the Wilderness--that struggle that would bring Him face to face with
+His own soul, we must understand the Jewish longing and expectation of
+the Messiah. The Messianic traditions had taken a strong hold upon the
+minds of the Jewish people, and it needed but the spark of a strong
+personality to set all Israel into a blaze which would burn fiercely
+and destroy the foreign influences which have smothered the national
+spirit. The idea of a Messiah springing from the loins of David, and
+coming to take His rightful place as the King of the Jews, was
+imbedded in the heart of every Jew worthy of the name. Israel was
+oppressed by its conquerors, and made subject to a foreign yoke, but
+when the Messiah would come to deliver Israel, every Jew would arise
+to drive out the foreign invaders and conquerors--the yoke of Rome
+would be thrown off, and Israel would once more take its place among
+the nations of the earth.
+
+Jesus knew full well the fact of this national hope. It had been
+installed into His mind from childhood. He had pondered over it often
+during the time of His wanderings and sojourn in foreign lands. The
+occult legends, however, make no mention of His having ever thought of
+Himself as the Messiah until he was about to re-enter His own land
+after His years of foreign study and ministry. It is thought that the
+idea of His being the long expected Messiah was first suggested by
+some of the Essenic teachers, when He rested with them for awhile
+before appearing before John the Baptist. It was pointed out to Him
+that the marvelous events surrounding His birth indicated that He was
+a marked individual destined to play an important part in the history
+of the World. Then why was it not reasonable to believe that that role
+was to be that of the Messiah come to sit on the throne of His father
+David, and destined to bring Israel from her now obscure position to
+once more shine as a bright star in the firmament of nations? Why was
+it not reasonable that He was to lead the Chosen People to their own?
+
+Jesus began to ponder over these things. He had absolutely no material
+ambitions for Himself and all His impulses and inclinations were for
+the life of an occult ascetic. But the idea of a redeemed and
+regenerated Israel was one calculated to fire the blood of any Jew,
+even though the element of personal ambition might be lacking in him.
+
+He had always realized that in some way He was different from other
+men, and that some great work lay ahead of Him, but He had never
+understood His own nature, nor the work He was to do. And it is not to
+be wondered that the talk among the Essenes caused Him to ponder
+carefully over the idea expressed by them. And then the wonderful
+event of the dove, and the Voice, upon the occasion of His baptism,
+seemed almost to verify the idea of the Essenes. Was He indeed the
+long-expected Deliverer of Israel? Surely He must find this out--He
+must wring the answer from the inmost recesses of His soul. And so, He
+sought refuge in the Wilderness, intuitively feeling that there amidst
+the solitude and desolation, He would fight His fight and receive His
+answer.
+
+He felt that He had come to a most important phase of His life's work,
+and the question of "What Am I?" must be settled, once and for
+all,--then and there. And so He left behind Him the admiring and
+worshipful crowds of John's following, and sought the solitude of the
+waste places of the Wilderness, in which He felt He would come face to
+face with His own soul, and demand and receive its answer.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And up in the inmost recesses of the Heart of the Wilderness,
+Jesus wrestled in spirit with Himself for many days, without
+food or nourishment, and without shelter. And the struggle was
+terrific--worthy of such a great soul. First the body's insistent
+needs were to be fought and mastered. It is related that the climax of
+the physical struggle came one day when the Instinctive Mind, which
+attends to the physical functions, made a desperate and final demand
+upon Him. It cried aloud for bread with all the force of its nature.
+It tempted Him with the fact that by His own occult powers He was able
+to convert the very stones into bread, and it demanded that He work
+the miracle for His own physical needs--a practice deemed most
+unworthy by all true occultists and mystics. "Turn this stone into
+bread, and eat" cried the voice of the Tempter. But Jesus resisted the
+temptation although He knew that by the power of His concentrated
+thought He had but first to mentally picture the stone as bread and
+then _will_ that it be so materialized. The miraculous power which
+afterward turned water into wine, and which was again used to feed the
+multitude with the loaves and the fishes, was available to Him at that
+moment in order to satisfy the cravings of His body, and to break His
+fast.
+
+None but the advanced occultist who has known what it was to be
+tempted to use his mysterious powers to satisfy his personal wants,
+can appreciate the nature of the struggle through which Jesus passed,
+and from which He emerged victorious. And like the occult Master that
+He was, He summoned His Inner Forces and beat off the Tempter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But a still greater temptation than this arose to try Him to the
+utmost. He found Himself brought face to face with the idea of
+Messiahship, and Kingship of the Jews, of which we spoke. Was He the
+Messiah? And if so, what must be His course of life and action? Was He
+destined to throw aside the robe and staff of the ascetic, and to don
+the royal purple and the sceptre? Was He to forsake the role of the
+spiritual guide and teacher, and to become the King and Ruler over the
+people of Israel? These were the questions He asked His soul, and for
+which He demanded an answer.
+
+And the mystic legends tell us that His Spirit answered by showing Him
+two sets of mental pictures, with the assurance that _He could choose
+either, at will, and cause it to become realized_.
+
+The first picture showed Him true to His spiritual instincts, and
+loyal to His mission, but which rendered Him indeed the "Man of
+Sorrows." He saw himself continuing to sow the seeds of Truth, which
+would, centuries after, spring up, blossom and bear fruit to nourish
+the world, but which would now bring down upon His head the hatred and
+persecution of those in power and authority. And He saw each
+successive step, each showing the approach of the end, until at last
+He saw Himself crowned with thorns and meeting the death of a criminal
+on the cross, between two base criminals of the lowest classes of men.
+All this He saw and even His brave heart felt a deadly sickness at the
+ignominious end of it all--the apparent failure of His earthly
+mission. But it is related that some of the mighty intelligences which
+dwell upon the higher planes of existence, gathered around Him, and
+gave Him words of encouragement and hope and resolve. He found Himself
+literally in the midst of the Heavenly Host, and receiving the
+inspiration of its presence.
+
+Then this picture--and the Host of Invisible Helpers--faded away, and
+the second picture began to appear before the vision of the lonely
+dweller of the Wilderness. He saw the picture of Himself descending
+the mountain, and announcing Himself as the Messiah--the King of the
+Jews--who had come to lead His Chosen People to victory and
+deliverance. He saw Himself acclaimed as the Promised One of Israel,
+and the multitude flocking to His banners. He saw Himself at the head
+of a great conquering army, marching toward Jerusalem. He saw Himself
+making use of His highly developed occult powers to read the minds of
+the enemy and thus know their every movement and intention, and the
+means to overcome them. He saw Himself miraculously arming and feeding
+His hosts of battle. He saw Himself smiting the enemy with His occult
+powers and forces. He saw the yoke of Rome being cast off, and its
+phalanxes fleeing across the borders in terror and disgraceful defeat.
+He saw Himself mounting the throne of David, His forefather. He saw
+Himself instituting a reign of the highest type, which would make of
+Israel the leading nation of the world. He saw Israel's sphere of
+influence extending in all directions, until Persia, Egypt, Greece and
+even the once-feared Rome, become tributary nations. He saw Himself in
+the triumphant chariot on some great feast day of victory, with Caesar
+himself tied to the tail of His chariot--a slave to Israel's King. He
+saw His royal court outrivaling that of Solomon, and becoming the
+center of the world. He saw Jerusalem as the capital of the world, and
+He, Jesus of Nazareth, son of David the King, as its Ruler, its hero,
+its demi-god. The very apotheosis of human success showed in the
+picture of Himself and His Beloved Israel in the picture.
+
+And then the Temple was seen to be the Center of the Religious thought
+of the World. The Religion of the Jews, as modified by His own
+advanced views, would be the religion of all men. And he would be the
+favored mouthpiece of the God of Israel. All the dreams of the Hebrew
+Fathers would be realized in Him, the Messiah of the New Israel whose
+capital would be Jerusalem, the Queen of the World.
+
+And all this by simply the exercise of his occult powers under the
+direction of HIS WILL. It is related that accompanying this second
+picture and attracted by its mighty power, came all the great
+thought-waves of the world which had been thought by men of all times
+who thought and acted out the Dreams of Power. These clouds settled
+down upon Him like a heavy fog, and their vibrations were almost
+overpowering. And also came the hosts of the disembodied souls of
+those who while living had sought or gained power. And each strove to
+beat into His brain the Desire of Power. Never in the history of man
+have the Powers of Darkness so gathered together for attack upon the
+mind of a mortal man. Would it have been any wonder had even such a
+man as Jesus succumbed?
+
+But He did not succumb. Rallying His Inner Force to His rescue He beat
+back the attacking horde, and by an effort of His Will, He swept both
+picture and tempters away into oblivion, crying indignantly "Thou
+darest to tempt even me, thy Lord and Master. Get thee behind me thou
+Fiends of Darkness"!
+
+And so the Temptation of the Wilderness failed, and Jesus received His
+answer from His soul, and He descended the mountains, back to the
+haunts of men--back to the scene of His three years' labors and
+suffering, and back to His Death. And He knew full well all that
+awaited Him there, for had He not seen the First Picture?
+
+Jesus had chosen His career.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Master descended from the mountains and forsook the Wilderness for
+the place in which John and his followers were gathered. Resting for a
+time, and refreshing Himself with food and drink, He gathered together
+His energies for His great work.
+
+The followers of John gathered around Him, filled with the idea that
+He was the Messiah come to lead them to victory and triumph. But He
+disappointed them by His calm, simple manner, and His disavowal of
+royal claims. "What seek ye of me?" he asked them, and many, abashed,
+left His circle and returned to the crowd. But a few humble souls
+remained and around these few gathered a few more, until at last a
+little band of faithful students was formed--the first band of
+Christian disciples. This band was composed almost entirely of
+fishermen and men of similar humble occupations. There was an absence
+of people of rank or social position. His people were of the "plain
+people" which have furnished the recruits for every great religion.
+
+And after a time, Jesus moved away from the place, followed by His
+band of disciples, which drew new members from each place of
+gathering. Some stayed but for a short time, while others replaced the
+faint hearted ones of little faith. But the band steadily grew, until
+it began to attract the attention of the authorities and the public.
+Jesus constantly disclaimed being the Messiah, but the report that
+such indeed He was, began to spread and the authorities began that
+system of spying and watching which followed His footsteps for three
+years, and which finally resulted in His death on the Cross. And this
+suspicion was encouraged by the Jewish priesthood which began to hate
+the young teacher whose opposition to their tyranny and formalism was
+quite marked.
+
+The band one day came to a small village in Galilee, and Jesus began
+His usual meetings and teaching. Near where they gathered was a house
+at which preparations were being made for a wedding feast. The wedding
+ceremony has always been an important occasion among the Jews. The
+most elaborate preparations consistent with the size of the purse of
+the girl's parents are indulged in. Relatives from far and near gather
+to the feast. Jesus happened to be a distant kinsman of the bride, and
+according to custom He was bidden to the feast.
+
+The guests began to gather, each depositing his sandals in the outer
+court, and entering the guest chamber barefooted, after carefully
+bathing his feet and ankles after the custom still prevailing in
+Oriental countries. Jesus was accompanied by a few of His faithful
+followers. His mother, and His several brothers were also among the
+blood-relations present at the feast.
+
+His appearance caused much interest and comment among the other
+guests. To some He was simply a traveling religious teacher, not
+uncommon in that land, to others He was an inspired prophet, bringing
+a wonderful Message to the Jewish people, as He had to the Persians,
+Egyptians and Hindus; to others he was more than this, and whispers of
+"He is the Messiah"; "The King of Israel," etc., began to circulate
+among those present, causing interest, uneasiness or disgust,
+according to the views of the hearers. But whenever He moved, He
+attracted attention by His manner, attitude and expression. All felt
+that here indeed was an Individual. Strange stories of His wanderings
+in strange lands added additional interest to His presence.
+
+A feeling that something unusual was about to happen began to creep
+over the crowd, as is the case often preceding such events. Mary, His
+mother, watched her son with longing eyes, for she saw that some
+strange change had come over Him, that was beyond her comprehension.
+
+Toward the end of the feast, it began to be whispered around among the
+near relatives that the supply of wine was about exhausted, the
+attendance having been much greater than had been expected. This, to a
+Jewish family, was akin to a family disgrace, and anxious looks began
+to be exchanged among the members of the immediate family.
+
+Tradition has it that Jesus was besought for aid by His mother and
+other female kinswoman. Just what they expected Him to do is not
+clear, but it is probable that they unconsciously recognized His
+greatness, and accorded Him the place of the natural Head of the
+Family, as being the most prominent member. At any rate, they asked
+His aid. What arguments they used, or what reasons they urged, we do
+not know, but whatever they were, they succeeded in winning Him to
+their side, and gaining from Him a promise of aid and assistance. But
+not until after He had remonstrated that these things were of no
+concern of His--that His powers were not to be trifled away in this
+manner. But His love for His mother, and His desire to reward her
+devotion and faith in Him, prevailed over the natural disinclination
+of the mystic to be a "wonder worker" and to exhibit his occult powers
+to grace a wedding-feast. He had long since learned the necessary but
+comparatively simple occult feat from His old Masters in far off
+India, that land of wonder-working. He knew that even the humbler
+Yogis of that land would smile at the working of such a simple
+miracle. And so the matter seemed to Him to be of but slight moment,
+and not as a prostitution of some of the higher occult powers. And
+feeling thus, He yielded to their requests for aid.
+
+Then moving toward the court in which were stored a number of great
+jars of water, he fixed a keen, burning glance upon them, one by one,
+passing His hand rapidly over them, in a quick succession, He made the
+Mental Image that precedes all such manifestations of occult power,
+and then manifesting His power by using His Will in the manner known
+to all advanced occultists, He rapidly materialized the elements of
+the wine in the water, within the jars, and lo! the "miracle" had been
+wrought.
+
+A wave of excitement passed over the crowded house. The guests flocked
+around the jars to taste of the wine that had been produced by occult
+power. The priests frowned their displeasure, and the authorities
+sneered and whispered "charlatan"; "fraud"; "shameful imposture"; and
+other expressions that always follow an occurrence of this kind.
+
+Jesus turned away, in grief and sorrow. Among the Hindus such a simple
+occult occurrence would have caused but little comment, while here
+among His own people it was considered to be a wonderful miracle by
+some, while others regarded it as a trick of a traveling conjurer and
+charlatan.
+
+What manner of people were these to whom He had decided to deliver the
+Message of Life? And, sighing deeply, He passed from the house, and
+returned to His camp.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIFTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORK.
+
+There is but an imperfect record in the Gospels of the first year of
+Jesus' ministry among the Jews. Theologians have spoken of it as the
+"Year of Obscurity," but the Occult traditions speak of it as a most
+important year of His ministry, for in it He laid firm foundations for
+His future work.
+
+He travelled all over the country, establishing little circles of
+disciples and centres of interest. In cities, towns, villages and
+hamlets, He left behind Him little bands of faithful students who kept
+alive the flame of Truth, which steadily kindled the lamps of others
+who were attracted by the light. Always among the humblest He labored,
+seemingly impressed with the idea that the work must be begun on the
+lowest rounds of society's ladder. But after a while a few of the more
+pretentious people began to attend the meetings, often brought there
+by curiosity. They came to smile and be amused, but many were
+impressed and remained to pray. The leaven had been well mixed in the
+loaf of Jewish society and it was beginning to work.
+
+Once more the season of the Feast of the Passover arrived and found
+Jesus with His followers in Jerusalem and in the Temple. What memories
+the scene awakened in His mind. He could see the same scenes in which
+He had participated seventeen years before. Once more He saw the
+pitiful slaughter of the innocent lambs, and witnessed the flow of the
+sacrificed blood over the altars and the stones of the floor of the
+courts. Once more He saw the senseless mummery of the priestly
+ceremonies, which seemed more pitiful than ever to His developed mind.
+He knew that His vision had shown that He was to be slaughtered even
+as the sacrificial lambs, and there arose in His mind that comparison
+which stayed with Him ever after--that picture of Himself as the Lamb
+sacrificed on the Altar of Humanity. As pure as was this figure in His
+mind, it seems pitiful that in the centuries to come His followers
+would fall into the error (as equally cruel as that of the Hebrews) of
+imagining that His death was a sacrifice demanded by a cruel Deity to
+satisfy the Divine Wrath which had been kindled by the sight of Man's
+shortcomings and sins. The barbarous conception of a wrathful God
+whose anger against His people could be appeased only by the bloody
+slaughter of innocent creatures, is fully equalled by the theological
+dogmas that the same Divine Wrath could be, and was, appeased by the
+blood of Jesus, the Master who had come to deliver the Message of
+Truth. Such a conception is worthy of only the most barbarous and
+primitive minds. And yet it has been preached and taught for
+centuries--in the very name of Jesus Himself--and men have been
+persecuted and put to death because they refused to believe that the
+Supreme Creator of the Universe could be such a malignant, cruel,
+revengeful Being, or that the One Mind of All could be flattered and
+cajoled into forgiveness by the sight of the death of the Man of
+Sorrows. It seems almost incredible that such a teaching could have
+arisen from the pure teachings of Jesus, and that such has been Man's
+incapacity to grasp the Inner Teachings, that the Church built upon
+Jesus' ministry has adopted and insisted upon the acceptance of such
+dogmas. But this baneful cloud of ignorance and barbaric thought is
+gradually lifting, until even now the intelligent minds in the Church
+refuse to accept or teach the doctrine in its original crudity, they
+either passing it over in silence, or else dressing it in a more
+attractive garb.
+
+Jesus taught no such barbarous things. His conception of Deity was of
+the highest, for He had received the most advanced teachings of the
+Mystics, who had instructed Him in the Mystery of the Immanent God,
+abiding everywhere and in all things. He had advanced far beyond the
+conception of Deity which pictured the One as a savage, bloodthirsty,
+vengeful, hating, tribal deity, ever crying for sacrifices and
+burnt-offerings, and capable of the meanest of human emotions. He saw
+this conception as He saw the conception of other races and peoples,
+all of which had their tribal or national gods, which loved that
+particular tribe or people, and which hated all other races or
+nationalities. He saw that back of, and behind, all these barbarous
+and primitive conceptions of Deity there dwelt an ever calm and serene
+Being, the Creator and Ruler of countless Universes--millions and
+millions of worlds--filling all space, and above all of the petty
+attributes that had been bestowed upon the petty gods of human
+creation. He knew that the God of each nation, of each person in fact,
+was but a magnified idea of the characteristics of the nation or
+individual in question. And he knew that Hebrew conception was no
+exception to this rule.
+
+To anyone having grown to an appreciation of the grandeur and
+greatness of the idea of an Immanent Universal Being, the dogma of a
+Deity demanding a blood sacrifice to appease its wrath is too pitiful
+and degrading to be worth even a moment's serious consideration. And
+to such a one the prostitution of the high teachings of Jesus by the
+introduction of such a base conception is a source of righteous
+indignation and earnest protest. The Mystics in the Christian Church
+throughout the centuries have never accepted any such teachings,
+although the persecution of the church authorities have prevented
+their protests being made openly until of late years. The Mystics
+alone have kept alive the Light of the Truth through the Dark Ages of
+the Christian Church. But now has come the dawn of a new day, and the
+Church itself is seeing the Light, and the pulpits are beginning to
+resound with the truth of Mystic Christianity. And in the years to
+come the Teachings of Jesus, the Master, will flow pure and clear,
+once more freed from the corrupting dogmas which so long polluted the
+Fount.
+
+As Jesus wandered silently through the courts and chambers of the
+Temple, His indignation was aroused by a sight which seemed to Him to
+portray more forcibly than aught else the degradation which had fallen
+upon the Temple by reason of the corruption of the priesthood. Grouped
+around the steps and outer courts of the Temple He saw the groups of
+brokers, money-changers and merchants who were doing a thriving
+business with the thousands of strangers attending the Feast. The
+money-changers were exchanging the coins of the realm for the inferior
+coins of the outlying regions, charging a large commission for the
+exchange. The brokers were buying articles, or loaning money on them,
+from the poor pilgrims, who were sacrificing their personal belongings
+for cash with which they might purchase the animals for the sacrifice.
+The merchants had droves of cattle, flocks of sheep and cages of doves
+within the sacred precincts of the Temple, which they were selling to
+the pilgrims who wished to offer sacrifices. Tradition has it that the
+corrupt priesthood profited by the sale of these "privileges" granted
+to this horde of traffickers in the Temple precincts. The vile
+practice had gradually crept in and established a firm foothold in the
+Temple, although contrary to the ancient practice.
+
+To Jesus the horrible scenes of the Temple sacrificial rites seemed to
+focus in this final exhibition of greed, materialism and lack of
+spirituality. It seemed to be blasphemy and sacrilege of the most
+glaring type. And His very soul felt nauseated and outraged by the
+sight. His fingers twitched, and laying hold of a bundle of knotted
+cords which had been used by some cattle-driver to urge forward his
+herd, He rushed forward upon the horde of traffickers, whirling His
+instrument of chastisement over the shoulders and backs of the
+offenders, driving them out in a frantic rout, upsetting their benches
+and paraphernalia, crying in a voice of authority, "Out, ye wretches!
+This is the House of the Lord, and ye have made it a den of thieves."
+The "Meek and lowly Nazarene" became an avenger of the prostitution of
+the Temple.
+
+The brokers, money-changers and merchants fled before His mighty
+charge, leaving their scattered money over the floors of the Temple.
+They dared not return, for Jesus had aroused the wrath of the people
+against them, and a cry arose for the old practice of protecting the
+sacred place against such invasion. But the traffickers sought out the
+High-priests and complained bitterly of this annulment of their
+"privileges" and "franchises," for which they had paid so highly. And
+the High-priests, being compelled to refund the price paid for the
+concessions, were much wrought up over the matter, and then and there
+swore vengeance against the Master who had dared interfere with their
+system of what the world now calls by the suggestive name of "graft."
+And this vengeance and hatred waxed stronger each moment, and was to a
+great extent the moving factor in the schemes and intrigues which two
+years later resulted in the frightful scene on Calvary.
+
+The succeeding months were filled with wanderings up and down the
+land, spreading the work and making new converts and followers. Jesus
+did not take the position of a great preacher at this time, but seemed
+to be rather a teacher of the few whom He gathered around Him at each
+point and place. He observed but few ceremonies, that of Baptism being
+the principal one, and which, as we have shown, was an Essenic rite
+having an occult and mystical significance. The students of the New
+Testament may read between its leaves the history of the ministry of
+Jesus at this time, noting the working of the leaven in the mass of
+the Jewish mind.
+
+About this time Jesus was sorely distressed at the terrible news which
+reached Him regarding the fate of his cousin, John the Baptist, who
+had been His Forerunner. The Baptist had dared to thrust his
+preachings and rebukes into the very precincts of a corrupt court, and
+had brought down upon his head the natural consequences of his
+rashness. Herod had thrust him into a gloomy dungeon and there were
+rumors of a worse fate yet in store for him. And that fate soon
+overtook him. Refusing the chance of life and liberty that was
+promised him if he would but break his vows of asceticism and indulge
+the passionate desires of a royal princess,--turning away from the
+base proposal with the horror of the true mystic,--he met his fate
+like a man knowing the Truth, and the head which graced the royal
+platter bore upon its face no expression of fear or regret. John had
+conquered even in Death.
+
+Jesus retired once more into the Desert upon the news of John's death
+reaching him. Added to His sorrow came the conviction that there was a
+new work set before Him to do. John's death necessitated a combining
+of the work of the Baptist with that of Jesus' own ministry. The
+followers of the two teachers must be combined into one great body,
+under the supervision of the Master Himself, aided by the most worthy
+and capable of His disciples. The tragic death of John played a most
+important part in the future ministry of the Master, and He sought the
+solace and inspiration of the Desert in His consideration of the plans
+and details of His new work. Students will note that from the time He
+emerged from the Desert He threw off the cloak of reserve and
+retirement and stepped boldly before the people as an ardent preacher
+to multitudes and an impassioned orator and public speaker. No more
+the little circle of appreciative students--the rostrum with the great
+crowds of hearers were His from that time.
+
+Returning from His work in Samaria and Judea, He once more made
+Galilee the scene of His principal work. The new spirit which He now
+threw into His preaching attracted the attention of the public, and
+enormous crowds attended His meetings. He spoke now with a new air of
+authority, differing greatly from His former mild tones as a teacher
+of the few. Parables and allegories and other rich Oriental figures of
+speech fell from His lips, and many of the educated classes flocked to
+hear the wonderful young orator and preacher. He seemed to have an
+intuitive insight into the minds of His hearers, and His appeals
+reached their hearts as personal calls to righteousness, right
+thinking and right living. From this time on His ministry assumed the
+character of an active propaganda, instead of the usual quiet mission
+of the Mystic.
+
+And here began that remarkable series of wonder workings or "miracles"
+which He evidently employed to attract the attention of the public and
+at the same time to perform kindly and worthy acts. Not that He used
+these wonder-workings as a bid for sensational interest or
+self-glory--the character of Jesus rendered such a course
+impossible--but He knew that nothing would so attract the interest of
+an Oriental race as occurrences of this kind, and He hoped to then
+awaken in them a real spiritual interest and fervor, which would rise
+far above the demand for "miracles." In adopting this course Jesus
+followed the example of the holy men in India, with whose works He was
+personally familiar, owing to His sojourn in that land.
+
+And, then let us say, that advanced occultists see nothing
+"supernatural" nor incredible in these "miracles" of Jesus. On the
+contrary, they know them to be the result of the application of
+certain well established natural laws, which, while almost unknown to
+the masses of people, are still known and occasionally made use of by
+the advanced occultists of all lands. Skeptics and unbelievers may
+sneer at these things, and many faint-faith Christians may wish to
+apologize or "explain" these wonderful happenings, but the advanced
+occultist needs no "explanations" nor apologies. He has more faith
+than the church-goer, for he knows of the existence and use of these
+occult powers latent in Man. There is no material effect or phenomenon
+that is "supernatural"--the Laws of Nature are in full operation on
+the material plane and cannot be overcome. But there are among such
+Natural Laws certain phases and principles that are so little known to
+the average mind that when they are manifested Nature's Laws seemed to
+be transcended, and the result is called "a miracle." The occult
+tradition tells us that Jesus was a past-master in the knowledge and
+application of the occult forces of nature, and that even the wonders
+that He wrought during His Jewish ministry were but as child's play
+when compared with those that He might have manifested had He seen fit
+to do so. In fact, it is believed that some of His greatest
+wonder-workings have never been recorded, for He always impressed upon
+His chosen followers the advisability of refraining from laying too
+much stress on these things. The "miracles" recorded in the Gospels
+were only those which were most widely known among the people. The
+greater-wonders were deemed too sacred for common gossip.
+
+When the Master and His followers reached Cana, which, by the way, had
+been the scene of his first "miracle"--the changing of the water into
+wine at the wedding feast--one of the most striking of His earlier
+manifestations of occult power occurred. An influential citizen of
+Capernaum, a town a score of miles distant, who met Him and besought
+His aid and power in the interest of his young son, who lay dying at
+his home. The man besought Jesus to hasten to Capernaum to heal the
+youth ere he die. Jesus smiled kindly upon him and bade him return to
+his son, for the youth was even now restored to health and strength
+and life. His hearers were astounded at the reply and the doubters
+smiled knowingly, foreseeing a defeat for the young Master when the
+news of the youth's death should become known. Those of His followers
+who were faint of heart and weak of faith felt most uncomfortable and
+began to whisper the "if" of doubt. But Jesus continued His working
+with a calm air of certainty, without further remarks. It was _the
+seventh hour_ of the day when the words were spoken.
+
+The father hastened homeward to see whether the Master had succeeded
+or failed. A day or two passed with no word from Capernaum. The
+scoffers of the wedding feast repeated their sneers and revilings--the
+word "charlatan" was again heard passing from lip to lip. Then came
+news from the distant village, and upon its arrival the voice of scorn
+was stilled, and the hearts of the faint again beat freely. The word
+came that when the father had reached his house he was greeted by the
+household with cries of joy and news that _at the seventh hour_ the
+fever had abated and the crisis had been passed.
+
+And yet the "miracle" above recorded was no greater than many
+occultists have performed in all times--no greater than the many
+similar cures that have been performed by the modern healers of the
+many metaphysical cults. It was simply an application of the subtle
+forces of nature called into operation by mental concentration. It was
+an instance of what in modern phrase is called "absent treatment"
+along metaphysical lines. In saying this we wish in no way to detract
+from the wonder that Jesus had wrought, but merely to let the student
+know that the power is still possessed by others and is not a
+"supernatural" thing but the operation of purely natural laws.
+
+About this time there occurred another event in His life, and a
+manifestation of His power which is noted in the New Testament and
+which is told in the occult tradition with somewhat more detail. It
+occurred when Jesus visited his home town of Nazareth on the eve of
+the Jewish Sabbath. He rested over night and then the following
+morning betook Himself to the regular services in the local synagogue.
+He took the seat which He had occupied as a young boy with Joseph. No
+doubt the familiar scene awakened memories of His strange youthful
+history in His mind. Then, much to His surprise, He heard Himself
+called to the platform to conduct the service. It must be remembered
+that Jesus was a regular rabbi, or priest, by birth, education and
+training, and was entitled to Conduct the Jewish service. No doubt His
+townspeople wished to hear their young townsman address and exhort
+them. He took the place of authority in the synagogue and proceeded to
+read the regular service in the accustomed manner, as prescribed by
+the custom and laws of the church. The prayers, chantings and readings
+succeeded each other in their regular order. Then came the preaching
+of the sermon. Taking the sacred roll from its receptacle, He read the
+text from Isaiah, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath
+anointed me to preach the good tidings," etc. Then He began his
+exposition of the text He had just read.
+
+But instead of the expected customary words and
+illustrations--technical theological hair-splitting and dreary
+platitudes--He began to preach in a manner unknown to the Nazarenes.
+His opening sentence broke the silence and greatly startled and
+disturbed the congregation. "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in
+your ears," were his opening words. And then He began a statement of
+His conception of His ministry and His Message. Thrusting aside all
+precedent and musty authority, He boldly proclaimed that He had come
+to establish a new conception of the Truth--a conception that would
+overturn the priestly policy of formalism and lack of spirituality--a
+conception that would ignore forms and ceremonies, and cleave close to
+the spirit of the Sacred Teachings. And then He began a scathing
+denunciation of the lack of spiritual advancement among the Jewish
+people--their materialism and desire for physical enjoyments and their
+drifting away from the highest ideals of the race. He preached the
+mystic doctrine, and insisted that they be applied to the problems of
+every-day life and conduct. He brought down the teachings of the
+Kaballah from the cloudy heights, and set them before the people in
+plain, practical form. He bade them aspire to great spiritual heights,
+forsaking the base ideals to which they had clung. He ran counter to
+every custom and prejudice of the people before Him, and showed a lack
+of reverence for all of their petty forms and traditions. He bade them
+leave the illusions of material life and follow the Light of the
+Spirit wherever it might lead them. These and many other things told
+He them.
+
+And then arose a disturbance among the congregation. They began to
+interrupt and question Him, and many were the contradictions and
+denials hurled at Him from the benches. Some began to sneer at His
+pretensions as the Bearer of the Message, and demanded that He work a
+wonder or "miracle" and give them a sign. This demand He flatly
+refused to grant, not deeming the same proper, or in accordance with
+the occult custom which always frowned upon wonder-working in response
+to such a demand. Then they began to abuse Him and cries of
+"charlatan" and "fraud" began to resound from the walls of the
+synagogue. They reminded Him of His humble birth and condition of His
+parents, and refused to believe that any such person as He had any
+right to claim extraordinary powers or privileges. Then came from His
+lips the famous saying, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his
+own country."
+
+Then He began a fresh assault upon their prejudices and narrow
+views--their pet superstitions and bigotry. He stripped from them
+their garb of hypocrisy and assumed piety, and showed them their naked
+souls in all their ugliness and moral uncleanliness. He poured burning
+invective and vitriolic denunciations into their midst, and spared no
+terms that could properly be applied to them. In a short time the
+congregation was beside itself with rage, and the pretended righteous
+indignation of a flock of hypocrites and formalists who had heard
+themselves described in disrespectful terms by one they regarded as an
+upstart young man from the lower classes of their virtuous community.
+They felt that they had bestowed a flattering honor upon Him, as a
+mark of consideration for a young townsman upon His return from a
+foreign and domestic missionary tour. And now to think that He had
+thus basely betrayed their courtesy and showed in how little esteem He
+really held them--surely this was beyond human endurance. And then the
+storm broke upon Him.
+
+Leaving their seats in the synagogue, the congregation rushed upon the
+young preacher, and tearing Him from the platform, they pushed Him out
+of the building. And then the jostling, hustling, pushing crowd
+carried Him before them along the village streets and out into the
+suburbs. He resisted not, deeming it unworthy to struggle with them.
+At last, however, He was compelled to defend Himself. He perceived
+that it was the intention of the mob to push Him over a precipice that
+had been formed on the side of a hill just beyond the town limits. He
+waited patiently until they had urged Him to the very brink of the
+decline, and until it needed but one strong push to press Him over its
+edge and into the gorge below. And then He exerted His occult forces
+in a proper self-defense. Not a blow struck He--not a man did He smite
+with the wondrous occult power at His command, which would have
+paralyzed their muscles or even have stretched them lifeless at His
+feet. No, he controlled Himself with a firm hand, and _merely bent
+upon them a look_. But such a look!
+
+A glance in which was concentrated the mighty Will developed by mystic
+knowledge and occult practice. It was the Gaze of the Occult Master,
+the power of which ordinary men may not withstand. And the mob,
+feeling its mighty force, experienced the sensation of abject fear and
+terror. Their hair arose, their eyes started from their sockets, their
+knees shook under them, and then, with a wild shout of horror they
+began to scatter and fly, making a wide pathway for the Man of Mystery
+who now strode through their ranks with that awful gaze which seemed
+to pierce the veil of mortality and to peer at things ineffable and
+beyond human ken. And with His eyes refusing to look again upon the
+familiar scenes of His youth, He departed from Nazareth, forsaking it
+forever as His home place. Verily, indeed, the Prophet hath no honor
+in His own land. Those who should have been His staunchest supporters
+were the first in His own land to threaten Him with violence. The
+attempt of Nazareth was the prophecy of Calvary, and Jesus so knew it.
+But He had set his feet upon The Path, and drew not back from it.
+
+Turning His back upon Nazareth, Jesus established a new centre or home
+in Capernaum, which place remained the nearest approach to home to Him
+during the remainder of His Ministry and until His death. The
+traditions have it that His mother came to live also at Capernaum,
+together with some of His brothers. It is also related that his
+sisters and brothers, both those remaining at Nazareth and those
+removing to Capernaum, were sorely vexed with Him at His conduct at
+the synagogue, which they deemed not "respectable" nor proper, and
+they accordingly looked upon Him as an eccentric relative whose
+vagaries had brought disrepute upon the family. He was regarded much
+in the light of a "black-sheep" and "undesirable relation" by all of
+His family except His mother, who still clung to her beloved
+first-born. The mother made her home with some of the brothers and
+sisters of Jesus, but He was not made welcome there, but was looked
+upon as an outcast and wanderer. He once spoke of this, saying that
+while the birds and beasts had nests and homes, He, the Son of Man,
+had nowhere to lay his head. And so He wandered around in His own
+land, as He had in foreign countries, an ascetic, living upon the alms
+of the people who loved Him and listened to His words. And in so doing
+He followed the plans and life of the Hindu ascetics, who even unto
+this day so live, "with yellow-robe and begging bowl," and "without
+money or scrip in their purses." The Jewish ascetic--for such was
+Jesus--has His counterparts in the wandering holy-men of India and
+Persia today.
+
+But it must be remembered that even in Jesus' time, the spectacle of a
+rabbi living this ascetic life, forsaking the emoluments of His
+priestly rank and deliberately taking up the roll of a poverty-stricken
+mendicant, was a rare one. It ran contrary to all the thrifty and
+prudent customs and ideals of the race. It was an importation from
+the Essenes, or from the strange people of far-off lands, and it was
+not relished by the Jewish authorities, or people who preferred the
+synagogues and Temple, with their sleek, well-fed priests, with fancy
+robes and attractive ceremonies.
+
+Making His base at Capernaum, Jesus began to form His band of
+disciples with more show of a working organization. To some He
+delegated certain authority, and bade them perform certain dues of the
+ministry. For some reason He selected some of His leading lieutenants
+from the ranks of the fishermen who plied their vocation along the
+waters of that port of the country. The fishers of fish became the
+fishers of men. Jesus became very popular among the fishing
+fraternity, and the legends, as well as the New Testament narratives,
+tell of instances in which He bade His poor fishermen friends (who had
+been unfortunate in their day's haul) to let down their nets at some
+point indicated by Him, when to their surprise and joy their nets
+would be filled to overflowing.
+
+Little acts of kindness bestowed here and there among the humbler
+classes tended to have Jesus looked upon and spoken of as a friend of
+the people, but which reputation excited the jealousy of the
+authorities who held that such acts could be prompted by none other
+than a selfish motive, and that motive the incitement of the masses to
+rebellion in the interest of Himself as a Messiah. And so, we see His
+very acts of kindness and compassion served to increase the suspicion
+and hatred which the authorities, both ecclesiastical and temporal,
+had always felt toward Him.
+
+His desire to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and wretched took
+Him much among these people and away from the so-called higher
+classes. The "plain people" were regarded by Him as the salt of the
+earth, and they, in turn, regarded Him as their champion and advisor.
+And especially to the sick did He devote His time and powers. He made
+many marvellous cures, a few only of which were recorded in the New
+Testament narratives. The occult legends state that these cures were
+of daily occurrence and that wherever He went He left behind Him a
+trail of people healed of all kinds of disorders, and that people
+flocked for miles to be healed of their infirmities. The Gospels
+relate that He cured great numbers of people by the simple process of
+laying on of hands (a favorite method of occult healers) "he laid his
+hands on every one of them and healed them."
+
+It is related that at Capernaum his attention was directed toward a
+madman, who suddenly cried out, "I know Thee, Thou Holy One of God,"
+whereupon Jesus spoke a few authoritative words and cured him of his
+malady, by methods that will describe the nature of the man's psychic
+disturbance to any advanced student of occultism. Demoniac possession
+is not believed in by orthodox Christians of today, but Jesus
+evidently shared the belief in obsession held by students of Psychism
+and similar subjects, judging from the words He used in relieving this
+man from his malady. We advise our students to read the Gospel records
+in connection with these lessons, in order to follow the subject along
+the old familiar paths, but with the additional light of the
+interpretation of Mystic Christianity.
+
+The growing reputation of Jesus as a healer of the sick soon taxed His
+physical powers to the utmost. He felt Himself called upon to do the
+work of a dozen men, and His nature rebelled at the unequal task
+imposed upon it. It seemed as if all Capernaum were sick. Her streets
+were crowded by seekers after health and strength. At last He
+perceived that His work as a Teacher was being submerged in His work
+as a Healer. And, after a period of prayer and meditation, He put
+aside from Him the claims of humanity for the healing of physical
+ills, and turning His back upon the waiting patients at Capernaum, He
+once more started forward on His pilgrimage as a Preacher of the
+Message, and thereafter would heal physical ills only occasionally,
+and, instead, devote the main portion of His time to preaching the
+Truth to those who were ready to hear it. It was a hard thing for a
+man with the tender heart of Jesus to leave behind Him the crowd of
+patients at Capernaum, but it was necessary for Him to do so, else He
+would have remained merely an occult healer of physical ailments
+instead of the Messenger of the Truth whose work it was to kindle in
+many places the Flame of the Spirit, that would serve as the true
+Light of the World long after the physical bodies of all then living
+had been again resolved to dust.
+
+And so, leaving behind Him Capernaum and its wailing multitudes, He,
+followed by His disciples, moved out toward the open country, to
+spread the glad tidings and to bring to the hearts of many "that peace
+which passeth all understanding."
+
+
+
+
+THE SIXTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE WORK OF ORGANIZATION.
+
+Leaving Capernaum behind Him, with its crowds of invalids seeking
+healing, and fighting off the demands that would have rendered Him a
+professional healer instead of a Teacher and preacher of the Message
+of Truth, Jesus passed on to other parts of the land, taking with Him
+the band of disciples and faithful followers who now traveled with
+Him.
+
+But He did not altogether relinquish His healing work. He merely made
+it an incident of His ministry, and did not allow it to interfere with
+His preaching and teaching. The Gospel narratives show a number of
+remarkable cures made by Him at this time, and the few recorded cases
+are, of course, merely occasional incidents that stand out in the
+minds of the people among hundreds of less noticeable cases.
+
+The cure of the leper is one of such remarkable cases. Leprosy was a
+foul disease much dreaded by the people of Oriental countries. And the
+unfortunate person afflicted by it became an outcast and pariah from
+whom all others fled as from an unclean and impure thing.
+
+There was a leper in the part of the country in which Jesus was
+traveling and teaching. He heard of the wonderful gift of healing
+accredited to the young preacher, and he determined to get into His
+presence and beg His aid. How the leper managed to get through the
+crowds and into the presence of Jesus is not known, but it must have
+required great strategy on his part, for such people were not
+permitted to pass in and among crowds of other people. But in some way
+the leper contrived to come face to face with Jesus as the latter
+walked alone in meditation, away from his followers.
+
+The loathsome creature raised its repulsive form, the picture of human
+misery and woe, and confronting the Master, demanded from Him the
+exercise of the Gift of Healing. No doubt of His power was in the
+leper's mind--his face shone with faith and expectation. Jesus gazed
+earnestly into the distorted features that shone with the fire of a
+fervent faith such as is rarely seen on the face of man, and touched
+with this testimony to His power and motives, He moved toward the
+leper, defying the laws of the country, which forbade the same. Not
+only this, but He even laid His hands upon the unclean flesh, defying
+all the laws of reason in so doing, and fearlessly passed His hand
+over the leper's face, crying aloud, "Be thou clean!"
+
+The leper felt a strange thrill running through his veins and over his
+nerves, and every atom of his body seemed to be tingling with a
+peculiar burning and smarting sensation. Even as he looked he saw the
+color of his flesh changing and taking on the hue of the flesh of the
+healthy person. The numbness departed from the affected portion of his
+body, and he could actually feel the thrill and tingle of the life
+currents that were at work with incredible speed building up new
+cells, tissue and muscle. And still Jesus held His hands against the
+flesh of the leper, allowing the life current of highly vitalized
+_prana_ to pour from His organism into that of the leper, just as a
+storage battery of great power replenishes and recharges an electrical
+appliance. And back of it all was the most potent, trained Will of the
+Master Occultist directing the work.
+
+And then He bade the healed man depart and comply with the laws
+regarding purification and change of garments, including the
+appearance before the priests to receive a certificate of cleanliness.
+And He also bade him that nothing should be said regarding the nature
+or particulars of the cure. For some good reason He wished to escape
+the notoriety or fame that the report of such a wonderful cure would
+be sure to excite.
+
+But alas! this was asking too much of human nature, and the healed
+leper, running with great leaps and bounds, began shouting and crying
+aloud the glad tidings of his marvelous cure, that all men might know
+what a great blessing had come to him. In spite of the injunction laid
+upon him, he began to sing aloud the praises of the Master who had
+manifested such an unheard-of power over the foul disease that had
+held him in its grasp until a few hours before. With wild gestures and
+gleaming eyes he told the story again and again, and it was taken up
+and repeated from person to person, until the whole town and
+countryside were familiar with the great news. Imagine such an event
+occurring in a small country town in our own land today, and you will
+realize what an excitement must have been occasioned in that home
+place of the leper.
+
+And then occurred that which Jesus had doubtless seen when He
+forbade the leper to repeat the news of the cure. The whole region
+became excited and immense crowds gathered around Him and His
+disciples, crying aloud for new wonders and miracles. The curious
+sensation-seekers were there in full force, crowding out those whom He
+wished to reach by His teachings. And more than this, great numbers of
+sick and crippled people crowded around Him crying for aid and cure.
+The scenes of Capernaum were repeated. Even the lepers began flocking
+in, in defiance of law and custom, and the authorities were beside
+themselves with anger and annoyance. Not only the temporal authorities
+and the priests were arrayed against Him, as of old, but now He
+managed to arouse the opposition of the physicians of those days, who
+saw their practice ruined by this man whom they called a charlatan and
+deceiver threatening and destroying the health of the people, whose
+physical welfare was safe only in their (the physicians') hands and
+keeping.
+
+And so Jesus was compelled to close His ministry at this place and
+move on to another village.
+
+Another case which attracted much attention was that which occurred in
+Galilee when He was preaching in a house. In the midst of His
+discourse both He and His audience were startled by the sight of a
+figure on a bed being lowered down among the crowd of listeners from
+the roof surrounding the open court in the center of the house. It was
+a poor paralyzed man whom friends had contrived to hoist up and then
+lower down before Jesus in such a manner as could not escape the
+attention of the Master. It is related that the piteous appeal of the
+sufferer, and the faith which had inspired such great energy on the
+part of his friends, attracted the interest and sympathy of Jesus, and
+He paused in His discourse and made another of those instantaneous
+cures which are possible only to the most advanced adepts in the
+science of spiritual healing.
+
+Then came the scene of the Wells of Bethesda--a region abounding in
+"healing waters" to which the sick and afflicted came to regain their
+health. The crowds of sick were being carried to the springs by
+friends or paid attendants, who pushed aside the weaker ones and
+fought their way to the wells. Jesus walked among the crowds, and at
+last His attention was attracted toward a poor fellow who lay upon his
+cot away off from the waters. He had no friends to carry him nearer,
+nor money for paid attendants. And he had not strength enough to crawl
+there himself. He filled the air with his moans and cries and
+bewailings of his unfortunate lot. Jesus walked up to him, and holding
+his attention by a firm look of authority and power, cried to him
+suddenly in a voice that demanded obedience, "Take up thy bed and
+walk!" The man, startled into obedience, did as directed, and much to
+his surprise, and that of the crowd gathered around, found that he was
+able to move about freely--a well man.
+
+This cure also aroused not only the greatest interest but also the
+antagonism of the ecclesiastical authorities. It appears that the cure
+had been made on the Sabbath day, and that it was against the
+ecclesiastical law to heal the sick in any way upon that day; and also
+that the patient had performed manual work on the Sabbath in carrying
+his bed upon the orders of the Healer. And the good pious folk, urged
+on by the priests, began to abuse and condemn the Healer and patient,
+after the manner of the formal pietists of all lands and times, even
+of our own. Clinging to the letter of the law, these people overlook
+its spirit--bound by the forms, they fail to see the meaning lying
+back of all forms and ceremonies.
+
+Braving the storm that was arising around Him, Jesus boldly walked to
+the Temple. He was plunged in a sea of conflicting opinions and
+voices. On the one hand was the healed man and those who sympathized
+with him, in earnest argument concerning the righteousness of the
+deed. But arrayed against these few were the good folk of the place
+who loudly denounced the Sabbath-breaker and demanded His punishment.
+Were the ancient laws of Moses to be thus defied by this presumptuous
+Nazarene, whose religious ideas were sadly lacking in orthodoxy?
+Surely not! Punish the upstart! And again Jesus was in actual peril of
+bodily hurt, or perhaps even death, owing to the religious bigotry of
+the orthodox people.
+
+Jesus was ever a foe to the stupid formalism and ignorant fanaticism
+regarding "holy days," which is ever a characteristic of certain
+classes of mind among people. On the above occasion, as well as upon
+other occasions, and notably upon the occasion of the Sabbath when He
+directed His hungry disciples to pick corn to satisfy their hunger,
+Jesus opposed the strict, ironclad law of Sabbath observance. He was
+ever filled with the idea that the "Sabbath was made for man, and not
+man for the Sabbath." There was nothing Puritanical about the Master,
+and in view of His attitude regarding this matter it is surprising to
+witness the attitude of some in our own time who, wearing His livery,
+oppose these teachings of His in theory and practice.
+
+And so, driven out once more by the intolerance and bigotry of the
+public, Jesus returned again to Galilee, His land of retreat and rest,
+and the scene of much of His best work. Galilee was filled with His
+many followers and admirers, and He was less in danger of disturbance
+and persecution there than in the neighborhood of Jerusalem. Large
+congregations attended His ministry there, and His converts were
+numbered by the thousand. The village contained many persons healed by
+His power, and His name was a household word.
+
+And upon His return He entered into a new stage of His work. He had
+decided to divide His ministry among His twelve most advanced
+disciples, as it had now reached proportions beyond His ability to
+personally control. And, as was customary to Him upon all great
+occasions, He sought the solitudes for meditation and spiritual
+strength before finally investing His twelve Apostles with the high
+authority of their mission. He spent the night on one of the hills
+near Capernaum, from which He descended the following morning, wearied
+in body from want of rest, but strong in soul and spirit.
+
+Then He gathered the Twelve around Him, and in a secret meeting
+divulged to them certain deep truths and secrets, adding certain
+instructions regarding healing work, and calling upon them for the
+highest allegiance to Him and His work.
+
+The Gospel narratives have but very little to say regarding Jesus'
+work in the instruction of the Twelve for their future mission. And
+the average student of the narratives goes on without thinking of the
+marvelous mental and spiritual development that must have been
+manifested by the Apostles during their transition from humble
+fishermen, and men of similar vocations, to highly developed teachers
+of advanced spiritual truths. To the occultist especially this
+ordinary view seems astounding, for he realizes the many arduous steps
+necessary to be trodden by the feet of the Neophyte before he becomes
+an Initiate, and the higher steps awaiting the Initiate before he may
+become a Master. And such a one realizes the mighty task that Jesus
+performed in developing and unfolding the spiritual natures of such a
+body of men until they become worthy to be His chosen representatives
+and teachers. The occult traditions have it that Jesus had pursued a
+systematic course of instruction of His chosen disciples, bringing
+them up rapidly through degree after degree of mystic attainment and
+occult knowledge, until finally they were ready for the finishing
+touches at His hands. And the occasion that we are now considering was
+the time when the final degrees were imparted to them.
+
+It must be remembered that the Apostles were endowed with the mastery
+of the occult forces of nature which enabled them to perform the
+"miracles" of healing similar to those of Jesus. And it must not be
+supposed for a moment that an occult Master of so high a degree of
+attainment as that reached by Jesus would have allowed His disciples
+to use such mighty power without also instructing them fully in the
+nature of the forces they were using, and of the best methods of
+employing the same. And such knowledge could not be imparted without
+the fundamental truths of nature being understood by them, which
+understanding was possible only to those who had grasped the great
+Basic Truths of the Science of Being.
+
+In short, the traditions are that the Twelve Apostles were gradually
+initiated into the great degrees of the Occult Brotherhoods of which
+and in which Jesus was a Master. He gathered together a great store of
+occult information and mystic lore, and condensing the same into a
+plain, practical, simple system, He imparted it fully and thoroughly
+to those whom He had elected to be His chief co-workers and His
+successors after His death, which He knew full well was not far off.
+
+These facts must be fully understood by the student of Mystic
+Christianity who wishes to grasp the secret of the early Christian
+Church after the death of Christ. The wonderful headway manifested by
+the movement could not have been given by mere followers and believers
+in the Master. It usually follows that when the great head of an
+organization dies the movement disintegrates or loses power unless he
+has been able to "communicate his spirit" to some chosen followers.
+And this Jesus did. And it was only to men who thoroughly grasped the
+fundamental truths and principles of His teachings that such "spirit"
+could have been imparted.
+
+There was an exoteric teaching for the multitude, and an esoteric
+teaching for the Twelve. There are many Scriptural passages which go
+to show this fact, which was well known to the early Fathers of the
+Church. And upon the occasion which we have mentioned the last great
+Basic Truths were explained to the Twelve, and from that time
+henceforward they were regarded and treated as Masters by Jesus, and
+not as mere students, as had been the case before that time. And
+arising from that final instruction came the Sermon of the Mount.
+
+The Sermon of the Mount, that most wonderful and complete of any of
+the public utterances of Jesus, was delivered almost immediately after
+the Choosing of the Twelve Apostles. And it was intended even more for
+them than for the multitudes gathered around to hear His preaching. He
+knew that the Twelve could interpret it by reason of the Inner
+Teachings that they had received from Him. And almost forgetting the
+congregation gathered around and about Him, He elucidated the Inner
+teachings for the benefit of the Chosen Few.
+
+The Sermon of the Mount can be understood only by means of the Master
+Key of the Inner Teachings, which opens the door of the mind to an
+understanding of the hard sayings and veiled mystic import of many of
+His precepts. We shall devote considerable space in one of our later
+lessons of this series to a consideration of the Inner Meaning of this
+great sermon and teaching, and therefore shall not go into details
+regarding it in the present lesson, deeming it better to proceed with
+the story of the Master's Work.
+
+A few days after the delivery of the Sermon of the Mount, the Master
+left Capernaum and traveled from town to town visiting His various
+centers of teaching, as was His custom. On the journey Jesus performed
+a feat of occult power that proved Him to be one of the Highest Adepts
+of the Occult Brotherhoods, for to none other would such a
+manifestation have been possible. Even some of the highest Oriental
+Masters would have refused to undertake the task that He set before
+Himself to do.
+
+The company was leisurely proceeding on its way, when nearing a small
+town they met a funeral procession coming in their direction. Preceded
+by the band of women chanting the mournful dirges according to the
+Galileean custom, the cortege slowly wended its way. The etiquette of
+the land required strangers to join in the mourning when they came in
+contact with a funeral procession, and the company assumed a mournful
+and respectful demeanor, and many joined in the dirge which was being
+chanted by the procession.
+
+But Jesus invaded the privacy of the procession in a manner shocking
+to those who held closely to the familiar forms and customs. Stepping
+up to the bier, He stood in front of it and bade the carriers halt and
+set it down. A murmur of indignation ran through the ranks of the
+mourners, and some strode forward to rebuke the presumptuous stranger
+who dared to violate the dignity of the funeral in this way. But
+something in His face held them back. Then a strange feeling passed
+over the crowd. Jesus was known to a number of the mourners, and some
+of those who had witnessed some of His wonder-workings began to
+whisper that strange things were about to happen, and the ranks were
+broken as the people flocked around the Master at the bier.
+
+The corpse was that of a young man, and his widowed mother stood
+beside the pale figure stretched upon the bier, and spreading her arms
+in front of it, she seemed to ward off the profaning touch of the
+strange man who confronted it. But the stranger looked upon her with a
+look of transcendent love, and in a voice vibrant with the tenderest
+feeling said unto her, "Mother, weep not--cease thy mourning." Amazed,
+but impressed, she turned an appealing gaze to Him who had thus bidden
+her. Her mother love and instinct caught a new expression in His eyes,
+and her heart bounded with a wonderful hope of something, she knew not
+what. What did the Nazarene mean? Her boy was dead, and even God
+Himself never disturbed the slumber of the body from which the spirit
+had flown. But still what meant that expression--why that leap and
+throbbing of her heart?
+
+Then with a gesture of authority the Master caused the crowd to draw
+back from the bier, until at last there remained only the corpse, the
+mother and Himself in a cleared space in the center. Then a strange
+and wonderful scene began. With His gaze fixed upon the face of the
+corpse, and in an attitude that indicated a supreme effort of His
+will, the Master was seen to be making some mighty effort which called
+into play the highest forces at His command. The Apostles, having been
+instructed by Him in Occult power, recognized the nature of the
+manifestation, and their faces paled, for they knew that He was not
+only pouring out His vital force into the body in order to recharge it
+with _prana_, but that He was also essaying one of the highest and
+most difficult of occult feats--that of summoning back from the Astral
+Plane the higher vehicles and the Astral Body--the very soul of the
+youth--and forcing it once more into its mortal frame, which He had
+recharged with vital energy and strength. They knew that He, by the
+mightiest effort of His will, was reversing the process of death. And
+with a full appreciation of the real nature of the wonder that was
+being worked before them, their limbs trembled beneath them and their
+breath came from them in gasps.
+
+Then cried the people, "What saith this man to the corpse?" "Arise,
+youth! Open thine eyes! Breathe freely! Arise, I say unto
+thee--arise!" Did this stranger dare to defy God's own decree?
+
+The corpse opened its eyes and stared around in wild amaze, the glare
+not fully faded away! Its chest heaved in great agonizing gasps as if
+fighting again for life! Then its arms were lifted up--then its legs
+began to move--now it raised itself upright and began to babble
+meaningless words--now the look of recognition came into its eyes, and
+its arms clasped themselves around the mother's neck, while sob after
+sob broke from its lips! The dead lived--the corpse had come to life.
+
+The people fell back overcome with the awful terror of the sight, and
+the funeral procession scattered in all directions, until only the
+sobbing mother and the youth remained, weeping in their mutual love
+and joy, and forgetting even the Master and His followers in their
+great flood of affection.
+
+And, leaving them thus, Jesus and His followers passed away on their
+pilgrimage. But the fame of the miracle spread from town to town, even
+up to the great capital, Jerusalem. And men wondered or doubted,
+according to their natures, while the temporal and ecclesiastical
+authorities began to again ask themselves and each other whether this
+man were not a dangerous person and an enemy to established custom and
+order.
+
+In one of His journeys Jesus found Himself invited to the house of a
+leading citizen of the town in which He was preaching. This citizen
+was one of the class known as Pharisees, whose characteristics were an
+extreme devotion and adherence to forms and ceremonies and a bigoted
+insistence upon the observance of the letter of the law. The Pharisees
+were the ultra-orthodox center of an orthodox people. They were the
+straight-laced brethren who walked so erect that they leaned backward.
+They were the people who thanked God that they were not like unto
+other men. They were the "uncommonly good" members of church and
+society. The very name stands even unto this day as a synonym for
+"pious sham."
+
+Just why this Pharisee had invited the Master to dine with him is not
+easily understood. It is likely that it was a combination of curiosity
+and a desire to entrap his guest into statements and admissions that
+might be used against him. At any rate, the invitation was given and
+accepted.
+
+The Master noted that certain little ceremonies usually extended by
+the Hebrews to a guest of equal standing were omitted by His host. His
+head was not anointed with the ceremonial oil, as was the custom in
+houses of this character when the guest was honored as an equal or
+desirable addition to the family gathering. Clearly He was regarded as
+a curiosity or "freak" rather than as a friend, and had been invited
+in such a spirit. But He said nothing, and passed over the slight. And
+the meal passed along smoothly up to a certain point.
+
+The host and his guests were reclining easily, after the Oriental
+fashion, discussing various topics, when a woman pressed her way into
+the banquet hall. Her dress proclaimed her to be one of the women of
+easy virtue abounding in all Oriental towns. She was clad in showy
+apparel and her hair fell loosely over her shoulders after the custom
+of the women of her kind in that land. She fixed her eyes upon the
+Master and moved slowly toward him, much to the annoyance of the host,
+who feared a scene, for the Master would most likely administer a
+rebuke to the woman for presuming to intrude upon the presence of Him,
+a spiritual teacher.
+
+But the woman still pressed forward toward Him, and at last, bending
+down low, her head touching His feet, she burst into tears. She had
+heard the Master preach some time before, and the seeds of His
+teaching had taken root and had now blossomed within her heart; and
+she had come to acknowledge her allegiance and to render an offering
+to Him whom she revered. The coming into His presence was her token of
+a spiritual regeneration and a desire to begin a new life. Her tears
+flowed over His feet, and she dried them off with her long hair. Then
+she kissed His feet, as a token of her allegiance and worship.
+
+From her neck hung a chain holding a little box filled with precious
+perfumed oil, which she esteemed highly, as did all the people of her
+race. The oil was of the nature of attar of roses and was the
+essential oil extracted from fragrant blossoms. She broke the seal and
+poured the fragrant oil over the hands and feet of the Master, who
+rebuked her not, but who accepted the tribute even from such a source.
+The host began to indulge in thoughts not flattering to the
+intelligence of his guest, and a scarcely concealed sneer appeared on
+his lips.
+
+Then Jesus turned to His host and with a smile said to him: "Simon, in
+thy mind thou thinkest these words: 'If this man be indeed a prophet,
+would he not know what manner of woman this be who toucheth him, and
+would he not rebuke her and drive her from him?'" And the Pharisee was
+sorely confused, for the Master had read his thought word for word by
+the method known to occultists as telepathy. And then in gentle
+raillery the Master called his host's attention to the fact that the
+woman had performed the service which he, the host, had neglected to
+observe. Had she not bathed and dried His feet, as the Pharisee would
+have done had his guest been deemed worthy of honor? Had she not
+anointed Him with precious oil, as the host would have anointed an
+honored guest? Had she not impressed upon even His feet the kiss that
+etiquette required the host to impress upon the cheek of the esteemed
+visitor to his house? And as for the character of the woman, it had
+been fully recognized and forgiven. "Much hath been forgiven her, for
+she hath loved greatly." And, turning to the woman, He added, "Go in
+peace, for thy sins are forgiven thee." And the woman departed with a
+new expression on her face and a firm resolve in her heart, for the
+Master had forgiven and blessed her.
+
+But by this act Jesus brought upon His head the hatred of the Pharisee
+and his friends. He had dared rebuke the host in his own palace, and
+had moreover arrogated to Himself the sacred rite to pronounce
+remission of sins, a right vested solely in the high-priest of the
+Temple, upon the performance of certain ceremonies and sacrifices upon
+the altar. He had flung defiance at vested ecclesiastical right and
+functions, even in the house of one of the stanchest adherents of
+formalism and authority--a Pharisee.
+
+In this incident was shown not only the broadness of Jesus' views and
+the universality of His love, as well as His courage in defying the
+hated formalism, even in the palace of its stanchest advocates, but
+also His attitude toward women. The Jews as a race held women in but
+scant esteem. They were not deemed worthy to sit with the men in the
+synagogue. It was deemed unworthy of a man to mention his female
+relations in general company. They were regarded as inferior in every
+way to men, and were treated as almost unclean in their most sacred
+natural functions.
+
+Toward fallen women especially Jesus was ever considerate. He saw
+their temptation and the social cruelty of their position. He resented
+"the double standard" of virtue which allowed a man to commit certain
+offenses and still be respected, while the woman who committed the
+same offense was damned socially, reviled and treated as a shameful
+outcast. He was ever ready to voice a defense for women of this kind,
+and seemed to be ever actuated by the sense of injustice in the
+attitude of men toward them, which finally voiced itself on a notable
+occasion when called upon to pass judgment upon the woman taken in
+adultery: "Let him among ye who is without sin cast the first stone."
+No wonder that the outcast woman kissed His feet and poured out the
+precious ointment upon Him. He was the Friend to such as she.
+
+
+
+
+THE SEVENTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
+
+The ministry of Jesus went on in about the same channels. Wandering
+here and there throughout the country, preaching and teaching in this
+town and that village, gathering around Him new followers, Jesus
+continued His work. He adapted Himself to His audience, giving to each
+what it needed, and not making the mistake of speaking over the heads
+of the people. He gave the general public the broad general teachings
+that they required, but He reserved the Inner Teachings for the Inner
+Circle of His followers whom He knew to be fit to receive the same. In
+this He showed a deep knowledge of men, and a strict accordance with
+the established custom of the mystics, who never make the mistake of
+giving the higher spiritual mathematics to the students who are
+learning the addition, subtraction and division rules of the occult.
+He cautioned His apostles regarding this point of teaching, even going
+so far as warning them positively and strongly against "casting pearls
+before swine."
+
+One night He was in a boat crossing the lake of Gennesaret, in company
+with some of His fisherman followers. Tired out by the strenuous work
+of the day, He wrapped Himself up in His robe and fell into a deep
+sleep, from which He was later awakened by a noise and commotion among
+the crew and passengers. A terrible lake storm had sprung up, and the
+little vessel was tossing and pitching about among the waves in a
+manner which gave concern to even the experienced fishermen who manned
+her. The sails had been torn off, carrying away with them a portion of
+the mast, and the boat refused to respond to her rudder, the steering
+gear being rendered useless. The crew became panic-stricken and
+rushing to Jesus besought Him to save them from death in the storm.
+"Master! Master! Help ere we perish. The boat is foundering! Save us,
+Master!"
+
+The Master arose and, using His occult power, caused the winds to
+cease their tempestuous activity, and the waves to become calm. He
+followed the Oriental occultists' custom of voicing His commands in
+words, not that the words had any virtue in themselves, but because
+they served a vehicle for His concentrated thought and focused will
+which He was using in his manifestation of occult power. With this
+knowledge of the process, occultists smile when they read the _naive_
+account of the occurrence in the Gospels, where Jesus is described as
+addressing and rebuking the rebellious winds and then gently and
+kindly soothing the waters with words of "Peace, be still!" The
+fishermen who witnessed the occurrence, and from whom the reports
+thereof spread among the people, not understanding the nature of
+occult manifestations, thought that He was addressing the winds as
+actual entities, rebuking them and bidding them cease their vicious
+work, and soothing the sea in the same manner.
+
+They did not comprehend the mental processes back of the words, and in
+their simplicity thought that He was actually rebuking the wind and
+soothing the waters. All occultists know that in "treating" material
+conditions the process is rendered much easier and simpler if we will
+but think of and "speak to" the condition as if it had intelligence
+and actual being, thus more easily directing the forces.
+
+Obeying the thought and will of the Master, the winds abated their
+fury and the waters ceased their troubling. Gradually the boat rested
+easily upon the bosom of the lake, and the crew breathed freely once
+more, and then began their work of righting the mast and steering
+gear. And they wondered as they worked and asked each other "What
+manner of man is this, whom even the winds and the waters obey?" And
+Jesus, looking sadly at them, voiced that cry of the mystic who knows
+of the inherent and latent powers of man over material conditions,
+awaiting the exercise of the Will that may be exercised only in
+response to a great Faith. He answered them, saying, "Oh, ye of little
+Faith. What had you to fear?"
+
+To the mystic it seems strange that people are able to read the Gospel
+accounts of the above and similar events and yet see no more in them
+than a mere recital of miracles wrought by some supernatural power. To
+the reader who has learned the fundamental truths, the New Testament
+record of the wonder-working of Jesus, even as imperfect as that
+record is, is full of advanced occult instructions stated so plainly
+that it seems as if even the casual reader must recognize it. But no,
+the old rule is still in force--each reads only that for which he is
+ready--each must bring something to a book, before he may expect to
+take anything away from it--to him that hath shall be given. Ever the
+same old mystic truth, manifest ever and ever, at all times and in all
+places. It is a fundamental law of the mind.
+
+The journey across the lake was attended by another manifestation of
+occult power which is often passed over by the church teachers without
+comment, or at least with a labored endeavor to "explain" the evident
+meaning of the narrative. The modern materialistic trend of thought
+has invaded even the churches and has caused the preachers and
+teachers to endeavor to escape the accusation of "believing in
+spirits" and similar phenomena of the Astral World.
+
+When the company reached the coast of Gergesa, on the opposite side of
+the lake, it disembarked and Jesus and His disciples pressed in toward
+the coast towns. As they passed among the cliffs lining the shore,
+they perceived two uncanny wandering figures which, gibbering,
+followed them along. The two maniacs, for such they were, approached
+the party, and one of them began to address the Master in a strange
+manner, beseeching Him to relieve the two of the devils possessing
+them. He called aloud, "O Master, thou Son of the Living God, have
+mercy upon us, and drive away the unclean things that we have allowed
+to enter into us."
+
+The Gospels say nothing regarding the cause of this demoniac
+obsession, and the preachers prefer to pass over it rapidly, or else
+to treat it as a delusion of the insane, notwithstanding the direct
+statement of the New Testament narrative and its sequel or concluding
+statement. But the occult traditions have it that these two men were
+victims of their dabbling into certain phases of psychic phenomena,
+i.e., the "raising up of spirits" by the arts of Black Magic. In other
+words, these men had been experimenting along the lines of Jewish
+Necromancy, or Invocation and Evocation of Disembodied Astral
+Intelligences by means of Conjuration. They had raised up Astral
+Intelligences that had then refused to retire to their own plane, but
+which had taken possession of the physical organisms of their invokers
+and had remained in possession, causing the men to be regarded as
+maniacs, which resulted in their becoming outcasts among the caves
+with which the cliffs abounded, the same places being also the tombs
+of the dead. We do not wish to go into details here regarding this
+matter, but we wish to give the occult explanation of this little
+understood "miracle" of Jesus, which, however, is clearly understood
+by all occultists.
+
+Jesus fully understood the nature of the trouble, and began at once to
+drive out these invading Astral Intelligences by means of his occult
+power. In a few moments, a cry was heard from the hills near by, and a
+great herd of swine were seen rushing down the hill, and in a moment
+were over the precipice and were soon drowned. The Gospel narrative is
+perfectly plain on this subject--it states that the legions of devils
+had passed from the men into the swine and the latter had plunged in
+terror into the water and were drowned. Jesus had distinctly and
+positively spoken to the demons, calling them "unclean spirits," and
+bidding them "come out" of the men. And all advanced students of
+Occultism understand why the pigs were used as intermediate
+instruments of the driving back of the Astral Intelligences to their
+own plane of life, which reason, however, is not in place or keeping
+in this work intended for general public reading.
+
+The maniacs were restored to their normal condition, and the
+traditions say that the Master instructed them regarding the evil
+courses which they had been pursuing, and bade them desist from their
+nefarious practices which had wrought such evil consequences upon
+them.
+
+The church and its preachers, with but few exceptions, have seen fit
+to ignore the frequent Biblical allusions to "devils," "demons," etc.;
+their position being practically that the writers of the events of
+Jesus' ministry (whom they otherwise consider to have been "inspired")
+must have been superstitious, credulous people believing in "the
+absurd demonology of their times." They ignore the fact that Jesus
+Himself repeatedly spoke to these intelligences, bidding them depart
+from the people whom they had been obsessing. Does the church wish to
+hold that the Master was also an ignorant, credulous peasant, sharing
+popular superstitions? It would seem so. We must except the Catholic
+Church from this criticism, for its authorities have recognized the
+true state of affairs and have warned its followers against indulging
+in the dark practices of Necromancy or Invocation of Astral
+Intelligences.
+
+Occult science informs its students of the various planes of life,
+each of which contains its inhabitants. It teaches that on the Astral
+Plane there are disembodied entities which should not be transplanted
+to our plane. And it warns all against the dark practices, so common
+in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, of invoking and evoking these
+undesirable denizens of that plane. It is to be regretted that some of
+the modern Psychic Researchers ignore these plain warnings, for some
+of them are laying themselves open to grave consequences by reason of
+their wilful folly. We urge upon our readers to refrain from this
+dabbling in the phenomena of the Astral Plane. Some writer has well
+compared "Psychism" to a great machine, in the cog-wheels of which
+persons may become entangled only to be afterward drawn into the
+machine itself. Keep away from the wheels!
+
+This "miracle" of Jesus aroused great excitement, and it was urged
+against Him that He was going about the country driving devils into
+people's flocks and herds, causing their destruction. The priests
+fomented the popular feeling, and encouraged the distrust, hatred and
+fear which the orthodox portion of the community was beginning to
+entertain toward the Master. The seeds of Calvary were being sown
+among the people. And their awful fruit was latent in them. Hate and
+bigotry were the essence of both seed and fruit.
+
+Jesus returned to Capernaum, and once more the little town was crowded
+with people seeking instruction and crying to be healed. The news of
+his wonderful healing power spread far and near, and people were
+carried on litters for many miles in order that they might be touched
+by the hands of the Master.
+
+About this time there came to Him one Jairus, a man of eminence in the
+community and in the church. Jairus had a little daughter about twelve
+years of age, who was taken seriously ill, and who had been given up
+as incurable by the physicians.
+
+With his daughter lying at death's door, Jairus hastened to the scene
+of the Master's meetings, and, throwing himself at His feet, besought
+Him to heal his beloved child ere she passed beyond the dark portals
+of the unknown. The Master, feeling compassion for the father's great
+grief, paused in His teaching and started toward Jairus' home. His
+mind charged with the concentration of healing thought, and His
+organism filled with the vital forces aroused to perform the task, He
+felt some one touch the hem of His garment in search of healing power,
+and He at once recognized the occurrence, saying, "The power hath been
+drawn from me. Who touched my garment?" As they approached the house
+of Jairus, the servants came running out with wild cries and
+lamentations, announcing that the child had died while awaiting the
+coming of the Healer. The father broke down at this terrible news,
+coming at the very moment of his greatest hope. But Jesus bade him to
+have faith and still believe. Then, accompanied by three of His
+disciples--John, Peter and James--He entered the chamber of death.
+Waving back the weeping family and the neighbors who had gathered,
+"Stand back," He cried, "the child is not dead--she but sleepeth."
+
+An indignant cry went up from the orthodox relatives and friends at
+these words of the Master. How dared He so mock the very presence of
+the dead, whom the physicians had left, and over whom the priests had
+already begun the last sacred rites? But, heeding them not, the Master
+passed His hands over the child's head, and took her little cold palms
+within his own. Then began a strange happening. The little chest began
+to heave, and the white wan cheeks began to show traces of color. Then
+the arms and hands began to move, and the wasted limbs drew slightly
+up. Then, opening her eyes with a wondering look, the child gazed at
+the Healer and smiled gently at Him. Then the Master, with a look of
+gentle tenderness, withdrew from the room, after ordering that
+nourishing food be brought for the child.
+
+Then began the usual dispute. Some declared that another had been
+raised from the dead, while others declared that the child had but
+been in a trance and would have awakened anyway. Had not even the
+Healer declared that she only slept? But Jesus heeded not the
+disputants, but returned to the scene of His work.
+
+The work went on in its accustomed way. He began to send His apostles
+away on longer and more extended tours, having fully instructed them
+in the occult methods of healing. Great success attended their efforts
+and the best reports came in from all sides. The authorities
+recognized to a still greater extent the growing influence of the
+young Master, and His actions were still more closely watched by the
+spies. Reports of His teachings and work were carried to Herod, who,
+recognizing in them the same note that had been struck by John the
+Baptist, who had been put to death, perceived that though men might
+die, the spirit of their teachings would still live on. No wonder the
+guilty ruler should cry in terror, "This verily is the spirit of John,
+whom I put to death, risen from the grave to wreak vengeance upon me!"
+And the authorities reported to Rome that here was a young fanatic,
+whom many believed to be the Messiah and coming King of the Jews, who
+had thousands of followers all over the land. And word came back from
+Rome, in due time, to watch carefully over the man, who was
+undoubtedly striving to incite an insurrection, and to imprison Him or
+put Him to death as soon as the evidence was sufficient to convict
+Him.
+
+Jesus about this time was near a small fishing town called Bethseda,
+on the lake about seven miles from Capernaum. Near this place His boat
+landed at a place on the beach where He had hoped to take a few days'
+rest. But, alas, a great crowd had hastened to the place of
+disembarkation, and now gathered around Him, demanding teaching and
+healing. Putting aside His mental and physical fatigue, He attended to
+the wants of the crowd. Healing now, and then teaching, He threw
+Himself into His work with fervor and zeal. There were over five
+thousand people gathered together around Him, and toward evening the
+cry went up that there was not sufficient food in the camp to begin to
+feed the multitude. A great tumult arose among the crowd, and
+complaints and even curses began to be heard. The spiritual wants were
+forgotten, and the physical began to manifest itself in a most
+insistent manner. What was to be done?
+
+He called together those of His company who had been entrusted with
+the care of the food which the little company carried with it. And, to
+His sorrow, He learned that the entire stock of food consisted of five
+loaves of bread and two fishes. And the little band carried
+practically no money with it, for they depended upon the hospitality
+of the country and the offerings by the faithful. The disciples
+advised that the Master order the crowd to disperse and return to
+Bethseda for food. But Jesus felt loath to do this, particularly when
+there were so many invalids in the gathering who had traveled so many
+miles to see Him, and who had not yet been healed. And so He decided
+to give the company its food by means of His power.
+
+He bade His people divide the multitude into little groups of fifty
+people, who were then instructed to be seated for a meal. Then He
+ordered the scanty supply of available food to be brought before Him,
+and, placing His hands over it, He offered a blessing, then ordered
+His people to serve the throng. They began to serve out the food with
+looks of wonder and amazement. Had the Master lost His senses? But in
+some way the food seemed miraculously to increase and multiply, until
+at last all of the five thousand had been fully supplied and their
+hunger appeased. And then, after all had been served and had eaten,
+the scraps and fragments which were gathered up filled many wicker
+baskets and were distributed to the poorer people in the company for
+tomorrow's use.
+
+But trouble arose. The people, with well filled stomachs, feeling that
+here indeed was royal bounty and the power with which to feed them
+forever free of charge, began to wax enthusiastic and shouts ascended.
+"The Messiah! King of the Jews! Provider of the People! Son of David!
+Ruler over Israel!" were the words which soon swept the crowd off of
+its feet. And then some of the bolder ones, or else the hired spies
+who wished to place Him in a compromising position, began to suggest
+that the crowd form itself into an army and march from city to city
+with Jesus at its head, until at last they would place Him upon the
+throne of Israel at Jerusalem. Jesus, recognizing the peril to His
+mission, managed to dissuade the hot-heads from their plans, but still
+fearing that the authorities might come down upon the assemblage,
+ordered that the Twelve take the boat and put out for the other side
+of the lake. He sent them off as a precaution, but He, Himself,
+remained with the crowd and faced the threatened danger.
+
+He retired to the hills near by and spent the night in meditation.
+Then early in the morning, He noticed that a storm was rising over the
+lake and that the tiny boat containing His disciples would be in great
+danger. In a few moments they might be overwhelmed. He wished to be
+with them to comfort and re-assure them. No boat being handy, he
+stepped boldly out upon the water and walked rapidly toward the
+direction in which He knew the boat must be. Scarcely conscious of the
+occult power of levitation that He was using to overcome the power of
+gravitation, He moved rapidly toward His followers. Soon He overtook
+them, and they, seeing a white figure moving swiftly over the water
+toward them, were affrighted, believing it to be a spirit or ghost.
+"It is I, be not afraid!" called out the Master to them. Then Peter
+cried out, "Lord, if Thou it be, direct me to walk to Thee also on the
+waves!" And the Master, smiling, so directed him. And Peter, whose
+latent occult power was aroused by his great faith in the Master,
+sprang over the side and took several steps toward Him. But, suddenly
+losing his faith and courage, his power also left him, and he began to
+sink beneath the waves. But the Master grasped his hand and led him in
+safety to the boat and both entered it. Then the crew fell to and with
+great enthusiasm righted the boat and proceeded to the shore near
+Capernaum.
+
+In the case of Peter and his experience in walking on the water, we
+have a striking instance of the well known power of the mental
+attitude of Faith in the manifestation of occult power. All occultists
+know this, and without feeling an implicit faith in the Power with
+them, they do not attempt certain forms of manifestation. They know
+that with Faith miracles may be performed which are impossible
+otherwise. So long as Peter held his Faith he was able to counteract
+certain laws of nature by means of other laws not so well known. But
+as soon as Fear took the place of Faith his power left him. This is an
+invariable occult principle, and in the recital of this story of Peter
+on the water is to be found a whole volume of occult instruction--to
+those who are able to read it.
+
+Arriving safely on the shores of the lake, Jesus resumed His work
+while the ever-present gathering of people went on in its accustomed
+way. But on the opposite shore of the lake the crowd who had been fed
+on the loaves and fishes were in an angry mood. They cried out that
+they had been deserted by their leader, and that the expected loaves
+and fishes--the free meals that they had expected would continue--had
+been denied them. They also complained bitterly that the reign of
+miracles had not continued. And they began to revile the Master that
+they had acclaimed the night before. And so Jesus experienced the
+ingratitude and the unreasonable words of the public just as all great
+teachers have done. The seekers after the loaves and the fishes,
+demanding to be fed and clothed without their own work--the seekers
+after miracles, demanding fresh wonder-workings--have ever been the
+bane of the great Teachers of the Truth. It is a hard and bitter
+truth, but all teachers and true lovers of the Truth must learn to
+meet and understand it. The mob which reveres a spiritual Master today
+is equally ready to rend him to pieces tomorrow.
+
+And still more trouble arose from this mistaken kindness which led
+Jesus to feed the crowd by His occult powers, which, by the way, He
+knew to be in opposition to the well-established custom of the Occult
+Brotherhoods. The formalists, Pharisees and Scribes, having heard of
+the occurrence, gathered about the Master and accused Him of violating
+one of the forms and ceremonies prescribed by the ecclesiastical
+authorities--the rite which required the faithful to wash their hands
+before beginning a meal. They accused Him of heresy and false
+teaching, which tended to lead the people away from their accustomed
+ceremonies and observances. Jesus waxed indignant and, turning on His
+critics, hurled burning replies upon them. "Ye hypocrites!" He cried,
+"You cling to the commandments of men and neglect the commandments of
+God! You cleanse your hands but not your souls! You are the blind
+leaders of the blind, and both yourselves and your followers fall in
+the mire and ditches! Away with you and your hypocrisy!" But the
+adverse comment aroused by His actions would not down, and,
+discouraged and disheartened by the evidences of the barrenness of the
+soil in which He had been sowing the precious seeds of the Truth, He
+gathered together His followers and departed into Tyre and Sidon, a
+quieter region, that He might rest and meditate over new plans and
+work. He could see the beginning of the end.
+
+To understand the nature of the position of the Master at this time,
+it must be remembered that His strong hold had ever been with the
+masses of the people, who were His enthusiastic admirers. So long as
+He remained entrenched in the heart of the populace, the temporal and
+ecclesiastical authorities dared not attack Him without a popular
+uprising of no mean proportions. But now that they had managed to wean
+away His public from Him they pressed Him harder and harder with their
+persecutions and complaints. And so at last they had managed to render
+Him almost an unpopular outcast. They forced Him away from the larger
+towns, and now He was wandering among the less populous regions of the
+country, and even there the spies and agents of the authorities hunted
+Him down, seeking to further entrap and compromise Him.
+
+About this time Jesus revealed to His apostles the facts of His Divine
+origin which was now plain to Him. He also told them of the fate which
+awaited Him, and which He had willingly chosen. He told them not to
+expect the fruits of His work at this time, for He was but sowing the
+seeds of the fruit which would not grow and bear fruit for many
+centuries. He gave them the Mystic secret of the nature of His work,
+which is taught to the Initiates of the Occult Brotherhoods even unto
+this day. But even these chosen men scarcely grasped the true import
+of His teachings, and once He was rendered almost broken hearted at
+over-hearing a discussion among them regarding high offices which they
+hoped to acquire.
+
+Jesus now felt that the time had come for Him to move on to Jerusalem
+to meet there the crowning act of His strange career. And, knowing
+full well that such a course would be virtually thrusting His head
+into the very jaws of the lion of ecclesiastical and temporal
+authority, He set His feet firmly on the road which led to Jerusalem,
+the capital city, and the center of ecclesiastical influence. And that
+road was a hard one to travel, for, as He neared the capital, His
+enemies increased in number and the opposition to Him grew stronger.
+At one village He had been denied the right of shelter, an indignity
+almost unknown in Oriental lands. In another place a large rock was
+hurled at Him and wounded Him severely. The mob had turned against Him
+and was repaying His kind services with abuse and personal violence.
+And this is ever the lot of the teacher of the Truth who scatters the
+sacred pearls of Truth before the swine of the unworthy multitude of
+people. Over and over again has this fact been brought home to those
+who would labor for the good of the world. And still we hear the
+querulous complaint that the Inner Teaching is reserved for the
+Few--why not scatter it broadcast among the people? The stake, the
+rack, the stones, the prison cell, the cross and their modern
+prototypes--these are the silent answers to the question.
+
+Moving on toward Jerusalem the little company reached Perea, a number
+of miles from Bethany, at which latter place dwelt a family of His
+friends--the two sisters, Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus.
+At this place He was met by a messenger from Bethany, who bore the sad
+news that His friend Lazarus was sick unto death, and who also begged
+the Master to return to Bethany and cure the man. But this Jesus
+refused to do, and allowed several days to pass without answering the
+summons. At the end of the several days He started toward Bethany,
+telling His disciples that Lazarus was dead. And reaching Bethany they
+found that it was indeed so--Lazarus was dead and in the tomb.
+
+Jesus was received with scowling antagonism. The people seemed to say,
+"Here is this heretical imposter again. He feared to come even to the
+aid of His dying friend. His power has failed Him and He now stands
+discredited and exposed!" Then came Martha, who reproached the Master
+with His indifference and delay. He answered her that Lazarus should
+rise again, but she doubted His word. Then came Mary, whose grief
+brought tears even from the Master, who had seen so much of human
+suffering as to have found his eyes refuse to weep.
+
+Then asked the Master, "Where have you laid him away?" and they took
+Him to the tomb, followed by the curious mob hungering for the sight
+of more wonders from the man whom they feared even while hating and
+reviling Him. Jesus stood before the dreary tomb and bade the men roll
+away the stone that closed the mouth of the tomb. The men hesitated,
+for they knew that a corpse lay within, and they even perceived the
+characteristic odor of the tomb issuing therefrom. But the Master
+insisting upon it, they rolled away the stone and Jesus stood full in
+front of the dark opening to the cavern.
+
+He stood there for a few moments wrapt in meditation and showing
+evidences of strong mental concentration. His eyes took on a strange
+look, and in every muscle He showed that He was summoning to the task
+every particle of the power at His command. He was throwing off the
+matters that had been occupying His mind during the past weeks, that
+He might hold his mind "one-pointed," as the Oriental occultists term
+it--that He might concentrate clearly and forcibly upon the task
+before Him.
+
+Then, arousing His reserve force, in a mighty effort, He cried loudly,
+in a voice of authority and power, "Lazarus! Lazarus! Come forth!"
+
+The people gasped with horror at this calling forth a corpse which was
+in the process of disintegration and decay, and a cry of remonstrance
+went up, but Jesus heeded it not. "Lazarus! Lazarus! Come forth, I
+command thee!" he cried again.
+
+And then at the mouth of the cavern could be seen something startling.
+It was a ghastly figure, bound and clad in the grave-clothes of that
+country, which was struggling to free itself and to move toward the
+light. It was indeed Lazarus! And, after tearing off the stained
+grave-clothes which still retained the horrid stench of decaying
+matter, his body was found to be sweet and clean and pure as that of
+the infant. Jesus had performed a wonder-work far beyond any
+manifestation He had heretofore shown to the world.
+
+The excitement occasioned by this crowning wonder, coming to Jerusalem
+after a lull in which it had thought that the Master had retired into
+insignificant seclusion, aroused again into activity the authorities,
+who now determined to make an end to the matter and to suppress this
+pestilent charlatan once and for all. Raising a decaying corpse from
+the tomb, indeed! What new fraudulent marvels would He not work next
+in order to delude the credulous people and to bring them once more
+around his rebellious standard? The man was dangerous without doubt,
+and must be put where He could do no harm--and that at once.
+
+Within a few hours after the receipt of news that Lazarus had walked
+from the tomb, the Sanhedrin, the great Jewish ecclesiastical council,
+was in session, called hastily by its officers to take vigorous action
+concerning this impious, heretical imposter who had been allowed to
+mock at established order and religion for too long a time. He must be
+quieted ere he arouse the people once more. The Roman authorities were
+warned by the Jewish ecclesiastics that this dangerous man now
+approaching the capital claimed to be the Jewish Messiah, and that His
+aims were to overturn the Temple authorities first, and then establish
+Himself as King of the Jews, and place Himself at the head of a
+revolutionary army which would attempt to defy and defeat the rule of
+mighty Rome herself.
+
+And so all the machinery was set in motion, and the officers of the
+law were all on the alert to take advantage of the first overt act of
+Jesus and His followers, and to throw them into prison as enemies of
+society, religion and of the state. The Roman authorities were
+agitated at the reports coming to them from the highest Jewish
+authorities, and were prepared to crush the rebellion at the first
+sign. The Jewish priests were in solemn convocation and at the
+instigation of Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jews, they determined
+that nothing but the death of this false Messiah would put an end to
+the agitation which threatened to drive them from power and authority.
+And so the die was cast.
+
+And meanwhile Jesus was resting in Bethany, surrounded by great
+throngs who were pouring into the place to see Lazarus, and to renew
+their allegiance to the Master whom they had so basely forsaken.
+Time-servers ever, the latest miracles had revived their fading
+interest and waning faith, and they flocked around the Master as
+noisy, enthusiastic and as full of fulsome praise as ever. And
+yesterday they had damned Him, and tomorrow they would cry "Crucify
+Him!" For such is the nature of the multitude of men. Of the
+multitudes of Jesus' followers, none remained to acknowledge
+allegiance in His hour of arrest--even among the chosen twelve, one
+betrayed Him, one denied Him, and _all_ fled away when He was taken
+captive. And for _such_ the Son of Man lived and taught and suffered.
+Surely His _life_ was the greatest miracle of all.
+
+
+
+
+THE EIGHTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE END OF THE LIFE WORK.
+
+Resting for a short time before His formal entry into Jerusalem, the
+Master sought the seclusion of the sparsely settled districts near the
+wilderness. In and around the village of Ephraim, in Perea, in parts
+of Galilee, He wandered with the Twelve. But even there He continued
+His work of healing and teaching.
+
+But even this temporary respite from the inevitable lasted but a short
+time. Jesus determined to march direct to the seat of the
+ecclesiastical and temporal authority which was arrayed against Him.
+And so, just before the coming of the Passover time, He gathered
+together the Twelve and set out on the final stage of the journey. The
+pilgrims journeying to the capital were burning with curiosity and
+excitement concerning this journey of the Master to the home of His
+foes. Rumors were circulated that He intended to gather His forces
+together and sweep the enemy from its seats of power. It was known
+that the Sanhedrin intended to attempt to punish Him, and the people
+asked why should He move on to face His foes unless He contemplated a
+fight to the finish?
+
+This belief in His determination caused a revulsion of feeling of the
+people in His favor, and many who had deserted Him now again gathered
+around Him. They dreamt again of victory, and scented again an
+unfailing supply of loaves and fishes. They crowded around Him wishing
+to be among the victorious host. But He encouraged them not--neither
+spoke He a word to them. He knew them for the time-servers that they
+were.
+
+The crowds of Jerusalem hearing of His approach, and moved by
+curiosity to witness His triumphant entry into the City, flocked
+around the suburbs through which He would approach. At last the cry
+went up, "Here He comes!" and to their amazement and disgust the crowd
+saw Him riding quietly info the City mounted on an ass, without
+display, pretense or pose. The crowd scattered, sneering and reviling
+Him. But the pilgrims were becoming more and more enthusiastic, and
+they strewed His way with palms, shouting, "Blessed be our Messiah!
+The King of Israel approacheth."
+
+The Master proceeded directly to the Temple and performed the
+customary rites. So amazed were the authorities by His fearless
+demeanor, that they deferred laying violent hands upon Him. They
+feared a trap, and moved cautiously. They even allowed Him to retire
+to Bethany and spend the night. The next morning He returned to the
+city and dwelt among His friends there. He attended the Temple
+regularly, and pursued His work of teaching and healing in its very
+shadows.
+
+Meanwhile the clouds of the persecuting forces gathered closely around
+His head. One of the Twelve, Judas Iscariot, who was sorely
+disappointed at the Master having refused to take advantage of the
+support of the crowd to assist His claim as the Messiah and King of
+the Jews, and also fearing that he would become involved in His
+inevitable downfall, began a series of bargainings and dickerings with
+the authorities, which had for their object the betrayal of the Master
+into the hands of the authorities, the reward to be immunity from
+persecution for himself and a few pieces of silver for his pocket in
+addition.
+
+And so the time passed on, the nights being spent at Bethany and the
+days at the Temple in the capital. Finally the priests made an
+important move. They confronted Him in their official capacity and
+demanded that He prove His ordination as a Jewish Rabbi and consequent
+right to preach to the orthodox members of the church. Jesus answered
+them by asking questions that they feared to answer. Then they began
+to question Him, hoping to involve Him in ecclesiastical heresies
+which would give them their excuse to arrest Him. But He evaded them
+skilfully. They sought also to compel Him to state opinions contrary
+to the Roman authority, but He likewise escaped this net.
+
+Finally, however, they drew from Him a savage attack upon authority,
+and He cried out in indignation:
+
+     "Woe unto you, ye generation of vipers! Ye serpents! Ye
+     hypocrites! Ye oppressors of the poor! Ye professed
+     shepherds, who are but as wolves in disguise, seeking but to
+     devour the sheep whom ye have in charge! Woe unto you, ye
+     Scribes, Hypocrites, Pharisees!"
+
+Then He left the Temple and returned to Bethany to spend the night,
+after foretelling the destruction of the Temple, when there should not
+be left one of its stones upon another.
+
+That night he had a heart-to-heart talk with the Twelve. He told them
+that the end was in sight--that He was to die before many hours had
+passed--that they, the Twelve, were to become wanderers on the face of
+the earth--hunted and persecuted in His name and for His sake. A
+terrible revelation to some among them who had dreamt of earthly
+grandeur and high positions for themselves! And then Judas felt that
+the time to act had come, and he stole away to meet the High-priest
+and to close the frightful bargain with him which was to make his name
+the synonym for treachery throughout the ages.
+
+The next day, Wednesday, He rested in Bethany the whole twenty-four
+hours, evidently gathering together his reserve forces to meet the
+ordeal which He now knew was before Him. He kept apart from even His
+disciples and spent the time in meditation. And likewise was passed
+the early part of the following day, Thursday. But when the even time
+had come, He sent for the Twelve and gathered them around Him for the
+Paschal Supper, one of the rites of the Passover time.
+
+Even this last solemn occasion was marred by a petty squabble among
+the disciples regarding the order of precedence to be observed in
+their seats at the table. Judas succeeded in gaining the seat of honor
+next to the Master. Jesus startled the company by insisting upon
+washing the feet of the Twelve, an act which placed them on a pedestal
+above Him. This occult ceremony, which was not comprehended by the
+Twelve, apparently was one which the Hierophants of the Occult
+Brotherhoods performed for their associates when the latter had been
+chosen to carry out some important office or mission, or when a
+successor was about to take the place of one of them. And Jesus
+evidently so intended it. Then He bade them wash one another's feet,
+in token of the recognition of each of the high mission of the others.
+
+Then Jesus, overcome by the knowledge of the morrow, burst out in
+anguished tones, saying: "And even one of you, my chosen ones, shall
+betray me!" And several asked Him in turn, in a tone of reproach, "Is
+it I?" And Jesus shook His head at each question. But Judas asked not,
+but overcome with confusion he reached over and took a portion of
+bread from the plate before the Master. Then Jesus took a bit of bread
+and, moistening it from His plate, handed it to Judas, saying to him
+firmly, "Judas, do thy work without loss of time." And Judas, abashed,
+slunk away from the table.
+
+Then began that remarkable conversation of the Last Supper, as
+recorded in the Gospels. Then also was performed that first
+celebration of the Holy Communion, the Mystic significance of which
+shall be explained in a later lesson. Then Jesus chanted the Passover
+hymn.
+
+Then shortly after, the company left the room and walked into the
+streets, and over the meadows near by. Then under the trees of the
+Garden of Gethsemane, apart from His disciples, now reduced to Eleven,
+He gave Himself up to prayer and meditation. He called aloud to The
+Father to give Him strength for the final ordeal. Struggling with His
+doubts and fears and misgivings--conquering His physical inclination
+and impulses--He gave utterance to that supreme cry: "O Father, Thy
+will, not mine, be done!" and in so saying He cast behind Him forever
+His right of choice to stay the awful course of events which was
+pressing upon Him. Resigning His mighty occult power of defense, He
+laid Himself upon the altar of sacrifice even as the Paschal Lamb.
+
+Leaving behind Him the Garden in which He had just performed this
+greatest miracle of all--the miracle of Renunciation--He stepped out
+among His disciples, saying, "The hour has come--the betrayer is here
+to do his work."
+
+Then were heard sounds of clanking arms, and martial tread, and in a
+moment the military guard appeared on the scene, accompanied by a
+delegation of ecclesiastics, and with them, walking in advance, was
+Judas Iscariot. Judas, walking as one in a trance, approached the
+Master and, saluting Him with a kiss, cried, "Hail, Master," which was
+the signal to the guard, arranged between Judas and the High Priest.
+Then cried Jesus, "Ah, with a kiss--thou, Judas, betrayeth the Son of
+Man with a kiss! Oh!" And in that moment it seemed that the Master's
+grief had reached its utmost limit. Then the guard closed around Him
+and carried Him away.
+
+But He resisted them not. As they approached Him He called out, "Whom
+seek ye?" And the leader answered, "We seek him whom men call Jesus of
+Nazareth." Then answered the Master, "I am He whom thou seeketh!" But
+the disciples resisted the arrest, and Peter cut off the ear of one of
+the party, a servant of the High-priest. But Jesus bade His followers
+desist, and, approaching the wounded man, placed his severed ear in
+place and healed it instantly. Then He rebuked His disciples, telling
+them that, had He so desired, the whole of the legions of heaven would
+have come to His assistance. Then He bade the leader conduct Him from
+the place. But alas! as He left, He turned to bid farewell to His
+disciples, and lo! to a man they had fled and deserted Him, leaving
+Him alone in His hour of trial--yea! as every humble soul must be
+alone in its moments of supreme struggle--alone with its Creator.
+
+Then down toward the city they led Him--the Master of All Power, an
+humble captive, non-resistant and awaiting the course of The Will.
+They took Him to the palace of the Jewish High-priest, where the
+Sanhedrin was assembled in secret session awaiting His coming. And
+there He stood erect before these ecclesiastical tyrants to be
+judged--bound with the cord as a common criminal. He, whose single
+effort of His will would have shattered the whole palace to pieces and
+have destroyed every human being within its walls!
+
+And this was but the beginning. During the next eight hours He was
+subjected to six separate trials, if indeed such mock proceedings
+might be so designated. Subjected to blows, and all manner of low
+insults, the Master remained a Master. Perjured witnesses testified,
+and all manner of crimes and heresies were charged against Him. Then
+Caiaphas asked Him the all-important question, "Art thou the Christ?"
+and Jesus broke His silence to answer positively, "I am!" Then the
+High-priest cried out vehemently, rending His sacred robes in his
+pious indignation, "He has blasphemed!"
+
+From that moment there was no possible chance of escape for the
+Master. He had virtually condemned Himself by His own words. There was
+no retreat or reprieve. He was roughly pushed from the hall and like a
+common criminal was turned over to the taunts and revilings of the
+mob, which availed itself of its privileges to the full in this case.
+Insults, curses, revilings, taunts, and even blows, came fast and
+furiously upon Him. But He stood it all without a murmur. Already His
+thoughts had left earthly things behind, and dwelt on planes of being
+far above the wildest dreams of men. With His mind firmly fixed on the
+Real, the Unreal vanished from His consciousness.
+
+In the early part of the day following the night of His arrest, Jesus
+was taken before Pontius Pilate, the Roman official, for His trial by
+the civil authorities. Pilate, in his heart, was not disposed to
+condemn Jesus, for he believed that the whole trouble consisted in
+theological and ecclesiastical differences with which the civil law
+should not concern itself. His wife had warned him against becoming
+involved in the dispute, for she had a secret sympathy for the Master,
+for some reason. But he found arrayed against him the solid influence
+of the Jewish priesthood, whose power must not be opposed lightly,
+according to the policy of Rome. Then the priests had made out a civil
+case against Jesus, claiming that He had sought to incite a rebellion
+and proclaim Himself King of the Jews; that He had created public
+disorder; that He had urged the people to refuse to pay taxes to Rome.
+The case against Him was weak, and Pilate was at a loss what to do.
+Then some one of the priests suggested that as Jesus was a Galilean,
+He be turned over for trial to Herod, in whose territory the principal
+crimes were committed, and Pilate gladly availed himself of this
+technical excuse to rid himself of responsibility in the matter. And
+so the case was transferred to Herod, who happened to be in Jerusalem
+at that time on a visit. To Herod's palace the captive was taken, and
+after suffering indignities and humiliation at the hand of the tyrant,
+He was remanded back to Pilate for trial, under Herod's orders.
+
+Back to Pilate's court, followed by the crowd, went Jesus. Pilate was
+greatly annoyed that Herod should have shifted the responsibility once
+more upon his (Pilate's) court. Then he bethought himself of an
+expedient. He took advantage of the Jewish custom, observed by the
+Roman rulers, which led to the pardoning of a notorious criminal on
+the occasion of the Passover. And so he announced that he would pardon
+Jesus according to custom. But from the Jewish authorities came back
+the answer that they would not accept Jesus as the subject of the
+pardon, but demanded that Barabbas, a celebrated criminal, be pardoned
+instead of the Nazarene. Pilate found himself unable to escape the
+designs of the Jewish priesthood, and so, yielding in disgust, he
+pardoned Barabbas, and condemned Jesus to death. The cries of the mob,
+incited by the priests, sounded around the court. "Crucify him!
+Crucify him!" Pilate appeared before the priests and the populace,
+and, washing his hands in a basin, according to the Oriental custom,
+he cried to the Jews, "I wash my hands of this man's blood--upon you
+be it!" And the crowd responded with a great shout, "Upon us and our
+children be his blood!"
+
+Jesus, in the meantime, had been cruelly scourged by the barbarous
+instruments of torture of the time. His body was lacerated and
+bleeding, and He was faint from the torture and loss of blood. Upon
+His head had been thrust, in ghastly mockery, a crown of thorns which
+pressed deep into His flesh. He was refused the usual respite of
+several days before sentence and execution--He was to die that very
+day.
+
+His cross was tied to His back and He was compelled to carry it,
+fainting though He was from fatigue and torture. He staggered along
+and fell, unable to bear His heavy burden. Finally Golgotha, the place
+of the crucifixion, was reached, and the Man of Sorrows was nailed to
+the cross and raised aloft to die a lingering and painful death. On
+either side was a criminal--two thieves--His companions in suffering.
+
+He refused to partake of the drug which was granted to criminals to
+relieve their intense suffering. He preferred to die in full
+possession of His faculties. Above His head was a tablet bearing the
+inscription, "The King of the Jews," which had been placed there by
+Pilate in a spirit of ironical mockery of the Jews who had forced him
+to place this man on the cross.
+
+As the cross was raised into position the Master cried aloud, "O
+Father, forgive them--they know not what they do."
+
+Taunted by the crowds, He hung and suffered the terrible agonies of
+the cross. Even one of the crucified criminals reviled Him, asking Him
+why He did not save Himself and them? The crowd asked Him why He who
+saved others could not save Himself? But He, who could have brought
+forces to bear which would have wrought the miracle they demanded,
+answered not, but awaited the end.
+
+Then set in the delirium of death in which He cried aloud to the
+Father, asking if He had been forsaken in His misery. But the end was
+near.
+
+There arose a strange storm--darkness fell over the place--weird
+electrical disturbances manifested themselves. The winds abated and a
+strange quiet fell over all the scene, which was lighted by a ghastly
+glow. And then came the earthquake, with strange groanings and
+moanings of the earth; with frightful stenches of sulphur and gas. And
+the very foundations of Jerusalem quaked and shivered. The rocks
+before the tombs flew off, and the dead bodies were exposed to view.
+In the Temple, the veil before the Holy of Holies was rent in twain.
+
+The cries of the people as they rushed to and fro in mortal terror
+took the attention of all from the cross. Then the Roman officer in
+charge of the execution, glancing upward, saw that all was over, and,
+falling before the cross, he cried out, "Verily, this man was a god!"
+
+Jesus the Master had passed out from the body which had served as His
+tenement for thirty-three years. His body was borne away for burial,
+in a secret place. Embalmed by loving friends, it was carried to a
+place of last earthly rest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now we come to a portion of the narrative in which the occult
+traditions and teachings diverge from the account stated in the
+Gospels. We should have said _apparently_ diverge, for the two
+accounts vary only because of the varying points of view and different
+degrees of understanding of the teachers.
+
+We allude to the events of the Resurrection.
+
+It must be remembered that Jesus had informed His disciples that in
+three days He would "rise from the dead" and appear once more among
+them. To the ordinary understanding these events seem to indicate that
+the Master would once more occupy His physical body, and that His
+reappearance was to be so understood. And the Gospel narrative
+certainly seems to verify this idea, and was undoubtedly so stated
+that it might be more readily understood by the popular mind.
+
+But the occult traditions hold otherwise. They hold that Jesus really
+appeared to His disciples three days after His death, and abode with
+them for a time teaching and instructing them in the deeper mysteries
+and secret doctrines. But the mystics have always held and taught that
+His reappearance _was in the Astral Body_, and not in the discarded
+physical form.
+
+To the popular mind the physical body was almost everything, as we
+have shown in one of the earlier lessons of this series. So much was
+this so that the mass of the people expected that all mankind would
+arise from the dead at the Last Day clad in their former physical
+forms. And so, any other teaching would have been unintelligible to
+them.
+
+But to the occultists and mystics who understood the truth about the
+more ethereal vehicles of the soul, such an idea appeared crude and
+unscientific, and they readily grasped the Inner Teachings regarding
+the Resurrection, and understood the reason why Jesus would use the
+Astral Body as the vehicle of His reappearance.
+
+The Gospel narrative informs us that a guard was placed around the
+tomb to prevent the body being stolen and a consequent assertion of
+the Resurrection which the priests well knew to be expected. It
+further states that the tomb was sealed and guarded by a squad of
+Roman soldiers, but that notwithstanding these precautions the body of
+the Master actually came to life and emerged from the tomb, and that
+His followers were disturbed by the evidences that His body had been
+stolen.
+
+The occult traditions, however, state that the close friends of Jesus,
+aided by a prominent Jew who was a secret believer, obtained from the
+willing Pilate a secret order which enabled them to deposit the body
+in a safe and secret resting place where it gradually resolved itself
+into the dust to which all that is mortal must return. These men knew
+that the Resurrection of the Master had naught to do with mortal
+fleshly form or body. They knew that the immaterial soul of the Master
+still lived and would reappear to them clad in the more ethereal body
+made manifest to their mortal senses. Every occultist will understand
+this without further comment. To others we advise that they read the
+occult teachings concerning the Astral Body and its characteristics.
+This is no place in which to again describe at length the phenomena of
+the Astral Body of Man.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The first to see the Master in His Astral Form was Mary of Magdala, a
+woman admirer and follower of her Lord. She was weeping beside the
+empty tomb, when looking up she saw a form approaching. The Astral
+Form was indistinct and unfamiliar, and at first she did not recognize
+it. Then a voice called her name, and looking up she saw the form
+growing more distinct and familiar, and she recognized the features of
+her Master.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+More than this, the occult legends assert the truth of some of the
+traditions of the early Christian Church, namely, that in the three
+days succeeding the scene of Calvary there appeared in and around
+Jerusalem the disembodied forms of many persons who had died a short
+time previously. It is said that the Astral Bodies of many dead Jews
+revisited the scenes of their former life, and were witnessed by
+friends and relatives.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then Jesus appeared in His Astral Body to the disciples. The
+traditions have it that two of the eleven met Him on the afternoon of
+the day when He first appeared to Mary--Easter Sunday. Strange to say,
+they did not at first recognize Him, although they walked the road
+with Him and afterward ate at the same table. This failure to
+recognize the Master is wholly beyond ordinary explanation and the
+churches make no real attempt to make it understandable. But the
+occult traditions say that Jesus had not wholly materialized His
+Astral Body at first, for reason of prudence, and that consequently
+His features were not distinctly and clearly marked; then at the meal
+He caused His features to be fully materialized so that the disciples
+might readily recognize Him. All occultists who have witnessed the
+materialization of an Astral Body will readily understand this
+statement. The orthodox theory of Jesus having reappeared in His
+physical body wholly fails to explain this nonrecognition by His
+disciples, who had been His everyday companions before His death. The
+slightest consideration should show which statement is nearer the
+bounds of reasonable probability.
+
+Jesus remained visible to the chosen few for forty days. The testimony
+of several hundred people attested the fact. There are a number of
+mystic legends about some of His appearances, which are not mentioned
+in the Gospel narratives. One of these states that He appeared before
+Pontius Pilate and forgave him for the part he had played in the
+tragedy. Another that Herod witnessed His form in his bedchamber.
+Another that He confronted the High-priests in the Temple and brought
+them to their knees in terror. Another that He came one night to the
+Eleven, who sat behind bolted doors in hiding, and saying to them,
+"Peace be unto you, my beloved," vanished from sight.
+
+The Gospels record another appearance before the Eleven, upon which
+occasion Thomas, the doubter, satisfied himself of the identity of the
+Astral Body by placing his fingers in the wounds, which, of course,
+were reproduced in the Astral Form according to the well known laws
+regarding the same.
+
+This coming and going of Jesus--these sudden appearances and
+disappearances--these manifestations of His form only to those whom He
+wished to see Him, and His concealment from those whom He desired to
+remain in ignorance of His return, all show conclusively to every
+occultist the nature of the vehicle which He used for manifestation
+upon His return. It would seem incredible that there could be any
+general doubt on the subject were the public informed on the laws
+concerning the Astral World phenomena.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Gospel narrative shows that the disciples recognized that Jesus
+was not a "spirit" in the sense of being an airy, unsubstantial form.
+They felt His body, and saw Him eat--but what of that? The laws of
+materialization of Astral forms make it possible, under certain
+conditions, that the Astral Form become so thoroughly materialized
+that it may not only be seen but actually felt. Even the records of
+the English Society for Psychical Research prove this fact, leaving
+out of account the phenomena with which all advanced occultists are
+familiar.
+
+Then, one day He appeared to the disciples, and they accompanied Him
+to the hills, Jesus talking to them regarding their future work on
+earth. He then bade them farewell, and began to fade away from their
+sight. The common account pictures Him as ascending into the air until
+out of sight, but the mystic account informs us that His astral form
+began to slowly dematerialize and He gradually faded away from the
+sight of His beloved followers, who stood gazing in wistful longing at
+His form which, each moment, grew more and more ethereal in structure,
+until finally the dematerialization was complete and His soul had cast
+off all material form, shape and substance, and so passed on to the
+higher planes of being.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In view of this explanation, does not the commonly accepted version
+seem childish and crude? Can any one at all familiar with the laws and
+phenomena of the land Behind the Veil, suppose that _a physical body_
+could or would pass on to the planes in which the ordinary forms of
+matter do not exist? Such ideas are fit only for minds which find it
+necessary to think of the "resurrection of the body" of all departed
+souls, in order to conceive of Immortality. To the occultist, the
+physical body is merely a temporary vehicle for the soul which the
+latter discards at the proper time. It has nothing to do with the real
+being of the soul. It is merely the shell which is discarded by the
+soul, as the chrysalis shell is discarded by the butterfly when it
+spreads its wings for its aerial flight into a new world.
+
+All these ideas about the immortality of the mortal body are the
+product of materialistic minds unused to thinking of the higher planes
+of life, and unable to grasp even the mental concept regarding the
+same. Of the earth, earthly, are these conceptions and ideas. And the
+sooner that Christianity sheds them as discarded shells the sooner
+will the church experience that revival of true spirituality that
+devout souls see the need of, and for which they are so earnestly
+praying.
+
+The churches are so wedded to materialistic thought that a preacher
+does not even hint at the existence of phases of life above the
+physical lest he be termed "a spiritualist" or accused of being
+"spooky." In the name of Truth, is the teaching, that _man is a
+spiritual being_, inconsistent with the teachings of Christ and the
+records of the Scripture? Must one forego all such beliefs, in favor
+of a heathenish creed of "physical body" resurrection of the dead--an
+immortality in the worn-out mortal body long since discarded? Which is
+the true spiritual teaching? Can there be any doubt regarding the same
+in a mind willing to think for itself? It seems sad that the orthodox
+churches do not see this, and cease forcing out of their congregations
+all thinkers who dare assert the existence of a soul independent of
+the physical body.
+
+What is the use of a soul, if the physical bodies of the dead are to
+be resurrected in order that their owners may enjoy immortality? And
+where are the souls of these dead bodies now residing and abiding
+pending the coming of the Last Day? Are the souls of the dead with
+their bodies? If not, then they must be living a life independent of
+the physical body--and if such be the case, why should they afterward
+be required to take on their worn-out physical bodies which they have
+managed so well without during their disembodied life? What becomes of
+those who had diseased, deformed or frail bodies during their mortal
+life--will they be compelled to inhabit these bodies through all
+eternity? Will the owners of aged, worn out bodies be compelled to
+re-assume them at the Last Day? If not, why the necessity of a
+physical body at all, in the future life? Do the angels have physical
+bodies? If not, why should souls require them on higher planes? Think
+over these questions and then realize how materialistic is the current
+Christian conception, when compared with that of Mystic Christianity,
+which teaches spiritual evolution from lower to higher planes of
+being, and on to planes of being beyond even the faintest conception
+of men of the present day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The occult traditions teach that during the forty days of Jesus'
+appearance in the Astral Body, He imparted many of the Higher Truths
+to His disciples. They state that He even took some of them out of
+their bodies and showed them the higher Astral Planes of Being. He
+also informed them regarding the real nature of His mission which He
+now clearly saw with His spiritual mind, the cloud of His mortal mind
+being now removed.
+
+He told them that the real work of His followers was the sowing of the
+seed of the Truth, without regard to immediate results. He told them
+that the real fruition would not come for many centuries--yea, not
+until the passing of over two thousand years or more. He told them
+that the passage of the centuries would be like the preparing of the
+soil for the great work of the Truth, and that afar in the distance
+would be the real fruit season.
+
+He taught them regarding the Second Coming of Christ, when the real
+Truth of His teachings should become apparent to mankind and the true
+Life of the Spirit should be lived by the race. He taught them that
+their work was to keep alight the Flame of the Spirit and to pass it
+on to worthy followers.
+
+This and many other things He told them, before He passed on.
+
+And the mystics teach that He still lives in the world, diffused among
+all the living souls on earth, striving ever to lead them to a
+recognition of the Real Self--the Spirit Within. He is with us ever as
+an Abiding Spirit, a Comforter, a Helper, an Elder Brother.
+
+He is not gone from us! He is here with us now and forever, in Actual
+Spirit Communion!
+
+The Lord hath indeed Risen--Risen from Mortal Form to Immortal
+Spiritual Existence!
+
+
+
+
+THE NINTH LESSON.
+
+
+THE INNER TEACHINGS.
+
+The first and main phase of the Inner Teachings of Mystic Christianity
+is that connected with the Mystery of the Life of Jesus. The outer
+teachings give but an imperfect view of the real life and nature of
+the Master, and theologians have built up an edifice of dogmatic
+theory around the same. The Mystery of the Life of Jesus forms the
+subject of some important Inner Teachings of the Mystic Fraternities
+and Occult Brotherhoods, and is considered by them to be the
+foundation of the other teachings. And so we shall consider this phase
+of the subject at this point.
+
+In the first place we must remember that the soul of Jesus was
+different from the souls of other men. His was a "virgin birth"--not
+in the commonly accepted sense of the term, but in the occult sense as
+explained in the second lesson of this series. His soul was fresh from
+the hand of the Creator--His spirit had not been compelled to work
+through repeated incarnations, pressing forward for expression through
+humble and ignoble forms. It was free from taint, and as pure as the
+Fountain from which is flowed. It was a virgin soul in every sense of
+the term.
+
+This being so, it follows that it was not bound by the Karma of
+previous incarnations--as is the case with the ordinary soul. It had
+no entangling ties--it had no seeds of desire and action planted in
+previous lives, which were pressing forward toward expression in His
+life. He was a Free Spirit--an Unbound Soul. And therefore He was not
+only unbound by any Karma of His own, but was also free (by nature)
+from the Karma of the race or of the world.
+
+The absence of personal Karma left Him free from the selfish personal
+Desire which binds men to the wheel of action and personal ambition.
+He had no desire or thought for personal aggrandizement or glory, and
+was perfectly free (by nature) to work for the good of the race as an
+outside observer and helper, without suffering the pains and sorrows
+of race-life, had He so wished. But He chose otherwise, as we shall
+see in a moment.
+
+The absence of Race-Karma, or World-Karma, freed Him from the
+necessity of the pains of humanity, which are a part of its collective
+Karma. He would have been perfectly able to live a life absolutely
+free from the pains, trials and troubles that are the common lot of
+Man, owing to the Race-Karma. He would have escaped persecution,
+physical and mental pains, and even death, had He so elected. But He
+chose these things of His own free will, in order to accomplish the
+great work that He saw before Him as a World-Savior.
+
+In order for Jesus to enact His part as the Redeemer and Savior of the
+race, it was necessary for Him to take upon Himself His share of the
+Karma of the race--virtually taking upon Himself the "sins of the
+world." Before He could lift the burden from the race of men, He must
+become a man among men.
+
+To understand this more clearly we must remember that to a being such
+as Jesus--a soul free from Karma--there would be no such thing as
+temptation, longings, desires, or any of the mental states of the
+ordinary man with the Karma of successive past incarnations resting
+within him as seeds of action pressing forward ever for unfoldment and
+expression.
+
+Jesus, the free soul, would have been practically an outside observer
+of the world's affairs, and not influenced by any of its ordinary
+incentives to action. In this state He could have aided the world as a
+teacher and instructor, but He would not have been able to accomplish
+His great task of Redeeming the world, in its highest spiritual
+significance, as we shall see as we proceed. It was necessary for Him
+to take upon Himself the burden of the earth-life in order to become
+the Savior of the people of the earth.
+
+The occult teachings inform us that during His sojourn abroad, Jesus
+was simply a teacher, with but a dim perception of His real mission.
+But gradually He began to experience periods of Illumination in which
+He recognized His real nature and the difference between Himself and
+other men. Then came to Him the conviction of the mighty work that lay
+before Him in the redemption of the race, and He began to see the
+necessity of entering into the Karmic circle of the race in order to
+carry out the plan. This came gradually, by slow degrees, and the
+final sacrifice was made only in the Wilderness after His Baptism by
+John.
+
+In the Wilderness, after His long fast and His days of meditation, the
+way opened up for Him to take upon Himself the burden of the Karma of
+the earth people. In that scene of the most tremendous spiritual
+struggle that the earth has ever witnessed, Jesus deliberately bent
+His shoulders that the weight be placed upon His back. From that
+moment the earth-souls received a blessing far beyond the
+comprehension of the mind of the ordinary man. Into the Karma-bound
+circle came this mighty soul, animated by Pure Spirit, for the purpose
+of lifting a great portion of the burden, and of joining in the work
+of the actual unfoldment and redemption of the race.
+
+For be it remembered that, being a free soul animated by Pure Spirit,
+Jesus was A GOD--not a man, although inhabiting the fleshly garments
+of humanity. His power was superior to that of many of the high
+intelligences scattered throughout the universe, and playing important
+parts in the cosmic processes. Jesus was Pure Spirit incarnate in
+human form, with all the powers of a God. Although of course
+_subordinate in expression_ to the Absolute--the Great Spirit of
+Spirit--He was in His essential nature the same in substance. Verily,
+as He Himself said, "I and the Father are One."
+
+His youthful mind was not able to grasp the truth of His real nature,
+but as that human instrument became perfected by age and training, He
+realized the Truth and perceived His own Divinity.
+
+But even a God, such as he, could not raise up the world from its
+burden of Karma, by acting _from the outside_. Under the Cosmic Laws,
+established by the Absolute, such work could be performed only _from
+within_ the circle of earth-life. And so Jesus saw that to raise up
+Man, He must become a Man. That is, to help lift the earth's Karma, He
+must enter into it, and place Himself within its Circle of Influence.
+_And this He did_.
+
+We wonder if our readers can realize, even faintly, just what this
+sacrifice meant? Think of a Pure Spirit--a Free Soul--so filled with
+the love for the race of men as to renounce deliberately, for aeons of
+time, total immunity from all mortal existence, and willingly to place
+itself under the burden of pain, woe, misery and sin which formed the
+earth-people's Karma. It was a thousand-fold greater sacrifice than
+would be that of a Man of the Highest spiritual and mental
+development--an Emerson, for example--who, in order to raise up the
+race of earth-worms, would deliberately place himself within the being
+and nature of the Group-Soul animating the race of earthworms, and
+then stay within its influence, striving ever upward and onward until
+finally, after aeons and aeons of time, he was able to bring up the
+earthworm Group Soul to the level of Man. Think of this, and then
+realize what a sacrifice Jesus made of Himself.
+
+In the Wilderness, when Jesus took the final steps of renunciation and
+sacrifice, He at once passed within the circle of the Race Karma and
+laid Himself open to all the pain, misery, temptations and limitations
+of a Man. His power, of course, remained with Him, but He was no
+longer a God outside of the world-life, but an imprisoned God working
+from within the race, using His mighty power, but bound by the Karmic
+Law. He became open to influences from which previously He had been
+immune. For instance when He was "tempted" by the Devil of Personal
+Attainment, and urged to seek worldly glory and renown, He was tempted
+only because He had taken on the world's Karma and was subject to its
+laws. As a God, He would not have felt the temptation any more than a
+man would feel the temptation of the earthworm. But as a man He was
+subject to the desires and ambitions that perplex and "devil" the
+race. And according to the rule that the greater the mental
+development the greater the power of such temptation toward
+self-aggrandizement (because of the mind being able to see more
+clearly the opportunities), Jesus was subjected to a test that would
+have been impossible to an ordinary man.
+
+Jesus, knowing full well that He had in His possession the power to
+manifest the things with which He was tempted, was compelled to fight
+off the temptation to place Himself at the head of the race as its
+ruler--as the King of the World. He was shown this picture to compare
+with the other whose last scene was Calvary--and He was called upon to
+feel the desire of the race for such things, even unto its highest
+degree. Imagine the desire for personal aggrandizement of all the
+world thought beating upon His mind demanding the expression which
+could be had through Him alone. And then imagine the struggle
+required to defeat this opposing power. Think of what the ordinary
+man has to meet and overcome to conquer the desire for Personal
+Aggrandizement--and then think of what the Master had to fight, with
+the focussed desire of the entire Race-Thought striving to express
+itself through Him! Truly the Sins of the World bore down upon Him
+with their mighty weight. And yet He knew that He had taken upon
+Himself this affliction by entering upon the Life of Man. And He met
+it like a Man of Men.
+
+It was only by fixing His mind fully and firmly upon what He knew to
+be His Real Self--the Spirit Within His soul, and holding His mind
+"one-pointed" upon the fact--that He was able to fight the fight and
+conquer. Seeing the Truth, He could see the folly and illusion of all
+that the world had to offer, and He could put forth His mighty Will
+bidding the Tempter retire from the scene and from His mind. It was in
+this full knowledge of His Spirit--His Real Self--that He was able to
+rebuke the Tempter, saying, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God!"
+He held fast to His realization of the God Within--the Spirit that was
+within Him and all men--and thus denied out of existence the power of
+the earth-things--the illusions of mortality--the _maya_ of the race.
+
+But not alone this and other weaknesses of man's mortal nature were
+constantly besieging the mind of the Master after He had taken upon
+Himself the Karma of the Earth. He had also taken upon Himself the
+mortal life consequent of the human frame which He inhabited. He must
+live, suffer and die--even as all men--and according to the law of
+mortality. And so He moved forward toward the end, knowing fully what
+lay before Him. He, a God, had taken upon Himself all these attributes
+of mortality, in order to be able to perform His work as the Redeemer
+and Savior of the race.
+
+And so, He lived, and suffered and died--even as you and I. He drank
+the cup to the dregs, suffering as only such a finely organized mental
+nature could suffer. And, men, poor creatures, speak of His sufferings
+as terminating with the last breath upon the cross. Why, they only
+_began_ there!
+
+For know ye, that Jesus the Christ is still within the race of men,
+suffering their woes, paying with them their penalty, every day, every
+hour--yea, and must remain so throughout the ages, until finally the
+soul of every man, yea, even that of the last man; the most degraded
+man in the world, is fully cleansed of the Karmic taint, and thus
+fully "redeemed" and "saved." And within the soul of every man is
+found the Christ Principle, striving ever to elevate and lift up the
+individual toward that realization of the Real Self--and this is what
+"redemption" and "salvation" really means. Not a saving from
+hell-fire, but a saving from the fire of carnality, and mortality. Not
+a redemption from imaginary sins, but a redemption from the muck and
+mire of earth-life. The God within you is like the fabled Hindu god
+who descended into the body of a pig and then forgot Himself. It is to
+bring you to a realization that you are a god and not a pig, that
+Jesus, the Master, is working within your soul as the Christ
+Principle. Have you never heard His voice, crying from within your
+soul, "Come out--come out of your pig-nature and realize the god that
+you verily are!" It is this "recognition, realization and
+manifestation of the god within you" that constitutes "salvation" and
+"redemption."
+
+The Occult Teachings tell us that Jesus, after His final disappearance
+from before the eyes of His apostles, passed on to the higher planes
+of the Astral World where He rapidly discarded all of His astral and
+mental vehicles which the soul had used in its manifestation. The
+Astral Body and its corresponding higher sheaths were cast off and
+discarded. That is, all except the very highest of all. Had He
+discarded every vestige of individual soul-existence His spirit would
+have immediately merged itself with the One Spirit--the Absolute--from
+which it had originally proceeded and Jesus, as an entity, would have
+disappeared entirely within the Ocean of the One Spirit. _This highest
+state of all He had deliberately resigned until the passage of ages,
+in order that He might accomplish His work as the World-Savior_.
+
+He retained the highest vehicle--the Spiritual Mind in its highest
+shade of expression--in order that as an entity He might labor for the
+race. And so, He exists at this time--one in substance with the
+Father, but yet maintaining an apparently separate entity-existence.
+But this must be remembered, that Jesus, _as Jesus the son of Mary and
+Joseph_, no longer exists. When He cast off the lower vehicles of His
+personality, His personality disappeared. But His _individuality_
+persisted--that is, He is still HE, although His personality has
+disappeared, leaving Him--the real Him--existing as the CHRIST
+PRINCIPLE.
+
+By the above statement, we mean that when a soul reaches the highest
+spiritual stage short of absolute absorption into the One Spirit, _it
+is no longer a person_, but exists as _a principle_. But that
+principle is not an inanimate mechanical force--it is a living,
+knowing, acting principle of life. This occult fact cannot be
+explained in the words of men, for no terms have been coined by which
+men can speak of it. It is only indirectly that we can hope to have
+even the advanced student grasp the fact.
+
+Jesus exists today, as the Christ Principle which _actually lives_ and
+acts, but which is not confined in a body of any kind, using the word
+"body" in its accustomed sense. As the Christ Principle or "The
+Christ" He is mingled with the life of the human race, and may be
+found immanent in the mind of every man, woman and child that has ever
+existed, does now exist, or will exist _so long as Man is Man_. Not
+only is this true of those who have lived since His passage from the
+physical body, but it is equally true of those who lived before His
+birth. This apparently paradoxical statement may be understood when we
+remember that these souls did not "die," but only "passed on" to the
+Astral Plane, from whence they re-incarnated in due time. The Christ
+(for so we shall speak of the present-state of Jesus) even entered
+into, and still abides in, the Astral Plane, as well as upon the
+Material Plane, for wherever the souls of men abide--or whatever place
+their residence may be--there is found The Christ, ever working for
+the salvation and redemption of the race.
+
+On the Astral Plane He is working in the minds of the souls abiding
+there, urging them to cast off the dross of earth-desires and to fix
+the aim upon higher things, to the end that their re-incarnations may
+be under improved conditions. On the Physical Plane He is working in
+the hearts and minds of the earth-people, striving ever to uplift to
+higher things. His aim is ever toward the liberation of the Spirit
+from its material bonds--the Realization of the Real Self. And so, in
+the hearts of all men, Christ is living, suffering, and being
+crucified every day, and this must continue until Man is redeemed and
+saved, even the last man.
+
+This wonderful sacrifice of Christ far surpasses the physical
+sacrifice of Jesus, the man. Try to imagine, if you can, even the
+faintest pangs of a being so exalted compelled to dwell in the world
+of the hearts and minds of a humanity so steeped in materiality as our
+race, knowing always the possibilities of the souls if they would but
+reach upward to higher things, and yet constantly suffering the
+knowledge of the base, carnal, material thoughts and acts flowing from
+these souls. Is not this the extreme refinement of torture? Does not
+the agony of the cross sink into insignificance beside such spiritual
+agony? You rail at the cruelty of the Jews who crucified their Savior,
+and yet you crucify _your_ Savior, with a thousandfold degree of
+torture, every day of your life, by your persistence in the
+carnalities and foolishness of mortal thought and action.
+
+The mighty uplift of the world since the death of Jesus, of which the
+present is but a faint prophecy of the future, has been due largely to
+the energizing influence of The Christ in the hearts and minds of the
+race. The sense of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man,
+which is now manifesting so powerfully in the world of Men, is but an
+instance of the work of the Christ--the Savior and Redeemer. And the
+highest dreams of the exalted souls of this generation are but
+inadequate visions of what the future will hold for the race. The work
+is just beginning to bud--the blossom and the fruit will render this
+earth a far more glorious place than even the highest ideals of heaven
+entertained by the faithful in the past. But even these things of the
+future will be poor things, when compared with the life of the higher
+planes which await the race when it has demonstrated its fitness to
+pass on and on and on to these greater glories. And ever and ever The
+Christ is working, and toiling and striving and suffering, in His
+efforts to raise humanity even one petty degree in the spiritual scale
+of being.
+
+The Christ is always with us, and if we but recognize His presence we
+shall be able to feel that warm, loving response to our soul-hunger
+and spiritual thirst which will result in our being given that we are
+so longingly craving. Here within us dwells The Christ, ever
+responding to the cry of Faith, "Believe in Me and ye shall be saved."
+What a promise this is seen to be when properly understood! What a
+source of power and comfort is opened up to every human soul when the
+Inner Truth underlying the teachings is understood! Mystic
+Christianity brings this Message of Truth to each and all of you who
+read these lines. Will you accept it?
+
+We would ask our students to pause at this point and contrast the
+teachings of Mystic Christianity regarding the doctrine of Christ, the
+Savior, with the corresponding teachings of the current Orthodox
+Theology.
+
+On the one hand we have Jesus the God-Man deliberately choosing the
+work of the World Redemption and Salvation, and descending into the
+circle of the World-Karma, relinquishing the privilege of His Godhood
+and taking upon Himself the penalties of Manhood; not only undergoing
+the sufferings of the physical man, but also binding Himself upon the
+Cross of Humanity for ages, that by His spiritual presence in and of
+the race He might lift up humanity to godhood.
+
+On the other hand, we have a picture of an angry Deity, manifesting
+purely human emotion and temper, bent on revenging himself upon the
+race which he had created, and demanding its eternal punishment in
+hell-fire; then the same Deity creating a Son whom he sent into the
+world, that this Son might be the victim of a blood-atonement and
+death upon the cross, that the Deity's wrath might be appeased and the
+blood of this Divine Lamb be accepted to wash out the sins of the
+world.
+
+Can you not see which is The Truth and which is the perversion? The
+one is from the pure fountain of Spiritual knowledge--the other
+originated in the minds of ignorant theologians who were unable to
+grasp and understand the Mystic teachings, but who built up a system
+of theology in accordance with their own undeveloped minds; making a
+God who was but a reflection of their own cruel animal natures,
+demanding, as did they themselves, blood and pain--physical torture
+and death--in order to appease a most un-Divine wrath and vengeance.
+Which of the two conceptions seems most in accord with the intuitive
+promptings of the Something Within? Which brings the greater approval
+from The Christ within your heart?
+
+
+THE CHRISTIAN CREED.
+
+There are three creeds recognized by the Christian Church--the
+Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Of these,
+the first two are commonly used, the third being not so well known and
+being seldom used.
+
+The Apostles' Creed, which is the most commonly used, is believed (in
+its present form) to be of later origin than the Nicene Creed, and
+many authorities believe it to be a corrupted rendering of the
+original declaration of faith of the Early Christians. It is as
+follows:
+
+     "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and
+     earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was
+     conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,
+     suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and
+     buried; he descended into hell; the third day he arose again
+     from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
+     right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall
+     come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy
+     Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
+     the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and
+     the life everlasting."
+
+The Nicene Creed was drawn up and adopted by the Council of Nice in
+the year A.D. 325. As originally adopted it ended with the words "I
+believe in the Holy Ghost," the present concluding clauses being added
+by the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381, excepting the words "and
+the Son," which were inserted by the Council of Toledo, A.D. 589. It
+is as follows:
+
+     "I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of Heaven
+     and earth, and all things visible and invisible; and in one
+     Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of
+     his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light,
+     very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one
+     substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who
+     for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and
+     was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was
+     made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius
+     Pilate; he suffered and was buried and the third day he rose
+     again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven,
+     and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall
+     come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead,
+     whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy
+     Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the
+     Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son is
+     worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets; and I
+     believe in one catholic and apostolic church; I acknowledge
+     one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the
+     resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."
+
+Let us now briefly examine the principal statements of these creeds,
+which were compiled centuries after Jesus' death, viewing them by the
+light of Mystic Christianity.
+
+"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and
+earth, and all things visible and invisible."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+The form of the above fundamental principle of Christian belief is
+taken from the Nicene Creed, which is somewhat fuller than the similar
+declaration in the Apostles' Creed. It requires no comment. It is a
+statement of belief in a One Creative Power, from which all things
+have proceeded. There is no attempt made to "explain" the nature of
+the Absolute, or to endow it with any of the human attributes which
+theologians have delighted in bestowing upon the One. It merely
+asserts a belief in the existence of One Supreme Being--which is all
+that is possible to man--all else is ignorant impertinence.
+
+"And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the
+Holy Ghost."--(_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten
+of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God
+of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the
+Father."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+In this declaration, the belief in the Divinity of Jesus is made. The
+Apostles' Creed shows the cruder conception, rather inclining toward
+the perverted idea of the conception of the Virgin by the aid of the
+Holy Ghost, similar to the origin of the hero-gods of the different
+religions in which the father was one of the gods and the mother a
+woman. But the Nicene creed gives at least a strong hint of the mystic
+teachings. It speaks of Him as "begotten of his Father"--"begotten,
+not made." The expressions, "God of God; Light of Light; very God of
+very God," show the idea of identical spiritual substance in the
+Spirit. And then the remarkable expression, "being of one substance
+with the Father," shows a wonderful understanding of the Mystery of
+The Christ. For, as the mystic teachings show, Jesus was a pure
+Spirit, free from the entangling desires and clogging Karma of the
+world. Identical in substance with the Father. "The Father and I are
+one," as He said. Is there anything in the Orthodox Theology that
+throws such light on this subject as is shed by Mystic Christianity's
+teaching regarding the nature of the soul of Jesus?
+
+"Born of the Virgin Mary."--(_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was
+incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made
+man."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+The Nicene Creed here gives a surprisingly clear statement of the
+Mystic teachings. "Who for us men and our salvation came down from
+heaven" shows the purpose of the incarnation. "Came down from heaven"
+shows pre-existence in the bosom of the Absolute. "And was incarnate"
+shows the descent of the Spirit into the flesh in the womb of Mary.
+"And was made man" shows the taking on of the physical body of the
+infant in the womb. Does not the Mystic teaching give a clearer light
+on this statement of the Creed?
+
+"Was crucified, dead and buried; he descended into hell; the third
+day he rose again from the dead."--(_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again
+according to the scriptures, and sitteth on the right hand of the
+Father."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+The "descent into hell" of the Apostles' Creed of course meant the
+passing to the place of disembodied souls--the lower Astral Plane.
+Even the orthodox teachers do not now pretend that the term "hell"
+meant the place of torture presided over by the Devil, which theology
+has invented to frighten people into the churches. "The third day he
+arose from the dead" (and the corresponding passage in the Nicene
+Creed) refers to the appearance in the Astral Body--the return from
+the Astral Plane in which He had sojourned for the three days
+following the crucifixion. "And ascended into heaven"--this passage
+shows the belief that He returned to the place from which He came, for
+the Nicene Creed has stated that he "_came down from heaven_ and was
+incarnate ... and was made man."
+
+The passage in both creeds stating that He then took his place "on the
+right hand of the Father" is intended to show that He took the place
+of the highest honor in the gift of the Father. The mystic teachings
+explain this by showing that The Christ is separated from The Father
+by but the most ethereal intervening of spiritual substance, and that
+He is a Cosmic Principle second in importance only to the Father.
+Truly this is the place of honor on "the right hand of the Father."
+
+"He shall come to fudge the quick and the dead."
+
+In this passage we see the intimation that not only with the "quick"
+or living people is The Christ concerned, but also with the "dead,"
+that is, with those who "passed out" before and after His time and who
+have passed on to the Astral World, as we have explained in this
+lesson. Whether or not the framers of the Creed so understood
+it--whether or not they were deluded by the tradition of the "Day of
+Judgment"--certainly the Early Christians, or rather, the mystics
+among them, understood the teachings as we have given them and spoke
+of Him as "living in the dead as well as in the living," as one of the
+occult records expresses it.
+
+"The communion of saints" is the spiritual understanding of the
+Mysteries by the Illumined Ones. "The forgiveness of sins" is the
+overcoming of the carnal mind and desires. "The resurrection of the
+dead and the life of the world to come" is the promise of life beyond
+the grave, and not the crude idea of the physical resurrection of the
+body, which has crept into the Apostles' Creed, evidently having been
+inserted at a later date in order to bolster up the pet theories of a
+school of theologians. Note that the Nicene Creed says merely "the
+dead" and not "the body." The version of the teachings preserved by
+the Mystics has a corresponding passage, "And we know the _truth_ of
+the _deathlessness of the soul_." (The italics are ours.)
+
+The consideration of remaining passages in the creeds, relating to the
+existence of the "Holy Ghost," must be deferred until our next lesson.
+
+
+
+
+THE TENTH LESSON
+
+
+
+THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
+
+The concluding statement of the Creeds (brought over from the
+preceding lesson) refers to the Holy Ghost.
+
+"I believe in the Holy Ghost." (_Apostles' Creed_.)
+
+"And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life."
+(_Nicene Creed_.)
+
+To the average Christian the nature of the Holy Ghost--one of the
+beings of the Trinity--is veiled in obscurity, and is generally
+pronounced "not to be understood." A careful examination of the
+orthodox Christian writings will show the student that the Church is
+very much at sea regarding this subject, which should be of the
+greatest importance to its priests and congregations. Ask the average
+intelligent churchman regarding the nature of the Holy Ghost, and see
+for yourself the vague, contradictory and unsatisfactory concepts held
+by the person questioned. Then turn to the encyclopaedias and other
+books of reference, and see how little is known or taught regarding
+this important subject.
+
+It is only when the teachings of Mystic Christianity are consulted
+that one receives any light on the subject. The Occult Teachings are
+quite explicit on this subject so fraught with difficulty and lack of
+comprehension on the part of the orthodox teachers and students.
+
+The teaching of Mystic Christianity, regarding the Holy Ghost, may be
+summed up by the great general statement that: _The Holy Ghost is the
+Absolute in its phase of Manifestation, as compared to its phase of
+Unmanifestation_--_Manifest Being as compared with Unmanifest
+Being_--_God Create as compared with God Uncreate_--_God acting as the
+Creative Principle as compared to God as The Absolute Being_.
+
+The student is asked to read over the above general statement a number
+of times and to concentrate his or her attention carefully upon it,
+before proceeding further with the lesson.
+
+To understand the above statement it is necessary for the student to
+remember that the Absolute may be thought of as existing in _two
+phases. Not as two persons or beings_, remember, but as in _two
+phases_. There is but One Being--there can be but One--but we may
+think of that One as existing in two phases. One of these phases is
+Being Unmanifest; the other, Being Manifest.
+
+_Being Unmanifest_ is the One in its phase of Absolute Being,
+undifferentiated, unmanifested, uncreated; without attributes,
+qualities, or natures.
+
+It is impossible for the human mind to grasp the above concept of
+Being Manifest in the sense of being able to think of it as a "Thing,
+or Something." This because of the essential being of it. If it were
+like anything that we can think of, it would not be the Absolute, nor
+would it be Unmanifest. Everything that we can think of as a "thing"
+is a relative thing--a manifestation into objective being.
+
+But we are compelled by the very laws of our reason to admit that the
+Absolute Being Unmanifest exists, for the Manifest and Relative
+Universe and Life _must have_ proceeded and emanated from a
+Fundamental Reality, which must be Absolute and Unmanifest. And this
+Being which our highest reason causes us to assume to exist is Being
+Unmanifest--God the Father--who cannot be known through the
+senses--whose existence is made known to us only through Pure Reason,
+or through the workings of the Spirit within us. In the material sense
+"God is Unknowable"--but in the higher sense He may be known to the
+Spirit of Man, and His existence may be _known_ and proven by the
+exercise of the highest faculties of the reason.
+
+Being Unmanifest is the One in its _actual_ existence and being. If
+all the world of objective life and manifestation, even to its highest
+forms, were withdrawn from manifestation, then there would be
+left--what? Simply and solely, Being Unmanifest--God the Father,
+alone. Into His Being all else would be withdrawn. Outside of Him
+there would be _nothing_. He would be Himself--One--existing in the
+phase of Being Unmanifest.
+
+We are aware that this idea may seem to be "too abstruse" for the
+minds of some of our students at first reading--it may appear like an
+assertion of a Being who is Non-Being. But, be not too hasty--take
+time--and your mind will assimilate the concept, and will find that it
+has a corresponding Truth imbedded in its inmost recesses, and then it
+will know this to be the Truth. And then will it recognize the
+existence of God the Father, as compared with God, the Holy Ghost.
+
+The Holy Ghost, as we have said, is the Absolute in its phase of
+Manifest Being. That is, it is God as manifest in the Spirit of Life,
+which is immanent in, and manifest in, all objective life and
+phenomena in the Cosmos or Universe.
+
+In previous series of lessons in the Yogi Philosophy, we have shown
+you that there was a Spirit of Life immanent in, and manifesting
+through, all forms of life. We have also shown you that everything in
+the Universe is alive--down to even the minerals, and the atoms
+composing matter. We have shown you that inasmuch as the Spirit of
+Life is the source of all Manifestations in the universe, and the "God
+in the machine" of all phenomena of force, matter and life, then it
+naturally follows that there can be nothing dead in the world--that
+there is LIFE manifesting in every object, varying only in the degree
+of manifestation. In our "Advanced Lessons" and in "Gnani Yoga" this
+subject is considered in detail. Then what is this Spirit of Life? If
+God is All, then it cannot be Something other than God. But it cannot
+well be God the Uncreate--the Absolute in its Absolute phase--the
+Being Unmanifest. Then what can it be?
+
+The student will see that the natural and logical answer to the
+question with which we have closed the preceding paragraph must be:
+Being Manifest--God in Creation--the Holy Ghost! And this is the
+Occult Teaching concerning this great mystery of Christianity. And see
+how well the framers of the Nicene Creed grasped the traditions of the
+Early Church, when it said: "And I believe in the Holy Ghost, _the
+Lord and Giver of Life_."
+
+The teaching regarding the Immanent God lies at the foundation of all
+of the Mystic teachings of all peoples, races, and times. No matter
+under what names the teaching is promulgated--no matter what the name
+of the creed or religion in which it is found imbedded--it is still
+the Truth regarding the God Immanent in all forms of life, force, and
+matter. And it always is found forming the Secret Doctrine of the
+philosophy, creed or religion. The Outer Teaching generally confines
+itself to the instruction of the undeveloped minds of the people, and
+cloaks the real Truth behind some conception of a Personal Deity, or
+Deities--gods and demi-gods, who are supposed to dwell afar off in
+some heavenly realm--some great Being who created the world and then
+left it to run itself, giving it but occasional attention, and
+reserving his consideration principally for the purpose of rewarding
+those who gave him homage, worship and sacrifices and punishing those
+who failed to conform with the said requirements. These personal
+deities are believed generally to favor the particular people who give
+them their names and temples, and accordingly to hate the enemies of
+the said tribe or nation.
+
+But the Secret Doctrine or Esoteric Teaching of all religions has
+brushed aside these primitive conceptions of undeveloped minds, and
+teach the Truth of the Immanent God--the Power inherent in and abiding
+in all life and manifestations. And Christianity is no exception to
+the rule, and in its declaration of faith in the Holy Ghost its
+esoteric principle is stated.
+
+While the tendency of the orthodox churches today is to say very
+little about God the Holy Ghost, for the reason that it cannot explain
+the meaning of the term, Mystic Christianity boldly declares its
+allegiance to this principle of the earlier teachings and reverently
+repeats the words of the Nicene Creed, "I believe in the Holy Ghost,
+THE LORD AND GIVER OF LIFE."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That there is a Secret Doctrine of Christianity is not generally known
+to the majority who claim the name of "Christian." But it has always
+been known to the mystics in and out of the church, and its flame has
+been kept steadily alight by a few devoted souls who were chosen for
+this sacred task.
+
+The Secret Doctrine of Christianity did not originate with Jesus, for
+He, Himself, was an Initiate of Mysteries which had been known and
+taught for centuries before His birth. As St. Augustine has said:
+
+     "That which is called the Christian Religion existed among
+     the ancients _and never did not exist_, from the beginning
+     of the human race until Christ came in the flesh, at which
+     time the true religion which already existed began to be
+     called Christianity."
+
+We would like to quote here a few paragraphs from the writings of a
+well known writer on religious subjects, with which statement we
+heartily agree, although our views on certain other points of teaching
+do not agree with those of this writer. He says:
+
+     "It may be said that in the present day these doctrines are
+     simply not taught in the churches; how is that? It is
+     because Christianity has forgotten much of its original
+     teachings, because it is now satisfied with only part, and a
+     very small part, of what it originally knew. 'They still
+     have the same scriptures,' you will say. Yes, but those very
+     scriptures tell you often of something more, which is now
+     lost. What is meant by Christ's constant references to the
+     'Mysteries of the Kingdom of God'--by His frequent statement
+     to His disciples that the full and true interpretation could
+     be given only to them, and that to others He must speak in
+     parables? Why does He perpetually use the technical terms
+     connected with the well known mystery-teaching of antiquity?
+     What does St. Paul mean when he says, 'We speak wisdom among
+     them which are perfect'--a well known technical term for the
+     men at a certain stage of initiation? Again and again he
+     uses terms of the same sort; he speaks of 'the wisdom of God
+     in mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the
+     world began, and which none even of the princes of this
+     world know'--a statement which could not by any possibility
+     have been truthfully made if he had been referring merely to
+     ordinary Christian teaching which is openly preached before
+     all men. His immediate followers, the Fathers of the Church,
+     knew perfectly well what he meant, for they all use
+     precisely the same phraseology. Clement of Alexandria, one
+     of the earliest and greatest of all, tells us that 'It is
+     not lawful to reveal to the profane persons the Mysteries of
+     the Word.'"
+
+     "Another consideration shows us clearly how much of this
+     early teaching has been lost. The church now devotes herself
+     solely to producing good men, and points to the _saint_ as
+     her crowning glory and achievement. But in older days she
+     claimed to be able to do much more than that. When she had
+     made a man a saint, her work with him was only just
+     beginning, for then only was he fit for the training and
+     teaching which she _could_ give him then, but cannot now,
+     because she has forgotten her ancient knowledge. Then she
+     had three definite stages in her course of
+     training--Purification, Illumination and Perfection. Now she
+     contents herself with the preliminary Purification, and has
+     no Illumination to give."
+
+     "Read what Clement says: 'Purity is only a negative state,
+     valuable chiefly as the condition of insight. He who has
+     been purified in Baptism and then initiated into the Little
+     Mysteries (has acquired, that is to say, the habits of
+     self-control and reflection) becomes rife for the Greater
+     Mysteries for the Gnosis, the scientific knowledge of God.'
+     In another place he says: 'Knowledge is more than faith.
+     Faith is a summary knowledge of urgent truths, suitable for
+     people who are in a hurry; but knowledge is scientific
+     faith.' And his pupil Origen writes of 'the popular,
+     irrational faith' which leads to what he calls physical
+     Christianity, based upon the gospel history, as opposed to
+     the spiritual Christianity conferred by the Gnosis of
+     Wisdom. Speaking of teaching founded upon historical
+     narrative, he says, 'What better method could be devised to
+     assist the masses?' But for those who are wise he has always
+     the higher teachings, which are given only to those who have
+     proved themselves worthy of it. This teaching is not lost;
+     the church cast it out when she expelled the great Gnostic
+     Doctors, but it has nevertheless been preserved, and it is
+     precisely that Wisdom which we are studying--precisely that
+     which we find to answer all the problems of life, to give us
+     a rational rule by which to live, to be to us a veritable
+     gospel of good news from on high."
+
+St. Paul indicates the existence of the Secret Doctrine of
+Christianity, when he says to the Corinthians:
+
+     "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
+     spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. I
+     fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able
+     to bear it; nay, not even now are ye able, for ye are yet
+     carnal." (_I Cor. 3:1._)
+
+Jesus said: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
+your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their
+feet, and turn and rend you." (_Matt. 7:6._)
+
+St. Clement of Alexandria has said regarding the above saying of
+Jesus:
+
+     "Even now I fear, as it is said, 'to cast the pearls before
+     swine, lest they tread them underfoot, and turn and rend
+     us.' For it is difficult to exhibit the really pure and
+     transparent words respecting the true Light to swinish and
+     untrained hearers."
+
+In the first century after Christ, the term "The Mysteries of Jesus"
+was frequently used by the Christian teachers, and the Inner Circle of
+Christians was recognized as a body of advanced souls who had
+developed so far as to be able to comprehend these mysteries.
+
+The following passage from St. Mark (4:10-12) is interesting in this
+connection:
+
+     "And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the
+     twelve asked of Him the parables. And He said unto them,
+     'Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but
+     unto them that are without, all things are done in parables:
+     that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they
+     may hear, and not understand.'"
+
+The same writer says (4:33-34):
+
+     "And with many such parables spake He the word unto them, as
+     they were able to hear it; and without a parable spake He
+     not unto them; but privately to His own disciples He
+     expounded all things."
+
+Jesus said to His disciples (_John 16:12._): "I have yet many things
+to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now." The Occult Teachings
+state that when He returned in His astral form, after the crucifixion,
+He taught them many important and advanced mystic truths, "speaking of
+the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." (_Acts 1:3._)
+
+The early Christian Fathers spake and wrote openly regarding the
+Christian Mysteries, as all students of Church History well know.
+Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, writes to certain others hoping that they
+are "well versed in the sacred Scriptures and that nothing is hidden
+from you; but to me this privilege is not yet granted." (_The Epistle
+of Polycarp, chapter 7._) Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, says that he is
+"not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For I now begin to be a disciple,
+and I speak to you as my fellow disciple." He also addresses them as
+being "initiated into the Mysteries of the Gospel, with St. Paul, the
+holy, the martyred." Again:
+
+     "Might I not write to you things more full of mystery? But I
+     fear to do so, lest I should inflict injury on you who are
+     but babes. Pardon me in this respect, lest, as not being
+     able to receive their weighty import, ye should be strangled
+     by them. For even I, though I am bound and am able to
+     understand heavenly things, the angelic orders, and the
+     different sorts of angels and hosts, the distinction between
+     powers and dominions, and the diversities between thrones
+     and authorities, the mightiness of the aeons, and the
+     preeminence of the cherubim and seraphim, the sublimity of
+     the Spirit, the kingdom of the Lord, and above all the
+     incomparable majesty of Almighty God--though I am acquainted
+     with these things, yet am I not therefore by any means
+     perfect, nor am I such a disciple as Paul or Peter."
+
+Ignatius also speaks of the High Priest or Hierophant, of whom he
+asserts that he was the one "to whom the holy of holies has been
+committed, and who alone has been entrusted with the secrets of God."
+(_Epistles of Ignatius._)
+
+St. Clement of Alexandria was a mystic of high rank in the Inner
+Circle of the Church. His writings are full of allusions to the
+Christian Mysteries. He says among other things that his writings were
+"a miscellany of Gnostic notes, according to the time philosophy,"
+which teachings he had received from Pontaemus, his instructor or
+spiritual teacher. He says of these teachings:
+
+     "The Lord allowed us to communicate of those divine
+     Mysteries and of that holy light, to those who are able to
+     receive them. He did not certainly disclose to the many what
+     did not belong to the many; but to the few to whom He knew
+     that they belonged, who were capable of receiving and being
+     moulded according to them. But secret things are intrusted
+     to speech, not to writing, as is the case with God. And if
+     one say that it is written, 'There is nothing secret which
+     shall not be revealed, nor hidden, which shall not be
+     disclosed,' let him also hear from us, that to him who hears
+     secretly, even what is secret shall be manifested. This is
+     what was predicted by this oracle. And to him who is able
+     secretly to observe what is delivered to him, that which is
+     veiled shall be disclosed as truth; and what is hidden to
+     the many shall appear manifest to the few. The mysteries are
+     delivered mystically, that what is spoken may be in the
+     mouth of the speaker; rather not in his voice, but in his
+     understanding. The writing of these memoranda of mine, I
+     well know, is weak when compared with that spirit full of
+     grace, which I was privileged to hear. But it will be an
+     image to recall the archetype to him who was struck with the
+     Thyrsus."
+
+(We may state here that the Thyrsus was the mystic-wand carried by the
+Initiates in the Mystic Brotherhoods--the Initiate being first tapped
+with it, and then receiving it from the Hierophant, at the ceremony of
+formal Initiation.) Clement adds:
+
+     "We profess not to explain secret things sufficiently--far
+     from it--but only to recall them to memory, whether we have
+     forgot aught, or whether for the purpose of not forgetting.
+     Many things, well I know, have escaped us, through length of
+     time, that have dropped away unwritten. There are then some
+     things of which we have no recollection; for the power that
+     was in the blessed men was great."
+
+"There are also some things which remain unnoted long, which have now
+escaped; and others which are effaced, having faded away in the mind
+itself, since such a task is not easy to those not experienced; these
+I revive in my commentaries. Some things I purposely omit, in the
+exercise of a wise selection, afraid to write what I guarded against
+speaking; not grudging--for that were wrong--but fearing for my
+readers lest they should stumble by taking them in a wrong sense; and,
+as the proverb says, we should be found 'reaching a sword to a child.'
+For it is impossible that what has been written should not escape,
+although remaining published by me. But being always revolved, using
+the one only voice, that of writing, they answer nothing to him that
+makes inquiries beyond what is written; for they require of necessity
+the aid of someone, either of him who wrote or of someone else, who
+walked in his footsteps. Some things my treatise will hint; on some it
+will linger; some it will merely mention. It will try to speak
+imperceptibly, to exhibit secretly, and to demonstrate silently."
+(_The Stromata of St. Clement._)
+
+St. Clement, in the same work from which the above quotation was
+taken, has a chapter entitled "The Mysteries of the Faith, not to be
+Divulged to all." In it he states that inasmuch as his writings might
+be seen by all men, the unwise as well as the wise, "it is requisite,
+therefore, to hide in a Mystery the wisdom spoken, in which the Son of
+God is taught." He then adds, "For it is difficult to exhibit the
+really pure and transparent words to swinish and untrained hearers.
+For scarcely could anything which they could bear be more ludicrous
+than these to the multitude; nor any subjects on the other hand more
+admirable or more inspiring to those of noble nature. But the wise do
+not utter with their mouths what they reason in council. 'But what ye
+hear in the ear,' said the Lord, 'proclaim upon the houses; bidding
+them receive the _secret traditions of the true knowledge_, and
+expound them aloft and conspicuously; and as we have said in the ear,
+so to deliver them to whom it is requisite; but _not enjoining us to
+communicate to all without distinction_ what is said to them in
+parables. But there is only a delineation in the memoranda, which have
+the truth sown sparse and broadcast, that it may escape the notice of
+those who pick up seeds like jackdaws; but when they find a good
+husbandman, each of them will germinate and will produce corn."
+
+"Those who are still blind and dumb, not having understanding, or the
+undazzled and keen vision of the contemplative soul, must stand
+outside of the divine choir. Wherefore, in accordance with the method
+of concealment, the truly sacred Word, truly divine and most necessary
+for us, deposited in the shrine of truth, was by the Egyptians
+indicated by what were called among them _adyta_, and by the Hebrews
+'the veil.' Only the consecrated were allowed access to them. For
+Plato also thought it not lawful for 'the impure to touch the pure.'
+Thence the prophecies and oracles are spoken in enigmas, and to the
+untrained and uninstructed people. Now, then, it is not wished that
+all things should be exposed indiscriminately to all and sundry, or
+the benefits of wisdom communicated to those who have not even in a
+dream been purified in soul, for it is not allowable to hand to every
+chance comer what has been procured with such laborious efforts. Nor
+are the Mysteries of the Word to be expounded to the profane. The
+Mysteries were established for the reason that it was more beneficial
+that the holy and the blessed contemplation of realities be conceded.
+So that, on the other hand, then, there are the Mysteries which were
+hid till the time of the apostles, and were delivered by them as they
+received from the Lord, and, concealed in the Old Testament, were
+manifested to the saints. And on the other hand, there is the riches
+of the glory of the mysteries of the Gentiles, which is faith and hope
+in Christ. Instruction, which reveals hidden things, is called
+Illumination, as it is the teacher only who uncovers the lid of the
+ark." (_The Stromata of St. Clement_.)
+
+St. Clement also quotes approvingly the saying of Plato, that: "We
+must speak in enigmas; that should the tablet come by any mischance on
+its leaves either by sea or land he who reads may remain ignorant." He
+also says, concerning certain Gnostic writings:
+
+     "Let the specimen suffice to those who have ears. For it is
+     not required to unfold the mystery, but only to indicate
+     what is sufficient for those who are partakers in knowledge
+     to bring it to mind."
+
+We have quoted freely from St. Clement, for the purpose of showing
+that he, a man in a very exalted position in the Early Christian
+Church, recognized, and actually taught, the Inner Teachings, or
+Secret Doctrine of Mystic Christianity--that the Early Christian
+Church was an organization having a Mystic Centre for the few, and
+Common Outer for the multitude. Can there be any doubt of this after
+reading the above words from his pen?
+
+But not only St. Clement so wrote and taught, but many others in
+authority in the Early Christian Church likewise voiced their
+knowledge of, and approval in, the Inner Teachings. For example,
+Origen, the pupil of St. Clement, a man whose influence was felt on
+all sides in the early days of the Church. Origen defended
+Christianity from the attacks of Celsus, who charged the Church with
+being a secret organization which taught the Truth only to a few,
+while it satisfied the multitude with popular teachings and
+half-truths. Origen replied that, while it was true that there were
+Inner Teachings in the Church which were not revealed to the general
+public, still the Church, in that respect, was but following the
+example of all teachers of Truth, who always maintained an esoteric
+side of their teachings for those fitted to participate in them, while
+giving the exoteric side to the general body of followers. He writes:
+
+     "And yet the Mystery of the Resurrection, not being
+     understood, is made a subject of ridicule among unbelievers.
+     In these circumstances, to speak of the Christian doctrine
+     as a _secret system_ is altogether absurd. But that there
+     should be certain doctrines, not made known to the
+     multitude, which are divulged after the exoteric ones have
+     been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but
+     also of philosophic systems in which certain truths are
+     exoteric and others esoteric. Some of the hearers of
+     Pythagoras were content with his _ipse dixit;_ while others
+     were taught in secret those doctrines which were not deemed
+     fit to be communicated to profane and insufficiently
+     prepared ears. Moreover, all the Mysteries that are
+     celebrated everywhere throughout Greece and barbarous
+     countries, although held in secret, have no discredit thrown
+     upon them, so that it is in vain he endeavors to calumniate
+     the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing that he does
+     not correctly understand its nature."
+
+     "I have not yet spoken of the observance of all that is
+     written in the Gospels, each one of which contains much
+     doctrine difficult to be understood, not merely by the
+     multitude, but even by certain of the more intelligent,
+     including a very profound explanation of the parables, which
+     Jesus delivered to 'those without' while reserving the
+     exhibition of their full meaning for those who had passed
+     beyond the stage of exoteric teaching, and who came to Him
+     privately in the house. And when he comes to understand it,
+     he will admire the reason why some are said to be 'without'
+     and others 'in the house.'" (_Origen against Celsus_.)
+
+In the same work Origen considers the story of the Syria-Phoenician
+woman (_Matt. Chap. 15_) and says concerning it:
+
+     "And perhaps, also, of the words of Jesus there are some
+     loaves which it is possible to give to the more rational, as
+     to the children, only; and others as it were crumbs from the
+     great house and table of the well-born, which may be used by
+     some souls like dogs."
+
+And, again,
+
+     "He whose soul has, for a long time, been conscious of no
+     evil, especially since he yielded himself to the healing of
+     the Word, let such a one hear _the doctrines which were
+     spoken in private by Jesus to His genuine disciples_."
+
+And, again,
+
+     "But on these subjects much, and that of a mystical kind,
+     might be said: in keeping with which is the following: 'It
+     is good to keep close to the secret of a king,' in order
+     that _the doctrine of the entrance of souls into bodies_ may
+     not be thrown before the common understanding, nor what is
+     holy given to the dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine. For
+     such a procedure would be impious, being equivalent to a
+     betrayal of the mysterious declaration of God's wisdom. It
+     is sufficient, however, to represent in the style of a
+     historic narrative what is intended to convey a secret
+     meaning in the garb of history, that those who have the
+     capacity may work out for themselves all that relates to the
+     subject."
+
+He also says, in the same work:
+
+     "If you come to the books written after the time of Jesus,
+     you will find that those multitudes of believers who hear
+     the parables are, as it were, 'without,' and worthy only of
+     exoteric doctrines, while the disciples learn in private the
+     explanation of the parables. _For, privately, to His own
+     disciples did Jesus open up all things, esteeming above the
+     multitudes those who desired to know His wisdom._ And He
+     promises to those who believe on Him to send them wise men
+     and scribes."
+
+In another work, Origen states that:
+
+     "The Scriptures have a meaning, not only such as is apparent
+     at first sight, but also another, which escapes the notice
+     of most men. For such is written in the forms of certain
+     Mysteries, and the image of divine things. Respecting which
+     there is one opinion throughout the whole Church, that the
+     whole law is indeed spiritual; _but that the spiritual
+     meaning which the law conveys is not known to all_, but to
+     those only on whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is bestowed
+     in the word of wisdom and knowledge." (_De Principiis_.)
+
+We could fill page after page with live quotations from the writings
+of the Early Christian Fathers, and their successors, showing the
+existence of the Inner Teachings. But we must rest content with those
+which we have given you, which are clear and to the point, and which
+_come from undoubted authority_.
+
+The departure of the Church from these Inner Teachings was a great
+calamity, from which the Church is still suffering. As that well-known
+occultist, Eliphias Levi, has said:
+
+     "A great misfortune befell Christianity. The betrayal of the
+     Mysteries by the false Gnostics--for the Gnostics, that is,
+     _those who know_, were the Initiates of primitive
+     Christianity--caused the Gnosis to be rejected, and
+     alienated the Church from the supreme truths of the Kabbala,
+     which contains all the secrets of transcendental
+     theology.... Let the most absolute science, let the highest
+     reason become once more the patrimony of the leaders of the
+     people; let the sarcerdotal art and the royal art take the
+     double sceptre of antique initiations and the social world
+     will once more issue from its chaos. Burn the holy images no
+     longer; demolish the temples no more; temples and images are
+     necessary for men; but drive the hirelings from the house of
+     prayer; let the blind be no longer leaders of the blind;
+     reconstruct the hierarchy of intelligence and holiness, and
+     recognize only _those who know_ as the teachers of _those
+     who believe_." (_The Mysteries of Magic, Waite
+     translation_.)
+
+And now, you ask, what were taught in these Christian Mysteries--what
+is the Inner Teaching--what the Secret Doctrine? Simply this, good
+students--the Occult Philosophy and Mystic Lore which has been taught
+to the Elect in all times and ages, and which is embodied in our
+several series of lessons on THE YOGI PHILOSOPHY AND ORIENTAL
+OCCULTISM, _plus the special teaching regarding the nature, mission,
+and sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, as we have tried to explain in the
+present series of lessons_. The Truth is the same no matter under what
+name it is taught, or who teaches it. Strip it of the personal
+coloring of the teacher and it is seen to be the same--THE TRUTH.
+
+In these lessons we have tried to give you the Key to the Mysteries,
+but unless you have studied the other lessons in which the Occult
+Teachings have been set forth, you will not be able to see their
+application in Mystic Christianity. You must bring Knowledge to these
+lessons, in order to take away knowledge.
+
+
+
+
+THE ELEVENTH LESSON
+
+
+
+THE ANCIENT WISDOM.
+
+The doctrine of Metempsychosis or Re-incarnation has its roots deeply
+imbedded in the soil of all religions--that is, in the Inner Teachings
+or Esoteric phase of all religious systems. And this is true of the
+Inner Teachings of the Christian Church as well as of the other
+systems. The Christian Mysteries comprised this as well as the other
+fundamental occult doctrines, and the Early Church held such teachings
+in its Inner Circle.
+
+And, in its essence, the doctrine of Re-birth is the only one that is
+in full accord with the Christian conception of ultimate justice and
+"fairness." As a well known writer has said concerning this subject:
+
+     "It relieves us of many and great difficulties. It is
+     impossible for any one who looks around him and sees the
+     sorrow and suffering in the world, and the horrible
+     inequality in the lives of men--not inequality in wealth
+     merely, but inequality in opportunity of progress--to
+     harmonize these facts with the love and justice of God,
+     unless he is willing to accept this theory that this one
+     life is not all, but that it is only a day in the real life
+     of the soul, and that each soul therefore has made its place
+     for itself, and is receiving just such training as is best
+     for its evolution. Surely the only theory which enables a
+     man rationally to believe in Divine justice, without
+     shutting his eyes to obvious facts, is a theory worthy of
+     study.
+
+     "Modern theology concerns itself principally with a plan for
+     evading divine justice, which it elects to call 'Salvation,'
+     and it makes this plan depend entirely upon what a man
+     believes, or rather upon what he says that he believes. This
+     whole theory of 'salvation,' and indeed the theory that
+     there is anything to be 'saved' from, seems to be based upon
+     a misunderstanding of a few texts of scripture. We do not
+     believe in this idea of a so-called divine wrath; we think
+     that to attribute to God our own vices of anger and cruelty
+     is a terrible blasphemy. We hold to the theory of steady
+     evolution and final attainment for all; and we think that
+     the man's progress depends not upon what he believes, but
+     upon what he does. And there is surely very much in the
+     bible to support this idea. Do you remember St. Paul's
+     remark, 'Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a
+     man soweth, that shall he also reap'? And again, Christ said
+     that 'They that _have done good_ shall go unto the
+     resurrection of life'--not they that have believed some
+     particular doctrine. And when He describes the day of
+     judgment, you will notice that no question is raised as to
+     what anybody has believed, but only as to the works which he
+     has done."
+
+In this connection, we think that it is advisable to quote from the
+address of a well known English churchman upon this important subject.
+The gentleman in question is The Ven. Archdeacon Colley, Rector of
+Stockton, Warwickshire, England, who said:
+
+     "In the realm of the occult and transcendental, moved to its
+     exploration from the Sadducean bias of my early days, I have
+     for the best part of half a century had experiences rarely
+     equaled by any, and I am sure, surpassed by none; yet have
+     they led me up till now, I admit, to no very definite
+     conclusions. With suspension of judgment, therefore, not
+     being given to dogmatize on anything, and with open mind I
+     trust, in equipoise of thought desiring to hold an even
+     balance of opinion 'twixt this and that, I am studious still
+     of being receptive of light from every source--rejecting
+     nothing that in the least degree makes for righteousness,
+     hence my taking the chair here tonight, hoping to learn what
+     may help to resolve a few of the many perplexities of life,
+     to wit: Why some live to the ripe old age of my dear father
+     while others live but for a moment, to be born, gasp and
+     die. Why some are born rich and others poor; some having
+     wealth only to corrupt, defile, deprave others therewith,
+     while meritorious poverty struggles and toils for human
+     betterment all unaided. Some gifted with mentality; others
+     pitiably lacking capacity. Some royal-souled from the first
+     naturally, others with brutal, criminal propensities from
+     beginning to end.
+
+     "The sins of the fathers visited upon the children unto the
+     third and fourth generation may in heredity account for
+     much, but I want to see through the mystery of a good father
+     at times having a bad son, as also of one showing genius and
+     splendid faculties--the offspring of parentage the reverse
+     of anything suggesting qualities contributive thereto. Then
+     as a clergyman, I have in my reading noted texts of Holy
+     Scripture, and come across passages in the writings of the
+     Fathers of the Early Church which seem to be root-thoughts,
+     or survivals of the old classic idea of re-incarnation.
+
+     "The prophet Jeremiah (1:5) writes, 'The word of the Lord
+     came unto me saying, before I formed thee, I knew thee, and
+     before thou wast born I sanctified thee and ordained thee a
+     prophet.'
+
+"Does this mean that the Eternal-Uncreate chose, from foreknowledge of
+what Jeremiah would be, the created Ego of His immaterialized servant
+in heaven ere he clothed his soul with the mortal integument of flesh
+in human birth--schooling him above for the part he had to play here
+below as a prophet to dramatize in his life and teaching the will of
+the Unseen? To the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda, whose
+infirmity was the cruel experience of eight and thirty years, the
+Founder of our religion said (_John 5:14._), 'Behold, thou art made
+whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.' Was it
+(fitting the punishment to the crime proportionately) some outrageous
+sin as a boy, in the spring of years and days of his inexperienced
+youth of bodily life, that brought on him such physical sorrow, which
+youthful sin in its repetition would necessitate an even worse ill
+than this nearly forty years of sore affliction? 'Who did sin, this
+man or his parents, that he was born blind?' (_John 9:2._), was the
+question of the disciples to Jesus. And our query is--Sinned _before_
+he was born to deserve the penalty of being born blind?
+
+"Then of John the Baptist--was he a reincarnation of Elijah, the
+prophet, who was to come again? (_Malachi 4:5._). Jesus said he _was_
+Elijah, who indeed had come, and the evil-minded Jews had done unto
+him whatsoever they listed. Herod had beheaded him (_Matt. 11:14_ and
+_17:12._).
+
+"Elijah and John the Baptist appear from our reference Bibles and
+Cruden's Concordance to concur and commingle in one. The eighth verse
+of the first chapter of the second Book of Kings and the fourth verse
+of the third chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel note similarities in them
+and peculiarities of dress. Elijah, as we read, was a 'hairy man and
+girt a leathern girdle about his loins,' while John the Baptist had
+'his raiment of camel's hair and a leathern girdle about his loins.'
+Their home was the solitude of the desert. Elijah journeyed forty days
+and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God in the Wilderness of
+Sinai. John the Baptist was in the wilderness of Judea beyond Jordan
+baptizing. And their life in exile--a self-renunciating and voluntary
+withdrawal from the haunts of men--was sustained in a parallel
+remarkable way by food (bird--brought on wing--borne). 'I have
+commanded the ravens to feed thee,' said the voice of Divinity to the
+prophet; while locusts and wild honey were the food of the Baptist.
+
+"'And above all,' said our Lord of John the Baptist to the disciples,
+'if ye _will_ receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.'
+
+"Origen, in the second century, one of the most learned of the Fathers
+of the early Church, says that this declares the pre-existence of John
+the Baptist as Elijah before his decreed later existence as Christ's
+forerunner.
+
+"Origen also says on the text, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have
+hated,' that if our course be not marked out according to our works
+before this present life that now is, how would it not be untrue and
+unjust in God that the elder brother should serve the younger and be
+hated by God (though blessed of righteous Abraham's son, of Isaac)
+before Esau had done anything deserving of servitude or given any
+occasion for the merciful Almighty's hatred?
+
+"Further, on the text (_Ephesians 1:4._), 'God who hath chosen us
+before the foundation of the world,' Origen says that this suggests
+our pre-existence ere the world was.
+
+"While Jerome, agreeing with Origen, speaks of our rest above, where
+rational creatures dwell before their descent to this lower world, and
+prior to their removal from the invisible life of the spiritual sphere
+to the visible life here on earth, teaching, as he says, the necessity
+of their again having material bodies ere, as saints and men made
+'perfect as our Father which is in heaven is perfect,' they once more
+enjoy in the angel-world their _former_ blessedness.
+
+"Justin Martyr also speaks of the soul inhabiting the human body more
+than once, but thinks as a rule (instanced in the case of John the
+Baptist forgetting that he had been Elijah) it is not permitted us to
+remember our former experiences of this life while yet again we are in
+exile here as strangers and pilgrims in an uncongenial clime away from
+our heavenly home.
+
+"Clemens Alexandrinus, and others of the Fathers, refer to
+re-incarnation (or transmigration or metempsychosis, as it is called
+in the years that are passed of classic times and later now as
+_re-birth_) to remind us of the vital truth taught by our Lord in the
+words, '_Ye must be born again_.'"
+
+These words, falling from the lips of a man so eminent in the staid
+conservative ranks of the Church of England, must attract the
+attention of every earnest seeker after the Truth of Christian
+Doctrine. If such a man, reared in such an environment, could find
+himself able to bear such eloquent testimony to the truth of a
+philosophy usually deemed foreign to his accepted creed, what might we
+not expect from a Church liberated from the narrow formal bounds of
+orthodoxy, and once more free to consider, learn and teach those noble
+doctrines originally held and taught by the Early Fathers of the
+Church of Christ?
+
+While the majority of modern Christians bitterly oppose the idea that
+the doctrine of Metempsychosis ever formed any part of the Christian
+Doctrine, and prefer to regard it as a "heathenish" teaching, still
+the fact remains that the careful and unprejudiced student will find
+indisputable evidence in the writings of the Early Christian Fathers
+pointing surely to the conclusion that the doctrine of Metempsychosis
+was believed and taught in the Inner Circle of the Early Church.
+
+The doctrine unquestionably formed a part of the Christian Mysteries,
+and has faded into comparative obscurity with the decay of
+spirituality in the Church, until now the average churchman no longer
+holds to it, and in fact regards as barbarous and heathenish that part
+of the teachings originally imparted and taught by the Early Fathers
+of the Church--the Saints and Leaders.
+
+The Early Christians were somewhat divided in their beliefs concerning
+the details of Re-birth. One sect or body held to the idea that the
+soul of man was eternal, coming from the Father. Also that there were
+many degrees and kinds of souls, some of which have never incarnated
+in human bodies but which are living on many planes of life unknown to
+us, passing from plane to plane, world to world. This sect held that
+some of these souls had chosen to experiment with life on the physical
+plane, and were now passing through the various stages of the
+physical-plane life, with all of its pains and sorrows, being held by
+the Law of Re-birth until a full experience had been gained, when they
+would pass out of the circle of influence of the physical plane, and
+return to their original freedom.
+
+Another sect held to the more scientific occult form of the gradual
+evolution of the soul, by repeated rebirth, on the physical plane,
+from Lower to Higher, as we have set forth in our lessons on "Gnani
+Yoga." The difference in the teachings arose from the different
+conceptions of the great leaders, some being influenced by the Jewish
+Occult Teachings which held to the first above mentioned doctrine,
+while the second school held to the doctrine taught by the Greek
+Mystics and the Hindu Occultists. And each interpreted the Inner
+Teachings by the light of his previous affiliations.
+
+And so, some of the early writings speak of "pre-existence," while
+others speak of repeated "rebirth." But the underlying principle is
+the same, and in a sense they were both right, as the advanced
+occultists know full well. The fundamental principle of both
+conceptions is that the soul comes forth as an emanation from the
+Father in the shape of Spirit; that the Spirit becomes plunged in the
+confining sheaths of Matter, and is then known as "a soul," losing for
+a time its pristine purity; that the soul passes on through rebirth,
+from lower to higher, gaining fresh experiences at each incarnation;
+that the advancing soul passes from world to world, returning at last
+to its home laden with the varied experiences of life and becomes once
+more pure Spirit.
+
+The early Christian Fathers became involved in a bitter controversy
+with the Greek and Roman philosophers, over the conception held by
+some of the latter concerning the absurd doctrine of the
+transmigration of the human soul into the body of an animal. The
+Fathers of the Church fought this erroneous teaching with great
+energy, their arguments bringing out forcibly the distinction between
+the true occult teachings and this erroneous and degenerate perversion
+in the doctrines of transmigration into animal bodies. This conflict
+caused a vigorous denunciation of the teachings of the Pythagorean and
+Platonic schools, which held to the perverted doctrine that a human
+soul could degenerate into the state of the animal.
+
+Among other passages quoted by Origen and Jerome to prove the
+pre-existence of the soul was that from Jeremiah (1:5): "Before thou
+comest from the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet."
+The early writers held that this passage confirmed their particular
+views regarding the pre-existence of the soul and the possession of
+certain characteristics and qualities acquired during previous birth,
+for, they argued, it would be injustice that a man, before birth, be
+endowed with uncarnal qualities; and that such qualities and ability
+could justly be the result only of best work and action. They also
+dwelt upon the prophecy of the return of Elijah, in Malachi 4:5. And
+also upon the (uncanonical) book "The Wisdom of Solomon," in which
+Solomon says: "I was a witty child, and had a good Spirit. Yea,
+rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled."
+
+They also quoted from Josephus, in his book styled "De Bello Judico,"
+in which the eminent Jewish writer says: "They say that all souls are
+incorruptible; but that the souls of good men are only removed into
+other bodies--but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal
+punishment." They also quoted from Josephus, regarding the Jewish
+belief in Rebirth as evidenced by the recital of the instance in
+which, at the siege of the fortress of Jotapota, he sought the shelter
+of a cave in which were a number of soldiers, who discussed the
+advisability of committing suicide for the purpose of avoiding being
+taken prisoners by the Romans. Josephus remonstrated with them as
+follows:
+
+     "Do ye not remember that all pure spirits who are in
+     conformity with the divine dispensation live on in the
+     loveliest of heavenly places, and in the course of time they
+     are sent down to inhabit sinless bodies; but the souls of
+     those who have committed self-destruction are doomed to a
+     region in the darkness of the underworld?"
+
+Recent writers hold that this shows that he accepted the doctrine of
+Re-birth himself, and also as showing that it must have been familiar
+to the Jewish soldiery.
+
+There seems to be no doubt regarding the familiarity of the Jewish
+people of that time with the general teachings regarding
+Metempsychosis. Philo positively states the doctrine as forming part
+of the teachings of the Jewish Alexandrian school. And again the
+question asked Jesus regarding the "sin of the man born blind" shows
+how familiar the people were with the general doctrine.
+
+And so, the teachings of Jesus on that point did not need to be
+particularly emphasized to the common people, He reserving this
+instruction on the inner teachings regarding the details of Re-birth
+for his chosen disciples. But still the subject is mentioned in a
+number of places in the New Testament, as we shall see.
+
+Jesus stated positively that John the Baptist was "Elias," whose
+return had been predicted by Malachi (4:5). Jesus stated this twice,
+positively, i.e., "This is Elijah that is to come" (_Matt. 11:14_);
+and again, "But I say unto you that Elijah is come already, but they
+knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would.... Then
+understood the disciples that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist."
+(_Matt. 17:12-13._) The Mystics point out that Jesus saw clearly the
+fact that John was Elijah re-incarnated, although John had denied this
+fact, owing to his lack of memory of his past incarnation. Jesus the
+Master saw clearly that which John the Forerunner had failed to
+perceive concerning himself. The plainly perceptible characteristics
+of Elijah reappearing in John bear out the twice-repeated, positive
+assertion of the Master that John the Baptist was the re-incarnated
+Elijah.
+
+And this surely is sufficient authority for Christians to accept the
+doctrine of Re-birth as having a place in the Church Teachings. But
+still, the orthodox churchmen murmur "He meant _something else_!"
+There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
+
+Another notable instance of the recognition of the doctrine by Jesus
+and His disciples occurs in the case of "the man born blind." It may
+be well to quote the story.
+
+     "And as he passed by he saw a man blind from his birth. And
+     his disciples asked him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this
+     man or his parents, that he should be born blind?' Jesus
+     answered, 'Neither did this man sin nor his parents.'"
+     (_John 9:1-3._)
+
+Surely there can be no mistake about the meaning of this question,
+"Who did sin, this man or his parents?"--for how could a man sin
+before his birth, unless he had lived in a previous incarnation? And
+the answer of Jesus simply states that the man was born blind neither
+from the sins of a past life, nor from those of his parents, but from
+a third cause. Had the idea of re-incarnation been repugnant to the
+teachings, would not He have denounced it to His disciples? Does not
+the fact that His disciples asked Him the question show that they were
+in the habit of discoursing the problems of Re-birth and Karma with
+Him, and receiving instructions and answers to questions propounded to
+Him along these lines?
+
+There are many other passages of the New Testament which go to prove
+the familiarity of the disciples and followers of Jesus with the
+doctrine of Re-birth, but we prefer to pass on to a consideration of
+the writings of the Early Christian Fathers in order to show what they
+thought and taught regarding the matter of Re-birth and Karma.
+
+Among the great authorities and writers in the Early Church, Origen
+stands out pre-eminently as a great light. Let us quote from a leading
+writer, regarding this man and his teachings:
+
+     "In Origen's writings we have a mine of information as to
+     the teachings of the early Christians. Origen held a
+     splendid and grandiose view of the whole of the evolution of
+     our system. I put it to you briefly. You can read it in all
+     its carefully, logically-worked-out arguments, if you will
+     have the patience to read his treatise for yourselves. His
+     view, then, was the evolutionary view. He taught that forth
+     from God came all Spirits that exist, all being dowered with
+     free-will; that some of these refused to turn aside from the
+     path of righteousness, and, as a reward, took the place
+     which we speak of as that of the angels; that then there
+     came others who, in the exercise of their free-will, turned
+     aside from the path of deity, and then passed into the human
+     race to recover, by righteous and noble living, the angel
+     condition which they had not been able to preserve; that
+     others, still in the exercise of their free-will, descended
+     still deeper into evil and became evil spirits or devils. So
+     that all these Spirits were originally good; but good by
+     innocence, not by knowledge. And he points out also that
+     angels may become men, and even the evil ones themselves may
+     climb up once more, and become men and angels again. Some of
+     you will remember that one of the doctrines condemned in
+     Origen in later days was that glorious doctrine that, even
+     for the worst of men, redemption and restoration were
+     possible, and that there was no such thing as an eternity of
+     evil in a universe that came from the Eternal Goodness, and
+     would return whence it came."
+
+And from the writings of this great man we shall now quote.
+
+In his great work "De Principiis," Origen begins with the statement
+that only God Himself is fundamentally and by virtue of His essential
+nature, Good. God is the only Good--the absolute perfect Good. When we
+consider the lesser stages of Good, we find that the Goodness is
+derived and acquired, instead of being fundamental and essential.
+Origen then says that God bestows free-will upon all spirits alike,
+and that if they do not use the same in the direction of
+righteousness, then they fall to lower estates "one more rapidly,
+another more slowly, one in a greater, another in a less degree, each
+being the cause of his own downfall."
+
+He refers to John the Baptist being filled with the Holy Ghost in his
+mother's womb and says that it is a false notion to imagine "that God
+fills individuals with His Holy Spirit, and bestows upon them
+sanctification, not on the grounds of justice and according to their
+deserts, but undeservedly. And how shall we escape the declaration,
+'Is there respect of persons with God?' God forbid. Or this, 'Is there
+unrighteousness with God?' God forbid this also. For such is the
+defense of those who maintain that souls come into existence with
+bodies." He then shows his belief in re-birth by arguing that John had
+earned the Divine favor by reason of right-living in a previous
+incarnation.
+
+Then he considers the important question of the apparent injustice
+displayed in the matter of the inequalities existing among men. He
+says, "Some are barbarians, others Greeks, and of the barbarians some
+are savage and fierce and others of a milder disposition, and certain
+of them live under laws that have been thoroughly approved, others,
+again, under laws of a more common or severe kind; while, some, again,
+possess customs of an inhumane and savage character rather than laws;
+and certain of them, from the hour of their birth, are reduced to
+humiliation and subjection, and brought up as slaves, being placed
+under the dominion either of masters, or princes, or tyrants. Some
+with sound bodies, some with bodies diseased from their early years,
+some defective in vision, others in bearing and speech; some born in
+that condition, others deprived of the use of their senses immediately
+after birth. But why should I repeat and enumerate all the horrors of
+human misery? Why should this be?"
+
+Origen then goes on to combat the ideas advanced by some thinkers of
+his times, that the differences were caused by some essential
+difference in the nature and quality of the souls of individuals. He
+states emphatically that all souls are essentially equal in nature and
+quality and that the differences arise from the various exercise of
+their power of free-will. He says of his opponents:
+
+     "Their argument accordingly is this: If there be this great
+     diversity of circumstances, and this diverse and varying
+     condition by birth, in which the faculty of free-will has no
+     scope (for no one chooses for himself either where, or with
+     whom, or in what condition he is born); if, then, this is
+     not caused by the difference in the nature of souls, i.e.,
+     that a soul of an evil nature is destined for a wicked
+     nation and a good soul for a righteous nation, what other
+     conclusion remains than that these things must be supposed
+     to be regulated by accident or chance? And, if that be
+     admitted, then it will be no longer believed that the world
+     was made by God, or administered by His providence."
+
+Origen continues:
+
+     "God who deemed it just to arrange His creatures according
+     to their merit, brought down these different understandings
+     into the harmony of one world, that He might adorn, as it
+     were, one dwelling, in which there ought to be not only
+     vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay (and
+     some, indeed, to honor, and others to dishonor) with their
+     different vessels, or souls, or understandings. On which
+     account the Creator will neither appear to be unjust in
+     distributing (for the causes already mentioned) to every one
+     according to his wants, nor will the happiness or
+     unhappiness of each one's birth, or whatever be the
+     condition that falls to his lot, be accidental."
+
+He then asserts that the condition of each man is the result of his
+own deeds.
+
+He then considers the case of Jacob and Esau, which a certain set of
+thinkers had used to illustrate the unjust and cruel discrimination of
+the Creator toward His creatures. Origen contended that in this case
+it would be most unjust for God to love Jacob and hate Esau before the
+children were born, and that the only true interpretation of the
+matter was the theory that Jacob was being rewarded for the good deeds
+of past lives, while Esau was being punished for his misdeeds in past
+incarnations.
+
+And not only Origen takes this stand, but Jerome also, for the latter
+says: "If we examine the case of Esau we may find he was condemned
+because of his ancient sins in a worse course of life." (_Jerome's
+letter to Avitus_.) Origen says:
+
+     "It is found not to be unrighteous that even in womb Jacob
+     supplanted his brother, if we feel that he was worthily
+     beloved by God, according to the deserts of his previous
+     life, so as to deserve to be preferred before his brother."
+
+Origen adds, "This must be carefully applied to the case of all other
+creatures, because, as we formerly remarked, the righteousness of the
+Creator ought to appear in everything." And again, "The inequality of
+circumstances preserves the justice of a retribution according to
+merit."
+
+Annie Besant (to whom we are indebted for a number of these
+quotations), says, concerning this position of Origen:
+
+     "Thus we find this doctrine made the defense of the justice
+     of God. If a soul can be made good, then to make a soul evil
+     is to a God of justice and love impossible. It cannot be
+     done. There is no justification for it, and the moment you
+     recognize that men are born criminal, you are either forced
+     into the blasphemous position that a perfect and loving God
+     creates a ruined soul and then punishes it for being what He
+     has made it, or else that He is dealing with growing,
+     developing creatures whom He is training for ultimate
+     blessedness, and if in any life a man is born wicked and
+     evil, it is because he has done amiss and must reap in
+     sorrow the results of evil in order that he may learn wisdom
+     and turn to good."
+
+Origen also considers the story of Pharaoh, of whom the Biblical
+writers say that "his heart was hardened by God." Origen declares that
+the hardening of the heart was caused by God so that Pharaoh would
+more readily learn the effect of evil, so that in his future
+incarnations he might profit by his bitter experience. He says:
+
+     "Sometimes it does not lead to good results for a man to be
+     cured too quickly, especially if the disease, being shut up
+     in the inner parts of the body, rage with greater
+     fierceness. The growth of the soul must be understood as
+     being brought about not suddenly, but slowly and gradually,
+     seeing that the process of amendment and correction will
+     take place imperceptibly in the individual instances, during
+     the lapse of countless and unmeasured ages, some
+     outstripping others, and tending by a swifter course towards
+     perfection, while others, again, follow close at hand, and
+     some, again, a long way behind."
+
+He also says: "Those who, departing this life in virtue of that death
+which is common to all, are arranged in conformity with their actions
+and deserts--according as they shall be deemed worthy--some in the
+place called the 'infernus,' others in the bosom of Abraham, and in
+different localities or mansions. So also from these places, as if
+dying there, if the expression can be used, they come down from the
+'upper world' to this 'hell.' For that 'hell' to which the souls of
+the dead are conducted from this world is, I believe, on account of
+this destruction, called 'the lower hell.' Everyone accordingly of
+those who descend to the earth is, according to his deserts, or
+agreeably to the position that he occupied there, ordained to be born
+in this world in a different country, or among a different nation, or
+in a different mode of life, or surrounded by infirmities of a
+different kind, or to be descended from religious parents, or parents
+who are not religious; so that it may sometimes happen that an
+Israelite descends among the Scythians, and a poor Egyptian is brought
+down to Judea." (_Origen against Celsus_.)
+
+Can you doubt, after reading the above quotation that Metempsychosis,
+Re-incarnation or Re-birth and Karma was held and taught as a true
+doctrine by the Fathers of the Early Christian Church? Can you not see
+that imbedded in the very bosom of the Early Church were the
+twin-doctrine of Re-incarnation and Karma. Then why persist in
+treating it as a thing imported from India, Egypt or Persia to disturb
+the peaceful slumber of the Christian Church? It is but the return
+home of a part of the original Inner Doctrine--so long an outcast from
+the home of its childhood.
+
+The Teaching was rendered an outlaw by certain influences in the
+Church in the Sixth Century. The Second Council of Constantinople
+(A.D. 553) condemned it as a heresy, and from that time official
+Christianity frowned upon it, and drove it out by sword, stake and
+prison cell. The light was kept burning for many years, however, by
+that sect so persecuted by the Church--the Albigenses--who furnished
+hundreds of martyrs to the tyranny of the Church authorities, by
+reason of their clinging faith to the Inner Teachings of the Church
+concerning Reincarnation and Karma.
+
+Smothered by the pall of superstition that descended like a dense
+cloud over Europe in the Middle Ages, the Truth has nevertheless
+survived, and, after many fitful attempts to again burst out into
+flame, has at last, in this glorious Twentieth Century, managed to
+again show forth its light and heat to the world, bringing back
+Christianity to the original conceptions of those glorious minds of
+the Early Church. Once more returned to its own, the Truth will move
+forward, brushing from its path all the petty objections and obstacles
+that held it captive for so many centuries.
+
+Let us conclude this lesson with those inspiring words of the poet
+Wordsworth, whose soul rose to a perception of the Truth, in spite of
+the conventional restrictions placed upon him by his age and land.
+
+     "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,
+        The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
+      Hath elsewhere had its setting,
+        And cometh from afar.
+      Not in entire forgetfulness,
+      And not in utter nakedness,
+      But trailing clouds of glory do we come
+      From God, who is our home."
+
+
+
+
+THE TWELFTH LESSON.
+
+
+
+THE MESSAGE OF THE MASTER.
+
+Running throughout nearly all of the teachings and messages of Jesus,
+is to be found the constant Mystic Message regarding the existence of
+the Spirit within the soul of each individual--that Something Within
+to which all can turn in time of pain and trouble--that Guide and
+Monitor which stands ever ready to counsel, advise and direct if one
+opens himself to the Voice.
+
+"Seek ye first the Kingdom, and all things shall be added unto you."
+And, again, as if to explain: "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you."
+This is the Mystic Message which gives one a key to the Mysteries of
+the Inner Teachings.
+
+Let us take up a few of His sayings and endeavor to interpret them by
+the light of these teachings. But before doing so we must call the
+attention of the student to the fact that, in order to understand
+intelligently what we are saying, he must carefully re-read the
+"Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy" wherein the details of the
+teachings are set forth--that is the fundamental truths are explained.
+In the "Advanced Course" and in "Gnani Yoga" the higher phases of the
+teachings are presented. And, although in the said works there is
+little or no reference made to Christianity, yet the teachings are so
+fundamental that the Inner Teachings of all religions--including
+Christianity--may be understood by one who has acquainted himself with
+these fundamental truths.
+
+There is but one real Occult Philosophy, and we find it in evidence
+everywhere--once the Truth is grasped, it is found to be the Master
+Key with which to unlock the various doors leading to the esoteric
+phase of any and all religions or philosophies. The Yogi Fathers,
+centuries and centuries ago, solved the Riddle of the Universe, and
+the highest efforts of the human mind since that time have but
+corroborated, proven and exemplified the original Truth as voiced by
+these Venerable Sages.
+
+Let us read the words of Jesus in the light of this Ancient Wisdom.
+
+Let us consider the Sermon on the Mount as given in Matthew (_Chapters
+5; 6; 7_).
+
+"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of
+Heaven." (_Matt. 5:3._)
+
+By these words Jesus indicated the occult teachings that those who
+renounced the vain glory and petty ambitions of this world would be on
+the road to the realization of the Real Self--the Something
+Within--the Spirit. For is it not written that "the Kingdom of Heaven
+is within you"?
+
+"Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." (_Matt.
+5:4._)
+
+By these words Jesus pointed out the occult teachings that those who
+had so far advanced that they could see the folly of human ambition,
+and who consequently felt the pain that comes to all who stand above
+the crowd, and who mourned by reason of their realization of the folly
+and uselessness of all for which men strive so hard? would, in the
+end, be comforted by that "peace which passeth all understanding"
+which comes only to those who enter into a realization of the Kingdom
+of Heaven which is within them.
+
+"Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." (_Matt.
+5:5._)
+
+By these words Jesus sought to teach that those who had acquired the
+attitude of obedience to the Power of the Spirit Within them would
+become as Masters of the things of earth. This message is frequently
+misunderstood by reason of the lack of perception of the Mystic
+meaning contained in the words. The word "meek" does not mean that
+"I'm so meek and humble" attitude and expression of the hypocritical
+followers of form. Jesus never taught this--and never acted it. He was
+always the Master, and never sought to make of his followers cringing
+creatures and whining and sniveling supplicants. He asserted His
+Mastery in many ways and accepted the respect due him--as for instance
+when the vial of precious ointment was poured upon Him. His use of the
+word, which has been poorly translated as "meek," was in the sense of
+a calm, dignified bearing toward the Power of the Spirit, and a
+reverent submission to its guidance--not a hypocritical and cowardly
+"meekness" toward other men. The assurance that such should "inherit
+the earth" means that they should become masters of things
+temporal--that is, that they should be able to rise above them--should
+become lords of the earth by reason of their "entering into the
+Kingdom of Heaven" within them.
+
+"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for
+they shall be filled." (_Matt. 5:6._)
+
+This is the promise of the Master that they who sought the Kingdom of
+Heaven (within them) should find it--that their spiritual hunger and
+thirst should be satisfied in the only way possible.
+
+"Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy." (_Matt.
+5:7._)
+
+Here is taught the blessing for forbearance, kindness, tolerance and
+absence of bigotry, and the reward that comes as a natural consequence
+of such a mental attitude.
+
+"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." (_Matt.
+5:8._)
+
+Here is the assurance that "to those who are pure all things are
+pure"--that the purity of one's own heart, and the recognition of the
+God Within, leads to a perception of the God within everything. "He
+who sees God within himself, sees Him in everything," says an old
+Persian writer. And verily such a one "sees God" where He abides--and
+that is _Everywhere_.
+
+"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called sons of God."
+(_Matt. 5:9._)
+
+Here is the call to the disciple to use his wisdom and power in the
+direction of remedying the strife that arises from the differing
+conceptions of Deity and Truth prevailing among men. He who is able to
+point out the Truth underlying all religions and beliefs indeed
+becomes as a beloved son of God. He who is able to show that under all
+forms and ceremonies, under various names and titles, behind various
+creeds and dogmas, there is but one God, to whom all worship
+ascends--he is a Peacemaker and a Son of God.
+
+     "Blessed are they that have been persecuted for
+     righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
+     Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute
+     you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my
+     sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your
+     reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets that
+     were before you." (_Matt. 5:10-12._)
+
+In these words Jesus sought to comfort and encourage those who would
+be called upon to carry the Message in the centuries to follow. And
+one has but to look over the list of names of the courageous souls who
+have sought to keep the flame alight--to preserve the teachings in
+their original purity--to protect them from the cant, hypocrisy,
+self-seeking and formalism of those who sought and obtained places of
+power in the Church. The gibbet; the stake; the dungeon;--was their
+reward. But the Faith that was called into manifestation during the
+persecutions served to bring them to the realization of the Spirit,
+and thus indeed "theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
+
+"But ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its
+savor wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing,
+but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men." (_Matt. 5:13._)
+
+Here Jesus warned against the failure of the Illumined to serve as the
+yeast which should leaven the mass of men by their thoughts and
+actions. The use of the term "salt" in this connection is familiar to
+all students of ancient mysticism. Food without salt was deemed
+unpalatable and undesirable. The Few were the salt of the earth,
+designed to render it worthy and perfect as a whole. But where a grain
+of salt had parted with its savor, there was naught else that could
+impart saltiness to it, and it became worthless and fit only for the
+refuse heap. The duty of the "salt" is to impart savor--the duty of
+the Elect is to impart savor to the race of men.
+
+     "Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot
+     be hid. Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a
+     bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are
+     in the house. Even so let your light shine before men; that
+     they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is
+     in heaven." (_Matt. 5:14-16._)
+
+These words, like those preceding it, teach the Elect to shed abroad
+the light which has come to them. They are warned against concealing
+it beneath the cover of conventional conduct, but are urged to live
+and act so that men may perceive the light that is within them--the
+Light of the Spirit--and may see the right road by means of its rays.
+A man having the Light of the Spirit shining bright within him is able
+to rouse the lamps of understanding in the minds of other men, to
+become kindled and alight. That is the experience of the majority of
+those who read these words--they have had their lamps of knowledge
+kindled by the rays of the Spirit emanating from some soul, either by
+word of mouth, writings, or by personal contact. Spirituality is
+contagious! Therefore spread it! This is the meaning of this passage.
+
+     "Think not that I came to destroy the law of the prophets:
+     I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto
+     you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle
+     shall in no wise pass away from the law till all things be
+     accomplished." (_Matt. 5:17-18._)
+
+In this passage Jesus asserted positively the fact that He was not
+teaching a new doctrine, but had come simply to carry on the work of
+those who had preceded Him. He asserted the validity of the Ancient
+Wisdom, and told that the Law that had been in force would so continue
+until heaven and earth should pass away--that is, until the end of
+this great World Cycle. In these words Jesus proclaimed His allegiance
+to the Occult Teachings. To those who would claim that He referred to
+the current Jewish teachings we would point out the fact that these he
+_did_ come to destroy, for Christianity is opposed to the Jewish
+formalism and outer teachings. Jesus referred to the Inner Teachings,
+not to the outer religious creeds or forms. He came not to destroy the
+old Teachings, but merely to "fulfill," that is, to give a new impetus
+to the Ancient Wisdom.
+
+     "Whoever therefore shall break one of these least
+     commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least
+     in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
+     them, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For
+     I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed
+     the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in
+     no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." (_Matt.
+     5:19-20._)
+
+Here Jesus cautions against violating the fundamental occult
+teachings, or of teaching false doctrines. He also again bids men to
+do and preach the truth. Note the reference to the "kingdom of
+heaven." Again He points out that the "righteousness" required to gain
+the "kingdom of heaven" is a far different thing from the formalism,
+ceremonialism and "churchism" of the scribes and pharisees--people
+who, in that day, stood for that which the "churchy" preachers and
+their bigoted, narrow flock of sheep-like parishioners stand for
+today. It requires more than "faithful performance of church duties"
+to enter into the real "kingdom of heaven." Jesus was ever a foe of
+the narrow formalism which clings close to the empty forms and words,
+and which ignores the Spirit. Were He to return today, He would drive
+from the temples the horde of money-making preachers and hypocritical
+followers who make a mock of sacred things.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou
+     shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger
+     of the judgment: but I say unto you that every one who is
+     angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment;
+     and whosoever shall say to his brother 'Raca,' shall be in
+     danger of the council; and whosoever shall say 'Thou fool'
+     shall be in danger of the hell of fire. If therefore thou
+     art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest
+     that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy
+     gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled
+     to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with
+     thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him; lest haply
+     thine adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge
+     deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
+     Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out
+     thence till thou hast paid the last farthing." (_Matt.
+     5:21-26._)
+
+These verses emphasize the teachings that sin consists not only of
+deeds and actions performed, but equally of _thoughts and desires
+entertained and encouraged in the mind_. The desire and thought, made
+welcome in the mind of a person, is the seed and germ of the sin or
+crime, even though they may never be manifested in action. To wish to
+kill is a sin, just as is the deed of killing. This is an old occult
+teaching, imparted to all candidates for Initiation.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said Thou shalt not commit
+     adultery, but I say unto you that every one that looketh on
+     a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
+     already in his heart. And if thy right eye causeth thee to
+     stumble pluck it out and cast it from thee; for it is
+     profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish
+     and not thy whole body be cast into hell. And if thy right
+     hand causeth thee to offend, cut it off and cast it from
+     thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members
+     should perish and not thy whole body go into hell. It was
+     said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give
+     her a writing of divorcement, but I say unto you that every
+     one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of
+     fornication, maketh her an adulteress, and whosoever shall
+     marry her when she is put away committeth adultery."
+     (_Matt. 5:27-32._)
+
+In this passage, Jesus expressed the abhorrence of all advanced
+occultists for the abuse of the functions of sex. Not only the act,
+but the thought behind the act was condemned by him. The advanced
+occult teaching is that the function of the sex organization is
+entirely that of procreation--aught else is a perversion of nature.
+Jesus speaks in strong words to men and women, in this passage,
+regarding this great question. The concluding portion of the passage
+is a condemnation of the abuse of the marriage relation, and the
+privilege of divorce, which was being strongly agitated in His time.
+He aimed a blow at the careless contracting of marriages, and the
+consequent careless dissolution of the tie. Jesus believed in the
+sacredness of the home life, and the welfare of the family. His
+utterance on this subject is unmistakably clear and forcible.
+
+     "Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,
+     Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the
+     Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all;
+     neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by
+     the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; nor by
+     Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; neither
+     shall thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one
+     hair white or black. But let your speech be Yea, yea, Nay,
+     nay: for whatever is more than these is of the evil one."
+     (_Matt. 5:33-37._)
+
+Here Jesus attacks the custom of swearing, which was so prevalent in
+His time among the Jews and other Oriental peoples. He urges
+simplicity and moderation of speech. In this He is true to the Occult
+traditions, which teach the value of simple thought and simple speech
+to all the Initiates and the Neophytes.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a
+     tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you, Resist not him that
+     is evil, but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn
+     to him the other also, and if any man would go to law with
+     thee and take away thy coat, let him have. And whosoever
+     shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. Give to
+     him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee
+     turn not away." (_Matt. 5:38-42._)
+
+In this passage Jesus alludes to the Law of Non-Resistance, which in
+its esoteric aspect is fully understood by all Initiates. This law is
+for application on the Mental Plane, and those who understand it, know
+that the precepts refer to the Mental Attitude of the Initiates toward
+others, which attitude is in itself a defense against imposition. Love
+turneth away Hate and Anger. The high thought neutralizes the evil
+designs of others.
+
+     "Ye have heard that it was said Thou shall love thy
+     neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your
+     enemies and pray for them that persecute you, that ye may be
+     sons of your Father who is in heaven, for he maketh his sun
+     to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the
+     just and the unjust. For if ye love them that love you, what
+     reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if
+     ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
+     Do not even the Gentiles the same? Ye therefore shall be
+     perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." (_Matt.
+     5:43-48._)
+
+Here is taught that broad tolerance, charity and love that form such
+an important part of all of the mystic teachings. It is a doctrine
+entirely at variance with the orthodox idea of tolerance only to those
+who agree with one, or who may live in accordance with one's own views
+of life and conduct. It is the great broad doctrine of Human
+Brotherhood. Jesus teaches that God's love is bestowed upon all--the
+just and the unjust--and that this perfect love is the aim and goal of
+all who desire to attain to "the kingdom" of Spirit.
+
+     "Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to
+     be seen of them; else ye have no reward with your Father who
+     is in heaven. When, therefore, thou doest alms sound not a
+     trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
+     and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily
+     I say unto you They have received their reward. But when
+     thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right
+     hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret and thy Father,
+     who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee." (_Matt.
+     6:1-4._)
+
+This is another denunciation of ostentatious "churchiness" and
+"goodness," and religious posing. It is a lesson needed as much today
+as in the time of Jesus.
+
+     "And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites, for
+     they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the
+     corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily
+     I say unto you, They have received their reward. But thou,
+     when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and
+     having shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret,
+     and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.
+     And in praying use not vain repetitions as the Gentiles do,
+     for they think that they shall be heard for their much
+     speaking. Be not therefore like unto them, for your Father
+     knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. After
+     this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven,
+     Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as
+     in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread,
+     And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
+     debtors; And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us
+     from the evil one. For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
+     your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye
+     forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father
+     forgive your trespasses." (_Matt. 6:5-15._)
+
+Here are the words of Jesus regarding the subject of Prayer. He
+cautions against the ostentatious exhibition of "piety," so prevalent
+in all churches, in all lands, in all times. He bids one approach the
+Father in a reverent spirit, devoid of all public notice. Then He
+gives to his disciples the famous "Lord's Prayer," in which is
+condensed a wealth of true religious instruction and precept. This
+glorious prayer needs no special interpretation. _Let all students
+read the words themselves, filled with the realisation of the Spirit;
+and each will receive a message fitted to his requirements and
+development. The Lord's Prayer is a very Arcanum of the Mystic
+Message_.
+
+     "Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a
+     sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they
+     may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have
+     received their reward. But, thou, when thou fastest, anoint
+     thy head and wash thy face, that thou be not seen of men to
+     fast, but of thy Father, who is in secret, and thy Father,
+     who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee." (_Matt.
+     6:16-18._)
+
+This is a caution against the "sanctimonious" attitude and pose
+assumed by certain "good" people of the churches, who would make a
+display of their adherence to and observance of forms. Jesus, as a
+true mystic, detested all religious posing and neglected no
+opportunities to condemn the same.
+
+     "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where
+     moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and
+     steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
+     neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not
+     break through and steal: for where thy treasure is there
+     will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye; if
+     therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
+     of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be
+     full of darkness! No man can serve two masters; for either
+     he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will
+     hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
+     Mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your
+     life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for
+     your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than
+     the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of
+     the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
+     gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them.
+     Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by
+     being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his
+     life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider
+     the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
+     neither do they spin, yet I say unto you that even Solomon
+     in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if
+     God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and
+     tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more
+     clothe you, ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious,
+     saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or
+     wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things
+     do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that
+     ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first then his
+     kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things shall
+     be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow;
+     for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto
+     the day is the evil thereof." (_Matt. 6:19-34._)
+
+This is the most remarkable passage in the New Testament. It is the
+most remarkable saying of Jesus of Nazareth. In it is condensed the
+whole of the occult teachings regarding the Conduct of Life. It
+condenses, in a few lines the entire doctrine of Karma Yoga--that
+branch of the Yogi Philosophy. It forms a veritable epitome of that
+which has been styled "The New Thought" as taught and expounded by its
+various cults and schools. There is no need of one reading and
+studying the various Metaphysical "Sciences" which have sprung into
+such favor of late years, if one will but read, ponder, study and
+practice the precepts of this wonderful passage of the Sermon on the
+Mount. Every sentence is a gem--a crystal of the highest mystic and
+occult philosophy. Book after book could be written on this one
+passage, and even then the subject would be but merely approached. The
+doctrine of single-mindedness toward the Spirit and the things of the
+Spirit, is taught. The folly of being tied to material things is
+pointed out. The lesson of non-attachment is forcibly put. But the
+great Truth expounded in this passage is the Power of FAITH. Faith is
+the Great Secret of all Occult Teachings and is the Key to its Inner
+Mysteries. Faith is the Master-Key that unlocks the doors of the
+Castle of Attainment. We trust that all students of these lessons will
+take this single passage from the Sermon on the Mount and memorize it.
+Make it a part of yourself--make it a part of your life--make it your
+rule of action and living. The life taught by this passage is the true
+life of the Spirit. Here is the true Light on the Path, for the
+guidance of the feet of all Mystics and Occultists!
+
+     "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment
+     ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete
+     it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the
+     mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the
+     beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy
+     brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye, and lo,
+     the beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first
+     the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see
+     clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
+     (_Matt. 7:1-5._)
+
+Here Jesus deals another powerful blow to the self-righteousness of
+the Pharisaical "good" people of the sects, creeds and cults of all
+lands, time and religions. He warns against that "Thank God! I am
+holier than thou" attitude that so many vain formalists affect in
+their dealings with other men. In these immortal words Jesus has sent
+ringing down the aeons of time a scathing rebuke to the hypocritical
+judges of other men--those men who wish to "reform" others to conform
+to their own standards. Out of the mouth of their Master are many
+so-called followers rebuked.
+
+"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls
+before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet and
+turn and rend you." (_Matt. 7:6._)
+
+Here is the warning to Initiates not to spread out a feast of their
+highest teachings to the mob, who with swinish instincts would defile
+the Divine Feast, and tear to pieces those who had spread it for them.
+The truth of this warning has been attested by the fate of those
+glorious souls who, disregarding it, attempted to give the Truth to
+the animal minds of the mob and were done to death for their folly.
+Even Jesus Himself met His fate from neglecting this very rule,--for
+allowing His sympathy to overcome His judgment.
+
+     "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find;
+     knock and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone that
+     asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him
+     that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of
+     you who if his son ask him for a loaf will give him a stone,
+     or if he shall ask for a fish will give him a serpent? If ye
+     then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your
+     children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven
+     give good things to them that ask him? All things therefore
+     whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do
+     ye also unto them, for this is the law and the prophecy."
+     (_Matt. 7:7-12._)
+
+Here is another burning message to men to live by the light of Faith
+in the Spirit. And a warning that unless one would act toward other
+men rightly, he could not expect to be dealt with rightly. It is the
+lesson of sowing and reaping--the lesson of the Law of Karma. Jesus is
+most emphatic in these statements. He does not alone say "Do this! Do
+that!" He states emphatically: "This is _the Law_!" And so it is--men
+are punished by their wrong deeds, not _for_ them.
+
+     "Enter ye in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and
+     broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many are
+     they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate and
+     straitened the way that leadeth unto life, and few are they
+     that find it." (_Matt. 7:13-14._)
+
+This is the highest occult teaching. How few are they who find their
+way to the Realization of their own Divinity? Narrow indeed is the
+gate and straitened the way that leadeth to the goal. The masses
+follow the broad path, like fools--but few even see the narrow
+entrance to The Path.
+
+     "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's
+     clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits
+     ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs
+     of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
+     fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A
+     good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
+     corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that
+     bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the
+     fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not
+     every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
+     the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of the
+     Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
+     Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name
+     cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And
+     then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from
+     me, ye that work iniquity." (_Matt. 7:15-23._)
+
+Here is the notable warning against the perverted use of the occult
+powers--the prostitution of the Gifts of the Spirit--Black Magic, in
+short. For, as all well know, the occult forces may be applied to base
+as well as worthy uses. By their fruits shall ye know the good from
+the evil. He whose teachings render men weak, sheeplike and cringing,
+credulous leaners upon leaders, is a tree that bringeth forth evil
+fruit. Such are wolves in sheep's clothing, who fatten upon the
+bodies, substance and souls of their dupes. But those who lead men to
+be Men--yea, Super-Men--bring forth the good fruit of the Spirit. Be
+ye not deceived by names, words, creeds nor claims--nay, not even by
+miracles. Look always at the effect produced--the fruits of the
+tree--and govern yourself accordingly.
+
+     "Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine and
+     doeth them shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his
+     house upon the rock, and the rain descended and the floods
+     came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it
+     fell not, for it was founded upon the rock. And every one
+     that heareth these words of mine and doeth them not shall be
+     likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the
+     sand, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
+     winds blew and smote upon that house and it fell, and great
+     was the fall thereof." (_Matt. 7:24-27._)
+
+In these parting words of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave a Message
+to all who would hear, or read His words, and profess to be His
+followers. He bade such build upon the eternal rock of the Truth--the
+rock of ages, that had its foundations in the very basic principles of
+Being. He warned them against building upon the shifting sands of
+theology and dogmatism, which would be surely swept away by the storms
+of Time. Upon the eternal Mystic Truths is Mystic Christianity
+founded. And it is still standing untouched by the storms of
+criticism, opposition and knowledge that have swept away many
+theological edifices in the past, and which are now beating with
+renewed vigor upon the remaining frail structures, which are even this
+day quivering under the strain. Mystic Christianity invites the "New
+Theology," the "Higher Criticism," the "Criticism of Science"; for
+these will only tend to prove the truths of its fundamental
+principles. In Mystic Christianity, Religion, Philosophy and Science
+are known to be one and the same thing. There is no conflict between
+Science and Religion; Philosophy and Religion; or Philosophy and
+Science. They are all but names for the One Truth. There be but one
+Truth--there cannot be more than one. And so call it by the name of
+Religion--the name of Science, the name of Philosophy--it matters not,
+for the same thing is meant. There is naught but Truth--nothing else
+really exists. All that is not Truth is Illusion, _Maya_, Nothing. And
+Mystic Christianity is based upon the Rock of Truth, fearing not the
+winds nor the storms that try out the stability of all structures of
+thought. Like its founder, it has always existed--always will
+exist--from the Beginningless Beginning to the Endless Ending. The
+same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
+
+
+
+
+A SERIES OF LESSONS IN GNANI YOGA (THE YOGA OF WISDOM)
+
+
+By YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+This course gives the highest Yogi teachings regarding the Absolute
+and its Manifestations--the relations between the One and the
+Many--the Secret of the One Life--the Mystery of the Evolution of the
+Soul--the Law of Spiritual Cause and Effect--the Group-Soul--the Birth
+of the Ego--the Unfoldment of the Self--the Cycles of the Race--the
+Chain of Worlds--the Truth about Nirvana--the Divine Paradox--the
+Problem of Consciousness--the Reality and the Illusory--the offices of
+Will and Desire--the Future of the Race--the Past History of Man and
+the Races--the Adepts and Masters--the Brotherhoods--the Problems of
+Life--the Riddle of Existence. These and many other subjects of equal
+importance are taken up, explained and the dark corners illuminated.
+Some of the teachings to be given are entirely new to the general
+Western public, and partake of the nature of the Inner Teachings of
+the occultists.
+
+Bound in Blue Silk Cloth, 302 Pages.
+
+PRICE $1.10 POSTPAID.
+
+E.B., North Side, Pittsburgh, Pa., writes she has just finished
+reading your book "Science of Breath," and considers it priceless.
+
+I have studied many Occult and Mental Science works, but none Of which
+ever developed Spiritual Illumination or produced that Tranquil state
+of mind that I derived by studying the Yogi Philosophy.---N.R.B. New
+Zealand.
+
+
+
+
+JESUS THE LAST GREAT INITIATE
+
+
+By EDOUARD SCHURE
+
+Mr. Schure in this volume, has done much to strengthen the belief that
+Jesus was an Essene, in whom a Messianic consciousness was awakened by
+special initiation.
+
+A remarkable full account is given of his experiences among the
+Essenes and how his early life, (about which the Bible is so reticent)
+was spent studying with the advanced Occult masters.
+
+The problem of how Jesus became the Messiah, he holds to be not
+capable of solution without the aid of intuition and esoteric
+tradition.
+
+The life of the great Teacher as pictured by the writer is one to be
+dreamed over and capable of imparting both knowledge and stimulus to
+that inner life which is in so many undeveloped and even unsuspected.
+
+Bound Silk Cloth.
+
+PRICE $0.80 POSTPAID.
+
+
+
+
+KRISHNA AND ORPHEUS
+
+
+THE GREAT INITIATES OF THE EAST AND WEST
+
+
+By EDOUARD SCHURE
+
+The lives and teachings of these two great Masters who preceded Jesus
+are very much like the latter's. You cannot help noting the remarkable
+resemblance they bear to each other.
+
+Krishna's Virgin Birth, His Youth, Initiation, The Doctrine of the
+Initiates, Triumph and Death, are all told in a fashion that shows
+that Mr. Schure has devoted much time to thought and research work.
+The mighty religious of India, Egypt and Greece are passed in rapid
+review and the author declares that while from the outside they
+present nothing but chaos, the root idea of their founders and
+prophets presents a key to them all.
+
+Bound in Silk Cloth.
+
+PRICE $0.80 POSTPAID.
+
+
+
+
+THIS IS OUR COMPLETE LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
+
+                                                            PRICE
+                                                            POSTPAID
+
+Hatha Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Cloth                              $1.10
+
+Science of Breath. By Ramacharaka. Bound in paper .53; Cloth     .75
+
+Fourteen Lessons in Yogi-Philosophy, and Oriental Occultism.
+  By Ramacharaka.                                               1.10
+
+Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental Occultism.
+  By Ramacharaka.                                               1.10
+
+Raja Yoga. By Ramacharaka.                                      1.10
+
+Gnani Yoga. By Ramacharaka.                                     1.10
+
+Philosophies and Religions of India. By Ramacharaka.            1.12
+
+Psychic Healing. By Ramacharaka.                                1.10
+
+The Hindu-Yogi Practical Water Cure. By Ramacharaka.             .55
+
+Mystic Christianity. By Ramacharaka.                            1.10
+
+Bhavagad Gita. By Ramacharaka.                                   .80
+
+Kybalion. By Three Initiates.                                   1.08
+
+Reincarnation and Law of Karma. By Wm. W. Atkinson.             1.10
+
+Secret of Success. By Wm. W. Atkinson.                           .50
+
+Inner Consciousness. By William Walter Atkinson.                 .50
+
+Practical Mental Influence. By W.W. Atkinson.                    .50
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+Practical Mind Reading. By W.W. Atkinson.                        .50
+
+Practical Psychomacy and Crystal Gazing. By W.W. Atkinson.       .50
+
+Light on the Path and Illumined Way. By M.C. Cloth.              .44
+
+Light on the Path. By M.C. Paper.                                .10
+
+A Visit to Gnani. By Edward Carpenter. Paper.                    .28
+
+Jesus: The Last Great Initiate. By Edouard Schure.               .80
+
+Krishna and Orpheus. By Edouard Schure.                          .80
+
+Karma. By A.P. Sinnett. Occult Novel. Cloth.                     .60
+
+The Spirit of the Upanishads.                                    .55
+
+Mystery of Being. Heeralal Dhole.                                .50
+
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