MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY/PART 4
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.
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