MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY/PART 5
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."
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