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.