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.