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XXV - Concerning the Christ and the Logos
Nº. XXIV
CONCERNING THE MAN REGENERATE (2)
YOU have been told that Jesus and those
like him came back voluntarily and were born under conditions different from the
ordinary, in that they had accomplished some degrees of their regeneration.
These degrees are twelve in all, and constitute twelve labours, twelve gates, or
twelve pearls, all of which are of equal value. Jesus was born regenerate in
certain degrees, and the whole were completed only after his “resurrection,”
during the retirement which ended in his “ascension.” The last degrees are the
most difficult. There are four for the soul, four for the
perisoul (or astral), and four for the body, this being the last. And it
was this that Paul was so anxious to accomplish, but failed to do. With some the
body is never redeemed; but this does not hinder the “divine marriage” of the
soul and spirit. This marriage facilitates the redemption of the body, but may
take place without it.
There are four zones or divisions in
the astral light, and the reflect of Jesus is in the highest only, and cannot be
seen by those who have access only to the lower; and not being strengthened by
the shadow of the body of Jesus, it has become fainter, until now it is hardly
perceptible. This is because his body was indrawn. (3)
Jesus had a great advantage in his
birth, owing partly to his own regenerate condition, and partly to that of his
parents. Owing to the purity of his mother’s blood, she is said to have come of
a priestly family. For the same reason his father is said to have come of a
royal descent, for the terms “Tribe of Levi” and “House of David” have a mystic
meaning. (4)
The sanctity of any particular Christ
is dependent upon the
advance made by him previously to his birth.
Jesus had in this respect an advantage over Buddha. He was regenerate in more
degrees, and he had no sexual relations as had Buddha. The Twelve Labours refer
each to some concupiscence, which is depicted under the figure of a ravenous
bird, horse, or some other animal which requires to be
subdued. And Jesus had previously accomplished the Labour denoting that
particular kind of concupiscence.
Now, of men some must needs be
satisfied first intellectually. These are regenerate first in the mind; and
afterwards they attain to the kingdom.
But some begin from within; and these
are the most blessed. For they seek the kingdom first, and the
rest is added to them afterwards.
These last begin the Great Work in
the heart, by means of the affection. And the grace of love attracts the Holy
Spirit, and transmutes them from glory to glory, so that the reason, or mind, is
suddenly enlightened by the inner reason; and with such the work of regeneration
is instantaneous – “in the twinkling of an eye.” These are of the type of the
woman.
But others – and these are of the
masculine type – must perform their work more laboriously; for in them the mind
is first illuminated. They pass from without inwards; from the circumference to
the centre. And this is but a difference of method, not of ultimates; for the Reason is the heir of all things.
With these the Great Work is a slow
process; but their gold is one in kind with that of the first. For when at last
the divine marriage consummates their labours, the mind and the body are already
redeemed, and beyond the power of death, because they have already the power.
But with those who are regenerate
first within, there is suffering of the body, and often death. For two opposing currents meet with violence, and the result may be
the rending apart of body and spirit. But yet their death is not as the
death of the unregenerate. Because in the very shock of it transmutation takes
place: matter, that is, is sublimated, and the man needs no further incarnation.
He is free, for he has conquered matter. Wherefore the bond is severed between
him and the earthly, and he will return to the earthly no more.
He who is regenerate first in the
body and mind, usually lives long, even beyond the limit of mortal life, and
absorbs in that
period his entire astral being, and often
even his body. Thus did Enoch, thus Elias, and some others. I do not name them.
And Jesus remained to do this also. For he would leave nothing undone, being in
the end Lord of the kingdom, the power, and the glory.
But when he arose from the dead, not having seen corruption, nor fallen under
the dominion of death, there remained to him one degree of regeneration to be
accomplished-he was not yet “ascended.”
For there were then
but the eleven; because the twelfth – “Judas” – was imperfect.
And because of this Judas, Jesus fell under the power of the cross.
[For Judas was the type of his own
weakness; since the flesh, not being wholly regenerate, was, in that unfulfilled
degree, weak.
And the regeneration of his body not
being complete before his crucifixion, his flesh-will still warred against his
spirit-will, and he could still find room to say, “Not my will, but Thine be done.”
The Martyrs who followed his teaching
were braver in the face of death than Jesus, though their pains were, for the
most part of them, far sharper.
Tender women, maidens, and youths
went fearless and smiling to the stake or the rack, without tear or sigh; but
Jesus shrank and wept piteously at the foot of his cross.
Yet a man may be victor in the spirit
though his body remain unredeemed. For this redemption of the body – when fully accomplished – is
transmutation, and its beginning is the At-one-ment
of the will of the flesh with the will of the spirit.]
But when Jesus completed his
regeneration, then there were again twelve.
But until Jesus, no man ever attained
these twelve degrees and the divine marriage from within. Hitherto the taking of
the kingdom had been from without, by violence and labour, after the manner of
the Patriarchs.
Now, these twelve degrees are
fourfold for almost every part of man; being four for the body, four for the
astral, four for the soul, but one for the spirit.
And until Jesus there had been no
regeneration of the twelve in this order – from within. Buddha at his death had
attained to the ten only.
For of some the regeneration is
fourfold; being one degree for each kingdom, and the last for the marriage of
the spirit.
And with some it is sevenfold; being
two for each kingdom, and
the seventh for the marriage. Such was the
regeneration of the mother and father of Jesus.
But Jesus himself had more than the
four, the seven, or the ten; for he had the thirteen.
And first he had four of the soul.
With these, two of the astral, and one of the body, he
was born.
Afterwards, at the “ninth hour,” when
he had completed the fourth degree of the astral, he consummated the divine
marriage.
Afterwards he achieved three degrees
for his body, but the last only after his “ascension” to the mount of the Lord.
No man ever attained thus before. And
since the glory is of the Spirit, or divine part, it is said (1) that Jesus by his marriage feast manifested forth his glory.
And the celebration of this marriage
was in
For Jesus had
received the Double Portion; and hence his double glory. (2)
Footnotes
(65:2)
(65:3) Some
occultists have made their own failure to discern the reflect of Jesus – a
failure here accounted for – a ground for denying his existence. E.M.
(65:4) For
another and more profound meaning of the derivation from David, see note to No.
XXXVIII. E.M.
(68:1) I.e. in the Mysteries, on
which the Gospels are based. E.M.
(68:2) Concerning the Double Portion, see
No. XXXVII.
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