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Nº. XXVIII
CONCERNING THE “BLOOD OF CHRIST” (2)
BEING asleep I saw myself in a large room like a
library, for it had in it a great many shelves filled with books; and there were
several persons in it to whom I was speaking of the
Christs, their origin and mission, and part in the history of mankind.
And I spoke much of Jesus, representing that the doctrine of his immaculate
conception was to be understood only in a mystic sense, and that
all the story we have of his birth refers solely to his initiation, (3) which is the true
birth of the Son of God. And I proved this by many texts and passages from the
gospels themselves and other writings. And I spoke also of the origin of Jesus,
and how he had been made perfect through suffering. Of this suffering we hear, I
said, but little in the one life of his which
is recorded in the gospels. The suffering referred
to is a long course of trial and upward progress experienced in former
incarnations. And I named some of the more recent ones, but have not been
enabled to retain them.
Coming to his passion and death, I
explained that these were no atonement in the sense ordinarily understood. For
that God does not take the mere shedding of innocent blood as any satisfaction
for the moral guilt of others. But that the mystical Blood of Christ by which we
are saved, is no other than the secret of the Christs whereby they transmute themselves from the material
to the spiritual plane, the secret, namely, of inward purification. And I showed
that throughout all the sacred writings the word blood is used as a synonym for
life; and that life in its highest, perfectest, and
intensest sense, is not the mere physical life understood by
materialists, but the essence of that life, the inward God in the man. And when
it is written that those in the highest courts of heaven are they who have made
their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, it is signified that they have
attained redemption through their perfect attainment of the secret of the
Christs. And when also it is said that the blood of Christ
cleanseth from all sin, it is signified that sin is impossible to him who
is perfectly spiritualised, and has been baptized with the spiritual baptism.
The blood of Christ, therefore, is not the material blood of any man whatsoever.
It is the secret and process of spiritual perfectionment attained by the Christ,
and that whereby all who, following his method, know God and are initiated,
become redeemed and attain the gift of eternal life. And many other things I
said, being, as it seemed to me, taught of some spirit, and not knowing
beforehand what things I was to say.
Now I perceived behind me, a little
to my right, a beautiful marble image of Pallas Athena, which stood in a small
recess in the wall, and there fell upon it a bright golden light like sunshine,
which varied from time to time to all the seven colours, but more frequently to
the violet than to the others. And the light was chiefly on the head and bosom
of the figure, which was clad as a warrior with helmet, shield, and spear. And I
could hardly determine as I looked at it whether it were a living or a marble
form, so life-like was it.
A little while later all the people
to whom I had been speaking were gone away, and I was in the room alone with my
mother. She was in great distress and agitation, regarding me as lost and
as an apostate from Christianity, nor would she
listen to any explanation I could make on the matter. She wept bitterly,
declaring I had broken her heart, and made her old age a sorrow and a burden to
her by my apostasy, and that I should be utterly cast
away unless I repented and returned to the orthodox belief; and she besought me
on her knees to recant what I had said. No words can convey the intensity of my
pain, and the trouble of spirit caused me by this conduct of hers. My mother
seemed to swoon at my feet with the excess of her emotion; and I was on the
point of yielding to her entreaties when I saw the door of the room open and a
Spirit enter. He came and stood beside me, and said these words, “Whoso putteth his hand to the plough and
looketh
back, is not fit for the
Then the dream passed away and I
remember no more: but a deep feeling remained impressed on my mind that the
scene was but the rehearsal and foreshadowing of something that would actually
occur in my future life.
***
It is a satisfaction, which the sympathetic reader will share, to be able to
state that, by taking the dream as a warning rather than as a positive
prediction, and observing caution accordingly, opposition of the kind described
was reduced to a minimum, and no breach of affection or serious unhappiness
ensued.
The image of Pallas
illumined by the seven rays denotes the Divine Wisdom in its plenitude, and
manifesting all the – “Seven Spirits of God.” As beheld on this occasion, it was
an emphatic intimation that the doctrine enunciated was uttered under the
inspiration of them all, and especially of those represented by the two dominant
rays, Love and Reverence. E.M.
Footnotes
(71:2)
(71:3) Initiation does not necessarily
involve the agency of any human institution. The true initiator is in every case
the Divine Spirit in the aspirant himself. E.M.
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