7.
But before that happens, if we remain fixed on the image, it
is far more likely that we will become caught up in a world of thought
and imagery that is a kind of trap. Such worlds actually exist on the
plane of thought and can imprison us even after death. Beings—minor,
corrupt “gods”—control these prisons, who while making us believe we are
in “heaven”, really are feeding on our devotion, draining off our energy
for themselves.
Hence the need for a realistic approach to the spiritual.
We have to realize all manifestations are illusory, and reserve
our reverence for the One, who is also in our fellow humans.
A god, thus, is any intermediary being between our human
consciousness and the One Absolute. Just as we incarnate in different
bodies, a spiritual being can inhabit an image, and continue to do so as
long as it receives energy from its devotees. When that dries up, the
god can “die”, as many classical gods have done.
Thus, the Hebrews took the name of Aten or JHVH and
addressed it as if it were a personal god, thereby allowing a being to
step in and inhabit it, as will always happen when an image or name is
offered devotion. Whether the image or name contains the real original
of that image will depend on what kind of energy we bring to it. Any
kind of self-seeking will attract such a corrupt being who will ensnare
us.
Each of these beings then inhabits a “heaven” for its
devotees, where he/she will be found as an apparently living being, in a
world exactly matching the devotees’ expectations. Obviously Jehovah
has become such a being. And, in most cases, so has Jesus. In fact,
hundreds of different images of Jesus exist, as the Catholics have their
heaven, the Baptists theirs, the Episcopalians theirs, each with also
their sectarian and racial variations, etc. They exist as thought-forms
in the substance of thought-worlds, but seeming very real to their
inhabitants, and strengthened often by centuries of use.
Is then Christianity all an illusion, a great tragic
chimera? Not quite. In that form it is, but it has an esoteric
core that is a reality. As was said above, within each human being is
an individualized spark of the Divine, often called the Monad. To
awaken to that identity, obscured as it is by layers of our self-seeking
personality, is to be “saved” or enlightened. The process of reaching
that state can be a long and arduous one, and to help in that process
was the purpose of the existence of Mystery Schools in earlier times.
Hierophants who were already initiated helped the neophytes overcome
their illusions, selfishness, greed, aggression, ambition, lust,
inertia, power-seeking, etc. When ready, they would be guided through
an initiation that would result in a really new consciousness. Often
the new state was described as uniting with a god—Krishna,
Ormuzd, Osiris, Horus, Apollo, or Dionysus, etc.
In
ancient Egypt,
such initiations were carried out in an unbroken line for thousands of
years, in temples, or in the Great Pyramid, which was built for the
purpose. At their peak, there were daily rituals, when thousands of
people experienced a taste of their Osiris-consciousness for a time.
Modern historians have never solved how the ancient civillizations,
especially Egypt’s, seem to have arisen full-blown before written
records, and could have exhibited such a mastery of mathematics,
astronomy and engineering as to have constructed the pyramids which even
modern technology cannot see how to duplicate. It was of course because
initiates have always been on earth even before we turned our attention
to building earthly monuments.
They
knew what was required of each age as the vernal point moved from
Gemini, through Taurus, and Aries, etc. and gave out teachings or set up
religions corresponding to the characteristics of the time and what
people could understand. Seeing that an Age of Pisces was coming, and
knowing it would be a time of illusions, lies and wars, and that people
would be turned especially toward their senses and the physical world,
the Egyptian and Greek gnostics took a historical figure as a template
and set up a religion that turned him into a physically incarnated
Saviour.
They wrote gospels that wisely embodied numerous esoteric truths in
their narrative in veiled language or image form. Knowing people would
be focused in their lower selves and very emotional, they made their
Saviour a figure they could picture outside themselves, and as long as
they continued loyal and devoted to their belief in Him, their sins
would be pardoned and they would be saved. At the same time, they gave
plenty of hints that He is also inside them, which is the ultimate
truth.
Thus
“faith” really means that it is only if they believe that that divine
essence is within them and is their real identity, will they be able to
rise above their present deluded state. It cannot happen from without.
Hence Jesus can say: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father but by me”.[xxii]
That is, the real “I” is the way, and it is not a statement of
exclusivity.
They
built into it the challenge that salvation or initiation was to be
attained in this one life, hoping some at least could do it. Actually
reincarnation was not ruled out, as can be seen from the writings of
early Church Fathers like Origen, and was only ruled a heresy in 325
A.D. at the Council of Nicaea, which was of dubious legitimacy even by
the Church’s own rules.
Christianity was a magnificent attempt, and it worked, for a time.
Christians lived courageous new lives, they went singing to their deaths
in the arena, and Romans hired them for servants because they could be
trusted. Then Emperor Constantine in 313 A.D. made Christianity the
state religion of Rome,
forced people to join it, and it began its decline into politicization,
dogmatism and the building of a power structure. It survived much
longer in a purer form in the Celtic regions.
This was the first betrayal of Christianity, one can say,
and many lesser ones followed. One of the most recent occurred at the
beginning of the 20th century, through Rudolf Steiner.
