LECTURE IV
WE have shown that the Hebrew people had
received from Abraham a physical organ, enabling them to
acquire, through sense knowledge, not merely an inkling, but,
as far as was possible, a real knowledge of divine spiritual
things. Knowledge of the divinely spiritual there is and has
been at all times and in all places. But this, what might be
called eternal knowledge of the divine, was reached
through initiation into the Mysteries, or at least on the
path to initiation.
A distinction must be made between that
knowledge of the spiritual worlds acquired by special
training or initiation, and that which is normal for any age,
and arises as its special mission for human evolution.
In this way
the astral clairvoyance prevalent throughout the Atlantean
period was normal for that age, but for the age in which the
Hebrews flourished an external, exoteric knowledge of the
spiritual world was normal, and was gained with the aid of a
special physical organ. As already indicated, the people of
Abraham arrived at this knowledge in such a way that their
innermost being seemed to be dissolved within divine
existence. Inner knowledge, or the comprehension of divinity
in man's innermost being, became possible through this
special physical organ.
But this
comprehension of the divine did not make it immediately
possible for men to say: ‘I descend into my own inner
being, I strive to comprehend as deeply as I can my own inner
nature; there I find the drop of divine spiritual existence
giving me an understanding of what permeates the external
world.’ This first became spiritually possible through
the entrance of Christ into human evolution. The possibility
of experiencing the divine was first given to the Hebrew
people through their Folk-spirit, in which each felt himself
not as a single individual but as a member of the whole
people; he then felt he belonged through his blood to the
whole line of generations, he felt the Divine or
Jehovah-consciousness lived in his Folk-consciousness.
In the terms
of Occult Science it would be inaccurate to describe the God
Jehovah by saying, ‘He is the God of Abraham;’
but we must say, ‘He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac,
and ofJacob — the Being Who passes from generation to
generation, and Who reveals Himself through individual men in
the consciousness of the race.’ The Christian
perception shows a great advance over this. What the ancient
Hebrew perception attained only through meditating on the
Folk-spirit, by sinking within the Spirit flowing through the
generations, Chistian recognizes in each single individual. I
Abraham might have said; ‘In that I am chosen to be the
founder of a people whose descendants will spread over the
earth, a God will live in the blood flowing through the
generations Whom we hold to be the most supreme, and Who
reveals Himself to us in the consciousness of our
people.’ This was the consciousness normal for that
time.
This special
form of knowledge was different from the higher knowledge of
the Spirit that had been preserved in the Mysteries
throughout all ages. In Atlantis, astral-etheric clairvoyance
could perceive the divine-spiritual background of existence.
By developing their inner life men could there attain
knowledge through the Mysteries or Oracles. Even during the
period when the Hebrew type of consciousness was normal, men
who trained in certain sanctuaries could rise to the
perception of the divine. But this was done when
outside the body, not within it, as was the
way of the people of Abraham. A man could rise to the
perception of the eternal divine Spirit by enhancing the
eternal in himself. Thus it is easily realized that one thing
was necessary to Abraham. He had learnt, in a way peculiar to
himself, and by means of a physical organ, to know the
divinely spiritual, and in this way he had learnt to
recognize the God Who guides the universe. If he were to
enter with vivid comprehension into the whole course of
evolution, it was of the greatest importance that he should
recognize in the God Who revealed Himself in the
Folk-consciousness of the people, the same God, Who had been
recognized in the Mysteries of all ages as the Creative
Deity. Abraham had to be quite certain of the identity of
his God with the God of the Mysteries. Certainty of
this was brought home to him through a very special
revelation.
To understand
this certainty one fact of human evolution must be kept in
mind. In my book,
Occult Science,
reference is made
to the ancient Atlantean Initiates, the ‘Priests of the
Oracles’ — what they were called is of little
consequence — and I said there that the Sun-Initiate
was the head of all the Atlantean Oracles, and must be
distinguished from the initiates of the lesser Oracles, those
of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, etc. He was the great leader of
those people who carried culture from the West to the East,
from Atlantis to Central Asia, and founded post-Atlantean
civilizations. This great Initiate, for such he was, withdrew
into the secret sanctuaries of Central Asia. It was he who
made it possible for those mighty sages, the Holy Rishis, to
become the teachers of their race and it was this great and
mysterious Initiate who imparted initiation to Zarathustra.
The initiation given to Zarathustra differed, however, from
that imparted to the Rishis, for their missions were
different. The initiation given to the Rishis enabled them,
after the further development of their inner being, to
declare as from themselves, the mighty secrets of existence.
They became the great guides and leaders of the pre-Vedic
Indian culture. Though developed by artificial means, the
initiation of the Rishis was yet to them something which
strongly resembled the old Atlantean clairvoyance. Each of
the seven Rishis received his training separately, each had
his own appointed region, and each his separate mission, just
as each Oracle had its own sphere of influence. Yet, when any
one of the seven gave forth knowledge of the primal wisdom of
the world, he spoke with the voice of the whole
collegium. The great Sun-initiate, who brought the
ancient Atlantean wisdom from the West to the East, bestowed
it upon the Rishis in a special manner so as to enable them
to develop post-Atlantean civilization. He gave the ancient
Atlantean wisdom to Zarathustra in a different form, so that
he could speak as I have already indicated.
The Rishis
declared ‘To reach divinity men must regard everything
around them, all that is presented to their senses, as Maya
or illusion; they must turn away from the outer world and
direct their glance inwards then a quite different world will
appear from that which is before them.’
Thus the
ancient Indian Rishis taught that by turning away from the
deceptive world of illusion and developing their inner life,
men could rise to divine spiritual spheres. Zarathustra
taught otherwise. Instead of turning away from external
manifestations and regarding them as Maya he said:
‘This Maya or illusion is the revelation, the true
garment, of Divine Existence; our duty is not to turn from it
but to investigate it and to see in the physical light of the
Sun an external garment within which Ahura Mazdao lives and
moves.’
Thus in a
certain sense the standpoint of Zarathustra was the opposite
to that of the Rishis. The most significant fact of
post-Indian culture was that what man gained through his
spiritual and mental activities had to be impressed upon the
outer world. It has already been shown how Zarathustra passed
on his best possessions to Moses and Hermes. In order that
the wisdom of Moses might be fruitful and bear seed in the
right way, this seed had to be implanted in the race that had
Abraham for its progenitor. Abraham was the first who
acquired the organ through which the Jehovah consciousness
could be evolved, but he had to realize that the God who
spoke in him through his physical powers of comprehension,
spoke with the same voice as the eternal all-pervading God of
the Mysteries; only that He revealed Himself to Abraham in a
more restricted manner, that is, in a way Abraham was able to
understand.
For such a
mighty Being as the great Atlantean Sun-initiate it is not
immediately possible to speak in comprehensible words to
those living in some age who have a special mission. A Being
so exalted — one who in his own individuality leads an
eternal existence, and of whom it has been rightly said
(indicating his eternal nature) — that he was without
name or age, without father or mother — such a great
guide of human existence could only reveal himself; to those
whom he sought, by assuming a form that could bring him in
contact with them. Therefore in order to give Abraham the
appropriate illumination, the individual who had been the
teacher of the Rishis and of Zarathustra, assumed a form in
which he was clothed in the etheric body of a forefather of
Abraham — this was the etheric sheath of Shem, the son
of Noah — a forefather of Abraham. In the same way as
the etheric garment of Zarathustra had been preserved for
Moses, this etheric body of Shem had persisted, and was used
by the great Sun-initiate so that he might make himself known
to Abraham. The meeting of Abraham with the great Initiate of
the Sun-Mysteries is described in the Old Testament. It is
the meeting of Abraham with the King, the Priest of the Most
High God, Melchisedek or Malekzadik. This meeting of Abraham
with the great Sun-initiate is of the greatest, the most
universal importance. Lest his presence might overwhelm
Abraham this great Being only showed himself in the etheric
body of Shem, the ancestor of the Semitic race. Most
significantly something is here hinted at in the Bible which
is, unfortunately, seldom understood; it refers to whence
that something came which Melchisedek was in a position to
impart to Abraham.
What could
Melchisedek give to Abraham? He could impart to him the
secret of the Sun-existence which sprang from the same source
as the revelations prophetically foretold, in the first
place, by Zarathustra. Naturally, these could only be
comprehended by Abraham in his own way. Let us picture the
facts told by Zarathustra to his chosen pupils. He spoke to
them of Ahura Mazdao who dwelt spiritually behind the
sunlight, and said: ‘Behold, behind the sun is
something not yet united with the earth, but which will one
day stream forth into earthly evolution and descend to
earth.’ We must realize that Zarathustra could here
only be prophesying of the Sun Spirit, the Christ, of Whom he
said, ‘He will come in a human body.’ If we
accept this, we must also accept the fact that still deeper
revelations of the Sun Mysteries had to be given to those
whose mission it was to prepare for the incarnation of Christ
on earth. This took place when Zarathustra's own
instructor came in contact with Abraham, and the outpouring
of power that came from him emanated from the same source as
that which came from Christ. This is indicated symbolically
in the Bible, where it says: ‘When Abraham met
Melchisedek, the King of Salem — this priest of the
most high God brought to him bread and the juice of the
grape.’ Bread and the juice of the grape were dispensed
on another occasion. In the same way as bread and wine were
to become the expression of the Mystery of Christ in the
institution of the Last Supper for those who believed in Him,
this mystery was expressed here also. The similarity of the
two sacrificial acts is described with such clearness that it
shows that Melchisedek drew from the same source as the
Christ.
Thus an
indirect outpouring of that which was destined to come to
earth at a later period took place through Melchisedek. This
influence was to have direct results on Abraham, the great
preparer of what took place later. The result of
Abraham's meeting with Melchisedek was that he now had
some understanding that the outpouring of power he felt
stirring within him and which he referred to as Jehovah
— the highest to which his thought could rise —
had the same origin as the consciousness of the Initiates
— the highest wisdom attainable by man—and that
it emanated from the mighty God Who fills all worlds with
life and movement. This was the new consciousness that dawned
in Abraham. He now knew that in the Hebrew blood, passing
down from generation to generation, there actually flowed
something that could only rightly be compared with what
clairvoyant vision beheld when it reached forth to the
mystery of existence, and understood the language of the
cosmos.
I have
already said that in the Mysteries the secrets of the cosmos
were expressed in a language of the stars, that the teachers
there made use of words and images derived from the
constellations. In the movements of the stars, in their
relative positions one to another, they saw pictures by means
of which they sought to express man's spiritual
experiences when he raised himself to what was divinely
spiritual.
What did the
Mystery wisdom read in the starry script? It read there the
secrets of the Godhead, of Him Who lives and weaves in and
through the world. The disposition of the stars was a visible
expression of this Godhead. Raising his eyes to the firmament
man would say, ‘There God reveals Himself; and the way
in which He makes Himself known is indicated in the order and
harmony of the stars.’ Thus according to this
conception, the God of the universe revealed Himself through
the stars. If this God was to manifest in a special way in
the mission of the Hebrew people, He must do so in accordance
with the plan set forth in the starry courses of the heavens.
This means that in the blood of the generations, which was
the external instrument for the manifestation of Jehovah, a
similar ordering should obtain as that expressed in the
ordering of the stars. In the line of descent from Abraham,
there had to be something which in the course of generations
would be a reflection of the starry script. Accordingly, it
was promised to Abraham, ‘Thy descendants shall be
ordered as the stars in Heaven,’ this is the true
rendering of the statement usually given as, ‘Thy
descendants shall be as numerous as the stars in
Heaven,’ which only refers to the number of the
descendants. The statement is not concerned with the numbers
but indicates how the same order should rule in
Abraham's descendants as was found in the grouping of
the stars — the language of the gods.
People looked
up to the Zodiac; and in the position of the planets to the
Zodiac, constellations were expressed in which they found a
language expressing the deeds of the gods. The close
connection existing in the Zodiac and in the relation of the
planets to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, had to be
expressed in the descendants of Abraham. Thus, in the twelve
sons of Jacob, and in the twelve tribes of the Hebrew people,
we have the reflection of the twelve signs of the Zodiac. As
the language of the gods finds expression above in the twelve
starry signs, so Jehovah is manifested in the blood flowing
through the generations of the twelve tribes that descended
from the twelve sons of Jacob. What was ordered within the
constellations of the Zodiac we designate by the names of the
planets as Venus, Mercury, Moon, Sun, etc., and that which
throughout the ages played a special part in different
periods of the life of the Hebrew people we have compared
with the course of the planets through the Zodiac. For
instance, we showed how David, the kingly singer, has to be
compared with Hermes or Mercury; and the period of the
Babylonian captivity, that is, the form the manifestation of
Jehovah assumed through the entrance of a new impulse six
hundred years before our era, with the planet Venus.
It had to be
indicated to Abraham, for instance, that the position in the
race held by such a personality as David, was on parallel
lines with that of Mercury in the Zodiac. The tribe of Judah
corresponding to the constellation Leo, the entrance of David
into that tribe in the course of Jewish history, corresponded
in the cosmos to the occultation of Leo by Mercury.
In every
detail — in the descent, in the conferring of the
kingly or priestly dignities, in the struggles and victories
of one or other of the tribes, in the whole history of the
Hebrew people we can see what corresponds to the occultation
of the several constellations in outer space. This lies in
the significant words: ‘Thy descendants shall be
ordered in accordance with the harmony of the stars in
Heaven!’ We must not only see in documents that are
founded on occultism the trivialities usually seen there, but
we must recognize their profound depth.
When studied
in this way we see that order did in fact exist in the
sequence of the generations as related in the Gospel of
Matthew; and that the Evangelist shows us the unique
composition of the blood of that body which the individuality
of Zarathustra assumed in order that he might be the means by
which the manifestation of Christ on earth could be brought
to pass.
Let us
therefore ask: What was attained in the course of the
forty-two generations from Abraham to Joseph? What was
attained was, that in the last of the generations a blending
of the blood in accordance with the laws of the stars —
as taught in the Holy Mysteries — had been
accomplished. In this blending of the blood necessary to the
Zarathustra individuality for the accomplishment of his great
work, there was an inner order and harmony that corresponded
to one of the most beautiful and significant arrangements of
the stellar system. The blending of blood, prepared
throughout many generations for the reincarnating
Zarathustra, was therefore a reflection of the whole
cosmos.
All this is
to be found in that great original Scripture, which, if I may
venture to say so, lies before us in weakened form in the
Gospel of Matthew. It is based on the profound mystery of the
development of a people as the reflection of a cosmic
development. This was felt by those who first knew something
of the mighty Mystery of Christ. To them it already seemed
that in the blood of the Jesus of Nazareth of Whom this
Gospel tells, they could perceive a reflection of the Spirit
that rules the whole cosmos. They gave expression to this
Mystery in the words: In the blood which is to be the abode
of the Ego of Jesus of Nazareth lives the Spirit of the whole
cosmos. Therefore, if this physical body is to be born, it
must be an image of the Spirit of the whole cosmos, the
Spirit ruling the whole world.
This was the
original form of expression. It declared the power inherent
in the blended blood of Zarathustra — of Jesus of
Nazareth — to be the power of the Spirit of our whole
universe — even that Spirit, who, after the separation
of the sun from the earth, brooded over and permeated the
development of that which had separated itself out in the
course of worldly evolution.
From the
lectures given in Munich, referred to above, it was shown
that the words of Genesis, ‘B'raschit bara Elohim
eth haschamajim v'eth h'areths,’ must not
be translated lightly according to modern methods which have
lost touch with the ancient meaning. If their true meaning is
sought, it must be given as follows: ‘In everything
that came over from the Saturn, Sun and Moon evolutions, the
thought of the Elohim brooded in cosmic activity; in all that
manifested outwardly, as in all that stirred inwardly.
Darkness reigned over all this. But permeating it and
brooding over it, filling it with warmth, as a hen broods
over its eggs, was the Creative Spirit of the Elohim,
Ruach.’
The Spirit
that brooded there was the same, in every respect, as the
Spirit that created the harmonious order which finds
expression in the starry constellations. The original
Initiates of the Christian Mysteries recognized in the
blending of the blood of Jesus of Nazareth an image of the
work accomplished by the Ruach-Elohim throughout the
universe. Therefore they said of the blood which was thus
prepared for this Great Event that it was ‘created by
the Spirit of the Universe,’ the Spirit who is
described in the opening chapter of Genesis as
‘Ruach’ in that most important passage beginning
— ‘B'raschit bara Elohim ...’
This holy
meaning, a meaning far beyond the usual trivial rendering,
lies at the root of what is called ‘the Conception out
of the Holy Spirit of the Universe.’ It lies at the
root of the saying, ‘She who gave birth to this Being
was filled with the power of the Spirit of the
Universe!’ We need but sense the full greatness of such
Mystery to know that the fact presents something infinitely
higher than the exoteric idea of the ‘immaculate
conception.’
References to
two things in the Bible will suffice to deflect the mind from
the usual trivial explanation of the immaculate conception
and lead it to the recognition of the true point of view. One
is, why should the writer of the Gospel of Matthew give the
whole line of descent from Abraham to Joseph if he wished in
any way to show that the birth of Jesus of Nazareth was
unconcerned with the sequence of the generations? He is very
careful to tell how the blood of Abraham passed down to
Joseph. What sense would there be in saying that this blood
had no connection with the blood of Jesus of Nazareth? The
other fact that must be taken into consideration is that
‘Ruach-Elohim,’ who, in the Bible, is called the
‘Holy Spirit’ or ‘Holy Ghost’ is of
the feminine gender in the Hebrew language.
This point we
will consider later. For the moment let it only awaken within
us a feeling for the grandeur of the idea which lies at the
very root of this Mystery.
The Event
taking place at the beginning of our era, and only known to
the wise men who were initiated into the secrets of the
Universe, found expression first in the Aramaic language, in
an ancient document upon which the Gospel of Matthew was
based. It can be proved, not only by occult means, but by
philological investigation, that this document, which is the
foundation of the Gospel of Matthew, existed as early as the
year 71
A.D.
The true origin of this Gospel is given in my book,
Christianity as Mystical Fact.
Here, however, as we are concerned with Occult Science not Philology,
reference need only be made to one thing in the literature of
the Talmud, which is fully confirmed by Jewish erudition. In
this literature it is stated that Rabbi Gamaliel II. was
involved in a lawsuit with his sister about a legacy from his
father, who died fighting against the Romans in the year 70
A.D.
We are told that the Rabbi Gamaliel II. appeared before
a judge who was a Jewish Christian. Such individuals existed
in the courts ofjustice established for the Jews by the
Romans. In this case a strange thing happened. Rabbi Gamaliel
contested with his sister his father's inheritance; he
declared before the judge, who knew something of
Christianity, that according to Jewish law, the son only and
not the daughter could inherit, and therefore he was the sole
inheritor. The judge, stating that in the circle in which he
practised the Thora was set aside, said that since Gamaliel
sought justice and judgment from him he could not give it
merely according to Jewish law, but according to the law set
up in its stead. The Rabbi's only way now was to bribe
the judge. He did so, and the following day the judge made a
citation that was in reality a plagiarism from the original
Aramaic script of the Matthew Gospel. He said, ‘Christ
did not come into the world to break the law of Moses, but to
fulfil it.’ He thought to stifle the pangs of
conscience for deflecting the law in Gamaliel's favour
by saying that he judged nevertheless according to the
Christian doctrine.
From this we
know that in the year 71 there existed a Christian document
containing words found to-day in the Gospel of Matthew. This
is, therefore, an external proof of the existence of the
Aramaic document, or part of it, from which the Gospel is
derived.
The results
of occult investigation have still to be given, but the above
has been mentioned to show that when seeking the aid of
external Science, it is not wise to consider every other kind
of literary evidence and yet ignore the Talmud literature, as
is often done — for the latter is of great importance
for what one can know of these things exoterically. Thus
there is good external justification for placing the Gospel
of Matthew comparatively early, and regarding its compilers
as men not far removed in time from the events of Palestine.
It is even externally certain that it would have been
impossible at that time to deny that Jesus Christ had lived,
and to say: He of whom we speak, did not live at the
beginning of our era. Half-a-century had not yet elapsed, so
that men were still able to speak to eye-witnesses who would
not state what could not be proved. Exoterically these things
are of importance, and we only mention them in confirmation
of the esoteric view.
We have seen
how, through cosmic mysteries, a body had been prepared in
the course of human evolution, as it were, from the filtrated
blood of the Hebrew people and how into this body, in which
the great initiate Zarathustra incarnated, the order of the
Universe itself had entered. It is of this
Zarathustra-individuality and none other that Matthew
speaks.
It must not
be imagined that what we have described out of the
profoundest Mysteries of earthly evolution was perceived as
clearly by everyone. Even to contemporaries this was deeply
veiled, and was only comprehended by a few Initiates. Hence
the deep silence is comprehensible concerning all that could
then be disclosed about the greatest event in human
evolution. If the historians of to-day turn to their records
and find these records silent, it should not occasion
surprise; such silence is entirely natural.
Having
explained the greatest event of our evolution from the side
of Zarathustra, it is well that we should now consider
another stream of influence preparatory to this great Event.
Very many things took place immediately before and
immediately after the Christ Event in human evolution.
Preparation had been made for it a long time in advance. Just
as it was prepared for externally in the sending forth of
Moses and Hermes by Zarathustra, and by the work of
Meichisedek on the outer sheath of Jesus of Nazareth in the
Sun-Mysteries, it was prepared for in another way through
what might be called a ‘neighbouring stream’ to
the main great current. This ‘neighbouring
stream’ was slowly prepared in centres of which
external history informs us when dealing with those people
described by Philo as the Therapeutze. The Therapeuta were
members of a secret sect who sought the purification of their
souls by inward paths, trying to drive out what had been
debased in them through external intercourse and external
knowledge, and to raise themselves to pure spiritual spheres.
An offshoot of this sect, among whom this neighbouring stream
of culture was carried still further, were the Essaers or
Essenes. All the people who were united in the sects of the
Therapeutae and Essenes were under a certain common spiritual
guidance. They are briefly described in my book,
Christianity as Mystical Fact.
If you would know
something of this spiritual guidance exoterically, you need
only recall the lectures given last year on the Gospel of St.
Luke. The Mystery of Gautama Buddha, as given exoterically in
Oriental literature, was there dealt with, and we explained
that he who seeks to become a ‘Buddha’ must in
the course of evolution first become a
‘Bodhisattva.’ We explained further that the
individual known to history as the ‘Buddha’ had
previously been a Bodhisattva. He was a Bodhisattva until the
twenty-ninth year of his physical existence, during which
time he lived as the son of King Sudhodana. It was only in
his twenty-ninth year, through inner soul-development, that
he evolved from a Bodhisattva to a Buddha. There is a long
sequence of Bodhisattvas in human evolution, and he who
attained Buddhahood six hundred years before our era is
one of these Bodhisattvas who guided human
evolution. An individual who rises from the dignity of
Bodhisattva to that of Buddha does not again incarnate in a
physical body on earth.
It was
explained in the course of the lectures referred to above how
Buddha was manifest at the birth of the Jesus of the Gospel
of St. Luke in that he united himself with the etheric body
of him who is known as the Nathan Jesus; and it was shown
that this is a different Jesus from the one spoken of in the
first part of the Gospel of Matthew.
The
attainment of Buddha-hood by the son of King Sudhodana must
be regarded as the close of an ancient evolution. It was in
fact the same stream of evolution as is connected with the
Holy Rishis of India. As soon as a Bodhisattva attains
Buddha-hood a successor always appears in his place. This is
mentioned in an ancient Indian legend where it tells that the
Bodhisattva, before he came to earth as the son of King
Sudhodana when he was to attain the dignity of Buddha-hood,
and while still in spiritual realms, passed on his
Bodhisattva crown to his successor.
Ever since
that time there has been a successor to the Bodhisattva who
then attained Buddha-hood; and the new Bodhisattva, who
continued working as such, had a special task for human
evolution. The task appointed to him was to guide spiritually
the movement then making itself felt among the circles of the
Therapeutac and the Essenes. There his influence worked. In
the follower of Gautama Buddha we have to recognize the
spiritual guide of the Essenes. During the reign of King
Alexander Jannai
(circa 125-77 B.C.),
this Bodhisattva sent a
particular individual to lead the Essenes; he was,
therefore, the leader of the Essenes about a century before
Christ. He is well known to occultism and to the external
literature of the Talmud. Thus, a century before our era,
before the appearance of Christ on earth, there was an
individuality, who has nothing to do with the Jesus of the
Luke-Gospel and nothing to do with the Jesus of the
Matthew-Gospel, who was a guide and leader in the Essene
Community. He is known under the name of Jesus, the son of
Pandira, Jeschua ben Pandira. Jewish literature has
fabricated many things regarding this individual, and these
fables have recently been revived. He was a great and noble
personality, and must not be confused, as is done by some
students of the Talmud, with Jesus of Nazareth, the subject
of these lectures. We recognize this Essene forerunner of
Christianity in Jesus, son of Pandira, and we know that he
was stoned to death by those who, at that time, saw blasphemy
in the teachings of the Essenes. After being accused of
blasphemy and heresy he was stoned and hanged on a tree, so
that this disgrace might be added to the punishment already
inflicted. This is an occult fact, and is also to be found in
the literature of the Talmud.
In this
Jeschua ben Pandira we have to recognize a personality under
the protection of the Bodhisattva who succeeded the
Bodhisattva, son of Sudhodana, who later became Buddha. The
matter is absolutely clear; we have to recognize here a kind
of preparation, a neighbouring stream to the main stream of
Christianity, springing from the successor of that Buddha. He
is the present Bodhisattva who will one day become the
Maitreya Buddha, and who sent his messenger among the Essenes
to bring that to pass which will be described in the
succeeding lectures.
Thus we have
to seek the name ‘Jesus’ in the individual of
Whom the Gospels of Matthew and Luke speak; but we have also
to seek it a hundred years before our era in the circle of
the Essenes, in that noble personality regarding whom all
that the Talmud literature relates is calumny; who was
accused of blasphemy and heresy, stoned, and hanged upon a
tree.
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