Читать книгу Sacred Journey - M.K. Welsch - Страница 14

Chapter 4

Becoming a Master

For this, then, is in every birth—the possibilities, the glories, the actuating of that influence of that entrance again of god-man into the earth that man might know the way.

262-103

Even as the Holy Family was busy fulfilling its religious obligations, an emotional storm was brewing, which would soon alter their original plans. The problem started with a decision made months prior to Jesus’ birth. According to Edgar Cayce, psychic forces had set the three Wise Men on their original course and directed them to “ … the place ‘where the child was … ’” (5749-7) The readings also parallel the biblical account in mentioning that the trio had stopped along the way to tell Herod the Great, the regional Jewish tetrarch under the jurisdiction of Rome, about their search for the long-awaited child. (Matt. 2:1-2)

Apparently prior to their journey, the Essene leader Judy had discussed with the Magi the possibility of informing Herod about the baby’s impending birth and together the group had decided it was worth doing for a number of reasons. Judy realized that the announcement “ … would arouse in the heart and mind of this debased ruler—that only sought for the aggrandizement of self—such reactions as to bring to him, this despot, turmoils with those then in authority.” (1472-3) Herod was only second or third in authority in the region, and Cayce clarifies the fact that there was no “ … proclamation by the Wise Men, neither by Judy nor the Essenes that this new king was to replace Rome! It was to replace the Jewish authority in the land!” (1472-3) Following the Magi’s visit the damage was done. Herod’s fear of a new ruler supplanting his sovereignty set in motion a tragic turn of events.

The slaughter of the innocents reported in the Gospel of Matthew is a heart-wrenching moment in the saga of the infant Jesus. Enraged by the duplicity of the Magi who never returned to tell him where the newborn king resided, Herod proceeds to order the death of every child from six months to two years old living in Bethlehem and the surrounding environs. (Matt. 2:16) Cayce describes this as the period “ … when many in the land about Nazareth and Bethany and Capernaum suffered from the edict of the ruler that only ruled with a reflected power or Herod, the Great.” (578-2) Fortunately before the hated ruler’s edict was officially announced, Joseph’s inner guidance had warned him in a dream that he needed to take Mary and the baby and flee into Egypt to protect the child from certain death. The couple was of one mind about the necessity of leaving their home and promptly fled.

The Cayce readings note that the Essene Brotherhood already had begun making preparations in anticipation of the need for a possible flight and had selected individuals to act as handmaids for Mary, Jesus, and Joseph during transit. In addition, small supportive groups preceded and followed the family to provide extra protection. The readings suggest that their journey into Egypt did not go unnoticed by the locals living along the route and in fact later became part of the oral traditions of those communities. “Through that period there were many of the stories that have come down as legends, even of those people in some portions of Egypt and of Arabia, as to the happenings along the way, as to how there were the unusual happenings—indicating not only the divinity of the Child but that purpose later recorded, ‘And she kept all of these and pondered them in her heart.’” (5749-16)

Surrendered Innocence

To this day Herod’s treachery after the birth of Jesus endures in the collective psyche as one of the most horrifying episodes recorded in the New Testament. Ironically after the entrance into the earth of a holy child destined to deliver freedom to the people of God, their deliverer barely escapes death at the hands of one of his own—a Jewish monarch determined to sacrifice guiltless babies at the shrine of his anger and vanity.

The story of Herod’s twisted claim to power, which resulted in the massacre of the innocents, holds profound significance as an allegory. It presents a warning about the dangers posed by sinister forces vehemently arrayed against the coming of the light and describes what can happen when a single unrestrained ego aligned with these energies unleashes them in the earth. The blind opposition of a Herod, self-absorbed and fearful of the establishment of a more spiritually advanced order, is both deep-seated and raw. Intent on destroying what they cannot understand, the legions of darkness will stop at nothing in their quest to blot out the Christ spirit newborn into the earth. But hope cannot die when highly developed souls such as Joseph stay alert to the still small voice of wisdom within and follow its guidance. These are the guardians of the light who will keep the holy child, the Christ in man, safe and alive, allowing it to develop until it gains enough strength to illuminate the world.

Seen from a more conventional angle, biblical scholars have interpreted Herod’s callous bout of infanticide as a preordained event designed to ensure that ancient prophecy was fulfilled. Old Testament references to Rachel mourning for her children and the statement “out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matt. 2:15) are cited as part of a body of evidence predicting the coming of a savior, Herod’s murderous decision following his birth, and the flight of the Holy Family. The recurring theme and deeper metaphorical meaning of the death of the sinless child takes on added significance when viewed not merely as an isolated incident from the first century AD but against the sweeping backdrop of the entire Bible. The story’s roots lie deep in the remote past, extending as far back as some of the first books of the Old Testament. In many ways the dramatic image of the infant Jesus whisked away to elude the jaws of death bears a striking resemblance to a moment much earlier in Jewish history when another deliverer comes out of Egypt to liberate the people of God.

Moses

The series of events surrounding the birth of Moses depicted in vivid detail in the book of Exodus most closely foreshadows the catastrophic events that will transpire in the area around the tiny town of Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great. Here, too, a miraculous chain of circumstances occurs after Pharaoh orders the death of all the newborn sons of the Hebrew slaves. Determined to save her baby, Moses’ mother, Jochebed, places him in a tiny ark made of bulrushes which she floats on the Nile River. Then something unexpected happens. The child is plucked from the water by Pharaoh’s sister and ends up not only eluding death but also becoming a member of the monarch’s own family. Little Moses grows up in the rarified atmosphere of the royal household and eventually is elevated to great heights of temporal glory.

But like Jesus many centuries later, Moses’ destiny is not to wear the crown of an earthly king. Forced by extreme circumstances, including a murder, to leave behind his wealth and material-minded ways, this former son of a Pharaoh ends up enslaved for a short period of time and then is thrown out of Egypt to wander alone in the wilderness. Amazingly, the destitute outcast stumbling through the desert is able to preternaturally evade death a second time and eventually comes to embrace a new way of life as a shepherd—a job which induces him to turn within. After spending months in quiet contemplation, Moses raises his consciousness to such a high level that he is able to experience direct awareness of the divine and recognizes God as the spirit within him, present right where he stands—on holy ground. “I am that I am” are the words he hears. Moses’ conscious realization of this divinity—his enlightenment—is what will support him throughout the rest of his lifetime and, against all odds, will allow a lowly shepherd to rescue the Hebrews from their captivity.

Once Moses returns to Egypt following his religious experience, he pushes Pharaoh hard to release the Jewish slaves. But Pharaoh taunts him, asking “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?” (Exod. 5:2) A series of devastating plagues ensues until the Egyptian ruler leads Moses to believe he has relented and finally will allow the Israelites to leave. Yet before they are permitted to depart, the sacrifice of the guiltless child enters the picture again. The Old Testament account states that after many false promises Pharaoh hardened his heart one last time causing a tenth and final plague to settle on the land. On the eve of what will turn out to be the exodus of the Israelites from their bondage, the firstborn of every household dies—except for the sons and daughters in homes where the blood of the innocent lamb is painted on the lintels and door posts as a sacred sign that death should pass over. The surrender of the firstborn is the event that precipitates freedom for the people of God.

Beloved Son

Thus is He the only begotten, the firstborn, the first to know flesh, the first to purify it.

1158-5

Allusions to the loss of the firstborn or favored son appear again and again throughout the holy text beginning with Abraham in Genesis and culminating in the story of Jesus, thirty-three years after Herod’s slaughter of the innocents when the first-begotten of God, the Adam soul, will be slain on a cross at Calvary. Closer examination of the theme of the sacrifice of the child reveals a thread tying together the horrific events in Bethlehem in the weeks following the infant Jesus’ birth to several of his former lifetimes as well as the place of the Messiah in spiritual history.

Thousands of years before Mary’s baby appeared on the scene, the patriarch Abraham’s wife Sarah, a woman long past child-bearing age, miraculously becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son named Isaac. The story related in Genesis indicates that the homage the God of Abraham sought from his servant was the unconditional alignment of Abraham’s will with the will of the divine. And the indisputable evidence of the man’s deference to the Almighty would be his obedience to the divine command to offer his only son on the altar of sacrifice. That which was created and loved most in the material realm by the man Abraham belonged to God and must be given back to the same unseen force from which it had emanated. But in the end, due to the patriarch’s undeviating resolve to surrender all personal desire in order to fulfill a greater holy purpose, this unnamed deity does not require him to surrender his child. The sacred impartation Abraham receives at the moment of dispensation thunders down through history: “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” (Gen. 22:12)

Spirit requires of man only humble submission to his innermost sense of knowing. And due to Abraham’s willingness to listen and obey—his unwavering fidelity to the highest ideal—God promises his descendants shall be as numberless as the stars and his seed a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Abraham and Sarah’s beloved son Isaac grows up to father Jacob, who will wrestle with the angel, earn the name Israel, and have twelve sons of his own.

Out of Egypt

It was Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph, a previous incarnation of the Master who was thrown into slavery in Egypt (symbol of the material world) that sets the stage for the Moses narrative generations later. A divine hand raises up this soul to greatness, empowering Joseph with the authority and opportunity to provide sustenance to the Israelites and literally keep that nation alive. The child lost to his father and believed dead ends up becoming the fulfillment of the divine promise originally made to Abraham: to forever preserve the people of the one God. So, too, will the first begotten son, the Adam soul, lost to the heavenly realms at the beginning of time, be raised up to glory and become a savior. But first, he has to prepare for the role.

Jesus as Student

Did the Father prepare the Master, or did the Master prepare Himself for the Father’s purpose?

2067-7

As detailed in the Edgar Cayce readings, following their flight from Judea the Holy Family stayed in Egypt approximately two-and-a-half years. They may have been gone from their homeland for as long as four or five years, however, counting the length of time it took in those days to travel back and forth on slow-moving animals over rugged terrain. Most of their stay was spent “ … dwelling by the brooks or the portions where there were wells in the upper portion of the Egyptian land to which they fled,” close to what was then Alexandria, which already was a great center of learning. (1010-12) Mary, Joseph, and the members of their household were said to have taken advantage of the opportunity for study during their visit. According to the Cayce material, they reviewed some of the same records and prophecies the Wise Men had researched concerning the advent of the Messiah and some of the experiences that were going to occur in his life. “Those same records from which the men of the East said and gave, ‘By those records we have seen his star.’ These pertained, then, to what you would call today astrological forecasts, as well as those records which had been compiled and gathered by all of those of that period pertaining to the coming of the Messiah … ” (1010-17) In addition, the information included references to the forerunner of the deliverer, John the Baptist, as well as the “ … nature of work of the parents … ” and “ … their places of sojourn … ” along with those qualities concerning the nature and character of the people who would be “ … coming in contact with the young Child … ” (1010-17)

Upon their departure from Egypt, Joseph decides against returning to the place where they had previously lived and instead chooses to settle in Galilee at Capernaum primarily for political reasons. “Then there was the return to Judea and to Capernaum, where dwelt many of those who were later the closer companions of the Master,” (5749-7) explains Cayce. The area in general was quieter and provided a more secure location for his family. It also offered greater proximity to the activities and teachings of the Essene Brotherhood overseen by Judy.

For the most part there is a paucity of information about Jesus’ childhood in the biblical accounts of those early years. Luke’s gospel reports that the young boy grew and waxed strong and increased in “wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:51-52) Jesus was said to have had the grace of God upon him. The Cayce readings fill in several blanks in the information concerning this special child, mentioning his unusual interactions with the community and singular presence in the world. One interesting fact we learn about Jesus is that he was already healing at a very young age—

… garments worn by the child would heal children. For the body, being perfect, radiated that which was health, life itself. Just as today individuals may radiate by their spiritual selves health, life, that vibration which is destructive to dis-ease in any form in bodies …

1010-17

In commenting further on this activity, Cayce goes on to explain that his apparel “ … brought more and more the influence which today would be called a lucky charm, or a lucky chance … ” (2067-7) Although present within him and plainly evident to others on more than one occasion, apparently the healing capacity was not yet a conscious awareness in the child.

Lest we begin to believe this little boy was completely different from all the other children brought up in that day and age according to the Oriental customs of Egypt and Galilee, we learn from the readings that Jesus was “ … in every manner a normal, developed body, ready for those activities of children of that particular period.” (1010-17) “ … Remember and keep in mind, He was normal, He developed normally … ” states Cayce in the same reading. It is said those around him saw the same characteristics that might belong to anyone who wholly places his or her trust in God. Mary watched her son closely and having studied the prophecies and records while preparing for her own role in the divine adventure, must have started to put a few more of pieces of the puzzle together. But as Luke had reported, at the time of Jesus’ birth she quietly kept “all of these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

The family had some additional help in the person of a woman named Josie who had been among the group of twelve maidens on the stairs when Mary was chosen as the one who would give birth to the savior. Josie also had accompanied the Holy Family to Egypt—a journey which Cayce described as “ … no mean distance for a very young child, and a very young mother—during such delicate conditions.” (1010-12) She is said to have been “ … active in all educational activities as well as the care of the body and the attending to the household duties with every developing child.” (1010-17) In terms of Jesus’ educational activities as a youngster, his studies were “ … in keeping with the tenets of the Brotherhood {the activities and beliefs of the Essenes}; as well as that training in the law—which was the Jewish or Mosaic law in that period.” (1010-17)

The Bible picks up the story again around the time Jesus reaches the age of twelve when on a trip to Jerusalem he becomes separated from his parents who finally discover him in the temple conversing with a group of learned rabbis. The Cayce readings say a mix-up is what caused the child to be left behind. (1010-17) Mary and Joseph believed he was elsewhere in their caravan in the care of Josie, and Josie must have thought he was with his parents. “And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:46-49) Interestingly the episode in the temple actually is the first time Jesus begins to comprehend his powers and abilities. This understanding was “ … not as a consciousness … ” in his boyhood according to Edgar Cayce. The awareness really starts to dawn on him during the more formal preparations for his ministry, the first step of which was his great thirst for knowledge about spiritual subjects: “ … Thus the seeking for the study through the associations with the teachers of that period.” (2067-7)

Mastery

… in first India, then Persia, then Egypt: for “My son shall be called from Egypt.”

5749-2

Grounded in a thorough knowledge of Jewish law via the instruction he had received at home before his twelfth birthday, Jesus leaves the household of Joseph and Mary and is placed in the care and ministry of the priests and leaders of the Brotherhood. From the age of twelve to about fifteen or sixteen, Judy taught him the prophecies in her home at Mount Carmel. But at a certain point the young man had gleaned what he could from his Essene teachers and began his education abroad—first in Egypt for a short period, then in India for three years followed by studies in the area later called Persia. (Approximately one year was spent in travel and another year spent studying with various masters in Persia.) Cayce says it was from Persia that Jesus was called back to Judea at the death of Joseph. (5749-7) The culmination of all of this schooling was a second stint in Egypt a few years later, which marked the final step in his development as a teacher.

In all of his studies he was registered under the name Jeshua. This name and its variant, Joshua, of which the Greek form is Jesus, are contractions of Jehoshua, which means “Help of Jehova,” or “Savior.” His lessons overall were broad-ranging and demanded enormous amounts of personal discipline. In India he explored “those cleansings of the body as related to preparations for strength in the physical as well as the mental man … ” and in Persia “ … the union of forces as related to those teaching of Zu and Ra … ” (5749-2) Egypt was the capstone however. There he delved into all the teachings that had been part of the ancient Temple of Sacrifice and Temple Beautiful and the “ … after actions of the crucifying of self in relationships to ideals that made for the abilities of carrying on that called to be done.” (5749-2) In other words, he learned how to set an ideal and overcome self. The Bible alludes to the fact that Jesus was called “Rabbi” or teacher, a title accurately describing his educational achievements. The readings also comment that “hence in all ways of the teachers {Jesus} was trained.” (5749-7) They go on to explain that he became distinguished for learning and was an authoritative teacher of the law as well as a Master of the teachings of the East.

Jesus’ cousin, the messenger John, was with him during a portion of the time he spent in Egypt, although John was in one class and Jesus in another. It was while Jesus was in India that John, at the age of seventeen, had first gone to Egypt for his own dedication and preparation. Jesus and John studied together in Heliopolis, which had schools of astronomy and philosophy, and was located about six miles northeast of what is now modern Cairo—not far from the Great Pyramid. His second sojourn in Egypt represented the period when Jesus would attain the final degree needed to complete his formal training before publicly launching his soul mission and work.

According to Edgar Cayce, scholars in Egypt during that era had gathered together and unified the teachings of many lands. Egypt was the center from which there was to be a “ … radial activity of influence in the earth—as indicated by the first establishing of those tests, or the recording of time as it has been, was and is to be—until the new cycle is begun.” (2067-7) Jesus and his cousin were there “ … for the periods of attaining to the priesthood, or the taking of examinations … passing the tests there … through which one attained to that place of being accepted or rejected by the influence of the mystics as well as of the various groups or schools in other lands … ” (2067-7) The most important and decisive trials were conducted inside the Great Pyramid.

Great Pyramid

In this same pyramid did the Great Initiate, the Master, take those last of the Brotherhood degrees with John, the forerunner of Him, at that place …

5748-5

Contrary to popular theories held by most archeological scholars today, the Great Pyramid was not originally built as a tomb but “ … to be the hall of initiates of that sometimes referred to as the White Brotherhood.” (5748-5) The readings talk about the era of its construction at the time of Ra-Ta and describe its mystical purpose as a symbol in stone of humanity’s “ … passage through that to which each soul is to attain in its development … ”(2067-7) Astonishing in its size and enveloped by a sense of the occult, Egypt’s Great Pyramid still speaks to souls everywhere, silently calling them to contemplate the deeper mysteries of life and what will be unveiled within the human heart once we awaken to who we truly are. The readings say the inner chamber of the Great Pyramid was the site where the great Initiate, the Master, took “ … those last of the Brotherhood degrees with John, the forerunner of him at that place … ” (5748-5) It was inside the Great Pyramid that Jesus came face to face with the meaning of death and saw through it.

The climb up through the Great Pyramid is a long and somewhat challenging trek ending in the King’s Chamber where an empty sarcophagus cut from a single piece of rock sits with its lid open. Curiously, Edgar Cayce states that all of the changes in religious thought in the history of the world are recorded in the pyramid’s structure through the variations in the stone as one passes from its base to the top or “ … to the open tomb and the top … ” (5748-5) These changes are signified by both the layer and color of the stone and by whatever direction turns are made while moving through the pyramid’s interior. The readings elaborate on the symbolism of Jesus’ initiation and the breaking open of the tomb to release the soul from its entrapment in a material world—

… that through which each entity, each soul, as an initiate must pass for the attaining to the releasing of same—as indicated by the empty tomb, which has never been filled, see? Only Jesus was able to break same, as it became that which indicated His fulfillment.

2067-7

Jesus had embarked on his preparatory studies first by gaining a better understanding of the foundations of Jewish law. His life as a student concluded with him reaching the pinnacle of mysticism or God awareness. Out of the law this Great Initiate would bring grace as “ … love, mercy, peace that there may be the fulfilling wholly of that purpose to which, of which, He was called,” states Edgar Cayce. (5749-2) Now it was time for his ministry to begin. But before that work could commence, he would have to retreat into the wilderness to meet “ … that which had been his undoing in the beginning.” (2067-7)

Sign of the Dove

Once Herod the Great had passed on, the Essenes had more freedom of movement and activity and no longer felt the need to keep their operations so secret. And after returning from his own studies in Egypt, Jesus’ cousin John assumed a larger role in the sect. Renouncing the orthodox priesthood (John was the lineal descendent of the priest Zacharias), he was appointed leader of the sect and began preaching in the backcountry and baptizing followers in the Jordan River, becoming a rather notorious outcast from the more traditional Jewish community in the process. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2) was his message and mantra. During this period Andrew, who would later become one of the Master’s apostles, became John’s first adherent or disciple, serving as his aide until Jesus entered the picture.

Jesus’ formal ministry is set into motion when he arrives at the shore of the Jordan River where John is working. Standing together, the two cousins exemplify the juxtaposition of the new and old world orders. John had come forth wild from the desert where he lived apart from other men. And though he indeed was the harbinger of the coming of the Christ to the sensate world, John still hewed to the tactics of the old way: hard-nosed, bombastic, and convinced God could be found through harsh disciplines of the body. “Unkempt, unshaven, and clad in the skins of animals, he had burst like a specter on the scene of the time,” the specter of a bygone age.⁶ John was a prophet of old, railing against sinners who transgressed the law and heaping disdain on anyone who did not adhere to fixed rules and boundaries or see the error of his ways. Yet this prophet also understood that his moment in the sun was fading and told his followers that he baptized merely with water. The one who would follow him, whose shoes he was not worthy to unlatch, would baptize them with the Holy Ghost and fire—the inner purification of Spirit raised up in matter. John freely admitted his ideas and methods must decrease so that Jesus and his doctrine might increase in the world.

Baptism

Similar to the arrival of the angel announcing the impending birth of the savior to his mother Mary, the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan represents an enormous spiritual turning point for the human race. The baptismal rite remains a solemn part of the liturgy of many religious traditions but one whose ancient origins for the most part have been lost to history. The ritual harks back to the floodwaters of the Old Testament that had enveloped the earth at the time of Noah. Just as new life took root and sprang forth after the cleansing waters of the Great Flood had receded, the individual surfacing from the waters of baptism emerges into a different kind of life—washed clean of former ways and conditions.

The Master knew that John’s revelations about him being the Messiah were true and that the end of the old order was imminent. So, in a nod to the time-honored ceremony of baptism, he humbly assents to letting his cousin immerse him in the river, saying “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” (Matt. 3:15) He used the baptismal ritual to indicate a washing away of the past before he emerged from the waters ready to take up the mantle of spiritual teacher and deliverer. Jesus would be the one to help humanity reestablish itself on earth in a different way, and his baptism signaled the unveiling of this new covenant. A new order of love and mercy was at hand.

Jesus’ teachings would model an approach to living in the material world in which spirit was primary. Setting aside the destructive weapons, prejudices, and tactics of old, an outlook held by those who believed “might makes right,” he would promote a more evolved way of thinking and acting built on the pillars of balance, wisdom, nurturing, and healing. For thirty years the Master had prepared for this moment, and now, standing next to his cousin in the river, he was given a sign that the time for his ministry to begin had arrived. It was the same sign the patriarch Noah had seen when the old world, deteriorated to the point of ruin and submerged by the deluge, was ready to be regenerated.⁷