The Christines prayed in silence seven days; then Jesus called the twelve aside and said, Behold, the multitudes have thronged about us everywhere; the people are bewildered; they wander here and there like sheep without a fold. They need a shepherd’s care; they want a loving hand to lead them to the light. The grain is ripe; the harvest is abundant, but the harvesters are few. The time is also ripe, and you must go alone through all the villages and towns of Galilee and teach and heal. And then he breathed upon the twelve and said, Receive the Holy Breath. And then he gave them each the Word of power, and said, By this Omnific Word you shall cast spirits out, shall heal the sick and bring the dead to life again. (Aquarian Gospel 122:1-7)
And then he gave them each the Word of power, and said, By this Omnific Word you shall cast spirits out, shall heal the sick and bring the dead to life again. This is obviously of prime importance. Although there may be various rituals, the heart of each will be the invocation of Om with the intention of effecting the particular purpose of the ritual. Om is therefore the empowered heart of Aquarian Christianity.
And you shall go not in the way of the Assyrians, nor Greek; you shall not go into Samaria; go only to your brethren of the scattered tribes. And as you go proclaim, The kingdom of Christ has come. (Aquarian Gospel 122:8, 9)
The kingdom of Christ has come. It is a mistake to look to the future rather than the present, yet this is a mistake of most religions. Finding themselves inadequate in the present they predict a coming era in which all shall be perfect. But if perfection is not present, at least in a potential form, it will never manifest in the future. Consider how some Buddhists are obsessed with the future Maitreya Buddha rather than focusing on their own Buddha nature that is right at hand. Yet it is the revelation of this eternal nature that will give them nirvana, not the advent of someone who has already attained their own Buddhahood. Gautama and Maitreya Buddha are external to all of us. Their teachings can show us the way that we can follow and become established in our own Buddha nature. But we must apply them ourselves.
It is the same with Jesus. Looking to a future advent, many Christians neglect the present reality and opportunity. After all, Jesus has never left the world, for he said: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). And Saint Paul wrote: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2). This is the whole idea and purpose of yoga, which alone can completely purify and transform. And it is present here and now.
You have abundantly received, and freely you shall give. But you must go in faith; provide yourselves no crutch to lean upon. Give all your gold and silver to the poor; take not two coats, nor extra shoes; just take your wands [staffs]. You are God’s husbandmen and he will never suffer you to want. In every place you go search out the men of faith; with them abide until you go from hence. You go for me; you act for me. They who receive and welcome you, receive and welcome me; and they who shut their doors against your face, refuse to welcome me. (Aquarian Gospel 122:10-16)
In every place you go search out the men of faith; with them abide until you go from hence. History bears out the fact that Christians did not go and stand on street corners and harangue the passers-by as many do today. Nor did they rent rooms and advertise for people to come attend meetings. Rather, they went to a place and stayed there watching the people individually and only approaching privately those they saw already possessed some degree of spiritual awakening and qualification. Those people in turn introduced them to others of like mentality. And so a circle of disciples would be established there.
For example, Saint Mark went to Alexandria and spent many days there just walking through the city and observing whomever he saw. One day he was walking by the stall of a shoemaker who at that very moment pierced his hand with an awl and cried out: “O! one and only God!” This indicated to Saint Mark that the man was an initiate of a mystery school which worshipped the one God. So he approached him very carefully and began a conversation. Eventually he discovered that the man was a spiritually developed initiate, so he began teaching him about Christianity. In this way the Church began in Alexandria. There was none of this Come One, Come All business that is just that: business, not religion.
There is a practical aspect to only staying with people of true faith. My grandmother told me that one time a very famous preacher came to where she lived and crowds flocked to hear him because he was a brilliant speaker. Being a Fundamentalist, his interest was for people to “get saved.” One evening a married couple came to his meeting and got saved. In their gratitude they asked him to come and stay at their house for a while. He agreed and went home with them. In the depths of the night he heard shouting and banging that indicated they were having a terrific fight and striking one another! He prudently dressed, opened the window of his room and got out and went to the house of people he knew well.
If you are not received in kindness in a town, bear not away an evil thought; do not resist. An evil thought of any kind will do you harm; will dissipate your power. When you are not received with favor, go your way, for there are multitudes of men who want the light. (Aquarian Gospel 122:17-19)
Note that there is nothing here about shaking off the dust of your feet in rebuke of those who reject you, or an assurance that they will fare badly in “the judgment.” Yet such things are in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The regular Gospels are filled with such distortions and interpolations. I know an Eastern Christian bishop who did such a thing when he walked out of the house of a family I knew very well as devout and worthy just because they would not go along with his ideas on church politics. It is indicated here that we should respect people’s disinterest as much as their interest. Respect of others is a keynote of worthy teachers. Disciples of Yogananda have said and written that such respect was a prime characteristic of the Master.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep among a pack of wolves; and you must be as wise as serpents and as harmless as the doves. In all your language be discreet, for Pharisees and scribes will seek a cause for your arrest in what you say. And they will surely find a way by charges false to bring you into court. And judges will declare that you are guilty of some crime, and sentence you to scourgings and to prison cells. But when you come to stand before the judge, be not afraid; be not disturbed about the way to act, the words to speak. The Holy Breath will guide you in that hour, and give the words that you shall speak. Of this be full assured; It is not you who speaks; it is the Holy Breath that gives the words and moves the lips. (Aquarian Gospel 122:20-26)
Pharisees and scribes will seek a cause for your arrest in what you say. And they will surely find a way by charges false to bring you into court. And judges will declare that you are guilty of some crime, and sentence you to scourgings and to prison cells. Jesus hid nothing from his disciples, including the unpleasant things that awaited them. He is also informing them that reason and justice rarely come into religious controversy, just coercion and persecution.
The gospel that you preach will not bring peace, but it will stir the multitudes to wrath. The carnal man abhors the truth, and he would give his life to crush the tender plant before the harvest time. And this will bring confusion in the homes that were the homes of stagnant peace. And brother will give brother up to death; the father will stand by and see men execute his child; and in the courts the child will testify against the sire, and gladly see its mother put to death. And men will hate you just because you speak the name of Christ. Thrice blessed is the man who shall be faithful in this coming day of wrath! (Aquarian Gospel 122:27-32)
The gospel that you preach will not bring peace, but it will stir the multitudes to wrath. Perfectly calm and sensible people can suddenly erupt into indignation or anger when confronted with the gospel of the Christ. Many times this phenomenon has amazed me. Even more so were the times when in response to words of Jesus read or quoted to them very religious people exploded: “Only a fool would say that!” Calling Jesus a fool! Obviously rational thought did not come into the matter.
I well remember a venerable minister coming to our church when the regular minister was away for a couple of weeks. She spoke so reasonably and with humor, never censure, but the entire congregation, except for myself and a few others, became enraged and demanded that she leave. She became one of my best friends subsequently.
The carnal man abhors the truth, and he would give his life to crush the tender plant before the harvest time. This sounds extreme, but it is the truth about extreme rejection of spiritual truth.
And this will bring confusion in the homes that were the homes of stagnant peace. Dead souls in a dead world are at peace and rest, but even a hint of life stirs them to the depths and produces intense reactions against that hint of life. This is always a surprise, but not to those who know the teachings of Jesus in the Aquarian Gospel.
And men will hate you just because you speak the name of Christ. I wish this was an exaggeration, but it is not. The words “Jesus” and “Christ” can elicit tremendous negativity in people that seem completely sensible and balanced. The inner demons are being revealed. Consider this nonsense of BCE and CE, CE representing “Common Era.” What era? When did this come about? It is foolish and anti-Christian. Anyone who cannot say the word “Christ” is psychotic, as are all religious bigots of whatever stripe. And some of them are obsessed or possessed by evil spirits.
Go now; when you are persecuted in a place, go seek another place. And when you meet a foe too great for you, behold, the son of man is at your door, and he can speak, and all the hosts of heaven will stand in your defense. But do not hold your present life in great esteem. The time will come when men will take my life; you need not hope to be immune, for they will slay you in the name of God. Men call me Beelzebub and they will call you imps. Be not afraid of what men say and do; they have no power over soul; they may abuse and may destroy the body of the flesh; but that is all. They do not know the God who holds the issues of the soul within his hands, who can destroy the soul. (Aquarian Gospel 122:33-39)
Go now; when you are persecuted in a place, go seek another place. This is the pacifism of the true Christian. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
The time will come when men will take my life; you need not hope to be immune, for they will slay you in the name of God. Men call me Beelzebub and they will call you imps. Once more Jesus reveals the trials that his disciples will face, trusting them to face such things with confidence in God to strengthen them against all trials.
The Christ is king today, and men must recognize his power. He who loves not the Christ, which is the love of God, before all else, can never gain the prize of spirit consciousness. And they who love their parents or their children more than they love the Christ can never wear the name of Christ. And he who loves his life more than he loves the Christ cannot please God. And he who clings to life shall lose his life, while he who gives his life for Christ will save his life. (Aquarian Gospel 122:40-44)
The idea indicated here is quite simple: those who do not prize God and union with God above all else cannot rise in evolution, but will stagnate and degenerate.
When Jesus had thus said he sent the twelve away by twos, and bade them meet him in Capernaum. And they went out through all the towns of Galilee and taught and healed in spirit and in power. (Aquarian Gospel 122:45, 46)
But the disciples of Jesus who do love the Divine above all else will not only elevate themselves, but will teach and heal in the power of God through the Word.
Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis