The eleven apostles of the Lord were in Jerusalem and in a spacious room that they had chosen by the Lord’s command. And as they prayed the Lord appeared to them and said, Peace be to all; good will to every living thing. And then he talked with them a long, long time.
And the disciples asked, Will you restore the kingdom unto Israel now? And Jesus said, Be not concerned about the governments of men; the masters will direct. Do that which has been given you to do, and wait and murmur not. (Aquarian Gospel 180:1-6)
Peace be to all; good will to every living thing. Exoteric Christianity is only interested in human beings which they see as either saved or unsaved,” on the way to heaven or on the way to hell. But true Christianity, being aware of the transmigration of souls, is interested in all sentient beings, for each one is evolving toward the revelation of their divine Self. As a consequence they never kill and eat them like the wild beasts do, nor do they mistreat them in any way. Rather, they love and respect them, seeing that not only all humanity, but all sentient beings are the family of God, all moving toward the one Goal. Those who hold this view often evoke from animals manifestations of divine intelligence and intuition.
Be not concerned about the governments of men; the masters will direct. It may be hard to believe, but the ultimate direction of the world is in the hands of master yogis. Their manner of direction is subtle and strictly according to spiritual principles. Therefore they would never impose anything on the world. Rather, they work to help human beings understand the direction is which the world should go. Just as no one tries to have a society based on love, in the same way no one believes the Masters will succeed, but really they are. Their way moves very slowly indeed, so much so that their effects on the world are not at all evident to the ordinary observer.
Just as it is possible for a psychically developed person to attune himself to individuals and send healing and enlightening vibrations to them, in the same way the great Masters can attune themselves to vast segments of humanity and send the vibrations of wisdom and awakening to them. This is, as I say, a slow process, and a Master might work for many years on the awakening of a single, simple principle in the consciousness of a limited number of human beings. Their endeavors follow exactly the astrological principles of the various ages. For example, in the Piscean Age the general consciousness was very individual and inturned, and therefore so was spiritual progress. In the Aquarian Age entire segments of the world population will become awake and alive to broad principles that will manifest in an equally broad manner. In the Piscean Age the ideals of freedom and democracy and social responsibility were only held by a very small minority who through their personal power were able to bring those blessings to a small percentage of the world’s nations. But just as the ripples in water spread out wider and wider, so in the preceding century and now in the Aquarian Age itself, these principles are becoming far more understood and desired than in preceding centuries, even millennia. Social consciousness is a fundamental trait of this new age. The Masters will have an easier time than heretofore, but still progress will be step by step, not leaps or jumps.
Do that which has been given you to do, and wait and murmur not. This is a version of Jesus’ advice to Peter in the previous chapter: “Just do your duty; follow me.” Life is short at the best, and uncertain at all times. Therefore we need to spend every moment in yoga sadhana, which is why continual japa is so crucial for success in spiritual life. We must not have useless and distracting elements in our lives. Anyone who has moved very often has had the experience of being amazed at how much can be accumulated over a short time, and very little of it of lasting value. That is where garage and yard sales come from! So we must examine our lives and make sure we are not wasting them by going down byways that may entertain and distract the mind, but for that very reason are enemies of our souls.
We must hold to Om night and day. Jesus told us: “In your patience possess ye your souls” (Luke 21:19). We must wait and not be impatient. We have taken countless lives to get into the bondage we find ourselves in, and we will be blessed indeed if we can get out after spending a very long life in continuous spiritual practice. Deep within us there are elements that must be purged before we can rise to higher consciousness. As Sri Yukteswar one told an arrogant scientist: “Examine your thoughts unremittingly for twenty-four hours. Then wonder no longer at God’s absence.” But if you will do Om japa and meditation unremittingly for your waking hours, then you will perceive the divine presence within.
All power in heaven and earth is given unto me, and now I bid you go to all the world and preach the gospel of the Christ, the unity of God and man, the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life. And as you go and preach, baptize the people in the name of Christ. They who believe and are baptized shall rise up in the newness of the life of Christ, and they who disbelieve shall rise not in the newness of the life of Christ.
And you shall give to men the power I give to you. They who believe and are baptized shall heal the sick; shall cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk; shall cast the unclean spirits out of those obsessed; shall tread on deadly serpents and be not harmed; shall pass through flames and not be burned; and if they drink a poisonous draught it shall not kill.
You know the sacred Word, which is the word of power.
The secret things that I have told to you that may not now be told to all the world, you shall make known to faithful men who shall in turn reveal them unto other faithful men. Until the time shall come when all the world may hear and comprehend the words of truth and power.
And now I will ascend to God, as you and all the world will rise to God.
Behold, upon the day of Pentecost you all shall be endowed with power from on high. But here you shall remain till then in holy thought and prayer. (Aquarian Gospel 180:7-18)
All power in heaven and earth is given unto me. “Heaven” is both the higher, subtler worlds and the higher, subtler levels of the individual, and “earth” is the material and materially-oriented levels of the individual as well. Jesus was master of his entire being and the entire range of creation as well. We, too, must reach that level of mastery. Since it has all come out of Om, the key is right now in our hands.
Preach the gospel of the Christ, the unity of God and man, the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life. The truth about Christ and Jesus must be made known, as well at the fact that God and man are one, though not the same. God is infinite spirit and man is finite spirit. But both are spirit. It is possible for us to hear the call: “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.… Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:14, 17). This is the resurrection of the spirit into Eternal Life.
And as you go and preach, baptize the people in the name of Christ. They who believe and are baptized shall rise up in the newness of the life of Christ, and they who disbelieve shall rise not in the newness of the life of Christ. Christ is the Only-Begotten of the Father, the second person of the Holy Trinity known in India as Ishwara. And his name is Om, not “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” That is a sacred formula, and it works in the baptism of water, but for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire, Om is the essential. Those who are baptized in Om, in the very being of God, “shall rise up in the newness of the life of Christ.” But most of all, the Christine must be pervaded by the vibrations of Om.
And you shall give to men the power I give to you. They who believe and are baptized shall heal the sick; shall cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk; shall cast the unclean spirits out of those obsessed; shall tread on deadly serpents and be not harmed; shall pass through flames and not be burned; and if they drink a poisonous draught it shall not kill. This Piscean Christianity could not do. Only a relatively few could be empowered by the Apostolic Succession, and that gave only a fraction of the power Jesus intended for every Christian to possess and use. And it gave no wisdom at all. Two thousand years have proved that. But now in this Aquarian Age the doors are fully opened and the intention of Jesus shall be fulfilled. “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matthew 10:26).
You know the sacred Word, which is the word of power. Quickly that Word was forgotten and substitutions made for both the power and the knowledge that Jesus wanted his initiates to possess. There are not many Words needed: only the ultimate one, the manifesting Word (vachaka) of God, Om. Of that Word the sage Patanjali tells us: “Its japa and meditation is the way.
The secret things that I have told to you that may not now be told to all the world, you shall make known to faithful men who shall in turn reveal them unto other faithful men. Until the time shall come when all the world may hear and comprehend the words of truth and power. The time has now come, for in this Aquarian Age the minds of people in general will be able to comprehend what in the Piscean Age would have appeared nothing but mystifying gibberish. The very fact that so many people in the West have adopted the philosophies of the East indicates that now at last people are ready to understand the teachings of Jesus which have little correspondence to orthodox Churchianity.
And now I will ascend to God, as you and all the world will rise to God. Jesus is not speaking of mere bodily ascension, but of ascent in spiritual consciousness. He was going to be passing into the higher worlds which cannot be entered without a corresponding level of evolution and consciousness. The only way to follow Jesus in his ascension is to ourselves ascend in spirit-awareness.
Behold, upon the day of Pentecost you all shall be endowed with power from on high. But here you shall remain till then in holy thought and prayer. Before the disciples could ascend as did Jesus, they needed the spiritual empowerment that would come upon them at Pentecost, so they were told to stay in Jerusalem and prepare themselves for that.
Then Jesus went to Olivet, and his disciples followed him, and in a place not far removed from Bethany, he met the Marys and Salome; met Martha, Ruth and Miriam; met Lazarus and a host of others who had come from Galilee.
And Jesus stood apart and raised his hands and said, The benedictions of the Holy Ones, of the Almighty God, and of the Holy Breath, of Christ the love of God made manifest, will rest upon you all the way till you shall rise and sit with me upon the throne of power.
And then they saw him rise upon the wings of light; a wreath encircled him about; and then they saw his form no more. But as they gazed up into heaven two men, in robes of white, appeared and said, You men of Galilee, why gaze you thus so anxiously upon the ascending Lord? Lo, he will come again from heaven as you have seen him go to heaven.
Then the eleven and Lazarus, and other men from Galilee together with the faithful women, not a few, returned unto Jerusalem and there abode. And they were constantly in prayer and Holy thought. They waited for the Holy Breath, and for the coming of the promised power from on high. (Aquarian Gospel 180:19-28)
Till you shall rise and sit with me upon the throne of power. This is the destiny each sentient being will eventually realize.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1, 2).
Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis