Now, when the day of Pentecost had come Jerusalem was filled with pious Jews and proselytes from many lands.
The Christines all were met and were in perfect harmony. And as they sat in silent prayer they heard a sound a-like the distant murmur of a coming storm. The sound grew louder still, until, like thunder peals, it filled the room where the apostles sat. A brilliant light appeared, and many thought, The building is afire. Twelve balls, that seemed like balls of fire, fell from heaven–a ball from every sign of all the circle of the heavens, and on the head of each apostle there appeared a flaming ball of fire. And every ball sent seven tongues of fire toward heaven, and each apostle spoke in seven dialects of earth. (Aquarian Gospel 182:1-7)
I knew an Eastern Orthodox priest who could prove that one of his ancestors was present at Pentecost, but he knew no more of the event than the official account. But here we learn more of the descent of the Holy Spirit on that day when the earth itself was initiated into the path of Christhood. For the speaking of many languages was a sign that all humanity was destined to follow that path, whatever the religion might be to which they would belong. For Christ is God and belongs to all religions no matter what name they may ascribe to him. Jesus is a teacher of all mankind, as are the other great world teachers God has sent into the world.
The ignorant rabble treated lightly what they heard and saw; they said, These men are drunk, and know not what they say. But men of learning were amazed; they said, Are not these men who speak all Jews? how is it that they speak in all the languages of earth?
And Peter said, You people of Jerusalem, and you who live beyond the city’s gates; Peace be to you, and all mankind. This is the time that holy men of old desired to see, by faith they saw this hour, and now they stand with us in ecstasy. The prophet Joel in olden times told of the things you see and hear. The Holy Breath spoke with his tongue and said, And it shall come to pass in latter days, that I will breathe upon the sons of men, and fill them with the blessedness of holiness. Your sons and daughters will stand forth and prophesy; your young men will be seers; your old men will dream dreams. And I will show wonders in the heavens above, and marvelous signs in earth. Sounds will proceed from heaven and voices will be heard that men will fail to comprehend. The sun will fail to shine; the moon will wade in blood before the coming of the great day of the Lord. And it will come to pass that they who call upon the name of God in faith shall be redeemed.
This is the day of Christine power; the day that he, the man from Galilee, is glorified. He came as a babe in Bethlehem and from his day of birth the kings of earth went forth intent to take his life. God held him in the hollow of his hand.
Men called him Jesus, and they called him well, for he was sent to seek and save the lost. And Jesus grew to manhood and was subject unto all trials and temptations of the sons of men, that he might know the loads that men must bear, and know the way to succour them.
In distant lands he lived and by the sacred Word he healed the sick, threw prison doors ajar, and set the prisoners free, and everywhere he was proclaimed, Immanuel. But wicked men despised him and rejected him, and by bribed men they proved him guilty of a score of crimes; and in the presence of a multitude of men who hear me now, they nailed him to a cross; they sealed him with the seal of death; but death was all too weak to hold him in the tomb and when immortal masters said, Adon Mashich Cumi, he burst the bands of death, and rose again to life.
He showed himself alive, not only to the rulers in Jerusalem, but to the many in the distant parts of earth; and then, before the wondering eyes of many who now hear me speak, attended by a retinue of courtiers of the angel world, he ascended to the throne of God. And being now exalted high, and having breathed to full the Holy Breath, he breathes again on us, and thus sheds forth what you now see and hear.
You men of Israel, Know that God has made this man from Galilee whom you abused and crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Aquarian Gospel 182:8-31)
Peace be to you, and all mankind. All true religion speaks to the whole world, not just to its official members. And in time it must be realized that true religion is one and transcends all distinctions, that a real seeker of God belongs to all religions and cannot be limited to one.
This is the time that holy men of old desired to see, by faith they saw this hour, and now they stand with us in ecstasy. Be means of his newly empowered and expanded consciousness Saint Peter could see the astral bodies of the ancient prophets and teachers that had foreseen the new birth the world was that day given. Even more were gathered there in subtle bodies than those in physical bodies.
And it will come to pass that they who call upon the name of God in faith shall be redeemed. It is usually supposed that it is the name of Jesus that will guarantee salvation, but Peter was speaking much more broadly. Those who call on God in faith shall find the way to liberation.
And Jesus grew to manhood and was subject unto all trials and temptations of the sons of men, that he might know the loads that men must bear, and know the way to succour them. Jesus was not God magically pretending to be human, but a true human being who showed that all humanity are not men but sleeping gods. Awake in God Consciousness he showed the way that others might attain the same.
In distant lands he lived and by the sacred Word he healed the sick, threw prison doors ajar, and set the prisoners free. By the name of Christ, Jesus manifested the Christ and himself became a Christ. And that name is Om.
Having breathed to full the Holy Breath. This is the process of salvation, of baptism in the Holy Spirit by means of which perfect union with God is accomplished. It is through spiritual practice (tapasya), through Om Yoga, that we become one with the Infinite.
And then the people said, What shall we do?
And Peter said, This Christine Lord has sent us forth to open up the gates of dawn. Through Christ all men may enter into light and life.
The Christine Church stands on the postulates that Jesus is the love of God made manifest; that love is savior of the sons of men. This Christine Church is but the kingdom of the Holy One within the soul, made manifest. This day the Christine Church is opened up, and whosoever will may enter in, and, by the boundless grace of Christ, be saved.
Again the people said, How may we enter in that we may share the boundless grace of Christ?
And Peter said, Reform and be baptized, and turn away from sin and lead the life deep hid with Christ in God, and you shall enter in and be redeemed. Three thousand people turned away from sin and were baptized and sought to lead the life deep hid with Christ in God. And in one day the Christine Church became a mighty power; and Christ became a mighty word that thrilled the multitudes in many lands. (Aquarian Gospel 182:32-40)
This Christine Lord has sent us forth to open up the gates of dawn. Becoming a Christine is just the beginning of the beginning. Discipleship is just the dawn, and all must pursue it unto the fullness of day, unto the state of conscious oneness with God. Many think that believing and confessing seal the matter, but they are mistaken. The life of Christ must be lived.
Through Christ all men may enter into light and life. By rising to Christhood and uniting with Christ, the individual spirit enters into the Light and Life of the Trinity, becoming one with the Father and the Holy Spirit as well.
The Christine Church stands on the postulates that Jesus is the love of God made manifest; that love is savior of the sons of men. Exoteric Christians have wrangled for centuries over the question as to whether man is saved by faith or works. But according to Saint Peter both ideas are wrong. Man is saved by love: by loving the God who is love and by whose love all are saved. The answer is not in belief and not even in worship, but in loving God. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).
This Christine Church is but the kingdom of the Holy One within the soul, made manifest. The true Church is spirit and is within. It is no institution, but Divine Life itself. It cannot be joined; it can only be lived.
How may we enter in that we may share the boundless grace of Christ? The Christine Church is not really a religion. It is participation in “the boundless grace of Christ.” It is the only true life, the life in God.
Reform and be baptized, and turn away from sin and lead the life deep hid with Christ in God, and you shall enter in and be redeemed. Right away the life must be altered to conform with the principles of spiritual life. Baptism is not a magical rite that makes someone a Christine. Rather: “Now the Christine gate is opened up, and washing is established as the pledge of your discipleship. Until this age shall close this pledge shall be a rite, and shall be called, Baptism rite; and it shall be a sign to men, and seal to God of men’s discipleship” (Aquarian Gospel 78:10, 11). Those who would be disciples of Jesus, knowers of God, must be yogis, for only yogis “lead the life deep hid with Christ in God.” Then they can “enter in and be redeemed” and brought back into conscious sonship of God.
And in one day the Christine Church became a mighty power; and Christ became a mighty word that thrilled the multitudes in many lands. The fullness of this “day” has only just dawned. It is the Aquarian Age in which the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ can finally be understood and followed. In those lands that long have claimed to be Christian the true Gospel of Christ can now be known and recognized as Saint Augustine wrote in the fourth century: “The identical thing that we now call the Christian religion existed among the ancients and has not been lacking from the beginnings of the human race.” Jesus brought it to the West from India where it originated and still flourishes. It is not new; it is eternal; it is Sanatana Dharma.
And now our journey through the Aquarian Gospel together is completed. For me it has been a great privilege to ponder and comment on the magnificent gift God has given to the world through Levi Dowling. I hope it has been the same for you.
THE END
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