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Revelations in the Temple

Hoffman's portrait of ChristPart 4 of the Aquarian Gospel for Awakening

Consecration

“Now, Mary took her son, when he was forty days of age, up to the temple in Jerusalem, and he was consecrated by the priest. And then she offered purifying sacrifices for herself, according to the custom of the Jews; a lamb and two young turtle doves” (Aquarian Gospel 4:1, 2).

Forty days after the birth of Jesus, Mary took Him to the Temple to be consecrated, for the Law said: “Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord” (Luke 2:23). That is, if the firstborn child was male, he would be consecrated to God and considered of the priestly class (Levite) and allowed to teach in the synagogue. She also offered thanksgiving for having given birth without any mishap to her or the child.

Simeon

“A pious Jew named Simeon was in the temple serving God. From early youth he had been looking for Immanuel to come, and he had prayed to God that he might not depart until his eyes had seen Messiah in the flesh. And when he saw the infant Jesus he rejoiced and said, I now am ready to depart in peace, for I have seen the king” (Aquarian Gospel 4:3-5).

According to ancient records Simeon, then a young man, had been among those chosen to translate the Hebrew scriptures into Greek at the request of Ptolemy, Pharaoh of Egypt, to be placed in the great library of Alexandria. The religious leaders in Jerusalem had initially refused to allow this translation, but when Ptolemy offered to free all Hebrew slaves that were then in Egypt, they agreed to it. Seventy scholars, one of whom was Simeon, went to Egypt and made the translation there. (Therefore it is called The Septuagint–The Seventy.) When the translators came to the words: “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), Simeon objected to translating it, saying that the Egyptians would laugh at it. That night an angel visited him and told him that he would not die until he himself should see the virgin and child spoken of in the prophecy. Eventually all Israel knew of this, and every Passover looked to see if he was still alive. At the time of Jesus’ birth he was one hundred and fifty years old. So when he acknowledged the child as the promised Messiah all Israel came to know of that, too. When we consider all these things as well as the tremendous signs given in Jesus’ ministry of three years later on, it is astonishing that he was not only rejected but murdered. No wonder Saint John in his gospel:

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man” (John 2:23-25).

The sword

“And then he took the infant in his arms and said, Behold, this child will bring a sword upon my people, Israel, and all the world; but he will break the sword and then the nations will learn war no more” (Aquarian Gospel 4:6).

This is a prophecy of the two comings of the Lord Jesus. In His first coming He surely brought a sword. For those who believed in Him and followed His Way, he brought the sword of victory over all evil, the power to cut away all the bonds of ignorance that held them captive. To those that rejected (not just passively ignored and disbelieved) Him He brought the sword of cutting off for that and many lifetimes. He brought a sword of separation between the wise and the foolish, the just and the unjust, the faithful and the unfaithful, the believing and the unbelieving. For all nations He brought the sword of bewilderment to the eyes of the willfully ignorant and wayward and the sword of confusion to the dull of heart who could not comprehend His gospel. Christianity itself because a sword of destruction in the hands of the unfit and prideful to work their lust for power and conquest and riches. That which should have been a blessing became a curse unto the earth. All this came from His first coming as Son of Joseph. But in His return as Son of David He Himself will break all such swords and bestow peace upon nations as well as individuals so they “will learn war no more.”

The cross

Speaking further of Jesus, Simeon declared: “The master’s cross I see upon the forehead of this child, and he will conquer by this sign” (Aquarian Gospel 4:7).

It is thought that the cross is a Christian symbol, but it is more than that, being an ancient holy sign both to the Jews and to the Egyptians, the Jews calling it Tau (Mark), and the Egyptians calling it Ankh (Life). The Tau or Ankh is a T surmounted by a circle or an ellipse (oval) representing the mastery of materiality by the spirit–matter being represented by the T and spirit by the circle. Hence it is a symbol of eternal life–of the triumph of spirit life over material death. It is therefore a symbol of resurrection from death to life, not a symbol of sacrifice and death. The original Christians did not use the Roman implement of crucifixion as their symbol as that would be a declaration of the power of death over life. Rather, they used the crux ansata, the Cross of Life, the Tau/Ankh. Both Jews and Egyptians looked upon the Ankh as having the power to convey life. So it was also considered a symbol of Christ and of Jesus Who conquered death through Christhood. This cross was the mark of Christhood. The original Christians (Christines) used the Cross of Life, wearing it and drawing it upon the walls of their homes.

The Cross of Life is also a symbol of the Trinity. The circle is the Father, the horizontal bar is the Son, and the base is the Holy Spirit Mother. It also symbolizes the human being: the circle is the superconscious mind, the horizontal bar the conscious mind, and the base the subconscious mind. The circle is also considered to be the rising sun resting upon the horizon of the earth, a symbol of the dawning of spiritual-consciousness.

The Egyptians particularly looked upon the Ankh as having innate energizing power either by touch or by sight. This immediately reminds us of the cross which Moses made in the wilderness, the sight of which cured those bitten by poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:8, 9). In later times the gods were shown holding the Ankh by the circle to indicate that they were masters of spiritual consciousness–that this was what made them gods.

In the book of Ezekiel God speaks to an angel and says to him: “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark (tau) upon the foreheads of the men” (Ezekiel 9:4) that were righteous. For a great destruction was coming upon the people, but it would “come not near any man upon whom is the mark (tau)” (Ezekiel 9:6).

Anna

“And in the temple was a widow, four and eighty years of age, and she departed not, but night and day she worshipped God. And when she saw the infant Jesus she exclaimed, Behold Immanuel! Behold the signet cross of the Messiah on his brow!” (Aquarian Gospel 4:8, 9).

There must have been some esoteric lore among the Essenes, known to Simeon and Anna, which said that a Tau would be seen clairvoyantly upon the foreheads of the masters and of the Master of masters, the Messiah.

Worship

“And then the woman knelt to worship him, as God with us, Immanuel; but one, a master, clothed in white, appeared and said, Good woman, stay; take heed to what you do; you may not worship man; this is idolatry. This child is man, the son of man, and worthy of all praise. You shall adore and worship God; him only shall you serve. The woman rose and bowed her head in thankfulness and worshipped God. And Mary took the infant Jesus and returned to Bethlehem.” (Aquarian Gospel 4:10-14).

This is a most valuable lesson, since religious people continually break the command to have no other gods but God (Exodus 20:3). They substitute just about anything for God, some things being more ridiculous or harmful than others. Perhaps the last “idol” to be erected is that of enlightened beings that are Christs and Saviors–yet only by virtue of their total union with God. True, they are part of God, waves of the Infinite Sea, yet they are not God, and without God they would be less than nothing–they would not even exist.

When Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra the people thought they were the gods Jupiter and Mercury because of their miracles and their sacred demeanor. The priest of Jupiter even tried to offer sacrifice to them (Acts 14:11-18). But they called out to the people and said: “Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God” (Acts 14:15). On one hand this shows the laudable eagerness of the people to have contact with God, but on the other it shows their ignorance of the nature of God.

The proofs commonly set forth by exoteric Christianity as to the divinity of Jesus are really the proofs of His being a perfect Son of God, a Christ. Compared to ordinary men–and angels–Jesus certainly is a god. But He is not THE God, and so the master appeared and stopped Anna in her attempt to worship the Child. It is no honoring of Jesus to call Him what He is not and to use Him as an excuse to usurp the rightful place of God Who alone is worthy of worship. Rather, it is an attempt to turn Jesus in the “man of sin” who “as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:3, 4). It is an insulting attempt to turn Jesus from Christ into Antichrist however sentimentally and “reverently” it may be done.

During his vision recorded in Revelation, Jesus guided Saint John who tells us that toward its end: “I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). To accept the testimony of Jesus is to worship God alone.

When Jesus was in Bethany He had this to say about who and what He was and was not:

“Men call me Christ, and God has recognized the name; but Christ is not a man. The Christ is universal love, and Love is king. This Jesus is but man who has been fitted by temptations overcome, by trials multiform, to be the temple through which Christ can manifest to men. Then hear, you men of Israel, hear! Look not upon the flesh; it is not king. Look to the Christ within, who shall be formed in every one of you, as he is formed in me” (Aquarian Gospel 68:11-13).

Nothing further need be said; but much must be done.

Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis: Coming of the Wise Men

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The Aquarian Gospel—Commentary and Text

The Aquarian Gospel for Awakening—A Commentary on the Aquarian Gospel
by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke)

  1. The Mother of Jesus
  2. Prophecies of the Births of Saint John the Baptist and Jesus
  3. The Birth of Jesus
  4. Revelations in the Temple
  5. Coming of the Wise Men
  6. Herod’s Reaction
  7. Revelations in Egypt
  8. The Two Selfs
  9. Deliverance From Gods and Demons
  10. About God the Tao
  11. From India to Chaldea
  12. The Wisdom of Buddha
  13. God and Prayer
  14. The Mission of Jesus and John the Baptist
  15. Sin and the Forgiveness of Sin
  16. The Universal Law of Man’s Free Will and the Divine Will For Man
  17. Understanding Death
  18. The True Teacher
  19. The Value of Ritual
  20. The Law Behind All Laws
  21. Opening To The Truth
  22. In the Temple at the Age of Ten
  23. Revelation to the Teachers and People in the Temple
  24. Jerusalem to Nazareth
  25. Nazareth to India
  26. What is Truth?
  27. What Is Man?
  28. What is Power?
  29. Understanding
  30. Wisdom
  31. Faith
  32. Healing and Healers
  33. Conflict Over Caste
  34. The Destiny of All Men
  35. God and Man
  36. The Voice in the Heart
  37. Seeing the Unseeable
  38. To God Through Man
  39. Who Is Jesus?
  40. The Real Versus The Apparent
  41. The Brotherhood of Life
  42. God…and Man
  43. Relating To God
  44. The Worthy Host
  45. Come to the Light
  46. The Kingdom Revealed
  47. The King Revealed
  48. Perspective On Death
  49. Fire and Sword
  50. Evolution: The Path of Glory
  51. The Real Heaven
  52. Getting to the Essence
  53. New Perspective on Religion
  54. In Tibet and Ladakh
  55. Words to the Worthy
  56. The Thirty-Eighth Chapter
  57. The Origin of Evil
  58. The Silence
  59. The Source of Healing
  60. The Fivefold Gospel
  61. Homecoming
  62. In Athens
  63. The Oracle of Delphi
  64. The Real God
  65. Return to Egypt
  66. First Steps to Wisdom
  67. Strong in Will and Intent
  68. Here Comes the Ego
  69. Blessed are the Merciful
  70. Claiming Our Freedom
  71. The Great Test
  72. Comprehending Death
  73. The Christ!
  74. The Asembly of the Masters
  75. The Seven Pillars of the Aquarian Age – I
  76. The Seven Pillars of the Aquarian Age – II
  77. The Declaration of Jesus
  78. John the Baptist – I
  79. John the Baptist – II
  80. John the Baptist – III
  81. Baptism – Jesus and John
  82. Self-Examination and Temptation
  83. The First Disciples Follow Jesus
  84. Jesus’ First Sermon
  85. The King and the Kingdom
  86. Dealing With Challengers
  87. The First Miracle of Jesus
  88. Kings and Kingdoms
  89. The Temple of God
  90. What Is A Messiah?
  91. The Laws of Healing
  92. Nicodemus Finds The Kingdom
  93. The Prince of Peace
  94. Dealing With Spiritual Opposition
  95. The Opened Gate
  96. John the Baptist Speaks of the Christ
  97. John Speaks Further About Jesus
  98. The Woman at the Well
  99. The Disciples and Samaritans at the Well
  100. Jesus in Sychar
  101. More Wisdom In Samaria
  102. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist
  103. In Jerusalem
  104. The Insights of Jesus
  105. Sabbath Wisdom
  106. Prayer and Good Deeds
  107. Divine Laws and Principles for Seekers of the Divine
  108. A New Understanding of the Ten Commandments
  109. Aspects of the Higher Law – 1
  110. Aspects of the Higher Law – 2
  111. Aspects of the Higher Law – 3
  112. Aspects of the Higher Law – 4
  113. Chapter One Hundred One
  114. Chapter One Hundred Two
  115. Chapter One Hundred Three
  116. Chapter One Hundred Four
  117. Chapter One Hundred Five
  118. Chapter One Hundred Six
  119. Chapter One Hundred Seven
  120. Chapter One Hundred Eight
  121. Chapter One Hundred Nine
  122. Chapter One Hundred Ten
  123. Chapter One Hundred Eleven
  124. Chapter One Hundred Twelve
  125. Chapter One Hundred Thirteen
  126. Chapter One Hundred Fourteen
  127. Chapter One Hundred Fifteen
  128. Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
  129. Chapter One Hundred Seventeen
  130. Chapter One Hundred Eighteen
  131. Chapter One Hundred Nineteen
  132. Chapter One Hundred Twenty
  133. Chapter One Hundred Twenty One
  134. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Two
  135. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Three
  136. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Four
  137. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Five
  138. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Six
  139. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Seven
  140. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Eight
  141. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Nine
  142. Chapter One Hundred Thirty
  143. Chapter One Hundred Thirty One
  144. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Two
  145. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Three
  146. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Four
  147. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Five
  148. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Six
  149. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Seven
  150. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Eight
  151. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Nine
  152. Chapter One Hundred Forty
  153. Chapter One Hundred Forty One
  154. Chapter One Hundred Forty Two
  155. Chapter One Hundred Forty Three
  156. Chapter One Hundred Forty Four
  157. Chapter One Hundred Forty Five
  158. Chapter One Hundred Forty Six
  159. Chapter One Hundred Forty Seven
  160. Chapter One Hundred Forty Eight
  161. Chapter One Hundred Forty Nine
  162. Chapter One Hundred Fifty
  163. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-One
  164. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Two
  165. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Three
  166. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Four
  167. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Five
  168. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six
  169. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Seven
  170. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Eight
  171. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine
  172. Chapter One Hundred Sixty
  173. Chapter One Hundred Sixty One
  174. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Two
  175. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Three
  176. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Four
  177. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Five
  178. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Six
  179. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Seven
  180. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Eight
  181. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Nine
  182. Chapter One Hundred Seventy
  183. Chapter One Hundred Seventy One
  184. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Two
  185. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Three
  186. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Four
  187. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Five
  188. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Six
  189. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Seven
  190. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Eight
  191. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Nine
  192. Chapter One Hundred Eighty
  193. Chapter One Hundred Eighty One
  194. Chapter One Hundred Eighty Two

The Text of the Aquarian Gospel—by Levi Dowling

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