The seven Principles
“The seven days of silence passed and Jesus, sitting with the sages said: The history of life is well condensed in these immortal postulates. These are the seven hills on which the holy city shall be built. These are the seven sure foundation stones on which the Universal Church shall stand” (Aquarian Gospel 60:1-3).“The immortal postulates” are worth deep investigation, for they truly are “the seven sure foundation stones on which the Universal Church shall stand.” But that Universal Church will never be an institution with all its attendant problems and–eventually–destructive aspects, but is an association of the Spirit, just as is the true Sangha of the Buddha.
Only in the Aquarian Age could this association be possible, for only in that age will there be living on the earth a sufficient number of those who can be satisfied with the dictum of Jesus: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). It is they who can also be satisfied with the declaration: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Of course, humanity being what it is, there will be a lot of fakery and exclusiveness to satisfy those that lag behind in lower consciousness, but enough will “walk in the light, as he is in the light” and “have fellowship one with another” so no one will be able to extinguish that light (see I John 1:7).
The Way of the Christ
“In taking up the work assigned for me to do I am full conscious of the perils of the way; the cup will be a bitter one to drink and human nature well might shrink. But I have lost my will in that of Holy Breath, and so I go my way to speak and act by Holy Breath. The words I speak are not my own; they are the words of him whose will I do” (Aquarian Gospel 60:4-6).
In taking up the work assigned for me to do I am full conscious of the perils of the way; the cup will be a bitter one to drink and human nature well might shrink. One thing I learned by being around various saints, especially in India, is that genuine saints are eminently practical, level-headed and aware of all the angles. The way of the holy is the way of the wise, and as Sri Ramakrishna said: “If you can weigh salt, you can weigh sugar.” He was very insistent that his disciples be sensible and orderly in their thinking and living.
In the first part of the foregoing quotation we see that Jesus was “full conscious of the perils of the way”–there was no “happy time” nonsense and self-deluding optimism in his view of what was required of him. It is just the same with worthy followers of his wisdom: they are aware of all the possible difficulties that may arise. For Jesus has said: “Which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish” (Luke 14:28-30). This is the story of most “seekers”–especially Western yogis. They set out to build the structure of higher consciousness, but they never get beyond the foundation because it is not well laid, and what they do erect eventually falls down, so they get disillusioned, and that is the end of the matter. Worse are those that give up mentally but keep on pretending to be yogis and traipse off to India every so often, go to ashrams, buy books on Indian philosophy and yoga (not that they read them), attend seminars and retreats, and babble about how great yoga is. Many become cultists of the worst sort, repressed and repressive, self-righteous in being part of “the highest path” or the “new wave” of spirituality. Their minds and lives are utter shambles, yet they stumble on in blind self-congratulation.
It is true, for the ego “the cup will be a bitter one to drink and human nature well might shrink,” but we are not the ego or the mirage of human nature, and when we let our true Self, the spirit, direct our minds and lives we will shrug off the protests of ego and “humanity” and begin to manifest our divinity. Then we will find: “There is no hard way where there is a simple heart, nor any barrier where the thoughts are upright” (Odes of Solomon 34).
But I have lost my will in that of Holy Breath, and so I go my way to speak and act by Holy Breath. This is the perspective we shall have, the very state of being that shall be ours, if we strive correctly and persevere. The ego-will shall be dissolved in that of the Holy Breath, the Holy Spirit Who evolves us and perfects us. Then our words and deeds will be those of God, having returned our consciousness to the depths of God where it originated.
The words I speak are not my own; they are the words of him whose will I do. This, too, must be the same for us.
The “model church”
“Man is not far enough advanced in sacred thought to comprehend the Universal Church, and so the work that God has given me to do is not the building of that Church. I am a model maker, sent to make a pattern of the Church that is to be–a pattern that the age may comprehend. My task as model builder lies within my native land, and there, upon the postulate that Love is son of God, that I am come to manifest that Love, the Model Church will stand. And from the men of low estate I will select twelve men, who represent the twelve immortal thoughts; and these will be the Model Church” (Aquarian Gospel 60:7-10).
Man is not far enough advanced in sacred thought to comprehend the Universal Church, and so the work that God has given me to do is not the building of that Church. I am a model maker, sent to make a pattern of the Church that is to be–a pattern that the age may comprehend. The Aquarian Gospel shows that Jesus was brought up in the broadest awareness of the world’s spiritual traditions, as was the custom of the Essenes, who vanished along with the right understanding of Jesus’ mission and teaching. There is no denying that people like narrowness–it gives them a sense of security. “This is the best…,” “This is the only…,” are their favorite themes in infinite variations.
Intellectual and spiritual laziness also comes to play in this matter. Some people just do not want to bother thinking or seeking so they shrug off any impinging reality by spouting some cliché–and that is that. The clichés go in and out of fashion. At the present time internationalism and liberalism are rising to the top, like all flotsam and jetsam, but the narrowness, selfishness, laziness, and cowardice spring from the same roots as what they replace. No real thought goes into any of it–just a desire to feel comfortable, “good about” oneself, and be left alone to pursue whatever they want. It is, of course, a form of hell masquerading as heaven. Nevertheless, the time is at hand when genuine openness (which must not be confused with “acceptance”) and universality will rise in human consciousness as a result of Christ’s second advent in this Aquarian Age. Until then, only the “model” is accessible to us–and that greatly distorted and truncated. However it shows us what can be a reality rather than a mere dogma or discipline.
Passing time has hidden Jesus, replacing him with a fantasy that suits the psychology of narrowness, selfishness, laziness, and cowardice. But truth cannot be hidden from those who seek it, and the Aquarian Gospel is one of its revealings in preparation for the Aquarian Age.
My task as model builder lies within my native land, and there, upon the postulate that Love is son of God, that I am come to manifest that Love, the Model Church will stand. And from the men of low estate I will select twelve men, who represent the twelve immortal thoughts; and these will be the Model Church. Jesus did not forget those among whom he had lived–even though he had spent more time in India than he had in Israel. We see how simple were the teachings he gave to the people in general, even the twelve disciples hardly understanding what he said unless he explained it to them privately. His was the Gospel of Love: that God is Love and that those who become godlike are embodiments of love. When love is perfected in someone then they are Sons of God. This is the goal of all human beings, whatever their present state. Love, then, is the path to God, and that all could understand. The Model Church–the Orthodox Church in the East and the Catholic Church in the West–may seldom have embodied that Gospel, but at least they handed on the words. And those who aspired to higher life followed them and became the saints who lived and breathed the Love of God.
The twelve “men of low estate” represented the immortal thoughts, but did not much embody them, but the next time around they will. First they were the Model Church, and then they will be Universal Church.
The response
“The house of Judah, my own kindred in the flesh, will comprehend but little of my mission to the world. And they will spurn me, scorn my work, accuse me falsely, bind me, take me to the judgment seat of carnal men who will convict and slay me on the cross” (Aquarian Gospel 60:11, 12).
There is an icon of the Virgin Mary called Our Lady of the Passion. It is said that it was painted by Saint Luke, and some believe that the icon known as Our Lady/Mother of Perpetual Help is that icon. The Virgin is holding the child Jesus, to whom two angels are showing the cross and the instruments of the passion. The idea presented is that Jesus knew from birth (having been born with full consciousness) what his destiny was. Nearly all those who do public work of any kind envision a rosy future filled with success–which includes the love and respect of “the people.” But the great masters, those who come to profoundly change the current of human development, walk another road altogether. The struggles and sufferings may differ in degree and extent, but struggle and suffer they do. The words spoken by the gypsy mother in The Wolf Man certainly apply to them: “The road you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own, but as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a predestined end.” Perhaps that is why they are so moving, even in such a silly movie (so much so that they open the sequel to the film). All masters walk the way of the cross, whether mostly inwardly or mostly outwardly. Yet, being with God, their peace and joy are unmarred.
Truth endures
“But men can never slay the truth; though banished it will come again in greater power; for truth will subjugate the world. The Model Church will live. Though carnal man will prostitute its sacred laws, symbolic rites and forms, for selfish ends, and make it but an outward show, the few will find through it the kingdom of the soul. And when the better age shall come the Universal Church will stand upon the seven postulates, and will be built according to the pattern given” (Aquarian Gospel 60:13-15).
But men can never slay the truth; though banished it will come again in greater power; for truth will subjugate the world. We, who look with such short-sighted vision, may question the truth of these words, but the masters look down through centuries–even ages–and see in a more true manner. Perhaps Jesus had in mind the Sanskrit adage: Satyam eva jayate–truth alone is victorious. It is certainly an absolute in this uncertain world.
The Model Church will live. Though carnal man will prostitute its sacred laws, symbolic rites and forms, for selfish ends, and make it but an outward show, the few will find through it the kingdom of the soul. And those few are those we call “saints.” Seeing behind the outer illusions they found the truth of “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) and realized that hope for themselves.
And when the better age shall come the Universal Church will stand upon the seven postulates, and will be built according to the pattern given. Truth shall gain the victory.
The time is at hand
“The time has come; I go my way unto Jerusalem, and by the power of living faith, and by the strength that you have given, and in the name of God, our Father-God, the kingdom of the soul shall be established on the seven hills. And all the peoples, tribes and tongues of earth shall enter in. The Prince of Peace will take his seat upon the throne of power; the Triune God will then be All in All. And all the sages said, Amen. And Jesus went his way, and after many days, he reached Jerusalem; and then he sought his home in Galilee” (Aquarian Gospel 60:16-21).
Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis: John the Baptist – I