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To God Through Man

Hoffman's portrait of ChristPart 38 of the Aquarian Gospel for Awakening

“And Jesus said, The Holy Breath cannot be seen with mortal eyes; nor can men see the Spirits of the Holy; but in their image man was made, and he who looks into the face of man, looks at the image of the God who speaks within.

“And when man honors man he honors God, and what man does for man, he does for God. And you must bear in mind that when man harms in thought, or word or deed another man, he does a wrong to God.

“If you would serve the God who speaks within the heart, just serve your near of kin, and those that are no kin, the stranger at your gates, the foe who seeks to do you harm; assist the poor, and help the weak; do harm to none, and covet not what is not yours; then, with your tongue the Holy One will speak; and he will smile behind your tears, will light your countenance with joy, and fill your hearts with peace” (Aquarian Gospel 26:9-15).

The image of the Holy

But in their image man was made, and he who looks into the face of man, looks at the image of the God who speaks within. In the ninth chapter of the Aquarian Gospel Jesus describes the manifestation of the “Elohim, creative spirits of the universe. And these are they who said, Let us make man; and in their image man was made” (Aquarian Gospel 9:19,20). We see from this that it is inaccurate to say that we are made in the image of the invisible God, the Father or the Son. Rather, we are made in the image of the Divine Power, the Holy Spirit, AND the Seven Archons who are the immediate creators of the cosmos. That is, the human status–including the human body–is a reflection of these eight beings, one infinite and seven of them finite though of inconceivable scope and power.

The Father and the Son are pure spirit, invisible and transcendent, whereas the Holy Spirit Mother is visible as all things. Consequently human beings are visible. Further, the Holy Spirit is undifferentiated Power, but the Seven Archons as the great Intelligences that formed that Power into all that “is.” “From God’s own Record Book we read: The Triune God breathed forth, and seven Spirits stood before his face. (The Hebrews call these seven Spirits, Elohim.) And these are they who, in their boundless power, created everything that is, or was” (Aquarian Gospel 32:20,21).

Human beings embody both the power and the intelligence of creation. How awesome we are! And how foolishly we have let our egos–and the egos of others–convince us that we are weak, sinful, and mortal, unworthy of Divine regard.

But the truth of our nature is not for self-congratulation. It is to be turned outward in the realization that “he who looks into the face of man, looks at the image of God” and react accordingly. Jesus had no intention of limiting to himself the meaning of the words: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). This is true of all human beings.

The first time I witnessed the worship of the Eastern Christian Church (Russian Orthodox) many things amazed and delighted me. One was the practice of the celebrant censing everyone present and bowing to them, just as he censed and bowed to the holy icons. In fact, two or three times, the holy Nectary, the Bishop of Seattle who was visiting the church in Los Angeles, came and stood in front of each one of us, censing and bowing to us. He was honoring our inner divinity. And I well remember how after attending the worship conducted by the holy priest John Diakonoff in Chicago, everything “looked holy” to me for hours afterward. Even the people standing at the bus stop seemed worthy of being bowed to–and I used to do so mentally.

It is not easy to do, but we who strive to have “the mind of Christ” must keep in mind that, however buried it may be, the “pearl of great price” of divinity is within every single person upon the earth. It is a high ideal, but if we will not seek to attain high ideals, why are we bothering with spiritual life at all?

The God who speaks within

There is a problem with holy writings and the words of the wise. We can easily miss profound concepts because they are so easily–even casually–and briefly stated. This is demonstrated in the verse we are considering. At the end we find the five words: “the God who speaks within.” They are worth far more than the tons of religious books that are printed every week. Let us sum them up in a few points.

1) God is within each one of us.

2) God is active within each one of us.

3) God is speaking to (guiding) us from within.

4) God can speak out from within us, just as he did through the prophets.

5) If we want to see and hear God we need only turn within.

All this being true, there is a sixth proposition: We are living manifestations of God. Then it only follows that:

Encountering God through man

When man honors man he honors God, and what man does for man, he does for God. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). God is unseen and unheard to most of us, so if we want to relate to God we can do so through other human beings. “For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (I John 4:20). It is utterly moronic to speak of serving God or making offerings to God. If he needed anything from us he would be finite and dependent like us. And what is there in the world that is not already his–a manifestation of him? It is only through others that we can serve God or give him/her anything. A place where suffering and needy humanity is relieved and supplied is the only real “house of worship.”

Saint John the Beloved put it exactly right: “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (I John 4:12).

Jesus wraps up the whole subject easily: “And you must bear in mind that when man harms in thought, or word or deed another man, he does a wrong to God. If you would serve the God who speaks within the heart, just serve your near of kin, and those that are no kin, the stranger at your gates, the foe who seeks to do you harm; assist the poor, and help the weak; do harm to none, and covet not what is not yours; then, with your tongue the Holy One will speak; and he will smile behind your tears, will light your countenance with joy, and fill your hearts with peace.”

“And then the people asked, To whom shall we bring gifts? Where shall we offer sacrifice?

“And Jesus said, Our Father-God asks not for needless waste of plant, of grain, of dove, of lamb. That which you burn on any shrine you throw away. No blessings can attend the one who takes the food from hungry mouths to be destroyed by fire.

“When you would offer sacrifice unto our God, just take your gift of grain, or meat and lay it on the table of the poor. From it an incense will arise to heaven, which will return to you with blessedness. Tear down your idols; they can hear you not; turn all your sacrificial altars into fuel for the flames.

“Make human hearts your altars, and burn your sacrifices with the fire of love” (Aquarian Gospel 26:16-22).

This makes perfect sense, because Jesus also said: “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). So when we want to serve and love God we should aspire to serve and love even the least of humanity. Saint Francis’ love for lepers and his devoted service to them is the perfect example–but not so perfect that we cannot do it also.

Whatever we do to any sentient being–not just humans–we do to God. For: “I am the Atman that dwells in the heart of every mortal creature: I am the beginning, the life-span, and the end of all” (Bhagavad Gita 10:20). “The Lord lives in the heart of every creature” (Bhagavad Gita 18:61).

It is important that we reach out to others in love, not just from a sense of duty. I have seen “charitable” people treating those they helped like cattle to be herded around “for their own good.” It was obvious they saw those unfortunate ones as a kind of mess to clean up and get out of the way. Caring for others is not a dose of bitter medicine, but it will be if love is not the beginning, middle and end of our caring.

Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis: Who Is Jesus?

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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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