The Dove flew over the head of our Lord the Messiah, because he was her head.
And she sang over him, and her voice was heard.
And the inhabitants were afraid, and the sojourners trembled.
The bird began to fly, and every creeping thing died in its hole.
And the abysses were opened and closed; and they were seeking for the Lord as those who are about to give birth.
And he was not given to them for food, because he was not theirs.
And the abysses were submerged in the submersion of the Lord, and they perished in that thought which they had held from the beginning.
For they travailed from the beginning, and the end of their travail was life.
And all of them who were lacking perished, because they were not able to pronounce the word so that they might exist.
And the Lord destroyed the thoughts, of all them that had not the truth with them.
For they were lacking in wisdom, they who exalted themselves in their hearts.
And they were rejected, because the truth was not with them.
For the Lord revealed his way, and spread abroad his grace.
And those who understood it know his holiness. Alleluia.
The Dove flew over the head of our Lord the Messiah, because he was her head.
“Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him” (Matthew 3:16). The Gospels are both literal and symbolic. Being masters of karma, liberated beings who return to earth as Way-showers perfectly control their lives and bring about incidents that have profound spiritual symbolism. Early Christian texts reveal that the original Christians looked upon the life of Jesus as a kind of mystery-drama intended to reveal spiritual truths and illumine the life and path of the initiates of Christ.
Jesus is not the Christ, but a Christ. In the esoteric cosmology of mystical Judaism, one of the highest levels of creation is called Messiah. Only those who who have reached the status of a Messiah, a Christ, dwell there and if they descend to a lower world they do so as Messiah-teachers. Just as there have been many Buddhas, so there have been many Messiah-Christs.
“Because he was her head.” The Holy Breath, the divine Ruach or Holy Spirit, is considered the breath or spirit of the/a Messiah. Therefore the Holy Spirit was seen at the baptism of Jesus when he was revealed to Israel as Christ. She is also called “the Spirit of Christ” in the Bible (Romans 8:9; I Peter 1:11). Consequently this ode can be looked at as both a portrayal of the divine hierarchy and as the inner meaning of Jesus’ baptism. Even more to the point, it can be studied as an exposition of the way in which those who receive the Spirit of Christ will be transformed into Christs through intense and total purification.
And she sang over him, and her voice was heard.
In his commentary on parts of the Gospels, The Second Coming of Christ (Amrita Foundation edition), Paramhansa Yogananda wrote:
“Cosmic sound, emanating from cosmic vibration, is called the ‘Holy Ghost.’… It is holy because the emanent (outflowing) consciousness of God the Father, or Christ intelligence, guides it to create all finite matter.… The Hindus speak of this ‘Holy Ghost’ as the ‘Aum.’ ‘A’ stands for ‘Akar’ or creative vibration; ‘U’ for ‘Ukar’ or preservative vibration; and ‘M’ for ‘Makar’ or destructive vibration.… So the cosmic sound of Aum or Holy Ghost creates all things…, preserves them…, and ultimately it will dissolve all things in the bosom-sea of God.
“Jesus, during his baptism, saw the cosmic energy manifested in bodily shape,… and out of that… came a voice, or intelligent, all-creative, cosmic sound, saying, or vibrating, in intelligible voice…, ‘Thou art my Son (or my manifestation) I am glad thou hast risen (lifted thy consciousness from matter), and tuned in with my Omnipresence.’”
(This is just a fraction of what Yogananda wrote on this subject. The complete section is filled with invaluable information, much or most of which is not found in the writings of any other teacher. I recommend you read it all.)
Since each of us is a potential Christ, this ode is particularly relevant, for it is an exposition of the action of the Holy Spirit on the entire makeup of the individual as he is led onward to Christhood. The “song” of the Holy Spirit is the transforming power which accomplishes this ascent in evolution. The first effect is the awareness of the Holy Spirit’s action by the questing soul. It is not a vague matter of “something happening,” but is understood by the aspirant to be the workings of the Holy Breath, the Holy Vibration, the leaven of the kingdom of heaven within.
“Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened” (Matthew 13:33). The “three measures of meal” are the physical, astral and causal levels (bodies) of the initiate.
And the inhabitants were afraid, and the sojourners trembled.
Just as a ship picks up barnacles as it plies the seas, so the individual’s various bodies take on conditionings and accretions from life to life. Even if these are not positively antithetical to the divine transformation, they are yet alien, not part of the Voice from heaven which declares “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Consequently they are shaken by the song of the Holy Spirit arising from within the individual being transformed. Having identified for many lifetimes with these alien elements, the person himself may become unsettled, unsure and even fearful when this process takes place. In time peace is established by this purificatory action and any anxiety ceases, but in the meantime it can arise. Some people are even inclined to abandon spiritual life because of it. The wise face it and endure; the weak fail and fall away.
The bird began to fly, and every creeping thing died in its hole.
“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:2-3).
When the Holy Spirit begins to fly over and upon the waters of the subtle energy makeup of the seeker, that movement is a kind of friction that produces light in which all that is not real and true is dissolved. The “creeping things” of ignorance and delusion are in this way cauterized from the developing consciousness of the aspirant.
And the abysses were opened and closed; and they were seeking for the Lord as those who are about to give birth.
The dark nooks and crannies of the inner bodies, particularly those of the mind, are revealed to the questing spirit and then banished (closed), for these voids, made of spiritual anti-matter, would like to encompass and swallow up the Light of Christ produced by the flight of the Dove.
And he was not given to them for food, because he was not theirs.
Those who sought to extinguish the Light were themselves extinguished by It.
And the abysses were submerged in the submersion of the Lord, and they perished in that thought which they had held from the beginning.
Baptized in the Holy Spirit they perished in their perverse response that was the very basis of their existence, and they were no more able to hide from or harm the ascending spirit. They melted away, darkness before the Light.
For they travailed from the beginning, and the end of their travail was life.
That which hinders the evolving consciousness can have only one of two fates: annihilation or assimilation and transmutation within the Holy Spirit. So out of death sometimes comes life. This is the alchemy of the Holy Spirit within each one of us.
And all of them who were lacking perished, because they were not able to pronounce the Word so that they might exist.
Here we see what determines which fate comes to anything touched by the Light of the Holy Breath, the Divine Word. That which cannot be assimilated and made to vibrate with the Word, to “pronounce” it, perish. That which can vibrate and be assimilated into the Word Itself will live.
This reveals the basis of spiritual transformation: the Divine, Eternal Word that from the beginning was inherent in God because It was God. By It were all things made, bearing within Itself the life for which all things were destined. To as many as could receive that Word was given the Power to become the sons of God, themselves “the Word made flesh.” (See John 1:1-14.) It accomplishes all that is needed for the revelation of Christ in the life and consciousness of the yogi who holds to it day and night, vibrating it within the depths of his awareness and being. (To learn how to do this, see Soham Yoga, the Yoga of the Self.)
And the Lord destroyed the thoughts, of all them that had not the truth with them.
All things that did or could not bear within them the Divine Word were destroyed and the ascending spirit was freed for them forever.
For they were lacking in wisdom, they who exalted themselves in their hearts.
For they were themselves the embodiments of ignorance, of darkness. Slaves of egotism, they became destroyed along with their master, the ego.
And they were rejected, because the truth was not with them.
Incapable of vibrating along with the Word and being transmuted into It, they were exorcised from the life sphere of the yogi forever.
For the Lord revealed his way, and spread abroad his grace.
This he did through (and as) the Word.
And those who understood it know his holiness.
To fully know the Word by uniting themselves with It is the secret of holiness, the secret of the saints. The way is simple and clear: “A highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:8-10).
Read the next article in The Odes of Solomon for Awakening: The Odes of Solomon: 25