Easter, A New Beginning

Over the past year or so I have had the time to study some history. Ancient Egypt really caught my attention essentially because there is so much evidence that has survived the ravages of time, and that evidence is profound. Aside from the question of how they moved and quarried 100,000 ton blocks of granite and aligned these megalithic sites astronomically with a precision that rivals todays abilities, are the questions of why would they go to such an effort and how did groups of primitive hunter gatherers demonstrate  such a high degree of skill and knowledge  to achieve such monumental tasks . These are some of the questions confronting modern day Egyptologists of which they have no sensible answer and are in almost complete denial of the fact that there is a remarkable living message embedded in these sites speaking to us today. What we have In fact found in Egypt seems to have been an entire nation founded on the precept of “Man Know Thyself”. One great Mystery school laying a spiritual foundation that lives on in the sacred sciences and chambers of initiation.  Just compare that to what the focus is in the world today with our mindless video games, heavy metal bands and quest after things.

Modern day archeologists and anthropologists see man and civilization as developing and evolving very slowly over millions of years from primitive life forms into what we are today. Most modern day academics date modern man to not much beyond five or six thousand years ago. Recent discoveries however are blowing this pyridine into oblivion.  Human remains dating back 200,000 years have been unearthed that are not unlike modern man, along with magnificent cave art  dating back tens of thousands of years, revealing a greatly expanded time line for modern humanity. And then came the great Flood. It should be noted that there are over 300 flood myths across the globe. A few bold and brilliant geologists are now validating mounting evidence showing that a great global cataclysm did indeed occur around ten to twelve thousand years ago at the end of the last great ice age. Some cosmic event it is believed instigated unprecedented rapid melting of the massive icecaps. This hypothesis  is now gaining scientific credence. Miraculously following this great cataclysmic event we find the emergence of massive construction projects of megalithic temple sites emerging all over the planet, almost overnight in geological time; the greatest of which are in Egypt, all of which were constructed with near perfect  astronomical alignments and a skill unmatchable by today’s standards.

One thing is very clear: and that is alignments, solstices, equinoxes and precession were extremely important to the grand architects of the temples. Their knowledge of high mathematics and cosmic cycles embedded in their temples is remarkable and undeniable, to say the least. Wisdom literally  written in the rocks of time. So what is the source of this knowledge and wisdom? Mythology tells us of a great teacher known as Thoth to the ancient Egyptians and Hermes to the ancient Greeks. Legend tells us that Hermes Trismegistus or Thoth was the Father of all the sacred sciences including astrology, alchemy, geometry, writing, ect;  and was the guide of the soul through the afterlife. He is also said to be the author of the Emerald Tablets, a profound treasure of mystic knowledge. He was a Teacher of Teachers. From this tradition do we find the emergence of a glorious nation, and the home and birthplace of the great mystery schools and temples of initiation.

It is believed that out of this great tradition, as this high civilization drifted into chaos, there emerged a great spiritual community whose mission it was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. They were called the “Essenes”.  From the EssenneSpirit newsletter we have this.

“The Essenes considered themselves to be a separate people–not because of external signs like skin color, hair color, etc., but because of the illumination of their inner life and their knowledge of the hidden mysteries of nature unknown to other men. They considered themselves to be also a group of people at the center of all peoples–because everyone could become part of it, as soon as they had successfully passed the selective tests.

They thought, and rightly so, that they were the heirs of God’s sons and daughters of old, the heirs to their great ancient civilization. They possessed their advanced knowledge and worked assiduously in secret for the triumph of the light over the darkness of the human mind.

They felt that they had been entrusted with a mission, which would turn out to be the founding of Christianity and of western civilization. They were supported in this effort by highly evolved beings who directed the brotherhood. They were true saints, Masters of wisdom, hierophants of the ancient arts of mastery.

 They were not limited to a single religion, but studied all of them in order to extract the great scientific principles. They considered each religion to be a different stage of a single revelation. They accorded great importance to the teachings of the ancient Chaldeans, of Zoroaster, of Hermes Trismegiste, to the secret instructions of Moses and of one of the founding Masters of their order who had transmitted techniques similar to those of Buddhism, as well as to the revelation of Enoch.

They possessed a living science of all of these revelations.”

It is from within this great spiritual community that we find the young Jesus preparing for his mission, A mission that would literally transformed the Earth itself.

As this most sacred and glorious Orb transits through the cosmos, we are beckoned to resonate with our Mother earth and participate in the mysteries of our Lord Jesus as he leads us through the Crucifixion, resurrection and Ascension, that revivifies the Soul and transforms the Earth itself. I feel so Blessed to be part of this great cosmic process.   Happy Easter.                    -Rev. James Kalstad

…

Excerpt from class by Father Paul, 3/16/74

…We are only interested in what power is moved, only, because we know that only through that can man be prepared to know God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  I have tried many times to relate this to students, and I’ve got through to a few of them and they have sat back gasping sometimes, when we’d analyze certain things because they have never, even though they have been here three or four years, really never learned even what the commandments were, because they had “read the commandments, I assure you”.  They had learned by heart the commandments but they didn’t hear them.  They didn’t really know what they said, because you don’t know what a thing says until you know what it does.  If you don’t know that, you don’t know anything.

And this is one of the big blocks that many of the students have, at times, because they try to absorb something else that’s way beyond them, and what happens?  They’re stopped, right there; and there’s a block in their way.  And here they come trying to learn something that’s down on the lower level and here’s the block they’re trying to climb.  Until they learn what’s on that lower level, and you might say, put a foundation under themselves, they aren’t going to reach up.

You see, some people say to me, “Oh, well, aren’t you kind of afraid somebody will steal these teachings?”  Ha!  There’s no place safer than down at the corner, to keep a secret.  All you’ve got to do is just broadcast something.  It’s all forgotten about right away.  Nobody will ever remember it.  It’s perfectly safe for a long, long time.  But if you want somebody to learn something, put it on a piece of paper and put it down beneath the concrete blocks someplace and, boy, how they’ll dig.  And that was a system – it may sound comical, it does – but that was a system that was used, and that was why things were so mysteriously put.  That was the reason why they didn’t put things out in plain English, or whatever the language.  They knew that if they revealed them simply, they’d never learn.  They’d never be interested in even reading them.  That’s why many things here are a complete blockage to the student, because they are simple.  They’re written right out there in plain, simple English.

Now if you really want to know, and I’ve had many students come in and say, “Father, I try at the altar.  I want to know Jesus.”  You know, that’s the same deal.  There’s nothing, there is no “way”; you either want to know him or you don’t, that’s all.  If you want to know this young gentleman over here, you go up to him and ask him what his name is, and shake hands.  Go ahead.  The same thing with Jesus.  All you’ve got to do is call for him.  You can’t expect that he’s going to be there waiting for the last ten centuries, you know.

Now it’s literally silly, but it’s part and it shows and it proves you haven’t got it yet.  You haven’t got it yet because you haven’t learned; you’re still mass-minded and you don’t want to learn.  …Now, I mean it.  You’re just  not going to be priests and brothers if you don’t see the Master and don’t get next to him; that’s all there is to it, and there’s no excuse.  There’s no excuse, because all you’ve got to do is want him and go for him; you’ll get him.  But you’re going to bend your egos, that’s for sure.  And the reason you don’t get him is because you’ve meddled with all kinds of teachings, and that’s what happened when the order first started.  I’d have somebody come in and, “Well, is it all right to read this book?  Is it all right to read this book?”

I said one simple thing:  “There’s nothing wrong with the book; it’s just wrong with you because you’re not ready to read it.”  If you leave them alone, later on, why then, if you want to read them, all right.  And they never came back.  They weren’t interested after they’d gotten involved.  Why?  Because they’d already learned that and a lot more, you know?  A lot more.

What we’re saying is you cannot beat or short-cut Nature.  You can’t beat God and His Creation.  There are no shortcuts so don’t try to find them.  If you do this you will find that day by day by day you will learn.  And your realization of Creation and God will flower right out with the days passing.  But if you don’t have the realization of what you have heard, then you are not going to make it the rest of the way.  There’s going to be a block, because you have got to have a foundation under you or you won’t be able to reach the level on which those words are written.

“For unto those who carry my Word shall all things be opened to in this day and in this way.”  You know, that is a definite promise, so why don’t we learn, gain a realization of what we are – the place we are living in?  Many, many people – people not just those in the order, but outside also – are there and are in total darkness, after studying for years, because they haven’t gotten the realization, that’s all, and they can’t get that realization until they have also absorbed, little by little, and really seen how Nature is functioning.  Because if it isn’t functioning it isn’t living, and it has to live in order to be of any account to us.

I’m going to read one little statement here, which I think should be a motto of ours, really:

“For wherever the Sun and the Moon rises, there am I also on this earth”; and the Holy Order of Mans, both.

Eight Teachings from the Torah on Immigrants

You shall not wrong nor oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:20)
You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)
You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger; I the Eternal am your God. (Leviticus 19:10)
When strangers reside with you in your land, you shall not wrong them. The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I the Eternal am your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
You too must befriend (love) the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19)
You shall not abhor an Edomite, for such is your kin. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in that land. (Deuteronomy 23:8)
You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pawn. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that your Eternal God redeemed you there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment. (Deuteronomy 24:17-18)
Cursed be the one who subverts the rights of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:19)

Matthew 25:31-46 – “…I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

 

Whenever you advise a ruler in the way of Tao,

Counsel him not to use force to conquer the universe,

For this would only cause resistance.

Thorn bushes spring up wherever an army has passed.

Lean years follow in the wake of a great war.

Just do what needs to be done.

Never take advantage of power.

                     Achieve results,

But never glory in them.

Achieve results,

But never boast.

Achieve results,

But never be proud.

Achieve results,

Because this is the natural way.

Achieve results,

But not through violence.

Lao Tzu – 500 B.C.E.

But lo, Thou requirest truth in the inward parts: and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.” ~ Gregorio Allegri

Writing down ‘Miserere’ by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri, was punishable by excommunication, but 14 year old Mozart committed it to memory…

Miserere, by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652), is a setting of Psalm 51 composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for  use in the Sistine Chapel during matins as part of the exclusive Tenebrae service on Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week. It was the last of twelve misereres composed and chanted at the service since 1514, and the most popular. The Vatican wanted to preserve the music’s reputation for mystery and inaccessibility so it was forbidden to be transcribed and was only performed at those particular services. Writing it down or performing it elsewhere was punishable by excommunication.

According to a popular story (backed up by family letters), the fourteen-year-old Mozart was visiting Rome when he first heard the piece during the Wednesday service. Later that day, he wrote it down entirely from memory, returning to the Chapel that Friday to make minor corrections. Some time during his travels, he met the British historian Dr Charles Burney, who obtained the piece from him and took it to London, where it was published in 1771. Mozart was summoned to Rome, but instead of excommunicating the boy, the Pope showered him with praise for his feat of musical genius and the ban was lifted.

MARY

The Lenten meditation, “O Glorious Father, reveal within me the mystery of our holy Mother Mary”, leads to the thought that Mary is not just “our” mother.  She is the mother of Christianity, through her bearing of him who brought Christ into the world.  Jesus couldn’t appear in a physical vehicle until one such as Mary came first, worthy to provide the pure medium needed to nurture the holy Child.

But Mary represents more than the vehicle for a divine incarnation two thousand years ago.  The spirit of the divine Mother is also that which nurtures the Christ child born within each person when the soul has attained to a certain level of realization.

~~

“O Glorious Father, reveal within me the mystery of our holy Mother Mary.”  Is this the Spirit which receives and nurtures the seed of the coming Christ?

~~

“O thou great Master Jesus, channel of Light.”

Mary provided the physical vehicle for that channel of Light.  She was the means of bridging the gap between God and humanity through bringing us the Master Jesus, and he became the bridge between heaven and earth, as our direct means of contact with the heavenly Father.

~~

Mary’s fiat was her acceptance of the mission to act as a channel for the Light to come into the world.  She must have agreed to this in the heaven world before coming to earth, and to have accepted there the role for which she had been well-prepared.

~~

Her response at the Annunciation seems to reveal that such an attitude must be achieved before the Christ can be born in any individual.  The trusting acceptance and humility that says simply, “Here I am Lord, ready to do Thy Will.”

We must first attain a state of consciousness similar to that of the Virgin Mary before we can enter into the spirit of the Christ.  Thus is the Son born of the mother.                                                                                                                      ~~

My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
for the Mighty One has done great things for me –
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.

THE RESURRECTION

(The Story of Jesus)

[brief excerpts]

Spiritual realities cannot be proven by physical facts; one dimension cannot account for another.  The essential importance is found less in outward details than in the unseen current which flows through them.

It probably makes little difference now on what day of the week Jesus was really crucified, except in trying to be accurate in observance of holy days.  Some say the crucifixion could not have been held on a Friday, because the Lord had clearly prophesied that he would be three days and three nights in the earth before rising again, and from Friday before sundown until Sunday at sunrise would have given him only two nights and one day in the tomb.

Possibly the first day of Unleavened Bread referred to in the Testament occurred during the week, for it was called a “high Sabbath,” (not necessarily Saturday).  It was clearly stated that Jesus rose on Sunday, “the first day of the week”.  It seems fitting that the day kept holy to the Lord of Light was changed from Saturn’s day to the Sun’s day.

It is fitting too that Easter should be celebrated in the spring, at the season when the whole earth renews herself after the apparent “death” of winter.  In his resurrection, the Lord was demonstrating that mankind, and not Jesus alone, has dominion over himself, over nature, and at last over even the mysterious doorway called death, so fearful when seen from only one side, though it can swing both ways.

Jesus had walked in the desert forty days before beginning his ministry, and he again passed forty days among the disciples before ascending on high.  Our Lenten period is a copy of this, being comprised of forty days, or literally forty-six, with the intervening Sundays being exempted….

Paul did not mention any women in the Lord’s appearances, but has stated in I Corinthians 15 that, “. . .Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that

he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren all at one time . . . then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”

(Certain rumors have claimed that he afterward appeared in other lands where under different names he taught the people.)

Paul continues:  “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain – your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.  If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.  For as by a man came death, so by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order – Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”

Through Jesus’ giving of himself man can now fully associate with God without interference, for he removed the veil which had existed between the Deity and man.

The very fact that some sought to destroy Him created a stronger image of Him through their negation.  Because, as Father Paul has said, when a negative power is spent, when it has spent itself, there comes out of it a more positive power than before.