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esus of Nazareth and the Christ are not
one and the same person. This is one of the most difficult claims for many
Christians to accept in connection with Maitreya, the World Teacher, and
it therefore needs some further explanation.
In fact, the title Christ
does not refer to an individual at all. It is the name of a function in
the Hierarchy of Masters of Wisdom, that group of advanced beings who guide
the evolution of humanity from behind the scenes. Whoever stands at the
head of this Hierarchy automatically becomes the World Teacher, known in
the East as the Bodhisattva, during the term of His office. Maitreya, who
embodies the energy we call the Christ Principle, has held that office
for over two millennia, and in Palestine He manifested Himself as the Christ
to inaugurate the Age of Pisces, then beginning. The method He used is
called spiritual overshadowing, that is, His consciousness informed and
guided the actions and teachings of His disciple Jesus. It was, therefore,
the consciousness of the Christ, Maitreya, which was seen and experienced
by those around Jesus.
Fourth-degree Initiate
In
reality Jesus was a fourth-degree initiate and one of the older disciples
of the Masters of Wisdom. He appeared before in biblical times as Joshua,
the son of Nun, then as Isaiah, and again as Joshua in the book of Zachariah.
In Palestine he made the great sacrifice of allowing himself to be used
by Maitreya to fulfil His mission during the three years following the
baptism in the River Jordan. During his life, Jesus also symbolically enacted
the five initiations which lead one to Mastership. The experience on the
cross was the enactment of the 4th initiation for Jesus (his birth, the
baptism, and the transfiguration on the mount symbolize the first three),
while at the same time Maitreya underwent a higher initiation.
The events from Jesus' life
and his words have been greatly misinterpreted due to this little-understood
connection between his work and that of Maitreya the Christ. This
has given rise to the age-old theological point of contention namely,
whether Jesus was God or man, or perhaps both together. The answer is that
Jesus was a man who, as a result of the process of evolution, became a
Son of God as does everyone eventually. Others had gone before him on
that path and many have taken it since. Christians who are of the opinion
that it is not given to anyone to try and emulate Jesus accomplishment
(who, as far as they are concerned, is God or, at least, His only Son)
are contradicted by his own words: Become perfect even as the Father
in Heaven is perfect. and: Greater things than I have done shall you
do.
Jesus' death was the fulfilment
of the task for that life, and it was Maitreya who resurrected the body
from the tomb (as a symbol for the 5th initiation, just as the ascension
was symbolic of the 6th initiation).
This presentation of ancient
occult knowledge in symbolic form is one of the methods which the Spiritual
Hierarchy uses to teach humanity, and to convey knowledge to those who
have ears to hear and eyes to see. In the lives of the Buddha, Mithra and
Krishna, similar symbolic events can also be found. The famed labours of
Hercules, too, are nothing less than part of the initiation process expressed
in symbolic form.
Apollonius of Tyana
The
disciple Jesus of 2,000 years ago has by now become one of the most senior
Masters in the Hierarchy: the Master Jesus. He reached His state of perfection
in the course of His next life as Apollonius of Tyana.
Many of those who followed
Him during His life as Jesus were still alive during this subsequent incarnation
and many of them became convinced that Jesus had reappeared in their
midst. It was Apollonius who undertook a journey to India which became
the basis for the story, which many believe, that Jesus did not die on
the cross but went to India and died in Kashmir, having lived to a venerable
old age.
The Master Jesus has been
incarnate in a Syrian body for about 640 years. He is described in 'INITIATION,
HUMAN AND SOLAR' by Alice A. Bailey (published by Lucis Publishing Co.)
as follows: He is rather a martial figure, a disciplinarian and a man of
iron rule and will. He is tall and spare with rather a long thin face,
black hair, pale complexion, and piercing blue eyes. In the Hierarchy He
is described as the Great Leader, the General and the Wise Executive. 'INITIATION,
HUMAN AND SOLAR' says of Him: No one is so closely in touch with the people
who stand for all that is best in the Christian teachings and no-one is
so well aware of the needs of the present moment.
During most of this time
He has lived mainly in Palestine. Since 1984, however, He has lived in
Rome. The intention is that He will try to raise the Christian churches
out of their state of crystallization and rivalry and, if invited to do
so, to lead a newly united church. By doing so He hopes to resolve the
many contradictions and misunderstandings which have arisen during the
course of the centuries about His historic role and the teachings which
He then disseminated as a vehicle for Maitreya.
Major Role
With
the emergence of Maitreya, the Master Jesus is playing a major role for
the second time, as also are the Apostles Peter and John. Two thousand
years ago they were third-degree initiates; now they have been entrusted
with a significant aspect of completing the Plan as the Master Morya, and
the Master who will succeed Maitreya as the Christ during the next era
(in about 2,500 years), Koot Hoomi. This open collaboration, which will
be visible to all, will end any lingering doubts concerning the true relationship
between Maitreya the Christ and His disciple, the Master Jesus.
Thus the seemingly paradoxical
claim that Jesus and the Christ are not the same person, in the literal
sense of the word, is more reasonable than it would appear. Those
Christians who find it difficult to accept that their
teacher is not the highest leader of all humanity may, however, take solace
in a second paradox: Jesus and Maitreya the Christ were (and are)
one, in the sense that They, each on His own level, work together in perfect
concord to further the Divine Plan.
Peter Liefhebber
"Nothing
separates you from Me,
and
soon many will realise this.
I
am with you and in you.
I
seek to express That which I am
through
you; for this I come."
-
Maitreya
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