Rosicrucian Writings Online | ||
The Christ SpiritWHAT IT IS AND WHERE TO SEEK FOR ITBy Frater W. T. Oaley [From The Rosicrucian Digest October 1930] JESUS said to the multitudes that He had been with the world since the beginning of time and He said also, "Lo, I am with you always." This is, in brief, the essence of His statement regarding Himself as the Christ. These words constitute a positive definite statement of the mortality of the Christ spirit. For many centuries the devout Christian held the belief that the Christ spirit came to the world with the birth of Jesus and that later it ascended into Heaven and continued to remain in the spiritual realm. It was only after a more careful and analytical study of His wonderful teachings that even the Christians came to realize that the spirit of Christ was something that had no beginning with the birth of a human form and never left the earth with the ascension of His body. However we may look upon the incarnation of that Christ spirit in one human form for a time, we cannot fail to realize in the broader sense that the Christ spirit is something that cannot be confined to the body of one individual. The Christ spirit is the projected consciousness of God into the hearts of all beings. It is a Divine consciousness translated into human expression and lying dormant within each one of us who has not allowed it to awaken and come into sublime expression. We must seek for it, therefore, not in the spiritual realm above us nor in Heavenly or Cosmic consciousness of God, but in the very Divine consciousness that resides in each one of us. The spirit of Christ in us constantly attempts to become the dominant consciousness that resides in each one of us. The spirit of Christ in us constantly attempts to become the dominant consciousness of our being, but by our own acts and especially by our own thinking we imprison this spirit and restrain it in its power and prevent its fullness of manifestation. To those who have discovered the Christian spirit within and have become aware of its marvelous power and have allowed it to quicken their outer consciousness and speak with the still small voice, the Christian spirit becomes a potent factor in their human affairs. What constitutes the real regeneration of man is the quickening of the Christian spirit within and allowing this spirit to be the real self and the real governor and director of human existence. It is like unto an awakening of the sleeping captain of the ship on the seas and allowing him to take the wheel instead of the incompetent and uninformed seamen who are not inspired with the Divine wisdom and omnipotent knowledge. From the moment that this imprisoned and silent spirit of Christ becomes the dominant consciousness of the being, new life, new power, and Cosmic attunement infuses the body and consciousness and the human being is reborn and comes in contact with eternal life. It is the Christian spirit within which constantly urges the outer self to do that which is right and just and fair. It is the Christ consciousness within that knows all of the facts of the universe, is aware of all of the universal principles, and is competent to judge all beings and to direct all human relationships with fairness and justice to all. It is the Christian consciousness and the spirit within the breast of man that leads him on to noble thoughts and noble acts and stays him in his steps toward evil. When the spirit of Christ is awakened and by the common consent of all the faculties of man is given domination over the physical self man becomes happy, healthy, and developes into the living image of God as was intended in the beginning. We should not seek, therefore, the spirit of Christ in a church or a pious person, nor should we look for this great spirit in the advice and counsel of another. We must look for it exclusively within ourselves. The object of all sacred instruction and of all religious guidance is to quicken the holy spirit in man, awaken the Christ consciousness and bring about re-birth, regeneration, and salvation. In the great work of our Rosicrucian organization, the great truths of life are not given to us, much less sold to us, as some say who venture to criticize our organization because of its physical and business-like methods and requirements. Truth can neither be given, nor sold, nor dispensated by one person to another, by any means or by any process. That which is true and constitutes the great true principles of life must be born within us through experiences and through the awakening of the Christ spirit and consciousness. All that the Rosicrucians can do is to teach you how to find the truth and how to avoid the evil and untrue. The greatest lessons from the great Master of our organization do not contain a single word or thought that can ever constitute the truth to you until after you have experienced it and found it within the Christ spirit of your being. You cannot be taught the truth of life, nor can anyone tell you the truth of your own being, and in this manner transfer to you their truth so that they will become your truths. The greatest message that Christ gave His disciples and that has passed down through the ages as a miracle or revelation cannot become a truth to you until it awakens in you a response and an experience that becomes a living truth in its fulfillment. If man were purely a spiritual being without the physical body and the limitations of a mortal mind, each being would be a living Christ spirit and a living truth. But the flesh of man has its weaknesses and the mortal mind its limitations and in man's egotism and vanity the outer self has imprisoned the Christ spirit and tried to rule and dominate over that which is immortal. Hence, the finite part of man imprisons the infinite, and the mortal part of man rules the immortal. Man thereby lives in error and in sin and ignorance. The mortal mind of one man cannot pass truth to the mortal mind of another, for truth cannot be of the mortal mind but of the immortal. The great wisdom that connects the truth of the ages is not an element that is resident within the finite part of man and therefore cannot be transferred by the finite self to the finite consciousness of another self. Truth must be born within and find expression from within as a light within a bulb radiates and outshines the transparent mortal body of its shell. When truth is developed within and the Christ spirit allowed to express it and experience it, the finite man becomes humble and submissive and all his acts, as well as all his thoughts, are guided by the Divine judgment and highest inspiration. This frees the body of sin and ignorance and gives vitality to the being and immortality to the consciousness. Seek ye, therefore, for the truth in your own self. Harken to the words and advice of those who have found truth and let them guide your steps and point out the path of experience that will reveal the truth. Remember that the Rosicrucian lectures and lessons are offered to you by those who have found the truth and who have quickened the spirit of Christ within their own beings and who want you to have this same great experience and regeneration, but they cannot give you the truth in word or sign. They can only save you time and mistakes in seeking for the truth and in finding the path. The lectures can only inspire you with the proper motive and explain to you the proper realization so that you may interpret the truth as it comes to you from within and benefit by it. This is why the lessons and lectures are so carefully prepared, so uniquely arranged and wonderfully expressed. It also explains why the great work of this old organization has been so efficient among many races in many lands, and why it continues to live the truth that is revealed in the hearts of all of its members. Amenhotep IV, the great Pharaoh of Egypt who is the traditional founder of the Rosicrucian principles, was the first man to discover the Christ spirit within and reveal it to the populace and he established the first monotheistic religion the world has ever known. He taught that there was but one living God and that this God dwelt within the hearts of each one of us in the nature of the Christ spirit. He learned that the great truths of life must come from within through experience and that it was by living the truth that we learn rather than through the study of it. It was his great joy in all of his adorations, prayers, and psalms carved in the walls of his temples and on the many monuments that still remain, to use the expression that he was a humble person, "living the truth." Nowhere did he claim that he had studied the great truths, or that man had revealed them to him, or that he could reveal them to others. He proclaimed everywhere that we must live the truth in order to find it and in another one of his wonderful adorations to God he proclaimed that "living the truth brings life eternal forever and ever more." Thus he proclaimed, over thirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, the principles of the Christ spirit within revealing itself as truth and enabling us to live in truth and thereby gain regeneration and become eternally immortal in the life of God. Jew and Gentile, Roman Catholic or Protestant, Buddhist and Mohammedan, and all others of all religious beliefs have the Christ spirit within and can live in the truth of this spirit and become regenerated, immortal beings in the sight of God. It is the purpose of our organization to point the way and to show how this can be accomplished. We are thankful that thousands today in our own land and perhaps millions throughout the world are finding the truth and awakening the Christ spirit within through the teachings, counsel, guidance, and companionship of our organization. Your success and your happiness in life will depend upon the quickening of the spirit of Christ within and the experiencing of truth as it reveals itself through the Divine consciousness of God. | ||
| Section Index | Home Page | |
| Copyright © 2007 Aswins Rabaq. All Rights Reserved. | ||