THE INTRODUCTION TO THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST
THE DOCTRINE OF THE COMING ONE ( WESTERN TEACHING)
THE DOCTRINE OF AVATARS ( EASTERN TEACHING)
PLAN MOTIVATED BY LOVE. THIS DIVINE QUALITY, CHRIST REVEALED AND EMPHASIZED AND THUS ALTERED ALL HUMAN LIVING, GOALS AND VALUES.
THE REASON HE HAS NOT COME AGAIN IS THAT THE NEEDED WORK HAS NOT BEEN DONE BY HIS FOLLOWERS IN ALL COUNTRIES. HIS COMING IIS LARGELY DEPENDENT, AS WE SHALL LATER SEE, UPON THE ESTABLISHING OF RIGHT HUMAN RELATIONS.
THIS THE CHURCH HAS HINDERED DOWN THE CENTURIES, AND HAS NOT HELPED BECAUSE OF ITS FANATICAL ZEAL TO MAKE “ CHRISTIANS” OF ALL PEOPLE AND NOT FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. IT HAS EMPAHSIZED THEOLOGICAL DOCTRINE, AND NOT LOVE AND LOVING UNDERSTANDING AS CHRIST EXEMPLIFIED IT. THE CHURCH HAS PREACHED THE FIERY SAUL OF TARSUS AND NOT THE GENTLE CARPENTER OF GALILEE.
AND SO, HE HAS WAITED. BUT HIS HOUR HAS NOW COME, BECAUSE OF PEOPLE’S NEED IN EVERY LAND AND BECAUSE OF THE INVOCATIVE CRY OF THE MASSES EVERYWHERE AND THE ADVICE OF HIS DISCIPLES OF ALL FAITHS AND OF ALL WORLD RELIGIONS.
IT IS NOT FOR US YET TO KNOW THE DATE OR HOUR OF THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST. HIS COMING IS DEPENDENT UPON THE APPEAL( THE OFTEN -VOICELESS APPEAL) OF ALL WHO STAND WITH MASSED INTENT; IT IS DEPENDENT ALSO UPON THE BETTER ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHT HUMAN RELATIONS AND UPON CERTAIN WORK BEING DONE AT THIS TIME BY SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE CHURCH INVISIBLE, THE SPIRITUAL HIERARCHY OF OUR PLANET; IT IS DEPENDENT ALSO UPON THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE CHRIST’S DISCIPLES IN THE WORLD AT THIS TIME AND HIS INITIATE-WORKERS-ALL WORKING IN THE MANY GROUPS, RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC.
TO THE ABOVE MUST BE ADDED WHAT CHRISTIANS LIKE TO CALL “THE INSCRUTABLE WILL OF GOD,” THAT UNRECOGNIZED PURPOSE OF THE LORD OF THE WORLD, THE ANCIENT OF DAYS ( AS HE IS CALLED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT) WHO ‘KNOWS HIS OWN MIND, RADIATES THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF LOVE AND FOCUSSES HIS WILL IN HIS OWN HIGH PLACE WITHIN THE CENTER WHERE THE WILL OF GOD ID KNOWN.
WHEN THE CHRIST, THE AVATAR OF LOVE, MAKES HIS REAPPEARANCE THEN WILL THE
‘SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE NOW THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD WITHDRAW THEIR FACES FROM THE SHINING LIGHT AND RADIATE THAT LIGHT UPON THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO KNOWS NOT YET THEY ARE THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD.
“THEN SHALL THE COMING ONE APPEAR, HIS FOOTSTEPS HASTENED THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW BY THE ONE OF AWFUL POWER WHO STANDS UPON THE MOUNTAIN TOP, BREATHING OUT LOVE ETERNAL, LIGHT SUPERNAL AND PEACEFUL, SILENT WILL.
“THEN WILL THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MEN AND WOMEN RESPOND. THEN WILL A NEWER LIGHT SHINE FORTH INTO THE DISMAL, WEARY VALE O EARTH. THEN WILL NEW LIFE COURSE THROUGH THE VEINS OF MEN, AND THEN WILL THEIR VISION COMPASS ALL THE WAYS OF WHAT MAY BE.
“SO, PEACE WILL COME AGAIN ON EARTH, BUT A PEACE UNLIKE AUGHT KNOWN BEFORE. THEN WILL THE WILL-TO-GOOD FLOWER FORTH AS UNDERSTANDING, AND UNDERSTANDING BLOSSOM AS GOODWILL IN MEN AND WOMEN.”
-THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST-
ALICE A. BAILEY
THE INTRODUCTION TO THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST
THE DOCTRINE OF THE COMING ONE ( WESTERN TEACHING)
THE DOCTRINE OF AVATARS ( EASTERN TEACHING)
RIGHT DOWN THE AGES, IN MANY WORLD CYCLES AND IN MANY COUNTRIES (AND TODAY IN ALL) GREAT POINTS OF TENSION HAVE OCCURRED WHICH HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY A HOPEFUL SENSE OF EXPECTANCY. SOME ONE IS EXPECTED AND HIS COMING IS ANTICIPATED.
ALWAYS IN THE PAST, IT HAS BEEN THE RELIGIOUS TEACHERS OF THE PERIOD WHO HAVE FOSTERED AND PROCLAIMED THIS EXPECTANCY AND THE TIME HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF CHAOS AND DIFFICULTY, OF A CLIMAXING POINT AT THE CLOSE OF A CIVILIZATION OR CULTURE AND WHEN THE RESOURCES OF THE OLD RELIGIONS HAVE SEEMED INADEQUATE TO MEET HUMANITY’S DIFFICULTIES OR TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS.
THE COMING OF THE AVATAR, THE ADVENT OF A COMING ONE AND, IN TERMS OF TODAY, THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST ARE THE KEYNOTES OF THE PREVALENT EXPECTANCY.
WHEN THE TIME IS RIPE, THE INVOCATION OF THE MASSES IS STRIDENT ENOUGH AND THE FAITH OF THOSE WHO KNOW IS KEEN ENOGH, THEN ALWAYS HE HAS COME AND TODAY WILL BE NO EXCEPTION TO THIS ANCIENT RULE OR TO THE UNIVERSAL LAW.
FOR DECADES, THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST, THE AVATAR, HAS BEEN ANTICIPATED BY THE FAITHFUL IN BOTH HEMISPHERES-NOT ONLY BY THE CHRISTIAN FAITHFUL, BUT BY THOSE WHO LOOK FOR MAITREYA AND FOR THE BODDHISATTVA AS WELL AS THOSE WHO EXPECT THE IMAM MAHDI.
AN AVATAR IS ONE WHO HAS A PECULIAR (BESIDES A SELF-INITIATED TASK AND A PRE-ORDAINED DESTINY) TO TRANSMIT ENERGY OR DIVINE POWER. THIS IS NECESSARILY A DEEP MYSTERY AND WAS DEMONSTRATED IN A PECULIAR MANNER AND IN RELATION TO COSMIC ENERGY BY THE CHRIST WHO- FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PLANETARY HISTORY, AS FAR AS WE KNOW-TRANSMITTED THE DIVINE ENERGY OF LOVE DIRECTLY TO OUR PLANET AND IN A MOST DEFINITE SENSE TO HUMANITY.
ALWAYS TOO THESE AVATARS OR DIVINE MESSENGERS ARE LINKED WITH THE CONCEPT OF SOME SUBJECTIVE SPIRITUAL ORDER OR HIERARCHY OF SPIRITUAL LIVES, WHO ARE CONCERNED WITH THE DEVELOPING WELFARE OF HUMANITY.
ALL WE REALLY KNOW IS THAT, DOWN THE AGES, GREAT AND DIVINE REPRESENTATIVES OF GOD EMBODY DIVINE PURPOSE, AND AFFECT THE ENTIRE WORLD IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THEIR NAMES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ARE KNOWN AND FELT THOUSANDS OF YEAR AFTER THEY NO LONG WALK AMONG MEN.
AGAIN AND AGAIN, THEY HAVE COME AND HAVE LEFT A CHANGED WORLD AND SOME NEW WORLD RELIGION BEHIND THEM; WE KNOW ALSO THAT PROPHECY AND FAITH HAVE EVER HELD OUT TO MANKIND THE PROMISE OF THEIR COMING AGAIN AMONGST US IN AN HOUR OF NEED.
THE WORD “AVATAR” IS SANSKRIT WORD MEANING LITERALLY “COMING DOWN FROM FAR AWAY.” WITH THE RESULT THAT THE ROOT WORD CAN BE SAID TO MEAN “COMING DOWN WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE HIGHER SOURCE FROM WHICH IT CAME AND WITH BENEFIT TO THE PLACE AT WHICH IT ARRIVES.”
ALL THE WORLD AVATARS OR SAVIOURS, HOWEVER, EXPRESS TWO BASIC INCENTIVES: THE NEED OF GOD TO CONTACT HUMANITY AND TO HAVE RELATIONSHIP WITH MEN AND WOMEN AND THE NEED IF HUMANITY FOR DIVINE CONTACT, HELP AND UNDERSTANDING.
THE DEMAND OR INVOCATION OF HUMANITY
THEREFORE, AN AVATAR OR A CHRIST COMES FORTH FOR TWO REASONS: ONE, THE INSCRUTABLE AND UNKNOWN CAUSE PROMPTS HIM SO TO DO AND THE OTHER IS THE DEMAND OR THE INVOCATION OF HUMANITY ITSELF.
AN AVATAR IS CONSEQUENTLY A SPIRITUAL EVENT, COMING TO US TO BRING ABOUT GREAT CHANGES OR MAJOR RESTORATIONS, TO INAUGURATE A NEW CIVILIZATION OR TO RESTORE THE “ANCIENT LANDMARKS” AND LEAD MAN AND WOMAN NEARER TO THE DIVINE.
THEY HAVE BEEN DEFINED AS “EXTRAORDINARY MEN WHO FROM TIME TO TIME APPEAR TO CHANGE THE FACE OF THE WORLD AND INAUGURATE A NEW ERA IN THE DESTINES OF HUMANITY.”
THEY COME IN TIMES OF CRISIS; THEY FREQUENTLY CREATE CRISES IN ORDER TO BRING TO AN END THE OLD AND THE UNDESIRABLE AND MAKE WAY FOR NEW AND MORE SUITABLE FORMS FOR THE EVOLVING LIFE OF GOD IMMANENT IN NATURE. THEY COME WHEN EVIL IS RAMPANT.
FOR THIS REASON, IF FOR NO OTHER, AN AVATAR MAY BE LOOKED FOR TODAY. THE NECESSARY STAGE IS SET FOR THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST.
THE CHRIST WAS TWICE AN AVATAR BECAUSE HE NOT ONLY STRUCK THE KEYNOTE OF THE NEW AGE ( OVER TWO THOUSANDS YEARS AGO) BUT HE ALSO, IN SOME MYSTERIOUS AND INCOMPREHENSIBLE MANNER, EMBODIED IN HIMSELF THE DIVINE PRINCIPLE OF LOVE; HE WAS THE FIRST TO REVEAL TO MEN THE TRUE NATURE OF GOD. WE ARE ALL GODS, ALL CHILDREN OF THE ONE FATHER, AS THE LATEST OF THE AVATARS, THE CHRIST, HAS TOLD US.
IT IS THAT DIVINE CENTER IN EVERY HUMAN HEART WHICH, WHEN AWAKENED INTO ACTIVITY, CAN CALL FORTH RESPONSE FROM THE HIGH PLACE WHERE THE COMING ONE AWAITS HIS HOUR OF APPEARANCE.
IT IS ONLY THE UNITED DEMAND OF HUMANITY, ITS “MASSED INTENT,” WHICH CAN PRECIPITATE THE DESCENT ( AS IT IS CALLED) OF AN AVATAR.
TO SUM UP, THE THEREFRE: THE DOCTRINE OF AVATARS IS PARALLELED BY THE DOCTRINE OF THE CONTINUITY OF REVELATION. EVER DOWN THE AGES AND AT EVERY GREAT HUMAN CRISIS, ALWAYS IN THE HOURS OF NECESSITY, AT THE FOUNDING OF A NEW RACE, OR IN THE AWAKENING OF A PREPARED HUMANITY TO A NEW AND WIDER VISION, THE HEART OF GOD-IMPELLED BY THE LAW OF COMPASSION-SENDS FORTH A TEACHER, A WORLD SAVIOUR, AN ILLUMINATOR, AN AVATAR, A TRANSMITTING INTERMEDIARY, A CHRIST.
HE GIVES THE MESSAGE WHICH WILL HEAL, WHICH WILL INDICATE THE NEXT STEP TO BE TAKEN BY THE RACE OF MEN, WHICH WILL ILLUMINE A DARK WORLD PROBLEM AND GIVE TO MAN AND WOMAN AN EXPRESSION OF SOME HITHERTO UNREALIZED ASPECT OF DIVINITY.
THE AVATARS MOST EASILY KNOWN AND RECOGNIZED ARE THE BUDDHA IN THE EAST AND THE CHRIST IN THE WEST. THEY ARE HUMAN DIVINE AVATARS, THEY REPRESENT WHAT HUMANITY CAN EASILY UNDERSTAND; BECAUSE THEY ARE OF LIKE NATURE TO US, “FLESH OF UR FLESH AND SPIRIT OF OUR SPIRIT,” WE KNOW AND TRUST THEM AND THEY MEAN MORE TO US THAN OTHER DIVINE EMERGENCIES. THEY ARE KNOWN, TRUSTED AND LOVED BY COUNTLESS MILLIONS.
HUMANITY NEEDS LOVE, UNDERSTANDING AND RIGHT HUMAN RELATIONS AS AN EXPRESSION OF ATTAINED DIVINITY. IT WAS THIS NEED WHICH BROUGHT THE CHRIST TO US BEFORE AS THE AVATAR OF LOVE.
HOWEVER, UNTIL THE CHRIST CAME AND LIVED A LIFE OF LOVE AND SERVICE AND GAVE MEAN AND WOMEN THE NEW COMMAND TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, THERE HAD BEEN VERY LITTLE EMPHASIS UPON GOD AS LOVE IN ANY OF THE WORLD SCRIPTURES. AFTER HE HAD COME AS THE AVATAR OF LOVE, THEN GOD BECAME KNOWN AS LOVE SUPERNAL, LOVE AS THE GOAL AND OBJECTIVE OF CREATION, LOVE AS THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF RELATIONSHIP AND LOVE AS WORKING THROUGHOUT ALL MANIFESTATION TOWARDS A PLAN MOTIVATED BY LOVE. THIS DIVINE QUALITY, CHRIST REVEALED AND EMPHASIZED AND THUS ALTERED ALL HUMAN LIVING, GOALS AND VALUES.
THE REASON HE HAS NOT COME AGAIN IS THAT THE NEEDED WORK HAS NOT BEEN DONE BY HIS FOLLOWERS IN ALL COUNTRIES. HIS COMING IS LARGELY DEPENDENT, AS WE SHALL LATER SEE, UPON THE ESTABLISHING OF RIGHT HUMAN RELATIONS.
THIS THE CHURCH HAS HINDERED DOWN THE CENTURIES, AND HAS NOT HELPED BECAUSE OF ITS FANATICAL ZEAL TO MAKE “ CHRISTIANS” OF ALL PEOPLE AND NOT FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. IT HAS EMPHASIZED THEOLOGICAL DOCTRINE, AND NOT LOVE AND LOVING UNDERSTANDING AS CHRIST EXEMPLIFIED IT. THE CHURCH HAS PREACHED THE FIERY SAUL OF TARSUS AND NOT THE GENTLE CARPENTER OF GALILEE.
AND SO, HE HAS WAITED. BUT HIS HOUR HAS NOW COME, BECAUSE OF PEOPLE’S NEED IN EVERY LAND AND BECAUSE OF THE INVOCATIVE CRY OF THE MASSES EVERYWHERE AND THE ADVICE OF HIS DISCIPLES OF ALL FAITHS AND OF ALL WORLD RELIGIONS.
IT IS NOT FOR US YET TO KNOW THE DATE OR HOUR OF THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST. HIS COMING IS DEPENDENT UPON THE APPEAL( THE OFTEN -VOICELESS APPEAL) OF ALL WHO STAND WITH MASSED INTENT; IT IS DEPENDENT ALSO UPON THE BETTER ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHT HUMAN RELATIONS AND UPON CERTAIN WORK BEING DONE AT THIS TIME BY SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE CHURCH INVISIBLE, THE SPIRITUAL HIERARCHY OF OUR PLANET; IT IS DEPENDENT ALSO UPON THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE CHRIST’S DISCIPLES IN THE WORLD AT THIS TIME AND HIS INITIATE-WORKERS-ALL WORKING IN THE MANY GROUPS, RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC.
TO THE ABOVE MUST BE ADDED WHAT CHRISTIANS LIKE TO CALL “THE INSCRUTABLE WILL OF GOD,” THAT UNRECOGNIZED PURPOSE OF THE LORD OF THE WORLD, THE ANCIENT OF DAYS ( AS HE IS CALLED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT) WHO ‘KNOWS HIS OWN MIND, RADIATES THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF LOVE AND FOCUSES HIS WILL IN HIS OWN HIGH PLACE WITHIN THE CENTER WHERE THE WILL OF GOD ID KNOWN.
WHEN THE CHRIST, THE AVATAR OF LOVE, MAKES HIS REAPPEARANCE THEN WILL THE
‘SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE NOW THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD WITHDRAW THEIR FACES FROM THE SHINING LIGHT AND RADIATE THAT LIGHT UPON THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO KNOWS NOT YET THEY ARE THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD.
“THEN SHALL THE COMING ONE APPEAR, HIS FOOTSTEPS HASTENED THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW BY THE ONE OF AWFUL POWER WHO STANDS UPON THE MOUNTAIN TOP, BREATHING OUT LOVE ETERNAL, LIGHT SUPERNAL AND PEACEFUL, SILENT WILL.
“THEN WILL THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MEN AND WOMEN RESPOND. THEN WILL A NEWER LIGHT SHINE FORTH INTO THE DISMAL, WEARY VALE O EARTH. THEN WILL NEW LIFE COURSE THROUGH THE VEINS OF MEN, AND THEN WILL THEIR VISION COMPASS ALL THE WAYS OF WHAT MAY BE.
“SO, PEACE WILL COME AGAIN ON EARTH, BUT A PEACE UNLIKE AUGHT KNOWN BEFORE. THEN WILL THE WILL-TO-GOOD FLOWER FORTH AS UNDERSTANDING, AND UNDERSTANDING BLOSSOM AS GOODWILL IN MEN AND WOMEN.”
-THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST- ALICE A. BAILEY
