JESUS : THE LAST GREAT INITIATE - The world at birth of Jesus (chapter 1)

[Guest guest]

Dear all here is the first chapter of " JESUS: THE LAST GREAT INITIATE "

written by Edouard Shure at the end of the 19th century. it seems

that the situation of the world at this time is not so different from

what we are experiencing at the moment....

 

Enjoy !

 

Eduard (Edouard) Schuré (January 21, 1841 – April 7, 1929), French

philosopher, poet, writer, musical critic and publicist of esoteric

literature. He is known by being the author of " The Great Initiated "

(1889) in which he describes the path followed by some of the ancient

philosophers in search for profound esoteric knowledge, so often

called the " initiation " , as describing the process of becoming a

mystic master or spiritual healer. " Many notable and historical

figures are constantly referred in the writings of Schuré, for

instance, Rama, Hermes, Socrates, Jesus, Orpheus. some of these

masters are known to be the founders of important religions or

philosophical movements, which in turn, would find great acceptance

through our history, this was aided even more with the installment of

democratic governments, which observed and respect the freedom for

diverse religious beliefs. That is the case of Gautama Sidharta who

originated the Buddhism first in India, then in China and later would

expand all over the world. Schuré wrote many books and plays. His

plays enjoyed relative fame in his days in Europe and many of them

were put in scene by the Austrian philosopher, writer and educator

Rudolf Steiner, he the same, whom was admired and followed by Schuré

(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedy)

 

JESUS : THE LAST GREAT INITIATE

Edouard SCHURE

 

Chapter I

 

Condition of the World at the Birth of Jesus

 

A SOLEMN period of the world's destiny was approaching; the sky was

overshadowed with darkness and filed with sinister omens.

 

In spite of the efforts of the initiates, polytheism, throughout

Asia, Africa, and Europe, had terminated only in the downfall of

civilisation. The sublime cosmogony of Orpheus, so gloriously chanted

by Homer, had not been attained, and the only explanation possible is

that human nature found great difficulty in maintaining a certain

intellectual altitude. For the great spirits of antiquity, the gods

were never anything more thn a poetical expression of the

subordinated forces of Nature, a speaking image of its inner

organism; it is as symbols of cosmic and animic forces that these

gods live indestructible in the consciousness of humanity. This

diversity of gods an forces , the initiates thought, was dominated

and penetrated by the supreme God or pure Spirit. The principal aim

of the sanctuaries of Memphis, Delphi and Eleusis had been precisely

the teaching of this unity of God with the theosophical ideas and

oral discipline resulting therefrom.

 

But the disciples of Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato failed before the

egoism of the politicians, the sordidness of the sophists, and the

passions of the mob. The social and political decomposition of Greece

was the consequence of its religious, moral and intellectual

decomposition. Apollo, the Solar Word, the manifestation of the

supreme God and the supra- terrestrial world, is silent. No more

oracles, no more inspired poets are t be heard ! Minerva, Wisdom and

Foresight, vels her countenance in presence of her people converted

into Satyrs, profaning the mysteries, and insulting the gods in

Aristophanic farces n the stage of Bacchus. The vey mysteries

themselves are corrupted, for sycophants and courtesans are admitted

to the Eleusians rites… When soul becomes blunted, religion falls

into idolatry; when thoughts becomes materialised, philosophy

degenerates into scepticism. Thus we see Lucian, poor microbe born

from the corpse of paganism turn the myths into ridicule, when once

Carneades had denied their scientific origin.

 

Superstitious in religion, agnostic in philosophy, egoistical and

divided in politics, reeling under anarchy and fatally abandoned to

despotism, Greece had become sadly changed from the time when she

transmitted the science of Egypt and the mysteries of Asia in

immortal forms of beauty.

 

If there was one who understood what the world needed, and who

endeavoured to restore this need by an effort of heroic genius, that

one was Alexander the Great. This legendary conqueror, initiated, as

was also his father Philip, into the mysteries of Samothrace, proved

himself even more of an intellectual s f Orpheus than a disciple of

Aristotle. Doubtless, the Achilles of Macedonia, who, accompanied by

a mere handful of Greeks, crossed Asia as far as India, dreamed of

universal empire, but not after the fashion of the Caesars, by

oppression of the people, and the destruction of religion and

unfettered science. His grand idea was to reconcile Asia and Europe

by a synthesis of religions, supported by scientific authority

Impelled by this thought, he paid homage to the science of Aristotle,

as he did to the Minerva of Athens, the Jeovah of Jerusalem, the

Egyptian Osiris, nd the Hindu Brahma, recognising, as would a

veritable initiate, an identical divinity and wisdom beneath these

differing symbols. This new Dionysus possessed a broad sympathy and

mighty prophetic insight. Alexander's sword typified the last flash

of the Greece of Orpheus, illumining both East and West. The son of

Philip died in the intoxication of victory and the glorious

accomplishment of his dream, leaving the shreds of his empire to

selfish and rapacious generals. But this thought did not die with

him; he had founded Alexandria, where Oriental Philosophy, Judaism,

and Hellenism were to be fused in the crucible of Egyptian esoterism,

until the time might be ripe for the resurrection word of the Christ.

 

In proportion as Apollo and Minerva, the twin constellations of

Greece, paled away on the horizon, the people saw a menacing sign,

the Roman SheWolf, rise in the troubled sky.

 

What is the origin of Rome ? The conspiracy of a greedy oligarchy, in

the name of brute force; the oppression of the human intellect, of

the religion, science, and art, by deified political power : in other

words, the contrary of truth, by which a government receives its

justification, according to the supreme principles of science,

justice, and economy.

 

The whole Roman history is merely the consequence of he inquitious

pact by wich the Conscript Fathers declared war, first, against

Italy, and afterwards against the whole Roman race. They chose a

fitting symbol;n for the brazen SheWolf, with tawny hair erect, and

hyena's head turned in the direction of the Capitol, is the image of

this government, the demon which will take possession of the Roman

soul to the very end.

 

In Greee, at least, the sanctuaries of Delphi and Eleusis were long

respected; at Rome, from the very outset, science and art were

rejected. The attempt of the sage Numa, the Etruscan initiate, failed

before the suspicious ambition of the Conscript Fathers. He brought

with him the Sybilline books, which contained part of the science of

Hermes, appointed magistrate elected by the people, distributed

territory, and submitted the right of declaring war to the Fecial

priests. Accordingly, King Numa, long cherished in the memory of the

people, who regarded him as inspired by divine genius, seems to be a

historical intervention of sacred science in the government. He does

not represent the genius of Rome, but rather that of the Etruscan

initiation, which fllowed the same principles as the school of

Memphis and Delphi.

 

After Numa, the Roman Senate burnt the Sybilline Books, ruined the

authority of the flamens, destroyed arbitral institutions, and

returned to its old systems in which religion was nothing more than

an instrument of public domination. Rome became the hydra which

engulfed the peoples and their gods with them. The nations of the

earth were gradually reduced to subjection and pillage. The Mamertine

prison became filled with kings from North and South. Rome, bent on

having no other kings than slaves and charlatans, destroys the final

possessors of esoteric tradition in Gaul, Egypt, Judea and Persia.

She pretends to worship the gods, but only object of her adoration is

the SheWolf. And now, away on the blood-stained dawn, there appears

the final offspring of this ravenous creature, the embodiment of the

genius of Rome – Caesar ! Rome has conquered all the nations of the

earth, Caesar, her incarnation, arrogates himself universal power. He

aspires not merely to become the ruler of mankind, for, uniting the

tiara with the diadem, he causes himself to be proclaimed Chief

Pontiff. After the Battle of Thapsus, deification as a hero is voted

him, after that of Munda, divine apotheosis is granted by the Senate;

his statue is erected in the temple of Quirinus and a college of

officiating priests appointed, bearing his name. To crown all in

irony and logic, this ver Caesar who deifies himself, denies in the

presence of the Senate the immortality of the soul ! Would it be

possible to proclaim more openly that there is no longer any other

God than Caesar ?

 

Under the Caesars, Rome, inheritor of Babylon, extends her power over

the whole world. What has become of the Roman State ? It is engaged

in destroying all collective life outside the capital. Military

dictatorship is the order of the day in Italy, extorsions of

governors and tax-collectors in the provinces. Conquering Rome feeds

like a vampire on the corpse of a worn-out system.

 

And now the Roman orgies are freely and publicly paraded with all

their bacchanalia of vice and crime. They begin with voluptuous

meeting of Mark and Cleopatra, and will be brought to an end with the

debaucheries of Messalina and the mad frenzy of Nero. They signalise

their presence by a lascivious and public parody of the mysteries,

and are destined to close in the Roman Circus, where nude virgins,

martyrs to their faith, are torn to pieces and devoured by savage

beasts, amid the plaudits of thousands of spectators.

 

And yet, among the nations conquered by Rome, there was one which

called itself the people of God, whose genius was the very opposite

to that of Rome. How comes it that Israel, worn out by intestine

strife, crushed by three centuries of slavery, had preserved its

indomitable faith ? Why did this conquered people rise, prophet-like,

to oppose Greek decadence and Roman orgies ? Whence did they derive

courage to predict the fall of the masters who had their feet on the

throat of the nation, and speak of some vague final triumph, when

they themselves were drawing to an irremediable ruin ? The reason

was, that a great idea, inspired by Moses, lived in the nation. Under

Joshua, the twelve tribes had erected a commemorative pillar with the

inscription " . This is a testimony between us that Jeovah is God

alone " .

 

The law-maker of Israel had made monotheist the corner stone of his

science and social law, as well as of a universal religious idea. He

had had the genius to understand that o the triumph of this idea of

mankind would depend. To preserve it, he had written a hieroglyphic

book, constructed a golden ark, and raised up a people from the nomad

dust of the wilderness. Not content with these witnesses to the

spiritualistic idea of Moses brought down the lightning flash and the

thunderbolt from heaven. Against them conspired not only the

Moabites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and all the tribes of

Palestine, but even the frailties and passions of the Jewish people

itself. The Book ceased to be understood by the priesthood; the ark

was captured by enemies, numerous were the times when the people

almost forgot their mission. Why then, in spite of all, did they

remain faithful to the mission ? Why hd the iidea of Moses remained

graven on the brow and heart of Israel in letters of fire ? To whom

is due this exclusive perseverance, this magnificent fidelity aid the

vicissitudes of a troubled history, sucha fidelity as gave Israel a

unique character among the nations ? It may boldly be attributed to

the prophets and the institution of prophecy, by oral tradition it

may be traced back to Moses. The Hebew people had had Nabi at all

periods of its history, right to its dispersion. But the institution

of prophecy appears first under an organic form at the time of

Samuel. He it was who founded the confraternities of Nebiim, those

schools of prophets, in the face of rising royalty and an already

degenerate priesthood. He made them austere guardians of the esoteric

traditions and the universal religious thought of Moses against the

kings, in whom the political idea and national aim was to

predominate. In these confraternities were preserved the relics of

the science of Moses the sacred music, the occult art of healing, and

finally, the art of divination, exercised by the great prophets with

masterly force and abnegation.

 

Divination has existed under the most diverse forms among all the

peoples of the ancient cycle; but prophecy in Israel possesses an

amplitude, a loftiness and authority, belonging to the intellectual

and spiritual realm in which monotheism keeps the human soul.

Prophecy, represented by the theologians, literally, as the direct

communication of a personal God, denied by naturalistic philosophy as

pure superstition, is in reality nothing but the superior

manifestation of the universal laws of the Spirit. " The general

truths which govern the world " , says Ewald, in his fine work of the

prophets, " in other terms " , the thoughts of God, are immutable and

incapable of attack, quite independent of the fluctuations of things,

and of the will and action of men. Man is originally intended to

participate in them, and translate them freely into acts. But for the

Word of the Spirit to enter into carnal man, he must be fundamentally

influenced by the great commotion of history. Then the Eternal Truth

springs forth like a flash of light. This is why we so oftenread in

the Old Testament that Jeovah is a living God. When man listens to

the divine call, a new life is created in him; now he no longer feels

himself alone, but in communion with God and all truth, ready to

proceed eternally from one verity to another. In this new life, his

thought becomes one with the universal will. He possesses a clear

grasp of the present, and entire faith in the final success of the

divine idea. The man who experiences this is a prophet, i.e. he feels

himself irresistibly impelled to manifest before others as a

representative of God. His thught becomes vision, and this superior

might which forces the truth from his soul, at times with heart-

breaking anguish; constitutes the prophetic element. " The prophetic

manifestations, throughout history, have been the thunderbolts and

lightning flashes of truth " .

 

From this spring, those giants, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and

Jeremiah, drew their might. Deep in their caves or in the palaces of

the kings, they were indeed sentinels of Jeovah and, as Elisha said

to his master Elijah, " The chariots of Israel, and the horsemen

thereof " . Ofthen do they foretell with prophetic vision the death of

kings, the fall of kingdoms,and the punishements to be visited on

Israel. At times they are mistaken. The prophetic torch, though lit

by the sun of divine truth, will vacillate and darken in their hands

under the influence of national passion. But never do they waver

concerning moral truths, the real mission of Israel, the final

triumph of justice to mankind. As true initiates, they preach their

scorn of outer worship, the abolition of sacrifices of blood, the

purification of the soul, and the practice of love. It is with regard

to the final triumph of monotheism, its liberating and peace-bringing

role to all nations, that their vision is truly remarkable. The most

frightful misfortunes that can strike a nation, foreign invasion,

captivity in Babylon, cannot shake their faith. Listen to what Isaiah

said during the invasion of Sennacherib : " Rejoice ye with Jerusalem,

and be glad with her, all ye that love her : rejoice for joy with

her, all ye that mourn for her " . " That ye may suck and be satisfied

with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out and be

delighted with the abundance of her glory. " For thus saith the Lord,

Behold I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the

Gentiles like a flowing stream : then shall ye suck, ye shall be

borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees " .

" As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye

shall be comforted in Jerusalem " .

" And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall

flourish like an herb : and the hand of the Lord shall be known

towards his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies " .

" For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots like

a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with

flames of fire " .

" For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh :

and the slain of the Lord shall be many " .

" They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens

behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the

abomination and the mouse shall be consumed together, saith the Lord " .

 

" For I know their work and their thoughts : it shall come that I will

gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see my glory " .

It is only before the tomb of the Christ that this vision begins to

find realisation, but who could deny its prophetic truth when

thinking of the part Israel played in the history of mankind ?

 

Ni less firm than this faith in the future of Jerusalem, in its

moral grandeur and religious universality, is the faith of the

prophets in a Saviour or a Messiah. They all speak of him; the

incomparable Isaiah is still the one whose vision is clearest, and

who depicts it with greatest force in bold, lofty language :

" There shall come forth a rod out of the stems of Jesse, and a

branch shall grow out of his roots;

" And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom

and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of

knowledge and the fear of the Lord;

" And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord,

and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove

after the hearing of his ears :

" But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with

equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth with

the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay

the wicked " .

" And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness

the girdle of his reins " .

Before this vision, the gloomy soul of the prophet becomes calm and

clear, as does a tempest-troubled sky after a storm. For now it is

indeed the image of the Galilean which is present before his inner

vision :

" For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out

of a dry ground : he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall

see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him " .

" He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted

with grief : ad we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised

and we esteemed him not.

" Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows : ye we did

esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted " .

" But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our

iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his

stripes we are healed. " All we like sheep have gone astray; we have

turned every one to this own way; and the Lord ath laid on him the

iniquity of us all " .

" He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;

he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her

shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth " .

" He was taken from prison and from judgment : and who shall declare

his generation ? for he was cu off out the land of the living : for

the transgression of my people was he stricken " .

For eight centuries the thunder-words of the prophets caused the idea

and image of the Messiah to hover above all national dissensions and

misfortunes, t times under the form of a terrible avenger, and again

as an angel of mercy. The Messianic idea, tenderly nurtured under

Assyrian despotism in Babylonian exile,, and brought to light under

the reign of the Seleucides and the Maccabees. When the Roman rule

and the reign of Herod came, the Messiah was alive in the

consciousness of all. The great prophets had seen him as a great man,

a martyr, a veritable son of God….The people, faithful to the Judaic

idea, imagined him as a David, a Solomon, or a new Maccabeus.

Whatever he might be, this restorer of Israel's greatness was

believed in and expected by all. Such is the might of prophetic

action.

Thus we see that just as Roman history ends in Caesar, along the

instinctive path and infernal logic of Destiny, so the history of

Israel leads freely to the Christ along he conscious path and divine

logic of Providence, manifested in its visible representatives, the

prophets. Evil is fatally condemned to contradict and destroy itself,

for it is the False; but Good, in spite of all obstacles, engenders

light and harmony after a lapse of time, for it is the fruit of

Truth. From her triumph Rome obtained nothing but Caesars, from her

downfall Israel gave birth to the Messiah.

 

A vague expectancy hung over the nations. In the excess of its evil

all humanity had a presentiment of a saviour. For centuries mythology

had dreamt of a divine child. The temples spoke of him in mystery;

astrologers calculated his coming; frenzied sibyls had loudly

proclaimed the downfall of pagan gods. The initiates had announced

that some day the world would be governed by one of their own, a Son

of God. The world was expecting a spiritual king, one who would e

understood by the poor and lowly.

The great Aeschylus, son of a priest of Eleusis, was almost killed by

the Athenians for daring to say in the crowded theatre, by the mouth

of his Prometheus, that the reign of Jupiter-Destiny would come to an

end. Four centuries later, under the shadow of the throne of Auustus,

the gentle Virgil announces a new age, and dreams of a marvellous

child.

 

Virgil, Eclogue 4

 

" The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes,

Renews its finished course, Saturnian times

Rll round again, and mighty years begun,

From their first orb in radiant circles run,

The bas degenerate iron offspring ends,

A golden progeny from Heaven descends,

Oh Chaste Lucina ! Speed the mother's pains,

And haste the glorious birth, thy own Apollo reighs

See, labouring Nature calls thee to sustain

The nodding frame of Heaven and Earth and main :

See to their base restored, earth, seas, and air;

And joyful ages from behind in crowding ranks appear

To sing thy prise…..

 

When will this child be born ? From what divine world will this soul

come ? In what brilliant lightning-flash of love will it descend to

earth ? By what wonderful purity, what superhuman energy will it

remember the abandoned heaven ? By what mightier effort will it

return from the depths of its earthly consciousness, taking with it

mankind in its train ?

 

No one could have told, but all were waiting and expecting …. Herod

the Great, the Idumean usurper, the " protégé " of Augustus Caesar, was

then at the point of death in his Cyprien chateau at Jericho, after a

sumptuous and blood-stained reign, which had covered Judea with

splendid palaces and human hecatombs. He was dying from a terrible

malady, decomposition of the blood, hated by all, torn with fury and

remorse, haunted by the spectres of his innumerable victims, amongst

whom were numbered his innocent wife, the noble Marian, of Maccabee

blood, and three of is own sons. The seven woman of his harem had

fled the presence of the royal phantom. His very bodyguard had

abandoned him. Impassive by the side of the dying wretch sat his

sister Salome, his evil genius, the instigator of his foulest crimes.

With diadem on brow, and breast sparkling with precious stones, she

kept watch, waiting for the king's last breath, when she in her turn

would seize the reins of sovereignty. Thus died the last king of the

Jews. At this very moment had just been born the future spiritual

king of humanity, and the few initiates of Israel were silently

preparing for his reign in profound humility and silence.

 

 

Kessinger Publishing's, Rare Mystical Reprints

ISBN 1-56459-498-X

[Guest guest]

Dear friends, greetings to all!

 

I am the new member ... and as I was browsing through the mails i

found this one with the description of the Jesus Christ as

the 'initiate'... or 'one of the many'...

 

.... and I wondered, does someone here knows, or believes, that God

still speaks to us His children... that He still reveals His Will and

His Truth to us who are seeking Him in love (John 14:21)?

 

In one of those great Revelations of His, which was received via

Inner Voice by one of His maidservants (Joel 2:28, 29), namely,

Bertha Dudde, He revelaed

in all Truth and Beauty His true nature and reason of His coming down

to this Earth of ours in the human form of Jesus Christ.

 

I will copy and paste here one of these revelations that are

particularly significant in relation to the question proposed:

 

B.D. 7828, February 17, 1961

 

GOD IS A SPIRIT WHO HAS MANIFESTED HIMSELF IN JESUS

 

You should not imagine your God and Creator as a strictly limited

Being, you should not try to associate Him with a form, for then your

idea would always be wrong, because something defined can never

correspond to My nature, which is utterly perfect, thus infinite. For

I Am a spirit Who fills and permeates everything. In My nature I will

be eternally unfathomable for My living creations, for although My

living creations were externalised by Me in supreme perfection they

are nevertheless only sparks of love, emanated by the fire of My

Eternal Love and externalised as individual beings who, however,

would be unable to behold the eternal source of light and strength if

I showed Myself to them in My full abundance of brilliance, since

they would perish if they faced the radiating light….

 

Yet you need not visualise Me in any other way than as the divine

Redeemer Jesus Christ…. In Him I became the `visible' God for you, in

Him the eternal, infinite spirit has manifested Itself, in Him you

see Me and are able to behold Him face to face…. Thus I gave Myself a

form for you, whom I had externalised from My love and My strength as

My living creations…. The Eternal Spirit Who fills all of infinity

permeated this form with light and became a visible God for you…. And

yet I reign and work throughout all of infinity and thus My Being

cannot be limited either, I can only have become a conceivable idea

in the form of Jesus Christ for you, who are still finite yourselves,

who have not yet attained the highest perfection, for I have to give

to you what corresponds to your state, which is still far from

perfection.

 

However, I Am and remain also inscrutable in My nature for the

spirits of highest perfection, which, however, is a cause of

increased beatitude, because My children constantly strive towards

Me, are constantly delighted by Me through My fulfilling of their

desire yet never able to reach Me…. and on the other hand may behold

Me from face to face in Jesus Christ…. This, too, will remain an

enigma to you, and only in the state of enlightenment will you begin

to comprehend and yet eternally unable to fathom My nature. To you I

appear infinitely far away and yet I Am as close to you as only a

father can get to his child. But this awareness makes you immensely

happy, and your love for Me increases constantly and is also the

cause of bliss, because it always meets with fulfilment.

 

And thus your love for Jesus Christ will blaze ever more ardently, in

Whom you have recognised your Father of eternity and in Whom I bestow

unlimited bliss upon you…. For in Him I Am now able to be close to My

children, even though I Am not bound to the form, even though I fill

all of infinity with My light and My strength, with My Being, which

is and remains inscrutable. But you, My living creations, shall look

for and find Me in Jesus, for I have chosen Him as the form which

received Me; and this once human external form completely

spiritualised itself and yet remained visible to every being which

attained the state of maturity of spiritual vision….

 

Thus you see My eternal spirit when you see Jesus, for He and I are

one, you see the Father when you see Jesus, because I wanted to be

visible to you, My created beings, in order to gain all your love.

Yet you will never be able to behold Me in My infinite abundance of

strength and light without ceasing to exist…. But I want to be able

to create and work with My children and thus also reveal Myself to

them in order to heighten their beatitude…. And I want to experience

their love Myself and therefore will always be close to My children.

AMEN

 

Peace be with you all

 

Lorens

 

 

 

 

, " nicole_bougantouche "

<nicole_bougantouche wrote:

>

> Dear all here is the first chapter of " JESUS: THE LAST GREAT

INITIATE "

> written by Edouard Shure at the end of the 19th century. it seems

> that the situation of the world at this time is not so different

from

> what we are experiencing at the moment....

>

> Enjoy !

>

> Eduard (Edouard) Schuré (January 21, 1841 – April 7, 1929), French

> philosopher, poet, writer, musical critic and publicist of esoteric

> literature. He is known by being the author of " The Great

Initiated "

> (1889) in which he describes the path followed by some of the

ancient

> philosophers in search for profound esoteric knowledge, so often

> called the " initiation " , as describing the process of becoming a

> mystic master or spiritual healer. " Many notable and historical

> figures are constantly referred in the writings of Schuré, for

> instance, Rama, Hermes, Socrates, Jesus, Orpheus. some of these

> masters are known to be the founders of important religions or

> philosophical movements, which in turn, would find great acceptance

> through our history, this was aided even more with the installment

of

> democratic governments, which observed and respect the freedom for

> diverse religious beliefs. That is the case of Gautama Sidharta who

> originated the Buddhism first in India, then in China and later

would

> expand all over the world. Schuré wrote many books and plays. His

> plays enjoyed relative fame in his days in Europe and many of them

> were put in scene by the Austrian philosopher, writer and educator

> Rudolf Steiner, he the same, whom was admired and followed by Schuré

> (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedy)

>

> JESUS : THE LAST GREAT INITIATE

> Edouard SCHURE

>

> Chapter I

>

> Condition of the World at the Birth of Jesus

>

> A SOLEMN period of the world's destiny was approaching; the sky was

> overshadowed with darkness and filed with sinister omens.

>

> In spite of the efforts of the initiates, polytheism, throughout

> Asia, Africa, and Europe, had terminated only in the downfall of

> civilisation. The sublime cosmogony of Orpheus, so gloriously

chanted

> by Homer, had not been attained, and the only explanation possible

is

> that human nature found great difficulty in maintaining a certain

> intellectual altitude. For the great spirits of antiquity, the gods

> were never anything more thn a poetical expression of the

> subordinated forces of Nature, a speaking image of its inner

> organism; it is as symbols of cosmic and animic forces that these

> gods live indestructible in the consciousness of humanity. This

> diversity of gods an forces , the initiates thought, was dominated

> and penetrated by the supreme God or pure Spirit. The principal aim

> of the sanctuaries of Memphis, Delphi and Eleusis had been

precisely

> the teaching of this unity of God with the theosophical ideas and

> oral discipline resulting therefrom.

>

> But the disciples of Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato failed before

the

> egoism of the politicians, the sordidness of the sophists, and the

> passions of the mob. The social and political decomposition of

Greece

> was the consequence of its religious, moral and intellectual

> decomposition. Apollo, the Solar Word, the manifestation of the

> supreme God and the supra- terrestrial world, is silent. No more

> oracles, no more inspired poets are t be heard ! Minerva, Wisdom

and

> Foresight, vels her countenance in presence of her people converted

> into Satyrs, profaning the mysteries, and insulting the gods in

> Aristophanic farces n the stage of Bacchus. The vey mysteries

> themselves are corrupted, for sycophants and courtesans are

admitted

> to the Eleusians rites… When soul becomes blunted, religion falls

> into idolatry; when thoughts becomes materialised, philosophy

> degenerates into scepticism. Thus we see Lucian, poor microbe born

> from the corpse of paganism turn the myths into ridicule, when once

> Carneades had denied their scientific origin.

>

> Superstitious in religion, agnostic in philosophy, egoistical and

> divided in politics, reeling under anarchy and fatally abandoned to

> despotism, Greece had become sadly changed from the time when she

> transmitted the science of Egypt and the mysteries of Asia in

> immortal forms of beauty.

>

> If there was one who understood what the world needed, and who

> endeavoured to restore this need by an effort of heroic genius,

that

> one was Alexander the Great. This legendary conqueror, initiated,

as

> was also his father Philip, into the mysteries of Samothrace,

proved

> himself even more of an intellectual s f Orpheus than a disciple of

> Aristotle. Doubtless, the Achilles of Macedonia, who, accompanied

by

> a mere handful of Greeks, crossed Asia as far as India, dreamed of

> universal empire, but not after the fashion of the Caesars, by

> oppression of the people, and the destruction of religion and

> unfettered science. His grand idea was to reconcile Asia and Europe

> by a synthesis of religions, supported by scientific authority

> Impelled by this thought, he paid homage to the science of

Aristotle,

> as he did to the Minerva of Athens, the Jeovah of Jerusalem, the

> Egyptian Osiris, nd the Hindu Brahma, recognising, as would a

> veritable initiate, an identical divinity and wisdom beneath these

> differing symbols. This new Dionysus possessed a broad sympathy and

> mighty prophetic insight. Alexander's sword typified the last flash

> of the Greece of Orpheus, illumining both East and West. The son of

> Philip died in the intoxication of victory and the glorious

> accomplishment of his dream, leaving the shreds of his empire to

> selfish and rapacious generals. But this thought did not die with

> him; he had founded Alexandria, where Oriental Philosophy, Judaism,

> and Hellenism were to be fused in the crucible of Egyptian

esoterism,

> until the time might be ripe for the resurrection word of the

Christ.

>

> In proportion as Apollo and Minerva, the twin constellations of

> Greece, paled away on the horizon, the people saw a menacing sign,

> the Roman SheWolf, rise in the troubled sky.

>

> What is the origin of Rome ? The conspiracy of a greedy oligarchy,

in

> the name of brute force; the oppression of the human intellect, of

> the religion, science, and art, by deified political power : in

other

> words, the contrary of truth, by which a government receives its

> justification, according to the supreme principles of science,

> justice, and economy.

>

> The whole Roman history is merely the consequence of he inquitious

> pact by wich the Conscript Fathers declared war, first, against

> Italy, and afterwards against the whole Roman race. They chose a

> fitting symbol;n for the brazen SheWolf, with tawny hair erect, and

> hyena's head turned in the direction of the Capitol, is the image

of

> this government, the demon which will take possession of the Roman

> soul to the very end.

>

> In Greee, at least, the sanctuaries of Delphi and Eleusis were long

> respected; at Rome, from the very outset, science and art were

> rejected. The attempt of the sage Numa, the Etruscan initiate,

failed

> before the suspicious ambition of the Conscript Fathers. He brought

> with him the Sybilline books, which contained part of the science

of

> Hermes, appointed magistrate elected by the people, distributed

> territory, and submitted the right of declaring war to the Fecial

> priests. Accordingly, King Numa, long cherished in the memory of

the

> people, who regarded him as inspired by divine genius, seems to be

a

> historical intervention of sacred science in the government. He

does

> not represent the genius of Rome, but rather that of the Etruscan

> initiation, which fllowed the same principles as the school of

> Memphis and Delphi.

>

> After Numa, the Roman Senate burnt the Sybilline Books, ruined the

> authority of the flamens, destroyed arbitral institutions, and

> returned to its old systems in which religion was nothing more than

> an instrument of public domination. Rome became the hydra which

> engulfed the peoples and their gods with them. The nations of the

> earth were gradually reduced to subjection and pillage. The

Mamertine

> prison became filled with kings from North and South. Rome, bent on

> having no other kings than slaves and charlatans, destroys the

final

> possessors of esoteric tradition in Gaul, Egypt, Judea and Persia.

> She pretends to worship the gods, but only object of her adoration

is

> the SheWolf. And now, away on the blood-stained dawn, there appears

> the final offspring of this ravenous creature, the embodiment of

the

> genius of Rome – Caesar ! Rome has conquered all the nations of the

> earth, Caesar, her incarnation, arrogates himself universal power.

He

> aspires not merely to become the ruler of mankind, for, uniting the

> tiara with the diadem, he causes himself to be proclaimed Chief

> Pontiff. After the Battle of Thapsus, deification as a hero is

voted

> him, after that of Munda, divine apotheosis is granted by the

Senate;

> his statue is erected in the temple of Quirinus and a college of

> officiating priests appointed, bearing his name. To crown all in

> irony and logic, this ver Caesar who deifies himself, denies in the

> presence of the Senate the immortality of the soul ! Would it be

> possible to proclaim more openly that there is no longer any other

> God than Caesar ?

>

> Under the Caesars, Rome, inheritor of Babylon, extends her power

over

> the whole world. What has become of the Roman State ? It is engaged

> in destroying all collective life outside the capital. Military

> dictatorship is the order of the day in Italy, extorsions of

> governors and tax-collectors in the provinces. Conquering Rome

feeds

> like a vampire on the corpse of a worn-out system.

>

> And now the Roman orgies are freely and publicly paraded with all

> their bacchanalia of vice and crime. They begin with voluptuous

> meeting of Mark and Cleopatra, and will be brought to an end with

the

> debaucheries of Messalina and the mad frenzy of Nero. They

signalise

> their presence by a lascivious and public parody of the mysteries,

> and are destined to close in the Roman Circus, where nude virgins,

> martyrs to their faith, are torn to pieces and devoured by savage

> beasts, amid the plaudits of thousands of spectators.

>

> And yet, among the nations conquered by Rome, there was one which

> called itself the people of God, whose genius was the very opposite

> to that of Rome. How comes it that Israel, worn out by intestine

> strife, crushed by three centuries of slavery, had preserved its

> indomitable faith ? Why did this conquered people rise, prophet-

like,

> to oppose Greek decadence and Roman orgies ? Whence did they derive

> courage to predict the fall of the masters who had their feet on

the

> throat of the nation, and speak of some vague final triumph, when

> they themselves were drawing to an irremediable ruin ? The reason

> was, that a great idea, inspired by Moses, lived in the nation.

Under

> Joshua, the twelve tribes had erected a commemorative pillar with

the

> inscription " . This is a testimony between us that Jeovah is God

> alone " .

>

> The law-maker of Israel had made monotheist the corner stone of his

> science and social law, as well as of a universal religious idea.

He

> had had the genius to understand that o the triumph of this idea of

> mankind would depend. To preserve it, he had written a hieroglyphic

> book, constructed a golden ark, and raised up a people from the

nomad

> dust of the wilderness. Not content with these witnesses to the

> spiritualistic idea of Moses brought down the lightning flash and

the

> thunderbolt from heaven. Against them conspired not only the

> Moabites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and all the tribes of

> Palestine, but even the frailties and passions of the Jewish people

> itself. The Book ceased to be understood by the priesthood; the ark

> was captured by enemies, numerous were the times when the people

> almost forgot their mission. Why then, in spite of all, did they

> remain faithful to the mission ? Why hd the iidea of Moses remained

> graven on the brow and heart of Israel in letters of fire ? To whom

> is due this exclusive perseverance, this magnificent fidelity aid

the

> vicissitudes of a troubled history, sucha fidelity as gave Israel a

> unique character among the nations ? It may boldly be attributed to

> the prophets and the institution of prophecy, by oral tradition it

> may be traced back to Moses. The Hebew people had had Nabi at all

> periods of its history, right to its dispersion. But the

institution

> of prophecy appears first under an organic form at the time of

> Samuel. He it was who founded the confraternities of Nebiim, those

> schools of prophets, in the face of rising royalty and an already

> degenerate priesthood. He made them austere guardians of the

esoteric

> traditions and the universal religious thought of Moses against the

> kings, in whom the political idea and national aim was to

> predominate. In these confraternities were preserved the relics of

> the science of Moses the sacred music, the occult art of healing,

and

> finally, the art of divination, exercised by the great prophets

with

> masterly force and abnegation.

>

> Divination has existed under the most diverse forms among all the

> peoples of the ancient cycle; but prophecy in Israel possesses an

> amplitude, a loftiness and authority, belonging to the intellectual

> and spiritual realm in which monotheism keeps the human soul.

> Prophecy, represented by the theologians, literally, as the direct

> communication of a personal God, denied by naturalistic philosophy

as

> pure superstition, is in reality nothing but the superior

> manifestation of the universal laws of the Spirit. " The general

> truths which govern the world " , says Ewald, in his fine work of the

> prophets, " in other terms " , the thoughts of God, are immutable and

> incapable of attack, quite independent of the fluctuations of

things,

> and of the will and action of men. Man is originally intended to

> participate in them, and translate them freely into acts. But for

the

> Word of the Spirit to enter into carnal man, he must be

fundamentally

> influenced by the great commotion of history. Then the Eternal

Truth

> springs forth like a flash of light. This is why we so oftenread in

> the Old Testament that Jeovah is a living God. When man listens to

> the divine call, a new life is created in him; now he no longer

feels

> himself alone, but in communion with God and all truth, ready to

> proceed eternally from one verity to another. In this new life, his

> thought becomes one with the universal will. He possesses a clear

> grasp of the present, and entire faith in the final success of the

> divine idea. The man who experiences this is a prophet, i.e. he

feels

> himself irresistibly impelled to manifest before others as a

> representative of God. His thught becomes vision, and this superior

> might which forces the truth from his soul, at times with heart-

> breaking anguish; constitutes the prophetic element. " The prophetic

> manifestations, throughout history, have been the thunderbolts and

> lightning flashes of truth " .

>

> From this spring, those giants, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and

> Jeremiah, drew their might. Deep in their caves or in the palaces

of

> the kings, they were indeed sentinels of Jeovah and, as Elisha said

> to his master Elijah, " The chariots of Israel, and the horsemen

> thereof " . Ofthen do they foretell with prophetic vision the death

of

> kings, the fall of kingdoms,and the punishements to be visited on

> Israel. At times they are mistaken. The prophetic torch, though lit

> by the sun of divine truth, will vacillate and darken in their

hands

> under the influence of national passion. But never do they waver

> concerning moral truths, the real mission of Israel, the final

> triumph of justice to mankind. As true initiates, they preach their

> scorn of outer worship, the abolition of sacrifices of blood, the

> purification of the soul, and the practice of love. It is with

regard

> to the final triumph of monotheism, its liberating and peace-

bringing

> role to all nations, that their vision is truly remarkable. The

most

> frightful misfortunes that can strike a nation, foreign invasion,

> captivity in Babylon, cannot shake their faith. Listen to what

Isaiah

> said during the invasion of Sennacherib : " Rejoice ye with

Jerusalem,

> and be glad with her, all ye that love her : rejoice for joy with

> her, all ye that mourn for her " . " That ye may suck and be satisfied

> with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out and be

> delighted with the abundance of her glory. " For thus saith the

Lord,

> Behold I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of

the

> Gentiles like a flowing stream : then shall ye suck, ye shall be

> borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees " .

> " As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye

> shall be comforted in Jerusalem " .

> " And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones

shall

> flourish like an herb : and the hand of the Lord shall be known

> towards his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies " .

> " For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots

like

> a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with

> flames of fire " .

> " For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh :

> and the slain of the Lord shall be many " .

> " They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the

gardens

> behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the

> abomination and the mouse shall be consumed together, saith the

Lord " .

>

> " For I know their work and their thoughts : it shall come that I

will

> gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see my

glory " .

> It is only before the tomb of the Christ that this vision begins to

> find realisation, but who could deny its prophetic truth when

> thinking of the part Israel played in the history of mankind ?

>

> Ni less firm than this faith in the future of Jerusalem, in its

> moral grandeur and religious universality, is the faith of the

> prophets in a Saviour or a Messiah. They all speak of him; the

> incomparable Isaiah is still the one whose vision is clearest, and

> who depicts it with greatest force in bold, lofty language :

> " There shall come forth a rod out of the stems of Jesse, and a

> branch shall grow out of his roots;

> " And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of

wisdom

> and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of

> knowledge and the fear of the Lord;

> " And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord,

> and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove

> after the hearing of his ears :

> " But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with

> equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth

with

> the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay

> the wicked " .

> " And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and

faithfulness

> the girdle of his reins " .

> Before this vision, the gloomy soul of the prophet becomes calm and

> clear, as does a tempest-troubled sky after a storm. For now it is

> indeed the image of the Galilean which is present before his inner

> vision :

> " For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root

out

> of a dry ground : he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall

> see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him " .

> " He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and

acquainted

> with grief : ad we hid as it were our faces from him; he was

despised

> and we esteemed him not.

> " Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows : ye we did

> esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted " .

> " But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our

> iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with

his

> stripes we are healed. " All we like sheep have gone astray; we have

> turned every one to this own way; and the Lord ath laid on him the

> iniquity of us all " .

> " He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his

mouth;

> he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her

> shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth " .

> " He was taken from prison and from judgment : and who shall declare

> his generation ? for he was cu off out the land of the living : for

> the transgression of my people was he stricken " .

> For eight centuries the thunder-words of the prophets caused the

idea

> and image of the Messiah to hover above all national dissensions

and

> misfortunes, t times under the form of a terrible avenger, and

again

> as an angel of mercy. The Messianic idea, tenderly nurtured under

> Assyrian despotism in Babylonian exile,, and brought to light under

> the reign of the Seleucides and the Maccabees. When the Roman rule

> and the reign of Herod came, the Messiah was alive in the

> consciousness of all. The great prophets had seen him as a great

man,

> a martyr, a veritable son of God….The people, faithful to the

Judaic

> idea, imagined him as a David, a Solomon, or a new Maccabeus.

> Whatever he might be, this restorer of Israel's greatness was

> believed in and expected by all. Such is the might of prophetic

> action.

> Thus we see that just as Roman history ends in Caesar, along the

> instinctive path and infernal logic of Destiny, so the history of

> Israel leads freely to the Christ along he conscious path and

divine

> logic of Providence, manifested in its visible representatives, the

> prophets. Evil is fatally condemned to contradict and destroy

itself,

> for it is the False; but Good, in spite of all obstacles, engenders

> light and harmony after a lapse of time, for it is the fruit of

> Truth. From her triumph Rome obtained nothing but Caesars, from her

> downfall Israel gave birth to the Messiah.

>

> A vague expectancy hung over the nations. In the excess of its evil

> all humanity had a presentiment of a saviour. For centuries

mythology

> had dreamt of a divine child. The temples spoke of him in mystery;

> astrologers calculated his coming; frenzied sibyls had loudly

> proclaimed the downfall of pagan gods. The initiates had announced

> that some day the world would be governed by one of their own, a

Son

> of God. The world was expecting a spiritual king, one who would e

> understood by the poor and lowly.

> The great Aeschylus, son of a priest of Eleusis, was almost killed

by

> the Athenians for daring to say in the crowded theatre, by the

mouth

> of his Prometheus, that the reign of Jupiter-Destiny would come to

an

> end. Four centuries later, under the shadow of the throne of

Auustus,

> the gentle Virgil announces a new age, and dreams of a marvellous

> child.

>

> Virgil, Eclogue 4

>

> " The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes,

> Renews its finished course, Saturnian times

> Rll round again, and mighty years begun,

> From their first orb in radiant circles run,

> The bas degenerate iron offspring ends,

> A golden progeny from Heaven descends,

> Oh Chaste Lucina ! Speed the mother's pains,

> And haste the glorious birth, thy own Apollo reighs

> See, labouring Nature calls thee to sustain

> The nodding frame of Heaven and Earth and main :

> See to their base restored, earth, seas, and air;

> And joyful ages from behind in crowding ranks appear

> To sing thy prise…..

>

> When will this child be born ? From what divine world will this

soul

> come ? In what brilliant lightning-flash of love will it descend to

> earth ? By what wonderful purity, what superhuman energy will it

> remember the abandoned heaven ? By what mightier effort will it

> return from the depths of its earthly consciousness, taking with it

> mankind in its train ?

>

> No one could have told, but all were waiting and expecting …. Herod

> the Great, the Idumean usurper, the " protégé " of Augustus Caesar,

was

> then at the point of death in his Cyprien chateau at Jericho, after

a

> sumptuous and blood-stained reign, which had covered Judea with

> splendid palaces and human hecatombs. He was dying from a terrible

> malady, decomposition of the blood, hated by all, torn with fury

and

> remorse, haunted by the spectres of his innumerable victims,

amongst

> whom were numbered his innocent wife, the noble Marian, of Maccabee

> blood, and three of is own sons. The seven woman of his harem had

> fled the presence of the royal phantom. His very bodyguard had

> abandoned him. Impassive by the side of the dying wretch sat his

> sister Salome, his evil genius, the instigator of his foulest

crimes.

> With diadem on brow, and breast sparkling with precious stones,

she

> kept watch, waiting for the king's last breath, when she in her

turn

> would seize the reins of sovereignty. Thus died the last king of

the

> Jews. At this very moment had just been born the future spiritual

> king of humanity, and the few initiates of Israel were silently

> preparing for his reign in profound humility and silence.

>

>

> Kessinger Publishing's, Rare Mystical Reprints

> ISBN 1-56459-498-X

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Lorens,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

We have to acknowledge your fervor for Bertha Dudde and accompanying

revelations. However, we cannot accept somebody talking, as if they

are Jesus in person. It is too much. What we do accept are the teachings of the

prophets and incarnations, such as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, Shri Jesus, Buddha,

Mohammed, after whom were formed the different religions. Their teachings, in

essence, all agree with each other.

 

How are you with that? Are you able to accept the incarnations and prophets that

have all come and tried to give something to advance the humanity? Are you able

to accept the teachings of Shri Mataji of Sahaja Yoga? i would be interested in

knowing if you can accept them.

 

regards,

 

violet

 

 

 

, " Lorens "

<matthew242000 wrote:

>

> Dear friends, greetings to all!

>

> I am the new member ... and as I was browsing through the mails i

> found this one with the description of the Jesus Christ as

> the 'initiate'... or 'one of the many'...

>

> ... and I wondered, does someone here knows, or believes, that God

> still speaks to us His children... that He still reveals His Will and

> His Truth to us who are seeking Him in love (John 14:21)?

>

> In one of those great Revelations of His, which was received via

> Inner Voice by one of His maidservants (Joel 2:28, 29), namely,

> Bertha Dudde, He revelaed

> in all Truth and Beauty His true nature and reason of His coming down

> to this Earth of ours in the human form of Jesus Christ.

>

> I will copy and paste here one of these revelations that are

> particularly significant in relation to the question proposed:

>

> B.D. 7828, February 17, 1961

>

> GOD IS A SPIRIT WHO HAS MANIFESTED HIMSELF IN JESUS

>

> You should not imagine your God and Creator as a strictly limited

> Being, you should not try to associate Him with a form, for then your

> idea would always be wrong, because something defined can never

> correspond to My nature, which is utterly perfect, thus infinite. For

> I Am a spirit Who fills and permeates everything. In My nature I will

> be eternally unfathomable for My living creations, for although My

> living creations were externalised by Me in supreme perfection they

> are nevertheless only sparks of love, emanated by the fire of My

> Eternal Love and externalised as individual beings who, however,

> would be unable to behold the eternal source of light and strength if

> I showed Myself to them in My full abundance of brilliance, since

> they would perish if they faced the radiating light….

>

> Yet you need not visualise Me in any other way than as the divine

> Redeemer Jesus Christ…. In Him I became the `visible' God for you, in

> Him the eternal, infinite spirit has manifested Itself, in Him you

> see Me and are able to behold Him face to face…. Thus I gave Myself a

> form for you, whom I had externalised from My love and My strength as

> My living creations…. The Eternal Spirit Who fills all of infinity

> permeated this form with light and became a visible God for you…. And

> yet I reign and work throughout all of infinity and thus My Being

> cannot be limited either, I can only have become a conceivable idea

> in the form of Jesus Christ for you, who are still finite yourselves,

> who have not yet attained the highest perfection, for I have to give

> to you what corresponds to your state, which is still far from

> perfection.

>

> However, I Am and remain also inscrutable in My nature for the

> spirits of highest perfection, which, however, is a cause of

> increased beatitude, because My children constantly strive towards

> Me, are constantly delighted by Me through My fulfilling of their

> desire yet never able to reach Me…. and on the other hand may behold

> Me from face to face in Jesus Christ…. This, too, will remain an

> enigma to you, and only in the state of enlightenment will you begin

> to comprehend and yet eternally unable to fathom My nature. To you I

> appear infinitely far away and yet I Am as close to you as only a

> father can get to his child. But this awareness makes you immensely

> happy, and your love for Me increases constantly and is also the

> cause of bliss, because it always meets with fulfilment.

>

> And thus your love for Jesus Christ will blaze ever more ardently, in

> Whom you have recognised your Father of eternity and in Whom I bestow

> unlimited bliss upon you…. For in Him I Am now able to be close to My

> children, even though I Am not bound to the form, even though I fill

> all of infinity with My light and My strength, with My Being, which

> is and remains inscrutable. But you, My living creations, shall look

> for and find Me in Jesus, for I have chosen Him as the form which

> received Me; and this once human external form completely

> spiritualised itself and yet remained visible to every being which

> attained the state of maturity of spiritual vision….

>

> Thus you see My eternal spirit when you see Jesus, for He and I are

> one, you see the Father when you see Jesus, because I wanted to be

> visible to you, My created beings, in order to gain all your love.

> Yet you will never be able to behold Me in My infinite abundance of

> strength and light without ceasing to exist…. But I want to be able

> to create and work with My children and thus also reveal Myself to

> them in order to heighten their beatitude…. And I want to experience

> their love Myself and therefore will always be close to My children.

> AMEN

>

> Peace be with you all

>

> Lorens

>

>

>

>

> , " nicole_bougantouche "

> <nicole_bougantouche@> wrote:

> >

> > Dear all here is the first chapter of " JESUS: THE LAST GREAT

> INITIATE "

> > written by Edouard Shure at the end of the 19th century. it seems

> > that the situation of the world at this time is not so different

> from

> > what we are experiencing at the moment....

> >

> > Enjoy !

> >

> > Eduard (Edouard) Schuré (January 21, 1841 – April 7, 1929), French

> > philosopher, poet, writer, musical critic and publicist of esoteric

> > literature. He is known by being the author of " The Great

> Initiated "

> > (1889) in which he describes the path followed by some of the

> ancient

> > philosophers in search for profound esoteric knowledge, so often

> > called the " initiation " , as describing the process of becoming a

> > mystic master or spiritual healer. " Many notable and historical

> > figures are constantly referred in the writings of Schuré, for

> > instance, Rama, Hermes, Socrates, Jesus, Orpheus. some of these

> > masters are known to be the founders of important religions or

> > philosophical movements, which in turn, would find great acceptance

> > through our history, this was aided even more with the installment

> of

> > democratic governments, which observed and respect the freedom for

> > diverse religious beliefs. That is the case of Gautama Sidharta who

> > originated the Buddhism first in India, then in China and later

> would

> > expand all over the world. Schuré wrote many books and plays. His

> > plays enjoyed relative fame in his days in Europe and many of them

> > were put in scene by the Austrian philosopher, writer and educator

> > Rudolf Steiner, he the same, whom was admired and followed by Schuré

> > (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedy)

> >

> > JESUS : THE LAST GREAT INITIATE

> > Edouard SCHURE

> >

> > Chapter I

> >

> > Condition of the World at the Birth of Jesus

> >

> > A SOLEMN period of the world's destiny was approaching; the sky was

> > overshadowed with darkness and filed with sinister omens.

> >

> > In spite of the efforts of the initiates, polytheism, throughout

> > Asia, Africa, and Europe, had terminated only in the downfall of

> > civilisation. The sublime cosmogony of Orpheus, so gloriously

> chanted

> > by Homer, had not been attained, and the only explanation possible

> is

> > that human nature found great difficulty in maintaining a certain

> > intellectual altitude. For the great spirits of antiquity, the gods

> > were never anything more thn a poetical expression of the

> > subordinated forces of Nature, a speaking image of its inner

> > organism; it is as symbols of cosmic and animic forces that these

> > gods live indestructible in the consciousness of humanity. This

> > diversity of gods an forces , the initiates thought, was dominated

> > and penetrated by the supreme God or pure Spirit. The principal aim

> > of the sanctuaries of Memphis, Delphi and Eleusis had been

> precisely

> > the teaching of this unity of God with the theosophical ideas and

> > oral discipline resulting therefrom.

> >

> > But the disciples of Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato failed before

> the

> > egoism of the politicians, the sordidness of the sophists, and the

> > passions of the mob. The social and political decomposition of

> Greece

> > was the consequence of its religious, moral and intellectual

> > decomposition. Apollo, the Solar Word, the manifestation of the

> > supreme God and the supra- terrestrial world, is silent. No more

> > oracles, no more inspired poets are t be heard ! Minerva, Wisdom

> and

> > Foresight, vels her countenance in presence of her people converted

> > into Satyrs, profaning the mysteries, and insulting the gods in

> > Aristophanic farces n the stage of Bacchus. The vey mysteries

> > themselves are corrupted, for sycophants and courtesans are

> admitted

> > to the Eleusians rites… When soul becomes blunted, religion falls

> > into idolatry; when thoughts becomes materialised, philosophy

> > degenerates into scepticism. Thus we see Lucian, poor microbe born

> > from the corpse of paganism turn the myths into ridicule, when once

> > Carneades had denied their scientific origin.

> >

> > Superstitious in religion, agnostic in philosophy, egoistical and

> > divided in politics, reeling under anarchy and fatally abandoned to

> > despotism, Greece had become sadly changed from the time when she

> > transmitted the science of Egypt and the mysteries of Asia in

> > immortal forms of beauty.

> >

> > If there was one who understood what the world needed, and who

> > endeavoured to restore this need by an effort of heroic genius,

> that

> > one was Alexander the Great. This legendary conqueror, initiated,

> as

> > was also his father Philip, into the mysteries of Samothrace,

> proved

> > himself even more of an intellectual s f Orpheus than a disciple of

> > Aristotle. Doubtless, the Achilles of Macedonia, who, accompanied

> by

> > a mere handful of Greeks, crossed Asia as far as India, dreamed of

> > universal empire, but not after the fashion of the Caesars, by

> > oppression of the people, and the destruction of religion and

> > unfettered science. His grand idea was to reconcile Asia and Europe

> > by a synthesis of religions, supported by scientific authority

> > Impelled by this thought, he paid homage to the science of

> Aristotle,

> > as he did to the Minerva of Athens, the Jeovah of Jerusalem, the

> > Egyptian Osiris, nd the Hindu Brahma, recognising, as would a

> > veritable initiate, an identical divinity and wisdom beneath these

> > differing symbols. This new Dionysus possessed a broad sympathy and

> > mighty prophetic insight. Alexander's sword typified the last flash

> > of the Greece of Orpheus, illumining both East and West. The son of

> > Philip died in the intoxication of victory and the glorious

> > accomplishment of his dream, leaving the shreds of his empire to

> > selfish and rapacious generals. But this thought did not die with

> > him; he had founded Alexandria, where Oriental Philosophy, Judaism,

> > and Hellenism were to be fused in the crucible of Egyptian

> esoterism,

> > until the time might be ripe for the resurrection word of the

> Christ.

> >

> > In proportion as Apollo and Minerva, the twin constellations of

> > Greece, paled away on the horizon, the people saw a menacing sign,

> > the Roman SheWolf, rise in the troubled sky.

> >

> > What is the origin of Rome ? The conspiracy of a greedy oligarchy,

> in

> > the name of brute force; the oppression of the human intellect, of

> > the religion, science, and art, by deified political power : in

> other

> > words, the contrary of truth, by which a government receives its

> > justification, according to the supreme principles of science,

> > justice, and economy.

> >

> > The whole Roman history is merely the consequence of he inquitious

> > pact by wich the Conscript Fathers declared war, first, against

> > Italy, and afterwards against the whole Roman race. They chose a

> > fitting symbol;n for the brazen SheWolf, with tawny hair erect, and

> > hyena's head turned in the direction of the Capitol, is the image

> of

> > this government, the demon which will take possession of the Roman

> > soul to the very end.

> >

> > In Greee, at least, the sanctuaries of Delphi and Eleusis were long

> > respected; at Rome, from the very outset, science and art were

> > rejected. The attempt of the sage Numa, the Etruscan initiate,

> failed

> > before the suspicious ambition of the Conscript Fathers. He brought

> > with him the Sybilline books, which contained part of the science

> of

> > Hermes, appointed magistrate elected by the people, distributed

> > territory, and submitted the right of declaring war to the Fecial

> > priests. Accordingly, King Numa, long cherished in the memory of

> the

> > people, who regarded him as inspired by divine genius, seems to be

> a

> > historical intervention of sacred science in the government. He

> does

> > not represent the genius of Rome, but rather that of the Etruscan

> > initiation, which fllowed the same principles as the school of

> > Memphis and Delphi.

> >

> > After Numa, the Roman Senate burnt the Sybilline Books, ruined the

> > authority of the flamens, destroyed arbitral institutions, and

> > returned to its old systems in which religion was nothing more than

> > an instrument of public domination. Rome became the hydra which

> > engulfed the peoples and their gods with them. The nations of the

> > earth were gradually reduced to subjection and pillage. The

> Mamertine

> > prison became filled with kings from North and South. Rome, bent on

> > having no other kings than slaves and charlatans, destroys the

> final

> > possessors of esoteric tradition in Gaul, Egypt, Judea and Persia.

> > She pretends to worship the gods, but only object of her adoration

> is

> > the SheWolf. And now, away on the blood-stained dawn, there appears

> > the final offspring of this ravenous creature, the embodiment of

> the

> > genius of Rome – Caesar ! Rome has conquered all the nations of the

> > earth, Caesar, her incarnation, arrogates himself universal power.

> He

> > aspires not merely to become the ruler of mankind, for, uniting the

> > tiara with the diadem, he causes himself to be proclaimed Chief

> > Pontiff. After the Battle of Thapsus, deification as a hero is

> voted

> > him, after that of Munda, divine apotheosis is granted by the

> Senate;

> > his statue is erected in the temple of Quirinus and a college of

> > officiating priests appointed, bearing his name. To crown all in

> > irony and logic, this ver Caesar who deifies himself, denies in the

> > presence of the Senate the immortality of the soul ! Would it be

> > possible to proclaim more openly that there is no longer any other

> > God than Caesar ?

> >

> > Under the Caesars, Rome, inheritor of Babylon, extends her power

> over

> > the whole world. What has become of the Roman State ? It is engaged

> > in destroying all collective life outside the capital. Military

> > dictatorship is the order of the day in Italy, extorsions of

> > governors and tax-collectors in the provinces. Conquering Rome

> feeds

> > like a vampire on the corpse of a worn-out system.

> >

> > And now the Roman orgies are freely and publicly paraded with all

> > their bacchanalia of vice and crime. They begin with voluptuous

> > meeting of Mark and Cleopatra, and will be brought to an end with

> the

> > debaucheries of Messalina and the mad frenzy of Nero. They

> signalise

> > their presence by a lascivious and public parody of the mysteries,

> > and are destined to close in the Roman Circus, where nude virgins,

> > martyrs to their faith, are torn to pieces and devoured by savage

> > beasts, amid the plaudits of thousands of spectators.

> >

> > And yet, among the nations conquered by Rome, there was one which

> > called itself the people of God, whose genius was the very opposite

> > to that of Rome. How comes it that Israel, worn out by intestine

> > strife, crushed by three centuries of slavery, had preserved its

> > indomitable faith ? Why did this conquered people rise, prophet-

> like,

> > to oppose Greek decadence and Roman orgies ? Whence did they derive

> > courage to predict the fall of the masters who had their feet on

> the

> > throat of the nation, and speak of some vague final triumph, when

> > they themselves were drawing to an irremediable ruin ? The reason

> > was, that a great idea, inspired by Moses, lived in the nation.

> Under

> > Joshua, the twelve tribes had erected a commemorative pillar with

> the

> > inscription " . This is a testimony between us that Jeovah is God

> > alone " .

> >

> > The law-maker of Israel had made monotheist the corner stone of his

> > science and social law, as well as of a universal religious idea.

> He

> > had had the genius to understand that o the triumph of this idea of

> > mankind would depend. To preserve it, he had written a hieroglyphic

> > book, constructed a golden ark, and raised up a people from the

> nomad

> > dust of the wilderness. Not content with these witnesses to the

> > spiritualistic idea of Moses brought down the lightning flash and

> the

> > thunderbolt from heaven. Against them conspired not only the

> > Moabites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and all the tribes of

> > Palestine, but even the frailties and passions of the Jewish people

> > itself. The Book ceased to be understood by the priesthood; the ark

> > was captured by enemies, numerous were the times when the people

> > almost forgot their mission. Why then, in spite of all, did they

> > remain faithful to the mission ? Why hd the iidea of Moses remained

> > graven on the brow and heart of Israel in letters of fire ? To whom

> > is due this exclusive perseverance, this magnificent fidelity aid

> the

> > vicissitudes of a troubled history, sucha fidelity as gave Israel a

> > unique character among the nations ? It may boldly be attributed to

> > the prophets and the institution of prophecy, by oral tradition it

> > may be traced back to Moses. The Hebew people had had Nabi at all

> > periods of its history, right to its dispersion. But the

> institution

> > of prophecy appears first under an organic form at the time of

> > Samuel. He it was who founded the confraternities of Nebiim, those

> > schools of prophets, in the face of rising royalty and an already

> > degenerate priesthood. He made them austere guardians of the

> esoteric

> > traditions and the universal religious thought of Moses against the

> > kings, in whom the political idea and national aim was to

> > predominate. In these confraternities were preserved the relics of

> > the science of Moses the sacred music, the occult art of healing,

> and

> > finally, the art of divination, exercised by the great prophets

> with

> > masterly force and abnegation.

> >

> > Divination has existed under the most diverse forms among all the

> > peoples of the ancient cycle; but prophecy in Israel possesses an

> > amplitude, a loftiness and authority, belonging to the intellectual

> > and spiritual realm in which monotheism keeps the human soul.

> > Prophecy, represented by the theologians, literally, as the direct

> > communication of a personal God, denied by naturalistic philosophy

> as

> > pure superstition, is in reality nothing but the superior

> > manifestation of the universal laws of the Spirit. " The general

> > truths which govern the world " , says Ewald, in his fine work of the

> > prophets, " in other terms " , the thoughts of God, are immutable and

> > incapable of attack, quite independent of the fluctuations of

> things,

> > and of the will and action of men. Man is originally intended to

> > participate in them, and translate them freely into acts. But for

> the

> > Word of the Spirit to enter into carnal man, he must be

> fundamentally

> > influenced by the great commotion of history. Then the Eternal

> Truth

> > springs forth like a flash of light. This is why we so oftenread in

> > the Old Testament that Jeovah is a living God. When man listens to

> > the divine call, a new life is created in him; now he no longer

> feels

> > himself alone, but in communion with God and all truth, ready to

> > proceed eternally from one verity to another. In this new life, his

> > thought becomes one with the universal will. He possesses a clear

> > grasp of the present, and entire faith in the final success of the

> > divine idea. The man who experiences this is a prophet, i.e. he

> feels

> > himself irresistibly impelled to manifest before others as a

> > representative of God. His thught becomes vision, and this superior

> > might which forces the truth from his soul, at times with heart-

> > breaking anguish; constitutes the prophetic element. " The prophetic

> > manifestations, throughout history, have been the thunderbolts and

> > lightning flashes of truth " .

> >

> > From this spring, those giants, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and

> > Jeremiah, drew their might. Deep in their caves or in the palaces

> of

> > the kings, they were indeed sentinels of Jeovah and, as Elisha said

> > to his master Elijah, " The chariots of Israel, and the horsemen

> > thereof " . Ofthen do they foretell with prophetic vision the death

> of

> > kings, the fall of kingdoms,and the punishements to be visited on

> > Israel. At times they are mistaken. The prophetic torch, though lit

> > by the sun of divine truth, will vacillate and darken in their

> hands

> > under the influence of national passion. But never do they waver

> > concerning moral truths, the real mission of Israel, the final

> > triumph of justice to mankind. As true initiates, they preach their

> > scorn of outer worship, the abolition of sacrifices of blood, the

> > purification of the soul, and the practice of love. It is with

> regard

> > to the final triumph of monotheism, its liberating and peace-

> bringing

> > role to all nations, that their vision is truly remarkable. The

> most

> > frightful misfortunes that can strike a nation, foreign invasion,

> > captivity in Babylon, cannot shake their faith. Listen to what

> Isaiah

> > said during the invasion of Sennacherib : " Rejoice ye with

> Jerusalem,

> > and be glad with her, all ye that love her : rejoice for joy with

> > her, all ye that mourn for her " . " That ye may suck and be satisfied

> > with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out and be

> > delighted with the abundance of her glory. " For thus saith the

> Lord,

> > Behold I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of

> the

> > Gentiles like a flowing stream : then shall ye suck, ye shall be

> > borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees " .

> > " As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye

> > shall be comforted in Jerusalem " .

> > " And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones

> shall

> > flourish like an herb : and the hand of the Lord shall be known

> > towards his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies " .

> > " For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots

> like

> > a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with

> > flames of fire " .

> > " For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh :

> > and the slain of the Lord shall be many " .

> > " They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the

> gardens

> > behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the

> > abomination and the mouse shall be consumed together, saith the

> Lord " .

> >

> > " For I know their work and their thoughts : it shall come that I

> will

> > gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see my

> glory " .

> > It is only before the tomb of the Christ that this vision begins to

> > find realisation, but who could deny its prophetic truth when

> > thinking of the part Israel played in the history of mankind ?

> >

> > Ni less firm than this faith in the future of Jerusalem, in its

> > moral grandeur and religious universality, is the faith of the

> > prophets in a Saviour or a Messiah. They all speak of him; the

> > incomparable Isaiah is still the one whose vision is clearest, and

> > who depicts it with greatest force in bold, lofty language :

> > " There shall come forth a rod out of the stems of Jesse, and a

> > branch shall grow out of his roots;

> > " And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of

> wisdom

> > and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of

> > knowledge and the fear of the Lord;

> > " And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord,

> > and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove

> > after the hearing of his ears :

> > " But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with

> > equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth

> with

> > the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay

> > the wicked " .

> > " And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and

> faithfulness

> > the girdle of his reins " .

> > Before this vision, the gloomy soul of the prophet becomes calm and

> > clear, as does a tempest-troubled sky after a storm. For now it is

> > indeed the image of the Galilean which is present before his inner

> > vision :

> > " For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root

> out

> > of a dry ground : he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall

> > see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him " .

> > " He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and

> acquainted

> > with grief : ad we hid as it were our faces from him; he was

> despised

> > and we esteemed him not.

> > " Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows : ye we did

> > esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted " .

> > " But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our

> > iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with

> his

> > stripes we are healed. " All we like sheep have gone astray; we have

> > turned every one to this own way; and the Lord ath laid on him the

> > iniquity of us all " .

> > " He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his

> mouth;

> > he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her

> > shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth " .

> > " He was taken from prison and from judgment : and who shall declare

> > his generation ? for he was cu off out the land of the living : for

> > the transgression of my people was he stricken " .

> > For eight centuries the thunder-words of the prophets caused the

> idea

> > and image of the Messiah to hover above all national dissensions

> and

> > misfortunes, t times under the form of a terrible avenger, and

> again

> > as an angel of mercy. The Messianic idea, tenderly nurtured under

> > Assyrian despotism in Babylonian exile,, and brought to light under

> > the reign of the Seleucides and the Maccabees. When the Roman rule

> > and the reign of Herod came, the Messiah was alive in the

> > consciousness of all. The great prophets had seen him as a great

> man,

> > a martyr, a veritable son of God….The people, faithful to the

> Judaic

> > idea, imagined him as a David, a Solomon, or a new Maccabeus.

> > Whatever he might be, this restorer of Israel's greatness was

> > believed in and expected by all. Such is the might of prophetic

> > action.

> > Thus we see that just as Roman history ends in Caesar, along the

> > instinctive path and infernal logic of Destiny, so the history of

> > Israel leads freely to the Christ along he conscious path and

> divine

> > logic of Providence, manifested in its visible representatives, the

> > prophets. Evil is fatally condemned to contradict and destroy

> itself,

> > for it is the False; but Good, in spite of all obstacles, engenders

> > light and harmony after a lapse of time, for it is the fruit of

> > Truth. From her triumph Rome obtained nothing but Caesars, from her

> > downfall Israel gave birth to the Messiah.

> >

> > A vague expectancy hung over the nations. In the excess of its evil

> > all humanity had a presentiment of a saviour. For centuries

> mythology

> > had dreamt of a divine child. The temples spoke of him in mystery;

> > astrologers calculated his coming; frenzied sibyls had loudly

> > proclaimed the downfall of pagan gods. The initiates had announced

> > that some day the world would be governed by one of their own, a

> Son

> > of God. The world was expecting a spiritual king, one who would e

> > understood by the poor and lowly.

> > The great Aeschylus, son of a priest of Eleusis, was almost killed

> by

> > the Athenians for daring to say in the crowded theatre, by the

> mouth

> > of his Prometheus, that the reign of Jupiter-Destiny would come to

> an

> > end. Four centuries later, under the shadow of the throne of

> Auustus,

> > the gentle Virgil announces a new age, and dreams of a marvellous

> > child.

> >

> > Virgil, Eclogue 4

> >

> > " The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes,

> > Renews its finished course, Saturnian times

> > Rll round again, and mighty years begun,

> > From their first orb in radiant circles run,

> > The bas degenerate iron offspring ends,

> > A golden progeny from Heaven descends,

> > Oh Chaste Lucina ! Speed the mother's pains,

> > And haste the glorious birth, thy own Apollo reighs

> > See, labouring Nature calls thee to sustain

> > The nodding frame of Heaven and Earth and main :

> > See to their base restored, earth, seas, and air;

> > And joyful ages from behind in crowding ranks appear

> > To sing thy prise…..

> >

> > When will this child be born ? From what divine world will this

> soul

> > come ? In what brilliant lightning-flash of love will it descend to

> > earth ? By what wonderful purity, what superhuman energy will it

> > remember the abandoned heaven ? By what mightier effort will it

> > return from the depths of its earthly consciousness, taking with it

> > mankind in its train ?

> >

> > No one could have told, but all were waiting and expecting …. Herod

> > the Great, the Idumean usurper, the " protégé " of Augustus Caesar,

> was

> > then at the point of death in his Cyprien chateau at Jericho, after

> a

> > sumptuous and blood-stained reign, which had covered Judea with

> > splendid palaces and human hecatombs. He was dying from a terrible

> > malady, decomposition of the blood, hated by all, torn with fury

> and

> > remorse, haunted by the spectres of his innumerable victims,

> amongst

> > whom were numbered his innocent wife, the noble Marian, of Maccabee

> > blood, and three of is own sons. The seven woman of his harem had

> > fled the presence of the royal phantom. His very bodyguard had

> > abandoned him. Impassive by the side of the dying wretch sat his

> > sister Salome, his evil genius, the instigator of his foulest

> crimes.

> > With diadem on brow, and breast sparkling with precious stones,

> she

> > kept watch, waiting for the king's last breath, when she in her

> turn

> > would seize the reins of sovereignty. Thus died the last king of

> the

> > Jews. At this very moment had just been born the future spiritual

> > king of humanity, and the few initiates of Israel were silently

> > preparing for his reign in profound humility and silence.

> >

> >

> > Kessinger Publishing's, Rare Mystical Reprints

> > ISBN 1-56459-498-X

> >

>