Man is not to be compelled;
he is to be free. He is not a slave, but a God in the making. — Annie
Besant.1
Man is a god in the making,
and as in the mystic myths of Egypt, on the potter’s wheel he is being
molded. — Manly P. Hall.2
The above two quotes
highlight the ultimate aim of the New Age Movement and the occult; it’s
the realization that Man is a god in the making. Once perfected, it is
held, Man can complete the journey back to the Divine Source.
Essentially, when an individual recognizes the "Christ Consciousness"
within, that person has then embarked on the path of the Masters. The
end result: a reunion between the inner "self" with the Universal Mind.
This is the core of the New
Age Movement. In the Messiah and the Second Coming, John Davis
and Naomi Rice explain that "The birth of the Christ Consciousness
within one’s own being is the most powerful happening that can occur
with the individual. This is the crowning achievement, the first
movement toward the complete oneness…."3
According to New Age
teachings, those who have achieved this stage of Christ Consciousness
and who have moved on to the next realm via death, reincarnation, and
spiritual ascension, are known variously as Ascended Masters, Adepts,
Members of the Planetary Hierarchy, Ascended Masters of the Wisdom, and
Perfected Men.4
C.W. Leadbeater, in his
Theosophical classic The Masters and the Path, linked
reincarnation, karma, and evolution into the developmental equation of
these Adepts:
The existence of Perfected
Men is one of the most important of the many new facts which Theosophy
puts before us. It follows logically from the other great Theosophical
teachings of karma and evolution by reincarnation. As we look round us
we see men obviously at all stages of their evolution — many far below
ourselves in development, and others who in one way or another are
distinctly in advance of us. Since that is so, there may well be
others who are very much further advanced; indeed, if men are steadily
growing better and better through a long series of successive lives,
tending towards a definite goal, there should certainly be some who
have already reached that goal.5
Expanding on this spiritual
evolutionary processes, Leadbeater weaved psychic powers into this
"enlightenment" matrix:
Some of us in the process
of that development have already succeeded in unfolding some of those
higher senses which are latent in every man, and will be the heritage
of all in the future; and by means of those senses we are enabled to
see the ladder of evolution extending far above us as well as far
below us; and we can also see that there are men standing upon every
rung of that ladder.6
Depending on which stream of
occult philosophy is studied, these Perfected Men may inhabit the bodies
of people now living, or they may exist only within a spiritual-cosmic
state. The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis teaches that "each
soul personality is always a part of the Universal Soul" and that when
"we speak of Cosmic Masters, therefore, or of invisible guides or
guardians, we are identifying the forces or the elements of Universal
Mind in a pictorial, easy-to-understand way."7 Furthermore,
AMORC teaches that these Cosmic Masters are not physical in shape after
"transition" (death), but that they can re-manifest in the physical
realm through incarnation, and that students who have undergone the
proper ascension rituals may find themselves in communication with these
illuminated Masters.8
Regardless of the variant
scenarios, all esoteric schools of thought adhere to the idea that these
Adepts are active. AMORC teaches that the Masters bring guidance
to the initiate, aiding in the quest for personal illumination.
Theosophy, and the myriad New Age teachings that have sprung from
Theosophy, talk of the Adept’s global plan — the forging of the world
into a New Age planetary society. Hence, it’s no surprise that these
Masters are also referred to as the "Custodians of the Plan."
So who are these "god-Men"?
The list is long and diverse, and the names mentioned here represent
only a small number of those who have been labeled "Spiritual Masters."
•
Maitreya the Christ (his messages are publicized and promoted by the
British artist Benjamin Crème).9
• The
Tibetan Adepts: Master El Morya, Master Djwal Kul, and Master Kuthumi.10
• The
Ascended Master Jesus the Christ (the occult world claims that the
Jesus of the Bible was an occult adept and a spiritually advanced
teacher, a holder of the "Christ" office — this runs completely
opposite to what Jesus Christ taught about Himself, the nature of God,
and the state of man).
• Lord
Gautama Buddha.
• Babaji.
• The
Ascended Master Saint Germain.
• Paul
the Venetian.
• The
Master Amatu.
• Mother
Mary,11
and others.
Not surprisingly, these
Ascended Masters — with a variation in Mary as the Queen of Heaven —
proclaim similar messages of self-mastery, the unfolding of "divinity"
within each individual, and mankind’s salvation through spiritual
evolution, reincarnation, and planetary service; all under the guidance
and direction of the Planetary Hierarchy. The messages that stem from
the global apparitions of Mary, however, often proclaim that man’s
salvation comes through her work and intercession.12
From a biblical perspective, both positions fail the test.
So what does the Bible say
about this type of activity?
Understand, the messages
proclaimed by these so-called Masters contradict the very heart of the
Gospel — the sinfulness of man and the exclusive, saving divinity of
Jesus Christ. Instead, the messages continually perpetuate and reinforce
the lie of Genesis 3 — "you will be as God." No wonder the writer of
Galatians gave this strong warning: "But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). Simply put, we
are to guard ourselves against any teaching that contradicts God’s Holy
Word — whether that teaching comes from angels (supernatural beings) or
men.
We would be wise to consider
and heed the words of Jesus Himself regarding spiritual deception:
And Jesus answered and said
unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in
my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many…And many false
prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many…For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the
very elect (Matthew 24:4, 5, 11, 24).
Notes:
1
Annie Besant, Esoteric Christianity (The Theosophical
Publishing House, 1909/1966), p. 220.
2
Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Macoy Publishing
and Masonic Supply Company, 1923/1951), p. 92.
3
John Davis and Naomi Rice, Messiah and the Second Coming
(Coptic Press, 1982), p. 22.
4
Gary Kah’s book The New World Religion, on pages 33-34, gives a
short list of some of the various names ascribed to these advanced
spiritual teachers.
5
C.W. Leadbeater, The Masters and the Path (The American
Theosophical Society, 1925), p. 1.
6
Ibid.
7
AMORC, Master Monograph, Neophyte Section, Atrium 2, Monograph 3.
8
See AMORC, Master Monograph, Illuminati Section, Degree 12, Monograph
8, for the example of the Master Moria. See also, Master Monograph,
Illuminati Section, Degree 12, Monograph 7. Furthermore, the entire
10th degree spotlights the historical work of Cosmic Masters while
guiding the student through attunement rituals in order to ascend the
Celestial Ladder of esoteric illumination. For more on AMORC’s
teaching on the Cosmic Masters, see Fragments from the Masters,
a Confidential Discourse series for the ninth degree.
NOTE: AMORC
literature only lists nine degrees, and for the vast majority of
students and individuals associated with AMORC, nine degrees is all
that is typically discussed or displayed. However, AMORC does offer
advanced degree work for exceptional students (for a short
explanation, see the Rosicrucian Manual, AMORC, p. 55).
9
Crème has published the messages of Maitreya in a number of books,
The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom (Tara
Press, 1980) and Messages from Maitreya the Christ (Tara Press,
1980) are but two that Crème’s organization, Share International,
promotes.
10
All three Tibetan Masters are found in Theosophical writings and in
the published works of Alice Bailey and Lucis Trust.
11
Certain esoteric schools hold up Mary as a type of Ascended Master
(the Ascended Masters Research Center has her in its list as well),
especially as her elevated status as Queen of Heaven is rooted in
historical paganism (see Will Durant’s The Age of Faith,
pp.745-748, for some background material on the rise of the Roman Mary
in relationship to the various pagan goddess of antiquity; see also
Cesar Vidal’s The Myth of Mary). For two good exposés on Mary
as the Mother and Queen of Heaven — positions that go far beyond the
Biblical mandate — see Jim Tetlow, Messages from Heaven
(Eternal Productions, 2002) and Cesar Vidal, The Myth of Mary
(Chick Publications, 1995).
Pope Pius XII, in his
Munificentissimus Deus, elevated the Ascension of Mary to that
of Roman Catholic dogma.
12
See, Jim Tetlow, Messages from Heaven (Eternal Productions,
2002).
|
