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Autobiography of Alice A. Bailey - Chapter VI
A third unique thing which the Tibetan has accomplished, and this within the last few months, has been to present the platform and certain indications as to rituals upon which the new world religion can be founded. The need has long been apparent for some point of contact between the exoteric religions of the West and the esoteric faiths of the East. On the levels of the esoteric or spiritual approach to divinity there has always been uniformity between the East and the West. The techniques followed by the mystical seeker after God in the Occident are identical with those followed by the seeker in the Orient. At a certain point on the path of return to God all ways meet and then the procedure is uniform for all subsequent stages of approach. The steps in meditation are identical. This will be apparent to anyone who studies the works of Meister Eckhart and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. All of the great expansions of consciousness as outlined in the Hindu philosophy and the expression of these five great expansions as portrayed in the five great crises in the life [238] of the Christ, related in the New Testament, are also the same. When man begins consciously to seek out God and consciously to take himself in hand for discipline and endurance, he finds himself at one with seekers in the East and in the West and with those who lived before Christ ever came and with those who are seeking today. It was in an effort to make the relation between the East and the West clear that I wrote the book, The Light of the Soul. It is a commentary upon the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, who lived and taught probably 9000 years before Christ. The Tibetan gave me the paraphrase of the ancient Sanskrit phrases because I know no Sanskrit but I, myself, wrote the commentary, as I was anxious to present an interpretation of the Sutras which would be more adapted to the Western type of mind and consciousness than the usual oriental presentation. I also wrote From Bethlehem to Calvary in order to trace the significance of the five major episodes in the life of the Christ - the birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion and resurrection - and their relationship to the five initiations as outlined for the Eastern disciple. Both these books have a definite bearing upon the new world religion. The time must come when the work of the great Master in the East, the Buddha, Who came to earth and achieved illumination and became the guide and teacher of millions of orientals, and the work of the Christ, Who came as the teacher and savior recognized first by the occident, must achieve fusion. There is no divergence or conflict in Their teaching. There is no competition between Them. They stand forth as the two greatest world teachers and saviors. One has guided the Orient and the other has guided the Occident nearer to God. It is this theme that the Tibetan elaborates in His pamphlet, The New World Religion. He indicates that the [239] work of the Buddha prepared people for the Path of Discipleship, whilst the work of the Christ prepared people for Initiation. He indicated a ritual in this pamphlet in which the great day of the Buddha, the Wesak Festival (the Vaisakha Festival at the May full moon), and Easter Sunday, fixed by the April full moon, stood for the illuminated Buddha and the risen Christ, whilst the full moon of June was the Festival of Humanity making its major annual approach to God under the guidance of Christ. The other full moons in each month constitute lesser festivals in which certain spiritual qualities necessary for the expression of discipleship and initiation are considered and emphasized. One other revolutionary activity brought to the attention of humanity by the Tibetan indicates the first steps that are being taken by the Hierarchy to approach closer to humanity, to restore the ancient Mysteries, and to externalize and make possible the manifestation upon the physical plane of the Masters and Their groups of disciples gathered together in what are technically called Ashrams. Implicit in this effort, therefore, lies the significance of the second advent of the Christ. He will come bringing His disciples with Him. The Masters will again some day be present upon earth as They were millions of years ago during the infancy of mankind. Then They left us for a while and disappeared behind the veil which separates the seen from the unseen. This they did in order to give man time to develop free will, to become an adult using his mind, making his own decisions, orienting himself finally towards the kingdom of God and consciously endeavoring to tread the path of return. This has taken place on such a large scale that it now appears possible that within the coming century the Masters may emerge from Their silence and again be known among men. To this end the Tibetan has [240] been working and many of us have been collaborating with Him.
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