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The Reappearance of the Christ - Chapter IV - The Work of the Christ Today and in the Future
I. The Crises of the Christ In the life of every disciple, particularly of those who face certain great expansions of consciousness, a point of crisis will come about. In that point of crisis, decisions are voluntarily or involuntarily made; having made them, the disciple then stands at a point of tension, with the decision behind him and the next step to be taken becoming clearer to his mental perception, and influencing his attitude to the future. When the work is done in the period of tension, then there comes what we might call the point of emergence. This is both an emergence from and also an emergence into a field of experience. The Christ Himself is no exception to this threefold experience and - in order that we may understand more fully - let us apply these three phrases (inappropriate as they basically are) to the actions and the reactions of the Christ. There is no crisis for Him in the sense that crises exist for us; there is no strain or stress attached to His point of tension; the parallel is, however, good enough to convey something to you of what has transpired within that state of awareness which distinguishes the spiritual Hierarchy; to this state of consciousness we can give the name of "spiritual perception," in contradistinction to the mental perception which is the human counterpart. It must be remembered that the point of crisis, producing the point of tension to which the Christ may be regarded as voluntarily subjecting Himself is a hierarchical matter or event, because the entire Hierarchy is involved in the crisis. The reason for this is simple: the Christ and His workers know only the experience of group consciousness. A separative participation and attitude is unknown to [69] Them, for Their state of awareness is inclusive and in no way exclusive. Using, therefore, human terminology in order to interpret the divine reactions of the Christ and His disciples, it must be realized that the point of crisis which is responsible for hierarchical tension and for the eventual appearance or the emergence of the Christ, lies behind the Christ; it is in the field of long past experience. The consequent point of tension is now controlling the affairs of the spiritual Hierarchy and its many groups of workers. The "point of decision," as it is called in all hierarchical circles, was reached during the period between the Full Moon of June, 1936, and the Full Moon of June, 1945. The point of decision covered, therefore, nine years (a relatively brief time); it resulted in the decision arrived at by the Christ to reappear or return to visible Presence on Earth as soon as possible, and considerably earlier than had been planned. This decision was necessarily made in consultation with the Lord of the World, the "Ancient of Days" of The Old Testament, and the "One in Whom we live and move and have our being" of The New Testament. He is the Custodian of the Will of God. It was also made with the full understanding and cooperation of the Masters and the senior initiates. This was inevitably so, because Their participation and help were imperative. They also necessarily had to be with Him in thought, and cooperating mentally, because His reappearance connotes a great hierarchical approach to humanity and a great spiritual event. The decision was, nevertheless, the decision of the Christ and marked not only a point of crisis in His experience but a point of climax in His expression of divinity. With all reverence and within the bounds of our human [70] understanding, it must be remembered that there is nothing static in the entire evolutionary process of our planet or of the cosmos; there is naught but process and progress, a moving on, an increasing attainment and a mounting achievement. To this great law of the universe, even the Christ Himself is subject. In all reverence again, let it here be pointed out that He too has moved on in His experience of divinity and is (if it may be so expressed) closer to the Father and to the One Universal Life than ever before. His comprehension and His apprehension of the Will of God is deeper and His fulfilment of that Will is more in line with the divine Purpose than it was in Palestine two thousand years ago. There has necessarily been (on the part of Christ) a growing perception of the intention of the divine Mind, as it is embodied in that Identity to Whom we give the name of God. No longer need Christ, in agony say, "Father, not my will but Thine be done"; He has today no personal will but only the will of His Father animates Him and the ability to make decisions which are a full expression of that divine Will. It is difficult to express His achievement in other words. Commentators have sought to explain away and gloss over the Gethsemane experience of the Christ, and to attribute what appears as weakness to an upsurging of Christ's humanity and, consequently, to a temporary submergence of His divine nature. They have been forced into this position because of the prevalent theological dictum as to Christ's divine perfection - an absolute, sovereign and ultimate perfection to which He Himself never made the slightest claim. He is today nearer that perfection than He ever was when before on Earth. It was this divine unfoldment which made it possible for Him to make right choice, not only for [71] Himself but also for the spiritual Hierarchy, during the years of decision, prior to June, 1945. Under the divine will, He had to reappear on Earth in visible Presence. He had to preside over the materialization of the Kingdom of God on Earth, and He had to reinstitute the Mysteries of Initiation in such a form that they would prove the basis of the new world religion. Above all, He had to reveal the nature of the will of God. That will is often regarded as a power by means of which things are done, situations are brought about, activities are instituted and plans are worked out, and often ruthlessly worked out. This general definition is the easiest for men to formulate, because it is understood by them in terms of their own self-will, the will to individual self-betterment. This type of will is selfish and misunderstood at first, but tends eventually to selflessness, as evolution carries out its beneficent task. Then the will is interpreted in terms of the hierarchical plan and the effort of the individual man becomes that of negating his original self-will, and seeking then to merge his will with that of the group - the group being itself an aspect of hierarchical effort. This is a great step onward in orientation and will lead eventually to a change in consciousness.
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