Seven fundamental principles for your life
As humanity, we stand at the beginning of a new era with great possibilities that will last more than 2100 years: the Age of Aquarius. At the present time the deeper spiritual aspects of the great lessons that Jesus gave to the world can be understood and realized by millions of people, because the possibilities of arriving at a heightened state of spiritual consciousness have never been greater than now.
On our journey through life we may depend upon our deepest inner self and the Wisdom that is made available to humanity. If we want to go a spiritual path, more is needed however: the deed, the intelligent act in accordance with the inner knowledge and the insights gained.
That’s what matters. Because the human intellect is far from complete, it serves a great purpose! And faith will never mean adhering to a system, but rather using the opportunity to convert the power in the heart into a conscious deed. Heart, head and hands: every conscious action – be it an internal or an external act – that comes from inner knowing, is a testimony.
If you want to determine a course for your life from a gnostic spiritual starting point, it is meaningful to know where you came from, where you are now and in which direction you might go. The seven sages define seven fundamental principles (seven postulates) which reflect the inner spiritual journey of the Aquarian age.
The seven fundamental principles or axioms are based on the idea formulated by Lao Zi as “He who knows the beginning of the Original has the thread of Tao in his hands.” These principles are abstract but will be understood by more and more people as human thought becomes less and less determined by what is perceived with the senses.
In chapter 60 of The Aquarian Gospel Jesus says:
The history of life is well condensed in these immortal postulates. These are the seven hills on which the holy city shall be built. These are the seven sure foundation stones on which the Universal Church shall stand.
Man is not far enough advanced in sacred thought to comprehend the Universal Church, and so the work that God has given me to do is not the building of that Church. I am a model maker, sent to make a pattern of the Church that is to be – a pattern that the age may comprehend. And when the better age shall come the Universal Church will stand upon the seven postulates, and will be built according to the pattern given.
It can be deduced from the Introduction to The Aquarian Gospel that in this passage Jesus refers to the Piscean era as ‘the age’, and the Age of Aquarius as ‘the better age’. Here an ‘age’ is one 12th part of a solar cycle of around 26,000 years. Each solar year goes through 12 different periods that are influenced astronomically by a sign from the well-known zodiac. The solar year is the result of the cone-shaped spinning motion of the earth’s axis.
When we clearly and concisely formulate the ideas on which the seven fundamental principles of The Aquarian Gospel are based and we link these with what we have discussed so far in the reflections in Spiritual Christmas, their sequence and relationship become clear.
The first principle: Creation begins with thinking. The unknowable God also creates by thinking.
The second principle: There is a grandiose divine plan of creation that evolves according to certain laws. Man is also a part of this and is called to collaborate in the realization of this plan of creation. Man was originally a purely spiritual being.
The third principle: Due to his strong desires, the original spiritual man descended into the realm of matter, causing all forms of life to become disharmonious, and the living exchange between man and the higher divine realm to disappear.
The fourth principle: This ‘descended spiritual man’ degenerated and was connected to a physical body and an earthy personality that develop almost automatically to a more or less perfect form. He grows as a plant grows, reaching a limit whereupon it becomes possible to ascend to spiritual life. The personality, based on inner desire, begins to make preparations for spiritual awakening and renewal. John is born, grows up and starts to prepare the way.
The fifth principle: The New Soul (Jesus) is born and grows in the physical human being based on will and faith, neighbourly love and universal love. Man can once again connect with the spirit through this new soul. Spirit is not the mind but is ‘holy breath’, the healing power.
The sixth principle: The new soul grows and becomes more powerful. The inner light dispels the vices of the personality. The entire human system is now a prepared temple in which the cosmic power of Christ will live.
The seventh principle: The power of Christ transforms all the essences of the human soul into ‘Holy Breath’. Through this inner alchemical process, through this transfiguration, the human being can return to the high divine realm from which he originated. Personality, soul and spirit once more form an effective and harmonious trinity. The return journey to our native spiritual land is complete.
According to the Chinese sage Meng-ste, it was necessary for these basic principles to be formulated. The vestures of the ancestors, he says, were threadbare, and humanity was longing for more light because a higher means of thinking had been reached.
What is meant by ‘vestures’ is: all the outward forms in which the divine wisdom is expressed. Sacred scriptures and rituals are like garments: they express something of the divine wisdom, but they are not gnosis itself.
The seven basic principles reveal a cosmic image that is almost impossible for the human mind to imagine. They describe the great development plan for creation wherein the well known hermetic law always applies: “as above, so below” and: “as in the greater, so in the lesser.”
These abstract principles therefore contain universal and useful guidelines for the human being who wants to be a ‘disciple of the soul.’ The guidelines for the daily life of the human being who wants to develop him/herself in the highest spiritual sense are based on Love and derived from the seven fundamental principles of The Aquarian Gospel. They appeal to heart, head and hands, and they read:
- Purify your thoughts by focusing on the highest within you, because thinking is a creative activity. Each creator is bound to his creature.
- Add your harmony to the seven creative, driving forces emanating from the One. They have shaped the human being and help to build the kingdom of the soul within us. Do not point your lamp at the seductive powers of this world.
- Pay attention to your desires. They often pull the soul downward into the world of the senses in which the soul then becomes entangled.
- Acknowledge your great task as a personality, because you are the soil wherein the seed of the true man shall germinate and grow as the plant grows.
- Rely on your inner knowing and follow it, because faith is a force that liberates the all-conquering Love of the soul. The soul is being drawn toward the absolute light by four steeds: will and faith, neighbourly love and universal love.
- Allow the process of renewal to complete itself within you by going your inner path, for then all the things of the senses will be transformed into soul attributes. It is in unity, liberty and love that the soul builds the Empire of the Soul, the Universal Church, which was not made by human hands.
- The holy, healing breath can then spread itself in the soul and transform the human being into the spiritual being that he originally was.
Accept these seven touchstones as they are the seven steps through which the Christ can descend into the soul. The mysteries of Love are found in the tomb of your heart. Christ, the universal love, lives there where your passions also reside.
These seven principles are the vestures of the universal gnosis by which the great cosmic processes can take place within you. And they invite you to follow them, through inner understanding.