BEHOLDING THE TRANSFIGURATION

 

Seen from the sacred and the cosmic order the state in which present-day humanity finds itself is rather dramatic, for man is no longer the concrete manifestation of the sacred and no longer reflects the divine. Moreover our life environment is seriously polluted, especially in the imperceptible, subtle habitats and spheres of the earth and of humanity.

Therefore, as human beings, we live at the lowest quality level of the hierarchical order – not only with respect to the angelic hosts, but also with regard to the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom, since the minerals, plants, animals and angels are each in their natural place. How could this happen?

For that we turn to the myths of humankind. Myths incorporate inner knowledge which is veiled in symbolic language; every myth is like an oyster in which a pearl of wisdom is hidden. Myths encourage a human being to experience, explore and look inward.

According to the myth of creation in the first chapter of the Bible Book of Genesis, man was created on the sixth day as an androgynous (male and female in one) spiritual being after God’s image. The original man bears all dimensions and levels of reality within him. Absolute freedom of choice and creative ability grant him great potential, but they also entail the greatest dangers because the young Human Being is still an unconscious god.

According to the myth, man was formed from the dust of the earth, and the breath of life was blown into his nose: he started breathing in and living from the energies of his own creator. He is given the opportunity to learn and use his creative power and his freedom, and thus understand the plan of God from experience. The young human being could then develop from an unconscious state into a living spirit-soul to be a conscious bridge between Creator and creation.

His original body consisted of ‘dust’ or ‘earth’, the subtle primordial matter of the heavenly ether body. Our gross material body that we know so well, which our I uses and in which we can see each other, consists of coarse matter and is different from the original one. This body was not included in the plan of God but is the result of an incident during the development of Humanity. In many myths and legends that incident is referred to as a fall, a fall into a lower world.

A garden, a fenced place in Eden, was founded as a residence for the Human Adam, and Eve was generated from him. Four rivers flow there from a single source and the garden was full of trees with seed-bearing fruits. The man that has been brought to life shall eat only from seed-bearing fruit, says Genesis 1:29. Everything else that might serve as food is meant for the other creatures such as the animals. In the midst of the Garden of Eden are also two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is the tree of the consciousness of duality.

In the Garden of Eden the androgynous Adam is made into a dual being, an Adam-Eve. Adam is the male, inhaling and creative power: the ‘consciousness.’ Eve is the female, invigorating and productive power: ‘desire, longing’. Every person can verify for himself that desire and longing are inextricably connected to duality.

Desire stems from the existence of two poles in the dual being: you can only wish for something that you do not have, or to be somewhere where you are not. A unity that is broken wants to restore itself. And it is the tremendous power of desire that puts absolutely everything in motion and thus enables unity again.

In the present human body the co-operating forces Adam-Eve express themselves in the serpent fire that is located in the spinal cord. It is sometimes referred to as the fiery serpent (Adam) and the copper Serpent (Eve) that are present within every human being. Eve is tempted by the serpent, so the myth says, to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

This very veiled designation indicates the universal activity of the two-in-one unity of Adam-Eve within every human being, namely that what is still living invisibly in the consciousness (Adam) will become visible through Eve as a deed, the productive urge. Therefore both Adam and Eve eat from the fruit of the tree of good and evil, for the consequences of an act are necessarily always stored in the consciousness.

Adam and Eve together form the only path to self-awareness and knowledge, as one serpent tempts another. The Man Adam-Eve has the innate desire to be equal to God – it is after all the reason for his existence – and he believes that he could better acquire this state if he were to have more knowledge of duality.

Therefore, out of desire for knowledge, but in ignorance and complete freedom, Man makes the choice to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Immediately he becomes aware of his unconsciousness, his nakedness, and covers his creative power with fig leaves, symbolising awakening and initiation among other things. Adam and Eve are then clothed by God in ‘animal skins‘ since they have eaten from non-seed-bearing fruit, which was intended for the animals and other creatures.

Humankind receives gross material bodies of either male or female character and so goes its self-chosen path of experience to ‘knowledge of good and evil.’ Humanity is initiated, as it were, into the mysteries of duality.

Let us now show a different picture of the essence of the Genesis myth, an image that may lead to a deeper and inner understanding. In the myth of the fall lies the foundation for that phase on the spiritual path which is called ‘the transfiguration on the mount.’

Everything that breathes in must also breathe out again. What is inhaled, is exhaled in an altered state. That can involve air, but also energies. The purpose of the miniature world or microcosm ‘Man’ is to cooperate in shaping the creation by inhaling, transforming and then radiating divine energies.

Some human microcosms chose to receive the divine energies, but not to transform them and radiate them out. This fiery concentration of forces caused overheating, disharmony and damage.

The damaged microcosms were therefore placed outside the Garden of Eden, into a new fenced area with a much lower vibration, a higher density and different laws in order to prevent further mischief within the creation and to provide opportunities for restoration.

Slowly and gradually Man forgot his high birth and task there. He is as fallen asleep in the slow world of coarse matter, and he cannot express his true self there. His heavenly body has fallen apart and his abilities to think, to feel and to want are shifted to the ‘animal skins’, to the material man, in whom these abilities still are expressed only in a very attenuated form.

The three interconnected faculties of thinking, feeling and desiring always lead to creative action, to deeds. However, due to our unconsciousness and the urging of our desires, they unfortunately often lead to acts that we regret or are unable to stop. But everything that exists has an innate desire for balance and recovery.

Since the beginning of ‘the fall’ the heavenly hierarchies have been working continuously to awaken fallen dormant human beings to enable them to rebuild their heavenly bodies. For that purpose each fallen microcosm was fitted with a temporary replacement: the mortal human being. Only through this mortal form can fallen humanity return to the Garden of Eden to take its place again as a bridge between Creator and creation.

Many world teachers have been sent to humanity, myths and legends offered, books written and mystery schools founded in order to keep the memory of our original home alive within fallen humanity.

However, due to our current living conditions, our bodies of coarse matter last only a certain amount of time and must continuously be replaced. Time after time the disembodied microcosms of Man receive a new gross material body with a mortal personality connected to it.

Only this manifested personality can continue the path through experience of ‘good and evil’ on behalf of the microcosm and thereby set foot on the spiritual path of rebirth of the soul-body. Such a person then becomes a pupil of the Gnosis. Many incarnations are necessary, however, before adequate ‘knowledge of good and evil’ is gained.

For all those personalities have different experiences, the essence of which is stored as what we call karma. There is grace in the law of karma: not a single experience is lost, no experience is for nothing. Therefore it is said:

‘I am a wanderer, changing place after place and house after house until I come unto the City and Mansion which is eternal.’

The Gospel of the Holy Twelve 37: 8

The microcosm’s urge to ‘knowledge of good and evil’ reaches a fullness after many lives and experiences with its associated body. A kind of weariness, a strange sort of calmness arises. The human being no longer knows where to direct his longing, he feels as if he has already seen it all, as if he has experienced everything.

He especially experiences a deep longing for wholeness, for depth and for true life. This new desire springs from the spirit-spark and can elevate the inner consciousness to the heights of the true life of Man. When this new higher desire is kept burning, following the impulses of the soul right through many resistances, then a personality change will occur.

This change is pictured in the myth of the transfiguration on the mount, as described in the Gospels of Matthew (17: 1-13), Mark (9: 2-13) and Luke (9: 28-36) and in The Gospel of the Holy Twelve.

Jesus brings his disciples James, John and Peter to a high mountain where they elevate themselves inwardly, and seek conscious contact with the original. These disciples symbolise the three core capabilities of the personality: thinking, feeling and willing. In a higher octave these capabilities belong to the soul where they are expressed as: knowledge, love and action.

In chapter 46 of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, we read:

…and as he was praying, the fashion of his countenance was changed, and he was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his clothing was white as the light.

And, behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him and they spoke of the Law and of his death which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

Moses spoke, saying, “This is he of whom I foretold, saying, ‘A prophet from the midst of your brethren, like me shall the Eternal send to you, and that which the Eternal speaks to him, shall he speak to you, and to him you shall listen; and whoever will not obey shall bring upon themselves their own destruction.’”

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you will let us make here three tabernacles; one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”

While he yet spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and twelve rays as of the sun issued from behind the cloud, and a voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.”

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were amazed, and Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise and do not be afraid.” And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, only Jesus. And the six glories were seen upon him.

The Gospel of the Holy Twelve 46: 1-6

Due to the first desire (Eve), namely that for true knowledge, humanity was once placed in coarse matter in a body suited to it. Through the new Eve, the desire for true life, a new soul body will be formed made up of ether forces. With this body humanity will be able to enter the Garden of Eden once again.

This new body of Jesus – the inner man – is beheld in an inner vision. Man beholds something of the transfiguration taking place within him. The three great prophets Moses, Elijah and Jesus speak with each other in the vision. They indicate a triple alliance with the Universal Brotherhood that is assisting humanity.

The Jewish Bible is also called ‘the Law and the Prophets.’ This law is the so-called Torah, attributed to Moses and reflected in the first five books of the Bible that Christians call the Old Testament. That Law is much more than a collection of stories and regulations. It is based on deep inner knowledge. Therefore it is written: “the garment of the Torah is not the Torah.”

Moses, an Egyptian initiate and priest of Osiris, symbolises the knowledge of the Law. Elijah represents the prophets and symbolises the love for the Law.

And Jesus, since his baptism in the Jordan as the Christ, symbolises the fulfilment of the Law. He said:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law or the prophets until all be fulfilled. But behold, One greater than Moses is here and he will give you the higher law, even the perfect Law, and this Law shall you obey.

The Gospel of the Holy Twelve 25:8

The outward law, including the Ten Commandments as given by Moses, keep humanity, in whom the soul is not yet awakened, within certain moral boundaries. This law protects against crystallisation and decay and prepares for inner development. Once an inner awakening has taken place and the sevenfold soul – symbolised by Jesus and the six emanations – has become sufficiently powerful, the higher law of the soul takes the place of the outer law.

The Sermon on the Mount is a representation of the inner law, the law of Love of the soul. If the pupil of the soul actually listens to the inner law at this stage of development, then the pure powers of the soul to ‘think, feel and desire’ can be reflected in the personality as ‘understanding, loving and serving.’ Then a voice resounds from the brightly radiating cloud, saying:

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.”