Levi H. Dowling - The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

9. And Jesus said, Do you not know that I must be about my Father's work?

10. But he went round and pressed the hand of every doctor of the law and said, I trust that we may meet again.

11. And then he went forth with his parents on their way to Nazareth; and when they reached their home he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.

12. One day as he was bringing forth the tools for work he said,

13. These tools remind me of the ones we handle in the workshop of the mind where things were made of thought and where we build up character.

14. We use the square to measure all our lines, to straighten out the crooked places of the way, and make the corners of our conduct square.

15. We use the compass to draw circles round our passions and desires to keep them in the bounds of righteousness.

16. We use the axe to cut away the knotty, useless and ungainly parts and make the character symmetrical.

17. We use the hammer to drive home the truth, and pound it in until it is a part of every part.

18. We use the plane to smooth the rough, uneven surfaces of joint, and block, and board that go to build the temple for the truth.

19. The chisel, line, the plummet and the saw all have their uses in the workshop of the mind.

20. And then this ladder with its trinity of steps, faith, hope and love; on it we climb up to the dome of purity in life.

21. And on the twelve-step ladder we ascend until we reach the pinnacle of that which life is spent to build--the Temple of Perfected Man.

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1. A royal prince of India, Ravanna of Orissa in the south, was at the Jewish feast.

2. Ravanna was a man of wealth; and he was just, and with a band of Brahmic priests sought wisdom in the West.

3. When Jesus stood among the Jewish priests and read and spoke, Ravanna heard and was amazed.

4. And when he asked who Jesus was, from whence he came and what he was, chief Hillel said,5. We call this child the Day Star from on high, for he has come to bring to men a light, the light of life; to lighten up the way of men and to redeem his people, Israel.

6. And Hillel told Ravanna all about the child; about the prophecies concerning him; about the wonders of the night when he was born; about the visit of the magian priests;

7. About the way in which he was protected from the wrath of evil men; about his flight to Egypt-land, and how he then was serving with his father as a carpenter in Nazareth.

8. Ravanna was entranced, and asked to know the way to Nazareth, that he might go and honor such a one as son of God.

9. And with his gorgeous train he journeyed on the way and came to Nazareth of Galilee.

10. He found the object of his search engaged in building dwellings for the sons of men.

11. And when he first saw Jesus he was climbing up a twelve step ladder, and he carried in his hands a compass, square and axe.

12. Ravanna said, All hail, most favored son of heaven!

13. And at the inn Ravanna made a feast for all the people of the town; and Jesus and his parents were honored guests.

14. For certain days Ravanna was a guest in Joseph's home on Marmion Way; he sought to learn the secret of the wisdom of the son; but it was all to great for him.

15. And then he asked that he might be the patron of the child; might take him to the East where he could learn the wisdom of the Brahms.

16. And Jesus longed to go that he might learn; and after many days his parents gave consent.

17. Then, with proud heart, Ravanna with his train, began the journey towards the rising sun; and after many days they crossed the Sind, and reached the province of Orissa, and the palace of the prince.

18. The Brahmic priests were glad to welcome home the prince; with favor they received the Jewish boy.

19. And Jesus was accepted as a pupil in the temple Jagannath; and here learned the Vedas and the Manic laws.

20. The Brahmic masters wondered at the clear conceptions of the child, and often were amazed when he explained to them the meaning of the laws.

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1. Among the priests of Jagannath was one who loved the Jewish boy. Lamaas Bramas was the name by which the priest was known.

2. One day as Jesus and Lamaas walked alone in plaza Jagannath, Lamaas said, My Jewish master, what is truth?

3. And Jesus said, Truth is the only thing that changes not.

4. In all the world there are two things; the one is truth; the other falsehood is; and truth is that which is, and falsehood that which seems to be.

5. Now truth is aught, and has no cause, and yet it is the cause of everything.

6. Falsehood is naught, and yet it is the manifest of aught.

7. Whatever has been made will be unmade; that which begins must end.

8. All things that can be seen by human eyes are manifests of aught, are naught, and so must pass away.

9. The things we see are but reflexes just appearing, while the ethers vibrate so and so, and when conditions change they disappear.

10. The Holy Breath is truth; is that which was, and is, and evermore shall be; it cannot change nor pass away.

11. Lamaas said, You answer well; now, what is man?

12. And Jesus said, Man is the truth and falsehood strangely mixed.

13. Man is the Breath made flesh; so truth and falsehood are conjoined in him; and they strive, and naught goes down and man as truth abides.

14. Again Lamaas asked, What do you say of power?

15. And Jesus said, It is a manifest; is the result of force; it is but naught; it is illusion, nothing more. Force changes not, but power changes as the ethers change.

16. Force is the will of God and is omnipotent, and power is that will in manifest, directed by the Breath.

17. There is power in the winds, a power in the waves, a power in the lightning's stroke, a power in the human arm, a power in the eye.

18. The ethers cause these powers to be, and thought of Elohim, of angel, man, or other thinking thing, directs the force; when it has done its work the power is no more.

19. Again Lamaas asked, Of understanding what have you to say?

20. And Jesus said, It is the rock on which man builds himself; it is the gnosis of the aught and of the naught, of falsehood and of truth.

21. It is the knowledge of the lower self; the sensing of the powers of man himself.

22. Again Lamaas asked, Of wisdom what have you to say?

23. And Jesus said, It is the consciousness that man is aught; that God and man are one;

24. That naught is naught; that power is but illusion; that heaven and earth and hell are not above, around, below, but in; which in the light of aught becomes the naught, and God is all.

25. Lamaas asked, Pray, what is faith?

26. And Jesus said, Faith is the surety of the omnipotence of God and man; the certainty that man will reach the deific life.

27. Salvation is a ladder reaching from the heart of man to heart of God.

28. It has three steps; Belief is first, and this is what man thinks, perhaps, is truth.

29. And faith is next, and this is what man knows is truth.

30. Fruition is the last, and this is man himself, the truth.

31. Belief is lost in faith; and in fruition faith is lost; and man is saved when he has reached deific life; when he and God are one.

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1. Now, Jesus with his friend Lamaas went through all the regions of Orissa, and the valley of the Ganges, seeking wisdom from the sudras and the visyas and the masters.

2. Benares of the Ganges was a city rich in culture and in learning; here the two rabbonis tarried many days.

3. And Jesus sought to learn the Hindu art of healing, and became the pupil of Udraka, greatest of the Hindu healers.