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

16. In Persia Brahm was known, and feared. Men saw him as the One, the causeless Cause of all that is, and he was sacred unto them, as Tao to the dwellers of the farther East.

17. The people lived in peace, and justice ruled.

18. But, as in other lands, in Persia priests arose imbued with self and self desires, who outraged Force, Intelligence and Love;

19. Religion grew corrupt, and birds and beasts and creeping things were set apart as gods.

20. In course of time a lofty soul, whom men called Zarathustra, came in flesh.

21. He saw the causeless Spirit, high and lifted up; he saw the weakness of all man appointed gods.

22. He spoke and all of Persia heard; and when he said, One God, one people and one shrine, the altars of the idols fell, and Persia was redeemed.

23. But men must see their Gods with human eyes, and Zarathustra said,

24. The greatest of the Spirits standing near the throne is the Ahura Mazda, who manifests in brightness of the sun.

25. And all the people saw Ahura Mazda in the sun, and they fell down and worshipped him in temples of the sun.

26. And Persia is the magian land where live the priests who saw the star arise to mark the place where Mary's son was born, and were the first to greet him as the Prince of Peace.

27. The precepts and the laws of Zarathustra are preserved in the Avesta which you can read and make your own.

28. But you must know that words are naught till they are made alive; until the lessons they contain become a part of head and heart.

29. Now truth is one; but no one knows the truth until he is the truth. It is recorded in an ancient book.

30. Truth is the leavening power of God; it can transmute the all of life into itself; and when the all of life is truth, then man is truth.

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1. Again Elihu taught; he said, The Indian priests became corrupt; Brahm was forgotten in the streets; the rights of men were trampled in the dust.

2. And the a mighty master came, a Buddha of enlightenment, who turned away from wealth and all the honours of the world, and found the Silence in the quiet groves and caves; and he was blest.

3. He preached a gospel of the higher life, and taught man how to honour man.

4. He had no doctrine of the gods to teach; he just knew man, and so his creed was justice, love and righteousness.

5. I quote for you a few of many of the helpful words which Buddha spoke:

6. Hate is a cruel word. If men hate you regard it not; and you can turn the hate of men to love and mercy and goodwill, and mercy is as large as all the heavens.

7. And there is good enough for all. With good destroy the bad; with generous deeds make avarice ashamed; with truth make straight the crooked lines that error draws, for error is but truth distorted, gone astray.

8. And pain will follow him who speaks or acts with evil thoughts, as does the wheel the foot of him who draws the cart.

9. He is a greater man who conquers self than he who kills a thousand men in war.

10. He is the noble man who is himself what he believes what other men should be.

11. Return to him who does you wrong your purest love, and he will cease from doing wrong; for love will purify the heart of him who is beloved as truly as it purifies the heart of him who loves.

12. The words of Buddha are recorded in the Indian sacred books; attend to them, for they are part of the instructions of the Holy Breath.

13. The land of Egypt is the land of secret things.

14. The mysteries of the ages lie lock-bound in our temples and our shines.

15. The masters of all times and climes come here to learn; and when your sons have grown to manhood they will finish all their studies in Egyptian schools.

16. But I have said enough. To-morrow at the rising of the sun we meet again.

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1. Now, when the morning sun arose the masters and their pupils all were in the sacred grove.

2. Salome was the first to speak; she said, Behold the sun! It manifests the power of God who speaks to us through sun and moon and stars;

3. Through mountain, hill and vale; through flower, and plant and tree.

4. God sings for us through bird, and harpsichord, and human voice; he speaks to us through wind and rain and thunder roll; why should we not bow down and worship at his feet?

5. God speaks to hearts apart; and hearts apart must speak to him; and this is prayer.

6. It is not prayer to shout at God, to stand, or sit, or kneel and tell him all about the sins of men.

7. It is not prayer to tell the Holy One how great he is, how good he is, how strong and how compassionate.

8. God is not man to be bought up by praise of man.

9. Prayer is the ardent wish that every way of life be light; that every act be crowned with good; that every living thing be prospered by our ministry.

10. A noble deed, a helpful word is prayer; a fervent, an effectual prayer.

11. The fount of prayer is in the heart; by thought, not words, the heart is carried up to God, where it is blest, Then let us pray.

12. They prayed, but not a word was said; but in that holy Silence every heart was blest.

13. And then Elihu spoke. He said to Mary and Elizabeth, Our words are said; you need not tarry longer here; the call has come; the way is clear, you may return unto your native land.

14. A mighty work is given you to do; you shall direct the minds that will direct the world.

15. Your sons are set apart to lead men up to righteous thoughts, and words, and deeds;

16. To make men know the sinfulness of sin; to lead them from the adoration of the lower self, and all illusive things, and make them conscious of the self that lives with Christ in God.

17. In preparation for their work your sons must walk in many thorny paths.

18. Fierce trials and temptations they will meet, like other men; their loads will not be light, and they will weary be, and faint.

19. And they will know the pangs of hunger and of thirst; and without cause they will be mocked, imprisoned, scourged.

20. To many countries they will go, and at the feet of many masters they will sit, for they must learn like other men.

21. But we have said enough. The blessings of the Three and of the Seven, who stand before the throne, will surely rest upon you evermore.

22. Thus closed the lessons of Elihu and Salome. Three years they taught their pupils in the sacred grove, and if their lessons all were written in a book, lo, it would be a mighty book; of what they said we have the sum.

23. Now, Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth with Jesus and his harbinger, set forth upon their homeward way. They went not by Jerusalem, for Archelaus reigned.

24. They journeyed by the Bitter Sea, and when they reached Engedi hills they rested in the home of Joshua, a near of kin; and here Elizabeth and John abode.

25. But Joseph, Mary and their son went by the Jordan way, and after certain days they reached their home in Nazareth.

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1. Elizabeth was blest; she spent her time with John, and gave to him the lessons that Elihu and Salome had given her.

2. And John delighted in the wilderness of his home and in the lessons that he learned.

3. Now in the hills were many caves. The cave of David was a-near in which the Hermit of Engedi lived.

4. This hermit was Matheno, priest of Egypt, master from the temple of Sakara.

5. When John was seven years of age Matheno took him to the wilderness and in the cave of David they abode.

6. Matheno taught, and John was thrilled with what the master said, and day by day Matheno opened up to him the mysteries of life.

7. John loved the wilderness; he loved his master and his simple fare. Their food was fruits, and nuts, wild honey and the carob bread.