The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

CHAPTER 44

Jesus visits Greece and is welcomed by the Athenians. Meets Apollo. Addresses the Grecian masters in the Amphitheater. The address.

The Greek philosophy was full of pungent truth, and Jesus longed to study with the masters in the schools of Greece.

2 And so he left his home in Nazareth and crossed the Carmel hills, and at the port took ship, and soon was in the Grecian capital.

3 Now, the Athenians had heard of him as teacher and philosopher, and they were glad to have him come to them that they might hear his words of truth.

4 Among the masters of the Greeks was one, Apollo, who was called, Defender of the Oracle, and recognized in many lands as Grecian sage.

5 Apollo opened up for Jesus all the doors of Grecian lore, and in the Areopagus he heard the wisest masters speak.

6 But Jesus brought to them a wisdom greater far than theirs; and so he taught.

7 Once in the Amphitheater he stood, and when Apollo bade him speak he said,

8 Athenian masters, hear! In ages long ago, men, wise in nature’s laws, sought out and found the place on which your city stands.

9 Full well you know that there are parts of earth where its great beating heart throws heavenward etheric waves that meet the ethers from above;

10 Where spirit-light and understanding, like the stars of night, shine forth.

11 Of all the parts of earth there is no place more sensitized, more truly spirit-blest, than that where Athens stands.

12 Yea, all of Greece is blest. No other land has been the homeland of such mighty men of thought as grace your scrolls of fame.

13 A host of sturdy giants of philosophy, of poetry, of science, and of art, were born upon the soil of Greece, and rocked to manhood in your cradle of pure thought.

14 I come not here to speak of science, of philosophy, or art; of these you are the world’s best masters now.

15 But all your high accomplishments are but stepping stones to worlds beyond the realm of sense; are but illusive shadows flitting on the walls of time.

16 But I would tell you of a life beyond, within; a real life that can not pass away.

17 In science and philosophy there is no power strong enough to fit a soul to recognize itself, or to commune with God.

18 I would not stay the flow of your great streams of thought; but I would turn them to the channels of the soul.

19 Unaided by the Spirit-breath, the work of intellection tends to solve the problems of the things we see, and nothing more.

20 The senses were ordained to bring into the mind mere pictures of the things that pass away; they do not deal with real things; they do not comprehend eternal law.

21 But man has something in his soul, a something that will tear the veil apart that he may see the world of real things.

22 We call this something, spirit consciousness; it sleeps in every soul, and cannot be awakened till the Holy Breath becomes a welcome guest.

23 This Holy Breath knocks at the door of every soul, but cannot enter in until the will of man throws wide the door.

24 There is no power in intellect to turn the key; philosophy and science both have toiled to get a glimpse behind the veil; but they have failed.

25 The secret spring that throws ajar the door of soul is touched by nothing else than purity in life, by prayer and holy thought.

26 Return, O mystic stream of Grecian thought, and mingle your clear waters with the flood of Spirit-life; and then the spirit consciousness will sleep no more, and man will know, and God will bless.

27 When Jesus had thus said he stepped aside. The Grecian masters were astonished at the wisdom of his words; they answered not.

CHAPTER 45

Jesus teaches the Greek masters. Goes with Apollo to Delphi and hears the Oracle speak. It testifies for him. He abides with Apollo, and is recognized as the Living Oracle of God. Explains to Apollo the phenomenon of oracular speech.

For many days the Grecian masters listened to the clear incisive words that Jesus spoke, and while they could not fully comprehend the things he said, they were delighted and accepted his philosophy.

2 One day as Jesus and Apollo walked beside the sea, a Delphic courier came in haste and said, Apollo, master, come; the Oracle would speak with you.

3 Apollo said to Jesus, Sir, if you would see the Delphic Oracle, and hear it speak, you may accompany me. And Jesus did accompany him.

4 The masters went in haste; and when they came to Delphi, great excitement reigned.

5 And when Apollo stood before the Oracle it spoke and said:

6 Apollo, sage of Greece, the bell strikes twelve; the midnight of the ages now has come.

7 Within the womb of nature ages are conceived; they gestate and are born in glory with the rising sun, and when the agic sun goes down the age disintegrates and dies.

8 The Delphic age has been an age of glory and renown; the gods have spoken to the sons of men through oracles of wood, and gold, and precious stone.

9 The Delphic sun has set; the Oracle will go into decline; the time is near when men will hear its voice no more.

10 The gods will speak to man by man. The Living Oracle now stands within these sacred groves; the Logos from on high has come.

11 From henceforth will decrease my wisdom and my power; from henceforth will increase the wisdom and the power of him, Immanuel.

12 Let all the masters stay; let every creature hear and honor him, Immanuel.

13 And then the Oracle spoke not again for forty days, and priests and people were amazed. They came from near and far to hear the Living Oracle speak forth the wisdom of the gods.

14 And Jesus and the Grecian sage returned; and in Apollo’s home the Living Oracle spoke forth for forty days.

15 One day Apollo said to Jesus as they sat alone, This sacred Delphic Oracle has spoken many a helpful word for Greece.

16 Pray tell me what it is that speaks. Is it an angel, man, or living god?

17 And Jesus said, It is not angel, man, nor god that speaks. It is the matchless wisdom of the master minds of Greece, united in a master mind.

18 This giant mind has taken to itself the substances of soul, and thinks, and hears, and speaks.

19 It will remain a living soul while master minds feed it with thought, with wisdom and with faith and hope.

20 But when the master minds of Greece shall perish from the land, this giant master mind will cease to be, and then the Delphic Oracle will speak no more.

CHAPTER 46

A storm on the sea. Jesus rescues many drowning men. The Athenians pray to idols. Jesus rebukes their idolatry and tells how God helps. His last meeting with the Greeks. Sails on the vessel Mars.

It was a holy day and Jesus walked upon the Athens’ beach.

2 A storm was on and ships were being tossed about like toys upon the bosom of the sea.

3 The sailors and the fishermen were going down to watery graves; the shores were strewn with bodies of the dead.

4 And Jesus halted not, but with a mighty power he rescued many a helpless one, oft bringing back to life the seeming dead.

5 Now, on these shores were altars sacred to the gods supposed to rule the seas.

6 And men and women, heedless of the cries of drowning men, were crowding all about these altars, calling on their gods for help.

7 At length the storm was done, and all the sea was calm, and men could think again; and Jesus said,

8 You worshippers of wooden gods, how has the fury of this storm been lessened by your frantic prayers?

9 Where is the strength of these poor, weather-beaten gods with painted swords and crowns?

10 A god that could abide in such a little house could hardly hold a frantic fly, and who could hope that he could hold at bay the Lords of winds and waves?

11 The mighty powers of worlds unseen do not give forth their help till men have done their best; they only help when man can do no more.

12 And you have agonized and prayed around these shrines, and let men sink to death who might have been, by your assistance, saved.

13 The God that saves dwells in your souls, and manifests by making use of your own feet, and legs, and arms, and hands.

14 Strength never comes through idleness; nor through a waiting for another one to bear your loads, or do the work that you are called to do.

15 But when you do your best to bear your loads, and do your work, you offer unto God a sacrifice well-pleasing in his sight.

16 And then the Holy One breathes deep upon your glowing sacrificial coals, and makes them blaze aloft to fill your souls with light, and strength and helpfulness.

17 The most efficient prayer that men can offer to a god of any kind is helpfulness to those in need of help; for what you do for other men the Holy One will do for you.

18 And thus God helps.

19 His work in Greece was done, and Jesus must go on his way to Egypt in the South. Apollo, with the highest masters of the land and many people from the varied walks of life, stood on the shore to see the Hebrew sage depart; and Jesus said,

20 The son of man has been in many lands; has stood in temples of a multitude of foreign gods; has preached the gospel of good will and peace on earth to many people, tribes and tongues;

21 Has been received with favor in a multitude of homes; but Greece is, of them all, the royal host.

22 The breadth of Grecian thought; the depth of her philosophy; the height of her unselfish aspirations have well fitted her to be the champion of the cause of human liberty and right.

23 The fates of war have subjugated Greece, because she trusted in the strength of flesh, and bone and intellect, forgetful of the spirit-life that binds a nation to its source of power,

24 But Greece will not forever sit within the darkness of the shadowland as vassal of a foreign king.

25 Lift up your heads, you men of Greece; the time will come when Greece will breathe the ethers of the Holy Breath, and be a main spring of the spirit power of earth.

26 But God must be your shield, your buckler, and your tower of strength.

27 And then he said, Farewell. Apollo raised his hand in silent benediction, and the people wept.

28 Upon the Cretan vessel, Mars, the Hebrew sage sailed from the Grecian port.

CHAPTER 47

Jesus with Elihu and Salome in Egypt. Tells the story of his journeys. Elihu and Salome praise God. Jesus goes to the temple in Heliopolis and is received as a pupil.

And Jesus came to Egypt land, and all was well. He tarried not upon the coast; he went at once to Zoan, home of Elihu and Salome, who five and twenty years before had taught his mother in their sacred school.

2 And there was joy when met these three. When last the son of Mary saw these sacred groves he was a babe;

3 And now a man grown strong by buffetings of every kind; a teacher who had stirred the multitudes in many lands.

4 And Jesus told the aged teachers all about his life; about his journeyings in foreign lands; about the meetings with the masters and about his kind receptions by the multitudes.

5 Elihu and Salome heard his story with delight; they lifted up their eyes to heaven and said,

6 Our Father-God, let now thy servants go in peace, for we have seen the glory of the Lord;

7 And we have talked with him, the messenger of love, and of the covenant of peace on earth, good will to men.

8 Through him shall all the nations of the earth be blest; through him, Immanuel.

9 And Jesus staid in Zoan many days; and then went forth unto the city of the sun, that men call Heliopolis, and sought admission to the temple of the sacred brotherhood.

10 The council of the brotherhood convened, and Jesus stood before the hierophant; he answered all the questions that were asked with clearness and with power.

11 The hierophant exclaimed, Rabboni of the rabbinate, why come you here? Your wisdom is the wisdom of the gods; why seek for wisdom in the halls of men?

12 And Jesus said, In every way of earth-life I would walk; in every hall of learning I would sit; the heights that any man has gained, these I would gain;

13 What any man has suffered I would meet, that I may know the griefs, the disappointments and the sore temptations of my brother man; that I may know just how to succor those in need.

14 I pray you, brothers, let me go into your dismal crypts; and I would pass the hardest of your tests.

15 The master said, Take then the vow of secret brotherhood. And Jesus took the vow of secret brotherhood.

16 Again the master spoke; he said, The greatest heights are gained by those who reach the greatest depths; and you shall reach the greatest depths.

17 The guide then led the way and in the fountain Jesus bathed; and when he had been clothed in proper garb he stood again before the hierophant.

CHAPTER 48

Jesus receives from the hierophant his mystic name and number. Passes the first brotherhood test, and receives his first degree, SINCERITY.

The master took down from the wall a scroll on which was written down the number and the name of every attribute and character. He said,

2 The circle is the symbol of the perfect man, and seven is the number of the perfect man;

3 The Logos is the perfect word; that which creates; that which destroys, and that which saves.

4 This Hebrew master is the Logos of the Holy One, the Circle of the human race, the Seven of time.

5 And in the record book the scribe wrote down, The Logos-Circle-Seven; and thus was Jesus known.

6 The master said, The Logos will give heed to what I say: No man can enter into light till he has found himself. Go forth and search till you have found your soul and then return.

7 The guide led Jesus to a room in which the light was faint and mellow, like the light of early dawn.

8 The chamber walls were marked with mystic signs, with hieroglyphs and sacred texts; and in this chamber Jesus found himself alone where he remained for many days.

9 He read the sacred texts; thought out the meanings of the hieroglyphs and sought the import of the master’s charge to find himself.

10 A revelation came; he got acquainted with his soul; he found himself; then he was not alone.

11 One night he slept and at the midnight hour, a door that he had not observed, was opened, and a priest in somber garb came in and said,

12 My brother, pardon me for coming in at this unseemly hour; but I have come to save your life.

13 You are the victim of a cruel plot. The priests of Heliopolis are jealous of your fame, and they have said that you shall never leave these gloomy crypts alive.

14 The higher priests do not go forth to teach the world, and you are doomed to temple servitude.

15 Now, if you would be free, you must deceive these priests; must tell them you are here to stay for life;

16 And then, when you have gained all that you wish to gain, I will return, and by a secret way will lead you forth that you may go in peace.

17 And Jesus said, My brother, man, would you come here to teach deceit? Am I within these holy walls to learn the wiles of vile hypocrisy?

18 Nay, man, my Father scorns deceit, and I am here to do his will.

19 Deceive these priests! Not while the sun shall shine. What I have said, that I have said; I will be true to them, to God, and to myself.

20 And then the tempter left, and Jesus was again alone; but in a little time a white-robed priest appeared and said,

21 Well done! the Logos has prevailed. This is the trial chamber of hypocrisy. And then he led the way, and Jesus stood before the judgment seat.

22 And all the brothers stood; the hierophant came forth and laid his hand on Jesus’ head, and placed within his hands a scroll, on which was written just one word, SINCERITY; and not a word was said.

23 The guide again appeared, and led the way, and in a spacious room replete with everything a student craves was Jesus bade to rest and wait.

CHAPTER 49

Jesus passes the second brotherhood test, and receives the second degree, JUSTICE.

The Logos did not care to rest; he said, Why wait in this luxurious room? I need not rest; my Father’s work upon me presses hard.

2 I would go on and learn my lessons all. If there are trials, let them come, for every victory over self gives added strength.

3 And then the guide led on, and in a chamber, dark as night, was Jesus placed and left alone; and days were spent in this deep solitude.

4 And Jesus slept, and in the dead of night a secret door was opened, and, in priest’s attire, two men came in; each carried in his hand a little flickering lamp.

5 Approaching Jesus, one spoke out and said, Young man, our hearts are grieved because of what you suffer in these fearful dens, and we have come as friends to bring you light, and show the way to liberty.

6 We once, like you, were in these dens confined, and thought that through these weird, uncanny ways we could attain to blessedness and power;

7 But in a luckful moment we were undeceived, and, making use of all our strength, we broke our chains, and then we learned that all this service is corruption in disguise. These priests are criminals just hid away.

8 They boast in sacrificial rites; they offer to their gods, and burn them while alive, poor birds, and beasts; yea, children, women, men.

9 And now they keep you here, and, at a certain time, may offer you in sacrifice.

10 We pray you, brother, break your chains; come, go with us; accept of freedom while you may.

11 And Jesus said, Your little tapers show the light you bring. Pray, who are you? The words of man are worth no more than is the man himself.

12 These temple walls are strong and high; how gained you entrance to this place?

13 The men replied, Beneath these walls are many hidden ways, and we who have been priests, spent months and years within these dens, know all of them.

14 Then you are traitors, Jesus said. A traitor is a fiend; he who betrays another man is never man to trust.

15 If one has only reached the plane of treachery, he is a lover of deceit, and will betray a friend to serve his selfish self.

16 Behold, you men, or whatsoe’er you be, your words fall lightly on my ears,

17 Could I prejudge these hundred priests, turn traitor to myself and them, because of what you say when you confess your treachery?

18 No man can judge for me; and if I judge till testimony all is in I might not judge aright.

19 Nay, men; by whatsoever way you came, return. My soul prefers the darkness of the grave to little flickering lights like these you bring.

20 My conscience rules; what these, my brothers, have to say I’ll hear, and when the testimony all is in I will decide. You cannot judge for me, nor I for you,

21 Begone, you men, begone, and leave me to this charming light; for while the sun shines not, within my soul there is a light surpassing that of sun or moon.

22 Then, with an angry threat that they would do him harm, the wily tempters left, and Jesus was again alone.

23 Again the white-robed priest appeared, and led the way, and Jesus stood again before the hierophant;

24 And not a word was said, but in his hands the master placed a scroll on which the word suggestive, JUSTICE, was inscribed.

25 And Jesus was the master of the phantom forms of prejudice and of treachery.

CHAPTER 50

Jesus passes the third brotherhood test, and receives the third degree, FAITH.

The Logos waited seven days, and then was taken to the Hall of Fame, a chamber rich in furnishings, and lighted up with gold and silver lamps.

2 The colors of its ceilings, decorations, furnishings and walls were blue and gold.

3 Its shelves were filled with books of master minds; the paintings and the statues were the works of highest art.

4 And Jesus was entranced with all this elegance and these manifests of thought. He read the sacred books, and sought the meanings of the symbols and the hieroglyphs.

5 And when he was absorbed in deepest thought, a priest approached and said,

6 Behold the glory of this place! my brother you are highly blest. Few men of earth, so young, have reached such heights of fame.

7 Now, if you do not waste your life in search for hidden things that men can never comprehend, you may be founder of a school of thought that will insure you endless fame;

8 For your philosophy is deeper far than that of Plato, and your teachings please the common people more than those of Socrates.

9 Why seek for mystic light within these antiquated dens? Go forth and walk with men, and think with men, and they will honor you.

10 And, after all, these weird initiations may be myths, and your Messiah hopes but base illusions of the hour.

11 I would advise you to renounce uncertain things and choose the course that leads to certain fame.

12 And thus the priest, a demon in disguise, sung syren songs of unbelief; and Jesus meditated long and well on what he said.

13 The conflict was a bitter one, for king Ambition is a sturdy foe to fight.