Theos-Talk Archives (June 2000 Message tt00033)

Madame Blavatsky wrote as follows on the Christ:

". . . . Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of
thy presence, and of the consummation of the age?" asked the Disciples of
the MASTER, on the Mount of Olives.

The  reply given by the "Man of Sorrow," the Chréstos, on his trial, but
also on his way to triumph, as Christos, or Christ, is prophetic, and very
suggestive. It is a warning indeed. The answer must be quoted in full. Jesus
. . . . said unto them:--

"Take heed that no man lead you astray. For many shall come in my name
saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray. And ye shall hear of
wars . . . . but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in
divers places. But all these things are the beginning of travail. . . . Many
false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray . . . . then shall
the end come. . . . when ye see the abomination of desolation which was
spoken through Daniel. . . . Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is
the Christ, or There; believe him not. . . . If they shall say unto you,
Behold, he is in the wilderness, go not forth; behold, he is in the inner
chambers, believe them not. For as the lightning cometh forth from the East,
and is seen even in the West, so shall be the presence of the Son of Man,
etc., etc."

Two things become evident to all in the above passages, now that their false
rendering is corrected in the revision text: (a) "the coming of Christ,"
means the presence of CHRISTOS in a regenerated world, and not at all the
actual coming in body of "Christ" Jesus; (b) this Christ is to be sought
neither in the wilderness nor "in the inner chambers," nor in the sanctuary
of any temple or church built by man; for Christ--the true esoteric
SAVIOUR--is no man, but the DIVINE PRINCIPLE in every human being. He who
strives to resurrect the Spirit crucified in him by his own terrestrial
passions, and buried deep in the "sepulchre" of his sinful flesh; he who has
the strength to roll back the stone of matter from the door of his own inner
sanctuary, he has the risen Christ in him. The "Son of Man" is no child of
the bond-woman--flesh, but verily of the free-woman--Spirit, the child of
man's own deeds, and the fruit of his own spiritual labour.

On the other hand, at no time since the Christian era, have the precursor
signs described in Matthew applied so graphically and forcibly to any epoch
as they do to our own times. When has nation arisen against nation more than
at this time? When have "famines"--another name for destitute pauperism, and
the famished multitudes of the proletariat--been more cruel, earthquakes
more frequent, or covered such an area simultaneously, as for the last few
years? Millenarians and Adventists of robust faith, may go on saying that
"the coming of (the carnalised) Christ" is near at hand, and prepare
themselves for "the end of the world." Theosophists--at any rate, some of
them--who understand the hidden meaning of the universally-expected Avatars,
Messiahs, Sosioshes and Christs--know that it is no "end of the world," but
"the consummation of the age," i.e., the close of a cycle, which is now fast
approaching. . . .

Many and many a time the warning about the "false Christs" and prophets who
shall lead people astray has been interpreted by charitable Christians, the
worshippers of the dead-letter of their scripture, as applying to mystics
generally, and Theosophists most especially. The recent work by Mr. Pember,
"Earth's Earliest Ages," is a proof of it. Nevertheless, it seems very
evident that the words in Matthew's Gospel and others can hardly apply to
Theosophists. For these were never found saying that Christ is "Here" or
"There," in wilderness or city, and least of all in the "inner chamber"
behind the altar of any modern church. Whether Heathen or Christian by
birth, they refuse to materialise and thus degrade that which is the purest
and grandest ideal--the symbol of symbols--namely, the immortal Divine
Spirit in man, whether it be called Horus, Krishna, Buddha, or Christ. None
of them has ever yet said: "I am the Christ"; for those born in the West
feel themselves, so far, only Chréstians,  however much they may strive to
become Christians in Spirit. It is to those, who in their great conceit and
pride refuse to win the right of such appellation by first leading the life
of Chrestos; to those who haughtily proclaim themselves Christians (the
glorified, the anointed) by sole virtue of baptism when but a few days
old--that the above-quoted words of Jesus apply most forcibly. Can the
prophetic insight of him who uttered this remarkable warning be doubted by
any one who sees the numerous "false prophets" and pseudo-apostles (of
Christ), now roaming over the world? . . . .

The "Christ principle," the awakened and glorified Spirit of Truth, being
universal and eternal, the true Christos cannot be monopolized by any one
person, even though that person has chosen to arrogate to himself the title
of the "Vicar of Christ," or of the "Head" of that or another
State-religion. The spirits of "Chrest" and "Christ" cannot be confined to
any creed or sect, only because that sect chooses to exalt itself above the
heads of all other religions or sects. . . .

The first key that one has to use to unravel the dark secrets involved in
the mystic name of Christ, is the key which unlocked the door to the ancient
mysteries of the primitive Aryans, Sabeans and Egyptians. The Gnosis
supplanted by the Christian scheme was universal. It was the echo of the
primordial wisdom-religion which had once been the heirloom of the whole of
mankind; and, therefore, one may truly say that, in its purely metaphysical
aspect, the Spirit of Christ (the divine logos) was present in humanity from
the beginning of it. The author of the Clementine Homilies is right; the
mystery of Christos--now supposed to have been taught by Jesus of
Nazareth--"was identical" with that which from the first had been
communicated "to those who were worthy," as quoted in another lecture. We
may learn from the Gospel according to Luke, that the "worthy" were those
who had been initiated into the mysteries of the Gnosis, and who were
"accounted worthy" to attain that "resurrection from the dead" in this life
. . . . "those who knew that they could die no more, being equal to the
angels as sons of God and sons of the Resurrection." In other words, they
were the great adepts of whatever religion; and the words apply to all those
who, without being Initiates, strive and succeed, through personal efforts
to live the life and to attain the naturally ensuing spiritual illumination
in blending their personality--(the "Son") with (the "Father,") their
individual divine Spirit, the God within them. This "resurrection" can never
be monopolized by the Christians, but is the spiritual birth-right of every
human being endowed with soul and spirit, whatever his religion may be. Such
individual is a Christ-man. On the other hand, those who choose to ignore
the Christ (principle) within themselves, must die unregenerate
heathens--baptism, sacraments, lip-prayers, and belief in dogmas
notwithstanding.

In order to follow this explanation, the reader must bear in mind the real
archaic meaning of the paronomasia involved in the two terms Chréstos and
Christos. The former means certainly more than merely "a good," and
"excellent man," while the latter was never applied to any one living man,
but to every Initiate at the moment of his second birth and resurrection.
He who finds Christos within himself and recognises the latter as his only
"way," becomes a follower and an Apostle of Christ, though he may have never
been baptised, nor even have met a "Christian," still less call himself one.
. . .

Excerpted from H.P. Blavatsky's "The Esoteric Character of the Gospels"
LUCIFER (London), November, 1887
http://www.blavatsky.net/blavatsky/arts/EsotericCharacterOfTheGospels.htm
Also reprinted in H.P.B.'s COLLECTED WRITINGS, Volume VIII, pp. 172-184






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