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Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
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CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE GNOSTICS
A
symbol of the Divine Sacrifice, as before.
"The Lord said unto John, Thou hearest that I suffered, yet I
suffered not; that I was pierced, yet was I not smitten; that I was
hanged, yet was I not hanged; See thou therefore in Me the slaying
of a Word (Logos), . . . the passion of a Word. And by a Word I mean
Man. First, then, understand the Word, then shalt thou understand
the Lord, and thirdly the Man, and what is his passion." -Acts of
John (2nd cent.).
First, the "Word," i.e. the expression of the Divine Life on the
lower planes. Second, the "Lord," i.e. the Divine Life indwelling in
the lower nature. Third, the "Man," i.e. the Archetypal Man who is
potentially perfect man, and is the Divine Life Incarnate. Thus, all
three are the one Christ crucified in humanity. Christ, whose nature
is bliss, cannot suffer, but he becomes through Self-limitation
(passion) the Perfect Man within, who is slain and dies in order to
be born again in every soul. It is said in this scripture," Not yet
hath every Limb of Him who came down been gathered together," which
means that the qualities of the perfect Christ nature are scattered
abroad, as it were, no higher quality being fully evolved in any
striving soul. The gathering together of the "Limbs of the
Ineffable" in the myriad souls is when the Lord cometh in the clouds
of heaven (buddhi), and the saints (individualities possessing the
"limbs ") meet Him in the "air" (higher mind).
"Thy Head stretcheth up into heaven. that thou mayest symbol forth
the Heavenly Logos, the Head of all things. Thy middle parts are
stretched forth, as it were, hands to right and left, to put to
flight the envious and hostile power of the evil one; that Thou
mayest gather together into one them (the Limbs) that scattered
abroad. Thy foot is set in the earth, sunk in the deep, that Thou
mayest draw up those that lie beneath the earth and are held fast, .
. . and mayest join them to those in heaven." - Acts of Andrew (2nd
cent.).
The Heavenly Logos is the celestial Christ, the Head of all things."
The terrestrial Christ is Christ Incarnate,- the Archetypal Man
stretched forth in the lower nature of the soul. The "hands to right
and left" signify the outgoing and incoming energies which disperse
the hostile forces of ignorance and evil, and also by gathering
together the higher qualities (the Limbs), prepare the souls for
union with the One. The "foot in the earth" signifies the physical
foundation of the lower activities which advance the evolution of
the soul. These activities enable the Christ to gradually raise the
qualities which are held captive, and by transmuting them, join them
to those on the buddhic plane.
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