Home
Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
A to Z
Related Information
|
FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND
A symbol of instruction and knowledge given to
the numerous lower qualities of the soul, by means of the senses and
subtle perceptions (fishes) of the astro-physical body.
"And Jesus took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up
to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the
disciples, and the disciples to the multitude." - MATTHEW xiv. 19.
This means the consecration of the five senses to the highest use,
and this nobler use could only be brought about through the
intervention of the superior qualities of the soul (the disciples).
Christ, the indwelling Self, never gives aid or instruction directly
to the lower qualities; the blessing from above must always come
through the intermediary of the most highly evolved qualities.
"The feeding of the multitude was not the feeding of the body, but
the soul. The whole story is symbolical. It was the bread from
heaven, the bread of life, which Jesus distributed to His disciples,
and which they, in turn, were authorised to distribute to those who
were hungering and thirsting after righteousness." - R. J. CAMPBELL,
Serm., Ministering the Bread of Life.
"The great law under which man is placed is that he shall receive
illumination and impulse from beings more improved than himself. Now
revelation is only an extension of this universal method of carrying
forward mankind. In this case, God takes on himself the office to
which all rational beings are called. He becomes an immediate
teacher to a few, communicating to them a higher order of truths
than had before been attained, which they in turn are to teach to
the race. Here is no new power or element introduced into the
system, but simply an enlargement of that agency on which the
progress of man chiefly depends. . . . Why are the more advanced
commissioned to teach the less informed ? A great purpose, I believe
the chief purpose, is to establish interesting relations among men,
to bind them to one another by generous sentiments, to promote
affectionate intercourse, to call forth a purer love than could
spring from a communication of mere outward gifts." - W. E.
CHANNING, Evidences, etc.
|
See Also
|