Home
Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
A to Z
Related Information
|
LAZARUS
A symbol of the causal-body on the higher mental
plane.
“'The name of Lazarus suggests symbolism; another form of it is
Eliezar, who is in Philo (I. 481) the type of a being 'liable to
dissolution and (indeed) a corpse,' but held together and kindled
into life by the Providence of God.'" - E. A. ADENEY, in Enc.
Biblica.
“Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus, of Bethany, of the village of
Mary and her sister Martha." - JOHN xi. 1.
Now at a particular period of evolution, a certain high mental
organic part of the soul was in a condition of depressed vitality;
this was the causal-body which existed in the inner soul, or Abode
of the Lord,-wherein the purified emotions and the higher
demonstrative emotions dwelt.
"So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, etc. And
when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth." - JOHN xi. 41, 43.
The taking away of the stone corresponds to removing a mass of
encumbrance of errors and desires which is calculated to arrest the
progress of the soul in the required direction. To the prayer of the
Christ-soul, there was granted an accession of power from Above.
Then followed the re-awakenment of the causal-body; "bound with
grave-clothes," that is, fettered by the limiting tendencies which
have had he effort of causing its “death” and "burial," the sleep of
the tuition which is a function of the causal-body.
"That mass placed on the sepulchre (of Lazarus) is the force of evil
custom with which the soul is weighed down, nor permitted to rise up
nor breathe (AUGUSTINE, Serm. 44 on St. John). …St. Augustine says,
Lazarus going forth from the sepulchre is the soul drawing back from
carnal vices, but bound, that is, not yet freed from pains and
troubles of the flesh, while it dwells in the body; the face is
covered with a napkin,' for we cannot have full under-standing of
things in this life; but it is said, 'Loose him,' for after this
life the veilings are taken away, that we may see face to face." -
C. À LAPIDE, The Great Comm., Vol. II. pp. 405, 406.
“And hence to dead Lazarus, who was kept down by a great weight, it
is not said, Be thou restored to life,' but, ‘Come forth,' by which
same rising again, which was carried on in the body of that man, it
is signified in what way we ourselves rise again in the heart (from
being dead in sin "). - ST. GREGORY, Morals on the Book of Job, Vol.
II. p. 573.
"The Lord cried out at the sepulchre of Lazarus, and he that was
four days lead arose. He who stank in the grave came forth into the
air. He was buried, a stone was laid over him: the voice of the
Saviour burst asunder the hardness of the stone; and thy heart is so
hard, that that Divine Voice does not break it! Rise in thy heart;
go forth from thy tomb. For thou wast lying dead in thy heart as in
a tomb, and pressed down by the weight of evil habit as by a stone.
Rise and go forth." - AUGUSTINE, Gospel of John, Vol. I. p. 319.
"And he that was dead came forth bound with bandages, feet and
hands.' This was symbolical of that man who had been bound in sins."
- IRENEUS, Against Heresies, Book V. 13.
“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and
fine linen, faring sumptuously every day; and a certain beggar named
Lazarus was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed
with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table." - LUKE xvi.
19.
“The "rich man is the lower self, or personality, which is satisfied
with the things of the world and the pleasures of sense. The "robes
of purple and fine linen " are figurative, and refer to the lower
emotions and to the vehicles of the ego, i.e. the etheric double and
the astral body. The 'beggar Lazarus is the causal-body laid at the
entrance to the earthly life. He is one who begs for the fruits of
incarnation, and is starved in regard to the opportunities which the
rich soul has in abundance. The "sores" signify conditions which on
the physical side mean pain and suffering, but which inwardly
correspond to spiritual growth. The desire to be fed is the eager
wish to receive from the lower nature the things which the "rich man
could bestow if he would deny himself.
"The 'rich man is an invisible being, and so is the 'poor man';
these two spirits have been in man all through time. 'Lazarus was
presented to the will of the rich man'; for the will is the gate at
which alone the Lord can enter, begging for the rich man to bend his
thoughts towards him, etc." - JOHN WARD, Zion's Works, Vol. VII. p.
16.
"A Kshatriya cannot thrive without a Brahman, nor a Brahman without
a Kshatriya. The Brahman and the associated Kshatriya when together
prosper in this world and the next." - Laws of Manu, IX. 322.
“A personality (Kshatriya) cannot thrive without an individuality
(Brahman), nor an individuality in the causal-body without a
personality.
“The first thing that any true man ought to settle with himself when
confronted with an occasion for sacrifice is what it is he really
has to give. It must be his best that he offers to the Highest, not
his second best. In fact, sacrifice rightly understood involves this
all the way along. You have to sacrifice yourself in order to form
yourself, or else yours is a poor lean soul." - R. J. CAMPBELL, Serm.,
The Higher Sacrifice.
"Dives offered crumbs, not his best, so "Lazarus " was left " a poor
lean soul."
"Only those miracles, however, which are referable to the spiritual
plane have significance and value for the Soul. Hence for it the
raising from the dead,-as of Lazarus,-implies resurrection from the
condition of spiritual deadness; the giving of sight implies the
opening of the spiritual vision; and the feeding of the hungry
multitude implies the satisfaction of man's craving for spiritual
nourishment." - The Perfect Way, p. 229.
|
See Also
|