Behold the Christ! An epic of the new theism ...

Front matter

Bebolb tbe Gbrist!

ITn Ever^ ©ne.

H Gospel of Xove.

Preface

The author regards all these subjects from her point of view, the super-conscious, as an independent thinker on her own plane.

The Epic is written in lines of ten measures, rhythmic prose, for the sake of epitome.

She accepts Dryden's idea, that a poet is a maker, a creator as the word implies; and he who can not create, hath his name for nothing. It is the creation and not the style that has been her care. Those who would measure all literature by the rules of Rhetoric would strip "Leaves of Grass" of its freshness and beauty, leaving only dry stubble.

This work will have no charm for the ordinary reader, it will attract the attention of those who are nearing the new consciousness; and if this lofty contact can really rouse them they will become as one of the divine in their desire to give rather than to take; the selfishness which prompts men's actions in ordinary life will suddenly desert them; and these are not so few as some might fancy; those who really desire the inner meaning of the teachings of the Great Master, those who are no longer satisfied with the orthodox interpretation and are still seeking for the spiritual meaning.

Having attained the faculty of inner sight she is able to read the cypher in which the parables are written ; she would give, "without money and without price" the hidden meaning of the gospel to those who are ready to receive it through her writings. She would render unto Cgesar, our material nature, that which belongs to Caesar; and unto God, our Higher nature, that which belongs to God.

That the inner meaning hidden within the letter of this work will quicken the spiritual life of all those souls who are ready to receive it is the expectation of

The Author.

BEHOLD THE CHEIST!

CHAPTER THE FIRST. Alindah spoke

I thank thee ray Father, Soul Supreme ! That thou hast to me the knowledge given, That mine inner eyes have opened ; to see The soul within me to be the Master; The Higher Self, the Christ, and Lord of Lords. That within this soul they all are seated. Thou art the One inmost eternal Lord.

I am no longer body, I am soul !

I thank Thee that I know myself to be.

The Soul is One; of finer forces than

All Nature's forces are; brawn and brain.

I love Thee, the best as friend and lover,

When to me Thou are thus manifested.

By what name to call Thee I know not, Lord !

Thou hast been with me alway; I call Thee

My own, for Thou hast never left me.

Thou must be a part of me, and I

A part of Thee, my Higher Self Thou art.

To me the One altogether lovely !

The best of Beings, the mystic One !

Thou revealest Thyself to me alone.

As friend and lover to the loved; Master I honor Thee as my beloved Guru. Of Thy ambrosial words I never tire; At Thy feet I sit a rapt listener. When Thou givest to me the eye divine Thy myriad forms I see; that Thou art not In me alone, but the Christ in every one.

I adore Thee in myself, Soul Supreme ! When this All within my soul I see, Lord, I would fall on my face and worship Thee. 'Tis thus, by sincere devotion, that we A recognized portion of Thee become. Thou speakest to me Thine own love words Through the voice in my soul that is soundless.

The soul in us, Thy seat and kingdom is ; We need not wait for heavenly bliss, 'tis here Within the soul ; a joyous two fold life ! Thou art the seat of knowledge, Soul supreme Containing all the wisdom of the past Of sage and seer, which is at our command; Hence do we mortals little know our greatness.

The Blessed One.

To those in union with the Soul supreme,

There is no death, or birth; the soul has doffed

Its mortal coil, and donned immortal robes.

Invisible to mortals here below,

Save to such as have themselves attained.

Thus the mystic Christ dwells unobserved

Protected by this divine illusion,

That the soul in man may be perfected.

Alindah.

Thou inmost One, how may I know Thee?

The Blessed One.

Thou wilt know, for knowing is becoming ; Thou'lt be one with me, wilt be as myself.

Alindah.

No speech but the divine voice can reach Thee,

No ear can hear Thee but the divine ear;

No eye but the divine eye can see Thee.

Thou sittest isolated and alone.

Yet Thy seat is within the soul of man.

The undivided, in the divided.

And still another higher existence yet;

Thy eternal Self, I desire to see;

Thou, Lord and Kuler of the Universe !

If Thou deemest that it my eyes can see

Show now to me, Thy wond'rous form divine?

The Blessed One.

Look now within thy soul, the inmost see.

Alindah.

When lo ! I saw my own Self extended ! No line of separateness anywhere. With myriads of arms and feet and faces, With eyes all aglow, and arm9 extended, I saw the lowest soul that walks the earth,

In darkness sitting to be a part of me.

This great- mystery fills my soul with awe.

That my friend, my enemy, my lover;

Then, are only extensions of myself,

No one can be ignored, not the vilest !

I groan! that in this body I should see,

Millions on millions that are yet to come.

I see in my Self the seed-giving Sire,

One with myself, and one with those to come.

This mystery, I can not understand!

Show me, Thou, Soul Supreme, how this can be?

The Blessed One.

The Christ in thee, the undivided, Lord,

Of this created Universe the seat;

The formless Self, is one with me Supreme,

When thou hast reached the heights, then thou art That.

Soul, wilt thou now go on from height to height?

Or, be terrified by thy greater Self ;

Aud thus be drawn back by thy lesser nature?

'Tis thine to choose, this, the moment of choice.

Alindah.

I will proceed, Lord, guided by Thy will. I would be Thy vehicle, through whose eyes, Thou mightest behold the things Thou hast made. As, the Master, Witness, friend and lover, That thou mayest be sought after and found. 'Tis mine, to feel that the eye of the Self Is on all my work. It is done for Thee. My choice is made, I have naught to say !

The Blessed One.

I have anointed thy head and thy feet.

And thine eyes, that the Path they may see;

Thy feet, that they may tread it for Me.

Alindah.

If soul is eternal, every portion

Of soul is eternal, then in the vilest

Human body ; we can not separate from such.

Then God is no respecter of persons;

Of no account is personality.

Personality is but a mechanism,

That, with the span of man's life will perish.

The Blessed One.

Not till the bonds of personality Are loosed, can the mystery of Self be seen. And not till then, can you grasp and guide it ; Not till then can you use all its powers, And devote them to a worthy service.

Alindah.

I am not myself, I am as one sent ; I've joined the heavenly host of witnesses; I know not whereunto to put my hand; At what point in the work of the Master's I am most needed ; 'tis for Thee to say !

The Blessed One.

n

To strip off the husks and reveal the core, Of the Doctrine of the kingdom of God.

Alindah.

How can I, assail with my frail arrows

Fastnesses that are now hoary with Time?

How now uproot errors whose giant seeds

Were sown centuries past? That now have sprung

And spread their branches throughout the nations.

What am I, that of me Thou askest this?

What am I, "that Thou art mindful of me?

Or, the Son of Man, that thou visitest him ?"

The Blessed One.

Put forth thine hand, be but my instrument ! Use all the powers, I vouchsafe to thee. Be not dismayed, for they are slain by me. Thou shalt conquer in the field thy foes. My arm already hath destroyed them all.

Alindah.

My life, in the divine life is centered; The life upon which my soul has entered. My soul its great joy can no longer hold. It breaks into rapt strains of rejoicing ! The day spring from on high hath vis'ted me. Earth has no language in which to express The excessive joy of the soul's rapture. The redeemed shall come to Zion, the city Of our God, with gladness and rejoicing. The Prodigal soul redeemed from the bonds

Of matter, returns to his Father's house. Poets, this land of rapture have entered, Ne'er knowing that it was the "Kingdom" Spoken of by prophet, mystic, and seer. Ne'er knowing it was the "Promised Land," "Beulah Land," with milk and honey flowing. My work is done, my redemption is sure; My Redeemer I now see face to face. My soul looks up, it breathes its native air; It speaks once again its native language. I have raised the Self by myself and found God. Without expectation of finding Him. I have attained Thee by overcoming self. To consume it on self, I ask nothing.

Chapter the first; Attain the Self, and you will hehold the Christ. CHAPTEE THE SECOND

Alindah.

Tell me, Mystic One, what Thou meanest By the "Kingdom" ? Thou bewilderest me By its many meanings; tell me plainly.

The Blessed One.

The soul who said, "My mind my kingdom is," Was on the mind plane, doing its work there. The plane of scholars and scientists. They, looking through the veil of matter, Through a glass darkly; know no higher plane.

J3

The higher plane (within) is the soul plane.

Here the soul can say, my soul my kingdom is ;

This is the spiritual kingdom, called

Kingdom of heaven, and kingdom of God,

The Eternal seat, and the highest way.

That seat no sun enlightens, nor moon,

Nor fire ; they who attain it nevermore

Return. That seat is my supreme abode.

As real, to one who has entered it,

As the conscious plane is ; and more real,

For what is real, never ceases to be.

Only the soul has a real existence:

The forms and conditions of matter :

Have only a conditional existence.

The dividing line is seen by the wise.

Those on the super-conscious plane clearly see,

Possessing spiritual knowledge, (sight)

Where the intellect is in darkness.

The soul on the inner plane works thereon.

Alindah.

tell me ! What Thou meanest by Redeemed ?

The Blessed One.

Souls redeemed from the bonds of matter, Those who have worked out their own salvation Through successive re-incarnations.

Alindah.

Then, Did Moses and the prophets know Of the doctrine of Re-incarnation?

J4

The Blessed One.

Moses, in the ancient mysteries, was A master. They were once the splendor Of Egypt, and re-incarnation is one Of the doctrines of the ancient mysteries.

Alindah.

Then why did not Moses teach this doctrine To the children of Israel? Great One?

The Blessed One.

The children of Israel were mere babes,

Just out of the "flesh pots of Egypt,"

Symbol of the lowest plane of the soul,

The lowest step on the ladder of ascent.

A man can choose between virtue and vice,

But not until he is a man ; neither can

A babe nor an animal so choose.

The Secret doctrine, or the doctrine

Of the myst'ries, is written in cypher.

In the first five books of the Old Testament ;

To future generations. The soul, then

Sojourned, "forty years in the wilderness"

Before it was ready to cross the "Jordan,"

And turn its face toward the "promised land."

Alindah.

great One, tell me, who am bewildered,

Who the Bedeemer is ? Where may I seek Him ?

The Blessed One.

The Higher Self or soul; the real Self,

Is the redeemer of the soul incarnate

In the body; the prodigal soul.

"Why art thou cast down; my soul, why

Art thou disquieted within me?

Hope thou in (thy) God, for I shall yet, see

My redeemer (higher Self), face to face."

The incarnate soul binds the divine soul

In the linga (subtle body), to matter.

And mediately to the gross body.

The subtle body, by the "modes" of nature

Is formed of finer elements of matter.

The real Soul comes not in contact with matter.

The subtle body accompanies the soul

In all its incarnations, till the soul

From matter has attained deliverance.

The soul, which is the true Self, never acts.

Its proper state that of impersonality

And repose ; actions are due to the "modes."

Knowing this, the wise allow the actions

Of the "modes" to go on unconcerned.

Those who think the soul acts look for reward

As of heaven, not for deliverance, nor,

Eedemption, nor salvation from matter.

He, who is not deluded, and who knows

The Higher Self to be the Christ, and one

With the Supreme Spirit. Knowing all,

He worships the Christ within himself,

With his whole nature. It is certain

We can not have a church, in aught but name,

Without the spirit of worship and devotion.

J6

Alindah.

Tell me, Great One! what is to take the place Of outward worship, as formulated By the different creeds, when these creeds Shall have crumbled to dust, and decayed ?

The Blessed One.

Inner devotion, for outward worship. Devotion to the One, the inmost Self. To attain spiritual knowlwedge, sight; Whereby the soul works out its salvation, And deliverance from the "modes" of nature; And attains a higher state of consciousness, Union with the Supreme ; called by Jesus, The kingdom of heaven ; by the Hindus Nirvana, and in modern phraseology The super-conscious, or inner plane.

Alindah.

If these eternal truths could be couched

In plain language, that the deluded soul

Might read, many would turn from the outward

Form of worship, no longer satisfying,

And look within themselves to find the Christ.

The Blessed One.

The Churches will hear a voice crying to them ; Let my people go ! That they may serve God In the inner temple of their own souls. Not in outward form, "Know ye not, that ye

\7

Are (now) the temple of the living God"?

The greatest commandment this: "Thou shalt love

The Lord thy God (within thee) with all thy soul

And with all thy strength ; and Him only

Shalt thou serve; and love thy neighbor as thyself.

Alindah.

Oh how near and easily recognized, The literal "heaven on earth"; which has been The Holy quest of the Christian and poet. Tell me, mystic one, Who was Jesus? In our devotion what place does he occupy ? For thou alone canst destroy this doubt.

The Blessed One.

In Jesus, the manifested Christ, In his mystic form was represented. There are three categories of spirits. In One; the lowest the soul in man, (son) The next, the Christ, the eternal Lord, The highest manifested in outer form, Who adjoins His proper spiritual form, Co-existent with the Supreme Spirit Identified with it; Universal. The highest is the Supreme Spirit.

Alindah.

Which of these classes do him service, those Who worship the Christ as manifested Through Jesus, or in his spiritual form?

The Blessed One.

In the first form he is manifested, In the spiritual he is unmanifested. The spiritual worship is the higher ; Two difficult for the mass of mankind. The soul must attain super- consciousness E'er it can see him in his spiritual form. As he is only seen by the soul alone. Worship the Christ, manifested in Jesus. Until within thyself he is discerned, Is my decree; do everything for him. When thou knowest the spiritual Christ, Thou'lt know the Supreme ; the inmost, the One. Jesus, in cypher, gave the Three in One. In the parable of the "Prodigal Son." The "prodigal," is the incarnate soul; While the Elder brother remains one With the Father, pure spirit; the Self. When thou seest that every incarnate soul Is a prodigal son; thou seest indeed. And that the work of the incarnate soul Is to free itself from the bonds of matter, And return to its Father's house : become Again, one with the Christ and the Father. Thou will see indeed, by the inner sight.

Alindah.

Oh, if every one could see their own soul As a prodigal son; it is certain That the incarnate soul would rouse itself From its sleep, and loose the bonds of matter. By what way may the soul set itself free?

J9

The Blessed One.

There are two ways; by devotion alone,

Or, without attachment by devotion

Of works. Do thou every appointed work.

Alindah.

Oh, thou mystic one, What did Jesus mean When he said: Of myself I can do nothing?

The Blessed One.

Had Jesus been the Christ incarnate

Which could not be; the Christ is impersonal,

Jesus refers to his personal self,

Without the light of the Christ within him,

Which he also designates as the Father;

"The Father in me doeth the works."

Jesus often personated the Christ;

Which he had a divine right to do

As he represented the Christ in himself.

Alindah.

Why is Jesus called The Light of the World?

The Blessed One.

The Light of the world cannot be Jesus, But the Christ, who is all-pervading. 'Tis thine the inner meaning to unveil Of the teachings of Jesus, now hidden In parable, and in cypher, beneath

The ecclesiasticism of ages.

To unveil the face of the true sun,

As the light of all things luminous.

This eternal Supreme spirit, without

Beginning, devoid of the modes of nature,

Works and is not stained, even when embodied,

As individual souls. As the ether

That pervades a"U things through its subtlety ;

Is not stained, as one sun illumines

All the world, so the soul illumines

The whole of primordeal matter.

CHAPTER THE THIRD. Alindah

The work to which I have put my hand; I pray for guidance thou eternal Lord: Eenew each day thy spirit within me.

The Blessed One.

The doctrine of the kingdom of heaven,

Eelates entirely to the plane of the soul ;

The super-conscious within our conscious plane.

Alindah.

Then the only place to find the Unknown, And the Unknowable is within the soul.

at

The Blessed One.

Scientists have not reached it ; Intellect In its highest flight, hath not found its abode. The eagle-like eye of the human soul In its flight, hath not discovered it. I will be sought after for my own sake, Saith the inmost, the high and Holy One. Alone by devotion, may I be known; Those who see Me must see by inner sight. Those who hear Me, by the inner hearing, Those who speak to Me, by the inner voice; They only are able to stand in my presence Who are prepared to taJce knowledge. Such only, can serve the inner Master.

Alindah.

Tell me, Oh my beloved Guru, How these Which thou callest faculties of the soul, Within our sense organs may be developed?

The Blessed One.

This of which I speak thou hast experienced.

Thou couldst not with thy mortal eye see Me,

Nor with thy mortal ear hear my voice.

Then give of that which thou thyself hast earned,

Of many reincarnations the fruit.

Thou art thyself, a living example.

Thou hast within thine own soul developed

The doctrine which thou art to unveil.

Alindah.

The way and the truth, I can only see As the inner Light shines upon the path.

The Blessed One.

It shall be a cloud unto thee by day ;

It shall shield thee from those who know thee not;

Thy lamp is lit; on the soul plane 'tis seen.

Go on thy way ; thou'lt receive nought but scorn !

'Tis the lot of Master, Mystic and Seer.

Thou art not better than the Masters.

Alindah.

If this doctrine is the eternal Truth, Why should not the mortal soul desire it ?

The Blessed One.

Because it antagonizes the self,

The reign of the personal self must cease;

To its Higher Self it becomes subject.

To It the hords of millions are as naught.

For It knows Itself to be eternal.

Dwelling on a higher plane of being,

What to the soul are these few fleeting years?

It knows this world to be but a school

In which the soul gains experience.

That nature is in all her unfoldment

But the lower nature of the Supreme.

Nature in Spirit; not Spirit in nature.

It is above all Nature, Soul Supreme.

Yet in and through all Nature manifested;

The Knowing and the Known; knowledge itself. Without the organs of sense as the ear, Yet the possessor of all the senses ! The Supreme, encompassing the Universe.

Alindah.

How can ministers of the gospel, who see Thy eternal form compass the universe, Teach that Thou art a Personal God? In Jesus, thy only son, begotten? How so belittle thy eternal Self?

The Blessed One.

They have not attained the spiritual plane.

Having eyes, they see not ; ears they hear not

That which is within the veil of matter;

Neither can they take knowledge, though one be sent.

They must become; they must be born again.

The re-birth, they must themselves accomplish

Before they can see the inner Master,

Or their cry can reach his list'ning ear.

This is a great mystery vouchsafed

To know only to few mortals here below.

The choice unto all is freely given,

And the door an open door to heaven.

There's but one road, the straight and narrow way,

Of becoming; the Path easy to find.

Alindah.

Why so much time lost in preaching of sin And repentance, and an angry Father?

The Blessed One.

This is but the outward form of teaching The "letter" of the gospel in the place Of the spiritual meaning of the text. The spirit of the doctrine will deliver Every soul from the bondage of matter.

Alindah.

A life of devotion is not enough

To lay at thy feet, Thou Eternal Soul!

It is my desire to know thee fully.

How great thou art. How great is the Self !

The Blessed One.

Know the higher Self and thou wilt know Me. Know Me fully and thou wilt know the Soul; Soul is one; if thou offer sacrifice to me; Art devoted to me, then thou art devoted To the Highest, the inmost, the Supreme.

Alindah.

God, my God, thou art within my soul; I knew it not. I thank Thee, Soul Supreme ! That thou bast thus revealed thyself to me. Three in One, my soul, the Christ and the Father.

The Blessed One.

The name that thou giv'st to Me matters not. The soul creates; the soul the body makes; Each incarnation casts in finer mould. The Body to the divisible belongs; Man's soul to the indivisible; hence All sense of separateness destroy.

Alindah.

/ am spirit in this body; I, the Soul, Created this body for my own use, Hence the soul in man is a creator. Why did Jesus call himself, Son of Man?

The Blessed One.

Son of man; name which to himself he gave.

As the representative of the Christ

Within himself; as being best suited,

As an object of worship, limited

To the capacities of the soul incarnate.

Son of man stands for his higher nature

As being one with the Christ and one

With the Father ; hence the name Son of man,

Is used as a synonym for the Christ.

Alindah.

Explain further, Oh thou best of beings, These mysteries to me. Who was Joseph?

The Blessed One.

Joseph was father to Jesus, in his

Human form. The words of the messenger

To Mary related but to the soul Which was to be incarnate in Jesus, As a representative of the Christ. Hence, no miraculous, immaculate Conception, herald' the birth of Jesus. No "Virgin Mary" to be thus worshiped.

Alindah.

Who was the soul incarnate in Jesus?

The Blessed One.

A Master, who had attained the highest seat Offered himself a sacrifice to become Again incarnate, and suffer once more The pangs of death in the human body, That he might restore the long lost doctrine Of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, Which were lost through length of time. To do this Jesus sacrificed himself. We may call him the Lord of Sacrifice, And offer devotion to him as a Master Who has again attained the highest seat.

Alindah.

How did Jesus, after his crucifixion, Manifest himself to his disciples?

The Blessed One.

"Destroy this temple, and in three days

I will raise it up." He spoke of his spiritual,

Or subtle body in which he would manifest Himself to their inner sight in three days. With the divine eye they saw his divine form Thou too now by the divine eye, may see The impersonal form of the Self, Illusive, because only visible To those who have attained the inner sight. To none other can he his form reveal.

Alindah.

What is the Sacrament of the Last Supper?

The Blessed One.

This was to signify the union with the Self

Of which I speak. Do this, the outward form,

Until the Christ is formed within thee;

Till in the kingdom we sit together

And drink the nector; eat ambrosial food,

The union of the soul with the Supreme,

Of which the "cup" and "bread" are symbols.

The doctrine of the kingdom of heaven

Within the ''letter/' is a great myst'ry

Which none can see save those who have attained

The inner sight and thereby take knowledge,

Within you, a well of living water

Which is the fount from which speech arises;

A fountain of living water flowing,

"Springing up into everlasting life."

When the eternal Truth is brought to light,

The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven

Will be the beginning of the spiritual

Renaissance, the coming of the Christ;

The Son of man, within the soul of man.

Alindah.

My soul rejoices exceedingly, That I have found the Christ whom I adore, What to m,e, is outward form of worship ? I sit, at the sacred banquet, for those Who have attained the kingdom of heaven.