The Destiny of All Men

While living in Puri on the eastern coast of India, Jesus studied in the temple of Jagannath. There he came into conflict with the priests over the caste system,1 which had become degraded to a hereditary matter, rather than a social system meant to accommodate and develop each person’s level of evolution. For most of the world’s population caste is no problem as it does not exist among them. But the problem of spiritual bondage is common to all, so we should look at Jesus’ words of hope to the lower castes, for they apply to every one of us.

“And Jesus said, The Holy One has said, that all his children shall be free; and every soul is child of God. O men, arise! be conscious of your powers, for he who wills need not remain a slave. Just live as you would have your brother live; unfold each day as does the flower; for earth is yours, and heaven is yours, and God will bring you to your own. And all the people cried, Show us the way that like the flower we may unfold and come unto our own.”2

The two ineradicables

No matter how deeply human beings may delve into ignorance, and no matter how distorted and degraded their minds and wills may become, there are two things that they cannot change, distort, or weaken in the least: 1) all the children of God are destined for perfect freedom; and 2) every single human being is a child of God–and therefore partakers of divinity. We should ever keep in mind these two ineradicable truths about ourselves. Levi Dowling, the seer of the Aquarian Gospel, wrote in Biopneuma that every day those who seek illumination should say the following, which they should commit to memory:

Wisdom! Wisdom! It must be mine; Light! Light! I will see the True Light; Illumination! Illumination! I will attain unto Divine Illumination, through Jesus Christ, My Lord.

Saint Peter wrote: “His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.”3 And Saint Paul: “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”4 And finally, Saint John the Beloved: “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”5 This is the true Gospel of Christ–of “Christ in you the hope of glory.”6 Accept no substitutes!

Become conscious

These are beautiful words, and they certainly inspire us, but what shall we do to realize their truth for ourselves? Jesus continues:

“O men, arise! be conscious of your powers, for he who wills need not remain a slave.” Become conscious! This is the call. Consciousness is the nature of spirit, not just an attribute. Therefore if we will open our consciousness, enter into it fully, and dwell in it completely, the first step has been taken. And it cannot be taken by looking here and there outside of us. We must penetrate into the essence of ourselves, into our immortal spirit. Meditation is the only way to do this. Everything else is busywork if meditation is not the basis of our life.

When we are really conscious we will be aware of the divine potencies within us, especially our will. Usually we only manifest our whims and petty desires. Many people who seem to have strong wills are only being driven by their egoic desires and aversions and have no operative will. Only the awakened person can exercise his will, for the will of the spirit is vastly different from the artificial force of our emotional and intellectual “wills.” But once that true will comes alive we can arise and cast off our bonds and be free from slavery of any form. Until then we languish in the prison of ignorance, slaves of birth, death, and all in between.

Live

From childhood we hear the Golden Rule–that we should do to others as we would have them do to us. But that is only part of human life, only social interaction. Jesus gives a more comprehensive rule when He says: “Live as you would have your brother live.” It is easy to look at others and know what they should be thinking, saying, and doing. So we should do ourselves exactly what we think others should do! In religion particularly we like to have “special” people, such as priests, monastics, and spiritual teachers, who are living according to divine principles in every way and whose presence is a benefit to all. And how furious we get when they do not live up to our ideals! Sometimes we even turn from religion and belief in God. How foolish. The failure or success of anyone else means absolutely zero. We are the ones that must be living out the truths revealed by God to mankind. Even if everyone else fails to do so, that is no reason for our neglect. If we were in a group of people and learned that everyone but us was going to die in some catastrophe, would we object and say: “If they are not going to live, then I am not going to live, either!”? Hardly. Just because others fail–or never even try–is no reason for us to fail or not try. Saint Paul wrote: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”7 If we are the only one in this entire creation cycle to attain Christhood, let it be so. But it will not be so. Elijah told God that he was the only one in Israel to not worship Baal, but God answered that there were seven thousand others who had not done so either. We will find ourselves in a large company. So let us get Christing. Live as you would have a saint live, and you will become a saint.

Two errors of Churchianity

We are confronted by two serious errors of Churchianity. One is the doctrine that we just do something to “get saved” and BANG! it is all done. Now we need only sit and wait to go to heaven. The other is the idea that as long as we are in this world, burdened with the body, we can have no illumination beyond a few glimpses that inspire us to “yearn for heaven” and long for death–preferably slow martyrdom with a sizeable audience. (Few Churchian aspirants to sainthood wish their sanctity to be unobserved.) But Jesus says: “Unfold each day as does the flower; for earth is yours, and heaven is yours, and God will bring you to your own.”

Evolution is the word, not instant salvation or enlightenment. A doctor once assured me that drastic change in the body is always pathological, and he concluded by saying that the same was true in spiritual life–there may be an instant shaking up or coming into awareness of the reality of spiritual life, but from then on it is a steady process of movement toward the divine. Spiritual growth does not go in fits or spurts, but is a matter of “each day.” The hare ran fast, then dawdled and even slept; but the tortoise kept at it and proved that “slow but sure” is the way.

The likening of our development to the unfolding of a flower underscores the truth that not only is spiritual life one of steady continuous progress, it is also a movement from within outward, the expression of our eternal nature. A flower does not become a flower, it reveals its flower-nature. We do not attain Christhood, we unfold it, for it is always within us in potential form, just as the tree is in the seed.

Part of the second error of Western religious thinking is that things earthly are hindering our spiritual vision and that we must turn from earth to heaven–that the body is a curse which we must separate from before the spirit can be free. That we are not “this” but are “that.” This creates all kinds of problems and conflicts for those who seek God within that context. But Jesus assures us that “earth is yours, and heaven is yours, and God will bring you to your own,” saying: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”8 Earth and heaven are the manifestation of our Father-God, so they are ours, as well. Moreover, our attunement to God gives us mastery of both earth and heaven, uniting them in us, ending the dichotomy and duality that plagues us now. Jesus was referring to this condition when at the end of His time with them He told His disciples: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”9 He meant that earth and heaven were His inheritance from the Father.

The final clause of Jesus’s words say it all: “And God will bring you to your own.” So I need say no more.

More Commentary on the Aquarian Gospel:
• The Seven Pillars of Aquarian Christianity • The Silence and the Word 1. Introducing the Aquarian Gospel 2. Revelations in the Temple 3. Revelations in Egypt 4. The Two Selfs 5. Deliverance From Gods and Demons 6. About God the Tao 7. The Wisdom of Buddha  8. God and Prayer 9. The Mission of Jesus and John the Baptist 10. Sin and the Forgiveness of Sin 11. The Universal Law of Man’s Free Will and the Divine Will For Man 12. Understanding Death 13. The True Teacher 14. Vision of the Child Jesus 15. The Law Behind All Laws 16. Opening To The Truth 17. The Twelve-Step Ladder To Perfection 18. What is Truth? 19. What Is Man? 20. What is Power?	21. Understanding 22. Wisdom 23. Faith 24. Healing and Healers 25. The Destiny of All Men 26. God and Man 27. The Voice in the Heart 28. Seeing the Unseeable 29. To God Through Man 30. Who Is Jesus? 31. The Real Versus The Apparent 32. The Brotherhood of Life 33. God…and Man 34. Relating To God 35. The Worthy Host 36. Come to the Light 37. The Kingdom Revealed 38. The King Revealed 39. Perspective On Death 40. Fire and Sword 41. Evolution: The Path of Glory 42. The Real Heaven
Text of The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling • Sections I and II –Birth and Early Life of Mary, Mother of Jesus, and Birth and Infancy of the Harbinger, and of Jesus • Section III–Education of Mary and Elizabeth • Sections IV and V–Childhood and Early Education of John the Harbinger, and Childhood and Early Education of Jesus • Section VI–Life and Works of Jesus in India • Sections VII through X–Life and Works of Jesus in Western India, Tibet, Persia, Assyria, and Greece • Section XI–Life and Works of Jesus in Egypt • Sections XII and XIII–The Council of the Seven Sages; The Ministry of John the Harbinger • Sections XIV and XV–The Christine Ministry of Jesus–The First Annual Epoch • Section XVI–The Christine Ministry of Jesus–The Second Annual Epoch • Section XVII–The Christine Ministry of Jesus–The Third Annual Epoch • Sections XVIII and XIX–The Betrayal, Arrest, Trial, and Execution of Jesus • Sections XX through XXII–The Resurrection and Appearances of Jesus–Establishment of the Christine Church

2) Aquarian Gospel: 25:23,25-27 [Go back]

3) II Peter 1:3,4 [Go back]

4) II Corinthians 3:18 [Go back]

5) I John 3:2 [Go back]

6) Colossians 1:27 [Go back]

7) I Corinthians 9:24 [Go back]

8) Matthew 25:34 [Go back]

9) Matthew 28:18. “The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine.” (Psalms 89:11) [Go back]