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Снята искусственная разбивка текста по страницам журнала
(Publish text and card prepared for The Path, vol. I, no. 12 (March 1887, the final issue of Volume I), checked against the 1886 scan)
 
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The same process which took place in the eternal Macrocosm of the Universe, takes place in the inner world belonging to the microcosm of man. "No one can come to the ''Father'', but through the ''Son''; " that is to say: No God will take his seat in the interior temple of Man, except through the power of the Word—in other words; by the concentration of thought and good will upon that centre of every human being. If we concentrate our ''Love'' upon that centre of ''Good'', the divine germ will begin its active ''Life'', and the interior world will gradually become illuminated by the ''Light'' of the spirit. As this process grows, it will penetrate the soul and through the soul all the lower principles, even the physical body, throwing off the impurities of soul and body, and the more such impurities are present, the greater will be the suffering, typically represented by Jesus, until finally the ''baptism of blood'' is completed, the soul purified, the animal ''ego'' dead and the man has become a "Christ" or an ''Adept'',—that is to say one in whom the (6th) ''Christ'' principle has taken form.
The same process which took place in the eternal Macrocosm of the Universe, takes place in the inner world belonging to the microcosm of man. "No one can come to the ''Father'', but through the ''Son''; " that is to say: No God will take his seat in the interior temple of Man, except through the power of the Word—in other words; by the concentration of thought and good will upon that centre of every human being. If we concentrate our ''Love'' upon that centre of ''Good'', the divine germ will begin its active ''Life'', and the interior world will gradually become illuminated by the ''Light'' of the spirit. As this process grows, it will penetrate the soul and through the soul all the lower principles, even the physical body, throwing off the impurities of soul and body, and the more such impurities are present, the greater will be the suffering, typically represented by Jesus, until finally the ''baptism of blood'' is completed, the soul purified, the animal ''ego'' dead and the man has become a "Christ" or an ''Adept'',—that is to say one in whom the (6th) ''Christ'' principle has taken form.


It will readily be seen that this process is much more difficult to accomplish, than merely to go to church, pay the dues to the priests, attend to prayer-meetings and perform the prescribed ceremonies. To accomplish this process requires a constant meditation of the highest kind, and a con-
It will readily be seen that this process is much more difficult to accomplish, than merely to go to church, pay the dues to the priests, attend to prayer-meetings and perform the prescribed ceremonies. To accomplish this process requires a constant meditation of the highest kind, and a con{{Page aside in Path|v=1|n=12|p=358}}tinual employment of will power to keep away the disturbing elements of evil, which in a person who strives for ''light'' are still more boisterous than in one who is indifferent, for as soon as the spiritual light kindled in the centre begins to radiate its life-giving rays throughout our interior world, the "''dwellers of the threshold''"—the evil ''egos'', created by evil thoughts and selfish desires, floating at the periphery of the soul-sphere like clouds sailing through the atmosphere of our earth, begin to feel the destroying influence of the central sun and battle for their existence. Still this atmosphere of evil must be penetrated before we can reach the luminous centre and the tranquil heaven within, and this is done by clinging to the principle of Good and virtue whose rays radiate from the centre. This principle will at first only be felt intuitionally but as we feed it with good thoughts, it grows and the interior spiritual senses become opened, so that we may ''see'' and ''hear'' its voice distinctly and without any fear of misunderstanding its meaning.
 
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tinual employment of will power to keep away the disturbing elements of evil, which in a person who strives for ''light'' are still more boisterous than in one who is indifferent, for as soon as the spiritual light kindled in the centre begins to radiate its life-giving rays throughout our interior world, the "''dwellers of the threshold''"—the evil ''egos'', created by evil thoughts and selfish desires, floating at the periphery of the soul-sphere like clouds sailing through the atmosphere of our earth, begin to feel the destroying influence of the central sun and battle for their existence. Still this atmosphere of evil must be penetrated before we can reach the luminous centre and the tranquil heaven within, and this is done by clinging to the principle of Good and virtue whose rays radiate from the centre. This principle will at first only be felt intuitionally but as we feed it with good thoughts, it grows and the interior spiritual senses become opened, so that we may ''see'' and ''hear'' its voice distinctly and without any fear of misunderstanding its meaning.


The "below" is always in exact correspondence to and related with the "above." We are immersed in an all surrounding but invisible ocean of life, whose psychic organization, in the same sense as volumes of air enter our lungs, and as the latter stimulates the life of the body, likewise the former stimulates the growth of the elements of the spirit; which draw their substance from the lower-animal-principles. In the same way the caloric rays of the sun enter the bodies of plants and stimulate the assimilation of the elements which are drawn from earth, water and air.
The "below" is always in exact correspondence to and related with the "above." We are immersed in an all surrounding but invisible ocean of life, whose psychic organization, in the same sense as volumes of air enter our lungs, and as the latter stimulates the life of the body, likewise the former stimulates the growth of the elements of the spirit; which draw their substance from the lower-animal-principles. In the same way the caloric rays of the sun enter the bodies of plants and stimulate the assimilation of the elements which are drawn from earth, water and air.


Those who have gone through this occult process, will require no proof of the truth of these assertions; because they know it to be true by experience; but the "exoteric Christian" and sceptic, having no such experience to assist his faith, may arrive at a certain degree of conviction by using his reasoning powers and logic in conjunction with the teachings of the ''Bible''. Christ is reported in the ''New Testament'' to have said: "Except Ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in You" (John vi, 53); and again: "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever" (John vi, 51.) Now this seems plain enough to every student of occultism, and if translated into the scientific language of modern occultists, it would mean: "Unless you absorb and assimilate within your psychic organization the principle (The Christ), which is the only permanent and immortal principle in the constitution of Man, you will have no sixth principle developed within you, and consequently possess no immortal life—at least as far as your personality is concerned (for the divine and now unconscious germ within you cannot die, but will reincarnate again). But if you absorb the principle or spiritual life and develop the spirit within you, so that it grows through your flesh and blood, then you have drunk from the
Those who have gone through this occult process, will require no proof of the truth of these assertions; because they know it to be true by experience; but the "exoteric Christian" and sceptic, having no such experience to assist his faith, may arrive at a certain degree of conviction by using his reasoning powers and logic in conjunction with the teachings of the ''Bible''. Christ is reported in the ''New Testament'' to have said: "Except Ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in You" (John vi, 53); and again: "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever" (John vi, 51.) Now this seems plain enough to every student of occultism, and if translated into the scientific language of modern occultists, it would mean: "Unless you absorb and assimilate within your psychic organization the principle (The Christ), which is the only permanent and immortal principle in the constitution of Man, you will have no sixth principle developed within you, and consequently possess no immortal life—at least as far as your personality is concerned (for the divine and now unconscious germ within you cannot die, but will reincarnate again). But if you absorb the principle or spiritual life and develop the spirit within you, so that it grows through your flesh and blood, then you have drunk from the {{Page aside in Path|v=1|n=12|p=359}}Elixir of Life and received the Baptism of Blood and become a Christian, an Adept; for 'Christ' will have taken form in your body, and being himself immortal you will be immortal through him."
 
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Elixir of Life and received the Baptism of Blood and become a Christian, an Adept; for 'Christ' will have taken form in your body, and being himself immortal you will be immortal through him."


These views are corroborated by the great Christian mystic ''Jacob Boehme'', by ''Jane Leade'', ''Paracelsus'', the Rosicrucians, and I can find nothing in them which would in any way conflict with the ''Esoteric Doctrine'', as taught by the Eastern Adepts. If any difference in opinion could arise, it could only be, in regard to the person of ''Jesus of Nazareth'' or ''Jehoshua'', and whether he lived exactly at the time claimed by modern Christians. This question I must leave to some one wiser than myself to settle; but it seems of no great importance to me; for the existence of the Christ-principle is disputed by none, and the man, Jesus,—having died—can only be a Savior to us at present, if we study his character and imitate his example.
These views are corroborated by the great Christian mystic ''Jacob Boehme'', by ''Jane Leade'', ''Paracelsus'', the Rosicrucians, and I can find nothing in them which would in any way conflict with the ''Esoteric Doctrine'', as taught by the Eastern Adepts. If any difference in opinion could arise, it could only be, in regard to the person of ''Jesus of Nazareth'' or ''Jehoshua'', and whether he lived exactly at the time claimed by modern Christians. This question I must leave to some one wiser than myself to settle; but it seems of no great importance to me; for the existence of the Christ-principle is disputed by none, and the man, Jesus,—having died—can only be a Savior to us at present, if we study his character and imitate his example.
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