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"And the keys to integration are (1) the science of harmony,
(2) the science of energy flow, and (3) the science of the spoken word.
Master these three, you who would be chelas of Maitreya,
you who would prepare diligently for that expansion of life
that is Cosmic Christ awareness!"—Lord Maitreya, December 14, 1975
" . . . the Teachings of the Hierarchy have been entrusted to the Keepers of the Flame.
The keys to the counterrevolution have been given to the children of light."
—Kuthumi, Pearl Vol.19 No. 15
| Welcome to the heart of Maitreya. Welcome to Maitreya’s Mystery School. The Ascended Master whose name means kindness is present with us today. He is here at his Mystery School fulfilling his vow to tutor souls on earth who desire to walk the path of becoming the Bodhisattva. He who wore the mantle of the Lord God in the Lemurian Mystery School called Eden has come in answer to the call of the Divine Mother to save the Lightbearers. As a backdrop to our understanding of the person of Buddha Maitreya in his individualization of the God Flame, I shall continue my presentation of the many faces of Maitreya that emerge out of the East. I have said that Maitreya is unique in Buddhism because he is the only other figure besides Gautama Buddha who is universally accepted in all Buddhist traditions. He holds a prominent place among all of the Bodhisattvas as the one who is destined to be the next Buddha. Because of his future role, Buddhist writings and works of art sometimes portray Maitreya as a Buddha. Unlike other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who are shown sitting in the lotus posture, Maitreya is often represented standing or seated with his legs uncrossed, indicating his readiness to descend to earth. But like other Bodhisattvas, Maitreya is typically clad in princely garments and bedecked with jewels, which symbolize the Bodhisattvas’ spiritual sovereignty as heirs of the Buddha and the rewards they will one day earn when they will have attained Buddhahood. Maitreya is often portrayed wearing a crown with an ornament shaped like a stupa carved in it. A stupa is a dome-shaped mound or tower that serves as a Buddhist shrine; the different components of the stupa are symbolic of the elements of the awakened mind. <1> In the East Maitreya has been immortalized in
huge images chiseled out of rocks on mountainsides and cliff-faces.
For example, in Maulbeck, Ladakh (a district in north India bordering
Tibet), one can see a majestic twenty-four-foot rock carving of
a standing figure of Maitreya. Nicholas Roerich discovered many
of these carvings in his journey throughout Central Asia and wrote
about them in his book Altai-Himalaya. Of Maulbeck he says: In ancient Maulbeck, a gigantic image of the Coming One powerfully stands beside the road. Every traveller must pass by this rock. Two hands reach toward the sky, like the summons of far-off worlds. Two hands reach downward like the benediction of earth. They know that Maitreya is coming. <2> In another image of Maitreya, popular in the
art of China, Japan and Korea, we see him as a Bodhisattva in
a meditative or pensive pose. Art historian Christine Guth writes
of one such famous statue, believed to be of Maitreya, that is
housed at Chuguji, a convent in Japan: Since the events of the teaching career of Prince Ajita, the future Buddha Maitreya, are modeled after those of Prince Siddhartha, the Buddha Sakyamuni [Gautama], it is often impossible, without inscriptions or contextual evidence, to distinguish between images of these two Bodhisattvas. <3> A precious life-size statue of a crowned Buddha, a gift of students of the Buddha and the Mother, has graced our home and altar for many a year. Draped in golden robes trimmed in ruby, he is seated in a lotus posture, hands in the anjali, or namaskara, mudra with palms and fingers together at the level of the chest in the gesture of supplication or reverence. Art connoisseurs who have examined the statue have said that it may be a representation of a Bodhisattva rather than a Buddha because Buddhas are not usually presented with a crown. But I can see in this Buddha at once the sweetness of our beloved Gautama and the kindness of Maitreya, the crowned Bodhisattva become Buddha. We have always thought of this statue as a portrayal of Gautama Buddha, however. And for us the crown is apropos because we acknowledge that Lord Gautama Buddha was crowned Lord of the World on January 1, 1956. In like manner we proclaim Maitreya as the Coming Buddha who has come, as he did assume on the same day the offices of Cosmic Christ and Planetary Buddha vacated by Gautama. So whether you choose to see in this statue the face of Gautama or Maitreya, of Buddha or Bodhisattva smiling through, you may happily find the oneness of the Guru and the Chela.
Kindness, Fearless Compassion and Virya Maitreya exemplifies the Bodhisattva’s virtues of kindness, fearless compassion and virya, or vigor. As you will remember, the name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit word maitri, meaning “kindness” or “love.” Some commentators also trace the word maitri to mitra, meaning “friend,” and matr, which means “mother.” Maitri is one of the four brahma-viharas, or sublime states of mind, literally “Brahma-like, godlike or divine abodes.” The other three brahma-viharas are karuna (compassion), mudita (limitless joy) and upeksha (equanimity). Har Dayal, in his compendium on The Bodhisattva
Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, notes that in Buddhist
writings the quality of maitri is considered to be the opposite
of malice: The diffused rays of maitri can be visualized coming from the heart chakra and from the threefold flame, which is sealed in the Eighth Ray chakra, the secret chamber of the heart. Call to your Holy Christ Self and to your Mighty I AM Presence to send forth powerful needlelike rays of Divine Love and Wisdom that reach all sentient life. True loving-kindness is indeed the perfect balance of Love/Wisdom crowned with Power, expressed as loving care toward the evolutions of God. In the Buddhist text called the Milindapanha
(or Milinda’s Questions), King Milinda asks the learned
monk Nagasena about the quality of maitri, translated here as
“loving-kindness”: “Revered Nagasena, this too was said by the Lord: ‘If the freedom of mind that is loving-kindness is practiced, developed, made much of, made a vehicle, made a basis, persisted in, become familiar with and well established, eleven advantages may be expected: one sleeps in comfort, wakes in comfort, dreams no evil dream, he is dear to human beings, dear to nonhuman beings, devatas guard him, fire, poison and weapons do not affect him, his mind is easily concentrated, the expression of his face is serene, he does his (karmic) time unconfused, and if he penetrates no higher (to arhatship than the attainment of loving-kindness) he reaches the Brahma-world (on deceasing from this life).’ But on the other hand you say: ‘The boy Sama, a dweller in loving-kindness, was roaming about in a forest surrounded by a herd of deer when, on being pierced by a poisoned arrow shot by the king Piliyakkha, he fell down fainting on that very spot.’ . . . [Nagasena replies,] “What was the reason for that? These (advantages resulting from developing loving-kindness), sire, are not a man’s special qualities; these are special qualities due to developing loving-kindness. At the moment when the boy Sama, sire, was lifting up his pitcher of water he was neglectful of the development of loving-kindness. At the moment, sire, when a man is filled with loving-kindness neither fire nor poison nor weapons affect him, and when those who desire his woe approach him they do not see him, they have no chance over him . . . “It is wonderful, revered Nagasena, it is marvellous, revered Nagasena, how the development of loving-kindness is a warding off of all evil.” “The development of loving-kindness, sire, brings all special qualities of skill both for those (desiring) weal and for those (desiring) woe. The development of loving-kindness which is of great advantage should be communicated to all those beings who are bound to consciousness.” <5> Sangharakshita, a Buddhist monk and scholar, explains that in addition to wisdom and compassion the Bodhisattva ideal encompasses the quality of virya. Despite the emphasis on compassion the Bodhisattva is no mere sentimentalist. Nor, for all his tenderness, is he an effeminate weakling. He is the Great Hero, the embodiment not only of wisdom and compassion, but also of virya, or vigour, a word which like the etymologically equivalent ‘virility’ signifies both energy and masculine potency. This aspect of the Bodhisattva’s personality is prominent in the well-known Ahicchatra image of Maitreya, with its powerful torso, massive yet graceful limbs . . . The right hand is raised palm facing outwards and fingers slightly curved in the symbolical gesture of bestowing fearlessness (abhaya-mudra). <6> We learn from these teachings that compassion
and loving-kindness, the bywords of the Bodhisattva, of necessity
embody fearlessness. Saint Germain gave us his definition of fearless
compassion in his April 16, 1988 dictation: "Think upon these words of the Bodhisattva vow: fearless compassion! Ah, what a state of mind to be in perpetually! Fearlessness to give of the fount of one’s being, to extend compassion instead of criticism and backbiting, to give such flood tides of love as to fill in the chinks and cracks of another’s shortcomings. "Fearless compassion means one no longer fears to lose oneself or to loose oneself to become such a grid for the Light to pass through that the Infinite One never ceases to be the Compassionate One through you." <7> "I will tell you what has impelled us to reach beyond our ability, and I speak of all the ascended hosts. It is because we saw a need so great and had such compassion for the one who had that need, and [we] saw that none other stood by to help that one, none other would come if we did not extend the hand. In that moment, beloved, Love itself supplied the intensity, the [sacred] fire whereby we could leap to the rescue, to the side of [one in distress], or enter some course of study [so] that we might become proficient in [the] knowledge that was needed. "This [response], then, this love that could forget itself and leap to save a life, this, beloved, was the opening for the great fire of the Holy Spirit to enter the heart, to dissolve recalcitrance there, to melt the impediments to those twelve petals [of the heart chakra] and their unique vibration, to take from us hardness of heart, physical encrustations, disease, fear, doubt, records of death. All of these could vanish in the ardor of service." <8> Virya is often praised by the Mahayanist writers, and its fundamental importance is indicated in unequivocal terms. Enlightenment depends entirely on virya; where there is virya, there is bodhi. Virya is the chief and paramount cause of all the auspicious principles that are conducive to Enlightenment. It promotes a bodhisattva’s material and spiritual well-being. It is far better to live only for a day with full virya than to vegetate without energy during a hundred years. <9> What qualities must a Bodhisattva possess? In the Teaching of Gotama Buddha and in the Teaching of Bodhisattva Maitreya, given by him to Asanga according to tradition in the fourth century (Mahayana-Sutralankara), the maximum development of energy, courage, patience, constancy of striving, and fearlessness was underlined first of all. Energy is the basis of everything, for it alone contains all possibilities. “Buddhas are eternally in action; immovability is unknown to them; like the eternal motion in space the actions of the Sons of Conquerors manifest themselves in the worlds.” “Mighty, valiant, firm in his step, not rejecting the burden of an achievement for the General Good.” “There are three joys of Bodhisattvas: the joy of giving, the joy of helping, and the joy of eternal perception. Patience always, in all, and everywhere. The Sons of Buddhas, the Sons of Conquerors, Bodhisattvas in their active compassion are Mothers to All-Existence.” <10> In Buddhism, the quality of forgiveness is an
aspect of the paramita known as ksanti, which is translated as”patience,”
“forbearance” or “endurance.” It is recorded
in the Majjhima-Nikaya that Gautama Buddha instructed his monks
to train themselves in this virtue: Har Dayal, in his summary of the perfection of ksanti, says: A bodhisattva knows that the Buddhas are “the ocean of forbearance”; gentle forbearance is their spiritual garment. He cultivates this virtue in its full perfection. He forgives others for all kinds of injury, insult, contumely, abuse and censure. He forgives them everywhere, in secret and in public. He forgives them at all times, in the forenoon, at noon and in the afternoon, by day and by night. He forgives them for what has been done in the past, for what is being done at present and for what will be done in the future . . . He forgives all without exception, his friends, his enemies, and those who are neither.” <12> For those who would espouse the path of the
Bodhisattva, Saint Germain gave a profound teaching on the ritual
of forgiveness and the danger of harboring resentment in his July
4, 1968 address: "In truth, when men understand the ritual
of forgiveness and the ritual of honor, they will understand that
as they reach out from their hearts to enfold one whom they meet
with true and unbiased love, there flows from their hearts to
that one an energy of upliftment that in contacting the receptive
heart is raised exponentially into higher dimensions until,
by the power of the square root, the cosmic cube glows within
that energy and amplifies it by love. This positively charged
energy then returns to the sender, assuring him that the blessings
he will reap for the joy he has released to another will be a
permanent part of his world forever. "For when the essence of forgiveness is released from your heart, not only does it create a passion for freedom in the erring one but it intensifies remorse in his heart, thereby bringing him to the feet of his own divinity. Thus he is able once again to laugh at the wind and the wave and the seasons and the buffetings of life and understand that all is a chastening to unfold his soul’s reality. "Do you see, then, gracious ones, that courtesy as an expression of forgiveness and affection between hearts is a spiritual activity that brings about great soul expansion, which is intended to bring every man from serfdom to a state of lordship where he is the master of his world? "Yet we sometimes look askance, even from our octave, at those individuals who have long been under our tutelage and our radiation who upon receipt of some trivial offense immediately begin to send out a vibration of great resentment against the one who performs this offense against their lifestreams. "Quite frequently there is a mounting of intense reactionary resentment; this creates a great karma for the student of Ascended Master law, who ought to know better. And through the rupture that is thereby created in the emotional body, there is a pressing in from the sinister force of disturbing vibrations that not only flow through the aura and lifestream of the one who has taken offense but also puncture the peace and harmony of the supposed offender. "Do you not see, then, by contrast what a gracious thing the ritual of forgiveness can be? And O how wonderful it would be if our students would truly understand the law of forgiveness! It is a sweet gift from the heart of God and one that people ought to welcome into their worlds so that they may freely give it to others, even as they have freely received it. "Whenever someone does something that is not to your liking, precious ones, this is your great opportunity. This is your opportunity to say, 'I will use God’s energy and love to erase one more blight upon the universe! I will see to it that the blackboard of life becomes a radiant screen of white perfection, and I will put my perfection-patterns into manifestation. For these patterns are from the Father, and I am the Son representing the Father and I must show forth Light and not Darkness.' "Don’t you think it a bit strange, gracious ones, that from time to time people insist upon doing just the opposite? With their mouths they attempt to draw near to God as they speak and prattle of brotherly love; but when the moment of testing comes they are the first ones to rise up and say, “Vengeance is mine!” What a mockery this makes of 'pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father.'<13> "Let us, then, seek not after lust or luster but let us seek after the perfectionment of life. The perfectionment of life lives within you. It is quite natural to draw light from within your heart and send it out into the world. This is the virtue that creates the seamless garment. Do you realize that your tube of light is the seamless garment of the Christ? Do you realize when you call forth from God the perfection of his light-radiance to surround you that you are weaving the seamless garment around yourself? "Precious ones, I want you all to understand tonight that the moment that you have in your thought and feeling world resentment against any individual or any group of individuals on earth, you are immediately sending forth through the qualification of your energy the substance which will create a boomerang that will bring to your doorstep a great deal of unhappiness. "You do not wish to reap the fruit of unhappiness,
do you? Then I am certain you will understand that even if you
do not always feel like forgiving, it is that discretion which
is the better part, in fact the best part, of valor." In his dictation of November 21, 1976, Lord
Maitreya told us how the challenge to embody the virtue of loving-kindness
motivated him on the Path: "I come to initiate the line of Bodhisattvas of the New Age. I come to inquire: Are there any among you who care enough for Terra to live and to love, and to live and to serve until this people held in the hand of God come into the center of the One? " . . . Here I AM and, startling as it may seem, I have always been with you, even in the darkest hours of your aloneness, even in the hour of your rejection of my presence when you have cried out, “Whither shall I flee from thy presence?” For you have known in your soul that although you would ascend into heaven or be in the depths of the underworld, <14> you would find Maitreya Buddha answering the call of Gautama Buddha, of Sanat Kumara. For long ago I took my vow: "I will not leave thee, O my God! "I will not leave thee, O my God! "I will not leave thee, O my God! "I will tend that fire. "I will adore that flame. "And by and by some will aspire to be with me— "To be Maitreya. "And one day I sat, my head in my hand, deep in thought, and Lord Gautama said to me, 'What are you thinking, my Son?' And I said, 'My Father, can we win them with kindness and with love? Will they respond to Love?' And my Father said to me, 'If you hold within your heart, my Son, the full orchestration of Love, 144,000 tones of Love, if you yourself will come to know Love, then, yes, you will win them with Love.' "My heart leaped for joy. My Father had
given to me the challenge to know Love, to be Love, not for the
sake of mere love and loving Love, not for the sake of the mere
bliss of the communion of Love, but for the salvation of souls,
for the reaching out unto my God in humanity." On June 30, 1988, Lord Maitreya encouraged his
chelas to cultivate the quality of loving-kindness: "You say, then, 'But you have not yet appeared to us, Maitreya. How can we be thyself appearing to others?' "Yet I have so many times appeared to you.
"In gratitude for the God Flame that is your threefold flame, serve to set life free. Kindness always comes forth from gratitude. Selfishness emits from the state of the ingrate who receives again and again and demands more and demands more again as though Life and Hierarchy and Mother should supply all wants and needs. "Blessed ones, to forget to be grateful for the gift of the flame of Life means that you can be capable of riding roughshod over another’s tenderest moments and feelings in this insensitivity. "'The Keeper’s Daily Prayer'
is given [to you] by the beloved Nada that you might neglect not
profoundest gratitude [in the] daily memory that you are and shall
be eternally yourself because the flame of Life as divine spark
beats—beats, beloved—and leaps, burns and blazes within
you. All else may fade but the flame burns on, and out of the
flame is [heard] the Call, the Call to the soul" “Come Home to the heart of Maitreya!” <16>
In profound gratitude for the gift of the flame of Life whereby we extend kindness, fearless compassion and virya to all life, let us offer “The Keeper’s Daily Prayer” to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who have carved the Path before us. The Keeper’s Daily Prayer A Flame is Active— I AM a God Flame of radiant Love Pilgrim upon earth, I AM set free right now from all that binds I AM an active Flame! Where I AM, there God is also.
Maitreya’s Role as Buddhist Saviour While Maitreya is accepted by all Buddhists, he does take on a variety of roles in different cultures and religious sects, some of which I told you about in my introduction to Book I. These roles include the guardian and restorer of the Dharma; intercessor and protector; a guru who personally communes with, initiates and teaches his devotees; a messiah who descends when the world is in turmoil; a messenger sent by the Divine Mother to rescue her children; and the Zen Laughing Buddha. Maitreya’s role as an imminent Buddhist saviour originated with certain Chinese Buddhist sects that, contrary to traditional Buddhist sources, believed that his coming was to be in the very near future. Traditional sources have maintained that Maitreya is destined to come as far into the future as 5.67 billion years after Gautama’s parinirvana, when the earth will have already evolved into a utopia. The calculations for this period were based on very lengthy definitions of the cycles of time. But Chinese Buddhist sects in the late third to sixth centuries used radically shorter definitions of these cycles, bringing Maitreya’s coming close to their own lifetime. These sects believed that they were living in a period called mofa, a dark and destructive time similar to the Hindu Kali Yuga that must pass before a new era can begin, and that Maitreya would come to judge the wicked and save the righteous from the evils taking place. Summarizing this belief, Professor E. Zurcher writes that in the final period before Maitreya’s arrival “the world is stricken by famine, epidemics and natural disasters; the government is cruel and corrupt; punishments are heavy and arbitrary.” The Sangha (religious community) is “degenerate, ignorant, and indulging in all kinds of forbidden practices.” Zurcher describes this period of Chinese Armageddon
using sixth-century texts: Then the cosmic conflagration takes place: the whole world is burnt down by an Asura-king [demon-king] holding seven suns in his hands. Even the mountains melt and disappear; the earth has become a scorched plain. At that moment, Maitreya descends, seated in a splendid shrine that floats down from the Tusita heaven . . . When Maitreya descends, the demon-kings with their armies will try to resist him, and they are defeated by a host of myriads of bodhisattvas, riding on supernatural elephants and lions, and armed to the teeth. These sixth-century texts, writes Zurcher, state
“in almost biblical terms” that ‘the father will not know his son, nor will the mother know her daughter.’ The crowds of sinners and of the pious ones seem to be herded into two separate groups; . . . when Maitreya descends he will collect those who are destined to be saved ‘east of the bridge,’ and the sinners ‘west of the bridge.’ The chosen people constitute a small minority . . . Their salvation is the fruit of their religious piety, which [includes]: the confession of the Triple Refuge [the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha]; the Five Rules to be observed by laymen [prohibiting killing, stealing, adultery, lying and intoxication]; fasting, the practice of ‘visualization’, and reciting the Guanshiyin Scripture [the Kuan Yin Scripture]. In addition to these formal precepts and techniques, the practicants are constantly told to devote themselves whole-heartedly to religious works, to repent, and to abstain from desire and evil intentions. They are ordered to ‘change their hearts and change their thoughts,’ to ‘change their former ways and cultivate themselves for the future’; for soon a Lord of Darkness . . . will come, and only those who exert themselves to the utmost can be saved. <17>
The Worship of the Eternal Venerable Mother Maitreya appears again as a messiah in the teachings of the White Lotus sects of Buddhism. The White Lotus religion began in the twelfth century in China and continued as a strong movement until the early nineteenth century. It was the most powerful and long-lived spiritual movement in the history of Chinese Buddhism. In general its adherents were devoted to piety, the restraint of the passions, and vegetarianism. They sought to popularize Buddhism beyond the monastery and wrote scriptures and ritual texts in their own vernacular. Although some White Lotus groups did become involved in violent political activities, such as the overthrow of the Mongolian rule in the fourteenth century, by and large they were sincere and peaceful. By the sixteenth century, these sects focused on a new element of religious belief, the worship of the Eternal Venerable Mother. They believed she would send Maitreya as a messenger and saviour to rescue her children whom she had sent to live on earth. In a study of White Lotus sects and their beliefs, Professor Susan Naquin writes: Believers formed small congregations bound by strands of teacher-to-pupil ties, and met to worship and to read [their] scriptures together. Some, inspired by their patriarch’s predictions that the end of the present cosmic era would be signaled by great catastrophes and by the appearance of a savior sent by the Eternal Mother, rose in rebellion in order to usher in the new world. Although outlawed . . . for their beliefs, deemed incompatible with official orthodoxy and conducive to violent political action, communities of White Lotus adherents survived and grew in subsequent centuries. For those who believed, the White Lotus religion provided a process for salvation that did not necessitate reliance on the temples and priests of either popular religion or the state cult . . . By the early eighteenth century, a variety of different sects (groups of believers linked by the bonds between pupils and teacher) had appeared, some relying on written scriptures and congregational life, others emphasizing the recitation of mantras and individual yogic meditation. Although uprisings were few, government persecution (arrests of sectarians, confiscation of books, destruction of meeting places) slowly intensified . . . At least two thousand books (nearly four hundred different titles) were seized and destroyed by the government between 1720 and 1840 . . . Both congregational and meditational sects nevertheless continued to attract followers. <18>
The White Lotus religion taught that the children of the Eternal Mother were all “Buddhas and immortals” (Sanat Kumara’s 144,000) but that during their sojourn on earth they became caught up in desires and sensual pleasures, forgot their true identity, and became immersed in the (astral) “sea of suffering,” or samsara, <19> with its endless rounds of rebirth. In the scripture called the Precious Dragon-Flower Sutra Examined and Corrected by the Heavenly Spirit Old Buddha we read: “The Eternal Mother sent her children to the Eastern Land to live in the world. Here their heads were surrounded with light, and their bodies were of many colors . . . [But after] they reached the Eastern Land they all became infatuated . . . and [the Mother] commanded [them] to meet together again in the Dragon Flower Assembly.” <20> Author Hue-Tam Ho Tai writes that Maitreya is associated with the Dragon Flower Assembly, Gautama with the Mount Meru Assembly, and Dipankara Buddha with the Lotus Pond Assembly. Each assembly, which is a great gathering of the elect, takes place “immediately following an apocalypse when the survivors gather to receive the new Dharma for the coming age from the appropriate Buddha.” <21> Another scripture states that “the Eternal Mother in the Native Land weeps as she thinks of her children. She has sent many messages and letters [urging them] to return Home, and to stop devoting themselves solely to avarice in the sea of bitterness. [She calls them] to return to the Pure Land, to come back to Mount Ling [the Vulture Peak], [so that] the mother and her children can meet again and sit together on the golden lotus.” <22> Summarizing this theme in White Lotus literature, Susan Naquin writes: The Eternal Mother wanted her children to return to their “primordial native land,” their “original Home . . . ,” the spiritual paradise that mankind had once left and where their Mother still resided . . . It was . . . a splendid and luxurious place, a paradise that incorporated many of the features of the Pure Land, or Western Paradise, of popular Chinese Buddhism . . . Having described this paradise to which the Eternal Mother longed to bring her children, the literature of these sects goes on to explain how the Eternal Mother would, to this end, intervene in human history. She would send down to earth gods and buddhas who would teach a new system of values by means of which men could find salvation and thus “come Home.” Because mankind was “steeped in wickedness” the Eternal Mother had been compelled to make repeated efforts to open this road to salvation. She had first sent down the Lamp-lighting Buddha [Dipankara, an incarnation of Sanat Kumara] to save the world; then she had sent down the Sakyamuni Buddha [Gautama] to try again. Each had been able to save some of her children, but most of mankind remained lost. Therefore, the Eternal Mother had promised that she would send down yet another god to lead men to salvation, the Buddha Maitreya. <23>
The Venerable Mother Sends Maitreya to Teach Her Children Their Sacred Roots and How to Return Home
White Lotus devotees believed that in each of three great periods of history (called kalpas) one of these Buddhas would appear. The three Buddhas would each be responsible for disseminating a certain teaching particular to his age. According to White Lotus teachings, Maitreya is sent by edict of the Venerable Mother to remind her children of their sacred roots and to show them how to return Home. One text says that Maitreya “took forty-eight vows to save all imperial children [i.e., the children of Sanat Kumara].” <24> An eighteenth-century text entitled Precious Book of Salvation Brought by Maitreya says: “Maitreya transformed himself to save living beings; holding a staff, he roamed about everywhere, observing how the people of the world piled up sins as high as the mountains and did evil as deep as the sea.” <25> This scripture provides vignettes that portray Maitreya exhorting and converting people in his various guises. Maitreya appears as a Confucian physician carrying an elixir of youth and healing all illnesses with one dose. He appears as a ragged scholar who preaches to drunkards, prostitutes, selfish monks and unscrupulous businessmen. A fifteenth- or sixteenth-century White Lotus text tells how Maitreya descends from paradise as a patriarch to preach to those with “karmic potential.” In one section Maitreya outlines the spiritual practices that his followers should engage in in order to guarantee their return to heaven. As Professor Daniel L. Overmyer writes in his study of this scripture, “these practices include exercises to enable the soul to pass through the mysterious aperture between the eyebrows, and ‘publishing one’s name in the registry for returning home’ by sending up the appropriate memorial.” <26> Near the end of the book Maitreya prophesies that he will return again to usher in the “Imperial Ultimate stage.” Maitreya says, “I am leaving now, but I will return to restore the original wholeness. Those with karmic potential I will see again.” <27> Maitreya is withdrawing to give the seed of Sanat Kumara time and space to pile up good karma. Take note that the Guru who would take on a chela gives a requirement and the requirement is “karmic potential”—good works and the embodiment of the Word and the Work of the Lord. When the chela is wanting in these specifics the Guru must withdraw—sometimes for centuries or even millennia. In another scripture, the Precious Book of the Merit and Original Vow of the (Healing Buddha) Master of Medicine, Maitreya laments to the Buddha: “Sentient beings in the last age of the Dharma (mofa) are concerned only for wine, sex and wealth. They do not fear at all the fact that when one loses human form it is extremely difficult to obtain it again <28> for . . . myriad ages. If we don’t do something now, they will continue to revolve in samsara and again fall into the wrong path.” <29> In reply to Maitreya’s concern for sentient beings lost in samsara, Gautama then instructs him: “Exhort all people; [tell them,] ‘Why don’t you turn to the Light and become concerned with obtaining your original face [that is, with understanding your true nature]?’” This is followed by a verse explaining that “the Bodhisattva Maitreya in the lower world, in this world of suffering, saves the worthy and good. With a ‘Dharma boat’ [the ark of the Law] he saves all of the Mother’s children, and those who depart from the world see their dear Mother.” <30> Gautama teaches in The Sutra of Assembled Treasures that the Dharma boat is the means that a Bodhisattva employs “to rescue those sentient beings who are drifting and drowning in the vast stream of samsara.” As we learn from this sutra, Gautama instructed his Bodhisattvas that in order to succeed in their rescue mission to save not only the souls of others but their own souls, they must quickly embody the fullness of the Dharma and themselves become the Dharma boat. In this sutra Gautama addresses a Bodhisattva whose name is Universal Light about the components of the Dharma boat: “Universal Light, suppose a person tries to cross the Ganges in a poorly built boat. With what vigor should he row the boat?” Bodhisattva Universal Light replied, “World-Honored One, he should row it with great vigor. Why? Because it may collapse in midstream.” The Buddha said, “Universal Light, a Bodhisattva who wishes to cultivate the Buddha-Dharma should exert himself twice as hard. Why? Because the body is impermanent and uncertain, a decaying form which cannot long remain and will eventually wear out and perish; it may disintegrate before one benefits from the Dharma. “[A Bodhisattva should think,] ‘I will learn to navigate the Dharma boat in this stream [of samsara], so that I may ferry sentient beings across the four currents. I will ply this Dharma boat back and forth in samsara to deliver sentient beings.’ “The Dharma boat which a Bodhisattva should use is made for the purpose of saving all sentient beings equally. Its strong, thick planks are the immeasurable merits resulting from the practice of pure discipline; its embellishments are the practice and the fruit of giving; its beams are the pure faith in the Buddha-path; its strong riggings are all kinds of virtues; its nails are patience, tenderness, and thoughtfulness. The raw wood is the various ways to enlightenment, cultivated with vigor, taken from the forest of the supreme, wonderful Dharma . . . “Concentration serves as the helmsman, while insight brings the true benefit. The boat steers clear of [the reefs of] the two extremes . . . .Being able to deliver sentient beings in the ten directions, he proclaims, ‘Come aboard this Dharma boat! It sails on a safe course to nirvana. It ferries you from the shore of all wrong views . . . to the shore of Buddhahood.’ “Thus, Universal Light, a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva should learn everything about this Dharma boat.” <31> Lord Maitreya spoke of his mission to save the children of the Light for the Mother in a dictation given March 24, 1985: "I come that you might hear my voice and know that all of my offering on the path of the Buddha is in the love/reverence of the Mother and the Mother’s burden to reclaim her own—to find them again, to wash them clean, to make them whole, to heal their bodies and therefore to prepare food for soul and body and mind. "The great longing of the Mother to once
again draw to the heart of God all who went forth has thus become,
self-acclaimed, the burden of all Buddhas. And therefore we are
the comforters of the Mother. We are the comforters of the Mother
and we speak through her lips the ancient wisdom. "I AM Maitreya in the heart of the I where
the cross of the T is the formation of a Mother’s heart.
I AM the Rey of the Mother’s Light manifesting within you."
<33> Thus he gives us the key to the inner meaning of his name. Maitreya: Ma—the universal sound intoning the Mother Flame; I—the I or Eye signifying the Identity of the Guru as the individualization of the Mother Flame; T—the sign of the cross signifying the path of initiation of each disciple of the Cosmic Christ; Rey—the ray of the Mother’s Light manifesting in you; A—as you are the seed of Alpha (the alpha particle). We know from our study of Gnostic scriptures that White Lotus beliefs closely parallel the teachings of the Christian Gnostics, who believed that divine messengers or redeemers had been sent from the realms of Light to tell the children of the Light that they are not natives of this world and to call Home those on earth who had the “seed of Light,” or the divine “spark,” but were ignorant of their divine origin. In the Gnostic text called the Second Treatise of the Great Seth, Christ says: “I am a stranger to the regions below. <34> . . . When I had come to my own and united myself with them, and [them with] me, there was no need for many words, for our insight was with their insight, for which reason they understood all that I said.” <35> This echoes the theme found in Jesus’ discourse on the Good Shepherd and other passages from the Book of John: “I AM the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine . . . My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me . . . Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one . . . I have given them thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” <36> In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is recorded as saying that the elect will “find the Kingdom. For you are from it, and to it you will return . . . If they say to you, ‘Where did you come from?’ say to them, ‘We came from the Light.’ . . . If they say to you, ‘Is it you?’ say, ‘We are its children, and we are the elect of the Living Father.’” <37> To secure the safety of his own during their sojourn in samsara the Living Father placed a replica of himself, the Mighty I AM Presence, with each one of us to live with us and in us as our “God with us,” i.e., Emmanuel. Jesus testified to the Father’s Presence with him: “He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone.” <38> In the beautiful Gnostic poem “The Hymn of the Pearl” we find a great parallel to the White Lotus portrayal of the Eternal Mother’s call to her children to return Home. This poem is contained in the Acts of Thomas. It describes the sojourn of a prince who was sent forth by his parents to Egypt to capture “the Pearl that lies in the Sea . . . by the loud-breathing Serpent.” His parents promise him heirship in the kingdom when he accomplishes this mission. But the prince, partaking of the food of the Egyptians, enters into the sin of forgetfulness and its consequent karmic state of nonawareness. He forgets that he is a king’s son, forgets his assignment, and sinks into a deep sleep. The king and queen become very concerned and write their son a letter. It is a call to his soul to remember his origin and purpose. The letter flies in the form of an eagle, alights beside the prince, and turns into speech. As he recounts in the poem: “At its voice and the sound of its winging, /I waked and arose from my deep sleep. / Unto me I took it and kissed it; / I loosed its seal and I read it. / E’en as it stood in my heart writ, / The words of my Letter were written. / I remembered that I was a King’s son, / And my rank did long for its nature.” <39> The prince lulls the serpent to sleep by chanting over him the names of the king, the queen and his brother, whereupon he rescues the Pearl, returns to his Father’s kingdom and receives his reward. “The Hymn of the Pearl” is a story that takes place through a number of incarnations of the soul, who, having descended from the etheric octave, loses the memory of his origin and mission and merges with the realm of sleep. Answering the call of his Divine Parents, he emerges as the awakened one, redeems himself and his soul, becomes the saviour of his brothers and sisters who have met the same fate in “Egypt,” finally returns to his Home of Light and fulfills the ritual of the ascension. On October 4, 1987, following my reading of “The Hymn of the Pearl” in New York, the Ascended Master Lord Himalaya told us that this Gnostic poem was the story of our own souls. He said: "Awake, I say! For I AM Himalaya. And I have attended your comings and your goings in and out of incarnation unto your Causal Body, unto the farthest depths of the astral and physical planes. I say to you, beloved, according to the path of initiation outlined in 'The Hymn of the Pearl' (that is truly based upon an ancient Lemurian text known by Jesus), your [soul’s] evolutionary spiral has continued too long in and out of earth consciousness. "Blessed hearts, you have, as it were, a momentum on a sine wave that is not ascending. You have become accustomed to earth’s merry-go-round and have forgot that the purpose of the sine wave is to get off the merry-go-round and to enter the spiral that leads as a coil of fire directly to the heart of Alpha and Omega." <40>
The Redemption of Christ In “The Hymn of the Pearl,” as in
other Gnostic texts, the redeemer himself is shown to be in need
of redemption. This theme is foreign to the orthodox Christian
view of Jesus. The Gnostic Tripartite Tractate says of Christ:
“He too . . . , the son, who was appointed as a place of
redemption for the all, was himself in need of redemption, in
that he had become man.” In the apocryphal Acts of John,
Christ sings the hymn: I will be saved and I will save. Amen. I will be redeemed and I will redeem. Amen. <41>
Thus we glean from Gnostic works that Jesus came under the Law and that he, too, walked a path of overcoming, just as we learn from Buddhist writings that Maitreya and all the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas had to walk a carefully outlined path of initiation to gain their goal of enlightenment. It is interesting to note that the Christian concept of Jesus as God, fully perfected, is based solely on one incarnation, the final one, in which he comes to earth as the Anointed One. We must understand the law of reincarnation and realize that Jesus’ soul, like ours, has lived before in many lifetimes, in which he was not perfected. Following is a sampling of some of these: Up until some twelve thousand years ago, Jesus had had previous incarnations on the continents of Lemuria and Atlantis. In one embodiment he ruled Atlantis during an age of great enlightenment when more than 50 percent of the population were fully clothed in their Christhood. In the Genesis account of Adam and Eve, Jesus was righteous Abel, a keeper of sheep, whose offering was accepted by the Lord. But when Cain, a tiller of the ground, brought his offering and the Lord did not respect it, he rose up in anger and slew his brother Abel. When Eve conceived and bore another son she called his name Seth: “For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” And when to this Seth there was born a son, Enos, it is written: “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” <42> Thus, through the rebirth and the renewal of the spiritual seed of Christ in Seth, the sons and daughters of God once again had access to the Mighty I AM Presence by means of his mediatorship. And outside of Eden the Guru-chela relationship was carried forward through the centuries by those who sustained the devotional tie to the Lord God Maitreya by obedient and enlightened love. This Seth was the reincarnated Abel—our Christ Jesus come again to insure the Christic lineage of the Guru Maitreya in the descendants of Adam and Eve. More recently we see our Lord in the Old Testament as Joseph (c. 16th century b.c.), the favored of the twelve sons of Jacob, remembered for his coat of many colors, by which he became the envy of the rest. Though persecuted and sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph became the pharaoh’s governor and saved his family and all of Egypt during seven years of famine. Jesus was also embodied as Joshua (c. 1300 b.c.), the successor of Moses and great warrior (in the tradition of Sanat Kumara <43>) who led the Hebrews into the promised land. He was David (c. 1010-970 b.c.), the king who united the Israelites into one nation and the psalmist whose heart’s communion with the Lord deeply touches our own. We see him as the prophet Elisha (c. 9th century b.c.), who performed miracles and healings in the shadow of his great Guru, Elijah. After Elijah’s ascension, Elisha received his Guru’s mantle and smote the waters of Jordan with it, saying, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” <44> In this path of soul evolution that Jesus walked, we see that he was given the challenges of the path of the Bodhisattva, not as an exception to the Law but as an opportunity to exercise his free will. As he had affirmed his will in heaven, so he would now confirm that will on earth, saying, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” <45> Jesus came into his final incarnation having passed many initiations throughout his Eastern and Western embodiments; yet he retained the small percentage of karma that was required for his mission, which he balanced by the time he left Palestine at age thirty-three. It is the teaching of the Ascended Masters that so long as an initiate is unascended, no matter what his level of attainment, he is subject to the law of karma and must submit to the path of initiation under the lineage of the Buddhas and the Christed ones of the Great White Brotherhood who are his sponsors. Even as the redeemer must be redeemed and the saviour must be saved, so the one who would be Guru must first be chela. Jesus recognized in John the Baptist his Guru Elijah, who had “come again” <46> to prepare the way of his chela. The Messenger who was sent before the face of the Lord <47> preached the baptism of repentance in all planes of earth wheresoever the Saviour would go to save the lost sheep of the House of Divine Reality. <48> As Elijah, John had ascended into heaven. Under ordinary circumstances those who have passed through the ritual of the ascension do not reembody. But, for the mission of preparing the way of the one who would receive his mantle, the Guru descended to earth. Not only was John the Baptist endued with the Holy Ghost at birth but he came into incarnation as an Ascended Master, hence Jesus’ remark: “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.” <49> John the Baptist in turn bowed to the Light of the Word in Jesus and said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” <50> By this, John affirmed the law that when the chela is ready to assume the mantle of his Guru, the Guru withdraws to higher octaves. Thus, on earth John the Baptist’s mission and mantle would henceforth decrease proportionately as Jesus’ mission and mantle would now increase under Lord Maitreya. Maitreya was the Guru of both Elijah and Elisha, both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. However, Elijah preceded Elisha in the order of hierarchy, and this precious relationship was retained by John and Jesus from childhood on, even though Jesus was the one chosen to be the Avatar of the Piscean Age and John was chosen to ascend before him to hold the balance for his mission from octaves of Light. The occasion of Jesus’ baptism by John in Jordan is further illustration of the submission of both John and Jesus to the law of the Guru-chela relationship and the rituals of redemption: “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness [i.e., all right uses and ordained rituals of the law]. Then he suffered him.” <51> Buddhist teachings reveal that Gautama and Maitreya also were required to fulfill the whole law. They, too, had previous embodiments in which they had to overcome shortcomings as they walked the path of initiation before earning their Buddhahood. There are hundreds of stories, called jatakas, about the incarnations of Gautama and his disciples that describe how they fulfilled or fell short of fulfilling the requirements for Bodhisattvahood leading to Buddhahood, at times even sacrificing their own lives to save others. These jatakas, told by Gautama to his disciples,
are in a sense the parables of Buddhist lore. Lama Govinda describes
their significance in the culture of the East: The jatakas are the divine song of the Bodhisattva ideal in a form which speaks directly to the human heart and which, therefore, is not only understandable to the wise but even to the simplest mind. Only the all-too-clever will smile at them indulgently. Up to the present day the jatakas have not lost their human appeal and continue to exert a deep influence upon the religious life in all Buddhist countries. In Ceylon, Burma, Siam, and Cambodia crowds of people listen with rapt attention for hours when Bhikkhus during the full-moon nights recite the stories of the Buddha’s former lives, and even in Tibet I have seen tears in the eyes of sturdy caravan men when, sitting around the camp-fire, [they listened as] the Bodhisattva’s suffering and sacrifices were retold. For these people the jatakas are not literature or “folklore” but something that happens in their very presence and profoundly affects their own life. Something that moves them to the core of their being, because it is ever-present reality to them. <52> "You may read these stories that I told
so long ago. They are in the collected writings of the Buddha
that are published even today. They must be read symbolically.
They must be read with understanding and above all with the Ascended
Masters’ teachings as a basis." In one of these jataka tales Gautama is portrayed
as having had greater compassion than Maitreya when they were
embodied together as brothers. As Gautama recounts the episode: In aeons long past, aeons beyond recall, there was an emperor in this world by the name of Mahayana who had a thousand kings subject to him. He had three sons: the eldest, Mahanada, the middle son Maha-deva, and the youngest, Mahasattva. From childhood the youngest son was of a loving and compassionate nature and thought of all beings as his only sons. Upon a certain occasion the emperor, his ministers, and his wives and sons went to the forests and mountains to divert themselves. The princes went into the woods to explore and saw there a mother tiger who had given birth to cubs and was so exhausted with hunger that she was on the point of eating her young. The younger brother said to the others: “Brothers, this mother tiger is starving and going to eat her own offspring.” When the elder brothers agreed that this was so, the younger brother asked: “What would the tigress eat?” The elder brothers said: “She eats freshly-killed meat and drinks blood.” The younger brother said: “Who could give his own flesh and blood in order to save her life?” To which the brothers replied: “Who, indeed, could do so difficult a thing!” The younger brother thought: “For long I have been wandering in the round of birth and death wasting life and limb, and through attachment, anger, and ignorance have brought forth no merits. For the sake of the Dharma I should have entered the field of virtue. Now, in order to bring about merit, I shall give my body to the tigress.” As they were returning, he said to the two elder brothers: “You two go on ahead. I have something private I want to do in the woods. I’ll come back to you in just a moment.” Going back to the tigress, he lay down in front of her, but the tigress was unable to open her mouth to eat. The prince then took a sharp stick and pierced his body. When the blood flowed the tigress licked it, [she] was then able to open her mouth, and [she] ate the prince’s body. <53> At the conclusion of the story, Gautama reveals that Maitreya was the elder brother Mahanada, Manjushri was the brother Mahadeva, and he himself was the youngest brother, Mahasattva. <54> In contrast to this story in which Maitreya was
not yet willing to sacrifice his life, another jataka relates
how Maitreya did just that in an embodiment as the powerful emperor
Sankha. In this tale Maitreya gives up his kingdom, “impelled
by the joy of contemplating the Buddha,” in order to go
alone on foot in search of the perfect Buddha Sirimata. The jataka recounts: During the first day of [Sankha’s] journey on foot, the soles of his feet split open, for they were tender due to luxurious upbringing. On the second day they began to bleed; on the third day he was unable to walk any further. Then he went on his knees using the palms of his hands as support. Going on the fourth day in the same manner his knees and palms bled, at which the Emperor Sankha thought: “I should go on my chest,” so he began creeping on his chest. Impelled by the joy of contemplating the Buddha, even though (sorely) afflicted he surmounted the great suffering and pain. ...The Exalted One Sirimata, the Worthy Perfect Buddha, surveying the world with his All-knowing Knowledge, seeing his mighty effort, thought, “This Sankha is certainly a Buddha-sprout, a Buddha-seed [i.e., a bodhisattva]; on my account he endures great pain.” As the story goes, when Sankha finally arrived at the feet of the Buddha he asked the Teacher to deliver a discourse that would bring him peace. After the Exalted One had taught him about nirvana, the emperor requested that he stop his discourse, saying: “Should the Exalted One teach the Dhamma further, I have no suitable offering to make for it. The offering that I have is just sufficient for the Dhamma already taught.” . . . . . . The Emperor Sankha said to the Exalted One Sirimata, the Worthy Perfect Buddha: “ . . . I too among all bodily parts would pay homage to your doctrine with my head,” and he began severing his neck with his nails . . . Having spoken thus, “May this help the attainment of the All-knowing Knowledge,” he cut off his head with his nails . . . The head was severed from the neck in the presence of the Exalted One as in homage to the Dhamma. <55> The jataka goes on to explain that by this offering Maitreya fulfilled one of the requirements on the path of the Bodhisattva known as the perfection of giving and was reborn in the Tushita heaven as a deity. Maitreya teaches that what one man has attained all men may attain. In other words, the Great Law is no respecter of persons. <56> All pure sons of God have a threefold flame, through which they may create their creations out of the flame of the Father, through which they may preserve their creations out of the flame of the Son, and through which they may seal and thereby make permanent or destroy (i.e., transmute) their creations out of the flame of the Holy Spirit. And that is our daily freewill choice.
Make Your Decision to Fulfill Your Destiny On July 3, 1988, Alpha and Omega spoke to us about our own Homecoming and our Victory: "It is time to make your decision to fulfill your destiny, for I have come! I have come to call you Home and to enumerate the requirements for your Homecoming, and [foremost among them] is to rescue every Lightbearer on earth, every child of God marked by the Lord your God for the Victory. Thus, let not a day pass that you do not intensify the endeavor and show to yourself some good gain that should please our hearts immensely." <57> Even on the Path, and perhaps especially on the Path, people are in an almost half-awakened state. They feel secure that they have found their teacher, found their mantra, found a means to improve their abilities. Some who have never truly embraced the disciplines of the Path use unlawful techniques for the control of self or others, such as playing cassette tapes with subliminal messages that are not audible or comprehensible, thereby programming the mind to this and that by what amounts to autohypnosis. These techniques are used to achieve the inordinate desire of self-mastery for personal gain by persons who are unwilling to bend the knee before the Law, the Teaching or the Guru. All kinds of techniques are packaged and offered for those who want to bypass their karma and be popular, healthy, wealthy or whatever. You can even join an Eastern cult that says if you give such-and-such mantra you can get anything you want in this world! So when people find these techniques of a pseudoreligious nature, they believe they have somehow beaten the game of ordinary mortals, who must suffer this and that element of their psychology or karma—until the karma for their karma-dodging descends, that is. Thus, by taking whatever detour suits their fancy, people procrastinate their reunion with God on the path of individual Christ Self-mastery. But what they are really doing is postponing the day of decision to fulfill their destiny. And what destiny is it? It is our fiery destiny. It is our soul’s ascent to the Mighty I AM Presence. It is the conscious engaging of our minds and hearts in the mighty work of the ages—the balancing of our karma and the slaying of the dweller-on-the-threshold. <58> It is our soul fully awakened and multiplying the Word and Work of the Lord wherever we are. It is the conscious entering into the Path, and our willingness to sacrifice and surrender on a path of selfless service, our willingness to experience the pain and the bliss of all levels of our reality and our unreality as the Lord God does ordain it. Think of it. Here is the Father-Mother God, Alpha and Omega, who could have said anything to us on this momentous occasion of their address, saying with the full power of their presence, “It is time to make your decision to fulfill your destiny, for I have come,” as if we needed to be reminded that we have not decided to fulfill our destiny. We are the Keepers of the Flame gathered in the Heart of the Inner Retreat, certainly not unaware of our fiery destiny, certainly believing in our hearts that we have made that decision. What Alpha is telling us is that we have not qualitatively made a decision that has a sufficiency of desire, one-pointedness, determination, resolve and fearless compassion to be counted as a decision. Our decision is not counted as a decision until we are fully engaged with all of our forces, human and divine. And we are not fully engaged until we decide 100 percent that we want to slay that dweller-on-the-threshold of the not-self, i.e., the synthetic self of our human creation. We can’t want heaven when we still want to keep a piece of the pie of the karmic self. We have to want to have that dweller bound hand and foot and in chains and encaged in that lower level of being. And the proof of our wanting to do something is that we do it! We simply set everything else aside and we do it. So in making the decision to fulfill our destiny we must take the time to sit down and examine our desires one by one. Examine your goals. What do you want out of life? Ask yourself the question and then answer it. Then take note whether or not your desires and the energy it takes to fulfill them are taking up an inordinate amount of your lifestream. If so, your decision to fulfill your destiny is worth nothing because you haven’t made the decision to free up enough energy out of your subconscious and out of the daily allotment of energy God gives you to fulfill that destiny. You’re taking up too much of the energy God has given you to preserve the old self with its wants and its whims, and there just isn’t enough left over to fulfill your destiny day after day. It’s like the space shuttle taking off. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to launch; and so it is with the soul. We have to summon all of our forces to act on the decision we have made to fulfill our destiny now. You must look at the warring in your members <59> and decide this day, in the name of Alpha and Omega, that you will become the Buddha by the shortest route and not the longest. Because short and long are conditions of time and space, and there’s no guarantee as to what the condition of our time and space will be in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. So Jesus said, and Maitreya said through him, “Walk while ye have the Light.” <60>The real meaning of this is: Work on your karmic potential while you have the Light incarnate with you in the person of the living Guru. Work while you have the dispensations of the Great White Brotherhood and the Ascended Masters as your sponsors. Work while you have the gift of the violet flame and the dynamic decrees and the protection of Archangel Michael and the hosts of the Lord. Work while you have the Lost Teachings of Jesus Christ, Lord Maitreya, Gautama Buddha and Sanat Kumara in hand, that you may become an initiate of the Inner Christ and the Inner Buddha. Give it your very best, and when you want to come back to this plane, for God’s sake, come back as an unascended master and not as a karma-bound fool!
A Portrait of Maitreya as the Hemp-Bag Bonze Another portrait of Maitreya, which took shape in China in the tenth century, is that of the plump, jolly, pot-bellied Laughing Buddha who is known as the Hemp-bag Bonze. A “bonze” is a Buddhist monk. This endearing figure is often depicted sitting and holding a sack, with happy children climbing all over him. Some Buddhists say that the children Maitreya is playing with represent arhats (adepts, perfected saints). Statues of the Laughing Buddha can be found in most temples in Taiwan and have made a comeback in mainland China. He is usually the first image one sees inside Chinese Buddhist temples, his smiling visage greeting all who enter. Tour guides in China explain that Maitreya manifests in this unhandsome form so that people will concentrate on his teaching rather than upon the beauty of his being as portrayed in earlier Buddhist art. Scholar Kenneth Ch’en says that the Hemp-bag Bonze is mentioned in “a number of works in the Chinese canon, where he is always described as having a wrinkled forehead and a protruding belly left uncovered.” He is said to have been a native of Chekiang province who was well liked because of his jovial nature and uncanny ability to predict the weather. Ch’en writes: When he was seen wearing wet sandals and scurrying for shelter, rain was expected; but when he slept on the market bridge in a squatting posture, his head resting on his knees, then good weather was expected. One feature of his appearance singled him out—he carried a hemp bag wherever he went. Into this bag was deposited whatever he received, and for this reason the bag became an object of intense curiosity, especially among the children. They would chase him and climb all over him, and force him to open his bag. On such an occasion he would place the bag on the ground, empty the contents one by one, and just as methodically put them back into the bag. The expressions attributed to him were all enigmatic and exhibit [Zen] characteristics....Once a monk asked him about his bag; he replied by placing it on the ground. When asked what this meant, he shouldered the bag and went away. Once he was asked how old the bag was, and he replied that it was as old as space.
This bag demonstrates the mystery of space and the miracle of space under the dominion of the Buddha. Its timelessness shows the Buddha’s mastery of segments of eternity, hence eternity itself, through the flame of Mother. Ch’en continues: Because of his popularity the people were only
too willing to believe the stories that he never died. All such
stories pointed to the prediction that he was the Future Buddha
in the flesh. Once people were amazed when they found him lying
in the snow, unaffected by it. On another occasion a friend found
him bathing in the river, and discovered that he possessed the
third or wisdom eye on his back. Surprised by this, the friend
exclaimed, “You are a Buddha!” whereupon the Hemp-bag
Bonze silenced him and warned, “Do not tell anyone.”
. . . “The big belly is capable to contain, it
contains all the In this potbellied figure one is able to see the representation of a number of Chinese life-ideals. The huge protruding stomach and the hemp bag denote prosperity and a wealth of material goods, for only a rich person would have enough to eat and be fat. The reclining figure is indicative of the spiritual contentment and relaxation of one who is at peace with himself and the world. Finally, the large number of children usually surrounding him are illustrative of another Chinese virtue—a large family consisting of many children. When these features are combined with the genial appearance of the figure, as if he were full of mirth and friendship, then it is easily understood why he has been so enthusiastically received by the Chinese. When the Chinese look at him, they see not just a Buddhist deity but also a good representation of many of the things after which they aspire. <61> Author M. Conrad Hyers has some additional insights into the character of what he terms this “incognito appearance of Maitreya.” He writes: According to legend [he] refused the designation of Zen master, as well as monastic restriction, and instead walked the streets with his sack over his shoulder . . . Sometimes, in fact, he is pictured sitting inside his sack (his only home) peering impishly out . . . Like an Oriental Santa Claus, he was the merry sage with a twinkle in his eye who had rediscovered the wisdom and freedom and laughter of little children. Whenever he met a fellow Zen devotee, he is reputed to have extended his hand, saying in childish fashion, “Give me a penny.” Or if anyone would suggest that he return to a temple or monastery, or more formally instruct others in the Zen path, he would again reply, with an air of innocence, “Give me a penny.” [The Laughing Buddha] represents, therefore, the Zen goal of recovering on a higher plane the spontaneity and naturalness and playfulness . . . of the child . . . [He] symbolises the wisdom of children. He is not a little like the commonly ignored image of Jesus who pauses to play with the children, despite his disciples’ dismay, or who sets a little child in the midst of his all-too-earnest followers with the declaration: “Unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” <62>
The Conviction of the Era of Maitreya Now I would like to take up the teachings on Maitreya given to us by the Ascended Masters in this century. Helena Roerich, amanuensis for El Morya and other selected Masters of the Great White Brotherhood, wrote of Maitreya in Foundations of Buddhism: The new time of the Era of Maitreya is in need of conviction. Life in its entirety must be purified by the flame of achievement.... The dates are approaching. The Image of Maitreya is ready to rise. All [of] the Buddhas of the past have combined their wisdom of experience and have handed it on to the Blessed Coming One. <63> In this mystery of Maitreya we understand that in order to experience the Era of Maitreya we must have the conviction that it is at hand. We must have the conviction that as we are one with our Holy Christ Self, so we are one with Maitreya, who as the Universal Christ is personified in our Holy Christ Self. Our life must be purified by the flame of achievement, achievement through the Holy Christ Self and the Holy Christ Flame. Then we will have the conviction of the Era of Maitreya. We will experience that Era as we contain it, even as we experience the kingdom of God as we contain it. Where is the Era of Maitreya? Do not look “Lo here! or lo there!” for behold, the Era of Maitreya is within you. <64> In a letter from 1935, Madame Roerich writes of the significance of the coming of Maitreya, whom she refers to as the “Lord of Shambhala.” The reign of the Lord of Shambhala does not
imply that He will come and take part physically in the last battle;
this is the mistake that the most ignorant of Buddhists make.
The Lord of Shambhala, according to the most ancient chronicles,
will fight the Prince of Darkness himself. This battle, first
of all, takes place in the subtle spheres; whereas, here the Lord
of Shambhala acts through his earthly warriors. As for Himself,
He can be seen only in the most exceptional cases, and certainly
would never appear in a crowd or among the curious. As for his
[manifestations] in a Fiery Image, this would be disastrous for
all and everything, as his aura is charged with energies of tremendous
power.<65> In another of her letters she says: In her book Woman we read: Each Lord has His keynote. The Epoch of Maitreya proclaims the Woman. The manifestation of Maitreya is linked with the confirmation of the Mother of the World, in past, present and future. <67> On November 22, 1976, Lord Maitreya, dictating through me, had this to say about his long-awaited coming: "Come now, come now, be joyous in that buoyant flame. For I AM Maitreya and I AM happiness—a Buddha of happiness, a chela of happiness, a friend of happiness. All these thousands of years they have called me the Coming Buddha, and I have been coming and coming and coming, and at last I AM here! "I AM come! I AM the Buddha of the Aquarian
cycle." Gautama Buddha also spoke of the Coming Buddha in his November 8, 1981 dictation, delivered at the Inner Retreat: "Perceive, then, the coming of the Mother always as the sign of Lord Maitreya. For we have a saying: If the Mother be in our midst, can Maitreya be far behind?Far nearer than the far-off worlds is the emanating Light of Maitreya. "Thus, indeed have you renamed the mountain “Maitreya Mountain.” <68>For it is the sign of the rising spiral of his coming, as earth herself rises in the form of the mountain to praise his blessed feet, that he might have the place wherewith to alight—and there to meditate over the Heart of our Inner Retreat for the coming of the pilgrims who would become, by discipleship, the messengers of Maitreya. <69> "Messengers of Maitreya are we, one and
all, sent to bear his Teaching, the same Teaching that has been
taught by Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha. It is the Teaching
of the Divine Mother. We teach it best by embodying it and by
our example, and then by explaining that example and how others
can be it too." On July 2, 1984, Maitreya said that he had placed a focus of himself in the lotus posture in meditation upon Maitreya Mountain as “a sign raised up to all the world that in the West the Saviouress is come and the Universal Mother may once again transmit the teaching of Maitreya through her instrument and servant.” <70>
As I told you in Introduction I, on May 31, 1984, Jesus announced the dedication of the Heart of the Inner Retreat and the entire property of the Royal Teton Ranch, our international headquarters in southwestern Montana, as Maitreya’s Mystery School. <71> The Mystery School of Eden, located on Lemuria near where San Diego is today, was the first Mystery School on planet earth. And Maitreya, referred to as the Lord God in Genesis, was its first hierarch. On April 6, 1985, Justinius urged chelas of the Word Incarnate to consider the significance of the coming of Lord Maitreya and the reestablishment of his Mystery School today. "The great moment of his coming signifies a turning in the age and an unleashing of his Causal Body that does contain the formula of the path of the Bodhisattva for all who would unite with him in love and receive the fruit of the Tree of Life, [which is] the initiation of [everlasting] Life in the heart [chakra], as well as the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." <72>
In his July 2, 1984 dictation, Maitreya spoke of Jesus’ journey to the Far East, during his so-called lost years between the ages of thirteen and twenty-nine, and of Christ’s mission to redeem those who had departed from the Mystery School. He also described what was in store for his chelas at his Mystery School come again: "My beloved, I welcome you as I welcomed to my heart long ago the youth Issa, your Jesus, when he came to the Himalayas and touched the fire of Tibet and knew the ancient lamas and found me. <73>For I was the one promised and known of him even before birth, as the entire drama of the mission of the avatar of the Piscean age was, of course, premeditated by God and directed from above. "Sweet Jesus, the strong, when he said to his parents at the age of twelve, 'Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?' <74> he spake of the Teacher, the eternal Guru he must go and find. [He must] go to the East and, as all such saints, receive the anointing from the lineage of his descent. "Thus I unveil to you the real mission of the Saviour, so truly stated by the apostles, for the redemption of the twin flames who took up the path of the Tree of Life in the ancient Mystery School and were turned aside by the cunning of the serpent philosophy, which was the philosophy of the fallen angels who were determined to subvert the Light [of twin flames] and misdirect the great gift of God [to all generations who would come after them]. " . . . Thus, the mission of Jesus was to go back to Eden, yet the Motherland was long gone. [Therefore he came to Shamballa.] And he came to the ancient repository of the tablets of Mu and the writings of Maitreya and Gautama and Sanat Kumara. He came for the redemption of those who had been turned aside [from the law of the Divine Mother] and to restore [to them] the [true] path of discipleship [under the Cosmic Christ]. "Such a perfect one was he that the Ancient of Days determined that as much of the path of the Mystery School as the Great Law would allow should be demonstrated by example in his mission. The testing of that mission and his ability to sustain those initiations in [the] outer [world] were the subject of our training sessions during his eighteen years in the Orient. " . . . My beloved, with what great joy I receive you here as I received the youth Jesus! For the dispensation is truly opened and I may begin anew, taking those who have apprenticed themselves before the Darjeeling Master and Saint Germain and the Great Divine Director, those who have disciplined themselves by the Law of Love before the living Christ. "Indeed, indeed, you must acknowledge him the Saviour of your life, for he is! He restored to you the contact with your own Christ Self and [he] is here today to increase that spark or even ignite it again if, by your words and your works, you may be rotated one hundred and eighty degrees to face the living Son of God. "If you cannot see the Saviour in him, I cannot teach you; there is nothing else. He has taught my teaching. I would take you from [that level] and beyond. You can never save so much as a bumblebee if you do not see the glory of that life . . . For he was and is God incarnate, truly in the unique sense that God raised him up as the example but never in the exclusive sense that all could not follow in his footsteps. "I AM Maitreya come again. The cycles move with great rhythm. Vast ages turn and the door opens. Thus I tell you as the headmaster of the school that I am truly ensconced, and physically so, by the grace of this body loaned to me. And I commit myself to your heart as God has committed himself to me, that I will deliver to you in these months and years and decades, truly, the personal teaching that is the requirement for you not merely for the ascension but for the highest attainment of your soul prior to that ascension whereby the gift of [your] attainment might be the offering on the altar of humanity." <75> "Therefore be ready, for thou shalt meet Maitreya in the way one of these days. Accept, then, the invitation to be trained at the retreats of the Lords of the Seven Rays, <76> for they do prepare your souls for the Great Initiator. "Maitreya is that one. And I come that you might have the aura of the Holy Spirit to receive him again. For many of you he was the last initiator from divine realms that you have seen. [You saw him] in the Mystery School known as Eden, upon Lemuria, not far from this place. "Thus, in ancient times you and your twin flame did know the opportunity to receive that initiation. Yet you were lured away—lured away, then, by false teachers, cunning serpents who crept in, fallen angels, to tear you from your love tryst with the Beloved and with the blessed Guru Maitreya." <77> "Maitreya has come. He has set up the Mystery School, choosing the Royal Teton Ranch as the place for that Light. He has come to call ancient souls, twin flames, back to where they left off [in their] initiations on the continent of Lemuria. Here was the Mystery School. Here was the opportunity. Here it is born again. "Do not fear and do not withdraw when Maitreya recounts to you at inner levels what are the requirements of the return to this opportunity. It comes once in many thousands of years. And each and every one who hears my voice in these rooms—you must know that you are here because you need this initiation in order to be effective [in service] with your twin flame and to make your ascension. " . . . Thus we are come. Thus we place ourselves at your service. May you know the meaning of having access to the Ascended Masters through Maitreya, Gautama, Jesus and Sanat Kumara—the Lion, the Calf, the Man and the Flying Eagle. <78> So these are the symbols of the ones who hold the divine office [on the Path of the Ruby Ray] in the four quadrants. So let your heart be opened to the Mysteries of Christ. And do not deny them before you have tasted of the nectar of thy Christ Self." <79> This is why the Ascended Masters have sponsored our Community of the Holy Spirit at the Royal Teton Ranch. Here chelas of the Word Incarnate study and put into practice the mysteries of the Universal Christ delivered to us by Sanat Kumara, Gautama Buddha, Lord Maitreya, Jesus Christ, by the Buddha Padma Sambhava, the initiator of our twin flames in the lineage of the Ruby-Ray Buddhas, and by all of the Ascended Masters. Here souls who have heard the call of Saint Germain and El Morya dedicate themselves in the Guru-chela relationship to the unfoldment of the inner potential of the Christ, the Buddha and the Mother Flame unto the goal of the ascension through the disciplines of the path of the Bodhisattva. This “Place Prepared” for the Coming Buddha and his Mystery School, for his bodhisattvas and all who would study under him, is the physical coordinate of the Western etheric retreat of the Lord of the World. Gautama Buddha established his Western Shamballa over the Heart of our Inner Retreat at the Royal Teton Ranch on April 18, 1981: "We bow before the Ancient of D |