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Sunday, December 27, 2009Agastiyar - NOTE
from www.murugan.org A rare and illuminating book in English on the life and works of the great siddhas of ancient and modern times, with particular reference to Sri Agastiyar, the archetype of all siddhas and gurus, was published in Canada recently, entitled Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga tradition, written by Marshall Govindan, an advanced Kriya Yoga sadhaka of Los Angeles and a keen scholar, who had carried out extensive literary and spiritual research in India and Sri Lanka for twenty years under the guidance of Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah. In the hierarchy of siddhas or perfected human beings, or Initiates of the White Brotherhood as they are called in the West, who have guided the destinies of nations on our planet Earth for the past 12,000 years of recorded history, the ageless legendary siddha Sri Agastiya Maha Muni stands out as the senior-most guru who initiated a galaxy of eminent gurus and siddhas down the ages, and who had established and nurtured the ancient Dravidian civilization lasting several millennia. He is also acknowledged, in occult circles, as the head of a representative group of rishis entrusted with the guiding of the destiny of India and other nations called the Sapta Rishis as disclosed in certain ola leaf manuscripts called rishi vakyams and also in theosophical writings. Sri Agastiyar is also considered the author of several Rig Vedic hymns in Sanskrit connected with the Aryan civilization of the North. Sri Agastiyar’s role in the RamayanaIn the Ramayana saga, which is deemed by historians to have taken place about 9,000 years ago in the Treta Yuga, Sri Agastiyar is reported to have appeared before Rama himself on the day before the final victorious termination of the war with Ravana, the hitherto invincible King of Lanka, and initiated Lord Rama with a special divine mantra to counter the effect of the powerful boons that Ravana had earned from the gods by his great tapas. It is significant to note that, according to geo physical research based on the movement of the continental plates, the Lanka of Ravana was situated in the continent of Lemuria, also known as Kumari Kandam, which was a land mass, connecting the Deccan plateau in South India and the island of Ceylon, with intervening straits to be crossed, with Madagascar in the West, Australia on the East and Antarctica on the South, until it sank into the Indian ocean in stages over 3,500 years ago, as mentioned in the writings of the German geologist Wagner anti the eminent Indologist Sir T.W. Holderness. The research done by Fr. Heras and Sir John Marshall the archaeologist and other scholars into the archaeological finds at Mohenjodaro and Harappa point to the existence of an earlier highly developed Dravidian civilization in the deep South which, had influenced the Indus-Valley Aryan civilization of the North. The available historical evidence referring to the Dravidian civilization commences with the records that have come down to us of the Tamil literary writings during the past 12,000 years, which have been divided by historians into three periods, called the First Sangam period from 9600 BC to 5200 BC, spanning the Satya and Treta yugas, the Second Sangam period from 5200 BC to 1500 BC spanning the Treta and Dwapara yugas, and the Third Sangam period from 1500 BC to 600 AD spanning the Dwapara and Kali yugas. According to the present cycle of four yugas, namely Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali yugas, in their descending arc of 12,000 years and ascending arc of another 12,000 years, as stated by Sri Yukteswar in his famous treatis called ‘Holy Science’, we are now in the ascending arc of Dwapara yuga completed the Kali yuga period lasting from 600 BC to 1800 AD. The Mahabharata war, where Lord Krishna propagated the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, is reckoned to have taken place during the Second Sangam period about the year 3100 BC. The First Sangam, which was founded and nurtured by Siddha Sri Agastiyar, lasted for 4,400 years and had its centre in the city of Dakshina Madura in the continent of Lemuria. The Second Sangam, which was also established under the patronage of Sri Agastiyar, lasted for 3,700 years and had its centre in the city of Kavatapuram in the continent of Lemuria, after the records in the city of Dakshina Madura had gone under water. The Third Sangam, also sponsored by Sri Agastiyar, lasted for 1,800 years and had its centre at Uttara Madura, namely the modern city of Madurai, which lays north of the earlier centres, after the whole of the Lemurian continent had gone under water. After the commencement of the gradual inundation of the Lemurian continent, it is reported that Sri Agastiyar led a migration of Dravidians to Java and Cambodia and Central and South America. The legends of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs of South America regarding the founding of their cultures by tall beared white-robed teachers confirm the tradititional view that the Lemurians, under the guidance of their siddhas, colonized North and South America, as well as the Nile Valley, when they founded the Egyptian civilization. It is significant to note that Edgar Cayce the well-known ‘sleeping prophet’ of America, had in the course of his recent voluminous psychic messages given out by him while in a state of trance mentioned a similar sinking of the continent of Atlantis in stages into the Atlantic Ocean over a period of several centuries between 12,000 BC and 10,000 BC, before the sinking of the Lemurian continent. Sri Agastlyar the Archetype of all GurusMaha Avatar Kriya Babaji of the Himalayas, the lineal Guru of Paramahamsa Yogananda, Yukteswar and Lahiri Mahasaya, who is well nigh 1,800 years old today, still retains a young physical body of a 16 year old youth, as a result of his divinising the cells of his physical body, after receiving initiation from two of the greatest siddhas of all time. Siddha Boganathar instructed him in the higher Kriya yoga techniques, for six months at Kataragama in Sri Lanka in the year 214 AD and sent him thereafter to his own Guru Siddha Agastiyar at Couttalam in India, where Babaji had the final initiation in Kriya yoga, after he had practised severe austerities for 48 days to invoke the grace of Agastiyar, who finally appeared before him in his physical body emerging from the adjoining forest; and showered his full blessings on him. These facts were disclosed by Babaji himself in 1952 to two of his disciples V. T. Neelakantan, a Theosophist of the early days, and Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah, when he materialized in physical form from his abode in the Himalayas in the shrine room of V.T. Neelakantan at Suramma1 Lane, in Egmore, Madras. In.turn Babaji is known to have initiated among others the famous Hindu reformer Adi Sankaracharya into the mysteries of Kriya yoga about the year 800 AD. Among the several Siddhas initiated directly by Sri Agastiyar were, according to certain sources, (1) Tirumoolar, the author of Tirumanthiram described as one of the greatest texts of yoga and mystic truth ever written, who lived for over 3,000 years in the pre-Christian era, and (2) Tiruvalluvar the author of the world famed classic scripture the Tirukkural, who lived 2,000 years ago. It was the immortal Sri Agastiyar who originally taught and transmitted to several of his disciples over the ages the Kriya yoga techniques of divinising the cells of the body and:
The writer of this article had the opportunity to view and pay homage at the shrines, where the latter two jeeva samadhis are situated. Amma - NOTE
from www.ammachi.org Amma's divine nature as a child could not be comprehended by most people around her. Yet many were drawn to Her love and teachings. As more individuals began to flock to see this unique hugging saint, a formal center for spiritual training was established in Her name to disseminate Her teachings. Amma's untiring efforts and charities continue to emphasize service of ailing humanity as a means of attaining spiritual growth and understanding. Blavatsky - NOTE
www.theosociety.org
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born on August 12, 1831, at Dnepropetrovsk (Ekaterinoslav), Ukraine, daughter of Colonel Peter Alexeyevich von Hahn and novelist Helena Andreyevna (née de Fadeyev). In 1849 she married N. V. Blavatsky, and shortly thereafter began more than 20 years of extensive travel, bringing her into contact with mystic traditions the world over. In 1873 Blavatsky arrived in New York from Paris where, impelled by her teachers, she began her work. At first she attempted to interest the Spiritualists in the philosophy behind phenomena but they resented her refusal to accept their standard explanations. In July 1875 she was urged "to establish a philosophico-religious society," and in the Fall of the same year she became the principal founder, along with H. S. Olcott and W. Q. Judge, of The Theosophical Society. She devoted the rest of her life to its humanitarian and educational objectives. About the time the Society began, she started to write her first major work, Isis Unveiled, and after its publication in 1878 she and H. S. Olcott left for India. There they worked to re-establish Oriental philosophical and religious ideas, largely through the pages of The Theosophist, a magazine which Blavatsky founded and edited. In 1884, while Blavatsky was traveling in Europe, disgruntled TS employees in India went to the missionaries with forged documents, bringing charges of fraud against her. The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) then sent Richard Hodgson to investigate the charges, and subsequently published an unfavorable report. (In 1986 the SPR published an analysis of the Hodgson Report by Dr. Vernon Harrison, an SPR member expert in forgery and handwriting analysis, who concluded that the Hodgson Report was biased, unscientific, and completely unconvincing.) Under the strain, Blavatsky's health had broken down, and in 1885 she left India for Europe, where she continued to write The Secret Doctrine, her masterwork. In 1887 she settled in London, and began a new magazine Lucifer ("Light-bringer"). In 1888The Secret Doctrine was published and, in the same year, aided by W. Q. Judge, she formed the Esoteric Section of The Theosophical Society. Shortly afterwards she wrote The Key to Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence. In 1890 she became head of a newly-established European Section. She died in London on May 8, 1891 after many years of chronic illness. (Link to Biographical Sketch.) Books by and about HPB published by Theosophical University Press:
Books by and about HPB from other publishers available through TUP:
Books by and about HPB available only in full-text online editions at TUP Online:
Boganathar - NOTE from www.murugan.org Bhogar was a South Indian by birth, belonging to the caste of goldsmiths, who became a siddhapurusha under the guidance of Kalanginaathar. In Bhogar's Saptakanda he reveals details of various medicinal preparations to his disciple Pullippani (so named as he is believed to have wandered in the forests atop a puli or tiger) and at every stage he quotes his guru as the authority. Also Pulippani must have been a young man then, as he is often referred to as a balaka. It is said that as per the last wishes of his guru, Bhogar proceeded to China to spread the knowledge of siddha sciences and strangely enough his journey is said to have been made with the aid of an aircraft; he demonstrated to the Chinese the details of the construction of the aircraft and later built for them a sea-going craft using a steam engine. The details of these and other experi- ments demonstrated by Bhogar in China are clearly documented in the Saptakanda. Bogar's guru, Kālāngi Nāthar, is believed to be a Chinese who attained siddhi in South India and thus became included among the Eighteen Siddhars. Lao Tse - the founder of Taoism (5th century B.C.) was the first Chinese to propound the theory of duality of matter -- the male Yang and female Yin -- which conforms to the Siddha concept of Shiva - Shakti or positive-negative forces. This very same concept was first revealed by the adi-siddhar Agasthya Rishi, whose period is as old as the Vedas, which have been conservatively dated at 3500 B.C. Also alchemy as a science was practised in China only after B.C. 135 and was practiced as an art until B.C. 175 when a royal decree was enacted banning alchemical preparation of precious metals by the Celestial Empire; these details are recounted in the two existing Chinese books of alchemy Shih Chi and Treatise of Elixir Refined in Nine Couldrons, both dated to the first century B.C. The emergence of Lao Tse with his theory of duality of matter and the journey of Bhogar to China seem to have taken place about the same time and it is even possible that Bhogar himself went under the name of Lao Tse in China, like another Siddharishi Sriramadevar, who was known as Yacob in Arabia. This seems likely considering that:
The shrine at the top of the hill, though later than the Tiru Avinankudi temple, has overshadowed the older temple in the present century due to its popular appeal. Created by Bhogar, it was maintained after him by sage Pulippani and his descendants almost as their personal and private temple. During the time of Tirumalai Nayak, his general Ramappayyan handed over the puja rights to newly brought Brahmin priests. The descendants of Pulippani were compensated for the loss of this right by being given:
Christ - NOTEfrom Initiation, Human and Solar - By Alice Bailey and Djwhal Khul The Work of the World Teacher, the Christ Group two has the World Teacher for its presiding Head. He is that Great Being whom the Christian calls the Christ; he is known also in the Orient as the Bodhisattva, and as the Lord Maitreya, and is the one looked for by the devout Mohammedan, under the name of the Iman Madhi. He it is who has presided over the destinies of life since about 600 B.C. and he it is who has come out among men before, and who is again looked for. He is the great Lord of Love and of Compassion, just as his predecessor, the Buddha, was the Lord of Wisdom. [44] Through him flows the energy of the second aspect, reaching him direct from the heart center of the Planetary Logos via the heart of Sanat Kumara. He works by means of a meditation centered within the heart. He is the World Teacher, the Master of the Masters, and the Instructor of the Angels, and to him is committed the guidance of the spiritual destinies of men, and the development of the realization within each human being that he is a child of God and a son of the Most High. Just as the Manu is occupied with the providing of the type and forms through which consciousness can evolve and gather experience, thus making existence in its deepest sense possible, so the World Teacher directs that in dwelling consciousness in its life or spirit aspect, seeking to energize it within the form so that, in due course of time, that form can be discarded and the liberated spirit return whence it came. Ever since he left the earth, as related with approximate accuracy in the Bible story (though with much error in detail) has he stayed with the sons of men; never has he really gone, but only in appearance, and in a physical body he can be found by those who know the way, dwelling in the Himalayas, and working in close cooperation with his two great Brothers, the Manu and the Mahachohan. Daily he pours out his blessing on the world, and daily he stands under the great pine in his garden at the sunset hour with hands uplifted in blessing over all those who truly and earnestly seek to aspire. To him all seekers are known, and, though they may remain unaware of him, the light which he pours forth stimulates their desire, fosters the spark of struggling life and spurs on the aspirant until the momentous day dawns when they stand face to face with the one who by being "lifted up" (occultly understood) is drawing all men unto himself as the Initiator of the sacred mysteries. [45] Djwhal Khul - NOTEFrom Alice Bailey
The Master Djwhal Khul, or the Master D. K. as he is frequently called, is another adept on the second Ray of Love-Wisdom. He is the latest of the adepts taking initiation, having taken the fifth initiation in 1875, and is "therefore occupying the same body in which he took the initiation, most of the other Masters having taken the fifth initiation whilst occupying earlier vehicles. His body is not a young one, and he is a Tibetan. He is very devoted to the Master K. H. and occupies a little house not far distant from the larger one of the Master, and from his willingness to serve and to do anything that has to be done, he has been called "the Messenger of the Masters." He is profoundly learned, and knows more about the rays and planetary Hierarchies of the solar system than anyone else in the ranks of the Masters. He works with those who heal, and cooperates unknown and unseen with the seekers after truth in the world's great laboratories, with all who definitely aim at the healing and solacing of the world, and with the great philanthropic world movements [58] such as the Red Cross. He occupies himself with various pupils of different Masters who can profit by his instruction, and within the last ten years has relieved both the Master M. and the Master K. H. of a good deal of their teaching work, taking over from them for certain stated times some of their pupils and disciples. He works largely, too, with certain groups of the devas of the ethers, who are the healing devas, and who thus collaborate with him in the work of healing some of the physical ills of humanity. He it was who dictated a large part of that momentous book The Secret Doctrine, and who showed to H. P. Blavatsky many of the pictures, and gave her much of the data that is to be found in that book. Djwhal Khul Djwhal Khul, said to have been a Tibetan who started out with the unlikely name Gai Ben-Jamin. Believers tell the legend of his incarnation on Lemuria where he assisted in rescuing valuable knowledge before the sinking of that continent. He is said later to have transmitted this information to channeler Alice Bailey. Alice A. Bailey (1880 -1949), writer and lecturer on neo-theosophy, was born in England in 1880 as Alice LaTrobe Bateman. After spells as an evangelical Christian and a member of the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society, Alice Bailey founded the Arcane School in 1923. Her 26 books popularized notions such as the coming New Age and the New Group of World Servers, whose triangles she initiated in 1937. They include the mantram known as "The Great Invocation" used by thousands of esoteric groups all over the world. Today the seeds of her service are continued in the work of the Arcane School and Lucis Trust. According to Alice Bailey, almost all of her books were dictated to her by the Tibetan, Djwhal Khul. The teachings contained therein are written in an unusually lucid style though the subjects are at times abstruse. These are textbooks on occult science, astrology, white magic, meditation and general occultism. It has been said that A.A.B.'s books are more inspirational than informational as the works themselves are occult artifacts which have a definite effect upon those who read them. Metaphysics Djwhal Khul is also a Master of the Second Ray of love and wisdom. His teacher is Master Kuthumi. He is known as "The Tibetan". Previous Incarnations: In the 1900's he achieved his sixth Initiation and ascended. He can materialize, dematerialize and bilocate. He works to balance energies to make them easily accessible to all. He is responsible for making much of the formerly hidden esoteric knowledge widely available through the writings of H.P. Blavatsky, Alice Bailey, among others. Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul Shortly after leaving the physical plane in the late 1800's Djwhal Khul began working with El Morya, Kuthumi, and St. Germain to assist them in the research of Helene Blavatsky. Gangaji - NOTE
"There is a great secret that beings throughout time have announced, the secret of an extraordinary treasure, the treasure of the nectar of eternal life. It is the nectar of pure beingness, recognizing itself as consciousness and overflowing in the love of that recognition. If you imagine yourself to be located in a body, then you will move that body from place to place, searching for this treasure of nectar. But, if you will stop all searching right now and tell the truth to yourself, you will know what is known in the core of your bones. You will know what these great beings knew and attempted to describe. You will know it with no image of it, no concept of it, no thought of it. You will know it as that which has eternally been here. And you will know it as yourself."
Gangaji, a teacher and author, speaks with thousands of spiritual seekers around the world, responding to the deepest spiritual questions of our time. While she does not offer a particular philosophy or practice, she extends the extraordinary invitation of her teacher, Sri H.W.L. Poonjaji, and his teacher, Sri Ramana Maharshi, to end immediately all outward searching and discover directly within your own heart the fathomless truth of who you are.
Check as well The Hierarchy - NOTEfrom Initiation, Human and Solar - By Alice Bailey and Djwhal Khul THE THREE DEPARTMENTS OF THE HIERARCHY We have already dealt with the subject of the founding of the Hierarchy upon earth, and we saw how it came to be, touching likewise upon certain crises which have occurred, and which still affect events in the present time. In dealing with the work and aims of the personnel of the Hierarchy, it will not be possible to state what those aims have been, nor to consider in detail who the active personalities have been during the past millennia of years since the Hierarchy came into existence. Many great Beings from planetary and solar sources, and once or twice from cosmic sources, have at times lent their aid and dwelt briefly upon our planet. By the energy which flowed through them, and by their profound wisdom and experience, they stimulated earth's evolutions and brought the purposes of the Planetary Logos so much the nearer to completion. Then they passed on, and their places were taken by those among the members of the Hierarchy who were willing to undergo a specific training and expansion of consciousness. In turn these adepts and Masters had their places filled by initiates, and thus constantly has there been opportunity for disciples and highly evolved men and women to pass into the ranks of the Hierarchy, and thus constantly has there been a circulation of new life and blood, and the coming in of those who belong to a particular period or age. Some of the great names during the later periods are known to history, such as Shri Sankaracharya, Vyasa, [38] Mohammed, Jesus of Nazareth, and Krishna, down to those lesser initiates, Paul of Tarsus, Luther, and certain of the outstanding lights in European history. Always have these men and women been agents for the carrying out of race purpose, for the bringing about of group conditions, and for the furthering of the evolution of humanity. Sometimes they have appeared as beneficent forces, bringing peace and contentment with them. More often have they come as agents of destruction, breaking up the old forms of religion and of government in order that the life within the rapidly crystallizing form might be set free and build for itself a newer and a better vehicle. Much that is stated here is already well known, and has already been given out in the different occult books. Yet in the wise and careful enunciation of collected facts, and their correlation with that which may be new to some students, comes an eventual synthetic grasp of the great plan, and a wise uniform realization as to the work of that great group of liberated souls who, in utter self-abnegation, stand silently behind the world panorama. Through the power of their will, the strength of their meditations, the wisdom of their plans, and the scientific knowledge of energy which is theirs, they direct those force currents, and control those form-building agencies which produce all that is seen and unseen, movable and immovable in the sphere of creation within the three worlds. This, coupled to their vast experience, is what fits them to be the agents for the distribution of the energy of the Planetary Logos. As has already been stated, at the head of affairs, controlling each unit and directing all evolution, stands the KING, the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara, the Youth of endless Summers, and the Fountainhead of the Will, (showing forth as Love) of the Planetary Logos. Cooperating with him as his advisers are three Personalities [39] called the Pratyeka Buddhas, or the Buddhas of Activity. These four are the embodiment of active intelligent loving will. They are the full flowering of the intelligence, having achieved in an earlier solar system that which man is now striving to perfect. In earlier cycles in this system they began to demonstrate intelligent love, and from the standpoint of the average human being they are perfect love and perfect intelligence, though from the standpoint of that Existence who embraces even our planetary scheme in his body of manifestation, that love aspect is as yet but in process of developing, and the will is only embryonic. Another solar system will see the will aspect come to fruition, as love will mature in this. Standing around the Lord of the World, but withdrawn and esoteric, are three more Kumaras, who make the seven of planetary manifestation. Their work is to us necessarily obscure. The three esoteric Buddhas, or Kumaras, are the sumtotal of activity or planetary energy, and the three esoteric Kumaras embody types of energy which as yet are not in full demonstration upon our planet. Each of these six Kumaras is a reflection of, and the distributing agent for, the energy and force of one of the six other Planetary Logoi, the remaining six spirits before the Throne. Sanat Kumara alone, in this scheme, is self-sustaining and self-sufficient, being the physical incarnation of one of the Planetary Logoi, which one it is not permissible to state, as this fact is one of the secrets of initiation. Through each of them passes the life force of one of the six rays, and in considering them one might sum up their work and position as follows:
Besides these main presiding Personalities in the Council Chamber at Shamballa, there is a group of four Beings who are the representatives upon the planet of the four Maharajas, or the four Lords of Karma in the solar system, who are specifically concerned with the evolution at the present time of the human kingdom. These four are connected with:
Cooperating with these karmic Lords are the large groups of initiates and devas who occupy themselves with the right adjustment of:
and who are responsible to the Planetary Logos for the correct manipulation of those forces and building agencies which bring in the right Egos on the different rays at the correct times and seasons. With all these groups we have little concern, for they are contacted only by initiates of the third initiation, and by those of even more exalted rank. The remaining personnel of the Hierarchy is divided into three main and four subsidiary groups, each of these groups, as will be seen by reference to the appended chart, being presided over by one of those whom we call the three Great Lords. Hilarion - NOTE
from Initiation, Human and Solar - By Alice Bailey and Djwhal Khul
On the fifth Ray of Concrete Knowledge or Science, we find the Master Hilarion, who, in an earlier incarnation was Paul of Tarsus. He is occupying a Cretan body, but spends a large part of his time in Egypt. He it was who gave out to the world that occult treatise "Light on the Path," and his work is particularly interesting to the general public at this crisis, for he works with those who are developing the intuition, and controls and transmutes the great movements that tend to strip the veil from the unseen. His is the energy which, through his disciples, is stimulating the Psychical Research groups everywhere, and he it was who initiated, through various pupils of his, the Spiritualistic movement. He has under observation all those who are psychics of the higher order, and assists in developing their powers for the good of the group, and in connection with certain of the devas of the astral plane he works to open up to the seekers after truth that subjective world which lies behind the grossly material. Jesus - NOTEfrom Initiation, Human and Solar - By Alice Bailey and Djwhal Khul The Master Jesus, who is the focal point of the energy that flows through the various Christian churches, is at present living in a Syrian body, and dwells in a certain part of the Holy Land. He travels much and passes considerable time in various parts of Europe. He works specially with masses more than with individuals, though he has gathered around him quite a numerous body of pupils. He is upon the sixth Ray of Devotion, or Abstract Idealism, and his pupils are frequently distinguished by that fanaticism and devotion which manifested in earlier Christian times amongst the martyrs. He himself is rather a martial figure, a disciplinarian, and a man of iron rule and will. He is tall and spare with rather a long thin face, black hair, pale complexion and piercing blue eyes. His work at this time is exceedingly responsible, for to him is given the problem of steering the thought of the occident out of its present state of unrest into the peaceful waters of certitude and knowledge, and of preparing the way in Europe and America for the eventual coming of the World Teacher. He is well known in the Bible history, coming before us first as Joshua the Son of Nun, appearing again in the time of Ezra as Jeshua, taking the third initiation, as related in the book of Zechariah, as Joshua, and in the Gospel story he is known for two great sacrifices, that in which he handed over his body for the use of the Christ, and for the great renunciation which is the characteristic of the fourth initiation. As Appollonius of Tyana, he took the [57] fifth initiation and became a Master of the Wisdom. From that time on he has stayed and worked with the Christian Church, fostering the germ of true spiritual life which is to be found amongst members of all sects and divisions, and neutralizing as far as possible the mistakes and errors of the churchmen and the theologians. He is distinctively the Great Leader, the General, and the wise Executive, and in Church matters he cooperates closely with the Christ, thus saving him much and acting as his intermediary wherever possible. No one so wisely knows as he the problems of the West, no one is so closely in touch with the people who stand for all that is best in Christian teachings, and no one is so well aware of the need of the present moment. Certain great prelates of the Anglican and Catholic Churches are wise agents of his. PS: according to the esoteric tradition and the theosophical teachings, Jesus and the Christ are two different masters. The incarnation known as Jesus the Christ would have been a merging of these two beings or the expression of the Christ through Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus Christ - NOTE |
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While she resided at Nazareth with her parents, while betrothed to Joseph, the angelGabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of the promised Messiahwhile remaining a virgin (Luke 1:35). After this she went to visit her cousin Elisabeth, who was living with her husband Zacharias (probably at Juttah, Josh. 15:55; 21:16, in the neighbourhood of Maon), at a considerable distance, about 100 miles, from Nazareth. Immediately on entering the house she was saluted by Elisabeth as the mother of her Lord, and then forthwith gave utterance to her hymn of thanksgiving (Luke 1:46-56; comp. 1 Sam. 2:1-10). (This hymn is commonly known as theMagnificat.) After three months Mary returned to Nazareth to her own home. Joseph was told in a dream (Matt. 1:18-25) of her condition, and took her to his own home. Soon after this the decree of Augustus (Luke 2:1) required that they should proceed to Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), some 80 or 90 miles from Nazareth; and while they were there they found shelter in the inn provided for strangers (Luke 2:6, 7). But as the inn was crowded, Mary had to retire to a place among the cattle, and there she brought forth her son, who was called Jesus (Matt. 1:21), because he was to save his people from their sins. This was followed by the presentation in the temple, the flight into Egypt, and their return in the following year and residence at Nazareth (Matt. 2). Mary apparently remained in Nazareth for thirty uneventful years. During these years only one event in the history of Jesus is recorded, viz., his going up to Jerusalem when twelve years of age, where he was found among the doctors in the temple (Luke 2:41-52). Probably also during this period Joseph died, for he is not mentioned again.
Mary was also present at the inauguration of Jesus' public ministry when, at the marriage in Cana, her intercession led to the first public miracle performed by Jesus (John 2:1-11). After this point, there is little mention of Mary in the Gospels until we find her at the cross along with her sister Mary, and Mary Magdalene, and Salome, and other women (John 19:26). Mary cradling the dead body of her son is a common motif in art, called a pietà.
Of the roughly 100 people in the upper room after the Ascension on the day of Pentecost, she is one of the handful who are named (Acts 1:14). From this time she wholly disappears from the historical biblical accounts, although it is held by many Christians that she is again portrayed as the heavenly Woman of Revelation (Revelation 12.1).
Her death is not recorded in Scripture. According to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition, between three and fifteen years after Christ's Ascension, in either Jerusalem or Ephesus, she died while surrounded by the apostles. Later when the apostles opened her tomb, they found it empty and concluded that she had been bodily assumed into Heaven. (A tomb in Jerusalem is attributed to Mary, but it was unknown until the 6th century.)
Beliefs
Immaculate Conception of Mary
The Immaculate Conception is a doctrine unique to the Roman Catholic Church, and is rejected by both Eastern Orthodoxyand by Protestantism, albeit for very different reasons.
Veneration of Mary
Both Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians venerate Mary, as do the non-Chalcedonian or monophysite Orthodox (such as the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church). This veneration takes a number of forms, including composing poems and songs in Mary's honor, painting icons or carving statues representing her, bowing or kneeling before such images as a token of respect to the one portrayed by them, conferring titles on Mary that reflect her exalted position among the saints, and prayer for intercession with her Son, Jesus Christ.
Both Roman Catholics and Orthodox make a clear distinction between such veneration (which is also due to the other saints) and worship, which is due to God alone. Mary, they point out, is not in herself divine, and has only such powers to help as are granted to her by God in response to her prayers. Such miracles as may occur through Mary's intercession are ultimately the result of God's love and omnipotence.
Roman Catholicism distinguishes three forms of honor: "latria", due only to God, and usually translated by the English wordadoration; "hyperdulia", accorded only to the Blessed Virgin Mary, usually translated simply as veneration; and "dulia", accorded to the rest of the saints, also usually translated as veneration. On the other hand, the Orthodox do not distinguish between "dulia" and "hyperdulia", at least not in current practice.
Even some early Protestants venerated Mary. Martin Luther said Mary is "the highest woman", that "we can never honour her enough", that "the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart", and that we should "wish that everyone know and respect her".
Other Reformers rejected the distinction between veneration and worship, and considered all these practices to be idolatry or unlawful worship. With the exception of the Anglican communion, modern Protestantism has generally followed those reformers who rejected the veneration of Mary (and, of course, of other saints).
Virgin birth of Jesus
The Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed both refer to Mary as "the Virgin Mary". This alludes to the belief that Mary conceived Jesus through the action of God the Holy Spirit, and not through normal intercourse with Joseph or anyone else. That she was a virgin at this time is affirmed by Eastern Christianity, Roman Catholicism and by many Protestants (though not by all Protestants).
Historic Christianity, including modern-day Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, teaches that she was a virgin before, during, and after giving birth to Jesus. Islam also takes this position, which is stated explicitly in the Qur'an. Some Protestants also hold this view, while many others believe that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, but that she later was not and had other children with Joseph the Betrothed. Catholics and Orthodox explain references to Jesus' brothers as either cousins, or as half brothers who were Joseph's children by a prior marriage.
Persons who are neither Christians nor Muslims generally doubt that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.
The Gospel of Matthew describes Mary as a virgin who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. The passage in Isaiah, in the Hebrew Masoretic Text, stated that a young woman would give birth to the Messiah. Some scholars believe that the Greek language Septuagint, which the author of Matthew would have used as his Bible, mistranslated the Hebrew word for young woman, "almah", into the Greek word "parthenos", meaning virgin. This suggests that the origin of the belief that Mary was a virgin derived from an attempt by Matthew at describing the fulfillment of a prophecy that was actually not made. However, many scholars find evidence that the Septuagint was translated from a different Hebrew text that has since been lost, based on comparisons between existing Masoretic texts, Septuagint texts, Dead Sea Scrolls, and some Samaritan texts. If so, then it is impossible to compare the Septuagint with the Hebrew text its translators used, and it remains possible that the Septuagint has an equally valid translation of Isaiah's prophecy. In addition, the currently accepted Masoretic text of theHebrew Bible was assembled centuries after the foundation of the Christans who held to the virgin interpretation.
In the academic community, controversy surrounds the interpretation of this passage. According to almost all non-Christian biblical scholars, many liberal Christian biblical scholars, and also according to Jewish tradition, the prophecy only describes events during the rule of King Ahaz of Judea. The prophet is giving information to the King about an event that will soon be made known to him. The text is clearly not about someone being born centuries later. However, soon after the development of Christianity a new way to read this text was born, one in which Isaiah was not only giving prophetic comfort to his peers, but was also cryptically forecasting the coming Messiah.
St. Irenaeus of Lyons observed in the second century that the Jews themselves translated the word "virgin" well before the time of Jesus; he attributes the translation "young woman" to Theodotian the Ephesian and Aquila of Pontus, both Jewish proselytes who published new translations of the Tanakh in the second century. Thus the universal acceptance of it in the Jewish community as meaning "young woman" apparently came about in response to the development of Christianity. Irenaeus reinterprets many prophecies by David, Moses, and Daniel as also predicting a virgin birth, and demonstrates why the messiahcould not be born of Joseph (Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter 21.). Jews and Christians have disagreed about the interpretation of these and other prophecies since the birth of Christianity.
Perpetual virginity
That Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus has been accepted by most Christians until comparatively recent times. Of the early fathers of the Church, only Tertullian seems to have questioned the teaching. Both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches insist on it, as do Muslims. The most prominent leaders of the Reformation, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin also defended the perpetual virginity of Mary against those who questioned it.
Later generations of Protestants, however, abandoned the traditional teaching, citing references to "brothers" of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Defenders of the teaching, including John Calvin, have pointed out that Aramaic, the language spoken by Christ and his disciples, lacked a specific word for "cousin," so that the word "brother" was used instead. In addition, nothing in Greek or Aramaic disqualifies a half-brother (same father, different mother) from being called a "brother".
Dormition and Assumption
For Orthodox and Roman Catholics alike, Mary's assumption, i.e., the lifting up of her body into Heaven after her death, is seen as a concrete and present instance of the resurrection of the body; a belief asserted by virtually all Christians in the creeds, yet often replaced in the popular imagination by a more shadowy spiritual immortality.
The Doctrine in Roman Catholicism
The belief in the corporeal assumption of Mary was formally declared to be dogma by Pope Benedict XIV in the encyclical De Festis B.V.M.; Roman Catholics must therefore hold the doctrine as being necessary to salvation. Pope Pius XII, inMunificentissimus Deus [1], reiterated "We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." The establishment of this dogma as "necessary to salvation" is widely taken to be an example of the Pope's invoking papal infallibility. The Feast of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15.
At the time that this dogma was promulgated, there was a strong sentiment among many Catholics that the immaculately conceived and sinless Mother of God would not have suffered death (which is "the wages of sin"), but was instead taken up alive into heaven like Elijah the Prophet. For this reason, the dogma was deliberately so worded ("when the course of her earthly life was finished") as to allow faithful Catholics to believe either hypothesis: that Mary was assumed bodily into heaven without dying, or that her incorrupt body was assumed into heaven after her death.
Judging from the sources quoted in Munificentissimus Deus, Pius XII himself almost certainly rejected the notion of Mary's "immortality" (the idea that she never suffered death) in favor of the more widely accepted understanding that her assumption took place after her physical death.
The Doctrine in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy
The tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church holds that Mary died, and that after her death and burial, she was resurrected and taken up bodily into heaven. This two-fold event is celebrated as the Dormition ("falling asleep") of the Theotokos. The Feast of the Dormition is celebrated on August 15, and is preceded by a fourteen day fast from meat and dairy products, the third longest fast of the liturgical year after Great Lent and Winter Lent. Despite the great importance of this feast in the Orthodox liturgical calendar, it is not, as in the Catholic Church, considered a matter of dogma, since it has not been formally defined by any ecumenical council accepted by the Orthodox.
Theotokos
At the Third Ecumenical council, the Council of Ephesus, it was decided that it was entirely appropriate to refer to Mary as the Theotokos, a Greek word which can be translated as "God bearer" or "Mother of God." This was to emphasize that Mary's child, Jesus Christ, was in fact God. She is often referred to as "Theotokos" in Eastern Orthodox hymns. She is also one of the most highly venerated saints in both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church; several major feast days are devoted to her each year. (See Liturgical year.) Protestants have generally been less enthusiastic about the cult of the Virgin than their Catholic and Orthodox cousins, often arguing that if too much attention is focussed on Mary, there is a danger of detracting from the worship due to God alone.
Some non-Christians, particularly followers of Wicca, link Mary to the Earth Mother of various Neo-pagan traditions. Some Buddhists have even been known to link Mary to Kwan-Yin of various Chinese Buddhist faiths.
See also
External Link
Further reading
- Jaroslav Pelikan, Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture, Yale University Press, 1998, hardcover, 240 pages ISBN 0300069510; trade paperback, 1998, 240 pages, ISBN 0300076614
Mary Magdalene - NOTE
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mary Magdalene, which probably means "Mary of Magdala," a town on the western shore of the Lake of Tiberias, is a character in the Bible described as a follower of Jesus Christ. Nothing is known about her outside of the Bible. Her feast day isJuly 22.
On part of her story, Catholics and Protestants agree: She is mentioned in Luke 8:3 as one of the women who "ministered toChrist of their substance." Their motive was that of gratitude for deliverances he had wrought for them. Out of Mary werecast seven demons. Gratitude to her great Deliverer prompted her to become his follower. These women accompanied him also on his last journey to Jerusalem (Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:41; Luke 23:55). They stood near the cross. There Mary remained till all was over, and the body was taken down and laid in Joseph's tomb. Again, in the earliest dawn of the first day of the week she, with Salome and Mary the mother of James (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2), came to the sepulchre, bringing with them sweet spices, that they might anoint the body of Jesus. They found the sepulchre empty but saw the "vision of angels" (Matt. 28:5). She hastens to tell Peter and John, who were probably living together at this time (John 20:1, 2), and again immediately returns to the sepulchre. There she lingers thoughtfully, weeping at the door of the tomb. The risen Lord appears to her, but at first she knows him not. His utterance of her name "Mary" recalls her to consciousness, and she utters the joyful, reverent cry, "Rabboni." She would fain cling to him, but he forbids her, saying, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." This is the last Biblical entry regarding Mary of Magdala, who now returned to Jerusalem.
The idea that this Mary was "the woman who was a sinner," or that she was unchaste, is rejected by most Protestants. Catholics, on the other hand, consider this one person to be the sinner Mary of Luke 7:36-50 and also Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and the resurrected Lazarus, of Luke 10:38-42 and John 11. She is a Roman Catholic saint and, according to one tradition, her head is in her shrine in a cave at La Sainte-Baume near Marseille, France, although another holds that she died in Ephesus and was buried in Constantinople.
Easter Egg tradition
One extra-biblical Christian tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that she was a woman of some wealth and social status. Following Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by Emperor Tiberius Caesar. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed "Christ is risen!" Caesar laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house.
Today, many Eastern Orthodox Christians end the Easter service by sharing bright red eggs and proclaiming to each other, "Christ is risen!" The eggs represent new life, and Christ bursting forth from the tomb. This began one tradition of coloringEaster eggs.
Wife of Jesus?
An extra-biblical and Gnostic tradition about Mary Magdalene holds that she was in fact the wife of Jesus, a fact which was omitted by later revisionist editors of the Gospels.
There is an argument for support of this speculation. Bachelorhood was very rare for Jewish males of Jesus's time, being generally regarded as a transgression of the first mitzvah (divine commandment): "Be fruitful and multiply". Mary Magdalene appears with some frequency (especially as compared with other women in the Gospels) and is shown as being a close follower of Jesus. In the scene of the wedding at Cana, the names of the nuptial couple are not mentioned, but Jesus acts as a groom at such a wedding would be expected to act, for example by giving instructions to the servants (in fact, those servants had to be told by Mary his mother to obey his instructions). Finally, Mary's presence at the Crucifixion and Jesus's tomb, while hardly conclusive, is at least consonant with a role as grieving wife and widow, although if that were the case Jesus might have been expected to make provision for her care as well as for his mother Mary. Given the existing record, this scenario cannot be proven, although some consider the idea desirable to believe.
On the other hand, Christians traditionally believe that Jesus is the second Adam, and like the first, his bride was taken from his side when he had fallen asleep (died on the cross). The blood and water which came from his side when he was pierced, according to the gospels, represents in traditional Christian teaching the bringing forth of the Church symbolized in the water of baptism and the wine of the new covenant in his blood. In other words, Jesus has a wife which is one body with him, only in the Church; and it is not considered possible or tolerable to believe that he was otherwise married.
Author of John's Gospel?
Some scholars have suggested that this Mary was a leader of the early Church and maybe even the "beloved disciple" who was the author of the Gospel of John.
External Links
- Mary Magdalene, Beloved Disciple: http://www.beloveddisciple.org/
- The Catholic Encyclopedia on St. Mary Magdalen
Mataji - NOTE
Melchizedek - NOTE
MACHIVENTA MELCHIZEDEK
from the Urantia book
The Melchizedeks are widely known as emergency Sons, for they engage in an amazing range of activities on the worlds of a local universe. When any extraordinary problem arises, or when something unusual is to be attempted, it is quite often a Melchizedek who accepts the assignment. The ability of the Melchizedek Sons to function in emergencies and on widely divergent levels of the universe, even on the physical level of personality manifestation, is peculiar to their order. Only the Life Carriers share to any degree this metamorphic range of personality function.
The Melchizedek order of universe sonship has been exceedingly active on Urantia. A corps of twelve served in conjunction with the Life Carriers. A later corps of twelve became receivers for your world shortly after the Caligastia secession and continued in authority until the time of Adam and Eve. These twelve Melchizedeks returned to Urantia upon the default of Adam and Eve, and they continued thereafter as planetary receivers on down to the day when Jesus of Nazareth, as the Son of Man, became the titular Planetary Prince of Urantia.
1. THE MACHIVENTA INCARNATION
Revealed truth was threatened with extinction during the millenniums which followed the miscarriage of the Adamic mission on Urantia. Though making progress intellectually, the human races were slowly losing ground spiritually. About 3000 B.C. the concept of God had grown very hazy in the minds of men.
The twelve Melchizedek receivers knew of Michael's impending bestowal on their planet, but they did not know how soon it would occur; therefore they convened in solemn council and petitioned the Most Highs of Edentia that some provision be made for maintaining the light of truth on Urantia. This plea was dismissed with the mandate that "the conduct of affairs on 606 of Satania is fully in the hands of the Melchizedek custodians." The receivers then appealed to the Father Melchizedek for help but only received word that they should continue to uphold truth in the manner of their own election "until the arrival of a bestowal Son," who "would rescue the planetary titles from forfeiture and uncertainty."
And it was in consequence of having been thrown so completely on their own resources that Machiventa Melchizedek, one of the twelve planetary receivers, volunteered to do that which had been done only six times in all the history of Nebadon: to personalize on earth as a temporary man of the realm, to bestow himself as an emergency Son of world ministry. Permission was granted for this adventure by the Salvington authorities, and the actual incarnation of Machiventa Melchizedek was consummated near what was to become the city of Salem, in Palestine. The entire transaction of the materialization of this Melchizedek Son was completed by the planetary receivers with the co-operation of the Life Carriers, certain of the Master Physical Controllers, and other celestial personalities resident
2. THE SAGE OF SALEM
93:2.1 It was 1,973 years before the birth of Jesus that Machiventa was bestowed upon the human races of Urantia. His coming was unspectacular; his materialization was not witnessed by human eyes. He was first observed by mortal man on that eventful day when he entered the tent of Amdon, a Chaldean herder of Sumerian extraction. And the proclamation of his mission was embodied in the simple statement which he made to this shepherd, "I am Melchizedek, priest of El Elyon, the Most High, the one and only God."
93:2.2 When the herder had recovered from his astonishment, and after he had plied this stranger with many questions, he asked Melchizedek to sup with him, and this was the first time in his long universe career that Machiventa had partaken of material food, the nourishment which was to sustain him throughout his ninety-four years of life as a material being.
93:2.3 And that night, as they talked out under the stars, Melchizedek began his mission of the revelation of the truth of the reality of God when, with a sweep of his arm, he turned to Amdon, saying, "El Elyon, the Most High, is the divine creator of the stars of the firmament and even of this very earth on which we live, and he is also the supreme God of heaven."
93:2.4 Within a few years Melchizedek had gathered around himself a group of pupils, disciples, and believers who formed the nucleus of the later community of Salem. He was soon known throughout Palestine as the priest of El Elyon, the Most High, and as the sage of Salem. Among some of the surrounding tribes he was often referred to as the sheik, or king, of Salem. Salem was the site which after the disappearance of Melchizedek became the city of Jebus, subsequently being called Jerusalem.
personal appearance, Melchizedek resembled the then blended Nodite and Sumerian peoples, being almost six feet in height and possessing a commanding presence. He spoke Chaldean and a half dozen other languages. He dressed much as did the Canaanite priests except that on his breast he wore an emblem of three concentric circles, the Satania symbol of the Paradise Trinity. In the course of his ministry this insignia of three concentric circles became regarded as so sacred by his followers that they never dared to use it, and it was soon forgotten with the passing of a few generations.
Machiventa lived after the manner of the men of the realm, he never married, nor could he have left offspring on earth. His physical body, while resembling that of the human male, was in reality on the order of those especially constructed bodies used by the one hundred materialized members of Prince Caligastia's staff except that it did not carry the life plasm of any human race. Nor was there available on Urantia the tree of life. Had Machiventa remained for any long period on earth, his physical mechanism would have gradually deteriorated; as it was, he terminated his bestowal mission in ninety-four years long before his material body had begun to disintegrate.
This incarnated Melchizedek received a Thought Adjuster, who indwelt his superhuman personality as the monitor of time and the mentor of the flesh, thus gaining that experience and practical introduction to Urantian problems and to the technique of indwelling an incarnated Son which enabled this spirit of the Father to function so valiantly in the human mind of the later Son of God, Michael, when he appeared on earth in the likeness of mortal flesh. And this is the only Thought Adjuster who ever functioned in two minds on Urantia, but both minds were divine as well as human.
During the incarnation in the flesh, Machiventa was in full contact with his eleven fellows of the corps of planetary custodians, but he could not communicate with other orders of celestial personalities. Aside from the Melchizedek receivers, he had no more contact with superhuman intelligences than a human being.
3. MELCHIZEDEK'S TEACHINGS
With the passing of a decade, Melchizedek organized his schools at Salem, patterning them on the olden system which had been developed by the early Sethite priests of the second Eden. Even the idea of a tithing system, which was introduced by his later convert Abraham, was also derived from the lingering traditions of the methods of the ancient Sethites.
Melchizedek taught the concept of one God, a universal Deity, but he allowed the people to associate this teaching with the Constellation Father of Norlatiadek, whom he termed El Elyon -- the Most High. Melchizedek remained all but silent as to the status of Lucifer and the state of affairs on Jerusem. Lanaforge, the System Sovereign, had little to do with Urantia until after the completion of Michael's bestowal. To a majority of the Salem students Edentia was heaven and the Most High was God.
93:3.3 The symbol of the three concentric circles, which Melchizedek adopted as the insignia of his bestowal, a majority of the people interpreted as standing for the three kingdoms of men, angels, and God. And they were allowed to continue in that belief; very few of his followers ever knew that these three circles were emblematic of the infinity, eternity, and universality of the Paradise Trinity of divine maintenance and direction; even Abraham rather regarded this symbol as standing for the three Most Highs of Edentia, as he had been instructed that the three Most Highs functioned as one. To the extent that Melchizedek taught the Trinity concept symbolized in his insignia, he usually associated it with the three Vorondadek rulers of the constellation of Norlatiadek.
93:3.4 To the rank and file of his followers he made no effort to present teaching beyond the fact of the rulership of the Most Highs of Edentia -- Gods of Urantia. But to some, Melchizedek taught advanced truth, embracing the conduct and organization of the local universe, while to his brilliant disciple Nordan the Kenite and his band of earnest students he taught the truths of the superuniverse and even of Havona.
93:3.5 The members of the family of Katro, with whom Melchizedek lived for more than thirty years, knew many of these higher truths and long perpetuated them in their family, even to the days of their illustrious descendant Moses, who thus had a compelling tradition of the days of Melchizedek handed down to him on this, his father's side, as well as through other sources on his mother's side.
93:3.6 Melchizedek taught his followers all they had capacity to receive and assimilate. Even many modern religious ideas about heaven and earth, of man, God, and angels, are not far removed from these teachings of Melchizedek. But this great teacher subordinated everything to the doctrine of one God, a universe Deity, a heavenly Creator, a divine Father. Emphasis was placed upon this teaching for the purpose of appealing to man's adoration and of preparing the way for the subsequent appearance of Michael as the Son of this same Universal Father.
93:3.7 Melchizedek taught that at some future time another Son of God would come in the flesh as he had come, but that he would be born of a woman; and that is why numerous later teachers held that Jesus was a priest, or minister, "forever after the order of Melchizedek."
93:3.8 And thus did Melchizedek prepare the way and set the monotheistic stage of world tendency for the bestowal of an actual Paradise Son of the one God, whom he so vividly portrayed as the Father of all, and whom he represented to Abraham as a God who would accept man on the simple terms of personal faith. And Michael, when he appeared on earth, confirmed all that Melchizedek had taught concerning the Paradise Father.
4. THE SALEM RELIGION
93:4.1 The ceremonies of the Salem worship were very simple. Every person who signed or marked the clay-tablet rolls of the Melchizedek church committed to memory, and subscribed to, the following belief:
93:4.2 1. I believe in El Elyon, the Most High God, the only Universal Father and Creator of all things.
93:4.3 2. I accept the Melchizedek covenant with the Most High, which bestows the favor of God on my faith, not on sacrifices and burnt offerings.
93:4.4 3. I promise to obey the seven commandments of Melchizedek and to tell the good news of this covenant with the Most High to all men.
93:4.5 And that was the whole of the creed of the Salem colony. But even such a short and simple declaration of faith was altogether too much and too advanced for the men of those days. They simply could not grasp the idea of getting divine favor for nothing -- by faith. They were too deeply confirmed in the belief that man was born under forfeit to the gods. Too long and too earnestly had they sacrificed and made gifts to the priests to be able to comprehend the good news that salvation, divine favor, was a free gift to all who would believe in the Melchizedek covenant. But Abraham did believe halfheartedly, and even that was "counted for righteousness."
93:4.6 The seven commandments promulgated by Melchizedek were patterned along the lines of the ancient Dalamatian supreme law and very much resembled the seven commands taught in the first and second Edens. These commands of the Salem religion were:
93:4.7 1. You shall not serve any God but the Most High Creator of heaven and earth.
93:4.8 2. You shall not doubt that faith is the only requirement for eternal salvation.
93:4.9 3. You shall not bear false witness.
93:4.10 4. You shall not kill.
93:4.11 5. You shall not steal.
93:4.12 6. You shall not commit adultery.
93:4.13 7. You shall not show disrespect for your parents and elders.
93:4.14 While no sacrifices were permitted within the colony, Melchizedek well knew how difficult it is to suddenly uproot long-established customs and accordingly had wisely offered these people the substitute of a sacrament of bread and wine for the older sacrifice of flesh and blood. It is of record, "Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine." But even this cautious innovation was not altogether successful; the various tribes all maintained auxiliary centers on the outskirts of Salem where they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings. Even Abraham resorted to this barbarous practice after his victory over Chedorlaomer; he simply did not feel quite at ease until he had offered a conventional sacrifice. And Melchizedek never did succeed in fully eradicating this proclivity to sacrifice from the religious practices of his followers, even of Abraham.
93:4.15 Like Jesus, Melchizedek attended strictly to the fulfillment of the mission of his bestowal. He did not attempt to reform the mores, to change the habits of the world, nor to promulgate even advanced sanitary practices or scientific truths. He came to achieve two tasks: to keep alive on earth the truth of the one God and to prepare the way for the subsequent mortal bestowal of a Paradise Son of that Universal Father.
93:4.16 Melchizedek taught elementary revealed truth at Salem for ninety-four years, and during this time Abraham attended the Salem school three different times. He finally became a convert to the Salem teachings, becoming one of Melchizedek's most brilliant pupils and chief supporters.
5. THE SELECTION OF ABRAHAM
93:5.1 Although it may be an error to speak of "chosen people," it is not a mistake to refer to Abraham as a chosen individual. Melchizedek did lay upon Abraham the responsibility of keeping alive the truth of one God as distinguished from the prevailing belief in plural deities.
93:5.2 The choice of Palestine as the site for Machiventa's activities was in part predicated upon the desire to establish contact with some human family embodying the potentials of leadership. At the time of the incarnation of Melchizedek there were many families on earth just as well prepared to receive the doctrine of Salem as was that of Abraham. There were equally endowed families among the red men, the yellow men, and the descendants of the Andites to the west and north. But, again, none of these localities were so favorably situated for Michael's subsequent appearance on earth as was the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The Melchizedek mission in Palestine and the subsequent appearance of Michael among the Hebrew people were in no small measure determined by geography, by the fact that Palestine was centrally located with reference to the then existent trade, travel, and civilization of the world.
93:5.3 For some time the Melchizedek receivers had been observing the ancestors of Abraham, and they confidently expected offspring in a certain generation who would be characterized by intelligence, initiative, sagacity, and sincerity. The children of Terah, the father of Abraham, in every way met these expectations. It was this possibility of contact with these versatile children of Terah that had considerable to do with the appearance of Machiventa at Salem, rather than in Egypt, China, India, or among the northern tribes.
93:5.4 Terah and his whole family were halfhearted converts to the Salem religion, which had been preached in Chaldea; they learned of Melchizedek through the preaching of Ovid, a Phoenician teacher who proclaimed the Salem doctrines in Ur. They left Ur intending to go directly through to Salem, but Nahor, Abraham's brother, not having seen Melchizedek, was lukewarm and persuaded them to tarry at Haran. And it was a long time after they arrived in Palestine before they were willing to destroy all of the household gods they had brought with them; they were slow to give up the many gods of Mesopotamia for the one God of Salem.
93:5.5 A few weeks after the death of Abraham's father, Terah, Melchizedek sent one of his students, Jaram the Hittite, to extend this invitation to both Abraham and Nahor: "Come to Salem, where you shall hear our teachings of the truth of the eternal Creator, and in the enlightened offspring of you two brothers shall all the world be blessed." Now Nahor had not wholly accepted the Melchizedek gospel; he remained behind and built up a strong city-state which bore his name; but Lot, Abraham's nephew, decided to go with his uncle to Salem.
93:5.6 Upon arriving at Salem, Abraham and Lot chose a hilly fastness near the city where they could defend themselves against the many surprise attacks of northern raiders. At this time the Hittites, Assyrians, Philistines, and other groups were constantly raiding the tribes of central and southern Palestine. From their stronghold in the hills Abraham and Lot made frequent pilgrimages to Salem.
93:5.7 Not long after they had established themselves near Salem, Abraham and Lot journeyed to the valley of the Nile to obtain food supplies as there was then a drought in Palestine. During his brief sojourn in Egypt Abraham found a distant relative on the Egyptian throne, and he served as the commander of two very successful military expeditions for this king. During the latter part of his sojourn on the Nile he and his wife, Sarah, lived at court, and when leaving Egypt, he was given a share of the spoils of his military campaigns.
93:5.8 It required great determination for Abraham to forego the honors of the Egyptian court and return to the more spiritual work sponsored by Machiventa. But Melchizedek was revered even in Egypt, and when the full story was laid before Pharaoh, he strongly urged Abraham to return to the execution of his vows to the cause of Salem.
93:5.9 Abraham had kingly ambitions, and on the way back from Egypt he laid before Lot his plan to subdue all Canaan and bring its people under the rule of Salem. Lot was more bent on business; so, after a later disagreement, he went to Sodom to engage in trade and animal husbandry. Lot liked neither a military nor a herder's life.
93:5.10 Upon returning with his family to Salem, Abraham began to mature his military projects. He was soon recognized as the civil ruler of the Salem territory and had confederated under his leadership seven near-by tribes. Indeed, it was with great difficulty that Melchizedek restrained Abraham, who was fired with a zeal to go forth and round up the neighboring tribes with the sword that they might thus more quickly be brought to a knowledge of the Salem truths.
93:5.11 Melchizedek maintained peaceful relations with all the surrounding tribes; he was not militaristic and was never attacked by any of the armies as they moved back and forth. He was entirely willing that Abraham should formulate a defensive policy for Salem such as was subsequently put into effect, but he would not approve of his pupil's ambitious schemes for conquest; so there occurred a friendly severance of relationship, Abraham going over to Hebron to establish his military capital.
93:5.12 Abraham, because of his close connection with the illustrious Melchizedek, possessed great advantage over the surrounding petty kings; they all revered Melchizedek and unduly feared Abraham. Abraham knew of this fear and only awaited an opportune occasion to attack his neighbors, and this excuse came when some of these rulers presumed to raid the property of his nephew Lot, who dwelt in Sodom. Upon hearing of this, Abraham, at the head of his seven confederated tribes, moved on the enemy. His own bodyguard of 318 officered the army, numbering more than 4,000, which struck at this time.
93:5.13 When Melchizedek heard of Abraham's declaration of war, he went forth to dissuade him but only caught up with his former disciple as he returned victorious from the battle. Abraham insisted that the God of Salem had given him victory over his enemies and persisted in giving a tenth of his spoils to the Salem treasury. The other ninety per cent he removed to his capital at Hebron.
93:5.14 After this battle of Siddim, Abraham became leader of a second confederation of eleven tribes and not only paid tithes to Melchizedek but saw to it that all others in that vicinity did the same. His diplomatic dealings with the king of Sodom, together with the fear in which he was so generally held, resulted in the king of Sodom and others joining the Hebron military confederation; Abraham was really well on the way to establishing a powerful state in Palestine.
6. MELCHIZEDEK'S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM
93:6.1 Abraham envisaged the conquest of all Canaan. His determination was only weakened by the fact that Melchizedek would not sanction the undertaking. But Abraham had about decided to embark upon the enterprise when the thought that he had no son to succeed him as ruler of this proposed kingdom began to worry him. He arranged another conference with Melchizedek; and it was in the course of this interview that the priest of Salem, the visible Son of God, persuaded Abraham to abandon his scheme of material conquest and temporal rule in favor of the spiritual concept of the kingdom of heaven.
93:6.2 Melchizedek explained to Abraham the futility of contending with the Amorite confederation but made it equally clear that these backward clans were certainly committing suicide by their foolish practices so that in a few generations they would be so weakened that the descendants of Abraham, meanwhile greatly increased, could easily overcome them.
93:6.3 And Melchizedek made a formal covenant with Abraham at Salem. Said he to Abraham: "Look now up to the heavens and number the stars if you are able; so numerous shall your seed be." And Abraham believed Melchizedek, "and it was counted to him for righteousness." And then Melchizedek told Abraham the story of the future occupation of Canaan by his offspring after their sojourn in Egypt.
93:6.4 This covenant of Melchizedek with Abraham represents the great Urantian agreement between divinity and humanity whereby God agrees to do everything; man only agrees to believe God's promises and follow his instructions. Heretofore it had been believed that salvation could be secured only by works -- sacrifices and offerings; now, Melchizedek again brought to Urantia the good news that salvation, favor with God, is to be had by faith. But this gospel of simple faith in God was too advanced; the Semitic tribesmen subsequently preferred to go back to the older sacrifices and atonement for sin by the shedding of blood.
93:6.5 It was not long after the establishment of this covenant that Isaac, the son of Abraham, was born in accordance with the promise of Melchizedek. After the birth of Isaac, Abraham took a very solemn attitude toward his covenant with Melchizedek, going over to Salem to have it stated in writing. It was at this public and formal acceptance of the covenant that he changed his name from Abram to Abraham.
93:6.6 Most of the Salem believers had practiced circumcision, though it had never been made obligatory by Melchizedek. Now Abraham had always so opposed circumcision that on this occasion he decided to solemnize the event by formally accepting this rite in token of the ratification of the Salem covenant.
93:6.7 It was following this real and public surrender of his personal ambitions in behalf of the larger plans of Melchizedek that the three celestial beings appeared to him on the plains of Mamre. This was an appearance of fact, notwithstanding its association with the subsequently fabricated narratives relating to the natural destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And these legends of the happenings of those days indicate how retarded were the morals and ethics of even so recent a time.
93:6.8 Upon the consummation of the solemn covenant, the reconciliation between Abraham and Melchizedek was complete. Abraham again assumed the civil and military leadership of the Salem colony, which at its height carried over one hundred thousand regular tithe payers on the rolls of the Melchizedek brotherhood. Abraham greatly improved the Salem temple and provided new tents for the entire school. He not only extended the tithing system but also instituted many improved methods of conducting the business of the school, besides contributing greatly to the better handling of the department of missionary propaganda. He also did much to effect improvement of the herds and the reorganization of the Salem dairying projects. Abraham was a shrewd and efficient business man, a wealthy man for his day; he was not overly pious, but he was thoroughly sincere, and he did believe in Machiventa Melchizedek.
7. THE MELCHIZEDEK MISSIONARIES
93:7.1 Melchizedek continued for some years to instruct his students and to train the Salem missionaries, who penetrated to all the surrounding tribes, especially to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. And as the decades passed, these teachers journeyed farther and farther from Salem, carrying with them Machiventa's gospel of belief and faith in God.
93:7.2 The descendants of Adamson, clustered about the shores of the lake of Van, were willing listeners to the Hittite teachers of the Salem cult. From this onetime Andite center, teachers were dispatched to the remote regions of both Europe and Asia. Salem missionaries penetrated all Europe, even to the British Isles. One group went by way of the Faroes to the Andonites of Iceland, while another traversed China and reached the Japanese of the eastern islands. The lives and experiences of the men and women who ventured forth from Salem, Mesopotamia, and Lake Van to enlighten the tribes of the Eastern Hemisphere present a heroic chapter in the annals of the human race.
93:7.3 But the task was so great and the tribes were so backward that the results were vague and indefinite. From one generation to another the Salem gospel found lodgment here and there, but except in Palestine, never was the idea of one God able to claim the continued allegiance of a whole tribe or race. Long before the coming of Jesus the teachings of the early Salem missionaries had become generally submerged in the older and more universal superstitions and beliefs. The original Melchizedek gospel had been almost wholly absorbed in the beliefs in the Great Mother, the Sun, and other ancient cults.
93:7.4 You who today enjoy the advantages of the art of printing little understand how difficult it was to perpetuate truth during these earlier times; how easy it was to lose sight of a new doctrine from one generation to another. There was always a tendency for the new doctrine to become absorbed into the older body of religious teaching and magical practice. A new revelation is always contaminated by the older evolutionary beliefs.
8. DEPARTURE OF MELCHIZEDEK
93:8.1 It was shortly after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah that Machiventa decided to end his emergency bestowal on Urantia. Melchizedek's decision to terminate his sojourn in the flesh was influenced by numerous conditions, chief of which was the growing tendency of the surrounding tribes, and even of his immediate associates, to regard him as a demigod, to look upon him as a supernatural being, which indeed he was; but they were beginning to reverence him unduly and with a highly superstitious fear. In addition to these reasons, Melchizedek wanted to leave the scene of his earthly activities a sufficient length of time before Abraham's death to insure that the truth of the one and only God would become strongly established in the minds of his followers. Accordingly Machiventa retired one night to his tent at Salem, having said good night to his human companions, and when they went to call him in the morning, he was not there, for his fellows had taken him.
9. AFTER MELCHIZEDEK'S DEPARTURE
93:9.1 It was a great trial for Abraham when Melchizedek so suddenly disappeared. Although he had fully warned his followers that he must sometime go as he had come, they were not reconciled to the loss of their wonderful leader. The great organization built up at Salem nearly disappeared, though the traditions of these days were what Moses built upon when he led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt.
93:9.2 The loss of Melchizedek produced a sadness in the heart of Abraham that he never fully overcame. Hebron he had abandoned when he gave up the ambition of building a material kingdom; and now, upon the loss of his associate in the building of the spiritual kingdom, he departed from Salem, going south to live near his interests at Gerar.
93:9.3 Abraham became fearful and timid immediately after the disappearance of Melchizedek. He withheld his identity upon arrival at Gerar, so that Abimelech appropriated his wife. (Shortly after his marriage to Sarah, Abraham one night had overheard a plot to murder him in order to get his brilliant wife. This dread became a terror to the otherwise brave and daring leader; all his life he feared that someone would kill him secretly in order to get Sarah. And this explains why, on three separate occasions, this brave man exhibited real cowardice.)
93:9.4 But Abraham was not long to be deterred in his mission as the successor of Melchizedek. Soon he made converts among the Philistines and of Abimelech's people, made a treaty with them, and, in turn, became contaminated with many of their superstitions, particularly with their practice of sacrificing first-born sons. Thus did Abraham again become a great leader in Palestine. He was held in reverence by all groups and honored by all kings. He was the spiritual leader of all the surrounding tribes, and his influence continued for some time after his death. During the closing years of his life he once more returned to Hebron, the scene of his earlier activities and the place where he had worked in association with Melchizedek. Abraham's last act was to send trusty servants to the city of his brother, Nahor, on the border of Mesopotamia, to secure a woman of his own people as a wife for his son Isaac. It had long been the custom of Abraham's people to marry their cousins. And Abraham died confident in that faith in God which he had learned from Melchizedek in the vanished schools of Salem.
93:9.5 It was hard for the next generation to comprehend the story of Melchizedek; within five hundred years many regarded the whole narrative as a myth. Isaac held fairly well to the teachings of his father and nourished the gospel of the Salem colony, but it was harder for Jacob to grasp the significance of these traditions. Joseph was a firm believer in Melchizedek and was, largely because of this, regarded by his brothers as a dreamer. Joseph's honor in Egypt was chiefly due to the memory of his great-grandfather Abraham. Joseph was offered military command of the Egyptian armies, but being such a firm believer in the traditions of Melchizedek and the later teachings of Abraham and Isaac, he elected to serve as a civil administrator, believing that he could thus better labor for the advancement of the kingdom of heaven.
93:9.6 The teaching of Melchizedek was full and replete, but the records of these days seemed impossible and fantastic to the later Hebrew priests, although many had some understanding of these transactions, at least up to the times of the en masse editing of the Old Testament records in Babylon.
93:9.7 What the Old Testament records describe as conversations between Abraham and God were in reality conferences between Abraham and Melchizedek. Later scribes regarded the term Melchizedek as synonymous with God. The record of so many contacts of Abraham and Sarah with "the angel of the Lord" refers to their numerous visits with Melchizedek.
93:9.8 The Hebrew narratives of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are far more reliable than those about Abraham, although they also contain many diversions from the facts, alterations made intentionally and unintentionally at the time of the compilation of these records by the Hebrew priests during the Babylonian captivity. Keturah was not a wife of Abraham; like Hagar, she was merely a concubine. All of Abraham's property went to Isaac, the son of Sarah, the status wife. Abraham was not so old as the records indicate, and his wife was much younger. These ages were deliberately altered in order to provide for the subsequent alleged miraculous birth of Isaac.
93:9.9 The national ego of the Jews was tremendously depressed by the Babylonian captivity. In their reaction against national inferiority they swung to the other extreme of national and racial egotism, in which they distorted and perverted their traditions with the view of exalting themselves above all races as the chosen people of God; and hence they carefully edited all their records for the purpose of raising Abraham and their other national leaders high up above all other persons, not excepting Melchizedek himself. The Hebrew scribes therefore destroyed every record of these momentous times which they could find, preserving only the narrative of the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek after the battle of Siddim, which they deemed reflected great honor upon Abraham.
93:9.10 And thus, in losing sight of Melchizedek, they also lost sight of the teaching of this emergency Son regarding the spiritual mission of the promised bestowal Son; lost sight of the nature of this mission so fully and completely that very few of their progeny were able or willing to recognize and receive Michael when he appeared on earth and in the flesh as Machiventa had foretold.
93:9.11 But one of the writers of the Book of Hebrews understood the mission of Melchizedek, for it is written: "This Melchizedek, priest of the Most High, was also king of peace; without father, without mother, without pedigree, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like a Son of God, he abides a priest continually." This writer designated Melchizedek as a type of the later bestowal of Michael, affirming that Jesus was "a minister forever on the order of Melchizedek." While this comparison was not altogether fortunate, it was literally true that Christ did receive provisional title to Urantia "upon the orders of the twelve Melchizedek receivers" on duty at the time of his world bestowal.
10. PRESENT STATUS OF MACHIVENTA MELCHIZEDEK
93:10.1 During the years of Machiventa's incarnation the Urantia Melchizedek receivers functioned as eleven. When Machiventa considered that his mission as an emergency Son was finished, he signalized this fact to his eleven associates, and they immediately made ready the technique whereby he was to be released from the flesh and safely restored to his original Melchizedek status. And on the third day after his disappearance from Salem he appeared among his eleven fellows of the Urantia assignment and resumed his interrupted career as one of the planetary receivers of 606 of Satania.
93:10.2 Machiventa terminated his bestowal as a creature of flesh and blood just as suddenly and unceremoniously as he had begun it. Neither his appearance nor departure were accompanied by any unusual announcement or demonstration; neither resurrection roll call nor ending of planetary dispensation marked his appearance on Urantia; his was an emergency bestowal. But Machiventa did not end his sojourn in the flesh of human beings until he had been duly released by the Father Melchizedek and had been informed that his emergency bestowal had received the approval of the chief executive of Nebadon, Gabriel of Salvington.
93:10.3 Machiventa Melchizedek continued to take a great interest in the affairs of the descendants of those men who had believed in his teachings when he was in the flesh. But the progeny of Abraham through Isaac as intermarried with the Kenites were the only line which long continued to nourish any clear concept of the Salem teachings.
93:10.4 This same Melchizedek continued to collaborate throughout the nineteen succeeding centuries with the many prophets and seers, thus endeavoring to keep alive the truths of Salem until the fullness of the time for Michael's appearance on earth.
93:10.5 Machiventa continued as a planetary receiver up to the times of the triumph of Michael on Urantia. Subsequently, he was attached to the Urantia service on Jerusem as one of the four and twenty directors, only just recently having been elevated to the position of personal ambassador on Jerusem of the Creator Son, bearing the title Vicegerent Planetary Prince of Urantia. It is our belief that, as long as Urantia remains an inhabited planet, Machiventa Melchizedek will not be fully returned to the duties of his order of sonship but will remain, speaking in the terms of time, forever a planetary minister representing Christ Michael.
As his was an emergency bestowal on Urantia, it does not appear from the records what Machiventa's future may be. It may develop that the Melchizedek corps of Nebadon have sustained the permanent loss of one of their number. Recent rulings handed down from the Most Highs of Edentia, and later confirmed by the Ancients of Days of Uversa, strongly suggest that this bestowal Melchizedek is destined to take the place of the fallen Planetary Prince, Caligastia. If our conjectures in this respect are correct, it is altogether possible that Machiventa Melchizedek may again appear in person on Urantia and in some modified manner resume the role of the dethroned Planetary Prince, or else appear on earth to function as vicegerent Planetary Prince representing Christ Michael, who now actually holds the title of Planetary Prince of Urantia. While it is far from clear to us as to what Machiventa's destiny may be, nevertheless, events which have so recently taken place strongly suggest that the foregoing conjectures are probably not far from the truth.
93:10.7 We well understand how, by his triumph on Urantia, Michael became the successor of both Caligastia and Adam; how he became the planetary Prince of Peace and the second Adam. And now we behold the conferring upon this Melchizedek of the title Vicegerent Planetary Prince of Urantia. Will he also be constituted Vicegerent Material Son of Urantia? Or is there a possibility that an unexpected and unprecedented event is to take place, the sometime return to the planet of Adam and Eve or certain of their progeny as representatives of Michael with the titles vicegerents of the second Adam of Urantia?
93:10.8 And all these speculations associated with the certainty of future appearances of both Magisterial and Trinity Teacher Sons, in conjunction with the explicit promise of the Creator Son to return sometime, make Urantia a planet of future uncertainty and render it one of the most interesting and intriguing spheres in all the universe of Nebadon. It is altogether possible that, in some future age when Urantia is approaching the era of light and life, after the affairs of the Lucifer rebellion and the Caligastia secession have been finally adjudicated, we may witness the presence on Urantia, simultaneously, of Machiventa, Adam, Eve, and Christ Michael, as well as either a Magisterial Son or even Trinity Teacher Sons.
93:10.9 It has long been the opinion of our order that Machiventa's presence on the Jerusem corps of Urantia directors, the four and twenty counselors, is sufficient evidence to warrant the belief that he is destined to follow the mortals of Urantia on through the universe scheme of progression and ascension even to the Paradise Corps of the Finality. We know that Adam and Eve are thus destined to accompany their earth fellows on the Paradise adventure when Urantia has become settled in light and life.
93:10.10 Less than a thousand years ago this same Machiventa Melchizedek, the onetime sage of Salem, was invisibly present on Urantia for a period of one hundred years, acting as resident governor general of the planet; and if the present system of directing planetary affairs should continue, he will be due to return in the same capacity in a little over one thousand years.
93:10.11 This is the story of Machiventa Melchizedek, one of the most unique of all characters ever to become connected with the history of Urantia and a personality who may be destined to play an important role in the future experience of your irregular and unusual world
Melchizedek
From Gnosis.org
Translated by Søren Giversen and Birger A. Pearson
Jesus Christ, the Son of God [...] from ...
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... the aeons, that I might tell all of the aeons, and, in (the case of) each one of the aeons, that I might tell the nature of the aeon, what it is, and that I might put on friendship and goodness as a garment, O brother, [...] and ...
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... their end [...]. And he will reveal to them the truth [...] in ...
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... proverb(s) ...
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... at first in parables and riddles [...] proclaim them. Death will tremble and be angry, not only he himself, but also his fellow world-ruling archons, and the principalities and the authorities, the female gods and the male gods, together with the archangels. And ...
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... all of them, [...] the world-rulers [...], all of them, and all the [...], and all the [...].
They will say [...] concerning him, and concerning [...] and ...
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... they will [...] hidden mysteries ...
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... out of [...] the All. They will [...] this. The lawyers will bury him quickly. They will call him 'impious man', 'lawless', 'impure'. And on the third day, he will rise from the dead ...
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... holy disciples. And the Savior will reveal to them the world that gives life to the All.
But those in the heavens spoke many words, together with those on the earth, and those under the earth. ...
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... which will happen in his name. Furthermore, they will say of him that he is unbegotten, though he has been begotten, (that) he does not eat, even though he eats, (that) he does not drink, even though he drinks, (that) he is uncircumcised, though he has been circumcised, (that) he is unfleshly, though he has come in the flesh, (that) he did not come to suffering,
But all the tribes and all the peoples will speak the truth who are receiving from you yourself, O Melchizedek, Holy One, High-Priest, the perfect hope and the gifts of life. I am Gamaliel, who was sent to [...] the congregation of the children of Seth, who are above thousands of thousands, and myriads of myriads, of the aeons [...] essence of the aeons, aba[...] aiai ababa. O divine [...] of the [...] nature [...]! O Mother of the aeons, Barbelo! O first-born of the aeons, splendid Doxomedon Dom[...]! O glorious one, Jesus Christ! O chief commanders of the luminaries, you powers Armozel, Oroiael, Daveithe, Eleleth, and you man-of-light, immortal aeon Pigera-Adamas, and you good god of the beneficent worlds, Mirocheirothetou, through Jesus Christ, the Son of God! This is the one whom I proclaim, inasmuch as there has visited the One who truly exists, among those who exist [...] do(es) not exist, Abel Baruch - that you (sg.) might be given the knowledge of the truth [...], that he is from the race of the High-priest, which is above thousands of thousands, and myriads of myriads, of the aeons. The adverse spirits are ignorant of him, and (of) their (own) destruction. Not only (that, but) I have come to reveal to you the truth, which is within the brethren. He included himself in the living offering, together with your offspring. He offered them up as an offering to the All. For it is not cattle that you will offer up for sin(s) of unbelief, and for the ignorances, and (for) all the wicked deeds which they will do [...]. And they do not reach the Father of the All [...] the faith ...
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For the waters which are above [...] that receive baptism [...]. But receive that baptism which is with the water which [...], while he is coming ...
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... baptism as they ...
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... pray for the offspring of the archons and all the angels, together with the seed
... nature of the females [...], among those that are in the [...]. They were bound with [...] But this is not (the) true Adam nor (the) true Eve.
For when they ate of the tree of knowledge, they trampled the Cherubim and the Seraphim with the flaming sword. They [...], which was Adam's, [...] the world-rulers, and [...] them out [...] after they had brought forth [...] offspring of the archons and their worldly things, these belonging to ...
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... light [...]. And the females and the males, those who exist with [...] hidden from every nature, and they will renounce the archons [...] who receive from him the [...]. For they are worthy of [...] immortal, and great [...], and great [...], and great [...] sons of men [...] disciples [...] image, and [...] from the light [...] which is holy. For [...] from the beginning [...] a seed ...
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But I will be silent [...], for we are the brethren who came down from the living [...]. They will [...] upon the ...
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... of Adam, [...], Abel, Enoch, Noah, [...] you, Melchizedek, the Priest of God Most High, [...] those who [...] women ...
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... these two who have been chosen will at no time nor in any place will they be convicted, whenever they have been begotten, by their enemies, by their friends, nor by strangers, nor their (own) kin, (nor) by the impious, nor the pious. All of the adverse natures will [...] them, whether those that are manifest, or those that are not manifest, together with those that dwell in the heavens, and those that are upon the earth, and those that are under the earth. They will make war [...] every one. For [...], whether in the ...
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... many ...
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And these in the [...] every one will [...]. These will [...] with every blow [...] weaknesses. These will be confined in other forms, and will be punished. These the Savior will take them away, and they will overcome everything, not with their mouths and words, but by means of the [...], which will be done for them. He will destroy Death.
These things which I was commanded to reveal, these things reveal as I (have done). But that which is hidden, do not reveal to anyone, unless it is revealed to you (to do so)."
And immediately, I arose, I, Melchizedek, and I began to [...] God [...] that I should rejoice ...
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... while he is acting [...] living [...] I said, "I ...
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... and I will not cease, from now on, forever, O Father of the All, because you have had pity on men, and you have sent the angel of light [...] from your aeons [...] to reveal [...]. When he came, he caused me to be raised up from ignorance, and (from) the fructification of death to life. For I have a name: I am Melchizedek, the Priest of God Most High; I know that it is I who am truly the image of the true High-Priest of God Most High, and [...] the world. For it is not a small thing that God [...] with [...] while he [...]. And [...] the angels that dwell upon the earth ...
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... is the sacrifice of [...], whom Death deceived. When he died, he bound them with the natures which are leading them astray. Yet he offered up offerings [...] cattle, saying, "I gave them to Death, and the angels, and the [...] demons [...] living offering [...]. I have offered up myself to you as an offering, together with those that are mine, to you yourself, (O) Father of the All, and those whom you love, who have come forth from you who are holy (and) living. And
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, O Father of the All, who truly exists, [...] do(es) not exist, Abel Baruch [...], for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, Mother of the aeons, Barbelo, for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, First-born of the aeons, Doxomedon [...], for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, ...
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... for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, ...
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... first aeon, Harmozel, for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, commander, luminary of the aeons, Oriael, for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, commander of the aeons, man-of-light, Daveithe, for ever and ever. Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, commander-in-chief, Eleleth ...
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... the aeons ...
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... for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, good god of the beneficent words, ... Mirocheirothetou, for ever and ever, Amen.
Holy are you, Holy are you, Holy are you, Commander-in-chief of the All, Jesus Christ, for ever and ever, Amen.
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... blessed [...] confession. And [...] confess him [...] now [...], then it becomes [...] fear and [...], fear and [...] disturb [...] surrounding them [...], in the place which has a great darkness in it, and many [...] appear [...] there [...] appear ...
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And [...] they were clothed with [...] all, and ...
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... disturbances. They gave [...] their words [...], and they said to me, "[...], Melchizedek, Priest of God Most High," [...] they spoke as though [...] their mouths [...] in the All ...
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... lead astray ...
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... with his [...] worship, and [...] faith, and [...] his prayers, and ...
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... those that are his [...] first ...
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... They did not care that the priesthood which you perform, which is from ...
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... in the counsels of [...] Satan [...], the sacrifice [...] his doctrines ...
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... men. And [...] you (pl.) struck me, [...] you threw me, [...] corpse. And you crucified me from the third hour of the Sabbath-eve until the ninth hour. And after these things, I arose from the dead, [...] came out of [...] into me, [...] my eyes saw [...], they did not find anyone ...
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... greeted me [...]. They said to me, "Be strong, O Melchizedek, great High-priest of God Most High, for the archons, who are your enemies, made war; (but) you have prevailed over them, and they did not prevail over you, and you endured, and you destroyed your enemies. [...] of their [...] will rest in any [...] which is living (and) holy [...] those that exalted themselves against him in [...] flesh ...
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"... with offerings, working on that which is good, fasting with fasts. These revelations, do not reveal to anyone in the flesh, since they are incorporeal, unless it is revealed to you (to do so)."
When the brethren who belong to the generations of life had said these things, they were taken up to (the regions) above all the heavens. Amen.
Milarepa - NOTE
Jetsun Milarepa
(