He who attunes with the harmony of the Cosmos, with Tao, with the Divine I AM, feeds and expands the flame--like the Colombes tending the sacred fire in Vesta's temple--which results in a greater manifestation of God, the Shekinah, in man's expression in the world of Malkuth--Assiah, God's footstool. Glorified by the divinity of his God-presence, man manifests his full divine potential with the fruits of the Tree of Life in full development with the aspects of will/power, love/wisdom, intelligence/activity in equilibrium and in total unfoldment.

Heaven, or the Kingdom of God, is an inner state, a condition within the consciousness where peace, harmony, bliss, love, compassion, wisdom, and power rules supreme. Divine union with the source of our being effects the transcendence of man's awareness and transports him into the corona of the greater Flame, into the kingdom of Life. This is the unio mystica and the ascension sought by Christian mystics and saints ever since the resurrection of the Master Jesus.

The Essenes

There was a pre-Christian sect called "the Essenes" that was influential in the moulding of Christianity, and it behooves us to look at them briefly.

According to tradition, the Essenes are said to have originated centuries before the advent of the embodiment of Love and Purity, represented by Jesus and John--the Harbinger. This unique segment of the Great White Brotherhood is said to have originated in Egypt, and is related with the Theraputae, a sect that specialized in healing, to be found among the nations surrounding the Mediterranean. Some esoteric historians trace their roots to the school of prophets established by Samuel--the Prophet, who anointed Saul as King of Israel. The brethren of this mysterious sect were sometimes referred to as "the Mysterious Ones," "the Secret Ones," and "the Silent Ones," on account of their mystical practices, disciplines, behaviour, and the expression and habits of their normal secular life. A community of Essenes once resided along the shores of Lake Moeris, in Egypt. Some of the members were celibates, those that married probably practiced specific spiritual exercises that permitted lofty souls to incarnate. Like the Christ initiate, the Essenes abhorred animal-sacrifices. It is probable that the former adopted this attitude from the latter. The Essenes had no slaves nor servants, and lived communally, sharing worldly goods; and cooperating harmoniously with every venture that they undertook. They were healers, and made much use of herbs, minerals, the "laying of hands," and invocation of the healing angels. Members of the community were considered holy and pious by outsiders of their group.

Nothing is mentioned concerning the Essenes in the New Testament except for a hint or two regarding the mysterious men in white who often appeared to the disciples of the Nazarene Master to offer words of advise. The white woolen robes that they wore, which suggests pre-Islamic Sufism, apparently signifies their status symbol as higher degree members. From the dietary aspect of their way of life, the Essenes were known to be vegetarians; they are also believed to be "God-eaters," a term indicating the ability to nourish the physical body with the life-giving qualities to be found in the pranic ethers. This and the harmonious attunement with other Cosmic forces may account for their unusually long life span ranging from a hundred to a hundred and twenty years.

Roman historians such as Pliny, referred to the Essenes in their writings in a somewhat sketchy manner, due to the private and isolated lives that the Essenes led. The absence of any concrete references to the Essenes in the Bible is a fact worth considering. While the other influential sects upon Judaic's social milieu were mentioned, such as, the Sadducees and the Nazarites, the compilers and writers of the gospels for some reason thought it necessary to leave the Essenes out of their texts; or could it be that references regarding their existence and activities were deliberately expunged from the gospels for political reasons by Church Fathers? It is noteworthy that while Jesus criticized some of the other sects for their iniquities, he did not attack or condemn the Essenes. Was there a good reason for this? Certainly he must have known about them, being a son or initiate of the Mysteries.

It is believed by some esotericists that the parents of Jesus, Joseph and Mary, were Essenes. Jesus himself is said to have had his early spiritual training among the brotherhood. What Jesus taught in later years, in his ministry, resembled the precepts, doctrines, practices, and disciplines taught by the Essenes, such as the practice of baptism; invocation of higher forces and intelligences; the blessing of meals; the practice of prophecy and healing; teachings concerning the Kingdom of God; and angelology, or the science of energy-forces of Nature personified by those beings.

The Essenes appeared suddenly upon the world scene, and vanished with hardly a trace of their existence. It is often inquired by scholars regarding the purpose of the brotherhood's establishment. It is conjectured by some, and supported by tradition, that the prime purpose of the a course in miracles  of the Essene community was the preparation for the coming of the Messiah and his ministry here on Earth. When the Master Jesus disappeared from public view, so did the Essenes shortly after. Whether they chose to disband, or to operate in a clandestine manner, it is believed that a good deal of their doctrines found their way to other esoteric schools in later centuries such as Masonry, the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, the Knights Templar, and many others. Extensive manuscripts discovered in a cave at the Wadi Qumran along the shores of the Dead Sea in the latter half of this century is expected to shed more light on the Essene belief and lifestyle when the manuscripts are wholly made public. Nowadays there is a revival of the Essenes and that which may be regarded as Essenic thought among spiritual occultists.

The Esoteric Life of Jesus

Much of the hidden esoteric life of Jesus is unknown to followers of Orthodox Christianity. From their point of view, all important events that occurred in Jesus' life were recorded in the canonical gospels and further inquiry into the matter is undesirable and of no importance; however, several questions are raised by scholars, the most notable are the lack of information of Jesus' spiritual, mystical and secular training; and the non-chronicling of the activities of Jesus between the time of his debate with the Doctors of the Law in the Temple at age twelve and his sudden appearance at the River Jordon awaiting to be baptized by John in the prime of his manhood. What occurred in the interim? Though exoteric Christianity is silent on the subject, the esoteric side with its psychic investigations sheds some light upon the subject. One may well ask the validity of the information regarding the esoteric side of Jesus' life--we can only suggest that it is as much valid as the canonical gospels--and there is more to this statement of ours than what a cursory apprehension can tell.

Much of what we are about to relate is derived from the book "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus," a manuscript scribed from what was witnessed in the akashic records by Levi, an American pastor of the 19th century. The events and account of Jesus' life mention therein are supported by the investigations of other psychics and scholars. We will summarize the contents below and correlate them with other information: