From Bethlehem to Calvary

*The books of Alice A. Bailey, written in cooperation with a Tibetan teacher between 1919-1949, constitute a continuation of the Ageless Wisdom--a body of esoteric teaching handed down from ancient times in a form which is always suitable to each period. Intended to precede and condition the coming era, the Alice A. Bailey writings offer an unparalleled spiritual approach to such subjects as the teaching on Shamballa and the Path of spiritual evolution; the spiritual Hierarchy; the new discipleship and training in meditation as a form of service; the teaching on the seven rays and the new psychology of the soul; the teaching on esoteric astrology; and the new world religion, which emphasizes the common thread of truth linking all the major world faiths. In her foreword to this book, the author remarks, "The conscious evocation of the Christ life in the human heart and our rapid integration into the Kingdom of God are the immediate tasks ahead, embodying our responsibility, opportunity and destiny". The five expansions of consciousness by which this integration and evocation proceed are clearly portrayed here as the correspondences of the five climaxing experiences of the Master Jesus during His life in Palestine. These are the five initiations known as the Birth, Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. Through these five stages on the Way, we follow the Master from Bethlehem to Calvary. While these initiations are popularly known by the Christian terminology, within the experience of the spiritual Hierarchy the fourth and fifth initiations are known as the initiation of Renunciation and the initiation of Revelation. The crucifixion experience of the Master Jesus involved Him in the great renunciation of His own soul, with a resulting revelation in the light of the Spiritual Triad. These experiences are both symbolic and actual, setting guideposts along the way of the disciple. Some understanding of these Mysteries revealed by the Christ and the Master Jesus, as They exemplified the experience of the human soul through the five stages of its spiritual journey, can be invaluable to individual man facing the vast span of the same five-fold experience. This is probably the factor of greatest value and service to the aspirant, setting his feet on the Path of Return; that the experience of the Master Jesus, including that of the Crucifixion, the Great Renunciation, reflects through the lives of all human beings. Through the divine life in us, and as the Christ principle unfolds in our heart and consciousness, the sons of men walk the Way of the Cross eventually to become soul-illumined Sons of God. Knowing something of these things, aware of the spiritual journey before all men from stage to stage on the Path of Initiation, an exact service opens before the aspirant. "Service must expand and express itself on broader and more inclusive lines, and we must learn to serve as Christ served, to love all men as He loved them and, by the potency of our spiritual vitality and the quality of our service, stimulate all we meet so that they too can serve and love and become members of the Kingdom ...the call is for sane and normal men and women who can comprehend the situation, face what must be done, and then give their lives to expressing for the world the qualities of the citizens of the Kingdom of Souls; love, wisdom, silence, non- separativeness and freedom."