THE BOOK
‘Messianic Expectations’. A Comparative Study.
“The Christian looks forward to the advent of Christ, the Jew is still expectant of the coming of the Messiah, the Buddhist is waiting for the coming of the Bodhisattva, the Hindu for the coming Avatar and the Mohammedan for the appearance of the Imam Madhi.” (Alice A. Bailey)
‘A study of five world saviour archetypes – the Hindu Kalki, the Buddhist Maitreya, the Jewish and Christian Messiahs and the Islamic Imam Madhi.
‘From the time of antiquity to the present, humanity has looked with expectancy for a prophesized Coming One, an Avatar, a World Saviour or Messiah, who will usher in a new age of spiritual advancement, truth and global peace. (*)
‘The certainty of this theme is an integral part of all the major religions. Esoteric philosophy, especially as presented in the teachings of the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul and Alice A. Bailey, also anticipates the reappearance of a great Avatar, a Christ, whose self-initiated task and pre- ordained destiny” is to act as a transmitter of divine energy and power. These “divine intermediaries”, as the Tibetan terms them, are extraordinary individuals who emerge in order to alter the course of human civilisation and destinies of nations. (**)
‘The concept of a Coming One or Messiah has been part of humanity’s shared experience from the beginning. Indelibly rooted in the human psyche, the idea of the saviour or redeemer can be associated, in the deepest sense, with the role of the Mythic Hero or the World Saviour latent within each individual and the human collective. ...it gives birth to human aspiration and will, the idea of progress or advancement, and humanity’s innate urge to fulfil its ultimate destiny as a planetary light bearer or saviour. The powerful Messiah or Saviour concept also stems from humanity’s desire for protection from above and relief in its great hour of suffering and need. It becomes especially acute in times of great crisis when humanity’s development is either in decay or at an impasse. Avatars or redeemers not only bring succour and reprieve during periods of extreme hardship and difficulty, they provide recourse to an unseen but dimly sensed God in his “Secret Place Most High” since they serve as the link of Divine guidance between humanity and God.
‘Messiahs or Avatars are beings who have developed and transcended their own human and divine natures. (***) They are free from human limitation, from selfish and reparative behaviours. Having achieved a measure of demonstrated perfection and unity or identification with God, they have a unique capacity and a pre-ordained destiny to transmit some aspect of divine purpose, some great cosmic principle or power that will forever change the world.
‘All world saviours or Messiahs have a salvific function in both its scope and its mission. They belong to all humanity regardless of background, religion or country. Through them, the continuity of divine revelation is implemented so that humanity can more realize its own divine nature. (***) The revelation these light bearers bring is part of an immortal script that is reflected through different religious and cultural beliefs, proving the Truth of Revelation is One, but the expressions or manifestations of the Divine are many.’ (Underline emphasis mine.)
(*) Brown’s writings centred on the notion that a “Coming One, an Avatar, a World Saviour or Messiah, ... will usher in a new age of spiritual advancement, truth and global peace” is obviously correct, for that is the ultimate purpose of Pure Truth in its manifestation on earth. However, something important is continually left out by those who think along the lines of Brown, and that is always the omission of Divine Justice. Love and harmony characterise the mantra of “new-agers”, but Justice is the greater part of Divine Love.
So, the “arrival” of such a Being does not mean that ‘flowers will immediately rain down on everyone’s parade’. No: It means that a serious correction and readjustment will first take place in the previously wrong thinking and practices of human beings so that “afterwards”, progress towards global peace may begin.
(**) It is certainly true that great personalities are incarnated to bring change and enlightenment for humanity, and that process has occurred whenever a race or nation is ‘ready’ for their next “spiritual” step. However, that is as far as it goes; they come to assist, but progress in knowledge and spiritual maturity for that people can only be realised if the people themselves are open to it. To say or believe that the great “Truth-Bringers”, for example, all succeeded in their task, is wrong. They certainly tried, but the facts of history speak brutally-clearly. The Prophets brought the Truth for the people among whom they were incarnated at the precise stage required for an elevation in knowledge, but the people, very quickly after their particular Prophet’s death, converted the Truths in the Teaching to just a ‘religion’.
If it were such that great men could really institute “change for the better”, the world would not be in the appalling mess that is now its actual state. Why? One reason only: Human free-will. Depending on how we employ it --- individually and/or collectively --- it is both our blessing and our curse, though it should always have been the blessing. We have all heard it many, many times: ‘If it’s meant to be, it will be’. Wrong again! A thing or event will only be if we make the commensurate decision to make it so and thus permit the consequential outcome to run its course so that it may truly be. It’s that simple!
(***) Another great error made by a large section of humanity is echoed in Brown’s belief that we are somehow divine in nature, or that we can become divine. The strict and lawful demarcation of the Origin of the Species is a hard and rock-solid reality. In truth, it could not possibly be any other way. Just as there is an obvious separation between the creatures of nature and humans, so there is an even greater distance between human beings --- we who are of the spirit only --- and a Messianic Being who is necessarily of and from the Realm of The Divine. That humanly-incomprehensible “place” is not, nor will it ever be, our place in Creation.
Brown’s general overview of the “kind” of ‘person’ or being’ that might be expected to arrive did not specifically identify the ‘Expected One’ by name and/or Title. Moreover, the uncertainty of whether a “Promised Messiah” is the same as the “Spirit of Truth” must surely be confusing for the ordinary, everyday person who might be searching for just such a Saviour to assuage the frightening state of the world in the 21st century. [We will make a commensurate Proclamation at the end of this first --- HIS --- Discourse.] In the meantime, we should look at other cultures’ notion of a ‘redeemer’ or ‘avatar’.