First, that tempted2 by the devil, our first parents sinned and were exiled from their previous state of celestial3 bliss4, placed under the law, made subject to death, and became incapable5 of escaping by their own efforts.
Second, that God so loved the world that He gave Christ, His only begotten6 Son, for its redemption and to establish the kingdom of heaven. Thus death will finally be swallowed up in immortality7.
This simple creed8 has provoked the smiles of atheists, and of the purely9 intellectual who have studied transcendental philosophies with their niceties of logic10 and argument; and even of some among those who study the Western Mystery Teaching.
Such an attitude of mind is entirely11 gratuitous12. We might know that the divine leaders of mankind would not allow millions to continue in error for mil47lennia. When the Western Mystery Teaching is stripped of its exceedingly illuminating13 explanations and detailed14 descriptions, when its basic teachings are stated, they are found to be in exact agreement with the orthodox Christian teachings.
There was a time when mankind lived in a sinless state; when sorrow, pain, and death were unknown. Neither is the personal tempter of Christianity a myth, for the Lucifer spirits may very well be said to be fallen angels, and their temptation of man resulted in focusing his consciousness upon the material phase of existence where he is under the law of decrepitude15 and death. Also it is truly the mission of Christ to aid mankind by elevating them to a more ethereal state where dissolution will no longer be necessary to free them from vehicles that have grown too hard and set for further use. For this is indeed a “body of death,” where only the smallest quantity of material is really alive, as part of its bulk is nutrient16 matter that has not yet been assimilated, another large part is already on its way to elimination17, and only between these two poles may be found the material which is thoroughly18 quickened by the spirit.
We have in other chapters considered the sacraments of baptism and communion, sacraments that have to do particularly with the spirit. We will now seek to understand the deeper side of the sacrament of marriage, which has to do particularly with the body. Like the other sacraments the institution of48 marriage had its beginning and will also have its end. The commencement was described by the Christ when He said, “Have ye not read that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and cleave19 to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.” Matt. 19:4-6. He also indicated the end of marriage when he said: “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Matt. 22:30.
In this light the logic of the teaching is apparent, for marriage became necessary in order that birth might provide new instruments to take the place of those which had been ruptured20 by death; and when death has once been swallowed up in immortality and there is no need of providing new instruments, marriage also will be unnecessary.
Science with admirable audacity21 has sought to solve the mystery of fecundation, and has told us how invagination takes place in the walls of the ovary; how the little ovum is formed in the seclusion22 of its dark cavity; how it emerges therefrom and enters the Fallopian tube; is pierced by the spermatozoon of the male, and the nucleus23 of a human body is complete. We are thus supposed to be “at the fount and origin of life!” But life has neither beginning nor end, and what science mistakenly considers the fountain of life49 is really the source of death, as all that comes from the womb is destined24 sooner or later to reach the tomb. The marriage feast which prepares for birth, at the same time provides food for the insatiable jaws25 of death, and so long as marriage is necessary to generation and birth, disintegration26 and death must inevitably27 result. Therefore it is of prime importance to know the history of marriage, the laws and agencies involved, the duration of this institution, and how it may be transcended28.
When we obtained our vital bodies in Hyperborea, the sun, moon, and earth were still united, and the solar-lunar forces permeated29 each being in even measure so that all were able to perpetuate30 their kind by buds and spores31 as do certain plants of today. The efforts of the vital body to soften32 the dense33 vehicle and keep it alive were not then interfered34 with, and these primal35, plantlike bodies lived for ages. But man was then unconscious and stationary36 like a plant; he made no effort or exertion37. The addition of a desire body furnished incentive38 and desire, and consciousness resulted from the war between the vital body, which builds, and the desire body, which destroys the dense body.
Thus dissolution became only a question of time, particularly as the constructive39 energy of the vital body was also necessarily divided, one part or pole being used in the vital functions of the body, the other to replace a vehicle lost by death. But as the two50 poles of a magnet or dynamo are requisite40 to manifestation41, so also two single-sexed beings became necessary for generation; thus marriage and birth were necessarily inaugurated to offset42 the effect of death. Death, then, is the price we pay for consciousness in the present world; marriage and repeated births are our weapons against the king of terrors until our constitution shall change and we become as angels.
Please mark that it is not stated that we are to become angels, but that we are to become as angels. For the angels are the humanity of the Moon Period; they belong to an entirely different stream of evolution, as different as are human spirits from those of our present animals. Paul states in his letter to the Hebrews that man was made for a little while inferior to the angels; he descended43 lower into the scale of materiality during the Earth Period, while the angels have never inhabited a globe denser44 than ether. As we build our bodies from the chemical constituents45 of the earth, so do the angels build theirs of ether. This substance is the direct avenue of all life forces, and when man has once become as the angels and has learned to build his body of ether, naturally there will be no death and no need of marriage to bring about birth.
But looking at marriage from another point of view, looking upon it as a union of souls rather than as a union of the sexes, we contact the wonderful mystery of Love. union of the sexes might serve to perpetuate the race, of course, but the true marriage is a51 companionship of souls also, which altogether transcends46 sex. Yet those really able to meet upon that lofty plane of spiritual intimacy47 gladly offer their bodies as living sacrifices upon the altar of Love of the Unborn, to woo a waiting spirit into an immaculately conceived body. Thus humanity may be saved from the reign48 of death.
This is readily apparent as soon as we consider the gentle action of the vital body and contrast it with that of the desire body in a fit of temper, where it is said that a man has “lost control” of himself. Under such conditions the muscles become tense, and nervous energy is expended49 at a suicidal rate, so that after such an outbreak the body may sometimes be prostrated50 for weeks. The hardest labor51 brings no such fatigue52 as a fit of temper; likewise a child conceived in passion under the crystallizing tendencies of the desire nature is naturally short-lived, and it is a regrettable fact that length of life is nowadays almost a misnomer53; in view of the appalling54 infant mortality it ought to be called brevity of existence.
The building tendencies of the vital body, which is the vehicle of love, are not so easily watched, but observation proves that contentment lengthens55 the life of any one who cultivates this quality, and we may safely reason that a child conceived under conditions of harmony and love stands a better chance of life than one conceived under conditions of anger, inebriety56, and passion.
52
According to Genesis it was said to the woman, “In sorrow shalt thou bear children,” and it has always been a sore puzzle to Bible commentators57 what logical connection there may be between the eating of fruit and the pains of parturition58. But when we understand the chaste59 references of the Bible to the act of generation, the connection is readily perceived. While the insensitive Negro or Indian mother may bear her child and shortly afterward60 resume her labors61 in the field, the western woman, more acutely sensitive and of high-strung nervous temperament62, is year by year finding it more difficult to go through the ordeal63 of motherhood, though aided by the best and most skilled scientific help.
The contributory reasons are various: In the first place, while we are exceedingly careful in selecting our horses and cattle for breeding, while we insist upon pedigree for the animals in order that we may bring out the very best strain of stock upon our farms, we exercise no such care with respect to the selection of a father or mother for our children. We mate upon impulse and regret it at our leisure, aided by laws which make it all too easy to enter or leave the sacred bonds of matrimony. The words pronounced by minister or judge are taken to be a license64 for unlimited65 indulgence, as if any man-made law could license the contravention of the law of God. While animals mate only at a certain time of the year and the mother is53 undisturbed during the period of pregnancy66, this is not true of the human race.
In view of these facts is it to be wondered at that we find such a dread67 of maternity68, and is it not time that we seek to remedy the matter by a more sane69 relation between marriage partners? Astrology will reveal the temper and tendencies of each human being; it will enable two people to blend their characters in such a manner that a love life may be lived, and it will indicate the periods when interplanetary lines of force are most nearly conducive70 to painless parturition. Thus it will enable us to draw from the bosom71 of nature, children of love, capable of living long lives in good health. Finally the day will come when these bodies will have been made so perfect in their ethereal purity that they may last throughout the coming Age, and thus make marriage superfluous72.
But if we can love now when we see one another “through a glass darkly,” through the mask of personality and the veil of misunderstanding, we may be sure that the love of soul for soul, purged73 of passion in the furnace of sorrow, will be our brightest gem74 in heaven as its shadow is on earth.
点击收听单词发音
1 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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2 tempted | |
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词) | |
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3 celestial | |
adj.天体的;天上的 | |
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4 bliss | |
n.狂喜,福佑,天赐的福 | |
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5 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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6 begotten | |
v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 );产生,引起 | |
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7 immortality | |
n.不死,不朽 | |
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8 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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9 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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10 logic | |
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性 | |
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11 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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12 gratuitous | |
adj.无偿的,免费的;无缘无故的,不必要的 | |
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13 illuminating | |
a.富于启发性的,有助阐明的 | |
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14 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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15 decrepitude | |
n.衰老;破旧 | |
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16 nutrient | |
adj.营养的,滋养的;n.营养物,营养品 | |
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17 elimination | |
n.排除,消除,消灭 | |
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18 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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19 cleave | |
v.(clave;cleaved)粘着,粘住;坚持;依恋 | |
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20 ruptured | |
v.(使)破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 );(使体内组织等)断裂;使(友好关系)破裂;使绝交 | |
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21 audacity | |
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼 | |
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22 seclusion | |
n.隐遁,隔离 | |
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23 nucleus | |
n.核,核心,原子核 | |
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24 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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25 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
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26 disintegration | |
n.分散,解体 | |
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27 inevitably | |
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地 | |
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28 transcended | |
超出或超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 ); 优于或胜过… | |
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29 permeated | |
弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 ); 遍布; 渗入; 渗透 | |
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30 perpetuate | |
v.使永存,使永记不忘 | |
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31 spores | |
n.(细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物)孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.(细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物)孢子( spore的第三人称单数 ) | |
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32 soften | |
v.(使)变柔软;(使)变柔和 | |
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33 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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34 interfered | |
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉 | |
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35 primal | |
adj.原始的;最重要的 | |
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36 stationary | |
adj.固定的,静止不动的 | |
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37 exertion | |
n.尽力,努力 | |
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38 incentive | |
n.刺激;动力;鼓励;诱因;动机 | |
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39 constructive | |
adj.建设的,建设性的 | |
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40 requisite | |
adj.需要的,必不可少的;n.必需品 | |
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41 manifestation | |
n.表现形式;表明;现象 | |
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42 offset | |
n.分支,补偿;v.抵消,补偿 | |
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43 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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44 denser | |
adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
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45 constituents | |
n.选民( constituent的名词复数 );成分;构成部分;要素 | |
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46 transcends | |
超出或超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 ); 优于或胜过… | |
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47 intimacy | |
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
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48 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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49 expended | |
v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 );使用(钱等)做某事;用光;耗尽 | |
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50 prostrated | |
v.使俯伏,使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 );(指疾病、天气等)使某人无能为力 | |
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51 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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52 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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53 misnomer | |
n.误称 | |
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54 appalling | |
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的 | |
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55 lengthens | |
(时间或空间)延长,伸长( lengthen的第三人称单数 ) | |
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56 inebriety | |
n.醉,陶醉 | |
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57 commentators | |
n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 );时事评论员;注释者;实况广播员 | |
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58 parturition | |
n.生产,分娩 | |
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59 chaste | |
adj.贞洁的;有道德的;善良的;简朴的 | |
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60 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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61 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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62 temperament | |
n.气质,性格,性情 | |
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63 ordeal | |
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验 | |
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64 license | |
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许 | |
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65 unlimited | |
adj.无限的,不受控制的,无条件的 | |
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66 pregnancy | |
n.怀孕,怀孕期 | |
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67 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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68 maternity | |
n.母性,母道,妇产科病房;adj.孕妇的,母性的 | |
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69 sane | |
adj.心智健全的,神志清醒的,明智的,稳健的 | |
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70 conducive | |
adj.有益的,有助的 | |
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71 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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72 superfluous | |
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的 | |
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73 purged | |
清除(政敌等)( purge的过去式和过去分词 ); 涤除(罪恶等); 净化(心灵、风气等); 消除(错事等)的不良影响 | |
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74 gem | |
n.宝石,珠宝;受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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