The Washington herald., 1914-08-02
OCCULT Side OF
CHRISTIANITY
DR.. W. W. Baker Tells of the
Mystic Christ in This
Weeks Story.
DESCENT OF THE LOGOS
Says Sun-God Is APPLY His Symbol
Since Sun Is His
Body.
By DIR. w. w. BAKER.

By DIR. w. w. BAKER.
We now draw near the sacred portal OF
! the mysteries. and lift corner of the
veil that hides the sanctuary.
Last Sunday we saw that. go back as
far as we may into antiquity. We find
everywhere recognized the existence of a
hidden teaching. a secret doctrine, given
under strict and exacting conditions to
approved candidates by the masters OF
| wisdom. Such candidates were initiated
! Into "the mysteries"-a name that covers
in antiquity, all that was most spirituaI
able in science. Every great teacher Of
antiquity passed through the mysteries,
and the greatest were the Hierophants
/ of the mysteries; each who came forth
into the world to speak OF the invisible
worlds had passed through the portal OF
initiation and had learned the secret Of
the holy ones from their own lips; each
who came forth came with the same
story. The solar myths are versions Of
this story. identica! in their essential
features, varying only in their local
color.
Descent of the LoEos.
This story is primarily that Of the de-
scent of the logos into matter, and the
sun-god is aptly his symbol. since the
sun is his body and he is often de-
SUM-"
AS in previous cases. the divine teach
er. who brought the ancient wisdom and
lrepublished II in the world, was re-
garded as a special manifestation of the
| logos, and the Jesus of the churches
was gradually draped with the stories
which belonged to this great one; thus
He became identified, in Christian
nomenclature, with the second person IN
| the trinity, the logos. or Word Of God.
and the salient events recounted in the
myth of the sun-god became the salient
events Of the story Of Jesus. regarded as
the incarnate deity, the ''mythic Christ" 4"
AS in the kosmos. the Christ of the
mysteries represents the logos, the
second person IN the trinity, so in man.
does he represent the second aspect Of
the divine spirit in man, hence called in
man the Christ" The second aspect Of
the Christ Of the mysteries is then the life
OF the initiate. the life which is entered
on at the first great initiation, at which
the Christ is born in man, and after
which He develops in man. To make this
intelligible. We must consider the condi-
tions imposed on the candidate for initia-
ton, and the nature of the spirit in man.
Only those could be recognized as can
didates for initiation who were already
good, as men count goodness. according
to the strict measure OF the law. Pure,
| holy, without defilement. clean from sin.
living without transgression. intelligent
also must they be, Of well-developed and
| weIl-trained minds. The evolution car
ried on in the world. life after life, de-
veloping and mastering the powers Of the
mind, the emotions, and the moral sense
! learning through exoteric religions. prac-
ticing the discharge OF duties, seeking to
help and lift others-all this belongs TO
the ordinary life OF an evolving man.
When all this is done. the man has be-
come "a good man." the Chrestos Of the
Greeks. and this he must be ere he can
become the Christos. the snnointed. Hav-
ing accomplished the eXoteric good life.
he becomes a candidate for the esoteric
life and enters on the preparation for
initiation, which consists IN the fulfill
ment of certain conditions.
Mark the AttrIhutes.
These conditions mark out the attributes
he is 70 acquire. and while he is laboring
to create these he is sometimes said to
be treading the probationary path. the
path which leads up to the strait gate"
beyond which is the narrow way" or
the path of holiness" the way OF the
cross" He is not expected to develop
these attributes perfectly. but he must
have made some progress in all of them
ere the Christ can be born in him. He
must prepare a pure home for that d.
vine child who is to develop within him.
The first of these attributes is dis
elimination. This means that the aspI-
rant must begin to separate in his mind
the eternal from the temporary, the real
from the unreal, the true from the false.
the heavenly from the earthly. The
things which are seen are temporal"
says the apostle. but the things which
are not seen are eternal"
This stage is described in the emphatic
language of Jesus: JIf any man comes to
me. and hate not his father. and mother.
and wife, and children. and brethren
and sisters, yea, and his own life also.
he cannot be my disciple Truly a
hard saying" and yet out of this hatred
will spring a deeper. truer love, and the
stage may not be escaped on the way to
the strait gate. Then the aspirant must
learn coptrol OF thought. and this will
lead to control OF action. the thought
being to the inner eye, the same as the
action.
Must Acquire Endurance.
He must acquire endurance, for they
who aspire to tread the way OF the
cross" will have to brave long and bit
lCL suheElnBS, anu Incy must De able
to endure. "as seeing Him who is in
visible" He must add to these toler-
ance, II he would be the child of Him
who ''maketh His sun TO rise on the
evil, and on the good, and sendeth rain
on the just and on the unjust" the
disciple of Him who bade His apostle
not to forbid a man to use His name
because he did not follow with them
Further, he must acquire the faith to
which nothing is impossible, and the
balance which is described by the apostle.
Lastly. he must seek only these things
which are above" and long to reach the
beatitude of the vision of and union
with God. When a man has wrought
these qualities into his character he is
regarded as ft for initiation, and the
guardians of the mysteries will open
for him the strait gate.
Now. the spirit in man is the gift of
the Supreme God, and contains within
itself the three aspects Of the divine life
intelligence. love, will-being the image
Of God. As this divine life evolves. il
first develops the aspect Of intelIlgenee
develops the intellect, and this evolution
Is effected in the ordinary life in the
world. To have done this to a high
point, accompanying II with moral de-
velopment, brings the evolving man to
the condition of the candidate. The
second aspect of the spirit is that Of love,
and the evolution of that Is the evolu-
ton of the Christ.
Represents Kosmic Process.
The mystic Christ. then, is twofold-
the logos, the second person Of the trim
NvzNA