The  Universal  Tone

Carlos  Santana

a few excerpts from

The  Universal  Tone

by

Carlos Santana

In telling my story, I know that what I remember is a choice I have. There is such a thing as divine rationale: I call it celestial memory. In fact it’s anyone’s choice to look back and see the past as beauty and blessings. I think ice cream can taste sweeter when I look back on tasting it, and even the air can feel better in the lungs. I also celebrate honesty and the details that tell the stories of my life. My goal was to make this book multisensory, to make it read the way my mother’s home cooking tasted. Interesting but also delicious. Not crass, and not boring.

I used to be a very intense, compulsive person. I was always angry because my ego had convinced me that I was hopeless and worthless. I was playing hide-and-seek with myself. I remember a long time ago in Mexico someone asked me, “What are you most afraid of?” I told him, “Disappointing God.” Now I realize there’s no way I could disappoint God because this isn’t an issue to him. It’s only an issue for my ego. What is an ego except something that thinks it’s separate from God?

That’s the story behind the stories, the music inside the music. John Coltrane called it A Love Supreme. I call it the Universal Tone, and with it ego disappears and energy takes over. You realize that you are not one alone; you are connected to everyone. Everybody’s born with a way to receive the Universal Tone, but very few allow it to give birth to itself. Most people abort it with things that are more important to them, such as money or fame or power. The Universal Tone is outside of me, and it’s through me. I don’t create it. I just make sure I don’t get in its way.

Marvin Gaye was once asked, about his album What’s Going On, “How did you create such a masterpiece?” He said, “I just did my best to get out of the way and let it happen.” My wife, Cindy, tells me that Art Blakey used to talk to her about drumming and tell her that the music comes “straight from the Creator to you.” He used to say that a lot, and his music felt that way. Real musicians know that real music arrives like that. It doesn’t go to you—it goes through you.

It’s the same thing with John Coltrane, Mahalia Jackson, Bob Marley, Dr. Martin Luther King—all the message givers. I’m really grateful that I was able to hear so many of their sounds live. Some people are put on this planet to help elevate consciousness, and through them come the sound and words and vibrations and music. It has nothing to do with show business or entertainment. It’s not elevator music—it’s elevating music.

That’s the Universal Tone doing what it does. Suddenly the music compels people to go against what they thought was aesthetically solid for themselves, and what used to fit so well then feels really uncomfortable, like shoes that have become too tight and can’t be worn anymore. It raises people’s consciousness and stops the static so they can hear the forgotten song within. Their molecules are changed so they can stand outside the realm of themselves and outside of time. They can stand in a forever now.

I have been fortunate to see how universal the Universal Tone really is. It’s such an incredible thing to be known worldwide, to be a point of connection between so many people. I accept being a conduit. I accept that grace has chosen to work through me as it wants to, and I also accept the gifts and awards and accolades and royalties that come with it.

I didn’t always feel that way—I didn’t have the confidence that would make me feel comfortable carrying the Universal Tone. I had to learn that from being around other musical shamans and spirit givers, people like Herbie Hancock and Tito Puente, B. B. King and Wayne Shorter. Watching how they rise above the fame-and-stardom thing while their feet never leave the ground. How they accept the nice hotels and first-class seating and awards shows along with the late hours and fast food and early wake-up calls and sound problems. How they serve the music and carry the Universal Tone.

I met a beautiful couple in Saint Louis not long ago who had given away a lot of money to help people who badly needed it. The wife said something that knocked me out: “It’s a blessing to be a blessing.” Those words were perfect. They said what’s been inside me for so many years, even when ego, shame, and guilt have gotten in the way. I’m just one man. I have feet of clay, like everyone else. I like ecstasy and orgasm and freedoms and all the kinds of things I can afford now, but I am very, very guarded with myself. I keep my darkness in check. Most of the time I try to get the best out of myself by being gracious and consistent and humble, not obnoxious or rude or cruel or vulgar. Then suddenly: damn it, I blew it again. I had a temper tantrum. I got knocked out by my own ego and said or did things without thinking. Said something wrong to somebody I care for. Before, I did not know that anger is just fear with a mask. Now I know that, and I know I have to move on. Take a deep breath, forgive myself—get back to the Universal Tone.

People know me as much for being a spiritual seeker as for my music. “Cosmic Carlos,” “Crazy Carlos”—I know what people say, and I have no problem with that. I’m the guy who talks about light and luminosity and always wears dead people on his shirts and jackets. Many people put people on their clothes. In my eyes John Coltrane, Bob Marley, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis—they are inspirers and igniters, finders of blessings and miracles. They are all immortals, still alive in an eternal now. And they make me look good—try them on for yourself.

“Cosmic” to me means being connected. From the place where I am, where I am blessed to be, I have been able to see how we’re all connected. When people call me cosmic or crazy I take it as a compliment and say, “Well—behold. My craziness is working. How’s your sanity doing?”

If people really want to know me, they shouldn’t stop there. They should know that I’m always going to become better and that it took me a long time to realize it’s time to stop seeking and start being. The spiritual goal I was looking for wasn’t something that was far away, at the top of some mountain—or even a few feet above that. It is always right here, in the here and now, in my spirit and music and intentions and energy. I’m constantly hoping to use my energy and blessings for the highest good, to do things and say things and play music that all resonates on the same frequency— the Universal Tone.

When you put out a certain music and energy, you never know whom it will hit and who will be shining with it. Sometimes I’m sitting down to eat and just about to put a fork in my mouth, and someone says, “I’m sorry to disturb you...” and they have a story to tell me. Or they want me to sign something or have a photo taken with them. At that point, food really is not important. Friends will be eating with me sometimes when this happens, and they’ll ask me how I deal with it. I’ll say, “Look, man, where are we right now?” “Uh... in a restaurant.” “Okay. And you know who’s paying for this food? They are. And that nice car outside that’s waiting for us? They helped me get that, and they’re paying for the gasoline, and the house I’ll be driving to after I eat, and I wouldn’t be here eating if it weren’t for them. So if they want to take a picture, hell, take two.” I put the fork down, I make eye contact with the people who come up to me, and I listen to them. I’ll give them a hug if it’s appropriate. It’s about accepting a role that I have been chosen for and learning when to make myself available—and when not to. Once in Paris, a hotel doorman was telling me how each of his children had been conceived to Santana music and started to run down a list of all the kids and all the songs. I thanked him before he went too far. That’s all a little too much connection for me—I’m not that universal.

I told myself that this book should be healthful, healing, elevating, informative, raw, honest, and elegant. It should absolutely be entertaining, in a form that anyone, especially my children and family, can read and enjoy, laugh with and understand. There’s so many funny things I’ve experienced that I feel I have to share—experiences that prove God has a sense of humor. I like to laugh, and I love stories, and I wanted all that in this book, too. The lesson is a simple one: you have to have fun with your existence. At some point you have to stop taking things seriously and personally and getting all stiff, which only paralyzes your creativity and vitality.

I can tell you what I didn’t want this book to be about—I didn’t want it filled with any regrets, remorse, or guilt. You can read other books for that. A friend told me something I kept in mind in writing this: when you go through hell—your own darkest night of the soul—don’t take pictures to show to your friends. Someone else said, “Don’t cry when you see your own movie.” It all makes sense to me. When somebody would ask me how I want to be remembered, I used to just shrug that off and say, “Me importa madre”—I don’t give a damn. But now I say, as someone who consciously and unconsciously is doing things to inspire people to aspire, this book is about accepting the responsibility to raise consciousness in others and to express my supreme gratitude to everyone, every spirit who has guided my life and given me the chance to acknowledge these gifts and share them. It’s through them that I’d like to be remembered.

And as for what I’ve learned: be an instrument of peace. Be a gentleman at all costs. Enjoy yourself—have fun with your existence. Learn to listen to your inner voice and don’t overdose on yourself. Keep your darkness in check. Let music be a healing force. Be a real musician: once you start counting money before notes, you’re a full-time wannabe. Put your guitar down and go outside and take a long drink of light with your eyes. Go walk in the park and take off your shoes and socks and feel the grass under your feet and mud between your toes. Go see a baby smiling, go see a wino crawling, go see life. Feel life—all of it, as much as possible. Find a human melody, then write a song about it. Make it all come through your music. Welcome to my story—welcome to the Universal Tone. Vamos a empezar.

I believe I grew up with angels. I believe in the invisible realm. Even when I’ve been by myself, I’ve never been alone. My life has been blessed that way. There was always someone near me, watching me or talking to me—doing something at the right time. I had teachers and guides, some who helped me get from one place to another. Some saved my life. When I look at the whole vortex of things that happened in my life, it’s amazing how many times angelic intervention came through various people. This book is because of them and is written to acknowledge them. It’s about angels who came into my life at the point where I needed them the most.

I believe the world of the angels can come through anyone at any time, or at just the right time, if you allow yourself to move the dial on your spiritual radio just a little bit and hold it at the right frequency. For that to happen, I have to avoid making my own static, avoid ego rationalization. People can change the way they see things by the way they think. I think we are at our best when we get out of our own way. People get stuck in their stories. My advice is to end your story and begin your life.

When I could understand that, I was like a snake shedding its skin. The old skin was guilt, shame, judgment, condemnation, fear. The new skin is beauty, elegance, excellence, grace, dignity. More and more I’m learning to bless my contradictions and my fears and transform them. More and more I want to use my guitar and my music to invite people to recognize the divinity and light that is in their DNA.

Little, Brown and Company  November 4, 2014

Hachette Book Group   hachettebookgroup.com/carlos-santana/the-universal-tone/9780316244923

Carlos Santana  &  John McLaughlin

The  Life  Divine

Carlos Santana  &  Sarah Mclachlan

Angel

Carlos Santana  at  Woodstock

Soul  Sacrifice

NPR interview: I Am a Reflection of Your Light

www.npr.org/2014/11/04/360092359/carlos-santana-i-am-a-reflection-of-your-light

Carlos Santana  &  John McLaughlin

A  Love  Supreme

www.santana.com

"If you believe in gravity and you drop something a hundred times, a hundred times its going to fall. But if you believe in grace as strongly as you believe in gravity, then a hundred out of a hundred times, you're going to get a miracle."

will it always be thus … that

i am as an empty vessel

standing

waiting silent to receive

being filled to overflowing

and

i pour me out completely unto emptiness again

cycle after cycle unto emptiness again

empty vessel

standing

waiting silent to receive

and i hear it rushing mighty like a wind

and i feel it like a fire rushing through me once again

the power and the presence and

i am filled to overflowing

and i pour me out completely

unto emptiness

again

cycle after cycle unto emptiness again.

empty vessel

standing

waiting silent to receive

david barnes

Blue  Green  Hills  Of  Earth

Paul  Winter

Beatitudes

Earth  Day

the  Earth  is  the  LORD'S

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;

who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.

Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;

and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;

and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.

Selah.

Twenty  Fourth  Psalm

The  Psalm  of  David

On  The  Path — Off  The  Trail

from

The Practice of the Wild

by

Gary Snyder

The perfect way is without difficulty. Strive hard

All of us are apprenticed to the same teacher that the religious institutions originally worked with

Reality

Reality-insight says get a sense of immediate politics and history, get control of your own time; master the twenty-four hours. Do it well, without self-pity. It is as hard to get the children herded into the car pool and down the road to the bus as it is to chant sutras in the Buddha-hall on a cold morning. One move is not better than the other, each can be quite boring, and they both have the virtuous quality of repetition. Repetition and ritual and their good results come in many forms. Changing the filter, wiping noses, going to meetings, picking up around the house, washing dishes, checking the dipstick—don't let yourself think these are distracting you from your more serious pursuits. Such a round of chores is not a set of difficulties we hope to escape from so that we may do our “practice” which will put us on a “path”—it is our path ... Dogen was fond of saying that “practice is the path.” It's easier to understand this when we see that the “perfect way” is not a path which leads somewhere easily defined, to some goal that is at the end of a progression. Mountaineers climb peaks for the great view, the cooperation and comradeship, the lively hardship—but mostly because it puts you out there where the unknown happens, where you encounter surprise.

The truly experienced person, the refined person, delights in the ordinary. Such a person will find the tedious work around the house or office as full of challenge and play as any metaphor of mountaineering might suggest. I would say the real play is the act of going totally off the trail—away from any trace of human or animal regularity aimed at some practical or spiritual purpose. One goes out onto “the trail that cannot be followed” which leads everywhere and nowhere, a limitless fabric of possibilities, elegant variations a millionfold on the same themes, yet each point unique. Every boulder on a talus slope is different, no two needles on a fir tree are identical. How could one part be more central, more important, than any other? One will never come onto the three-foot-high heaped-up nest of a Bushy-tailed Woodrat, made of twigs and stones and leaves, unless one plunges into the manzanita thickets. Strive hard!

We find ease and comfort in our house, by the hearth, and on the paths nearby. We find there too the tedium of chores and the staleness of repetitive trivial affairs. But the rule of impermanence means that nothing is repeated for long. The ephemerally of all our acts puts us into a kind of wilderness-in-time. We live with the nets of inorganic and biological processes that nourish everything, bumping down underground rivers or glinting as spiderwebs in the sky. Life and matter at play, chilly and rough, hairy and tasty. This is of a larger order than the little enclaves of provisional orderliness that we call ways. It is the Way.

Our skills and works are but tiny reflections of the wild world that is innately and loosely orderly. There is nothing like stepping away from the road and heading into a new part of the watershed. Not for the sake of newness, but for the sense of coming home to our whole terrain. “Off the trail” is another name for the Way, and sauntering off the trail is the practice of the wild. That is also where—paradoxically—we do our best work. But we need paths and trails and will always be maintaining them. You must first be on the path, before you can turn and walk into the wild.

wholeearthfilms.com/practice_wild.html

Focus  For  The  Master  Pattern

David Barnes

For the possibility of a living psychology of sacred wisdom to emerge through the consciousness of human beings, here and now, it is imperative to listen, observe and perceive all familiar things in new ways. This requires the courage to open the heart and embrace the power inherent and available in the Silence, and allow re-attunement with the original harmony of the Great Way. The mystery of the Creator and the mystery of the Creation remain an enigma for those who fear to enter the Silence, those who fear the intensity of light which cleanses the gates of perception and unveils the Great Way. Opening to mystery is opening to ceaseless wonder! The vast and intricate design of Spirit which enlivens the phenomenal world becomes discernible and increasingly comprehensible in momentary living. The matrix of connection between the historical and the immediate emerges out of the mists of the collective unconscious, revealing the wonder of what before had not been heard, seen or understood.

The prolific influx of wisdom which found expression in some of the classical Greek philosophers, the sages and mystics of the east, and the Hebrew prophets appeared as a specific response to conditions on earth and within the Solar whole, preparing human consciousness for the initiation point of a new Universal Cycle—which began around 400 BC—opening the way for the incarnation of a conscious focus of the Master Pattern, capable of leading responsive human beings out of the chaotic state which had governed world conditions for several thousand years and into realignment with Cosmic order and purpose. In his book The Dimensions of Paradise, John Michell tells us that “the geometric order of the universe” is represented by the design of “twelve equal spheres...placed around a thirteenth, so that each touches the nucleus and four of its neighbors, producing the geometers image of twelve disciples grouped around a master. Christ, Osiris and Mohammed are among those who are represented as a central sphere with twelve retainers” (Michell, 1988, p. 73).

The Master Jesus—LORD of the Sacred Seven—was born on earth just 400 years after the initiation of a new, overlighting 310,000 year Universal Age, a new 25,850 year Solar Age, and a new 2,150 year Age. A perusal of developments during the centuries prior to His appearance leave the distinct impression that everything was set up, that the flow of events was inextricably linked, and that the timing was now-or-never for the achievement of the specific Cosmic purposes as they relate to this Earth, and the transformation of human consciousness in particular. The social, cultural, and spiritual atmosphere of the global whole was as receptive as it was ever going to be, to welcome the sublime message of this One who provides a Focus for the Master Pattern—which is the foundation of this whole world. His arrival on the world stage was precisely orchestrated by the great Cosmic time-keeper.

Jesus, the Christ, is perhaps the most misunderstood man in human history. In my copy of the Holy Bible there are 132 pages recording the details of His personal life and public ministry. The gospels of Matthew and Luke offer but little insight into the affairs of His life prior to the age of twelve. No accurate documentation of His movements between the ages of thirteen and thirty are extant, though speculation abounds in metaphysical literature. The four gospels of the New Testament (and certain of the Gnostic gospels) are what remain, and they record events pertaining to the last three years of His life. However, John, the beloved disciple, emphasizes in his writings the abundant expression of his Master: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.” Given the remarkable, albeit limited, account of His life and the enduring impact of His message, it is evident that most of His associates and followers failed utterly to understand His mission. Just prior to the crucifixion He asked His disciples: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?” From the beginning, He has been largely misunderstood.

The record in the King James version of the Bible suggests that the earthly heredity of Jesus extends back to King Solomon and King David, about 1000 B.C., and back another 1200 years (2200 B.C.) to the great patriarch Abraham—father of the children of Islam and the children of Israel. Following out one line here, Abraham's grandson Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel after his awakening and Illumination) had twelve sons whose legacy, drawn together initially by his son Joseph and culminating in the leadership of Moses, became known as the development of the thirteen tribes of the House of Israel—which included as the thirteenth tribe, the Levite priesthood. A relatively unbroken (though frequently corrupted) lineage of spiritual leadership can be traced up until 971 B.C., when King Solomon ascended the throne of a united Kingdom of Israel, bequeathed to him by the incomparable work of his father King David. A nation of immense wealth, power and spiritual focus, all the known world paid tribute to Solomon, servant of the LORD God of Israel: “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.” Approaching this apex point in the development of the spiritual and temporal nation of the Israelite people, something went terribly wrong: “Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.” Whatever the cause, the result was an Israel left corrupted, vulnerable and weakened from within. The nation crumbled by 931 B.C. Spiritual leadership was assumed by a series of prophets, notably Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel—and a debased Judaiac royalty and Levite priesthood.

It is noteworthy that recorded history in Greece didn't begin until around 1100 B.C., and in China until about 800 B.C. Within the then-known world virtually nothing was known of the Americas. Outside of Egypt, whose culture was of the most ancient vintage, Africa remained an enigma. However, the Hebrew people had by this time enjoyed a lengthy, unbroken history of language, culture and leadership, fueled by a powerful sense of destiny as the children of the One God. Respected for their strong spiritual focus, and their capacity as a nation of spiritual warriors to maintain that focus, something unique had been established in this “peculiar people.” With the decline of the Kingdom of Israel during Solomon's reign, chaos enveloped the known world for several centuries.

Gradually the focused light of wisdom began to rise once again in a few individuals. In Greece, the philosopher Thales was born in 624 B.C., followed by Anaximander in 611, each one searching for physis, the essence of life. The legacy of Lao Tsu, born in China in 604 B.C., is the Tao Te Ching: Classic of the Natural Way. In 582 B.C., Pythagoras was born in Greece, teaching the art and science of sacred music and number, and reminding his students of the immortal Soul. While in captivity, the Hebrew prophets Daniel and Ezekiel refocused the Word of the One God of Israel, around 570 B.C.

In India, Gautama Buddha was born in 560 B.C. He brought to remembrance the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path. His mission was to “beat the drum of the Immortal in the darkness of the world” (Humphreys, 1951, p. 34). Confucius was born in China in 551 B.C.  Empedocles and Heraclitus were both born in Greece in 540 B.C. Contemporaries all, it was a significant influx of genius, an incarnation of wisdom flooding the human psyche in one massive and well-synchronized wave.

This same wave washed to ruin the remnants of Hebrew culture, now rotting at the core. Assyria and Babylon invaded from the north, destroying Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon. In 586 B.C., the Hebrew people were led captive into Babylon. The prophet Daniel was the man of the hour during this desolate period. His wisdom compelling, his counsel invited, he served four kings, exercising a secular authority and a spiritual influence which moved Persia from polytheistic to monotheistic worship. He had prophetic awareness of the future incarnation of the LORD of the Sacred Seven, and Daniel’s influential groundwork served as a guide for a future generation of Hebrew prophets in their determination to prepare a setting for the coming of the Master Jesus. It is no mere coincidence that Lao Tsu and Confucius in China, Gautama Buddha in India, Daniel and Ezekiel in the Middle East, and many of the classical Greek philosophers were all incarnate during the closing phase of a 310,000-year Universal Age.

In 538 B.C., a remnant of the tribe of Judah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the great temple, begin a restoration of the greatness that was Israel, and prepare the way for the coming of a Messiah. In fact, a global regeneration of the human mind was underway in the Mediterranean, and throughout the eastern world with the spread of Buddhism and Taoism. In 458 B.C., the Hebrew prophet Ezra began the work of compiling the Torah, the basis for the Old Testament of the Holy Bible as we know it. Socrates was born in Greece in 470 B.C., followed by Hippocrates in 460, Plato in 437, and Aristotle in 384. The Hebrew prophets, Malachi and Nehemiah were active in Israel, preparing a receptive spiritual nucleus for the coming of the Master Jesus. In China, the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine was compiled around 400 B.C.

This brings the historical overview to 400 BC—that date which has been identified as the completion point for one great Universal Age (310,000 years) and the initiation point of another. Preparation had been deliberately made, through the overlighting guidance of the Master Pattern, for the incarnation of a specific focus point of Mastery at this most auspicious time. The commission was to provide an embodiment of Divine wisdom and power capable of drawing humanity into re-attunement with Cosmic order and design, in harmony with the Spirit of the new Universal Age, and within the context of the conditioning atmosphere of the correlated, lesser Ages and cycles which were also in ascendancy.

The rebuilding of the Hebrew homeland, midst war with both Syria and Greece, and complete domination by Rome when Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 B.C., left a weary Jewish people ready for the appearance of a Messiah who would restore freedom and fulfill the prophetic destiny of Israel. Hunger for wisdom in the daily affairs of a perilous age—with the decline of Greece and the ascendance of the Roman Empire—aroused apocalyptic memories. Approximately 400 years into the initiation of a new Universal Age, Jesus of Nazareth was born.

How do you recognize a Messiah when you meet one? Jesus identified Himself: “I that speak with thee am he.” This forthrightness didn't go over too well with Jewish authorities, as word of His presence spread. His conduct didn't fit the paradigm of Messiah as political liberator who would lead the fight against Roman oppression and restore the glory of Israel. Both the Jewish establishment and His own gathered disciples failed to grasp the Cosmic significance of the presence of the Master. He was of the Universal Whole, and was thus present for the blessing of the whole world of humanity, and all living things. Jesus continually emphasized that He had other designs, spiritual purposes in mind, and this vexed a generation of Jews who had been nourished on the letter and precious little of the living Word. The prophets of Israel had long since gone mute. This Voice was unfamiliar and challenging.

He didn't fit their preconceived image. He was not of their conventional paradigm. The term I abounded in His discourses. “I know whence I came." “I came from above.” “I am the light of the world.” “I and my Father are one.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” When He spoke the words, “Before Abraham was, I am”, it was too much, too threatening for Jewish authorities, and they sought to stone Him—and thereafter worked to eliminate Him. His authority was perceived as arrogance and blasphemy. All the world loves a philosopher, but few can receive such expressions of absolute and eternal identity. Plato and Aristotle had postulated a realm of pure Ideas, First Principles, the Abstract, but they never had the audacity to absolutely identify with that realm, saying I am that. Jesus did! Moreover, He challenged others to assume the same eternal identity and character, reminding them, “Ye are the light of the world.”

His greatest message was simply expressed: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is not far away. It is not in the realm of ideas. It is not only in the invisible realms of this world. It is not to be experienced after you die. It is right here now. Such an expression is powerfully disturbing of the status quo. Its implications are apocalyptic. In Nazareth, in the synagogue of His home city, Jesus delivered the first message of His public ministry, drawing to remembrance the words of Isaiah:

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And He concluded by proclaiming, “This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Astonishment at this bold pronouncement—as He berated Israel for its treatment over the ages of those who come in the name of the Lord—gave way to fear and anger, and:

“All they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust Him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him headlong down.”

With Jewish authorities He brooked no compromise, His lamentations taunting them, prophesying: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Ye fools and blind. Ye are full of hypocrisy and inequity. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Yet His message was such that “the people were astonished at His doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Jesus seemed to have paranormal abilities. He turned water into wine, multiplied two loaves and five fishes to feed five thousand people, and walked on water. He could see into the past and knew the future, healed the sick, forgave sins and had the audacity to do it on the Sabbath! He identified with God, then said: “With God all things are possible.” “All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth.” “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Yet He came, “eating and drinking ... a friend of publicans and sinners.” and that too was unacceptable. Jesus was an altogether unconventional character. He didn't fit the paradigm of Messiah, holy man, prophet, or king. He emphasized Heaven and embraced the Earth, at home in the union of both domains.

He was a living embodiment of Taoist wisdom at its apex of refined understanding, and His life was an exemplification of the injunction uttered by Lao Tsu, six centuries before Him: “Let your honour serve the world and you may be an emissary to the world. Love the world as yourself and you may be entrusted with the world.” (Stubbs, 1990, p.13). His primary work was to re-introduce of the Spirit of Truth, and make immediately available the Spirit of His Love, forgiveness, inclusiveness, peace, and His consciousness of Oneness: the unity of God in both man and woman, the oneness of Heaven and earth, the Invisible and visible. It was not an unfamiliar message—but none before Him had ever lived it completely. “He came unto his own and his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” Few received Him. Few received the available power.

Conscious of the power immanent in the Cosmic pattern of twelve, Jesus gathered around Him a core of twelve disciples—with Himself, as the thirteenth, the Melchizedek Priesthood, at the Center—and attempted to draw them into a unity of spiritual perception and expression; even as Moses had worked to draw the twelve tribes of Israel—with the Levite priesthood as the thirteenth—into a unified body of God's people on earth. However, the failure of this inner core of associates to understand His purposes led to a rapid disintegration of the collective embodiment of the Master Pattern which He was capable of developing, had there been adequate communion with Him, in Spirit and in Truth. After a mere three years of high public profile and ministry, he was rejected and crucified at Golgatha, the place of the skull, an apt symbol of the unwholesome, destructive and separated state of human consciousness. His compassionate words on that sad and painful occasion, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do", were consistent with the attitude He displayed throughout His life. The resurrection and the ascension reveal His characteristic mastery over external circumstance

The ministry of Jesus, which could have expanded beyond Him alone, to include the whole world in a new, collective manifestation of the Master Pattern, disintegrated, even as the nation of Israel dissolved in chaos after the failures in Solomon's time. Peter (who denied Him) and Paul (who never met Him) each carried their own brand of Christianity to the world. The Christian religion, with its manifold denominations of belief, is certainly not the gospel of Jesus, the Christ. John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, was the only one of His original circle of male friends who remained physically and spiritually close with Him during the whole ordeal of His trial and crucifixion. Several of the women who had remained true to their established love and understanding of the Master Jesus throughout His life and ministry, were with Him, providing essential physical and spiritual care and support to the end. In his elder years, John wrote the prophetic and much misunderstood book of Revelation while imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos. The wisdom inherent within his writings, awakened through the few years of spiritual intimacy with his Master, was largely ignored by the rest of the Christian apostles, disciples, zealots and martyrs, in their rush to spread their own limited perceptions of the gospel of Jesus. While John was eventually executed on Patmos, his life and writings formed the basis for a new, though cryptic, revelation of the Master Pattern.

The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the world entered another dark and chaotic round. The rhythmic movement of Universal cycles causes history to repeat itself, unless the incarnate light of the Master Pattern is received, expanded and differentiated clearly through at least a few individuals. Both Catholics and Protestants tend to define a lineage that originates in Peter and Paul rather than the Master Jesus. Scarcely anyone in fact has a clear understanding of Jesus, the Christ—LORD of the Sacred Seven—and what He established through the vibrational quality of His living. After the crucifixion and His departure, the world was left with skepticism, stoicism, and the zeal of Christian martyrs and crusaders—a reaction against the Spirit of the times. What amounts to a significant corruption of the clear and simple message of the Master Jesus was later synthesized into the confounded doctrines of neo-platonism and Pauline Christianity. When Moslem and Christian scholars resurrected the works of Aristotle, a blend of Christianity with neo-classicism resulted in the suffocating, anthropocentric dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. In the East, the original power of Buddhist and Taoist wisdom was likewise manipulated to serve the degenerate purposes of a corrupt priesthood. A few precious men and women in every land kept available the Sacred thread of wisdom and Love, allowing the ongoing delicate weave of the Master Pattern to work its invisible magic. Under a yoke darkness and decay humanity has labored throughout this past 2,150 year cycle, initiated around 400 B.C., and concluding in the mid-18th century, at the dawn of a new era.

The presence of the incarnate wisdom of previous ages has been briefly outlined. Points of success and failure have been evident throughout the story. Perhaps the greatest success can be sensed in what has been termed the mystery of the resurrection and ascension of the One who functions as a Focus point for the Great Patterned Order of this world. Such mastery has enormous implications for our time. We have moved 250 years into a new 2,150 year Cycle—a new Age. In this current light, it is possible to listen and perceive all old and familiar things in entirely new ways. This is the Spirit of the new Heaven and the new earth. Look around. Incarnate wisdom is present in our midst. You and I are not here by accident. Our own presence, along with many others who are awakening but who yet may be unknown to us, has been precisely orchestrated by that great Cosmic timekeeper who has governed the Cycles of incarnation down through the ages. Such Mastery has enormous implications for our time—in your life and in mine.

"And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."