Good Friday

 The period from the day of Birth to Good Friday, the entering of the Tomb, is a time for the Soul to prepare the experience of being man in awakening, to become man in responsibility. This is  performed by the Soul by taking the human form through the darkness called death. The Hall now seems to be a place of darkness,  lit occasionally by sparks of light which pass back and forth through  the Hall; The Hall can be seen to be full of silent gray shapes,  as still as marble. Only the eyes in the shapes move, and show life. These eyes are fixed upon the sparks of light which flash about in  the darkness. These shapes are the Spirit, which has placed  itself deliberately within the prison of material form, playing out  the maya, the illusion, of events, contacts of personalities,  and efforts of growth. It is the impersonal and  individualized Soul which has attained entry here that we see in the Hall on this day. Since the day of Birth, the Divine man has withdrawn from the choirs of angels to become part of the passing army of men  in the sands of time, and has remained in obscurity by identity with the Outer Man -- but now he approaches the recovery of Life Absolute. The lesson of the Ceremony of Good Friday is that both Death and Life are one. This may be expressed as: I see Death. I know Death. I am Death. It may also be expressed as all three in one: I am Life. Take Death and make it Life, as you take Evil and make it Good. Spirit can become matter as water can become fire, Spirit, when it identifies itself with matter, sweeps it away as  water obliterates fire, but it must long to become one with the fire before this miracle can be obtained. The spirit must be so completely willing to enter into the darkness of death of the material that it transforms through Love and Gratitude, into thankfulness and freedom -- the utter freedom of Endlessness -- so that it dissolves away. In joyously entering the Tomb, the Christ of the World destroys the Tomb itself, and after the deep,  silent ages of prayer, of effort, the Tomb yields up the dead and that which was dead lives.

Easter Day

One comes within the doors of the Central Hall, and I hear the  pulse of all humanity in a vast procession, wearing the robes of all worlds. I see the spirit of all humanity giving homage to this day, some knowing and some unknowing, but all of whom in reality realize the meaning of this Sacred Hour. This Hall is now indeed not only the Temple of my Inner Life, but also now has become vast and immeasurable; it has become the Temple of the World, and on this day, if one enters the Temple, one must recognize that this is so. Someone  takes my hand and guides me, for it is very difficult to stand and excruciatingly difficult to move. I hear with my inner ear that all Souls who have attained the power of Love and Worship pass through this Temple, but very few enter it consciously while living  in the material body, although a great many enter it wrapped in swaddlings, and unconscious except in the innermost sanctum of their Beings. They are in the state of an egg which is alive and  needs light and warmth for its development, but which also needs the protection of the shell for a while longer. It is in this Hall that the Masters wait for their pupils, ready to feed their Souls, which have been placed in them for their growth, abundantly. Here,  Absolute Knowledge comes as the shell is broken, and the Divine Man comes forth erect; when this ceremony has been fully attained,  the Earth no longer knows this Soul; the Completed Man takes his place in the Hall knowingly, and if this occurs while it is "in"  the body, and still active in the World, there is unutterable joy; because then it is possible for that individual to learn to Love, to Pity, to Serve, and to be Grateful. This is some of the  learning taught within these walls -- walls made of the substance of Divine Thought.

In the school of Love, there is a pledge taken at the very door; it is this -- which you must say in your heart:

I WILL LOVE.

From that hour, you are a disciple, and to taste of this Love is to be fully alive, in Truth.