A war with Iran has long carried implications of bringing about the end times. Throughout the 20th century, esotericists examined the true underlying causes of the World Wars, and stated that if humanity did not abandon materialism, a future war would result.
In connection with this, I aimed to explore the nature of our times. Why was the 20th century characterized by the aspiration towards a new age, yet every effort resulting in the distortion of spiritual truths?
How have the themes of the 20th century carried over into present times? Does the esoteric tradition contain the keys to understanding our eschatological zeitgeist? And finally, do our times demand the appearance of a spiritual guide for humanity, the figure known in the esoteric tradition as Lord Maitreya?
All these questions will be explored in this post, in order that the events of the upcoming months and years are understood with greater clarity, and navigated accordingly.
Always in the past, it has been the religious teachers of the period who have fostered and proclaimed this expectancy and the time has always been one of chaos and difficulty, of a climaxing point at the close of a civilisation or culture and when the resources of the old religions have seemed inadequate to meet men's difficulties or to solve their problems.The coming of the Avatar, the advent of a Coming One and, in terms of today, the reappearance of the Christ are the keynotes of the prevalent expectancy. When the times are ripe, the invocation of the masses is strident enough and the faith of those who know is keen enough, then always He has come and today will be no exception to this ancient rule or to this universal law.For decades, the reappearance of the Christ, the Avatar, has been anticipated by the faithful in both hemispheres—not only by the Christian faithful, but by those who look for Maitreya and for the Boddhisattva as well as those who expect the Imam Mahdi. [1]
The figure known as Lord Maitreya is a messianic figure within the esoteric tradition prophesied to be the future Buddha and World Teacher.
Before Christ appeared on earth…the teaching about Him was prepared in advance. At that time, also, the physical Christ was proclaimed. It was primarily Jeshu ben Pandira who was the forerunner and herald, a hundred years before Christ.He who has been incarnated nearly every century since that time, is now also already incarnated, and will be the real herald of the Christ in etheric raiment, just as he prophesied the physical appearance of the Christ…He will be the one whom the ancients foresaw: the Buddha Maitreya, a Bringer of Good. [2]
He is known also in the Orient as the Bodhisattva, and as the Lord Maitreya, and is the One looked for by the devout Mohammedan, under the name of the Imam Mahdi. [3]
Mention of any such figure was also absent in the first wave of theosophical teachings, drawing from an esoteric school of thought rooted in Buddhism and Hinduism.
Ahriman appears, men will acquire, precisely through him, the power to realise that although the earth must enter inevitably into its decline, mankind is lifted above earthly existence through this very fact.There lives in mankind something that is not bound up with the already prevailing decline of the physical earth but becomes more and more spiritual just because of this physical decline. [4]
Ahriman is a great and outstanding Intelligence, and Ahriman's purpose with earthly evolution is overwhelming and thorough. [5]It is however also possible to obscure the issue, being badly prepared, and choose Ahriman but call him Christ. [6]
It is predicted that when Ahriman incarnates, he will present a solution that solves a spiritual need, but through material means, particularly so that it diverts human evolution from its natural spiritual course.
This leads to the eighth sphere, an icy, desolate place of "eternal damnation," distinct from the purgatorial fiery hell of Lucifer that many religions refer to, which is temporary.
Many have speculated that the rise of artificial intelligence is a signal of his upcoming incarnation.
Ahriman is the spirit who spreads matter like a veil over the spiritual and makes recognition of the spiritual world impossible. [7]
What is now in preparation and will quite definitely come to pass on earth in a none too distant future, is an actual incarnation of Ahriman. [4]
…before only a part of the third millennium of the post-Christian era has elapsed, there will be, in the West, an actual incarnation of Ahriman: Ahriman in the flesh.
Humanity on earth cannot escape this incarnation of Ahriman. It will come inevitably.But what matters is that people shall find the right vantage point from which to confront it. [8]
Some have predicted his appearance around 2030, marking exactly two thousand years after the Baptism of Jesus.
This event of perceiving the Christ through the higher faculties that will gradually develop in human beings in the course of the next three millennia will begin in our 20th century. From then on, these faculties will gradually emerge and develop in a sufficiently large number of people over the next three millennia. [9]
The first indications of these new faculties will be noticeable in isolated souls comparatively soon now, and they will become more clearly apparent in the middle of the thirties of this century, approximately in the period between 1930 and 1940. [10]
I have told you that the spirits of darkness are going to inspire their human hosts, to find a vaccine that will drive all inclination towards spirituality out of people's souls when they are still very young. [12]
Man will get to know of definite forces which, simply by means of quite easy manipulations—by bringing into accord certain vibrations—will enable him to unleash tremendous mechanical forces in the world.Instinctively he will come to realise in this way the possibility of exercising a certain spiritual guidance and control of the mechanistic principle—and the whole of technical science will sail into desolate waters. But human egoism will find these desolate waters of tremendous use and benefit. [11]
Only a materialistic consciousness could imagine that Christ could come again in the flesh. [13]
Three thousand years after our present time the Bodhisattva we have spoken of will become the Buddha, and his teaching will then cause will impulses to stream directly into humanity. [14]He will be the real herald of the Christ in etheric raiment, just as he proclaimed the Christ at that time in advance as the physical Christ. And even many of us will ourselves experience the fact that, during the 1930's, there will be persons—and more and more later in the century—who will behold the Christ in etheric raiment. [2]
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The conflict between religion and science, under which art also suffers, is always in evidence when the level of culture declines. [30]
This reintroduction was first initiated by the Theosophical Society and declared in its three objects:
1. To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or colour.
2. To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science.
3. To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.
In hindsight, it can be observed that these movements attempted to accomplish a great aim but were hindered from affecting society at an institutional level, therefore religion and science continued to develop separately in a march towards societal destruction.
Indeed, the passage into the clairvoyant age was intercepted by the occult forces of Ahriman himself, creating the unique problems of our present times, which have come to head in this war — nearly a century later from when the miscarriage took place.
This war is another iteration of the prior World Wars, which were also borne out of the collective failure of humanity to overcome materialism, which has been responsible for putting humanity on an accelerated path of economic destruction, coinciding with its spiritual deterioration.
Men who rely entirely on the processes of the physical plane will find in them no source of satisfaction. An indication given in spiritual science a long time ago…namely that we are heading for the “War of All against All”, must from now onwards be grasped in all its significance and gravity. [4]
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I have discussed the unsustainability of materialism in Economics and ether, and what must eventually come to replace it as the economic model for humanity, particularly with regard to its energy needs.
Mankind in the World War (1914-1945) was the unhappy victim of spiritual circumstance; however, from the angle of man's historical past, humanity was the engineer of its own fate. [15]
The fact that war is largely incidental to rotten economic conditions led to little real activity to put these conditions right…All conditions that might incite to war were present everywhere even while the cry was going up "let there be peace on earth." [16]
Zionism marks the end
Finally we come to the ideological instrument at the center of the current war — political Zionism. For each passing year where Christ has not been visible to humanity, of which all people are responsible for regardless of religion, there has been a resultant swelling of a political movement which attempts to usher in the messianic age militaristically.
The red heifer ceremony performed during Passover last year demonstrates an intent to fulfill this prophecy.
They were also, during the years immediately following the war, under the control of a glamour imposed by the Zionist Dictators, who were attempting (somewhat unsuccessfully) to be to the Jewish people what Stalin and his group, and Hitler and his gang, have been to their people.They worked through the same methods—terrorising, withholding information, browbeating their opponents, making false claims and bribing and corrupting. They were and are a minority, but a powerful minority because of their great wealth and their being in positions of power.They are claiming a land to which they have no possible right and which the Jews have ignored for two thousand years. Their attitude is perhaps the culminating aggressive action of the age and marks a climaxing point; it has produced a serious world tension, but out of this good may come and a "point of emergence for mankind" be reached. [17]
But the potentiality of developing another occult capacity is also even strengthened in a certain way if it is developed out of a certain instinct of hatred. This is a strange phenomenon. We often ask ourselves, and we are dealing here with something that must be considered quite objectively, why such senseless abuse has been practiced in the Western countries.This also comes out of the instinct tending toward these capacities. For what constitutes the profoundest impelling forces in Western occultism is fostered by nothing more powerfully than by the development of feelings that are untrue but are sensed as in some way holy, and that can represent the people of the East and especially those of the Central countries as barbarians.The potentialities of material occultism, for example, are fostered by the attitude of mind constituting the so-called crusading temperament in America. This consists in the feeling that America is called to spread over the whole earth freedom and justice and I know not what other beautiful things. [18]
Humanity is headed towards a religious war which will make the past war [WWII] appear like child's play; antagonisms and hatreds will embroil entire populations and the politicians of all the nations will take full advantage of the situation to precipitate a war which may well prove the end of humanity. [15]
It is of the very greatest importance that men should approach the coming incarnation of Ahriman with full consciousness of this event…amid the shattering events which will occur on the physical plane. Amid the perpetual stresses of war and other tribulations… [4]
The Ahrimanic impulses have a very strong effect in the decimal system. This highlights the fact that every millennium, i.e., in the years 1000, 2000, and so on, there is a particularly strong combined attack by Lucifer and Ahriman...Confusion and devastation will reign as the year 2000 approaches. [19]If the development were to continue in this consistent way, we would reach, at the end of the twentieth century, the war of all against all; particularly in that sphere of the evolution of the earth in which the so-called civilisation has unfolded. [20]
A former commander of NATO’s forces in Europe, Clark claims he met a senior military officer in Washington in November 2001 who told him the Bush administration was planning to attack Iraq first before taking action against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan. [21]
Thus a great and new movement is proceeding and a tremendously increased interplay and interaction is taking place. This will go on until A.D. 2025. During the years intervening between now and then very great changes will be seen taking place, and at the great General Assembly of the Hierarchy—held as usual every century—in 2025 the date in all probability will be set for the first stage of the externalisation of the Hierarchy.The present cycle (from now until that date) is called technically "The Stage of the Forerunner". It is preparatory in nature, testing in its methods, and intended to be revelatory in its techniques and results. You can see therefore that Chohans, Masters, initiates, world disciples, disciples and aspirants affiliated with the Hierarchy are all at this time passing through a cycle of great activity. [15]
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When the incarnation of Ahriman takes place in the Western World we shall simply see inscribed in the local Register, the birth of John William Smith (of course, this will not be the name.) [22]
It is the Fire of Love which He will bring; it is the message of the purificatory fire which He will sound; He will not teach anent the waters of purification, as has hitherto been the symbolic imparted truth.He will impart the fire which burns and destroys all barriers in man's nature, all separating walls between individuals, between groups and between nations. Are you prepared as individuals, as disciples and aspirants to submit yourselves to this fire? [23]
He is a great individuality who, since the time of Buddha—that is, about 600 BC. has been incarnated once in nearly every century in order to bring humanity forward. [14]
Men must go forward with full consciousness towards this incarnation of Ahriman and become more and more alert in every domain, in order to recognise with greater and greater clarity those trends in life which are leading towards this Ahrimanic incarnation. [4]
It takes no effort on the part of two individuals to perceive a physical object in the same way, but this does not hold true for the non-physical planes.The amount of strength and effort on the part of developing one's morals and intellect is proportional to how accurately one can capture objective reality on increasingly subtler planes of matter.
The incarnation of Ahriman and the appearance of Maitreya will be a point of cleavage for humanity, as it will draw out the impulses latent in man’s will and reveal them in a final test of allegiance.
And the proclivity towards illusion is such an impulse that works to Ahriman’s greatest advantage in a time of instability and strife.
His offerings, whatever they may be, will then be sought eagerly as recourse for the one who cannot withstand the reality of his moral weakness that he had been shielded from thus far by the old world order, Ahriman himself having impelled the conditions leading to systemic collapse.
Perhaps what we are seeing unfold in the world is Ahrimanic forces having brought certain movements, such as Zionism, to their outermost limit, championed by its sincere believers, then discarding them when they have served the purpose for his incarnation.
Ahriman in human form may be able to mislead and corrupt mankind on earth to the uttermost…certain spiritual and also unspiritual currents…are used by Ahriman for the purpose of leaving mankind as deeply unconscious as possible of his coming.
Then, one day, he will be able to appear on earth and overwhelm men, tempting and luring them to repudiate earth-evolution, thus preventing it from reaching its goal. [4]
Like he has done before physical incarnation, Ahriman will present a “solution” that is materialistic in nature but under the guise of spirituality, which ultimately leads to the severing of one's soul from its Angel, and thus the heavenly realms.
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To accept this solution will come down to a weakness in one’s character since materialism is the path of least resistance for most people.
“What is evil? — Whatever springs from weakness.” Nietzsche in The Anti Christ
Such a dire prospect compels one to recognize the definite need for the World Teacher, and that it is precisely due to Ahriman’s interference that the time of Maitreya’s arrival is brought closer to the present.
The interfaith question and the World Religion
In the Shia tradition, Muhammad al-Mahdi's mother, Narjis or Princess Malika, is from a Christian background. Whether this refers to one particular incarnation or throughout different generations, I am not sure.
It has been known esoterically that specific lineages are prepared to allow for incarnation of certain individualities, and the lineage of al-Mahdi represents a marriage between the two lineages of Isaac and Ishmael.
On this point, it can be said that the advent of Imam al-Mahdi brings about an ending to the division between the Christian and Islamic world. Please see my post on this topic, Islam and the Christian West.
And Mary, daughter of Imran. She guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her from Our spirit. She accepted the truth of her Lord’s words and Scriptures: she was truly devout. Al-Qur'an, Surat al-Tahrim 66:12
The refusal or acceptance of a religious unity rests upon being able to contend with the fact that certain tenets were omitted or added to either religion for the purpose of its adherents taking a necessary one-sided development during the Piscean age.
Since Christianity recognizes the latent divinity of man, of his being a child of God, this carried the risk of developing into a distorted sense of self-deity once humanity would enter the materialistic age (15th - 19th centuries), therefore Islam was instituted as a counterbalance.
Humanity is now entering a phase where all religions, East and West, will be reconciled with each other and Christ recognized as the Lord of humanity without religious distinctions — the same universal Wisdom Religion of the ancient past, where religion and science were one.
The Christ works for all men, irrespective of their faith; He does not belong to the Christian world any more than to the Buddhist, the Mohammedan or any other faith. [24]
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This task of unifying Eastern with Western thought has been undertaken by the spiritual Hierarchy in preparation for the advent of Maitreya.
At this particular time the Master M., the Master K. H. and the Master Jesus are interesting Themselves closely with the work of unifying, as far as may be, eastern and western thought, so that the great religions of the East, with the later development of the Christian faith in all its many branches, may mutually benefit each other. Thus eventually it is hoped one great universal Church may come into being. [25]
Thereby three major world religions—the Christian, the Hindu and the Buddhist—will be intimately related, whilst the Mahommedan faith will be found to be linked to the Christian faith because it embodies the work of the Master Jesus as He overshadowed one of His senior disciples, a very advanced initiate, Mahomet. [26]
The adoption of a distinct religious identity was characteristic to the Piscean Age, when the spiritual world became invisible to humanity and faith alone determined one’s religious affiliation.
Whereas this would no longer apply if the spiritual world was to be made visible again like it had been in ancient times, and religion and science were not separate domains.
There would naturally be a universal understanding among humans of the esoteric tradition from which all religions originate, a philosophy known as perennialism.
The antiquity of the occult tradition holds the hidden threads of history, which mingles them, separates, and re-unites them in the course of ages. [27]
This philosophy was popularized by 19th and 20th century thinkers like René Guénon to counterbalance rising religious distortion and denominationalism, but its true acceptance by humanity necessitated a new religious revelation.
This was the revelation intercepted by materialistic occult forces in the 20th century, appearing now in the 21st century in a delayed manner. Thereafter, good and evil will no longer be determined by religious affiliation, but on one’s individual moral character.
Whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist — these will simply be titles, and true fraternity will exist between all those of good-will, the same message brought by Christ to the shepherds and the Wise men.
Christ is the being who knows no groups, who knows only individual beings. [28]
This is foretold in Steiner’s exposition on the Book of Revelations, “The Apocalypse of St. John”, where a marriage between East and West takes place, and those who take part will constitute the great brotherhood of man on earth.
A symptom of the future age is when the spirituality of the East will unite with the intellectuality of the West. From this union will proceed the age of Philadelphia.
All those will participate in this marriage who take into themselves the impulse of Christ Jesus and they will form the great brotherhood which will survive the great War, which will experience enmity and persecution, but will provide the foundation for the good race. [29]
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