The Coming Avatar . . . . . . . . . . By Dorje Jinpa
—The Avatar about whom the scriptures speak is the Avatar of Synthesis.
Alice Bailey
According to Alice Bailey the reappearance of the Christ, the externalization of the spiritual Hierarchy, and the coming of the Avatar of Synthesis, is the one great Event for which all humanity waits. Much has been made public in the ‘Bailey Books’ concerning the reappearance of the Christ and the externalization of the Hierarchy, but of the “Heaven Sent One, Who stands behind and is the driving force for this event,” little is known.
From the archives of the Hierarchy and quoted in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire we find the following esoteric prophesy.
From the gates of gold down to the pit of earth, out from the flaming fire down to the circle of gloom, rideth the secret Avatar, bearing the sword that pierceth.
Naught can arrest His approach, and none may say Him nay. To the darkness of our sphere He rideth alone, and on His approach is seen the uttermost disaster, and the chaos of that which seeketh to withstand. ((A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, page 747))
The ‘utmost disaster and chaos’ is caused by those resistant to change and from the fact that the first ray of spiritual Will, Power, and Synthesis is also the ray of divine destruction, destroying the old crystallized forms so that a New World may arise from the ashes.
The Asuras veil their faces, and the pit of maya reeleth to the foundations. The stars of the eternal Lhas vibrate to that sound, —the WORD uttered with sevenfold intensity.
The ‘Asuras,’ who try to hide, are the ‘Brothers of the Dark Face,’ who have taken a stand against the spiritual evolution of the world. The ‘pit of maya’ is the physical plane, the lowest of the three planes of maya. The ‘stars of the eternal Lhas are the ‘spirits of the highest spheres.’ ((See Theosophical Glossary, page 188)) They have responded to the cries of Earth with the WORD, sounded forth ‘with seven fold intensity.’
Greater the chaos becometh; the major centre with all the seven circulating spheres rock with the echoes of disintegration. The fumes of utter blackness mount upwards in dissipation. The noise discordant of the warring elements greets the oncoming One, and deters Him not.
The strife and cries of the fourth great Hierarchy, blending with the softer note of the Builders of the fifth and sixth, meet His approach. Yet, He passeth on His way, sweeping the circle of the spheres, and sounding forth the WORD.
The ‘fourth great Hierarchy’ is the human kingdom. The ‘Builders of the fifth and sixth’ are the two Deva or Angel Hierarchies. The ‘WORD’ that He sounds is the Vibration of his Silent Will, the Impulse of Synthesis—One Life, One Purpose, One Family.
“The constructive work of the Avatar of Synthesis,” writes Bailey, “will be apparent to you in the name He is known by; He is coming to the Earth in order to further the manifestation of unity, of oneness and of inter-relation, and He comes, therefore, to wield and apply first ray energy. He will charge or galvanise the three groups—the directing Agents in Shamballa, the Nirmanakayas, and the New Group of World Servers—with dynamic energy and in a mysterious way, relate them to each other so that a new synthesis and alignment will be present upon the Earth.” ((The Rays and the Initiations, Page 732))
The three groups to be energized by the coming Avatar are not the three main centres themselves, Humanity, Hierarchy, and Shamballa, but rather the three groups that act as connecting links between them. This will dissolve the sharp dividing lines that separate them, bringing about, among other things, a closer unity between humanity and the Higher Worlds. The New Group of World Servers is made up of those activists in every field of human endeavor, who work for the common good of the greater whole.
The Avatar of Synthesis, says Bailey, is an extra-planetary avatar. “Bear in mind that those extra-planetary Avatars have not arrived at Their high state of spiritual unfoldment on our planet or even in our solar system. Their origin, source, and spiritual relationships are a great mystery even to the Planetary Logoi — to Whose help They go when the invocative appeal of any planet is adequate.” ((Idid, Page 732))
“These Avatars appear rarely but when they do, the effectiveness and results of Their work are very great… They never descend lower than the mental plane… They bring about death—the death of the old and limiting forms and of that which houses evil.” ((The Externalisation of the Hierarchy. Page 301))
One of the primary functions of these extra-planetary avatars, says Bailey, is to “Transfer egoic groups from one scheme to another,” from one world to another. ((A scheme is a great system of worlds. There are seven schemes in this solar system, each expressing a different space, time, and evolutionary development then the others.)) This is suggestive, perhaps, of certain apocalyptic prophecies recorded in the New Testament. “Two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left…” ((Matthew 24: 40)) “In September 1940 I spoke of Divine Embodiments as the highest type of Avatar for which humanity could look at this point in its evolution. I spoke of the activity of the Hierarchy and of Shamballa, should these two divine Agencies decide that intervention in the form of widespread cataclysm (engulfing all peoples) was necessary.” ((Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Page 300. For more on the possibility of ‘divine intervention through cataclysms’ see The Externalization of the Hierarchy, page 259 & The Rays and the Initiations, page 555.)) In 1945, at a time when the enemy’s external threat through Hitler’s armies had just been averted, Bailey said that three recognitions must be evidenced by humanity before the year 2025, if the ‘destruction of mankind is to be averted.’ ((DINA Vol. 2, page 164)) They are:
- Recognition of the Christ spirit within.
- Recognition of the Hierarchy.
- Recognition of the divine Plan.
The destruction mentioned here could mean something like the great flood of the last days of Atlantis, although as Bailey points out some prophecies say that destruction by fire is also a possibility. “If humanity fails to unite under the banner of the Forces of Light against the forces of material aggression and selfishness, then the ‘fiery ordeal’ might be unavoidable.” ((The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, page 259))
In 1940 Alice Bailey announced that: “Another and lesser Avatar is also waiting a call form humanity. He is esoterically related to the Avatar of Synthesis, being overshadowed by Him. This Avatar can descend on to the physical plane into outer expression and can thus step down and transmit the stimulation and quality of the force of the greater Avatar Who can come no nearer than the mental plane. Who this Coming One may be is not yet revealed. It may be the Christ, if His other work permits; it may be the One chosen by Him to issue forth, overshadowed by the Avatar of Synthesis and directed in His activities by the Christ, the Lord of Love.”
A few years later Bailey states that the Avatar of Synthesis would overshadow the Christ, the Manu, and Master Morya, thus creating “a triangle of energies into which (and through which) the energy of the Avatar of Synthesis can pour, finding right direction under Their combined efforts.”
The Christ “will come again as the World Saviour, but owing to the stupendous nature of the work ahead, He will (occultly speaking) will be fortified and buttressed by the ‘Silent Avatar’ Who (occultly speaking) will ‘keep His eye upon Him, His hand beneath, and His heart in unison with His.” ((The Rays and the Initiations, page 94-95.))
In all the religious and esoteric scriptures concerning the coming Avatar—Buddhist, Hindu, Persian, Christian, and the Ancient Mysteries—He is depicted as riding a white horse. This symbolizes the overshadowing of the lesser Avatar by the greater. H.P. Blavatsky says that Vishnu will return on Kalki, the White Horse, the last Avatar. Alice Bailey hints at this interpretation when speaking of the lesser Avatar and the ‘Rider on the White Horse.’ She says that “in an earlier cycle, the then initiates spoke of the ‘sacrificial horse.’ ((Externalisation of the Hierarchy, page 304)) According to certain Tibetan myths relating to the coming Avatar, the Horse on which He rides is an incarnation of a great Bodhisattva. And Edgar Cayce, in his veiled commentary on the Book of Revelations, states that the Horse, which the White Horse Rider rides, is the Christ. ((The Revelation: A Commentary Based upon a Study of Twenty-Four Psychic Discourses. Page 135. This esoteric commentary veils hidden spiritual events through their correspondences to the centers of the body.))
In this perhaps another mystery is revealed, the mystery of why H.P. Blavatsky speaks of the Kalki Avatar, the powerful warrior who rides on a white horse from Shamballa (1st ray) and Lord Maitreya (the Christ and the coming Buddha, 2nd Ray) as being the same. Helena Roerich in one of her letters states that the Kalki/Maitreya is the Lord of Shamballa and the author of the Agni Yoga Books. The books themselves seem to indicate three names as the author, Morya, Maitreya, and Rigden. Rigden is the name or title of the kings of Shambhala. It is the last Rigden, Rigden Dragpo or Jyepo also known Kalki Rudracakrin, who according to one of the highly esoteric Buddhist scripture, the Kalachakra Tantra, will ride forth on a white horse (in some accounts blue) from Shambhala at the end of the Dark Age to destroy the evil in the world. ((The Way to Shamballa, by Edwin Bernbaum, pages 172, 177-178.))
The Hindu scriptures also say that the Kalki Avatar will come forth from Shambhala to destroy the evil kings of the world. Edwin Bernbaum in his fascinating book The Way to Shamballa writes: “In the Kalki Purana, a sage King named Maru [Morya], a descendant of an earlier incarnation of Vishnu, lives there in the Himalayas, awaiting the end of the age of discord [Kali Yuga]. When Kalki comes to liberate the world, this sage will join him in the final battle against the barbarians. After their victory over the forces of evil, Maru will gain a throne and assist Kalki in establishing a golden age.” ((Pages 83-84.)) A similar prophecy can be found in the Vishnu Purâna (Book IV, Chapter 4) where it is stated that there was in the Sorya Dynasty a king called “Maru, who, through the power of yoga, is still living in the village called Kalapa,” in the Himalayas and who “in a future age, will be the restorer of the Kshatriya race in the solar dynasty.” Kalapa is considered to be on the northerner side of the Himalayas. ((See H.P. Blavatsky Collected Writings Vol. VI, page 40-41))
The above print is a detail from a painting made and precipitated by Brother D.K. for H.P. Blavatsky at her request showing Morya at His home in the Himalayas. It is signed Gai Ben-Jamin, a name by which D.K. was known in the early days of the Theosophical Society. The original precipitatation on silk was housed at the Theosophical Headquarters at Adyar. “The energy coming from the Avatar of Synthesis,” says Bailey, “will make its primary impact upon this [Morya’s] Ashram, which provides the line of least resistance.” ((Externalization of the Hierarchy, page 662))
St. John the Divine also prophesied the coming of the Avatar in his Book of Revelation:
I saw the heavens open and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him is He who makes faith and knowledge true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the WORD of God. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. And he hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, ‘King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.’ ((19: 11-16))
Paul Davidson, in his Book of Light and Life or the Essence of the Sohar, writes of the obvious similarity between the Hindu Kalki Avatar who comes riding a white horse to conquer the forces of evil and the Rider on the white horse of Revelations. He also refers to a similar prophecy from the Zend Avesta. “The White Horse upon which Sociosh [the Mazdean saviour] ((See The Theosophical Glossary by H.P. Blavatsky, page 306 Also spelled ‘Sosiosh’ & ‘Saoshyant.’)) rides, like Vishnu, is the ‘Horse of the Sun,’ Shiloh is the Sun’s city, and Sociosh is the God-Messiah, or King coming from the Sun… The Arabs represented Iauk (Iach) by a Horse, the Horse of the Sun.” ((1891, page 53)) (The Kalachakra also speaks in an esoteric manner of the seven horses of the sun.) H.P. Blavatsky says: Sosiosh is the prototype of “the faithful and the true” of the Revelation, and the same as Vishnu in the Kalki-Avatara. Both are expected to appear as the Saviour of the World, seated on a white horse and followed by a host of spirits or genii, mounted likewise on milk-white steeds.” Perhaps this means that the overshadowed Lesser Avatars, in their turn, overshadow certain initiates of their ashrams. Bailey states that this may indeed be the case. We might note here that Master Morya is also depicted riding a white horse.
The Root Kalachakra Tantra states: “Kalki Rudra, possessed of the Great Wheel, who by skillful speech and the best of the horse samadhi, will put an end to the barbarian dharma.” ‘The best horse samadhi,’ may be an esoteric reference to the technique of overshadowing through the power of yogic meditation. The ‘great wheel’ is often depicted in paintings of the coming Avatar.
In that great wordless picture book of the ancient Mysteries, The Book of Hermes the thirteenth hieroglyph depicts much the same symbolism except that the wheel has five spokes rather than eight, which may be a distortion.
Note that the Rider is greeted by the Hierophant, the one who confers initiation into the sacred Mysteries, and that the ‘city of Light,’ reminiscent of the ‘New Jerusalem’, lies in the forward distance or future. The death and destruction implied here pertains to that which is obstructing the natural currents of Evolution.
Why is the Avatar needed at this time? Alice Bailey answers this question: “The separateness of humanity, and its selfishness, had reached such vast proportions and its effects were so completely dominated by the forces of evil, that—in response to the massed inchoate demand of humanity—the Hierarchy called for spiritual interposition. The endless selfish propaganda, in speech or in writing, most of it materialistic, nationalistic and basically untrue and wrongly motivated, became such a clamor that it reached to spheres usually impervious to the sounds of earth; the Avatar of Synthesis was called in to aid.” ((The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, page 648)) An ancient Hindu prophecy from the Vishnu Purana states that before the Formless One will appear, “Wealth will be decreasing day by day until nearly the whole world will be deprived. Property alone will confer rank. Devotion will be given to wealth alone. Passion will be the sole bond between the sexes. Falsehood will be the only successful means of litigation. Women will be merely objects of sensual gratification. The Earth will be venerated only for its mineral treasures.”
When is the Silent Avatar coming? According to both the Hindu and the Buddhist scriptures ((Kalki Purana, The Vishnu Purana, and The Kalachakra Tantra.)) the Kalki Avatar will come at the end of the Kali Yuga, the present age of darkness. The divine author of the Agni Yoga Books, reverently called the ‘Teacher,’ says that we are now fast approaching the end of the Kali Yuga, though as He also states the time of this ending really depends to some degree upon humanity. And in Agni Yoga # 307 we read “The East knows the Army of fiery warriors that will arise before the coming of the New Era.” H.P. Blavatsky also states that we are nearing the end of the Kali Yuga, the Dark Age. Khedrup Norsang Gyatso (1423-1513), a disciple of the 1st Dalai Lama calculates, from the hints given in the Kalachakra Tantra, that Kalki Rudracakrin will conquer the barbarians in the year 2424. ((Ornament of Stainless Light: An Exposition of the Kalacakra Tantra. Wisdom Publications, page 614.)) In June 1943 Alice Bailey wrote; “Ask me not for the date or the hour, brother of mine, for I know it not.” But “you will know when the Avatar links up with the planetary Logos because I will then give you the final Stanza of the Great Invocation.” ((The Rays and the Initiations, pages 93 & 95. The ‘final Stanza’ pertains to the Great Invocation its present well-known form. )) This He did in April of 1945. This ‘link’ between the Avatar and the Logos marked the first step to His manifestation as The World Saviour through the reappearance of the Christ and the externalization of the Hierarchy, which is still to come. The externalization of the Hierarchy, says Bailey, could begin as early as 2025.
According to the Vishnu Purana the Kalki Avatar will “re-establish righteousness upon earth. The minds of those who live at the end of the end of age of strife [Kali Yuga] shall be awakened and shall become translucent like crystal. The humans who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall become the seeds of a new race, who shall follow the laws of the golden age of purity.”
What can we do to prepare for this unprecedented event? Alice Bailey lists four things:
“1. The effort to stand with all other disciples and aspirants in an attempt to call forth the Avatar, to reach Him by focused intensive thought and to evoke His response. This is the purpose of the new Invocation.
2. Providing a nucleus or group through which the Avatar of Synthesis can work when the lesser Avatar has come forth upon the physical plane….
3. Constructing a network of light and service in every land….
4. Preparing the general public for the Coming One…” ((Externalisation of the Hierarchy, pages 311-312.))
And how long will the Formless One remain? Alice Bailey says that the triangle of energies of which the Avatar of Synthesis is a part and the Christ is the center, “will continue for two thousand five hundred years,” ((The Reappearance of the Christ. Page 98)) or till the end of the Aquarian Age.
There is another ancient prophecy preserved in the archives of the Hierarchy that points to this most stupendous Event. “When the Avatar has made His appearance, then will the
‘Sons of men who are now the Sons of God withdraw their faces from the shining light and radiate that light upon the sons of men who know not yet they are the Sons of God. Then shall the Coming One [the lesser Avatar] appear, His footsteps hastened through the valley of the shadow by the One of awful power [the Avatar of Synthesis] Who stands upon the mountain top [the highest point of the mental plane], breathing out love eternal, light supernal, and peaceful silent Will.
Then will the sons of men respond. Then will a newer light shine forth into the dismal weary vale of earth. Then will new life course through the veins of men, and then will their vision compass all the ways of what may be.
So peace will come again on earth, but a peace unlike aught known before. Then will the will-to-good flower forth as understanding and understanding blossom as goodwill in men.’ ((Ibid page 95))
* * * * * * *
Up from the pit of maya back to the portals of gold, forth from the gloom and darkness back to the splendour of day, rideth the Manifested One, the Avatar, bearing the shattered Cross.
Naught can arrest His return, none can impede His Path, for He passeth along the upper way, bearing His people with Him. Cometh the dissolution of pain, cometh the end of strife, cometh the merging of the spheres and blending of the hierarchies. All then is re-absorbed within the orb, the circle of manifestation. The forms that exist in maya, and the flame that devoureth all, are generated by the One Who rideth the Heavens and entereth into the timeless Aeon. ((A Treatise on Cosmic Fire page 748))
The passage, “He passeth along upper way, bearing His people with Him,” might be illuminated somewhat by the following prophecy given by Bailey:
I may point out (even though it is not possible to give more than a hint) that the force of the Cosmic Transferrer [the coming Avatar] is being called into activity by the transference during this cycle [of the next 2500 years] of a special group of highly advanced units of the human and deva kingdoms (members of the occult Hierarchy) to another scheme altogether. ((A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, page 446))
Also included in this one great Event is the ‘restoration of the Mysteries’ (the reappearance upon Earth of the Mysteries of Initiation), the initiation of Sanat Kumara ((A higher correspondence of our 4th initiation. )) (the Lord of the World) and the transformation of our sphere into a ‘Sacred Planet.’
“It will be obvious, if you have considered my words carefully, that a great spiritual movement is under way—perhaps the greatest of all time!” ((Externalisation of the Hierarchy, page 649.))
Aum Svaha!
Come forth Oh Mighty One!
Footnotes:
[footnotes]
POETRY
Soul Contact
The arrival of my soul caresses my skin—
an ivory coloured swathe of satin
whispering “I am here…..” Like a lover’s nearing breath
I tingle & sigh, “At last.”
Now we can join and now we can travel
Bliss class,
Pain free,
Love filled,
in the deep deep peace
of Divine thoughts.
—Carol Ann Deans
Time Stood Still
The clock moved forward
But time stood still.
The daily rituals done
While time stood still.
The eyes could see
And the ears could hear
But time stood still.
The mind turned inward
Reaching upward into light
And time stood still.
Standing in the moment
Knowing I AM THAT
The clock moved forward
Yet time stood still.
—Nancy Maehl
In This, My Staff
In your weakness is found your strength,
for you know you are not alone
and need another. In this is unity.
In your complexity is your simplicity
for there is always the new
to be discovered. In this is creativeness.
In your caring you are often forgetful
for there is a time
for change and growth. In this there is acceptance.
In your competitiveness is the need to share
for you are an individual
and not a reflection of me. In this is opportunity.
Your seriousness masquerades in humor
for your fun and silliness is a haven
against the torrents of the unexplained. In this is sanity.
In your chatter is the need for quiet
for in moments of solitude and meditation
do you reveal yourself to yourself. In this is growth.
In your impulsiveness is the need for patience
for time is but an imprint between
the memories and imagination of your activity . In this is endurance.
Your control benumbs the tears of joy and sadness
crouched in shadowy contours
and hidden in melodious laughter of pretentiousness. In this you hide.
But in the proscenium of the visible and invisible
you sweep beyond the boundaries of your bower
steeped in an air of exuberance and defiance
and wrestling in the freedom of acceptance and containment.
—Nancy Maehl