When the initiate attains the fourth Initiation of Major Mysteries, he gains access to Nirvana and enters the world of the gods where unlimited happiness reigns. Thereafter, when the initiate attains the fifth Initiation of Major Mysteries, he reaches the mountain of the gods, which has two paths that lead to the summit. One is the spiral path, which going in a spiral around the mountain takes us to the summit. The other is the long, straight, bitter, and difficult path of woe and duty that leads us directly into the Absolute.
Max Heindel speaks about the mountain of men, yet he does not know about the mountain of the gods. The mountain of men also has two paths: the spiral path through which the entire humanity climbs, and the straight, narrow, and difficult path that is walked by the initiates. The summit of this mountain is Nirvana, and in order to reach it, we have to go through nine Initiations of Minor Mysteries and five of Major Mysteries.
When the initiate reaches the summit of the mountain of men, he finds himself before the two paths of the mountain of the gods. Then, before the initiate a remarkable guardian appears, who shows him the spiral Nirvanic path, and tells him, “This is a good labor.” The initiate then sees the infinite worlds of space, the suns that journey throughout eternity, where the gods of Nirvana, filled with happiness, blissfully dwell within their paradises.
Thereafter, the guardian shows the initiate the long, straight, bitter, and difficult path of woe and duty that leads us directly into the Absolute, and utters, “This is a superior labor. You must decide right now which of the two paths you will follow.”
If the initiate tries to think about it, the guardian interrupts him and says, “Do not think about it; give me your answer right now.”
This is a remarkable moment, because from it the destiny of many eternities is derived. This is why it is the most remarkable moment of our cosmic evolution.
Know that he who renounces Nirvana for the sake of humanity becomes a Bodhisattva and is confirmed as Thrice Honored, and after many eternities of Nirvanas gained and lost from boundless pity and compassion for the world of deluded mortals, he finally gains the right to enter into the Absolute.
The Pratyekas of the spiral path of Nirvana are different; they have periods of activity and periods of repose within Nirvanic happiness. In other words, they reincarnate in the worlds only after very long intervals, and thereafter they once again submerge for eternities within the infinite happiness of the spheres. Within the music of the stars, they enjoy limitless happiness, because in Nirvana they do not use their four bodies of sin. Thus, throughout limitless eternities, slowly, very slowly, they finally reach the Absolute; this spiral path is extremely long. On February 19, 1919 at 3:40 in the afternoon, Nirvana entered into a period of activity, so presently, Nirvanic hierarchies are struggling for the return of the evolution toward the superior worlds.
Many Nirvanis are loaded with karmic debts. They pay these debts during their cycles of manifestation. The great risk for these masters is the fall of their Human Souls (Superior Manas). Presently in the world, there are thousands of fallen Nirvanic souls (Superior Manas) within whom the masters (Atman-Buddhi) cannot reincarnate. These falls occur because of the fact that their will-soul is not well developed. As long as desire exists within the Astral Body, the will-soul will not grow. We have to kill desire.
Likewise, a master (Atman-Buddhi, who walks the direct path) can be very resplendent within his “Glorian,” yet if his bodhisattva is fallen, then the master cannot serve suffering humanity; this means horrible suffering for the master. The master and his bodhisattva are a mysterious double individuality.
A bodhisattva is the one who renounces Nirvana for the sake of humanity. A bodhisattva has the right to ask for the Elixir of Long Life, which grants him immortality in the physical body during long eternities, as long as he wishes.
Count St. Germain presently lives with the same physical body that he showed in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Zanoni lived thousands of years with the same physical body. Likewise, Megnour kept himself alive within the same physical body for thousands of years.
Sanat Kumara presently lives with his same Lemurian body from 18,000,000 years ago. The great masters of the guardian wall that protect humanity live with the same physical bodies from millions of years ago, namely the Masters Kout Humi, Morya, and many others; they have preserved their bodies since thousands of years ago, thus death has not been able to overcome them.
Therefore, with the Elixir of Long Life we avoid the perils of reincarnations, because bodhisattvas fall when they are exposed to the environment, temptations, heredity, etc. Only those with a will of steel never fall.
Samael Aun Weor
