Christian Initiation
The following is excerpted from the book, Inner Christianity. This is one of the first books I ever read on the subject of Esoteric Christianity – even before I found Rudolf Steiner. Recommended reading as an introduction to Esotericism.
Stage 1:
Washing of the feet: The higher is a product of the lower. A servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him (John 13:16).
Stage 2:
Scourging: Endure the scourging of life with perfect equanimity of soul and heroic courage, ceasing to know physical or moral fear powered by a wider sense of life and love.
Stage 3:
Crowning with thorns: Brave the world morally and intellectually, desisting from anger when all you hold most dear is under attack. This means, as circumstances require, to in the moment dissociate the faculties of willing, feeling, and thinking, then reunite them by force of will and avoid uncontrolled enthusiasm. This is maturity – to remain impassive in the face of any event. This is the only way to freedom.
Stage 4:
Bearing of the cross: A deep sense of identification with the whole Earth, devoid of any feeling of separateness, allowing the Spirit to wield the body as the hand wields the hammer.
Stage 5:
Mystic Death: recognition that the world of the senses is an illusion; To have the veil lifted and see through the darkness of death to the astral light that shines from within. This is rebirth to lose all in order to regain all.
Stage 6:
Entombment: Freedom from the limits of one’s own body, lifting one’s understanding to one’s connectedness with the Earth and it’s place in the cosmos.
Stage 7:
Resurrection: Final transcendence into the real world of the Spirit and the power to create, to heal… and destroy. With great power comes great responsibility.