The Purpose of the Body

1999-4-24 08:34:00

I'm glad the group seeks to "sing" the song together. The Wesak festival on April 30 as suggested would be another good time to cooperate together. How about one of you astrologers looking up the exact time of the full moon on that day?

"Question: What advantages would a person have who could materialize in a physical body at will over one who has left his body behind? Would this be an ability that you would want to acquire?"

"Suppose you think your body is not perfect as Rick was questioning. Do you suppose you would be stuck with it for eternity if you followed in the footsteps of the Master? If you had funny looking ears you wouldn't want to be laughed at for eternity, would you?"

The group gave some good answers on this and all the posts are worthy of consideration. If I did all your writings justice I would be at this computer 24 hours a day commenting. Robin, however, made a very beautiful poetic comment that I cannot pass over:

"The limitation removed by the physical body is that of using the senses which are available only to the body. Without a body, one does not see the beautiful sunset, smell the perfumed scarlet rose, nor feel the silkiness of the dust of a butterfly's wing."

Even though there are great beauties in the other spheres, it is true that the perceptions and feelings we have here are unique in the scheme of things. The feelings of all the other worlds added together are not complete until the physical is added. Here we have the possibility of obtaining a "fullness of joy," as well as a fullness of liberation, which fullness cannot be obtained without the aid of a physical body.

As we said earlier, it takes around a thousand lifetimes to obtain liberation. When your body dies, it seems that it is left behind to be forgotten, but such is not the case. When you die you take one atom of the body with you. Alice A. Bailey calls this the "permanent atom."

When the time comes to incarnate again, you, in cooperation with your Solar Angel, actually participate in the creation of your new body. The permanent atom that you take with you is like a great computer program that has all the data necessary to recreate the body when it is activated. It is also used to create a better program for your next life.

Progressive incarnation is a little like the evolution of a computer program. I remember back, ages and ages hence, when I bought Microsoft Word version one for my Mac. That was its first incarnation. But then version two was released. Version two took all that worked and was good about version one (at least in theory) and incorporated it in version two along with added improvements. This process has continued until we now have version 8 which is in Office 98.

Now there are still some things I like better about version five so I will open it now and then and use it. Then when I retrieve my older writings I find that I cannot even open them with the new versions, so I may have to go back to version three or earlier.

Even so it is with our physical bodies. Life after life we seek to make a better, tougher, healthier, more resourceful body. As we do this, we carry with us all the permanent atoms (programs) of bodies past. Then we reach a point where we start putting our attention on beauty as well as function. During these lives we also have a great interest in the outward beauty of music, art, painting, architecture, creating... This interest stimulates us so that after we pass out of incarnation, and revise our program for the next body, we put more attention on increasing its beauty and symmetry.

If you have lived 600 lives, for instance, you would have a chain of 600 permanent atoms within you that interplay to create body number 601. Until you reach the point of liberation, however, you will not have the power to recreate your old bodies at will. When you do reach "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" you then gain access to all past permanent atoms and have power to activate them and create a body at will.

This explains the story in the 24th chapter of Luke, where Jesus visited disciples who were old friends, but did not recognize Him. They did not recognize him because He appeared in a body from a past life. Then something strange happened; as the Master talked to them, His wisdom seemed strangely familiar. Gradually it began to dawn on them that they were in the presence of Christ and we are told: "their eyes were opened and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight." Luke 24:31

Most of us are many lifetimes away from reaching the perfection of Jesus, or the Christ, but within our soul there is a knowing that the day will come when we, the students, will become as our Master. When this day of attainment comes, we will not leave our physical bodies behind as many teach, for leaving them behind would cause us to suffer a great limitation.

And what is that limitation? Without the power to access a physical body at will, we have no direct participation with the physical world. The power of spiritual entities to influence and affect humanity is not nearly as powerful as would be a Master in a physical body.

Verily, in the present, the visitation of a Master in the flesh who has overcome death is rare, but the time will come when mortals and immortals shall mingle freely and be able to speak and shake hands with each other. Yes, Glenys, they shall be able to hug each other also.

A Master is one who has overcome physical death and has power to manifest in all three worlds of form at will. There are many Masters unknown to us who have come to earth from other worlds, but beginning with Christ, they are being replaced by evolving entities who are native to this earth. This group of Masters is sometimes called the Spiritual Hierarchy of the planet, and the Masters, along with their dedicated disciples who have not yet overcome death, are called the Brotherhood of Light by some. This is the phrase I often use.

There are many astral entities, which are far from being Masters, who think themselves wise and seek to have influence on the physical plane. Such entities cannot manifest in the flesh. Some have power to project an astral image, but if you try to touch them, your hand will pass through. If you touch a true Master you will feel his or her body.

If an entity claims to be a Master and cannot or does not manifest in the flesh, then he is deceiving you and is not to be trusted. Such an entity will seek to use the body of an unconscious channel and gather disciples around him for his own glory.

On the other hand, there are many entities on the other side who are not Masters, who have embraced the light and seek to aid humanity in a positive way. These "angels" do not deceive and do not seek to present themselves as greater than they are. They only seek to aid in the manifesting of the will of God, and mainly work through the medium of the soul with the "still small voice."

We are told that "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." I Cor 15:26
Why do you suppose death is called an "enemy?" There is a major achievement in conquering this enemy before death is destroyed.

Elijah, Moses and Abraham reached this point. Moses just seemed to disappear and his body was never found, and Elijah was said to have been taken into heaven without tasting death. Abraham and Sarah's bodies were renewed so they could have a child at the age of 100. These are hints about a major point in evolution we reach before the final mastery. What is this achievement? Hint: Think 5th initiation.

Then there is another possibility for us mere mortals who are just trying to figure out what's going on. We'll call this the Lazarus Principle and elaborate on it later.