Christ ConsciousnessA Martinist Ideal

By Brother Benedictus
Preamble According to one Martinist Group [1], Martinism is a form of 18th Century Mystical Christianity named after Louis Claude de Saint-Martin. The group elaborates their understanding of Martinist philosophy with these words: There is one God The Transcendent Cosmic Christ or Christos is timeless and universal Collective Humanity is one Noble and Divine Being. In Spirit there is no separation. A Holy Spark exists within each individual as the Indwelling Christ. The task of humanity, collectively and individually, is to fully evoke the Indwelling Christ and recognize and realize Sacred Unity. This is also called Re-integration. As Christian mystics, we embrace Master Jesus (Yeshua) as our guide, model, Hierophant and spiritual elder brother. The Divinity that manifested in Master Jesus differs in development, but not in quality, from that which is latent in each.

Whilst I am not in any way promoting the teachings of this branch of Martinism or acting as their advocate, I fully identify with these thoughts and they resonate with the subject of this paper. In esoteric Christianity, the Pentagrammaton is the mystical "Christ" containing the four cardinal elements (Fire-Yod, Water-Heh Primal, Air-Vav, Earth-Heh Final) and the crowning Element of Spirit-Shin, which denotes the Spiritually Perfect or Complete person and transliterated Yeshua/Yeheshua. In this paper, I shall attempt to demonstrate that Christ Consciousness represents the ideal towards which every true Martinist strives. The term Christ is here used in an impersonal sense, as a principle, rather than representing any particular historical or religious figure. While the term Jesus (Yeheshua) is used to denote the full manifestation of the Christ Consciousness in a human vehicle. ______________________________________________________________
1

http://www.chivalricmartinistorder.org/

What is Christ Consciousness? Christ is the English of the Greek word (Christs), which literally The Anointed One. It translates the Hebrew word (Maa), usually transliterated Messiah. The essence and nature of the Cosmic Christ is universal. As one source [2] puts it: ..it is simply the REGENERATIVE and RECONCILING aspect of the force of pure Being and the Soul Essence within each one of us. Quoting further, we should make a distinction between the Cosmic Christ and the manifestation of the force that descends and unfolds through the channel of consciousness in an enlightened being. In other words, we should differentiate between an individualized expression of the Cosmic Christ and the Essence of the Cosmic Christ itself. To facilitate our task, we could begin by asking this question. What do we mean by an individualized expression of the Cosmic Christ? The answer is simply that it represents an enlightened and self-realized expression of pure Being. However, such a level of enlightenment can only manifest in a purified and well prepared vehicle, in which consciousness is awakened fully. By purified vehicle, we mean the purified physical, psychic and spiritual bodies in which the energy and characteristics of the Force of the Cosmic Christ become apparent. This Christ Force is an active and universal powerhouse that functions through "human vehicles" Gnostic Traditions: The Logos and the Christ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.. So begins the Gospel of St. John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Elaboration of the Gnostic concept of the Word is made in the book The Jesus Mysteries[3]. In the original Greek, the term here translated as Word is Logos. The concept of Logos is derived from the ancient mysteries. Christians personify the relationship between God and Logos as that between a father and a son. The Logos is Son of God. The Logos is God conscious of Himself. It is One Soul of the Universe which is conscious through beings. the the the all

2 3

http://www.hermetic-philosophy.com/christian_mysteries The Jesus Mysteries, Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy, Element, 1999.

The Christian philosopher Origen writes: As our body, while consisting of many members, is yet held together by one soul, so the universe is to be thought of as an immense living being, which is held together by One Soul the power and the Logos of God. By equating Christ with the Logos, St. John is making it clear that he is a personification of this One Soul of the Universe. Christ is in us all, because he is the essential divine nature we all share. From this perspective, the Son of God is not an historical figure who lived in time, but an eternal philosophical principle, for, as Origen writes, The Father did not beget the Son, but ever is begetting him. It is said that the life of Jesus represented the initiatory process leading to Christ Consciousness [Alice Bailey]. Initiation may be defined as the beginning of mans return to God. It is to quicken this realization and to hasten the path of return that the ancient mysteries were constituted. It is postulated that the Christian religion began as an adaptation of the ancient mysteries within a Jewish or Hebrew setting. As such the legend of Jesus Christ represents the archetypal Godman, who incarnates through the vehicle of the lower self, but resurrects in full consciousness of his higher self. In this respect, Jesus represents the story of the eternally dying (lower self) and resurrecting (higher self) God-man. Tau Malachi, a well known modern Gnostic of the Sophian Tradition, in his book Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ[4], observes that this transition from the assembly of the faithful (lower self) into the assembly of the elect (higher self)is represented by the Rosicrucian grade associated with Tiphareth, the lesser adept. Essentially, an initiate who is a lesser adept has passed through the first dark night of the soul, making his or her personality a vehicle of the indwelling Christ, so that he or she lives from within the Christ-centre. In the eyes of the lesser adept, he or she is the servant of the indwelling Christ in all activities of life, and thus does not live for him or her self, but lives in Christ and for Christ in all things. The life of the lesser adept is devoted to the great work the enlightenment and liberation of self and the uplifting of others. Is this not a Martinist Ideal?

Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ, Tau Malachi, Llewellyn, 2006

The Martinist Way We are told that Martinism is a form of Christian Mysticism. But it is only Christian in the sense that Malachi explains: The lesser adept is, in Rosicrucian terms, a true Christian a person who is like Christ. In essence, a true Christian (regardless of any particular faith or sect) is one who lives according to the divine will of the inner and higher self. Quoting Brother Joachim in a Martinist Yahoo post in April 2004,[Quote] If we define Martinism a) as the tradition of Pasqually b) that of Saint-Martin and c) the Work as adapted and promulgated from Papus and onwards, it is clearly a Christian tradition, though with distinct differences of "theology" (or rather theosophy) amongst the three. The main focus on the Trinity, I would say is found with Saint-Martin, but it is also clearly present with Pasqually. Both of them view Christ as the Logos, emanated from the Godhead at the beginning of creation. Saint-Martin sees these three principles as eternal and "selfbegotten", and the Logos as the articulated god incarnated in Jesus "the carpenter." Pasqually sees Christ more like an archetype, and portrays in his Treatise how this archetype manifests itself continually throughout the biblical history (OT) both in prophets and the patriarchs, such as Noah, Ezekiel and so on. Pasqually refers to these manifesting Principles as "types" which continue to make themselves revealed in an ever evolving Divine drama in us and amongst us. [Unquote] The aim of the Martinist is the full manifestation of this Christ Consciousness. The way of the Martinist is the particular use of the Martinist regimen study, meditation, prayer and theurgy to achieve this. As Martinists, may we ever dwell in the Eternal Light of Divine Wisdom as we make our way towards the achievement of full Christ Consciousness!