THE AQUARIAN FOUNDATION: The Monthly Instructions
Description
The twelve Instructions in THE AQUARIAN FOUNDATION: The Monthly Instructions were issued in 1927 and 1928, and contain a concise summary of the teachings that Brother XII considered essential to his spiritual work.
The content of the Instructions ranges from the conduct of an Aquarian Foundation group meeting to the teachings of Jesus to the truths underlying the ancient Egyptian Mysteries. In the Instructions, Brother XII also vigorously defends his work from the attacks made upon it by his critics, including Alice Bailey and Manly P. Hall. In the December, 1927 Instruction, in a scenario reminiscent of a Star Wars movie, he gives a detailed explanation for how to repel and disintegrate the “Brothers of the Shadow” should they seek to gain entrance to an Aquarian Foundation group.
In typically dramatic fashion, Brother XII writes of Christianity: “Let the axe go to the root of the tree. The personal idea of a Christian god is false." His critique of Christianity is grounded in his own upbringing in a fundamentalist sect and his vast knowledge of the Bible; he asserts that “Nature is the Garment of God,” stating that any religious teaching which is at variance with the established facts of Nature is a false doctrine: “Nature is the material vesture of unseen Spiritual Forces—Forces which in their aggregate constitute a portion of That which men, for want of a better word, call God."
Brother XII’s discussion of the early life of Jesus and his contention that he was educated in Egypt by Initiates is especially fascinating; in this section, he invokes The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, a work he held in high regard. He recognizes Jesus as a Master, but is disparaging of organized religion, repeatedly stressing that humanity must free itself from the fetters of blind religious belief before the acquisition of real knowledge is possible.
Brother XII is perhaps most eloquent when he discusses the ancient Egyptian Mysteries and the role he anticipated their restoration would play in the spiritual regeneration of mankind, referring to Egypt in 50,000 BC: “It was during that period in which Egypt was the world-center of civilization and learning that man achieved his truest and highest perception of his relationship to the Divine Worlds,” adding that these Mysteries would guide humanity for thousands of years to come; they were called “Egyptian” because “that is the form through which they were made manifest to men in their greatest purity and perfection.”
To those who might wonder where he obtained such knowledge, Brother XII explains: “To write these words, I recall to the mind scenes and events separated from the present day by many thousands of years and that lie within the compass of individual knowledge; they are the woof and warp of consciousness. I write of those things in which I have borne a part, and in these things at least, I speak with ‘authority.’"
THE AQUARIAN FOUNDATION: The Monthly Instructions provides considerable evidence of that authority. Though Brother XII reiterates that humanity is engaged in a final struggle between the forces of good and evil, he remained optimistic about the outcome: “The Mysteries are to be restored—the “Woman,” the soul of man is about to arise from the sleep of ignorance and indifference into which it has so long time fallen; the darkness of accumulated centuries is to be dispersed. The “house,” the human mind, is to be swept clean of its errors and superstitions. Thus, and only thus, shall men find “that (knowledge) which was lost,” the Pearl of great price—man’s knowledge of Himself.”
The content of the Instructions ranges from the conduct of an Aquarian Foundation group meeting to the teachings of Jesus to the truths underlying the ancient Egyptian Mysteries. In the Instructions, Brother XII also vigorously defends his work from the attacks made upon it by his critics, including Alice Bailey and Manly P. Hall. In the December, 1927 Instruction, in a scenario reminiscent of a Star Wars movie, he gives a detailed explanation for how to repel and disintegrate the “Brothers of the Shadow” should they seek to gain entrance to an Aquarian Foundation group.
In typically dramatic fashion, Brother XII writes of Christianity: “Let the axe go to the root of the tree. The personal idea of a Christian god is false." His critique of Christianity is grounded in his own upbringing in a fundamentalist sect and his vast knowledge of the Bible; he asserts that “Nature is the Garment of God,” stating that any religious teaching which is at variance with the established facts of Nature is a false doctrine: “Nature is the material vesture of unseen Spiritual Forces—Forces which in their aggregate constitute a portion of That which men, for want of a better word, call God."
Brother XII’s discussion of the early life of Jesus and his contention that he was educated in Egypt by Initiates is especially fascinating; in this section, he invokes The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, a work he held in high regard. He recognizes Jesus as a Master, but is disparaging of organized religion, repeatedly stressing that humanity must free itself from the fetters of blind religious belief before the acquisition of real knowledge is possible.
Brother XII is perhaps most eloquent when he discusses the ancient Egyptian Mysteries and the role he anticipated their restoration would play in the spiritual regeneration of mankind, referring to Egypt in 50,000 BC: “It was during that period in which Egypt was the world-center of civilization and learning that man achieved his truest and highest perception of his relationship to the Divine Worlds,” adding that these Mysteries would guide humanity for thousands of years to come; they were called “Egyptian” because “that is the form through which they were made manifest to men in their greatest purity and perfection.”
To those who might wonder where he obtained such knowledge, Brother XII explains: “To write these words, I recall to the mind scenes and events separated from the present day by many thousands of years and that lie within the compass of individual knowledge; they are the woof and warp of consciousness. I write of those things in which I have borne a part, and in these things at least, I speak with ‘authority.’"
THE AQUARIAN FOUNDATION: The Monthly Instructions provides considerable evidence of that authority. Though Brother XII reiterates that humanity is engaged in a final struggle between the forces of good and evil, he remained optimistic about the outcome: “The Mysteries are to be restored—the “Woman,” the soul of man is about to arise from the sleep of ignorance and indifference into which it has so long time fallen; the darkness of accumulated centuries is to be dispersed. The “house,” the human mind, is to be swept clean of its errors and superstitions. Thus, and only thus, shall men find “that (knowledge) which was lost,” the Pearl of great price—man’s knowledge of Himself.”
