Aligned to the axis of the solstices, which on one side ignites the direction to the mystery of the galactic Centre and, on the opposite side, to the constellation of Orion, the cosmic Osiris, symbol of resurrection and analogous to the Christ, we celebrate today the Sun entering into Cancer, the Sign of birth and generation, which encapsulates the whole question of Rebirth: the main incentive [that stimulates the Ego to experiment in the form] is sacrifice and service to those lesser lives that are dependent upon the higher inspiration (which the spiritual soul can give) and the determination that they too may attain planetary status equivalent to that of the sacrificing soul.
With Heaven in our hearts, let us therefore solemnly sound forth into the living Space, bearer of the Universal Consciousness, the Christic assertion associated with this Sign*:
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
‘I am the Bread of life’ is one of the Formulas, words of Power, that the Master of the Masters affirmed in his First Advent 2000 years ago, when he manifested, also on a human or earthly level, according to the indications of the occult Tradition, the cosmic Christ Principle (Buddhi in Sanskrit, the divine Soul).
In particular, this affirmation is taken from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, the evangelist referred to as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’ and defined in this way not only to bear witness to Jesus’ love, but to signify that closeness to the great Master, with love, devotion and reverence, allows everyone to discover the beauty of recognising themselves in such a relationship and thus becoming that ‘disciple loved by the Master’.
And this becomes clear the instant one welcomes the powerful Words of the Master into one’s heart:
«Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.» …
«Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.» …
«I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst… I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me… Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life»… These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, «… It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.» (John – 6, 27-64)
And furthermore:
«Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son… I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you… Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.» (John – 14, 12-26)
Each one of us, by identifying ourselves in this relationship of divine Love, can be part of that Bread, and, ‘in His image and likeness’, we can break up and distribute ourselves as bread to multiply the Good and the Wisdom of the Heart, the Beautiful and the Harmonious, the True and the Communion.
What does bread of life mean?
Pope Francis responded with these words:
We need bread to live… Jesus reveals himself as bread, that is, the essential, what is necessary for everyday life; without Him it does not work. Not one bread among many others, but the bread of life. In other words, without him, rather than living, we get by: because he alone nourishes the soul… he alone makes us feel loved… he alone gives us the strength to love and, he alone gives us the strength to forgive in difficulties; he alone gives that peace to the heart that it is searching for; he alone gives eternal life when life here on earth ends.
In this expression: “I am the bread of life”, he truly sums up his entire being and mission. This will be seen completely at the end, at the Last Supper. Jesus knows that the Father is asking him not only to give food to people, but to give himself, to break himself, his own life, his own flesh, his own heart so that we might have life… In the Gospel, however, rather than being amazed, the people are scandalized… They think: “We know this Jesus, we know his family. How can he say, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven’?”… God became man to enter into the concrete reality of this world; to enter into our concrete reality, God became man for me, for you, for all of us, in order to enter into our life… Jesus wants this intimacy with us… Jesus will be at the table with us and we will be fed by a greater love… (Angelus of August 8, 2021)
This Bread is par excellence the Sacrament of love. It is Christ who offers himself and breaks himself for all and asks us all to do the same, so that our life may become bread that feeds our brothers and sisters.
The symbolism of bread can be found throughout the Old and New Testaments and up to the present times, since today, more than ever before, the great problem of giving bread, the symbol of nourishment, to a hungry world is felt strongly: not only bread for the body, but above all bread for those who hunger and thirst for Truth and Justice, Goodness and Harmony, for Values.
In this regard, here are some excerpts from the esoteric Teachings that can enlighten our thoughts:
… the present period in which human beings (in large groups) can take the first initiation corresponds to a situation in which bread is the major interest of men everywhere. Humanity will pass through this “birth” initiation and manifest the Christ life on a large scale for the first time during a period of economic adjustment ofwhich the word “bread” is but a symbol… The unfoldment of the Christ life—as a result of the presence and activities of the second divine aspect of love—will result in the ending of economic fear, and the “house of bread” will become the “house of plenty”. Bread—as the symbol of material human need—will eventually be controlled by a vast group of initiates of the first initiation—by those whose lives are beginning to be controlled by the Christ-consciousness, which is the consciousness of responsibility and service. These initiates… will be present in their millions by the time the year 2025 arrives. All this re-orientation and unfoldment will be the result of the activity of the seventh ray and of the impact of its radiation upon humanity. The seventh ray is, par excellence, the medium of relationship. It brings together the two fundamental aspects of spirit and matter. It relates soul and form and, where humanity is concerned, it relates soul and personality. (Alice A. Bailey, Rays and the Initiations, pp. 570-571)
A point that we need to grasp is that each successive initiation brings about a more complete unification of the personality and the Ego, and on higher levels still, with the Monad. The whole evolution of the human spirit is a progressive at-one-ment. In the at-one-ment between the Ego and the personality lies hid the mystery of the Christian doctrine of the Atonement… At-one-ment on all levels—emotional, intuitional, spiritual and Divine—consists in conscious, continuous functioning. In all cases it is preceded by a burning, through the medium of the inner fire, and by the destruction, through sacrifice, of all that separates The approach to unity is through destruction of the lower, and of all that forms a barrier…
Man becomes a conscious Ego, with the consciousness of the higher Self, at the third initiation, through the instrumentality of the Masters and of the Christ, and through Their sacrifice in taking physical incarnation for the helping of the world. (Alice A. Bailey, Initiation, Human and Solar, pp. 18-19)
… bread and water are the symbols of these first two initiations; both are basic essentials for life in the physical sense, and are equally basic in their implications spiritually; this the initiate knows. These two initiations are the only two of significant importance at this time, owing to their relative immediacy. It is the return of the Christ which has brought these subjective spiritual tendencies of mankind to the surface and made these two initiations possible; it is the activity of the seventh Ray of Order and of the sixth Ray of Idealism which has generated the tendency in humanity towards the white magic of right human relations… It is the passing out of the Piscean Age with its type of energy, and the coming into power of the Aquarian Age (with its potent purificatory energies and its quality of synthesis and universality) which will make the new world order possible. (Alice A. Bailey, Rays and the Initiations, p. 584)
… the universality of the water of life will become a factor in human consciousness… (Alice A. Bailey, Esoteric Astrology, p. 566)
The ancient symbol for the sign Aquarius (into which our Sun is now entering) is that of the Water-carrier… The great spiritual achievement and evolutionary event of that age will be the communion and human relationships established among all peoples, enabling men everywhere to sit down together in the Presence of the Christ and share the bread and wine (symbols of nourishment). Preparations for that shared feast (symbolically speaking) are on their way, and those preparations are being made by the masses of men themselves, as they fight and struggle and legislate for the economic sustenance of their nations, and as the theme of food occupies the attention of legislators everywhere. This sharing, beginning on the physical plane, will prove equally true of all human relations and this will be the great gift of the Aquarian Age to humanity. (Alice A. Bailey, The Reappearance of the Christ, p. 80)
In the Aquarian Age, the Risen Christ is Himself the Water-Carrier; He will not this time demonstrate the perfected life of a Son of God, which was His main mission before; He will appear as the supreme Head of the Spiritual Hierarchy, meeting the need of the thirsty nations of the world — thirsty for truth, for right human relations and for loving understanding. He will be recognised this time by all and in His Own Person will testify to the fact of the resurrection, and hence demonstrate the paralleling fact of the immortality of the soul, of the spiritual man. The emphasis during the past two thousand years has been on death; it has coloured all the teaching of the orthodox churches; only one day in the year has been dedicated to the thought of the resurrection. The emphasis in the Aquarian Age will be on life and freedom from the tomb of matter, and this is the note which will distinguish the new world religion from all that have preceded it. (Alice A. Bailey, The Destiny of the Nations, pp. 150-151)
And as the Master of Agni Yoga says:
Spread the grains of the Teaching little by little… Inspire the consciousness of your brother with an imperceptible touch, brought to him as his daily bread. Expose and understand his wrath and quench it with goal-fitness. Affirm him in the joy of realized containment. Beware of manifesting miracles to him, but reveal to him the co-measurement of that which passes into the Infinite. Abolish special holidays, and make of life a perpetual holiday… (Agni Yoga § 83)
One can strengthen the effect of one’s actions by saturating space. This can be done by projecting one’s personal will; but an expanded consciousness will intensify one’s sendings by linking them with the consciousness of the Teacher. The expanded consciousness never regrets the past, because each new moment is broader than one’s entire past. Likewise, such a consciousness does not yearn for places visited in the past, because each new place, illumined by consciousness, is more beautiful than the old. Thus, the realization of a new and beautiful place, together with knowing one’s Teacher, is a guarantee of new creation. Can there be any path more beautiful than that of building the foundation for the stronghold of the Teaching of Life? The Star shows the way. Walk unwaveringly! (Agni Yoga § 433)
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* See introductory article: Celebration of the 12 Christic Assertions
See the calendar of all the celebrations online (passages into the 12 Signs and Solar Festivals of the full and new moons 2023 – in UTC hour) – with related links:
Online celebration dates 2023
The videos of the online ritual Celebrations of the Entries into the 12 Signs with the Christic Assertions are available at the following Playlist:
Ritual·e · Rituel – Zodiac 2023.
