5. Do Hagar’s (followers of Hurley), deny the Gospel/Persona of Jesus?
Explanation:
1. What Is An Age?
According to Levi in the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ:
Astronomers tell us that our sun, and his family of planets revolve around a central sun, which is millions of miles distant, and that it requires something less than 26,000 years to make one revolution. His orbit is called the Zodiac, which is divided into twelve signs, familiarly known as Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. It requires our Solar System a little more than 2,100 years to pass through one of these signs, and this time is the measurement of an Age, or dispensation . . . It is conceded by all critical students that the sun entered the zodiacal sign Taurus in the days of our historic Adam when the Taurian Age began; that Abraham lived not far from the beginning of the Arian Age, when the sun entered the sign Aries. About the time of the rise of the Roman Empire the sun entered the sign Pisces, the Fishes, and the Piscean Age began, so that early in this Age Jesus of Nazareth lived (1969, pp. 9-11).
2. What Is The Aquarian Age?
Levi continues that:
The human race is today standing upon the cusp of the Piscean-Aquarian Ages. Aquarius is an air sign and the New Age is already noted for remarkable inventions for the use of air, electricity, magnetism, etc. Men navigate the air as fish do the sea, and send their thoughts spinning around the world with the speed of lightening.
The word Aquarius is derived from the Latin word aqua, meaning water. Aquarius is, however, the water bearer, and the symbol of the sign, which is the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, is a man carrying in his right hand a pitcher of water.
Jesus referred to the beginning of the Aquarian Age in these words, “And then the man who bears the pitcher will walk forth across the arc of heaven; the sign and signet of the Son of Man will stand forth in the eastern sky. The wise will then lift up their heads and know that the redemption of the earth is near” (Aquarian Gospel 157:29, 30). The Aquarian Age is preeminently a Spiritual Age, and the Spiritual side of the great lessons that Jesus gave the world, may now be comprehended by the multitudes of people, for the many are now coming into an advanced stage of Spiritual Consciousness (1969, pp. 9-11).
I believe that the man, who was carrying the pitcher of water in his right hand, was none other than Father G. W. Hurley, and he was ushered into the world February 17, 1884, at seven o’clock a.m. and under the sign of Aquarius. Because of his being born at this special time according to the traditional tenets of Astrology, Hurley was pre-ordained to learn of the deeper truths of God.
3. Who Was Father G. W. Hurley?
I believe that Father G. W. Hurley is the leader of the Aquarian Age. I believe that Hurley was born at the proper time to be the leader of this Age, just as Adam, Abraham, and Jesus, were the leaders of the Taurian, Arian, and Piscean Ages respectively. In each age God has sent a messenger who reveals His will to us, and gives us teachings that reveal His spiritual principles, and it is therefore true of this Age also.
4. Why Do I Call Upon Father G.W. Hurley?
I shall begin this answer with a quotation from an essay entitled, Worship and Meditation. According to its author Swami Prabhavananda:
Brahman [God], absolute existence, knowledge and bliss, may be compared to an infinite ocean, without beginning or end. As through intense cold a portion of the ocean freezes into ice, and the formless water assumes form, so, through intense love of the devotee, the formless, absolute [God] infinite existence manifests itself before him as having form and personality. But the form melts away again with the rise of the sun of knowledge . . . “Truth is one, sages call it by various names.” There are an infinite number of facets . . . To the Infinite God . . . He can be loved and worshipped and meditated upon through any of these facets. Some worship Him as the inner light—the sorrowless light within the shrine of the heart. Others worship Him as a personal being, “the repository of the infinite blessed qualities.” Others worship Him as “God the Father”, or “God the Mother.” Others again worship Him in His incarnations as Krishna, Buddha, [Jesus], or Ramakrishna. He is with form and without form; He is personal and impersonal, and beyond; He is absolute existence, absolute knowledge and absolute bliss; and He is the indefinable, inexpressible reality.
Sri Ramakrishna gave the illustration of the water in the ocean. It is formless. But, when vessels of many shapes and sizes are dipped into the water, the water assumes the forms of the vessels. What is contained in them is the formless water. Similarly, though God is indefinable, inexpressible, predicateless, the various ideas of God, are, as it were, the form and expressions assumed—and they contain nothing but the inexpressible, indefinable truth. There is a Hindu prayer which says: “They call you by so many names; they divide you, as it were, by different names, yet in each one of these is to be found your Omnipotence. You are reached through any of these” (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1951, pp. 106-107).
Now back to the question at hand, why do I call upon the name Father G.W. Hurley? I believe, that, within Hurley all of the qualities of the Godhead were expressed boldly. Hurley realized his oneness with God and all life. Hurley can be compared to that point in that infinite ocean of God, where the ocean is frozen, and the formless water takes on form, so that we may identify with the inexpressible God. When I call upon Hurley, I am not calling upon Hurley the man, but God. To further illustrate this point, I would like to bring to you the story of a man named Bayazid, an old Sufi saint or sage.
Yogi Ramacharaka in his work on the Philosophies and Religions of India states that:
One day the old sage passed into an ecstatic condition, in which he attained Cosmic Consciousness, Union with God, Ecstasy, Samadhi, Illumination, or by whatever name men chose to call that wonderful state. Awakening therefrom, and still under the spell of his vision of Oneness, he cried aloud to his disciples: “Lo! I myself am God almighty. There is none other God besides Me!” His disciples were horrified, and when their Master had fully recovered, they told him of the blasphemy he had uttered. Bayazid replied: “Oh! Woe is Me! If I blaspheme again, straightway slay me!” And his disciples sharpened their knives for their holy task, for so they considered it.
Once more the Master passed into Samadhi, and cried aloud: “Within my robe there is none but God—wherefore seek you him or heaven or earth?” The disciples, overcome with horror, and in accordance with the Master’s orders, straightway plunged their blades into his body. But, the legend concludes: “Their knives were turned back upon their own bodies, and they perished, for they had raised their hands upon the Divine Spirit within the Master which inspired the speech.” And then Bayazid explained to the remaining disciples that his Personality had vanished during his ecstasy, and he saw that his form was but “a mirror faintly reflecting the form of God.” And that when the disciples wished to strike him with their knives, they saw only the Mirror, reflecting their own faces (not seeing God, and Bayazid having vanished) and so their knives struck themselves (1909, pp. 216-217).
The importance of the story is to show you that in Father Hurley’s latter days, he had only a faint trace of personality left, so as, the people around him would be able to identify him. Other than that, he, Father Hurley, dwelled in a constant realization of his Oneness with God. Thus, I hope you can understand Father Hurley saying that, “I Am God, why look for Him elsewhere?”
5. Do I deny the Gospel/Persona of Jesus?
While I do not implore the name of Jesus as the central theme in my temple services or prayers, I do not deny His gospel or persona. I know that Jesus was a great spiritual leader, mystical teacher, and healer. I believe that He was the leader of the Piscean Age. And I believe that Jesus is the son of God. Yet, the good thing is Jesus said that we all are sons of God (Spirit), if we follow His teachings. Also, I believe that, Father G.W. Hurley, did not come to destroy the gospel of Jesus, but to fulfill it, the same as, Jesus came to fulfill the prophesy of Abraham and the prophets before him. And I know that in this day and age, Father Hurley is teaching the same