An Esoteric Advent: Advent and the Second Coming

The Second Coming

As we've discussed, Advent means "coming." In it we remember and re-live the First Coming of Christ. But we also prepare for his Second Coming. 

Now, it's probably the case that modern Christians, particularly if they are of the esoteric bent, either don't think about the Second Coming much, or don't want to think about it. But there really is no getting around it-- It's a central part of the Christian tradition as a whole, and a central part of Advent in particular. In the Christian tradition, Jesus is coming again, at an hour unknown to us, to judge the living, and the dead, and the world by fire. 

So let's talk about the end of the world.

The Final Judgment

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
 

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

 

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

 

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

 

15 And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Apocalypse 20:11-15

The perspective of this blog is that the Bible is Myth, and the Christian tradition must be understood mythically.

As I'm fond of repeating, Myths never happened, but always are.

That is to say: A myth is a story which expresses a fundamental principle of nature, human life, or reality itself in a form the human mind can grasp.

When we understand the teachings of the Christian tradition mythically, and then apply them as guides to spiritual practice, we have what we call Occultism or Esotericism.

How To Understand the Second Coming Esoterically -- And How to Misunderstand It

If myths never happened, but always are, then the end of the world is something that is always happening. 

On some level, we all know this. The only constant in our world under Heaven is change. Think of your own life-- Is it different now from the way it was ten years ago? One year ago? How about a month ago? How about last week? I bet if you think about it, it isn't even the same as it was an hour ago. Sometimes the changes that we're talking about are very big. I have friends and loved ones who were alive ten years ago but are no longer with us today; on the other hand, I have other friends who I had not yet met, and family members who had not even been born! I bet you do too.  All change is an ending. The places, people, habits, thoughts and emotions, even the larger cultural patterns that characterize are world, and that truly are our individual worlds, are changing, and ending, all the time. All change is a kind of death, a kind of apocalypse.

The mystic traditions of the East refer to this constant process of change and dissolution as anicca, or impermanence. The awareness of anicca is a central feature of many Eastern systems of spiritual development. The proper response to anicca is detachment from impermanent things, which is to say, from all things. Attachment leads to dukkha, or suffering. This must necessarily be the case, as all the objects of our attachment are always melting away, always dying. 

Now, many Eastern systems stop at this point, framing the goal of the spiritual life as the awareness of anicca and the release from attachments in general.* In the West, we have always had a different approach. The Western Mysteries say that, yes, everything in the world of Becoming is characterized by anicca, impermanence, but there is a world beyond the world of Becoming. This is the world of Being, which is permanent. The correct objects of our attachment are not the illusory things of the world of becoming, but the real things of the world of Being. 

It's actually more correct to say that there are many worlds beyond the world of Becoming, each a little more stable, solid and permanent. Above, beyond, beneath, and upholding it all is the One, that eternal permanence beyond even Being itself by which all the worlds are held together, and from which the great fire of existence constantly pours through creation. In Christianity we call this power God the Father.

We say that Christ is returning. For those who are ready, his arrival will be as the arrival of the bridegroom at the wedding feast. For those who are not ready, his coming will be as the coming of a thief in the night. 

This is not meant to terrify us; God isn't an abusive father coming home to beat us up if our room isn't clean. These images are tools and they are meant to teach us. How do we live, and who do we become, if we live in the awareness that Christ could return at any moment? If, at any moment, the book of life will be opened, and we will be judged according to our deed?

The Unpredictable Apocalypse

There are some ends-of-the-world that we can predict. Cycles exist in history and astrology; we can see them coming, have a sense of their general shape and tenor, and plan accordingly. Strauss and Howe accurately predicted that a generational crisis was coming to America, way back in 1996. Now, no one knew the exact shape the crisis would take-- and we still don't, as it is still unfolding, all around us. In the same way, nobody in the middle of September knows exactly what Winter will be like that year. Will it be long and cold, snowy and wet, warmer than usual? We can't know that in advance, but we can know that Winter will come, and prepare accordingly.

There are other apocalypses that cannot be predicted. You never know when a sudden economic downturn will put you out of work, or a natural disaster will render large parts of your state or country uninhabitable. You never know when you'll get that phone call telling you that someone you love has died. The only way we can prepare for these crises is by maintaining ourselves in a constant state of readiness, by forming and maintaining conscious contact with God, and the Heavenly world.

A Word to the Wise

By the way-- never doubt that the end of the world could also simply happen, exactly as your Catholic grandma or your fundamentalist neighbor thinks it will. If the last few years haven't taught you that you have no idea what's really going on in the world, you haven't been paying attention. And besides that-- it's the central claim of the Christian religion that, at a particular moment in time, the world of Myth erupted into the world of History. This is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Did it really happen, as a historical event? I think so, but I also think it's far more important to understand it as Myth than as History. That said, if it can happen once, it can happen again. 

Meditation

During Advent, we unite ourselves with the changing tides of Nature in order to prepare our spirits for the return of Christ. 

At least on Fridays during Advent, perform the following meditation.

1. Opening

A. While seated in front of your altar or prayer space, with a candle lit and incense burning (if you like). Begin with the Sign of the Cross. Remember to do this slowly and reverently. 

B. Say the Our Father, Three Hail Marys, and the Glory Be.

C. If you like, perform the asperges with holy water and censing with incense, as described in the post on Advent Sunday.

2. Profession of Faith

Return to your seat, and make a profession of faith suitable for you and your practice. Here are several options:

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

 

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the Only Begotten Son of God,

born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation

he came down from heaven,

 

and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and became man.

 

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,

he suffered death and was buried,

and rose again on the third day

in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

and his kingdom will have no end.

 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

 

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins

and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Confession of Faith of Saint Patrick

There is not, nor ever was, any other God – there was none before him and there shall not be any after him – besides him who is God the Father unbegotten: without a source, from him everything else takes its beginning. He is, as we say, the one who keeps hold of all things. And his Son, Jesus Christ, whom we declare to have always existed with the Father.

 

He was with the Father spiritually before the world came into being; begotten of the Father before the beginning of anything in a way that is beyond our speech. And ‘through him all things were made’, all things visible and invisible. He was made man, and having conquered death was taken back into the heavens to the Father.

 

‘And he has bestowed on him all power above every name in heaven and on earth and under the earth, so that every tongue may confess that our Lord and God is Jesus Christ’. In him we believe, looking forward to his coming in the very near future when he will judge the living and the dead, and ‘will repay each according to his works’.

 

And ‘the Father has plentifully poured upon us the Holy Spirit’, the gift and pledge of immortality, who makes those who believe and listen into ‘sons of God’ the Father and ‘fellow heirs with Christ’.

 

This is whom we profess and worship, One God in Trinity of sacred name. Amen.

The Profession of Faith of the Liberal Catholic Church

We believe that God is Love and Power and Truth and Light;

that perfect justice rules the world;

that all His sons shall one day reach His feet, however far they stray. 

 

We hold the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man,

we know that we do serve Him best

when best we serve our brother man.

 

So shall His blessing rest on us and peace for evermore.

 

Amen.

3. Confiteor

Now is the time to make a humble confession of your sins. When doing so, remember the purpose of Confession. It is not to harm us. It is to heal our souls by, first, removing any foreign element; second, restoring the soul to its original wholeness; and, third, re-aligning the soul with the path of spiritual evolution whose summit is God Himself. 

You can do this simply by calling to mind your sins, and then praying one of the formulae given below. Afterward, take a moment to imagine a current of holy fire descending from Heaven. Imagine it pouring into you, burning away the black impurities of sin, and restoring you to wholeness.

Roman Catholic Confiteor

I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed: through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our God for me.

May almighty God have mercy on us*, and, our sins being forgiven, bring us to life everlasting. Amen.
 

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins. Amen.

Liberal Catholic Confiteor

O Lord, Thou hast created us to be immortal and made us to be an image of Thine own eternity; yet often we forget the glory of our heritage and wander from the path which leads to righteousness. But Thou, O Lord, hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are ever restless till they find their rest in Thee. Look with the eyes of Thy love upon our manifold imperfections and pardon all our shortcomings, that we may be filled with the brightness of the everlasting light and become the unspotted mirror of Thy power and the image of Thy goodness; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, bless, preserve and sanctify us; may the the Lord in his loving kindness look down upon us and be gracious unto us; may the Lord absolve me from all our sins and grant unto us the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

*In both these versions of the Confiteor I'm preserving the first person plural form from the mass, in order to remind us of the fact that we are never alone in this journey. If it feels more appropriate to you to use the first person singular-- that is, "I," "me," in place of "we," "us"-- please do so.

4. Meditation on the Second Coming

Now is the time to enter into meditation. Do this as described previously, first taking time to relax your body and still your energy with a few minutes of rhythmic breathing. 

Then, call to mind the images from the Book of Revelation from the beginning of this post. See the return of Christ; imagine it happening tomorrow, or next week-- or right now. Imagine the Book of Life being opened, and your deeds read out before the assembly of Heaven and Earth. Who are you, at this moment? How have your actions shaped your present life? Who were you intended to be? What place have your works in this life merited you in the next? 

Remember that the "next life" is a term with many meanings. It means the eternal fate of your immortal spirit, once all of time is over and done. It means your next incarnation, which will allow you to work out the consequences of your actions in this life and learn from any mistakes you may have made and failed to correct. It means the life that you will live from the moment you get up from your meditation chair and begin the rest of your day. Who will you be? Who are you meant to be?

Call to mind that healing, divine fire that descended during the Confession. Who will you be-- now that have been restored to wholeness and the grace of God?

5. Closing

Take a moment to visualize the best possible outcome for all of the various next lives that you will live. Pray that it may be so, and ask for the guidance of your Guardian Angel. Pray that, as the austerities of Advent prepare you for the coming of the Christmas season, so too you may be willing to suffer what you must in this life, for the sake of the next. This is also a good time for any other particular prayers or devotions you may want to add.

Afterward, return for a few minutes to simple, rhythmic breathing, awareness of the presence of God. Close with a suitable prayer and the Sign of the Cross.