How Easter Is Celebrated in Paradise

THE WAY OF THE GRAIL – SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS – April 4, 2021

Czech original: Jak Jsou Slaveny Velikonoce V Ráji · cesta-gralu.cz

Many earthmen who profess the Christian faith are convinced that, just as the Easter festival is celebrated here on earth by believing people, and far more magnificently still, these festivals must be celebrated in the regions of Paradise

They suppose that precisely this time is the greatest summit of the celebrations of the Holy Creator and of his Divine Son Jesus Christ

The fulfilment of these celebrations is then to be the extolling of the great sacrifice of God the Father carried out upon his Son, for thereby, according to their conceptions, mankind was forever redeemed from sin by the Love of God

The supposition about the greatness of these celebrations taking place in this connection in heaven itself rests precisely upon this, that in the eyes of earthly Christians it is all a confirmation of the incomprehensible all-love of God the Father shown for the rescue of mankind

Who else, according to them, should celebrate this redemption most of all than those who have already been raised into heaven and, surrounded by hosts of angels, look up to God's throne

How greatly these people are mistaken, without having any inkling of it

But those also are mistaken who suppose that the spirits who upon entering Paradise truly came to know the Light of God's Wisdom and were permitted to cleave more closely to the Truth look down upon the celebrations of the Christian Easter festivals on earth merely as the expression of some blind faith of straying earthmen

Mistaken too are all the zealous holders of the Truth who suppose that earthly mankind must be regarded by the spiritual inhabitants in the Light only as worthy of condemnation if it resorts to its formal divine services

Oh, how very different everything is in the spiritual worlds, so different that earthmen are almost wholly unable to picture it

The spiritual world is in many directions above all completely remote from the thinking of earthmen, and thus at this time of the earthly Easter we find in the spiritual worlds anything but a close resemblance to the earthly celebration of these festivals

Paradise is filled with spirits who live a blessed joy in the vibrations of the Light without needing for it any tie to the earthly world

It is also necessary to realise that the material community of Ephesus, to which this universe belongs, is only one of several world-communities which were created by the Light for the grace-filled development of human spirits in the materialities

It also holds good that everything regarded as important in earthly terms gradually fades in the consciousness of all the spirits who went forth out of Ephesus and may already dwell in Paradise, for their consciousness at last withdraws from the narrowly binding connection with the Subsequent Creation

Only souls in the ethereal planes, which from time to time draw near to the earth in their still narrowed outlook of soul, experience in the ethereal planes of Ephesus a certain resemblance to the earthly festivals, no matter of which religion they are representatives

It is always the same, for in the ethereal planes of soul a certain reach of all religions is to be found, with which souls in their conviction enter the beyond and there also seek to hold fast to them

If therefore some mediator from the beyond speaks of Christmas, of Easter, or of the further festivals of other religions being celebrated in heaven, such as the Jewish or the Muslim feasts, or if it be the celebrations of the eastern confessions of Buddhism, of Hinduism and of many others besides, then it is certain that this proclaimer still finds himself within the boundaries of the ethereal worlds which bind him to the world-community of Ephesus, to which this earthly world with its various philosophies and religions also belongs

It means that such a visitor from the beyond does not approach earthmen directly from Paradise

Only when the spirit ascends still higher, even above the brightest regions of the material planes, does its most living spiritual nature gradually withdraw from everything belonging to the Subsequent Creation, within whose boundaries of matter the paths of all the immersed spiritual sparks unfold, which here in their experiencing gain their maturity

The spiritual Paradise, which is a reality and not merely a supposition of immature souls dwelling in the planes of ethereal substance, of which not seldom many souls suppose after their arrival in the beyond that they are already heaven, opens a completely different kind of perceiving and thereby brings an outlook which unfinished souls lack

In Paradise, in its glorious manifoldness, there is also so very much else that is more attractive, that the past of the spirits, together with what they experienced as important in their earlier conviction, dissolves into a consciousness resembling only something long ago, which remains a distant echo

Of course, if anyone in the spiritual world longs to recall anything from his past, then at once, to such a spirit, any moment from the material experiences of earlier paths arises before his gaze in the most living, distinct form

It then stands at once before him as something immediate, if he has thus longed for it

But there are only few spirits who wish to return to the past, for in it they see for the most part only the mistakes arising out of their immature conduct

At the same time, everything that urges earthmen to a close bond with this life in its joys and apparent pleasure has already fallen entirely away from the spirits in Paradise, and they have no need of any such bond

In their earlier paths they thus see only the necessary experiencings which were to lead their spiritual spark to an ever brighter, living expression of intuitive perceiving

In this awareness they give thanks to the Creator and to his wise Laws, which formed these earlier paths so that the spirit might ripen and enter into the state of its true full value, which it finds only in the spiritual Paradise

This full value rests in the constant experiencing through the inner being, that is, through intuitive perceiving, which in the earthly world is very much pushed into the background

In Paradise this intuitive perceiving is the very nature of the spiritual life of each of the inhabitants here, and so there is no longer any need to return to the time of the earlier struggle for something which in the experiences gradually became the complete possession of the spirit

Thus only through the glowing through of all volition by intuitive vibrations in the first place, which is identical with the possibility of entering the spiritual planes of Paradise, do there open to such a spirit prospects of which souls upon the path of their development do not dream even in the smallest part

The inhabitants of the spiritual planes of Paradise live in the moment of the present and in it find the most opportunities for the fulfilment of their being in tasks which bear high earnestness and at the same time bring the highest sense of happiness

They then have no need to go back, for the present offers them many times more fulfilling experiencing of joy and of the blessed awareness that they are permitted to be

If therefore one of the spirits nevertheless turns his memories back to the times of his development, then it is in order that he may attune himself more to some soul which still finds itself in the Subsequent Creation and sees many happenings still quite differently from those who are already at home in the spiritual world

Such spirits of course work in Paradise, and through further helpers working beneath them they are connected with those people on earth who strive to open their inner being to higher, nobler impulses

They rejoice therefore at every stirring of the intuitive inner being of earthman which leads him to a higher comprehension of the principles upon which the whole work of Creation rests

To these principles belongs the striving for a pure and just living of man under all circumstances of earthly conditions, in which the inner being of man ever more grasps and experiences the meaning of the Law of giving and taking in the spirit of the words spoken by Christ

That is the most precious thing that is welcomed in man, and if together with it the thoughts of earthman fly to the Son of God and to his Word, then joy vibrates through these helpers in Paradise, for they may recognise that such a man is walking the right path upwards to the spiritual homeland

For this, however, these helpers, who from time to time are inclined in their service towards the lowlands of the materialities of Ephesus, are not to support any liturgies or forms of divine service, yet at the same time they have no reason to hinder them, for they know that the earthly conditions of thought among men cannot be changed otherwise than through the gradual awakening of those who are more intuitive, who truly wish only good for their fellow-men

If the experiencing of an earthly divine service holds within it at least a trace of liveliness, then the possibility of working for these helpers inclined towards the earth is all the greater, for then they can bring the vibrations of Good and of Light to human inner beings thus opened

But of such spirits as devote themselves to this direct work there is in Paradise only a certain number, and these always have some reason or mission for this kind of service, to work towards earthmen in Ephesus

Paradise itself, however, is filled with spirits whose past development is bound up with other parts, with world-communities or otherwise with communities of the materialities, and for these the festivals of Easter as understood on earth are something more remote

One thing alone unites all the blessed spirits in Paradise, and that is the awareness of the presence of the Ray of the Son of God, Jesus, who at that time descended into the depths of Creation, being sent upon this journey by God the Father

His ray passed in haste through the spheres of all parts of Creation in order to immerse itself into the materialities of Ephesus for the saving of the further continuance of this world-part

Together with him there also immersed themselves into the materialities a small host of those who were to accompany him upon His earthly pilgrimage, as those who could better grasp with earthly senses his Word of Truth

Short, however, was this path of the anchoring of the Ray of Jesus in a gross material body on earth

Short, only very short, was the struggle of the Son of God for the awakening of human souls

Thus, seen from above, after a very brief time following this immersion, Jesus returned to the spiritual Paradise, for mankind did not receive him, and during the persecution by the darkness roused up against Jesus by Lucifer, not even those closest to him on earth did anything essential for his protection in the material body

Freed by earthly death from the gross material covering, the Ray of the Love of God in Jesus thus rose upwards to the spiritual Paradise, to abide there a short time before, through the opening of the heavens under the effect of the working of the Holy Spirit, his Ray was permitted to return to God the Father

This time was for the inhabitants of Paradise a time of supremely blessed being, for here the Love of God could give to the finished, mature human spirits with full hands the gifts out of the Graciousness of God

And all who dwelt here at that time received with fervent joy this time of God's nearness as an influx of the most blessed glowing through of their very selves

At that time the Light in the spiritual Paradise blazed up in a peculiar lustre of happiness, in which many almost lost their consciousness

Jesus dwelt a short time in the gardens of Montsalvat, and everywhere his Ray stepped it brought, as a self-evident happening, the intensifying of every beauty and splendour of these places

The Garden of Loving-Kindness, over which the noble stewardess Rosanea – or otherwise the Rose Maiden – presides, filled itself with the most magnificent blossoms of red roses, and the whole temple of this garden was filled with the peculiar fragrance of these blossoms

This fragrance remained here for a long time, and it returns again whenever the highest handmaiden unites herself in prayer with the Love of God

The gardens at that time overflow with fulfilling happiness, and this vibration permeates the host of handmaidens and passes onward into the other places of Paradise, to all who at that time are open to this kind of fulfilment out of the Loving-Kindness of God

This happens at the time when through the whole work of Creation there flows this peculiar Grace of God, streaming through Maria into the halls of the castle of the Grail in Primordial Creation and thereafter flowing down to the Island of Roses, which also lies in the heights of Primordial Creation

As an echo there is then borne at this time into all planes the remembrance of the Love of God the Father, which in the Divinely unsubstantiate separated itself and let the Ray of the Son of God, Jesus be formed

This time is experienced as the glorious uniting of the work of God through the remembrance of His Love

To this happening there corresponds in the earthly year the time which is connected approximately with the time of the Christmas festival

At the time of the earthly Easter, however, it is different, for this time is bound up with the joy of the return of the Son of God out of the materialities, which through his entry he saved, thereby making possible the continuance of their cycle, in that he anchored in Ephesus the Light of His Father as a connecting link which made it possible that no further part of the materialities in the Subsequent Creation should collapse

Mankind was not redeemed at that time, for anything of the kind is excluded because of the free will which every human spirit has upon its path through existence

Yet a rescue was anchored which made possible the further development in the Subsequent Creation, in which the small planet Earth formed the anchorage for the boundary of the Light which was brought by the presence of the Son of God in the body

This happening is significant, more significant than mankind has any inkling of

It is a confirmation of the All-Wisdom of God, which guides the worlds so that the paths unfolding under its influence lead finally only to the victory of the Light in the whole work of Creation

At the immersion of the Ray of the Son of God, Jesus into Creation, when upon his way to the materialities he passed through the spiritual Paradise of the blessed spirits, all of these knew already in advance that Jesus would with certainty bring the victory over the darkness

He brought the victory for the liberation of the materialities

Not, however, through being crucified in order to redeem mankind, as many believers think, but through entering upon his task at the appearing of the dove above him, after the immersion by John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan

This happening was the victory of the Light of God, and for all the working of the animistic servants it was an important proclamation that God the Father had sent his Son to set a landmark, in whose fulfilment lay the promise of the rescue of the material worlds from their beginning in the fine spheres of ethereal substance down to the world-part of Ephesus

The inhabitants of Paradise took part in this great happening, and therefore their view of the path of the Son of God, Jesus is bound up with this earnest landmark

The events connected with the further earthly path of Jesus were perceived as a great struggle for the human souls themselves, for whom through the presence of the Ray of the Son of God, Jesus there arose the opportunity for a great rebirth and ascent to the Light

This held good for the individual and for mankind as a whole

The wisdom of God always brings in one happening many connected events

Thus the sending of the Son of God, Jesus, brought far more than merely the striving itself for the awakening of earthly mankind

Although it has become established thus, Jesus was not sent by his Father only for the sake of small earthmen, but for the sake of the whole great cycle of Creation, in which the working of the failed Lucifer had caused heavy damage in the turning gearwork of the materialities

Their complete collapse into destruction was threatening

Against this state an act of rescue out of the Light had to be carried out, for this was possible only through the intervention of a Ray itself proceeding from the Divine Source

In this rescue, in which Jesus by his gross material coming marked out the boundary to which exactly the direct effect of the Light of God reaches, it was self-evident that at the same time Jesus brought the liberating Word of Truth for earthly mankind, because that was part of his sending into the materialities

In his nature, which was set apart out of the Love of God, this course was only a natural part of this great act of rescue

Men could have gained from it for themselves the most precious thing when they were in his nearness

Yet the darkness sown by Lucifer had bitten its way into mankind, and together with the spiritual lukewarmness, which is just as harmful for the human spirit in the materialities, there was finally prepared by mankind a path for the Son of God which, filled with dregs and pain, led step by step to the dreadful end upon the cross

The Easter time never became any automatic redemption or liberation for mankind, nor for anyone who becomes a believer only outwardly

On the contrary, at the time when the Ray of Jesus rose upwards to the Paradise of human spirits, angels went before him, who in pain bore the tidings of the failure of the human spirits in the materialities, for with a few exceptions they had hardly recognised at all the Light and the Truth in the Son of God on earth

Thus sorrow first seized the inhabitants of the spiritual worlds, and righteous wrath permeated many of the knights of Montsalvat, yet all this was afterwards wholly overcome by the nearness of Jesus, who, as has already been mentioned, brought within himself into Paradise for a short time the blessed splendour of the presence of the Loving-Kindness of God for all the spirits there

All pain over the human spirits in the materialities was also covered over by the knowing recognition that the incarnation of Jesus had of itself already brought the great message of the rescue of the materialities of the Subsequent Creation

The path of Jesus was a victory and brought a new prospect of the ways of God's guidance of the worlds

It was a victory of the Light of God, upon which the coming of the Son of Man followed through his subsequent incarnation into this earthly world

The Son of Man brought the release of the Judgment and thereby anchored the dividing line ending one great part of the cycle of the materialities of the Subsequent Creation

This release of the Judgment is still in progress and will last a certain time before it is fulfilled for the confirmation of the validity of the Holy Word for all souls in the materialities

And God the Father himself will bring about at a certain time the fulfilment of all happenings, when there will be no other sound than the ringing of the words “It is finished!”

At that time the true Easter will dawn for mankind, for those who remain preserved will be able to look up to the new time on earth as to that promised Kingdom of God on earth

Blessed are they who will still be able to incarnate on earth thereafter, that they may swiftly lay aside all that still binds them to matter and thus complete their ascent

Then they will be able to ascend above the cycle of the circling materialities of the Subsequent Creation, and the gate of entry into the spiritual planes of Light will open to them, which will become for them a blessed homeland with all the splendour that dwells there

For earthmen the celebration of the Easter festival has meaning only if their inner being opens and in a trembling lets something truly coming from the heights of the spiritual planes draw near

Only therein is contained the promise of the true experiencing of this time as the spirits helping earthmen from the planes of Paradise expect it

This, however, requires a real experiencing of God's greatness through intuitive perception, in a deep and at the same time joyful awareness that the work of Creation lies in the hands of God's guidance of the paths of all creatures, and that if man walks along these paths in his intuitive attunement purely, fervently and justly towards his fellow-men, then all helps are always near to him

In this attunement lies for the individual earthman the fulfilment of the promise of the resurrection of his spirit

This is because his inner being can unite with the luminous heights and draw from them for itself strengthening out of the way in which the joyful sublimity of being is experienced in those heights

If anyone holds fast to this state of intuitive attunement so that he too may stand at all moments of his life always joyfully in the pure nobility of his deeds, then there opens before him self-actingly the promise of ascent to the gates of Paradise when his time here on earth one day ends

An example of this may be for him the experience of that spirit who was crucified in an earthly body beside Jesus

His recognition of Jesus in his Divine origin, and at the same time his fervent plea for the intercession of Jesus with his Father, made it possible, in a mighty blazing up of fervent surrender to the grace of God, that the words spoken by Jesus might ring out: “Verily I say to thee, this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise”

These words of Jesus were a fulfilment, as the answer to the fervent transformation of the crucified one

In an accelerated happening, in the acceptance of all the hardships which pressed painfully upon the soul and the body of the crucified one, all that still remained to be redeemed could be laid aside

And in the same way every man can experience this union with the Son of God, so that in the complete acceptance of all his guilt he may make in a single moment great progress upwards to the heights of Light

That will then be the true thing to which the spirits summon who incline helpfully out of the bliss of Paradise, to call and rouse earthly mankind to the true awakening, which rests above all in an inward waking, in the resurrection of the spirit, so that this may then manifest itself self-actingly in all the earthly conduct of this man

That is the true message from Paradise, summoning each of men to the opening of his intuitive receptivity

Whoever experiences the time of Easter thus draws near to that which is experienced continually by the luminous spirits in the blessed planes of Paradise

Man, do this, let a pure, earnestly meant striving towards the Light awaken fully within you

If you do so, then a part of the radiation which bears within it through all the planes of Creation the Spirit of Christ will be able to draw near to you