QA244 QUESTION: In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Chapter 28, verses 18 to 20, Jesus is described as giving this final injunction to his disciples before parting with them: “All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

The early Christians faithfully followed these words, seeking to convey the Gospel of salvation through Christ to the entire world, even at the risk of their lives. Much of the Christian church, to this day, takes these words very seriously as defining its mission.

Could you comment on whether and why the early Church’s task was different from ours; on the meaning of Christ’s commission to his disciples, and the role of the Apostle Paul and other missionaries down through history in implementing it. Also on the evolution in human development to our own time which has made necessary a different understanding of our role in serving God’s plan. I feel your clarification of this subject might help to free me from old images or misconceptions that are not appropriate to my life now, but which on some deeper level I still fear and obey.

Yet in the New Age, it is clear that our tasks, at least on this Path, has nothing to do with such proselytization. My understanding is that our task is primarily one of individual self-purification, and of building a community, which manifests the Christ-consciousness through its transformation. We do not preach to others, but respect each individual’s beliefs and personal mode of development, sharing our process only when others demonstrate a specific, active interest. Yet I know that some of the old beliefs I grew up with about preaching and mission still have a deep root in me. To counteract them, I often do not share my Pathwork process even in situations where it would be appropriate.

ANSWER: You must understand that in the time of Jesus’ life, his teachings were revolutionary in many ways and it was necessary to have them widely heard. They were new concepts that man’s mentality had to familiarize himself with. At that time of general development and the evolution of consciousness, the inner and more subtle levels were not yet accessible to human awareness. The truth of Christ, the Christ consciousness, had to offer primarily new thoughts, new understanding, new vision of spiritual law and, many times, new actions and behavior.

As evolution proceeds and as a result of the tremendous impact of Jesus’ life on mankind, it proceeded faster than at any previous period of human life, and approaches have to change in order to be effective. What was then a divine act of risk and courage, what electrified the deeper thinkers and imposed the stretching of the mind into new dimensions, is today nothing more than a redundant confirming of often stale and rigidified authority.

If you proselytized then, not only the proselytizer, but he who listened and followed, took a risk for the truth. Today he would not be taking any risk, but he would be praised by authority who would find itself in the same role as the Pharisees then, who opposed the new concepts brought by Jesus Christ. Those who need the ever renewing truth of Christ most, who most sincerely search for deeper and now more appropriate ways, would be untouched and unhelped by the means that were then important and right.

Today, spreading the light of Christ can be accomplished by living eternal truths on the deepest most subtle levels, rather than merely by way of mouth. For this you require such a path as I show. When more and more individuals are spiritually mature and ready enough for such a venture, a new society will be created that will live more in accordance with the injunctions of the Christ consciousness.

For if you mouth these truths only superficially, you do not affect outer life in all its manifestations: human, social, political, economic. For this to happen, the inner person has to be deeply affected and penetrated, and that is, as you know, a long process. Only then does the Christ awaken within to lead the personality to new tasks in this new society. These tasks do not preach, but they set a new modality of living as an example.

QA245 QUESTION: Can you tell us more, at this time, about the spiritual vision of the functions of INAM?

ANSWER: The purpose and function of INAM is to bring all the knowledge and methods you are learning on this Path to the world who resists a direct spiritual approach, but who might sooner or later be more open to it through an approach that is more acceptable in terms of conventional thinking. In other words, God’s word often sneaks in indirectly.

You are the instrument for God’s indirect attack on human stubbornness that denies him and his truth and wisdom. Many will be drawn to you through these official channels. Some of these will remain outside the Path, but will incorporate as much of it as they can absorb and are capable of absorbing according to their own state of development. They, in turn, will influence those with a corresponding state of consciousness.

All these individuals will at least not obstruct or fight the true leaders of the New Age principles, the changes and the expressions of the Christ consciousness. They will be on the fringes, and they can help on their level. In their own way, they will be mouthpieces of God; they will smooth the way for those of you who are more directly involved with the process of creating a new society.

Among those drawn to you through the Institution, some will make the transition, as you already observed. But they too needed you and the official aspect of the Institution, to enable them to come this way. Some start as patients and then become Workers. Note the significance of these words. There is no coincidence in them.

When you are a patient, you must indeed be patient, which includes an attitude of passivity, receptivity, allowing, giving in and flowing. The patient follows the doctor’s instructions. He temporarily gives over all responsibility to the physician. If he is a good patient, he is doing exactly that.

When he becomes a Worker instead of a patient, what a world of difference lies in this! He is now truly on the road to assuming full self-responsibility. This difference should be made very clear. Recently some of you have been inspired to create new, alive rituals, indicating certain changes. I suggest that you incorporate this change and create new rituals that can be celebrated.

Many who are already Workers, still contain a part in themselves where they want to be patients. That is, they do not want self-responsibility yet. They object to the consequences of this attitude. They wish to have the same freedom and independence that they can only have when they are Workers, in the real sense of the word. Similarly, the patient also resents his lack of autonomy and freedom, but blames the authority-person, whom he chose to carry responsibility for him, for his lack of freedom.

It will be helpful if you have a concise, clear concept of this difference. It will help you approach each person or group with this vision in mind. Who is inclined to be drawn into the deeper commitment to God’s plan? Who would be ready, but resists? Who is not ready, but is perhaps ready for fulfilling a task of a preparatory and more indirect nature? Create your own better understanding of this difference: the direct and the indirect task. Consider these two modalities. Be clear about it. This clarity will help you a lot.

In the specific rituals to celebrate this change, this should be brought out clearly. After concluding this reading, it would be wonderful, my friends, if you could commune with your inner self and let God inspire you about all rituals you will celebrate, about what each specific one signifies, and how it should be conducted. Your combined inspirations will bring this new light into your community.

Let me use this instance as a further elucidation about the difference between the Path and the Institute. The more you all follow your true inner calling, the more directly, openly, unequivocally, unashamedly will you see that God is the source of all. As you serve him, and only him, you will consciously realize that you have a part to fulfill in the greatest scheme that could exist on this Earth.

Not everyone who enters this Path realizes this at the beginning. But sooner or later, if he follows through, he must realize it. Those who leave the Path, do so precisely because they do not wish to assume this responsibility for God. They do not feel up to it because they do not surrender totally to God. And, indeed, without doing so, it is impossible to undertake such a venture. Without Christ’s constant presence, guidance and intercessions in your life, what has been accomplished here could never have come to pass.

You who are on the Path will be directly instrumental in establishing new laws, new modes of interaction, new politics, new economics, new art, new religion, new healing approaches, new social relationships, by your example and by your actions and by your deep inner knowledge, which you live in your daily lives. Those who come to the Institute will be affected by all this in an indirect way.

The opening of your new Center in the city commemorates exactly this change of your whole community’s essential inner readiness to surrender to Jesus Christ in your daily work in order to dedicate your life to your task. With this new more intensely aware attitude, the blessings increase. The necessity for a house that combines and concentrates your work increases.

The double function of the Path – direct work for God – and the Institute – indirect work for God – is very meaningful and important. Both functions must be under the same roof. You will come to see this more clearly as this new phase further develops. Every single thing that happened in your lives led up to this new phase. Nothing is without a direct or indirect significance in this respect.

When I speak of all the new ways, I do not wish to imply that all the old ways are wrong now and no longer valid. Not at all. I will speak in my next lecture about the meaning of tradition – its positive and distorted aspects [Lecture #246 Tradition: It’s Divine and Distorted Aspects].

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