The Balance of Sorrow and Joy

PEACE THAT PASSES UNDERSTANDING

KRISTINA KAINE

There is a peace that passes understanding;

it abides in the hearts of those who live in the eternal.

These words were first prayed publicly by Alice Bailey[1] . They have been a special part of my life for more than twenty years. My spiritual mentor, Rev Mario Schoenmaker, used them as a blessing after the celebration of the peace-making ritual of bread and wine.

Peace is a deep mystery which we cannot understand with our intellect. It entwined the Last Supper, it whispered in the Gethsemane garden and it resounded from the Golgotha cross.

There is a King of Peace at the beginning of the Old Testament. When Abram returned from war[2] he was met by this King of Peace called Melchizedek, who brought out bread and wine. Melchizedek was at the same time a Priest of the Most High God. This Priest-King we meet again in the incarnation of the Cosmic Christ.

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchiz'edek. For this Melchiz'edek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. Hebrews 6:19-20 & 7:1-2

The separation of the roles of priest and the king occurred because of the separation of spirit and matter in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden also speaks of the separation of the sexes unless you believe orthodox religion and accept that women were made from Adam’s rib!

The cry for peace always identifies a division. The most pervasive division in the world is that of male and female. Can we have peace as long as human beings are male and female? Do we need to meet with more restraint the external urge to unite the masculine and feminine? Will this assist us to express the fusion of masculine and feminine within us? Are the divisions that we must navigate simply a test?

Orthodox religion seeks to reinforce the division of masculine and feminine. The Vatican has denounced feminism for trying to blur differences between men and women “In order to avoid the domination of one sex or the other, their differences tend to be denied.”[3] . This is externalising the internal process that is reversing the separation of the sexes in the Garden of Eden.

Jesus Christ, the Priest-King, the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek[4] , spoke about peace in various and sometimes confusing ways;

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; Luke 12:51 or a sword Matt 10:34

The division or sword is part of the plan. If we can meet the test without fear and with a trouble-free heart we will hear the greeting of peace from the lips of Christ; “Peace be with you”. Not just as a thought, but the actual words will sound in our being and we will accept peacefully what others fear.

Consider the king, he rules his physical domain and guides and guards his subjects. Consider the priest, the spiritual counsellor whose task it is to reconcile people to God. Today, these roles have been transformed; the king is the government and the priest is the psychologist. We are encouraged to mindlessly relinquish ourselves to their guidance. In so doing we surrender our individuality. Submission does not bring peace, resistance brings peace; an inner resistance to our instincts, mastered on a daily basis.

My mentor often spoke of peace, he would pray, “Lord I do not ask that you take away my troubles but rather that you give me the strength to bear them.” He put the question of peace in these words about balancing sorrow and joy.[5]

“What would you call karma? Karma is that which strives to develop within you the acceptance of that which is. To go against karma is to lose your serenity, your peace and the balance of your emotions. Thus, in the acceptance of that which is, one uses one’s self discipline and will in order to overcome the karmic consequences of the past.

For instance, when sorrow or pain comes upon you, or when you experience joy and gladness, what do you feel? Do you fight against your sorrow, your disappointments, your failures to achieve something that is unachievable … or do you say to yourself: I shall not lose my peace because of this situation? As I have mentioned to you before, an occultist is neither extremely sorrowful nor extremely joyful. An occultist is sorrowful and joyful at the same time, keeping therefore the balance within self.

So we could say that when our own sorrows, or the sorrows of another come upon us, we must be fully aware that in a certain higher sense we, ourselves, have given occasion for the pain and the sorrow that we experience. If we become aware of that then we develop within ourselves the acceptance that this is how it is. In the acceptance there comes a certain experience of joy. For in that joy and sorrow the human being can express its feelings.

Let me also say that joy or gladness is not karmic. They are the gift of the Gods. They belong to the future. So if you experience joy, gladness, satisfaction etc. then you have what I would call a bank account for the future. One therefore, by nature, must never reject the joys that come one’s way. Laughter should be one of the greatest assets of the occultist.

When I investigate karma, when I go into the akashic records then I understand from the psychological point of view why you behave the way you do. It has nothing to do with your parents or your circumstances. What you have to learn, and it is a discipline, is to accept gratefully every blow that comes your way. After the initial shock has passed, kneel down and say, “Thank you God, that is what I needed”, instead of fighting against it. We are the cause of our own karma; surely I do not have to reiterate this.

The joys that come your way assist you to experience your will levels. Through the joys, the gladness and the laughter, your will ‑ not your emotions ‑ is stimulated. … Every time you have a violent outburst, every time you become angry, your will is weakened. It strengthens your astral not your will. Peace strengthens your will; not arguments, not wanting to win over the other person by hook or by crook. Let the other person win; they will be the weaker for it.”

We can see from these words that life’s difficulties call us to strive for peace. The emphasis is on the striving rather than the peace. Higher consciousness honed through the continual restoration of peace. Furthermore, the instinctual and habitual struck by the lightning of consciousness. Then our experiences become bittersweet.

The separation in the Garden of Eden is resolved in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Real Self resounds in our being. Peace can never be an agreement to ignore disparities; peace is a fusion, the uniting of the self with the Real Self when masculine and feminine also fuse within us. This truth echoes in the words of James Lowell in his Grail poem;

Not what we give, but what we share-
For the gift without the giver is bare;[6]

We accept the etheric presence of the High Priest which reconciles us to the Real Self. When the Priest and the King are reconciled within us we will experience this peace that passes understanding.

May the Holy Ones,

whose pupils you aspire to become,

show the light you seek,

give the strong aid of their compassion

and their wisdom.

There is a peace that passes understanding;

it abides in the hearts of those who live in the eternal.

There is a power that makes all things new;

it lives and moves in those who know the self as one.

May that peace flow through you,

that power uplift you,

till you stand before that great Initiator,

and see his light shine forth.

So shall it be.

Kristina Kaine belongs to an Australian Esoteric Christian Movement where she is a Priest after the Order of Melchizedek. She has been a student of the esoteric and occult mysteries for 25 years. She studied with the Reverend Mario Schoenmaker, who was trained in Europe as an Occultist in the Rosicrucian tradition. He was her spiritual mentor for fourteen years prior to his death in 1997.

[1] Alice Bailey1880-1949 Esoteric Philosopher

[3] August 2004 A letter to Roman Catholic bishops entitled On the collaboration of men and women in the Church and the World.

[5] Lecture 46 on the Book of Hebrews, Rev Mario Schoenmaker