On the threshold of a new world religion

4. The truth of the continuing revelation

Central to all World Religions is the faith that God, in moments of deep world crisis, reveals Himself through His emissaries. Whether we call these divine messengers Gods sons, prophets, wise men, enlightened souls, initiates, or avatars, history shows that they step forth every time mankind has a need for a new divine revelation. This truth is related to our faith in the grace of God. He is love and wisdom, and He always responds to our prayers. Proofs of this law are the Sons of God, who have stepped into incarnation to lead man from darkness to light and from death to immortality.

It is because of this truth that the Hindus await Vishnu's last incarnation as the Kalki Avatar . Krishna, who is one of Vishnu's ten incarnations, says in the Bhagavad-Gita: " Whenever there is a withering of the law ... and an uprising of lawlessness on all sides, then I manifest Myself. For the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of such as do evil; for the firm establishing of the law I come to birth in age after age. He who thus perceives My birth and work as divine, as in truth it is ... he goes to Me, Arjuna ." (4, 7-8)

The Christians await the Second Coming of Christ. The last words of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew is: "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (28, 20)

Shakyamuni Buddha has foretold that when His teaching begins to decline, there will come a new Buddha, who will restore what has been lost through the years. Therefore the Buddhists await the Fifth Buddha, the Lord Maitreya, who will step down from the Tusita Heaven and appear to mankind.

Analogously, the Muslims await the appearance of Imam Mahdi, and the Jews the Messiah.

According to the esoteric teaching, we are now moving into a period of time, in which the Great World Teacher, known under the names mentioned above, is preparing to step forth.

5. The truth of our kinship with one another

The truth that we have emerged from the same divine source, that in each human heart there has been planted a divine seed that with time unfolds itself to became a perfect Son of God; this is the basis of all true brotherhood. When Christ was reproached for calling Himself a Son of God, He quoted the Old Testament: "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are Gods?" (Johs 10,34). We are all Gods in the make, borne by the highest principles, and as these principles are realised in each human soul, true human relations arise. Religion that doesn't lead to right human relations doesn't lead to God.

The three last truths are not new, but they haven't received as much attention in the traditional religions as they will in the New World Religion.