Introduction 

  

The conception of the Second Coming and the Nine-Fold Rainbow Path of Christ-Maitreya provides a basis for introducing some of the main features of the emerging New World Religion.  The ideas of the coming of a new human culture and the dawning of the New World Religion, integrating all spiritual paths, play an extremely important role in the spiritual life of humankind in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the book we quoted many spiritual Masters and Initiates - the Master P. Deunov, R. Steiner, D. Andreev, Alice Bailey and others - who predicted the emerging of the solar culture of love and the New World Religion.  Most of them pointed to Russia (and the Slav people) as the nation from which this great metahistorical event will take place.  For instance, in her book, The Destiny of the Nations, Alice Bailey proclaimed that 'out of Russia will emerge the New World Religion'.

 

 

Coincidently, the author spent eight years in Russia (undergoing graduate and post-graduate study in musicology and philosophy) and became acquainted with some of the most esoteric streams of the emerging Russian spiritual culture.  During the last months of his stay in Moscow he came across the extraordinary initiatic book The Rose of the World.  In it the great Russian mystic D. Andreev described many of the main features of the emerging new human culture and the integration of all spiritual traditions.  In Steps Five, Six and Eight we mentioned this extraordinary book and quoted some of the visions of D. Andreev about the New World Religion.

 

The author of the present book maintained his esoteric connections with friends in Russia and acted as a living bridge between the Teaching of the Master Peter Deunov from Bulgaria and the mission of the Rose of the World in Russia. On the one hand, he introduced the Teaching of the Master Peter Deunov to Russia (and especially the sacred dance Paneurhythmy) which laysthe foundation of the new human culture.  On  the other hand, in Bulgaria (in 1982), he received the vision of the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem which is directly related to the mystery of the Rose of the World in Russia. 

 

After finishing The Book of Resurrection (which describes the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem), the author went to the West and continued his spiritual work acting this time as a living bridge between the Eastern and Western European cultures.  He visited many countries - England, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany and the U.S.A. - and received messages about the mission of these countries and their role in the establishment of the New World Religion.  According to the Divine Plan, each nation has its own special role in the formation of the New World Religion (because this religion will be a planetary event experienced by all humankind), but certainly Russia (and the Slav people) has the task of initiating the New World Religion.

Now, in retrospect, it can be said that the conception of the Second Coming and the Nine-Fold Rainbow Path of Christ-Maitreya developed as a result of contact with many esoteric traditions in various countries.  The building of the conception reflected the subtle process of the dawning of the New World Religion envisaged in the Divine Plan.  This is why the present book allows us to introduce some of the main features of the coming New World Religion.

 

 

 

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 The Third Covenant 

 

In the Conclusion we will introduce some important features of the emerging New World Religion based upon the conception of the Second Coming and the Nine-Fold Rainbow Path of Christ-Maitreya.  The purpose of this section is, on the one hand, to summarise the ideas of the book and, on the other hand, to make some important clarifications, comments and observations about the coming New World Religion.

 

The new creative impulse from the Living God, who 'now makes all things new'  (Revelation 21:5), initiates the New World Religion.  This religion will be the integrated religion of humankind for the next two thousand years of the Epoch of Aquarius.  We could characterise this religion from the point of view of various spiritual traditions, from many different angles and archetypal structures.  For instance, from the Christian perspective, the new creative impulse from God which proclaims the New World Religion can be seen through the prism of the Holy Trinity:  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  The essence of God the Father initiates a New, Third, Covenant, the essence of God the Son initiates a New Gospel, and the essence of God the Holy Spirit initiates a New, Third, Testament.  Just as the three Persons of the Trinity refer to different aspects of the same mystery of God, the concepts of the Third Covenant, the New Gospel and the Third Testament characterise the same impulse from God for the renovation of the world but from the different aspects - the all embracive, the subjective and the objective aspect of this re-creative Divine Act (see Step Five, pp. 90 - 91).

 

Obviously, the precise theological introduction of these concepts requires a special and profound work which will be unfolded in the future.  Now these concepts are used to help us to better understand some of the main features of the New World Religion and to summarise the principle ideas of the book.

 

The new creative impulse from God establishes the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth, activates the Advent of the Second Coming and inaugurates the Nine-Fold Rainbow Path of Christ-Maitreya.  As we have already seen, the Rainbow Path is the Path which will bring humankind back to the Kingdom of God and will help us to establish the celestial reality here on Earth.  From a symbolic and metaphysical perspective we can say that through the Rainbow Path God blesses us with the Divine Rainbow of the Third Covenant.

The new Divine creative impulse comes at the End of Time.  The impulse itself is in the mind of God (beyond time), and the great  initiates  such as  St. John,  for  instance,  have  been  able  to contemplate  it as  a  revelation in the form of a Plan for the future, and a Divine Project for the evolution of humankind.  When the time comes, however, this Plan is activated and constitutes the new spiritual world order.  Now, indeed, the time has come for this vision to become a reality and to constitute the new metaphysics of the world.  Exactly why now is the time of the 'end of the old world order' we discussed in Part One, but here it is important to emphasise that when God's Plan becomes a Divine Action, it releases a tremendous apocalyptic energy which changes the world, gives a new impulse to the Earth's evolution and all the kingdoms of life on it, makes a New Covenant with humankind and inaugurates a New World Religion.

The New World Religion, through the New Third Covenant, will lead us to the apocalyptic explosion of the old world and the dramatic appearance of the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.  It is not a religion for people who are 'neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm'  (Revelation  3: 15-16).  It is a religion of Divine ecstasy, drama and re-creation - radiating with great intensity from the cosmic-spiritual Sun - God Himself.

It is this new creative impulse coming from the Living God that establishes the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.  It requires us to acknowledge and appreciate the mystery of the Divine Origin of Being not only through the archetype of God the Father, but through the archetype of God, the Divine Father-Mother.  The eternal Wedding between the two universal principles - the active, subjective, masculine, Father principle and the receptive, objective, feminine, Mother principle - is that which gives birth to the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.  This is why in the New World Religion we will worship God as our Divine Father and our Divine Mother.  They are in absolute union, harmony, interaction and inter-changeability, each simply emphasising a different side of one and the same mystery, while God the Absolute, the Ultimate Truth of Creation, embraces both.

So, in the New World Religion we will appreciate and worship the Absolute Origin of Being as well as its manifestations through the masculine and feminine principles, that is through the archetypes of God the Father and God the Mother.  Thus, the New World Religion will replace the patriarchal epoch in the spiritual life of humankind with the epoch of the Divine Wedding.  (In general,  the  patriarchal  period  was  an  important  and  necessary stage in human evolution following upon the previous matriarchal epoch.)  Now we can say that the New Covenant, proclaiming the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth, is being given to us by our Divine Father-Mother.

It is the Divine Wedding between the universal masculine and feminine principles, between our Divine Father and Divine Mother, which gives birth to the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.  We name this apocalyptic process the New Genesis.  In Step Five we discussed the idea of the cosmic-spiritual Cross created by Christ-Maitreya which constitutes the time-space co-ordinates of the new reality.  In Step Six we described the celestial work of the Divine Mother who creates the four Elements of the new reality and manifests the whole of Creation as a Divine Temple.  In the context of the idea of the New Covenant of the New World Religion, it is important to emphasise that the New Genesis takes place now, in the actual, dynamic, creative present, moving towards the future of God's activity.  According to Genesis, the opening book of the Bible, human beings appear on the sixth day after the Heaven and the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars and all plant and animal life on Earth were created - this is to say, the Divine Genesis had already actually happened and was in the past in relation to the creation of human beings.  Now, in the New Covenant, we are invited by God to witness the Genesis of the New Heaven and the New Earth, and not only to witness, but to collaborate and co-create with God.

So, the emerging New World Religion will initiate us into the mystery of the New Genesis and will put us in a different position in relation to Creation - at the very heart of God's creativity, in His Divine demiurgic present.  This shift from the static, crystallised, well-established Universe to a dynamic Universe in constant re-creation is a staggering phenomenon which will dramatically change the conceptions and the approach to God in the existing world religions.

Moreover, the actual participation in the New Genesis will transform the relationship of humankind with the Earth and all kingdoms of life on it.  According to Genesis which opens the Old Testament and gives the account of the First Covenant, when God created human beings, 'He put them in command of all living creatures on Earth'  (Genesis  1: 28).  After the Flood, He even told Noah that 'all the animals, birds and fish will live in fear of you'  (Genesis  9:2). Now, however, in the New Genesis, human beings are  invited  to  become  collaborators and co-creators with God and as  such  will  become  friends,  helpers  and  caretakers  of  the  kingdoms of life on Earth.  In the new epoch, the Divine task of humankind is to transform the Earth into a Garden of Paradise and to bring the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms to a new level of evolution.  In fulfilling this Divine task, humankind will establish a completely different type of relationship with the Earth and Nature and will become a major factor in their future spiritual evolution.  Only by establishing this new type of relationship will humankind accomplish its ultimate Divine function of mediating between God and the Earth with all kingdoms of life on it, as was envisaged from the beginning of time when God created human beings in 'His own image'.  The Divine mediatorship proclaimed by the New Covenant will be at the foundation of the New World Religion as one of the most important and inspiring goals.

The Rainbow which our Divine Father-Mother places in the etheric sky as a sign of this New Covenant with humankind is the great Rainbow of the creative Colour Rays of Light which emanates from the very Throne of God.  In their visions, the great Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel and the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ, St. John, describe this living Rainbow emanating from the Throne of God:

Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a man.  The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire.  It shone all over with a bright light that had in it all the colours of the rainbow.  This was the dazzling light that shows the presence of the Lord.  (Ezekiel  1: 26-28) 

There in heaven was a throne with someone sitting on it.  His face gleamed like such precious stones as jasper and carnelian, and all round the throne there was a rainbow the colour of an emerald.  (Revelation  4: 2-3) 

The Rainbow in these visions is a symbol given for the revelation of the living Colour Rays of Light which are the essence of the whole Universe: the whole of Creation is an ocean of Light, and the Colour Rays of the Rainbow, in their endless configurations of colours and intensity of vibration, generate the various spiritual worlds.  In his initiatic book, The Testament of the Colour Rays of Light, the Master Peter Deunov explained the mystery of the 'seven lighted torches burning in front of the throne which are the seven spirits of God'  (Revelation 4: 5).  They are the Seven Colour Rays of the Divine Spirit which manifest the ultimate essence of God as Divine Life, Love, Wisdom and Truth and give birth to the spiritual worlds.

So, the Divine Rainbow of the New Covenant refers not only to the magnificent Rainbow arc appearing in the sky as a sign of God's promise never again to harm the Earth with a flood, but is in fact much more: a column of living Rainbow Light stretching through the whole vertical structure of Creation and constituting its very existence.  This Divine Rainbow of the new Covenant which radiates from the Throne of God is a revelation about the mystery of the Universe and a blessing from the Living God for eternal Life, Divine Love, endless Wisdom and ultimate Truth.  The creative Divine Rainbow constitutes the whole of Creation as a magnificent Divine Temple and forms a dome of light within it.  This Divine Rainbow which builds the whole Universe now appears as the spiritual Rainbow of the New Covenant of God with humankind.

Furthermore, the Divine Rainbow of the New Covenant, that is the metaphysical Rainbow of the living Light which contains the secrets of the whole vertical structure of the Universe, traces our path of ascension up to the Throne of God and down to the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.  In almost every spiritual tradition we can find myths and legends which depict the arc of the physical rainbow as a dream-path for ascent to Heaven.  The emerging of the Divine Rainbow of the New Covenant will transform these legends and myths into a reality.  This Rainbow traces the Nine-Fold Rainbow Path and leads us to the highest Divine world.  We can compare this Rainbow with a gigantic cosmic-spiritual ladder which marks the steps of humankind's ascent to the Kingdom of God.  Each one of these steps is an enormously vast domain for spiritual work leading to transformation, illumination and transfiguration.  In other words, the Divine Rainbow of the New Covenant is both the Path itself and the living Light on the Path.  This is why the Rainbow of the New Covenant is, on the one hand, a very inspiring, exciting and delightful image, but, on the other hand, an actual, constructive and creative Path full of endless spiritual potential.

The Rainbow of the New Covenant confirms the presence of God in the life of humankind.  The living Colour Rays of the Divine  Rainbow are  the very  substance of  the  reality of  the  New Heaven and the New Earth.  This reality in essence is woven by the myriads of configurations of the Colour Rays.  Thus, the Rainbow of the New Covenant is the fulfillment of the cherished dreams  of all Masters, Saints and Prophets who anticipated the time when the Lord God Almighty Himself would live with His people forever.

The followers of the New World Religion, with whom God makes His New Covenant, could be called 'Rainbow People on Earth'.  For them the metaphysical Rainbow of the New Covenant will become a sign of the ultimate Truth of Creation and a  blessing for immortal life.  For the followers of the New World Religion the  Rainbow of the New Covenant will become the indication that the Kingdom of God is coming on Earth and that they will live in the presence of God forever.