The Bridge to Freedom

Last updated

The Bridge to Freedom, an Ascended Master Teachings religion, was established in 1951 by Geraldine Innocente and other students of the Ascended Masters after she received what was believed to be an "anointing" to become a "messenger" for the Great White Brotherhood. [1] [2] This organization believed that their teachings had been given to humanity by the Ascended Masters. These were believed to be individuals who had lived in physical bodies, acquired the wisdom and mastery needed to become immortal and free of the cycles of "re-embodiment" and karma, attaining in this way their "Ascension". They considered the "ascension" to be the complete, permanent union of the purified outer self with the "I AM" Presence—meaning that true identity that is the unique individualization of God for each person. [3]

Contents

Beliefs

The members of The Bridge to Freedom claim that a Dispensation and Sponsorship was given by the Ascended Masters for this Ascended Master Activity to be an outer organization representing the "Great Brotherhood of Light", and a continuation of previous efforts by the Ascended Masters to bring Illumination to mankind through Theosophy, Agni Yoga, and the "I AM" Activity. [4]

The members of The Bridge to Freedom believe that Ascended Master El Morya contacted Geraldine Innocente in 1944 and asked her to make a certain application on a daily basis. The story is told that Morya returned one year later asking if she would consent to receive a series of Discourses from the Maha Chohan. Geraldine is said to have agreed, and she then underwent years of training in preparation for her role in the 1950s as a Messenger for the Ascended Masters, the Archangels, Cosmic Beings, the Elohim, and Others of the Spiritual Hierarchy. She served officially in the capacity of Messenger beginning with the inaugural Vesta Dictation on July 17, 1951, until her transition on June 21, 1961. [5]

The Bridge to Freedom claims that in 1952 the Ascended Master Saint Germain stated that:

" . . . It was never intended to start a 'new' Activity, but to broaden the field of service of the present Activity, by engaging the competent and willing service of lifestreams not presently allowed full expression of their talents in 'widening the borders of the Father's Kingdom.' Many hundreds of thousands of souls have not been privileged to receive the Instruction brought forth in My Name, due to barriers of language, limitation in the production and distribution of illuminating literature and the unhappy 'excommunications' which resulted from misunderstanding of a human nature. . . . A way and means by which We might reach the consciousness of the people had to be devised. 'The Bridge' was the solution to this problem. Mrs. Ballard was informed prior to any other individual of the purpose for which The Bridge came forth and was courteously invited to allow Us the opportunity of supporting her work and performing through other well qualified individuals the task of reaching other lifestreams than those presently blessed by the knowledge of The "I AM" Activity. . . . The Sun cannot limit its shining to one beam, nor the Love of God to one human consciousness, no matter how well attuned it may have been to the Vibrations of the Masters. The souls of men are our concern, all men, of all colors, all countries, because from the Flame in their hearts will come the Illumination which will make this Dark Star a Flaming Sun of Freedom. . . . " [6]

Purpose

It is believed that in September 1952, the Master Morya explained (through Geraldine Innocente) the purpose of the founding of The Bridge to Freedom:

" . . . The beloved Maha Chohan gave Me a limited Grant, saying that the response of the few whom I had chosen would determine whether I could continue such an association. With well justified trepidation, I endeavored to correspond with the most likely and promising of those who professed to love Us and Our Way. Their response made it possible for Me to continue this Endeavor. Now many good and fine lifestreams, like a golden chain, girdling the Earth, make it possible for Us to transmit the current Action of the Brothers around the planet and bless all life and stimulate all souls by this universal service. This is the purpose of The Bridge, The Bulletin, and this expanded service which is but a part of the one Plan, even as the foundation is laid and a beautiful Spiritual Edifice built thereon. Without the Hierarchy, the Earth would long ago have passed into oblivion, the electrons which compose it returned to the universe, and the souls depending upon it for existence snuffed out like candles before the wind. . . . " [7]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Jones, Lindsay (2005). "Church Universal and Triumphant; Breakaway groups // I Am". Encyclopedia of religion (second ed.). Detroit : Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 1781–1782, 4247. ISBN   0-02-865739-X.
  2. ↑ The Bridge to Freedom Journal Book 1 1952. Reprinted: Mount Shasta, California: The Ascended Master Teaching Foundation 1989
  3. ↑ King, Godfre Ray. The Magic Presence. Saint Germain Press 1935. page 89
  4. ↑ Partridge, Christopher ed. New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities Oxford University Press, USA 2004. Describes the Theosophical Society and religious organizations based on a belief in Ascended Masters, such as The I AM Activity and The Bridge to Freedom
  5. ↑ Luk, A.D.K.. Law of Life - Book I. Pueblo, Colorado: A.D.K. Luk Publications 1989, Summary of Ascended Master Teachings from 1934 - 1958 as released through The I AM Activity and The Bridge to Freedom. A. D. K. Luk was the pseudonym of Alice Beulah (Schutz) Booras ( April 10, 1905 - Jan. 14, 1994 )
  6. ↑ Luk, A.D.K. Law of Life and Teachings by Divine Beings - Volume I A. D. K. Luk Publications, 1978. pages 12 - 15
  7. ↑ The First Ray Reprinted: Mount Shasta, California: The Ascended Master Teaching Foundation 1986. pages 32 - 33

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Count of St. Germain</span> European adventurer, with a direct influence in science, alchemy and the arts

The Count of St. Germain or in French Comte de Saint Germain was a European adventurer who achieved prominence in European high society of the mid-18th century due to his interest and achievements in science, alchemy, philosophy, and the arts. St. Germain used a variety of names and titles, including the Marquis de Montferrat, Comte Bellamarre, Chevalier Schoening, Count Weldon, Comte Soltikoff, Manuel Doria, Graf Tzarogy, and Prinz Ragoczy. While his real name is unknown, and his birth and background obscure, towards the end of his life he claimed that he was a son of Prince Francis II Rákóczi of Transylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Universal and Triumphant</span> Esoteric religious organization

The Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) is a New Age religious organization founded in the United States in 1975 by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. The church is headquartered near Gardiner, Montana, and the church has local congregations in more than 20 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Clare Prophet</span> American religious leader (1939–2009)

Elizabeth Clare Prophet was an American spiritual leader, author, orator, and writer. In 1963 she married Mark L. Prophet, who had founded The Summit Lighthouse in 1958. Mark and Elizabeth had four children. Elizabeth, after her second husband's death on February 26, 1973, assumed control of The Summit Lighthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ascended master</span> Spiritually enlightened beings in Theosophy and New Age movements

Ascended masters in the Ascended Master Teachings of a number of movements in the theosophical tradition are held to be spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans, but who have undergone a series of spiritual transformations originally called initiations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Ballard</span> American religious leader

Guy Warren Ballard was an American mining engineer who, with his wife Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard, founded the "I AM" Activity.

Djwal Khul, is believed by some Theosophists and others to be a Tibetan disciple in "The Ageless Wisdom" esoteric tradition. The texts describe him as a member of the 'Spiritual Hierarchy', or 'Brotherhood', of Mahatmas, one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, defined as the spiritual guides of mankind and teachers of ancient cosmological, metaphysical, and esoteric principles that form the origin of all the world's great philosophies, mythologies and spiritual traditions. According to Theosophical writings, Djwal Khul is said to work on furthering the spiritual evolution of our planet through the teachings offered in the 24 books by Alice Bailey of Esoteric Teachings published by The Lucis Trust ; he is said to have telepathically transmitted the teachings to Bailey and is thus regarded by her followers as the communications director of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morya (Theosophy)</span> Indian religious leader

Morya, also spelt Maurya, is one of the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom" within modern Theosophical beliefs. He is believed by followers of Theosophism to be one of the Mahatmas who inspired the founding of the Theosophical Society and was engaged in a correspondence with two English Theosophists living in India, A. P. Sinnett and A. O. Hume. The correspondence was published in 1923 by A. Trevor Barker, in the book The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Germain Foundation</span> U.S. religious organization

The Saint Germain Movement is an American religious movement, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with a major facility just north of Dunsmuir, California in the buildings and property of the Shasta Springs retreat. There is also a facility in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in downtown Denver, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">"I AM" Activity</span> Ascended master teachings religious movement

The "I AM" Activity Movement is the original ascended master teachings religious movement founded in the early 1930s by Guy Ballard (1878–1939) and his wife Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard (1886–1971) in Chicago, Illinois. It is an offshoot of theosophy and a major precursor of several New Age religions including the Church Universal and Triumphant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entering heaven alive</span> Physically ascending into the afterlife without first experiencing corporal death

Entering heaven alive is a belief held in various religions. Since death is the normal end to an individual's life on Earth and the beginning of afterlife, entering heaven without dying first is considered exceptional and usually a sign of a deity's special recognition of the individual's piety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serapis Bey</span> The Ascended Master in charge of the Ascension Temple

Serapis Bey, sometimes written as Serapis, is regarded in Theosophy as one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom; and in the Ascended Master Teachings is considered to be an Ascended Master and member of the Great White Brotherhood. He is regarded as the Chohan of the Fourth Ray. C. W. Leadbeater wrote that Henry Steel Olcott was given occult training by Serapis Bey when his own master, Morya, was unavailable. A series of letters to Olcott, alleged to be from Serapis, encouraging Olcott to support Blavatsky in the founding of the Theosophical Society were published in the book Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom.

Paul the Venetian or the Venetian Chohan is one of the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom" in the teachings of Theosophy and is regarded as one of the ascended masters in the Ascended Master Teachings. He is regarded as the Master of the Third Ray. According to the Church Universal and Triumphant, his final life was his incarnation as the artist Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), after which he is said to have become an Ascended Master.

Master Jesus is the theosophical concept of Jesus in theosophy and the Ascended Master Teachings.

Geraldine Innocente was the founder of a New Age organization named The Bridge to Freedom which was established in 1951 by herself and other students of the Ascended Masters, after she received what was believed to be an Anointing to become a Messenger for the Great White Brotherhood in 1944. The Bridge to Freedom believes that its teachings have been transmitted to humanity by various Ascended Masters of the Great White Brotherhood. Ascended Masters are believed to be individuals who have lived in physical bodies, acquired the Wisdom and Mastery needed to become Immortal and Free of the cycles of "re-embodiment" and karma, and who have attained "Ascension". In this belief system, a Master is an individual who has passed the Fifth Initiation, whereas an Ascended Master is an individual who has passed the Sixth Initiation. "Ascension" is defined as the attainment of the complete, permanent union of one's purified outer self with one's "I AM" Presence. One's "I AM" Presence is literally each person's unique Individualization of God, and it is each person's True Identity.

The Great White Brotherhood, in belief systems akin to Theosophy and New Age, are said to be perfected beings of great power who spread spiritual teachings through selected humans. The members of the Brotherhood may be known as the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, the Ascended Masters, the Church Invisible, or simply as the Hierarchy. The first person to talk about them in the West was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Theosophy), after she and other people claimed to have received messages from them. These included Helena Roerich, Alice A. Bailey, Guy Ballard, Geraldine Innocente, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Bob Sanders, and Benjamin Creme.

A number of writers, some of whom were connected with Theosophy, have claimed that Francis Bacon, the English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist and author, was a member of secret societies; a smaller number claim that he would have attained the Ascension and became the Ascended Master Saint Germain.

In the teachings of Theosophy, the Manu is one of the most important beings at the highest levels of Initiation of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, along with Sanat Kumara, Gautama Buddha, Maitreya, the Maha Chohan, and Djwal Khul. According to Theosophy, each root race has its own Manu which physically incarnates in an advanced body of an individual of the old root race and physically progenerates with a suitable female partner the first individuals of the new root race. The Theosophical concept of the Manu is derived from the concept in Hinduism that the Manu was the being who was the progenitor of the human race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theosophy</span> Religion established in the United States

Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism, it draws upon both older European philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Indian originated religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard</span>

Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard, also known as Lotus Ray King, was an American theosopher who co-founded the Saint Germain Foundation and served a co-leader of the I AM Movement with her husband Guy Ballard. In 1944, Ballard and her son Donald Ballard were charged with mail fraud and their court case would eventually be ruled by the US Supreme Court as United States v. Ballard. Ballard's work with the I AM Movement is considered a predecessor to the current new age movement.

References


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.