CRT:2:5 Man, created from earthly substance alone, could not know things not of Earth, nor could Spirit alone subdue him. Had man not been created, who would have known God's wisdom and power? As the Spirit fills the body of man, so does God fill His creation.
CRT:2:6 Therefore, it was that God saw something had to be which joined Earth and Spirit and was both. In His wisdom and by the creative impulse which governs the Earth, He prepared a body for man, for the body of man is wholly of Earth.
CRT:2:7 Behold, the great day came when the Spirit, which is God, was joined with the beast, which is Earth. Then, Earth writhed in the labour of travail. Her mountains rocked back and forth, and her seas heaved up and down. Earth groaned in her lands and shrieked in her winds. She cried in the rivers and wept in her storms.
CRT:2:8 So man was born, born of upheaval and strife. He came wretchedly and tumultuously, the offspring of a distraught Earth. All was in discord, snow fell in the hot wastelands, ice covered the fertile plains, the forests became seas. Where once it was hot, now it was cold and where no rain had ever fallen, now there were floods. So man came forth, man the child of calamity, man the inheritor of a creative struggle, man the battleground of extremes.
CRT:2:9 Earth nurtured man with cautious affection, weaning him in the recesses of her body. Then, when he was grown sufficiently to be lifted so he walked in the uprightness of God, she took him and raised him above all other creatures. She led him even into the presence of God, and she laid him on His Great Altar.
CRT:2:10 A man imperfect, of earthly limitations, a thing unfinished, ungainly and unlearned, but proudly was He presented to Earth's Creator. Not her first-born was man, the son of Earth, the grandchild of God; man the heir of tribulation and the pupil of affliction.
CRT:2:11 God saw man, the offering of Earth to her Lord, unconscious on the High Altar, a sacrifice to Him and a dedication to the Spirit of Fate. Then from out of the unfathomable heights and from behind the impenetrable veil, God came down above the Altar, and He breathed into man the breath of Eternal Life. Into his sleeping body, God implanted a fragment of Himself, the Seed of a Soul and the Spark of Divinity, and man the mortal became man the heir of God and the inheritor of immortality. Henceforth he would have dominion over God's earthly estate, but he also had to unravel the Circles of Eternity, and his destiny was to be an everlasting seeking and striving.
CRT:2:12 Man slept, but God opened the Great Eye within him, and man saw a vision of unsurpassed glory. He heard the voice of God saying, "O man, in your hand is now placed the tablet of your inheritance, and My seal is upon it. Know that all you desire within your heart may be yours, but first it is necessary that you be taught its value. Behold, the Earth is filled with things of usefulness; they are prepared to your hand for a purpose, but the task is upon you to seek them out and learn their use. This is the tuition for the management of your inheritance."
CRT:2:13 "What you know to be good, seek for and it shall be found. You may plumb the seas and pluck the stars. You may live in everlasting glory and savour eternal delights. Above and below and all about, there is nothing beyond your reach; all, with one exception, is yours to attain." Then God laid His hand upon man, saying, "Now, you are even as I, except you sleep there enclosed in matter in the Kingdom of Illusion, while I dwell here in the freedom of Reality and Truth. It is not for Me to come down to you, but for you to reach out to Me."
CRT:2:14 Our Unborn Friends, whatever your circumstances of life, you are the children of the past and heirs of those who have lived and died. We trust you have no cause to reproach those who once held stewardship over your estate. But whatever you think of the heritage, you cannot put it aside, any more than you can refuse that Man then saw a vision of glory encompassing even the Spheres of Splendour. Unbounded wisdom filled his heart, and he beheld beauty in perfection. The ultimates of Truth and Justice were unveiled before him. He became one with the profound peace of eternity and knew the joys of unceasing gladness.
CRT:2:15 The eternal ages of time unrolled as a scroll before his eyes, and he saw written thereon all that was to become and occur. The great vaults of Heaven were opened up unto him, and he saw the everlasting fires and unconsumable powers that strove therein. He felt within himself the stirring of inexpressible love, and unlimited designs of grandeur filled his thoughts. His spirit ranged unhampered through all the spheres of existence. He was then even as God Himself, and he knew the secret of the Seven Spheres within Three Spheres.
CRT:2:16 Then, God lifted His hand from man, and man was alone. The great vision departed and he awoke; only a dim and elusive recollection, no more than the shadow of a dream remained. But deep within the sleeping Soul, there was a spark of remembrance, and it generated within man a restless longing for he knew not what. Henceforth, man was destined to wander discontented, seeking something he felt he knew, but could not see, something which continually eluded him, perpetually goaded him and forever tantalised him. Deep within himself, man knew something greater than himself was always with him and part of him, spurring him on to greater deeds, greater thoughts, greater aspirations. It was something out beyond himself, scarcely realised and never found; something, which told him that the radiance seen on the horizon but dimly reflected the hidden glory beyond it.
CRT:2:17 Man awoke, the revelation and vision gone; only the grim reality of Earth's untamed vastness surrounded him. But when he arose and stepped down onto the bosom of his Mother Earth, he was undaunted by the great powers that beset him or by the magnitude of the task ahead. Within his heart, he knew destiny lay beyond the squalor of his environment, he stepped out nobly, gladly accepting the challenge.
CRT:2:18 He was now a new man; he was different. He looked above and saw glory in the Heavens. He saw beauty about him and he knew goodness and things not of the Earth. The vision of eternal values arose before his inner eye. His Spirit was responding to its environment; man was now man, truly man.
CRT:2:19 The nature of man on Earth was formed after the nature of things in Heaven, and man had all things contained as potential within himself, except divine life. But he was as yet an untrained, undisciplined child, still nurtured simply upon the comforting bosom of Earth.
CRT:2:20 Man grew in stature, but Earth was not indulgent, for she disciplined him firmly. She was ever strict and unyielding, chastening him often with blasts of displeasure. It was indeed the upbringing of one destined for greatness; he was made to suffer cold, that he might learn to clothe himself; sent into the barren places, that his limbs should be strengthened, and into forests, that his eye should become keen and his heart strong. He was perplexed with difficult problems and set the task of unravelling the illusions of Nature. He was beset with hardships of every description. He was tested with frustrations and tempted with allurements; never did Earth relax the vigilance of her supervision.
CRT:2:21 The child was raised sternly, for he needed the fortitude, courage and cunning of a man to fit him for the task ahead. He grew wily and wiry in the hunt; he became adaptable, able to cope with any untoward happening. Overcoming the bewilderments of early days, he found explanations for the perplexities of his surroundings. Yet, the struggle for knowledge, the need for adaptation and the effort to survive were never relaxed. The Earthchild was well trained and disciplined; he was never unduly mollycoddled. He cried for bread and went hungry; he shivered and was cast out; he was sick and driven into the forest. Weary, he was lashed with storms; thirsty, he found the waters dried. When weak, his burden was increased, and in the midst of rejoicing, he was struck down with sorrow. In moments of weakness he cried, "Enough!" and doubted his destiny; but always something fortified and encouraged him; the Earthling never forfeited his godlikeness.