The eternal challenge of Christ

This teaching is an excerpt from Lord Maitreya’s book, Master Keys to Spiritual Freedom.

Let me make it clear that what is going on behind everything I have told you is that people must be presented – over and over again for as long as it takes – with the challenge of Christ. The challenge of Christ is that you encounter the Living Christ in the form of a person who embodies the Christ consciousness on Earth. Thus, you have an opportunity to accept or deny Christ. Yet the challenge of Christ has several levels:

The first level is when you encounter a person who has attained the Christ consciousness on Earth. This is not limited to Jesus, the Buddha or Krishna, for it is sufficient to encounter a person who has attained some degree of Christhood. You do not necessarily have to meet such a person physically, for at this level you merely need to learn that it is possible for the Living Christ to appear on Earth and that the Living Christ represents an alternative to the duality consciousness. You learn that it is – in principle – possible to be the Christ on Earth. At this level, you clearly see the Christ as being outside yourself and if you accept Christ, you will become a follower of Christ (possibly a student of the person who embodies the Christ consciousness). This is the challenge to accept or reject Christ outside yourself.

The ability to recognize Christ is what Jesus talked about in the following passage:

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew, Chapter 16)

Jesus was not talking about the person of Peter but about an ability that all people have, namely the ability to recognize that there is something beyond duality and the willingness to follow the Christ that you see. This ability is built into the conscious self because it is out of the Creator’s own Being, which is why it can see beyond duality – flesh and blood – and receive direction from the “Father which is in heaven,” namely the spiritual hierarchy. Obviously, Peter as a person had overcome this first challenge of Christ. The ability to see beyond duality is the rock upon which all true religions are built, but the gates of hell – the forces of duality – will only be held back as long as people continue to look beyond duality and follow the highest expression of Christ that they see, always looking for a higher one. Which brings us to the second challenge of Christ.
At the next level, you need to accept that the role of the Living Christ is to challenge all of your dualistic beliefs and to take you out of your mental box and into the “promised land” of non-duality. This can be a severe challenge when people are not aware of what I have explained about mental images. Many people recognize a spiritual leader, but they immediately seek to fit him or her into their mental boxes. They seek to impose a dualistic image upon the Living Christ who has come to take them beyond duality—whereby they actually refuse to follow the Living Christ and end up continuing to follow the leaders of anti-christ (while thinking they are sure to be saved). This is the test that Peter failed, as recorded in the following quote (which is often “overlooked” by mainstream Christians):

21 From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Matthew, Chapter 16)

Peter was not willing to let the Living Christ take him beyond his mental box and his view of what should happen to the Living Christ on Earth. He preferred his own dualistic images – the things that be of men – over the non-dualistic truth of Christ – the things that be of God – and thus he failed the second challenge of Christ. So far, humankind – including the majority of all Christians and Christian churches – have failed this exact same test. Even many among the top ten percent – especially among those who think they are the most spiritual people – have so far failed this test. The planet simply cannot move into a golden age until a critical mass of people master the second challenge of Christ.
At the next level, you go beyond being a mere follower of Christ and you begin to accept that you have the potential to embody the teachings of Christ. As you put on the mind of Christ, you realize that you have the potential to be the Living Christ. You stop seeing Christ outside yourself and start seeing Christ as the ruler of the kingdom of God that is within you. This is the challenge to accept or reject Christ inside yourself.
At the next level you begin to realize that being the Christ is not simply a matter of transforming your own consciousness. In fact, being the Christ is really not about you but is about awakening other people. You now begin to see that the true role of the Christ is to go into the world and present people with the challenge of Christ, the challenge to accept or reject the Living Christ. Again, you have the opportunity to either accept or reject this role, and let me assure you that many spiritually advanced people have in fact refused to go out and expose themselves to the condemnation and rejection of the world, the fallen beings and the planetary beasts.

My point is that it is possible to fail the initiation of Christ even when you have reached a high level of spiritual attainment. Which is why the Ascended Host keep presenting the top ten percent with the opportunity to become the Christ, as I have now done in this book.

One of my major goals with this book is to set forth a teaching that more plainly than ever before spells out the challenge that too many among the top ten percent have so far refused to take on, namely the challenge to stand before the world and declare their Christhood by letting their light shine and bearing witness to the non-dual truth. As I have explained, only by taking on this challenge will you rise to the fullness of Christhood and become permanently free from planet Earth. Only by becoming the Living Christ on Earth can you rise and become the Living Christ in the spiritual realm. You have – in past lives, some of you even in the Garden of Eden – rejected this challenge by postponing the choice. Yet how long will you continue to reject me – the representative of the Cosmic Christ for the Earth – before you realize that it is far easier to face the challenge than it is to keep rejecting it, thereby fighting the force of life itself and condemning you and the rest of humanity to a seemingly endless spiral of suffering?

Surely, this message has been released over and over again in many different spiritual teachings. Yet it has often been shrouded in mystery or obscure language that made it hard to understand. This book is the first one to explain the challenge of Christ in such plain language that anyone who is willing can understand it. You can still reject the challenge, but do not come to me after this lifetime and accuse me of not explaining it to you with sufficient clarity. For in this book, everything that is secret has now come abroad (Mark 4:22). Will you accept my challenge or will you take another round of seeking to hide from me, your cosmic teacher?

You see, by rejecting me, you are also rejecting him that sent me, namely the Creator whom I represent for the lifestreams on Earth. One of the illusions created by the false teachers is that everything is a matter between people and their teachers. It was actually by getting Eve to doubt me that the Serpent was successful in causing her to fall. Yet in reality, it is not about me, it is not a matter between you and me. In reality, everything is a matter between you and your Source, which is the Creator itself. Your salvation will happen only when you attain a sense of oneness with your Creator. I am here to help you attain that oneness, but if you do not see beyond me, you will not understand my purpose. As a true teacher, I am here exclusively to help you become one with the Creator, so as long as you focus on me – or a false teacher – you cannot go beyond that level. Thus, even a true teacher can be turned into a block that stops your progress on the Path of Oneness. Obviously, that is not what I desire, which is why I have gone into such great detail to explain the dynamics of your situation. Those who have ears, let them hear.