The Holy Grail Part Five
This is also one of the inconsistencies that characterise the human story. Adam and Eve could not have failed either in Paradise as no sin could ever enter into this. We would divert a little and say that there could have been no question of a failure of an Adam and Eve because their expulsion from Paradise was not a consequence of any failure for the reasons already mentioned. If they were expelled from Paradise it would have been for quite different and much more plausible reasons, not a failure which was impossible in any case.
If therefore, no sin could ever be found in the spiritual Grail, which Grail was then referred to by the legends? We quote again from Abd-ru-shin’s book “If it is said in the legends that the purest of men are destined to become Guardians of the Grail, this is a point about which the blessed poet has drawn all too earthly a picture, because he was unable to express himself differently! No human spirit can enter this holy Sanctuary! Even in its most perfect state of spiritual substantiality, after having returned from its wanderings through the World of Matter, it is still not so fine that it could cross this threshold, i.e., the boundary line! … The Guardians of the Grail are Eternal Primordial Spiritual Beings, who were never human beings. They are the highest of all in the Realm of Spiritual Substantiality.”
Fallible human beings therefore were never guardians of the Holy Grail. The actual Guardians of the Grail were higher spiritual creatures described as Primordial Beings. We read further “There actually is a Castle where an Amfortas dwelt, who for a time was considered the first guardian there. In this castle there is a vessel called the “Grail”, which is faithfully guarded by the knights. It was indeed there that Amfortas actually met his downfall, and where a great helper was promised. But this happened neither on earth nor in the high Light Castle of Primordial Creation! The Castle which is revealed there (where Amfortas was) is even today still to be found as the highest point on a plane in which the Created Beings have their field of activity towards the developed ones. In their purest volition and worship of God, they possess only an imitation of the Light Castle. This Light Castle radiates down from the highest place in Primordial Creation and as the actual Castle of the Holy Grail, also forms the exit gate from the Divine Sphere of Radiation.” The actual Grail was therefore not referred to in the legends but only an imitation present in material creation although at its summit.
It is only at this place, which already is part of the material sphere can imperfection enter and the first guardian fail. Never could this failure happen for purely logical reasons in the actual Grail Castle where its Guardians were perfect spiritual creatures, not fallible human beings. The guardians of the Castle where Amfortas was once active where human beings and this would explain their fallibility. The legends were therefore happenings, which a few writers were able to receive through inspiration and set down. Inevitably however, their imagination crept in which led to inconsistencies and variations depending on how big a role the imagination played.
We have therefore, made mention of two Grails: the actual Grail, which lies at the summit of the spiritual realm and an imitation of the first, which lies lower down in material creation. The first is the actual real Grail, the point from which Divine Power issues. It has its actual existence in a place where no sin can enter. This fact eliminates the possibility that an Amfortas could have met his downfall in such a place. The second is an imitation of the first, present in material creation although at its height, where evil is already to some extent established and it must have been at this lower-lying imitation that Amfortas met with his downfall.
What does the Grail signify however? We have already examined what the legends say about it. Let us however, go a bit further. The Grail signifies more than what we have hitherto been able to depict. The Greeks as mentioned above have associated it with the matrix of Creation and to almost all peoples who have been able to divine it, was regarded as a symbol of immense power. Abd-ru-shin in his book as was already mentioned also says that it is the point from which Divine Power issues.
Could this explain why without the proper service of the Grail during the time that it was left uncovered in Wagner’s work or during the time when supposedly Parsifal fails to ask the question, the land becomes wasted and the guardians’ bodies degenerated? Denied of this power, the land could no longer regenerate. The knights too who depended on this power for their sustenance also slowly shrank away. Looking at the legends, one could conclude that everything in the realm depended on the Grail including even the natural world.
The rivers, plants, animals even the lives of people, family life and so on. Could it be that being denied the power that issues from the Grail was being denied the Power that issues from God? At least this was how the writers of the legends perceived it. For those who believe in God, Nature and everything in it depends on His Power. Could this Power be equivalent or identical to that which issues from the Grail? Why do calamities arise when the realm was denied the Grail?
Why does the place become a desert? Why do rivers no longer flow? Are these stories to be dismissed only as legends and sagas or be seen as a reflection of what actually takes place? We quote again from Abd-ru-shin “From time to time on the Day of the Holy Dove, the Dove appears above the Chalice as a renewed token of the unalterable Divine Love of the Father. It is the hour of communion, which brings about the renewal of power. The Guardians of the Grail receive in humble devotion and can then transmit this magic power. On this depends the existence of the whole Creation! It is the moment in which the Love of the Creator radiantly flows forth in the Temple of the Holy Grail, bringing new life and a new urge to create, pulsating downwards and diffusing itself through all the Universe. A trembling and a holy awe, with forebodings of joy and great happiness, vibrate through all the spheres. Only the spirit of earthman still stands aside, without intuitively sensing what is happening particularly to him at that moment; or in what a dull-witted manner he accepts such an immeasurable gift….It is the moment when a new supply of vital energy is sent out into the entire Creation! It is the necessary, ever-recurring ratification of the Covenant between the Creator and His Work! Should this supply ever be cut off, should it ever fail to come, inevitably all that exists would slowly dry up, grow old and disintegrate. The end of all days would then come, and only God Himself would remain, as it was in the beginning, because He alone is Life!”
The Grail legends therefore, may not be seen or dismissed just as sagas or stories but may well represent a particular reality of life. Abd-ru-shin’s description here uncannily resemble what the legends themselves have depicted about the Grail. Life-giving, source of power and an object held in awe and worship. An object that showers blessings on those who recognise it. An object through which power is given to the lands for their renewal and regeneration and without which they would be turned to waste. This object therefore could not possibly have been the cup which Jesus and His disciples used for the Last Supper. This cup is more.