When Martinus was thirty years old he borrowed a spiritual book from a man, and he writes in his book "The Road to Initiation" what happened in March, 1921:

Martinus after his golden baptism of fire 1921

“I did not get through the book in question and little it was that I remember from its contents; but it had the effect of making me meditate on God. And one evening, when I tried to do so, I had the following experience, after which, for psychical reasons, it was quite impossible for me to go on reading, for from that moment my own consciousness had become an inexhaustible spiritual fountain, rendering absolutely superfluous all study of literature.

[...]

Following the direction given in the borrowed book I, one evening tried to meditate on the concept "God". And suddenly, without knowing exactly how, I found myself in a condition that made me feel in the presence of something immensely sublime. Quite a small luminous point appeared in the distance. For a moment it disappeared, but shortly after became visible again, this time much nearer. I could now see that the light emanated from a Christ-like being, presenting itself in a dazzling white light, spangled with shades of blue. The light was so intense and vivid that it reminded me of those sparklers we used to put on Christmastrees. The sparks in my revelation, however, were diminutive in comparison, but in return much more numerous.

There was once more a pause, during which I found myself in complete darkness. But then the figure a new illuminated the plateau. I looked directly into a fiery figure. A Christ-like being of dazzling brightness now moved straight towards me, raising its arms as if about to embrace me. I was entirely paralyzed. Unable to make the slightest move, I gazed straight into the radiant being's diaphragm, now just outside of me and on a level with my eyes. But the figure kept closing in, and presently it entered my own flesh and blood. A sublime feeling thrilled me. The paralysis left me. The divine light, which had thus taken possession of me, enabled me to take a sweeping look throughout the world.

And lo! continents and oceans, cities and countries, mountains and valleys - all steeped in the light now emanating from my own mind. In this, white light the earth was transfigured into "the Kingdom of God".

The divine experience was over. I had once more before me my physical reality, the details of my room, the modesty of my position. But "the Kingdom of God" kept illuminating my brain and my nerves.

 

The golden baptism of fire.

When on the morning of the following day I seated myself in my meditation-chair, I was again at once enveloped in the divine light. I looked into a bright, blue heaven, which seemed to be drawn aside, by which a still brighter heaven appeared. And thus it kept on, until a heaven came out so exuberantly dazzling in its golden flare and vibrating at such a velocity that I felt myself at the summit of what my organism and my mind could endure. A single step, a single fraction of a second more, and the celestial oscillation would, with the immense power of lightning, in the twinkling of an eye have put an end to my earthly existence. But during the fractions of a second that the revelation lasted I experienced a world of holiness, purity, harmony, and perfection. I found myself in a sea of light. This was not, as in my first revelation, white as snow, but was rather of a golden tinge. Everything was fire of a golden lustre. Throughout were vibrating thin, golden filaments, glittering here and there, within and without. I felt that this was the very consciousness of God, his own sphere of thought. It was the substance, the omnipotence, the supreme power, through which the divine ego ruled and directed oceans of worlds, galaxies, and nebulae, in microcosmos as well as in macrocosmos. I was spell-bound. The divine fire vibrated within me and without, above and below. "The Spirit of God". which according to the Bible "moved upon the face of the waters", the "fire" that Moses saw burning in the thorn-bush, the "fire" that took Elijah into Heaven, the "fire" through which Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, the "fire" that appeared above the heads of the apostles, and subsequently changed Saulus into Paulus on his way to Damascus, the "fire" that throughout all times has been the "alpha" and "omega" in every form of sublime creation, manifestation, or revelation. It was this very fire blazing in front of my own eyes, vibrating in my own breast, in my own heart, enveloping my whole being. I felt as if bathing in an element of love. I was at the origin, the very source of everything warm in a father's and mother's sympathy for their offspring, of mutual devotion in the amours of a young couple. I saw the power that made the hand sign the letter of pardon, abolish slavery, protect life's petty ones, whether it be a little animal or a frail human being. I saw the sunshine that can melt the ice and remove the cold from every mind, transform the barren deserts of hopelessness and pessimism into fertile and sunny regions of consciousness, warm the heart, inspire the brain, thus making the individual forgive injustice, love his enemy, and understand the criminal. It was as if I was resting at the bosom of the Almighty Deity. I was dwelling at the fountain head of love supreme, perceived divine perfection, experienced being one with the Way, the Truth, and the Life, was one with the Father of all.”

From the book:"The Road to Initiation -On the Birth of My Mission"

© Martinus Institut 1981

Published with permission from Martinus Institute 2001-06-18