The Catholic doctrine on the “assumption” of Mother Mary and the ascension of Jesus parallels the teachings of the Ascended Masters on the physical ascension. The Catholic Church teaches that the bodies worn by Mary and Jesus on earth were translated and perfected into the incorruptible spiritual bodies they now wear in heaven.

The Ascended Masters teach that in the ritual of the ascension, the soul is united with the white-fire body of the I AM Presence. This does not require the raising of the physical body; the soul itself may take flight from the mortal coil and be translated through the divine alchemy of the ascension process.

In order to ascend, the candidate must have balanced at least 51 percent of his karma. In order to make a physical ascension, he must have balanced between 95 and 100 percent of his karma. Those who are called to the physical ascension must have had many thousands of years of preparation.

When a physical ascension takes place, the physical body is transformed by and superseded by the Ascended-Master Light Body. During the ascension ritual, the soul becomes permanently clothed with this Body, also called the “wedding garment,” or the Deathless Solar Body.

Serapis Bey Describes the Ascension Process:

“The flame above (in the heart of the I AM Presence) magnetizes the flame below (the threefold flame within the heart) and the wedding garment descends around the silver cord to envelop the lifestream of the individual in those tangible and vital essence currents of the ascension.

“Tremendous changes then take place in the form below, and the four lower bodies of man are cleansed of all impurities. Lighter and lighter grows the physical form, and with the weightlessness of helium the body begins to rise into the atmosphere, the gravitational pull being loosened and the form enveloped by the light of the externalized glory which man knew with the Father ‘in the beginning’…The individual ascends, then, not in an earthly body but in a glorified spiritual body into which the physical form is changed on the instant by total immersion in the great God flame” (Dossier on the Ascension).

Today most people whose souls qualify for the ritual of the ascension ascend from inner levels after the soul has departed the physical body. The soul attains union with the Mighty I AM Presence to become a permanent atom in the Body of God just as she does in a physical ascension.

Points Where Catholic Theology and Ascended Master Teaching Differ:

According to Catholic doctrine, Mary and Jesus were unique because they were “conceived without sin” and remained perfectly sinless throughout their lives. Hence, it would not be meet that their physical bodies should be corrupted in a grave. In the Catholic perspective, Jesus would naturally ascend at the end of his mission because, although he had an earthly body, he also had a full divine nature. Catholic doctrine holds that because Mother Mary was human like us, she is an “exception to the rule” in that she did not have to wait until the Second Coming of Christ for her bodily resurrection.

The Ascended Masters teach that Jesus and Mother Mary set the example for all to follow. They are joined in heaven by countless saints who have also attained their soul’s victory through the divinely ordained ritual of the ascension. Each of us may obtain the goal of balancing at least 51 percent of our karma and ascending at the end of this life. It is also possible–if we balance 95 to 100 percent of our karma–to ascend physically.

The Ascended Masters teach that the path of karma-balancing and spiritual progress leading to the ascension is not accomplished in one lifetime but through many incarnations. The many bodies worn during the soul’s earthly sojourn are not resurrected at the end of time; but all souls who ascend, whether in a physical ascension or not, are permanently clothed at the hour of their ascension in their Ascended-Master Light Body.

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The Dossier on the Ascension by the ascended master Serapis Bey, hierarch of the ascension flame.