The true meaning of Easter

The Spirit of Resurrection says:
I AM the flaming presence of the resurrection. I AM the fire of Easter morning. I come from the whirlwind of the holy fire that is God and I AM that consciousness of regeneration, resurrection that lives and moves and breathes in the heart of the Flame. I AM that flaming presence. I AM that identification with God, with the solar fire, that compels all life to rise higher in the fullness of the action of the Law....
You must understand that without the crucifixion there can be no resurrection. Therefore I come, in the spirit of the resurrection, as Saint Mary,[1] to anoint your bodies with oil by the day of your burial, the burial of mortality, of carnal consciousness. This is the symbol of the crucifixion.

Gnostic teachings
The resurrection is an essential element in Gnostic theology. But like other Gnostic beliefs, it developed along different lines from the evolving orthodoxy of the early Church. For the Gnostics, the resurrection was not just the unique event of Jesus rising from the dead on Easter morning: it became the springboard for understanding the process of their own personal salvation.The starting point for a study of the resurrection in Gnosticism is an understanding of what they called the Call. This is based on the fundamental Gnostic belief that a spark of light, identical with God, which we call the triple flame, resides in man, and that the soul, engaged in this world and unaware of its divine nature, must be awakened from its state of slumber or intoxication.

This Gnostic theme is also found in the apostle's New Testament letter to the Ephesians Paul, where he addresses the "saints who are at Ephesus" and "the faithful in Christ" with the words, "Awake, ye who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." This "rising from the dead," or "resurrection," to which the soul is called had a double meaning for the Gnostics.

First, the Gnostics believed that resurrection occurred at death, when the soul, freed from the body, began its ascent back to its heavenly home, clothed in a transformed "spiritual" body. This resurrection could occur only when the one had walked in holiness, in light, and was weaving the wedding garment, the deathless solar body.

The second instance of the resurrection is that of daily regeneration and renewal, as when Paul writes to the Colossians, "Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge."

In general, the Gnostics did not share the orthodox belief in the resurrection of the flesh, believing that the body is destined to perish. This is the teaching of the ascended masters and it is the lost teachings of Jesus Christ. The Gnostics refuted the literalists of their day. They taught that there is no resurrection of the flesh but only of the soul, and in support of this belief they cited Paul's teaching that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God."

Passages from the Gnostic writings point to the all-important aspect of the resurrection that is missing from Orthodox theology: that it was an experience to be realized in the here and now. In contrast to the orthodox view then and now on the resurrection, the Gnostics did not limit the resurrection to a one-time event that occurred on Easter morning for Jesus and that would occur at some future date at the end of the world for all believers at once.

For the Gnostics, the resurrection is the glorious liberation of the soul from a state of forgetfulness and ignorance to self-knowledge in God. It is the reanimation of the divine spark of light, or spirit, in man, enabling that spirit to increase and do so. It is the initiation of spiritual self-transformation and self-transcendence.

Your purpose in this life is to accomplish your own resurrection and ascension. Your resurrection is your awakening to your identity as the Son of God. Your ascension is your final union with God. Every mystical experience is a preparation for that final union, which can take place before or after death when you have balanced a sufficient amount of your karma.

1 Mark 14:3-8; John 12:3-7.

Sources:
Pearl of Wisdom: The Spirit of Resurrection, March 17, 1974.
Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, The Masters and the Spiritual Path, chapter 2.
Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, The Path of the Universal Christ, chapter 3.
Lecture by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, April 14, 1987, "Christ's Resurrection in You."