| Next | Back | Table of
Contents | Topical Index | Alphabetical
Index |
The
Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception
by
Max
Heindel
Revised
Version (2007)
Chapter
XIX
Christian
Rosenkreuz and the Order of Rosicrucians
Ancient Truths in Modern Dress
Having
encountered among the public a widespread desire to learn something of the
Order of Rosicrucians, and as there is a lack of understanding of the important
place occupied by the Brothers of the Rose Cross in our Western civilization,
even among our students, it may be well to furnish authentic information upon
the subject.
Everything in the world is subject to law, even our evolution is
thus encompassed; spiritual and physical progression go hand in hand. The sun
is the physical light bringer and, as we know, it apparently travels from east
to west bringing light and life to one part of the earth after another. But the
visible sun is only a part of the sun as the visible body is a small part of
composite man. There is an invisible and spiritual sun whose rays promote soul
growth upon one part of the earth after another as the physical sun promotes
the growth of form, and this spiritual impulse also travels in the same
direction as the physical sun; from east to west.
Six or seven hundred years B.C., a new wave of spirituality was
started near the western shores of the Pacific Ocean to give enlightenment to
the Chinese nation and the religion of Confucius is embraced to this day by
many millions in the celestial kingdom. Later we note the effect of this wave
in the religion of Buddha, a teaching designed to stir the aspirations of
millions of Hindus and western Chinese. In its westward course it appears among
the more intellectual Greeks in the lofty philosophies of Pythagoras and Plato,
and at last it sweeps over the western world, among the pioneers of the human
race, where it takes the lofty form of the Christian religion.
The Christian religion has gradually worked its way to the
westward, even to the shores of the Pacific Ocean and thither the spiritual
aspirations are being massed and concentrated. There they will reach a point of
culmination, prior to taking a new leap across the ocean and inaugurating a
higher and more lofty spiritual awakening in the Orient than now exists in that
part of the earth.
Just as day and night, summer and winter, ebb and flood, follow
each other in unbroken sequence according to the law of alternating cycles, so
also the appearance of a wave of spiritual awakening in any part of the world
is followed by a period of material reactions, so that our development may not
become onesided.
Religion, Art and Science are the three most important means of
human education, and they are a trinity in unity which cannot be separated
without distorting our viewpoint of whatever we may investigate. True
Religion embodies both science and art, for it teaches a beautiful life in
harmony with the laws of nature.
True Science is artistic and religious in the
highest sense, for it teaches us to reverence and conform to laws governing our
well-being and explains why the religious life is conducive to health and
beauty.
True Art is as educational as science and as
uplifting in its influence as religion. In architecture we have a most sublime
presentation of cosmic lines of force in the universe. It fills the spiritual
beholder with a powerful devotion and adoration born of an awe-inspiring
conception of the overwhelming grandeur and majesty of Deity. Sculpture and
painting, music and literature inspire us with a sense of transcendent
loveliness of God, the immutable source and goal of all this beautiful world.
Nothing short of such an all-embracing teaching will answer the
needs of humanity permanently. There was a time, even as late as Greece, when Religion,
Art and Science were taught unitedly in Mystery temples. But it was
necessary to the better development of each that they should separate for a
time.
Religion held sole sway in the so-called "dark
ages." During that time it bound both Science and Art hand and foot. Then
came the period of Renaissance and Art came to the fore in all its
branches. Religion was strong as yet, however, and Art was only too often
prostituted in the service of Religion. Last came the wave of modern Science,
and with iron hand it has subjugated Religion.
It was a detriment to the world when Religion shackled Science. Ignorance
and Superstition caused untold woe, nevertheless man cherished a lofty
spiritual ideal then; he hoped for a higher and better life. It is infinitely
more disastrous that Science is killing Religion, for now even Hope, the
only gift of the gods left in Pandora's box, may vanish before Materialism
and Agnosticism.
Such a state cannot continue. Reaction must set in. If it does
not, Anarchy will rend the Cosmos. To avert a calamity Religion, Science
and Art must reunite in a higher expression of the Good, the True
and the Beautiful than obtained before the separation.
Coming events cast their shadows before, and when the Great
Leaders of humanity saw the tendency towards ultramaterialism which is now
rampant in the Western World, they took certain steps to counteract and
transmute it at the auspicious time. They did not wish to kill the budding
Science as the latter has strangled Religion, for they saw the ultimate good
which will result when an advanced Science has again become the co-worker of
Religion.
A spiritual Religion, however, cannot blend with a materialistic
Science any more than oil can mix with water. Therefore steps were taken to
spiritualize Science and make Religion scientific.
In the thirteenth century a high spiritual teacher, having the
symbolical name Christian Rosenkreuz--Christian: Rose: Cross--appeared in
Europe to commence that work. He founded the mysterious Order of Rosicrucians
with the object of throwing occult light upon the misunderstood Christian
Religion and to explain the mystery of Life and Being from the scientific
standpoint in harmony with Religion.
Many centuries have rolled by since the birth, as Christian
Rosenkreuz, of the Founder of the Rosicrucian Mystery School, and by many his
existence is even regarded as a myth. But his birth as Christian Rosenkreuz
marked the beginning of a new epoch in spiritual life of the Western World.
That particular Ego has also been in continuous physical existence ever since,
in one or another of the European Countries. He has taken a new body when his
successive vehicles have outlived their usefulness, or circumstances rendered
it expedient that he changes the scene of his activities. Moreover, he is
embodied today--an Initiate of high degree, an active and potent factor in all affairs
of the West--although unknown to the World.
He labored with the Alchemists centuries before the advent of
modern science. He, through an intermediary, inspired the now mutilated works
of Bacon. Jacob Boehme and others received through him the inspiration which
makes their works so spiritually illuminating. In the works of the immortal
Goethe and the masterpieces of Wagner the same influence meets us. All
undaunted spirits who refuse to be fettered by either orthodox science or
orthodox religion, who fling away the husks and penetrate to the spiritual
kernel regardless of vilification or of flattery, draw their inspiration from
the same fountain as did and does the great spirit which animated Christian
Rosenkreuz.
His very name is an embodiment of the manner and the means by
which the present day man is transformed into the Divine Superman. This symbol,
"Christian
Rosen Kreuz"
[The] Christian Rose Cross,
shows the end and aim of human evolution, the road to be
traveled, and the means whereby that end is gained. The black cross, the
twining green stem of the plant, the thorns, the blood red roses--in these is
hidden the solution of the World Mystery--Man's past evolution, present
constitution, and particularly the secret of his future development.
It hides from the profane, but reveals to the Initiate the more
clearly how he is to labor day by day to make for himself that choicest of all
gems, the Philosopher's Stone--more precious than the Kohinoor; nay, than the
sum of all earthly wealth! It reminds him how mankind, in its ignorance, is
hourly wasting the actual concrete material that might be used in the formation
of this priceless treasure.
To keep him steadfast and true through every adversity, the Rose
cross holds aloft, as an inspiration, the glorious consummation in store for
him that overcometh, and points to Christ as the Star of Hope, the "first
fruits," Who wrought this marvelous Stone while inhabiting the body of
Jesus.
Upon investigation it has been found that there was in all
systems of Religion a teaching reserved for the Priest-craft and not given to
the multitude. The Christ also spoke to the multitude in parables, but
explained the inner meaning of these parables to the disciples, to give them an
understanding more suited to their developed minds.
Paul gave "milk" to the babes or younger
members of the community, but "meat" to the strong who had
studied more deeply. Thus there has always been an inner and an outer
teaching, and this inner teaching was given in so-called Mystery Schools
which have changed from time to time to suit the needs of the people among whom
they were designed to work.
The Order of Rosicrucians is not merely a secret society; it is
one of the Mystery Schools, and the Brothers are Hierophants of the lesser
Mysteries, Custodians of the Sacred Teachings and a spiritual Power more potent
in the life of the Western World than any of the visible Governments, though
they may not interfere with humanity so as to deprive them of their free will.
As the path of development in all cases depends upon the
temperament of the aspirant, there are two paths, the mystic and the
intellectual. The Mystic is usually devoid of intellectual knowledge; he
follows the dictates of his heart and strives to do the will of God as he feels
it, lifting himself upward without being conscious if any definite goal, and in
the end he attains knowledge. In the middle ages people were not as
intellectual as we are nowadays, and those who felt the call of a higher life usually
followed the mystic path. But in the last few hundred years, since the advent
of modern science, a more intellectual humanity has peopled the earth;
the head has completely overruled the heart, materialism has dominated all
spiritual impulse and the majority of the thinking people do not believe
anything they cannot touch, taste or handle. Therefore, it is necessary that
appeal should be made to their intellect in order that the heart may be allowed
to believe what the intellect has sanctioned. As a response to this demand the
Rosicrucian Mystery teachings aim to correlate scientific facts to spiritual
verities.
In the past these have been kept secret from all but a few
Initiates, and even today they are among the most mysterious and secret in the
Western World. All so-called "discoveries" of the past which have
professed to reveal the Rosicrucian secrets, have been either fraudulent, or
the result or treachery upon the part of some outsider who may, accidentally or
otherwise, have overheard fragments of conversation, unintelligible to all but
those who have the key. It is possible to live under the same roof and on terms
of the closest intimacy with an Initiate of any school, yet his secret will
always remain hidden in his breast until the friend has reached the point where
he can become a Brother Initiate. The revealing of secrets does not depend upon
the Will of the Initiate, but upon the qualifications of the aspirant.
Like all other Mystery Orders, the Order of Rosicrucians is
formed on cosmic lines: If we take balls of even size and try how many it will
take to cover one and hide it from view, we shall find that it will require 12
to conceal a thirteenth ball. The ultimate division of physical matter, the
true atom, found in interplanetary space, is thus grouped in twelve around one.
The twelve signs of the Zodiac enveloping our Solar System, the twelve
semi-tones of the musical scale comprising the octave, the twelve Apostles who
clustered around the Christ, etc., are other examples of this grouping of 12
and 1. The Rosicrucian Order is therefore also composed of 12 Brothers and a
13th.
There are other divisions to be noted, however. We have seen
that of the Heavenly Host of twelve Creative Hierarchies who were active in our
scheme of evolution, five have withdrawn to liberation, leaving only seven to
busy themselves with our further progress. It is in harmony with this fact that
the man of today, the indwelling Ego, the microcosm, works outwards through
seven visible orifices in his body: 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils and a mouth,
while five more orifices are wholly or partially closed. the mammae, the
umbilicus and two excretory organs.
The seven roses which garnish our beautiful emblem and the five
pointed radiating star behind, are emblematical of the twelve Great Creative
Hierarchies which have assisted the evolving human spirit through the previous
conditions as mineral, plant and animal, when it was devoid of
self-consciousness and unable to care for itself in the slightest degree. Of
these twelve hosts of Great Beings, three classes worked upon and with man of
their own free wills and without any obligation whatever.
These are symbolized by the three points in the star upon our
emblem which points upwards. Two more of the Great Hierarchies are upon the
point of withdrawal, and these are pictured in the two points of the star which
radiate downward from the center. The seven roses reveal the fact that there
are still seven Great Creative Hierarchies active in the development of the
beings upon earth, and as all of these various classes from the smallest to the
greatest are but parts of One Great Whole whom we call God, the whole emblem is
a symbol of God in manifestation.
The Hermetic axiom says: "As above so below," and the
lesser teachers of mankind are also grouped upon the same cosmic lines of 7, 5
and 1. There are upon earth seven schools of the lesser Mysteries, five of the
Greater Mysteries and the whole is grouped under one Central Head Who is called
the Liberator.
In the Order of Rosicrucians seven Brothers go out into the
World whenever occasion requires; appearing as men among other men or working
in their invisible vehicles with or upon others as needed; yet it must be
strictly kept in mind that they never influence people against their will or
contrary to their desires; but only strengthen good wherever found.
The remaining five Brothers never leave the temple; and though
they do possess physical bodies all their work is done from the inner Worlds.
The Thirteenth is Head of the Order, the link with a higher
Central Council composed of the Hierophant of the Greater Mysteries, who do not
deal with ordinary humanity at all, but only with graduates of the lesser
Mysteries.
The Head of the Order is hidden from the outside world by the
twelve Brothers, as the central ball mentioned in our illustration. Even the
pupils of the School never see him, but at the nightly Services in the Temple
His presence is felt by all, whenever He enters, and is the signal for
the commencement of the ceremony.
Gathered around the Brothers of the Rose Cross, as their pupils,
are a number of "lay brothers"; people who live in various parts of
the Western World, but are able to leave their bodies consciously, attend the services
and participate in the spiritual work at the temple; they having each and every
one been "initiated" in the method of so doing by one of the Elder
Brothers. Most of them are able to remember all that happens, but there are a
few cases where the faculty of leaving the body was acquired in a previous life
of well-doing and where a drug habit or a sickness contracted in the present
existence has unfitted the brain to receive impression of the work done by the
man when away.
Initiation
The general idea of initiation is that it is merely a ceremony
which makes one a member of a secret society; that it may be conferred upon
anyone willing to pay a certain price, a sum of money in most cases.
While that is true of the so-called initiation of fraternal
orders and also in most pseudo-occult orders, it is altogether an erroneous
idea when applied to initiations into various degrees of truly occult
Brotherhoods, as a little understanding of the real requirements and of their
reasonableness will readily make clear.
In the first place there is no golden key to the temple; merit
counts but not money. Merit is not acquired in a day; it is the cumulative
product of past good action. The Candidate for initiation is usually totally
unconscious that he is a candidate, he is usually living his life in the
community and serving his fellow man for days and years without any ulterior
thought until one day there appears in his life the teacher, a Hierophant of
the lesser Mysteries appropriate to the country in which he resides. By this
time the candidate has cultivated within himself certain faculties, stored up
certain powers for service and help, of which he is usually unconscious or
which he does not know how to properly utilize. The task of the initiator will
now be plain; he shows the candidate the latent faculties, the dormant powers
and initiates him into their use; explains or demonstrates to him for the
first time how the candidate may awaken the static energy into dynamic
power.
Initiation may be accomplished by a ceremony, or not, but let it
be particularly observed, that while Initiation is the inevitable culmination
of prolonged spiritual endeavor, whether conscious or the reverse upon the part
of the candidate, it can positively never take place till the requisite inner
development has accumulated the latent powers which Initiation teaches how to
use dynamically, any more than pulling the trigger can cause an explosion in a
gun that has not first been loaded.
Neither is there any danger that the teacher may overlook anyone
who has attained the requisite development. Each good and unselfish deed
increases the luminosity and vibrant power of the candidate's aura enormously,
and as surely as the magnet attracts the needle, so will the brilliancy of that
auric light bring the teacher.
It is, of course, impossible to describe in a book intended for
the general public the stages of the Rosicrucian Initiation; to do so would be
a breach of faith and it would also be impossible for lack of words to adequately
express oneself. But it is permissible to give an outline and to show the
purpose of initiation.
The lesser Mysteries deal only with evolution of mankind during
the Earth Period. In the first three and one-half Revolutions of the life wave
around the seven globes the Virgin Spirits had not yet attained consciousness.
In consequence of this fact we are ignorant of how we came to be as we are
today. The candidate is to have light upon that subject so by the spell of the
Hierophants during the period of initiation into the first degree his
consciousness is turned towards that page of the memory of nature bearing the
records of the first revolution when we recapitulated the development of the
Saturn Period. He is still in full possession of his every-day consciousness;
he knows and remembers the facts of twentieth Century life, but he is now
consciously watching the progress of the evolving host of Virgin Spirits of
which he formed one unit during the Saturn Revolution. Thus he learns how the
first steps were taken in the Earth Period towards the goal of attainment which
will be revealed to him in a later step.
Having learned the lesson as practically described in Chapter X,
the candidate has acquired first-hand knowledge upon this subject and has come
into direct touch with the Creative Hierarchies in their work with and upon
man; he is therefore able to appreciate their beneficent labors in the World
and is in measure able to range himself in line with them; becoming thus far
their co-worker.
When the time has arrived for him to take the second degree, he
is similarly caused to turn his attention to the conditions of the second
Revolution of the Earth Period, and as depicted in the memory of nature; then
he watches in full consciousness the progress made at that time by the Virgin
Spirits, much as Peter Ibbetson, the hero of a book, "Peter
Ibbetson," by George du Maurier; it is well worth reading, for it is a
graphic description of certain phases of subconsciousness--watched his child
life during the nights when he "dreamed true." In the third degree he
follows the evolution of the third or Moon, Revolution, and in the fourth
degree he sees the progress made in the half-Revolution we have made of the
fourth.
There is, however, a further step taken in each degree; the
pupil sees in addition to the work done in each revolution also the work
accomplished in the corresponding Epoch during our present stay upon globe D,
the Earth.
During the first degree he follows the work of the Saturn Revolution
and its latest consummation in the Polarian Epoch.
In the second degree he follows the work of the Sun Revolution
and its replica: the Hyperborean Epoch.
During the third degree he watches the work as performed in the
Moon Revolution and sees how that was the basis of life in the Lemurian Epoch.
During the fourth degree he sees the evolution of the last half
Revolution with its corresponding period of time in our present stay on Earth;
the first half of the Atlantean Epoch which ended when the dense foggy
atmosphere subsided, and the sun first shone upon land and sea; then the night
of unconsciousness was over, the eyes of the indwelling Ego were fully opened,
and he was able to turn the Light of Reason upon the problem of conquering the
World. That was the time when a man as we now know him was first born.
When in the olden system of initiation we hear that the
candidate was entranced for a period of three and one-half days, reference is
had to the part of initiation just described, and the three and one-half days
refer to the stages gone through, they are not by any means days of twenty-four
hours; the actual time varies with each candidate, but in all cases he is taken
through the unconsciousness development of mankind during the past Revolutions,
and when it is said that he is awakened at the time of sunrise on the fourth
day that is the mystical way of expressing that his initiation into the work of
the involuntionary career of man ceases at the time when the sun rose above the
clear atmosphere of Atlantis. Then the candidate is also hailed as a
"first-born."
Having become familiar with the road we have traveled in the
past, the fifth degree takes the candidate to the very end of the Earth Period,
when a glorious humanity is gathering the fruits of this Period and taking it
away from the seven globes upon which we evolve during each day of
manifestation, into the first of the five dark globes which are our habitation
during the Cosmic nights. The densest of these is located in the Region of
Abstract Thought, and is in reality the "Chaos"
spoken of in Chapter XI and in the following pages. This globe is also the
Third Heaven, and when Paul speaks of being caught up into the Third Heaven and
of seeing things there which he could not lawfully reveal, he was referring to
the experiences of an equivalent of this fifth degree in the present
Rosicrucian Mysteries.
After being shown the end in the fifth degree, the candidate is
made acquainted with the means whereby that end is attained during the
remaining three and one-half Revolutions of the Earth Period; the four
remaining degrees being devoted to his enlightenment in that respect.
By the insight he has thus acquired he is able to intelligently
co-operate with the Powers that work for Good, and thus he will help to hasten
the day of our emancipation.
In order to rout a common misconception we wish to make clear to
students that we are not Rosicrucians because we study their teachings, nor
does even admission to the temple entitle us to call ourselves by that name.
The writer, for instance, is only a lay brother, a pupil, and would under no
circumstances call himself a Rosicrucian.
We know well, that when a boy has graduated from grammar school
he is not therefore fitted to teach. He must first go through high school and
college, and even then he may not feel the call to be a school teacher.
Similarly in the school of life, because a man has graduated from the
Rosicrucian Mystery School he is not even then a Rosicrucian. Graduates from
the various schools of the lesser mysteries advance into five schools of the
greater mysteries. In the first four they pass the four Great Initiations and
at last reach the Liberator, where they receive a knowledge concerning other
evolutions and are given the choice of remaining here to assist their brothers
or enter other evolutions as Helpers. Those who elect to stay here as helpers
are given various positions according to their tastes and natural bent. The
Brothers of the Rose Cross are among those Compassionate Ones, and it is a
sacrilege to drag the Rosicrucian name in the mire by applying it to ourselves
when we are merely students of their lofty teachings.
During the past few centuries the Brothers have worked for
humanity in secret; each night at midnight there is a Service at the temple
where the Elder Brothers, assisted by the lay brothers who are able to leave
their work in the World (for many of them reside in places where it is yet day
when it is midnight in the location of the temple of the Rose Cross), gather up
from everywhere in the Western World the thoughts of sensuality, greed,
selfishness and materialism. These they seek to transmute into pure love,
benevolence, altruism and spiritual aspirations sending them back to the World
to uplift and encourage all Good. Were it not for this potent source of
spiritual vibration materialism must long ago have totally squelched all
spiritual effort, for there has never been a darker age from the spiritual
standpoint than the last three hundred years of materialism.
Now the time has come, however, when the method of secret endeavor
is to be supplemented with a more direct effort to promulgate a definite,
logical and sequential teaching concerning the origin, evolution and future
development of the World and man, showing both the spiritual and the scientific
aspect: a teaching which makes no statements that are not supported by reason
and logic; a teaching which is satisfying to the mind, for it holds out a
reasonable solution to all mysteries; it neither begs nor evades questions and
its explanations are both profound and lucid.
But, and this is a very important "But," The
Rosicrucians do not regard an intellectual understanding of God and the
Universe as an end in itself; far from it! The greater the intellect, the
greater the danger of its misuse. Therefore, this scientific, logical and
exhaustive teaching is given in order that man may believe in his heart that
which his head has sanctioned and start to live the religious life.
The Rosicrucian Fellowship
In order to promulgate this teaching the Rosicrucian Fellowship
has been formed, and anyone who is not a hypnotist, professional medium,
clairvoyant, palmist or astrologer, may enroll as a Preliminary Course
Student by writing to the General Secretary. There is no fee for
Initiation, or dues. Money cannot buy our teaching, advancement depends on
merit.
After completing the Preliminary Course one is put on the
Regular Student list for a period of two years, after which if he has become so
imbued with the verity of the Rosicrucian teachings that he is prepared to
sever his connection with all other occult or religious orders--the
Christian Churches and Fraternal Orders are excepted--he may assume the
Obligation which admits him to the degree of Probationer.
We do not mean to insinuate by the foregoing clause that all other
schools of occultism are of no account--far from it--many roads lead to Rome,
but we shall attain with much less effort it we follow one of them than if we
zigzag from path to path. Our time and energy are limited in the first place,
and are still further curtailed by family and social duties not to be neglected
for self-development. It is to husband the minim of energy which we may
legitimately expend upon ourselves, and to avoid waste of the scanty moments at
our disposal, that resignation from all other Orders is insisted upon by the
leaders.
The world is an aggregate of opportunities, but to take
advantage of any one of them we must possess efficiency in a certain line of
endeavor. Development of our spiritual powers will enable us to help or harm
our weaker brothers. It is only justifiable when efficiency in Service of
Humanity is the object.
The Rosicrucian method of attainment differs from other systems
in one especial particular: It aims, even at the very start, to emancipate the
pupil from dependence upon others, to make him Self-Reliant in the very
highest degree, so that he may be able to stand alone under all circumstances
and cope with all conditions. Only one who is thus strongly poised can help the
weak.
When a number of people meet in a class or circle for
self-development along Negative lines, result are usually achieved in a
short time on the principle that it is easier to drift with the tide than to
breast the current. The medium is not master of his actions, however, but the
slave of a spirit control. Hence such gatherings must be shunned by
Probationers.
Even classes which meet in positive attitude of mind are not
advised by the Elder Brothers, because the latent powers of all members are
massed and visions of the inner worlds obtained by anyone there, are partly due
to the faculties of others. The heat of coal in the center of a fire is
enhanced by surrounding coals, and the clairvoyant produced in a circle, be it
ever so positive, is a hot-house plant, too dependent himself to be trusted
with the care of others.
Therefore each Probationer in the Rosicrucian Fellowship
performs his exercises in the seclusion and privacy of his room. Results may be
obtained more slowly by the system, but when they appear, they will be manifest
as powers cultivated by himself, useable independently of all others. Besides,
the Rosicrucian methods build character at the same time that they develop
spiritual faculties and thus safeguard the pupil against yielding to temptation
to prostitute divine powers for worldly prestige.
When the Probationer has complied with the necessary
requirements and completed the term of probation, he may send request for
individual instruction by the Elder Brothers through the General Secretary.
The International
Headquarters of the Rosicrucian Fellowship
Having formed the Rosicrucian Fellowship for the purpose of
promulgating the teaching given in this book, and aiding aspirants on the path
of progression, it became necessary to find a permanent home and facilities
requisite for doing this work. To this end a tract of land was purchased in the
town of Oceanside, Cal., ninety miles south of Los Angeles and forty miles
north of San Diego, the southwesternmost city of the United States.
This tract occupies a commanding site having a most wonderful
view of the great Pacific Ocean to the west and the beautiful snow capped
mountains in the east.
Southern California offers exceptional opportunities for
spiritual growth, because of the ether atmosphere being denser than in any
other part of the world and Mount Ecclesia, as the Rosicrucian
Fellowship Headquarters are called, is particularly favored in this respect.
Our
Buildings
The work at Headquarters was begun toward the end of 1911. To
date (1973) numerous buildings have been erected, some of which now no longer
exist. The Pro-Ecclesia, or Chapel, in which two 15-minute services have been
held daily since its dedication in December, 1913, was thoroughly renovated in
1962. A devotional service with lecture continues to be conducted on Sundays. A
two-story Administration Building was completed in 1917, and renovated in 1962.
On the second floor are offices for the various departments: Esoteric,
Correspondence Courses, Editorial, Foreign Languages, and Accounting. On the
first floor are the Shipping Department and the printshop, where Lessons, Rays,
pamphlets, etc., are printed. An offset press was installed in 1972.
The Dining Hall was built in 1914, added to in the late 30's,
and renovated in 1962. Vegetarian meals are served. The Healing Temple, where a
healing service is conducted each evening, was completed in 1920. Rose Cross
Lodge was built in 1924, for the use of guests and workers. It is now used
largely for storing books. The Sanitarium Building was opened in 1939 and used
for a number of years to treat patients suffering from non-contagious diseases.
It is now our Guest House, used by workers and members. Numerous cottages built
since 1962, and some renovated ones provide living quarters for workers. The
Healing Dept. Building was erected in 1940. Here secretaries conduct our
healing work.
The Correspondence School
In addition to publications
of The Rosicrucian Fellowship noted elsewhere there are three correspondence
courses offered on the freewill basis: Rosicrucian Philosophy, Bible
Interpretation, and Astrology. Information concerning these is furnished upon
request.
The Symbolism of the Rose Cross
When inquiring into the meaning of any myth, legend or symbol of
occult value, it is an absolute necessity that we should understand that, as
any object in the three-dimensional world may, or rather must, be viewed from
all points to obtain a full and complete comprehension thereof, so all symbols
have a number of aspects. Each viewpoint reveals a different phase from the
others, and all have an equal claim to consideration.
Viewed in its fullness, this wonderful symbol contains the key
to man's past evolution, his present constitution and future development,
together with the method of attainment. In the form where it is represented
with a single rose in the center it symbolizes the spirit radiating from itself
the four vehicles: the dense, vital and desire bodies plus the mind; where the
spirit has drawn into its instruments and become the indwelling
human spirit. But there was a time when that condition did not obtain, a time
when the three-fold spirit hovered above its vehicles and was unable to enter.
Then the cross stood alone without the rose, symbolizing the condition which prevailed
in the early third of Atlantis. There was even a time when the upper limb of
the cross was lacking and man's constitution was represented by the Tau (T)
that was in the Lemurian epoch when he had only the dense, vital and desire
bodies, but lacked the mind. Then the animal nature was paramount. Man followed
desire without reserve. At a still earlier time, in the Hyperborean Epoch, he
was also minus the desire body and possessed only the dense and vital bodies.
Then man-in-the-making was like the plants: chaste and devoid of desire. At
that time his constitution could not have been represented by a cross. It was
symbolized by a straight shaft, a pillar (I).
This symbol has been considered phallic, an emblem showing the
licentiousness of the people who worshiped it. Truly it is a symbol of
generation, but generation is by no means synonymous with degradation--far from
it--the pillar is the lower limb of the cross, symbolical of man-in-the-making
when he was plantlike. The plant is unconscious of passion, desire, innocent of
evil. It generates and perpetuates its species in a manner so pure, so chaste,
that properly understood, it is a model for fallen and passionate humanity to
worship as an ideal and it was given to earlier races with that intent. The
Phallus and Yona used in the Greek mystery temples were given by the
hierophants in that spirit, and over the temple was placed the enigmatical
words: "Man, know thyself," which motto, properly understood, is
similar to that of the Rose Cross, for it shows the reason for man's fall into
desire, passion and sin, and gives the key to his liberation in the same way
that the roses upon the cross indicate the path of liberation.
The plant is innocent, but not virtuous; it has neither
desire not choice. Man has both. He may follow desire or not as he wishes, that
he may learn to master himself.
While he was plant-like, a hermaphrodite, he could generate from
himself without the help of another, but though he was as chaste and as
innocent as the plants, he was also as unconscious and inert. In order to
advance he must have desire to spur him on, and a mind to guide him, and
therefore half his creative force was retained for the purpose of building a
brain and a larynx. He had at that time a round shape similar to that of the
embryo, and the present larynx was a part of the creative organ which adhered
to the head when the body straightened out. The connection between the two is
seen even today in the fact that the boy, who expresses the positive pole of the
generative force, changes his voice at puberty. That the same force which
builds another body when it is sent outwards builds the brain when retained
is equally clear when we consider that sex mania leads to insanity, while the
profound thinker will feel little inclination for amorous practices. He uses
all his creative force to generate thought instead of wasting it in sense
gratification.
At the time when man commenced to withhold half his creative
force for the above mentioned purpose, his consciousness was directed inwards
to build organs. He was capable of seeing these organs and he used the
same creative force then under the direction of Creative Hierarchies in
planning and in executing plans of organs, that he now uses in the outer
world to build airships, houses, automobiles, telephones, etc. Then he was
unconscious of how that half of the creative force was used which was sent outwards
for generation of another body.
Generation was carried on under the guidance of Angels. At
certain times of the year they herded the growing man together in great temples
and there the generative act was performed. Man was unconscious of the fact.
His eyes had not yet been opened, and though it was necessary for him to have a
partner who had the half or other pole of the creative force available for
generation which he retained to build organs within, he did not at first know
his wife. In ordinary life he was shut within himself so far as the Physical
World was concerned, but it was different when he was brought into such
intimate and close touch with another, as in the case of the generative act.
Then for the moment the spirit pierced the veil of flesh and Adam knew
his wife. He had ceased to know himself--thus his consciousness became
more and more and more centered outside himself in the outside world and
he lost his inner perception. That cannot be fully regained until he has
passed to the stage where it is no longer necessary to have a partner in
generation, and he has reached the development where he can again utilize his whole
creative force at will. Then he will again know himself as he did during
his stage of plant-like existence, but with this all important difference that
he will use his creative faculty consciously, and will not be restricted to
using it solely for the pro-creation of his own species, but may create
whatever he will. Neither will he use his present organs of generation, but the
larynx will speak the creative word as directed by the spirit
through the co-ordinating mechanism of the brain. Thus the two organs built by
half the creative force will in time be the means whereby man will eventually
become an independent self-conscious creator.
Even at the present time man molds matter both by thought and
voice, as instanced in scientific experiments where thoughts have created an
image on photographic plates, and where the human voice has created geometrical
figures in sand, etc. In proportion as man becomes unselfish he will release
the creative force held in leash. That will give him added thought power and
enable him to utilize it for upliftment of others instead of to plan how to
degrade and subject others to his will. He will learn how to master himself
and cease to try to master others, except it be done temporarily for their
good, but never for selfish ends. Only one who has mastered himself is
qualified to rule others, and competent to judge when that should be done, and
what is best for them.
Thus we see that in time the present passionate mode of
generation will be again superseded by a pure and more efficient method than
the present, and that also is symbolized in the Rose Cross where the rose is
placed in the center between the four arms. The long limb represents the body,
the two horizontals, the two arms, and the short upper limb, the head. The
rose is in place of the larnyx.
The rose, like any other flower, is the generative organ of the
plant. Its green stem carries the colorless, passionless plant blood. The blood
red rose shows the passion filled blood of the human race, but in the rose the
vital fluid is not sensuous, it is chaste and pure. Thus it is an excellent
symbol of the generative organ in the pure and holy state to which man will
attain when he has cleansed and purified his blood from desire, when he has
become chaste, pure and Christ-like.
Therefore the Rosicrucians look ardently forward to the day when
the roses shall bloom upon the cross of humanity, therefore the Elder Brothers
greet the aspiring soul with the words of the Rosicrucian Greeting: "May
the Roses bloom upon your Cross," and therefore the greeting is given in
the meetings of the Fellowship Centers by the leader to the assembled students,
probationers and disciples who respond to the greeting by saying "And on
yours, also."
John speaks of his purification (1st epistle, iii, 9) and says
that he who is born of God cannot sin, for he keepeth his seed within him.
It is an absolute necessity to progress that the aspirant should be chaste. Yet
it must be borne in mind, that absolute celibacy is not required of man until
he has reached a point where he is ready for the great initiations, and that it
is a duty we owe to the whole to perpetuate the race. If we are mentally,
morally, physically and financially able, we may approach the act of generation
as a holy sacrifice laid upon the altar of humanity, but not for sensual
pleasure. Neither should it be performed in an austere, forbidding frame of
mind, but in glad giving up of oneself for the privilege of furnishing a friend
seeking rebirth with the body and environment he needs for development. Thus we
shall also help him cultivate the blooming roses upon his cross.
Morning and Evening Exercises Performed by the
Rosicrucian Aspirant
The Evening Exercise
(Mentioned in Chapter
3)
The
Evening exercise, Retrospection, is of greater value than any other
method in advancing the aspirant upon the path of attainment. It has such a
far-reaching effect that it enables one to learn now, not only the lessons of
this life, but lessons ordinarily reserved for future lives.
After going to bed at night the body should be relaxed. Then
the aspirant begins to review the scenes of the day in reverse order,
starting with the events of the evening, then the occurrences of the afternoon,
of the forenoon, and the morning. He endeavors to picture to himself
each scene as faithfully as possible--seeks to reproduce before his mind's
eye all that took place in each pictured scene with the object of
judging his actions, of ascertaining if his words conveyed the meaning he
intended or gave a false impression, or if he overstated or understated in
relating experiences to others. He reviews his moral attitude in relation
to each scene. At meals, did he eat to live, or did he live to eat--to please
the palate? Let him judge himself and blame where blame is due, praise
where merited.
People sometimes find it difficult to remain awake till the
exercise has been performed. In such cases it is permissible to sit up in bed
till it is possible to follow the ordinary method.
The value of retrospection is enormous--far-reaching beyond
imagination. In the first place, we perform the work of restoration of
harmony consciously and in a shorter time than the desire body can do
during sleep, leaving a larger portion of the night available for outside work
than otherwise possible. In the second place, we live our purgatory and
first heaven each night, and build into the spirit as Right Feeling
the essence of the day's experience. Thus we escape purgatory after death and
also save time spent in the first heaven. And last, but not least,
having extracted day by day the essence of experiences which make for soul
growth, and having built them into the spirit, we are actually living in an
attitude of mind and developing along lines that would ordinarily have been
reserved for future lives. By the faithful performance of this exercise we
expunge day by day undesirable occurrences from our subconscious memory so that
our sins are blotted out, our auras commence to shine with spiritual gold
extracted by retrospection from the experiences of each day, and thus we
attract the attention of the Teacher.
The pure shall see God, said Christ, and the Teacher will
quickly open our eyes when we are fit to enter into the "Hall of
Learning," the desire world, where we obtain our first experiences of
conscious life without the dense body.
The Morning Exercise
Concentration,
the second exercise, is performed in the morning at the very earliest moment
possible after the aspirant awakes. He must not arise to open blinds or perform
any other unnecessary act. If the body is comfortable he should at once relax
and commence to concentrate. This very important, as the spirit has just
returned from the desire world at the moment of waking, and at that time the
conscious touch with that world is more easily regained than at any other time
of the day.
We remember from Lecture
No. 4 that during sleep the currents of the desire body flow, and its
vortices move and spin with enormous rapidity. But as soon as it enters the
dense body its currents and vortices are almost stopped by the dense matter and
the nerve currents of the vital body which carry messages to and from the
brain. It is the object of this exercise to still the dense body to the same
degree of inertia and insensibility as in sleep, although the spirit within is
perfectly awake, alert, and conscious. Thus we make a condition where the sense
centers of the desire body can begin to revolve while inside the dense body.
Concentration is a word that puzzles many and carries meaning
to but few, so we will endeavor to make its significance clear. The dictionary
gives several definitions, all applicable to our idea. One is "to draw to
a center"; another from chemistry, "to reduce to extreme purity and
strength by removing valueless constituents." Applied to our problem, one
of the above definitions tells us that if we draw our thoughts to a center, a
point, we increase their strength on the principle that the power of the sun's
rays is increased when focused to a point by means of a magnifying glass. By
eliminating from our mind for the time being all other subjects, our whole
thought power is available for use in attaining the object or solving the
problem on which we are concentrating; we may become so absorbed in our subject
that if a cannon were fired above our heads we would not hear it. People may
become so lost in a book that they are oblivious to all else, and the
aspirant to spiritual sight must acquire the faculty of becoming equally
absorbed in the idea he is concentrating upon, so that he may shut out the
world of sense from his consciousness and give his whole attention to the
spiritual world. When he learns to do that, he will see the spiritual side of
an object or idea illuminated by spiritual light, and thus he will obtain a
knowledge of the inner nature of things undreamt of by a wordly man.
When he has reached that point of abstraction the sense centers
of the desire body commence to revolve slowly within the dense body, and will
thus make a place for themselves. This in time will become more and more
defined, and it will require less and less effort to set them going.
The subject of concentration may be any high and lofty ideal,
but should preferably be of such a nature that it takes the aspirant out of the
ordinary things of sense, beyond time and space; and there is no better formula
than the first five verses of St. John's gospel. Taking them as a subject,
sentence by sentence, morning after morning, will in time give the aspirant a
wonderful insight into the beginning of our universe and the method of
creation--an insight far beyond any book learning.
After a time, when the aspirant has learned to unwaveringly
hold before him for about five minutes the idea upon which he is concentrating,
he may try to suddenly drop the idea and leave a blank. Think of nothing else,
simply wait to see if anything enters the vacuum. In time the sights and scenes
of the desire world will fill the vacant space. After the aspirant has become
used to that, he may demand this, that, or the other thing to come before him.
It will come and then he may investigate it.
The main point, however, is that by following the above
instructions the aspirant is purifying himself; his aura commences to shine and
will without fail draw the attention of a teacher who will depute someone
to give help when required for the next step in advancement. Even if months or
years should go by and bring no visible result, rest assured that no
effort has been in vain; the Great Teachers see and appreciate our efforts.
They are just as anxious to have our assistance as we are to work. They may see
reasons which make it inexpedient for us to take up work for humanity in this
life or at this time. Sometime the hindering conditions will pass, and we shall
be admitted to the light where we can see for ourselves.
An ancient legend says that digging for treasure must be done
in the stillness of night and in perfect silence; to speak one word until the
treasure is safely excavated will inevitably cause it to disappear. That is a
mystic parable which has reference to the search for spiritual illumination. If
we gossip or recount to others the experiences of our concentration hour, we
lose them; they cannot bear vocal transmission and will fade into nothingness.
By meditation we must extract from them a full knowledge of the underlying
cosmic laws. Then the experience itself will not be recounted, for we shall see
that it is but the husk which hid the kernel of worth. The law is of universal
value as will be at once apparent, for it will explain facts in life, and teach
us how to take advantage of certain conditions and to avoid others. The law may
be freely stated at the discoverer's discretion for the benefit of humanity.
The experience which revealed the law then will appear in its true light as of
only passing interest and unworthy of further notice. Therefore the aspirant
should regard everything that happens during concentration as sacred and should
be keep it strictly to himself.
End of
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception
Addendum
During the four years which have elapsed since the foregoing paragraphs were
written, the writer has continued his investigations of the invisible worlds,
and experienced the expansion of consciousness relative to these realms of
nature which comes by practice of the precepts taught in the Western Mystery
School. Others also who have followed the method of soul-unfoldment herein
described as particularly suited to the Western peoples, have likewise been
enabled to verify for themselves many things here taught. Thus the writer's
understanding of what was given by the Elder Brothers has received some
corroboration and seems to have been substantially correct, therefore he feels
it a duty to state this for the encouragement of those who are still unable to
see for themselves.
If
we said that the vital body is built of prisms instead of points, it
would have been better, for it is by refraction through these minute prisms
that the colorless solar fluid changes to a rosy hue as observed by other
writers beside the author.
Other new
and important discoveries have also been made; for instance, we know now that
the Silver Cord is grown anew in each life, that one part sprouts from the seed
atom of the desire body in the great vortex of the liver, that the other part
grows out of the seed atom of the dense body in the heart, that both parts meet
in the seed atom of the vital body in the solar plexus, and that this union of
the higher and lower vehicles causes the quickening. Further development of the
cord between the heart and solar plexus during the first seven years has an
important bearing on the mystery of childlife, likewise its fuller growth from
the liver to the solar plexus, which takes place during the second septenary
period, is a contributory cause of adolescence. Completion of the Silver Cord
marks the end of childlife, and from that time the solar energy which enters
through the spleen and is tinted by refraction through the prismatic seed atom
of the vital body located in the solar plexus, commences to give a distinctive and
individual coloring to the aura which we observe in adults.
| Top | Next
| Back | Table of
Contents | Topical Index | Alphabetical
Index |