For eight years Max Heindel, the mystic and esotericist sent out to the students of The Rosicrucian Fellowship a letter each month filled with much valuable information, explaining the cause of many of the difficulties occurring in daily life, not only of individuals but of nations as well, and giving a feasible solution of them. These letters, ninety-seven in number, sent out between Christmas 1910 and January 1919, constitute the subject matter of this book.
Being the authorized messenger of the Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order and consequently in close touch with them, Mr. Heindel was continuously receiving and giving out esoteric information to his students relative to the past, present, and future evolution of life and form, which on account of his tutelage under the Brothers of the Order he was able to verify for himself and to which he was able to add many details. The letters in this book give many side lights on the Rosicrucian philosophy and many practical, helpful hints for living the life of the Christian mystic.
In many of these letters there is a reference to accompanying lessons. Each letter was accompanied by a lesson in pamphlet form. The greater part of these lessons have already been published in book form, and are available for reference by readers of this book. The volumes of lessons published to date are as follows: Freemasonry and Catholicism; The Web of Destiny; Mysteries of the Great Operas; The Mystical Interpretation of Christmas; and Gleanings of a Mystic. The lessons not already published will appear later in a second volume of Gleanings of a Mystic. The readers of these letters will obtain much more from them if they will consult the corresponding lessons as they proceed.
In giving these letters to the world we feel that we are making a contribution of permanent value and importance, and one from which the student of esotericism will obtain much assistance in his progress on the Path.
In a religious movement it is customary to address one another as "sister" and "brother," in recognition of the fact that we are all children of God, who is our common Father. Brothers and sisters are not harmonious at all times, however. Sometimes they are even misguided enough to hate one another, but between friends there can be no feeling but love.
It was a recognition of this fact which prompted the Christ, our great and glorious Ideal, to say to His disciples: "Henceforth I call you not servants. . . .but friends." (John 15:15) We cannot do better than follow our great Leader in this as in all other things. Let us, therefore, not merely be content with the fraternal relationship, but let us endeavor to be friends in the very holiest and most intimate sense of the word.
The Elder Brothers, whose beautiful teachings have brought us together upon the Way of Attainment, honor their disciples in the same way that Christ honored His apostles, namely, by giving them the name of "friend." If you persist in the way upon which you have started, you will sometime stand in their presence and hear that name utters in a voice so soft, so kind, and so gentle that it beggars description or even imagination. From that time there will be no task you would not perform to deserve that friendship. It will be your one wish, your one aspiration, to serve them, and no earthly distinction will appear worthy of comparison with that friendship.
Upon my unworthy shoulders has fallen the great privilege of transmitting the teachings of the Elder Brothers to the public in general and to the students, probationers, and disciples of the Rosicrucian Fellowship in particular. You have requested that your name be placed on my correspondence list, and I gladly extend to you the right hand of fellowship, greeting you by the name of friend. I appreciate the trust you repose in me, and I assure you that I shall endeavor to aid you in every way within my power to deserve your trust. I hope that you will also aid me in my work for yourself and others by a charitable judgment of any shortcomings you may discover in me or in my writings. None need the prayers of others so much as one who must be a leader.
Please remember me in your devotions, and be assured that you shall have a place in mine.
I enclose the first lesson in the hope that the foregoing may establish our relations upon a footing of sincere friendship.
I hope that you thoroughly studied the Christmas lesson and are thoroughly familiar with the phenomenon of the spiritual ebb and flow in the universe so that you will be able to give a reason for your faith in "holy Night." In this month's lesson the idea is carried to a further conclusion, not previously taught publicly. There are other teachings in this little lesson which shed a clearer light upon the immaculate mystery- birth than has ever been given before, and I hope that you will diligently study it during the coming month so that you may realize to the full the transcendent beauty of the sublime Rosicrucian teaching on this subject.
But whether you have studied the Christmas lesson and are able to discourse upon the spiritual ebb and flow or whether you will be able to expound the Immaculate Conception at the end of this month is after all secondary in importance to what you answer to the following question: Did you take advantage of the flood tide of spirituality at Christmas to seek out some one in distress as suggested in the last paragraph of the lesson? Did you put it to practical use in the world's work? I hope you did, for only as we practice the teachings in our immediate circle of influence will they bear fruit in soul growth. We may read till we get mental indigestion, but actions speak louder than words. Also there is a bad place said to be paved with good intentions. Therefore, dear friend, let me urge upon you the necessity of doing! doing! doing!
Often we see in the home, office, shop, or assembly room that a certain things ought to be done. But the attitude of the man of the world is to shirk. He turns away saying: Why should I do it? Let some one else attend to it. We should reason differently, however. We should not plan how little we can do. If so we are not fitting ourselves to become Invisible Helpers. If we see that a task has to be performed, we should say to ourselves: Some one will have to do that; Why not I?
In this coming month dear friend, let us take as a spiritual exercise the following of this motto, "Why not I?" If we follow it consistently, we shall reap a greater blessing than we confer upon others.
May God abundantly bless you and strengthen you in your efforts.
You have of course studied in some measure the various teachings of the Rosicrucian Order, and when I address myself to you, it is not as if I were speaking to a stranger who is unfamiliar with the teachings or perhaps even skeptical of the existence of such an Order. These teachings have spread like wildfire in the Western world during the past two years, and that of itself shows a power behind them which is not of the ordinary human kind. This you will probably realize better when you have read the lesson for this month, which deals with this mysterious Order and shows it relation to the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
Has it ever occurred to you to inquire, my dear friend, what binds you to this Fellowship? You know there are not outward bonds, that you have taken no oath of allegiance, and that you have not been entrusted with any secrets. What then constitutes the Fellowship of which we speak?
It cannot be the teachings, for they are open to the whole world and are assented to by many who have not requested that they be enrolled as students. Neither is it the enrollment as a student which creates the inner bond, for many study only to benefit themselves and have not fellowship with the rest of us. Rather, it is the service which we perform and the earnestness wherewith we practice the teachings and become living examples to the world of that brotherly love which Christ spoke of as fulfillment of all commandments.
Last month we took for our motto the thought that if a certain task were to be performed which seemingly belonged to no one in particular, we would say, "Why not I?" instead of letting some one else do it or letting it lie. I trust you have performed this unselfish service often, and thus cemented the bonds of fellowship.
In this coming month I would ask you to give your thoughts and your efforts to advance the Teachings of the Elder Brothers. Do not attempt to convince any one against his will or to proselyte, but try to find out in an unostentatious manner what bothers your neighbor in a spiritual way. Then try to help him with our teachings. But whether you say anything to him about where you received them or not must depend upon your own judgment. The main thing is to spread the teachings, not to advertise the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
Last month I promised to take up further elucidation of the Rosicrucian Order and its relation to the Fellowship, but I forgot that Easter was at hand and would require attention first. I hope you will agree that it is more important to study this great cosmic event, particularly as we live in a Christian land and, I hope, are Christians at heart. In fact, dear friend, the keynote of what I would bring out this month is really a plea for the Church, and it is with that end in view that I have printed the poem, "Creed or Christ?" at the end of the lesson.
We are all Christ in the making, the love nature is unfolding in us all, and why should we not identify ourselves with one or another of the Christian churches which cherish the Christ ideal? Some of the best workers in the Fellowship are members, yes, and ministers, of churches. Many are hungry for what we feed upon. We cannot share it with them by standing aloof, and we do ourselves harm by neglecting to take advantage of the great opportunity to aid in elevating the church.
Of course there is no compulsion. You are not required to join or attend a church, but if you do go there in the spirit of helpfulness, I can promise you that you will experience a most wonderful soul growth in a very short time. The great Recording Angels, who give to each nation the religion best suited to its needs, placed us in a Christian land, because the Christian religion will help us in soul growth. Even admitting that it has been obscured by creed and dogma, we should not let that prevent us from accepting those teachings which are good, for that would be as foolish as to center our attention upon the spots in the sun and refuse to see its glorious light.
Please think this matter over, dear friend, and let us take for our motto this month, Greater Usefulness, that we may grow abundantly by striving to improve our opportunities.
I hope you enjoyed last month's lesson. Perhaps you will think it strange, but I have fairly reveled in it myself, for it aroused by devotion most powerfully to think how the Divine Life pours itself out for us periodically so that we may have more abundant life. Without that annual influx of God's life, all life, or rather form, would cease to exist. It is by feeling the higher emotions that we raise ourselves the easiest. It is good to study and to develop our minds, but there is a great danger in this age of becoming ensnared in the meshes of intellect. Paul struck the nail on the head when he said: "Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth." We all wish to know; it is natural that we should, but unless our knowledge serves to make us better men and women, better servants to our fellows, it does not make us greater in the sight of God. Therefore cultivation of right feeling is of enormous importance, and I sincerely hope that you have felt the Easter lesson for that is the only way to get full benefit from it.
Picture to yourself that great wave of divine energy projected from the Invisible Sun which is the manifestation of the Father. Try to feel the awe you would experience if you could see it, as the trained seer can and does. Watch it in imagination as it strikes the earth on Holy Night at Christmas. Let the feeling work upon you about the way it sinks into the earth and is the active cause of the germination in all kingdoms. Christ used the simile of the brooding hen to describe His feelings towards other beings, and if you try to feel the sprouting of all things in nature as indicated in our Easter lesson, you will realize a side of the subject which may have escaped you.
I hope that you will long use this lesson as material for mediation as it is different from one of the intellectual lessons that may be grasped by the mind and put aside. This lesson is of permanent value, and the oftener you take it up and let it work upon your heart. the more closely you will come to the heart of things, which is God, the great and loving Father who pours out His life alike for the tiniest plant and the tallest monarch of the forest; who cares for beast and bird, for the outcast and homeless rover, and for the royal potentate in his palace, without discrimination.
May God abundantly bless you and open up to you the storehouse of His riches, which surpass all earthly enjoyments, and may you feel the wave of love which He pours out afresh from year to year as a reality. Then you will never be lonely if you are alone, and you will be, oh! so much richer, no matter how much you are blessed with earthly love, and so much more able to radiate that most sublime of all emotions, Spiritual Love.
Christ gave two commands to His disciples when He said: "Preach the Gospel, and Heal the Sick." We saw in last month's lesson how closely the office of spiritual advisor is linked with healing of physical ailments, for though the immediate and apparent cause of disease may be physical, in the final analysis all ailments are due to transgression of the Laws of God, which we usually call "Laws of Nature" our materialistic attempts to eliminate the Divine. Bacon, with rare spiritual perception, said: "God and Nature differ only as the seal and the imprint." As flexible sealing wax is molded to the rigid lines of the seal, so also nature passively conforms to the immutable laws of its Divine Creator, and thus health and a carefree condition are the rule among the lower kingdoms. But when the human stage is reached, when individuality is evolved and we begin to demand choice, prerogative, and emancipation, we are apt to transgress the laws of God, and suffering invariable follows.
There is a side of the moon which we never see, but we know it is there, and that hidden side of the moon is just as much a factor in creating the tides as the part of the moon which is nearest to us and visible. So there is also a hidden side to man which is as productive of action as the physical being we behold. Transgressions of divine laws upon the mental and moral planes of action are quite as responsible for physical disorders as the hidden side of the moon is effective in producing the tides.
If the above were understood, physicians would no longer puzzle over the annoying fact that while a certain kind and quantity of medicine produces a cure in one cause, it may be absolutely impotent in others. A large and increasing number of medical men are now convinced that the Law of Destiny is an important factor in producing disease and retarding recover, though they are not believers in the fallacy of an inexorable fate. They recognize that God does not willingly afflict us nor aim to get even with the transgressor; they understand that all sorrow and suffering are designed to teach us lessons which we would not or could not learn in any other way. The stars show the period estimated as requisite to teach us the lesson, but even God cannot determine the exact time not the amount of suffering necessary; we, ourselves, have a prerogative, for we are divine. If we awake to our transgression and commence to obey the law ere the stellar affliction ceases, we are cured of our mental, moral, or physical distemper; if we persist to the end of one stellar affliction without having learned our lesson, a more inimical configuration will enforce obedience at a later time.
It is in this connection that the spiritually minded health adjuster may often render most efficient service and shorten the period of suffering by pointing out to a sufferer why he is afflicted. Even when the healer finds himself unable to cope with the disease, he may very often cheer a patient through a period of unavoidable distress by a promise of relief at a certain time. In my ministrations to the sick during bygone years it has not infrequently been my privilege to thus point out the Star of Hope, and, so far as I remember, my predictions of recovery at a set time have always been verified, sometimes in an almost miraculous manner, for the stars are the clock of destiny and are always correct.
In the above you have the great reason why we should study astrology from the spiritual standpoint. In next month's letter I hope to bring out something more definite concerning the Spiritual Panacea, but in the meantime I am sure you will be glad to know that we have bought the land of which I spoke. It is one of the sightliest spots in beautiful southern California; in fact, though I have traveled all over the world, I have never seen a view to compare with that of the site of our future Headquarters. It is situated upon a high tableland, giving free scope to the vision for forty or more miles in all directions. On the north the Santa Ana Mountain Range wards off the cold north winds so that the climate is practically frostless all the year round. Below us to the east is the beautiful San Luis Rey Valley, with its river like a silver band wending it way through fertile fields past the historic old Spanish Mission where the Franciscan Fathers taught the Indians for centuries. Farther eastward the San Jacinto mountain rears its snow-capped peak against a sky of deepest azure. In the south the promontory of La Jolla, with its picturesque caves, hides from view the great natural harbor of Uncle Sam's southwesternmost city — San Diego. Towards the setting sun we behold upon the placid bosom of the Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, also Santa Catalina with its wonderful submarine gardens — a composite picture of glory and inspiration, in itself sufficient to evoke all that is purest and best in any one at all spiritually inclined.
We have named this beauty spot of nature, "Mt. Ecclesia," and a building fund has already been started to erect suitable buildings: a School of Healing, a Sanitarium, and last but not least, a place of worship — an Ecclesia, where the Spiritual Panacea may be prepared and sent all over the world to be used by properly qualified helpers.
Last month we started to consider the sacraments, and it was my intention to write upon Communion this month, but the subject has proved so vast that it takes in almost everything from Genesis to Revelation, besides a number of physiological aspects such as the chemistry of good and the blood; also the atmosphere, etc. Further, it is inseparably connected with the second coming of Christ. It will require more time than I can give to get it out early in the month, also it will cover several lessons. Therefore I thought it best not to use that subject until next month, and in the meantime I have decided to give you a lesson from the new book — The Rosicrucian Mysteries. This lesson is partly taken from the section entitled, "The Mystery of Light, Color, and Consciousness." You will find it most interesting and instructive.
Regarding last month's lesson on baptism, you will have noted that so far from being only an outgrowth of the dogmatism commonly attributed to the church, it is the symbol of condition which actually existed in the past when humanity was indeed a brotherhood. It is a fact of the greatest significance that until the time of Christ, the law demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but ere He commenced to preach the gospel of love to our neighbor and forgiveness towards those who trespass against us, He went under the Waters of Baptism, and there received the Universal Spirit, which will supplant the egoism of today.
Thus He became filled with love, and therefore naturally radiated that quality, as naturally as a stove filled with burning coal radiates heat. We may preach to the stove forever that its duty is to heat, but until we fill it with fuel, it will remain cold. Likewise, we may preach to humanity that we ought to be brothers and love one another, but until we put ourselves "in tune with the infinite," we can no more love our neighbor than the empty stove can heat. As Paul says, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angles, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
The Baptism of Water refers to a past condition when we were irresponsible as the child we take to church today, but the Baptism of Spirit is something yet in the future for most of us, and it is this for which we are striving. Let us pay particular attention to the thirteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians during this coming month. Let us endeavor to practice in our daily lives at least one of the virtues which Paul says lead to illumination, so that we may soon fit ourselves to see face to face the beauties of the sacraments, which perhaps are now but dimly perceived as through a darkened glass.
I hope you enjoyed last month's lesson on "The Mystery of Light, Color and Consciousness," and that you now have a more thorough realization of what is meant by the saying, "In Him we live and move and have our being," for everywhere, throughout the whole universe, wherever light penetrates, there God also is. Even in the places which we call dark because the constitution of our eyes prevents perception of objects there, organs of vision differently constituted can function as exemplified in the instance of cats and owls.
Christ said, "Let your light shine." To the spiritual vision each human being appears as a flame of light, variously colored according to temperament, and or greater or less brilliancy in proportion to purity of character. Science has discovered that all matter is in a state of flux, that the particles which compose our bodies continually decay and are eliminated from the system, to be replaced by others which remain for a short time until they also decompose. Likewise our moods, emotions, and desires change with every passing moment, the old giving place to the new in an interminable succession. Therefore, they also must be composed of matter and subject to laws similar to those which govern visible physical substances.
We even can, and do, change our mind; we can cultivate it in one direction or another as we please, just as we can develop the muscles of arm or limb, or we can allow the member to atrophy. Therefore the mind also must be composed of a changeable substance. But the ego, the Thinker, never loses its "I"-dentity. In both childhood and old age that "I" remains the same regardless of changes in thoughts, feelings, emotions, and desires. Though the body, which we use as a garment, changes with the passing years, we are eternally and everlasting the same.
The quality of mutability of matter and evanescence of form is the basis of all spiritual progress, however, for it matter were immutable as spirit, there would be no possibility of advancement. So long as we drift with the tide of life and do not consciously control the ebb and flow of matter to and from our being, we are the sport of circumstances. Then when a ray of Mars is projected at a certain angle to the atoms of our body, we feel all the aggressiveness which it carries. A Saturnian beam, on the other hand, brings us depression; it fills us with gloom and fearful forebodings. But as we evolve and arrive at an understanding of the the mystery of light, color, and consciousness, we gradually learn to rule our stars. Then by conformity to the laws of nature we become masters of our own destiny; and it is of vital importance that no matter what the aspects which may rule at any certain time we should always assert ourselves and say:
You saw in the lesson, on Baptism, how we went back to the earliest days of evolution upon our planet to find the significance of that sacrament. You will have noticed also in last month's lesson how the Sacrament of Communion has its root in the beginning of time. Thus it is apparent that unless we are capable of investigating the past history of the human race, we can obtain no clear conception concerning anything connected with mankind. Goethe spoke of "das ewig werdende" — the ever becoming. Change is the mainspring of progression, and if we look upon man as he is now, without regard to what he has been, our deductions as to his future must necessarily be very limited.
The last lesson illustrates the Law of Analogy, showing how man was fostered by Divine Guardians in a manner similar to that in which the little child is care for by its parents to prepare it for the battle of life; and we may be sure that though these guardians have withdrawn from visible leadership, they are still with us and keep a watchful eye upon their former wards, just as we who are parents continue to take an interest in the welfare of our children after they have left our hearth and home to fight the battle of life for themselves.
When we have had our spiritual eyes opened and have learned to distinguish the various classes of beings in the higher realms, that guardianship is one of the most reassuring facts to the observer; for though no one may interfere with the free will of mankind and though it is contrary to the divine plan in any way to coerce a man into doing that which he does not want to do, there is no bar against suggestions along lines which he would be likely to choose. And it is due to the wisdom and love of these Great Beings that progress along humanitarian lines is the watchword of the day.
During the ages which have passed, we in the Western world have particularly felt the sorrow and pain due to war and strife. The struggle for existence is constantly becoming more and more acute; it is dictated by "man's inhumanity to man." But there is also another factor developed by the Lords of Love and Compassion, namely, the altruistic movements, which are multiplying in number at a wonderful rate, and gaining in efficiency as the years go by. it is a noteworthy fact, however, that alms-giving and charity which degrade the recipient are being more and more superseded by help to self-help, which elevates who we aid as well as those who give. That kind of help involves thought and self-sacrifice, which are fostered by our Invisible Guardians among the stronger who are now their weaker brothers' keepers.
It is a cause for considerable congratulation that a number of our Fellowship members are workers in institutions conducted along the above lines, and I sincerely hope to see the day when a large majority will be able to take up work of this nature, each in his respective environment. But begin at home, be kind to all with whom you immediately come in contact, and when you have been found faithful in a few things, the larger opportunities will not be wanting.
It is one of the usual human characteristics to eulogize that which pleases us, and deprecate that for which we have an aversion, but I trust that you will have learned from last month's lesson the one great and glorious fact that in the Father's kingdom all things work together for good. Those among us who are content to live upon vegetables, and those among us who feel no desire for strong drink, are usually too prone to look down upon our brothers and sisters who still use flesh food and intoxicants with a feeling of, "I am so much holier that thou"; but you will doubtless have perceived from what has been said in the lesson that such a feeling is entirely gratuitous. Flesh food and alcohol have had a very material share in the world's progress, and were it not for them we should not today be enjoying many of the comforts and labor-saving devices which make life in the Western world so much easier than in primeval times. Neither is the day of their usefulness entirely past; they are necessities in the lives of many people. Besides, as the Good Book says, it is not that which goes into the mouth that defiles, but that which proceeds therefrom; and the attitude of haughty disdain for those who still use flesh foods, or are subject to alcoholism, is far more subversive of spiritual growth than the mere partaking of these foods.
Let us therefore not condemn others, but let us try to see the matter from their side, and allow them to have their free will as we wish to have ours. Neither let us obtrude our views upon them nor seek to make converts to our mode of living among those who are not yet ready. The change ought to come from within, and it should not be dictated by a consideration of the healthfulness of vegetable food, nor by the spiritual acceleration to be gained from a diet prepared without flesh. The highest motive should be compassion for the poor victims which are slain to appease appetites.
It may be said, however, with safety that we eat too much flesh, and like all compounds of nitrogen, such as nitro-glycerine, gun-cotton, and other explosives, flesh foods are extremely unstable and dangerous to the system. Therefore we will do well if we urge moderation upon all with whom we come in contact. Science is sufficiently well aware of the facts in the case to furnish ample backing for any one who undertakes this mission. We may not save the lives of as many animals by preaching moderation among our associates as we would if we could convert them to a bloodless diet, but if our motive is to avert tragedy to all possible, that will be the wisest course. Also is we can inculcate a spirit of compassion, the desire for flesh will soon vanish before the spirit of love.
Saturday, October the 28th, at 12:40 P.M. sharp, Pacific time, we are going to break ground for the first building on Mt. Ecclesia, the home-site of the Rosicrucian Fellowship. The house will be comparatively small, and we are striving to make it as inexpensive or we shall not be able to build at all. I am even doing the work of architect and contractor to save expenses. Nevertheless, we consider this first breaking of ground an epoch of greatest import in the young life of our society, for though our private quarters may be cramped we shall have a large workroom and accommodation for several assistants until funds become available for erection of the Ecclesia and other pretentious structures more worthy of our mission in the world.
We realize most keenly that the magnitude of our work in the world depends in a large measure upon the support and co-operation of our associates, and we therefore most earnestly solicit your active assistance upon this momentous occasion, to the end that our society may become a greater power for good than any which has gone before.
You know that thoughts are things; that they are forces of a magnitude proportionate to the intensity of purpose behind them. There is no easier or more effective method of putting our whole being in tune with a certain design, and hurling a powerful thought in a desired direction, than earnest Christian prayer.
Now, I have two distinct requests for your help in prayer, and I hope and trust you will give your most hearty support.
In the first place, though altogether unworthy, it will be my duty as leader to break the ground for our future Headquarters at the time set, and it is is possible for you to withdraw to your closet, please give yourself up to earnest prayer that the Headquarters then being started may grown and prosper in every good way; for the united prayers of our students all over the world will be an immense force in that direction.
But you can do more; the cumulative thought of many friends directed day by day towards a common center will work wonders. Will you send us a prayer every night to strengthen Mrs. Heindel, the workers at Headquarters, and myself, so that we may grow purer, better, and more efficient workers in the service of humanity, and that we may thus become more potent to alleviate the sorrow, suffering, and distress of all who seek our aid?
Further, will you write me once in a while assuring me of your sympathy and co-operation? I may not be able to reply and thank you individually, but you can rest assured that I shall appreciate your expression of good will none the less.
This month I am departing from my usual custom of devoting the student's letter entirely to a review of the previous months lesson, in order to tell you of the ceremony we had at Mt. Ecclesia on the 28th, when we broke ground for the first building on the site of our permanent Headquarters. I feel sure you were with us in spirit, that you are eager to hear about it, and I know the recital will bring us in closer touch.
Our first idea was to forgo any outward show or ceremony. We desired to avoid all unnecessary expense as our funds are not, even now, sufficient to finish the building inside, and we shall have to rough it for awhile until conditions are more favorable.
I had intended to go there and hold the service mentally, and alone, but it seemed so cold, dreary, and desolate not to have one friend there in person to rejoice with me on that momentous occasion, not even my dear companion in the work-Mrs. Heindel. Moreover, as this is a very important affair of the Rosicrucian Fellowship and not a personal matter, I felt that opportunity to attend ought to be given the members. The thought grew upon me until I decided to ask the Teacher's advice; and, as he most heartily approved, we made an appropriation for the purpose of celebrating the event in a simple, yet fitting manner, and sent notices to friends in the immediate vicinity.
We made a large cross of the same style as our emblem, and on the three upper ends we had painted, in gilt letters, the initials: C R C. These, you know, represent the symbolical name of our great Head, and designate our emblem as the Christian Rose Cross, which conveys an idea of beauty and a higher life so different from the gloom of death usually associated with the black cross.
This cross and a climbing rose we decided to plant at the same time as we broke ground for the building, so that they might symbolize the verdant life of the various kingdoms traveling to higher spheres along the spiral path of evolution.
On the 27th, Mrs. Heindel and I started for Oceanside, nearly exhausted from the strain of packing and moving. The first rain of the season was falling, and we felt some apprehension concerning the effect on the ceremony; but as we looked toward the almost cloud-hidden mountains in the east, we beheld the largest, most glorious rainbow we had ever seen-a double rainbow in fact-and it's southern foot seemed to stand directly upon Mt. Ecclesia.
Our responsibility to aid thousands of weary hearts to bravely bear their burdens has often seemed beyond our strength; yet always have we found our powers renewed by looking within; and this time it seemed as if all Nature wanted to cheer us and was saying: "Take courage, remember the Work is not yours but God's; trust entirely in Him; He will point the way." So we clasped hands and took heart with new strength to carry on the beautiful work of which Mt. Ecclesia is to be the center.
The day of the ceremony was an ideal California day; the sun shone is a cloudless sky. Wherever we looked from Mt. Ecclesia, oceans, valleys, mountains seemed to smile. Both the workers and visiting members were enraptured with the incomparable beauty of the Headquarters site. Those present were: Annie R. Atwood, of San Diego; Ruth E. Beach, of Portland, Ore.; Rachel M. Cunningham, Rudolf Miller and John Adams of Los Angeles; George Kramer, of Pittsburgh, Pa; Wm. M. Patterson, of Seattle, Wash.; Mrs. Heindel and myself.
At the appointed time I broke ground for the building. All helped to excavate for the cross, which was set by Wm. Patterson. Mrs. Heindel planted the rose, which was then watered by all present. May it grow, may it bloom, to adorn the nakedness of the cross and be an inspiration to purity of life that will cover all past sins, no matter how dark the life may have been. The address — as it should have been delivered-constitutes this month's lesson. Circumstances occasioned some modifications.
Have you grasped the main point in our last month's lesson on the symbolism of the Rose Cross, the crux of the Western Wisdom Teaching? It is Generative Purity.
The great Leaders of humanity always prescribe conditions most conducive to the growth of each race; different religions for the masses, and varying methods of attainment for the few. The populous condition of the Far East proves a relatively unrestricted indulgence of the passions upon the part of its population. Therefore the Wisdom Teachers of the East prescribe celibacy for their disciples as a means of gaining control over passion.
In the West conditions are more complicated and dangerous. Here the floodgates of passion are, in a large measure, dammed up; not from a sense of the sanctity of the generative act, but because of selfishness and fancied economic necessity. This method often leads to insidious perversion and loose practices. Were not passion so strong, this method might indeed result in race suicide. To require an aspirant born under such conditions to live a celibate life would only given him further incentive to selfishness and self-sufficiency; so it is regarded as a mark of merit when a pupil of the Western Mystery School marries and continues to live a life of chastity.
It has been a detriment to the Western world that various societies have promulgated Eastern doctrines — celibacy among others — here, and it was a severe shock to me when an officer in one such organization deplored the marriage of one of their lecturers, and told how it had embarrassed them that his wife was about to be confined. As the years brought new additions to the family the society has since relegated him to private life.
The exact reverse would have happened to pupils of the Western School. They are most highly honored if able and willing to give a body and a home to one or more waiting spirits, provided, of course, that they live a life of chaste conjugal love during the intervals.
Thus while the Eastern soul is commanded by the Compassionate Teachers, who temper the wind to the shorn lamb, to be celibate and flee temptation, the Western spirit is allowed to test its strength by living in conjugal relations and perchance in accomplishing an immaculate conception such as symbolized by the chaste, beautiful rose which scatters its seed without passion, without shame.
A New Race is being born now. Pure-minded Christian men and women are awakening more and more to the claims of the unborn. Let us celebrate the anniversary of our Savior's birth by praying that pure conditions may soon become general, and that all children may be well-born. Last, but not least, let each of us teach, preach, and live this doctrine.
Reviewing last month's lesson, there is the startling statement that in the next epoch we shall abandon our present terra firma and live in the air clothed in a gaseous body. Another writer along these lines has provoked much amusement by a series of articles so wildly imaginary that the opinions which we have heard expressed unanimously vote him champion among story tellers. Yet he stays on earth; his temples are as solid as a rock; and I have hesitated to publish the above mentioned teaching till I decided that duty required me to speak, even if some students do class me as visionary.
The trouble is, we have all become so much more impregnated with materialism than we realize, and it hinders us in our quest. As students of transcendental philosophy, we have accustomed ourselves to regard individual and intermittent life in a ethereal body possible attainment for the few, but that the whole human race may live permanently for a whole epoch in the air! — truly, it made me hold my breath when I realized that the Bible means exactly what it says when it states that we shall meet the Lord in the air and be with Him for the ages.
Looking towards the future through the perspective of the past, however, the idea should really cause no surprise for it is strictly in line with the path whence we have come to our present development. We lived at one time like the mineral and were embedded in the gaseous earth. We grew outwards from the fiery core during a plantlike existence. Our peregrinations commenced upon the thin earth crust at a later time; and we are now upon the highlands of the earth, far from the inner core where our evolution commenced. The march of progression has been outwards all the while, and it follows that the next step ought to raise us above the earth level.
I am giving this teaching out for consideration because the majority of our students believe in rebirth and the Law of Consequence, which are the main arbiters of destiny during the present dispensation of recurring cycles. Knowledge of these laws is of great value as it enables us to order our life intelligently, building in this life the conditions of the next embodiment.
The majority of Christians have not this great advantage, but they live, nevertheless, through all the tribulations of this Age — the Kingdom of Men — in the grand hope that they may qualify for admission the the Kingdom of God — the next Age. Our view of life has a shorter, theirs, a longer, focus. They live less scientifically than those among us who apply our more exact knowledge of present conditions, but they are fitting themselves for the future Age if they live by the Bible. Their information may be vague, but they live and die in the firm belief of the great and cardinal truth that they will go to Heaven and be with the Lord forever if they are real Christians.
If we believe only in rebirth, we can expect nothing but a continuous return to Earth to battle with the law of Jehovah; we have no part in the love of Christ. To be perfectly in line with the facts, to be able to live by the whole truth, we must realize that birth and death are evanescent features of this age of concrete existence, but life itself is interminable. John tells us very definitely that though it does not appear what our constitution shall be, we shall be changed to the likeness of Christ and remain deathless throughout the Age; and it behooves us to keep this great hope firmly before us and pray for the Kingdom to come, as our Lord taught.
Our last lesson finished the series dealing with the sacrament of Communion by description of how the spirit alcohol, which is fermented outside the system, is being superseded by sugar, which ferments within. I trust you to see the thread of the argument which has been running through these lessons: That a stimulant from the lethargy attendant upon a meat diet; that the bacchanalian orgies in ancient temples, which properly fill us with horror nowadays, were the on immense value in human development; that the first miracle of Christ and His Last Supper were devoted to a dispensation of the stimulant; the He ordained its use "till He come"; that as consumption of sugar increases, use of alcohol diminishes and, concurrently, the moral standard is gradually elevated; that people grow more altruistic and Christlike in proportion to their use of the non- inebriating stimulant, and that therefore the temperance movement is one of the most powerful factors to hasten the coming of Christ.
But as we cultivate finer and more delicate feelings, we shall shrink in horror also from flesh food; and some day it will be considered as morbid a taste to desire to use the stomach as a receptacle for the corpses of killed animals as it now adjudged by society a morbid taste to desire strong drink inordinately. As students of the Western Wisdom Teaching we should not judge, however, but recognize the fact that many really require these articles in moderation; but the matter is being adjusted by the invisible leaders of evolution in a manner not yet obvious to casual observers, though it is quite discernible to deeper investigators.
It is evident that evolutionary progress is elevating the lower kingdoms as well as humanity. The animals, particularly the domesticated species, are nearing individualization, and their withdrawal from manifestation has already commenced. As a result it will in time be possible to obtain flesh food. Then the death knell of "King Alcohol" will have struck, for only flesh eaters crave liquor.
In the meantime plant life is growing more sentient. The lateral limbs of trees produce more abundantly than do vertical branches because in plants, as in us, consciousness results from the antagonistic activities of the desire and vital currents. Lateral limbs are swept through their entire length by the desire currents which circle our planet and which act so powerfully in the horizontal animal spines. The desire currents rouse the sleeping plant life in the lateral limbs to a higher degree of consciousness than is the case with the vertical currents radiating from the center of the earth. Thus, in time, the plants will also become too sensitive to serve as food and another source must be sought.
Today, we have considerable ability in working with the chemical, mineral substances; we mold them into houses, ships, and all the other things which evidence our civilization. We are master of the minerals outside our body, but powerless to assimilate and use them inside our system to build our organs until the plant life has transmuted crystals into crystalloids. Our work with the minerals in the exterior world is raising their vibration and is paving the way for direct interior use. By spiritual alchemy we shall build the temple of the spirit, conquer the dust whence we came, and qualify as true Master Masons prepared for work in higher spheres.
As the subject of marriage, with which our last month's lesson dealt, is in certain sense receiving a further treatment this month, I feel that the letter to students this month may perhaps be most profitably devoted to a point on which I have for a long time wished to speak.
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception has met with such phenomenal success and called forth so much gratitude and admiration all over the world that I ought to be flattered at the attention it is commanding everywhere. But, on the contrary, I am beginning to feel more and more afraid that the book may miss the mark at which our Elder Brothers have aimed. Its purpose, designated on pages 17 and 18, is to satisfy the mind by intellectually explaining the world mystery, so that the devotional side of the student's nature may be allowed to develop along lines which the intellect has approved. The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, I believe, has won its way because of this appeal to the intellect and the satisfaction it has given to the inquiring mind. Hundreds, yes thousands, of letters have testified that students who have searched in vain for years have found here what they sought. But few have seemed able, as yet, to transcend the intellectual conception, and unless the book gives the student an earnest desire to transcend the path of knowledge and pursue the path of devotion it is a failure, in my estimation.
In another society formed along these lines, I have known groups to sit in classes for years wrangling before a chart of the atom, delving deep into the minutiae of its spirals and spirillae, but cold and indifferent to the woe of the world around them; and it is with great sorrow deepening apprehension that I note the development of a tendency in that direction among some of our students, a tendency in that direction among some of our students, a tendency which I hope may be checked before it kills the heart. "Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth," says Paul, and this is well exemplified in the attitude of leaders in the society to which I have reference, who often belittle the Christian religion on the platform or in print because it lacks an intellectual conception of the universe.
Let me recall to you the warning given by our Teacher in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception with reference to diagrams: "They are at best only crutches to aid our limited faculties; when we make a diagram to explain spiritual mysteries, it is as if we should take the wheels out of a watch and lay them side by side to illustrate how the watch keeps time." Although charts may be a valuable help at a certain stage of our development, it behooves us always to remember their limitations and strive to attain by our intuition the true spiritual idea. I feel also that it is of the greatest importance that students should keep the true purpose of the Cosmo-Conception, its aim and its end, most clearly and accurately before them at all times. It is stated in black letters on the return postal cards, and I would advise every student to write it in large letters and past it into the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception where it may be seen each time the book is opened, for though we have all knowledge and can solve all mysteries, we are but as tinkling cymbals unless we have love and use it to help our fellow creatures.
From the teaching contained in last month's lesson you will understand that there is absolutely not foundation for the idea, as commonly held, about lost souls. There is not a single word in the Bible which carries with it the idea that we have become accustomed to associate with the English word "forever." The Greek word is ainonian and means "an indefinite period of time, an age"; and when we read in the Bible the words, "forever and ever" they should really be translated "for ages and ages." Besides, as it is a truth in nature that "in God we live and move and have our being," a soul lost would mean that a part of God would be lost, and that of course is unthinkable.
Since writing last month's lesson another point has occurred to me which will illustrate how the "lost" of one Period are dealt with in the next. You remember that we have spoken of the Lucifer spirits as stragglers from the Moon Period and that we stated that they could find no field of evolution in the present scheme of manifestation. The archangels inhabit the sun, the angels have charge of all the moons, but the Lucifer spirits were incapable of dwelling upon either luminary. They could not assist in generation purely and unselfishly as do the angels, but were actuated by passion and selfish desires, so that a separate place had to be found for them. Therefore they were placed upon the planet Mars, a fact well known to the ancient astrologers who have Mars rule over Aries, which has dominion over the head (remember, the brain is built by subverted sex force), and also gave that planet rule over Scorpio, which governs the reproductive organs. Aries is the 1st house in a flat horoscope, denoting the beginning of life; Scorpio is the 8th, signifying death; and therein is contained the lesson that all which is generated by passion and desire is bound to meet dissolution. Thus Mars is, astrologically and esoterically, "the devil"; and Lucifer, the chief among fallen angles, is truly the adversary of Jehovah, who directs the fecundating force from the sun through the lunar agency.
Nevertheless, the Lucifer Spirits are aiding in the process of evolution. From them we received the iron which alone makes it possible to live in an oxygenated atmosphere. They have been, and are, agitators for material progress, and we have no right to anathematize them. The Bible distinctly forbids us to revile the gods. Jude states that not even the archangel Michael dared revile Lucifer, and in the Book of Job the latter is spoken of as among the sons of God. His ambassador to the earth, Samuel, is the angel of death, signified by Scorpio, but is also the angel of life and action symbolized by Aries. Were it not for the stirring martial impulses we might not feel sorrow as keenly as we do, but neither could we make the same progress, and surely "it is better to wear out than to rust out."
Thus you see how these "lost sheep" of a former age are given a change to retrieve their estate in the present scheme of evolution. They are delayed, and, as stragglers, must always appear evil, but they are not "lost beyond redemption." They may save themselves by serving us, probably by transmuting Scorpio into Aries, generation into regeneration.
The burden of last month's lesson was that it is our duty to pass on the fruits of our study in an endeavor to benefit the world. But mystics usually stand aloof from their fellows and the world looks askance at us and our beliefs. This ought not to be, and analysis will prove that the teachings objected to are relatively unimportant and that the most vital of the teachings will find ready acceptance and prepare the way for further instructions.
The value of any particular teaching depends upon its power to make men better here and now; to make them kind and considerate at home, conscientious in business, loyal to friends, forgiving to enemies; and any teaching which is easily applied, and will accomplish such results, need no further recommendation.
Where shall we look for such a teaching? We have a monumental cosmogony, describing world periods, revolutions, epochs, and races. Will that study make men more kind? Or, if we can get them to pore over the mystery of numbers and names in the Kabala, will they become more conscientious? Surely not; therefore such knowledge is of minor import. Will it make men moral if we teach them of involution and evolution, or if we describe the cyclic journey of the soul through purgatory and heaven? It will not necessarily, at least till we have convinced them that under the Law of Consequence we are subject to rebirth, and reap as we sow. Even a hint of such a belief, however, would turn most people from us.
But, you will ask, what them is left of our teachings? The greatest teaching of all, and the most practical. One that will arouse no antagonism in any devotee of any religion, or even in an agnostic, for it need not be labeled religious. It will produce most beneficent results from the day it is applied, and affect future lives also, regardless of whether the man who practices it ever hears the word Rosicrucian or learns more of our teachings.
If you want to really work in God's vineyard — the world — don't isolate yourself. Abstract study may be good part of the time, but go out in the world; win the confidence of people in church, club, or shop. If you set a good example, they will inquire the secret, and you will be privileged to give them the greatest teaching ever known:
You may talk to them something like this:
"Every night when I have gone to bed I review the happenings of the day in reverse order. I try to judge myself impartially. I blame where blame is due, repent, and resolve to reform. I praise myself, it praise is merited, and determine to do better next day.
"I fail often to keep my good resolutions, but I keep on trying, and little by little I succeed."
It may be well to explain that by reviewing events in reverse order they are more firmly implanted in the memory, but further elucidation should be avoided until you are certain your friend is seeking a solution to the problem of life.
This is discriminative propaganda.
Many letters have been received during the past month voicing appreciation of students in respect to the last lessons, and it has been a source of gratification to note the deep-felt love for the Fellowship and the desire to know "how it all came about." Thus I feel somewhat better about introducing my personal experiences than I did in the first place.
At the same time it cannot be too strongly emphasized that indiscriminate relating of superphysical experiences is one of the most harmful of practices, no matter from what standpoint we look at it. In Lecture No. 11, "Spiritual Sight and Insight," the matter has been thoroughly explained. The "treasure-trove" must be lifted in silence; and from the Greek myth we learn that Tantalus was hurled down into the infernal regions for divulging spiritual secrets. In other words, we cannot attain true illumination while we go hawking our dreams and visions from pillar to post and recount them even to people manifestly unwilling to listen. Thereby we profane and cheapen what we ought to reverence, and the desecration is apt to focus our vision in the infernal regions, the lower strata of the desire world.
Again, such recitals always tax the credulity of those to whom they are related. There is not measure whereby we may gauge their accuracy. They often seem to have no practical bearing upon the problem of life; and even if we have faith in the veracity of the visionary, there is not value in his stories unless we can find an underlying law or purpose. Thus the statement of the law is sufficient without embellishment. Perhaps, the best illustration of this point may be given by relating how I discovered the law of infant mortality which was never published till it appeared in our literature.
My Teacher one day set me the task of following a certain person's life through two previous embodiments and reporting. I had no idea that I was being sent in quest of a law, but thought the purpose was to develop my faculty of reading the Memory of Nature. When ready, I reported the result to my Teacher who inquired particularly the circumstances attending death in each of the two lives. I answered that the man died in battle the first time and from sickness as a child the last. That was correct, and another person's life was given me to investigate. That one died in bed the first time, and also died as a child the last time. A third person's life terminated in a fire the first time, and seemingly also as a child the last time. I say "seemingly," for I could scarcely believe the evidence of my senses, and felt diffident when I reported to my Teacher. I was surprised when he said I was correct. This feeling grew as I, in turn investigated fourteen person's lives. In the first life they died under varying circumstances; some in battle, others by accidents, and others in bed surrounded by weeping relatives; but in the second life all passed out as children.
The Teacher then told me to compare these lives to find why they died as children, and for many weeks I studied them night after night, but could find not similarity in the conditions of their first death until one Sunday morning just as I was entering my body, it flashed through my brain. I awoke with a shout — Eureka! I almost jumped into the middle of the floor in my joy at having found the key. The horrors of battle, fire, and accident, and the lamentations of relatives alike prevent deep etching of the life-panorama; and the value of a life terminated under such conditions would be lost save for the following death as a child and subsequent tuition first in the first heaven, a fully elucidated in our literature. The law, as there stated, logically explains a mystery of life independent of the accuracy of my story. As I relate it only to give point to our lesson, I feel consistent when exhorting others to silence as to their spiritual experiences.
What do you think is the main point in last month's lesson? It is not my experiences, although students have attached a great deal of worth to them, but in reality they are insignificant save as they serve to convey teaching of benefit part from them. The greatest value of that which was recorded in last month's lesson is the reiterated and emphatic insistence on absolute personal freedom in the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
In this respect the Western Mystery Teaching differs most radically from that given to the younger souls of the East, where each has his Master — a despot whom he slavishly serves in all things as "Kim" did the Guru he followed, for there is considerable truth and fact in Kipling's story. There, absolute and unquestioning obedience to the command of the exterior Master he sees and serves physically is the means of spiritual advancement; the pupil is entirely without choice or prerogative, but neither has be responsibility.
Among the souls of the west who aspire to spiritual growth, there can be no Master or Guide. We are to learn to stand alone. We may not like it; we may be afraid, and want a Master or Guide to free ourselves from responsibility. In that fact lies the reason, I think, why so many intelligent and cultured people have joined spiritualistic circles and societies promulgating Eastern teachings. Advanced beyond normal Western development, they sense the Great Beyond, and it draws them as the wide expanse of blue sky draws the nestling, despite fears, to trust its untried wings; but the inward urge compels; and, fearing to trust themselves, they grasp eagerly at the hand of "Masters" or "Spirit Guides" in the hope of attaining spiritual power by their help. But the baby must crawl and fall; it must rise, fall again and hurt itself. The experience is unpleasant but unavoidable, and far to be preferred to the consequences of tying the infant to a chair to save it from falling; then its limbs would become useless. And so do the latent spiritual powers of the unfortunates who come under the (to Westerners) baneful domination of Spirit Guides and Eastern Masters.
The Western Teacher is more like the parent bird which pushes the young off the nest if they do not go themselves. We may hurt ourselves, but we do learn to fly. Take my own case: Pushed out in the world with the Rosicrucian teaching and told to spread it, you may be sure I have held by breath many a time as the realization grew of what a gigantic undertaking it is, and how insignificant Mrs. Heindel and I are. Often, when the work seemed about to swamp us, we have prayed and prayed for help, but as we look back we can see what lessons we have learned by the struggle. Sometimes friends have remarked: "Oh, how we wish the money would be forthcoming to build the Ecclesia and schools, so that the work might be carried into the world with greater effect"; but we realize that there are other lessons before us, and that when we are ready, the means for further extension will come; until then, our wings need more training.
It is the same with every associate of the Fellowship. We are to learn the lesson of working for a common purpose, without leadership; each prompted alike by the Spirit of Love from within to strive for the physical, moral, and spiritual uplift of all the world so the stature of Christ — the Lord and Light of the world.
You remember reading in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception about how in the ages from Noah to Christ, under the regime of Jehovah, universal selfishness was fostered in the entire human race. Man was told that "Heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth has He given to the children of men." Thus man was urged to seek material possessions, and had no conception of treasures in heaven, which are the fruits of self-sacrifice. As a consequence, his heaven life became more and more barren; spiritual progress waned, and unless a new impulse had been given, it must eventually have ceased.
Then the Cosmic Christ Spirit, the "Redeemer," commenced His beneficent work, and eventually obtained access to the earth through the "cleansing blood of Jesus" when it flowed on Golgotha; and now the Christ Spirit is working from within our globe to attenuate its physical and superphysical constituents. An enormous spiritual inrush was felt at the moment He came into full possession of the earth on Golgotha; so great, indeed, that the intense light blinded the people. From that moment the principle altruism commenced to take a greater hold upon our race; we are gradually ceasing to look to our own interest alone, and are laying up treasure by an interest in the welfare of our fellow men. Had not Christ come, another moon must have been thrown off to rid us of the worst elements, but from this we are being saved by grace through sacrifice of the Cosmic Christ Spirit — a sacrifice that does not involve His death as commonly understood, but is an infusion of the earth with a higher life which enables us to live more abundantly in spirit.
In this coming of Christ to earth we have an analogy between it and the administering of the spiritual Panacea, according to the law, "As above, so below." There is in every little cell of the human body a separate cell life, but over and above that is the ego which directs and controls all cells so that they act in harmony. During certain protracted illnesses the ego becomes so intent upon the suffering that it ceases to fully vivify the cells; thus bodily ailment breeds mental inaction and it may become impossible to throw off disease without a special impulse to dispel, the mental fog and start the cell activities anew. That is what the Spiritual Panacea does. As the inrushing Christ life on Golgotha commenced to dispel the shell of fear bred by inexorable law that hung like a pall about the earth; as it started the millions of human beings upon the path of peace and good will, so also when the Panacea is applied does the concentrated Christ life therein contained rush through the patient's body and infuse each cell with a rhythm that awakens the imprisoned ego from its lethargy and gives back life and health. May God grant that we shall soon be able to bring this great boon to suffering humanity.
If I had asked the students to write me what — in their opinion — was the most important point in last month's lesson, what do you think would have been answered in the majority of the cases? I believe many would feel that the connection between the bread, the wine, and health was the principal idea; and perhaps I may be responsible for that view because I printed those words in bold type. But while it is of signal important that we should grasp this connection between the bread, the wine, and health, and apply it in our lives to the very utmost power of our ability, if we do so for any less reason that given by our Lord, it is essentially selfish, and will not further out development nearly as much as if we do it as He requested, "in remembrance of Him."
Just look at the matter in this light, dear friend, and you will grasp the idea. Under the regime of Jehovah, selfishness crystallized the earth to such an extend that spiritual vibrations were almost stilled. Evolution was coming to a standstill, and the blood had become so impregnated with egoism that the race was in danger of degenerating. The Cosmic Christ then manifested through Jesus to save us. Cleansing the blood from egoism is the Mystery of Golgotha; it commenced when the blood of Jesus flowed, it has continued through the wars of Christian nations whenever men fought for an ideal, and will last until the horrors of war by contrast have sufficiently impressed mankind with the beauty of Brotherhood.
The Christ entered the earth on Golgotha. He is leavening the earth anew and making it responsive to spiritual vibrations, but His sacrifice was not consummated in a moment by dying to save us in the generally accepted way. He is still groaning and travailing, waiting for the Day of Liberation, for the "manifestation of the sons of God"; and truly do we hasten that day every time we partake of food for our finer bodies symbolized by the mystic bread and wine. But we would be much more efficient in accelerating our own liberation and in hastening "the day of our Lord" if we always did it in remembrance of Him.
Do you remember "Sir Launfal's Vision"? It was not the size of the gift that counted; the gold coin he flung to the beggar was materially more valuable than the crust he gave later; but the coin was given in a spirit of impatience to be rid of a loathsome presence. The crust was given in remembrance of the Christ, and for His sake, and that made all the difference.
The more we cultivate the spirit of doing all things whatsoever for the sake of Christ and His Liberation, the better and the more fruitful lives we shall lead.
