Filename: RC1092.TXT
Source: "Teachings of an Initiate" by Max Heindel
[PAGE 3309]
THE WAY OF WISDOM:
It is now several years since the teaching of the Elder Brothers was
first published in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION, and we have since added
to our literature. It now seems appropriate that we take stock of our work
to see what we have don with the talents entrusted to our care.
In the first place let us realize that the reason why we are in the
Rosicrucian Fellowship is because at some time we have been dissatisifed
with the explanations of the problems of life given elsewhere. We have all
sought light upon the riddle, and some among us, like the man spoken of in
the Bible saw a pearl of great price and went and sold all we had and bought
the pearl, which symbolizes knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven. In other
words, some among us have been so anxious to find light and so overjoyed
when it was found that we have given our whole life, thought, and energy to
this work. Previously assumed obligations prevent the majority from enjoy-
ing this great privilege, but everyone of us, if we have been helped, is
bound under the law of compensation to make some return, for interchange and
[PAGE 3310]
circulation are everywhere correlative to life, as stagnation is to death.
We know that we cannot continue to gorge ourselves upon physical good and
retain what we have eaten, and that unless elimination maintains the equi-
librium, death soon follows. Neither can we with impunity gorge ourselves
with a mental diet. We must share our treasure with others and use our
knowledge in the world's work or run the danger of stagnation in the quag-
mire of metaphysical speculation.
During the years which have elapsed since THE ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION was published, students have had ample time to familiarize
themselves with its teachings. We can no longer excuse ourselves by saying
we do not know the philosphy because we have had no time to study it and
therefore cannot explain it to others. Even those who have had the least
time to study because of the duties which call them in their work in the
world ought now to be sufficiently posted to "GIVE A REASON FOR THE FAITH"
which is within them, as Paul exhorted us all to do. Even if we do not suc-
ceed in showing the light to everyone who asks for it, we owe it to our-
selves, to the Elder Brothers, and to humanity to make the attempt. Our own
soul growth depends upon the share we have in the growth of the movement
wherewith we have connected ourselves, and it is therefore expedient that we
should realize thoroughly WHAT THE MISSION OF THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP IS.
[PAGE 3311]
This you will find thoroughly and clearly elucidated in the introductory
chapter of the "COSMO." Briefly stated, it is TO GIVE AN EXPLANATION OF THE
PROBLEM OF LIFE WHICH WILL SATISFY BOTH THE MIND AND THE HEART, and thus
solve the perplexities of the two classes of people who are now groping in
the dark for want of this unifying knowledge, and who may be broadly spoken
of for the purposes of our discussion as THE CHURCH PEOPLE and the SCIEN-
TISTS. By the first term we will designate all who are led by sincere devo-
tion or kindliness of nature, whether belonging to a church or not. IN the
second class we mean to include all who are looking at life from the purely
mental viewpoint, whether they class themselves as scientists or not. It is
the aim and object of THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION to widen the
spiritual scope of rapidly increasing number among these two classes who re-
alize more or less clearly that there is a lack of something vitally impor-
tant in their present view of life and being.
You will remember that when David desired to build a temple for the Lord
he was denied the privilege because had had been a man of war. There are
organizations in the world today which are always fighting other organiza-
tions, always finding fault and striving to tear down, thus warring just as
much as David did in ancient days. They cannot with such a state of mind be
permitted to build the temple which is made with living stones of men and
[PAGE 3312]
women, that temple which Manson in "The Servant in the House" speaks of in
such beautiful terms. Therefore, when we go about endeavoring to spread the
truths of the Rosicrucian teachings, let us always bear in mind that we may
not with impunity decry the religion of anyone else nor antagonize him, and
that it is not our mission to war against his error, which will manifest it-
self in due time.
Do you remember that when David had passed out and Solomon reigned in his
stead, the latter saw the Lord in a dream, and asked for wisdom? He was
given the choice of whatever he might ask, and he asked for wisdom to guide
the people. This answer, in effect, was given him: Because it was in your
heart to ask wisdom, because you have not asked for riches or long life or
for victory over your enemies or anything like that but have prayed for wis-
dom, therefore that wisdom shall be given you and much more than that.
Therefore it may be well for us at this time to devote ourselves to heart-
felt prayers for wisdom, and in order that we may recognize it, it will be
well to discuss what true wisdom is.
It is said, and truly, that KNOWLEDGE is power. Knowledge, though in it-
self neither good nor evil, may be used either for one purpose or the other.
Genius merely shows the bent of knowledge, but genius also may be good or
evil. We speak of a military genius, one who has a wonderful knowledge of
the tactics of war, but such a man cannot be truly good, FOR HE IS BOUND TO
[PAGE 3313]
BE HEARTLESS AND DESTRUCTIVE in the expression of his genius.
A man of war, whether he be a Napolean or a common soldier, can never be
WISE, because he must deliberately crush all finer feelings of which we take
the heart as a symbol. On the other hand, A WISE RULER IS BIG-HEARTED as
well as having a powerful intellect, so that one balances the other in pro-
moting the interests of his people. Even the deepest KNOWLEDGE along reli-
gious or occult lines is not wisdom, as we are taught by Paul in that
wonderful thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians, where he says in effect:
Though I have all the knowledge so that I could solve all mysteries, and
have not love, I am nothing. ONLY WHEN KNOWLEDGE HAS WED LOVE, DO THEY
MERGE INTO WISDOM, the expression of Christ principle, the second phase of
Deity.
We should be very careful to discriminate properly at this point. We may
have discrimination between what is expedient for the attainment of a cer-
tain end AND WHAT HINDERS and we may choose present ills for future attain-
ment, but even in this we do not necessarily express wisdom. Knowledge,
prudence, discretion, and discrimination are all born of the mind; all by
themselves alone are snares of evil from which Christ in the Lord's prayer
taught us to pray that we might be delivered. Only when these mind-born
faculties are tempered by the heart-born faculty of love does the blended
product become wisdom. If we read the thirteenth chapter of first
Corinthians, substituting the word WISDOM for the word CHARITY or LOVE, we
[PAGE 3314]
shall understand what this great faculty is that we ought so ardently to de-
sire.
It is, then, the mission of the Rosicrucian Fellowship to promulgate a
combined doctrine of the head and the heart, which is the only true wisdom,
for no teaching that lacks either of these complements can really be called
WISE, any more than we can strike a chord of music on one string; for as the
nature of man is complex, the teaching which is to assist him to cleanse,
purify, and elevate this nature must be multiplex in aspect. Christ fol-
lowed this principle when He gave us that wonderful prayer, which in its
seven stanzas touches the keynote of each of the seven human vehicles and
blends them into that master chord of perfection which we call the Lord's
Prayer.
But how shall we teach the world this wonderful doctrine received from
the Elder Brothers? The answer to this question is first, last, and all the
time: BY LIVING THE LIFE. It is said to the everlasting credit of Mohammed
that his wife became his first disciple, and it is certain that it was not
his teaching alone but the life which he lived in the home, day in and day
out, year in and year out, which won the confidence of his companion to such
an extent that she was willing to trust her spiritual fate in his hands. It
is comparatively easy to stand before strangers who know nothing bad about
us and to whom our shortcomings are therefore not patent, and preach for an
hour or two each week, but it is totally different thing to preach twenty-
[PAGE 3315]
four hours a day in the home as Mohammed must have done by living the life.
It we would have the success in our propaganda that he had in his, we must,
each and everyone of us, begin in the hone, begin by demonstrating to those
with whom we live that the teachings which guide us are truly wisdom teach-
ings. It is said that charity begins at home. This is the word that should
have been translated "love" in the thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians.
Change this also into wisdom and let it read, WISDOM PROPAGANDA BEGINS AT
HOME. Then let this be our motto throughout the years: "By living the life
AT HOME we can advance the cause better than in any other way." Many skep-
tical families have been converted by husbands or wives in the Rosicrucian
Fellowship. May the rest follow.
THE SECRET OF SUCCESS:
This is a subject which ought to interest everybody, for surely we all
desire to be successful; but the question is what constitutes success? And
to this question perhaps each individual would have a different answer. But
a little thought will soon make it clear that whatever path we pursue in our
desire to attain success, that path must be follow the evolutionary tread of
mankind. Therefore there must be a general answer as to what constitutes
success and what is the secret thereof. It would be a mistake, however, to
try to find the solution of this problem just by examining the life of man
during our present age. Paying regard to what he has been before and with
an eye also to the future development of humanity is the only way to obtain
the perspective which is necessary to arrive at the proper answer to this
momentous question.
We do not need to go into details to a great extent. We may mention that
in the earlier epochs of our evolution when man-in-the-making was coming
down from the spiritual world into his present material existence, the
[PAGE 3316]
secret of success lay in a knowledge of the physical world and the condi-
tions therein. It was not necessary at that time to tell humanity about the
spiritual world and our finer vehicles, for these were facts patent to ev-
erybody. We saw and lived in the spiritual realms. But we were then coming
into the physical world, and therefore the schools of Initiation taught the
pioneers of mankind the laws which govern the physical world and initiated
them into the arts and crafts whereby they might conquer the material realm.
From that time until a comparatively recent date humanity has been working
to perfect itself in these branches of knowledge, which reached their high-
est expression in the centuries just prior to the discovery of steam and are
now in their decadence.
At first thought this may seem an unwarranted statement, but a careful
examination of the facts will very quickly develop the truth thereof. In
the so-called "dark ages" there were no factories, but every town and vil-
lage was full of small shops in which the master, sometimes alone and at
other times with a few journeymen and apprentices, wrought the works of his
trade from the raw material to the finished product, exercising his skill
and creative instinct and putting his heart and soul into every piece of
work that left his hands. If he were a blacksmith, he knew how to produce
ornamental ironwork fit for signs, gates, and other things which went to
make up the quaint beauty of those medieval villages and towns. Nor did his
[PAGE 3317]
handiwork ever leave him entirely; as he walked about the town he might look
upon this, that, or the other ornament, and pride himself upon the beauty
thereof,; pride himself also in the knowledge of how he had won the respect
and admiration of his fellow townsmen by his artistic and conscientious
work. The joiner who made the framework of the chairs, also upholstered
them and made those artistic designs which we are today seeking to follow.
The shoemaker, the weaver, and all other craftsmen without exception pro-
duced the finished article from the raw material, and each took pride in his
handiwork. Also they toiled long hours, but there was no murmur or com-
plaint, for each found a satisfaction in this exercise of his creative in-
stinct. The song of the blacksmith to the accompaniment of the hammer on
the anvil was a fact in every shop, and the journeymen and apprentices felt
themselves not slaves but MASTERS IN THE MAKING.
Then came the age of steam and machinery and with it a new system of la-
bor. Instead of the production of the finished article from the raw mate-
rial by one man, which gave satisfaction to his creative instinct, the new
plan was to make men tenders of machines which produced only parts of the
finished articles. These parts were then assembled by others. While this
plan decreased the cost of production and increased the output, it left no
scope for the creative instinct of a man. He became merely a cog in some
[PAGE 3318]
great machine. In the medieval shop money was indeed a minor consideration;
the joy of production was everything; time mattered not. But under the new
system men commenced to work FOR MONEY AND AGAINST TIME, with the result
that the souls of both master and men are now starved. They have lost the
substance and retained only the shadow of all that makes life worth living,
for they are laboring for something which they can neither use nor enjoy.
This applies to both master and men.
What would we say of a young man who should set himself the goal of ac-
cumulating a million handkerchiefs which he could never by any possible
change use? Surely we should call him a fool; and why should we not place
the man who spends all his energy and foregoes all the comforts of life to
become a millionaire, in the same category? This system cannot continue,
for it is giving man a stone when he asks for bread, and there must be some
other development in store for him. New standards must be in the process of
development, new ideals must be looming up to give us a wider vision. For
hints as to the trend of evolution we must look to those among us who are
most gifted with inspiration, the poets and seers. James Russell Lowell
sounds perhaps the clearest note in his VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL. A knight
leaving his castle imbued with a desire to do great and valiant things for
God, is going to join the Crusaders and seek the Holy Grail in far distant
Palestine. He leaves his castle self-satisifed, proud, and arrogant, bent
[PAGE 3319]
on his mission. At the castle gate he meets a poor beggar, a leper, who
stretches out his hands asking for alms. Sir Launfal, however, has no com-
passion, but in order to be rid of the loathsome thing, he throws him a
golden coin and endeavors to forget him.
"But the leper raised not the gold from the dust,
`Better to me the poor man's crust,
Better the blessing of the poor,
Though I turn empty for his door.
That is not true alms which the hand can hold;
He gives only the worthless gold
Who gives from a sense of duty;
But he who gives from a slender mite,
And gives to that which is out of sight--
That thread of all-sustaining beauty
Which runs through all and doth all unite--
The hand cannot clasp the whole of his aims,
The heart outstretches its eager palms,
For a god goes with it and makes it store
To the soul that was starving in darkness before.'"
But what of Sir Launfal? Could he be expected in such a frame of mind to
attain success and find the Grail? Certainly not. So disappointment after
disappointment meets him, and finally he returns to his castle, discouraged
and humbled in heart. There he again meets the leper, and at the sight of
him,--
[PAGE 3320]
"The heart within him was ashes and dust;
He parted in twain his single crust,
He broke the ice on the streamlet's brink,
And gave the leper to eat and drink."
Then, having fulfilled the task of mercy, the reward comes with it:
"The leper no longer crouched by his side'
But stood before him glorified,
* * * * * * *
And the Voice that was softer than silence said,
'Lo, it is I, be not afraid!
In many lands, without avail,
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail;
Behold, it is here--this cup which thou
Didst fill at the streamlet for me but now!
This crust is my body broken for thee,
This water the blood I shed on the tree;
The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give, but what we share--
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives HIMSELF with his aims feeds three:
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.'"
In these words lies the secret of success, which consists in doing the
little things, the perhaps seemingly disagreeable things which are close to
our hands, instead of going afar and seeking for chimerical phantasms which
[PAGE 3321]
never develop into anything definite or tangible.
What will doing the former accomplish for us? may be pertinently in-
quired. Again we may take the answer from a poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes,
who tells us of the little chambered nautilus. It first builds a small cell
only large enough to hold it. Then as it grows, it adds another chamber
which is larger and which it them occupies for the next period of growth,
and so on until it has made a spiral shell as large as it can, which it then
leaves. This idea he puts into the following lines:
"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!"
When we have come to this point, we have obtained success--all the suc-
cess that we can get in our present world--and we are entering a new sphere
of larger opportunities.
[PAGE 3322]
THE DEATH OF THE SOUL:
From time to time, seemingly following a law of periodicity, the same
difficulties crop up in the minds of students. At the same time a number of
letters from different parts of the world ask for information on a subject,
at another time on a different one, but after years the same subjects are
revived. While help is given the individuals who ask, it may be that many
more are interested in the same subject at the same time, hence this lesson
on the death of the soul, which seems to exercise the mind perhaps because
death of the body is so common and frequent.
Some years ago we published a lesson on "The Unpardonable Sin and Lost
Souls" in connection with the sacraments which we were them explaining. It
was there stated that all the sacraments have to do with the transmission of
the seed atoms, which form the nuclei of our various bodies. The germ for
our earthly body must be properly placed in fruitful soil to grow a suitable
dense vehicle, and for this reason, as stated in Genesis, 1:27, "Elohim cre-
ated man male and female." The Hebrew words are SACR VA N'CABAH. These are
[PAGE 3323]
names of the sex organs. Literally translated, SACR means the bearer of the
germ; and thus MARRIAGE is a SACRament, for it opens the way for the trans-
mission of the physical seed atom from the father to the mother and tends to
preserve the race against the ravages of death.
BAPTISM as a SACRament signifies the germinal urge of the soul for higher
life, the planting of a spiritual seed.
COMMUNION is the SACRament in which we partake of bread made from the
seed of chaste plants, and in which the cup symbolizing the passionless seed
pod points to the age to come, an age when marriage will be unnecessary to
transmit the seed through a father and mother, but when we may feed directly
upon cosmic life and thus conquer death.
Finally, EXTREME UNCTION is the SACRament which marks the loosing of the
silver cord and the extraction of the sacred germ, until it shall again be
planted in another N'cabah, or mother.
As the seed and ovum are the root and basis of racial development, it is
easy to see that no sin can be more serious than that which abuses the cre-
ative function, for by the SACRilege we stunt future generations and trans-
gress against the Holy Spirit, Jehovah, who is the warden of the creative
lunar force. His angels herald birth, as in the case of Isaac, John the
Baptist, and Jesus. When He wanted to reward His most faithful follower,
[PAGE 3324]
Abraham, He promised to make his seed as numerous as the sands on the sea-
shore. He also meted out the most terrible punishment to the Sodomites, who
committed sacrilege by misdirecting the seed; and the sin of Onan who wasted
it is also a pointer in the same direction.
We are told in the Bible that mankind were forbidden to eat of the Tree
of Knowledge under pain of death. But instead of patiently waiting for the
periods of propitious interplanetary conditions Adam KNEW Eve, and since
then she has borne her children in pain and suffering subject to premature
death. Therefore the abuse of this sacred function for gratification of the
passional nature, and particularly perversion, is recognized by esotericists
as the unpardonable sin. It is to this James refers when he says, "There is
a sin unto death. I do not say that ye shall pray for that."
But occult investigations have proved in this case, as with all other
forms of hell preaching, that God and nature are much more lenient and mer-
ciful to man than man is to his fellows. Though the retributive justice
meted out to those who have lived lives of sin and vice was found in all
cases to be severe, nothing nearly as serious as the "death of the soul" oc-
curs. So far as we have been able to learn, ONLY THE BLACK MAGICIAN WHO
CONSCIOUSLY MISUSES THE SEED FOR MALICIOUS PURPOSES faces anything so seri-
ous as that implied in the phrase; and there would really be no need of go-
ing into the subject at all except that it throws side lights upon other
[PAGE 3325]
matters of value to the student.
To understand this properly we must first call to the mind the sharp
definitions of the terms spirit, soul and body as given in the "Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception." It is there stated that in the beginning of manifesta-
tion the Virgin Spirit, a spark from the Divine, involved itself in a three-
fold veil of spirit-matter and thus became the Ego.
The threefold spirit cast a threefold shadow into the realm of matter,
and thus the DENSE BODY was evolved as a counterpart of the Divine Spirit,
the VITAL BODY as a replica of the Life Spirit, and the DESIRE BODY as the
image of the Human Spirit. Finally, and most important of all, the link of
MIND was formed between the threefold spirit and its threefold body. This
was the beginning of individual consciousness, and marks the point where the
involution spirit into matter is finished and the evolutionary process
whereby the spirit is lifted out of matter begins. Involution involves the
crystallization of spirit into bodies, but evolution depends upon the dis-
solution of the bodies, the extraction of the soul-substance from them, and
the alchemical amalgamation of this soul with the spirit.
At the beginning of evolution man consisted only of spirit and body,--he
was soulless; but since them each life lived on earth in the great school of
experience had made him more and more soulful according to the use which he
has made of his opportunities. This is shown in the different gradation be-
tween the savage and the saint which we see all about us. It is the loss
[PAGE 3326]
of the soul which is involved in the experience we describe as the death of
the soul. The spirit itself can of course never die seeing that it is a
spark from the Divine, without beginning and without end. How then can the
death of the soul be brought about, and what is the real meaning of the
phrase? This is a subject the writer does not like to dwell upon, but for
the sake of the important side light it throws upon spiritual advancement,
as already said, the facts will be given.
In the foregoing we have seen that the threefold spirit has projected a
threefold body and that the purpose of evolution is the extraction of the
threefold soul from his threefold body and the amalgamation thereof with the
threefold spirit. Now mark this point for this is the important crux of the
whole matter, a very valuable and important piece of information which will
help the student to a more definite understanding of the subject than has
hitherto been given: Much is said in occult literature about "THE PATH";
but though to the initiated who already know, the statements of what it is
and where it is are plentiful, this information has never before been given
to the exoteric student. Paul tells us that to be carnally MINDED is death,
but to be spiritual MINDED is life and peace. This is the exact truth, for
the MIND, WHICH IS THE LINK BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE BODY, IS THE PATH OR
BRIDGE, THE ONLY MEANS OF TRANSMISSION OF SOUL TO SPIRIT. So long as man is
[PAGE 3327]
carnally minded and turns his attention to worldly successes, cherishing as
his motto proverb, "Let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die,"
all his activities are centered in the lower part of his being, the person-
ality, and he lives and dies like the animals, unconscious of the magnetic
drawings of the spirit. But at length there comes a time when the yearnings
of the spirit are felt, and the personality sees the light and sets out to
seek its Higher Self across the bridge of mind. And as flesh and blood can-
not inherit the Kingdom of God, the body is crucified that the soul may be
liberated and joined to its Father in Heaven, the threefold spirit, the
Higher Self.
That at least is the general tendency, the higher elevates the lower.
But unfortunately there are examples of the opposite where the lower person-
ality becomes so strong in its materialism and where the mind becomes so
firmly enmeshed with the lower vehicles that the personality refuses to sac-
rifice itself for the spirit, with the result that THE BRIDGE OF MIND IS FI-
NALLY BROKEN. The soulless personality may then continue to live for many
years after this separation has taken place, and may perpetrate the most
outrageous acts of cruelty and cunning until it succumbs. Black Magic which
involves the perverted use of seed obtained from others is generally used by
these soulless personalities for the purpose of satisfying their demoniac
desires. Often they obtain power in a nation or a society, which they then
[PAGE 3328]
delight in wrecking.
Meanwhile the spirit stands naked; it has no seed atoms wherewith to cre-
ate further bodies, and it therefore automatically gravitates to the planet
Saturn and thence to Chaos, where it must retain until the dawn of a new
creative day. It may seen unjust at first sight that the spirit should be
thus made to suffer though it has committed no wickedness; but on further
thought it will be understood that as the personality is the creature of the
Higher Self, the responsibility exists and cannot be evaded. Fortunately,
however, such cases grow increasingly rare as we advance upon the pathway of
evolution. Nevertheless, it behooves all to set their faces earnestly to-
wards the goal so that the light on the path that leads toward our spiritual
ideal, the union with the Higher Self, may grow brighter day by day.
THE NEW SENSE OF THE NEW AGE:
At the end of the Taurean age, about 4,000 years ago, "God's people" fled
from the wrath to come when they left Egypt, the land where they worshiped
the Bull. They were led in their flight to the promised land by Moses,
whose head in ancient esoteric pictures is adorned with wreathed ram's
horns, symbolical of the fact that he was herald of the Aryan age of 2100
years, during which each Easter morning the vernal sun colored the doorposts
red as with the blood of the lamb, when it passed over the equator in the
CONSTELLATION (not the SIGN) of the ram Aries. Similarly, when the sun by
precession was approaching the watery constellation Pisces, the Fishes, John
immersed the converts to the Messianic religion in the waters of Jordan, and
Jesus called his disciples "fishers" of men. As the "lamb" was slain at the
passover while the sun went through the constellation Aries, the Ram, so the
faithful have in obedience to the command of their church fed on fishes dur-
ing Lent in the present cycle of Pisces, the Fishes.
[PAGE 3329]
At the time when the sun by precession left the constellation Taurus, the
Bull, the people who worshiped that animal were pronounced heathen and
idolators. A new symbol of the Savior, or Messias, was found in the lamb,
which correspond to the constellation Aries; but when the sun by precession
left that sign, Judaism became a religion of the past, and thenceforth the
bishops of the new Christian religion wore a mitre shaped like a fish's head
to designate their standing as ministers of the church during the Piscean
Age, which is now drawing to a close.
By viewing the future through the perspective of the past, it is evident
that a new age is to be ushered in when the sun enters the constellation
Aquarius, the Water-bearer, a few hundred years hence. Judging by the
events of the past it is reasonable to expect that a new phase of religion
will supersede our present system, revealing higher and nobler ideals than
our present conception of the Christian religion. It is therefore certain
that if in that day we would not be classed among the idolators and heathen,
we must prepare to align ourselves with these new ideals.
John the Baptist, preached the gospel of preparedness in no uncertain
words, warning people that the ax had been laid at the root of the tree. He
cautioned them also to flee from the wrath to come, when the Son (Sun) of
God should come, fan in hand, to separate the wheat from the chaff and burn
it up. Christ likened the gospel to a little leaven which leavened a
[PAGE 3330]
measure of flour.
At first sight the method of John seems to be most drastic, laying the ax
at the root of the whole social structure, while the leavening process men-
tioned by Christ appears to be more gentle; but in reality it is even more
thoroughgoing and drastic, as will be evident if we consider carefully what
takes place when we make a loaf. It is a chemical revolution, a miniature
war, involving an entire transformation of every atom of flour in the ves-
sel; none can escape the action of the leaven, and there is a sound as of
continual cannonading, explosion of bombs and shells, until the force of the
leaven is spent and the dough transformed to a light sponge. But this war
of the atoms, this chemical revolution, is absolutely indispensable in the
process of bread making, for if the leavening process were omitted, the re-
sult would be a heavy, unpalatable, indigestible loaf. It is the transmuta-
tion wrought by the leaven which makes the loaf wholesome and nutritious.
The process of preparation for the Aquarian Age has already commenced,
and as Aquarius is an airy, scientific, and intellectual sign, it is a fore-
gone conclusion that the new faith must be rooted in reason and able to
solve the riddle of life and death in a manner that will satisfy both the
mind and the religious instinct.
[PAGE 3331]
Such is the Western Wisdom Religion promulgated by the Rosicrucian Fel-
lowship; like the leaven in the loaf, it is breaking down the fear of death
engendered by the uncertainty surrounding the post-mortem existence. It is
showing that life and consciousness continue under the laws as immutable as
God, which tends to raise man to increasingly higher, nobler, and loftier
states of spirituality. It kindles the beacon light of hope in the human
heart by the assertion that as we have in the past evolved the five senses
by which we contact the present visible world, so shall we in the not dis-
tant future evolve another sense which will enable us to see the denizens of
the etheric region, as well as those of our dear ones who have left the
physical body and inhabit the ether and lower desire world during the first
stage of their career in the spiritual realms. The mission of Aquarius is
aptly represented by the symbol of man emptying the water urn.
Aquarius is an airy sign having special rule over the ether. The Flood
partly dried the air by depositing most of the moisture it held in the sea.
But when the sun enters Aquarius by precession, the rest of the moisture
will be eliminated and visual vibrations, which are most easily transmitted
by a dry etheric atmosphere, will become more intense; thus conditions will
be particularly conducive to production of the slight extension of our
present sight necessary to open our eyes to the etheric region.
California's production of physics is an instance of this effect of a dry,
[PAGE 3332]
electric atmosphere, though, of course, it is not nearly so dry as the air
of the Aquarian Age will be.
Thus faith will be swallowed up in knowledge and we shall all be able to
utter the triumphant cry, "O death, where is thy sting; O grave, where is
thy victory?" But it is well to realize that by aspiration and meditation
to those who are longingly looking for that day are taking time by the fore-
lock and may quite easily outstrip their fellows who are unaware of what is
in store. The latter, on the other hand, may delay the development of ex-
tended vision by the belief that they are suffering from hallucinations when
they begin to get their first glimpses of the etheric entities, and the fear
that if they tell others what they see, they will be adjudged insane.
Therefore the Rosicrucian Fellowship has been charged by the Elder Broth-
ers with the mission of promulgating the gospel of the Aquarian Age, and of
conducting a campaign of education and enlightenment, so that the world may
be prepared for what is in store. The world must be leavened with those
ideas:
(1) Conditions in the land of the living dead are not shrouded in mys-
tery, but knowledge regarding them is as available as knowledge concerning
foreign countries from the tales of travelers.
(2) We now stand close to the threshold where we shall all know these
truths.
(3) And, most important of all, we shall hasten the day in our own case
[PAGE 3333]
by acquiring knowledge of the facts concerning the post-mortem existence and
the things we may expect to see, for then we shall know what to look for,
and neither be frightened, astonished nor incredulous when we commence to
obtain glimpses of these things.
Students should also realize that a serious responsibility goes with the
possession of knowledge: "to who much is given, of him much shall be re-
quired." If we hide or bury our "talent," may we not expect a merited con-
demnation? The Rosicrucian Fellowship can only fulfill its mission in so
far as each member does his duty in spreading the teachings, and therefore
it is to be hoped that this may serve to call the attention of the student
to the fact of his individual duty.
The etheric sight is similar to the X-ray in that it enables its pos-
sessor to see right through all objects, but it is much more powerful and
renders everything as transparent as glass. Therefore in the Aquarian Age
many things will be different from now, for instance, it will be extremely
easy to study anatomy and to detect a morbid growth, a dislocation, or a
pathological condition of the body. At present medical men of the highest
standing admit regretfully that their diagnosis are only too frequently er-
roneous as shown by post-mortem observation; but when we have evolved the
etheric sight, they will be able to study both anatomical structures and
[PAGE 3334]
physiological processes without hindrance.
The etheric vision will not enable us to see one another's thoughts, for
they are formed in still finer stuff, but it will make it largely impossible
for us to live double lives and to act differently in our homes than we do
in public. If we were aware that invisible entities now throng our houses,
we should often feel ashamed of the things we do; but in the Aquarian Age
there will be no privacy which may not be broken into by anyone who desires
to see us. It will avail nothing that we send the office boy or maid out to
tell an unwelcome visitor that we are "not in." This means that in the new
age honesty and straightforwardness will be the only policies worth while,
for we cannot then do wrong and hope to escape detection. There will be
people whose base characters will lead them into ways of wickedness then as
now, but they will at least be marked so that they may be avoided.
The student can easily conjecture a number of other conditions that will
result from the extension of sight which will come with the Aquarian Age,
and by living as near to that state as possible, he will be placing himself
in a position to become one of the pioneers of that age when "there shall be
no night," and when the "tree of life" shall bloom unceasingly by the trans-
parent etheric "sea of glass" which permeates all things.
[PAGE 3335]
GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE:
Let us pause and take stock of our actions and accomplishments in
in the past year; then let us make such resolutions as we feel will make the
future more profitable from the standpoint of the soul.
In the first place let us acknowledge that we have been especially fa-
vored, far beyond our merit, by receiving the Rosicrucian teachings from our
Elder Brothers. Let us hope that we have expressed our gratitude to them
through all the past year, and let us at this time send them special
thoughts of love and gratitude. Needless to say they do not crave our
gratitude, they are beyond that; but we may make more soul growth by being
grateful.
Then let us consider how we have used these precious teachings during the
past year: have we dealt justly with our fellows, have we been lenient in
our judgments and criticisms of others, have we striven to curb our temper,
cultivate equipoise, and overcome whatever may be our particular besetting
sin?
But is is a foregone conclusion that we shall have to admit at the end of
our retrospection that we have fallen far short of the lofty ideals placed
before us. This is always a critical point where our spiritual career is in
danger of shipwreck upon the rock of faintheartedness, that is, if we are of
the temperament that broods over or magnifies failure. Such an attitude of
mind precipitates disaster by robbing us of the will to win; it makes us be-
lieve that there is not use in struggling, that the odds against us are too
great. Excuses are found in the antagonism of friends and family to our be-
lief, duties that take our time, etc. But, as a matter of fact, the trouble
is within ourselves, and if we yield, we shall find that our friends will
[PAGE 3336]
despise us in their hearts even if they do not show it openly.
Instead, so far from causing us to forsake the path of progress, our
failures should act as a spur to greater efforts, and we should make our
resolution with greater determination so that during the coming year we may
be invincible with respect to the matter covered by it.
We all know our own particular shortcomings, "the sin which doth so eas-
ily beset us," and each will naturally have to formulate the proper resolu-
tions for himself. But in carrying these resolutions into effect so that
they may be productive of soul growth and help to weave the glorious GOLDEN
WEDDING GARMENT, it will undoubtedly help us immensely to fasten our eyes
and thoughts upon one who possessed the virtue we are seeking to cultivate.
Such a great example we have in Christ, who "was tempted in all things like
ourselves, yet without sin." Let us therefore keep Him closely before our
mind's eye during the coming year, and we shall surely make great soul
growth. This is also the best propaganda we can make for the Rosicrucian
teachings, for by living close to them we shall surely evoke in others a de-
sire to share in their blessings.
[PAGE 3337]
MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR:
SECRET SPRINGS:
It is well known to students of the Rosicrucian teachings that we as
spirits are immortal, without beginning and without end; that we have gone
to the great school of experience many life-days in the past each time clad
in a new child's body of finer texture, in which we lived for a time varying
from a few hours to a lifetime, and when a day at life's school had been
completed, we shuffled off this mortal coil, worn out and decrepit, to re-
turn to our heavenly home for rest and assimilation during the night of
death of the lessons learned; later to be reborn and take up our lessons
where we left them when we were called home from the previous session of the
school of life.
During each day at life's school we met other spirits and formed ties of
love and hate. In later lives we met again so that the debts of destiny
thus incurred might be liquidated. And so our friends of today are those we
[PAGE 3338]
befriended yester-life, and our enemies are those with whom we were at vari-
ance in the forgotten past. Thus we are continually weaving the web of des-
tiny on the loom of time, and creating for ourselves a garment of glory or
gloom according to whether we have worked well or ill.
But we do not work out our INDIVIDUAL destiny only, for as the proverb
says, "No man liveth unto himself." We are grouped in families, tribes,
races, and nations, and in addition to our individual destiny we are tied by
the family and national destinies because we are under the guardianship of
the angels and archangels who act as family and race spirits respectively.
It is these great spirits who imprint on our seed atoms the racial form and
features of the physical body. They also implant the national loves and
hates on the seed atoms of our finer vehicles, because the race spirit
broods like a cloud over the land inhabited by its wards, and the latter
draw all the materials for their finer bodies from this atmosphere. In this
race spirit, as a matter of actual fact, they live and move and have their
being. From it their vehicles are formed. Yea, with every breath in this
race spirit, so that it is absolutely true that it is nearer than hands and
feet. It is this race spirit which imbues them with love or hate for other
nations, thus determining between certain nations and the trust and confi-
dence which exists between others.
[PAGE 3339]
According to the teachings of the Rosicrucians, every spirit is reborn
twice during the time it takes the sun by precession to go through a sign of
the zodiac, once as man and once as woman. This is done in order that it
may gain the experiences to be had in that sign from the viewpoint of both
sexes. There are many modifications to this rule according to the necessi-
ties of individual spirits, for the law is not blind but it is under the ad-
ministration of great beings called the Recording Angels in the Christian
terminology. It is their duty to watch the Clock of Destiny and see when
the time is ripe to reap the harvest of the past, and this applies both to
individuals and to nations. Therefore if we study the characteristics of
the nations recently locked in a titanic struggle, together with the aims
for which they were fighting, and look back over the pages of history, it
needs no seership, scarcely even intuition, to place them and thus see how
the springs of the recent war were generated in the distant past.
It has, in fact, been suggested by historians that the sons of Albion are
a reembodiment of the ancient Romans. In the light of occult investigations
this is not quite true, for there are a number of alien strains present.
But they have been so fused in the dominant race that it may be said to be
practically a fact.
Let us recall the history of Rome and remember that the democratic
spirit, after the first seven kings had reigned, manifested itself in the
formation of a republic, which then began a war of aggression to obtain the
[PAGE 3340]
mastery of the world, and in the course of this campaign it became engaged
with Carthage in a mighty struggle for the mastery of the Mediterranean Sea.
To gain expansion westward the Romans endeavored to expel the Carthaginians
from Sicily. Carthage at that time was a great sea power, but she was de-
feated by the Romans in 260 B.C. on her own element. Following up this ad-
vantage Rome transferred the war to Africa and was at first successful, but
Regulus, the consoul whom she left behind, was finally worsted and made
prisoner. A series of naval disasters to Rome ensued, and Carthage was
about to regain more than she had lost of Sicily when Tetulus, the Roman
Consul, gained another decisive victory over the Carthaginians in 241 B.C.,
who there upon undertook to evacuate Sicily and the adjacent islands. This
ended in the first Punic War, which was twenty-two years in duration.
But Carthage was not to be so easily conquered. Finding Rome her match
at sea, she resumed hostilities by acquiring a foothold in Spain, and the
great Carthaginian general, Hannibal, who heartily hated Rome, attempted the
conquest of that city during the second Punic War, which was declared in 218
B.C. His plans, nurtured in secret, were carried on with unexampled celer-
ity. He crossed the Pyrenees from Spain to France, fought his way over the
Alps against every obstacle, and descended upon Cisalpine Gaul with but
[PAGE 3341]
twenty-six thousand survivors of his army of fifty-nine thousand men. After
several defeats of the Romans came the great battle of Cannae in 216 B.C.,
where Hannibal's victory was complete. Macedonia and Sicily declared for
the conquerors, and Hannibal marched even to the Colline gate of Rome. But
finding this city too strong for him, he withdrew to southern Italy, where
he was finally defeated and Carthage forced to sue for peace. Thus Rome be-
came the mistress of the Mediterranean.
But the hate of Hannibal was unabated, and when he and his compatriots,
the Carthaginians, were reborn in landlocked Prussia, while the ancient Ro-
mans occupied the British Islands as mistresses of the seas, it was in-
evitable that in time a great conflict must take place. As the ancient Pu-
nic Wars generated the recent conflict, so will this war in due time bring
its renewal of the struggle unless we shown a spirit of kindness in dealing
with the vanquished foe, instead of dealing with them as Rome did in that
ancient past, without mercy and without consideration. The power to harm
others must be taken from the militarist of the Central Empires. It is ab-
solutely imperative that the world should be made safe from a repetition of
this catastrophe, BUT THE MEASURES TAKEN TO SECURE THIS DESIRABLE END SHOULD
BE SUCH THAT NOT ONLY DO THEY ENSURE PEACE FOR THE PRESENT LIFE, BUT ALSO
FOR THOSE FUTURE LIFE-DAYS WHEN WE SHALL MEET IN ANOTHER GUISE THOSE WITH
WHOM WE WERE RECENTLY AT WAR.
Justice ought to be done, but it should be tempered with mercy in order
to avoid perpetuating hate, and therefore such harsh measures as, for in-
stance, the industrial boycott are wrong. It should be sufficient to see
that the Central Empires get no more than a fair share of the world's trade.
The new American nation, which is not yet under the domination of any race
spirits, sees more impartially and therefore more clearly than any other
what is right. Therefore it is to be hoped that the American ideas of jus-
tice will prevail. Let us remember that one wrong never can and never will
right another, and that we must live and let live.
Continued with file "RC1093.TXT"
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