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[PAGE 1] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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[ T E A C H I N G S O F A N I N I T I A T E ]
[ ]
[ BY ]
[ ]
[ M A X H E I N D E L ]
[ [1865-1919] ]
-------------------------------------------------
THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP
INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
MT. ECCLESIA
P.O. BOX 713
OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA, 92054, USA
[PAGE 3] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
FOREWARD
This volume of the writings of Max Heindel, the Western Mystic, is the
concluding number embodying the messages he sent out through monthly lessons
to his students. These lessons, reprinted since this great soul was called
to a greater work in the higher worlds on January 6th, 1919, may be found in
the following books in addition to the present volume: "Freemasonry and Ca-
tholicism"; "The Web of Destiny"; "The Mystical Interpretation of
Christmas"; "The Mysteries of the Great Operas"; "The Gleanings of a
Mystic"; and "Letters to Students." These writings comprise the later in-
vestigations of this seer.
The helpful messages and the spiritual encouragement that the readers
have received from the inspired words in the earlier volumes we know have
been far-reaching in their effects. We also feel that in years to come en-
lightened and advanced students and seekers along mystical and occult lines
will realize more and more the true value of the works of Max Heindel. His
words reach the very depths of the heart of the reader. Many who have read
his first work, "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception," have been thrilled by
their contact with it.
[PAGE 4] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Max Heindel, who was the authorized messenger of the true Rosicrucian
Brotherhood, lived the teachings which he taught. Only one who has suffered
as he suffered during his lifetime is able to touch the heart strings of hu-
manity. Only he who has felt the labor pains of spiritual birth which has
admitted him to the realms of the soul can write with the power to thrill
his readers. As the result of such a spiritual birth the writings which Max
Heindel has bequeathed to humanity will live and bear fruit. May the read-
ers of this book feel the heart throbs of this great lover of humanity, who
sacrificed his very physical existence in his desire to impart to man the
wonderful truths which he had garnered through his contact with the Elder
Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order.
--August Foss Heindel
[PAGE 5] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I PAGE
The Days of Noah and of Christ ...................................7
Chapter II
The Sign of the Master...........................................16
Chapter III
What is Spiritual Work?..........................................23
Chapter IV
The Way of Wisdom................................................33
Chapter V
The Secret of Success............................................40
Chapter VI
The Death of the Soul............................................47
Chapter VII
The New Sense of the New Age.....................................54
Chapter VIII
God's Chosen People..............................................61
Chapter IX
Mystic Light on the World War
Part I.--Secret Springs....................................66
Chapter X
Mystic Light on the World War
Part II--Its Promotion of Spiritual Sight..................72
Chapter XI
Mystic Light on the World War
Part III--Peace on Earth...................................81
Chapter XII
Mystic Light on the World War
Part IV--The Gospel of Gladness............................88
[PAGE 6] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Chapter XIII
The Esoteric Significance of Easter..............................96
Chapter XIV
The Lesson of Easter............................................103
Chapter XV
Scientific Method of Spiritual Unfoldment
Part I--Material Analogies................................108
Chapter XVI
Scientific Method of Spiritual Unfoldment
Part II--Retrospection....................................115
Chapter XVII
The Heavens Declare the Glory of God............................122
Chapter XVIII
Religion and Healing............................................126
Chapter XIX
Address at Ground Breaking, Mt. Ecclesia........................133
Chapter XX
Our Work in the World, Part I...................................141
Chapter XXI
Our Work in the World, Part II..................................148
Chapter XXII
Our Work in the World, Part III.................................157
Chapter XXIII
Eternal Damnation, and Salvation................................163
Chapter XXIV
The Bow in the Cloud............................................172
Chapter XXV
The Responsibility of Knowledge.................................180
Chapter XXVI
The Journey Through the Wilderness..............................190
[PAGE 7] THE DAYS OF NOAH AND OF CHRIST
CHAPTER I
THE DAYS OF NOAH AND OF CHRIST
When Nicodemus came to Christ and was told about the necessity of re-
birth, he asked, "How can these things be?" And we also with out inquiring
minds are often anxious for more light upon the various teachings concerning
our future. It helps us if we can feel that these teachings fit into
physical facts as we know them. Then we seem to have firmer ground for our
faith in other things which we have not yet proved.
It has been the writer's work to investigate spiritual facts and corre-
late them with the physical in such a manner as would appeal to the reason
and thus pave the way for belief. In this way it has been his privilege to
give light to seeking souls on many of the mysteries of life. Recently a
new discovery was made which, though it seemed as remote from connection
with the coming of Christ as east is from west, throws considerable light on
that event, especially on the manner of our meeting with the Lord "in the
twinkling of an eye" as the Bible has it. Our students well know how dis-
[PAGE 8] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
tasteful it is to the writer to relate personal experiences, but sometimes,
as in the present case, it seems necessary, and we shall crave indulgence
for using the personal pronoun while relating to the incident.
One night some time ago while in transit to a place in a far country
where I had a mission to perform, I heard a cry. Though the human voice can
be heard only in air, there are overtones which are heard in the spiritual
realms at distances exceeding those traversed by wireless messages. The cry
was close by, however, and I was on the scene in an instant, but not soon
enough to give the needed help. I found a man sliding down a slanting em-
bankment, bare of vegetation, perhaps a dozen feet in width, and as it
proved on subsequent examination, almost smooth, and without a fissure which
would have afforded a hold for his fingers. To have saved him would have
involved materialization of both arms and shoulders, but there was no time.
In a moment he had slid over the overhanging precipice and was falling to
the floor of the canyon below, probably several thousand feet, though I am
not certain, being a poor judge of distance.
Prompted by a natural spirit of fellow feeling I followed and on the way
observed the phenomenon which is the basis of this article, namely, that
when the body had attained a considerable velocity, the ethers composing the
vital body commenced to ooze out, and when the body crashed into the rocks
below, a mangled mass, there was very little of any ether left in it.
[PAGE 9] THE DAYS OF NOAH AND OF CHRIST
Gradually, however, the ethers drifted together, took form, and hovered with
the finer vehicles above the mangled corpse; but the man was in a stupor un-
able to sense or realize the fact of his altered condition.
As soon as I saw that he was beyond present help I went on; but on think-
ing the matter over it dawned on me that something unusual had happened and
that it was my duty to find out if the ethers left that way in every one who
feel, and if so, why. Under old-time conditions this would have been dif-
ficult, but the advent of the flying machine claims many victims, especially
in these unfortunate war times. It was therefore easy to ascertain the fact
that when a falling body has attained a certain velocity, the higher ethers
leave the dense body, and the falling man becomes insensible. As the body
reaches the ground, it is mangled, but the poor man may regain consciousness
when the ether has reorganized itself. He will then begin to suffer from
the physical consequences of the fall. If the fall continues after the
higher ethers have left, the increased velocity dislodges the lower ethers,
and the Silver Cord is all that remains attached to the body. This is rup-
tured at the moment of impact with the ground, and the seed atom passes on
to the breaking point, where it is held in the usual way.
From these facts we came to the conclusion that it is the normal air
pressure which holds the vital body within the dense. When we move with an
abnormal velocity, the pressure is removed from some parts of the body and a
[PAGE 10] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
partial vacuum formed, with the further result that the ethers leave the
body and flow into this vacuum. The two higher ethers, which are most
loosely bound, are the first to disappear and leave the man senseless after
they have produced the panorama of life in a flash. Then if the fall con-
tinues to increase the air pressure in front of the body and the vacuum be-
hind, the more closely bound lower ethers are also forced out, and the body
is dead before it reaches the ground.
It was found by examining a number of people in normal health that each
of the prismatic atoms composing the lower ethers radiated from itself the
lines of force which set spinning the physical atoms in which it is in-
serted, enduing the hole body with life. The united trend of all these
units of force is toward the periphery of the body, where they constitute
what has been called the "Odic Fluid," also designated by other names. When
the air pressure from without is lowered by residence in a high altitude, a
tendency to nervousness becomes manifest because the etheric force from
within ruses outward unchecked; and were the man not able to shut off the
outflow of solar energy in part by an effort of will to overcome the dif-
ficulty, no one could live in such places.
We had heard of "shell shock" and we were aware that numbers of people
who had not even the slightest wound were found dead on the battle field.
In fact, we had seen and spoken with people who had passed out in this
[PAGE 11] THE DAYS OF NOAH AND OF CHRIST
manner but were at a loss to know why death has resulted. They all dis-
claimed fear and were unanimously in their assertion that they had suddenly
become unconscious and a moment later they had found themselves in that they
had not a single scratch on their bodies. Our preconceived idea that it
must have been a momentary fear at a particularly close call which though
unrealized, had caused their demise, prevented a full investigation; but the
ascertained results of the consequences of a fall led us to believe that
something similar might take place in this connection, and this surmise
proved to be correct.
When a large projectile passes through the air, it creates a vacuum be-
hind it by the enormous velocity wherewith it moves, and if a person is
within this vacuum zone while the shell is passing, he suffers in a measure
determined by his own nature and his proximity to the center of suction.
His position is in fact a reverse replica of the man who falls; for he
stands still while a moving body removes the air pressure and allows the
ethers to escape. If the amount of ether dislocated is comparatively slight
and is composed only of the third and fourth ethers which govern sense per-
ception and memory, he will probably suffer only a temporary loss of memory
and inability to sense things or move. This disability will disappear when
the extracted ethers are again fitted inside the dense body--a much more
[PAGE 12] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
difficult achievement than where the physical body succumbs and the reorga-
nization takes place without reference to that vehicle.
Had the people thus hurt learned now to perform the exercises which
separate the higher and lower ethers, they might have found themselves out-
side the body in full consciousness and perhaps ready for their first soul
flight if they had had the courage to undertake it. However that may be, it
is safe to say that on their return to the dense body they would have expe-
rienced very little if any inconvenience, and in case the vacuum had been
strong enough to extract all four ethers and cause death, there would prob-
ably have been no unconsciousness such as overtakes the ordinary person; for
it was discovered that the people who said that they felt unconscious for a
moment only were wrong. It required a time varying from one to several days
in the cases we investigated before the vital body was reorganized and con-
sciousness reestablished.
Let us now see what bearing these newly discovered facts have on the com-
ing of Christ and our meeting with Him. While we lived in ancient Atlantis
in the basins of the earth, pressure of the moisture-laden mist was very
heavy. This hardened the dense body, and as a further result the vibrations
of the interpenetrating finer vehicles were considerably slowed down. This
was especially true of the vital body, which is made of ether, a grade of
matter belonging to the physical world and subject to some of the physical
laws. The solar life did not penetrate the dense mist in the same abundance
[PAGE 13] THE DAYS OF NOAH AND OF CHRIST
as is present in the clear atmosphere of today. Add to this the fact that
the vital bodies of that day were almost entirely composed of the two lower
ethers, which further assimilation and reproduction, and we shall understand
that progress was very slow. Man lad mainly a vegetative existence, and his
main exertions were devoted to the purpose of obtaining food and reproducing
his kind.
Had such a man been removed to our atmosphere conditions the, lack of ex-
terior pressure would have resulted in an outflowing of the vital body which
means death. Gradually the physical body grew less dense and the amount of
the two higher ethers increased, so that man become fitted to live in a
clear atmosphere under a decreased pressure such as we have enjoyed since
the historical event known as the "Flood" when the mist condensed. Since
that time we have also been able to specialize more of the solar life force.
The larger proportion of the two higher ethers now found in our vital bodies
enables us to express the higher human attributes appropriate to the devel-
opment of this age.
The vibrations of the vital body under the present atmospheric conditions
have enabled the spirit to build that which we call civilization, consisting
of industrial and artistic achievements and of moral and spiritual stan-
dards, the industrial and moral excellence being as closely connect and in-
terdependent as the artistic achievement is dependent on a spiritual concep-
[PAGE 14] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
tion. Industry is designed to develop the moral side of man's nature, art
to unfold the spiritual. Thus we are now being prepared for the next step
in our unfoldment.
Let it now be remembered that the qualifications necessary for our eman-
cipation from the conditions prevailing in Atlantis were party physiologi-
cal; we had to evolve lungs to breathe the pure air in which we are now im-
mersed and which allows the vital body to vibrate at a more rapid rate than
did the heavy moisture of Atlantis. With this in mind we shall readily see
that future advancement lies in freeing the vital body entirely from the
trammels of the dense body and letting it vibrate in pure air.
This is what happened in the lofty altitude exoterically known as the
"Mount of Transfiguration." Advanced men of various ages, Moses, Elijah,
and Jesus (or rather the body of Jesus ensouled by Christ) appeared in the
luminous garment of the liberated soul body, which all will wear in the New
Galilee, the Kingdom of Christ. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the king-
dom,: for it would interfere with the spiritual progress of the day; so when
Christ appears we must be prepared with a soul body and thus be ready to
part from out dense body to be "caught up and meet Him in the air."
The results of the investigation which form the basis of the present ar-
ticle may give us an insight into the method of transition when compared
with the information given in the Bible. It is said that the Lord will
[PAGE 15] THE DAYS OF NOAH AND OF CHRIST
appear with a mighty sound like the voice of an Archangel. We read of thun-
ders and the blasts of trumpets in connection with the event. A sound is an
atmospheric disturbance, and since the passage of a projectile made by man
can lift the vital bodies of soldiers out of their dense bodies, it needs to
argument to prove that the shout of a superhuman voice could accomplish
similar results more efficiently--"in the twinkling of an eye."
"When shall these things be?" asked the disciples. They were told that
as it was in the days of Noah (when the Aryan Epoch was about to be ushered
in), so should it be in the Day of Christ. They ate and drank, they married
and were given in marriage. But some who perhaps seemed not so different
from the rest, had evolved the all-important lungs so that when the atmo-
sphere cleared they were able to breathe pure air, while others who had only
the gill clefts perished. In the Day of Christ when His voice sounds the
Call, there will be some who will find themselves with a properly organized
soul body, able to ascent above the discarded dense bodies, while others
will be like the soldiers who meet death from "shell shock" on the battle
fields today.
May we prepare for that day by following in His steps.
[PAGE 16] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER II
THE SIGN OF THE MASTER
There are at the present time many who, judging from the signs of the
times, believe Christ to be at the door and are watching him in joyful an-
ticipation. Though, in the opinion of the writer, the "things which must
first come to pass" have not taken place in many important particulars, we
must not forget that He gave warning that "as it was in the days of Noah, so
shall be in the day of the Son of Man." Then they ate, drank, and made
merry; they married and were given in marriage up to the very moment when
the flood descended and engulfed them. Only a small remnant was saved.
Therefore we who pray for His coming will do well to watch also lest our
prayers be answered before we are ready, for He said, "The day of the Lord
will come as a thief in the night."
But there is also another danger, a very great danger which He pointed
out, namely, "There shall be false Christs;" and "they shall deceive even
the very elect, if that were possible." So we are warned that if people
say, "Christ is here in the city or there in the desert," we are not to go,
[PAGE 17] THE SIGN OF THE MASTER
or we shall certainly be deceived.
But on the other hand, if we do not investigate, how shall we know? May
we not run the risk of rejecting Christ by refusing to hear all claimants
and judging each according to merits? When we examine the injunctions of
the Bible upon this point, they seem bewildering and altogether subversive
of the end they are supposed to help us attain, and the great question,: How
shall we know Christ at His coming?" is still rife. We have issued a pam-
phlet on this subject but feel sure additional light will be welcome to all.
Christ said that some of the false Christs would work signs and wonders.
He always refused to prove His divinity in that sordid manner when asked to
do so by the scribes and Pharisees, because He knew that phenomena only ex-
cited the sense of wonder and whetted the appetite for more. Those who wit-
ness such manifestations are sometimes sincere in their efforts to convince
others but they are generally met with an attitude of mind which says in ef-
fect: "You say you have seem him do so and so and therefore you believe.
Very well! I also am willing to be convinced. Let him show me."
But even supposing a Master were willing to prove his identity, who among
the multitude is qualified to judge the validity of the proof? No one! Who
knows the sign of the Master when he sees it? The sign of the Master is not
[PAGE 18] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
a phenomenon which may be repudiated or explained away by the sophists, nei-
ther is it something the Master may show or hide as he pleases, nor can he
take it up and lay it aside at will. He is forced to carry it with him al-
ways as we carry out arms and limbs. It would be just as impossible to hide
the sign of the Master from those qualified to see, know and judge it as it
would be for us to hide our members, from anyone who has physical sight. On
the other hand, as the sign of the Master is spiritual, it must be spiritu-
ally perceived, and it is therefore is impossible to show the sign of the
Master to those who lack spiritual sight as it is to show a physical figure
to the physically blind.
Therefore we read: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it." A little further on in the
same chapter (Matt. 16) we find the Christ asking His disciples, "Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" The answer developed that though the
Jews saw in Him a superior person, Moses, Elias, or one of the prophets,
they were incapable of recognizing His true character. They could not see
the sign of the Master, or they would have needed no other testimony.
Christ then turned to His disciples and asked them, "But whom say ye that
I am?" And from Peter came the answer weighted with conviction, quick and
to the point, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He had seen
the sign of the Master, and he knew whereof he spoke, independent of
[PAGE 19] THE SIGN OF THE MASTER
phenomena and exterior circumstances, as emphasized by Christ when He said,
"Blessed art thou, Simon, Son of Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not re-
vealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." In other words, the
perception of this GREAT TRUTH depended upon an interior qualification.
What this qualification was, and is, we learn from the next words of
Christ: "And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter (PETROS, A ROCK,) and
upon this rock (PETRA) I will build my church."
Christ said concerning the multitude of materialistic Jews: "A wicked
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be
given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonah"; and much speculation has
been the consequence among equally materialistic Christians in latter times.
Some have contended that an ordinary whale did swallow the prophet and later
cast him ashore. Churches have divided on this as on many other foolish is-
sues. But when we consult the occult records we find an interpretation
which satisfies the heart without doing violence to the mind.
This great allegory, like so many other myths, is pictured upon the film
of the firmament, for it was first enacted in heaven before it was staged on
the earth, and we still see in the starry sky "Jonah, the Dove," and "Cetus,
the Whale". But we will not concern ourselves so much with the celestial
[PAGE 20] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
phase as with its terrestrial application.
"Jonah" means dove, a well recognized symbol of the Holy Spirit. During
the three "days" comprising the Saturn, Sun, and Moon revolutions of the
Earth Period, and the "nights" between, the Holy Spirit with all the Cre-
ative Hierarchies worked in the Great Deep perfecting THE INWARD parts of
the earth and men, removing the dead weight of the moon. Then the earth
emerged from its watery stage of development in the middle Atlantean Epoch,
and so did "Jonah, the Spirit Dove," accomplish the salvation of the greater
part of mankind.
Neither the earth nor its inhabitants were capable of maintaining their
equilibrium in space, and the Cosmic Christ therefore commenced to work with
and on us, finally at the baptism descending AS A DOVE (not in the form of a
dove but AS a dove) upon the man Jesus. And as Jonah, the dove of the Holy
Spirit, was three Days and three Nights in the Great Fish (the earth sub-
merged in water), so at the end of our involutionary pilgrimage must the
other dove, the Christ, enter THE HEART of the earth for the coming three
revolutionary Days and Nights to give us the needed impulse on our evolu-
tionary journey. He must help us to etherealize the earth in preparation
for the Jupiter Period.
Thus Jesus become at his baptism, "a Son of the Dove," and was recognized
by another, "Simon Bar-Jonah," (Simon, son of the dove). At that recogni-
[PAGE 21] THE SIGN OF THE MASTER
tion, by the sign of the dove, the Master calls the other "a rock," a foun-
dation Stone, and promises him the "Keys to Heaven." These are not idle
words nor haphazard promises. These are phases of soul development involved
which each must undergo if he has not passed them.
What then is the "sign of Jonah" which the Christ bore about with Him,
visible to all who could see, other than the "house from heaven" wherewith
Paul longed to be clothed; the glorious treasure house wherein all the noble
deeds of many lives glitter and glisten as precious pearls? Everybody has a
little "house from heaven." Jesus, holy and pure beyond the rest, probably
was a splendid sight, but think how indescribably effulgent must have been
the vehicle of splendor in which the Christ descended; then we shall have
some conception of the "blindness" of those who asked for "a sing." Even
among His other disciples He found the same spiritual cataract. "Show us
the Father," said Philip, oblivious to the mystic Trinity in Unity which
ought to have been obvious to him. Simon, however, was quick to perceive,
because he himself had by spiritual alchemy made this spiritual petros or
"stone" of the philosopher which entitled him to the "Keys of the Kingdom";
an Initiation making usable the latent powers of the candidate evolved by
service.
We find that these "stones" for the "temple made without hands" undergo
an evolution or process of preparation. There is first the "petros," the
[PAGE 22] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
diamond in the rough, so to speak, found in nature. When read with the
heart, such passages as 1st Cor., 10:4, "And did all drink the same
spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock (Petros) that fol-
lowed them: and that Rock was Christ," are illuminating in this connection.
Gradually, very gradually, we have become impregnated with the WATER OF LIFE
which sprang from the Great Rock. We have also become polished as "lithoi
zontes" (LIVING STONES), destined to be grouped with that GREAT STONE which
the Builder rejected; and when we have wrought well to the end, we shall fi-
nally receive in the Kingdom the diadem, the most precious of all, the
"psiphon leuken," (the white stone) with its New Name.
There are three steps in the evolution of "THE STONE OF THE SAGE":
PETROS, the hard rough rock; LITHON, the stone polished by service and ready
to be written on; and PSIPHON LEUKEN, the soft white stone that draws to it-
self all who are weak and heavy laden. Much is hidden in the nature and
composition of the stone at each step which cannot be written; it must be
read between the lines.
If we hope to build the Living Temple with Christ in the Kingdom, we
would do well to prepare ourselves that we may fit in, and then we shall
know the Master and the Sign of the Master.
[PAGE 23] WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WORK?
CHAPTER III
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WORK?
In this connection we will give some extracts from the wonderful poem by
Longfellow which is called "The Legend Beautiful."
"In his chamber all alone,
Kneeling on the floor of stone
Prayed the Monk in deep contrition
For his sins of indecision,
Prayed for greater self-denial
In temptation and in trial;
It was noonday by the dial,
And the Monk was all alone.
"Suddenly, as if it lightened,
An unwonted splendor brightened
All within him and without him
In that narrow cell of stone;
And he saw the Blessed Vision
Of our Lord, with Light Elysian
Like a vesture wrapped about him,
Like a garment round him thrown."
[PAGE 24] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
This was not the suffering Savior, however, but the Christ feeding the
hungry and healing the sick.
"In an attitude imploring,
Hands upon his bosom crossed,
Wondering, worshiping, adoring,
Knelt the Monk in rapture lost.
* * * * * *
"Then amid his exaltation,
Loud the convent bell appalling,
From its belfry calling, calling,
Rang through court and corridor
With persistent iteration
He had never heard before."
This was his call to the duty of feeding the poor as Christ had done, for
he was the almoner of the Brotherhood.
"Deep distress and hesitation
Mingled with his adoration;
Should be go, or should he stay?
Should he leave the poor to wait
Hungry at the convent gate,
Till the Vision passed away?
Should be slight his radiant guest,
Slight his visitant celestial,
For a crowd or ragged, bestial
[PAGE 25] WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WORK?
Beggars at the convent gate?
Would the Vision there remain?
Would the Vision come again?
Then a voice within his breast
Whispered, audible and clear
As if to the outward ear:
'Do they duty; that is best;
Leave unto they Lord the rest!'
Straightaway to his feet he started,
And with longing look intent
On the Blessed Vision bent,
Slowly from his cell departed,
Slowly on his errand went.
"At the gate the poor were waiting,
Looking through the iron grating,
With that terror in the eye
That is only seen in those
Who amid their wants and woes
Hear the sound of doors that close,
And of feet that pass them by;
Grown familiar with disfavor,
Grown familiar with the savor
Of the broad by which men die!
But today, they knew not why,
Like the gate of Paradise
Seemed the convent gate to rise,
[PAGE 26] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Like a sacrament divine
Seemed to them the bread and wine.
In his heart the Monk was praying,
Thinking of the homeless poor,
What they suffer and endure;
What we see not, what we see;
And the inward voice was saying:
'Whatsoever thing thou doest
To the least of mine and lowest,
That doest unto me!'
"Unto me! but had the Vision
Come to him in beggar's clothing,
Come to mendicant imploring,
Would he then have knelt adoring,
Or have listened with derision,
And have turned away with loathing?
"Thus his conscience put the question,
Full of troublesome suggestion,
As at length, with hurried pace,
Towards his cell he turned his face,
And beheld the convent bright
With supernatural light,
Like a luminous cloud expanding
Over floor and wall and ceiling.
"But he passed with awe-struck feeling
At the threshold of this door,
For the Vision still was standing
[PAGE 27] WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WORK?
As he left it there before,
When the convent bell appalling,
From its belfry calling, calling,
Summoned him to feed the poor.
Through the long hour intervening
It had waited his return,
And he felt his bosom burn,
Comprehending all the meaning,
When the Blessed Vision said,
'Hadst thou stayed, I must have fled!"
Let me tell you a story:
Ages and ages ago--so long ago in fact that it was almost as far away as
yesterday--darkness enveloped the earth, and men were groping for the light.
Some there were who had found it and who undertook to show men the reflec-
tion thereof, and they were eagerly sought. Among them there was one who
had been to the city of light for a little while and had absorbed some of
its brilliancy. Straightway men and women from all over the land of dark-
ness sought him. They journeyed thousands of miles because they had heard
of this light; and when he heard that a company was traveling towards his
house, he set to work and prepared to give them the very best he had. He
planted poles all around his house and put lights upon them so that his
visitors might not hurt themselves in the darkness. He and his household
ministered to their wants, and he taught them as best he knew.
[PAGE 28] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
But soon sine if his visitors murmured. They had thought to find him
seated upon a pedestal radiant with celestial light. In fancy they had seen
themselves worshiping at his shrine; but instead of the spiritual light they
had expected they had caught him in the very act of stringing electric
lights to illuminate the place. He did not even wear a turban or a robe,
because, THE ORDER TO WHICH HE BELONGED HAD AS ONE ITS FUNDAMENTAL RULES
THAT IS MEMBERS MUST WEAR THE DRESS OF THE COUNTRY IN WHICH THEY LIVED.
So the visitors came to the conclusion that they had been tricked and
swindled and that he had no light. They they took up stones and stoned him
and his household; they would have killed him had it not been that they
feared the law, which in that land required an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. Then they went away again into the land of the darkness, and
whenever they saw a soul headed towards the light, they help up their hands
in horror and said, "Do not go there; that is not a true light, it is as a
jack-o-lantern and it will lead you astray. We know there is absolutely no
spirituality there." Many believed them, and thus came to pass in that
case, as so many times before, the saying that was written in one of their
old books: "This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world
but men love darkness rather than light."
As it was in that far-away yesterday, so also it is today. Men are run-
ning hither and thither seeking for light. Often like Sir Launfal they
[PAGE 29] WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WORK?
travel to the ends of the earth, wasting their whole lives seeking for the
thing that they call Spirituality," but melting disappointment after disap-
pointment. But just as Sir Launfal, having spent his whole life in vain
search away from his home, finally found in the HOLY GRAIL right at his own
castle gate, so every honest seeker after spirituality will, shall, and must
find it in his own heart. The only danger is that like the company of seek-
ers mentioned, he may miss it because he does not recognize it. NO ONE CAN
RECOGNIZE TRUE SPIRITUALITY IN OTHERS UNTIL HE HAD IN A MEASURE EVOLVED IT
IN HIS OWN SELF.
It may therefore be well to try to settle definitely, "WHAT IS SPIRITU-
ALITY?" to give a guide whereby we may find this great Christ attribute. In
order to do this we must leave our preconceived ideas behind, or we shall
certainly fail. The idea most commonly held is that spirituality manifests
through prayer and meditation; but if we look at our Savior's life, we shall
find that it was not an idle one. He was not a recluse, He did not go away
and hide Himself from the world. He went among people, He ministered to
their daily wants; He fed them when that was necessary; He healed them when-
ever He had the opportunity, and He also taught them. Thus He was in the
very truest sense of the word A SERVANT OF HUMANITY.
The monk in "THE LEGEND BEAUTIFUL" saw Him thus when he was engaged in
prayer, rapt in spiritual ecstasy. But just then the convent bell struck
[PAGE 30] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
the hour of twelve, and IT WAS HIS DUTY TO GO AND IMITATE THE CHRIST, feed-
ing the poor who had gathered around the convent gate. Great indeed was the
temptation to stay, to bathe in the heavenly vibrations,; but there came the
voice, "DO THY DUTY, THAT IS BEST; LEAVE UNTO THY LORD THE REST" How could
he have adored the Savior whom he saw feeding the poor and healing the sick
while at the same time leaving the hungry poor to stand outside the convent
gate waiting for him to perform his duties? It would have been positively
wicked for him to have stayed there; and so the Vision said to him upon his
return: "HAST THOU STAYED, I MUST HAVE FLED."
Such self-indulgence would have been absolutely subversive of the purpose
he had in view. If he had not been faithful in little things pertaining to
earthly duties, how could it be expected that he would be faithful in the
greater spiritual work? Naturally, unless ABLE TO STAND THE TEST, he could
not be given greater powers.
There are many people who seek spiritual powers, wandering from one
so-called occult center to another; who enter monasteries and like places of
seclusion, hoping by running away from the world's clamor and glamour to
cultivate their spiritual nature. They bask in the sunshine of prayer and
meditation from morning till night while the world is moaning in agony.
[PAGE 31] WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WORK?
Then they wonder why they do not progress; why they do not get further upon
the path of aspiration. Truly prayer and meditation are necessary, abso-
lutely essential to soul growth. But we are doomed to failure if we depend
for soul growth upon prayers which are only words. TO OBTAIN RESULTS WE
MUST LIVE IN SUCH A MANNER THAT OUR WHOLE LIFE BECOMES PRAYER, AN ASPIRA-
TION. As Emerson said:
"Although your knees were never bent,
To heaven your hourly prayers are sent,
And be they formed for good or ill,
Are registered and answered still."
It is not the words we speak in moments of prayer that count, but IT IS
THE LIFE THAT LEADS UP TO THE PRAYER.
What is the use of praying for peace on earth on Sunday when we are mak-
ing bullets during the whole week? How can we pray God to forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us when we carry hate in
our hearts?
THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO SHOW OUR FAITH, AND THAT IS BY OUR WORKS; It
does not matter in what department of life we have been placed, whether we
are high or low, rich or poor, it is immaterial whether we are engaged in
stringing electric lights to save our fellows a physical fall, or whether it
is our privilege to stand upon a platform to give out the spiritual light
[PAGE 32] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
and point out to others the way of the soul. It is absolutely unessential
whether our hands are grimy with the lowest labor, perhaps digging a sewer
to maintain the health of our community, or whether they are soft and white
as required when nursing the sick.
The determining factor which decides whether any class of work is
spiritual or material is our attitude in the matter. The man who strings
the electric lights may be far more spiritual than the one who stands upon
the platform; for alas, there are many who go to that sacred duty with the
desire to tickle the ears of their congregation by fine oratory rather than
to give heart-felt love and sympathy. It is must more noble work to clean
out the clogged sewer, as did THE DESPISED BROTHER in Kennedy's "Servant in
the House," than it is to live falsely in the dignity of a teacher's office,
implying a spirituality that is not actually there. EVERYONE WHO TRIES TO
CULTIVATE THIS RARE QUALITY OF SPIRITUALITY MUST ALWAYS BEGIN BY DOING EV-
ERYTHING TO THE GLORY OF THE LORD; FOR WHEN WE DO ALL THINGS AS UNTO THE
LORD, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT KIND OF WORK WE DO. DIGGING A SEWER, INVENT-
ING A LABOR SAVING DEVICE, PREACHING A SERMON, OR ANYTHING ELSE IS SPIRITUAL
WORK WHEN IT IS DONE IN LOVE TO GOD AND MAN.
[PAGE 33] THE WAY OF WISDOM
CHAPTER IV
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 34] THE WAY OF WISDOM
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 35] THE WAY OF WISDOM
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 36] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 37] THE WAY OF WISDOM
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 38] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 39] THE WAY OF WISDOM
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.
[PAGE 40] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER V
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 41] THE SECRET OF SUCCESS
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 42] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 43] THE SECRET OF SUCCESS
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 44] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 45] THE SECRET OF SUCCESS
"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 46] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 47] THE DEATH OF THE SOUL
CHAPTER VI
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 48] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 49] THE DEATH OF THE SOUL
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 50] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 51] THE DEATH OF THE SOUL
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 52] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 53] THE DEATH OF THE SOUL
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.
[PAGE 54] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER VII
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 55] THE NEW SENSE OF THE NEW AGE
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 56] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 57] THE NEW SENSE OF THE NEW AGE
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 58] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 59] THE NEW SENSE OF THE NEW AGE
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 60] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 61] GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE
CHAPTER VIII
GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE
When we read the history of the Hebrews as recorded in the Bible and
chronicled in medieval and modern records of the various peoples inhabiting
the Western world, one unescapable fact stands out with startling clearness,
to wit, that they have been led into exile and slavery, hated in every coun-
try where they have been scattered, and persecuted wherever the temperament
of the nations among whom the Jews dwelt would allow them to resort to such
measures. According to the Bible, esteemed the "Word of God" by the Western
peoples, the Jews are "God's chosen people" in a peculiar sense, yet among
these very nations the Jews are despised and discredited. When we investi-
gate the reason of this tragedy, two salient facts present themselves:
(1) Everywhere the Jews have proclaimed themselves God's chosen people,
destined by divine favor in time to become masters of the world, to whom all
nations will eventually have to pay homage and tribute.
[PAGE 62] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
(2) Their dealings with the gentiles have almost invariably been marked
by such sharp practices that in public mind Shakespeare's Shylock, exacting
his "pound of flesh," agrees with the general conception of their nature.
Thus, unconsciously, there has grown up in the mind of the other nations
a resentment toward the Jews' claim to be divinely favored children of God,
while they class all others as stepchildren, heathen, and gentiles reserved
for the day of wrath when Israel shall triumphantly rule them with a rod of
iron. This resentment is accentuated by contemplation of the present day
practices of the Jews.
If the Jews had backed up their claim of being divine favorites by lives
of noble and lofty conduct, they would probably have inspired the admiration
of many of the people among whom they have dwelt. They would have stirred
some to emulation; even those who were envious of their preferment would
probably have respected them. But because their high professions and their
practices are so widely divergent, it is sad but not to be wondered at that
they are hated and persecuted on every hand.
The student is warned not to view the foregoing merely as a criticism of
the Jews,; it is wrong to expose the faults of others and to criticise them
unless we have a constructive end in view. It is always so easy to see the
mote in our brother's eye, but far easier to overlook the beam in our own.
[PAGE 63] GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE
The reason for bringing up the subject of the Jews with their high profes-
sions and divergent practices is but to inquire if, by turning the search-
light upon the mote in their eye, we shall not find a large beam in our own.
If so, we shall have accomplished something worth while and put ourselves in
line to remove the beam.
So long as we live at the level of the world, doing the things others do,
good, bad and indifferent, no one takes particular notice of us; but the mo-
ment we, like the Jews, make professions to be something different, the
searchlight of society at once singles us out as objects of observation to
determine what ratio of agreement there is between our professions and our
practices. We are watched wherever we go and whatever we do; hence a great
responsibility rests upon us to acquit ourselves well in order that we may
do credit to the teachings of our Elder Brothers and stimulate in others a
desire to embrace these teachings.
Therefore let us pause and take stock of our actions and accomplishments
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
[PAGE 64] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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?
What measure of success have we had? Let us hope our accomplishments
have been at least moderate, for as the sincerity of the Jews' high profes-
sions have been judged by their performance, so, right or wrong, the teach-
ings of the Elder Brothers will be rated in the community by the actions of
those who profess to be their followers.
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 65] GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE
despise us in their hearts even if they do not show it openly as in the case
of the Jews.
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 66] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER IX
MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
PART I.--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 67] MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
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 68] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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 69] MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
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 70] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
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.
[PAGE 71] MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD 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.
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[PAGE 72] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER X
MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
PART II -- ITS PROMOTION OF SPIRITUAL SIGHT.
Strange as the statement may seem, it is nevertheless true that the great
majority of mankind are partially asleep most of the time, notwithstanding
the fact that their physical bodies may seem to be intensely occupied in ac-
tive work. Under ordinary conditions the desire body in the case of the
great majority is the most awake part of composite man, who lives almost en-
tirely in his feelings and emotions, but scarcely ever thinks of the problem
of existence beyond what is necessary to keep body and soul together. Most
of this class have probably never given the great questions of life, Whence
have we come, why are we here, and whither are we going? any serious consid-
eration. Their vital bodies are kept active repairing the ravages of the
desire body upon the physical vehicle, and purveying the vitality which is
later dissipated in gratifying the desires and emotions.
[PAGE 73] MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
It is this hard-fought battle between the vital and desire bodies which
generates consciousness in the physical world and makes men and women so in-
tensely alert that, viewed from the standpoint of the physical world, it
seems to give the lie to our assertion that they are partially asleep. Nev-
ertheless, upon examination of all the facts it will be found that this is
the case, and we may also say that this state of affairs has come about by
the design of the great Hierarchs who have our evolution in charge.
We know that there was a time when man was much more awake in the
spiritual worlds than in the physical. In fact there was a time when, al-
though he had a physical body, he could not sense it at all. In order that
he might learn how to use this physical instrument properly, conquer the
physical world, and learn to think accurately, it was necessary that he
should for a time forget all about the spiritual worlds, and devote all his
energies to physical affairs. How this was brought about by the introduc-
tion of alcohol as a food and by other means has been explained in the
"COSMO" and need not be reiterated. But we are now face to face with the
fact that mankind has become so completely immersed in materiality that, so
far as the great majority are concerned, the invisible vehicles are thor-
oughly focused upon physical activities and asleep to the spiritual
verities, which are even derided as the imagination of diseased brains; also
those who are beginning to awake from the sleep of materialism are scorned
[PAGE 74] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
as fanatics, fit only for the madhouse.
If this attitude of mind were consistently followed, the spirit would
eventually become crystallized in the body. The heaven life in which we
build our future vehicles and environments would become increasingly barren;
for when we persistently hold the thought that there is nothing but what we
contact through our senses (see, hear, feel, smell, touch, and analyze),
this mental attitude cultivated in the earth life persists in the Second
Heaven with the result that we may there neglect the preparation that would
give us a field of endeavor and instruments wherewith to work in it, and as
a result evolution would soon cease.
According to the Rosicrucian teachings, the soul is the extract of the
various bodies; it is garnered by experience that involves the destruction
of the particular bodies from which this living bread is derived and which
is to be used as a pabulum for the spirit. In the ordinary course of evolu-
tion the perfection of the various vehicles is gradual, and the soul sub-
stance is then garnered and assimilated by the spirit between earth lives.
But at a certain period in the larger life when we are entering upon a new
spiral, a different phase of evolution, it is usually necessary to employ
drastic measures to turn the spirit out of the beaten pathway into a new and
unknown direction. Formerly when we possessed less individuality and were
incapable of taking the initiative ourselves these changes were accomplished
[PAGE 75] MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
by what may be called great cataclysms of nature, but which were
in fact planned by the divine Hierarchies who guide evolution, with a
view to destroying multitudes of bodies that had served the purpose of human
development in a given direction, changing the environment of those who had
learned the possibilities of a new road, and starting these pioneer people
upon a fresh career. Such wholesale destruction was naturally much more
frequent in the earlier epochs than in later times. Lemuria had all the
requisite conditions for numerous attempts at making a fresh start with one
group when another had failed and had been destroyed. As a matter of fact,
there was not merely one flood in Atlantis but three, and a period of about
three-quarters of a million years elapsed between the first and the last.
We may not expect that the method of wholesale destruction and a new
start can be abrogated until we as a whole awaken to the necessity of taking
a new road when we have come to the end of the old, but a new method is be-
ing used by the Invisible Directors of evolution. They are not now making
use of cataclysms of nature to change the old order for something new and
better, but THEY ARE MAKING USE OF THE MISDIRECTED ENERGIES OF HUMANITY IT-
SELF TO FURTHER THE ENDS THEY HAVE IN VIEW. This was the genesis of the
great war which recently raged among us. Its purpose was to turn our ener-
gies from seeking the bread whereof men die and to create in us the soul
hunger that would cause us to turn from material things to spiritual. We
[PAGE 76] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
are, as a matter of act, commencing to work out our own salvation. We are
beginning to do things for ourselves instead of having them done for us, and
though unaware of the fact, WE ARE LEARNING HOW TO TURN EVIL TO GOOD.
Some may think this war affected only those few million men actually en-
gaged in it, but a little thought upon the matter will soon convince anyone
that the welfare of the whole world was involved to a greater or lesser de-
gree so far as economic conditions were concerned. There is no race nor
country that escaped entirely, nor can any go on in the same tranquil manner
as before the war broke out. Kinship and friendship were ties which reached
from the trenches of Europe to every part of the globe. Many of us were re-
lated to individuals in one and perhaps both groups engaged in the strife,
and we followed their fortunes with an interest commensurate with the
strength of our feeling for them. But in the nighttime when our physical
bodies were asleep and we entered the desire world, we could not escape liv-
ing and feeling th whole tragedy with all the intensity whereof we were ca-
pable, for the desire currents swept the whole world. In the desire world
there is neither time nor distance. The trenches of Europe were brought to
our door no matter where we lived, and we could not escape the subconscious
effect of the spectacle which we there saw. Furthermore this titanic
struggle produced effects which could never be equaled by a natural
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cataclysm, which is so much quicker in its action and so much shorter in its
duration, besides being localized and incapable of generating the same feel-
ings of love and hate which were such important factors in the World War.
During the previous career of man it has been the object of the divine
Hierarchs to teach him how to accomplish physical results by physical means.
He has forgotten how to utilize the finer forces in nature such as, for in-
stance, the energy liberated when grain is sprouting, which was used for
purposes of propulsion and levitation in the Atlantean airships. He is un-
aware of the sanctity of fire and how to use it spiritually, therefore only
about fifteen per cent of its power is utilized in the best steam engines.
It is well of course that man is thus limited, for were he able to use the
power at the command of one whose spiritual faculties are awakened, he could
annihilate our world and all upon it. But while he is doing his best or his
worst with the faculties at his command today, he is learning the lesson of
how to hold his feelings in leash to fit himself for the use of the finer
forces necessary for development in the Aquarian Age, and pulling the scales
from his eyes so that he may commence to see the new world which he is des-
tined to conquer.
Two separate and distinct processes are made use of to accomplish this
result. One is the visit of death to millions of homes, tearing away from
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the family group the husband, father, or brother, and leaving the survivors
to face a grey existence of economic privation. The sun existed previous to
the eye and built that organ for its perception. The desire to see was
naturally unconscious on the part of the individual who did not know and had
no concept of the meaning or use of sight; but in the world soul, which cre-
ated the sun, rested the knowledge and requisite desire that worked the
miracle. Similarly in the case of death: when our consciousness had first
become focused in the physical vehicles and the fact of death stared us in
the face, there was no hope within; but in time religion supplied the knowl-
edge of an invisible world whence the spirit had come to take birth and
whither it returns after death. The hope of immortality gradually evolved
in humanity the feeling that death is only a transition, but modern science
has done its best to rob men of this consolation.
Nevertheless, at every death the tears that are shed serve to dissolve
the veil that hides the invisible world from our longing gaze. The
deep-felt yearning and the sorrow at the parting of loved and loving ones on
both sides of the veil are tearing this apart, and at some not far distant
day the accumulated effect of all this will reveal the fact that there is no
death, but that those who have passed beyond are as much alive as we. The
potency of these tears, this sorrow, this yearning is not equal in all
cases, however, and the effects differ wisely according to whether the vital
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body has been awakened in any given person by acts of unselfishness and ser-
vice, according to the occult maxim that all development along spiritual
lines begins with the vital body. his is the basis, and no superstructure
can be built until this foundation has been laid.
With regard to the second process of soul unfoldment which is carried on
among those actually engaged in warfare, there are probably but few who have
had as unique an opportunity to study actual conditions on the whole of the
extended line of battle as th writer. Notwithstanding all the brutality and
hellishness of the whole thing he feels confident that this was the greatest
school of soul unfoldment that has ever existed, for nowhere have there been
so numerous opportunities for selfless service as on the battle fields of
France, and nowhere have men been so ready to grasp the change of doing for
some one else. Thus the vital bodies of a host of people have received a
quickening such as they would probably not have otherwise attained for a
number of lives, and these people have therefore become correspondingly sen-
sitive to spiritual vibrations, and susceptible in a higher degree to the
benefit which may be derived from the first process previously mentioned.
As a result we shall in due time see an army of sensitives among us who will
be in such close touch with the invisible world that their concerted testi-
mony cannot be crushed by the materialistic school. They will prove a great
[PAGE 80] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
factor in helping us to prepare for the higher conditions of the Aquarian
Age.
"But," some may ask, "will they not forget when the stress and strain of
war are over? Will not a large percentage of these people go back into the
same rut where they were before?" To this we may answer that we feel confi-
dent it can never come to pass, for while the invisible vehicles, especially
the vital body, are asleep, man may pursue a materialistic career; but once
this vehicle has been awakened and has tasted the bread of life, it is like
the physical body, subject to hunger--soul hunger,--and its cravings will
not be denied save after an exceedingly hard struggle. In the latter case,
of course, the words of Peter are applicable: "The last state of that man
is worse than the first." However, it is good to feel that out of all the
indescribable sorrow and trouble of the war good is being wrought in the
crucible of the gods, and it will be a lasting good. May we all align our
forces and help extract the good, so that we may be shining examples to help
lead humanity to the New Age.
[PAGE 81] PEACE ON EARTH
CHAPTER XI
MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
PART III -- PEACE ON EARTH
A war-weary world, red with the blood of millions, the hope of its fu-
ture, the flower of its young manhood, is groaning in agony, praying for
peace, not an armistice, a temporary cessation of hostilities, but EVERLAST-
ING PEACE, and it is striving to solve the problem of how to accomplish this
much desired end. But it is striking at effects because ignorant of or
blind to the one great underlying cause of the ferocity of the people, which
was but barely hidden under a thin veneer of civilization before it burst
into the volcano of destruction which we have recently witnessed and are now
lamenting.
Until the connection between the food of man and his nature is understood
and the knowledge applied to tame the passions and eradicate ferocity, there
can be no lasting peace. In the dim dawn of being when man-in-the-making
wrought under the direct guidance of the divine Hierarchs who led him along
the path of evolution, food was given him of a nature that would develop
[PAGE 82] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
various vehicles in an orderly, systematic manner, so that in time these
different bodies would grow into a composite instrument usable as the temple
of an indwelling spirit which might then enter and learn life's lessons by a
series of embodiments in earthly bodies of an increasingly fine texture.
Five great stages or epochs are observable in the evolutionary journey of
man upon earth.
In the first, or Polarian Epoch, what is now man had only a dense body as
the minerals have now, hence he was mineral-like, and it is said in the
Bible that "ADAM was formed of the earth."
In the second, or Hyperborean Epoch, a vital body made of ether was
added, and man-in-the-making had then a body constituted as are those of the
present plants; he was not a plant but was plantlike. CAIN, the man of that
time, is described as an agriculturist; his food was derived solely from
vegetation, for plants contain more ether than any other structure.
In the third, or Lemurian Epoch, man cultivated a desire body, a vehicle
of passions and emotions, and was then constituted as the animal. Then
milk, a product of living animals, was added to his diet, for this substance
is most easily worked upon by the emotions. ABEL, the man of that time, is
described as a shepherd. It is nowhere stated that he killed an animal for
food.
In the fourth, or Atlantean Epoch, mind was unfolded, and the composite
[PAGE 83] PEACE ON EARTH
body became the temple of an indwelling spirit, a thinking being. But
thought breaks down nerve cells; it kills, destroys, and causes decay,
therefore the new food of the Atlantean was dead carcasses. He killed to
eat, and so the Bible describes the man of that time as NIMROD, a mighty
hunter.
By partaking of these various foods man descended deeper and deeper into
matter; his erstwhile ethereal body formed a skeleton within and became
solid. At the same time he gradually lost his spiritual perception, but the
memory of heaven was always with him, and he knew himself to be an exile
from his true home, the heaven world. In order to enable him to forget this
fact and apply himself with undivided attention to conquering the material
world, a new article of diet, namely, wine, was added in the fifth or Aryan
Epoch. Because of indulgence in this counterfeit spirit of alcohol during
the millenniums which have passed since man came up out of Atlantis, the
most advanced races of humanity are also the most atheistic and materialis-
tic. THEY ARE ALL DRUNK for even though a person may say, and say quite
truthfully, that he has never touched liquor in his life, it is nevertheless
a fact that body in which he is functioning has descended from ancestors who
for millenniums have indulged in alcoholic beverages in unstinted measure.
Therefore the atoms composing all present day Western bodies are unable to
[PAGE 84] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
vibrate to the measure necessary for the cognition of the invisible worlds
as they were before wine was added to the diet of humanity. Similarly,
though a child may be brought up today on a fleshless diet, it still par-
takes of the ferocious nature of its flesh-eating ancestors of a million
years, though in a less degree than those who still continue to feast on
flesh. Thus the effect of the flesh food provided for man-in-the-making is
deep-seated and deep-rooted even in those who do not now indulge in it.
What wonder then that those who still partake of flesh and wine return at
times to godless savagery and exhibit a ferocity unrestrained by any of the
finer feelings supposed to have been fostered by centuries of so-called
civilization! So long as men continue to quench the immortal spirit within
themselves by partaking of flesh and the counterfeit alcoholic spirit, there
can never be lasting peace on earth, for the innate ferocity fostered by
these articles will break through at intervals and sweep even the most al-
truistic conceptions and ideals into a maelstrom of savagery, a carnival of
ruthless slaughter, which will grow correspondingly greater as the intellect
of man evolves and enables him to conceive with his master mind methods of
destruction more diabolical than any we have yet witnessed.
It needs no argument to prove that the recent war was much more destruc-
tive than any of the previous conflicts recorded in history, because it was
fought by men of BRAIN rather than by men of BRAWN. The ingenuity which in
[PAGE 85] PEACE ON EARTH
times of peace has been turned to such good account in constructive enter-
prises was enlisted in the service of destruction, and it is safe to say
that if another war is fought fifty or a hundred years hence, it may perhaps
all but depopulate the earth. Therefore a lasting peace is an absolute
necessity from the standpoint of self-preservation and no thinking man or
woman can afford to brush aside without investigation any theory which is
advanced as tending to make war impossible, even if they have been accus-
tomed to regard it as a foolish fad.
There is plenty of proof that a carnivorous diet fosters ferocity, but
lack of space prevents a thorough discussion of this phase of the subject.
We may, however, mention the well known fierceness of beasts of prey and the
cruelty of the meat-eating American Indian as fair examples. On the other
hand, the prodigious strength and the docile nature of the ox, the elephant,
and the horse show the effects of the herb diet on animals, while the veg-
etarian and peaceable nations of the Orient are a proof of the correctness
of the argument against a flesh diet which cannot be successfully gainsaid.
Flesh food has fostered human ingenuity of a low order in the past; it has
served a purpose in our evolution; but we are now standing on the threshold
of a new age when self-sacrifice and service will bring spiritual growth to
humanity. The evolution of the mind will bring a wisdom profound beyond our
[PAGE 86] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
greatest conception, but before it will be safe to entrust us with that wis-
dom, we must become HARMLESS as doves, for otherwise we should be apt to
turn it to such selfish and destructive purposes that it would be an incon-
ceivable menace to our fellow men. To avoid this the vegetarian diet must
be adopted.
But there are vegetarians and vegetarians: In Europe conditions cause
people now to abstain from flesh eating to a very large extent. They are
not true vegetarians for they are lusting for flesh every moment of their
lives, and they feel the want of it as a great hardship and sacrifice. In
time they would of course grow used to is, and in many generations it would
make them gentle and docile, but obviously that is not the kind of vegetari-
anism we need now. There are others who abstain from flesh foods for the
sake of health; their motive is selfish, and many among them probably also
lust after the "flesh pots of Egypt." Their attitude of mind is not such
either that it would abolish ferocity very quickly.
But there is a third class which realizes that all life is God's life and
that to cause suffering to any sentient being is wrong, so out of pure com-
passion they abstain from the use of flesh foods. They are the true veg-
etarians, and IT IS OBVIOUS THAT A WORLD WAR COULD NEVER BE FOUGHT BY PEOPLE
OF THIS TURN OF MIND. All true Christians will also be abstainers from
flesh foods for similar motives. Then peace on earth and good will among
men will be an assured fact; the nations will beat their swords into plow-
[PAGE 87] PEACE ON EARTH
shares and their spears into pruning hooks that they may cease to deal
death, sorrow, and suffering, and become instruments to foster life, love,
and happiness.
Our own safety, the safety of our children, the safety of the human race
even, demands that we listen to the inspired voice of the poetess, Ella
Wheeler Wilcox, who wrote the following soul stirring appeal in behalf of
our dumb fellow creatures:
"I am the voice of the voiceless,
Through me the dumb shall speak,
Till a deaf world's ear
Shall be made to hear
The wrongs of the wordless weak.
"The same force formed the sparrow,
That fashioned man the king;
The God of the Whole
Gave a spark of soul,
To furred and feathered thing.
"And I am my brother's keeper,
And I will fight his fight,
And speak the word
For beast and bird
Till the world shall set things right."
[PAGE 88] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XII
MYSTIC LIGHT ON THE WORLD WAR
PART IV -- THE GOSPEL OF GLADNESS
The recent titanic struggle among the nations in Europe upset the equi-
librium of the whole world to such an extent that the emotions of the people
who liven in even the most remote regions of the earth were stirred as they
had never been stirred before, the people expressing anger, hate, hysteria,
or gloom according to their nature and temperament. It is evident to those
who have studied the deeper mysteries of life and who understand the op-
eration of natural law in the spiritual worlds that the inhabitants of the
invisible realms were affected in perhaps a greater degree than those who
lived in physical bodies, which by their very density make it impossible for
us to feel the full force of the emotions.
After the outbreak of the war the tide of emotions ran high and fast, be-
cause there were no adequate means of checking it; but by dint of hard work
and organization the Elder Brothers of humanity succeeded after the first
year in creating an army of Invisible Helpers who, having passed through the
[PAGE 89] THE GOSPEL OF GLADNESS
gate of death and having felt the sorrow and suffering incident to an un-
timely transition, were filled with compassion for the others who were con-
stantly pouring in, and became qualified to soothe and help them until they
also had found their balance. Later, however, the emotions of hate and mal-
ice engendered by the people in the physical world became so strong that
there was danger they might gain the ascendancy; therefore new measures had
to be taken to counteract these feelings, and everywhere all the good forces
were marshaled into line to help restore the balance and keep the baser
emotions down.
One of the ways in which most people contributed to the trouble and
helped to prolong the war which they were praying might end, was by dwelling
on the AWFUL side of it and forgetting to look at the bright side.
"The bright side of that cruel war?" is probably the question which
arises in the mind of the reader. "Why, what can you mean?" To some it may
perhaps even seem sacrilegious to speak of a bright side in connection with
such a calamity, as they would put it. But let us see if there is not a
silver lining to even this blackest of clouds, and if there is not a method
by which the silver lining could be made wider and wider so that the cloud
would become altogether luminous.
Some time ago our attention was called to a book entitled "Pollyanna."
Pollyanna was the little daughter of a missionary, whose salary was so
[PAGE 90] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
meager that he could scarcely obtain the bare necessities of life. From
time to time barrels filled with old clothes and odds and ends arrived at
the mission for distribution. Pollyanna hoped that some day a barrel might
come containing a little doll. Her father had even written to ask if the
next barrel might not contain a discarded doll for his child. The barrel
came, but instead of the doll it contained a pair of small crutches. Notic-
ing the child's disappointment her father said: "There is one thing we can
be glad of and grateful for, that we have no need of the crutches." It was
then they began "playing the game," as they called it, of looking for and
finding something for which to be glad and thankful, no matter what hap-
pened, and they always found it. For example, when they were forced to eat
a very scant meal at a restaurant, not being able to afford the dainties on
the menu, they would say: "Well, we are glad we like beans," even though
their eyes would rest on the roast turkey and its prohibitive price. Then
they started to teach the game to others, making many a life the happier for
learning it, among them some in whom the belief had become fixed that they
could never again be happy.
At last they were really starving, and Pollyanna's mother had to go to
heaven to save the expense of living. Soon her father followed, leaving
Pollyanna dependent upon the bounty of a rich but crabbed and inhospitable
[PAGE 91] THE GOSPEL OF GLADNESS
old maiden aunt in Vermont. Despite the unwelcome reception and undesirable
quarters assigned her at first, the little girl saw nothing but reasons for
gladness; she literally radiated joy, drawing under its spell maid and gar-
dener and in time even the loveless aunt. The child's roseate mind soon
filled the bare walls and floor of her dingy attic room with all manner of
beauty. If there were no pictures, she was glad that he little window
opened upon a landscape scene more beautiful than any artist could paint, a
carpet of green and gold the like of which not even the cleverest of human
weavers had ever woven. If her crude washstand were without a mirror, she
was glad that the lack of it spared her seeing her freckles; and what if
they were freckles, had she not reason to be glad they were not warts? If
her trunk were small and her clothes few, was there not reason for gladness
that the unpacking was soon done and over? If her parents could not be with
her, could she not be glad that they were with God in heaven? Since they
could not talk to her, ought she not to rejoice that she could talk to them?
Flitting birdlike over field and moor she forgot the supper hour, and be-
ing ordered upon her return to the kitchen to make her meal there of bread
and milk, she said to her aunt who expected tears and pouting, "Oh, I am so
glad you did it, because I am so fond of bread and milk." Not a harsh
treatment, and there were many of them at first, but that she imagined some
[PAGE 92] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
kindly motive back of it and gave it a grateful thought.
Her first convert was the housemaid, who used to look forward with dread
to the weekly wash day and face Monday in a surly mood. It was not long be-
fore our little glad girl and Nancy feeling gladder on Monday morning than
on any other morning, because there was not another wash day for a whole
week; and soon she had her glad that her name was not Hepsibah, but Nancy,
at which name the latter had been disgruntled. One day when Nancy
remonstratingly said to her, "Sure, there is nothing in a funeral to be glad
about," Pollyanna promptly answered, "Well, we can be glad it isn't ours."
To the gardener, who complained to her that he was bent half over with rheu-
matism, she also taught the glad game by telling him that being bent half
over he ought to be glad that he saved one-half the stooping when he did his
weeding.
Near her home in a palatial mansion lived an elderly bachelor, a sullen
recluse. The more he rebuffed her, the cheerier she was and the oftener she
went to see him because no one else did. In her innocence and pity she at-
tributed his lack of courtesy to some secret sorrow, and therefore she
longed all the more to teach him the glad game. She did teach it to him,
and he learned it, thought it was hard work at first. When he broke his
leg, it was not easy to get him to be glad that but one leg was broken, and
admit it would have been far worse if this legs had been as numerous as
[PAGE 93] THE GOSPEL OF GLADNESS
those of a centipede and he had fractured all of them. Her sunshiny dispo-
sition succeeded at last in getting him to love the sunshine, open the
blinds, pull up the curtains, and open his heart to the world. He wanted to
adopt her, but failing in this, he adopted a little orphan boy whom she hand
chanced to meet by the wayside.
She made one lady wear bright colors, who had before worn only black.
Another lady, rich and miserable because her mind was centered upon past
troubles, had her attention directed by Pollyanna to the miseries of others,
and being taught through the glad game how to bring gladness into their
lives, this lady brought an abundance of it also into her own. All unknown
to the little girl she reunited in happy home life a couple about to
separate, by kindling within their hearts that had grown cold a strong love
for their little ones. By and by the whole town began to play the glad game
and teach it to others. Under its influence men and women became different
beings: the unhappy became happy, the sick became well, those about to go
wrong found again the right path, and the discouraged took heart again.
Soon the leading physician in town found it necessary to prescribe her as
he would some medicine. "That little girl," he said, "is better than a
six-quart bottle of tonic. If anyone can take a grouch out of a person it
is she; a dose of Pollyanna is more curative than a store full of drugs."
But the greatest miracle which the glad game worked was the transformation
[PAGE 94] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
effected in the character of her prim, puritanic aunt. She who had accepted
Pollyanna in her home as a matter of stern family duty, developed under her
little niece's treatment a heart that fairly overran with affection. Soon
Pollyanna was taken out of her bare attic room to a beautifully papered,
pictured, carpeted, and furnished room on her aunt's floor. And so the good
she did reacted upon herself.
The story is fiction, but it is based upon facts rooted in cosmic law.
What that little girl did with respect to the people in her environment, we
as students of the Rosicrucian teachings can and ought to do in our own in-
dividual spheres, both in regard to the matters which pertain to intercourse
with our relatives and immediate associates and with respect to the world at
large.
As regards its application to war in general, instead of being gloomy at
defeat or appalled at catastrophes recorded in sensational newspaper head-
lines, instead of adding our gloom, hate, and malice to the similar feelings
engendered by others, can we not find a bright side even in such a seemingly
overwhelming calamity? Surely there is reason to rejoice exceedingly in the
thoughts of self-sacrifice which prompted so many noble men to give up their
work in the world, their large incomes, and their comfortable homes for the
sake of what to them was an ideal to make the world better for those who
came after them, for they could not help realizing that they might never
come back to enjoy the fruits themselves. Can we not rejoice like-
[PAGE 95] THE GOSPEL OF GLADNESS
wise that many noble women, nurtured in ease and comfort, left their
homes and friends for the arduous work of nursing and caring for the
wounded? Throughout all there was a spirit of altruism, shared by those
who though forced by circumstances to say at home still put in their
time knitting and working for those who had to bear the brunt of battle.
Great are the birth pangs by which altruism is being born in millions of
human hearts, but through the superlative suffering of the later war human-
ity will become gentler, nobler, and better than ever before. If we can
only take this view of the recent suffering and sorrow, if we can only teach
others to look to the future blessings which must accrue through this pain
and suffering, we shall ourselves be better able to recover from the strain,
and be better qualified to help others do the same.
In this manner we can imitate Pollyanna, and if we are only sufficiently
sincere, our views will spread and take root in other hearts; then because
thoughts are things and good thoughts are more powerful than evil since they
are in harmony with the trend of evolution, the day will soon come when we
shall be able to gain the ascendancy and help establish permanent peace.
It is hoped that this suggestion may be taken very seriously and put into
practice by everyone of our students, for the need is great at the present
time, greater than it has been before.
[PAGE 96] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XIII
THE ESOTERIC SIGNIFICANCE OF EASTER
AND THE INCEPTION OF THE ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
AGAIN the earth has reach the vernal equinox in its annual circle dance
about the sun, and we have Easter. The spiritual ray sent out by the Cosmic
Christ each fall to replenish the smoldering vitality of the earth is about
to ASCEND to the Father's Throne. The spiritual activities of fecundation
and germination which have been carried on during the winter and spring will
be followed by material growth and a ripening process during the coming sum-
mer and autumn under the influence of the indwelling Earth Spirit. The
cycle ends at "Harvest Home." Thus the great World Drama is acted and
re-enacted from year to year, an eternal contest between life and death;
each in turn becoming victor and being vanquished as the cycles roll on.
This great cyclic influx and efflux are not confined in their effects to
the earth and its flora and fauna. They exercise an equally compelling
[PAGE 97] THE ESOTERIC SIGNIFICANCE OF EASTER
influence upon mankind, though the great majority are unaware of what impels
them to action in one direction or another. The fact remains, nevertheless,
independent of their cognition that the same earthy vibration which gaudily
adorns bird and beast in the spring is responsible for the human desire to
don gay colors and brighter raiment at that season. This is also "the call
of the wild," which in summer drives mankind to relaxation amid rural scenes
where nature spirits have wrought their magic art in field and forest, in
order to recuperate from the strain of artificial conditions in congested
cities.
On the other hand, it is the "FALL" of the spiritual ray from the sun in
autumn which causes resumption of the mental and spiritual activities in
winter. The same germinative force which leavens the seed in the earth and
prepares it to reproduce its kind in multiple, stirs also the human mind and
fosters altruistic activities which make the world better. Did no this
great wave of selfless Cosmic Love culminate at Christmas, did it not vi-
brate peace and good will, there would be no holiday feeling in our breasts
to engender a desire to make others equally happy; the universal giving of
Christmas gifts would be impossible, and we should all suffer loss.
As the Christ walked day by day, hither and yon, over the hills and the
valleys of Judea and Galilee, teaching the multitudes, all were benefited.
But He communed most with His disciples, and they, of course, grew apace
[PAGE 98] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
each day. The bond of love became closer as time went on, until one day
ruthless hands took away the beloved Teacher and put Him to a shameful
death. But though He had died after the flesh, he continued to commune with
them in spirit for some time. At last, however, He ascended to higher
spheres, direct touch with Him was lost, and sadly these men looked into
each other's faces as they asked, "Is this the end?" They had hoped so
much, had entertained such high aspirations, and though the verdant glory
was as fresh upon the sun-kissed landscape as before He went, the earth
seemed cold and dreary, for black desolation gnawed at their hearts.
Thus it is also with us who aim to walk after the spirit and to strive
with the flesh, though the analogy may not have been previously apparent.
When the "FALL" of the Christ ray commences in autumn and ushers in the sea-
son of spiritual supremacy, we sense it at once and commence to lave our
should in the blessed tide with avidity. We experience a feeling akin to
that of the apostles when they walked with Christ, and as the season wears
on it becomes easier and easier to commune with Him, face to face as it
were. But in the annual course of events Easter and the ASCENSION of the
"risen" Christ ray to the Father leave us in the identical position of the
apostles when their beloved Teacher went away. We are desolate and sad; we
look upon the world as a dreary waste and cannot comprehend the reason for
[PAGE 99] THE ESOTERIC SIGNIFICANCE OF EASTER
our loss, which is as natural as the changes of ebb and flood and day and
night--phases of the present age of alternating cycles.
There is a danger in this attitude of mind. If it is allowed to grow
upon us, we are apt to cease our work in the world and become dreamers, lose
our balance, and excite just criticism from our fellow men. Such a course
of conduct is entirely wrong, for as the earth exerts itself in MATERIAL EN-
DEAVOR to bring forth abundantly in summer after receiving the SPIRITUAL IM-
PETUS in winter, so ought we also to exert ourselves to greater purpose in
the world's work when it has been our privilege to commune with the spirit.
If we do Thus we shall be more apt to excite emulation than reproach.
We are wont to think of a miser as one who hoards gold, and such people
are generally objects of contempt. But there are people who strive as as-
siduously to acquire knowledge as the miser struggles to accumulate gold,
who will stoop to any subterfuge to obtain their desire, and will as jeal-
ously guard their knowledge as the miser guards his hoard. They do not un-
derstand that by such a method they are effectually closing the door to
greater wisdom. The old Norse theology contained a parable which sym-
bolically elucidates the matter. It held that all who died fighting on the
battle field (the strong souls who fought the good fight unto the end) were
carried to Valhalla to be with the gods; while those who died in bed or from
disease (the souls who drifted weakly through life) went to the dismal
Niflheim. The doughty warriors in Valhalla feasted daily upon the flesh of
[PAGE 100] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
the boar called Scrimner, which was so constituted that whenever a piece was
cut from it the flesh at once grew again, so that it was never consumed no
matter how much was carved. Thus it aptly symbolized "KNOWLEDGE," for no
matter how much of this we give to others, we always retain the original.
There is Thus a certain obligation to pass on what we have of knowledge,
and "to whom much is given of him much will be required." Perhaps it may
not be out of place to recount an experience which will illustrate the
point, for it was the final "test" applied to myself before I was entrusted
with the teaching embodied in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION, although I
was, of course, at the time unaware that I was being weighed. It occurred
at a time when i had gone to Europe in search of a teacher who, I believed,
was able to aid me to advance on the path of attainment. But when I had
probed his teaching to the bottom and forced him to admit certain inconsis-
tencies in it which he could not explain, I was in a veritable "slough of
despond," ready to return to America. As I sat in my chair ruminating over
my disappointment, the feeling that some one else was present came over me,
and I looked up and beheld the One who has since become my Teacher. With
shame I remember how gruffly I asked who had sent him and what he wanted,
for I was thoroughly disgruntled, and I hesitated considerably before
[PAGE 101] THE ESOTERIC SIGNIFICANCE OF EASTER
accepting his help on the points that had caused me to come to Europe.
During the next few days my new acquaintance appeared in my room a number
of times, answering my questions and helping me to solve problems that had
previously baffled me, but as my spiritual sight was then poorly developed
and not always under control, I felt rather skeptical in the matter. Might
it not be hallucination? I discussed the question with a friend. The an-
swers to my queries as given by the apparition were clear, concise, and
logical to a high degree. They were strictly to the point and altogether
beyond anything I was capable of conceiving, so we concluded that the expe-
rience must be real.
A few days later my new friend told me that the Order to which he be-
longed had a complete solution to the riddle of the universe, much more
far-reaching than any publicly known teaching, and that they would impart
that teaching to me provided I agreed to keep it as an inviolable secret.
The I turned on him in anger: "Ah! do I see the cloven hoof at last!
No, if you have what you say and if it is good for the world to know. The
Bible expressly forbids us to hide the Light, and I care not to feast at the
source of knowledge while thousands of souls hunger for a solution to their
problems as I do now." My visitor then left me and stayed away, and I con-
cluded that he was an emissary from the Black Brothers.
[PAGE 102] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
About a month later I decided that I could obtain no greater illumination
in Europe and therefore made reservation on a steamer for New York. As
travel was heavy, I had to wait a month for a berth.
When I returned to my rooms after having purchased my ticket, there stood
my slighted Teacher and he again offered me instruction on condition that I
keep it secret. This time my refusal was perhaps more emphatic and indig-
nant than before, but he did not leave. Instead he said, "I am glad to hear
you refuse, my brother, and I hope you will always be as zealous in dis-
seminating our teachings without fear or favor as you have been in this re-
fusal. That is the real condition of receiving the teachings."
How directions were then given me to take a certain train at a certain
depot and go to a place I had not heard of before, how i there met the
Brother in the flesh, was taken to the Temple, and received the main in-
structions embodied in our literature, are matters of small interest. The
point is that had I agreed to keep the instructions secret, I should
naturally have been unfit to be a messenger of the Brothers, and they would
have had to seek another. Likewise with any of us: if we hoard the
spiritual blessings we have received, evil is at our door, so let us imitate
the earth at this Easter time. Let us bring forth in the physical world of
action the fruits of the spirit sown in our souls during the past wintry
season. So shall we be more abundantly blessed from year to year.
[PAGE 103] THE LESSON OF EASTER
CHAPTER XIV
THE LESSON OF EASTER
AND again it is Easter. The dark, dreary days of winter are past.
mother nature is taking the cold, snowy coverlids off the earth, and the
millions and millions of seed sheltered in the soft soil are bursting its
crust and clothing the earth in summer robes, a riot of gay and glorious
colors, preparing the bridal bower for the mating of beasts and birds. Even
in this war-torn year the song of life sounds loudly above the dirge of
death. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
Christ has risen--the first fruits. He is the resurrection and the life;
whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Thus at the present season the mind of the civilized world is turned to-
wards the feast we call Easter, commemorating the death and resurrection of
the individual whose life story is written in the Gospels, the noble indi-
vidual known to the world by the name of Jesus. But a Christian mystic
takes a deeper and more far-reaching view of this annually recurring cosmic
[PAGE 104] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
event. For him there is an annual impregnation of the earth with the cosmic
Christ life; an INBREATHING which takes place during the fall months and
culminates at the winter solstice when we celebrate Christmas, and an
OUTBREATHING which finds its completion at the time of Easter. The
inbreathing or impregnation is manifested to us in the seeming inactivity of
winter, but the outbreathing of the Christ life manifests as the resurrec-
tion force which gives new life to all that lives and moves upon the earth,
life abundant, not only to sustain but to propagate the perpetuate.
Thus the cosmic drama of life and death is played annually among all
evolving creatures and things from the highest to the lowest, for even the
great and sublime cosmic Christ in His compassion becomes subject to death
by entering the cramping conditions of our earth for a part of the year. It
may therefore be appropriate to call to mind a few ideas concerning death
and rebirth which we are sometimes prone to forget.
Among the cosmic symbols which have been handed down to us from antiquity
none is more common that the symbol of the egg. It is found in every
religion. We find it in the Elder Eddas of the Scandinavians, hoary with
age, which tell of the mundane egg cooled by the icy blast of Niebelheim but
heated by the fiery breath of Muspelheim until the various worlds and man
had come into being. If we turn to the sunny south we find the Vedas of In-
dia the same story in the Kalahansa, the Swan in time and space, which laid
[PAGE 105] THE LESSON OF EASTER
the egg that finally became the world. Among the Egyptians we find the
winged globe and the oviparous serpent, symbolizing the wisdom manifest in
this world of ours. Then the Greeks took this symbol and venerated it in
their Mysteries. It was preserved by the Druids; it was known to the build-
ers of the great serpent mound in Ohio; and it has kept its place in sacred
symbology even to this day, though the great majority are blind to the
MYSTERIUM MAGNUM which it hides and reveals--the mystery of life.
When we break open the shell of an egg, we find inside only some
varicolored viscous fluids of various consistencies. But placed in the req-
uisite temperature a series of changes soon take place, and within a short
time a living creature breaks open the shell and emerges therefrom, ready to
take its place among its kin. it is possible for the wizards of the labora-
tory to duplicate the substances in the egg; they may be enclosed in a
shell, and a perfect replica so far as most tests go may be made of the
natural egg. But in one point it differs from the natural egg, namely, that
no living thing can be hatched from the artificial product. Therefore it is
evident that a certain intangible something must be present in one and ab-
sent in the other.
This mystery of the ages which produces the living creature is what we
call life. Seeing that it cannot be cognized among the elements of the egg
[PAGE 106] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
by even the most powerful microscope (though it must be there to bring about
the changes which we note), it must be able to exist independently of mat-
ter. Thus we are taught by the sacred symbol of the egg that though life is
able to mold matter, it does not depend upon it for its existence. It is
self-existent, and having no beginning it can have no end. This is symbol-
ized by the ovoid shape of the egg.
We are appalled at the carnage on the European battle fields, and rightly
so because of the manner in which the victims are being taken out of
physical life. But when we consider that the average human life is only
fifty years or less, so that death reaps a harvest of fifteen hundred mil-
lions in half a century, or thirty millions per annum, or two and one-half
millions every month, we see that the total has not been so greatly in-
creased after all. And when we have the true knowledge conveyed by the egg
symbol that life is uncreate, without beginning and without end, it enables
us to take heart and realize that those who are now being taken out of
physical existence are only passing through a cyclic journey similar to that
of the cosmic Christ life which enters the earth in the fall and leaves it
at Easter. Those who are killed are only going into the invisible realms,
whence they will later take a new dip into physical matter, entering as all
living things do the egg of the mother. After a period of gestation they
will re-emerge into physical life to learn new lessons in the great school.
Thus we see how the great law of analogy works in all phases and under all
[PAGE 107] THE LESSON OF EASTER
circumstances of life. What happens in the great world to a cosmic Christ
will show itself also in the lives of those who are Christs in the making;
and this will enable us to look more cheerfully upon the present struggle
than would otherwise be the case.
Furthermore, we must realize that death is a cosmic necessity under the
present circumstances for if we were imprisoned in a body of the kind we now
use and placed in an environment such as we find today, there to live for-
ever, the infirmities of the body and the unsatisfactory nature of the envi-
ronment would very soon make us so tired of life that we would cry for re-
lease. It would block all progress and make it impossible for us to evolve
to greater heights such as we may evolve to by re-embodiment in new vehicles
and placement in new environments which give us new possibilities of growth.
Thus we may thank God that so long as birth into a concrete body is neces-
sary for our further development, release by death has been provided to free
us from the outgrown instrument, while resurrection and a new birth under
the smiling skies of a new environment furnish another chance to begin life
with a clean slate and learn the lessons which we failed to master before.
By this method we shall some time become perfect as is the risen Christ. He
commanded it, and he will aid us to achieve it.
[PAGE 108] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XV
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
PART 1.--MATERIAL ANALOGIES.
WHILE we were coming down by involution into concrete existence our line
of progress lay entirely in material development; but since we have rounded
the nadir of materiality and are beginning to rise above the concrete,
spiritual unfoldment is becoming increasingly important as a necessary fac-
tor in our development, although we still have many great and important les-
sons to learn from the material phase of our existence. This applies to hu-
manity in general but particularly, of course, to those who are already
consciously beginning to aspire to live the higher life. It may therefore
be expedient to review from another angle the Rosicrucian teachings as to
the scientific method of acquiring this spiritual unfoldment.
People of the older generation, particularly in Europe and the eastern
states of America, will undoubtedly remember with pleasure their travels
along quiet country lanes, and how time and again they have passed by a
[PAGE 109] SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
rippling stream with an old rustic mill, its creaking water wheel labori-
ously turning the crude machinery within, using but a small fraction of the
power stored in the running water, which was going uselessly to waste save
for such partial use. But later on a new generation came and perceived the
possibilities to be realized by a scientific use of this enormous energy.
Engineers began to construct dams to keep the water from flowing in the
former wasteful manner. They diverted the water from the storage reservoirs
through pipes or flumes to the water wheels constructed upon scientific
principles, and they husbanded the great energy which they had stored by
letting in only enough water to turn the water wheels at a given speed and
with a given load.
But while the scientifically constructed water wheel was a giant compared
with its crude predecessor, it was subject to some of the same limitations;
its enormous energy could only be used at the place where the power was lo-
cated, and such places are usually many miles from the centers of civiliza-
tion where power is most needed. By working with the laws of nature, man
had secured a servant of inexhaustible energy; but how to make it available
where most needed, that was the question. To solve that problem, again the
laws of nature were invoked; electric generators were coupled to the water
wheels, the water power was transformed into electrical energy and an
[PAGE 110] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
endeavor made to send it from the sources of its development to the cities
where it might be used. But this again required scientific methods of work-
ing with the laws of nature, for it was found that different metals transmit
electricity with varying facility, the best of them being copper and silver.
Copper was therefore chosen as the less expensive of the two.
Let the student observe that we cannot compel these forces to do any-
thing; WHENEVER WE USE THEM IT IS BY WORKING WITH THE LAWS THAT GOVERN THEIR
MANIFESTATION, by choosing the line of least resistance to obtain the
maximum of energy. If wires of iron or German silver, which have a compar-
atively high resistance, had been chosen as transmitters, a great deal of
energy would have been thus lost, besides, other complications would have
resulted which we need not enter into for our purpose. But by working with
the laws of nature and choosing the line of least resistance, we obtain the
best result in the easiest manner.
There were other problems which confronted these experimenters in their
transformation of the water power used in the old water wheels, to electric-
ity usable many miles from the source of power. it was found that an elec-
tric current would always seek the ground by the nearest path if there were
any possibility of so doing. Hence it became necessary that the wire carry-
ing the electric current be separated from the earth by some material that
[PAGE 111] SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
would prevent it from thus escaping, exactly as a high wall keeps a prisoner
behind it. Something had to be found for which electricity had a natural
aversion, and his was discovered in glass, porcelain, and certain fibrous
substances, thus solving by scientific means and ingenuity, working always
with the laws of nature, the problem of how to use the best advantage in
distant places the great energy which the old crude mill wheel had wasted at
its source.
The same application of scientific methods to other problems of life,
such as gardening, has also secured wonderful results for the benefit and
comfort of humanity, making two hundred blades of grass grow where formerly
by the crude old methods not one even could find sustenance. Wizards like
Luther Burbank have improved upon the wild varieties of fruit and veg-
etables, making them larger, more luscious and palatable, as well as more
prolific; and wherever, haphazard practices of former days, the same benefi-
cial results have been achieved. But as said before, and this is very im-
portant for our consideration, EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN DONE HAS BEEN AC-
COMPLISHED BY WORKING WITH THE LAWS OF NATURE.
The Hermetic axiom, "AS above so below," enunciates the law an analogy,
the master-key to all mysteries, spiritual or material, and we may safely
[PAGE 112] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
infer that what holds good in the application of scientific methods to mate-
rial problems will have equal force when applied to the solution of
spiritual mysteries. The most cursory review of religious development in
the past will be sufficient to show that it has been anything but scientific
and systematic, and that the most haphazard methods have prevailed. On ac-
count of their capacity for devotion, a few have risen to sublime heights of
spirituality and are known through the ages as Saints, shining lights upon
the pathway, showing what may be done. But how to achieve that sublime
spirituality has been and is a mystery to all, even to those who most ar-
dently desire such development, and these are, alas, comparatively few at
the present time.
The Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucians have, however, originated a scien-
tific method, which, if persistently and consistently followed, will develop
the sleeping soul powers in any individual, just as surely as constant prac-
tice will make a person proficient in any material line of endeavor. To un-
derstand this matter it is necessary to realize that facts in the case; it
was the old crude mill wheel that gave water power in an efficient manner
and to much greater advantage. If we first study the natural development of
soul power by evolution, we shall then be in a position to understand the
great and beneficial results to be derived from an application of scientific
[PAGE 113] SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
methods to this important matter. Students of the Rosicrucian teachings are
of course familiar with the main points in this process of humanity's devel-
opment by evolution, but there may be a number who are not so informed, and
so for their sake we will give a little fuller outline than might otherwise
be necessary.
Science says, and correctly so, that an invisible, intangible substance
called ether permeates everything from the densest solids to the air which
we breathe. This ether has never been seen, measured, or analyzed by sci-
ence, but it is necessary to postulate its existence in order to account for
various phenomena such as, for instance, the transmission of light through a
vacuum. There, science says, ether is the medium of transmission of the
light ray. Thus the ether carries to us a picture of our vision, and im-
presses it upon the retina of our eyes. Similarly, when a motion-picture
operator photographs a number of scenes in a play, the ether carries pic-
tures of all objects, the motions they make, et cetera, to the minutest de-
tails, through the lens of his camera to the sensitized plate, leaving a
complete record of all the scenery and every act of the actors in that play.
And if there were in our eyes a similar sensitized film of sufficient length
to hold the pictures, we should at the end of our life have a complete
[PAGE 114] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
record of every event that had taken place in it, that is, provided we could
see.
But there are a number of people who are deficient in various senses; ONE
THING HOWEVER, THEY MUST ALL DO TO LIVE: THEY MUST BREATHE. And nature,
which is only another name for God, has thus rightly decreed that the record
be kept by this universally used means. Every moment of our action in the
drama of life from the first breath to the last dying gasp, the ether which
is drawn into our lungs carries with it a complete picture of our outside
environment, of our actions and the actions of other people who are with us,
the record being impressed upon one single little atom placed in the left
ventricle at the apex of the heart where the newly oxygenated blood, thus
carrying with it a different picture for every moment of our life, passes by
in a continual stream. Therefore all that we say or do from the least to
the greatest, from the best to the worst, is written in our heart in indel-
ible characters. This record is the basis of the natural slow method of
soul growth by evolution, corresponding to the crude and ancient water
wheel.
In the next chapter we shall see how it is thus used and how by scien-
tific means soul growth may be accomplished and soul power unfolded by an
improvement on this process.
[PAGE 115] SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
CHAPTER XVI
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
PART II.--RETROSPECTION--A MEANS OF AVOIDING PURGATORY.
We saw in the last chapter that a record resembling a picture film, of
our life from the cradle to the grave is inscribed upon a little atom in the
heart by the action of the ether which we inhale with every breath, and
which carries with it a picture of the outside world in which we are living
and moving at the time. This forms the basis of our post-mortem existence,
the record of deeds of wrongdoing being eradicated in a painful purgatorial
experience caused by the fire of remorse, which sears the soul as the pic-
tures of its misdeeds unroll before its gaze, thus making it less prone to
repeat the same wrongdoing and mistakes in future lives. The reaction from
the pictures where good was done is a heavenly joy, the subconscious remem-
brance of which will in later lives prompt the soul to do more good. But
this process is necessarily sow and may be likened to the action and op-
eration of the old mill wheel. However, it is the way designed by nature to
[PAGE 116] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
teach humanity how to walk circumspectly and obey her laws. By this slow
process the greater part of humanity is gradually evolving from egoism to
altruism, and though exceedingly slow it seems to be the only method by
which they will learn.
There is another class which has caught a glimpse of a vision and sees in
the distant future a glorified humanity, expressly all the divine attributes
and living a life of love and peace. That class is aiming its bow of aspi-
ration at the stars, and is endeavoring to attain in one or a few short
lives what its fellow men will require hundreds of embodiments to accom-
plish. To that end they, like the pioneers in the harnessing of the waters
and the scientific transmission of electricity, are seeking for a scientific
method which will eliminate the waste of time and energy involved in the
slow process of evolution and enable them to do the great work of
self-unfoldment scientifically and without waste of energy. That was the
problem which the early Rosicrucians set themselves to solve, and having
discovered this method they are now teaching the same to their faithful fol-
lowers, to the eternal welfare of all who aspire and persevere. Just as the
engineers who undertook to improve the primitive mill wheel and accomplish
the transmission of electricity to distant points achieved their object by
first studying the effects and defects of the primitive device, so also the
[PAGE 117] SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucians first studied by the aid of their
spiritual sight all the phases of ordinary human evolution in the
post-mortem state as well as in the physical world, so that they might de-
termine how through many lives progress is gradually attained. They also
studied such glyphs and symbols as had been given to humanity throughout the
ages, to aid them in soul growth, notably the Tabernacle in the Wilderness,
which, as Paul says, was a shadow of better things to come, and they found
the secret of soul growth hidden in the various appliances and appurtenances
used in that ancient place of worship. As the scenes in the life panorama
which unrolls before the eyes of the soul after death, cause a suffering in
purgatory which cleanses the soul from a desire to repeat the offenses which
generated those pictures, so the salt wherewith the sacrifices upon the al-
tar of burnt offerings in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness were rubbed be-
fore being placed before the altar and the fire wherewith they were consumed
symbolized a double fiery pain similar to that felt by the soul in purga-
tory. Confident in the Hermetic axiom, "AS ABOVE, SO BELOW," they evolved
the method of Retrospection as being in harmony with the cosmic laws of soul
growth, and capable of accomplishing day by day that which the purgatorial
experience does only one in a life time, namely, cleansing the soul from sin
[PAGE 118] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
by the fire of remorse.
But when we say "Retrospection," it happens not infrequently that people
say, "Oh, that is taught by other religious bodies and i have practiced it
all my life; I examine the day's doings every evening before going to
sleep."
So far, so good. But that is not sufficient. In order to perform this
exercise scientifically it is necessary to follow the process of nature as
the electrician did when he desired to insulate the electric current from
the ground and found that glass, porcelain and fibre would act as barriers
to its passage. We must conform in every particular to the processes of na-
ture in her methods of attaining soul growth. When we study the purgatorial
expiation, we find that THE LIFE PANORAMA IS UNFOLDED IN REVERSE ORDER, from
the grave to the cradle, scenes that were enacted late in life being taken
up for expiation first, and those which occurred in early youth being the
last to be dealt with. This, in order to show the soul how certain EFFECTS
in life were brought about by CAUSES generated at an earlier stage.
Similarly, the scientific method of soul unfoldment requires that the aspir-
ant must examine his life every evening before going to sleep, starting with
the scenes which were enacted late in the evening just prior to retiring for
the night, then gradually proceeding in reverse order towards the things
[PAGE 119] SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
which were done in the afternoon, then those which took place in the morn-
ing, and back to the very moment of awakening. But also, and this is very
important, it is not sufficient to merely examine these scenes in a perfunc-
tory way and admit being sorry when one comes to a scene where one was un-
kind or unjust to another person. There the glyph contained in the altar of
burnt offerings gives specific instruction; just as the sacrifices were
rubbed with SALT which, as everyone knows burns and smarts exceedingly when
rubbed into a would, and just as fire, such as is applied on the altar of
burnt offerings to the sacrifice, consumes the same offerings, so also the
aspirant to soul growth must realize that he is both priest and sacrifice,
the altar and the fire burning thereon; he must allow the salt and the fire
of remorse to burn and sear into his very heart a deep-felt contrition at
the thought of whatever wrong he has done, for only such a deep and serious
treatment of the matter will wash the record away from the seed atom in the
heart and leave it clean. And unless that is done, nothing has been accom-
plished. But if the aspirant to scientific soul unfoldment succeed in mak-
ing this fire of remorse and contrition sufficiently intense, then the seed
atom will be cleansed of the sin committed day by day throughout the life,
and even the things that have taken place before such exercises were taken
up will gradually disappear before that cleansing fire, so that the end of
[PAGE 120] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
life when the silver cord has been loosened the aspirant find himself with-
out any panorama of life to take up his attention, such as all ordinary
people are occupied with who have not been fortunate enough to be taught and
to practice this scientific method. The result then is that instead of hav-
ing to spend in purgatorial expiation a period of time about one-third as
long as the life lived in the dense body, he who steadily and unwaveringly
practices this method finds himself as a free lance in the invisible world,
not bound by limitations which hold and fetter all others, and therefore
free to use his entire time while in the lower regions in the service of
suffering humanity. But there is a great difference between the opportuni-
ties there and here; here one-third of our life is taken up with rest and
recuperation, another third is taken up in work so that we may obtain the
wherewithal to keep this physical body fed, clothed, and housed; and only
the other third is at all available for the purposes of rest, recreation, or
soul growth. It is different in the Desire World where the spirit finds it-
self after death. The bodies in which we function there do not require food
or raiment, neither do they need shelter; they are not subject to fatigue
either, so that instead of spending two-thirds of the time as here in pro-
viding the necessaries of the body, the spirit is there free to use its in-
struments the whole twenty-four hours, day after day. Therefore the time
saved in the invisible world by having lived our purgatory day by day is the
[PAGE 121] SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
equivalent of that portion of an entire earth life which one spends in work.
Also during all that time thus saved no thought or care need be given to
anything else but how we may help to further the scheme of evolution and aid
our younger and less fortunate brothers. Thus we reap a rich harvest and
make more soul growth in that post-mortem existence than would be possible
in several ordinary lives. When we are reborn we then find ourselves with
all the soul powers thus acquired and must further along upon the path of
evolution than we could possibly have been under ordinary circumstances.
It is also noteworthy that while other methods of soul unfoldment evolved
and taught by other schools carry with them danger which sometimes may bring
those who practice them into the insane asylum, the scientific method of
soul unfoldment advocated by the Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian order is
always bound to benefit everyone who practices it and can never under any
circumstances cause any harm to anyone. We may also say that there are
other helps that have not been mentioned here which are communicated to
those who have proved their worth by their persistence, and while they do
not directly aim at the evolution of spiritual sight, this will be evolved
by all who practice them with the necessary faithful perseverance.
[PAGE 122] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XVII
THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD
"The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his
handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth
knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of
the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a
race."
Everywhere for miles around us we see the glorious sunrise, bringing
light and life to all; then the day star mounts high in the heavens, later
to decline towards the western horizon in a glorious burst of flame as its
sinks into the sea, leaving an afterglow of indescribable, variegated tints
coloring the heavens as with liquid fire of the softest and most beautiful
hues, which the brush of the painter can never paint to perfection. Then
the moon, the orb of night, rises over the eastern hills, carrying the stars
and constellations upward in her train toward the zenith, and following the
[PAGE 123] THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD
sun in its everlasting circle dance; the stellar script thus describes upon
the map of heaven man's past, present and future evolution among the ever
changing environments of the concrete world, without rest or peace while
time lasts.
In this ever changing kaleidoscope of the heavens there is one star and
only one that remains so comparatively stationary that to all intents and
purposes and from the standpoint of our ephemeral life of fifty, sixty, or
one hundred years it is a fixed point--the North Star. When the mariner
sails his ship upon the waste of waters, he has full faith that so long as
he steers by that mark he will safely reach his desired haven. Nor is he
dismayed when clouds obscure its guiding light, for he has a compass magne-
tized by a mysterious power so that through sunshine or rain, in fog or
mist, it points unerringly to that steadfast star and enables him to steer
his ship as safely as if he could actually see the star itself. Truly, the
heavens declare the wonders of the Lord.
As it is in the macrocosm, the great world without us, so it is in our
own lives. At our birth the sun of life rises, and we begin the ascent
through the years of childhood and youth toward the zenith of manhood or
womanhood. The ever changing world which forms our environment, including
fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers, surrounds us. With friends, ac-
quaintances, and foes we face the battle of life with whatever strength we
may have gained in our past lives, to pay the debts contracted, to bear the
[PAGE 124] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
burdens of this life, perhaps to make them heavier according to our wisdom
or unwisdom. But among all the changing circumstances of life and the
vicissitudes of existence there is one great and grand guide which like the
North Star never fails us; a guide ever ready like the steadfast star in
heaven to help us steer our bark of life into clear sailing--God. It is
significant to read in the Bible that the wise men in their search for the
Christ (OUR GREAT SPIRITUAL TEACHER) also followed a star that led them to
this great spiritual Light. What would we think of the captain of a ship
who lashed the wheel and let his ship drift with the tide, leaving it to the
change of wind or fate? Would it surprise us if he were eventually ship-
wrecked and lost his life upon the rocks? Surely not. The marvel would be
if he should reach the shore.
A great and wonderful allegory is written in cosmic characters in the
sky. It is also written in our own lives, and warns us to forsake the
fleeting life of the material and to seek the eternal life of God.
We are not left without a guide, even though the veil of flesh, the pride
of life, and the lusts blind us for a time. For as the mariner's magnetic
compass points to the guiding star, so the spirit draws us to its source
with a longing and a yearning that cannot be entirely quenched no matter how
deep we may sink into materialism. Many are at present groping, seeking,
trying to solve that inner unrest; something seems to urge them on though
[PAGE 125] THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD
they do not understand it; something ever draws them forward to seek the
spiritual and to reach up for something higher--our Father in Heaven.
David said, "if I ascend up into heaven thou art there; if I make my bed
in the grave thou art there; thy right hand shall guide and hold me." in
the 28th Psalm, he says, "when i consider thy heavens, the work of thy fin-
gers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou
visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and
hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands, thou hast put all things under his feet."
This is nothing new to those who are seeking the Light, who have been do-
ing their very best to live the life; but the danger lies in that they may
become indifferent, may become spiritually common-place. Therefore, as the
steersman at the helm of the ship is constantly wakeful and watching the
guiding compass, so it is of the greatest importance that we continually
shake ourselves lest we go to sleep and the ship of our life go off its
course. let us all set our faces firmly towards this star of hope, this
great spiritual light, the real and only thing worth while--the life of God.
[PAGE 126] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XVIII
RELIGION AND HEALING
At various times and in different ways humanity has been given religions
suited to spur them onward upon the path of evolution. In each the ideal
was made just high enough to rouse the aspirations of the class of people to
whom it was given, but not so high as to be beyond their appreciation, for
then it would not have appealed to them at all. The savage, for instance,
must have a strong God, one who wields the flaming sword of lightning with
mighty hand. He can look up to such a God in fear, but would despise a God
who would show love and mercy.
Therefore religions have also changed as man has evolved; the ideal has
been slowly raised until it has reach the highest stage in our Christian
teaching. The flower of religions is always given to the flower of human-
ity. in a future age a higher religion will of course be given to a more
advanced race. There can be no end to evolution, but we maintain that the
invisible leaders of humanity give to each nation the teaching best suited
to their condition. Hinduism helps our younger brothers in the East, but
[PAGE 127] RELIGION AND HEALING
Christianity is the Western teaching, particularly suited to Western people.
Thus we see that the mass of humanity is taken care of by the religion
publicly taught in the country of their birth; but there are always pioneers
whose precocity demands a higher teaching, and to them a deeper doctrine is
given through the agency of the Mystery School belonging to their country.
When only a few are ready for such preparatory schooling they are taught
privately, but as they increase in number the teaching is given more pub-
licly.
The latter is the case in the Western world at present. Therefore the
Brothers of the Rose Cross gave to the writer a philosophy such as published
in our various works, and sanctioned the launching of THE ROSICRUCIAN FEL-
LOWSHIP to promulgate this teaching. The purpose is to bring aspiring souls
into contact with the Teacher when by service HERE, in the physical world,
they have shown their sincerity and given reasonable assurance that they
will use their spiritual powers for service in the other world when they
shall have been initiated therein.
The higher teachings are never given for a monetary consideration. Peter
in olden days rebuked Simon the sorcerer, who wanted to buy spiritual power
that he might prostitute it for material gain. THE ELDER BROTHERS ALSO
REFUSE TO OPEN THE DOOR TO THOSE WHO PROSTITUTE THE SPIRITUAL SCIENCES BY
CASTING HOROSCOPES, READING PALMS, OR GIVING CLAIRVOYANT READINGS PRO-
[PAGE 128] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
FESSIONALLY FOR MONEY. The Rosicrucian Fellowship advocates the study of
astrology and palmistry by all its members, and furnishes simple teachings
on the former in textbooks at merely nominal cost so that all may acquire
ability in this science instead of remaining the dupes of professionals, who
are often mere pretenders.
During the past few years since we first commenced to disseminate the
Rosicrucian teachings they have spread like wildfire over the civilized
world. They are studied with avidity from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arc-
tic Circle and beyond. They have found response in the hearts of all
classes of people--in the snow-clad huts of Alaskan miners, in government
houses where a tropical wind unfurls the British Lion, and in the capitals
of Turkish autocracy and American democracy alike. Our adherents may be
found in government institutions as well as in the humblest walks of life,
all in lively correspondence and close touch with our movement and working
for the promulgation of the deeper truths concerning life and being which
are helping them.
THE ROSICRUCIAN PRINCIPLES OF HEALING.
It is a trite saying that "man is of few days and full of trouble."
Among all the vicissitudes of life none affect us more powerfully than loss
of health. We may lose fortune or friends with comparative equanimity, but
[PAGE 129] RELIGION AND HEALING
when health fails and death threatens, the strongest falter; realizing human
impotence we are more ready to turn to divine power for succor then than at
other times. Therefore the office of spiritual adviser has always been
closely associated with healing.
Among savages the priest was also "medicine man." In ancient Greece
Aesculapius was particularly sought by those in need of healing. The Church
followed in his steps. Certain Catholic orders have continued the endeavor
to assuage pain during the centuries which have intervened between that day
and the present. In times of sickness the "good father" came as a represen-
tative of our Father in Heaven, and what he lacked in skill was made up by
love and sympathy--if he was indeed a true and holy priest--and by the faith
engendered in the patient by the priestly office. His care of the patient
did not commence at the sickbed, nor was it terminated at recovery. The
gratitude of the patient toward the physician was added to the veneration
felt for the spiritual adviser, and as a consequence the power of the priest
to help and uplift his erstwhile patient was enormously increased, and the
tie between them was closer than possible where the offices of spiritual and
medical adviser are divorced.
It is not denied that the double office gave the incumbents a most dan-
gerous power over the people and that that power was at times abused. It is
also patent that the art of medicine has reached a stage of efficiency which
could not have been attained save by devotion to that one particular end and
[PAGE 130] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
aim. The safeguards of sanitary laws, the extinction of insect carriers of
disease, and the consequent immunity from disease are monumental testimonies
to the value of modern scientific methods. Thus it may seem as if all were
well and there were no need of further effort. But in reality, until human-
ity as a whole enjoys perfect health, there is no issue more important than
the question, How may we attain and maintain health?
In addition to the regular school of surgery and medicine, which depends
exclusively upon physical means for the care of disease, other systems have
sprung up which depend entirely on mental healings. It is the custom of or-
ganizations which advocate "mind cure," "nature cure," and other like
methods to hold experience meetings and publish journals with testimonials
from grateful supporters who have benefited by their treatments, and if phy-
sicians of the regular school did likewise there would be no lack of similar
testimonies to their efficiency.
The opinion of thousands is of great value, but is does not prove any-
thing, for thousands may hold an opposite view. Occasionally a single man
may be right and the rest of the world wrong, as when Galileo maintained
that the earth moves. Today the whole world has been converted to the opin-
ion for which he was persecuted as a heretic. We assert that as man is a
composite being, cures are successful in proportion as they remedy defects
on the physical, moral, and mental planes of being. We also maintain that
[PAGE 1311 RELIGION AND HEALING
results may be obtained more easily at certain times when the stellar rays
are propitious for the healing of a particular disease or for treatment with
remedies previously prepared under auspicious conditions.
It is well known to the modern physician that the condition of the blood,
and therefore the condition of the whole body, changes in sympathy with the
state of mind of the patient, and the more the physician uses suggestion as
an adjunct to medicine the more successful he is. Few perhaps would credit
the further fact that both our mental and physical condition is influenced
by planetary rays which change as the planets move. In these days since the
principle of radioactivity has been established we know that everybody
projects into space numberless little particles. Wireless telegraphy has
taught us that etheric waves travel swiftly and surely through trackless
space and operate a key according to our will. We also know that the rays
of the sun affect us differently in the morning when they strike us horizon-
tally than at noon when they are perpendicular. If the light rays from the
swift-moving sun produce physical and mental changes, may not the persistent
ray of slower planets also have an effect? If they have, they are factors
in health not to be overlooked by a thoroughly scientific healer.
Disease is a manifestation of ignorance, the only sin, and healing is a
demonstration of applied knowledge, which is the only salvation. Christ is
[PAGE 132] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
an embodiment of the Wisdom Principle, and in proportion as the Christ is
formed in us we attain to health. Therefore the healer should be spiritual
and endeavor to imbue his patient with high ideals so that he may eventually
learn to conform to God's laws which govern the universe, and thus attain
permanent health in future lives as well as now.
However, faith without works is dead. if we persist in living under
unsanitary conditions, faith will not save us from typhoid. When we apply
preventives of proper kind, or remedies in sickness, we are really showing
our faith by works.
Like other Mystery orders the Rosicrucian Order has also aimed to help
humanity in the attainment of bodily health. It has been written in various
works that the members of the Order took a vow to heal others free of
charge. This statement is somewhat garbled. The lay brothers take a vow to
MINISTER to all according to the best of their ability FREE OF CHARGE. That
vow included healing, of course, in the case of such men as Paracelsus, who
had ability in that direction; by the combination method of physical rem-
edies applied under favorable stars and spiritual counsel he was highly suc-
cessful. Others were not suited to be healers but labored in other direc-
tions, BUT ALL WERE ALIKE IN ONE PARTICULAR--THEY NEVER CHARGED FOR THEIR
SERVICES, AND THEY LABORED IN SECRET WITHOUT FLOURISH OF TRUMPET OR SOUND OF
DRUM.
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[PAGE 133] ADDRESS AT GROUND BREAKING
CHAPTER XIX
ADDRESS AT THE GROUND BREAKING FOR MT. ECCLESIA
The Christ said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there will I be among them"; and as always when He spoke, this utterance was
an expression of the most profound divine wisdom. It rests upon a law of
nature which is as immutable as God Himself. When the thoughts of two or
three are centered upon any certain object or being, a powerful thought form
is generated as a definite expression of their minds, and is instantly pro-
jected towards its goal. Its further effects depend upon the affinity be-
tween the thought and whosoever is to receive it, as to generate a vibratory
response to a note sounded by a tuning fork it requires another fork of
identical pitch.
If thoughts and prayers of a low, selfish nature are projected, only low
and selfish creatures respond. That kind of prayer can never reach the
Christ any more than water can run up a hill. it gravitates toward demons
and elementals, which remain totally unresponsive to the lofty aspirations
[PAGE 134] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
engendered by such as congregate in the name of Christ.
As we are today gathered upon this spot to break ground for the Headquar-
ters of a Christian Association, we may rest assured that as surely as grav-
ity draws a stone toward the center of the earth, the fervor of our united
aspirations will provide attention from the Founder of our faith (Christ),
who will thus be with us. As certainly as forks of identical pitch vibrate
in sympathy, so must the august Head of the Rosicrucian Order (Christian
Rose-Cross) lend his presence upon this occasion when the home of
Rosicrucian Fellowship is being started. The Elder Brother who has been the
inspiration of this movement is present and visible to some among us at
least. There are present upon this momentous occasion and directly inter-
ested in the proceedings the perfect number--12. That is to say, there are
three invisible leaders who are beyond the stage of ORDINARY humanity, and
nine members of the Rosicrucian Fellowship. Nine is the number of Adam, or
man. Of these, five, an odd, masculine number, are men, and four, an even
feminine number, are women, while the number of invisible leaders, three,
aptly represents the sexless Divine. Neither has the number attending been
arranged for by the speaker. Invitation to take part in these exercises was
extended to many individuals, but only nine responded. And as we cannot be-
lieve in chance, the attendance must have been regulated in accordance with
the design of our invisible leaders, and may be taken as an expression of
[PAGE 135] ADDRESS AT GROUND BREAKING
the spiritual power behind this movement, if further proof were needed than
the phenomenal spread of the Rosicrucian teachings, which have penetrated to
every country on earth in the last few years and provoked assent, admira-
tion, and love, in the hearts of all classes and conditions of people,
PARTICULARLY AMONG MEN.
We emphasize this as a noteworthy fact, for while all other religious or-
ganizations are composed largely of women, men are in the majority among the
members of the Rosicrucian Fellowship. It is also significant that our doc-
tor members outnumber those from all other professions, and that the minis-
ters come next. It proves that those whose privilege it is to care for the
ailing body are alive to the fact that spiritual causes generate physical
weaknesses, and that they are seeking to understand so that they may give
more efficient aid to the infirm. It demonstrates also that those whose of-
fice it is to minister to the ailing spirit are endeavoring to meet inquir-
ing minds with a reasonable explanation of the of the spiritual mysteries,
thus strengthening their flagging faith and cementing their tie to the
church, instead of responding with dictum and dogma NOT SUPPORTED BY REASON,
which would open wide the flood-gates to the seething sea of skepticism and
sweep the searcher for light away from the haven of the church into the
darkness of materialistic despair.
It has already been the blessed privilege of the Rosicrucian Fellowship
[PAGE 136] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
to rescue many a sincere seeker, anxious but unable to believe what seemed
contrary to reason. Given reasonable explanation of the underlying harmony
between the dogmas and doctrines propounded by the church and the laws of
nature, such ones have been sent back into the church fold rejoicing in the
fellowship there, stronger and better members than before they left.
Any movement that is to endure must possess three divine qualities: WIS-
DOM, BEAUTY, AND STRENGTH. Science, art and religion each possesses one of
these attributes in a measure. It is the purpose of the Rosicrucian Fellow-
ship to unite and harmonize each with the others by teaching a religion that
is both scientific and artistic, and to gather all churches into one great
Christian Brotherhood. Just now the clock of destiny marks an auspicious
moment for the commencement of building activities to erect a visible center
whence the Rosicrucian teachings may radiate their beneficent influence to
further the well-being of all who are physically, mentally, or morally in-
firm.
Therefore we now lift one shovelful of earth from the corner of the
building site with a prayer for WISDOM to guide this great school along the
right lines. We turn up the ground a second time with a supplication to the
Master Artist for the faculty of presenting the BEAUTY of the higher life in
such a manner as to render it attractive to all mankind. We break the
ground for the third and last time in connection with these exercises as we
[PAGE 137] ADDRESS AT GROUND BREAKING
breathe a prayer for STRENGTH patiently and diligently to continue the good
work so that it may endure and become a greater factor for upliftment than
any of its predecessors.
Having thus broken ground for the site of the first building, we will now
proceed to plant the wonderful symbol of life and being, the composite em-
blem of the Western Mystery School. This consists of the cross,
representing matter, and the climbing rose that twines around its stem, rep-
resenting the verdant evolving life climbing to greater and greater heights
by this crucifixion. Each of us nine members will take part in excavating
for this the first and greatest ornament to Mt. Ecclesia. We will plant it
in such a position that the arms point east and west, while the meridian sun
projects it bodily towards the north. Thus it will be directly in the path
of the spiritual currents that vitalize the forms of the four kingdoms of
life: mineral, plant, animal, and man.
Upon the arms and upper limb of this cross you notice three golden let-
ters, "C.R.C.", the initials of our august Head, Christian Rosenkreuz, or
CHRISTIAN ROSE-CROSS. The symbolism of this cross is partly explained here
and there in our literature, but volumes would be required to give a full
explanation. Let us look a little further into the meaning of this wonder-
ful object lesson.
When we lived in the dense WATER-LADEN ATMOSPHERE of early ATLANTIS, we
were under entirely different laws than govern us today. When we shed the
[PAGE 138] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
body we felt it not, for our consciousness was focused more in the spiritual
world than in the denser conditions of matter. Our life was an unbroken ex-
istence; WE FELT NEITHER BIRTH NOR DEATH.
With our emergence into THE AERIAL CONDITIONS OF ARYANA, the world of to-
day, our consciousness of the spirit world waned, and form became most
prominent. Then a DUAL EXISTENCE commenced, each phase sharply differenti-
ated from the other by the events of birth and death. One of these phases
is a free spirit life in celestial realms; the other an imprisonment in a
terrestrial body, which is virtually death to the spirit, as symbolized in
the Greek myth of Castor and Pollux, the heavenly twins.
It has been elucidated in various places in our literature how the free
spirit became enmeshed in matter through the machinations of the Lucifer
spirits, which Christ referred to as false lights. That was in FIERY
LEMURIA. LUCIFER MAY THEREFORE BE CALLED THE GENIUS OF LEMURIA.
The full effect of his misguidance did not become fully apparent until
THE NOACHIAN AGE, COMPRISING THE PERIODS OF LATER ATLANTIS AND OUR PRESENT
ARYANA. The rainbow, which could not have existed under previous atmo-
spheric conditions, stood painted upon the cloud as a mystic scroll when
mankind entered the Noachian Age, where the law of alternating cycles brings
ebb and flow, summer and winter, birth and death. During this age the
[PAGE 139] ADDRESS AT GROUND BREAKING
spirit cannot permanently escape from the body of death generated by the sa-
tanic passion first inculcated by Lucifer. Its repeated attempts to escape
to its celestial home are frustrated by the law of periodicity, for when it
has freed itself from one body by death, it is brought to rebirth when the
cycle has been run.
Deceit and illusion cannot be allowed to endure forever, and so the
REDEEMER appeared to cleanse the passion-filled blood, to preach the truth
which shall set us free from this body of death, to inaugurate the im-
maculate conception along lines most crudely indicated in the science of eu-
genics, to prophesy a new age, a new heaven, and a new earth, of which He,
THE TRUE LIGHTS, will be the Genius, an age wherein will dwell the righ-
teousness and love for which all the world is sighing and seeking.
All of this and the way of attainment are symbolized in the rose cross
before us. The rose, in which the sap of life is dormant in winter and ac-
tive in summer, illustrates aptly the effect of the law of alternating
cycles. The color of the flower, its generative organ, resembles our blood,
yet the sap which courses within is pure, and the seed is generated in an
immaculate, passionless manner.
When we attain to the purity of life there symbolized, we shall have
freed ourselves from the cross of matter, and the ethereal conditions of the
millenium will be here. It is the aim of the Rosicrucian Fellowship to
[PAGE 140] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
hasten that glad day when sorrow, pain, sin, and death shall have ceased,
and we shall have been redeemed from the fascinating, enthralling illusions
of matter and awakened to the supreme truth of the reality of Spirit. May
God speed and prosper our efforts.
[PAGE 141] OUR WORK IN THE WORLD
CHAPTER XX
OUR WORK IN THE WORLD
PART I. -- (ISSUED MAY, 1912)
Lately there has come to us a realization that the work of the
Rosicrucian Fellowship is not our private work; it is the work of the Elder
Brothers and every member of the Fellowship. IN THE ACCOMPLISHMENT THEREOF
IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR SOUL GROWTH, and we have no more right to ar-
rogate it to ourselves than we have to deprive members of material food; we
must give all the opportunity to aid in the work physically, mentally, or
financially according to time, talent, and ability. We also realize that
unless we do, the work will be undone, and we shall be unprofitable servants
of the Elder Brothers, for the burden is heavier than we can bear; and to
prosper, the Great Work requires many laborers. I will therefore give in
this lesson a history of the work to date, so that students may be able to
view the future work in its true perspective. This will necessitate a lib-
eral use of the capital "I", and students will kindly bear with me in this
[PAGE 142] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
matter, for no one dislikes introduction of the personal element more than
the writer, but in the present case it seems unavoidable.
We have set down in our literature as an axiomatic teaching that every
object in the visible universe is the embodiment of pre-existent invisible
thought; that Fulton built a steamboat and Bell a telephone in thought be-
fore these things were manufactured in wood and metal. Likewise, an author
plans a book in his mind before writing. A Mystery Order must also frame
its spiritual philosophy to meet the necessities of the people it is
deputized to serve. That work may require centuries. As the work of scien-
tific investigators is carried out in the seclusion of their laboratories,
as their tentative conclusions calculated to foster the intellectual ad-
vancement of the race are withheld from the masses until proven to the best
of the scientists' ability, so also the spiritual teachings intended to fos-
ter soul growth among a class of people are kept from the many until their
efficacy has been demonstrated in the case of the few.
As inventions, theories, or projects some time pass the experimental
stage and are rejected unless fitted for general use, so also a spiritual
teaching must either reach a point of completion where it may be launched
for general service in the world's work, or else die. Thus it has been with
the Western Wisdom Teachings formulated by the Rosicrucian Order to blend
with the ultra-intellectual mind of Europe and America. Our revered Founder
[PAGE 143] OUR WORK IN THE WORLD
and the twelve Elder Brothers whom he selected to aid him in the work centu-
ries ago probably first made a retrospective study of the trend of thought
during our era, and it may be, for milleniums before, and thus they were
able to obtain a fairly accurate conception of the direction likely to be
taken by the minds of future generations and determine their spiritual re-
quirements. Be their method what it may have been, their conclusions were
light when they judged that "PRIDE OF INTELLECT, INTOLERANCE, AND IMPATIENCE
OF RESTRAINT" would be the besetting sins of our day; and they formulated
their philosophy so that it satisfies the heart at the same time that it ap-
peals to the intellect and teaches man how to escape restraint by mastering
self. The thousands of appreciate letters from people all over the world,
in the highest ranks and in the lowliest walks of life, attest the great
should hunger and the satisfaction that all classes of people find in this
teaching. But as time goes on, fifty years, a century or two hence, when
scientific discoveries have given color to more of the things stated in the
"Cosmo-Conception," when intellects have become yet broader, the Rosicrucian
teachings will give satisfaction of soul to millions of enlightened spirits.
This being the case, you will appreciate the care which the Elder Broth-
ers must take ere confiding so important a message to anyone, particularly
as such a teaching may only be given out at certain times. As the seed of
[PAGE 144] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
plants is planted at the beginning of the yearly cycle, so also must a
philosophical seed such as that of the Rosicrucian teachings be planted and
the book published in the first decade of the century, which commences a new
cycle, or the opportunity is lost till the next cycle rolls around. One
messenger had proven faithless by 1905. Then the Brothers turned to myself,
and entrusted the teachings to me after I have passed a certain test in
1908. The "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" was published in November, 1909, a
little more than a year before the end of the first decade. Friends had
edited the original manuscript and did splendid work, but I had of course to
revise it before giving it to the printer. Then I read the printer's proof,
corrected and returned it, reread it after mistakes had been rectified, read
it again after the type had been divided into pages, gave instructions to
engravers about the drawings and to the printer about placing them in the
book, etc. I was up at six and toiled on till twelve, one, two, or three in
the morning for weeks amid endless confusion with tradesmen and the roar of
Chicago about my ears, sometimes almost reaching the limit of nervous endur-
ance. Still I kept my faculties together and wrote many new points into the
R.C-C. Had it not been for the support of the Brothers I must have gone un-
der. It was their work, however, and they saw me through. All that I was
expected to do was to work to the limit of my endurance and ability and
[PAGE 145] OUR WORK IN THE WORLD
leave the rest to them, yet I was almost a wreck when the strain was past.
Now, perhaps you will understand my attitude towards the "Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception." I admire and marvel at its wonderful teaching more than
anyone else, and can do so without violating proper modesty for the book is
not mine--it belongs to humanity. It does not even seem as if I have writ-
ten it, I feel so absolutely impersonal in the matter. My office is only to
see that it is properly published, and the copyright is simply to protect it
from being garbled. But as soon as it is possible to find dependable and
qualified trustees, the Rosicrucian Fellowship will be incorporated and all
my copyrights turned over to them together with all else that belongs to me,
for it was a part of the agreement with the brothers that all profit accru-
ing from the work must be put right into it again, a condition to which I
willingly assented, for I care naught for money save as needed to further
the work, and neither does Mrs. Heindel. The blessed work is the greatest
recompense to us, more precious than any material reward.
Among all the foolish nonsense which has been published about the
Rosicrucian Order there is one great truth--that they aimed to heal the
sick. Earlier religious orders have sought to advance spirituality by cas-
tigating and abusing the body, but the Rosicrucians exhibit the tenderest
care for this instrument. There are two reasons for their healing ac-
tivities. Like all other earnest followers of Christ they are longingly
[PAGE 146] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
looking for "the day of the Lord." They know that abuse of sex prompted by
the lucifer spirits has caused and is responsible for disease and debility,
and that a sound body is indispensable to the expression of a sound mind.
They have therefore aimed to heal the body that it may express a sane mind,
and pure love instead of perverted love, for conception under such condi-
tions hastens the Kingdom of Christ by producing bodies of finer and finer
texture to replace the "flesh and blood (which) cannot inherit the kingdom,"
because physiologically unfit.
Christ gave two commands to his messengers: "Preach the gospel" (of the
coming Age) and, "Heal the sick." One is as binding as the other and, for
the foregoing reasons, as necessary. To comply with the second command the
Elder Brothers have evolved a system of healing which combines the best
points in the various schools of today with a method of diagnosis and treat-
ment as certain as it is simple, and thus a long step has been taken to lift
the healing art from the sands of experiment to the rock of exact knowledge.
On the night of the 9th of April, 1910, when the new moon was in Aries,
my Teacher appeared in my room and told me that a new decade (cycle) had
commenced that night. The night before, my work with the newly formed Los
Angeles Fellowship Center had terminated. I had traveled and lectured six
out of seven nights a week and several afternoons besides. Since my Chicago
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publishing experience I had been sick and was withdrawing from public work
to recuperate. I knew it was very dangerous to leave the body consciously
when ill, for the ether is then usually attenuated and the silver cord
breaks easily. Death under such conditions would cause the same sufferings
as suicide, so the Invisible Helper is always cautioned to stay by his body
when it is suffering. But at my Teacher's request I was ready for the soul
flight to the Temple, and a guard was left to watch the sick body.
[PAGE 148] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XXI
OUR WORK IN THE WORLD
PART II.
As we have stated previously in our literature, there are nine degrees of
the Lesser Mysteries, of whatever school, and the Rosicrucian Order is no
exception. The first of these corresponds to the Saturn Period, and the ex-
ercises having to do with it are held on Saturn's day at midnight. The sec-
ond degree corresponds to the Sun Period, and that particular rite is cel-
ebrated every Sunday. The third degree corresponds to the Moon Period and
is held on Monday at midnight; and so one with the remainder of the first
seven degrees. Each corresponds to a Period and is held on the day appro-
priate thereto. The eighth degree is celebrated at the new moon and the
full, and the ninth degree at the summer and winter solstices.
When a disciple first becomes a lay brother or sister, he or she is in-
troduced to the rite held upon Saturday nights. The next Initiation en-
titles him also to attend the midnight services at the Temple on Sunday
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nights, and so on. It is to be noted, however, that while all lay brothers
and sisters have free access in their spiritual bodies to the Temple during
all DAYS, they are barred from the midnight services of the degrees which
they have not yet taken. Nor is there a visible guard who stands at the
door and demands a password of each as he desires to enter, but a wall is
around the Temple, invisible yet impenetrable to those who have not received
the "open sesame." Every night it is differently constituted so that should
a pupil by mistake or through forgetfulness seek to enter the Temple when
the exercises are above his status, he would learn that it is possible to
bump one's head against a spiritual wall and that the experience is by no
means pleasant.
As already said, the eighth degree meets at the new and full moon, and
all who have not attained are debarred from that midnight service, the
writer among them, for this degree is no mere mummery to be obtained by the
payment of a few paltry coins but requires a measure of spirituality far be-
yond my present attainment, a stage to which I may not attain in several
lives, though not wanting in effort or aspiration. You will therefore un-
derstand that on the night of the new moon in Aries, 1910, when the Teacher
came for me, it was not to take me into that exalted gathering of the eighth
degree, but to another session of a different nature. Besides, though this
session was held in the night as it occurs in California, the time is
[PAGE 150] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
different in Europe. The exercises of the new moon had been held in Germany
hours before, so that when I arrived at the Temple with my Teacher the sun
was already high in the heavens.
When we entered the Temple some time was devoted to an interview with my
Teacher alone, and in it he outlined the work of the Fellowship as the
Brothers would wish to have it carried out. The keynote of it all was to
refrain from organization, if possible, or at least to make organization as
loose as we could. It was pointed out that no matter how good the inten-
tions may be in the beginning, as soon as position and power are created
which may gratify the vanity of men, the temptation proves too great for the
majority, and in the measure that the free will of members if interfered
with, the object of the Rosicrucian Order, to foster individuality and
self-reliance, is defeated. Laws and by-laws are limitations, and for that
reason there should be as few as possible. The Teacher even thought that it
would be possible to get along without any at all.
It is in line with this policy that I had printed upon our letterheads,
AN INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICS"; for there is a vast dif-
ference between an association that is entirely voluntary and an organiza-
tion which binds its members by oaths, pledges, etc. Those who have taken
the Obligation as probationers in the Rosicrucian Fellowship know that THAT
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OBLIGATION IS A PROMISE TO THEMSELVES and not to the Rosicrucian Order. The
same tender regard for the maintenance of the fullest of individual liberty
is in evidence throughout the whole range of the Western Mystery School. WE
HAVE NO MASTERS; they are our FRIENDS and our Teachers, and they never under
any condition demand obedience to any mandate of theirs nor command us to do
this or that. At most, they advise, leaving us free to follow or not.
I may say here that this policy of not ORGANIZING had already been
adopted in starting the study centers at Columbus, Ohio; Seattle, Washing-
ton; and Los Angeles; but since then I have gone further along this line in
trying to spread the teachings to individuals from a WORLD CENTER rather
than to establish more centers in different cities. In some places bands of
students have desired to unite for study and spiritual elevation. To this
end all assistance has been given them, but as said, I have made no effort
to bring about formation of study centers but leave students to do as they
feel prompted.
The new work of healing, of which I shall presently speak, necessitated
permanent headquarters. As we are living in a concrete world under material
conditions, it seems to be necessary that headquarters should be incorpo-
rated under the laws of the land in which we live, so that that which be-
longs to the work may remain available for the use of humanity after the
present leaders have been released from life. Thus far we cannot escape
[PAGE 152] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
hard and fast conditions of organization at headquarters, but the ASSO-
CIATION AT LARGE MUST REMAIN FREE so that the highest spiritual growth and
the longest life may be attained. It is sad to contemplate, however, that
though such are our intentions, the day must come when the Rosicrucian Fel-
lowship will go the way of all other movements; it will bind itself by laws,
and usurpation of power will cause it to crystallize and disintegrate. But
then we have the consolation that upon its ruins will rise something greater
and better, as it has risen above other structures that have served their
purpose and are now on the way to dissolution.
After the before mentioned discussion we entered the Temple, where the
twelve Brothers were present. It was arranged differently from what I had
seen it before, but lack of space forbids a detailed description. I shall
only mention three spheres suspended one above the other in the center of
the Temple, the middle sphere being about half way between floor and ceil-
ing; also that it was much larger than the two others, which hung one above
and one below.
The various modes of vision above the physical are: etheric or X-ray
sight, color vision, which opens up the Desire World, and tonal vision which
discloses the Region of Concrete Thought, as explained very fully in "The
Rosicrucian Mysteries." My development of the latter phase of spiritual
sight had been most indifferent up to the time mentioned, for it is a fact
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that the more robust our health, the closer we are enmeshed in the physical
and the less able to contact the spiritual realms. People who can say, "I
never had a day's sickness in my life," at the same time reveal the fact
that they are perfectly attuned to the physical world and totally incapable
of contacting the spiritual realm.
This was nearly my case up to 1905. I had suffered excruciating pain all
my life, the after effects of a surgical operation on the left limb in
childhood. The wound never healed until I changed to a meatless diet. Then
the pain ceased. My endurance during all the previous years was such that
the pain never showed by a line on the face, and in every other respect I
had perfect health. It was noticeable, however, that when blood flowed as
the result of an accidental cut, it would not coagulate, and a great quan-
tity was always lost; whereas after two years on a lean diet the accidental
loss of an entire nail in the morning resulted in the loss of a few drops of
blood only. I was able to use the typewriter the same afternoon. There was
no festering as the new nail grew.
Upbuilding of the spiritual side of the nature, however, brought dishar-
mony to the physical body. It became more sensitive to conditions around.
The result was a breakdown. This was all the more complete because of the
before mentioned endurance that kept me on my feet for months after I should
have given in, with the result that I came very close to death's door.
[PAGE 154] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
As death is the permanent dissolution of the tie between the physical and
spiritual bodies, those who are near death approach the condition existing
when severance is about to take place. Goethe, the great German poet, re-
ceived his first Initiation while his body was prostrated nearly unto death.
I had not progressed so high, but my studies, aspirations, and an exercise
practiced for a long time which I thought then I had devised but which I now
know was carried over from the past, all combined to make it possible for me
during that first sickness to slip out of the body for a short while and
then return. I did not know how I did it, and was unable to do it at will.
A year later I did it again by accident. That, however, is beside the case.
The point I wish to bring out is that the rupture of physically robust
health is necessary before it is possible to attain poise in the spiritual
world, and the stronger and more vigorous the instrument, the more drastic
must be the method of breaking it down. Then come years when there is an
unbalanced fluctuating condition of health, until finally we are able to ad-
just ourselves so as to maintain health in the physical world while we re-
tain the ability to function also in the higher realms.
thus it has been with me: strenuous work both physical and mental, even
to the present day, has kept the physical instrument in anything but an en-
joyable condition. Friends have cautioned me, and I have tried to heed
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their warnings, but the work must be done, and until help comes I am forced
to continue regardless of health; and Mrs. Heindel is with me in this as in
all else. Out of this precarious condition, however, has come an increasing
ability to function in the spiritual world. While, as said, at the time of
the experience here related my tonal vision and the ability to function in
the Region of Concrete Thought was indifferent and chiefly confined to the
lowest subdivision thereof, a little assistance from the Brothers that night
enabled me to contact the fourth region, where the archetypes are found, and
to receive there the teaching and understanding of that which is contem-
plated as the highest ideal and mission of the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
I saw our headquarters and a procession of people coming from all parts
of the world to receive the teaching. I saw them issuing thence to carry
balm to afflicted ones near and far. While here in this world it is neces-
sary to investigate in order to find out about anything, there the voice of
each archetype brings with it as it strikes the spiritual consciousness a
knowledge of what the archetype represents. Thus there came to me that
night an understanding which is far beyond my words to express, for the
world in which we live is based upon the principle of time, but in the high
realm of the archetypes all is an eternal NOW. These archetypes do not tell
their story as this is told, but there is borne in upon one an instant con-
[PAGE 156] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
ception of the whole idea, much more luminous than can be given by the
reciter in words. I have not dared to attempt telling it during the time
which has since elapsed, but in the following chapter I shall endeavor to
give you a picture thereof.
[PAGE 157] OUR WORK IN THE WORLD
CHAPTER XXII
OUR WORK IN THE WORLD
PART III.
The Region of Concrete Thought, as you will remember from our other
teachings, is the realm of sound, where the harmony of the spheres, the ce-
lestial music, pervades all that is as the atmosphere of the earth surrounds
and envelops everything terrestrial. Everything there may be said to be
wrapped in and permeated by music. It lives by music and grows by music.
The WORD of God there sounds forth and forms all the various types which
later crystallize into the things we behold in the terrestrial world.
On the piano five dark keys and seven white constitute the octave. Be-
sides the seven globes upon which we evolve during a Day of Manifestation
there are five dark globes which we traverse during the Cosmic Nights. In
each life cycle the Ego withdraws for a time to the densest of these five,
that is, Chaos, the formless world where nothing remains save the centers of
force known as seed atoms. At the beginning of a new life cycle the Ego de-
scends again into the Region of Concrete Thought, where the "music of the
[PAGE 158] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
spheres" at once sets the seed atoms into vibration.
There are seven spheres, the planets of our solar system. Each has its
own keynote and emits a sound varying from that of every other planet. One
or another among them vibrates in particular synchrony with the seed atom of
the Ego then seeking embodiment. This planet then corresponds to the
"tonic" in the musical scale; and though the tones from all the planets are
necessary to build up an organism completely, each is modified and made to
conform to the basic impact given by the most harmonious planet, which is
therefore the ruler of that life, its Father Star. As in terrestrial music
so also in the celestial there are harmonies and discords, and these all im-
pinge upon the seed atom and aid in building the archetype. Vibratory lines
of force are thus formed, which later attract and arrange physical particles
as spores or sand are marshaled into geometrical figures by bowing a brass
plate with a violin bow.
Along these archetypal lines of vibration the physical body is later
built, and thus it expresses accurately the harmony of the spheres as it was
played during the period of construction. This period, however, is much
longer than the actual period of gestation, and varies according to the com-
plexity of the structure required by the life seeking physical manifesta-
tion. Nor is the process of construction of the archetype continuous, for
under aspects of the planets which produce notes to which the vibratory
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powers of the seed atom cannot respond it simply hums over those which it
has already learned, and thus engaged it waits for anew sound which it can
use to build more of the organism which it desires in order to express it-
self.
Thus, seeing that the terrestrial organism which each of us inhabits is
molded along vibratory lines produced by the song of the spheres, we may re-
alize that the inharmonies which express themselves as disease are produced
in the first place by spiritual inharmony within. It is further evident
that if we can obtain accurate knowledge concerning the direct cause of the
inharmony and remedy it, the physical manifestation of disease will shortly
disappear. It is this information which is given by the horoscope of birth,
for there each planet in its house and sign expresses harmony or discord,
health or disease. Therefore all methods of healing are adequate only in
proportion as they take into consideration the stellar harmonies and dis-
cords expressed in the wheel of life--the horoscope.
While the laws of nature that govern in the lower realms are all-powerful
under ordinary circumstances, there are higher laws which pertain to the
spiritual realms and which may under certain circumstances be made to super-
sede the former. For instance, the forgiveness of sins upon recognition
thereof and true repentance is made to supersede the law which demands an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. When Christ walked upon this earth
and healed the sick, He, being the Lord of the Sun, embodied within Himself
[PAGE 160] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
the synthesis of the stellar vibrations as the octave embodies all the tones
of the scale, and He could therefore emit from Himself the true corrective
planetary influence required in each case. He sensed the inharmony and knew
at once wherewith to offset it by virtue of His exalted development. He had
need of no further preparation, but obtained results at once by substituting
harmony for the planetary discord which caused the disease wherewith He was
dealing. Only in one case did He take refuge in the higher law and say,
"Arise, thy sins are forgiven."
Likewise with the ordinary methods employed in the Rosicrucian System of
Healing, they depend upon a knowledge of the planetary inharmonies which
cause disease and the correcting influence which will remedy the same. his
has sufficed in all the instances which have come under our notice to date.
However, there is a more powerful method available under a higher law which
may accelerate recovery in cases of long standing, and under certain circum-
stances where the sincere and heartfelt recognition of wrong exists may even
obliterate the effects of disease before destiny, cold and hard, would oth-
erwise so decree.
When we look with spiritual vision upon one who is diseased, whether the
physical body be emaciated or not, it is plainly evident to the seer that
the finer vehicles are much more tenuous than during health. Thus they do
not transmit to the physical body a proper quota of vitality, and as a
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consequence that instrument becomes more or less disrupted. But whatever
may be the state of emaciation of the rest of the physical body, certain
centers which are tenuous during health in a degree varying with the
spiritual development of the man, become clogged in an increasing degree ac-
cording to the seriousness of the disease. This is particularly true of the
main center between the eyebrows. Therein the spirit is immured, sometimes
to such an extent that it loses touch with the outer world and its progress
and becomes so thoroughly centered upon its own condition that only complete
rupture of the physical body can set it free. This may be a process of long
years, and in the meantime the planetary inharmony which caused the initial
disease may have passed by, but the sufferer is unable to take advantage of
the improved conditions. In such cases a spiritual outpouring of a special
kind is necessary to bring to the soul its message, "Thy sins are forgiven."
When that has been heard, it may respond to the command, "Take up thy bed
and walk."
None among our present humanity can measure anywhere near the stature of
the Christ, consequently none can exercise His power in such extreme cases;
but the need of that power in active manifestation exists today as much as
it did two thousand years ago. Spirit pervades everything in and upon our
planet, but in a varying measure. It has more affinity for some substances
than for others. Being an emanation from the Christ Principle, it is the
[PAGE 162] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Universal Spirit composing the World of Life Spirit that restores the syn-
thetic harmony of the body.
A substance was shown to the writer in the Temple of the Rosicrucians on
the memorable night previously mentioned, with which the Universal Spirit
could be combined as readily as great quantities of ammonia combine with wa-
ter. Inside the large central sphere mentioned in a previous lesson was a
smaller container which held a number of packages filled with that sub-
stance. When the Brothers had placed themselves in certain positions, when
the harmony of certain music had prepared the way, suddenly the three globes
commenced to glow with the three primary colors, blue, yellow, and red. To
the vision of the writer it was plain how during the incantation of the for-
mula the container having in it the before mentioned packages became aglow
with a spiritual essence that was not there before. Some of these were
later used by the Brothers with instantaneous success. Before them the
crystallizing particles enveloping the spiritual centers of the patient
scattered like magic, and the sufferer awoke to a recognition of physical
health and well-being.
NOTE:--THE FOUR FOLLOWING ARTICLES ARE FROM MANUSCRIPTS BY MAX HEINDEL
WHICH WERE UNPUBLISHED AT THE TIME OF HIS PASSING. THEY LATER APPEARED IN
THE MAGAZINE, "RAYS FROM THE HOLY CROSS," AND ARE HERE REPRODUCED.
[PAGE 163] ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND SALVATION
CHAPTER XXIII
ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND SALVATION
As we have at the Fellowship during each week a number of classes in
which the intellectual side of our natures may have sway, the Sunday evening
service, including the address, is intended for the heart side. You know it
is the aim of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood to combine the intellect and the
heart, therefore the Sunday evening addresses should be devoted largely to
bringing out the heart side, the touching of the heart strings. This is
something we greatly need, more even than the development of the intellect.
We are so apt in our present civilization to run along the intellectual line
and seek always for an explanation of our problems that appeals only to the
mind, forgetting that which may appeal to the heart also. Therefore the
speaker will endeavor to lead you rather along a form of meditation in which
the exhortations made may be said to apply more to the heart than to the
head, and which apply to himself as well as to anyone else.
During the past week the Elder Brother who has been the Teacher of the
speaker for some time, requested that the address of last Sunday be repeated
[PAGE 164] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
in another form so that we might take up the phase of our philosophy which
at present demands our greatest attention, namely, that of fitting ourselves
for higher work. If we look at man as he is now, we obtain only a partial
view of him, for man as well as everything else is ever becoming; but unless
we prepare for that becoming we cannot attain. It is therefore necessary
that we continually have our mind's eye directed toward the future in order
to know what is before us; also it is necessary to endeavor to live up to
our ideals, for only as we live up to them can we in time attain to them.
When we have attained to an ideal, it is no longer an ideal. There was a
time when some of us partook of the flesh of animals. Such food was ob-
tained by a tragedy, a taking of life. Therefore we got the idea we would
like to discontinue that practice, and after awhile we attained to that
ideal and became what are called "vegetarians." Vegetarian food was no
longer an ideal to us, because we had attained to it. So in the spiritual
life there are ideals that are farther and farther ahead, and which we must
always strive to keep for ideals in order that we may in time attain to and
live up to the highest that is within us.
We will now touch upon the subject known in the churches as "eternal dam-
nation and salvation." This is something we may have thought we could get
away from. We have, no doubt, in years past heard the ministers preaching
of hell; telling people of the necessity of applying themselves at once to
[PAGE 165] ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND SALVATION
the problem of salvation in order that they might not be eternally damned.
Then perhaps in distrust of such a doctrine, perhaps thoroughly infuriated
at the thought that a Creator would create beings in order that he might
afterwards eternally torment the greater number of them, we turned away from
the church to other religions or philosophies.
Some of us may have turned to Eastern religions that teach the continuity
of life and the process whereby man evolves and eventually becomes a god.
Perhaps while studying these doctrines we obtained the idea of the in-
finitude of time to the extent that we became a reproach to the Western
World, for there are those who think that the infinitude of time makes it
unnecessary for them to apply themselves as we do here. The Western World
has been given the doctrine which teaches "eternal damnation and eternal
salvation," and although we cannot believe it as taught in the orthodox man-
ner, nevertheless these twin doctrines contain a great truth.
The intelligent understanding of them hinges upon the derivation of the
world "eternal." If we turn to the Greek Bible, we shall find the word
"aionian." Taking a dictionary we find that this word means
"age-lasting--for an indefinite period of time." In the letter of Paul to
Philemon where he speaks of returning the slave Onesimus to him it is said:
"Perhaps it was good that he might be taken from you a little while that he
[PAGE 166] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
might go to you FOREVER (aionian)." Neither Onesimus nor Philemon was im-
mortal, so there "aionian" can only mean for a part of a lifetime and not
for eternity; so we see that the latter is not the sense in which we are to
take it. But in what sense are we to take it?
When we look about us in the world and contemplate the process of evolu-
tion, we may learn that throughout the whole pilgrimage of the spirit from
the clod to the god there is eternal progression; that there are many
stages, and many points at which the spirit rests for a time, then takes a
step forward. We who have studied in our philosophy the various epochs and
the periods that were back of the epochs, remember that it was stated that
the first real separation of people took place in the latter part of the
Lemurian Epoch. There was then what may be called a chosen people; there
has a certain division in the desire bodies of some of the people who dwelt
in that land at that time. Into those in whom the desire body had divided
so that there was some higher desire matter in their make-up, the human
spirit or Ego could enter, and in that way they became man as we know him
today. That was the first race; then gradually there have been other races
started: seven during the Atlantean Epoch and five so far in the Aryan Ep-
och. There will be two more in this Epoch and one in the Sixth Epoch; then
we shall be through with races.
Now while this process of evolution has been going on and while this vast
[PAGE 167] ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND SALVATION
company of spirits have been continually progressing from stage to stage,
there have been stragglers on the way. Even when we were not yet conscious,
there were some who did not progress with their class, because they were not
as pliable as were the others; therefore they could not take the next step
in evolution. We have not come to the point where the quickest changes take
place, where there is less time between races than ever before. So the El-
der Brothers look upon the sixteen races in a way that justifies calling
them "the sixteen paths to destruction."
Here we have our lesson. There is a step for each of us from one race to
the next. We came through the races in the Lemurian Epoch; we went through
the seven Atlantean races, then the first of the Aryan races. We have pro-
gressed along with the others; each time we have successfully passed the
point where there was a division made, and have in that manner attained sal-
vation. This is exactly on the same plan that children in school are
brought up from kindergarten to college. Some have to stay behind each
year; they are obliged to remain behind and learn the lessons that they did
not learn the year before; but they are given another chance. So there are
always some Egos lagging behind and some, more diligent than others, who are
at the front.
This is the question for you and me to answer tonight; are we going to be
among the laggards, or are we going to apply ourselves as we should and as
[PAGE 168] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
we can? Having been given this wonderful doctrine, having come to know the
wonderful truth of the continuity of life, are we going to hang back and say
to ourselves: "There is plenty of time. We do not believe in this doctrine
of eternal damnation; we know that all will be saved in time"? There will
be some that will attain before others and some that will lag behind; but
the question is, Are we going to be a help or a hindrance to the race? We
stand today before the people of the Western World as the foremost; we have
the philosophy that explains in a better manner than any other philosophy
the problems of life. Then the question is, Are we going to use it in a
practical manner by applying ourselves to live it--live it in our daily
lives?
It does not matter what we believe, but only how we live; it is not a
question of faith, but of showing our faith by works. Have we put into our
daily lives our ideals? People about us are looking at us, and they see in
us either an example of what they ought to be or what they ought not to be.
Sunday after Sunday we hear these teachings, we learn the lessons of life,
and we meditate upon the word "service"; but how are we living up to that
ideal? Are we serving in the world? Are we going out into the world to
practice these things, to there live the corresponding life and exemplify
the teachings that have been received here? None of us can say we do it to
the best of our ability; we all of us fall far short. Then comes the
[PAGE 169] ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND SALVATION
question: Is the ideal too high? No, it is not. There is a way whereby we
may live day by day to better and better advantage, which we will now men-
tion.
Those among you who have not taken up the exercises recommended in our
literature should seriously consider doing so. I most earnestly advise that
you take them up, because whether we who do so notice in ourselves an im-
provement, whether or not it is noticed by others in the world about us,
there is nevertheless an improvement. We cannot day after day review our
thoughts and deeds without individually living a better life and becoming
better men and women. The two Rosicrucian exercises are not difficult and
require but little time; nor are we expected to take the time that should be
allotted to daily labor for our self-improvement. It is as wrong to do this
as to take the bread that should go to others in the family and eat it our-
selves. Every kind of selfishness should be shunned. We should endeavor to
improve ourselves day by day, and thereby become better men and women, thus
enabling us to shed more abundant life upon the Fellowship.
The probationers who are following the exercises and who are identifying
themselves with the Rosicrucian teachings in this manner will exert a more
helpful and powerful influence than otherwise possible. Therefore I would
urge again--and I would not repeat it were it not by special request--that
as many of you as can take up these exercises and endeavor to live accord-
[PAGE 170] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
ingly, for it is only as we take up and live the higher life that we can fit
ourselves for the progression that is to come.
At the time when the sun passes through a new sign of the zodiac, there
is always given to humanity a new spiritual impulse. That impulse must have
a channel to flow through, and that channel must be ready and able to vi-
brate to the impulse. Unless there are some people ready who can receive
its vibration and give it out, the teaching connected with that spiritual
impulse cannot come.
We have read how throughout the past nineteen hundred years the second
coming of the Christ has been looked forward to; how some in the time of the
Apostles looked for His coming and thought that He was to establish a
worldly kingdom on earth. As in the past, so down to the present time we
find people looking for His coming--coming as a person. But as Angelus
Silesius says:
"Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born,
And not within thyself, thy soul will be forlorn.
The Cross on Golgotha thou lookest to in vain,
Unless within thyself it be set up again."
As a tuning fork that is pitched to a certain vibration will start to
sing when another of the same key is struck, so also will it be with us;
[PAGE 171] ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND SALVATION
when we have been attuned to the vibrations of the Christ, we shall be able
to express the love that He came to teach mankind, and which we are incul-
cating by our service every Sunday evening. Until we live up to that love
and perceive the Christ within, we cannot see the Christ without.
Therefore let us remember the little poem:
Let us not waste our time in longing
For bright and impossible things;
Let us not sit supinely waiting
For the sprouting of angel wings.
Let us not scorn to be rushlights,
Ev'ry one can't be a star;
But let us brighten the darkness
By shining just where we are.
[PAGE 172] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XXIV
THE BOW IN THE CLOUD
I have a few preliminary explanations to make, a few reasons why the sub-
ject of "The Bow in the Cloud" is taken up. I recently dictated the manu-
script for a book which I have since been editing. In the course of the
dictation there came up certain points that required investigation, one of
them being the life force that enters the body through the spleen. Upon in-
vestigating it was seen that this force manifests in different colors, and
that in different kingdoms of life it works differently; therefore much was
to be looked up before making the information public. A friend, upon read-
ing some of the manuscript, sent to his library in Seattle for a book pub-
lished about forty years ago called "Babbitt's Principles of Light and
Color." I referred to this book and found it most interesting, written by a
man who was clairvoyant. After spending an hour studying the book, I turned
to investigation myself, with the result that a great deal of new light was
[PAGE 173] THE BOW IN THE CLOUD
shed upon the subject. And it is a deep and profound subject, for the very
life of God seems to be embodied in these colors.
Among other things, in tracing back through the Memory of Nature, in re-
gard to light and color I came to a point where there was no light, as has
been shown in the "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception." Then I followed the dif-
ferent stages of planetary formation and on down to the point where the bow
was seen in the cloud. The whole investigation made such a profound impres-
sion upon me as to fill me with devotion.
It is stated in the Bible that "God is Light," and nothing can reveal to
us the nature of God in the same degree as that symbol. If a clairvoyant
went back into the far, dim past and looked upon this planet as it was then
formed, he would see at first, as it were, a dark cloud, without form, com-
ing out of chaos. Then he would see this cloud of virgin substance turned
by the Creative Fiat into light--its first visible manifestation, a luminous
fire mist. Then would come a time when moisture gathered around that fire
mist, and later the period spoken of as the Moon Period would arrive. Still
later would come the darker and more dense stage called the Earth Period.
In the Lemurian Epoch the first incrustation of the earth began when the
seething, boiling water was evaporated. We know that when we boil and
reboil water, it incrusts the kettle; likewise the boiling of the moisture
on the outside of the fiery earth ball formed the hard and crusty shell that
[PAGE 174] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
constitutes the surface of the earth.
The Bible says relative to the next epoch that it did not rain upon the
earth, but a mist went forth from the earth. From the damp earth at that
time there issued a mist that completely surrounded it. Then it was
impossible for us to see the sunlight as we do now; the sun had the appear-
ance of an arc light of the present time on a dark night; it had an aura
around it. In that misty atmosphere we dwelt in the early period of
Atlantis. Later there came a time when the atmosphere cooled more and more
and the moisture was condensed into water, finally driving the Atlanteans
from their land by a flood such as is recorded in the various religions.
At the time when that misty atmosphere enwrapped the earth, the rainbow
was an impossibility. This phenomenon usually occurs when there is a clear
atmosphere in some places and a cloud in others. There came a time when hu-
manity saw the rainbow for the first time. When I looked upon that scene in
the Memory of Nature, it was most wonderful. There were refugees who were
driven from Atlantis, which is now partly under the Atlantic Ocean; it also
included parts of what are now known as Europe and America. These refugees
were driven eastward till they came at last to a place where the land was
high, where the atmosphere had partially cleared, and where they saw the
clear sky above. Of a sudden there came up a cloud, and from that cloud
[PAGE 175] THE BOW IN THE CLOUD
came lightning. They heard the roll of thunder, and they who had escaped
peril by water and had fled under the guidance of a leader whom they revered
as God, turned to Him to ask, "What have we come to now? Shall we be de-
stroyed at last?" He pointed to the rainbow that stood in the cloud and
said: "No, for so long as that bow stands in the cloud, so long shall the
seasons come one after another in unbroken succession"; and the people with
great admiration and relief looked upon that bow of promise.
When we consider the bow as one of the manifestations of Deity, we may
learn some wonderful lessons of devotion, for while we look upon the light-
ning with awe and hear the thunder with fear, the rainbow in the sky must
always provoke in the human heart an admiration for the beauty of its seven-
fold path of color. There is nothing to compare with that wonderful bow,
and I wish to call your attention to a few physical facts concerning it.
In the first place the rainbow never appears at noon; it is always after
the sun has passed downward and has traversed more than half the distance
from the meridian to the horizon that the rainbow appears, and the closer
the sun is to the horizon, the larger, clearer, and more beautiful it is.
It never appears in a clear sky. It usually has for its background the dark
and dreary cloud, and it is always seen when we turn our face from the sun.
We cannot look towards the sun and at the same time see a rainbow.
[PAGE 176] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
When we look upon the bow from below, it appears as a half circle above the
earth and us. But the higher we get, the more of the circle we see, and in
the mountains, when we reach a sufficient height above the rainbow, we see
it as a sevenfold circle--sevenfold like the Deity of whom it is a manifes-
tation.
Now with these physical facts before us, let us go into the mystic inter-
pretation of the subject. In ordinary life when we are at the height of our
physical activity, when prosperity is the greatest, when everything looks
bright and clear to us, then we do not need the manifestation of the divine
light and life. We do not need that covenant, as it were, that God made
with man upon his entry into the Aryan Epoch. We do not care about the
higher life; our bark is sailing upon summer seas, and we care for nothing
else; everything is so good to us here that there seems no reason why we
should look beyond.
But suddenly there comes the tempest, a time in every life when sorrows
and troubles come upon us. The storm of disaster tears away from us every
physical foundation, and we stand, perhaps, alone in the world in sorrow.
Then when we look away from the sun of physical prosperity, when we look to
the higher life, we shall always see upon the dark cloud of disaster the bow
that stands as the covenant between God and man, showing that we are always
able to contact the higher life. It may not be best for us then to do so,
[PAGE 177] THE BOW IN THE CLOUD
for we all need a certain material evolution, which is best accomplished
when we do not contact too closely the higher life. But in order to evolve
and progress and gradually seek a higher and higher state of spirituality,
there must in time come to us troubles and trials which will bring us into
contact with the higher life. When we can look upon trial and tribulation
as a means to that end, then sorrows become the greatest blessings that can
come to us. When we feel no hunger, what do we care about food? But when
we feel the pangs of starvation and are seated before a meal, no matter how
coarse the fare, we feel very thankful for it.
If we sleep every night of our lives and sleep well, we do not appreciate
what a blessing it is. But when we have been kept awake night after night
and have craved sleep, then when it comes with its corresponding rest, we
realize its great value. When we are in health and feel no pain or disease
in our bodies, we are prone to forget that there ever was such a thing as
pain. But just after recovering from an illness or after we have suffered
much, we realize what a great blessing health is.
So in the contrast between the rays of the sun and the darkness of the
cloud, we see in the latter the bow that beckons us on to a higher life; and
if we will only look up to that, we shall be much better off than if we con-
tinue in the paths of the lower life.
Many of us are prone to worry over little things. This reminds
[PAGE 178] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
me of a story recently printed in one of our papers of a little
boy who had climbed a ladder. He had been looking up as he was climbing,
and had gone so far up that a fall would have meant death. Then he stopped
and looked down, instantly becoming dizzy. When we look down from a height,
we become dizzy and afraid. But some one above called to him and said:
"Look up, little boy. Climb up here, and I will help you." He looked up,
and at once the dizziness and fear left him; then he climbed up until taken
in at a window.
Let us look up and endeavor to forget the little worries of life, for the
bow of HOPE is always in the cloud. As we endeavor to live the higher life
and climb the sublime heights toward GOD, the more we shall find the bow of
peace becoming a circle and that there is peace here below as well as there
above. It is our duty to accomplish the work we have to do in the world,
and we should never shrink from that duty. Still we have a duty to the
higher life, and it is in the interests of the latter that we gather to-
gether on Sunday night and by massing our aspirations advance toward the
spiritual heights.
We should remember that we each have within a latent spiritual power that
is greater than any worldly power, and as it is unfolding, we are respon-
sible for its use. To increase that power we should endeavor to devote part
of our leisure time to the cultivation of the higher life, so that when the
[PAGE 179] THE BOW IN THE CLOUD
cloud of disaster comes upon us, we shall by the aid of that power find the
bow within the cloud. As the bow is seen at the end of the storm, so when
we have gained the power to see the bright rainbow in our cloud of disaster,
the end of that disaster has come, and the bright side begins to appear.
The greater the disaster, the greater the needed lesson. When on the path
of wrong doing we sooner or later are kindly but firmly whipped into line by
the realities of life, and forced to recognize that the path of truth is up-
ward and not downward and that God rules the world.
[PAGE 180] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XXV
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWLEDGE
At the time in the far, dim past when we began our lives as human beings
we had had very little experience, and consequently we had very little re-
sponsibility. Responsibility depends upon knowledge. The animals, we find,
are not amenable to the law of causation from the moral standpoint, although
of course, if an animal jumps out of a window, it is amenable to the law of
physical causation, inasmuch as when it falls upon the ground beneath, it
may possibly break a limb or cause itself some injury. If a man should do
the same thing, he would be amenable to the law of responsibility in addi-
tion to the law of cause and effect. There is for him a moral responsibil-
ity, for he knows better, and he has no right to injure the instrument that
has been given him. So we see that we are morally responsible according to
our knowledge.
As we have gone through the experiences of many lives, more and more
[PAGE 181] THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWLEDGE
faculties have become ours, and we are born each time with the accumulated
talents which are the results of the experiences of those lives. We are re-
sponsible, therefore, for the way we use them. It is necessary that we
should put these talents to use in life, for unless we do, they will atrophy
just as surely as will the hand that is not used and that hangs limp and
idle by the side. Just as surely as that hand atrophies, so surely will our
spiritual faculties atrophy unless we put them to usury and gain more.
There can be no resting, no halting on this path of evolution which we are
treading; we must either go forward or else degenerate.
There is, then, evidently much responsibility attached to knowledge. The
more knowledge we have, the more responsibility we have--that is very plain.
But looking at it from the still deeper viewpoint of the occult scientist,
there is a responsibility attached to knowledge which is not ordinarily per-
ceived by humanity, and it is this particular phase of responsibility that
we wish to discuss here.
Mabel Collins avers that the story in her book called "THE BLOSSOM AND
THE FRUIT, OR THE STORY OF FLETA, A BLACK MAGICIAN," is a true story. She
states that the material for this story was brought from a far distant coun-
try in a very strange manner, and that from the standpoint of one who knows,
there are in it some of the very deepest truths pertaining to the gaining of
knowledge and its use. We are told there how Fleta in the beginning of her
[PAGE 182] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
embodiments, while still in the savage state, murdered her lover, and that
from that murder, through the cruelty involved in it, she obtained a certain
power. That power, naturally, according to the deed, went in the direction
of black magic. Therefore in the life with which the story deals, she pos-
sessed the power of a black magician. She forced her lover to kill an
entity in order that she might gain new power. It was in this black manner
that she utilized her knowledge.
There is a very deep truth here. All knowledge that is not saturated
with life is empty, purposeless, and useless. The life that gives power to
knowledge may be obtained in various ways, and may also be put to use in
various ways. Once it has been obtained, it may be stored in a talisman,
and then used by others for a good or for an evil purpose according to the
character of the one who uses it. If it is stored within the one who devel-
ops the power himself, then it will be used according to the character of
that man or woman. This is on the same principle that we may store up elec-
tricity in a battery, so that it may be taken away from the electric station
and used for a variety of purposes by others than the one who stored it.
So, also, the dynamic power that comes through the sacrifice of life for the
purpose of gaining occult power, may be used in one way or the other if
stored in a talisman.
We see this great fact in life particularly illustrated in the legend of
[PAGE 183] THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWLEDGE
Parsifal. In this beautiful legend, the cleansing blood of the Savior,
given in noble self-sacrifice--not taken from another--was received in a
vessel which then became a talisman, and was capable of giving spiritual
power to many who looked upon it if they were pure, chaste, and harmless.
We have also the symbol of the spear which was the cause of the wound from
which the blood flowed. This was stained with the cleansing blood, which
made it a talisman that could be variously used. during the reign of
Titurel the Grail mystery was powerful; but when th Grail was given over to
Amfortas, son of Titurel, he went out armed with the holy spear to slay
Klingsor. He then ceased to be harmless; he wanted to pervert that great
spiritual power and use it to slay an enemy. Even though it was an enemy of
the good, it was not right to use that power for that purpose, and therefore
the power turned against him. He had ceased to be chaste, pure, and harm-
less, and then the power gave him the wound that would never heal. So it is
also in other cases.
We read of David the bloody man of war, who was forbidden by the Lord to
build the Temple. Even though that Lord was a god of war, having had to
punish nations in order to bring them into the right, He could not use the
instrument which had been soiled by the blood of His wars for the purpose of
building a temple. That had to be left to David's son, Solomon, the man of
peace. We are told how Solomon desired wisdom, great knowledge, not in
[PAGE 184] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
order that he might gain the victory over his enemies, not in order that he
might increase his territory and make his people a great nation, but in or-
der that he might better rule the people who had been placed under his care;
and knowledge was given to him abundantly.
We also learn how Parsifal, the antithesis of Amfortas, was the offspring
of a man of war, a bloody man, who died. Through herzleide, heart afflic-
tion, the posthumous child Parsifal came into the world. In the first part
of his career he used the bow, but at a certain stage he broke it, became
chaste, pure, and harmless, and by the power of these qualities stood firm
in the day of temptation, and wrested the spear from Klingsor, who had had
it since the day when Amfortas lost it. Parsifal, in his wanderings between
the time when he received the speak and the time when he returned to the
Grail Castle, was beset by many temptations and much sorrow, trouble, and
tribulation. Men had sought his life, and many times he realized that he
might have saved himself by the use of the holy spear if he would have
turned it against his enemies. But he knew that the spear was to be used
not for hurt but for healing; he realized the sacredness of the power which
the sacrificial blood had given to the talisman, and that it must only be
used for the very highest purpose.
So we find everywhere that those who come into possession of spiritual
[PAGE 185] THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWLEDGE
power will never make use of it for any selfish purpose. No matter what
trouble comes to them, they stand firm on that point. No matter how hard
they may be beset, they never for a moment think of prostituting their power
for selfish gain. Though such a one, if he likes, may feed five thousand
who are hungry and way from their source of supply, he will not take even
one little stone and turn it to bread to appease his own hunger. Although
he may stand before his enemies and heal them, as the Christ healed the ear
of the Roman soldier, he will refuse to use spiritual power to staunch the
blood that flows from his own side. It has always been said of such men
that "others they saved, themselves they would not save." They could always
have done so, for the power is great. But if they had so used it, they
would have lost it; they had no right to thus prostitute their power.
Then there is a different kind of mystery from that of the Grail. For
instance, John the Baptist's head was placed upon a platter after he had
been sacrificed, and others derived a certain power by looking upon that
spectacle. The Greek myth tells us of Argus, who had so many eyes that he
could see everywhere--he was clairvoyant. But he used his power for a wrong
purpose, and Mercury, the god of wisdom, cut off his head, and took away the
power. Every time that a man seeks to use spiritual knowledge and power in
a wrong way, he will lose them; they cannot remain his.
[PAGE 186] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Even when we look at knowledge from a scientific standpoint, we realize
that it takes life, for every thought which we think breaks down tissue in
our brain, which is built of little cells. Every cell has its own indi-
vidual cell life, and that life is destroyed by thinking, or rather, the
form is destroyed so that the life can no longer manifest in it. There is
always the taking of life in whatever direction we go after knowledge.
There are those who take life in scientific experiments out of pure curios-
ity. There are those who are cruel in the taking of life, as in vivisec-
tion, and here, when the quest of knowledge is pursued solely from the mo-
tive of curiosity, there is a dreadful debt laid up against a future day,
for the equilibrium will surely be restored.
So we find it in the case of Fleta, that the sacrifice of life at one
time in the physical world was followed by sacrifice in another world; but
through it she gained a power that brought her even to the very temple
doors, where she stood and demanded Initiation. Her motives, however, like
those of Klingsor, were not pure. She was not chaste, not fitted to have
spiritual power in its full measure and to be counted as one of the helpers
of humanity; therefore she was banished from the door of the temple, and
died the death of the black magician. A veil hangs before that death, and
we are not told what is behind it. Those things are perhaps better left un-
told. But the lesson is just as valid, that we cannot take life nor in a
wrongful way amass knowledge without incurring a dreadful liability thereby.
[PAGE 187] THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWLEDGE
The only reason which is satisfactory and proper for the quest of knowledge
is that we may thereby serve and help the race in a more efficient way.
At the present time the sacrifice of life in obtaining knowledge is un-
avoidable; we cannot help it. But we should seek that knowledge with the
purest and the bet of motives, for the life that we destroy is legion. The
occultist, who sees the life that is coming to birth, the elemental life
which is seeking embodiment and which is deprived of its forms by the pro-
cess of obtaining knowledge, is amazed sometimes at the vast loss of the
separate life that is thus sacrificed, and sacrificed to no good purpose.
Therefore we reiterate that no one has the right to seek knowledge unless
with the purest and the best of motives.
If, on the other hand, we walk the path of duty, if we seek to do those
things well and thoroughly which come to our hands, and if we have spiritual
aspirations without aiming to force spiritual growth, then we shall be com-
paratively easily fitted for having higher powers. It is a beautiful fea-
ture of the Rosicrucian exercises that they not only give us spiritual
knowledge, but they fit us for having that knowledge. We must learn to walk
the path of duty, to live the good life. Never mind a long life; so many
people, as Thomas a Kempis says, are concerned with living a long life. But
never mind this. Rather, let us strive each day to do our duty; then we
[PAGE 188] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
shall surely be fit to have the higher knowledge that goes with exalted pow-
ers.
No matter what our sphere, there is always a place where we may make use
of our knowledge, not to preach sermons, not to talk to people from morning
till night about the things we know that they may admire our knowledge, but
that we may live the spiritual life among them, that we may stand to them as
living examples of our teachings. There is for everyone of us this
opportunity. We need no look very far for it; it is right here.
Thomas a Kempis has expressed this in a manner which only a mystic can
do. He has given the idea in such beautiful words that it would pay us well
to read and ponder a few of them in his "Imitation of Christ." He says:
"Every man naturally desireth to know, but what does knowledge avail
without the fear of God. Surely, an humble husbandman that serveth God is
better than a proud philosopher who studies the course of the heavens, and
neglecteth himself.....The more thou knowest, the heavier will be thy judg-
ment unless thy life be also the more holy. Be, therefore, not puffed up,
but rather fear for the knowledge that is given thee. If it seem to thee
that thou knowest much, remember that there are many things which thou
[PAGE 189] THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWLEDGE
knowest not. Thou knowest not how long thou mayest prosper in well doing."
Therefore let us remember that we should not seek after knowledge simply
for the sake of knowledge, but only as a means to the living of a better and
a purer life, for that alone justifies it.
[PAGE 190] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
CHAPTER XXVI
THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
Our subject is taken from the Bible story of "The Temple in the Wilder-
ness," and we shall endeavor to interpret it from the standpoint of the
Rosicrucian teachings. It may seem to those who have not studied these
teachings that one interpretation is as valid and as worthy of belief as an-
other, but further consideration of the subject may give a somewhat differ-
ent opinion. Peter, in his second Epistle, first chapter and 20th verse
says: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scriptures is of any
private interpretation." In our daily life we understand that if our opin-
ion on any subject is to be considered valuable, that opinion must be based
upon a certain amount of knowledge of the subject. The testimony of wit-
nesses in a court is based upon this principle. If a person well qualified
by study or experience expresses an opinion upon a subject, he is listened
to with respect and receives due consideration. It should be the same with
one interpreting the Scriptures.
[PAGE 191] THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
You will notice that Peter says that the Scriptures are not of private
interpretation. The Roman Catholics have held during many centuries (and
have been censured for so maintaining) that they are an authority on inter-
pretation of the Scriptures. There is some foundation for this position,
for every Pope who has ever been at the head of the Vatican, with one excep-
tion, has had his spiritual sight unfolded.
It is not claimed that the Popes have wielded their power wisely, but
nevertheless they have not been blind leaders of the blind. It is such a
claim that Peter makes for himself. He says, "We have not followed cun-
ningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty." (II Peter,
1:16) "Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" says Paul in the 9th chapter
of First Corinthians, first verse.
There is thus a foundation for their writings and their teaching, and
this foundation is that they have seen and heard. We might go further and
show that those who were associated with the Christ when He was upon earth
had spiritual sight. They had been taken upon the Mount of Initiation,
there they saw Moses and Elijah, who had both long since passed out and were
no longer in the physical world. They beheld them, and saw and heard things
whereof they might not speak. Therefore by the unfoldment of the sixth or
spiritual sense they had a foundation for their teaching. They were capable
[PAGE 192] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
of interpreting the teaching given them, the proof of which they had seen.
In the Rosicrucian Fellowship we do not believe that the power of
spiritual sight is given only to the few but that it is a faculty to be
acquired by every human being in the course of his or her spiritual
unfoldment. Some day we shall all acquire spiritual sight, and then we
shall know that the things previously stated are true. There are some among
us who have unfolded spiritual sight, and have by that unfoldment acquired
the ability to see beyond the veil, to read from the Memory of Nature, and
to find reflected therein from a higher world the causes that produced our
present civilization. Some can also see into the future, and thus know of
the future work of evolution. The Scriptures have not been taken up by the
writer and interpreted according to his personal understanding, but this in-
formation is the result of an understanding obtained by means of spiritual
vision.
In the first place let it be understood, as previously said in speaking
of the Christian mysteries, that the four Gospels are not merely accounts of
the life of a single individual, written by four different people, but that
they are symbolical of different Initiations. Paul says, "Until Christ be
formed in you." Everyone will some day go through the four stages that are
depicted in the four Gospels, for everyone is unfolding the Christ spirit
within himself. And in saying this of the four Gospels, we may also apply
the same assertion to a great part of the Old Testament, for it is a
[PAGE 193] THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
wonderful book of occultism. When we hoe potatoes, we do not expect to find
only potatoes and no earth; neither should we expect to dig into the book we
call the Bible and find every word an occult truth, for as there must be
soil between the potatoes, so must there be dross between occult truths in
the Bible.
The four Gospels were written in a manner such that only those who have
the right to know can unveil what is meant and understand the underlying
facts. So likewise in the Old Testament we find great occult truths that
become very plain when we can look behind the veil that blinds most of us.
Many for the present must forego occult sight in order to master the condi-
tions of material evolution and thereby perfect themselves for the pursuits
of the material world. But we of the Western world are now on the occult
arc; we are on the shore of the spiritual sea, where we individually shall
gather the pearls of knowledge that have been hidden by the matter that has
blinded us.
We will now discuss a form of Initiation depicted in a part of the Bible,
describing the journey of man from the clod to God. When we enter into the
collection of writings which we call the Bible, we find that it begins with
five books which are commonly called the five Books of Moses. These tell of
the journey of a so-called "chosen people" from Egypt to a promised land,
and how they passed through the water called the Red Sea, guided in a manner
called supernatural; after many, many years and after many of those who
[PAGE 194] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
first set out upon that journey had perished, they finally reached the land
that was promised. And yet Paul in his letter to the Hebrews speaks of that
covenant as having been unable of fulfillment, for that which should have
been accomplished failed. This is a fact. When we make a law, there is
also a means for transgressing that law; therefore it is impossible for law
to save.
There was a time when humanity was in such a state that it was impossible
to guide them at all without law--law telling them in all cases what they
must do and what they must not do. Therefore it was the mission of their
leader to give them such laws, and these were embodied in the five Books of
Moses. Historically the Israelites were a people who traveled not from
Egypt to Palestine, but who were taken by their leaders from doomed
Atlantis, where the condensing moisture in the atmosphere caused floods that
rendered the land uninhabitable, into the central part of Asia. This com-
pany of men and women had been selected as a nucleus for a chosen race, and
they have since become what is known as the Aryan race. While this may be a
historical interpretation, still there is within this story a great
spiritual lesson, particularly in that part of the story which we are con-
sidering.
In the COSMO-CONCEPTION is given an illustration of two men standing on a
street corner; one knocks the other down. An observer might say that an
[PAGE 195] THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
angry thought knocked the man down. Another would contradict that statement
and say that he saw the arm lifted and a blow landed upon the man's face,
causing him to fall to the ground. The latter version is true, but there
was a thought also; the arm was but an irresponsible instrument. It is
thought that moves everything, and when we look upon the hidden or occult
side of effects, we get a far deeper understanding of causes. It is from
this viewpoint that we shall speak of the Temple in the Wilderness.
In our Bible there is a description of the first people upon earth. They
are called Adam and Eve; but properly interpreted this means the human race,
which gradually arrogated to itself the power of procreation and thereby be-
came free agents. Humanity was thus given its freedom and made responsible
to the law of Consequence, for it had arrogated to itself the power to cre-
ate new bodies, and was then separated from th Tree of life and the state
which we are now cognizant of as etheric. When we learn that we have a vi-
tal body made of ether, and that it is the tree of life to everyone of us
and furnishes us the vitality whereby we are enabled to make the movements
of the body, we may understand why the power to recreate and regenerate our-
selves was taken away from us lest we learn how to vitalize the imperfect
dense body; and we also see why as stated in the Bible, there were placed at
the gate of the Garden of Eden Cherubim with flaming swords to guard that
region.
[PAGE 196] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
This story is told in the beginning of the Bible, but in the end of the
book, in Revelation, we are told about a city where there is peace among the
people. Two cities are mentioned in the Bible; one, Babylon, a city of sor-
row and tribulation, where confusion started, where humanity first became
estranged, one from another, where brotherhood ceased; also another city, a
new one, a New Jerusalem, is described where there will be peace. We are
further told in Revelation that in this New Jerusalem is the Tree of life,
symbolizing the power to regenerate ourselves, whereby we shall regain that
health and beauty that we at present lack.
It was for a good purpose that this power was taken away. It was not
through malice in order that man should suffer in sorrow and pain, but be-
cause it was only by repeated existences in an inferior body that we could
learn to build for ourselves such a vehicle as would be fit to immortalize.
Man gradually came down from the etheric state as easily then as he can to-
day dwell in the present three elements of the physical world. In the past
etheric state he contacted internally the life currents that we now contact
unconsciously. He was then able to center the energy of the sun in his body
and draw it in a manner different from that at present used. This power was
gradually taken away from him as he entered the more solid state of the
present.
Then began the journey through the wilderness, a wilderness of space and
[PAGE 197] THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
of matter; and we shall continue to so journey until we reenter the etheric
realm consciously--that realm called the New Heaven and the New Earth, where
righteousness will dwell and where there will be no more sin. At the
present time we are still traveling through the wilderness of space, as we
shall see if we study the Bible understandingly. Not the English version,
however, as that was prepared by translators who were hampered by an edict
of King James instructing them not to translate anything that would in any
manner interfere with the existing belief of that time.
The first thing that we learn from the occult point of view about the
temple that was built in the wilderness is that Moses was called into the
mountain and there shown certain patterns. You will remember we have been
told in the COSMO-CONCEPTION that in the heaven world there are pattern
pictures--archetypes. We find in the Greek language the word "APXN" meaning
"in the beginning," that is, the commencement. The Christ says of Himself,
or rather the Initiate who understands his divinity says: "I am the begin-
ning (APXN) and the end." There is in that word "beginning" (APXN) the
nucleus for everything we have here.
In the temple there was placed an ark, and the ark was arranged in such a
manner that the staves could not or should not be taken out of it; during
the whole journey through the wilderness those staves must remain there.
They were never removed until the ark was taken into the temple of Solomon.
[PAGE 198] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
We see here a state where a certain symbol, an archetype, something that
comes from the beginning, is made in such a manner that it can be taken up
at any time and carried further on. In that ark was the nucleus around
which everything in the temple centered. There was the magical rod of
Aaron, and there was the pot of manna; also the two tablets of the law.
We have here described a perfect symbol of what man really is, for all
the while he is going through this vale of matter and is traveling con-
tinually from one place to another, the staves are never under any condition
removed. They are not removed until he comes to that state symbolized in
Revelation where it is said, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in
the temple of my God; and he shall go no more out."
During all the time that has intervened from the moment when man com-
menced his passage through matter, he has had that spirit of peregrination.
He does not remain stationary. Every so often the temple was taken up, an
the ark was carried farther on to a new place. So also is man taken from
place to place from environment to environment, from condition to condition.
It is not an aimless journey, for it has for its goal that promised land,
the New Jerusalem, where there shall be peace. But while man is on this
journey he must know that there will be no rest and no peace.
This is the result of the law which man has transgressed in a certain
sense. It was not designed at the beginning that we should go through such
[PAGE 199] THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
an evolution as this, such a vale of sorrow and tears as we have been and
are passing through. We are told that the creative force that was latent
within and that we are just beginning to use constructively was first used
by us under the direction of the angels, who took care that procreation was
carried on at times when the planetary conditions were favorable. Then par-
turition was painless. Everything was good on the earth. The Lord had made
everything so that it was good. But there came a time when the Lucifer
spirits, whom we recognize as the stragglers from the angel evolution, had
to have a brain in order that they might function in the physical world.
Therefore they showed us how we might use our creative force in a manner in-
dependent of the guidance of the angels, so that when a body was cast off in
death, as it had to be when it became useless, it would be possible for the
human being to create another body.
So we have these two classes working in different parts of the body: the
Lucifer spirits, that have since worked on us through the spinal cord and
the brain; and the angels who have charge of the propagative faculty in so
far as it does not interfere with our own action. Here, at this point, is
where free will and choice come in and also the Law of Consequence. The
animals are not responsible in the way we are; if an animal jumps from a
height, it hurts itself in a physical manner, but there the responsibility
ends; while if we should do the same thing, we should incur similar physical
[PAGE 200] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
results and in addition a moral responsibility, for we know better than to
injure the physical vehicle unnecessarily. Thus the Law of Consequence at-
taches to every act of a human being when free will is attained.
Whatever we do that is wrong has in some way to be brought to our notice.
Sorrow and pain have been the taskmasters who have guided us aright, and in
order that we might in time know how to do right, the Law of Consequence was
given. In the ark, which symbolized the human being, there were placed the
tablets of the law, and there was also placed the pot of manna. The word
"manna" signifies not bread that came from heaven but the thinker, the Ego,
which descended from the higher spheres. In almost every language we have
the word "man." In Sanskrit, German, Scandinavian, etc., the root is the
same. In the ark is the thinker, and he is being carried about in the
temple in the wilderness during the present stage of his evolution.
There is in us also the spiritual power symbolized by the rod of Aaron.
Aaron's rod, we remember, was one that budded when all others remained bar-
ren. There is in each one of us a spiritual power that has become latent
during the time we have been going through the pilgrimage of matter, and it
is for us to awaken this power. We have spoken a number of times about this
spiritual power--how the use of it brings blessings into the world when used
[PAGE 201] THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
as Parsifal used it, and how when misused, as did Amfortas, it brings sor-
row.
This spiritual power is latent at the present time because humanity, sym-
bolized by the traveling ark, has not fitted itself to receive it. We are
too selfish, and we must cultivate unselfishness before we shall be trusted
to wield this wonderful power. Peter is very emphatic in regard to the
teachers who may come among us, when he speaks of false teachers and says
they will make merchandise of us. Such are they who have lessons in this,
that, and the other kind of spiritual science to sell, more than likely in
astrology, at perhaps five dollars per lesson. They have these things to
give us for the coin of the realm, but we must remember that it is not money
but merit that counts in spiritual attainment every time, and it is impos-
sible to initiate a man into higher spiritual powers for a few dollars or
any material consideration. Just as it is necessary to load the pistol be-
fore pulling the trigger will cause the explosion, so also is it necessary
that we have stored up within ourselves the force, the spiritual power sym-
bolized by Aaron's rod, before we can have that power turned to its proper
and legitimate use. And this is one of the great lessons in the story of
the ark.
If we continue to travel and travel, take rebirth after rebirth, and do
not at some time learn to obey the voice of God, hold His commandments holy,
and live the good life, we cannot expect to reach the City of Peace, but
[PAGE 202] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
must be content to remain in the land of sorrow and suffering.
How then are we to unfold our spiritual power? What is the way, the
truth, and the life? We have had the threefold path shown us in the glori-
ous teaching of the Christ. Ordinary humanity all over the world are being
worked upon by law, which works upon the desire body and holds it in check.
The thinker is pitted against the flesh. But under law no one can be saved.
We also have the vital body spoken of in our teaching. This is the vehicle,
as Paul has said, of love and attraction. If we can overcome the passionate
side of our nature, if we can get away from the lower vibrations of love, if
we can cultivate within ourselves purity, and if we can withstand temptation
as did Parsifal and live the pure life, then every day we cultivate within
ourselves a power. This power is the power of love, which will express
itself in our lives in service, and gradually it will accumulate to such an
extent that it will be like the powder in the loaded pistol. Then the
Teacher will come to us and show us how to liberate the power we have stored
up within our being.
It depends upon ourselves how long we shall travel in the wilderness.
Everyone of us has the power latent within that will bring him or her into
the City of Peace, a place apart from sorrow and suffering. Everyone of us
can and must make the start sometime, and the first step is purification,
[PAGE 203] THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
for without the pure life there can be no spiritual advancement. "Ye cannot
serve God and mammon," it is said. But mammon is usually interpreted to
mean the gold of the world. Yet a man may remain in his business and take
care of it for the good of all, not for his own selfish greed and interest,
doing everything possible for others, and not be serving mammon no matter
how much he may be accumulating. A person may love only a few around him,
but there is a higher love that flows out to others not in his own circle
which must be observed. Every duty must be fulfilled that we may thereby
take advantage of the higher opportunities that are ever opening up before
us.
And so we must all learn our lessons in service: service to humanity,
service to animals, service to our younger brothers, service everywhere.
This alone will bring us out of the "wilderness." It is said that those who
were highest in the temple were those who served; and the Christ said, "He
who would be the greatest among you, let him be the servant of all." Let us
all strive to render this service. It is easy to do if we will. Then some
day in the not far distant future we shall hear that gentle voice, the voice
of the Teacher, which comes to everyone who serves and who listens to the
voice of God.
[PAGE 205] INDEX
INDEX
Adam and Eve,--human race 195.
Air pressure, normal, holds vital body within dense vehicle 9.
Alcohol introduced as food, purpose of 73.
Allegorical story regarding "Light" 27.
Aquarian Age, conditions of 57.
new conditions of 59.
preparation for 80.
Aquarius, sign of coming age 55.
Archetype, what and where 197-198, how built 158-160.
Aries, herald of Aryan Age 54.
Ark, what is was 197, 200.
Art, purpose of 14.
Aryan race, origin of 194.
ascension of Christ 98.
Aspirant to soul growth, what is required of 119.
Atlantean airships, power used in 77.
Atlantis, chosen people led out of 194.
conditions of life in early 137, 138.
floods of 75.
pressure of atmosphere in 12, 13.
refugees driven from 174.
spiritual perception lost in 83.
Atrophy, of spiritual faculties 181.
Aura, a "house from heaven" 21.
Babylon, city of sorrow 196.
Baptism, as a sacrament 48.
Bible, a book of occultism 193.
Black Magician, fate of 49.
true story of, by Mabel Collins, 181, 186.
true story contrasted with stories of Parsifal and Solomon, 183, 185.
Black Magic, used by the soulless 52.
what it is 182.
Building the temple 35, 36.
Carthage, inhabitants of, reborn in Prussia 68-70.
Chaos, Ego withdrawals to 157.
Cherubim, guarding Eden with flaming sword 195.
"Chosen people," led from Egypt 193.
one meaning of 166.
Christ, an embodiment of Wisdom Principle 132.
[PAGE 206] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Christ, His coming 14.
how we shall know Him at His coming 15.
our great spiritual leader 124.
Transfiguration of 14.
vibrations of love 171.
Christ Jesus 14, 16, 31, 36.
Christ ray, the fall of 98.
Christian mystic's deep view of Easter 103.
Churches, turning from, caused by 165.
Civilization, a thin veneer 81.
built by vibrations of vital body 13.
Cosmic Christ, in cramped earthly conditions 104.
Cosmic Christ life 106.
Cosmic love culminates at Christmas 97.
Cosmic symbols, none more common than the egg 104.
Communion is a sacrament 48.
Consciousness, how generated 73.
Creative function, abuse of 48.
Creative instinct in man 41, 42.
Cyclic journey, similar to that of Cosmic Christ life 106.
Damnation and salvation, what they are 164-171.
Death a cosmic necessity 107.
caused by ethers leaving 10-12.
of a black magician 186.
of the soul 47, 49.
only a transition 78.
Dense body, only body possessed in Polarian Epoch 82.
Desire body, added in Lemurian Epoch 82.
Desire world, disturbed by war 88.
post-mortem condition of spiritual aspirant in 119, 121.
Destiny, how woven 66-68.
Destruction, the sixteen paths to 167.
Diet, carnivorous, fosters ferocity 85.
vegetarian, fosters docility 85.
Discrimination, the necessity for 37.
Disease, a manifestation of ignorance 131.
planets as factors in 131, 160.
Early Rosicrucians solve problem of self-unfoldment 116.
Earth Period, nature of 173.
Eastern religions, teaching of 165.
Elder Brothers, "drive out money changers" 128.
gave us teachings 63.
[PAGE 207] INDEX
organize Invisible Helpers 88.
originated a scientific method of soul development 112.
students of human evolution 177.
Electric atmosphere, effect of 57, 58.
Emerson, on prayer 31.
Epochs of man's evolution 82.
Eternal (aionian), meaning of 165.
Ether carries pictures of every object 113.
is vehicle of the light rays 113.
scientific conception of 113.
Etheric body, escapes from the physical while falling 7-15.
Etheric vision, scope and limitations of 59, 60.
Ethers leave body, conditions when 10, 11.
cause of shell shock 11, 12
death caused by shell shock 11.
Evolution, new methods employed 75.
Exercises, Rosicrucian, counteracting effects of shell shock 12.
practice of, renders neophyte free in purgatory 118-120.
Extreme unction, a sacrament 48.
Extended vision, how obtained 58.
Falling great distances, effect of Chap. I. 7-15.
Father Star, planet most harmonious to Ego 158.
Fire mist, from virgin substance 173.
Food, flesh, fosters ferocity 85.
in its relation to man's nature 81.
Forgiveness 159.
Free will and propagation 199.
Galileo, right when "world" was wrong 180.
"Golden Wedding Garment," how woven 65.
Gospel of Gladness 89.
Pollyanna 89-94.
Pollyanna, fiction, but illustrates cosmic law 94, 95.
Gospels, symbolical of Initiation 192.
Hannibal, rebirth of in Prussia 70.
Headquarters "and a procession of people" 155.
Healing, associated with activities of spiritual adviser 129.
different methods of 130.
free of charge 132.
Heart and intellect to be combined 163.
[PAGE 208] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Heaven, knowledge of kingdom of symbolized by pearl 21.
Hermetic axiom, "As above, so below" 111.
Higher laws which...supersede 159, 160, 161.
Higher life, how entered into 177.
teaching, never given for a consideration 127.
Holy Grail, where likely to be found 29.
Ideals, the nature of 164.
Immaculate generation inaugurated by Christ 139.
Industry, designed to develop moral side of man 41.
Initiation, gives "keys to the Kingdom" 21.
in Atlantis 41.
Intellect and heart to be combined 163.
Interpretations of Scriptures, by Max Heindel 192.
Intolerance, a besetting sin 143.
Invisible leaders present at dedication 134.
realms disturbed by war 88.
Jews, as the "chosen people" 61, 194.
Jonah and the Whale 19, 20.
Keys to heaven 19.
Kingdom of heaven 7.
Knowledge, a responsibility 180.
a responsibility, quoted from "Imitation of Christ" 188.
entrusted to Max Heindel as reward of altruism 100-102.
gaining of and use of 181.
is power 180.
retained through given to others 100.
symbolized in Norse myth 99.
Laggards, who are 167.
Law, does not save 194.
of compensation 34.
of consequence 200.
of forgiveness of sin 159.
Laws of nature, working with 111.
Leaders, the present 151.
"Legend Beautiful, The" 23.
Lemurian Epoch, beginning of 178.
Lemuria, Lucifer the Genius of 138.
Life, panorama, unfolded in reverse order 188.
Life, taken in interest of knowledge 186, 187.
Living the life 12.
[PAGE 209] INDEX
Longfellow's "The Legend Beautiful" 21.
Looking at the bright side of things 90.
Lord's Prayer, the 12.
touches keynote of human vehicles 12.
Love to be wedded to knowledge 11.
Lucifer spirits, angelic life wave stragglers 199.
misguidance of 138.
Mammon, how not served 203.
Manna, pot of, in the Ark, meaning of 198, 200.
Marriage, a sacrament 48.
Master, the sign of the 16-21.
Medieval handicraft 41.
Meeting the Lord 31.
Men outnumber women in the Rosicrucian Fellowship 135.
Metaphysical speculation, a quagmire 34.
Mind, evolution of 85, 86.
linked to lower vehicles in Atlantean Epoch 82.
may be snare of evil 37.
Modern industrial production 42.
Mohammed lived his philosophy 38.
Moon Period 173.
Mysterium magnum, what it hides and reveals 105.
Mystery School, established for pioneers 127.
New Jerusalem, City of Peace 202.
is the Tree of Life 196.
Noah, days of 7-15.
North Star, a fixed point 123.
Optimism, "Pollyanna" illustrates cosmic law of 89-95.
Pabulum 74.
Palmistry 128.
Panacea 160-162.
Parsifal, legend of 183, 184.
Peace, attainment of hindered by flesh food and wine 84.
on earth, when attained 86.
Philosopher's Stone 19.
Pioneers, require higher teachings 127.
Pisces, sign of Christian Dispensation 54.
Poems: Longfellow 23; Lowell 44; Holmes 46; Wilcox 87;
Angelus Silesius 170; Unknown 171.
Popes had spiritual sight unfolded 191.
[PAGE 210] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Prayer, Emerson (poem) 31.
Prayers and thought of a low nature, region to which they gravitate 133.
Pride of intellect, 143.
Profession and practice, relation between 63.
Progress depends on death 107.
how attained 117.
Purgatorial experience caused by fires of remorse 115.
Purification, a step in spiritual unfoldment 203.
Purpose of evolution, the extraction of "soul" 51.
Qualities requisite for endurance--wisdom, beauty, strength, 136.
Races, the sixteen paths to destruction 167.
when and how started 166.
Race spirit, none over U.S.A. 71.
Race spirit, what they are 67.
Rainbow, time when it first appeared 174, 175.
Rays, planetary, different effects of 131.
Record of life 115.
inscribed upon atom in heart 115.
Religion given to a people according to their status 126.
Responsibility for acts of free will 199, 200.
Retrospection in harmony with cosmic law 117.
cleanses of sins committed before one started the practice 119.
correct method of 118, 119; results of 119-121.
Riches, accumulation of 43.
Rod of Aaron, magical, in Ark 198, 200.
Romans, reembodied in Sons of Albion 69-70.
Rose Cross, planted at Mt. Ecclesia 137.
Rosicrucians, a Mystery order 132.
Rosicrucian Brothers, a messenger of the 102.
Rosicrucian Fellowship, the mission of 12.
disintegration of 152.
the purpose of 136, 139, 140.
under Aquarian dispensation 57-59.
Rosicrucian teachings 108.
Sacraments, nature of 48.
Salvation, how attained 167.
what it is 164-167.
Scientific method of soul unfoldment 121.
[PAGE 211] INDEX
Scriptures interpreted by Max Heindel by spiritual vision 192.
Second coming of the Christ 14-22.
Secret of success 40.
Seed atom, loss of 53.
racial form and features produced by 67.
time of leaving the various vehicles 9.
Service, brings us out of "wilderness" 203.
without worldly reward, a Rosicrucian ideal, 132.
Shell shock, nature of 10.
Sign of Jonah 9.
Sign of the Master 15, 16-22.
Silver cord, loosing of 9, 48.
Sin, nature of 131.
results in death of the soul 51-53.
the unpardonable 47-49.
Sir Launfal 43.
Sixteen races, "paths to destruction" 167.
Sorrow and pain, our taskmasters 200.
Soul growth, what it depends on 118.
Soul, death of 47, 51.
composed of 74.
Soul power, natural development of by evolution 112.
Soulless man, time of 50.
Spirit, immorality of and rebirth of 66.
turned into a new path of evolution 74.
Spiritual atrophy, time when it sets in 181.
perception, lost in Atlantis 83.
Spiritual currents, vitalize forms of four kingdoms 137.
Spiritual power, how developed 178.
how to be used; how lost 184, 185.
result of its use 200, 201.
Spiritual sight, possessed by Popes and others 191.
work, consists of 30.
Spirituality, difference between true and false 26, 27.
what it is 30.
Spleen, kind of force entering body through it 172.
"Stones for bread," application of 43.
"Stone of Sages," what it is 22.
Story regarding "Light" 27.
"Fleta, the Black Magician" 181.
"Parsifal" 183.
Tables of Law in the Ark 198, 200.
Talisman, nature of a 183, 184.
[PAGE 212] TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE
Taurus, worship of the Bull 54.
Teachings, new spiritual, when given out 170, also 143, 144.
Temple in the Wilderness 190.
Test passed by Max Heindel in 1908, 144.
Thoughts and prayers, place to which they gravitate 133.
Thought forms, how and when generated 133.
Thomas a Kempis, quotation from 188.
Threefold spirit casts a threefold shadow 50.
Time, between races 167.
Transfiguration, Mount of 14.
Tree of knowledge, symbology of 49.
Tree of Life, what it is 195.
True Wisdom, what it is 10.
Vacuum and falling bodies 10.
Valhalla, an abode of the gods 99.
Vegetarians, different kinds of 86.
Veil, between living and dead to be dissolved 78.
Virgin spirit, involved in matter 50.
"Vision of Sir Launfal" 43.
Vital body, added in Hyperborean Epoch 82.
held in place by pressure 9.
in Atlantean Epoch 13.
oozes out under certain conditions 10.
quickened by suffering in war 79.
the Tree of Life 195.
work of in repairing waste 72.
Vitality, dissipated by desires and emotions 72.
Vivisection, consequences of 186.
War, a school of soul unfoldment 79.
effects of in desire world 76.
how one leads to another 70.
looking at the bright side of 94.
prolonged by mental attitude of the people 89.
World war, causes of, rebirth of Carthaginians and Romans 68-70.
"Water of Life", whence it comes 20.
Western wisdom religion, being promulgated 57.
Wilderness, symbolical of space and matter 197.
how long we shall travel in 202.
Wine added to man's diet in Aryan Epoch 83.
Wisdom, the only true 38.
World drama, acted and re-enacted 96.
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