We are glad to know you have become interested in the Western
Wisdom Teachings. The first Independent Study Module of the Core Concepts Course is below, and we trust that the understanding of life and its problem offered by this course will bring you much comfort and joy.
A New Age is dawning, and wonderful opportunities await those
who understand and cooperate with the cosmic forces operating to break
humanity's bond of materialism and usher in a new order upon higher spiritual
concepts. As we bring ourselves into harmony with these forces, we not only
greatly hasten our own progress, but make it possible for us to aid in the
great work of uplifting all humanity.
These Independent Study Modules are not sold. The Contemporary Mystic Christian Teachings are free. All receive the same teaching and attention.
You are now starting the study of Independent Study Modules which are
designed to aid you in understanding certain fundamental laws that may be used as a basis for a happier, more successful and more useful life.
You are an Ego, a spirit spark from God, and within your
spiritual being lie all divine possibilities. You are made "in the image and
likeness of God," but the powers of the Ego are as yet only potential. In the Western Wisdom Teachings a path is pointed out which leads to unfoldment of the divine qualities in a normal, natural way, and at the same time so attunes your consciousness to the spiritual and material plane that more harmony will be expressed in every phase of your life. The function of this Teaching is to create an enlarged horizon, a breadth of vision, a more mature judgment and greater self-control. The use of this knowledge will allow fewer mistakes, bring security in action, and give faith and courage to face life in all its vicissitudes, with the peace, poise, and confidence that are born of knowledge and understanding.
Please feel that we are your friends, and that we consider it
a pleasure and a privilege to assist you in any way possible to live the
higher life, which leads to true happiness and spiritual unfoldment.
Wishing you a full measure of the joy and happiness that
rewards every spiritual aspirant, we are,
Sincerely your friends, Fellow Students of the
Contemporary Mystic
Christian Teachings
Independent Study
Module No. 1
The Visible and
Invisible Worlds
Introduction
The universe is God's great training
school. In our particular part of this vast school we are now witnessing
momentous happenings and changes which are causing an increased demand for a
better understanding of the reasons for existence. "What does it all mean?" we
may ask, and "What does it mean to me?"
The key to progress may be summed up in the ancient adage:
"Man know thyself." The first step in understanding ourselves and our relation
to the cosmic forces affecting the visible manifestations taking place about
us is to understand something of the Worlds in which we live, since the laws operating throughout the Cosmos inevitably affect individual, personal lives.
To the majority of people there is but one World, the dense
physical globe on which we live; the superphysical worlds are not visible to
the average individual because he has not yet developed the higher and finer
senses which are necessary to contact them. These higher Worlds are the worlds
of cause, and a study of these self-study modules will enable the
student to account satisfactorily for the visible manifestation seen in the
physical world, as well as to regulate the life so that more harmony and
fullness will be expressed on all planes.
General Information
and Questions:
(You are welcome to e-mail your answers and/or comments
to us. Please be sure to include the course name and Independent Study Module number
in your e-mail to us. You will find the answers to
the questions below in Core Concepts Independent Study Module No. 2.)
1. The Seven Worlds:
In the Rosicrucian Teachings the universe is divided into seven different
worlds or states of matter.
Each World is divided into 7 regions or subdivisions of
matter. These divisions are not arbitrary but necessary because the substance
of each of them is amenable to laws which are practically inoperative in the
others. For instance, in the Physical World matter gravitates, contracts and
expands. In the Desire World there is neither heat nor cold, distance nor
time. The material of these Worlds also varies in density; that of the
Physical World being the densest of the seven.
The Life Ether also has a positive and negative pole, and
operates partially in the plant kingdom and fully in animal and man.
Question 5:
What is the function of the forces which work along the positive
and negative poles of the Life Ether? (The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception)
6. The Light Ether:
In winter when the Light Ether is not charged with sufficient sunlight the sap of the plant ceases to flow. This ether is responsible for the color found in all the kingdoms of nature.
Everything that has ever happened has left a picture in the
Reflecting Ether. All thoughts and acts are recorded here, and the trained
seer may read their story. This ether is also the medium through which thought
makes an impression upon the human brain.
I. Perception and
Consciousness of
Spatial Dimensions
Have you ever contemplated how the world appears to animals? What does a snail
think happened if it suddenly comes to the end of the leaf upon which it has
been crawling? What does an eagle think happened if it sees a mouse run into a
hole in the ground? What does a dog think causes the change in the appearance
of a car as the car approaches, passes, and then recedes? Such exercises in
understanding can be valuable not only because they may help develop sympathy
and hence love for animals (and love for all creatures is worthwhile), but
also because the relation of an animal to a human may be in some ways similar
to the relation of a human to beings with superhuman abilities (such as
Christ) so that such contemplations can aid our understanding of the super-human beings.
Material scientists observe that the
one-celled animal called the amoeba
has no eyes. Its perception of its environment is limited mainly to feeling
objects that it comes in contact with. Annelida (worms) are able to react to
changes in light intensity, and starfish have eye-spots on the tips of their
arms, which can respond to different illumination on different tips, but have
no arrangement for the formation of images. Insect eyes can perceive light and
dark, direction and motion, and in some cases size, but cannot focus on objects of varying distances (although different parts of the eye may be
suited to seeing things near or far). The focusing ability is improved in
cephalapods (octopuses), fish, and amphibians with the development of the
ability to change the distance of the lens from the retina, which enables the
eye to focus images on the retina of objects at varying distances. The
focusing ability is further refined in snakes and higher vertebrates with the
development of the ability to change the shape of the lens in order to
accommodate for objects at different distances. With improved focusing ability
comes improved ability to make visual distinctions. Although flies and
earthworms show no ability to distinguish size, butterflies, cockroaches,
turtles, chicks , rats, and monkeys can distinguish areas of different sizes.
Bees, wasps, butterflies, turtles, birds, chicks dogs, raccoons, and monkeys
have demonstrated ability to distinguish different flat shapes.
In birds, mammals, and humans, the optic nerves partially cross on the way
to the brain so that each retina sends nerve fibers to both hemispheres of the
brains. Thus the visual fields of the two eyes combine. The two slightly
different views of the two eyes together give the appearance of solidity to
objects viewed. In some mammals the eyes are placed so far to the sides of the
head that the field over which both eyes can see the same object is very
small. Even in the animals in which appropriate nerve and eye structure exists
for stereoscopic vision, the ability to use this structure may be limited.
Birds can distinguish flat forms but do not show recognition of different
vessels. Mice and rats exhibit difficulty in judging the distances of
platforms (in order to choose the closest platform, or to jump to platforms at
varying distances). In humans, however, the ability to clearly view the
various objects in a scene and to perceive their distances is well developed.
Because the amoeba is aware only of itself and things that come in contact
with it, we may say that its perception of space is essentially the perception
of a single point, which is zero-dimensional perception. The transition from
one state of perception to another is gradual so that some intermediate forms
may neither be clearly in one state nor the next. The annelida and starfish have some characteristics of a zero-dimensional perception (in their inability
to perceive anything unless it comes in contact with their body), but some
slight consciousness along a line may be developing as simultaneous awareness
of separate points within their body is developed. Insects that have developed
the ability to perceive direction (but not size or shape) have perception
along a line, which is one-dimensional. They can see something outside
themselves and can decide to move toward or away from it. Those insects that
demonstrate size and form recognition have the beginning of perception of a
surface, which is a two-dimensional perception. This two-dimensional perception is further developed and refined in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
and mammals. Birds and mammals, which have the capability of stereoscopic vision but still have difficulty distinguishing solid forms, are in a transition
from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional perception. Humans have the ability to perceive things of varying shapes and distances. They can simultaneously perceive length, width, and height, and thus have three-dimensional perception.
A creature that is capable of forming only
n-dimensional mental images
would not be able to function successfully in a body with n+1 or higher
dimensional perception, as signals would reach the mind that the mind could
not process. If a zero-dimensional consciousness inhabited a human body, it
would not be able to mentally conceive of a foot and a hand at the same time,
and when separate signals came from the two organs, they would merge into one
in the mind and no distinction would be made in the signals. Creatures that
are capable of forming n-dimensional mental images would find it advantageous
to have a body with no less than n-dimensional perceptual abilities, and thus
in time such bodies would be built. Thus, generally, the dimensionality of the
perceptual abilities is equal to the dimensionality of the images that the
mind is able to deal with and thence is equal to the dimensionality of the
consciousness (with some exceptions occurring in transitional stages).
To a creature with zero-dimensional consciousness, the world consists of nothing but the one point of which it is conscious. Anything that enters that
point seemingly comes out of nowhere, and when it leaves, it seems to cease to
exist. If such a creature were to move along the surface of, say, a leaf, it
would become conscious of one point after another on the leaf. The points it
had left would, for it, be past. The points it had not yet reached would, for
it, be the future. But we, with our ability to view the whole leaf, could see
both the past and the future of the zero-dimensional consciousness at a
glance.
To a creature with one-dimensional consciousness, the world is one-dimensional. Nothing exists for it except what lies along the line that it is
conscious of. If anything enters this line, it appears to come into existence
to the one-dimensional consciousness. If anything leaves this line, it appears
to go out of existence. If such a creature moves its line of view, say, by
turning its head, it will see in a number of directions in succession. Its
path of perception would trace a line around the landscape (as a line drawn
across a photograph). Again we, with our higher-dimensional vision, would be
able to view all at once what the one-dimensional consciousness would consider
past and future.
To a creature with two-dimensional consciousness, the world appears two-dimensional, as a photograph. Such a creature conceives only a plane of
existence. If it views a house and sees someone open the door of the house and
come out, to its consciousness, that person appeared out of nowhere. If it
walks around a house, to it, the house appears to continuously change its
shape and features, although we, with our higher-dimensional consciousness,
view the house as having constant shape.
The zero-dimensional consciousness views the world as being zero-dimensional, but that does not make the world zero-dimensional. The one-dimensional
consciousness views the world as being one-dimensional, but that does not make
the world one-dimensional. The two-dimensional consciousness perceives the
world as being two-dimensional, but that does not make the world two-dimensional. To us, with our three-dimensional consciousness, the world appears to be three-dimensional, but that does not exclude the possibility of the existence of higher dimensions.
Note that when we, with our
three-dimensional consciousness, view the
world of a lower dimensional consciousness, we can make things appear out of
"nowhere" or disappear in their world, and we can see their past and future
all at once. Throughout history there have been certain people who have
exhibited these types of abilities in relation to our three-dimensional
consciousness. They have demonstrated the ability to cause things to appear or
disappear, to describe what happened in past events at which they were not
present, and to foretell the future (so they are called prophets). Christ was
able to bring bread and fishes into existence when there were many people who
needed food (Matt. 14:13-21), and to disappear from a crowd without being seen
(Luke 4:28-30, John 8:59). He was able to tell the whole past history of
people whom he met for the first time (John 1:43-51, John 4:7-19), and he
repeatedly exhibited that he knew what experiences he and his disciples would
encounter before they encountered them (Matt. 17:24-27, Mat. 20:18-19, Matt.
26:20-25, Matt. 26:31-35, Luke 5:1-11). It is reasonable to relate the
consciousness of Christ and the other prophets of four-dimensional consciousness.
Paul, in his Letter to the Ephesians (3:14-18), wrote, "I bow my knees to
the Father...that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is breadth, and length, and depth, and height." Paul included four
dimensions here, and implied that not only the saints could comprehend these,
but that we also will be able to comprehend them when Christ dwells in our
hearts and we become rooted and grounded in love.
References
— Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland. New York: Dover Publications, 1952
— Ouspensky, P.D. Tertium Organum. Rochester, N.Y.: Manas Press, 1920
— Washburn, Margaret F. The Animal Mind. New York: Macmillan, 1926
II. The Roles of Science
and Religion in the
Search for Truth
Man possesses sense organs with which he can make observations of the
physical world. After making many observations, he begins to see patterns in
what he observes. He sees that water runs downhill, that heavenly bodies run
in certain paths, that electricity passing through a wire can produce heat
and sometimes light, etc. Then he develops "laws, " which are statements of
observed patterns. He also develops theories, which aim to explain why
things happen as they do. These theories often involve things that are not
perceivable, but that are accepted as true if the associated explanations
are reasonable. No one has ever seen gravity (or a "gravitational field," as
the scientists would say), but we "explain" that the reason that water runs
downhill and that objects near the earth fall when they are unsupported is
that gravity pulls on them. No one has ever seen an electron, but the
heating effects of an electric current can be explained by saying that
electric current is composed of moving electrons and that the moving
electrons have kinetic energy (another invisible thing) and that when the
electrons collide with atoms in the wire, their kinetic energy turns into
heat energy. Thus, because electrons help provide an explanation for the
heating effects of electric currents and other phenomena, electrons become
part of the theory and are believed in.
This process of observing the material world and making laws and
theories is called "material science." Material science has limitations. It
is based on physical sense perceptions and inferences from these. But there
are some things that cannot be physically perceived or inferred. Religion is
needed to complete the picture. Some individuals are clairvoyant, that is,
they are able to perceive superphysical worlds. They have observed these
worlds and their operations and have developed and written down the laws
that pertain to the superphysical worlds. Those who cannot yet make these
observations for themselves can only know about the superphysical worlds if
they are willing to accept the statements of the clairvoyants on faith.
Material science is aware of physical cause-effect relations, but cannot
detect the guiding Spiritual Influences that control what happens on Earth.
Clairvoyants say that acts of nature (volcanoes, earthquakes, lightning, and
weather systems) are all purposeful actions of the divine hierarchies.
Clairvoyants say that even we ourselves are guided, so that whatever we
encounter in life was designed to be something that we needed to learn to
deal with in order to further our evolution. Material science has noted that
if body A pushes on body B, then body B pushes back on body A with an equal
and opposite force, but material science cannot make statements about
reactions that lie beyond directly observable pushes. Clairvoyants say that
when person A influences person B at the emotional, mental, or spiritual
level, this influence returns to and will later be felt by A.
In time, each person will develop his own clairvoyant powers. What is
now known through religion will then become part of science. Until that
time, however, religion and science will complement one another. Both are
needed for a complete picture of Truth.
References
— Heindel, Max. The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception
— Steiner, Rudolf. Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment. New York: Anthroposophic Press, 1947
— Steiner, Rudolf. Manifestations of Karma London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1969.
III. Mass, Energy,
and Spirit
Mass is a property of matter that makes it difficult to accelerate the
matter. Newton's Second Law states that the acceleration of an object is
equal to the net force acting on that object divided by the mass of the
object. This can be written as
where "m" is the mass of an object, "F" is the net force acting on the
object, and "a" is the acceleration of the object. From this equation it can
be seen that when a given force acts on a body, the more mass the body has,
the less acceleration will be produced. Because a truck has more mass than a
car, a truck is not able to go from rest to full speed as quickly as a car,
nor can a moving truck stop as quickly as a car. Mass also influences
gravitational pull (weight). The more mass an object has, the more strongly
will it be pulled by gravity at any given location, that is, the more weight
it will have at that location. Because a truck has more mass than a car, it
is more difficult to lift a truck (pushing against gravity) than to lift a
car.
Material scientists generally accept the reality of anything that has
mass. If they can see it, feel a resistance when they push it, and weigh it,
then they are willing to believe it exists.
Suppose we take a block of ice. The ice has mass and force is needed to
accelerate or lift it. Suppose we place the ice in a dish and heat it. In
time the ice will melt. If we continue heating, it will vaporize and
disappear from the dish. In fact, all massive objects can be turned into vapor if enough heat is applied, and thus can be made to disappear. The
material scientist has learned to stretch his imagination to accept the
occasional disappearance of part of what he considers real. He notes that
even when matter vaporizes and disappears, it can be re-condensed and thus
made to reappear. An interesting thing about this process is that the total
mass of the system remains constant even through the invisible part of the
process. If one kilogram of ice is vaporized, and if all the vapor is
collected and recrystallized, the resulting block of ice will again have a
mass of one kilogram. Because the vapor carries the property of mass without
loss, credence is given to the idea that the vapor, even though invisible,
is just as real as the solid from which it was produced.
With the arrival of the twentieth century, the imagination of material
scientists was stretched on step further. In 1905, Albert Einstein theorized
that mass and energy should be inter-convertible according to the equation
where "E" is the amount of energy needed to produce a mass "m," and c=2.998
X 10 (to the 8th power) m/s. Alternately, "E" is the amount of energy that
can be produced from a mass "m". Einstein's mass-energy equation has been
experimentally verified both in nuclear reactions and in elementary particle
reactions. It is observed that mass can be created out of electromagnetic
radiation in what are called "pair production" events. If sufficiently
energetic electromagnetic radiation (which is massless) passes near a heavy
nucleus, an electron and an anti-electron (both of which have mass) can be
produced. The presence of the nucleus is needed in order to absorb some of
the momentum of the reaction. In a similar manner, a proton and
anti-proton,
or a neutron and an anti-neutron, or any other particle and corresponding
anti-particle can be produced. Some have theorized that this is the manner
in which all matter was originally created. Inversely, when a particle and
an anti-particle encounter one another, they disappear and only massless electromagnetic radiation remains.
In the pair annihilation processes, not only does mass become invisible,
but also mass ceases to exist. it is interesting to note, however, that even
when the mass ceases to exist, the total mass plus energy divided by c
squared remains constant. If one kilogram of mass were converted into pure
(massless) energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation, and if all this
radiation were caught and given appropriate conditions, it would be
theoretically possible to again produce from it one kilogram of mass. (A
number of difficulties would occur if anyone were to actually try to do
this.) The fact that the electromagnetic radiation carries the property of
mass-energy without loss gives credence to the idea that electromagnetic
radiation, even though it does not have mass and cannot be pushed, pulled,
or weighed, is just as real as massive particles.
Radiation does have energy. A system is said to possess energy if it has
the ability to bring about changes in itself or other things.
Electromagnetic waves are known to have energy because they can produce
electric currents (as radio and TV waves do when they encounter antennas),
they can heat objects (as do rays from the Sun and microwaves), they can
cause chemical reactions (as do rays from the Sun when they hit leaves of
plants or human skin), etc. Thus the ability to do things has become
accepted as a part of reality by material scientists.
The clairvoyant, when he investigates these matters, agrees with the
conclusions of the material scientist and also can give some added insights.
Whereas the material scientist could only infer the reality of vapor and
electromagnetic waves, the clairvoyant can directly see vapor and
electromagnetic waves and thus confirm their reality. Vapor is classed by
the clairvoyant as belonging to the Chemical Region of the Physical World,
along with solids and liquids. Electromagnetic waves and the other force
fields that act on the particles of the Chemical Region are in the Etheric
Region of the Physical World. In addition, the clairvoyant can see and work
in even finer states of matter as he raises his consciousness to what are called the Desire World and the World of Thought. These higher worlds* are
just as real to the clairvoyant as solid objects are to the material
scientist. (The Desire World and the World of Thought are said to be "higher" than the
Physical World because the matter in them vibrates at a higher rate than
does physical matter (just as the atoms in gases vibrate at a higher rate
than the atoms in liquids, which in turn vibrate at a higher rate than do
atoms in solids.) Spatially, the Physical World, Desire World, and World of
Thought interpenetrate one another (as do solids, liquids, and gases in the
Physical World).) The clairvoyant, Max Heindel, states that matter (both in the
Physical World and in higher worlds) in crystallized spirit, and energy (in
all the worlds) is the same spirit not yet crystallized. Matter and energy
are recognized by clairvoyants to be part of the one reality, spirit.
This web page has been edited and/or excerpted from reference material, has been modified from it's original version, and is in conformance with the web host's Members Terms & Conditions. This website is offered to the public by students of The Rosicrucian Teachings, and has no official affiliation with any organization.
