It was the extremely good fortune of this writer to have served at Mt. Ecclesia, the headquarters of the Rosicrucian Fellowship, during the mid-nineteen-sixties. The Rosicrucian philosophy was new to him, and he was filled
with enthusiasm. He was young, and bursting with energy. He was also
ready, willing, and eager to work. Most of his activities were menial: shipping
clerk, errand boy, bindery worker, printer’s devil, cafeteria cashier. It was all
good to him. There was camaraderie among the workers, and often workers
shared special moments. The sharings that spoke most to this writer, were
when heartfelt expressions of spiritual joy, in letters from Latin America,
were shared. He was so impressed with those sentiments, that he promised
himself to travel to the places of origin of those letters. When he retired from
his profession in 1998, he set out to fulfill that promise, but there were roadblocks and detours that frustrated the fulfillment of his dream for several
years. Finally, in the autumn of 2004, he flew to Medellin, Colombia to begin
his journey. The trip lasted about three months, and included every country
of South America but Venezuela and the Guianas. Sometimes it was necessary to fly but most of the time the trip was by bus, and once by boat between
Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Bussing gave an intimate view of the countryside, and the people. It was special.
During the trip, he met as many groups, and individuals, of the Rosicrucian
Fellowship, that it was possible to meet,. There was no disappointment about
the character of the members. However, though there was joy in the “fellowship of the spirit”, there were questions. Most of the questions were the same
questions that arose when visiting Rosicrucian Fellowship groups and individuals in the United States.
Foremost among these questions is: “Why has the membership of the Rosicrucian Fellowship been falling dramatically during a time period when one
would expect growth?” When this question is put before enquiring minds,
another question is the usual response: “How do you know this is a time when
one would expect growth?” This writer does have an answer for the second
question, but only tentative answers for the first. However, the answer to the
second question is long and technical, long enough to require an additional
essay which is a task to which he is disinclined at the moment. Various tentative answers could be offered for the first question, but this writer is also
disinclined to do that also, peevish as he is. The reason for this disinclination
is that some of the answers come too close to issues about which people have
political opinions. This writer actively eschews politics, especially church
politics, as much as possible. Spiritual problems cannot be solved by politics,
and attempts to do so, seem to make things worse. Another reason for the
disinclination to try to answer the first question, is that in delving into the issues involved, one encounters massive frustration and futility. It seems much
wiser and more satisfying, to examine things of this nature in a manner more
conducive to answers, about which one can do something. One such question
is: “What can we do to renew the work of Christ and the Rosicrucian Order
at this time?” A simple answer is so simple that it seems trite. This answer is,
as Max Heindel would say, “live the life.” That is certainly imperative but, as
children of fire, we want precise, thorough, deep, and particular answers, relevant to the present, and the issues at hand. In seeking precise and relevant
answers, we note that it is a question about renewal itself, which is at the very
heart of Christianity. To get to the essence of renewal, we can ask yet another
simple question: “What’s new?” It may seem foolish to ask this question, but
this writer has asked many foolish questions, and has found them fruitful in
wisdom. The poet William Blake wrote “if a fool persists in his folly, he will
become wise.” This line has several interpretations, but it does provide hope
in proceeding forward, with any of them.
The cosmography of the Rosicrucian philosophy, and the reality it describes,
is a dualistic monism. The universe, the one thing, is indeed one. Within the
universe there is a continuous pole of states of being. In The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception it is called the spirit-matter pole in Cosmic Root Substance.
Proceeding along the pole from its center in one direction, one encounters
increasingly rare spiritual states of being. In the other direction, one encounters progressively more concrete states of matter. Both poles stretch into potential, into the unknown. In the unknown there is potentially, something
completely new to manifest being. Thus, in this internal dualism, one can
see two potential kinds of newness, relative to the two directions along the
spirit-matter pole.
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception has an alternate title. It is Mystic Christianity. The Rosicrucian philosophy is about he reality of the cosmos, especially the inner reality, from a Christian perspective. To a Rosicrucian student, Christ is an exalted spiritual being. Speaking technically, Christ is the Highest Initiate of the Sun Period, when our current Archangels were in the
human-like stage of evolution. As the Highest Initiate, Christ became the
personification of the second attribute of the Godhead, the Son. The lowest
vehicle of consciousness of a Highest Initiate of any life wave, is the highest
vehicle of the non initiated members of that life wave. For Christ, the lowest
vehicle is Life Spirit. Christ functions in Life Spirit in a manner analogous to
the way we function in our dense physical bodies—a fact almost incredible to
our current human consciousness. As the Son, Christ is the living, focal representative of Life Spirit. To experience Christ, even in the lowest state, is to
experience Life Spirit. The highest vehicle of consciousness of Christ is in the
World of God, a state beyond our current capacity to consciously experience.
Since we are seeking to understand novelty (what’s new) in the spirit direction of the spirit-matter pole, the Christian Bible would seem a good place to
begin.
In the book of Revelation of the Christian Bible we read: “And he that sat on
the throne said, Behold I make all things new.” Some things in the Bible are
symbolic, and some are not. The throne is symbolic of a state of spiritual repose; the statement made by him who sat on the throne is not symbolic. This
statement is to be taken literally. However, when taking it literally, we must
be careful about what it means. The words “I make” in this statement do
not mean to take direct action. It is not like a stage magician waving a wand
and producing a new object. In the transcendental spiritual worlds, especially in the worlds beyond the World of Human Spirit, things are done and
sustained, in spirit. Waves of creation, and the intuitions within them, that
are sustained in spirit, are carried out by lesser beings, though many of the
lesser beings are far beyond us in evolutionary accomplishment. In the Bible
we are told “by their works, ye shall know them.” In the World of Life Spirit
the unity of spirit is so seamless and thorough, that being, and the works of
being, are as one. To know the works is to know the being. In this “making all
things new,” one experiences the newness of Life Spirit. Novelty, or newness,
is an attribute, an essence of Life Spirit.
The newness of Life Spirit is something we all have experienced, usually is
miniscule doses. Sometimes we read a passage in the Bible, or The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, and we discover something new and different, even
though we may have read the same passage many times before. The new
thing we have discovered is not new to the book; it has been there all along.
The newness is in us. In our aspiration, we have drawn closer to Christ in Life
Spirit. The discovery, the new, is an intuition in Life Spirit. It is a moment of
the light of truth, as when Christ says “I am the truth.” We sense the eternal
life of Life Spirit, as the truth dawns on us, and will continue to dawn on us
in an eternal sunrise, as long as we can sustain the moment. A better, common experience of the newness of Life Spirit, occurs in moments of grace.
When we are forgiven a sin, everything is new; everything is light and bright
and free. Causes and consequences have not been voided, they continue on
as always, but we are new and different. We see and do things in a new light,
we are filled with the love of Christ. In this new love and light, we creatively
transmute consequences into new and better causes, and we patiently bear
those that we cannot change immediately. If the moment of truth is extensive, our lives are changed forever. Such an experience of novelty is called a
second birth in Christ. Birth in Christ, is spoken of in several places in the
Gospels, none better than in John 3:3 “Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Max Heindel tells us there is a “Memory of Nature” in the World of Life Spirit. To understand what he meant, we must change our conception about the
nature of memory. This memory is not like a fossil from hundreds of millions ago, nor is it like chiseled hieroglyphs from thousands of years ago,
nor is it like a musty manuscript from hundreds of years ago, or a photo or a
recording from moments ago. It isn’t even like energies in formation, or deformation, in the ethers. It is alive, perpetually alive, with a life well beyond
our current experience of life. It is perpetually renewed in itself. It cannot be
any other way, because that is the very nature of Life Spirit, and of Christ.
The new religion, the religion of Christ, is not just new in comparison to the
old religions of the law, though that comparison is wonderful. The religion
of Christ is the religion of newness itself. It is the religion of eternal renewal.
“Behold I make all things new.”
With this realization, other questions arise. These, now relevant, questions
are something like: “How does this relate to renewal of the Rosicrucian Fellowship?” or “How can we apply this to our work?”
The Rosicrucian Fellowship is just past a century old. The writings of Max
Heindel, which constitute the core of the Rosicrucian philosophy, are unchanged. Some would say this is bad, because few people read books from
one hundred years ago. Some would say that all that needs to be done to
modernize, and renew the philosophy and the organization, is to use modern
parlance and references. Others, more radical, think we should have completely new books and literature, in contemporary language and culture. Still
others think that the things addressed in the writings of Max Heindel are
timeless; therefore, it is okay to leave the literature as it is, because it has a
strong magnetism of mystical aspiration. All of these viewpoints have merit.
All of these viewpoints miss the most important point.
There is only one significant difference between the Rosicrucian Fellowship at
its inception, and the Rosicrucian Fellowship now. That simple, significant,
difference is Max Heindel. Stating this fact is not meant to foster nostalgia, or
Max Heindel idolatry. Stating this fact is not a pitch for a new leader, which
might also miss the point. Instead of these things, it seems wise to ask other
questions. What was there about Max Heindel that made such a difference?
What can we do about the answer to this question? One obvious answer to
the first of these new questions is, Max Heindel was a Christian Initiate. As a
Christian Initiate, he had the experience of Christ in the world of Life Spirit.
St. Paul, in third heaven on the fringe of the world of Life Spirit, saw Christ,
and from that experience, was able to set the direction of the development of
Christianity for centuries. As a Christian Initiate, Max Heindel could bring
the effects of the experience of Life Spirit into his personality, and his works
in the world. The experience of Life Spirit was not a singular experience for
Max Heindel. During his years at Mt. Ecclesia, this writer met people who
knew Max Heindel in the flesh. They said that when there were healing services, people left the chapel with tears streaming down their cheeks from the experience of drawing on Life Spirit for healing.
Most of us are not likely to become Christian Initiates in the near future. This
does not mean we are barred from reaching the world of Life Spirit. We are
encouraged to try to do so regularly. The Rosicrucian Fellowship healing service gives us incentive, and a clear formula, to reach to Life Spirit, for healing
power that fulfills the second commandment of Christ, to heal the sick. To
do this, one must feel deeply and intensely, which is something anyone can
do, if they care. We cannot hurt ourselves in trying. When we band together
in healing prayer groups, our efficacy is significantly enhanced, and success
is more likely. If only one person, in one group, anywhere,breaks through to
Life Spirit, all of us will be uplifted, through the bond of our common
commitment. In this, the Rosicrucian emblem acts as a means, a talisman, to
share in the Life Spirit surge with all.
In The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, we learn how the law of attraction
works in the desire world. When we sacrifice ourselves and give love, it attracts others. Everyone wants to be around someone who loves; however, as
beautiful as that is, it speaks only of the emotion of love in the desire world.
The love of Life Spirit is inestimably more attractive. The dramatic growth of
the Rosicrucian Fellowship should have been no surprise with Max Heindel
reaching Life Spirit. Our attractive power would again be enormous if any
one of us were to reach Life Spirt, and bring it into our common spiritual
bond.
As with most spiritual things, the benefits of an accomplishment are more
than singular. When we sacrifice, we always receive more than we sacrificed,
that is the way of evolutionary growth. In several places in his writings, Max
Heindel tells us we sacrifice one ability in order to develop another, because
in our present limitations, we cannot maintain both abilities at the same
time. We are also told, that when we sufficiently develop the new ability, we
regain the ability sacrificed, at a higher level. One example of this involves
our sacrifice of the plant-like ability to extract and utilize etheric energy from
sunlight. We did this to develop the animal-like ability to experience desire
and emotion. Plants grow as long as they live. Animals and humans grow
until desire checks etheric growth. Animals and humans need plants for vitality. Now, as humans, we can harness the desire function to drive prayer to
the world of Life Spirit, from which we can draw. When we transduce the Life
Spirit flux into an etheric healing panacea, we have regained the sacrificed
plant-like ability at a higher level. Simultaneously, when doing this, we are
bringing in the New Jerusalem of Globe E of the Earth Period. In true sacrifice, we always get much more than we gave.
In the paragraphs above, we gain a rudimentary understanding of novelty
in the spirit direction of the spirit-matter pole. We also see how we can utilize our understanding in our work to fulfill the second commandment of
Christ—to heal the sick—and to hasten the day of the liberation of Christ.
Getting at novelty in the matter direction of the spirit-matter pole is more
difficult.
To get at material novelty, we must try to do the impossible. In this case that
means to speak about the Unspeakable. In mysticism, a name for the Unspeakable is the Absolute. The Absolute is everything that is …, everything
that isn’t …, and … .The final, open-ended ellipsis indicates a supra-rational silence. Silence and absolute blackness (or invisibility) have always been
used to designate the Absolute. Even using the definite article with the Absolute is to give it excessive, existential objectification.
In the Rosicrucian philosophy everything that “is”, is called the Supreme Being. There is no term or name for everything that “is not”, the non being
in the Absolute. It is as unnamed as it is unknown. Some even name it “the
Unknown.”
There is a state between what “is”, and what “is not”, in the Absolute. It is a
state of potential. Potential is what could be. There has to be a potential, before something before something can be.
Potential is a capacity for receiving, bearing, or sustaining, existential relationships. Since we experience potential from within the spirit-matter pole
of manifest being, potential is also polarized. The co-capacities of potential
are time and space. The words time and space do not mean the same thing
in mysticism, that they mean in physics. The usage of physics is certainly
valid, but it is a subset of a broader view of potential. Between potential and
the spirit-matter pole of manifest being is yet another state of being called
Cosmic Root Substance. Cosmic Root Substance is the monistic, root, state
from which both spirit and matter spring reflectively. One way to begin to
conceive of the nature of Cosmic Root Substance, is to think of it as mathematical space comprised of contiguous points which have only position and
no diameter. It is both infinitely rare, and infinitely dense, simultaneously.
On any level of being, from the Supreme Being down, the nature of spirit is
positive. It creates and gives. For example, filled with the spirit of sharing, the
Creator of our solar cosmos intuitively senses that, in potential, there could
be more of itself to share with. It is analogous to the way we intuitively sense,
that we could potentially be more than we currently are. With our fledgling,
earthbound, human consciousness, it is difficult to understand such spiritual things as eternal, unlimited, auto-rejuvenescence. “The ways of God are
strange to the ways of men.” The old adage says “where there is a will there
is a way,” and, in the deepest state of spiritual being, there is the will to be.
On any level of manifestation, spirit represents the known. It knows itself, so
it is the knower and the known. In its endeavor to give, create, and share, it
must do so by penetrating the unknown, that which “is not.” This is done by
projecting a dream, or hypothesis, i.e., “what could be,” into the capacity of
potential. Analogously, this what an artist does in conceiving a painting or a
statue. In Cosmic Root Substance, the dream is a reflection of the creator at
the matter end of the spirit-matter pole, for the purpose of making the unkown known. Thus, the states of matter can be understood as being reflective,
congealed, ignorance of the unknown, of what “is not.” Matter complements
spirit by receiving, where spirit gives, in a manner similar to the way a mirror
image complements an object in this world. In the creative interaction between spirit and matter, the unknown becomes known. It is analogous to the
way we struggle with the ignorace in ourselves, materialized by our positive
assertions, as we awaken in soul growth. Because there is ignorance in not
knowing, there is a struggle between spirit and matter. It is perfect, creative
feedback, wherein every action has its equal and opposite reaction. In the
cosmic perspective, the ignorance is much less (and of a different quality)
than human ignorance, which is born of willful defiance that produces inharmony. In the struggle between the known and the unknown—the realization
of the dream—matter is transformed and eventually transmuted into spirit
through an intermediary state called soul. It is called the spiritualization of
matter. All of this is accomplished in a regular, rhythmic, creative scheme, or
creative dream, which is a reflection of divine wisdom, a cosmo-logic.
In our local, solar, creative manifestation, the Creator manifests states of being (called worlds in Rosicrucian philosophy) out of Cosmic Root Substance
along the spirit-matter pole This is done within the co-potentials of time and
space. Spiritual qualities are manifest in “Periods” of time, with astrological names such as the Saturn Period, the Sun Period, and so on. Material
forms are manifest in “Globes” in space, named Globe A, Globe B and so on.
The globes could be called the Saturn Globe, The Sun Globe and so on, but
then they would be too easily confused with the planets of the same names.
The spiritual, beings of various grades of consciousness, participating in the
evolutionary creation, revolve into and out of the states of spirit and matter,
of the periods and globes, in what are called revolutions of consciousness.
These revolutions have the same planetary names as the periods and globes.
This creative scheme produces myriad experiences for evolutionary work.
Part two of The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception describes the order of the
process quite well.
The projection of the dream, or hypothesis, in our creative manifestation is
called the materialization of spirit. Materialization of spirit is accomplished
during involution. The absorbing of the new known matter into spirit, via the
transitional state called soul, is called the spiritualization of matter. Spiritualization of matter occurs during evolution. Whether projecting or absorbing, the activity is accomplished through the center of being, also called the lens of mind.
Because it is a lens, there is inversion. In this physical world, we live in an inversion of transcendental reality. Because we are indwelling spiritual beings,
we make corrections for inversion. Analogously, because our eyes are lenses,
we see the external world inverted from its real state, and we also make corrections for the inversions. Several clever experiments have demonstrated
this latter.
One of the features of the cosmic lens inversion, is that realms most distant
from the lens of mind, (the creative center) on the spirit side, are reflectively
projected into the realms of matter most distant from the lens on the material side. Thus, the Divine Spirit, the realm of the Father, is reflectively projected into chemical matter. In our fallen, materialistic, consciousness, we
have become inverted; we see things upside-down and backwards. In coming
into matter, in the way we have, we have lost our spiritual vision. Being out
of touch, we are insecure. We are inverted. We seek security not in the divine
Father, but in the divine Father principle sleeping in chemical matter. In this
we suffocate our spiritual being. It seems we cannot get enough of chemical
matter, which can never satisfy our higher spiritual hunger.
There is another problem inherent in our materialism. In our materialistic
encumbrance, we have lost our sprightly, spiritual vivacity. We have become
dull and numb and, because we are egoistic, we become bored. In response
to boredom, we try to vivify, and identify ourselves with the newest and latest
material thing, We are faddish. Though not accomplished mystics, we sense
the novelty of being, that has never been before, an unprecedented novelty,
which lies sleeping in the interactive dream, that is matter. We are fascinated
by the wonder, and the marvels, born out of interactions with the unknown
that is matter. We try to distinguish and advance ourselves in this novelty. In
this, we become more materialistic. It is imperative that we progress spiritually through evolution, so there is progress evn in this. If we don’t progress,
material necessity pushes us to.
The experience of evolution is always new. We never go back to old forms.
One reason for this is that our actions change evolutionary conditions so that
it is impossible to go back, even if we want to. Another reason is that we improve, and want to get better.
In all of this, we can see that there are two different types of newness, one in
spirit, and one in sleeping in matter. This knowledge about matter raises new
questions. What does this mean for the work of the Rosicrucian Fellowship?
How can this be used to rejuvenate the Rosicrucian Fellowship and attract
others to share in this work?
The Rosicrucian Fellowship is an exoteric organization, a child of the Rosicrucian Order, which is an esoteric organization. The Rosicrucian Fellowship was created to introduce the philosophy of the Rosicrucian Order to the
general public, and to invite whosoever will, to join and share, in what alchemists called “the Great Work.” The Rosicrucian philosophy, and its work, are
for children of fire. Children of fire are individuals who see life as a challenge,
and who question, instead of merely following authority.They are individuals of such a nature that they would “make two blades of grass grow where
only one grew before.” Children of water emphasize faith more than works.
They trust authority, and are more likely to believe what has been presented
to them, by those who would lead them. As we advance in spiritual evolution,
it is important that children of fire be the leaders and teachers of humanity.
We are products of our experiences. We are better products and participants
in the evolutionary creation, if we not only know what is the best course of
action, but that we also know why it is the best course of action. Experience
is imperative for evolution, knowing what experience means is superlative.
This is the evolutionary work of the children of fire; this is the work of the
Rosicrucian Order; this ought to be the work of the Rosicrucian Fellowship,
if we want to succeed, and justify our continued existence.
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception is the result of spiritual research by children of fire over many millennia. It gives us a clear picture of the grand creative process, in which, it is our blessing to participate. It not only describes
the divine plan, it gives the reasons behind the evolutionary activities, it answers the “whys.” It is a massive body of knowledge given to the world by
the Rosicrucian Order, heirs to the earlier works of the children of fire. Max
Heindel tells us that, among the earlier children of fire, Lazarus was Hiram,
the master of the master builders of Solomon’s temple. In turn, Lazarus was
raised by the “paw of the Lion of Judah” and was given new symbols to replace his hammer: a rose and a cross, i.e., he became Christian Rosenkreutz,
founder of the Rosicrucian Order. “A massive body of knowledge”could be
the words to describe The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception. A skeleton might
be a better word because The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception needs to be
fleshed out. It is now our duty, as Christian mystical aspirants, to do the
fleshing out, and the raising the skeleton of Lazarus. The rest,of the works of
Max Heindel, beyond The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, did some of the
fleshing out, to our benefit and blessing. He urged us to do the same. This
does not mean that we are to write books, or to try to be the next Max Heindel. It does mean, that we are to seek insights, as we study the Rosicrucian
philosophy, and to share them creatively, whenever we share our enthusiasm for Christian mystical aspiration. We do not need a new Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception or a new Max Heindel, though such might come. We do
not need to be initiates. We can help as we are now. All of us are capable of
spiritual insight. It is part of our spiritual heritage. The living truth, shared
individual to individual, with enthusiasm is more effective, and attractive,
than any book.
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