Those who have given the matter study are familiar with the havoc which
an acute attack of fear or worry plays with the physical body. We know how
these emotions derange digestion, interfere with the metabolic changes and
with elimination of waste, and, in short, upset the whole system, with the
result that in some cases the person is forced to take to his bed for a
longer or shorter time depending upon the severity of the attack and the
resistive power of the constitution. But there is an esoteric effect which is
equally serious or more so that is usually not understood, and it may
therefore be of considerable benefit to study the esoteric effect of poise and
passion, anger and love, pessimism and optimism.
From the study of the Cosmo we learn that our desire body was generated
in the Moon Period. If you wish to obtain a mental picture of the way
things looked then, take an illustration of the fetus as shown in any book
of anatomy. There are three principal parts: the placenta, which is filled
with the maternal blood, the umbilical cord, which carries this vital
stream, and the fetus, which is nourished from embryo to maturity thereby.
Fancy now, in that far off time, the firmament as one immense placenta from
which there depended billions of umbilical cords, each with its fetal
appendage. Through the whole human family, then in the making, circulated the
one universal essence of desire and emotion, generating in all the impulses
to action which are now manifest in every phase of the world's work. These
umbilical cords and fetal appendages were molded from the moist desire
stuff by the emotions of the lunar Angels, while the fiery desire currents
which were endeavoring to stir the latent life in mankind, then in the
making, were generated by the fiery martial Lucifer Spirits. The color of
that first slow vibration which they set in motion in that emotional desire
stuff was red.
And while that tincture of trouble (for that is really what this
ever-flowing, eternal restlessness is which even now drives us on without
pause or peace) was circulating within us, the planet on which we dwelt also
circled about a sun, not our present light-giver but a past embodiment of
the substance which composes our present solar universe, and we in turn
circled the globe on which we dwelt, from light to darkness, from heat to
cold. We were thus worked upon from within and without in an endeavor to
stir the sleeping consciousness. And there was a response, for though none
of the partially separated spirits dwelling in an individual fetal sac
would have been able to feel these impacts, although they were very strong,
the cumulative feelings of billions of such spirits were sensed as a sound
in the universe, a cosmic cry — the first note in the harmony of the spheres — played upon a single string. It was, nevertheless, expressive in
an adequate measure of the latent longings and aspirations of the incipient
human race of those far bygone days.
This desire nature has since evolved; the fiery, martial sub-stratum of
passion and the aqueous lunar basis of emotion have become capable of numerous
combinations. As thought furrows the brain into convolutions and the face
into lines, so have the passions, desires, and emotions marshaled the mobile
desire stuff into curved lines and whorls, eddies, rapids, and whirlpools,
resembling a mountain torrent at the time when it is at its greatest
disturbance — it is seldom ever at even comparative rest. This desire stuff
has, in successive periods of its evolution, become responsive to one after
another of the seven planetary vibrations emanating from the Sun, Venus,
Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Each individual desire body has,
during that time, been woven into a unique pattern, and as the shuttle of
fate flies back and forth unceasingly upon the loom of destiny, this pattern
is being enlarged upon, embellished, and beautified, though we may not
perceive it. As the weaver always does his work on the reverse side of
his tapestry, so are we also weaving without fully understanding the
ultimate design or seeing the sublime beauty thereof, because it is yet on
the side away from us, the hidden side of nature.
But in order that we may better understand, let us take up some of these
tangled threads of passion and emotion to see what effect have have on the
pattern which God, the Master-Weaver, wishes us to make.
The ancient myths always shed a luminous light upon the problems of the
soul, and we may profitably consider in this connection a certain part of
the Masonic legend. The masons are a society of builders, "tektons" in
Greek — the same society in fact to which Joseph and Jesus belonged, for the
latter are called in the Greek bible, "tektons" — builders — not carpenters,
as in the orthodox version. The masons under Solomon were the builders of
that mystic temple designed by God, the Grand Archetekton or Master Builder,
and built without sound of hammer, which Manson speaks about in that wonderful
play, "The Servant in the House." He tells us there that "it is no dead pile
of stone and timber, but it is a living thing. When you enter it you hear a
sound, a sound as of a mighty anthem chanted, that is, if you have ears;
and if you have eyes, you will presently see the temple itself, a mystery of
looming shapes and shadows, leaping sheer from floor to dome. It is yet
building and built upon; sometimes the work goes on in utter darkness,
sometimes in blinding light." Every true mystic mason knows what this
temple is and endeavors to build it. The ancient masonic legend tells us
that when Hiram Abiff, the master mason in charge of the construction of
Solomon's temple, a building of God made without sound of hammer, was
preparing to make his masterpiece, the "molten sea," he gathered materials
from all over the earth and placed them in a fiery furnace, for he was a descendant of Cain, a Son of Fire, who in turn was a son of Lucifer, the spirit of fire. Hiram proposed to make an alloy of crystal clarity, capable of reflecting all the wisdom of the world. But, so runs the story, there were among the workmen certain traitors — spies from the Sons of Seth — who, through Adam and Eve, were descendants of the lunar god Jehovah, who had an affinity for water and who hated fire. These traitors poured water into
the mold in which the molten sea, the Philosopher's Stone, was to be cast. Upon the meeting of the fire with the water there was a great explosion.
Hiram Abiff, the master mason, being unable to blend the warring elements,
saw with unspeakable sorrow the destructive eruption of his attempted
masterpiece. While he was watching the battle of the spirits in the fire and
water, Tubal-Cain, his ancestor, appeared and bade him jump into the seething
mass. He was then conducted to the center of the earth where he met his
first ancestor, Cain, who gave him a new word and a new hammer which would enable him, when he had become skilled in the use thereof, to blend the antagonistic elements and make from them the Philosopher's Stone, the highest possible human achievement.
There is in this symbolical story more wisdom than could be given in
volumes concerning human soul growth. If the student will read between
the lines and meditate upon these various symbolical expressions, he will
gain much more than can ever be said, for true wisdom is always generated
interiorly and the mission of books is only to give a clue.
Since this ancient time the lunar Angels have taken charge principally of
the moist, aqueous vital body composed of the four ethers and concerned in
the propagation and nourishment of the species, while the Lucifer Spirits
are singularly active in the dry and fiery desire vehicles. The function of
the vital body is to build and sustain the dense body, while that of the
desire body involves destruction of the tissues. Thus, there is a constant
war going on between the desire and vital bodies, and it is this war in
heaven that causes our physical consciousness on earth. Through many lives
we have worked in every age and clime, and from each life we have extracted a
certain amount of experience, garnered and stored as vibratory power in the
seed-atoms of our various vehicles. Thus, each of us is a builder,
building the temple of the immortal spirit without sound of hammer; each one
is a Hiram Abiff, gathering material for soul-growth and throwing it in the
furnace of his life-experience, there to be worked upon by the fire of
passion and desire. It is being slowly but surely melted, the dross is
being purged in every purgatorial experience, and the quintessence of soul
growth is being extracted through many lives. Every one of us is thus
preparing for initiation, — preparing whether we know it or not — learning to
blend the fiery passions with the softer, gentler emotions. The new hammer
or gavel wherewith the master workman rules his subordinates is now a cross
of sorrow, and the new word is self-control.
Part II
The Color Effects of
Emotion In Assemblages
Of People – The
Isolating Effect
of Worry
Let us now see how the desire body changes under the varying feelings,
desires, passions, and emotions, so that we may learn to build wisely and
well the mystic temple wherein we dwell.
When we study one of the so-called physical sciences, such as anatomy or
architecture, which deals with tangible things, our task is facilitated by
the fact that we have words which describe the things whereof we treat, but
even then the mental picture conceived by a word differs with each
individual. When we speak of a "bridge," one may make a mental picture of
a million-dollar iron structure, another may think of a plank across a
streamlet. The difficulty which we experience in conveying accurate
impressions of our meaning increases apace when we attempt to convey ideas
concerning nature's intangible forces, such as electricity. We measure
the strength of the current in volts, the volume in amperes, and the
resistance of the conductors in ohms, but, as a matter of actual fact, such
terms are only inventions to cover up our ignorance of the matter. We all
know what a pound of coffee is, but the world's greatest scientist has no
more accurate conception of what the volts, amperes, and ohms are of which he
so learnedly discourses than the schoolboy who hears these terms for the first
time.
What wonder then that super-physical subjects are described in vague and
often misleading terms, for we have no words in any physical language which
will accurately describe these subjects, and one is almost helpless and
utterly at a loss for descriptive terms wherewith to express oneself regarding
them. If it were possible to throw colored moving pictures of the desire
body upon the screen and there show how this restless vehicle changes
contour and color according to the emotions, even then it would not give an
adequate understanding to any one who was not capable of seeing these things
himself, for the vehicles of every single human being differ from the
vehicles of all others in the way they respond to certain emotions. That
which causes one to feel intense love, hate, anger, fear, or any other
emotion may leave another entirely untouched.
The writer has a number of times watched crowds for the purpose of
comparison in this respect, and has always found something startlingly new
and different from what had hitherto been observed. On one occasion a
demagogue was endeavoring to incite a labor union to strike; he was very much
excited himself, and though the basic color of deep orange was perceivable,
it was for the time being almost obliterated by a scarlet color of the
brightest hue; the contour of his desire body was like the body of a
porcupine with its quills sticking out. There was a strong element of
opposition in the place, and as he talked one could clearly distinguish the
two factions by the colors of their respective auras. One set of men
showed the scarlet of anger, but in the other set this color was inter-
mingled with a gray, the color of fear. It was also remarkable that,
although the gray men were in the majority, the others carried the day, for
each timid one believed himself alone or at least with very few supporters,
and was therefore afraid to vote for or express his opinion. If one who was
able to see this condition had been present and had gone to each one who
manifested in his aura the signs of dissension, and had given him the
assurance that he was one of a majority, the tide would have turned in the
opposite direction. It is often so in human affairs, for at the present time
the majority are unable to see beneath the surface of the physical body and
thus to perceive the true state of the thoughts and feelings of others.
On another occasion a revival meeting was visited where many thousands
were present to hear a speaker of national repute. At the beginning of the
meeting it was evident from the state of the auras of the people that the
great majority had come there with no other purpose than to have a good time
and see some fun. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions connected with the
ordinary life of each were plainly visible, but in a number a certain darkish
blue color showed an attitude of worry; it seemed that they had had some
disappointment in life and were very uneasy. When the speaker appeared, a
curious phenomenon took place: desire bodies are usually in a state of
restless motion, but at that moment it seemed as if the whole vast audience
must have held its breath in an attitude of expectancy, for the varied
color-play in the individual desire bodies ceased and the basic orange hue
was plainly perceptible for an instant; presently each commenced his
emotional activities as before, while the prelude was being played. Then
commenced the singing of hymns, and this showed the value and effect of
music, for as all united in singing identical words to the same tune, the
same rhythmic vibrations which surged through all these desire bodies seemed
to blend them and make them, for the time being, almost one. Quite a
number were sitting in the scoffers' seat, so to speak, refusing to sing and
unite with the others. To the spiritual sight they appeared as men of
steel, clothed in an armor of that color, and from each one, without
exception, went out a vibration which said so much plainer than mere words
could ever have done, "Leave me alone, you shall not touch me." Something
from within had drawn them there, but they were mortally afraid of giving
way, and therefore their whole aura expressed this steel color of fear which
is an armor of the soul against outside interference.
When the first song was ended, the unity of color and vibration lapsed
almost immediately, each one taking anew his customary thought atmosphere;
and had nothing more been done, each would have lapsed into his habitual inner
life. But the evangelist, though not able to see this, knew from past
experience that his audience was not yet ripe, and a succession of songs
were therefore sung to the accompaniment of clapping hands beating drums,
and gesticulations from the leader aided by a trained chorus. This brought
the scattered souls again into a bond of harmony; gradually people were
overwhelmed with religious fervor, and the unity necessary for the next
effort was established. From the music, the leader's hand-clapping, and the
stirring appeal of the songs, that vast audience had become as one, for the
men of steel, the gray-tinted scoffers who thought themselves too wise to be
fooled (when their emotion really was fear), were a negligible part in that
vast congregation. All were then attuned as the many strings upon one great
instrument, and the evangelist who appeared before them was a master artist
at playing upon their emotions. He moved them from laughter to tears, from
sorrow to shame; great waves of the corresponding colors seemed to go over
the whole audience, as bewildering as they were magnificent. Then there
were the customary calls to "stand up for Jesus"; the invitation to the
"mourners' bench," etc., and each brought forth from all over the audience a
certain emotional response which was plainly shown in colors, golden and
blue. Then there were more songs, more clapping and gesticulations which,
for the time, furthered the unity and gave this audience an experience
resembling the feeling of universal brotherhood and the reality of the
Fatherhood of God. The only ones upon whom the music had no effect were the
men clad in the steel blue armor of fear. This color seems to be almost
impervious to any other emotion; and even though the feelings experienced by
the great majority were relatively impermanent, the people benefited in a
measure by the revival, with the exception of these men of steel.
So far as the writer has been able to learn, the inner fear of yielding
to emotion — fear being saturnine in effect and twin sister to worry — seems
to require a shock that will take the person so affected out of his
environment and set him down in a new place among new conditions before the
old conditions can be overcome.
Worry is a condition where the desire currents do not sweep in long
curved lines in any part of the desire body, but where the vehicle is full
of eddies — nothing but eddies in extreme cases. The person so affected does
not endeavor to take action in any line; he sees calamities where there are
none, and instead of generating currents which lead to action that may
prevent the thing he fears, each thought of worry causes an eddy in the
desire body, and he does nothing in consequence. This condition of worry in
the desire body may be likened to water which is about to congeal under a
lowering temperature; fear which expresses itself as skepticism, cynicism, and pessimism may be likened to that same water when it has frozen, for the desire bodies of such people are almost motionless, and nothing one can say or do seems to have the power to alter the condition. They have, to use a common expression which fits the condition excellently, "drawn into a shell," and that saturnine shell must be broken before it is possible to get at the man and help him out of his pitiable state.
These saturnine emotions of fear and worry are usually caused by the
sufferer's apprehension of economic or social difficulties. "Perhaps this
investment which I have made may depreciate or become a total loss; I may
lose my position and find myself starving upon the street; everything I
undertake seems to go wrong; my neighbors are slandering me and trying to
undermine my social position; my husband (or wife) does not care for me any
more; my children are neglecting me;" and a thousand and one kindred
suggestions present themselves to the mind. He should remember that every
time one of these thought is indulged in, it helps to congeal the currents in
the desire body and build a steel blue shell in which the person who
habitually fosters fear and worry will some time find himself shut off from
the love, sympathy, and help of all the world. Therefore we ought to
strive to be cheerful, even under adverse circumstances, or we may find
ourselves in a serious condition here and hereafter.
"It is easy enough to be pleasant
When life flows along like a song,
But the man worth while
Is the one who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong."
Part III
Effects of War Upon
The Desire Body – The
Vital Body As Affected
by the Detonations
of Big Guns
In the beginning of the Great War the emotions of Europe ran riot in a
most horrible manner, first among the so-called "living," and then among the
killed — when they awoke. This awakening took a long time because of the
large guns used — but more of that later. The whole atmosphere of the
countries involved was seething with currents of anger and hate, like a cloud
of dark crimson it hung around every human being and over the land. Then
there were dark-tinted streaks like a funeral pall, which seem always to be
generated in crises of sudden disaster when reason is at a standstill and
despair grips the heart. This was doubtless caused by the fact that the
peoples involved realized that a catastrophe of a magnitude which they were
unable to comprehend was happening. The desire bodies of the majority
whirled at high speed in long waves of rhythmic pulsation which said
more plainly than words, "Just kill, kill, kill." When two or three or a
crowd met and commenced to discuss the war, the rhythmic pulsations
indicating the settled purpose to do and dare ceased, and the thoughts and
feelings of excitement generated by the discussion or speech took shape as
conical projections which rapidly grew to a height of about six or eight
inches, then they burst and emitted a tongue of flame. Some people generated
a number of these volcanic structures at one time, in others there were only
one or two at the same time. When one of these bubbles had burst in one
place, another appeared somewhere else on the desire body while the
discussion lasted, and it was the flames from them that colored the cloud over
the land scarlet. When a crowd disbanded or friends parted after such a
discussion, the bubbling and eruptions grew smaller and less frequent,
finally ceasing and giving place again to the long rhythmic pulsations first
mentioned.
These conditions are now seldom if ever seen; the explosive anger at the
enemy thus indicated is a thing of the past so far as the great majority are
concerned. The basic orange color of the western peoples' aura is again
visible, and both officers and men seem to have settled down to war as to a
game; each is anxious to outdo and outwit the other. The war is now mainly a
channel for their ingenuity; but a number of the lay-brothers of the
Rosicrucian Order believe that the condition of anger will return in a
modified form when active hostilities cease and peace negotiations commence.
This form of emotion we may call abstract anger, and it differs widely from
what is observed in the case of two persons who become angry with each other
in private life, whether they start to fight physically or not. Seen from
the hidden side of nature, there are hostilities before blows are struck.
Jagged, dagger-like desire-forms project themselves from one to the other
like spears until the fury which generated them has expended itself. In the
patriotic anger there is no personal enemy, therefore the desire-forms are
more blunt and explode without leaving the person who generated them.
The "steel man" so common in private life where worry over the thousand
one things that never happen crystallizes an armor around the person who
allows old Saturn to thus grip him, were are are conspicuous by their absence.
The writer accounts for it on the hypothesis that the tension in their
environment forced them to enlist and the shock broke the shell; then
familiarity with danger bred contempt for it. It is certain that these people
have benefited greatly by the war, for there is no state more hampering
to soul-growth than constant fear and worry. It is also a remarkable fact
that though the men engaged in war suffer awful privations, the mass of them
are cultivating a tinge of soft sky-blue which stands for hope, optimism, and
a dawning religious feeling, giving an altruistic touch to the character. It
is an indication that that universal fellow-feeling which knows no
distinctions of creed, color, or country is growing in the human heart.
In the beginning of the war the desire bodies of the combatants whirled
at an awful rate, and it was noted that while people passing over from
sickness, old age, or ordinary accidents regain consciousness in a short
time, varying from a few minutes to a few days, those killed in war were
in a great many cases unconscious for several weeks, and strange to say,
those who were almost torn to pieces seemed to wake up much quicker than
thousands that had only insignificant wounds. This puzzle was not solved
for many months. Before we study the causes underlying this phenomenon,
we must first record that when the people who had thus died in intense anger
during the first part of the war awoke in the invisible world, they usually
started to fight their enemies anew, and until the great educational work
started by the Elder Brothers and their Invisible Helpers bore fruit, these
people went about with maimed bodies and in great anguish because of their
dear ones left behind. Now such occurrences are extremely rare and soon
settled, for all have been taught that thought will create a new arm, limb, or
face; the patriotic hatred is gone, and "enemies" able to speak each other's
language often fraternize with benefit to both. The red cloud of hate if
lifting, the black veil of despair is gone, there are no volcanic outbursts
of passion in either the living or the dead, but so far as th writer is
able to read the signs of the times in the aura of the nations, there is a
settled purpose to play the game to the end. Even in homes bereaved of many
members, this seems to hold good. There is an intense longing for the
friends beyond but no hatred for the earthly foe. This longing is shared
by the friends in the unseen and many are piercing the veil, for the
intensity of their longing is awakening in the "dead" the power to manifest
by attracting a quantity of ether and gas which often is taken from the vital
body of a "sensitive" friend, as materializing spirits use the vital body
of an entranced medium. Thus the eyes blinded by tears are often opened by a
yearning heart so that loved ones now in th spirit world are met again face
to face, heart to heart. This is nature's method of cultivating the
sixth sense which will eventually enable all to know that man is an immortal
spirit and continuity of life a fact in nature.
To understand the slowness wherewith those slain in the war regain
consciousness in the unseen world, we must first undertake a more intimate
study of the four ethers than has hitherto been given in "The Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception."
The atoms of the chemical and life ethers gathered around the nuclear
seed-atom located in the solar plexus are shaped like prisms. They are all
located in such a manner that when the solar energy enters our body through
the spleen, the refracted ray is red. This is the color of the creative
aspect of the Trinity, namely Jehovah, the Holy Spirit, who rules Luna, the
planet of fecundation. Therefore the vital fluid from the sun which enters
the human body by way of the spleen becomes tinged with a pale rose color,
often noted by seers when it courses along the nerves as electricity does in
the wires of an electric system. Thus charged, the chemical and life ethers
are the avenues of assimilation which preserve the individual, and of
fecundation which perpetuates the human race.
During life each prismatic vital atom penetrates a physical atom and
vibrates it. to form a picture of this combination, imagine a pear-shaped
wire basket having walls of spirally curved wire running obliquely from pole
to pole. this is the physical atom; it is shaped nearly like our earth, and
the prismatic vital atom is inserted from the top, which is widest and
corresponds to the north pole of the earth. Thus the point of the
prism penetrates the physical atom at the narrowest point, which corresponds
to the south pole of our earth, and the whole resembles a top swinging,
swaying, and vibrating. In this manner our body is made alive and capable
of motion. (It is noteworthy that our earth is similarly permeated by a
cosmic body of ether, and that those manifestations which we note as the
Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis are etheric currents circling the earth
from pole to equator as currents in the physical atoms do.)
The light and reflecting ethers are avenues of consciousness and memory.
They are somewhat attenuated in the average individual and have not yet
taken definite form; they interpenetrate the atom as air interpenetrates a
sponge, and they form a slight auric atmosphere outside each atom.
At death a separation takes place; the seed atom is withdrawn from the
apex of the heart along the saturnine pneumogastric nerve, through the
ventricles and out of the skull (Golgotha); all the atoms of the vital body
are liberated from the cross of the dense body by the same spiral motion,
which unscrews each prismatic atom of ether from its physical envelope.
This process is attended with more or less violence according to the
cause of death. An aged person whose vitality has been slowly ebbing may
fall asleep and wake up on the other side of the veil without the slightest
consciousness of how the change took place; a devout and religious person
who has been prepared by prayer and meditation on the beyond would also be
able to make an easy egress; people who freeze to death meet with what the
writer believes to be the easiest of accidental deaths, drowning being next.
But when a person is young and healthy, especially if of an irreligious
or atheistic turn of mind, the prismatic ether atom is so tightly entwined
by the physical atom that a considerable wrench is required to separate the
vital body. When the separation of the physical body from the higher
vehicles has been accomplished and the person is dead, as we say, the light
and reflecting ethers are separated from the prismatic atom. It is this
stuff, as described in the Cosmo, which is molded into the pictures of the
past life and etched into the desire body, which then begins to feel
whatever there was of pain or pleasure in the life. The part of the vital
body composed of the prismatic atoms of the chemical and life ethers then
returns to the physical body, hovering above the grave and disintegrating
synchronously with it.
Now comes the crux of our explanation. Ether is physical matter, and
while people shot with small arms in a minor engagement may sometimes be
seen walking away somewhat dazed but nevertheless conscious, the awful
detonations of the big guns used so extensively have the effect of throwing
the prismatic ether atoms topsy-turvy, and shattering (not scattering) the
auric envelope of light and reflecting ethers which is the basis of
sense-perception and memory. Until this resolves itself into its original
relativity, the man remains in a stunned, comatose condition which often
lasts for weeks. Under such conditions this fine etheric stuff does not
lend itself to the formation of pictures of the past life — it is congealed
to a certain extent.
Part IV
The Nature Of Ether
Atoms – The Necessity
of Poise
When the Ego is on its way to rebirth through the Region of Concrete
Thought, the Desire World, and the Etheric Region, it gathers a certain
amount of material from each. The quality of this material is determined by
the seed atom, on the principle that like attracts like. The quantity
depends upon the amount of matter required by the archetype built by ourselves
in the second heaven. From the quantity of prismatic ether atoms that are
appropriated by a certain spirit, the Recording Angels and their agents
build an etheric form which is then placed in the mother's womb and
gradually clothed with physical matter which then forms the visible body of
the new born child.
Only a small portion of the ether appropriated by a certain Ego is thus
used, and the remainder of the child's vital body, or rather the material
from which that vehicle will eventually be made, is thus outside the dense
body. For that reason the vital body of a child protrudes much farther
beyond the periphery of the dense body than does that of the adult. During
the period of growth this store of ether atoms is drawn upon to vitalize the
accretions within the body until, at the time when the adult age is reached,
the vital body protrudes only from one to one and a half inches beyond the
periphery of the dense body.
It has been determined by physical science that the atoms in our dense
body are constantly changing so that all the material which composes our
present vehicle at this moment will have disappeared in a few years, but it
is common knowledge that scars and other blemishes perpetuate themselves
from childhood to old age. The reason for this is that the prismatic ether
atoms which compose our vital body remain unchanged from the cradle to the
grave. They are always in the same relative position — that is to say, the
prismatic ether atoms which vibrate the physical atoms in the toes or in the
fingers do not get to the hands, legs, or any other part of the body, but
remain in exactly the same place where they were placed in the beginning. A
lesion of the physical atoms involves a similar impression on the prismatic
ether atoms. The new physical matter molded over them continues to take on
shape and texture similar to those which originally obtained.
The foregoing remarks apply only to the prismatic ether atoms which
correspond to solids and liquids in the physical world, because they assume
a certain definite shape which they preserve. But in addition each human
being at this stage of evolution has a certain amount of the light and
reflecting ethers, which are the vehicles of sense perception and memory,
intermingled in his vital body. We may say that the light ether corresponds
to the gases in our physical world; perhaps the best description that can be
given of the reflecting ether is to call it hyper-etheric. It is a vacuous
substance of a bluish color resembling in appearance the blue core of a gas
flame. It appears transparent and seems to reveal everything that is within
it, but nevertheless it hides all the secrets of nature and humanity. In it
is found one record of the Memory of Nature. The light and reflecting
ethers are of an exactly opposite nature to that of the stationary prismatic
ether atoms. They are volatile and migratory. However much or little a man
possesses of this material, it is an accretion, a fruitage, derived from his
experiences in life. Inside the body it mingles with the blood stream and
when it has grown by service and sacrifice in life's school so that it can
no longer be contained within the body, it is seen on the outside as a soul
body of gold and blue. Blue shows the highest type of spirituality,
therefore it is smallest in volume and may be compared to the blue core of
the gas flame, while the golden hue forms the larger part and corresponds to
the yellow light which surrounds the core in the gas ring. The blue color
does not appear outside the dense body save in the very greatest of saints —
only yellow is usually observable there. At death this part of the vital body
is etched into the desire body with the life panorama which it contains.
The quintessence of all our life experience is then eventually impressed
upon the seed atom as conscience or virtue which urges us to avoid evil and to
do good in a coming life. Thus the quality of the seed atom is altered
from life to life. The quintessence of good extracted from the migratory part
of the vital body in one life determines the quality of the prismatic
stationary ether atoms in the next life. The highest in one life becomes the
lowest in the next and thus we gradually climb the ladder of evolution
towards divinity.
From the foregoing it will be evident that the vital body is a vehicle of
habit; all parents know that during the first seven years of childhood when
this vehicle is in course of gestation that children form one habit after
another. Repetition is the keynote of the vital body and habits depend upon
repetition. It is different with the desire body, the vehicle of feelings
and emotions which are always changing from moment to moment; thought it has
been said that the ether which forms our soul body is in constant motion and
mingles with the blood stream, that motion is relatively slow compared to
the rapidity of the current of the desire body; we may say that the ether
moves like a snail compared with light.
The points brought out by the foregoing may be summed up as follows:
Desire stuff moves with inconceivable rapidity comparable only with
light.
The two higher ethers also travel with great speed though far slower than
desire stuff.
The prismatic ether atoms composing the lower ethers are stationary but
have a high rate of vibratory motion.
The dense atoms are as motionless as the crystal in the rock.
No matter what people say to us or about us, their words have no intrinsic
power to hurt — it is our own mental attitude towards their utterances which
determines the effect of their words upon us for good or ill. Paul, when
facing persecution and slander, testified that "none of these things move me." All who hope to advance spiritually must cultivate equipoise, for
without it the desire body will either run riot or congeal, according to the
nature of the emotions generated by intercourse with others whether worry,
anger, or fear. We know that the dense body is our vehicle of action, that
the vital body gives it the power to act, that the desire body furnishes the
incentive to action, and that the mind was given as a brake on impulse. We
learn from the Cosmo, pp. 89, 90, 91, that thought-forms from within and
without the body are being continually projected upon the desire body in an
endeavor to arouse feeling which will lead to action, and that reason ought
to rule the lower nature and leave the higher self scope for expression of
its divine proclivities. We also know that habitual thought has power to
mold even physical matter, for the nature of the sensualist is plainly
discernible in his features which are as coarse and gross as the features
of the spiritually minded are delicate and fine. The power of thought is
still greater in its potency to mold the finer vestures. We have already seen
how thoughts of fear and worry congeal the desire body of any one who
indulges in that habit, and it is equally certain that by cultivating an
optimistic frame of mind under all circumstances we can attune our desire
bodies to any key we wish. after a time, that will become a habit. It must
be confessed that it is difficult to hold the desire body down to any definite lines, but it can be done, and the attempt must be made by all who aspire to spiritual advancement.
Regarding the effect from the esoteric standpoint of this polarization, we
may learn much from certain customs in so-called secret societies. As you
know, such organizations always place at the door a guard who is instructed
to deny admittance to anyone not supplied with the proper pass-word and
signs, and that works very well so far as the people are concerned who
function only in their physical body. But the so-called secrets of these
organizations are not in any sense secrets to those who are able to enter
their places of assembly in their vital bodies. It is otherwise in a
true esoteric order such as, for instance, the Rosicrucians. No guard is on
duty at the door of that Temple when the Mystic Midnight Mass is said each
night of the week. The door is wide open to all who have learned to speak
the open sesame. But that is not a spoken password; the initiate who desires
to attend must know how to attune his soul body to the particular rate of
vibration maintained on that night. Furthermore, this vibration differs on
the various nights of the week so that those who have learned to attune
themselves to the vibration maintained on Saturday night when the first
degree meets are as effectually barred from entering the Temple with those who
carry on the work Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc., as any ordinary person.
The cosmic law under which this is done applies also to the control and
effect of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Paul well said that we are the temple of the living God (our Higher Self). We have also created a
subtle aura about us under th guardianship of the Divine Hierarchies reigning
over the seven planets, Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and
Venus. The Universe, or great world, is mystically called the
seven-stringed lyre of Apollo. our individual organism or microcosm is a
replica or image of God, and it behooves us to awaken in ourselves an echo
of this music of the spheres. Most of us have learned to respond too much
to the saturnine vibrations of sorrow, gloom, fear, and worry, which congeal
our desire bodies, and it would be to the lasting benefit of all to try to
cultivate the spiritual vibrations of the Sun, filling our lives with
optimism and sunshine which will dispel the saturnine gloom and despondency
and prevent such thoughts entering our aura in the future.
The prime necessity of advancement is equipoise. All who aspire ought to adopt Paul's motto, "None of these things move me."
Part V
The Effects of
Remorse – The Dangers
of Excessive Bathing
As there are many among the Rosicrucian students who perform the
exercises given by the Elder Brothers for the purpose of furthering soul-
growth, though they have not felt inclined to enter the Path, it is thought
to be well to consider the esoteric effect of the emotions engendered by these
exercises.
When in the exercise of retrospection the aspirant to the higher life
reviews the happenings of the day in reverse order and meets an incident in which he hurt some one or failed to help another or in any other way did not live up to that which he holds as his ideal of conduct, he is taught to
cultivate intense remorse for whatever he has done wrong for the purpose
of eradicating the record from the seed-atom in the heart where it has been
imprinted by the act, and where it will remain until it is wiped out by
sufferings in purgatory unless previously expunged by artificial means such
as this exercise.
In purgatory the cleansing process is accomplished by the centrifugal
force of repulsion which tugs and tears the desire stuff, in which the
picture is formed over its matrix of ether, out of the desire body. At
that particular time the soul suffers as it made others suffer, because of a
singular condition in the lower regions of the Desire World where purgatory
is located. Some seers who are unable to contact the higher regions speak
of the Desire World as illusory, and they are right so far as the lower
regions are concerned, for there all things appear reversed as we see them in a glass. This peculiarity is not purposeless — nothing in God's kingdom
is; all things serve a wise end. This reversal places the erring soul in
the position of its victim, so that when a scene unrolls on the screen of
its past life where it did a wrong to some one, the soul does not stand as
a mere spectator and see the scene re-enacted, but it becomes, for the time
being, the victim of the wrong and it feels the pain felt by that wronged
one, for the centrifugal force of repulsion exerted to tear the picture from
th desire body of the wrongdoer must at least equal the hate and anger of
the victim which impressed the picture upon the seed-atom at the time of
occurrence.
During retrospection the aspirant endeavors to imitate these conditions;
he tries to visualize the scenes where he did something wrong, and the
remorse he endeavors to feel must at least equal the resentment felt by
whomever he wronged. It then has the same effect of expunging the record of
the injury as does the centrifugal force of repulsion, which accomplishes
the eradication of evil in purgatory for the purpose of extracting therefrom the quality of the soul which we know as conscience, and which acts as a deterrent in hours of temptation. Thus used, the emotion of remorse cleanses and purifies the desire body of weeds and tares, leaving the soil free and
fostering the growth of manifold virtues that blossom into spiritual
advancement and bring greater opportunities for service in the Master's
vineyard.
But as the force latent in gunpowder and kindred explosive substances may
be used to further greatest objects of civilization or to outdo the most
savage acts of barbarism, so also, this emotion of remorse may be misused in
such a manner that it becomes a detriment and a hindrance to the soul
instead of a help. When we indulge in remorse daily and hourly, we are
actually wasting a great power which might be used for the most noble ends
of life, for the constant indulgence of regret affects the desire body in
a manner similar to that which follows excessive bathing of the physical body,
as described in the "vice of excessive cleanliness," an article which appeared in our magazine, "Rays from the Rose Cross." It was there stated that water has a great affinity for ether and absorbs it most greedily,
several illustrations being given to demonstrate the fact; it was also
stated that when we take a bath under normal conditions, it removes a great
deal of poisonous miasmatic ether from our vital bodies, provided we stay in
the water a reasonable length of time. After a bath the vital body becomes
somewhat attenuated and consequently gives us a feeling of weakness, but if
we are in our usual good health and have not stayed in the bath too long,
the deficiency is soon made good by the stream of force which flows into
the body through the spleen. When this influx of fresh ether has replaced
the poisoned substance carried off in the water, we feel renewed vigor which
we rightly attribute to the bath, though usually without realizing the
full facts as here stated.
But when a person who is not in perfect health makes a habit of bathing
every day, perhaps even twice or three times, an excess of ether is taken
from the vital body. The supply entering by way of the spleen is also
diminished on account of the loss of tone of the seed-atom located in the
solar plexus and the attenuated condition of the vital body. Thus it is
impossible for such people to recuperate between such oft repeated depletions,
and as a consequence the health of the dense body suffers; they lose
strength continually and are apt to become confirmed invalids.
"Aa above, so below, and as below, so above," says the Hermetic aphorism,
enunciating thereby the great law of analogy which is the master-key to all
mysteries. When we use the centrifugal force of remorse to eradicate the
acts of evil from our hearts during the evening exercise of retrospection,
the effect is similar to the action of the water which removes the miasmatic
poisoned ether from our vital bodies during the bath, and thus leaves room
for an influx of pure health-promoting ether. After we have burned out the
wrong-doings in the sacrificial fire of remorse, the poisonous substance
thus eradicated leaves room for the influx of desire stuff which is morally healthier and better soil for noble deeds. The more thoroughly we are
purged by this remorse, the greater the vacuum produced and the better the
grade of new material we attract to our subtler vehicles.
But, on the other hand, if we indulge in regrets and remorse during every
waking hour as some do, we are outdoing purgatory, for though the time there
is spent in eradication of evil, the consciousness turns from each picture
when it has been torn out by the force of repulsion. Here, because of the
interlocking of the desire and vital bodies, we are enabled to revivify the
picture in memory as oft as we please, and while the desire body is
gradually dissolved in purgatory by the expurgation of the panorama of life,
certain small amount is added while we are living in the physical world, to
take the place of that which is ejected by remorse. Thus, remorse and
regret when continually indulged in have the same effect on the desire body as
excessive bathing has on the vital body. Both vehicles are depleted of
strength by excessive cleansing, and for that reason it is as dangerous to
the moral and spiritual health to indulge indiscriminately in feelings of
regret and remorse as it is fatal to physical wellbeing to bathe too much.
Discrimination should govern in both cases.
When we perform the exercise of retrospection, we should give ourselves
over to the feelings of regret and remorse with our whole soul; we should
endeavor to shed tears of fire that may burn into our very innermost being;
we should make the cleansing process as thorough as possible, to the end
that we may grow in grace thereby to the utmost. but having finished the exercise we should do the same as is done in purgatory — consider the incidents of the day closed and forget all about them, save in so far as
they demand restitution of something, the making of an apology, or such
subsequent acts to satisfy the demands of conscience. And having thus paid
the debt, our attitude ought to be one of unfailing optimism. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." "If God be for us, who
can be against us?" By that attitude we die daily to the old life and we
are born each day to walk in the newness of the spiritual life, for our
desire bodies are thus renewed and ready to serve a higher aim in life than
the day before.
And while we are discussing regret and remorse as applied to the problem
of soul-growth, with their effect on our subtle bodies, we may also
profitably mention the effect of regret directed into other channels. There
are people who live with regret as with a boon companion, who take it to
bed with them at night and get up with it in the morning; they take it to
the office, shop, or church, they sit with it at meals, they nurse it as
the most precious thing in their possession, and they would sooner part
with life itself than give up their regret for this, that, or the other thing.
As a vampire sucks the ether from the vital body of its victim and feeds
upon it, so perpetual thoughts of regret and remorse concerning certain
things become a desire-elemental which acts as a vampire and draws the very
life from the poor soul who has shaped it, and by the attraction of like for
like, it fosters continuance of this morbid habit of regret.
We are not helping the loved ones who have departed this life by our
regrets which we love to fancy are evidences of our faithfulness, but we are
hindering them. They have left the present sphere of experience and are going
onwards to other realms where there are other lessons to be learned, and we
are holding them back by our thoughts, for they feel us most acutely for some
time after they have passed over, and we owe them a duty to think
thoughts of cheer and love instead of selfish regret which hurts both us and
them. Regret is subversive of all spiritual growth, for while the
thought-elemental thus created hangs about us as a vampire we cannot climb
the rugged path.
Loathsome as the vulture which feeds upon the noxious, decomposing
carcasses of the dead are the vain regrets which live upon the morbid
contemplation of the past and its mistakes. It is our duty to drive them out
of our mental habitation as we would eject a vulture from our physical
abode were it to seek entrance.
Instead, let us cultivate an attitude of optimism in all things, for all
things work together for good — God is at the helm, nothing can go really
wrong, and all will turn out right in God's good time.
The subject of prayer is well worth the attention and study of all who
aspire spirituality, and we trust the following hints may help our students
in their efforts in this direction.
There is only one force in the universe, namely, the Power of God, which
He sent forth through space in the form of a Word; not a single word, but
the creative fiat which by its sound-vibration marshaled the millions of
chaotic atoms into the multitudinous shapes and forms from starfish to star
and microbe to man, which constitute and inhabit the universe. As the
syllables and sounds of this creative Word are being spoken, one after
another through the ages, species are being created and the older ones
evolved, all according to the thought and plan conceived in the Divine Mind
ere the dynamic force of creative energy was sent out into the abyss of
space.
This, then, is the only source of power, and in it we really, truly, and
literally live and move and have our being, just as surely as the fishes
live in the water. We can no more escape or withdraw ourselves from God
than the fish can live and swim on dry land. It was no mere poetic
sentiment when the Psalmist said: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit,
or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven,
Thou art there. If I make my bed in the grave behold Thou art there. If I
take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me."
God is Light, and not even the greatest of modern telescopes which reach
many millions of miles into space have found the boundaries of light. But
we know that unless we have eyes wherewith to perceive the light, and ears
which register the vibrations of sound, we walk the earth in eternal
darkness and silence; similarly, to perceive the Divine Light which alone
can illuminate our spiritual darkness, and to hear the voice of the
silence which alone can guide us, we must cultivate our spiritual eyes and
ears; prayer, true scientific prayer, is one of the most powerful and
efficacious methods of finding favor before the face of our Father, and
receiving the immersion in spiritual light which alchemically transforms the
sinner to the saint and places around him the golden wedding garment of Light,
the luminous soul body.
Preparation For Prayer
Ora Et Labora
But be not deceived, prayer alone will not do this. Unless our whole
life, waking and sleeping, is a prayer for illumination and sanctification,
our prayers will never penetrate to the Divine Presence and bring down upon
us a baptism of His power. "Ora et labora" — pray and work — is an esoteric
injunction which all aspirants must obey or they will meet with but scant
success. In this connection an ancient legend of St. Francis of Assisi
will bear repetition because of the light it sheds upon the life on one
wholly dedicated to the service of God.
One day St. Francis stepped up to a young brother in the monastery with
the invitation: "Come, brother, let us go down to the village and preach to
the people." The young brother addressed responded with alacrity, overjoyed
at the prospect of a walk with the holy father, for he knew what a source of
spiritual upliftment it would be. And so they walked to the village, up and
down its various streets and lanes, all the while conversing upon topics of
absorbing spiritual interest, and finally turned their steps homeward
towards the monastery. Then suddenly it dawned upon the young brother that
they had been so absorbed in their own conversation that they had forgotten
the object of their walk to the village. Diffidently he reminded St.
Francis of the omission, and the latter responded: "Son, while we were
walking the village streets the people were watching us, they overheard
snatches of conversation and noted that we were talking of the love of God
and His dear Son, our Saviour; they noted our kindly greetings and our words
of cheer and comfort to the afflicted ones we met, and even our garb spoke
to them the language and call of religion; so we have preached to them every
moment of our sojourn among them to must better purpose than if we had
harangued them for hours in the market place." St. Francis had no other
thought but God and to do good in His name therefore he was well attuned to
the divine vibration, and it is no wonder than when he went to his regular
prayers he was a powerful magnet for the divine Life and Light which
permeated his whole being.
We who are engaged in the so-called secular work of the world and forced
to do things that seem sordid, often feel that we are hampered and hindered
on that account, but if we "do all things as unto the Lord" and are "faithful
over a few things," we shall find that in time opportunities will come of
which we do not dream. As the magnetic needle temporarily deflected from the
North by outside pressure instantly and eagerly returns to its natural
position when the pressure is removed, so we must cultivate that yearning
for our Father which will instantly turn our thoughts to Him when our work
in the world is done for the day and we are free to follow our own bent. We
must cultivate a feeling similar to that which ensouls young lovers when after
an absence they fly into each others arms in an ecstasy of delight. This
is an absolutely essential preparation for prayer, and if we fly to our Father
in that manner, the Light of His presence and the sweetness of His voice
will teach and cheer us beyond our fondest hopes.
The Place Of Prayer
The next point requiring consideration is the place of prayer; this is of
very vital importance for a reason not generally known even among students
of esotericism; it is this. Every prayer, spoken or unspoken, every song of
praise, and every reading of parts of the scriptures which teach or exhort,
if done by a properly prepared reader who loves and lives what he reads, brings down upon both the worshiper and the place of worship an outpouring of spirit. This in time an invisible church is built around the physical
structure which in the case of a devout congregation becomes so beautiful
that it transcends all imagination and defies description. Manson in the
"Servant in the House" gives us only the faintest glimpse of what it is like
when he tells the old Bishop:
"I am afraid you may not consider it an altogether substantial concern.
It has to be seen in a certain way under certain conditions. Some people
never see it at all. You must understand, this is no dead pile of stones
and unmeaning timber, it is a living thing. When you enter it you hear
sound, a sound as of some mighty poem chanted. Listen long enough and you
will learn that it is made up of the beating of human hearts, of the
nameless music of men's souls; that is, if you have ears. If you have eyes,
you will presently see the church itself, a looming mystery of many shapes
and shadow leaping sheer from floor to dome, the work of no ordinary
builder. Its pillars go up like the brawny trunks of heroes; the sweet human
flesh of men and women is molded about its bulwarks, strong impregnable.
The faces of little children laugh out from every corner stone; the terrible
spans and arches of it are the joined hands of comrades, and up in the heights and spaces are inscribed the numberless musings of all the dreamers in the world. It is yet building, building, and built upon.
Sometimes the work goes forward in deep darkness — sometimes in blinding light-
-now beneath the burden of unutterable anguish, now to the tune of great
laughter and heroic shoutings like the cry of thunder. Sometimes in the night
time one may hear the tiny hammerings of comrades at work in the dome, the
comrades that have climbed ahead."
But this invisible edifice is not merely lovelier than a fair palace in a
poet's dream; it is as Manson says, a living thing, vibrant with divine
power of immense aid to the worshiper, for it helps him in adjusting the
tangled vibrations of the world which permeate his aura when he enters a
true "House of God" and to get into the proper attitude of prayer. Then it
helps him to lift himself in aspiration tot he throne of divine grace, and
to offer there his praise and adoration which call forth from the Father a
new outpouring of the spirit in the loving response, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."
Such a place of worship is essential to spiritual growth by scientific
prayer, and those who are fortunate enough to have access to such a temple
should always occupy the same place in it, for that becomes permeated with their individual vibrations and they fit into that environment more easily
than anywhere else; consequently they get better results there.
But such places are scarce, for a real sanctuary is required in
scientific prayer. No gossip or profane conversation may take place in or
near it for that spoils the vibrations; voices must be hushed and the
attitude reverent; each must bear in mind that he stands upon holy ground and
act accordingly, Therefore no place open to the general public will answer.
Furthermore, the power of prayer increases enormously with each
additional worshiper. — The increase may be compared to geometrical
progression if the worshipers are properly attuned and trained in collective
prayer; the very opposite may result if they are not.
Perhaps an illustration may make the principle clear. Suppose a number
of musicians who have never played with others and who perhaps are not very
proficient in the use of their instruments, were brought together and set to
play in concert; it needs no very keen imaginations to realize that their
first attempts would be marked by much discord, and were an amateur allowed
to play with them, or even with a finished orchestra, no matter how earnest
and how intense his desire, he would inevitably spoil their music. Similar
scientific conditions govern collective prayer; to be efficacious
participants must be equally well prepared as elucidated under a previous
heading; they must be attuned under harmonious horoscopic influences. When a malefic in one nativity is on the ascendant of another, those two cannot profit by praying together; they may rule their stars and live in peace if
they are developed souls, but they lack the basic harmony which is
absolutely essential in collective prayer. Initiation removes this barrier
but nothing else can.
Part II
The Wings and The
Power; The Invocation;
The Climax
It was made clear in Part I that there are certain esoteric reasons which
make collective prayer inadvisable except under special conditions.
It was knowledge of these difficulties which prompted the Christ to warn
his disciples not to say their prayers before men and to advise them that
when they wanted to pray to enter into their closet. We cannot each have a large beautiful edifice for our devotions, not do we require it; too often
prompt and display are apt to turn our hearts from God. But most of us can
set a small portion of our room aside for devotion, curtain it off or with a
screen separate it from the rest of the apartment, or we can take a closet
(literally) and make it into a sanctuary. The nature of the encircling
walls matters not; it is the apartness and the invisible house of God which we build our prayers, and the divine downpouring which we receive in
response from our Father that are important. A picture of Christ and a Rose
Cross may be hung upon the wall if desired, but are not essential. The
All-Seeing Eye is preferred by some very successful esotericists of our
acquaintance as a symbol of the Father. But we remember the words of Christ,
"The Father and I are one;" so though we have no authentic picture of
Christ, we prefer to use such as we have, for we know that thoughts will not
go astray on account of lack of authenticity. Christ is the Lord of this
era; later, of course, the Father takes charge, but now Christ is mediator
for the masses.
We need scarcely say that no matter how large of small, the whole room or
apartment of the successful aspirant is permeated by an atmosphere if
holiness, for all the thoughts which he can legitimately have apart from
the faithful performance of his worldly duties are of the heavenly Father,
but the corner of closet set apart as a sanctuary soon becomes filled with
superlatively spiritual vibrations; therefore any aspirant who contemplates following the scientific method of prayer should first seek to secure a permanent place of residence, for if he moves about from place to place he will suffer a distinct loss every time and have to begin to build anew. The invisible temple which he built and left disintegrates by degrees when worship ceases.
The Wings And
The Power
It is a mystic maxim that "all spiritual development begins with the vital
body." This is next in density to our dense body, its key-note is
repetition, and it is the vehicle of habits, hence somewhat difficult to
change or influence, but once a change has been effected and a habit
acquired by repetition, its performance becomes automatic to a certain
extent. This characteristic is both good and bad in respect to prayer, for
the impression registered in the ethers of this vehicle will impel the
aspirant to faithful performance of his devotions at stated times, even
though he may have lost interest in the exercise and his prayers are mere
forms. If it were not for this habit forming tendency of the vital body,
aspirants would wake up their danger as soon as the real love began to wane,
and it would then be easier to retrieve the loss and keep on the Path.
Therefore the aspirant should carefully examine himself from time to time to
see if he still has wings and power wherewith swiftly and surely to life himself to his Father in Heaven. The wings are two in number; love and aspiration are their names, and the irresistible power which propels them is
intense earnestness. Without these and an intelligent understanding to direct the invocation, prayer is only a babble; properly performed it is the most powerful method of soul growth known.
The Position
of the Body
The position of the body matters little in solitary prayer; that is best
which is most conducive to concentration of purpose; but in collective praying it is the practice of accomplished esotericists to stand with bowed heads and hands folded in a peculiar manner. This makes a magnetic circuit which
unites them spiritually from the very commencement of the exercises. In
communities not so advanced, the singing of a hymn so standing has been
found of great benefit, provided all take part.
The Invocation
Prayer is a word which has been so abused that it really does not
describe the spiritual exercise to which we have reference. As already said
when we go to our sanctuary we must go as the lover who hastens to his
beloved, our spirit must fly ahead of our slow-moving body in eager
anticipation of the delights in store for us, and we must forget all else
in the thoughts of adoration which fill us on the way. This ids literally
true; the feeling required for success resembles nothing in the world so much
as that which draws the lover to his beloved; it is even more ardent and
intense. "As the hind panteth for the water brook, so thirsteth my soul after
Thee," is an actual experience of the true lover of God. If we have not
this spirit, it can be cultivated by prayer, and one of the most constant of
the legitimate prayers for self should be, "O God, increase my love for Thee
so that I may serve Thee better from day to day." "Let the words of my
mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, My
strength and my Redeemer."
Invocations for temporal things are black magic; we have the promise "See
ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall
be added unto you." The Christ indicated the limit in The Lord's Prayer
when He taught His disciples to say: "Give us this day our daily bread."
Whether for ourselves or others we must beware of going father in scientific
invocation. But even in praying for spiritual blessings we should beware
lest a selfishness develop and destroy out soul growth. All the saints
testify to the days of darkness when the divine Lover hides His face and
the consequent depression. Then it depends upon the nature and the strength
of our affection: Do we love God for Himself, or do we love Him for the
delights we experience in the sweet communion with Him? If the latter, our
affection is essentially as selfish as the feelings of the multitude which
followed Him because He had fed them, and now as then it is necessary for
Him to hide from us in such cases, a mark of His tender love and solicitude
which should bring us to our knees in shame and remorse. Happy are we if we
right the defect in our characters and learn the lesson of unfaltering
faithfulness from the magnetic needle, which points to the pole without
wavering despite rain or storm clouds that hide its beloved star.
It has been said that we must not pray for temporal things, and that we
ought to be careful even in our prayers for spiritual gifts; it is therefore a
legitimate question: What then shall be the burden of our invocation? And
the answer is, generally, praise and adoration. We must get away from the
idea that every time we approach our Father in Heaven we must ask for
something. Would it not annoy us if our children were always asking for
something from us? We cannot of course imagine our Father in Heaven being
annoyed at our importunities, but neither can we expect Him to grant what
would often do us harm. On the other hand, when we offer thanksgiving and
praise we put ourselves in a favorable position to the law of attraction, a
receptive state where we may receive a new downpouring of the Spirit of Love
and Light, and which thus brings us nearer to our adored ideal.
The Final Climax
Nor is it necessary that the audible of inaudible invocation should
continue during the whole time of prayer. When upon the wings of Love and
Aspiration, propelled by the intensity of our earnestness, we have soared to
the Throne of our Father, there may come a time of sweet but silent communion
more delightful than any other state or stage; it is analogous to the
contentment of lovers who may sit for hours in unbroken silence, too full of
love for utterance, a state which far transcends the stage where they depend
upon speech for entertainment. So it is also in the final climax when the
soul rests in God, all desires satisfied by that feeling of at-one-ment
expressed in the words of Christ, "My Father and I are One." When that climax
has been reached the soul has tasted the quintessence of joy, and no matter
how sordid the world may seem or what dark fate it may have to face, the
love of God which passeth all understanding is a panacea for all.
It should be said however, that that final climax is only attainable in all its fullness at rare intervals. It pre-supposes not only the intensity
of purpose to soar to the divine, but a reserve fund to remain posed in that
position, which most of us have not always at hand. It is a well known fact
that nothing worth while comes without effort. What man had done, man can
do, and if we start to cultivate the power of invocation along the
scientific lines here laid down, we shall in time reap results of which we
little dream.
And may our Father in Heaven bless our every effort.
Practical Methods Of
Achieving Success –
Based Upon Conservation
of Sex Force
It is just impossible to attain true and lasting success with living in
harmony with the laws of life, as it is for a criminal to live at peace in
the community whose laws he breaks. Just as he is eventually punished
because of his predatory habits, and incarcerated and restrained, so also
nature punishes, incarcerates, and restrains us when we break her laws. This
restraint is called disease and is an enemy of happiness, for one, no matter
what wealth he may have or what position he may occupy in the world, can be
very happy when he is in ill health bodily. Thus it will be seen that one
of the vital requirements for the man and woman who desires a full
realization of happiness and success in life is health, including strength,
for only in the measure that we are supplied with bubbling-over health can
we feel sufficiently optimistic, cheerful and vigorous to attain the
success which we are seeking.
The Bible tells us that death and disease cam into the world through eating
of the "tree of knowledge," and though from the materialist point of view
this may sound silly, let us not dismiss the story without looking at it a
little closer. We shall find that it is perfectly in harmony with scientific
facts as shown in the world today. Consider first the meaning of the tree
of knowledge as illustrated by the later remarks: "Adam knew his wife and she bore Abel;" "Adam knew his wife and she bore Seth;" and Mary's words to the angel, "How shall I conceive seeing I know not a man?" From these and many similar remarks it is evident that the tree of knowledge was a symbolical expression of the generative act. Mankind is thus, as the Bible says, conceived in sin and therefore subject to death, and from this there would seem no escape.
We would, however, do well to remember that evolution is a fact in
nature; that man as he is today is the result of a long past, and that this
present state is not the final attainment of a standard of perfection, but
that there are greater heights ahead of us. We are in a state of ever becoming; there is no halting nor resting upon the path, which is as limitless
as the age of the spirit. Moreover, as what we are today is the result of
what we were yesterday, so also it depends upon how we use our faculties
today whether we shall be one thing or another tomorrow. Let us then examine
the past, so that by learning what we have been, we may gain an inkling of
what we are to be.
According to the Bible, mankind was male-female before it was separated
into two distinct sexes as man and woman. We still have with us
hermaphrodites who have this, as we thing today, abnormal formation to
prove the truth of this Biblical assertion; and physiologically the opposite
organ of either sex is latent in all. During the period when man was thus
constituted fertilization must have occurred within himself; nor is this
any stranger than that many plants are so fertilized today.
Let us now see from the Bible what was the effect of self-fertilization
in the early days. There are two prime facts that stand out: One is that
there were giants in the Earth in those days; the other that the patriarchs lived for centuries; and these two characteristics, great growth and longevity, are possessed by many plants of today. The great size of trees and the length of their life are wonderful, the live centuries where man lives
only a few score years. Then the question comes, what is the reason of
the evanescence of human life, and what is the remedy? Let us first take up
the question of the reason, and the remedy will later be apparent.
It is well know to horticulturists that plants are stunted in their
growth when they bloom too prolifically. A rose may bloom to such an extent
that it dies; therefore the wise gardener prunes the buds from the plants so
that the strength may go partly into growth instead of blossom. Thus by keeping the seed within itself it attains the strength required for growth
and longevity. This was the secret of the great size and long life of the
earliest races, as it is the secret of the size and longevity of the plants
today.
That the creative essence in the seed is a spiritual substance is evident
when we compare the dauntlessness and impatience at restraint of the
stallion or the bull, with the docility of the steer and the gelding.
Moreover, we know that the confirmed libertine and the degenerate become
sterile and emaciated. When these facts have sunk into our consciousness it
will not be difficult to conceive of the truth of the Bible assertion that the
fruit of the flesh, which brings us under the law of sin and death, is
first and foremost fornication, whereas the fruit of the spirit which
make for immortality, as shown in the same book, are said to be
principally continence and chastity.
Consider also the child and how the creative force used within and for the child itself causes an enormous growth during the early years, but at
the age of puberty the birth of passion commences to check growth; the vital
force then produces seed in order to find growth and expression elsewhere,
and thenceforth growth is stunted. If we continued to grow during life as
we grow during childhood, we should be giants as were the divine
hermaphrodites of long ago.
The spiritual force generated from the time of puberty and all through
life may be used for three purposes, generation, degeneration, or regeneration. It depends upon ourselves which of the three methods we
choose; but the choice that we make will have an important bearing upon our
whole life, for the use of this force is not confined in its effect to the
time or occasion upon which it is thus used. It overshadows every single moment of our existence, and determines among our fellow men; how we meet the various trial of life; whether we are able to grasp our opportunities or let them slip by; whether we are healthy or sick; and whether we live our
life according to a satisfactory purpose; all of this depends upon the way we
use the vital force. That is the very spring of all our existence, the
elixir of life.
The part of the creative force which is legitimately sacrificed upon the
altar of fatherhood and motherhood is so small that it may be entirely
neglected for the purpose of the present considerations. There is no reason
whatever from a physical or spiritual standpoint why celibacy should be
insisted upon in any religious order, neither is this at all in harmony with
the Bible. The mere suppression of sexual attraction is not a virtue in
itself; in fact it may be a very serious vice, for there is no question that
many millions, fall into the most unspeakable vices on that account. Even
if they abstain from the sexual act, their thoughts are of such a nature
that they make themselves whited sepulchers, horrible within though
outwardly seeming pure and white. Paul himself, thought not in the
condition mentioned, said: "It is better to parry than to burn;" and the
natural expression is far to be preferred to such an inward state as above
described.
While there are very few who will defend abuse of the generative
function, many people who follow spiritual percepts in other things still
have the feeling than frequent indulgence of the desire for sexual pleasure
works no harm; some even have the idea that it is as necessary as the
exercise of any other organic function. This is wrong for two reasons:
First, each creative act requires a certain amount of force which burns up
tissue that must be replenished by an extra amount of food. This
strengthens and augments the Chemical Ether. Secondly as the propagative
force works through the Life Ether, this constituent of the vital body by
sending the creative force downwards for gratification of our desire for
pleasure; and their interlocking grip upon the two higher ethers which form
the soul-body becomes tighter and more powerful as time goes on. As
the evolution of our soul-powers and the faculty of traveling in our finer
vehicles depends upon the cleavage between the lower ethers and the soul-
body, it is evident that we frustrate the object we have in view and retard
development by indulgence of the lower nature.
If we turn again to the garden we may obtain a striking illustration of
the result of following the apostle's advice to "keep the seed within," by
considering the qualities of the seedless varieties of fruit. Seedless
fruits are larger and better flavored than those which have seeds, because
in them all the sap is used for the single purpose of making the fruit
delicious and succulent. Similarly, if instead of wasting our substance we
live chastely and send the creative force upward for regeneration, we
thereby etherealize and refine our physical bodies at the same time
that we strengthen our soul bodies. In this manner we may materially lengthen life and so increase our opportunities for soul growth and
advancement upon the Path in a very marked degree.
When we realize that success does not consist in the accumulation of
wealth but in soul growth, it will be evident that continence is an
important factor in the attainment of success in life.
Reference: The Web of Destiny, How Made and Unmade, by Max Heindel (1865-1919)
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