The Rosicrucian Digest - June And August 1932.pdf

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J RO SICRUCIAiN E M BLEM S (L Members desiring Rosicrucian emblems may obtain them from HeadquartJ ers. They are made of gold, beautifully inlaid with enamel, neat in size, and ^ consist of the triangle surmounted by the Egyptian cross. M en's style emblem J with screw back, $2.00. W o m en’s style, with patent safety catch pin, $2.25. I H O M E S A N C T U M S U P P L IE S ¥ Rosicrucian Candlesticks: Beautifully designed to represent Egyptian colNj> umns like those in Egypt and in the Supreme Temple at San Jose, finished in <3 dark red mahogany, mounted on double triangle base. Each will hold regular (b size candle. Price $2.50 per pair; postage prepaid. J Sanctum Cross: Design of this cross is like the famous Egyptian Crux ^ Ansata (the looped cross), mounted on double triangle and finished to match j the candlesticks, with red stone in the center of the cross. A very beautiful and y symbolical ornament. Price $2.50; postage prepaid. ^ Student’s Membership Apron: For those members who wish to wear the 3 typical Rosicrucian triangle lodge apron while performing ceremonies at home. (b this symbolical device made in the ancient manner and easily tied around the J body and containing the Cross and Rose within the triangle, will be found very appropriate. Price $1.50 each; postage prepaid. J Rosicrucian Incense: A very delicate perfumed incense, carrying with it , y the odor and vibrations of the Oriental flowers. M ade especially for us in j condensed form, so that a very small amount is necessary at one burning. $ Far superior to any high priced incense on the market. Price $ .65 for a box consisting of twelve large cubes sufficient for many months’ use, postage 3 prepaid by us. (C, Complete Sanctum Set: Includes two candlesticks, the cross, box of J incense, and the ritualistic apron, all described above. Special price if complete I set is ordered at one time. $6.50; postage prepaid. f R O S IC R U C IA N S T A T IO N E R Y Y Boxes of twenty-four sheets of beautiful blue stationery, broadcloth linen 3 finish, with envelopes to match, club size. Each sheet bears a symbolic Rosi(b crucian emblem. This is fine stationery to use in writing to a friend or acquaintJ ance to show your affiliation with the Order. Price per box $1.25; postage | prepaid. | A U T O EM BLEM S V Made especially for your automobile, but can be used anywhere. Made 3 of solid Art Brass Burnished, with Red Metal Rose. Emblem is identical with (b the smaller emblem worn on lapels. Easily attached to radiator. Five and oneJ quarter inches high. Price $1.50; postaqe prepaid. J A T T R A C T IV E SEALS Beautifully printed and embossed gum seals about the size of a twenty-five v cent piece in red and gold to be used in sealing envelopes or on stationery. Contains the emblem and name of the Order, Price 50c per hundred, postpaid. 1

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T H E FAM OUS “ST R EE T O F SO R R O W ”, JERUSALEM (Compliments of The Rosicrucian Digest)

THE INVISIBLE EMPIRE ••• that rules the destinies of men Jostling, mingling with the crowd, are the rulers of men. They wear no crown of piety, nor carry a scepter of political force— vet they exert a strange influence upon the lives of all they meet! In the throngs surg­ ing about you are men and women who are eminent sucessess— men who have a vision of greater life HERE AND N O W — who accomplish the seemingly impos­ sible, while others are in despair. With their qreater perspective of life they push the horizon of civilization farther out— they contribute the finer things which we all hope to enjoy later. There are the women, too— those who have a glow of beauty, a charm that comes from a dynamic personality, which far exceeds an ef­ fect induced by the artificiality of cosmetics, for it is truly more than "skin deep." These form an INVISIBLE EMPIRE of persons who possess a rare knowledge of the laws of life, which makes of them masters of destiny. Like a silver thread woven through civilization they bind mankind together with their wisdom and achievements. Fortune has yet smiled upon them. They have taken the initiative; they have sought the suppressed knowledge of all times. They have turned to channels whence this knowledge comes— studied, learned, mastered. The Rosicrucian Brotherhood is one of these ancient channels for the development of men and women, and for the contribution of happiness and success in life. It offers TO YOU the opportunity to become one of the invisible empire— to use this most powerful know­ ledge to attain S C R I B E S . P . C. the realization of your fond hopes A M # RC and aspirations.

Send for this Amazing FREE Book ‘‘The Wisdom of the Sages.” It is a fas­ cinating book that will tell you how the Rosicrucians will bring to the privacy of your home a rare knowledge which you can use daily. This knowledge will make you one of the in­ visible empire of men and women who achieve in life. This book is sent without cost, and tells how you MAY RECEIVE FOR STUDY these interesting, intriguing, HELPFUL teach­ ings. W rite a letter for your copy today. Address:

S C R I B E S . P . C.

ROSICRUCIAN BROTHERHOOD S A N JOSE.

CALIFORNIA

ROSICRUCIAN BROTHERHOOD SAN JO S E .

CALIFORNIA

PERPETUATING THE ORIGINAL ROSICRUCIAN TEACHINGS

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ROSICRUCIAN DIGEST COVERS THE WORLD

THE OFFICIAL, INTERN ATION AL ROSICRUCIAN M AGAZINE OF THE W ORLD-W IDE ROSICRUCIAN ORDER Vol. X

JUNE, 1932

No. 5

C O N T E N T S "The Street of Sorrow"

Frontispiece

The Thought of the Month............... By The Imperator System and Order................. By Frater Floyd Ramsey Sanctum Musings.................................... ’New Curved Light Theory'

By Dr. Frederick Gonder

Making Your Dreams Come True By Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, F.R.C. Pages from the Past............................... "The W ay" of Life..................

ByTheImperator

Cathedral Contacts............................... Is a New Savior Coming?

By Frater C. H. Cleve

Does the Cosmic Fail Us?

By Frater Roy Billings

"The Creation of Adam"............................ Illustration

Subscription to the Rosicnucian Digest, Three Dollars per year. Single copies twenty'five cents each. Entered as Second Class M atter at the Post Office at San Jose, Cali' fornia. under Act of August 24th, 1912. Changes of address must reach us by tenth of the month preceding date of issue. Published M onthly by the Supreme Council of THE ROSICRUCIAN ORDER— AM O RC

ROSICRUCIAN PARK

SAN JOSE. CALIFORNIA

The

THOUGHT OF THE MONTH HUMAN EVOLUTION

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

O ST certainly there is nothing t hat c o u n t s so g r e a t l y in the mastership of life as the elements of human evolution. W e may speak of c u ltu re , r e fin e ­ ment, art, and all the other niceties of life and char­ acter that go to make up the socalled polished man or woman, but, after all, it is the evolution of the higher instincts in man or in the ani­ mal that makes it rise toward that de­ gree of perfection intended by God and nature. As one travels around the world and notes the manner in which some groups or races of people live he can see how in one city, let alone in one country, there can be those of the same race and some racial ancestry and of the same historical background who live like the lowest of animal creatures, while near­ by are those who live like highly evolved human beings. W^e find men and women and children indifferent to all of the improvements that have been made in sanitation, hy­ giene, and personal and community cleanliness. \V e find them indifferent to the opportunities for education. W e find them indifferent to any and all moral codes, ethical codes, and even legal codes. W e find them satisfied to live in dark, damp, unclean, unwhole­

some huts, while around them on all sides is the bright sunshine and the clear air. W e find them contented with unclean food, unclean water, and un­ clean surroundings, where for the mere effort of moving themselves and their few personal belongings to another loca­ tion they might have at no greater cost to themselves, clean and beneficial con­ ditions. W e find men and women having no ambition and going through life with no prospects of change for the better and no desire to rise above the condi­ tions which surround them. W e find them eating and sleeping along the highways and by-ways, or in grovels. W e find them out of work and out of employment and out of money even while employment may be secured just around the corner and money may be secured in exchange for service of all kinds. W e find, on the other hand, men and women in every country who have risen from poverty and from limited and restricted environment to great heights. W e have wealthy men and women who have attained their pres­ ent position of affluence solely through the exertion of their own efforts and the development of their own special abilities. W e find young men and old men whose parents were grossly igno­ rant, but who are learned and occupy high places of wisdom. W e certainly do become what we have been taught to think and believe. Our education, our thinking, and un­ derstanding create new cells of charac­

ter in every part of our being and awaken the dormant instincts and quali­ ties that make man a super-animal and a creature far above all other members of the animal kingdom. By studying the life of domestic ani­ mals we may easily see the result of this cultural influence. W e see the welltrained cat and dog who will refuse to eat unclean food, who will refuse to allow their own bodies or sleeping places to become soiled or contami­ nated. W e find such animals more select and more critical about their per­ sonal existence than many of the hu­ man beings we meet in foreign lands. Only recently this story of evolution and of cultural development was im­ pressed upon me in a very personal way. One of my younger children had adopted and brought into the cellar of the house a typical “alley cat." W e knew nothing of the ancestry of the cat, of course, but its appearance as a young kitten was certainly against any belief that it had been properly cared for by either its own mother or anyone else. Tenderness, affection, food, and some very positive training developed the cat into a likable little creature ex­ cept that it manifested its preference for the dark parts of the cellar and did not mind eating its food in unclean places to which it would drag w hat­ ever was given to it. After months passed by the children looked forward to the birth of a litter of kittens and we wondered what kind of mother this strange cat would prove to be. Every­ one who told us they knew all about cats and dogs reminded us that “in­ stinctively she was a mother” and that the alley cat would prove to know as much about motherhood as any cat that had been trained or any being that had been educated. Every opportunity was afforded to make the expectant mother cat contented and to provide every proper convenience. At last the litter of five kittens was born. One of them was smothered life­ less within a few hours after birth and thereafter we noticed that this cat had about as much interest in her kittens as a wagon wheel has in the driver of the wagon. She would allow the kit­ tens to nurse, of course, but it was un­ questionably the attitude of a trial

rather than that of love or affection. She made no attempt to clean the kit­ tens nor to lift them out of the corner of the box in which they were born, nor to uncover them when they would tangle themselves in the loose cloth that was provided for them to sleep on. She would get up and leave them for long stretches at a time and then go back and throw herself upon them without any concern as to their comfort. Every few days one of the little kittens passed to the Beyond until before one of them reached the ninth day and had its eyes open they were all gone to the little Heaven for kittens. T he mother then stretched herself and discovering the box was empty and the little life­ less bodies had been removed, let out a wail or two and made a pretense of hunting around for them for a few minutes, and then continued her inter­ rupted social engagements around the back yards and the streets. This cat had probably inherited just such instincts as she manifested. There were undoubtedly higher instincts lying dormant in that cat but they had not been awakened. I believe from the few hours of moaning and wailing that we heard, that this mother might actually have missed the kittens when it was too late, and I believe she learned her first Karmic lessons. T he chances are that if she ever has any other kittens she would give them just a little bit more attention than she gave these first ones. But the whole incident illustrates to me just what I have seen among human beings in many foreign lands and, I am sorry to say, right here in our own glorious, progressive, highly civilized, cultured, modern country. M y younger children felt badly about the incident. The greatest shock to them was the shock to their faith in animal instincts. W h a t the teachers at school had told them and what they had learned about the kindness of dumb animals toward their own off-spring, and upon which they built a faith in the manifestation of G od’s love through all living things, was badly shattered. I know of many human beings who are living much like that cat lives. She is well fed when she cannot find food for herself and she always knows where there is a place to sleep and if

she wants her back scratched she only needs to come near the children and hump her back and cry a moment when she will get all the attention she wants, and so why bother with the develop­ ment of any instincts or the perfection of any super-qualities, traits, or abili­ ties that may lie within? But there is coming a time when that cat, like millions of human being, will want the personal power to do for her­ self what she finds others will not do for her. There is coming a time when a very nice little wooly dog or some other fluffy kitten will take the place of that cat in our house. Then this poor, unwise creature will find that she must go out and hunt for her food and hunt for affection and hunt for warm and safe places to sleep and she will meet with personal inabilities to do the things she should be able to do. I do not know whether a cat can soliloquize or not, and I do not suppose it would be­ gin its little personal discussion with the famous words, “T o be or not to be," but it will probably perch itself on the top of some fence some night when it is cold and dreary and when the moon is clouded out and she will say to herself something like this: “W h a t a nice failure I have made of my life! I V

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had no good training at home when I was with my parents and when I was taken to a better home I thought all I had to do was simply take all that was given to me and make no effort to im­ prove myself. And when the time came for me to demonstrate the great miracle of life and be a mother I still failed to do the things I should do and here I am now an outcast when I might have been the proud mother of an admiring little bunch of kittens and all of us playing around the fireside in that home over there." If we, as human beings, depended upon the divine instincts in us and the Godly consciousness in us to arouse us and force us to live the life we should live, we would turn out to be nothing more than this alley cat. It is through our own efforts, through a wilful, de­ termined, systematic effort to under­ standing^ develop the dormant in­ stincts within us, the unawakened con­ sciousness within us, that enables us to evolve and become living images of God. W e must develop the psychic emotions, the psychic discriminations, the psychic tests and preferments and know of all the spiritual evaluations of life, if we want to become perfect, more masterful, more happy, and con­ tented in life. V

AN U N U SU A L O PPO R TU N ITY

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

Ask a member who is a reader and subscriber to the "Rosicrucian Forum” just what it means to him. He will tell you that the "Rosicrucian Forum” establishes a closer contact with the Order than anything else he knows of. It projects him into the atmosphere of the Grand Lodge. He has an opportunity to participate in the special sessions and discussions that take place here. The "Rosicrucian Forum" is an attractive, thirty-two page magazine, containing no outside advertising and full of direct, helpful and inspiring articles and comments of value to members only. In fact, the magazine is for members only. W e are offering at this time a special year's subscrip­ tion (six copies per year) for only $1.40. This is a 35c reduction on the usual price. Our object is to have as many readers as possible for this magazine. This offer goes into effect as of M ay 15th and terminates June 15th. Each N E W SU BSCRIPTION re­ ceived during this period will be accepted at this unusual price. (Foreign countries allowed thirty days additional time.) Accept this companion in your home, because the "Rosi­ crucian Forum" is truly a companion to the Rosicrucian student. Send your order and remittance to the "Rosicrucian Forum," Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, San Jose, Calif.

System and Order THIS IS A MYSTICAL PHRASE WHICH YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND By

F r a t e r F lo y d R am se y

HROUGHOUT t h e Rosicrucian teachings, and es­ pecially i n t h e early classes, there is consider­ able reference to the s t u d e n t ’ s adoption of "sys­ tem and order” in his w o r k . And there are several allusions t o t h e fact t h a t every­ thing pertaining to universal operation is in accordance with ‘‘system and order,” From the very first instructions sent to all members or given to them in their lodge work, emphasis is given to the necessity for system and order in the activities on the members' part in connection with their studies and with their general activities in life. I have been impressed, in studying the reports from members and in read­ ing the correspondence of the mem­ bers passing through the v a r i o u s grades, by the frequent references to the adoption of system and order in their lives, indicating that the mem­ bers have taken hold of this plea and made it of real value to themselves. I wonder sometimes, whether our members fully realize the significance of this phrase, "system and order.” W e are told in the sacred accounts

of the establishment and creation of the universe that the first great mani­ festation of G od’s consciousness was that of bringing order out of chaos, and in many of the ancient mystical writings the phrase, "order out of chaos,” was written in Latin at the top of the manuscripts or documents, indicating that the instructions which followed in the manuscript were in ac­ cordance with the first primary law of the universe. Undoubtedly, the greatest problem which all of our members have in their lives so far as health, business, finances, happiness, and p e r s o n a l power are concerned, is due to the fact that the member's life is chaotic and that his activities and his think­ ing and his realizations are out of order and unsystematic and out of harmony with the universe. Taking man as a miniature of the universe it­ self and a replica of all of the univer­ sal laws, we can look upon man as being a miniature cell of the great universal cell that includes the whole universe. W e call him the microcosm as a miniature of the great macrocosm. W ithin his being there are thousands of forms of functions, operations, and activities going on, hourly and daily, which are in accordance with system and order. T he least disturbance to the systematic functioning of the human system means illness, disease, pain, suf­ fering, and unhappiness Every ending

The Rmirruri/tn D igest June 1932

of every nerve, every part of every organ, every movement of every muscle and cell of tissue, is delicately ad­ justed and arranged like the movement of the minute parts of a small watch. Anything that can affect or disturb the harmonious action of these parts of the human body will throw the entire human system out of harmony within itself and out of harmony with the universe. How foolish it is to think, therefore, that certain drastic or even minute changes can be made in the human body without disturbing its equilibrium and its harmony. Even the cutting out of the appendix, that was supposed to be useless, or any of the glands or parts such as the tonsils or small pieces of bone, will disturb this har­ mony. The incision of the surgeon’s knife into the body at any point means cutting and separation of some nerves and some blood vessels, and immed­ iately there is a temporary or per­ manent change in the systematic op­ eration of the body. T he taking of strong drugs as medicine, or for the sake of artificial stimulant or tem­ porary sedative, means further dis­ turbance of the perfect system. Ill­ nesses and accidents throw the system out of harmony. W ron g thinking and wrong acting tie the system into a knot, so to speak, and simply paralyze the whole operation of the body as a perfect organization. Years ago I used to watch some of the local control stations of the New York subway system. In these con­ trol stations there is a huge panel board upon which are painted the tracks of the subway system for sev­ eral miles in either direction. And there are miniature lights moving on these tracks to represent the many subway trains that are going north or south, east or west, at all hours of the day or night. The operator before this switch­ board had to see that all the trains were kept moving rapidly, and yet, not more than one-half minute apart. nor closer than twenty-five seconds. He had to see that each one stopped at a station just so many seconds and then went on, regardless of the crowds that might be trying to get into any

one of trains. T en seconds delay any­ where along the line meant a dan­ gerous condition. Once I watched the control board and saw that a train had stopped be­ tween stations and was in some diffi­ culty. Reports showed that it had broken electric connection with the third rail. A “shoe’’ had broken and was jamming the rail. T he train had to stop. T he control operator in the control room immediately threw a switch and disconnected t h e h i g h power in that section of the subway so that repairs could be made in safe­ ty. This paralyzed the entire subway system for three or four miles in either direction. T he current was off for not more than a minute, but in that minute the panel board showed train after train, going in either direction, coming to a standstill and others piling up behind them. In five minutes there were miles and miles of confusion and traffic jams. T he accident occurred at ten o’clock in the morning, and it took until five in the afternoon— seven full hours— to have the entire system of the subway running smoothly again. M any engineers, traffic experts, and efficiency experts were involved in un­ tangling this situation, and only a por­ tion of the passengers in the trains during the first two hours of the situ­ ation knew how greatly the system was upset, for even a delay of ten sec­ onds in the schedule of each train in­ volved was a serious problem to elim­ inate. The human system is no less in­ volved in intricate regulations. A ny­ thing that will paralyze the flow of vitality, nerve energy, or proper func­ tioning of any part of the human body slows up all of the processes for hours, and requires the work of the greatest constructive engineers in the world — the Divine encjineers in charge of universal laws. W h en man wilfully upsets his system or inter­ feres with its regularity or fails to co­ operate, he is guilty of a terrible crime and a terrible injustice. M any forms of cooperation are necessary on the part of man to help maintain the beautiful system of the human existence on earth. Perhaps the

most important is that of properly nourishing and feeding the human sys­ tem. The wrong kind of food means a greater problem of elimination and protection within the human body. It means that a great work must be done by the Divine engineers to see that the wrong food does not poison and paralyze the system and that it is carried through the body without affecting it. It places a great load of unnecessary work upon the engineer’s process, and this robs the body of vi­ tality that should be used otherwise. The second great failure of coopera­ tion is that of keeping the bowels in proper action. N ot only is it neces­ sary to eliminate the waste matter from the human system, just as it must be eliminated from an engine, or a fire box, or any other mechanical con­ trivance, but it must eliminate the un­ necessary and unwanted and poisonous things that man puts into the system through his voluntary violation of natural law. Such elimination must take place regularly, not spasmodically. Just as there should be absolute system in the matter of giving nourishment to the body, so there must be perfect system in the elimination of waste matter. A delay of twenty-four hours in this process paralyzes the entire sys­ tem and sets up complications that are far more dangerous than a traffic jam on the railroad. T he blood is poisoned, the nerve energy is lowered, the op­ erative power in the nervous system is paralyzed, keeping organs from func­ tioning properly, and opening the door­ way to inlection and disease. A con­ stant or so-called “chronic” condition of this kind, continuing over many weeks or months does damage that cannot be repaired in years. Sleep must be regular, as well as rest, exercise and other actions of a voluntary nature. M an must cooperate in this matter by observing from ex­ perience what nature demands, and then abide by these rules. There are references in sacred liter­ ature to system and order that are highly significant. T he reference to setting one’s house in order is a reference to the rules and regulations of a moral and ethical nature. Unless

one’s character and habits of person­ ality are systematized and the wrong ones or evil ones eliminated and the good ones emphasized and applied more frequently, the character will be­ come subject to the ill effects of in­ difference. Invariably the member who writes to us and tells us of the great good he is deriving from our teachings and from our lessons, or from the practice of the experiments, is one who shows by everything he says and does that he is following our advice and has adopted “system and order” in his af­ fairs. W e note this by a hundred or more ear-marks. His envelopes are properly and carefully addressed; his letters have his name and key num­ bers in the upper comer of the first sheet; he writes his letters legibly and to the point; he tells us that he has set aside one night, and especially one hour of that night, for his lodge session at home; he has not allowed anything to interrupt the work on that night for the past year or two: he explains how he has every lecture pre­ served for handy reference— he has the lectures of each grade put into a binder or a folder; he has all of his correspondence with us fastened to­ gether for easy reference; he has the books that he purchased on a table or a shelf nearby; he keeps his sanctum in an orderly fashion; he makes his reports promptly; he notices the sys­ tem and order used by headquarters, and how his lecture comes to him at a certain hour, on a certain day each week with a regularity that astonishes him, and he knows that the post office could only carry out such a perfect demonstration of system be­ cause of the cooperation we give the post office at this end, and because we have a perfect system here or as nearly perfect as human beings can make it; he pays his dues promptly; he sends his card and dues the last week of each month, and never has any trouble in having his card returned to him promptly; he discovers facts and principles, valuable advice and help in between the lines of every lecture be­ cause he has made it part of his system to read each lecture twice or three times; he has discovered that the ex­

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

ercises do produce results because he has been orderly enough to try them properly, to follow the advice given and to try the exercises more than once; he is a booster, an enthusiast and an advocate of our work who cannot be swayed or influenced by any argu­ ments from those who say they have had indifferent results; he regulates his whole life in the same manner. Such a person is a lover of system and or­ der, and does not like things done or arranged in a chaotic condition. He senses in every bit of our work the care that has been used to systematize it, organize it, and keep it properly functioning. O n the other hand, the member who is occasionally dissatisfied with the re­ sults he has obtained or who frets and worries over them, and who writes for further advice and help, is very often a subject of unsystematic effort, solely because he has not realized the im­ portance of system and order. It is to these latter ones that I have di­ rected all that I say about it. Start in today and systematize your life. Make it a habit to be in bed and asleep by a certain hour every night. Not only will the M aster of your class and others soon discover what hour they may reach you for any help they want to give and know that with dependability they will find you asleep at such a time, but other forces of nature will become harmonized with the system of retiring and sleeping at a certain hour, and you will derive benefit from that. Set a certain hour to arise every morning and bathe; have a definite hour for your meals; have a definite period for walking and out­ door exercise; have a definite time for your studies and your recreation; sys­ tematize your spare hours and your Saturday afternoons and Sundays. Your life need not necessarily be like a piece of mechanical work or like a clock, but it should have an approxi­ mation to a system that will establish the sense of regularity in your life rather than the sense of being a free soul that one day wants to eat at five o’clock and the next day at six, or that wants to rise early on some morn­ ings and late on other mornings.

Be systematic in your reading in addition to the study of the lectures. Select with care the newspapers that you are to read. If you can get the “Christian Science Monitor” every day at any place, be sure to get it or subscribe to it, and make that your daily paper if there is not another good, clean, wholesome paper available. Se­ lect a few good magazines and read them systematically and c a r e f u l l y , rather than skimming through a num­ ber of them in a haphazard manner. If you want to read some mystical magazine in addition to the ones we publish, read one of the Theosophical publications published in the United States, for these are carefully prepared, and often have very excellent articles of a helpful nature. Be systematic in your thinking. Do not allow yourself to come to sudden and erroneous conclusions. Make it a matter of law with yourself to think on both sides of every subject before you decide which side is right. Sys­ tematize your conversations. M ake it a practice to think for ten seconds of what you are going to say whenever it is a serious or critical statement. Make a law to tithe yourself and to use a small percentage of your income or the money that passes through your hands for some good purpose. Give that tithing money to some helpful or­ ganization or institution, regardless of what the creed of the denomination may be. If you want to go to some meetings of a spiritual nature and can­ not agree with any church and its creeds, then attend with regularity the meetings of Unity, Theosophy, the V edanta Society, or any one of a number of organizations that are teach­ ing men and women to think and to up­ lift themselves and to help others. Do not allow your channel of mental and psychic expression to be limited just to one organization. All of this is meant when we say that you should put “system and or­ der" into your life and to live it and express it and fulfill it. Such persons live abundantly and never find time lagging, and never find themselves poverty stricken or financially sorrow­ ful. This is the keynote to the valu­ able lesson on “system and order.”

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SANCTUM MUSINGS DREAMS, PSYCHIC EXPERIENCES T H E SPEC IFIC D IFFEREN CES

O S T intriguing of all the states of the human mind and consciousness, is the dream state. Its fascination is not alone for the lowly or primitive mind, but it has an allure even for the highly tech­ nical and scien­ tific p e rs o n a g e . Both derive a de­ gree of pleasure from the theories they form about it,— the first, in their be­ lief of its prophetic significance; the second, in their attempts to explain its psychological and physiological origin in lengthy treatises. Dreams in alleras of history have played a prominent part. They form a vital part of our inherited literature. They have inspired to interpretation the greatest poets of all ages. T hey have been factors in the creation of empires; the fate of men and nations have changed with a dream. Learned coun­ cils with bated breath have awaited the defining of the idiosyncrasies of the dream of a certain seer or oracle. Dreams have further been enhanced in their prophetic sense by being incor­ porated in systems of pseudo science which tend to justify the faith vested in them. Religious creeds and sects and

multi-systems of philosophy, owe their origin, if not in their entirety, at least in part, to dreams. As the early forms of magic took on a deeper significance and evolved into a recognition of the duality of man, we find dreams the greatest contributing factor. The earliest form of religion con­ sidered is animism, and even today, it is extensively prevalent, notwithstand­ ing all of our advanced creeds of spir­ ituality. Animism, as its name implies, is the concept that all matter, all that is, is alive. This is not meant in the philosophical sense that there is motion or energy in all matter, but with the implication that there is a spirit, a con­ sciousness of being in all matter. Thus, from this view, a tree is alive and has an inner being or consciousness, such as is more commonly termed soul. In­ animate matter, such as stones, was thought to also be of dual existence. It can readily be seen that the doctrine of duality is essential to the belief in Immortality. So essential is it that if we remove duality, every religious struc­ ture founded on Immortality falls. Therefore, before man even in his ear­ liest state could conceive of animism or duality as pertaining to the world about him, he must have, of necessity, con­ ceived himself first as a dual being. This thought was inspired by some cause. E. P. Tyler logically presents the theory of the cause for the con­

T he Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

ception of animism in his work “Primi­ tive Culture.” Therein he shows the dream as responsible for the conception of duality. He prettily pictures primi­ tive man huddled on the ground in the protective shelter of a crevice in the rocks in a deep sleep. Primitive man dreams. He is forcing his way through dense thickets in pursuit of game. He eventually encounters and kills his prey. W hile feasting he is attacked by an enemy whom he slays. He awakens to find it dawn, that he is still lying in the same place where he went to sleep, and that physically he had not journeyed. W h a t could it mean? W a s there another self, a being within, that crept out of some aperture in his body while he slept, and roamed about, later to return? It must be so, for was he not asleep here, and yet he recalls being elsewhere? Furthermore, this inner being journeyed great dis­ tances in short spaces of time, which the physical man required many days to accomplish. This, then, attributed to the spirit life energy, the faculty of being free from material obstacles, and this inner self, this inner being that roamed about while he slept, must in­ deed be Supreme to the physical man, because of its accomplishments. W e find, however, that the philoso­ phical mind also has found a field for conjecture and speculation in dreams. Early thinkers propounded the ques­ tion, “W h o may say which is the dream state and which the awakened?” By what do we measure either? T o de­ clare the unreality of one by the reality of the other, is merely to examine them one at a time. A state of reality is one of consciousness, a realization of one’s surroundings and dependence upon them. W h en we are in a dream state, the subjects of the dream and the environment of which we are conscious, are real to us. W e realize and appre­ ciate conditions as they are. W e have no cognizance of any other state of reality. All there is is but what we realize in the dream consciousness. W h en we are awake, we are conscious through our senses of ourselves and our environment, and that state alone is the one we realize. Are the sounds we hear or the scents we smell in an awakened state more impressive than

those we are conscious of in a dream state? If both worlds are worlds of reality; that is, the dream or the awakened states, then which is the proper state? T hat is the ancient philosophical ques­ tion. These early thinkers further con­ tended that which was actual was not to be considered. It was the state of reality that was important. T hat which we realize a thing to be in an awakened state through our senses may not be what it is in actuality and they further cite the illusions of the senses— that to man life is only what he realizes it to be, and its actuality to him is immaterial. W e may, perhaps, easily or not re­ fute this abstract hypothesis, yet it goes to support our statements of the con­ sideration given by profound thinkers to dreams and the dream state. W ith the attaching of importance to dreams, there early came into existence a clas­ sification of types of dreams. Since dreams were associated with the spirit being of man, all dreams were thought to be of a psychic nature. Every dream was interpreted as the projection of the spirit of the being into the astral world where it was guided in the heavenly realm or mingled with the demons, or perhaps the dreamer was visited by the entities of these supernatural worlds who instructed him as to the conduct of man in the mundane world, and he then became a prophet, a seer, or an oracle. T he faith in the supernatural origin of dreams and the conception of them as actual experiences of the spirit con­ sciousness (psychic self) lent them an authenticity that was undisputed at the time. Explicit dependency upon all of these prophetic or visionary experiences eventually brought about the realization that in some instances events followed dreams, which substantiated the re­ liance placed in them as good or bad omens. Other dreams, however, never had associated with them any circum­ stances which would cause reliance to be placed upon them, and a classifica­ tion of dreams immediately went into effect. The classification consisted of the segregation of dreams into the class expected to be productive of actual events, and those not.

T he fact that dreams became classi­ fied, was the first indication of the skepticism of all dreams, as having Di­ vine origin. Doubt began to creep in. W e may use the analogy of a farmer purchasing a white cow with black spots that gave large quantities of milk, and assuming, therefore, that all cows with black spots were better milk givers. Eventually, upon purchasing a black cow, and discovering it gave even greater quantities of milk, doubt would enter into the theory of the milk-giving propensities of black cows with white spots. Immediately, a classification of milk-producing cows by color would take place. Doubt of the entire theory of determining the value of cows by color would come about by the observa­ tion that the colors did not run true to classification. This, of course, would result in confusion, yet hesitancy to discard the entire theory would pre­ vail. This was the position of the acceptance of dreams up until w hat we call our modern era, the 19th and 20th centuries. A determined effort was made in the early part of the 18th century to ascer­ tain the physiological and psychological origin of dreams. This effort took no cognizance of the theory of Divine origin of dreams, but placed them all in a physical category, as the result of some functioning of the mind. Centuries prior, the encyclopedic philosopher, Aristotle, sought an explanation for dreams. He arrived at conclusions at that early time which modern science cannot refute with actual fact. First, he made two distinct classifica­ tions of dreams— those which were psy­ chic, and those which were of psycho­ logical and physiological origin. The latter, he definitely associated with sleep. He further observed that dreams were not possible except when the senses of presentation (the five objective fac­ ulties) were dormant. T he logical an­ alysis of the origin of dreams by Aristotle is startling to the individual who conceives of knowledge of the human mind as an accomplishment of the present era only. Of outstanding importance for us to remember is that Aristotle recognized that dreams were not all of mental origin. W e will note that this distinction is not made by

modern psychologists and the explana­ tions and hypotheses offered to explain away evident psychic experiences are not complimentary to the science. The first experiments were conducted by subjecting a sleeper to certain ex­ ternal stimuli. A normal subject, un­ aware as to the nature of the experi­ ment, when in sound sleep, had portions of his body exposed to varying degrees of temperature. For an example: A foot or leg was exposed to severe cold or extreme heat, the stimulus being gradual and not intense enough to awaken the subject. Further experiments consisted of playing soft lights on the eyelids, so as to affect the optic nerve. Careful observation was made of the subject during sleep and precise notations made of the recited dreams. It was noted that dreams caused by external stimuli were always closely related to the sen­ sation produced. In the instance of the exposure of the food to cold and mois­ ture, the theme of the dream was related to an experience the subject may have had in walking in ice water or tramping in snow, further involving the illusion of severe illness, the result of the ex­ posure. In the theory propounded for dreams the result of external stimuli is this: The impulses received through the sense of feeling were registered in the objective consciousness. The stimuli and sensations were sufficient to release from the memory experiences being of the same nature and involving the same sensation which in this instance might have been an actual experience of some time in life tramping through the snow with bare feet. There would further be released in memory attendant ex­ periences as the result of the former, such as illness, hospitals, physicians. Since thinking, whether it be of the future as in imagination or recollection or rational appreciation of the present, is dependent upon reason, the memory impressions, therefore, would be con­ fused, and not in order of sequence. The objective mind, the intelligence, being dormant or at least abnormal, due to sleep, no precise arrangement of the impressions through reason in the consciousness would be made. It was further found that dreams occurred, which, from their nature appeared to

T he Rosicrucian

Digest June 1932

be caused by stimuli of one of the senses, yet the subject was not dis­ turbed externally. Reasoning developed the theory that since the nervous sys­ tem extended throughout the entire body, internally as well as externally, stimuli could be set up within and that those internal stimuli would also find their seat in the central consciousness, or the brain. Therefore, if that be true, dreams could be the result of organic disturbances also. T he improper func­ tioning of any organ resulting in the disturbance of the physical harmonium would give the sensation of pain. These stimuli would then be the cause of the release of memory impressions founded upon similar sensations of pain. Intes­ tinal disorders causing sharp pains in the region of the abdomen, not suffi­ cient to break the sleep of the subject, produced dreams of being pierced in the abdomen with a stiletto. Additional external research by the injection of serums into the blood stream and the application of solutions internally to artificially induce organic disturbances confirmed a theory of dreams by or­ ganic excitation. W h y would not this theory of dreams be true? Is not the human ob­ jective consciousness like unto a screen stretched taut before the objective mind? Upon it is bombarded from within and without myriads of impressions. Some are flashed upon it so quickly the mind cannot be cognizant of them. Others remain of sufficient duration of time for the reason to make patterns of the impressions, correlate them, form opinions, conclusions, conceptions. O ther combinations of impressions are fixed by the will upon the screen of consciousness and held there as one holds a fixed thought or series of thoughts, until some purpose of the reason is satisfied. The external bom­ bardment of impressions during the awakened state received through the objective senses is more intense and completely occupies the objective mind. During sleep, with the complete cessation of the senses, the internal im­ pressions occupy the screen of con­ sciousness. T hey neither are, however, marshalled by the reason, nor focussed by the will and the resulting kaleido­ scopic mental pattern is the weird stuff

of which dreams are made. Such scien­ tific and exacting experimentation did not contribute results which were all in absolute conformity with the above theory, however. There was the recita­ tion by some subjects, of dreams which were proven to be prophetic and verid­ ical. T he most exhaustive examination of the subject brought forth the fact that events dreamed of were not the result of hallucination, illusion, or de­ lirium psychosis. The integrity and sanity of the subject could not be ques­ tioned. Such dreams, for example, con­ sisted of a vision while in sleep, of the illness and immediate death of a friend or relative living at a great distance, and not having been communicated with for years, and which were proven to be facts. A. Lang, in a technical treatise re­ lates a number of veridical dreams of many persons and offers in part ex­ planation the following: “Moreover, even if a dream, later fulfilled, is re­ corded contemporaneously, or impels to action taken on the moment, the theory of mere fortuitous coincidence is applied; while everyone knows that in telling a dream they almost inevitably give rational shaping to what was not rational, and, generally, decorate the anecdote.” This is an obvious en­ deavor to stretch the theory of physio­ logical cause of dreams to envelop all experiences of the dream state. The stretching is so great that rends appear. T he rends do not show faults in the theory as applied to dreams, but as per­ taining to psychic experiences and con­ tacts. There are those who have had prophetic, veridical dreams, who are so sincerely concerned with the cause of them as to not deceive themselves by the rationalizing of a dream which was irrational. Therefore, to infer the deco­ ration of dreams, when they were ver­ idical, is presumptuous, and not offering a sound solution to the perplexing problem. Since we have no biases or prejudices and need not conform to the rules of a school of specialization, we are priv­ ileged to reason contrary to orthodoxy. Let us admit of a class of dreams as differentiated from those produced by external or internal stimuli. T o further (Continued on Page 191)

‘New Carved Light Theory’ IS THE NEW THEORY BUT A REDISCOVERY OF KNOWN PRINCIPLES? By Dr.

F

r e d e r ic k

N propounding the N ew C u rv ed Light Theory for the first time, it is not the intention of the author to criticize the pre­ vious theories on light, but to hum­ bly present a new­ ly conceived un­ d e r s ta n d in g of this great force, and sincerely hope that through further research in this field, the curved light theory may be proven more definite, objectively. Previous Light Theory

Light, as it is known today by man, is usually described as a radiant energy created by rapid vibrations of particles of a luminous body, which are propa­ gated in all directions on a wave-like motion of so-called ether. This ether occupies all space and the radiant energy is supposed to cause the ether to vibrate and impart to it the wave­ like motion on which the light travels. This theory contends that a light ray is a geometric straight line perpendicu­ lar to the surface of this wave-like mo­ tion. This theory also contends that physically there is no such thing as a light ray, but infers that if light rays do exist, they must travel on a straight line.

G

onder

Netv Curved Light Theory

In reality, the sphere of manifested light is created by known vibrations which are self-extending, so to speak, and it does not depend on the so-called ether as a vehicle for diffusion into space. Light travels from the sun, is self-extended into all directions, in a curve, and all rays are separate and concentric. Source of Light

Light as it is known by man, comes from the sun, and is called natural light. T here is another phase of light that will be referred to as the secondary or objective light. By objective light, is meant the light vibrations that come from a material object caused by the coming together of Sunlight vibrations and the vibrations that are given off by the material object. W ithout a doubt the blending of the Sunlight vibrations and these material object vibrations do cause a new condition. Reflected Vibrations

In the process of extending light vibrations from the Sun, should the light be obstructed by a material object, such as the earth, the light vibrations are changed somewhat by the contact or infusion with the material vibrations given off by the earth. These vibra­ tions are likewise reflected in a curve out and up, from the earth into space. The greater the intensity of the objec­ tive light ray, the less the curve.

Positive and Negative Forces

Day and night on this earth are very similar to the body’s respiratory system. Inhaling of the elements is day or a positive process, the exhaling of ele­ ments is night or a negative process. This alternating process is vital to all life. One is not complete in itself. Stop one abnormally and you will automati­ cally stop the other one. Space is al­ ways experiencing one or the other of the two conditions. Either light, the positive condition, or dark, the negative condition. Perhaps it is the attraction that these two conditions have for each other, that is responsible for the plane­ tary movements. However, both con­ ditions are vital to all life, for in some manner each one nourishes life. So often it is said that without Sunlight all life would perish. W e may well wonder just what would happen if dark, or night, as it is more universally known, should fail us? It seems evi­ dent that light possesses dark and in turn dark possesses light. As light leaves the Sun laden with creation the vibrations are dominatingly positive and appear as light. As this distribution of life and existence proceeds there is a change that gradually takes place until finally the vibrations become dominat­ ing ly negative and appear as dark or night. Spent Vibrations

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

The force or power that distributes the light and dark vibrations through­ out the universe upon its course, has a mission which is two-fold, because this force also attracts to it the spent vibra­ tions which are given off by changing matter, and after completing this cycle deposits the spent vibrations into the Sun. T he Sun, the source of life, upon receiving the spent vibrations, trans­ mutes them and then again extends them into space on the mission of crea­ tion. This is a perpetual process, very much like the planetary system as it is understood, or the body’s circulatory system. It is a known fact, that the Planets on their journey around the sun, do approach it at a given point with regularity. N o doubt this attrac­ tion to the Sun is for the purpose of revitalization.

Curved Light Theory

T o prove the Curved Light Theory in reality, so far as man may objec­ tively observe, will be a difficult task, due to the fact that these light rays are so closely related or associated that they appear as a mass, and because of the small number of rays encountered at one time by man. Extent of Universe

Light rays travel from the Sun in a curve and if not obstructed will continue to make a complete circle. In other words, the force or power of these vi­ brations eventually completes a cycle, returning to the Sun, bringing with it the spent vibrations that have been attracted to it on its mission of con­ struction as well as destruction. By finding the diameter of this circle of the curved light ray, the extent of the uni­ verse will be revealed. Light and Vision

Today, in America, science is work­ ing on a super-telescope, which will permit contacting a far greater volume of the objective light rays which radiate from the Planets. This new two hun­ dred inch reflecting lens when com­ pleted, will provide a means of greater detailed exploration than is possible to­ day with the present astronomical facili­ ties. The distance from which an object may be seen depends upon the size and intensity of its light vibrations as well as the condition or density of the medium between the observer and the object. The larger the object, the greater the expansion of the curve and the number of the light vibrations re­ flected by it. However, as the distance between the observer and the object increases the size of the object appears to grow smaller. This is due to the decrease in the number of light rays contacted by the eye of the observer. At least objective visualization depends on the combination of light vibrations and dark vibrations. It is the meeting of. or the combination of light vibra-tions and the material or darker vibra­ tions that we must depend upon for the visualization of objects, or the seeing of things. However, light is the big factor in objective visualization so far as hu­ manity on this earth is concerned. The reason for a self luminous object or

artificial light being seen a greater dis­ tance in darkness than in the Sunlight is due to the great difference or con­ trast that exists between the light vi­ brations and the dark vibrations. For example, a dark object that naturally gives off dark vibrations, surrounded by dark or night, will, because of the similarity of these two vibrations, appear as one, a condition that makes objective visualization impossible. T he same is true of light, and we find an­ other illustration in an eclipse of the Sun. It is by the comparison of light and dark vibrations that we may experi­ ence the phenomena of a Planet pass­ ing between the Sun and ourselves. If the Planet were composed of the exact vibrations as the sun, it could not be seen. Experimental Demonstrations

At this point, perhaps it would be well to analyze some of the peculiar actions of objective light relative to visualization. First, it must be plainly understood that when the light vibrat­ ing rays from an object do not enter the pupil of the observer’s eyes, the object is not seen, or disappears. The following experiments are simple and can be tried by anyone. Take a prism, and when observing an object through it, you will no doubt be surprised to notice that the object appears to be misplaced in the opposite direction to that of the base of the prism. The objective light rays coming from the object and entering the eye are re­ fracted or bent toward its base. In other words, the object appears to be displaced just opposite to that direction in which the light rays are refracted or bent. An object that has disappeared over the so-called horizon, so far as the

normal unassisted vision is concerned, can be reclaimed again by the use of a binocular, which provides a greater field of contact for the human eye, with the light vibrations of the supposedly disappearing object. This is due to the fact that the light rays which formerly curved away before contacting the eye, are accessible to the greater area of the lens of the binocular. Thoughts [or Consideration

It may be well to consider the earth's curvature and give it thought along the direction of the Curved Light Theory and the influence it may have over the curve of the earth’s surface, insofar as man may objectively observe. By tak­ ing a source of artificial light and con­ centrating it in one direction with a reflector, we find, that the light leaves this source and on its course away from it, spreads or diverges. The reason for this is no doubt due to the light curve. Does not the rainbow reveal plainly a section of Curved Light? The many illusions experienced by man, perhaps are the results caused by the curved Light rays. Light is a subject that has attracted the attention of men of all ages. End­ less research and thought on light in the past has furnished much valid in­ formation. If the truth were known, perhaps the Ancients knew or under­ stood light far better than we do today. It is by adding a thought here and there, and the co-ordination of these thoughts, where possible, that man attains a greater understanding or progress in all things, and it is with the hope infused into this brief thesis that the thought it contains will fulfill that purpose.

A TTR A C TIV E RO SIC RU C IA N CROSSES

W e are able to supply members of the Organization with attractive gold finished crosses with a red rose that can be worn and at the same time not be too conspicuous. These crosses in design are the typical Rosicrucian crosses and are very handsome. They are small and artistic. W e have arranged with a large jewelry house to manu­ facture them for us, and I am sure you will be pleased with either selection you make. You may have the gold cross with a large chain accompanying same at the economical price of $1.25 postpaid, or the gold cross with the pin fastener for $1.00, postpaid. You will be proud of this little article. It will also make a very appropriate gift.

Making Your Dreams Come True A LECTURE GIVEN IN THE ROSICRUCIAN AUDITORIUM SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA By H.

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

S p e n c e r L e w is,

H E N approaching th is s u b je c t of making your dreams come true, we must realize, in the first place, that there are two kinds of dreams with which many of us are familiar. I am not quite sure which is the most mysterious— night dreams or the so-called day dreams. I do not know if it has ever been determined that animals lower in the scale of evo­ lution of man can have day dreams. T hat is, whether they can build up in their imagination things that do not exist. However, we know that man can do this. W e know also, that he can turn ethereal, dreamy things, into concrete form. Now, that is something which is not commonly admitted, and I have no doubt but what persons in the audience will challenge my statement. They will say, “T hat is all bunkum; that is all talk.’’ There are, undoubtedly, some learned, wise men in this city, business men, or, perhaps, men who are trained as doc­ tors and lawyers, who will also chal­ lenge my statement. O n the other hand, there are men and women in the audi­ ence wiho have tested our work, and

Ph.D., F.R.C.

thousands and thousands of men and women throughout the United States and Europe who are connected with our work, and some who are not, who are daily proving it to be true. You now have, therefore, the opinion of those who doubt and of those who have proven it. I have a way to prove it to you, too, if you are one of the conscientious persons who has an open mind, who will say to yourself, “There is some evidence on both sides.’’ You can do yourself no harm by performing a test. If it fails, after two or three trials, you perhaps have reason for your doubts, but even two or three failures would not be sufficient reason for saying that there is nothing to the principle. If, after two or three tests, you have found sufficient results that you never had before, you would have reason to believe there is something to the principle. And each time you feel some reaction you would see at least the general scheme of what we are presenting. So we find that man has the ability to imagine. Stop and think a moment what that is. It is something by which you can close your eyes and build up something you have never seen before. It is not merely a matter of recollection. If I said to you, “Close your eyes for a moment and visualize where you were

or what you were doing Christmas Eve,” and each one of you recalled how you were out somewhere, or at home, or around the Christmas tree, that process would be visualizing and recollecting something that had already existed in concrete form and was regis­ tered in your mind. But if I said, ‘‘I want you to close your eyes and visualize something that does not exist and that you have never seen,” you will ask, “W h a t is it?” Then I will say, “Close your eyes and visualize an old-fashioned sugar barrel sitting on the pavement on top of which is a bronze bust of George W ashington.” You would have no trouble in seeing that, and yet there you are, imagining, or, as science says, imaging, something that never before existed. I could go on and say, “I want each one of you to close your eyes and visualize a five-room bungalow, sitting in the middle of a piece of lawn, two hundred feet square, with red tiled roof and green trimmings around the win­ dows.” I could continue on and on, telling you about the curtains, etc. and build the whole picture up in your mind. This is like taking some element from one quality and one element from an­ other and making something new. It is a divine process, a divine faculty and power that is resident in you and not in the other animal species. They have no use or understanding for it. Your imagination is absolutely unlimited. The men who have been conceiving sky­ scrapers in New York, trying to out­ rival each other, imagine one taller and taller until New York is just spotted with them. I remember when I stopped this August in N ew York City, we were on the twentieth floor of the Hotel N ew Yorker, and looked down. T hat was not so high. There are many other floors in that building, and we were only on the twentieth. As we looked eastward, We could see the Em ­ pire State Building with its mast for dirigibles, and many other taller build­ ings, and each year they are taller and taller. T he imaging of the architect in put­ ting the component elements together, in letting the buildings rise higher and higher, is unlimited. W h en building

bridges, his imagination is unlimited. W h en he comes, however, to draw out on paper the plans for the structural Work, there are certain structural limita­ tions that have to be abided by. He has to shorten the span a little, or may have to drop the height a little in order to come within building restrictions, but in man there are no limitations. There is nothing to prevent man’s mind from visualizing the taking of the Atlantic Ocean and putting it in the Pacific Ocean, and from taking the Pacific and putting it in the Atlantic. These things you form with your im­ agination. You do it constantly, al­ though you seldom realize it. If you would stop to think of it, you would recognize this peculiar characteristic of the human mind which enables it to create things that have never existed before. N ow you will have to admit that you create mentally before you create materially. You know very well that before an artist begins to paint a masterpiece on the canvas, he visualizes it first in his mind; in fact, it is worked out so well in his mind that the process of painting is really a transference of the creation from his mind to the can­ vas. The man who is to build an apart­ ment house works out a great many of the general schemes of the structure in his mind before he starts making lines on paper. W e find that all the way through history. Take, for instance, the first man, sit­ ting on the bough of a tree on a river bank, and sleeping on some dry grass for a bed in order that animals would not get him. beginning to think of a home, what it would be, where it would be, the size of it, and how he would be protected from the animals. He began to think of means of safety and pic­ tured it all in his mind before he began to make wood and grass walls around the home he was going to make. All through civilization man has cre­ ated mentally the things he wants and he does not stop. Here is the particular thing the Rosicrucians want to drive home. It is not sufficient to do this mental creating, visualizing, the build­ ing up of something in your mind that is perfectly created, and then stop, be­ cause that would produce nothing. M an would still be living in the boughs of a

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

tree on the river bank, if that were as far as he could go. The more we keep working over the mental picture in our minds and make it a part of us, the more we attract to it and gradually build it into material existence. Please do not think I am implying that a man can go down and lie on one of the wharfs of the Hudson River with a cigarette in his mouth and visualize a bridge across the Hudson, and if he stayed long enough, some day the steel would go up and finally the bridge would be built. Such a statement would be foolish. W e must draw a line between rationalism and fanaticism. It is unfortunate that some of the ideals of mysticism have fallen into the hands of fanatics. To hear them speak of it and hear them interpret their under­ standing of what we are trying to teach makes mysticism sound weird and devoid of logic. Not long ago, a woman came into my office and was trying to impress upon me the merits of Christian Sci­ ence, and she said this: “Once you know and understand Christian Science, nothing of a material, physical nature can affect you.” I said, “Do you mean that nothing in this material world will affect us?” I knew she was not talking true Christian Science. She said that if she were to go out in the street and be hit by an automobile and injured to such an extent that bones were broken, she would say that there was no auto­ mobile and she was not hurt; it was just the thought that the automobile hit her and that her bones were broken. T hat is absurd and such a person can do more injury to a worthy movement than she can possibly do good. But, I do mean to say that the man or woman who has built up, mentally, in his or her mind, a day dream, and each day adds to it, magnetizes with more vitality the imagination, that he or she is building in the material world as well as the mental. I say such per­ sons gradually attract to themselves the condition that will help them to realize what they dream. You might only take the reverse of this proposition to prove how true it is. Take the man who finds himself in the business world, or home, or social world, in need of something, and after

visualizing it momentarily, says, “Yes, that would solve my problem if I could have that thing.” It may be an addition to his home, a new position, raise in salary, or something of that kind. Sup­ pose he thinks of it for a moment, visualizing and seeing it in all its com­ pleteness, and then says, “It is impos­ sible for me,” and no longer thinks of it. Is there any hope of that man bring­ ing to him what he needs as long as he does not allow it to come into his consciousness again? It is the reverse of the picture that I am trying to bring to your mind. W e know that different types of men congregate together. W e know that the young man who is deeply interested in art will sooner or later come in contact with like minds. W e know the person deeply interested in music will sooner or later come in contact with similar minds. In the first place, the person will not only go where he will hear music, but goes to the library and reads about music and meets people who are interested in music. The artist attracts art and all those who are interested in art. T he seventeen-year old boy who leaves school and goes to the pool rooms can tell you a surprising amount of information about pool rooms that uninformed people would think he had wilfully completed, but it would be be­ cause he had attracted to himself all the knowledge pertaining to that one subject. Take the young man interested in law; another interested in botany, or some other subject. You will find that they associate with people of similar minds. You will find the same among women. You will find the woman in­ terested in social things attracting to herself those who are interested in the same things. It is sane and logical, and you can demonstrate it in your own life. Take the man going around from morning to night with the thought that he wants a seven-room house in a cer­ tain neighborhood. He dreams of it, visualizes it. He looks at all advertise­ ments of houses and compares them with the one he has in mind; he adds to it and takes away from it until it is perfect. It gradually brings to that man the house he dreams about. How? W h y, there are one and a million ways

in which it might happen. He might be in a restaurant and by him is a man, sitting reading a magazine about homes and gardens, and this man with the dream house in his mind, in his en­ thusiastic way, says, “Excuse me, but I am interested in homes too.” This man might say, “Yes, this picture is of a nice house. I was attracted to it myself. Are you building?” “No, I am not, but hope to. I want to build in the W est.” The other replies, “I would have built long ago if I had wanted to build in the W est, but I want to build in Chicago. I have a cousin in the W est who has some property, and he would gladly loan money to anyone who would want to build on it. I will be glad to give you his name.” And be­ fore he knows it, he is on his way to have his house built. That sort of person gets what he is thinking about. It is not the woman who says, “I am going to try a new thought method,” and sits in the middle of the room and folds her hands. “I want a house; I shall have a house; the house belongs to me; I will have the best house in the neighborhood; I will have Mrs. Smith envious of me; I will have a house; I will have a house; I will have a house.” T hat is as far as she gets. There is a lot radically wrong with a system of that nature. Did you ever go back and look into your own life? Did you ever know of anyone who had his or her heart set on something from morning to night, that that person did not get somewhere, in the end? It is all according to the de­ gree of will power and determination he uses. T h at is the thing. Create in your mind and keep on creating until it bursts out in material force around you, the very thing you want. It is the use of that creative power you have that counts. This creative power, your imaging power, is only one of the great powers you have. You have healing powers; you have mental powers and the power of sending messages to reach people. Just suppose, speaking along this crea­ tive idea, there is something you want and that you could send that pic­ ture to the mind of some other person, and make him see it, and also use an­ other power to make the person write you or grant you a favor. Just think

of these faculties being brought to­ gether for one issue! Look at the un­ limited possibilities, and yet these are only three of the powers you have out of a million. M an has never been told a third of the truth about himself, not a hundredth nor a millionth. He has been taught that he has five faculties— seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling, and that they constitute all that he has. It is the most false, belittling story of man that was ever told. The great men in the past who discovered these things were commanded to re­ main silent so that the mass would never know about themselves. Libraries were burned so that the writings of the oracles, wise men, magi, and others should be destroyed in order that man would not know about himself. Napoleon, not only a Rosicrucian but a great leader, once said, “I would rather have every man in my army acquainted with his own possibilities and follow himself rather than follow me in ignorance”; but other leaders thought differently. Kings, queens, and others were trying to hold man down so they might have a greater power, thus making slaves out of men. The Essenes, the Therapeuti, and the Arcane Schools of Egypt and India, were the ones who kept this knowledge preserved and had to keep it under cover. In some parts of Europe today, the Rosicrucians dare not mention their existence. It was forbidden in Italy only until the last few years, and also in Germany. At one time Russia was one of the greatest countries for Rosicrucianism and then along came the rule of the Czar and then the W orld W ar, and after that the work was for­ bidden. In this country the work is open and free. It is being offered to you on a silver platter with sparkling diamonds to make it attractive, and still we have to beg some of you to try and see what you can do, to become what God created— an image of Himself with all of His creative powers. In all of the affairs of your life you can use these things. You do not have to wear any garbs or robes or peculiar expres­ sions on your faces. You may live the life of the era, adopt its customs, and still retire alone to a place of quiet and demonstrate these infinite laws.

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SIR FRANCIS BACON Each month there will appear excerpts from the writings of famous thinkers and teachers of the past. This will give our readers an opportunity of knowing these minds through the presentation of w ritings which typify their thoughts. Occasionally such writers will be presented thrdugh the translations or interpretations of other eminent authors or thinkers the past. This ofmonth we introduce to you Sir Francis Bacon, Rosicrucian Imperator, English philosopher, statesman, essayist, Lord Chancellor of England, and the recognized w riter by many literary critics, of the Shakespearian plays. He was born at the York House in the Strand, London, on January 22nd, 1560, of noble birth. In April, 1573, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. Fond of the sciences, he diligently applied himself to the various sciences of the time. Later he says of his real aspirations in the de Interpretatione Naturae Prooemium: “I found I was fitted for nothing so well as for the study of truth; as having a mind nimble and versatile enough to catch the resemblances of things and at the same time steady enough to seize and distinguish the subtler differences; as being gifted by nature with a desire to ask, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and as being a man that neither effects what is new, nor admits what is old, and that hates every kind of imposter, so I thought my nature had a kind of familiarity and relation with truth.” In 1584 he took a seat in Parliament. At the close of 1591 Bacon was acting as the con­ fidential adviser of the Earl of Essex, who was Elizabeth's favorite. Bacon proposed in 1613 to the King that Coke be advanced to the K ing's bench. This change of legal position opened the way for Bacon to become Attorney General. Four years later in January of 1617, he became Lord Chancellor of England. His various literary works at that time were well read, and although severely criticized in some circles, were bringing him recognition. His most celebrated work was "Novum Organum ." It is only of recent years that the true story of the accusation and conviction of Bacon was known. Bacon's political power and prominence, as well as his literary ability, aroused considerable enmity and his enemies accused him of bribery. At first the charge was dropped. Later, the charges became so complicated, so extremely difficult to prove innocence, that he was tried and convicted. He was fined an enormous amount and sentenced to a long period in prison. However, the fine was removed and he only served four days of the sentence. He was permitted to again practice at the bar, although he never again held a seat in Parliament. He continued his literary work. Researchers and biographers of the present say, as it is known also to Rosicrucians, ‘‘On the whole, it appears that Bacon's own account of this painful episode is substantially correct.” He stated he had received offers of bribes which he had never accepted. He affirms that his intention was never swerved by a bribe, and in several cases, his judgment seems to have been rendered against the parties attempting to bestow the bribe. The remainder of his life was spent in a work far more valuable to the world than any thing he had accomplished in his earlier years, politically or legally. The following selection is from his “Novum Organum,” (New Organ).

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

T seems to me that men do not rightly under­ stand either their store or their strength, but overrate the one and un­ derrate the other. Hence it follows, that either from an extravagant es­ timate of the value of the arts which they possess, they seek no further; or else from too mean an estimate of their own

powers, they spend their strength in small matters and never put it fairly to the trial in those which go to the main. These are as the pillars of fate set in the path of knowledge; for men have neither desire nor hope to encour­ age them to penetrate further. A nd since opinion of store is one of the chief causes of want, and satisfaction with the present induces neglect of provision for the future, it becomes a

thing not only useful, but absolutely necessary that the excess of honor and admiration with which our existing stock of inventions is regarded be in the very entrance and threshold of the work, and that frankly and without cir­ cumlocution, stripped off, and men be duly warned not to exaggerate or make too much of them. For let a man look carefully into all that variety of books with which the arts and sciences abound, he will find everywhere end­ less repetitions of the same thing, vary­ ing in the method of treatment, but not new in substance, insomuch that the whole stock, numerous as it appears at first view, proves on examination to be but scanty. And for its value and utility it must be plainly avowed that that wisdom which we have derived principally from the Greeks is but like the boyhood of knowledge, and has the characteristic property of boys; it can talk, but it cannot generate; for it is fruitful of controversies but barren of works. So that the state of learning as it now is, appears to be represented to the life in the old fable of Scylla, who had the head and face of a virgin, but her womb was hung around with bark­ ing monsters, from which she could not be delivered. For in like manner the sciences to which we are accustomed have certain general positions which are specious and flattering; but as soon as they come to particulars, which are as the parts of generation, when they should produce fruit and works, then arise contentions and barking disputa­ tions, which are the end of the matter and all the issue they can yield. O b­ serve also, that if sciences of this kind had any life in them, that could never have come to pass which has been the case now for many ages— that they stand almost at a stay, without receiv­ ing any augmentations worthy of the human race, insomuch that many times not only what was asserted once is asserted still, but what was a question once is a question still, and instead of being resolved by discussion is only fixed and fed; and all the tradition and succession of schools is still a succes­ sion of masters and scholars, not of in­ ventors and those who bring to further perfection the things invented. In the mechanical arts we do not find it so;

they, on the contrary, as having in them some breath of life, are continu­ ally growing and becoming more per­ fect. As originally invented they are commonly rude, clumsy, and shapeless; afterwards they acquire new powers and more commodious arrangements and constructions; in so far that men shall sooner leave the study and pur­ suit of them and turn to something else, than they arrive at the ultimate perfection of which they are capable. Philosophy and the intellectual sciences, on the contrary, stand like statues, worshipped and celebrated, but not moved or advanced. Nay, they some­ times flourish most in the hands of the first author, and afterwards degenerate. For when men have once made over their judgments to others' keeping, and (like those senators whom they called Pedarii) have agreed to support some one person’s opinion, from that time they make no enlargement of the sci­ ences themselves, but fall to the servile office of embellishing certain individual authors and increasing their retinue. And let it not be said that the sciences have been growing gradually till they have at last reached their full stature, and so (their course being completed) have settled in the works of a few writers; and that there being now no room for the invention of better, all that remains is to embellish and culti­ vate those things which have been in­ vented already. W ould it were so! But the truth is that this appropriating of the sciences has its origin in nothing better than the confidence of a few per­ sons and the sloth and indolence of the rest. For after the sciences had been in several parts perhaps cultivated and handled diligently, there has risen up some man of bold disposition, and fa­ mous for methods and short ways which people like, who has in appear­ ance reduced them to an art, while he has in fact only spoiled all that the others had done. And yet this is what posterity like, because it makes the work short and easy, and saves further inquiry, of which they are weary and impatient. And if any one take this general acquiescence and consent for an argument of weight, as being the judgment of Time, let me tell him that the reasoning on which he relies is most

fallacious and weak. For, first, we are far from knowing all that in the matter of sciences and arts has in various ages and places been brought to light and published; much less, all that has been by private persons secretly attempted and stirred; so neither the births nor the miscarriages of Time are entered in our records. Nor, secondly, is the con­ sent itself and the time it has continued a consideration of much worth. For however various are the forms of civil polities, there is but one form of polity in the sciences; and that always has been and always will be popular. Now the doctrines which find most favor with the populace are those which are either contentious and pugnacious, or specious and empty; such, I say, as either entangle assent or tickle it. And, therefore, no doubt the greatest wits in each successive age have been forced out of their own course; men of capa­ city and intellect above the vulgar hav­ ing been fain, for reputation’s sake, to bow to the judgment of the time and the multitude; and thus if any contem­ plations of a higher order took light V

anywhere, they were presently blown out by the winds of vulgar opinions. So that Time is like a river, which has brought down to us things light and puffed up, while those which are weighty and solid have sunk. Nay, those very authors who have usurped a kind of dictatorship in the sciences and taken upon them to lay down the law with such confidence, yet when from time to time they come to themselves again, they fall to complaints of the subtlety of nature, the hiding-places of truth, the obscurity of things, the en­ tanglement of causes, the weakness of the human mind; wherein nevertheless they show themselves never the more modest, seeing that they will rather lay the blame upon the common condition of men and nature than upon them­ selves. And then whatever any art fails to attain, they ever set it down upon the authority of that art itself as im­ possible of attainment; and how can art be found guilty when it is judge in its own cause? So it is but a device for exempting ignorance from ignominy. V

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A N N O U N C EM EN T OF PRICE R ED U C TIO N O N BOOKS

Although the volumes of the Rosicrucian Library were printed and bound during the period when paper, labor and materials were the highest, still we are pleased to make an unusual reduction in almost all of these books, so as to bring them within the means of everyone today. As of M ay first, 1932, new, low, attractive prices for the interesting and instructive books of the Rosicrucian Library have been established. The prices appearing on the back of this magazine were printed before the new reductions. The full page advertisement pertaining to the book Self Mastery and Fate is at the new, reduced price. If you order now, you will be credited with the difference. W atch for the actual new prices in the "Rosicrucian Digest" and avail yourself of the book that you have been wanting or write now to the Rosicrucian Supply Bureau and receive the new list of startling price reductions.

N O TIC E TO MEMBERS

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

All members living within visiting distance of San Jose are reminded that they are entitled to attend the special, spiritual development and attunement classes held every Tuesday night in the Supreme Grand Lodge Temple and conducted by Grand Master Dean, or his associates, and the highest members. The meeting begins at 7:15 every Tuesday evening and all members of any grade of the studies and belonging to any lodge or chapter of our organization are entitled to attend these weekly classes throughout the summer and fall without any additional fee or obligation. It is very important that you should attend as regularly as possible. This is an unusual opportunity for these members. Contacts are made with other members throughout the world.

“ The

” Of Life ay W

SIMPLE AND DEFINITE RULES FOR ALL By

The

H E other day a sm all p a mp h l e t o came to my desk IK bearing the title, “T h e W a y I n Business.’’ This pamphlet pointed out that there were certain defi­ n ite ru le s a n d principles and cer­ ta in e s ta b lis h e d systems for the use of the busi­ ness man which would guarantee a certain degree of success in whatever business field these methods were applied. As I read the pamphlet I was re­ minded of the fact that there have been many books written pointing out the way to success in art and in music, in business, commerce, law, navigation and many other fields of activity. There are other established systems guaranteeing success or happiness, health and prosperity along definite lines. Viewing life broadly we have several schools or systems of procedure. There is the school of moral practice and moral regulation intended to guide man correctly and surely to the utmost of spiritual and religious contentment. There are other systems devoted to the ethical procedure in life guaranteeing a certain degree of cultural and ethical development that brings peace and happiness.

T

Im p e ra to r

If we take the three most universally recognized systems, the moral or re­ ligious, the ethical, and the commercial, we find that each of these has its school and its temple. The moral and religious path has its church as its monumental academy. The ethical sys­ tem has its schools and libraries and forums as monumental academies, and commerce has its huge factories and business offices. But all three of these combined do not constitute sufficient guidance and sufficient instruction in aiding the average man and woman to attain the utmost of life and to enjoy life abundantly. There is a fourth way that is neither religious, ethical, nor commercial. It is the Cosmic or natural way and includes the truthful and useful fundamentals found in the other three, plus a great deal more. T he way of life is not necessarily the way of religion, the way of culture, or the way of commerce. Commerce has its business systems, its business codes, and its business laws. The wiay of culture has its principles, its unwritten rules, its changing ideals, and its vascillating dictations. The way of religion is beset by a diversity of attractive side paths and by a total lack of progressive unfoldment for those who are rising to greater heights. The way of life, on the other hand, is standardized and is beyond the modifications and regula­ tions of man’s whims and fancies and is universal and, therefore, wholly com­ petent.

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The Rosicrucian D igest June 1932

Rosicrucianism is the temple and the system of this fourth path, the way of life. It teaches what the other three systems do not teach. It includes what the other three have excluded. It offers what the seeker for happiness and suc­ cess in life cannot find elsewhere. It deals with fundamentals that apply to the life of every man and woman of every country and of every race and creed. Business or commercial occupa­ tion can in no wise affect it. Religious convictions and beliefs cannot modify or alter it. Personal opinion and the progress of the seeker on the path have no effect upon it. All human beings, regardless of their social or religious stations in life, are seeking to make the utmost of their position and to attain the highest de­ gree of contentment and happiness in that part of the world or among that nation of people in which they find themselves. A true path of success and happiness will not include the distinc­ tions of locality but will point out the false effects of what seem to be the distinctions that separate us from our universal kind. Rosicrucianism is just such a system. It teaches how the health may be improved, how the ethi­ cal and moral principle of life may be applied to the best advantage, how business and commerce generally, may be used to bring a personal power and a personal realization of success that may not be attained in any other manner. Rosicrucianism is the way, it is the path to the realization of our desires and our ambitions. M any of the great masters in the past and many of the philosophers have spoken of “The W a y ”. Speaking in a spiritual sense, Jesus said, “I am the W a y ,” meaning He was a representa­ tive of the ideals and principles that constituted the true way to spiritual and heavenly bliss and contentment. Elbert Hubbard, the great writer and poet, said on one occasion, “I am the way to better business,” and he meant that his writings, his methods, his sys­ tems would lead to greater business success and no one ever challenged his statement. The R osicrucians say, “ Here is the way in life— not just in business, not just in religion, not just in society but in life generally and inclusively.”

From the Cosmic point of view, the way in life is as definitely established by restrictions and wide avenues of conduct as any path devoted to the arts, the professions, or business. But whereas business is surrounded by rules and regulations laid down by man and the path to spiritual attain­ ment is fraught with individual inter­ pretations and muted doctrines, the way of life is universally and Cosmically ordained and there is no escape from its regulations and no excuse for violations of its laws. T he way of life is neither narrow nor so universally wide that it fails to be a path that is without form or direc­ tion. It has no darkened places passing through valleys of superstition and doubt but traverses the highest hills in the bright sunlight affording the clearest view of distant horizons. It has no rich rewards held exclusively for those who reach its ultimate end but offers the bounties and blessings day by day to those who follow its course. It does not end in some distant future beyond the veil of human understanding but has its stations of palms at the close of each day affording rest, contentment, and temporary victory to each who reaches these stations. It is ever a path beginning and ending with each day of life. Should transition come unex­ pectedly anywhere along the way, there is no abrupt ending to an uncompleted journey but a satisfactory attainment of the goal as the dosing of life itself. T he Rosicrucian teachings and the Rosicrucian guidance constitute the preparation for entering upon the way of life, and the companionship of the members of this great human fellowship constitutes the guides and directors who journey with the others and extend their hands in fellowship and helps that the weaker ones may be encouraged to keep upon the path and to continue on the way. All of the pitfalls, all of the dangerous spots, all of the places of temptation, illusion, misrepresentation, deceit and failure are carefully marked and pointed out so that the pilgrim on the path may reach the daily resting place and find another period of victory credited to his passage through life.

The "Cathedral of the Soul" is a Cosmic meeting place for all minds of the most advanced and highly developed spiritual members and workers of the Rosicrucian Fraternity. It is a focal point of Cosmic radiations and thought waves from which radiate vibrations of health, peace, happiness, and inner awakening. Various periods of the day are set aside when many thousands of minds are attuned with the Cathedral of the Soul, and others attuning with the Cathedral at this time will receive the benefit of the vibra­ tions. Those who are not members of the organization may share in this unusual benefit as well as those who are members. The book called "Liber 777” describes the periods for various contacts with the Cathedral. Copies will be sent to persons who are not members by addressing their request for this book to librarian S. P. C., care of AM ORC Temple, San Jose, California, enclosing three cents in postage stamps. (Please state whether member or not— this is important.)

H E Imperator de­ sires to conduct another one of his personal contacts with many of our members and in order to select a certain portion of the members with­ out any bias or prejudice of any kind he has de­ sired to select the persons for these special contacts in accordance with the initial of their names. T he first of these special contacts will be made with our members on Fri­ day evening, June 10, beginning at

7:30 o’clock, Pacific Standard Time, which is equivalent to 10:30 o’clock, Eastern Standard Time, or 11:30 o'clock, Eastern Daylight Savings Time. It is also equivalent to 9:30 o’clock, Central Standard Time, or 10:30 o ’clock, Central Daylight Savings Time; or 8:30 o’clock, Mountain Standard Time, or 9:30 o'clock Mountain D ay­ light Savings Time. All members whose last name or family name, begins with the letter “A ” should sit in attunement for twenty to thirty minutes or longer, beginning at the time stated above, and the Impera­ tor will attempt to contact them in their sanctums in connection with other con­ tacts with the Cathedral. If you are a person whose last name begins with

the letter “A" you should keep this peri­ od and look for some sort of special manifestation in your room either in the w ay of a soft light, a cooling magnetic breeze, a faint touch on the hand or shoulder, or a few softly spoken words, or otherwise some illustrated symbol. The contact will not be long but will be sufficient to enable you to recognize or sense the Imperator’s personality. If the Imperator finds it impossible to reach all of the persons in the “A " classifica­ tion on this particular occasion he will reach as many as he can and arrange for another period. If you have an interesting experi­ ence on this particular night we will be glad to have you speak about it in one of your regular reports that you make in connection with the lesson studies. The Cathedral of the Soul and its regular periods is continuing to hold the interest and give great benefit to thousands of members and many hun­ dreds of our friends. W e hear of this good work from all lands and we hope our members continue to promote the Cathedral activities as greatly as possi­

ble. Be sure to read this page each month to keep in touch with new or special features that may be planned. Every Tuesday evening there is con­ ducted, as many of you know, in the Egyptian Temple at the Grand Lodge of the O rder in San Jose, Calif., a special ceremony by one of the officers of the Supreme Staff at which there are assembled many members. During that special service at 8:00 o’clock, Pacific Standard Time, a special con­ tact is made with members and friends of the O rder throughout the world. This unified contact is beneficial to all concerned and we invite all the readers of the “Rosicrucian Digest” to attune themselves with the projection of thought emanating from this place every Tuesday evening at 8:00 o’clock, Pacific Standard Time. You will find it beneficial, inspiring, and illuminating. Have your friends participate with you in this program and do not forget to secure the special free booklet men­ tioned in the box at the head of this article if you have not already re­ ceived it.

MY CREED Frater Chas. Kampmiller— I believe

The Rosicrucian Digest June 1932

That today is the best day since yesterday and that tomorrow will be a better; I believe in Life, laughter and Love; I believe that there is joy in life if ye will but live. I believe that what we love we own; love life that ye may five, f believe that environment— which is adamant before weakness, is fluid before strength, purpose and work. I believe that there is no more precious treasure for today, nor higher heritage for the future, than a friend. I believe that on the whole, the world isn't so bad after all— and is growing better. I believe that nothing worth while is wasted; that everything was, is and will be. I believe that to be good is well, to do good is better, to "make good" is best. I believe that we are helped in attaining our ideal by knowing that our friends believe in us, and expect things of us. I believe that laughter means red blood and long life. I believe that wealth and property is only a privilege, to enjoy, and to use for the Common-weal. I believe that Love is the only good, and makes us One with God: while hate and fear are self-destroyers, and antithesis of God. I believe that concentrated and directed thoughts, are our greatest con­ structive forces. I believe in prayer, and that our earnest, sincere and worthy desires and wishes are answered by the Cosmic Soul, Infinite Intelligence or call it God. I believe in the divinity of All, as well as in the divinity of One. I believe in always looking for the Beautiful, the True and the Good, I beli­ eve in the hearty hand shake, in hospitality, comradeship, friendship and Love.

Is A New Savior Coming? WILL A REDEEMER OF MAN APPEAR AMONG US TO SAVE US IN THIS CRISIS? By

F rater C .

S W E view the p r e s e n t crisis t h r o u g h o u t the world a n d tabu­ late the conditions in the f o r m of periodic cycles of evolution, we see that in nearly ev­ ery country there is the a p e x or height of a condi­ tion that seems to harmonize w i t h the cycles of changes taking place in other countries. It would appear, there­ fore, that the entire world is today in the midst of a mighty change of con­ ditions that is much like similar world­ wide changes that occurred at certain periods of the earth's history. In comparing the present universal crisis with similar universal crises that have occurred in the past, we find that this one is very much like unto the cycle of conditions that existed at the time of the birth of Jesus, the Christ. In fact, the similarity is so signifi­ cant that it represents a startling possi­ bility. Not only in a political and finan­ cial sense, but in a purely spiritual, mystical, and intellectual sense, the whole world today is in the identical spirit of unrest and high expectation, as well as need of leadership, that we find in the year when Jesus was born.

H.

C

leve

First of all, we find that despite all that is being said by preachers and religious leaders, the world is not less religious at the present time than it has ever been, but more religious in a true interpretation of the word. Re­ ligion is the study of God and G od’s laws, or the knowledge of these things. It has nothing to do with any one definite creed or dogma. True religion is universal and unorthodox in the very broadest conception. W e find today that the average man and woman who refrains from going to church or who has lost the deeper interest in the church is not less religious, but more anxious than ever to know about God and G od’s laws. He is, therefore, an unbiased and unaffiliated seeker. He is what the Old W orld would have called a heretic, except that he has not yet reached a point where his heretical views have led him into membership with thousands of others holding a similar view. He is more of a free thinker today than ever, but, never­ theless, he is more devout and more respectful of the true religious prin­ ciples than in any period of civilization. Likewise we find that there is universal strife, war, discontent, enmity, self­ ishness, plotting, and planning against o u r neighbor's possessions, a n d a worldwide desire for individual su­ premacy or national superiority. All of these things are the very duplicate of

The Rosicrucian D igest June 1932

conditions that existed at the time of the birth of Jesus. Then again we also have the fact that one or two nations of people are attempting to rule the world and seem to be doing so as the result of natural resources or natural development of personal prowess. T he result of this is that many nations throughout the world are paying homage to or at least paying tribute to these one or two powerful nations in the form of money and service. This is identical with what existed in the world at the time of the birth of Jesus. Finally we find that there is a uni­ versal cry and plea for some out­ standing leadership or the coming forth of some great mind that will solve the universal problems and point the way to peace and universal power. Today we find that the nations of Europe are looking here and there at various individuals who are prominent as rulers or prime ministers, and won­ dering whether this one or that one will come forward as the new world leader or diplomat or political guide who will point out the w ay to peace and contentment. In America and the W estern W orld we find the same idea expressed in newspaper editorials and in the discussions on the street cor­ ners. Everywhere the question is asked, "W h o is going to rise up and pull us out of this hole?” This is identical to the expectation of a great Messiah that occupied the minds of the thinking and oppressed people at the time of the birth of Jesus. W e are prone to think that the Jews were the only ones who were looking forward to the coming of the Great Messiah at that time, but the writings we read and the recorded thoughts of other nations show us that there was also a universal hope and expectation of a world leader at that time. And while some expected him to be a great political leader and others a great philosophical diplomat, there were a few nations who expected him to be purely a religious leader. Do we not find the same conditions duplicated today? There are many na­ tions that think that what we need more than anything else at the present

time is a great statesman who can rise above the petty conditions of one country or a group of countries and be broad visioned enough to see the world problems in their entirety and present solutions that will be agreeable to all. O n the other hand, there are a few countries today who think that a local statesman, politician, or economic leader will solve the world problems by devoting his attention first of all to the people in whose midst he rises. There are also nations of people today who think that the salvation of the world problems lies in the rising up of some holy leader like Gandhi of India or one or two others who have in a quiet way revealed a supreme degree of Spiritual understanding. Is it not possible that a world leader may appear now who combines all of these qualities and will fit all of these expectations? After all is said and done, was not Jesus a great politician as He was a spiritual leader? W ere not His solutions as applicable to economic con­ ditions as they are to intellectual, mys­ tical or religious ones? Viewing His teachings after hundreds of years, do we not see in them today a solution to most of our present problems if we could have Him as our leader now and have all the nations follow what He taught? Certain it is that the present cycle is propitious for the birth or the sudden public appearance of such a world redeemer and leader. It may be that right now some great man is on his w ay to the new River Jordan to be baptized in new waters and to receive the influx of the same Holy Ghost, but in a different manner and for a new era, and that even tomorrow we may read in the papers of his baptism having taken place and of this great man’s announcement that he has come to save the world. I think that all Rosicrucians can conscientiously expect this to be proven true before the next five years have passed. Naturally, the broad-minded viewpoint of Rosicrucianism eliminates the idea that such a leader will be wholly and solely a Rosicrucian or a mystic or one of their special philo­ sophical teachers. The petty viewpoint

of a world leader being born in a certain cult and guided and dominated by the leaders of that cult has become so objectionable to thinking men and women and so ridiculous in its at­ tempted fulfillment that nothing of this kind can come to the consciousness of sane people. But, nevertheless, they can, with all righteousness and ra­ tionalism, expect a world redeemer whose message will be not only peace, but power for the downtrodden and the suffering. He will come not to establish new laws, but once again to fulfill the old laws, the universal laws, the laws of God created at the begin­ ning of time, and which are immutable, but gradually being set aside by m an’s personal ideas of self-aggrandizement. Certainly, we will hail such a leader with open minds and open hearts. He will come with no narrow creed, but with an all-impressing doctrine that will V

be childlike in its simplicity and pro­ found in its magnificent inclusiveness. Such a leader will receive recognition on the part of those who have been hoping and praying for such leadership, but will also have the enmity and criti­ cism of those who profit by the world’s unrest and the continuous darkness that enshrowds most of the human in­ telligence today. M y message is not one of prophecy; nevertheless, I am predicting, and I know that in the years to come the words written here will be considered as the first message of hope for those that will constitute the new empire, and this new empire will be formed of the rising generation that is now manifest­ ing its ability to break away from the shackles that have enslaved mankind, and to create new and modern methods and standards that are as free as the very spirit of life itself. V

V

Sanctum Musings (Continued from Page 174)

define, the general nature of these dreams, we will call them psychic as being of the soul or spirit, in contrast to that of the mortal mind. A further subdivision of this class gives us psy­ chic experiences and contacts. W ithout entering into the finer distinctions of theology as to the nature of Divinity in man and the terminology for same, we must, of necessity, recognize an opera­ tive force existent in man. This force is apart from the reason, and will of man, as it functions without his volition. Moreover this force is concurrent with an intelligence for it is in accordance with order. W ’e have an appreciation of this in­ telligence by virtue of its direction of our organism,— the circulation of our blood, the process of metabolism, or­ ganic functioning, such as of the heart, kidneys, lungs. T o say that the Infinite Intelligence is not resident in the body, but that the body functions as the re­ sult of an intelligence apart from it, and governing it, is not an adequate answer. Even if the Intelligence be not infused in the most minute or larger parts of the body, it must at least con­ tact it. T he contact of the Intelligence

is necessary for the continuation of the body’s functioning. M ay we use an analogy: A n elec­ trical engineer who devises a most elab­ orate electrical mechanism, which is to operate according to the fundamental principles of electricity, must keep in contact either directly or through a trained aid or assistant with the device, or it will not continue to function. The Intelligence which brings together mat­ ter and has it function according to principles, is obliged to keep it in har­ mony with those principles. W ’e have examples of the failure to do this in the effort to invent perpetual motion machines. An intelligence assembles them, but when the intelligence deserts them, they disintegrate. Therefore, an Intelligence, other than that of the brain of man, is in contact with him. T o dispute this contention, it is necessary to offer an explanation for the involuntary action of man’s organs. T hat this subtle Intelligence is identical in every human displaying its unity, is not difficult of proof. The nature of an object thrown into the air and return­ ing to the earth’s surface in Holland,

The Rosicrucian D igest June 1932

may differ from one in Japan, yet one would not dispute the sameness of the nature of the source of gravity in both places. Is it not plausible that entities, human beings, for instance, who are dependent upon a common source, this Infinite Intelligence, may be bound to­ gether by it psychically? Thoughts are generated in the objective mind and are projected outwardly; that is, made manifest by the faculty of speech, or retained in the objective consciousness. A process of introversion, of turning the objective consciousness inward, penetrating the subjective realm would be to super-impose one’s thoughts on this Infinite Intelligence. The chain of Infinite Intelligence linking all beings together would carry upon it these thought impulses; distance or time would be inconsequential and this form of contact would greatly supercede our attempts at external contact, such as through speech or its amplifications, writing, radio, telegraph, telephone. If I may resort to a humble analogy— on either side of the city, there are erected, let us say, two towers, both containing electrical beacons. It is possible to flash, alternately dimming and brightening the lights, messages from one tower across the city to another. Both of these beacons derive their electrical power for illumination from the same source, thus are united by a common electrical system. On certain occasions, weather permitting, the light flashes are easily visible; on others, fog or smoke­ laden atmosphere interferes and the light flashes are hardly discernible, the communication is unreliable. Does it not stand to reason that a device which would make and break (series of inter­ ruptions such as by a telegraph key), the electrical current between the two towers and with which they are defi­ nitely connected, acting as a telegraph code, would be more dependable? O r perhaps super-imposing sound impulses of the human voice upon the electrical current? In other words, having an established, absolute medium of contact such as the electrical circuit, why re­ sort to the uncertain light flashes for inter-contact? Since humans possess this inter-psychic relationship, it appears inappropriate to always attempt an ex­ change of thought through the outer consciousness to the outer consciousness

of another. Through introversion com­ munication of thought by psychic con­ tact is possible. This psychic contact needs the response of the recipient, as well as the transmitter. T he one re­ ceiving is required to turn his con­ sciousness inward and contact the united Infinite Intelligence conveying the thought impulses. In most instances where psychic contact is made, it is done accidently, unintentionally, be­ cause its practice is little understood and very few employ the right method. These psychic contacts of the thoughts of others, whether the contact is pre­ arranged or accidental, are not to be confused with psychic experiences, which we will discuss. One may see, however, how accurate a psychic con­ tact may be, if it be mutually arranged and properly and rationally conducted. These accurate psychic contacts have been, as we have seen, classed as dreams of a physiological nature. That they have been erroneously so classed is evident, by the feeble explanation of the authority earlier cited. Psychic experiences are the recollec­ tion of experiences of the soul as dis­ tinguished from psychic contacts. From the concept of Rosicrucian metaphysics, the soul is the influx into the body of this Infinite Intelligence. The apprecia­ tion of this soul in the being by the objective mind is the personality. The personality is the sympathetic under­ standing of the soul by the outer mind. In other words, our response to certain Cosmic urges of the soul in our being is the moulding of our character or our personality. Allow me to cite an an­ alogy— W h a t makes a musician— what stamps him as such? It is his response to music, his sense of its symphonic accord, his value of its finer harmony not realized nor appreciated by others. This character or personality of the hu­ man, leaves its impression in the In­ finite Intelligence. T he memory of the personality is swept along on the tide of the Infinite Intelligence, and this gives rise to the doctrine of reincar­ nation. However, in the formation of perso­ nality or character, which I use as synonomous, the objective mind plays a

prominent part. It reasons, it persuades, it commands through will and attempts to suppress the Cosmic urges. Through the entire life, the personality is being formed. Thus, major, worldly experi­ ences we have, which tend to radically affect our personality, are naturally im­ pressed in the memory of the Infinite Intelligence. Is it not logical to say that if the personality is perpetuated in the Infinite Intelligence, or in other words, reincarnated, the memory of incidents contributing to the formation of that personality would also be reincarnated? Accepting that premise, then the origin of psychic experiences is not difficult of explanation. W h a t occurs when in our daily life we witness an incident simi­ lar to one previously observed? Do not the impressions received release from memory for re-assembly the previous ones? Do we not immediately recall identical or relatively similar incidents? This, then, is what a psychic experi­ ence consists of. T he recollection of experiences of the personality retained in the memory of the soul or Infinite Intelligence. W hen we confront in life parallel experiences, not in detail but in prin­ ciple, to those had in past times, and deposited in the archives of the In­ finite Intelligence, the past ones are re­ leased because of the similarity of im­ pressions. Just as we cannot readily recall from memory an incident without first holding in our consciousness a thought composed of an element of the previous incident, neither can we recall from Infinite memory a psychic experi­ ence without an association of ideas. Psychic experiences, unlike psychic contacts, are not, therefore, as frequent. They come to us when perplexed, puzzled, and dealing with a serious problem of life, which will vitally affect us. If the actual experience is one that is apt to influence our character, our personality, by its effect on our life, we are most certain to have a psychic ex­ perience. Thousands, in fact millions, have had them, but they know them instead as a hunch, intuition, an un­ canny impression, a flash, an idea, a clear concept. These psychic experi­ ences are always logical with a definite cause, and a rational ending. T he events of the experience progress step by step in an ordered sequence, like an

experience of your daily life. They are never fantastic, frightening, or not un­ derstood. A psychic experience leaves in the objective mind a helpful sugges­ tion that can be applied to the solution of the parallel actual experience you are confronting. These intuitive flashes as they are commonly called, if fol­ lowed, are never unsuccessful in the results they bring about. T w o outstanding things may be com­ mented upon at this point: First, one does not need to be asleep to be the recipient of a psychic experience, as commonly believed. One in a quiet state of introspection may receive an enlightening, psychic experience. This point alone, removes psychic experi­ ences from dreams, the psychological origin which we have discussed. The next point is that the significance of the experience is clear to you. Its import­ ance is appreciated. Certainly you have never heard anyone retort, "There has flashed into my mind a most wonderful idea. It is a complete picture, yet I cannot understand it or appreciate its value to myself." If you feel you are obliged to ask another what your psy­ chic experiences mean, because they are confusing and seemingly without purpose—it is not psychic— and if had while asleep undoubtedly it is a dream. As concerns the physiological effects on the individual: There are certain marked characteristics between dreams and psychic experiences. Dreams caused by organic disturbances, setting up in­ ternal stimuli or caused by external sensations, excite the emotions. The emotions being the sensations of the subjective mind are excited by the sen­ sations received in the brain. T he no­ ticeable effects are produced by these emotions, fear, hatred, anger and their attendant bodily responses, perspira­ tion, rapid breathing, rigidity of muscles, etc., whereas psychic experiences merely increase (not to an alarming rate) palpitation of the heart and in­ duce a feeling of exhilaration not accompanied by any predominant emo­ tional responses. He who doubts psy­ chic contact and experience, doubts the unity of Infinite Intelligence in man. If he admits Infinite Intelligence as being resident in all men, why deny man re­ lationship with it?

Does The Cosmic Fail Us? CAN WE ALWAYS BE SURE OF COSMIC HELP? By

The Rosicrucian D igest June 1932

F r a t e r R oy B illin g s

T times I feel that the Cosmic does not even know that I exist and has no more in­ terest in me and my affairs than I have an interest in the affairs of some peanut vend o r in s o m e foreign land. I feel as though the Cosmic may see me sometimes when it looks down on this earth plane and think of me as a little atom of the sand of human beings, and is just as ready to walk on me and crush me out of sight as I crush the grains of sand out of sight when I walk along the beach and push many of them down deeply into the beach soil and allow the water to wash new sand into the hole. Perhaps I am too egotistical to think that the Cosmic should pay any atten­ tion to me. If I lift up my voice in prayer or cries of agony or pleas or petitions, asking for help, my voice may be lost in the atmosphere or may not even be heard among the millions and millions of similar cries that are being sent skyward. W h o am I, individually, that I should have any individual atten­ tion? After all, the Cosmic is not in­ terested in persons, but in principles. It is concerned with masses, and not with particles. I am just a small cog on a wheel. I am even less than that; for I am not important enough to be part of a wheel. Therefore, why should I place my faith in the Cosmic helping me, or trust to the Cosmic to listen to my wishes and my desires?

It is said in some sacred literature that God knows every sparrow and every feather on every sparrow’s body and that He knows every star in the heavens and every hair on our heads. I cannot question wihat God knows of all of us, but sometimes I do question whether God stops in his great work to think of me individually. Yes, I have become discouraged. But still something within me maintains my faith in one idea; namely, that all will end well. Perhaps that is a childish faith which I carry over from my childhood days. I remember that as a small boy I used to see upset and unpleasant con­ ditions in our home for long periods, and used to doubt whether such condi­ tions would get any better; but eventu­ ally everything would straighten out and be pleasant again, and I became convinced eventually that everything ends well if we only have patience. Perhaps that belief has grown within me and now saves me from being alto­ gether lost. Just recently my wife decided to take advantage of the wonderful low prices being asked for furniture and house­ hold equipment and planned to reno­ vate our home. She also decided that as long as the furniture was going to be changed and the carpets changed, all the curtains might as well be taken down and the pictures and the shades and the electric light bulbs and all the other things that help to make a home, and then have the paper hangers and the plasterers come in and fix up the house. I came home one night and started to enter the front door, and after push­ ing it open about a foot, I had a small plank dropped on my head off of one One hundred ninety-four

of the ladders, for I had upset it trying to get in. After I got over the stun, I stepped into the room and found I had put my one foot down into the pail of paste. In stepping out of the pail, I skidded across the wooden floor and got another bump in the middle of my anatomy. I hurried to the laundry room in the back porch to wash the paste off my shoe and trouser leg and found that the water had been turned off because new faucets were being put into place in the laundry room. I went out into the garage to try to get an old brush to clean my shoes, and found the ga­ rage floor covered with the painters’ and paper hangers’ equipments and the automobile down town at a garage be­ ing cleaned and cared for while the house and grounds were so upset. W h en I was ready to sit down to eat, I found that I had to eat from a small kitchen table over which old pieces of canvas had been spread to protect the Duco legs and top from being spat­ tered. M y coffee was served in a partly broken cup because the good dishes had been packed away. M y knife was a dull, old kitchen knife because the silver had been put away. I had to eat a cold supper because the kitchen range had been disconnected. After eating, I wanted to spend the evening, as usual, in reading the paper and the “Literary Digest.” But the standing lamp and the bridge lamp near my favorite chair had been disconnected, and the chair was covered with old blankets and paper. W h en I was ready to go to bed. I could not find my paja­ mas because the clothes closet had been cleaned out and everything put into trunks, and I had to search for them before I could get into bed. W hile walking barefoot on the floor, I stepped on tacks and pins. I crawled into bed and had to sleep between old blankets because the good ones had been put away. I was cold and chilly all night, and I awoke too early because the sun was shining on my face through one of the windows where the shades had been removed. I could not tell what time it was because the clock had been taken down from the wall. I got up and dressed and had to wear my soiled shirt and collar because my good clothes had been put away. I could not shave because the bathroom things

had been removed from the chest over the wash basin, and the mirror was covered to protect it while the wood­ work around the chest was being painted. I finally stood in the middle of my home and exclaimed: “W h a t a fine mess of a home this is! After all of these years of hard work, hard toil­ ing, sacrifice and saving, I have no home, no peace, no rest, and not even a shave; and as for a bath, that is out of the question!” I hurried down town to get a real breakfast, and found that I had been served lukewarm coffee and some in­ digestible pancakes. And all morning I had a congestion in my chest where the pancakes had lodged and had de­ cided to stay for the rest of the day. I may have had a grouch or a spell of indigestion, but everything went wrong that day, and when night came I was ready to jump off of the end of the pier or take a drink of something that would put me to sleep for the rest of my life. Life wasn't worth living; everything was going wrong. I had no home and I felt miserable— all of this after forty years of work and effort to have a comfortable life. Certainly the whole world was wrong, and I saw nothing worth living for. As the days passed and conditions remained the same, I tried to be phi­ losophical at times and became dyspep­ tic. I wondered whether the Cosmic had worked out some Karmic punish­ ment for me. I am rather new at un­ derstanding about the Cosmic, for I have been studying about this great force or power of mind for only a few months. Perhaps I don’t understand it properly. But the Cosmic did not seem to change conditions for me, and I doubted whether the Cosmic was inter­ ested in me the least bit. O f course, conditions changed. I stayed away from the house as much as possible as though I were afraid of the conditions surrounding me, and as I look back upon that period now, I realize that instead of exerting some degree of mastership, I allowed condi­ tions to enslave me. I was fearful of them. I allowed them to make my life miserable even when I was away from them. A t last one night when I came home I noticed that the front rooms

The Rosicrucian D igest June 1932

were neat and orderly and more attrac­ tive than they had been before. I was tempted to fling myself into one of the new, softly upholstered chairs, and I sank into such a comfortable, relaxed position that I felt like staying there all night. I seemed to have a momentary taste of some luxury that did not be­ long to me. T he next night I found that the bathroom and bedroom were in order and very attractive. In a few days the entire home seemed so beauti­ ful and comfortable that I found myself standing in the middle of the rooms looking around as though viewing the home of some other person, and almost envied the other fellow, the luxuries and blessings he had. M y wife must have been extremely patient with me, and probably knew what was going on in my mind. All she ever said was: "N ow that the transition is complete, I hope that you will come to realize that out of the fire and ashes has arisen a new home." T hat taught me a very wonderful lesson. I began to look upon the gen­ eral business depression throughout America as though it were a good housecleaning. I looked upon the lack of circulating money as the dishes and towels, books and pictures, that had been packed up and put away for pro­ tection during the rejuvenating process. I felt that the only thing for me to do was to stop seeing the upset side of the picture and to think of the changes that were taking place. M y wife told me that she was extremely happy throughout all of the annoying condi­ tions because she made herself a part of the reconstructive processes, got in­ to harmony with the laws that were at work and lived in the joys of the crea­ tive faculties she had and which she was expressing every hour of the day, while I saw nothing but the destruc­ tive processes at work. And so now I am throwing my whole interest into co-operating with some great universal law that is giving Amer­ ica and most of the world a housecleaning. I am now on the side of the creative processes at work, and I am ignoring the incidental, destructive pro­ cesses. I know that only good can come out of the present situation, and so I

look forward to the new day instead of living in the present, and regretting the passing of the past. I see that the universal mind, Cos­ mic Mind, world consciousness, or whatever you wish to call it, is at work in an impersonal way. It may not be thinking of me individually, but it is thinking of me collectively. If the Cos­ mic were to answer all of my desires individually and give me what I wanted, it would have to ignore others, and then there would be a justification for millions to claim that the Cosmic was partial instead of impartial, and that it ignored some and gave its preference to others. I believe now that this Cosmic Mind, or whatever it may be, does listen to all of our needs and our peti­ tions and then works out a plan where­ by it can help the most of us with the least unpleasantness to the rest. As for trying to understand the Cosmic methods, I might just as well try to understand what the earth looks like to anyone living on Mars. I would have to be in their position to have any cor­ rect concept. T o understand the Cosmic’s view­ point, I must become a part of the Cos­ mic. Therefore, I must become uni­ versal in my comprehension and forget the individual. Since I have tried this I find consolation, happiness and peace. I am no longer disturbed by the upset conditions around me, for from the Cosmic point of view they are purely transitory and cannot endure and are not real. I am not lonely, for I am now a part of a universal mass and I have world-wide companionship. I do not miss the things that I think I should have, for I am too busy analyzing and enjoying the things that I do have. I envy no one their blessings, for I know that my time will come, too. I sym­ pathize with the unfortunate, for I know how they labor under mistaken impressions. I no longer doubt, for I found doubtfulness led many into dark­ ness, and faith has led many into un­ derstanding and illumination. M y faith in the Cosmic and the God back of it all is unlimited and a power that meets every obstacle and every despondent mood of life. Thus, through one ex­ perience in life, I have learned one great lesson.

Unusual Allegorical Painting by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, Rome, entitled. ’’The Creation of Adam." (Compliments of The Rosicrucian Digest)

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THE PURPOSES OF THE

ROSICRUCIAN

ORDER

The Rosicrucian Order, existing in all civilized lands, is a non-sectarian, fraternal body of men and women devoted to the investigation, study, and practical application of natural and spiritual laws. The purpose of the organization is to enable all to live in harmony with the creative, constructive, Cosmic forces for the attainment of health, happiness, and Peace. The Order is internationally known as AM ORC (an abbreviation), and the AM ORC in America, and all other lands, constitutes the only form of Rosicrucian activities united in one body having representation in the international Rosicrucian congresses. The AM ORC does not sell its teachings, but gives them freely to all affiliated members, together with many other benefits. Inquirers seeking to know the history, purposes, and practical benefits that they may re­ ceive from Rosicrucian association, are invited to send for the free book, "The W isdom of the Sages." Address, Librarian, S. P. C., care of

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Officials of the ]\[orth American Jurisdiction (Including the United States, Dominion of Canada, Alaska,Mexico,Guatemala,Honduras, Nic­ aragua, Costa Rica, Republic of Panama, the W est Indies,Lower California, and all land under the protection of the United States of America.) H. SPENCER LEW IS. F.R.C., Ph. D .....................................................................................Imperator RALPH M. LEW IS, F.R.C.,...............................................................................................Supreme Secretary CHARLES DANA DEAN, F.R.C.,....................................................................... National Grand Master A. LEO N BATCHELOR, F.R.C.,.....................................................................Director of Correspondence DR. ARTHUR B. BELL, F.R.C.,..................................................... Director of the W elfare Department HARRY L. SHIBLEY, F.R.C., Director of Editorial Department The following principal branches are District Headquarters of A M O R C

New York City, New York: AFRAM ERICAN Chapter of AMORC, 125 W est 130th St., Claxton C. Swift, Master, 805 St. Nicholas Ave., c/o Tate, New York City, New York. Boston, Mass: Mass. Lodge, Mrs. Marie Clemens, S.R.C, Master, Lodge Building. 739 Boylston Street. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Penn. First Lodge, Geo. W . Postgate, 1417 Duffield St., Pittsburgh. Pa. Hartford, Conn.: Isis Lodge, AMORC, Mr. W . B. Andross, Master, Box 54, South W indsor, Conn. San Francisco, California: Francis Bacon Lodge, John M. Dearing, Master, 1655 Polk St., San Francisco, Cali­ fornia.

Los Angeles, California: Hermes Lodge, Nos. 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46, AM ORC TEM PLE, 316'A W est Pico Street, Ned Chaffey, Master. Inquiry Office and Secretary, Suite 813, New Orpheum Theatre Building. San Jose, Calif.: Grand Lodge Session for all members, Tues­ day evenings, 7:30 to 8:30 P.M., Naglee Ave., Rosicrucian Park. Chicago, III.: Chicago Chapter No. 9., O. G. O'Delius, Master. Offices and Reading Room (open daily and evenings), Auditorium Hotel (Club Room No. 4) 430 South Michigan Ave. (Telephone Harrison 5000). Philadelphia, Penna.: Delta Lodge No. 1, AMORC, Henry Wilcke, Master, Stevens House, Lancaster, Pa. John R. Springfield, K.R.C., Secretary, 5251 Delancey St.

(Directory Continued on Next Page)

Portland, Oregon: Portland Chapter, Mr. H. A. Ellis, Master, P. O. Box 1901, Sta. 4, Portland Ore.

Seattle, Washington; AM ORC Chapter, A. C. Runte, Master. 1113J/2 Howell, Seattle, W ash. Library and Reading Room, 501 Haight Bldg. Open everyday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Evenings 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Telephone Seneca 9215.

Other Chartered Chapters and Lodges of the Rosicrucian Order (AM ORC) will be found in most large cities and towns of North America. Address of local representatives given on request.

P R IN C IP A L C A N A D IA N B R A N C H E S

Vancouver, B. C.: Canadian Grand Lodge, Dr. J. B. Clark, K.R.C., Grand Master, AM ORC Temple, 560 Granville Street. New Westminster, B. C.: Mr. A. H. P. Matthew, Master, 1313 7th Ave. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Societe d’ctude d'AM ORC (French Section), Marcel Henry, Master, 3837 St.-Denis St., Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Winnipeg, Man., Canada: C. H. Best, Master, 310 Parkview St., St. James, W innipeg, Man., Canada. Victoria, B. C.: Victoria Lodge. Secretary, AMORC. Box 14. Inquiry Office and Reading Room, 101 Union Bank Bldg. Open week days 10 a.m.—6 p.m. Edmonton, Alta.: Mr. James Clements, K.R.C., Master 9533 Jasper Avenue, E.

S P A N IS H -A M E R IC A N S E C T IO N

This jurisdiction includes all the Spanish-speaking Countries of the New W orld. Its Supreme Council and Head Office are located at San Juan, Puerto Rico, having local Representatives in all the principal cities of these stated Countries. Hon. Manuel Rodriguez Serra, F.R.C., Supreme Grand Master, P. O. Box 702, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Armando Font de la Jara, F.R.C., Secretary General, P. O. Box 36, San Juan, Puerto Rico. The name and address of other Officers and Branch Secretaries cannot be given general pub­ licity, but may be obtained for any information or special purposes, through the Head Office at San Juan, Puerto Rico. ALL CORRESPO N D EN CE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED T O T H E SECRETARY GENERAL

A F E W O F T H E F O R E IG N JU R IS D IC T IO N S

England: India: The Supreme Council, AMORC, Calcutta, The AM ORC Grand Lodge of Great Britain, India. Mr. Raymund Andrea, K.R.C., Grand Master, Scandinavian Countries: 41 Berkeley Road, Bishopston, Bristol, Eng. The AM ORC Grand Lodge of Denmark, Dutch and East Indies: Carli Anderson, S. R. C., Grand Secretary, W . J. Visser, Grand Master, Bodjong 135 Manogade 13th Strand, Copenhagen, Den­ Semarang, Java. mark. France: Egypt: Dr. H. Gruter, F.R.C., Grand Master, Nice. The Grand Orient of AMORC. House of the Mile. Jeanne Guesdon, S.R.C., Corresponding Temple, M. A. Ramayvelim, F.R.C., Grand Secretary for the Grand Lodge (AMORC) Secretary,7, Rue Talkha, Heliopolis. of France, 56 Rue Gambetta, Villeneuve Saint Georges, Seine & Oise). Africa: The Grand Lodge of the Gold Coast Austria: Mr. Many Cihlar, K.R.C., Grossekreter der AMORC. Mr. H. C. Moncar, Grand Master, P. O. Box 329 Accra, Gold Coast, W est AM ORC. Laxenburgerstr, 75/9, Vienna, X. Africa. China and Russia: The United Grand Lodge of China and Rus­ Costa Rica: sia, 8/18 Kvakazasaya St., Harbin, M an­ W illiam T. Lindo, F.R.C., Grand Master, churia. P. O. Box 521, Limon, Republic of Costa A ustralia: Rica, C. A. The Grand Council of Australia, M. S. The addresses of other foreign Grand Lodges Kowron, F.R.C., Grand Master, “Sandhurst,” and secretaries will he furnished on application. 52 Fletcher St., Bondi, Sydney, N.S.W .

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A rare account of the Cosmic preparation, birth, secret studies, mission, crucifixion, and later life of the Great Master, from the records of the Essene and Rosicrucian Brotherhoods. A book that is demanded in foreign lands as the most talked about revelation of Jesus ever made. O ver 300 pages, beautifully illustrated, bound in purple silk, stamped in gold. Price $2.90 per copy, postpaid. Volume V.

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A new and astounding system of determining your fortunate and unfortunate hours, weeks, months, and years throughout your life. No mathematics required. Better than any system of numerology or astrology. Bound in silk, stamped with gold. Price $2.50 per copy, postpaid. Volume VIII.

THE ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL.

Most complete outline of the rules, regulations, and operations of lodges and student work of the Order, with many interesting articles, biographies, explanations, and complete Dictionary of Rosicrucian terms and words. Very completely illustrated. A necessity to every student who wishes to progress rapidly, and a guide to all seekers. W ell printed and bound in silk, stamped with gold. Price $2.30 per copy, postpaid.

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Send all orders for books, with remittances, direct to AM ORC SUPPLY BUREAU, Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, Calif.

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ROSICRUCIAN DIGEST COVERS THE WORLD

THE OFFICIAL, INTERN ATION AL ROSICRUCIAN M AGAZINE OF THE WORLD-W IDE ROSICRUCTAN ORDER Vol. X

AUGUST, 1932

No. 7

CONTENTS . . .... Frontispiece The Mystery of Lite By The Imperator The Thought ot the Month Some Mysteries ot an Expanding ByFraterG. N. Garrison Universe ..... ........... The Secret ot Praying By H. Spencer Lewis, Ph. D., F.R.C. Cathedral Contacts The Eternal Truths............................By The Imperator Sanctum Musings.................................... The Cosmic Genie ... By The Imperator Pages trom the Past Sin... ..... By Frater CicJ Guzney Building the Pyramids Illustration

Subscription to the Rosicrucian Digest, Three Dollars per year. Single copies twenty-five cents each. Entered as Second Class M atter at the Post Office at San Jose, Cali' fornia, under Act of August 24th, 1912. Change) of address must reach us by tenth of the month preceding date of issue. Published M onthly by the Supreme Council of THE ROSICRUCIAN ORDER— AM ORC

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The

THOUGHT OF THE MONTH IMAGINATION By THE IMPERATOR

The Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

O T so long ago I c o m m e n t e d in these pages on some of the pe­ culiar factors that entered into the d e v e lo p m e n t of human evolution. M y remarks have been very widely commented upon and a number of our readers have taken various positions in regard to my remarks and some have taken issue with me claiming that my view-point regarding the social tendencies of human beings is not con­ sistent with the facts as they have ob­ served them. I said that in a great many instances my observations had convinced me that many types and kinds of human beings lived in squallor, filth, disease, and ut­ most despondency merely because they did not use a little effort that would lift them out of such conditions into better ones. I said that it was not a matter of cost nor of great effort but mere desire and determination on their part accompanied by the minimum amount of personal effort and no addi­ tional expense would change the lot of many of these beings and he contended that all of them would gladly make a change if it was only a matter of a minimum amount of personal effort. Mv answer to these remarks is that studying the problem in the larger American cities is like studying a great universal practical problem in the clinic

of a college or a class room. The beings under observation do not represent a true cross section of universal human nature. In the second place, I doubt if any of the slums in the worst sections of the larger American cities can equal by even a fraction the conditions to be found in most of the cities of the Near East and Far East and parts of Europe and South America. W estern W orld civilization has raised the standards of living so high that even the lowest of these standards is superior to the aver­ age standard in many parts of the world. A scientist or a humanist study­ ing the living conditions of an Ameri­ can city cannot possibly arrive at an appreciation of the living conditions in the Old W orld and to think of human nature generally and universally in the terms of what is observed in even the poorest and most degraded sections of an American city is to be self-deceived. In the second place, conditions are so terrible in many foreign cities that or­ ganizations and movements of all kinds, including special boards established by the government, have attempted to re­ lieve the conditions by building and maintaining better living districts with better living conditions for those who desired them, with no increase in the personal cost of living. This is some­ thing that we have not experienced in America. It is undoubtedly true that here every form of improvement in liv­ ing conditions is cwned or controlled by personal capital and promulgated in a commercial sense for profit and every attempt to take advantage of an im­ provement in living conditions brings

with it a demand for an increased cost of living. In foreign lands where the British government, the French gov­ ernment and even the Austrian gov­ ernment have made provisions from national funds for the improvement of living conditions and have offered these to the poor, a change from the lowest degree of living to better conditions entails no personal cost and often re­ quires nothing more than mere desire to improve one's environment. In spite of this, however, thousands upon thou­ sands of human beings in every part of these foreign lands continue to live in the most primitive, barbaric, filthy, un­ healthy conditions imaginable. One of my critics has pointed out to me that the lack of desire to lift one­ self out of such conditions into better ones may not be due entirely to a lack of effort but may be due to sentiment. I know this to be a fact. I have talked to some old people and to some young people living in the most squalid section of Algiers, Constantinople, Greece, Jerusalem, Cairo, and other cities and they have frankly told me that their parents and their grandparents and even their great grandparents for many generations had been born and had lived in the same buildings now occu­ pied by them and that it was their old home, their old estate, their old environ­ ment, and they did not want to change. They have admitted that a slight change of environment would mean a slight change of custom and habit even in dressing and eating and while this would not have entailed any unbearable or impossible additional expense, it would have been the breaking away from old standards which they held sacred through pure sentiment. But to blame the cause partly upon sentiment is not to change the argu­ ment one iota. If we are to find any psychological reason as fundamental for this trait in human nature I would say that it was the lack of imagination. Imagination is the one great creative power within the human body. It is that which has built cities, built bridges over rivers, built tunnels through moun­ tains, covered the oceans with steam­ ships, the valleys and hills with rail­ roads, and filled the air with airplanes. It has changed the customs and habits

of human beings, their clothing, their food, their languages, and their ways of thinking. In fact, imagination is the keynote of human evolution and I agree with Napoleon in his estimate that im­ agination will conquer the world for it will conquer every feature of human conception. The individual who lacks imagination or lacks the use of it or who has not permitted this unusual divine faculty to develop is bound by ancient traditions and customs and is blind to the future in all of its creative stages. Such an individual can only live in the past for he can have no foresight and must therefore be lacking in ambition and creative desires. M an has three ways by which new knowledge, new ideas, and new things may come into his life and into the process of human evolution. The first of these is Cosmic revelation, whereby attunement with the universal mind and with the divine consciousness gradually reveals to his individual consciousness the great wisdom that is timeless and deals with the past, the present, and the future. This wisdom inspires him, instructs him, guides him, and leads him on and teaches him the lessons learned through the errors of human existence and fortifies him against simi­ lar errors in the future. It lays the foundation for contemplation and medi­ tation. It supplies ideas in an embryonic state that may be evolved and matured into living things. T he second great gift to man is that of imagination by which he may take the inspired and embryonic idea and develop it, unfold it and reconstruct it mentally and in a mental world that knows no limitations. W ith this faculty he can build things out of nothing with invisible material, intangible substances and construct an immaterial and in­ tangible edifice or an invisible and in­ tangible nation. He can unfold in his mind the possible and impossible things alike. He can conceive of that which is beyond achievement today but possible of achievement tomorrow. His imagina­ tion is like the draftsman’s sketches of the greatest architects who can plan and outline that which should be done without regard to cost, to time, to sur­ rounding conditions. W ith it man can

The Rosicrucian D igest

August 1932

surround his consciousness with pic­ tures of possible future achievements and hold these before him as the ideals toward which all his efforts may be di­ rected. Imagination is the light that leads man on and it is the golden light that has led the movement of human evolution through all of the darkest ages. T he third great blessing is the power to mentally create. This is different from that of imagination for with the man who develops the faculty of men­ tally creating, the plans and the designs conceived in his imagination are taken one by one and reconstructed not of intangible and invisible substances but of a very tangible essence radiating from the human mind into space and materializing into concrete, definite, ma­ terial forms out of which all of the world has been built and all of the universe made manifest. Mentally creating is the process that God used when He conceived the idea of a world for man and breathed forth from His consciousness the power of the laws which set into motion that which was conceived in His imagination and out of chaos and darkness came form and light and the form of things was changed into great diversity of nature and all living things were con­ ceived and created in the same manner and ultimately man himself created by the same great power. And then to man was given this divine power of God to continue the creation which God had started. W hile man may im­ agine great things and hold them in his consciousness as an ideal toward which to strive or dream about, to hope and pray for, the man who uses the mental creative faculty takes each imaginary picture of human conception and by concentrating upon it and focalizing the creative power of his being upon it brings it into concrete, material mani­ festation. T he mystic knows only too well the value and the danger, the goodness and the evil, that lies in the power of mentally creating. He knows that if he holds in his mind a picture

and gives to it the vibrations of living possibility and prophetically proclaims that it is to be or will be, he brings it about, he creates it in the world of actuality and transfers it from the world of reality to material manifestation. He knows that as each hour of the day passes the things which he has held in his imagination and which he now allows to pass into the chamber of mental alchemy are apt to be immedi­ ately crystallized in earthly form and he must, therefore, he pure minded. He must be pure and holy in his imaginary concepts and he must keep the chamber of mental alchemy so clear and so wholesome and of such a high standard that no evil thought, no evil admission, no unholy concept of his earthly im­ agination may take form there and grow and be bom in the world of actuality. Human evolution is the result of Cosmic inspiration, human imagination, and divine mental creation, but where the center faculty of these three is lack­ ing and imagination has not been per­ mitted to develop, or is never used, there the human being stagnates and becomes a slave to the past and a vic­ tim of the present. There are no hills of the future around him over which he may rise to see the grand perspective of valleys and plains beyond. There are no shops lying in port waiting to take him from the land of the old and the land of the past to the land of the new and the future. Let your imagination, therefore, have full sway. Build it up until it is filled daily and hourly with the pictures that the lessons of the past and the trials of today suggest to your consciousness. Then analyze these imaginary things, select the best of them and take them into the laboratory of your creative powers and let the divine consciousness flowing through you reconstruct them, radiate them, and bring them to pass in your life and in the lives of those around you, thus adding to the world the assets of the future and the beauti­ ful things of human evolution.

“Human progress continues only so long as the human concept exceeds attainment .”— Valid oar.

Some Mysteries of An Expanding Universe By F r a t e r G . N. G a r r is o n (AUTHOR'S PREFACE— Several months ago there appeared in The Rosicrucian Forum— Second Tear, Issue F{o. 1, pp. 28— a short article under the general heading, “As Above, So Belotv.” Ever since that article appeared we have received many requests for further information and further data concerning the similarity between the microcosmos and the macrocosmos. In view of the fact that all we said in our former article and all we could possibly say in any future article would be more or less speculative— because its interpretation would not fall in the category that would be approved or provable by ‘'scientific” methods—and fearing lest we be misunderstood and the Order criticized in consequence, we have with-held elaborating on our previous article as long as it was expedient so to do. W e feel now, however, in duty bound to continue our discussion and hasten to preface it with the positive statement that in what follows, the personal convictions of the author alone are expressed, as it, in no sense, is part of the teachings of AMORC. It is presented as a theoreti' cal, speculative, controversal theory— nothing more.)

know, of cou rse, th a t the smallest division into which matter is th e o r e tic a lly susceptible is the electro n . N ow , there are two dif­ ferent kinds of electrons; the positive electron— which science calls a “proton”— and the negative elec­ tron. In fact, we have been taught that in the electron, both positive and nega­ tive, we have the very “building blocks” of the universe. Our physical bodies, the ground on which we walk, the food we eat, the very air we breathe— in short, everything that has three dimen­ sions and possesses mass, weight and inertia, is made up of these positive and negative electrons and of nothing else. The only difference, physically, for in­ stance, between a cake of soap and a E a ll

Tw o hundred forty-seven

pair of shoes, between a tree and a tadpole, or between a house and a horse, is the relative proportion of the positive to negative electrons composing them. A number of electrons together form an atom. And a number of atoms to­ gether form a molecule. Although a molecule is incomparably greater in mass than an electron, still, it is so inconceivably small that it has defied detection by even the world’s most powerful microscopes. Let us consider just what these state­ ments mean in their relation to the uni­ verse and to the macrocosmos. The earth upon which we live is a planet, but only a minor one among several that revolve around the sun. W e have seen that an aggregation of negative electrons and at least one positive electron is known as an atom. In exactly the same sense, an aggrega­ tion of planets and at least one sun is known as a universe.

The Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

W e have seen also that an aggrega­ tion of atoms is known as a molecule. Just so an aggregation of universes is known as a galaxy. In other words; positive and negative electrons, which, together, form an atom, can be compared to suns and planets, which, together, comprise a universe. And an aggregation of atoms which constitute a molecule can be com­ pared to an aggregation of universes which constitute a galaxy. Carrying our reasoning one step fur­ ther we find that an aggregation of molecules, forming all matter, can be compared to an aggregation of galaxies, which, for want of a better name, we shall call “S U P E R -M A T T E R ”. Just as the positive electron is the center of the atom, so is the positive sun the center of the universe of which it is a part. But atoms are not all alike. One atom differs from the atom of another mole­ cule in the number of negative elec­ trons that revolve around its one or more positive electrons. Neither are all universes alike, for one universe differs from the universe of another galaxy in the number of negative planets that revolve around its one or more positive suns. The negative electrons revolve around the positive electrons and they are kept in proper relation to each other by their velocity of rotation and develop suffi­ cient centrifugal force to just balance the cohesion attraction of the greater mass of the positive electron. Should this cohesion attraction be over-bal­ anced by centrifugal force, portions of the atom so affected would go flying off through space and we would have what is known as radio activity. In an exactly similar manner the negative planets revolve around the positive suns and are kept in proper relation to each other by their velocity of rotation and develop sufficient cen­ trifugal force to just balance the gravi­ tational attraction of the greater mass of the positive sun. Should this gravita­ tional attraction become over-balanced by centrifugal force, portions of the planet so affected would go flying off through space and we would have what is known as shooting stars.

The negative electrons revolve at various speeds around the positive elec­ trons in the same manner that the negative planets revolve at various speeds around the positive suns. And just as the negative planets re­ volve around the positive suns at vari­ ous distances from it, so do the negative electrons revolve around the positive electrons at various distances from it. Since positive suns differ in physical size from each other, isn’t it reasonable to assume that positive electrons also vary in size from each other? Even con­ trary to “scientific” opinion on the subject. W e know that negative planets differ in physical size, one from another and it is, therefore, not illogical to assert that negative electrons also differ in size, one from the other. Coming back once more to the ulti­ mate constituent of all matter, the elec­ tron, we believe that the most concise, common sense definition of an electron was that given by our Imperator when he said that, “Electrons are stressed vortexes of the universal creative power known generally as electricity, but being the fundamental vibratory radiations of the sun from which essence, in accord­ ance with its various rates of frequency, all powers and essences in a universe are made manifest.” Perhaps if we compare this definition with that given by science we may more fully appreciate the significance of the Imperator's positive statement. For science informs us that “electrons are negatively charged particles” and socalled “protons” are “positively charged particles”. But when asked just what these “particles” consist of, science has no answer and even the great Sir James Jeans freely admits that science does not know. He does not admit, however, how much else science does not know. T o an observer located on one of the negative electrons, his “universe” would consist of the electron which he in­ habited, the positive electron which he would know as his “sun”, a number of other negative electrons which he would call “planets”, if he had a sufficiently powerful telescope to discern them, and any other positive electrons that were within range of his telescope. These positive electrons he would, undoubt­ edly call other “suns" or “stars”.

And our observer might, if he were not too deeply seeped in pragmatism, conceive of other “worlds” and other “universes” each consisting of individual “planets” and individual “suns”. No doubt he would also wonder if these other “planets” that he could see in his telescopes were inhabited by “human beings” like unto himself. It would be almost an utter impossi­ bility, however, for such a “being” to conceive of every-day, ponderous mat­ ter such as we know it. It would be entirely beyond his small powers of comprehension or of observation. For he would have nothing with which to draw a parallel. H e would have noth­ ing in his world with which to compare it. In short, matter, to him, simply could not exist. His “scientists” could easily convince him of that. Now, if someone told our hypothet­ ical being in our hypothetical world that not only he but the earth on which he lived as well as his entire solar sys­ tem and millions of other solar systems of which he had not the faintest know­ ledge, formed a part of, and was in­ herent in, a living, sentient, susceptible, and emotional being, with powers, abilities and capabilities infinitely su­ perior to his own; such a person would undoubtedly be considered mentally unbalanced and would speedily be com­ mitted to a suitable institution. But cannot we draw an exactly paral­ lel analogy with this speck of dust we call the earth and the collection of dust particles we call the universe? O n the microcosmic plane we have our electrons, our atoms, and our mole­ cules which, together, constitute matter. O n the macrocosmic plane we have our planets and suns, our universes, V •

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and our galaxies which, together, con­ stitute S U P E R -M A T T E R ! And just as the matter of our hypo­ thetical world constituted, or formed a part of, a living, sentient, susceptible, and emotional being; so, in this exist­ ence we call life, may the S U P E R ­ M A T T E R of which we are such an in­ significant and infinitesimal part, con­ stitute, or be inherent in, some living, sentient, susceptible, and emotional Being, with powers as far transcending ours, as ours transcends those of the inhabitants of our hypothetical world. Such a Being, man calls GOD! And this Being, if He exists at all, is probably undergoing steady physical growth— getting larger. But if He is growing and getting larger, all of the “electrons”, “atoms”, and “molecules” (all of the planets, suns and universes) of which His person is composed, must, necessarily, be continuously getting further apart, since there is no evidence that additional material is being sup­ plied to increase the sum total. T o our present-day scientists, inhabiting one of the minor “electrons” of this Super­ structure, the evidence all indicates that ‘‘the universe is expanding”. How petty, unimportant, trivial, and small appear the affairs of man when compared to the grandeur, the stateli­ ness, the awesome splendor and mighty majesty of such a Being as we have been endeavoring to visualize! Truly, such a phenomenon is tran­ scended only by the mind of a critic who sees no sense in, or cents return from such speculations; and by the humble receptiveness of the Mystic who, freely admitting the limitations of the flesh, in reverence tries to under­ stand. V V

DO YOU READ THE ROSICRUCIAN FORUM?

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WE THANK YOU O n behalf of the entire staff of the Grand Lodge, I wish to extend our thanks for the splendid co-operation received from the members everywhere in response to the recent communication sent every member. It is one more manifestation of loyalty to the principles of the Order, and a testimony of devotion to its objects .—Supreme Secretary . Two hundred, forty-nine

The Secret of Praying A LECTURE GIVEN IN THE ROSICRUCIAN AUDITORIUM SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA By H.

T he Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

S p e n c e r L e w is ,

W O U L D like to say first, as an in­ troduction, some­ th in g I s h o u l d have said during th e announce­ ments. It is neces­ sary that I say this now in con­ sideration of what I am going to say during my dis­ course. The Rosicrucian organization is not primarily an organ­ ization for the study of religion, al­ though its study does introduce the philosophy of religious principles merely as one of its subjects. The organiza­ tion does not attempt to establish a new religion or a new church. In all of its many centuries of activities in all countries, it is still looked upon and considered a fraternal organization, and not as a religion. In fact, it does not ask its members to leave their indi­ vidual churches or to change their re­ ligions, and we are happy in the fact that we have both Protestants and Ro­ man Catholics in our organization, as well as Jews and Gentiles, and those of every denomination, and we have those who are very active. W e have Rabbis who are still in charge of their syna­ gogues. W e have Episcopalian clergy­

Ph. D., F.R.C.

men who are still in charge of their congregations, and they all carry on their ecclesiastical work without any feeling of embarrassment with their connection with the Rosicrucian organ­ ization. W e encourage our members to sup­ port the church of their choice even though they may not agree with every­ thing the church might say, because, unquestionably, the churches are doing a good work and need the support of every moral, upright, law-abiding citi­ zen, but despite this attitude of ours toward all religions, that of tolerance and kind feeling, it is our duty, as an organization devoted to the revelation of suppressed knowledge, as an organ­ ization constantly digging up new and old information (when I say ‘digging up’ I mean it literally as well as sym­ bolically, as we are members of an Egyptian Exploration Society, digging in the sands to get something out of the mystery temples); so we are dig­ ging in every sense of the word, and it is our duty to reveal that knowledge which has been kept away from the mass; it is our duty to reveal the truth even in the form of criticism of certain standards; so what I am going to say tonight in regard to praying should not be taken as any criticism of any par­ ticular denomination or religion, but of all systems that might be included in

what I say, and I want you to under­ stand that I am not saying it in a de­ structive sense but constructively that you may benefit by what I say, by the statements I make. Therefore, let me begin by saying that praying is one of the most di­ versified customs and habits we find throughout the world. If I were to attempt to outline, briefly, the short dictionary definitions of the various forms of praying that exist in the world, it would take hours and hours to tell you about them. I would have you make yourself neutral for a few moments so far as nationality is con­ cerned, and religion, and your presence here in what is supposed to be a Chris­ tian country, semi-Christian and semiJewish, and think of yourselves as being a world citizen for a moment. Then let me tell you that the methods of pray­ ing used by the Jewish or Christian religions are little known in newer parts of the world. These methods that are so familiar to us, are like hidden secrets to the average being on the face of the earth; and still these other beings have had prayers for ages, have had systems of praying for ages and they look upon their systems, their methods, just like you look upon yours, perhaps with even a better view-point. I am very well acquainted with the fact that in America today one of the most popular questions that is being put forward in all religious sermons, in all ecclesiastical discussions, in all of the columns of religious magazines, in the talks over the radio on religion, one of the most popular questions is, “Is prayer efficacious? Are prayers ever answered? Can we depend upon prayers being answered?” Those are the popular questions here in this W estern W orld. Among the Orientals and among that large portion of the population representing the countries of Asia, Europe, and Australasia, we find such questions never being asked. W ith their old systems of praying, their old methods of praying, there is little doubt in their minds as to the value of prayer. It is only here in the Occi­ dental world where prayer is supposed to be the most highly evolved in its nature and methods that we have the paradoxical situation or find these

highly evolved people doubting the value of prayer. There is some reason for this and that is one of the points I want to touch upon briefly. W e find in all of the foreign coun­ tries and among the so-called Orientals, which include that great mass of hu­ manity known as pagans and heathens, prayer is a very holy, sacred, rigid, systematic, devout thing. It is not an occasional thing. It is not a con­ venience, but very often a considerable inconvenience at times. If you, for in­ stance, had to pray definitely so many times a day, two or three times, and each time you pray, you had to stop wherever you were and lead your way to the nearest prayer wheel and stand for one or two hours, where your prayer went around that wheel, you would find it an inconvenience; but in the Occidental W orld prayer is con­ venient inasmuch as it is only used when needed, and then only badly used. The man who thinks he never needs to pray at all, prays only when he gets into trouble, and then suddenly remem­ bers there is a God, and says, “Oh, God. please help me.” T hat is a prayer of convenience. There is too much of this in the Occidental world, and none of it in the Oriental world, and why? In the first place, despite the fact that the Occidental world is so largely Christian and so largely Jewish, both religions having in them wonderful prayers, and despite the fact that Jesus, as a leader of the Christian religion, pointed out definitely how to pray, and gave a beautiful example as a stand­ ard; nevertheless, praying on the part of Occidental people today is unsystematic, is very little understood; and therefore highly inefficient. I am going to take that form of prayer which is used in the Christian sys­ tem as the first one to criticize, and please keep in mind what I said in my introductory remarks. W e have a pe­ culiar situation. W e have first of all the peculiar problem of knowing to whom we are praying. There is some­ thing that the Oriental people don't have at all. Even the pagan who builds his wooden or stone statue, knows to whom he is praying and never has to puzzle over it, and so it is with those

The Rosicrucian Digest August 1932

who have a God that is ethereal, like Buddhists or Mohammedan Gods, or any of the gods of the Oriental re­ ligions. They may be different gods, but nevertheless, they are definite to these people, and there is never any doubt in their minds as to whom they are praying. Even the great ecclesi­ astics today admit it is difficult to think conveniently of God in this triune nature— three heads, three bodies— three in one, and in order that you may pray, and in order any prayer should be efficient, the first requisite is that you be as definite in your conception of the one to whom you are praying as you are definite in your problem. If you found that some great prob­ lem, some great obstacle could be solved or eliminated or taken care of by your going to some individual and asking him, pleading with him, to re­ move that obstacle, to give you back your health, to save you from disgrace, to save you from contamination, to undo something you have done— if the individual can do it, you are going to ask for a special favor. The first thing you would say is, “W h a t am I going to do?” You would hardly stand in the middle of the floor of your home or in a temple and pray to some in­ definite, vague personality to do some­ thing definite for you. Now the O r­ iental knows his God. It may be a false god or false understanding of the real God, but he knows his God. He is definite in his own consciousness, and that is what the Christian is not. All over the country the prayers used over the radio by the average church, and with my twenty-five years contact with churches, and having prayers taken down in shorthand so we might analyze this system of praying, we discover this: That the average Christian clergyman in starting out his prayer, starts out with “Oh, God,’’ and in the next moment he is asking Jesus to do what he wanted God to do. Then he asks God, and then Jesus again. Now, to whom is that person praying? Jesus said, “There is none greater than “ V F a ‘her;." Jesas His Pra>";r the Christian churches use, started, “Our Father, who art in Heaven.’’ He directed His prayer to God. There is no prayer in the Bible or any other

place, or in any of His prayers, or his Disciples’ where they pray to Him to do what God alone can do. In no place do we find Jesus putting Himself in that position of usurping the position of God, and yet that is what we find in the average prayer. It is not wil­ fully done, but thoughtlessly. If we are going to pray to a Deity at all, we must admit there is but one Deity that can be the Supreme, Omni­ potent Ruler of the Universe. If you try to convince me there are two Gods (never mind about thousands of them) but just two, one more than the God I believe in, then I must lose faith in the Omnipotent God. I cannot understand how two Gods could agree and rule the universe and work in unison. There must be one God if there is any God at all. This is nothing new. Amenhotep IV, the Pharaoh of Egypt in 1350, B. C., changed the re­ ligion of 163 religions, 52 principal ones, to the worship of one, everlasting God, T H E God. greatest of them all. This ever-living God was the beginning of a monotheistic God. T hat religion flashed around the world like a streak of lightning— the idea of only one God ruling the universe. There is little wonder that the religion lasted only twenty years. The Black Priesthood wiped it out, destroying the temples and even had their men go out with hammers and chisels and obliterate and destroy from the walls any mention of God. Obliterating this would have de­ stroyed the religion, but thanks to the Hebrews, through their leader, Moses, this idea of one God, was carried on to a new land and it came down through the ages. In 1350 B. C., this great Pharaoh of Egypt said there is but one God. This became a symbol of light, an ethereal light. The Jews never pronounced His name. They said the name was unspeakable, and used a hieroglyphic mark for it. Thirteen hun­ dred years after that came the birth of Jesus, and he taught there was but one God. After His going, came the com­ ing-together of religious ecclesiastics, bookmakers and writers, etc., in the second, third, fourth and fifth centuries after Jesus, and they began to evolve the teachings of Jesus. They began to (Continued, on Page 273)

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The “Cathedral of the Soul” is a Cosmic meeting place for all minds of the most advanced and highly developed spiritual members and workers of the Rosicrucian Fraternity. It is a focal point of Cosmic radiations and thought waves from which radiate vibrations of health, peace, happiness, and inner awakening. Various periods of the day are set aside when many thousands of minds are attuned with the Cathedral of the Soul, and others attuning with the Cathedral at this time will receive the benefit of the vibra­ tions. Those who are not members of the organization may share in this unusual benefit as well as those who are members. The book called “Liber 777” describes the periods for various contacts with the Cathedral. Copies will be sent to persons who are not members by addressing their request for this book to librarian S. P. C., care of AM ORC Temple, San Jose, California, enclosing three cents in postage stamps. (Please state whether member or not— this is important.)

O M E members have difficulty in maki ng contacts with the Cathedral and we have asked those who had difficulty and finally made the contact to write to us about their ex­ periences and give us helpful hints that we may pass on to others. The result of this Symposium is contained in the following instructions. In letters from those who had the most difficulty in making any contact at all with the Cathedral it appears that eventually the contacts were made very clearly and easily through complete relaxation. T he experiences of these persons seem Tw o hundred fifty-three

to be all alike. All of them discovered that they were not relaxed and that they were too tense and too expectant. In other words, they were as alert and as expectant as a person might be who is sitting quietly in the home listening for the least sound of an intruder or the most delicate sound of some strange nature. W ith eyes and ears thus active and the mind keenly alert there cannot be complete relaxation. Now all of these persons finally made their contact when they sat down and became re­ laxed and gave up any idea or even hope of making the contact. In other words, they simply left the matter en­ tirely in the hands of the Cosmic and proceeded to rest and merely meditate upon the spiritual self within and for­ got about any Cosmic contact of any kind. This is an important point to remember.

T he Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

Others say that they have suddenly found themselves contacting the C a­ thedral during complete relaxation and spiritual thought while riding in an automobile, or in the street car, or in the theater, or some place where they were listening to good music and did not wilfully try to contact but simply put themselves into such perfect relaxa­ tion that they were lost even to their immediate surroundings and were in­ dwelling in the spirit of God. A few others have stated that during their concentration period they have put themselves in such a position that they could look out of a window and let their gaze rest passively on some cloud or high steeple point, top of a flag pole or something high in the air and in that way let their gaze become passively fixed instead of intently fixed on some object in the room or intently fixed upon some idea. A few others say that they have found it advisable to sit down and relax for five or ten minutes before the period of contact, and others say that they re­ lax for a sufficient time beforehand to become thoroughly at ease and peace­ ful and until they feel the vibration of rest and vigor passing through their bodies. Some say that they are able in this way to contact the Cathedral while in any locality or anywhere and even, as one Brother expresses it, while bath­ ing in the water at the beach, and he says that his contacts have become so easy that he believes he could make the contact even if he were in a posi­ tion of standing on his head in the sand. All of this indicates further a lack of that intensity of desire and stress of concentrated condition which too many practice and which actually prevents them from becoming passive enough to make the contact. Quite a number say that total relaxa­ tion of the mind is the final step in the process of preparing for the contact. This means eliminating from the mind any wilful attempt to visualize the Ca­ thedral or to force a realization of any impressions of any kind and is equal to a complete abandonment of thought or desire or intent. Others say that in sitting down or lying down for the contact they not only relax but try to attune themselves

toward a peaceful attitude toward all mankind and toward the universe. This means the elimination of all thoughts of business or strife, contest, ill will, hatred, enmity, jealousy, etc. iiveryone admits that the repeating of the Cathedral prayer two or three times is a big help if once is not suffi­ cient. Others say that they add little prayers of their own and place them­ selves in a prayerful attitude as though they were communing with God and hoping that He might take them into His own consciousness and reveal the Cathedral to them. Quite a few others say that sitting in a darkened room or with eyes closed is a big help as it shuts out all sights of any kind that might distract the atten­ tion. Some few say that the use of the vowel sounds is a great help to them and, of course, quite a number say that the use of the Cathedral phonograph records is an excellent help. A few others have discovered, after many, many failures, that they could make the contact by turning the thoughts of the mind or consciousness of their mind in­ wardly toward the center of the body as though trying to reach the soul itself or holy sanctum within the soul. A great many have made the com­ ment that trying to contact the C a­ thedral of the Soul after having eaten a meal is far more difficult than attempting it upon an empty stomach, or after eating only a light meal. There is a great deal to this point and it should be carefully considered and tested by those who are having trouble in contacting the Cathedral. A great many say that before beginning the relaxation and concentration they read some inspiring passage like a verse or two from the Bible, or a verse or two from “Unto Thee I Grant— They say this helps to turn the mind in­ wardly and toward the Cosmic and is a very great help. A majority say they found that by sitting so that they are facing toward the true geographical east there was more success than when they faced any of the other cardinal points of the compass. Now all say that it requires nearly five minutes of preparation and that sometimes an additional five minutes is

necessary for a complete realization of the contact to come. Most of those who have written state that the first sensation of contact was that of a sense of peace, often followed by a very bright light appearing in the room or a sense of lightness of weight and a sense of mild magnetic currents passing through the air of the room. A major­ ity say that the first manifestation in the Cathedral is a vision of its outer form or the hearing of some great organ. M any agree that music is heard even­ tually very mildly and sweetly, while others say their contact with the Ca­ thedral has left them without any im­ pression of music but only of beautiful sights and scenes like the interior of some magnificent place accompanied with visions of beautiful beings or dif­ ferent nationalities assembled in one place. Patience is the secret key to all these contacts and the fact that hundreds of letters are received constantly from those who were very discouraged and who eventually made wonderful con­ tacts which they can easily repeat now at any time, should encourage each and every person to attempt these contacts whenever it is possible.

and help them to contact him through the Cathedral of the Soul. At 8:30 each Thursday evening members and our friends who are non-members should attune themselves with the Cathedral for ten minutes. O n August 4 the Imperator will con­ tact those whose last names begin with the initial F. O n August 11, he will contact those whose last names begin with the initial G. O n August 18 he will contact those whose last names be­ gin with H, and on August 25 he will contact those whose last names begin with the initial I. Excellent reports are coming in daily to the W elfare Department and other departments regarding the contacts be­ ing made with the Cathedral at the regular periods stated in Liber 777. Those contacted by the Imperator dur­ ing the last month and whose last names begin with the initials A. B. C. D. and E., are now writing very appreci­ ative letters and communications saying that the contact was quite complete. A great many were contacted but the con­ tact had to be discontinued because the persons contacted were busily engaged in business affairs, social affairs, or other matters that inconveniently arose and prevented concentration. Letters that we receive tell us that through the Cathedral much valuable advice and help is being given to those who are puzzled or in need of import­ ant direction and guidance at various times during the week. Certainly, it is a convenient manner for you to make contact with the Cosmic. Those who wish to know more about the Cathedral contacts should read the instructions in the box at the head of this article.

Special Contacts

The Imperator will make special con­ tacts with members during the next four weeks as follows: O n each T hurs­ day night at 8:30 P.M., Pacific Stand­ ard Time, which is equivalent to 12:30 A.M. (midnight) Eastern Daylight Saving Time, or 11:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, the Imperator will put himself in touch with other members V •

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DO YOU READ THE ROSICRUCIAN FORUM?

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M YSTICS A T PRAYER

This book reveals the profound prayers of the mystics with their key to infinite power. It is the first complete compilation of the famous prayers of the renowned mystics and adepts of all the ages. The book also explains in simple language the reason of prayer, how to pray, and the Cosmic Laws involved. You will come to learn the real efficacy of prayer, and its full beauty dawns upon you. There are over one hundred prayers. There is a brief biographical sketch of each mystic, and a cross index. The book is artistic, attractive, well-bound, stamped in gold, printed on art paper in two colors, and it is only one dollar postpaid. Send order and remittance to Rosicrucian Supply Bureau, San Jose, California.

The Eternal Truths THE ANNUAL MESSAGE GIVEN AT THE OPENING OF THE 1932 CONVENTION By

The Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

T h e Im p e ra to r

H A V E a message for all actual Rosicrucians and all potential Rosicrucians, and among the latter I include those thinking men and women who in these troublesome times a r e lifting their eyes above the level of sur­ r o u n d i n g condi­ tions and are see­ ing over the hills and occasional moun­ tain peaks to the beautiful valleys and horizon that lie beyond. Human beings are tempted in these times to think that with the rapid changes taking place and the established value of things falling to lower values and lower degrees of worthiness and dependable foundations crumbling away, that there is nothing or no one thing that is permanent and sure and worthy of being the solid rock upon which to cling for safety and security. But there are things upon which we human beings can depend and there are foundations upon which we can stand and build not only for the present but for the eternal future and rest assured that as time changes and conditions vary and values of all kinds rise and fall, the foundation upon which we stand will remain adamantine and eternally sure.

W e are seekers for truth and we pride ourselves upon the fact that in our search we have contacted the thoughts and philosophies, the discov­ eries and speculations of the world’s great thinkers. W e are happy in the fact that we are banded together as an organization or as a group of in­ dividuals for the purpose of exchang­ ing ideas and thereby coming closer and closer to the great truths of life. W e look upon these truths as the fundamental stones of a great founda­ tion upon which civilization can build its structures and super-structures. W e are sure that there are many great truths still unknown to us and we never become weary of itemizing the many great truths that we now possess as fundamental principles in our lives. W h en all is said and done, however, we are probably deceived by the thought of the multiplicity of truths and misled in our search for the great­ est truths by the idea that there are many truths and that these are much involved. After many years of search and study and after many years of per­ sonal contact with this great quest for knowledge, I have gradually come to the conclusion that there are only three great truths, three great eternal truths that constitute the entire foundation or the great rock of human knowledge as revealed by divine illumination. These three eternal truths are: God abides, man abides, and certain relationships

between man and God abide. More than this we cannot be sure of. Our search must center itself around the mysteries of that truth which includes the relationships between God and man and man and God. Herein lies the foundation of material and spiritual values. Herein lies the entire field of Cosmic law and human obedience to such law. Herein lie the powers that man can exert and the powers that God does exert. Here is the mystery of our being, the mystery of our coming and our going. It is in this field of study relating exclusively to the relationship of God and man that the Rosicrucians center their searching gaze and their inquir­ ing mind. It, therefore, becomes a field of study, investigation, speculation, dis­ covery, and ultimate revelation through experience. T he knowledge we seek can come only through experience, for experience alone will reveal knowledge, and by re-experience of such knowledge we attain wisdom. The mere contem­ plation of such experiences and the meditation upon the possibility of such experience leads us into theoretical speculation. O ut of such theoretical speculation has arisen the systematic schools of religion, science, and phil­ osophy, and it is there, too, that have been born the various forms of re­ ligious worship, the various creeds or codes of interpretation and the arbi­ trary establishment of artificial gods and saints. This great center field of an ana­ lytical study of the relationship exist­ ing between man and God has been turned at places into quagmires and beds of quicksands into which men have blindly ventured and have been lost. It has also been the blood-stained ground of religious battles and places of human persecution. It has been the site of monuments of intolerance erec­ ted by the self-appointed interpreters of untrue interpretations. It is the valley of Armageddon where millions of souls will be lost or millions saved. In our search for the higher truths and the eternal truths we not only make the search more difficult and conceal the simpleness of the truths by our false belief that the truths are

many and difficult to understand, but we create artificial values whereby we may judge them and in doing so we use as a standard of valuation the ma­ terial things of life. Right now we are in the midst of a period when material values are losing their former stability and we are ac­ tually coming to discover that ma­ terial things have no value in actuality but merely in temporary reality. W e will find that the great rocks and foun­ dations of material life are but the quicksands of our imaginary creation. T he things that we have tried to hold fast to as being all that was worth­ while and a saviour in time of trial and trouble are now proving themselves to be worthless and of such a corruptible nature that like the wooden beam that supports the walls of a home and is eaten by the termites, the outer form looks solid and dependable while the center is hollow and brittle and ready to crumble to dust at any moment. The world s greatest materialists are learning the lesson and even those who in the past have centered their faith and hope upon material things now frankly admit that they have been grossly misled and have been fools in their thinking. Recently one of Europe's greatest economists, Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the London Midland and Scottish Railway and Director of the Bank of England, said to Bruce Bar­ ton in a conversation, “W e used to talk about moral values and material values as though they were two differ­ ent and contradictory things. T he de­ pression must have taught us that they were the same things, that without moral values there can be no material values. . . . There is only one basis of wealth, and that is character." The foregoing words were not the words of a preacher or a mystic or a philosopher but of a hard-headed, cold, and deliberating economist who with all of his materialistic tendencies has dis­ covered what some of our philosophers have failed to discover and that is that the spiritual values are what constitute real wealth and real power in our lives. Among other eminent men who have made a life study of material values and who must have walked deeply

The Rosicrucian D igest

August 1932

into the quagmire of materialism in that center field of study and specu­ lation to which I have referred, is Roger Babson. This man has become as fa­ miliar with the tendencies and trends of materialistic values as the biologist is with the unconscious processes of the living cell and as the pathologist is with the germs and their actions under the powerful scrutiny of his large mic­ roscope. He can feel the distant and unseen pulse of business as keenly as can the trained physician feel the pulse of the human heart. He knows what every action will bring in re-action in the business world. He knows the value of time and its investment, of money and its power, of business and its pos­ sibilities, of speculation and its dan­ gers, and of all the material things that human minds can conceive and create. Yet listen to what he says: “Business depressions are caused by dissipation, dishonesty, disobedience to G od’s will— a general collapse of moral character. Statistics show this plainly. W ith equal precision, they show how business depressions are cured. They are cured by moral awakening, spiritual revival, and the rehabilitation of right­ eousness.” The scientific and materialistic world was shocked a few years ago by the sudden transition of one of its most high-powered and most critical scruti­ n izes of material laws, the eminent Charles P. Steinmetz, who was such a master of electricity and the other hidden secret powers of the material universe that he seemed to be almost equal with a God in creating and con­ trolling artificial lightning. A distorted, crippled, and grossly unpleasant being to look at, physically, one would have been inclined to believe that with his personal regret at God's gift to him of a crippled figure and with his close study of nature’s material forces, he would have been steeped so deeply in materialism that the spiritual values of life would have meant nothing to him. Yet this man said, and it is recorded of him in permanent form, in answer to a question as to what would be the next great field of research and revela­ tion for the human mind, “I think the greatest discoveries will be made along spiritual lines. History clearly teaches

that spiritual forces have been the greatest power in the development of men and nations. Yet we have been playing with them, merely, and have never seriously studied them as we have the physical forces. Some day people will learn that material things do not bring happiness and are of little use in making men and women creative and powerful. W hen this day comes, the world will see more ad­ vancement in one generation than it has seen in the past four.” Think of an eminent scientist whose knowledge of and ability to control na­ ture’s forces was so pre-eminent, cast­ ing all of this knowledge and power aside and belittling its value and raising the standard of spiritual values to the heights of supremacy1. In a little pamphlet that I wrote last summer while returning from Europe, I tried to explain what the year 1932 meant for you. It is going to mean for all mankind the turning point in civil­ ization. It was by no coincidence of war or man-made conditions or condi­ tions beyond our control but of a ma­ terial nature that all of the world was rocked in its material value in the same years and that the great god of money was shaken from its high pedestal and thrown to the earth where those who had worshipped it in adoration with gaze upturned and with the great light of the heavens blinding them to the true picture before them, could now examine their god closely and see that it was made of that which is corruptible, that which is changeable, mortal, and of the earth's grossest material. It was de­ creed in the Cosmic laws and plans that man might be given the opportun­ ity to sail in the heavens of material power and rise to the artificial heights of vain-glorious worship in order that he might taste of the poison of material things and then drop to the earth sud­ denly and be awakened from his dreams to true realities. No government of any land, no ruler of any people, no political power of any class is responsible for the lessons being learned today, for God decreed and the Cosmic carried out the divine will. Out of the ashes of this inter­ national fire will rise not only a new realization in the hearts and minds of

those who have become old in their idolatry of material things, but there will rise a new generation of people who will cast the money changers out of the human temples and who will destroy the golden idols and replace them with spiritual things and char­ acters of high morals and high ideals. Even the rising generation is passing through the crucible and through the fire of transition, and in preparation for its great awakening and first stage of evolution the new generation is in­ tolerant of old customs and habits of man-made morals and creeds, of ageold conventions and principles, and in the period of change they have thrown to the four winds that which we have considered their characters and moral fortitude. But it is only part of the great change taking place and already we see among the young people of the new generation the sign of restlessness. The sins that tempted them out of the high places of security into the valleys of evil and sorrow are no longer powerful in their ability to tempt and have already revealed their shallowness and their lack of ability to fascinate and enthrall. Gradually the young people are realizing that in sin and evil there is an end to all pleasure and an end to the variety of life. They have tasted of the inside of the cup and have drunk to the very dregs at the bottom to find that the bottom was too close to the top and that life was not a mystery that could be found within the cup but rather on the outside of it. Out of this discovery is rising a con­ viction that character counts, that good­ ness has its own inevitable rewards, and that purity of mind and soul will bring joy and peace as nothing else will. T he closer we examine into the lives of those now in high schools and col­ leges we will find that the abandon­ ment of several years ago and the utter disregard of moral laws and principles of last year are being thrown into dis­ card and that now goodness of some degree and that spiritual values of some kind are entering into their con­ siderations. T he boys and girls alike, even in their teens, have learned the lesson that we adults learned only late in life. The weak are being led onward while the strong ones are being led upward. Character is being re-made,

spiritual truths revealed, and new values placed upon life. This will continue until these young people, reaching adulthood, will constitute the new gen­ eration in a few years. T o their hands will come the duty, the work, the labor, of re-building nations, re-building our business principles, re-building our home lives, and re-building our spir­ itual existence here on earth. Into their hearts and minds will come the in s p ir ­ ations and the urges from Cosmic decrees to re-create life upon a new basis. W e who are the losers today as adults will have to retire and re-mould our thoughts while looking upon the stage of life and seeing our offspring, the rising generation, daring to do that which we dared not do. They have dared to taste of life early. They have dared to find whether the material things of life really held the power that we had claimed for them. They have seen us struggle and save, labor and stint, accumulate and sacrifice in order that we might place with our dependents these same material things that they are now finding worthless, deceiving, shallow, and easily discredited in the light of truth. They have dared to ex­ periment. They have dared to discuss freely and analyze those things that we looked upon as taboo or improper, un­ conventional or mysterious. T hey have torn the multicolored robe from the figure of Truth and brazonly faced its nakedness with neither shame nor re­ gret, and in their astonishment great light has come to them revealing the hypocrisy of our lives and the false value of standards we had established. To condemn them now in the midst of their investigation, at the very hour of their desertion from what we made them to what they will become, is to condemn our own shortcomings, our own hypocrisy, our own false living, and our own weaknesses. T hey have dared to do what we did not dare to do, and they will dare to accomplish in the future what we have hesitated to do. Character will become the standard of personal evaluation. Gold will be­ come the footstool beneath their feet and physical and material power will be but as simple weapons in their

hands compared to the spiritual power they will create and mature within their beings. Three eternal truths will constitute the triangle that will represent the em­ blem of their lives—the three truths that you and I must prove to ourselves now through our studies and our efforts to recreate our lives. Again, I say. these truths are the eternal truths which constitute the foundation of all existence; namely, God abides, man abides, and the relationships between God and man abide. Let us go onward then and forward with our banner of Rosicrucianism not merely leading a grand parade of those who are leaders and pioneers in think­ ing, but acting as a guide to those who would follow, ever mindful of the weak and the tottering, the lame and the halt, who strive to be with us and keep up with us and share in our knowledge. •

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Let us never push onward so rapidly that we do not have time to stop and reach back with a strong arm and hand to help those who cannot keep apace with us. Let our searching eyes move in all directions that we may be watchful for the signals sent out by those who would hail us and join with us. But ever let us keep the standard high that our banner may be above and beyond the reach of hands that would defile it or despoil it. Let it be­ come pure in the light of the Cosmic. Let it be brightened by the sunlight of the heights. Let it be lofty in every sense. Let us honor it but never wor­ ship it. Let us respect it but never adore it. Let us add power to it but seek no power in it, for our worship, our adoration, should be given to God and in Him alone should we find the source of all power and all human earthly values.

DO YOU READ THE ROSICRUCIAN FORUM ?

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N O TIC E T O ALL MEMBERS

The Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

During the middle of July the Imperator will be extremely busy with Convention details, interviews and lectures, and immediately after the Con­ vention and for four weeks thereafter the Imperator will be away from his office on his annual period of meditation, contemplation, study and psychic contact. The Imperator, therefore, desires that we ask all those who usually write to him regarding certain lectures, lessons, or certain spiritual matters, to refrain from doing so until after the first of September, because such letters will not reach him and he will not be able to answer them promptly. All usual letters pertaining to studies, teachings, dues, etc., should be di­ rected as always to the other departments. Such departments ask your kind assistance in making your letters complete but brief, and in making your reports, remittances and answers to questions very prompt throughout the entire summer so that there will be no congestion of the correspondence at any time. Just as you are expected to maintain your regular study periods during the summer so every department will continue to serve you.

SANCTUM MUSINGS RUNNING FROM LIFE

O D E R N civiliza­ tion, in n o r ma l times, offers every man effectual ways of attaining some position of aver­ age importance in life. From the pri­ mary school to the u n iv e rs ity t h e basis of our sys­ tem of modern edu c a t i o n is t h e recognition of an equality of intelligence— uniform stock, as it were. W hen this same human stock has passed through the various processes of preparation and finishing, it is more than likely equal in every didactic sense. The outside world of industry and business accepts the in­ dividual for the finish he has acquired in the process. If he thoroughly mas­ tered the curriculum of his profession or trade, he is permitted to establish himself in it on a par with others who have mastered it alike. The intelligence, the raw substance upon which was superimposed education, is not per­ mitted to add its merit to the standard qualifications. Thus, native intelligence is valued alone as an attribute in direct­ ing one’s acquired education to one's best advantage. Intelligence that has not been placed in the "category’’ of a profession or trade is thought of as crude and un­ polished. Self-expression, incited by pure reason and intelligence, is check­ Tw o hundred sixty-one

mated by the phrase, "W h at authorities can you name to support it?’’ Thus, we find many noble works and ideas only finding appreciation decades later in remarks of approval by contempo­ raries who, strange to say, become the authorities of another’s pristine concept. W h y do modern men and women en­ dure being routed through this mill of standardization— standardization in news reports, by radio, newspapers, periodicals,— standardization in litera­ ture, by book-of-the-month clubs, and traveling lecturers on current topics— standardization in music through the medium of thousands of pieces of sheet music, and tons of phonograph records? Even in the worship of the Deity are we instructed as to how and when to worship by potentates, high councils, and ecclesiastical assemblies. The answer is quite simple; it is the way of least resistance. It has been decreed by society that by the perfor­ mance of a certain, well-defined routine in whatever channel man has placed himself, he will ultimately reach the head of that channel. Barring depres­ sion, competition, ill health, and other acts of politics, economics, and God, undoubtedly he will attain the head of a particular channel in life. Yet when he arrives there he finds others who preceded him and who are not pleased with the prize that civilization offers for professional or business success. They are restless, seeking they know not what. They concentrated upon their training, their acquired knowledge, until

it brought to them all that had been depicted for this specialization in know­ ledge. Yet it was an empty victory. Undoubtedly, all through life such individuals who have attained the socalled success as outlined by society for one who rigidly abides by the standards of his educational training and the code of his profession or busi­ ness, have felt an urge to pursue other paths. They have wished to give vent to a compelling, haunting desire. W hen in brief meditation like a flash thrown upon an inner, mental screen have pic­ tures appeared in all their details of the station they should assume in life, and the falsity of the customs being prac­ ticed. To only dare cast aside the hypocrisy of the system, to be able to venture in quest of this subtle some­ thing that throbs within their breast! Upon further contemplation, the in­ dividual comes to weigh the values, and voluntarily determines that experience gained in following a pursuit for which he is trained is safer. It is economically sound, though undoubtedly lacking in the element of joy in work that pleases and thrills. He selects the security of habit, well-formed though drugging to his soul in contrast to the freedom and the romance of inspired self-expression. This struggle for supremacy continues through life, the searing inner flame needing only to be fanned into a fire of zeal, fighting a losing battle with the plodding, methodical consciousness, which is lashed into submission by will. This constant turmoil is not inducive to peace of mind or well-being; it in­ culcates restlessness, irritability, and cynicism. Perhaps the greatest crime of all to­ day is the ‘Running Away From Life’. W ith continuous propaganda being promulgated for selecting a career early in life and ‘sticking to it notwithstand­ ing,’ many suppress the Cosmic urges of their own natures as emotional in­ terferences with their academic prac­ tice. They never hesitate a moment in the mad race of existence with its cus­ toms, habits, and conventions, to an­ T he alyze their psychic impressions. W h e n ­ Rosicrucian ever they are engulfed in the exhilarat­ D igest ing wave of psychic insight that tingles August every fibre of their being and seems to cry out in every cell to “embrace me 1932

for but a brief time so that I may show you the splendors of the world of indi­ vidual creative ability," they shake themselves like a dog in the surf, cast­ ing it off. There are others who have caught the vision’s splendor in all of its grandeur and immensity; they have be­ come conscious of a magnificent occa­ sion to accomplish the unusual in life — to create that which is non-existent in form, to give to the world a new form, beauty, or ideal. They are aware of a vast means for manifesting that which is yet unborn in the world of reality. Then they drag downward this vision, while yet intangible, to the earth to be tainted with the temporal. They attempt to classify it, to embody it in the order of the day, to compare it with the existing things which re­ semble it and which the world has called fine. It becomes limited, its orig­ inality becomes an oddity, a disparity, and that is all. Instead of reaching upward to the vision, they have brought it down to criticize it. They fear its non-acceptance by the world of men because of its distinctiveness. It will require courage to introduce the new, the strange, to combat with the old order of things— the accepted. “Forget the dream, the ideal, the aspiration,” say they; “It is too difficult; it would require pioneering, subjecting oneself to ridicule, criticism, and affront for dis­ turbing conventions.” Then again, who are they? W h a t authorities are they on the subject? Can they say, “I have an idea, a concept; it is alone mine. I am without support by the established authorities. M y idea challenges that which is accepted and revolutionizes the theories of the time. I know it is possible; it is simple. Yet I have not studied any orthodox, academic works that teach or propound it; but I know it can be accomplished." They feel that to propose any such consideration of their Cosmic inspiration— be it in mu­ sic, art, philosophy, or science— would be too gigantic a task for them, its responsibility too great; it requires too many sacrifices. T hey run from life. It is impossible to avoid the distress that this stifling of the inner urge pro­ duces— the uneasiness, the restlessness that tears at the soul and mind. These must be appeased or one dwells in men­

tal inferno. Complete occupation of the outer consciousness— the objective mind— prevents the subjective impulses from penetrating into the realm of real­ ization. They therefore plunge into the mass of details piled high about them: the petty things of their daily occupa­ tions keep their consciousness in har­ ness without relaxation. A moment’s relaxation and meditation and they find their desire throbbing, pounding for re­ lease: and accompanying it, the attend­ ant fear of making the try. W h en away from business affairs, the sensu­ ous pleasures are indulged in to pro­ duce the same effect— occupation of the mind. Always they attempt to prevent facing the question, “Shall I give my whole self to this inspired thought re­ gardless of the consequences? Shall I seek in it the happiness that awaits me regardless of its eccentricity? Shall I repudiate my adopted life with indif­ ference to the criticisms of staid, illiberal orthodoxy?" Never do they admit to themselves their own pro­ crastination, their constant self-excuse that they are engrossed in affairs of greater importance. W h a t a humilia­ tion to one’s own soul to call a thought of one’s own or another that requires ponderance “too deep”. W h a t a shame to pass by a concept as being “beyond one" and not entertain it long enough at least to realize one’s ignorance or knowledge of it. Such indolence is even more than running from life; it is a sacrilege; it is a wilful attempt to exterminate intelligence and supplant intellectual automatism. T he moral coward is also quite pre­ valent. He fears not the jeers of the throng nor the scoff of the pedagogue, but he stands aghast at the profundity of his own ideas. W h en on the horizon of his thoughts there is mirrored a re­ flection of the workings of Infinity, he is staggered by its clarity. He cannot conceive that a human mind can em­ brace such thoughts. He fears that it is a sacrilege to dare believe that it is possible for him to venture into the realm of the unknown. W h en the Cos­ mic flash of light illuminates the darkened corners of his mind and he perceives clearly Infinity’s purpose, he is overawed. He rebukes what he be­ lieves is his own audacity. It seems to

be an illicit light. He has stolen a glance into Infinity. He becomes overwhelmed with the vastness of it and suppresses the memory of the experience as a weird fantasy, thrilling but frightening. If he ever again turns to the Cosmic light, he approaches it timidly as though it would suddenly consume him and he would lose his identity in this sea of Infinite wisdom which he waded into unawares. He fears to make his revela­ tion known; so startling is it to him that he believes the utterance of it would reverberate throughout the world until it became a maddening roar that would drown out all the existing illu­ sions. These illusions of the world— be they wrong— are hoary with tradition, and he dares not— so he feels— disturb them in their error. Throw off the shackles of mental sub­ mission to standardization of thought, and practice introversion. Project your consciousness inward; let the light of Iifinite wisdom shine through you. Do not run from life. True living is not conformity to channels of thought or expression; but true living is giving full and unrestricted expression to every constructive Cosmic urge you receive. Everything is in motion and going through change. Even one’s own thoughts and consciousness are not stationary; that which never changes in form is unnatural. Standardization of thinking and doing is a violation of natural law. In all forms of nature we find a flux, a shifting, a change. It is but natural that man today should have thoughts that transcend all that is now known. If the light of your visionary ideas is so intense that its brilliance absorbs the past light of ages, it is worthy of the reflection it casts. M an can never transcend his rightful heri­ tage of knowledge. M an ’s right to know is unlimited. Man, therefore, no matter how presumptous his concept, is never a trespasser. All that m an’s mind can circumscribe, he can know. M an is capable of answering any ques­ tion that he can ask. Once the mind has formed the question, it has con­ tacted the sphere wherein lies the an­ swer in all of its Infinite simplicity. The question may always be answered for the one asking if he but continues his search on the same level of thought.

The Cosmic Genie IT IS LIKE THE GENII OF ANCIENT FABLES By

The Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

T h e Im p e ra to r

N C E upon a time — a s aJ] s t o r i e s e x p l a i n — many p e r s o n s believed in the existence of genii, and at­ tributed to them the strange occurr e n c e s in life. Now science in­ forms us that it has finally photo­ graphed and given positive identifica­ tion to a little cell of living matter which the learned scientists have chris­ tened the “genie.” According to these scientists, the di­ vine purpose and mission of the little genie is so great and so ponderous that we wonder how such a microscopically small body of matter can be the master of so many millions of other cells as are found in the human body. In fact, it would appear that this little material and chemical genie has been credited with the duties and divine purposes of the Cosmic genie, if we are permitted to borrow the name, genie, and use it in this way. In other words, science would now have us believe that the little cell which they have named the genie is respon­ sible for much that we have attributed to a certain law or principle of the uni­ verse, and we are naturally reluctant to allow this little new arrival in the field of scientific speculation to rob the Cosmic genie of all of its glory.

According to announcements from the Carnegie Institute at W ashington, the little genii, known heretofore as chromomeres, are the little treasure caskets or sealed mystery cells which pass from one generation of being to another in a direct line, and constitute the inheritance chest. W ithin these sealed cells, so small that they must be highly magnified by a microscope be­ fore even a large group of them becomes visible, is contained such chemical and. shall we say, special psychic matter or mental impulses that will determine whether the offspring will be blond or brunette, tall or short, a musician or an artist, a philosopher or a mechanic, or reap the harvest of sin already sown, or be fortunate and free from all worry and trials and tribulations. In other words, this little cell is the seal of in­ heritance in which all of the charac­ terization of father and grandfather are transmitted by parent to child, and is responsible for family traits, family likenesses, customs and habits. Being well born would mean having within one’s body at birth one or more of these genii inherited from our forbears, and carrying within its little body the ideal characteristics of personality and behavior that are desirable. Being poorly born in a social and ethical sense would mean being born with some of these genii, carrying within their bodies certain undesirable attributes, tend­ encies, and human qualifications. This reduces the whole of our inherited tendencies to a matter of chemical

from one incarnation to transmission via the genie. W e know is transmitted not chemically, not by blood, as a positive fact, on the other hand, another, not by human conception, but by that what we inherit from our forbears and conception and divine transmu­ in the way of characteristic tendencies, divine tation. sealed self of inner perso­ and habits, represents only a small por­ nality isThis an indelible record of all the tion of the undeveloped assignment past experiences which have been our which we must follow and obey, re­ lot in lives and times gone by. It is the gardless of other Cosmic laws and great unforgettable record upon which principles or our own desires and are kept all of those experiences in wishes. other lives which have taught great T o those who believe that the in­ lessons or revealed to us great laws and herited characteristics of each human principles. It is our selves in the mak­ being are the most dominant and the ing of the ineffaceable mold which de­ most influential, the little genie will termines precisely what we shall be and now stand out as a monument to scien­ what we shall do in our present lives. tific learning. To those of us who be­ Each hour of the day at the present lieve that heredity and inherited influ­ time, as in the past, each of us has ences, transmitted to us by our forbears, been adding to this little record of the represent only a portion of the char­ self within what we shall be and what acter that we will form as months and we shall experience and what we shall years go by the new explanations about do in the next life, and this is trans­ the chromomeres as a genie will not be mitted from one incarnation to another acceptable. as a part of the soul that comes to us W e are not denying that inheritance with the breath of life. plays a very prominent part in our Again I say that it is absolutely true general characteristics, mental abilities that certain parts of the cells of life, and processes of becoming a more transmitted physically by parent to evolved human being in accordance child, contain physical and even some with the laws of evolution, but we can­ mental tendencies, but these are all sub­ not accept the chemical theory of in­ servient to the immutable laws and heritance as being exclusive nor as be­ powers of the greater cell within. ing more important than the spiritual. Through the physical genie which Rosicrucianism teaches that through the science considers so important, we may blood stream, through the chemical inherit from our forbears physical transfusion of matter from one genera­ weaknesses, tendencies toward certain tion to another, we do inherit certain diseases and chronic ailments, certain material, earthly tendencies and habits, habits and many good points and and even of characteristics of speech powers. But the experiences of the and appearance. There are today two past, the lessons really learned, the schools arguing the effect of these prin­ vows taken, the obligations willingly ciples— the one claiming that inheritance assumed, the determinations made, the is a dominating factor in our evolution, conclusions reached, are all more potent and the other arguing that environment factors in the guidance of our present overcomes all the effects of inheritance lives and the working out of our char­ and is the real power in molding our acters in each incarnation than all of lives. the genii that science has been able to T he Rosicrucian steps in, however, find in the physical composition of man. and says that the real genie to be con­ In the Cosmic genie, which each soul sidered is that genie of our past incar­ carried with it from incarnation to in­ nations which we call the soul. Here is carnation, is the seat of the will power something definite, concrete, divinely which man can exert and use to combat made and easily understandable. and overcome the inherited weaknesses Through each incarnation we build of his forbears, or he can use this Cos­ up in the soul or the psychic self a power to strengthen the strong personality or character that is inde­ mic points, the excellent qualifications, the structible and immortal. It is this inner good tendencies that he has inherited. self, the real genie of each being, that

T he Rosicrucian D igest A ugust 1932

The entire physical make-up of man is under the rule and under the guid­ ance of the Cosmic genie of the soul. This self within when awakened and given the opportunity to exert its power, transcends all physical tendencies, all physical inheritances and all physical effects of environment and blood. It is this Cosmic self that can bring the lowest and the most human of human beings to the greatest heights. It is this Cosmic self that can recreate the life of any human being and regenerate it and start it on a new career of victory over all of the physical tendencies and in­ herited impulses of the human body. The sole purpose of reincarnation or being reborn again and again is to give us in each incarnation the effect, the advantage, the power of our accumu­ lated evolutions. Not one of us is born as a new being with merely certain tendencies attached to our inexperi­ enced selves through physical transmis­ sion. If that were true, then, un­ doubtedly, the physical inheritance would be the dominating factor in each generation of each family. All the ex­ periences of life tend to show that in each family where the Cosmic self within is awakened and allowed to bring to bear upon life the record of its past lessons and past experiences and the wisdom which it has acquired, it has changed the general tendencies of the person’s life and brought him to a position of freedom from inherited conditions, and made him captain of his soul and captain of the change of life. In many families we find sons and daughters who have gone on in their ordinary ways of life, living truly the impulses of inheritance and manifesting on the surface only that which lies just beneath the skin. In such families we often find, however, one child or per­ haps more who have risen above the mild influences of inheritance and be­ come masters of their lives through the awakening of the soul and the quicken­ ing of the Cosmic genie within them. W h en this influence steps to the front and dominates the will and the think­ V ©

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ing, the acting and the doing through­ out life, we find the inherited tendencies being cast aside one by one until finally the child no longer looks like or lives like or is in any way spiritually, men­ tally, or physically a replica of the in­ herited tendencies of his forbears. Through this marvelous law of the Cosmic man has been able to evolve beyond the limitations of inheritance. Families, like branches of a tree, would be much alike, and we would find new­ ness of character, strength of perso­ nality, power of exploration, uniqueness of thinking, all minimized if there were no Cosmic genie within us to overcome the physical tendencies of the inherited chromomeres. None of us can know in childhood or even with sureness in adulthood what we may have inherited through the physical genie or the Cosmic genie, nor acquired by environment. Once we awaken, however, the self within and learn how to develop its powers and be guided by its subtle influences through attuning ourselves with all of the Cos­ mic principles, we discover our lives are being guided by a principle, a wisdom, an intellect, a divine law that is superior to all physical laws. It is this Cosmic self that will carry each human being and his various periods of incarnation on to the highest goal and the great pinnacle of success and perfection in life while the inherited tendencies of the chromomere or of the little physical genie will lift no man above the heights of his forbears or beyond the limita­ tions of his antecedents. For this reason, each one of us should give time and thought to the ex­ pression of the self within. W e can do this by attuning ourselves with the right thinking, by studying how to quicken the self within and how to listen to the still, small voice, and by becoming attuned with Cosmic laws to such an extent that they operate perfectly and efficiently in us and through us. The object of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood is thus fulfilled through its teachings and through its constant guidance. V V

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DO YO U READ THE R O SIC R U C IA N FO R U M ?

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MEISTER ECKHART Each month there will appear excerpts from the writings of famous teachers and thinkers of the past. This will give our readers an opportunity of knowing these minds through the presentations of writings which typify their thoughts. Occasionally such writers will be presented through the translations or interpretations of other eminent authors or thinkers of the past. This month we introduce to you Meister Eckhart. He has been called the father of the German mystics, also the philosophical, creative genius of the German mystics and the father of German speculation. His famous Eckhart manuscripts are recognized by the Ger­ man Rosicruc.ians and by the Rosicrucian Order throughout the world as the work of a Rosicrucian. He was a learned member of the Dominican or preaching order and for some time lector biblicus at the University of Paris, also of the Dominican College of St. Jacob where he was given his title Meister by Pope Boniface VIII. It is not exactly known, but it is thought that he graduated in Cologne in the Scholasti­ cism of Albert Magnus (1205-1281) and Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) whose system was at that time rapidly acquiring its hold. He held different administrative and political posts in the province. He was well known because of the fact that he preferred teaching in what was termed the ‘vulgar tongue' in contrast to scholastic Latin. He gained a great number of followers among the mass at large and the laity. The growth of his following and popu­ larity alarmed the church authorities. They accused him of numerous things, principally of the fact that he preached in the ‘vulgar tongue’ instead of Latin. He was excommuni­ cated by the Church in 1329, after his death. The charges were numerous—in fact, he was charged with preaching seventeen different, heretical doctrines. As to his actual life very little is known. No date is given as to his birth and in fact the place of his birth is unknown. Speculations are that he was born about 1260 either in Strassburg or Saxony. It is a pleasure to give the student in mysticism and philosophy as well as to the Rosi­ crucian, some of his writings, as presented by Franz Pfeiffer and translated by C. De B. Evans. THE DIVINE BEING

O M A N can tell of G o d e x a c t l y what he is. Ac­ cording to St. Di­ onysius, God is not anything we can say or think. S t. A u g u s t i n e cried: ‘I who have ever been in God a n d ev er mor e shall be, would sooner I had never been and never should be than that we found a single word that we could say of God. W ere we compelled to speak of God, in that case I should say: Verily, in no sense is God comprehensible nor yet unattain­

able. God is what thought cannot bet­ ter.’ Nay, I declare God beggars hu­ man thought: he transcends all human conception. No man knows what God is. Aught that a man could or would think of God, God is not at all. It is the nature of the soul not to be satis­ fied except with God. But all that heart can desire is small, is insignificant com­ pared with God. Yet man’s thought may be never so rich or so rare but his desire outstrips it. So he transcends m an’s desire as well as transcending human thought. St. Dionysius says God is naught. Meaning that God is as incomprehen­ sible as naught. St. Bernard says, I know not what God is; but what I

know not that he is that same is he. A heathen philosopher maintains that what we know of the First Cause is rather what we are ourselves than what the First Cause is. For that passes understanding. And in this strain the heathen doctor argues in his book. “The Light of Lights," that God is super-essential, super-rational, superintelligible, i.e., beyond the natural un­ derstanding. I speak not of gracious understanding. By grace man may be carried to the length of understanding as St. Paul understood who was caught up into the third heaven and saw un­ speakable things. He saw, but was not able to express them. For what a man knows he knows in its cause or in its mode or in its effect. But in these re­ spects God remains unknown, for he is the first. Further, he is modeless, i.e., undetermined. And he is without effect, that is, in his mysterious stillness. Here he abides apart from the names that are given him. Moses asked his name. God answered, He who is hath sent thee. Otherwise he could not tell it. God as simply being, in that sense he could never give himself to be known to creature. Not that he could not do it, but creature could not understand it. — I have often laid it down that G od’s lordship does not lie merely in his lord­ ship over creatures; his lordship con­ sists in his power to create a thousand worlds and dominate them all in his abstract essence. Therein lies his lord­ ship. Dionysius and Gregory both teach that the Divine Being is not comprehensible in any sense; not to any wit nor any understanding, not even to angelic mind even at its clearest. It was said by a philosopher that whoso knows of God that he is unknown, that man knows God. For it is the height of gnosis and perception to know and understand in agnosia and a-perception. T o know him really is to know him as unknowable. As the master puts it: If I must speak of God, then I will say, God is something which is in no sense to be reached or grasped; and I know nothing else The about him. According to St. Augustine, Rosicrucian what we say about God is not true; D igest what we say that God is he is not; A ugust what we say he is not that he is rather 1932 than what we say that he is. Nothing

we can say of God is true. G od’s worth and G od’s perfection cannot be put into words. W hen I say man, I have in my mind human nature. W h en I say grey, I have in my mind the grey­ ness of grey. W h en I say God, I have in my mind neither G od’s majesty nor his perfection. Dionysius insists that the more we can abstract from God the better by negation than by affirma­ tion. Hence the dictum of one master that to argue about God from likeness is to argue falsely about him, but to argue by denials is to argue about him correctly. Dionysius says, writing about God, He is super-essential, he is superluminous; he attributes to him neither this nor that. For whatever he con­ ceives, God far transcends it. There is no knowing him by likeness. Rather by attributing unlikeness may we make some approach to understanding him. Take an illustration. Supposing I de­ scribe a ship to someone who has never seen one, then on looking at a stone he will plainly see that it is not a ship. And the plainer he sees that it is not ship-like, the more he will know about a ship. It is the same with God. The more we impute to him not-likeness, the nearer do we get to understanding him. Holy Scripture yields us merely privatives. That we should credit God with matter form and work is due to our gross senses. W e fail to find God one because we try to come at him by likeness. Dionysius cries: ‘Friend Tim ­ othy, if thou wouldst catch the spirit of truth pursue it not with the human senses. It is so swift, it comes rushing.’ God is to be sought in opposites; in knowing shall we know God; in forget­ fulness of ourselves and all things even to the naked essence of the Godhead. Dionysius was exhorting one of his disciples. ‘Friend,’ quoth he, ‘cease from all activity and empty thyself of self that thou mayst commune with the Sovran Good, God, namely.' Pray God we may seek him so that we shall find him nevermore to lose him. Amen. Poverty

T he really virtuous man does not want God. W h a t I have I want not. He makes no plans, he sets no store by things. As God is higher than man, so

merely goods and honour, body and soul; further they are quit of all good works; the eternal W o rd does all their work while they are idle and exempt from all activity. And since in the eternal W o rd is neither bad nor good, therefore they are absolutely empty. The fifth are godly poor, for God can find no place in them to work in. Theirs is riddance without and within for they are bare and free from all contingent form. This is the man: in this man all men are one man and that man is Christ. O f him one master says, “Earth was never worthy of this man who looks on Heaven and earth the same.’ This man is object-free in time and in eternity. Not enough of those who have no object in eternity, but one thing more of those who are objectless in time. W h a t is meant by object? There are two objects; one is otherness (not I); the other is a man’s own proper self (his I). The first otherness is becoming, all that has come into existence; such things breed otherness and pass away. This applies to the passage of time. He who knows one matter in all things remains unmoved. For matter is the subject of form and there can be no matter without form nor form de­ void of matter. Form without matter is nothing at all; but matter ever cleaves to form and is one undivided whole in every single part of it. Now, since form in itself is naught, therefore it moves nothing. And since matter is perfectly impartiable, therefore it is unmoved. This man then is unmoved by form or matter and is therefore objectless in time. M an ’s other object is to possess his proper self, to identify himself with all perfection, with that most precious treasure his own aught: that is his quest. Now, when a thing has gotten its own form, no more nor less, that thing is all its own and no one else’s. He who conceives this really is per­ fect in the sense that he is wholly ob­ jectless to eternity, etc.

is he readier to give than man is to receive. Not by his fasts and vigils and his many outward works does a man prove his progress in the virtuous life, but it is a sure sign of his growth if he finds eternal things more and more attractive than the things that pass. The man who has a thousand marks of gold and gives it all away for love of God is doing a fine thing; yet I say, it were far finer and far better for him to despise it, setting it at naught on God's account. A man should orient his will and all his works to God and having only God in view go forward unafraid, not think­ ing, am I right or am I wrong. One who worked out all the chances ere starting his first fight would never fight at all. And if, going to some place, we must think how to set the front foot down we shall never get there. It is our duty to do the next thing; go straight on, that is the right way. There are five kinds of poverty. The first is devilish poverty; the second, golden poverty; the third is willing poverty; the fourth is spiritual poverty; the fifth, divine poverty. The first, or devilish poverty, applies to all who have not what they fain would have, outward or inward. That is their hell. , The second, golden poverty, is theirs who in the midst of goods and prop­ erties pass empty in and out. If every­ thing they own was burnt the effect on them would be to leave them quite un­ moved. Heaven must needs be theirs and they would have no less. The third is willing poverty and be­ longs to those who, renouncing goods and honours, body and soul, leave everything with right good grace. These give judgment with the twelve apostles and by pronouncing judgment it is their judgment day who, knowing what they leave, yet set another in their heart and mightily bestir themselves about their own departures. Such are the willing poor. The fourth are spiritual poor. These have forsaken friends and kindred, not V

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“He who interrupts my thoughts, interrupts my life.”— Validvar.

Sin ITS PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATION By

The 1 ” ". . R osicrucian Digest

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F rater

H A T is Sin? S in is w r o n g action that brings s o m e ha rm to others and makes more for our­ selves. Then, what is right and what is wrong action? Right and wrong like heat a n d col d, h a v e relative meanings. One and the same action performed by two different individuals may be right in one case and wrong in another. For in­ stance, it is a right thing for a husband to kiss his wife, but it is a wrong thing for another man to kiss the same woman, while she is a faithful wife of the first one. "W h a t is meat for one is poison for another.” O r such example: It is undoubtedly sinful action to put to fire a house of somebody without the desire and per­ mission of that person. By making war against our enemies, we destroy vil­ lages and towns, and even kill per­ fectly good men by thousands, yet assure ourselves that we are doing qood »jn a , deeds, a„ that we don’t commit any From the stand-point of our laws. we are obliged to destroy our enemies in any way we can, in order to save our

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own country from the same or worse destruction. Do our Jaws agree or dis­ agree with the Cosmic? W e don’t know exactly. But the mode of life is such that we are here to do something, and by doing things learn the laws of the Cosmic and the secrets of our suc­ cess. T he more we act and do things, the greater the capacity we develop in our nature for doing things. The greatest doers among men are really the most advanced individuals in our community, though they might be clas­ sified sometimes as the greatest sinners. Mighty doers always command re­ spect and admiration of their contempo­ raries and posterity, though they might be great sinners from our ordinary stand-point. Look into the history of humanity and recollect the deeds of Genghis Khan and Napoleon. Those two men by their doings destroyed mil­ lions of human lives; they destroyed kingdoms and empires; consequently. they were the greatest of sinners. So it looks at a glance. But watch the his­ tory closely, and you’ll see that those mighty doers were epoch-makers. They broke the crystallized conditions in a certain part of mankind, if not in the whole world, and opened the way for new epochs of history, scarcely know­ ing what they were doing or what they were doing it for. It means that they were nothing more than the tools in the hands of an Intelligence higher than that of man. They showed that

they were good tools, but not sinners; they were too great to be ordinary sin­ ners; they were above sin. Now turning our attention to the or­ dinary daily life, we might meet such actions as this: Suppose a little boy, three years old, burned a house, while playing with fire. Is the boy a sinner, or not? W h a t kind of law could we apply to him and how could we judge him? W e are helpless to use our ordi­ nary laws in this case, because the ‘‘criminal” is innocent and too ignorant for that. O r suppose that an idiot put to fire the same house while trying to have some fun for himself and others. Some sort of punishment should be applied to him, but in a small degree, because he is too weak-minded for any serious judgment. O r suppose the same home was set afire by a man of average intelligence, but one who was possessed with a beastly character and was seek­ ing revenge of his neighbor for some old grievances. This man, if caught, shall be punished by the whole extent of the mundane law; nor can he expect any exemption from the Cosmic law. It is proved in our life that the richer the man the higher taxes he pays. The riper the man mentally the more re­ sponsibility he bears on his shoulders. However, mentality alone never could be used as a standard measure for punishment. It might happen that the brainiest man in a community would commit the greatest crime and have slight, if at all, punishment. Suppose, for example, that a genius, like the late Thomas Edison, advised his best assist­ ant to try in a laboratory some new chemical admixture. Suppose that ad­ mixture. when tried, proved to be a terrific explosive, like dynamite, or even worse. Naturally, the whole laboratory and everything in it, including the assistant himself, was blown into atoms. Indirectly, the genius is responsible for the death of his no less talented assistant. But who can judge the genius as a criminal? If he would come into court and frankly confess his sin, even then the severest punishment could not be applied to him. Now, looking at those actions, or sins, from the standpoint of the actors, or sinners, we would observe that a

three year old boy, regardless of his innocence and ignorance, shall be im­ pressed by his wrong action for the rest of his life. Afterwhile, being a father himself, he would be careful with his own children, and tell the sad story to his neighbors of how he did commit a crime by carelessness of his parents, and in that way teach other parents how they must be careful when training their children in regard to playing with fire. An idiot, being caught and punished, which measure could be applied to him, would understand, as far as his brain could permit him, that to play with fire is not so much fun, after all. An average, but beastly man, would learn that the evil doings always bring evil results; therefore, they never should be repeated. But the greatest lesson would be learned by the genius. His wrong ac­ tion or sin would teach him that un­ known chemical substances should be handled with great precaution in order to avoid such terrible unhappiness. More than that, he would remember the formula he gave to the assistant, and naturally repeat the admixture in better conditions and make a new invention, which may revolutionize the whole line of a certain work. Analyzing those wrong actions, or sins, from the outside, enables us to learn a good lesson for ourselves. It is clear to us that the three year old boy committed his crime with no evil inten­ tion, but through his ignorance. The idiot who set fire to the house for the fun of it performed that action, or sin, through his utter ignorance. T he ma­ ture man, setting fire to a house, knew perfectly well that he committed a crime, or sin. But he was ignorant about the tricks of policemen and the psychological experiments of the judge, who might find a criminal even without witnesses. Still more, he was ignorant about the Karmic law, from which no evil doer ever can escape. Finally, a great genius, who was indirectly re­ sponsible for the death of his assistant, committed that sin by his utter igno­ rance in this particular case. It is clear now why, “Ignorance is the mother of all sins.”

Ignorance is the worst sin that any man ever could have. Annihilate the mother— ignorance, and the children— sins, would not be born in this life. “Knowledge is light and ignorance is darkness,” runs the proverb. Ignorance, as the greatest sin, and with it the smaller sins, disappears from the field of knowledge like darkness from light. As in darkness we cannot see that a snare might be in our pathway, so when sinning, we don't realize what horrible consequences will inevitably follow. Here we reach a very interesting point in our reasoning. M any people, knowing not what is good and what is bad, refrain from actions at all, trying to save their souls, without knowinq that: “He who wants to save his soul shall lose it, and he who loses his soul shall find it." In this expression of the M aster is hidden great wisdom. It teaches us that by our actions— good or bad— we are going ahead to the supreme heights of knowledge, and that without actions we perish from stagnation, and rot morally and spiritually. Observe your own actions, and those of others around you, and you will see that there is no action in this world that perishes in vain. Right actions teach us what we shall do in this life, and wrong actions, or sins, teach us what we shall not do. Both of them, right and wrong together, move us ahead in our advancement. In other words, not only our good actions, but also all our sins could be used as step­ ping stones for our success in the future. Lost are those individuals who re­ frain from actions, because they are afraid to make mistakes, or commit sins. Pious and lazy undoers are ©

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averted by their appearance, while great sinners are admired by the people, and the Cosmic expects from them great and good things in the future. All great sinners have proved that they could do great things, that they have enough courage, and dare to do things on their own account, taking all the re­ sponsibility for themselves, be it neces­ sary, without shrinking from any pun­ ishment. For a while they are great sinners, harm doers for themselves and for others. But the time will come when they shall realize the law of life, that they are compelled to reap what they sow in their past, and then those great sinners will turn their abilities to do great things to the right side, and become great doers in the right way. They will do good things with the same might as they committed their sins. Providence always directs the actions of the brave. “T he greater the sinner the greater the saint,” and the more a coward might try to be a saint, the more sinful he would be in the final result. Great doer are good and sincere workers in the vineyard of their creators; while lazy undoers are sleepers right on the spot where they were left in their last incarnation. W isdom of life manifests in all our actions. Good and bad work together for the final good in the universe. Only by doing things in this life may we learn what is good and what is wrong and why. Therefore, dare to do things in your own way, sowing those things which you would like to reap in the future, and knowing that your today is the child of your yesterday and the mother of your tomorrow. Coin your own destiny, whatever you choose, be­ cause you are the master-builder of your destiny.

DO YOU READ THE ROSICRUCIAN FORUM?

CH ILD CU LTU RE IN ST R U C T IO N S

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Because of the constant demand for literature pertaining to the cultural training of children, we are again pleased to announce an attractive, free booklet explaining the Rosicrucian methods of child culture. Those who would like to avail themselves of this book explaining about the Child Culture Institute should address a letter to the Child Culture Institute, College Heights, San Jose, California, and inclose three cents in stamps and the booklet will be sent. It is worth your while to know how you may receive this method of training for children.

The Secret of Praying (Continued from Page 252)

make God complicated. Do you know where the doctrine of the Trinity orig­ inated? It is a fact, horrifying in a way. It was in 1127 when the Fourth Lateran Council was being held for the purpose of prosecuting heretics. In this Council when one at the head of the church foolishly, in a moment of for­ getfulness, said to the man of France who came to him and asked, ‘‘How are we going to tell who are heretics and who are the chosen followers of God, Christians?’’ ‘‘Destroy them all and God will protect his own.” These men who formed this doctrine of the Trinity and many others, had some reason for it in some of the passages in the Bible, but they have never ex­ plained them satisfactorily, and there is not a clergyman today who comes out and admits that that doctrine is real, but they accept, and I am not criti­ cizing them. If he is a Christian clergy­ man, he must preach the sermon. He can do nothing else himself but be faithful to the doctrines he reveals, but he is not convinced because he cannot understand how Jesus was the only be­ gotten son of God, and yet understand the omnipotent power as being divided three ways, and yet further understand the M aster Jesus saying, ‘‘There is none greater than my Father in Heaven.” Therefore, it is to this one Supreme Intelligence, God, this great Mind, to whom we must direct and petition and make our pleas. In this mind and in this God alone are the things possible that we ask. W e seldom ask in our prayers for things that we can do our­ selves unless we are praying foolishly. W e look upon our prayers as an oppor­ tunity to ask an omnipotent, Supreme Intelligence to do something that noth­ ing on the face of the earth can do for us. T h at is why we pray, and there can be only one power that can take any one of the laws and make an ex­ ception to it. There can only be one power that can set aside the course of events, only one power that can change

this or that or another thing, and it is to that power, alone, that we pray. W e have the privilege of praying and right to pray, but we must do it understand­ in g^. N ow the whole problem of praying is, after all, a mystical process. Pray­ ing is not a scientific thing. According to scientists, it is just so much piffle. According to science, praying is some­ thing inconceivable, childish, inane. I am not saying they never pray because some of them do, but from the scien­ tific point of view all natural laws are immutable. W e also speak of the immutability of G od’s laws. It is one of the most wonderful things we have. If it were not for that, some of you would not be here tonight. Your car may not have run; the trolley may not have run, the roof may not be on the building, the seats might not hold you down, or in getting back home you might find perhaps your car would hop, skip, and jump, instead of running as it should, and everything would go wrong if it were not for the immut­ ability of the laws. W e agree with the materialistic scientist in this respect; to ask God to make an exception or to change an immutable law is childish. It is like a child sitting on the floor with the sun shining in his eyes, and asking his mother to put a blanket over the sun. So praying is not a scientific pro­ cess. It is something from within that transcends material, scientific life so far beyond the horizon and limit of the sky that it is incomprehensible to science. It is a mystical thing— some­ thing of our soul and not of our brain — something of our inner selves and not of our outer selves. This mortal, carnal, flesh body has not a right nor privilege to ask God, the Creator of all things, to look down in His mercy and love and do something for us. Our body has no privilege to ask that, but the soul within has both privilege and right. It is part of the God conscious­ ness. God, when He created man, said, ‘‘I make him in my own image.” It, therefore, has a right, as a part of the

God consciousness, to commune with side, with the holy sepulchre in the God and that is what prayer is. It is a center; and they sell you postcards communion of the inner self with the showing the holes in the walls. Creator. W e went to mosques also— Moham­ If you will look upon prayer as a medan and Arabian mosques where at communion, your whole aspect of the door you had to take your shoes prayer will change. Let us see what off and put on slippers. There were pagans and heathens say. W e were boys and men to take your shoes off. surprised on our trip to Europe, just a They make no charge, and refuse to few years ago, myself and other Rosi- accept any money. If you offer them a crucians, who went to study some of tip, they are insulted. W h en you enter, this praying business. 'Business,’ we you find a large open space in the say, because a guide told us we would mosque covered with two or three see in it such forms as were business­ thousand Oriental rugs, every one of like. W e found that these guides were the prayer rugs ages old, and we had prejudiced. They thought we were such to walk with these carpet slippers, devout or narrow Christians that we around those who were praying. Here would look upon them as heathens and and there and elsewhere were M oham ­ pagans, and they thought we were like medans and others at prayer, some the average American and would not quietly chanting, perhaps tears in their pay any attention to the praying; but eyes, but they were at prayer. They I want to tell you something we found, did not look at the sightseers coming something we saw, something the aver­ in, and look to see if we had paid our age clergyman will not tell you unless admission fee as there was none, and you ask him, and that is this: T hat in wonder if we had bought postcards to all the Christian churches, shrines and pay for the lights, because at the other temples, Christian meeting places, there shrines they reminded us that they was quarrelling, dissension and all needed the money in order to carry on. kinds of unGodly things. T he only W e never stayed in those Oriental places that revealed solitude and peace places among those who were praying were in the so-called pagan mosques. half as long as we did in the other All through the Holy Land guides took places because many of the Christian us to the so-called holy shrines, places edifices were like museums, some dis­ that were supposed to contain relics of played a thorn from the crown, a piece the Saints. We had to pay money to of the cross on which Jesus was cruci­ get in and then we found postcards fied, a piece of the loin cloth around and things for sale. W e found that his body. W hy, my friends, if all of the men inside in ecclesiastical dress the pieces of the cross that are for sale talked about things with common-place in the Christian shrines in Palestine jokes, made fun of them. If you don’t were to be put together, it would make believe what I am saying, ask some a cross that would reach from here to who were with us on the trip. In some New York City; and as to the crown of the holy places in Palestine, there of thorns, not only sold there, but in were guides with a cross hanging on other places as well, that crown of the front of them, and they would thorns must have been enormous. laugh at some of the stories they would There is something wrong when the tell, and if we showed signs of having sacred things of religion can be peddled heard them before, they would wink off for twenty-five or thirty cents. In and say, “Oh, you have heard that one the temples of the so-called pagans and before?” W e saw here seven or nine heathens, these things are not sold and holy places with alcoves and to keep there is nothing charged, and there is peace between the sects of worshippers, the utmost reverence and silence. It keep them from fighting with one an­ was so impressive that you could not The other the British soldiers were stationed come out of those places without tears Rosicrucian near by. Guides point out the holes in in your eyes, while you came out of D igest the walls of the temples or in the the other places with a throbbing in A ugust shrines where the people on one side your heart and regret that you had tried to shoot the ones on the other seen what was supposed to be the 1932

center of Christian religion. I have those facts and I am not painting a picture of contamination or criticism of any religion but to permit you to realize that a religion can be so misunderstood and involved by doctrines, arguments, and that God can be divided into three, and the mass does not know to whom they are praying, W h at do the Orientals say about prayer? It is a communion. The night we started across the desert, we left Cairo and the Pyramids, and the Sphinx, and started with our train of camels (there were seventy-eight per­ sons, American citizens and many Canadians) traveling across with the chief of the Arabs of the desert, a man in charge of 6,000 tribesmen, and Brit­ ish police to protect us; we started out over the desert at sunset. There v/as nothing but the setting sun to guide us. and once in a whole a sand dune would even hide the sun. M any women were on camels that had never been alone any place in the world before. Going we knew not where. W e knew we would land at the tent of Abdul and spend the night as his guests. As we neared the tent, it was then beginning to get dark and still we could see the camel men take the rugs from the backs of the camels, their prayer rugs, and lay them down, facing the East and pray. W e were watching, yes, but it did not make any difference; they must pray— sunrise and sunset. There are others that pray at midnight and noon, and others that pray when awakening, whatever the hour may be, and when they go to sleep. There are some that never pray before washing their hands and feet and some say this: "It is un­ thinkable to go into the presence of God and commune, unclean of body." Think of that! That is the pagan idea, the heathen idea. W e have thousands and thousands of members who pray privately in their own sanctums at home, where they can be quiet and alone, except for the pres­ ence of God, but they know how to pray; and that is the important point. They know it is a mystical communion with God. They know that first of all they have no right to come before this God of their conception, this God of the Universe as the Omnipotent, Su­

preme Ruler of the Universe, without first of all in a prayer, in a word, a heart of thankfulness for the privilege of praying, and secondly an apprecia­ tion for life, itself. So their prayers begin with thankfulness instead of "M y God, I w ant”. They know in the first place that whatever they ask for is a benediction and a blessing. Life, itself, is not a thing that man can de­ mand for it is only a Divine blessing for which he must be eternally thank­ ful. So the first attitude is one of thankfulness and one of relief that nothing can be demanded; and then the great important point that the Christian and many others overlook is this: T hat God is not ignorant of man’s neces­ sities, is not ignorant of man's present trials and tribulations, and to come be­ fore God and say, "God, here is my situation: Perhaps you don’t know or see me. Perhaps you don't understand. Let me tell you what the trouble is I am in,” and so they say, "God, let me tell you what the solution is; let me tell you what to do to change the course of my life.” T hat is presumptuous. You could not go before a court and lay your legal troubles before the judge in such a presumptuous attitude and tell him how to solve the problem. Perhaps he has an idea that is better than your own. How many go to God feeling that God knows better than they do? The first thing to do is to get down and speak to God as friend to friend, soul to soul. Talk with God, walk with God, commune with Him in a sacred way. Here is what I would say, "I un­ derstand that blessing, that love in giv­ ing me life, giving me consciousness. I understand that goodness in creating all this that is so good. But I have gotten into wrong in some way. I have a problem I think I have created. I don't know what to do! I am coming to you, God, for light, for inspiration. I cannot tell you what to do, God; I don’t know. M y finite understanding does not let me comprehend the scheme of things enough to understand, let alone tell you what to do. Let me lay in thy bosom of love and sleep while you work out my problem.” That is the way to do. Is that the way you pray? And the way you understand prayer?

I have a book I am going to quote from, containing a collection of prayers. You can see how mystics have this un­ derstanding of prayer; and if you will follow these prayers, or could pray like them, you would find what the efficacy of praying is. In the first place, the mystic knows better than to come and ask God to give him money or give him a lot and house and give him ma­ terial things as though God had them on a tray and would let them slip, fall­ ing into their laps. The theme of the mystic's prayer is thankfulness for life — and if your judgment does let me have more, then more I shall have. If it is the end of my days, then I will accept it. If this is my lot in life, then I will accept it. There is but one God and even Jesus, the other point of the Trinity, called upon God on the cross. Now let me show you in this book some prayers. Take the prayer that Jesus gave to us when learning to pray. In that prayer in the translation you see it says, ‘‘Lead us not into tempta­ tion,” yet God never leads man into temptation. The original, however, says, “Lead us when in temptation, but deliver us from evil.” There are hun­ dreds in there, but I wanted to call your attention to another one. This is one of St. Augustine’s. “Oh, God who dost grant us what we ask, if only when we live a better life.” Another one of St. Augustine's is, “Oh, God. where was I wandering to see Thee? Oh, most infinite beauty, I sought Thee without and Thou wast in the midst of my heart.” Such prayers as these tell us how to pray. And then we have many others. I would like to read them all but my time is limited. There is one here from the famous Earl of England who learned how to pray. “Oh, God, I thank Thee for all the joy I have had in life in communion with Thee.” Sister Cawdry, whose most beloved prayer 9 9 The Rosicrucian Digest A ugust 1932

was this one: ‘‘Oh, God, Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory for­ ever and ever, Amen.” So this book called, “Mystics at Prayer,” contains all of these wonderful prayers of the mystics. This book shows the way to pray, how to form your prayers. (The book ‘‘Mystics at Prayer” may be had, printed in two colors for $1.00, post­ paid from the Rosicrucian Supply Bu­ reau, for those who wish it.) Remember that prayer is communion. It is the most sacred, the most religious, the most vital, the most beautiful bless­ ing and privilege that man has— to talk to God at any time, any where he may be. Lift your thoughts. Lift your voice, if you wish. Lift yourself higher but find God at the same time within you. Talk quietly to the soul and con­ sciousness within— talk with joy, a note of cheer and appreciation of thankful­ ness in your voice. Thank God even for the trials and tribulations because of the lessons they contain. Thank God for every stumble that has caused you to fall, because in rising you have learned a lesson, how to lift yourself up. Thank God for the lesson— good or bad from your judgment. They may be all good in the mind of God. You are not the judge. But two or three times a day talk with God as you would walk with God and tell Him what you think. Tell him your troubles and trials. Talk to God as you would talk to your closest companion, your dearest friend. Be acquainted, be intimate, be friendly and happy with God. D on’t fear God, for God is all love and mercy. God does not want you to fear Him. There is no fear of any God that is real; there is no anger nor jealousy in any God, for the one God above all is the God of love and mercy. And you have the privilege of praying to this God and having your prayers answered.

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