THE CROSS AND ROSES MEDITATION

By Anthony Dadzie, - Tema Centre

In the 13^th century a high spiritual teacher having a symbolic name Christian- Ross- Cross appeared in Europe. He founded the Rosicrucian Order for which the Rosicrucian fellowship is the preparatory school. The name as stated in the Cosmo conception embodies how the present man is transformed into divine superman and shows the aims of human evolution, the road to be traveled, and the means whereby that end is attained. By faith in this blood, and by imitation of the Christ Life the Sons of Seth are  provided with a means of purging themselves the curse of selfishness; while the Sons of Cain were given the emblem of the rose and the cross to teach them to work faithfully to make the Philosopher's Stone, and to find the new Word which shall admit them to the kingdom, for they believe more in works than in faith. The Elder Brothers greet the aspiring soul with the words of the Rosicrucian Greeting: "May the Roses bloom upon your Cross," and therefore the greeting is given in the meetings of the Fellowship Centers by the leader to the assembled students, probationers and disciples who respond to the greeting by saying "And upon yours, also.". But the question is, what is the meaning of the symbolic name Christian, the Rose, the Cross, and how do we bloom the roses upon the cross?

 1. THE WHITE ROSE

The White Rose signifies:(1) the indwelling Spirit (Ego) radiating its four instruments (physical body, vital body,  desire body and the mind); (2) the etheric larynx that will be able to speak the creative word; (3) for healing services it represents the heart of the invisible helper; (4) For the purpose of our meditation, it represent  purity of character and dedication to  service, two conditions that must be established as states of being before the higher works are achieved.  At a certain point in human attainment purity becomes a tremendous soul power a truth stressed by the Lord Christ when he said, ‘’the pure in heart shall see God’’. Therefore, the Rose Cross is the symbol of an Initiate who has worked so diligently at his own nature that Christ’s love, the divine love that transforms and gives life to matter, has flowered within him.  

How do we develop the white rose?  Purity is a virtue, a skill that we acquire through consistent “abstention from unchastely.” In this sense it demands a painful process of crucifying the flesh. Purity includes the virtue of temperance or self-control, the mastery of one’s desires. True service on the other hand is the service rendered to one's fellowmen with kindness and selflessness. If we have filled ourselves with selfishness, jealousy, and such ill feelings, we will not be able to do any good service.

 As man learns to elevate himself closer to the Christ ideal he build a new body keenly responsive to soul impact, a true body of light singing in every atom. This implies far more than physical chastity it involves purity of mind and motive as well.  So long as man is swayed by personality, responding to hate, fear, sensuality he cannot develop a pure heart.

 

 2. THE SEVEN RED ROSES.

 The seven red roses signify: (1) human blood cleansed from passion, making possible the occult development of seven etheric centers of the vital body, which correlate with the seven ductless glands necessary for the spiritual development of humanity. Four of these glands relate to the personality; the thymus gland, ruled by Venus; the spleen, ruled by the Sun; and the two adrenals, ruled by Jupiter. The pituitary body, ruled by Uranus, and the pineal gland, ruled by Neptune, correlated with the spiritual side of our nature, and the thyroid, ruled by Mercury, forms the link between.  (2)  It also signify the  purification  of  the desire  nature,  which  promotes  development  of  the seven centers of the desire body (Cosmo pp. 67-68), latent in most persons, but capable (as with the etheric centers) of becoming extra sensory organs,  making  possible  various  super physical  abilities—thus,  in  both  above  instances,  occasioning  the Rosicrucian  salutation:  May the roses bloom upon your cross.. The roses are the organs of perception through which we can become aware of the spirit realms in the same way that our five senses are organs of perception of the physical realm.

How do we awaken the red roses?

Every aspirant to inner knowledge must begin his work by purification of the blood. He must learn to sustain his body with a pure and harmless diet, eliminating all food obtain at the cost of pain and suffering to animals. He guards his every thought, words and deeds for he learns that his life and environment are pictured in his blood. Materialistic and negative thinking, heavy and fresh diet, alcohol and indulgence of the sense life, tend to thicken the blood, thus opening the way for the ingress of undesirable entities from the lower desire world. Secondly, as man progress in the school of life, his experience teaches him, and his desires become purer and better. One of the evidences of this condition is that the body becomes a more sensitive and responsive instrument of the Spirit. The two higher ethers, lights and reflecting ether in their physical aspect enter the human body by way of the brain. They pass into the lungs and are taken up by the blood thus reaching the heart where the seed atom of the physical body is located. These two ethers play an important role in the transmutation of the blood and the refining and spiritualizing of the physical body atoms.

 

3. THE WHITE CROSS. 

There are primarily three bodies upon which the three-fold spirit operates by means of the mind refining and beautifying them into its unique individuality by extracting a certain essence from each of them. The work of the Divine Spirit (creative will) on the physical body spiritualizes it. The Life Spirit (creative imagination) working in the etheric body spiritualizes and organizes the etheric senses and open contact with fourth dimensional realms. The work of the Human Spirit upon the emotions carries the process further, conferring a power by which the ego can function in the astral world. Spiritualization of the mind is both the beginning and the end of the above processes.

In a Christian sense the cross signifies acceptance of sacrifice, suffering, and death to the lower self as man progresses through evolution. The four major initiations which correspond to the ascension of the spinal spirit fire have been pictured and symbolized by Jesus Christ in His own life. They are also symbolized for us by the arms of the Rosicrucian Cross. The first major initiation is called "The Birth of Christ" and in the life of Jesus this is symbolized by his actual birth. It marks the time when the higher self, starts to take over control of the life of the aspirant and to influence his every major decision. Before this point is reached, the aspirant must have control over all physical habits and actions. "The sins of the flesh", must first be dominated and the willingness to obey must be very strong. The second major initiation is "Baptism" the aspirant is purged of its major and most troublesome weaknesses, and those of the emotional nature. Desire has been dominated and he only longed for the good of humanity in line with Cosmic Intention. The aspiration and longing to serve, love and progress become so strong that rapid development is usually seen. The third and fourth initiation is the "Transfiguration" and the "Crucifixion" and is symbolized by the actual crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ upon the cross.

 How do we develop the white cross? Man's latent potentialities are developed in two ways, namely, through his own efforts, and by the help of others, chief among which are great Beings who are far beyond him on the path of evolution.

 a). By right action in relation to external impacts, experiences, and observations of thought, words and deeds to ensure that they are sane, soft and sound the spirit extracts the conscious soul essence from the dense body, and this food develops the latent potentialities of the divine spirit into dynamic forces which manifest as will, intellect, knowledge, the positive force of its being, the father principle, the power to do. B). Certain specific faculties must be cultivated if spiritual attainment is to be accomplished. One of these is discrimination, the faculty whereby we distinguish the unimportant and unessential from the important and essential, thus learning that we are Spirits, and our bodies are but temporary dwelling places, instruments for use. Discrimination generates the intellectual soul and gives man his first start toward the higher life. 

c). By a curb on animal instincts, devotion to high and lofty feelings, and emotions generated by right action and purifying experiences, prayers and concentration, the spirit automatically extracts the emotional soul food essence from the desire body and it in turn nourishes and develops the human spirit potentialities which are creative power--both physical and mental, fecundation, germination, growth, and develops them into dynamic forces under the domination of the will.

 

4. THE GOLDEN STAR

The five-pointed star symbolizes the golden wedding garment made of the two higher ethers, - the light and the reflecting ether. It is more closely linked with the desire body and the mind and more amenable to the spirit's touch than the two lower ethers. Our observations, our aspirations, our character, etc., are due to the work of the spirit in these two higher ethers, which become luminous according to the nature of our character and habits.

 How do we develop the golden star? For the majority intervals of sleep are mere periods of unconsciousness. This is because their actual and mental sheaths are entirely unorganized and untrained.  To be awake and alert when out of the body a long audacious preparation is necessary. First certain perceptive centers must be developed in the higher vehicles. Centers possessed by everyone but usually in a crude form in the aura (Cosmo pg 67). In time these sensitive spots will develop into eyes of the soul, just as sensitive spots in the heads of those pre-human creatures which became man developed into physical eyes. However, the eyes of the soul will not become localized as are bodily organs of vision but will be co-extensive with the soul body itself. Following the development of perceptive centers which confer full super physical sight upon an initiate a cleavage is affected between the higher and lower aspect of the desire body and the etheric body. Before the cleavage can take place, this formless desire substance must be formed, the unorganized higher ethers must be organized. This is done through meditation and contemplation. As music is known to produce certain geometric patterns so particular modes of meditation produce definite patterns in the light and reflecting ethers. The pattern among Christians is generally called a star. When the star shines in an aura a teacher appears as the magi came to the infant Jesus at the shining of his star. The quality of the consciousness of the Ego when thus away from its dense body depends upon whether it has formed a soul body of Light and Reflecting Ether, which is the vehicle of sense perception and memory, sufficiently stable to take along.

 5. How do we bloom the Roses on the Cross?

Much help is given to man by Great Beings through the ductless glands.  The awakening of the keynotes of the ductless glands is very closely associated with Initiation and is one of the spirit's most valuable aids in blooming the roses on the cross.  By reason of their shape, size, color, beauty and fragrance they are likened to flowers, the rose blooming upon the cross of the body. Presently the seven vital centers in the average man are largely dormant. When the aspirant has set his feet firmly upon the path of attainment his earnest aspirations will burn the dross out of his desire body and mind. This enable the ego to take control of the mind and bodies. When this deep unconscious material is cleared out a person is said to be free from lust, anger and greed. He feels integrated, calm and fearless, and able to have a strong will and dedication to their spiritual life. All true spiritual development has its foundation in the conservation of the life force. New birth through regeneration or initiation can occur only as we conserve the life force and lift it to the head. This will ensure a simultaneous and parallel awakening of the etheric force centres and the dormant forces at the base of the spine symbolized by the birth of the Christ within.

6. Why the need for meditation?

 The Rosicrucian fellowship emblem is not a simple picture put forward as an awakening power, but that it was first build up by a sequence of thoughts force. In the symbol is hidden the solutions of the world mystery- Man’s past evolution, present constitution and particularly the secret of his future development. (Cosmo. p 519). Hence the advisability of studying it with our intellects and our hearts, ‘Max Hiendel. All aspiring aspirants who align themselves, "in spirit and in truth," with The Rosicrucian Fellowship and its Teachings, place themselves within the sphere of the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross. It is to our advantage as spiritual aspirants to realize the full significance of this fact and endeavor to reap the full benefit of such a wonderful privilege. We can help make ourselves more attractive to their assistance by taking time to meditate upon them and their humanitarian endeavors, to send them our gratitude and love, to rededicate ourselves to serving them in their constant efforts of uplifting humanity.

7. Significance of the symbols.

Through the ages, sacred symbols have been used to convey and merge intangible and supernatural rays of truth into single graphic images that take us to a point of knowing without using our cognitive skills. A single viewing of a symbol can transform consciousness, behaviors, understanding, and wellbeing. We are forever changed by the symbols we gaze upon. The spiritual power of religion is symbolized by the budding Rod of Aaron in the Bible, by the magic spear of Parsifal in the Grail myth, and by the spear of Wotan in the story of the Niebelung. These are emblems of the divine creative force, which works wonders and miracles. When we learn to shun the pride of life and the lust of the flesh, generation will cease to sap our vitality, and the vital energy will be used for regeneration symbolized by Aaron’s rod.

In the Wagner’s music drama when Parsifal recovered the sacred spear from the Black magician, he knew that the sacred spear must never be used to hurt but only to heal. So, do the aspirant who wears the emblem of the ROSE CROSS must understand he is on a mission of purity and selfless service. Though he may use his spiritual powers to feed the multitude he would never turn a stone into bread to appease his hunger. This is the attitude of Christ Jesus which all must imitate.

The Faust myth presents a curious situation in the meeting of the hero who is the seeking soul, with different classes of spirits. The spirit of Faust, inherently good, feels drawn to the higher orders; it feels akin to the benevolent Earth Spirit, and regrets the inability to detain it and learn from it. Face to face with the Spirit of Negation, who is only too willing to teach and to serve, he finds himself master in a certain sense, because that spirit cannot leave, over the symbol of the five-pointed star in the position it is placed upon the floor. But both his inability to detain the Earth Spirit and obtain tuition from that exalted Being, and his mastery over the Spirit of Negation, was because he has met them by chance and not by soul power evolved from within. So, it is with the aspirant, using the emblem for protection, or for prayer will not help, unless as spiritual aspirants we receive from the Emblem the high ideal of causing the roses upon our cross to bud and bloom by living the life.

Conclusion. My dear brothers and sisters, it is one thing to intellectually understand the teaching and quite another to achieve inner realization and put it into action. By following the path resealed to us by the emblem we unfold the powers of God Himself -- we become able to do the things indicated by Christ Jesus when He said: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." (John 14:12) Among the powers He possessed, as we know from His works, were clairvoyance, clairaudience, prophecy, teaching, healing, casting out devils, and controlling the elements. All these powers  may be ours, too, as we live the life to make the roses bloom upon our cross. To be continued.

 EMERGING INTO LIGHT

By Dr. Peter Brown

 

My dear sisters and brothers,

It is time that certain spiritual facts be known to all.  By so doing will help many to recover from or survive a difficult and demanding situation ahead of us.  This difficult and demanding situation, what is it?  It involves “Emerging into Light.”

To emerge  is to move out of or away from something and come into view.  In other words, something is going to happen which, if we do not come out · appear · come into view · make an appearance · turn up · spring up · come up · surface  pop up · materialize · manifest oneself · arise · proceed · issue · come forth or emanate, we shall disappear.

The situation is so important and prominent to such an extent that a prophecy has been made concerning it.  This concerns what is called the precession of the equinoxes.

 

The Prophecy

Prophetic indications have been given in a phenomenon called the precession of the equinoxes:  where the sun moves into one constellation of the zodiac from another in thousands of years and in so doing usher in a new age and a new religion higher and advanced than the one preceding. 

A certain group of fixed stars in the heavens is called Aries; another group, located close to it, is called Taurus; a third group is called Gemini, and so on.  These twelve constellations, or groups of stars, as seen in the heavens, always remain in the same group and in about the same relative position one to another.  Through these constellations, the Sun circles from year to year with unvarying precision, but owing to the fact that the axis of the Earth inclines towards the Sun and has a wobbling motion, like that of a spinning top which has almost spent its force, the motion of the Sun appears to be uneven.  Each year, when it enters the constellation Aries, crossing the Earth’s equator, it is a little earlier than the year before.  It precedes, and thus the astronomers speak of the “precession of the equinoxes”

That is, the Sun appears to cross the equator at the Vernal Equinox, or the start of spring, each year, a short distance before it reaches the point where it crossed the preceding year.

Thus if one year it crossed in the first degree of Aries, the next year it would cross slightly within the constellation Pisces.  The following year it would be still further away in Pisces from the first point of Aries, and so on.  This backward motion, however, is so slow that it takes 72 years to move through one degree, or 2,100 years to go through one sign, or approximately 26,000 years to go backward through the 12 signs. (This latter period is called the Great Sidereal Year).

 

The Two Zodiacs

There is another zodiac where astronomers divide the circle of the heavens into the usual 360 degrees starting at the point where the Sun crosses the equator at the next preceding vernal equinox.  They also call the first 30 degrees from that point Aries, the second 30 degrees Taurus as does the astrologer.  Therefore, let us understand that there are 2 Zodiacs:

1.       The Natural Zodiac composed of stars in the heavens, and

2.      The Intellectual Zodiac which starts from the point of the vernal equinox for any year.

Seeing that the Sun by precession travels backward among the signs of the Zodiac, it will be understood that a time will come when the vernal equinox occurs in the first point of Aries, and thus during that year the Intellectual and Natural Zodiacs agree.  This occurred the last time in about 500 A.D., and as the Sun has been travelling at the accustomed rate of one degree in about 70 years, at the present time the vernal equinox occurs in about 9.degrees of Pisces.  Thus it will be about 2,600 A.D before it actually enters the constellation Aquarius when the Aquarian Age may then be said to start at that time, lasting approximately 2,100 years while the Sun moves backwards through the thirty degrees of the sign Aquarius.

We are told therefore that in a few hundred years the sun shall enter the constellation Aquarius, the Water Bearer.  It is thus reasonable to assume that a new phase of religion will supersede our present system, revealing higher and nobler ideals than our present conception of the Christian religion. 

The Piscean Age: the Age of blind Faith will be contrasted to the Aquarian Age of Reason.  In the 600 years which remain before the Aquarian Age is definitely ushered in, we shall make great strides.  Let us find out the influence of the sign Aquarius so we learn more about the Age.

 

Aquarius :Age of Innovations

Through the study of astrology we learn that Aquarius has an intellectual influence which is original, inventive, mystic, scientific, altruistic and religious.  Thus we expect to see that the Aquarian Age would be ushered in by original endeavours along lines connected with science, religion, mysticism, and altruism.  And indeed this seems to be so.

 If we look back upon a period of about a century in which the Sun has travelled a little over One degree towards Aquarius we find there has been a very marked change in lines of thought and endeavor where history records certain outstanding inventions in our human history: from telephone, telegraph and radar to highly new complex machinery for space travel.  These and myriads more are marking Aquarian progress in the physical world.  There is an increasing number of those who have developed spiritual sight and are investigating the trend of evolution in the higher planes.  The study of astrology has assumed unheard of popularity in the last few years, and the internet, bookstores and publications are full of occult matters and the “supernatural.”

The Aquarian Age will see the blending of religion and science: a religious science and a scientific religion will be formed – each respecting and learning from the findings of the other – and which will promote health, happiness, and enjoyment of life.

Max Heindel points out that Aquarius, being an airy, scientific and intellectual sign, it is a foregone conclusion that the new faith be rooted in reason, able to solve the riddle of life and death, and in a manner that will satisfy the mind and the religious instinct. 

 

The Western Wisdom Way

Such is the Western Wisdom Religion promulgated by the Rosicrucian Fellowship.  Like the leaven in the loaf, the Rosicrucian Fellowship teaching is breaking down the fear of death engendered by the uncertainty surrounding the post-mortem/after-life existence. 

The Rosicrucian Fellowship is showing and teaching: there is life after death; that life and consciousness continue under laws immutable as God, which tends to raise man to increasingly higher, nobler, and loftier states of spirituality. 

It kindles hope in the human heart that as we have in the past evolved the five senses by which we contact the present visible world, so shall we soon in the near distant future evolve another sense which will enable us see the beings of the etheric region, as well as our dear ones who have left the physical body and inhabit the ether and lower desire world during the first stage of their career in the spiritual realms.

 

Aquarius: Ruler of the Ethers

Aquarius is an airy sign having special rule over the ethers  It is taught that the Flood partly dried the air by depositing most of the moisture it held in the sea. But that when the sun enters Aquarius by precession, the rest of the moisture will be eliminated.  The result will be visual vibrations easily transmitted by a dry etheric atmosphere.  The dry etheric atmosphere will then become more intense making conditions particularly conducive to the production of the slight extension of our present sight necessary to open our eyes to the etheric region.

Having such knowledge, we need all the more to aspire strongly to develop such sight. It is through meditation, prayer and good works that we can achieve such state through preparation than those who are not aware of coming events.

 

Conscious Development of the Spiritual Faculties

We are taught that when there is a lax connection between the vital and dense bodies it induces sensitivity to spiritual vibrations.  And that the pituitary body and pineal gland are the instruments with which voluntary clairvoyance will be attained as man progresses spiritually.  Therefore the person who consciously develops and evolves his spiritual faculties is the one who can control the organs by will, and the power to “see” in the other worlds constantly and used at his discretion.

 

Exercising the Will

As a result of exercising his will in living a pure, spiritual life and devoting himself to selfless service to others, in time he receives the teaching necessary to complete the connection between the pituitary body and the pineal gland and become a trained clairvoyant, free to exercise clairvoyance as he pleases. 

 

Positive Clairvoyance and Invisible Helpership

It is taught also by Max Heindel that when the connection between the vital and dense bodies has become so lax that part of the vital body may be withdrawn, the positive clairvoyant may become a conscious Invisible Helper. 

Such a person , by pure and selfless living, has developed his soul body – the two higher ethers of the vital body, sense perception and memory – to such an extent that he can withdraw in it at will from the dense body, using the soul body as a vehicle in which to operate.  He can then function consciously in the spiritual world and remember everything he has done there.  After awakening in the morning, he is well aware of what he has done in the spiritual world at night, while he was asleep.

 

Self-Mastery and Self-Reliance

It is only by self-mastery and self-reliance, together with its attendant spiritual growth, achieved only when we live noble, unselfish lives, devoting our time to serving God and man, and keeping our thoughts pure and elevated that we strengthen the two higher ethers, develop our soul bodies, and respond positively to the spiritual vibrations to which we will become increasingly sensitive. 

Max Heindel says only when we feel within our innermost beings, a holy, unselfish desire to help humanity, that we can make progress in the direction of positive clairvoyance. He further points out that many of us simply do not make the sustained effort which will attain the necessary degree of spirituality; which is done with strong will and effort.

 

The Uninformed and Unprepared

The uninformed may delay the development of such extended vision by thinking that they are suffering from hallucinations when they begin to get their first glimpses of the etheric entities, and the fear that if they tell others what they see, people might think them insane.

 

The Charge of the Rosicrucian Fellowship

Therefore the Rosicrucian Fellowship has been charged by the Elder Brothers with the following mission, to:

1.   promulgate the gospel of the Aquarian Age, and

2.  conduct a campaign of education and enlightenment,

3.  prepare the world for what is in store. 

The world must be leavened with certain ideas like the following:

1.      Conditions in the Land of the Living Dead are not shrouded in mystery anymore. Knowledge regarding them is available like knowledge concerning foreign countries that we now have.

2.      We now stand close to the threshold where we shall all know these truths.

3.      We shall hasten the day, in our own case, most importantly,  by acquiring knowledge of the facts concerning the post-mortem existence and  the things we may expect to see.  In so doing we shall know what to look for and not be afraid, astonished nor doubt when we begin to obtain glimpses of these things.

 

 Such knowledge abounds in the Cosmo-Conception, the lessons and other literature of the Rosicrucian Fellowship.  All students are asked to realize that a serious responsibility goes with the possession of knowledge, for “to whom much is given, of him much shall be required.”  We cannot hide or bury our talent, else we shall merit condemnation.  Max Heindel points out:  “The Rosicrucian Fellowship can only fulfil its mission in so far as each member does his duty in spreading the teachings”.  Thus it is hoped that this may serve to call the attention of each student to the fact of his/her individual duty.  All hands on deck, a charge to keep we have.

What is the Etheric Sight like?

It is more powerful than X-Ray.  Max Heindel explains that it is like the X-ray because it enables its possessor to see right through all objects.  But it is much more powerful than the X-ray because it makes everything as transparent as glass.  So, in the Aquarian Age, many things will be different from now.  For example, you can look at a person and see what is inside his stomach.  Thus when we have evolved the etheric sight it will be easy to study anatomy and see the physiological processes without hindrance.

Max Heindel explains again that though etheric vision will not enable us to see another person’s thoughts (because mind is still in a more finer stuff) it will make it largely impossible for us to live double lives and to act differently in our homes than we do in public. He points out that if we become aware then that invisible entities throng our houses, we would often feel ashamed of the things we would do. 

No Privacy

In the Aquarian Age, however, there will therefore be no privacy which may not be broken into by anyone who desires to see us.  If there is an unwelcome visitor, for example, we cannot tell our son to tell him we are not in.  This means that in the new age honesty and straightforwardness will be the only policies worthwhile, because we cannot then do wrong and hope to escape detection.

Max Heindel again says that there will be people whose base characters will lead them into ways of wickedness then as now, but they will at least be marked so that they may be avoided.

Extension of Sight with the Pioneers

There is going to be extension of sight with the coming of the Aquarian Age, and by living as near to such a state as possible, we shall be placing ourselves in a position to become one of the pioneers of that age when “there shall be no night” and when the “tree of life” shall bloom unceasingly by the transparent etheric “sea of glass” which permeates all things.

As we practice the retrospection and concentration exercises, we learn whether we are justified in our actions, in whatever we do; as we wash in the brazen laver do we practice continence, the seven-branched candlestick provides the daily light for our path as we read our Bibles and make the teachings our standard and guide; the Table of Shewbread reminds us to render service to our neighbour in humble attitude, and in so doing build that power-craft, the soul body.

A Higher Guide

Once built sufficiently we cannot fail to attract a Higher Guide who shall conduct us into the Hall of Light  when our time is ripe, and hear the Voice of the Master, “Welcome, though good and faithful servant, enter thou in to the joys of thy Lord.” We would then have emerged into Light.

My dear sisters and brothers, “May the roses bloom upon your cross.”

Bibliography:

The Bible: KJV

The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception

Teachings of an Initiate. Pp 54 - 57

Questions and Answers Vol. 1

Spiritual Growth and Psychic Development pamphlet

The Acquarian Age pamphlet

The Bow in the Cloud pamphlet

 

 

 

MOTHERHOOD

By Augustine Michael Owusu

 

And the Angel said unto her, “Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.”

 

“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me  according to thy word. And the Angel departed from her. And Mary rose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah.” – Luke 1:30-31; 38-39.

The Madonna and child theme is ageless. It holds for mankind the supreme ideal for perfected motherhood. –as embodied in Mary, the immaculate mother of Jesus, who was the bearer of the Christ.

 

In the earliest days of human civilization the first mystery temples were instituted in the land of Lemuria. Ages passed, Lemuria disappeared and Atlantis rose above the waves. The Atlantean Mystery School became the basis of mystic teaching. Then came the birth of our present fifth root race. During its development, the guardians of humanity have given each rising civilization a religion perfectly suited to the development of the people, and each one these world religions has been blessed by a high feminine Initiate who became the Immaculate Mother of the enlightened Being who came to the race as a way-shower. The last of these religions, the culmination of them all, arose with the coming of Christ. To this religion we owe the incarnation of the most glorious Master-Initiate who ever came to Earth in a feminine body. Mary of Bethlehem, mother of Christed Jesus.

 

Mary was the daughter of Hanna, a woman of noble birth, and Joachim, who was a high Priest in the Temple. Both parents were initiates of high degree in the Essenian Order of Israel, the mystic Christians of that day. The mother of Hanna was the daughter of noble parents who were Levites belonging to the priesthood. Her mother was Faustina of the house of Israel and she believed in a dream-vision the glorious fulfillment of her line. Hanna was the seventh daughter, who shall bring forth the blessed Moon. Hanna is to be more highly esteemed than silver and gold. She is more beautiful than the Sun and the Moon. No woman can be compared to her for grace, beauty and majesty. She is more honorable than every woman, because she gave birth to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The marriage of Hanna and Joachim was pure and holy, for in it was mingled the power of the Holy Ghost. For they begot Mary, who became the mother of the great Light.

 

The Essenians were divided into two groups. The householders and the Temple Initiates. The Householders married and set up homes in the villages and cities in the usual way of life- where they made practical demonstration of the Holy Teachings of the Immaculate Conception, preparing themselves through strict discipline for the sanctity of parenthood, with the object of attracting advanced Egos from the heaven world who should further the work of the Order and humanity generally. The more esoteric group comprised the Initiates who had taken the vow of perpetual virginity and held themselves unspotted from the world, living usually in isolated monastic communities where they could devote their whole lives to the things of spirit. Some of these Initiates, however, were also found in the towns and cities where a special work was to be done, and some lived in the Temple precincts in Jerusalem itself and worship according to the demands of customs and tradition.

 

When Mary was but a year old, she was dedicated by her parents to serve in the Temple at Jerusalem. Joachim built for his daughter Mary, a beautiful sanctuary chamber. Here she lived during the tender years in a heaven- world atmosphere, surrounded by peace and beauty and companioned by Angels. She was taught by her Initiate-parents, who understood from their own angelic Teachers, the high destiny awaiting their daughter. Later, while she was still quite young, her parents again took her to the Temple where she was admitted as a Temple maiden- there to study and develop her spiritual powers. It has been written that when the High Priest saw her, he prophesied: “The Lord God of Israel shall bless thy name, Mary, for in thee hath revealed the redemption of the people.” When Mary arrived before the portals of the Temple, she heard a Voice from Heaven bidding her welcome, and her entire being flamed with radiance.

 

When the period of esoteric training was completed, St. Luke states in his Gospel, Mary was espoused to a man whose name was Joseph. In that supreme initiatory text book, the Bible, there are frequent hidden references to Initiation. The four Gospels, in particular, are occultly recognized as setting forth the paths to spiritual heights. In other words, they are the keys to the degrees through which a neophyte passes to gain supreme discipleship. In other words, the four Gospels are formulae for Initiation. When the boundaries between Earth and the higher planes fall away, the highly evolved discipleship is enabled to read in the Memory of Nature records of events past and also portents of things to come. In the Mystic School of the Essenes, Mary and Joseph, as well as other Initiates of temples of spiritual learning, had no doubt become skilled in tracing the evolution of man in the Memory of Nature. All were cognizant of the way in which man had forfeited his right to live in the glorious edenic realms, how man literally fell therefrom into the dense physical conditions of material existence, and how he had bartered the state of immortality and life of joy and contentment for the present limited conditions in which poverty, old age, and death are in varying degrees the common lot of all humanity. They could also read the Memory of Nature the shadow of things to come – how the Christ, the supreme Initiate of the Archangelic Hierarchy, was to surrender His heavenly estate and descend to Earth for redemption of mankind. All these events were clearly pictured in the heavenly scroll, and the holy ones of the Mystery School were looking forward to the blessed fulfillment of prophecy.

At the Annunciation, the great panorama which all Initiates had often seen must have flashed before the eyes of the little Virgin, and she understood the role she was destined to play in the mighty cosmic drama pertaining to heaven and Earth. She realized that she was the vehicle chosen to become the mother of the most perfect Master ever to take embodiment in the human race. His name was to be Jesus, and he was to become the bearer of Christ. Kneeling there, before the Angel Gabriel, she murmured in great humility, “Lord, be it done according to Thy Word.”

 

Mary and Joseph were Temple Initiates and having learned all the lessons belonging to the objective life, they had committed themselves permanently to Temple service. To further the divine plan, however, they renounced Temple life and returned to the lay world to become householders. Thus they thought to secure a proper environment during the formative years of the child who was to be known as the Master Jesus. Mary of Bethlehem was chosen by the Masters who guide human evolution to bring to Earth the holy mysteries of the Immaculate Conception. She is the ideal woman, and has become the perfect pattern for every prospective mother. The Scriptures reveal the beautiful rapport between her and her son before his birth – an image of motherhood yet to be recognized.

 

Teaching the prenatal effects upon an incoming Ego will be important phase of education in the New Age, and this is slowly coming to pass. The past few years have shown a growing trend in this principle of youth training. Classes in child care and parenthood have been opened as a regular curriculum in some schools. Medical scientists and psychologists have come a long way in ferreting out some of the reasons why prospective mothers are nervous and unpredictable in emotional reactions to inconsequential things. Until the prenatal effects of parenthood are actually understood from an esoteric standpoint, however, the doctors will no doubt continue with their present practice of pills and shots to remedy effects set by unseen causes.

 

Max Heindel has probably done more research along these lines than any other teacher of the past half – century. He has outdistanced the medical scientists without the convenience of X- rays or computers. Of the effects upon the mother of an incoming Ego, he has brought forth a revolutionary discovery. An Ego often hovers around its future mother for months, sometimes even years, before the opportunity for re-embodiment occurs. The decided change that takes place at such a time in a woman’s taste and disposition may often be traced to the influence of the incoming Ego that hovers near. Through his investigations, Mr. Heindel learned that the incoming Ego remains within the aura of its chosen mother for about eighteen to twenty-one days after conception has taken place. During this time the desire body of the mother works on it. Then it enters her body and begins to assist actively in building its new vehicle. Although in the present stage of our unfoldment, Mr. Heindel says, the Spirit does very little conscious work on the incoming vehicle, it is present all the time and helps unconsciously in the task of providing its instrument.

 

Reaching into the higher place where the archetypes sing their song, Mr. Heindel saw that the new body of a child is formed in complete harmony with the archetype pattern in this higher realm. This archetype is fashioned in conformity with forces set into motion by the Ego itself in previous lives upon Earth.

Negative forces externalize as inharmonious patterns in form and features, while constructive forces build harmonious lines that favor general health and congenial environment. We should be eternally aware that every action possesses a far-flung significance. The Spirit’s faults of today crystallize into the body’s ailments of tomorrow. Spirit is always the builder, and the mind shapes the destiny. Furthermore, when an Ego returns to Earth life, it is drawn to a certain family because it can there get the environment calculated  to further its progress, and where it may liquidate a certain amount of the fate generated by itself in previous existences. Inharmonious relations between the parents which sometimes rear their ugly head often constitute the last straw that makes an Ego feel it cannot enter such an environment. Therefore, it cannot be too seriously impressed upon prospective parents that during this gestatoryperiod, it is of the most important that everything should be done to keep the mother and the home in a condition of contentment and harmony. It is a very hard task for the Ego to go through the womb. It taxes all its sensibilities to the very utmost, and inharmonious conditions in the home it is entering are, of course, an added source of discomfort.

 

When prospective parents make radical changes in their lives, or if an inharmonious relationship suddenly develops so that the Ego would not be able to get its experience, or liquidate its fate, the child is usually withdrawn and sent to another place where it can get the right conditions for its growth at that time. Or it may be withdrawn for a few years and reborn in the same family when it is seen that conditions can be obtained there at a later time. Conversely, there are also occasions when a Spirit, being through with an old environment, comes into a new sphere of action as a ray of sunshine and comfort to parents who are fitted to receive that blessing by previous actions

With the preparation for the coming of the Christ to Earth, a new ideal was given to mankind. In the Arian Age only a few advanced Spirits were taught that the act of generation might be performed without passion, as a holy sacrifice, thus attracting more highly evolved Ego to Earth. Today again, it is revealed to those who are ready to accept the teaching, that only by parents who are wedded in a high and holy love can the act of generation be performed consistent with that ideal, and every Ego thus born is immaculately conceived. When prospective parents prepare themselves by prayer and lofty aspirations to bring a child into Earth life, the conception may be immaculate.

It is evident that it is not the physical virginity that counts as a virtue, for everyone is at that stage during the early years of life. It is the purity, the chastity of the soul, which makes the pure virgin. This has been the inner teaching of Christianity during the Piscean Age, the ideal which it was the mission of those Initiates, Mary and Joseph, to demonstrate, in preparation for the coming of the Christ Spirit to Earth.

 

Jesus of Nazareth and the Blessed Mary were the purest and the most advanced Egos ever to come into incarnation. They are the perfect type-pattern of perfected man and woman, for both were immaculately conceived. The Blessed Virgin Mary is gateway to Jesus and Jesus is gateway to Christ. Their birth reveals the divine plan for the birth of all men in that future age when a Christed race has come into manifestation, and the Madonna Image is enshrined in every mother’s heart.

My dear sisters and brothers, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

 

AUGUSTINE MICHAEL OWUSU

KOFORIDUA CENTRE

 

 

 

WHAT MUST I DO?

By F.Messa Kokroko

 

MERCURY STAFF

(The answer is labor to perfect your vehicles, and at the same time constantly employ them in the service of humanity)

*In order to understand thoroughly and work laboriously to perfect our vehicles, let us first know the periods when our various vehicles: the threefold spirit, the threefold body, and the mind are expected to become perfected.

 

 

 

 

PERFECTING PERIOD POINTS

THE WORK TO BE DONE

1. LABOR TO PERFECT YOUR VEHICLES.  

 (Labor... strive and make an effort to reach a goal)

NOTE: each Ego builds TWO TEMPLES IN EACH LIFE: The Spiritual Temple (for the Ego itself, based on its morals i.e. the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong),and Physical Temple (for its personality or threefold body, based on the Ego's own work and life style in the Dense body i.e. selfless service to humanity)

 

 We need to strongly focus on development of these two temples while in life.

The first thing we need to do to help perfect our vehicles is to study the values and rules of the Rosicrucian Fellowship Teachings: some of which are dramatized in Legends or Myths embodied in the Supplementary Philosophy course;

 

 THE QUALITY OF DOING WHAT IS RIGHT AND AVOIDING WHAT IS WRONG.

 "The Rosicrucian Fellowship aims to educate and construct, to be charitable even to those with whom we differ, and never to vent the venom of vituperation, spite, or malice even upon those who seem to deliberately determined to mislead."

(Source: Freemasonry and Catholicism). 

 

We are to labor to become perfect at the end of our Evolution. To be able to labor successfully, we have to strive to be harmless in thoughts, words, deeds, and pure in body, and be kind to all as Christ Jesus demonstrated.

 

  

 

 

(THE THREE WISE MONKEYS)

Observance of high moral laws builds higher Spiritual Temple. And higher spiritual temple dwells in much more modified physical temple.

 

MAN, the aspirant must think no Evil of others.  Speak no Evil against his fellows. See no Evil aspect of a fellow Virgin Spirit. And Hear no Evil that is being said about others. He must not perform any evil acts against his fellow being. As Christ Jesus is always right, so, we, the Virgin Spirit must be. We must strive to do what is right in all circumstances, even if it will impact negatively upon us. It is our moral obligation to love and help others also to live right. Life on Earth is a school: but we all are neither in the same class nor good in all life subjects; but each of us has a hand in the determination of others destiny. And just as the planets aspect each other to create hazardous tornadoes or blissful atmospheric conditions, so We, each influence one another! We are like the black and white keys whose proper combination create harmonious music, or discord when improperly combined. Some in this life, will have inexplicable disappointment and delay in all departments of their life. This is not a punishment from God. Ours is to help them! Others will have more enemies than friends. It does not matter if it is a Karmic debt. Ours is to comfort them!  Some too, may have less education. They are still human beings. Ours is to share our knowledge with them and never dehumanized or intimidate them! Some too may be lacking the power of human speech. But the eloquent must not bully them with extravagant words! Max Heindel's call for a "courteous consideration of others" should be our watchword. It is one of the most important moral admonitions upon the road of individualization. Let's be considerate! We must strive for that which will help all of us get the sufficient number of Virgin Spirits with perfected vehicles to float our planet and set our Planetary Spirit free. That is what is required! "Let's strive to know that we may do what lifts, ennobles, is right and true. With love to all and hate to none" at home, at place of worship, at place of work, etc. We cannot perfect our vehicles without interacting with others around us. Those we meet here and there have their hands in determining the perfection of our vehicles, external impacts. Therefore the Ego's whole personality: including pathological qualities, anatomy and physiology, environment, opportunities, and temperament today are the results of its past moral life experiences in its relationship with others. And its moral life and work in the threefold body today, during this critical time of the Earth Period, will determine the form of its etheric vehicle in the Jupiter Period, and beyond. We must learn to avoid what is wrong in life because that is what will ensure our salvation more than waiting for an Elder Brother, Christ Jesus' mercy. Christ Jesus is also expecting us to perfect our vehicles in time so that we can float the Earth and set Him free as a planetary spirit of the Earth. He is also waiting for us to save Him! He is first our savior and we must strive to save Him from the cramping environment of the Earth. He our savior, and we, His savior. We have all that is necessary to save Him. And that lies in perfecting our vehicles. So let's keep doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong in order to save ourselves and Christ Jesus, the first savior.

 

High moral standards today, will give beautiful vehicles, enriched opportunities, and a refined environment tomorrow. Let everyone labor to perfect it's vehicles now by living a high moral life. Let's make the effort to save ourselves and Jesus now!

 

The second thing to consider when it comes to perfecting the Ego and its lower vehicles is our, diet. The Ego must have a proper environment to work: the heat of blood, its environment

 What we eat and drink are very important. "As the heat of blood is the vantage ground of the Ego, and the Lucifer Spirits from Mars, aid in maintaining this heat by dissolving iron in our blood, to attract oxygen", so must the Ego also feed its self with vegetables and fruits, and drinks that are tolerable by individual blood group so as to complement the work of the Lucifer Spirits. Diet helps to perfect our health, divinity, intellect, and emotions and feeling, while working in the lower vehicles. Let's work strongly on our morals and diet. That also will strengthen the Ego to work efficaciously on the lower vehicles.

 

2. CONSTANTLY EMPLOY THEM IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY.

"The threefold body and the mind form the tools of the spirit and upon their quality and conditions depend how much or how little that can be accomplished in its work of getting experience in each life. The archetypes of these vehicles are built before each earth life. The vehicles themselves are good, bad or indifferent according to what we have learned through past experience in the building of them. As one works with these wonderful tools they improve and grow in power and efficiency."

 

As morals play a major role in the perfection of the threefold spirit, so services also play much role in the perfection of the threefold body. And in like manner as the Moon gathers up light from the Sun during her passage from the New to the Full, so the personality also gathers up morals from the Ego through the Life Cycle (of birth and death in the physical world). The personality, the threefold body, must go out to serve others. That's why the Recording Angels assign us vocations in life. Work refines the personality but additional selfless services enable the Ego to form the Soma Psuchicon or soul body from the vital body. It's this garment, in addition to the desire stuff, and mind stuff that clothe the Ego during its activities in Purgatory and the First Heaven where the essence of the life lived is extracted, when the dense body is asleep or dead. Without it, the Ego stands soulless at night! Service by the threefold body is so paramount in Earth life.

 

The PERSONALITY must be employed to work. To serve other PERSONALITIES: for instance, save the drowning man, if it can swim; help accident victims, if it is nearer them; visit and help relatives who are bedridden patients at home, feed the famished ones nearer it in the neighborhood, protect the weak, assist lepers to light their lanterns when it passes by their huts, help the epileptics whenever they fall, etc., they are all part of the Virgin Spirit population. Why should the Ego refuse to use its tool (personality) or run away from fellows who suffer from spirit controls? Why should the Ego not have time for those who suffer? Christ Jesus did uplift those who suffered. And we, as Christ in the making need to follow His steps. Friends let’s consider the following incident for further meditation upon what is required.

 

TRIAL OF THREE PROFESSIONAL MEN

 

Fellow Rosifests

 

A couple of years ago, a young energetic lady who fried and sold plantain and yam slices by a busy street, fell heavily by her own wares near a lighted gas stove on which stood a bowl of boiling oil.
 

The sound of her fall was so thunderous that a shopkeeper nearby who heard it screamed and raised alarm for help. The vendor was absolutely unconscious on the pavement.
 

A teacher, a nurse and a pastor were among those who first rushed to the place of the incident.
 

The teacher hurriedly dragged away the legs of the unconscious vendor from the lighted gas stove and ordered someone to switch off the gas.
 

A lady friend of the unconscious vendor also held a spoon in between the victim’s lower and upper teeth while fanning her.
 

Unfortunately, the rest of those who rushed to the scene earlier apparently distanced themselves from the alleged victim of epileptic impulse or paroxysms of nature.
 

The teacher tilted her head to allow free-flow of saliva, though she was not frothing at the mouth. He then intuitively made signs of the cross on her temple, and forehead while uttering “God is light” after every sign of cross made.
 

There was an elderly woman close to the scene who kept on suggesting that the victim be carried to a hospital immediately.
 

The teacher insisted however that he be allowed to revive the unconscious lady. Then he asked the woman “Do you know what will happen on our way to a hospital”
 

A little after that, an impatient young man yelled a vociferous command from the dumb-struck crowd on the street. “Let her lie prone on the pavement”, “Let her lie prone on the pavement”

 

Nevertheless, the teacher ignored him. Whereupon, the young man shouted his command again. “I am a nurse and I say, let her lie prone on the pavement”. To that end, the teacher replied, if you are a nurse come and help revive the lady. Never stand in an aloof manner and authoritatively delegate your professional duty to me. 

Then the self-assertive nurse replied “I haven’t got enough time”. . But he was standing there. Soon after, ‘another man emerged from the crowd and also announced reverentially that he was a pastor and so must be allowed to pray for the helpless lady. He also kept quite a distance from the vendor. While he was praying, the teacher collected a sachet of chilled water from a nearby ice chest, rolled the lady’s blouse up a little and placed it at her region of the solar plexus, for some seconds, massaged the forehead and the cheek repeatedly while uttering ‘God is Light’ inaudibly.
 

Surprisingly, the unconscious vendor opened her eyes, starred around and then asked the teacher “But who are you?”

The teacher politely said “I am one of your numerous vendees”: just after that she slumped into unconsciousness again. The teacher kept on massaging her cheek, forehead and temple, and then suddenly she gained providential recovery and struggled to stand up: thereafter three ladies rushed to help her up.

Just then a taxi cab was there to whisk her away. The teacher dipped and cleaned his hands in a bowl full of water and left.

As the crowd dispersed, a middle aged man hurried to the teacher and then thanked him for his self-less service. After him, a lady also came and asked the teacher if he was a medical specialist. But the teacher disclaimed that and said he only did his best to revive the lady.

Fellow Rosifests, the trial of the three professionals was over and the records of the proceedings have been etched in the seed atoms of their various three-fold bodies for further development of their vehicles

The Ego must let its TOOL work, for it is in working that it is perfected. So let the Ego's FEET run to those who suffer;

Let the Ego's HANDS work on those who suffer infirmities, after all, the Invisible Helpers work through others' hands to heal or save others;

Let the Ego's MOUTH comfort the sorrowful;

let the Ego's EYES be upon the dying man; for as it works, works, and works as visible helper to save others, so Invisible Helpers also manifest themselves before us, to assist when we, ourselves are in danger or in need of help. Our hands must work !

Fellow Rosifests, let others see Rosicrucian Fellowship in our speech, in our deeds, and in our association with others. For instance, in the story of the Vendor, the world is not interested in hearing about how the vendor fell and what happened to her afterwards. But the world is ready to hear of the help we gave to save her. We must let our body work to serve or save others on behalf of GOD. We are not future leaders as we are made to believe but servants of all, all the time. As we make the efforts, let's  always be guided by: "EQUIPOISE IN CRITICISM. " Because equipoise is necessary in our effort to live the life of nobility.

It is a path of INDIVIDUALIZATION and requires working arduously individually to become the best "Samaritan". Till we meet again, let's continue our habit of helpfulness to perfect our vehicles and keep in mind, the quality of doing what is right, and avoiding what is wrong all the time.

MAY THIS BE A YEAR OF FRUITFUL SERVICE AND SOUL GROWTH TO US.

Thanks for listening.

F.MESSA KOKROKO

SEKONDI – TAKORADI

 

 

 

 

LORD IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE MY BROTHER WOULD NOT HAVE DIED”

JOHN 11:32

By Johnson Degboe

 

The raising of Lazarus from the dead was the last major miracle that our Ideal, Jesus Christ performed before the Crucifixion. Indeed, it was the Lazarus miracle that hastened the plot of the enemies of the Light of the World that eventually brought about the brutal murder of the gentle Nazarene on the cross.  And it is the crucifixion and the glorious Resurrection that gave birth to the Easter celebration among Christians all over the world: victory of light over darkness, victory of life over death, the last enemy of man.  Why repeat that popular story?  One may ask.

 

Our aim here is to refresh our memories with the inherent lessons in the Lazarus story to light our path of Holiness.  And to re-examine the lives of the lead characters and readjust our own lifestyles where necessary as we prepare our hearts to become the dwelling place of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  But more importantly, the story to remind us of the central message of the entire Lazarus story as enshrined in the glorious New Age Bible Interpretation that the story is truly a human passport to immortality.

 

Our topic: “Lord if you have been here my brother would not have died”, was Mary, Lazarus’ sister’s reaction to Jesus Christ’s late arrival at their home in Betany in response to the SOS message “Lord your dear friend is sick” that Mary and Martha sent to Jesus to come and save their brother, Lazarus from death.  It was this same Mary that poured that expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair.  Mary’s statement as quoted above expresses her absolute belief in the Lord’s healing powers.  Powers that overcome all manner of sicknesses; not excluding her brother’s.   It is known that the Lord’s lateness to Lazarus’ house was intentional.  And the inability of the Lord’s immediate response to the call led to the death of Lazarus.  And it is an established fact that Lazarus and his two sisters – Mary and Martha are dedicated and trusted high disciples of Jesus.  Why then had he refused to honour the invitation instantly to save Lazarus from death? 

 

Ordinarily, the Lord’s inaction had created an overwhelming circumstances for these female disciples to lose their heads and flare up in anger against the perceived perpetrator of their brother’s death.  After all it was Jesus delayed response to their distress call that has engulfed the entire family into mourning.  But the general expectation of violent and angry reaction from the ordinary humans did not happen.  Martha and Mary lived above the ordinary and remained conscious, faithful and humble.  These well informed female disciples remained unprovoked.  They  remained steadfast and conscious of God’s ever presence with us in our most challenging moments such as this and therefore gave gentle answers to the Lord as King Solomon has advised us to do – gentle answer quiets anger but a harsh one stirs it up (Proverbs 15:1).  Are we living the Teaching as these females had demonstrated in their most challenging time.  Indeed Mary and Martha, the two sisters of Lazarus were among the highest developed women disciples of Christ.  Mary symbolizes the mystic path, or the faith of the heart; Martha, the occult path or the reasoning of the mind.  (Head) and the union of heart (Love) and head (understanding produce) WISDOM i.e. the true essence of the soul.  Lazarus was able to blend the mystic and the occult paths of spiritual evolution and has therefore become WISDOM, a state of consciousness that transcends any possessed by ordinary humanity.  It is this high spiritual evolution of the two sisters that enabled them to take part in the initiatory or Resurrection Rite of their brother as did the father and mother of Dairus Daughter observed Corine Heline.

 

Both lady aspirants rained faithful, ever trusting and humble as the Lord quizzed them individually.

 

“Your brother will rise to life again” Jesus told Martha.  “I know that he will rise to life on the last day” Jesus said to her. I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me will live even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this? “And Martha humbly replied; Yes Lord! I do believe that you are the Messiah, the son of God, who was to come into the world. John 11:23-27.   The Master’s statement to Martha according to Corine Heline is referred to as the human passport to immortality and not meant for Martha alone.  The Christ is addressing the reasoning or concrete mind of all humanity.  “Be ye transformed by linking the renewing of the mind” And this is accomplished by linking the mind to the “IAM” consciousness through which we realize the resurrection into eternal life.  And that the resurrection consciousness can be realized here and now.  We need not wait till after death.  He that believeth in me, though he were dead – dead to materialism – yet shall he live again – in renewed body, environment and concept of life i.e. a resurrection into a new being on every plane of consciousness – the true human passport to immortality.

 

The gentle answers from Martha created the enabling environment for the Lord to reveal his identity to the world: “I am the resurrection and the life”.

 

Mary took her humility before the Lord a step further than Martha when she met with the Lord.  She fell at his feet and said unto him; “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died” John 11:32.

 

This is a statement of an absolute trust in the healing powers of the Jesus Christ as stated earlier.  No doubt in her heart about the Lord’s dominion over all manner of sicknesses including the one that had taken their brother Lazarus to the grave.

 

Mary’s total surrender to the Lord in humility and her unshakable faith in the Lord in her most challenging moment betrayed the human nature in Jesus Christ.  And Jesus wept openly before Mary and her mourners.  His heart was touched and he was deeply moved. 

 

“See how much he loved him”. John 11:35.  The people observed as Jesus wept.  This was the serene atmosphere in which Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  We must however find an answer to our earlier thought provoking question; why has Jesus failed to come instantly after receiving the distress call to save his friend, Lazarus from death?  This question is thought provoking because the relationship between Jesus and Lazarus has transcended that of brother/sister.  It has moved to that divine level of Friendship.  Note that Max Heindel has taught us that brother – sister relation is not the best on the path of Holiness because brother and sisters are “sometimes misguided enough to hate one another, but between friends there can be no feeling but love”.  (Letters to students pg. 9).  It was in recognition of this fact that prompted the Christ, our Ideal to say to his disciples; henceforth I call you not as servants……but friends (John 15:15).  If the Lazarus and the Lord’s relationship is so deep-rooted and far above the ordinary, why the Lord’s decline to save his friend’s life? One may ask. 

Luckily, Jesus Himself has provided a comprehensive answer to this thought provoking question.

 

The final result of this sickness will not be to the death of Lazarus: this has happened in order to bring glory to God and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory” John 11:4.

 

The above is the Lord’s comprehensive answer to the delayed response to Mary’s distress call to save her brother from death.  But God and His son Jesus Christ are not selfish.  They are selfless and ready to lay down their lives that others may live.  Indeed that is the main reason why the Lord has come to the world.  Their glorification would not therefore be at the expense of Lazarus.  Their glorification certainly must include a greater glorification for Lazarus to demonstrate their selflessness to the world. It was exactly what happened.  Jesus described Lazarus’ initiation in these words: “This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God” Corine Heline correctly explains this to mean that Lazarus has now become a more perfect channel for receiving and disseminating the glories of God upon earth. Lazarus was raised from the dead and the family received joy unlimited for their tears were wiped away and their brother, Lazarus made immortal.  But the raising of Lazarus from the dead was met with stiff resistance from the disciples; the war between light and darkness.  Note that the initiatory name of St. John we are told is Lazarus.

 

“Let us go into Judea again…….our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to wake him out of sleep”.  John 11:7 But the command was met with protest from the disciples: Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again? John 11:8.

 

“True love fears nothing! i.e. the divine truth.  Jesus therefore braved the way to Betany and accomplished his mission.  Lazarus was raised to life.  Unknown to the disciples, the Messiah has come to lay down his life that we may live.  And Lazarus miracle proved to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back as it intensified the plot to kill him for, the Lazarus miracle spread as bush fire among the Jews, and more of them were turning to the Lord.  The Pharisees therefore became alarmed.

 

“What are we to do? For this man performed many signs.  If we let him go on thus, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman will come and destroy both our holy places and our nation”. John 11:47.

 

And Caiaphas, the High Priest at the time said to them: You know nothing at all; you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation should not perish John 11:49.

 

Caiaphas, thus unknowingly prophesised that Jesus must die to save the Jewish nation and indeed the whole world.  At this point the stage was set to kill Jesus.  The enemies of the light of the word were therefore drawn together to eliminate Jesus Christ from the physical world.   The raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus Christ after staying in the grave for days was not just a miracle.  It was, according to Corine Helive, a whole initiation of St. John, the most advanced Disciple of the Lord into the Sun Mysteries.  And St John was the first to be initiated into the sublime Mysteries when all was set at the grave side Jesus ordered the stone that sealed the tomb to be removed.  But Martha Lazarus sister protested: there would be a bad smell, Lord. He had been buried for four days.  John 11:39

 

And Jesus reminded her to remain ever faithful: Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believed? John 11:4

Jesus then prayed the Father after the stone was removed.

 

I thank you Father, that you listen to me I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me”.  Having said this he called out: Lazarus come out! And Lazarus came out.  “unite him and let him go”, thus ended the initiation ceremony.  This miracle won him more believers instantly, a sure sign that future converts would be greater.  Through this initiation John overcome death and opened the portals of immortality that all who followed in his footsteps might enter thereby into the glorious privilege of being one of those disciples who the Christ holds closest to his heart, observed Corine Helene.

 

Corine Helene further told us that with the coming of the Christ, the Mysteries assumed a more exalted form than ever before for in the Christian Mystery School the sublime teachings of Christ are united with those of the Ancient Mysteries.

 

And augmented Mysteries will become the cornerstone of the new Aquarian religion.  And if the augmented mysteries will become the cornerstone of the Aquarian religion and the Aquarian Age is almost at the corner then we have no other choice than to rededicate our commitment to the Teachings and transmute the lower nature desires into Higher desires and live the life and qualify ourselves to migrate to the Aquarian age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

`SPIRITUAL DEVELOPENT THROUGH THE EXERCISE OF CONCENTRATION, MEDITATION AND RETROSPECTION

By Dr. Mathew Kyei

 

 “He who understands the law of the mind understands the path to Initiation. The mind is the path.”

The mind is the youngest vehicle of man. It was acquired by Prisoners of humanity in the Lemunian Epoch. The rest of mankind acquired the mind during the Lumunian Epoch. This explains the differences between the minds of the Pioneers and the masses. The minds of the Pioneers and the masses. The mind coalesces with the Desire Body to the detriment of the threefold, Spirit – The Ego. There is a need to detach the mind from the Desire Body and align it with the Spirit hence the three exercises.

The mind has the Conscious levels (CC pages 90 – 92). The three exercises are preceded by art and science of relaxation

 

CONCENTRATION: Is meant to bring the mind to a focus so that the Aeuses are stilled. The three exercises are regulated by Time, Place and Posture – Asanda, Yanda Winda. Concentration can be performed at anytime of the day but preferably as the first thing in the morning on awakening from sleep. The mind is able to burn through obstacles when focused like the sun’s energy in a magnify glass. The mind is like a monkey with the tendency to hop continually from branch o branch and follows an endless pattern of activity. The mind after rebels defiantly against the instructions we may give it, ignoring them entirely and going its own way. Concentration is the foundation upon it depends the super structure of the whole edifice. In the Healing Service Mac Heindel says the power can be greatly augmented by PROPER

CONCENTRATION (that is what prayer really is) There are two types of concentration.  Spontaneous (automatic and deliberate) In spontaneous concentration the mind is really obeying some string emotional or mental motivation. e.g. football, draughts. It is its time of least resistance

Deliberate, controlled concentration is carried out on the order at the self at the centre. The mind normally turns away. It must be pulled back to accept discipline so as to became an instrument of spirit

 

MEDITATION: In the Precepts for the Rosicrucian Studies. It is stated that the student shall devote a certain period of time to Meditation and Prayer. Man cannot find happiness on the Spiritual Path without meditation.

In Genesis 24:63 “Isaac went out to meditate in the eventide”. Psalm 1 vs. 26 “and in his law does he meditates day and night” Psalm 119 v 15 “I will meditate in thy precepts” Mohammed went out to the mountain to do long periods of meditation when he was visited by angel Gabriel.

 

TYPES OF MEDITATION

1.      REFLECTIVE MEDITATION:  It involves thinking on or about a definite subject, theme, word or thought.

2.      RECEPTIVE MEDITATION: It involves the holding of the mind still and alerts to receive light on a subject, to catch an inspiration or grasp a new realization.

3.      CREATIVE MEDITATION: It Building in thought substance channels through which ideas. ideals, energies and qualities can find expression e.g. World Peace Meditation

INVOCATION: Help is asked for, something higher or greater is appealed to, forces needed called upon. It involves the use of a) The mind b) Feeling c) Imagination d) Will – Afformation e.g. Oh God increase our love for thee.

 

RETROSPECTION: View backwards. It is considered as the Greatest Science of Soul Growth. The Preliminary preparations are as Concentration and meditation.

 

BENEFITS OF RETROSPECTION a) It builds conscience  b) It improves memory  c) It conquers insomnia  d) It brings moral purification, leading to soul growth  e) It eliminates superiority and inferiority complexes.  f) It shortens life spent in purgatory and first heaven  g)It helps man face life fearlessly and courageously  h) It enhances knowledge of how the laws of cause and effect operate  i) It sharpens thought control.  k) It brings about tolerance of each other’s faults.

 

CONCLUSION: These basic exercises are essential (indispensable) to spiritual growth. Eastertide is a season for spiritual stocktaking (Retrospection) focus on the Passion (suffering) of our Lord and Saviour and reflection (Meditation on how to ‘key in’ to our own passion which would lead to our own passion which would lead to our own RESURRECTION. The key is Persistence and Regularity of Practice. The sweetness of the pudding is in the eating. MAY THE ROSES BLOOM UPON YOUR CROSS!

 

 

 

 

 

STEPS TO TRUE SPIRITUALITY

By Issaka Mohammed

 

In the Bible we read of the three wise men who saw in the East a star of the savior who was born. The ordinary person after a series of incarnations begin to feel the prompting that there is something higher. This represents the sighting of the birth of the Christ Child to the seeker after truth. Then after a short journey, we meet Herod, the second leg of the journey then commences for the probationer. After this is a long interval through grass lands, representing lifetimes, before we sight the Christ Child. Which marks the third stage. There are three distinct steps in attainment of wisdom, and all growth must take place in accordance with these steps. If aspirants really desire the blessing of wisdom, then he/she must be willing to accept it as the gods have seen it fit to bestow it. The Rosicrucian fellowship student must prepare himself/herself for the influx of wisdom. This he/she does through right thought, right action, and right attitude.

 

 RIGHT THOUGHT is the open mind ready to consider all things; a humble mind willing to receive the crumbs from the feast of the wise. The founder of the Christian religion stated an occult maxim when He said “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter therein “. Mark 10:15. All occultist recognize the far reaching importance of this teaching of Christ, and endeavor to live it day by day. A charitable mind condemning none but itself; a far sighted mind capable of seeing good in all things and ultimate good for all things.

 

  RIGHT ACTION consist of proper care of the body, proper exercise, and a proper place in the great battle of life. Man grows by contacting growing things. When he is able to contact all forms life pleasantly, with consideration, with the heart of a helper, and with the mind of the student, he /she grows. If having knowledge and choice, man ranges himself on the side of Good and Right, he cultivates Virtue and wisdom. If he succumbs to temptation and does wrong knowingly, he fosters vice.

 

   God’s plan is not to be brought to naught, however. Every act is a seed ground for the Law of Consequence. We reap what we sow. The weeds of wrong action bear flowers of sorrow and suffering, and when the seeds of then have fallen into a chastened heart, when they have been watered by the tears of repentance, virtue will eventually blossom forth. What a blessed assurance, that out of every evil we do, Good will eventually accrue, for in our father’s Kingdom, naught but Good can endure.  

 

  RIGHT ATTITUDE means that everything is undertaken in the spirit of love. Truth and a sincere unselfish desire to assist in making the world a better place in which to live. Right attitude means cheerfulness, hopefulness, and a co-operation with all that is seeking to grow. It means consideration for all, even when they disagree with us, realizing that man must not work for man, but for God, and that each has his separate account.

 

    Having prepared himself for the coming of wisdom by cleansing his body, broadening his mind and opening his heart, he must then apply himself to the task of digesting the knowledge that comes to him. The arrangement of facts so that they will be of practical use to the world is no small. Much that we hear from occultist is of no value in solving everyday problems. While technical knowledge is necessary to a teacher, it must be presented in a way that it will serve; otherwise, it must as well remain unsaid.

 

  The second step is the actual coming of wisdom itself, and this in turn prepares the way for the third stage.

   The third stage is the use of knowledge in the best and most convincing way. This is no child’s play; it requires the wisdom and understanding of the gods themselves. People take the spiritual sciences lightly. They do not realize that the enlightened ones are picked from  the very cream of the earth. The bright minds, the most beautiful souls, and the greatest successes are the ones chosen to serve with the band of Spiritual Ones. Modern occultism is filled with failures who were never of any value to themselves or to any else. If these scatter- brains think for a moment they are going be lifted up in a few short months or years, they are very much mistaken. The masters use only the worthy ones. What are we or what can we do that makes us worthy to ask for spiritual consideration in the employment off of God? What are our references. What recommendations do we bring from our last employer, our friends, our world.

 

   At this point it will be worthy to examine our personal character contrasted with a fictional character. Mr. X is our fictional character. He gossips so much and has no friends on earth. No one dares to speak in his presence. Does not tolerate any contrary opinion to his. Has been married several times, but both homes broken up. Blames others, but all who know him realizes he is the one responsible. Has an ungodly temper, a sour disposition, and a body filled with acidity due to improper food combinations. Spends most of his time regretting unfortunate conditions of years ago, feeling that the world is against him. He will not believe that he is selfish and spends all his time telling what he knows. He expects everyone to agree with him, and calls them fools when they do not. One minute he wants to embrace and the next minute he wants to kill those near him. He prays and meditates daily, and asks for spiritual enlightenment. He sees visions and believes that the creations of his mind are true, which is quite impossible. He is just one of countless thousands of who expects illumination as their birthright and spirituality as a legacy. They do not realize that the Masters must have people who can do things. This man could not earn five hundred cedis a week in the material world, for he was a liability wherever he is; but believes that he is valuable enough to God for him to send one of his Masters to teach him the things he will not understand. Those who want illumination are many, but few willing to bend their wills to that of Nature and work hard enough to change their lives and produce something useful.

 

  Our fictional character has these faults;

1.      An incurable egotist.

2.      A perssimist.

3.      A violent temper which poisons his blood.

4.      He is selfish

5.      He is emotional, which is a criminal waste of energy.

6.      He has a neglected body. God does not dwell in a temple that is not kept clean and free of disease.

 

These six faults comprise the dweller on the Threshold, The Sphinx. That creature with the body of an animal, is the sin body of man, the guardian of the threshold. It is part of the true constitution of man, it is unknown to the majority of people. They stand between him and all the beautiful things he wants to be. God will not remove these things from him, but will give him the things he longs for when he proves his worth by mastering his own nature and awakening to his own mistakes. God makes a pact with man. If man will prepare a temple of his own life, the Father will take up his dwelling in it and be the light of that temple. Let us ask nothing of God until we have done our part; let us not try to gain spirituality until we have built our tabernacle according to the Law given to the children in the days when the earth was young.

Before the candidate can go forward in the spiritual work, that he was ordained to do, he must wrest the secret of sin from the silent watcher. By concentration and consecration, he must correct and master one after another of his own vices, until he can offer to the service of the Masters a life without blemish. Then he will be accepted. But few there are who want a life without blemish. All want power, how few can take the sword of quick detachment and plunge it through the heart of the leering specter-their own lower nature-the Dweller on the Threshold

 

THE RESURRECTION, A STAGE OF INITIATION

Dr. Peter Attafuah

Initiation defined

The word Initiation comes from two Latin words, in, into; and ire, to go; therefore, the making of a beginning, or the entrance into something. It posits, in its widest sense, an entrance into the spiritual life, or into a fresh stage in that life. It is the first step, and the succeeding steps, upon the Path of Holiness. Literally, therefore, a man who has taken the first initiation is one who has taken the first step into the spiritual kingdom, having passed out of the definitely human kingdom into the superhuman.

Just as he passed out of the animal kingdom into the human at individualisation, so he has entered upon the life of the spirit and for the first time has the right to be called a "spiritual man" in the technical significance of the word. When we speak of Initiation, of wisdom, of knowledge, or of the probationary Path, what do we mean

 

Meaning of Resurrection

The resurrection is that moment after death when the soul becomes conscious of all its experiences. As the soul is connected with everything in the universe, the individual resurrection is a universal resurrection. After Christ had risen from the dead he said, ‘He that believeth shall be saved’. The dead are those who have not realised their immortality; he rises who realises his immortality; and Christ’s saying means that he who has the knowledge of God, of immortality, shall never die, and that those who belief in God – which is the same as knowledge of God – are never dead.

 

The Body of the resurrected Christ

The detail of the Resurrection episode in Christ's life is left untold by the writers of the New Testament. It was not possible for them to know more. After the Crucifixion we are told little of Christ's own life, or what occupied Him between the time He rose again until He left the company of the Apostles, and "ascended into Heaven"—a symbolic phrase which can mean very little. Only when we have mastered the significance of service and sacrifice can the fact of immortality and its true meaning be revealed to us. How Christ rose, what were the processes undergone, in exactly what body He appeared. We are assured by the Apostles that it resembled the one He had previously employed, but whether it was the same body miraculously resurrected; whether it was His spiritual body, which appeared to be the same to the physical eyes of those who loved Him, or whether He had constructed an entirely new body on the same general lines as the previous one, it is not possible for us to say; neither is it possible for us to be confident that the vision of the disciples was not supernormal or that, through the intensification of His expressed divinity, Christ had so stimulated their inner vision that they saw clairvoyantly, or in another dimension.

The important matter was that He did rise again, that He was seen by many, and that the fact of His resurrection was credited in the minds of His friends and for the two or three centuries after His departure.

 

The psychology of the disciples

The psychology of the disciples is the best proof we have of the reality of their conviction that death could not hold the Saviour, and that after death He was present and living among them. It is difficult for us to gain this high achievement in consciousness which they showed. Apparently their world had come to an end upon the Cross. Christ had apparently failed them, and instead of being the divine Son of God, and King of the Jews, He was nothing but an ordinary man, convicted of treason and punished as a common malefactor.

What they must have endured during the three days of His absence it is not hard for us to imagine. Hopelessness, despair, the loss of confidence in themselves and of prestige among their friends; the cause for which they had been so ready to dedicate themselves, as they tramped with Christ from place to place in the Holy Land, had ended and collapsed. Their Leader was discredited.

 

Thoughts of the disciples then changed

Then something happened to alter the whole trend of their thought. All that had been loss of confidence and hope and purpose was restored. The disciples are now,

"... a company of men and women full of confidence, enthusiasm and courage, ready to face persecution and death, eager missionaries”. What has given them this new character? Not long before some of them had fled in dismay at the first threat of personal danger. When Jesus was crucified they had lost the last glimmer of hope that he might prove to be the Christ. When he was placed in the tomb, Christianity was dead and buried too.

Now we meet these men and women a few weeks later and they are utterly changed. It is not that there is some faint return of hope among a few of them. All are completely certain that Jesus is indeed the Christ. What has happened to cause this transformation? Their answer is unanimous: on the third day he rose from the dead.

"Christ is risen", is their cry, and because He has risen the kingdom of God can go forward upon earth, and His message of love can be widely distributed. They know now, past all controversy, that He has overcome death, and that in the years that lie ahead they will see death vanquished. That they expected an immediate kingdom and that they looked to see the fact of immortality universally recognised is evident from their writings and their enthusiasm. That they were mistaken, over two thousand years of Christianity has proved.

We are not yet citizens of a divine kingdom definitely manifesting upon earth, the fear of death is as strong as ever, and the fact of immortality is still but a source of speculation to millions. But it was their sense of time that was at fault, and their failure to understand the slow processes of nature. Evolution moves slowly, and it is only today that we are truly on the verge of the demonstration of God's kingdom upon earth. Because this is the end of an age, we know that before long, the hold, death has on human being, and the terror which the angel of death inspires, will disappear. They will vanish because we shall regard death as only another step on the way towards light and life, and shall realise that, as the Christ life expresses itself in and through human beings, they will demonstrate to themselves, and in the world, the reality of immortality.

 

Service as the expression of love

The key to the overcoming of death and to the processes of realising the meaning and nature of eternity and the continuity of life can with safety be revealed only when love holds sway over the human consciousness, and where the good of the whole, and not the selfish good of the individual, comes to be the supreme regard. Only through love (and service as the expression of love) can the real message of Christ be understood and men pass on towards a joyful resurrection. Love makes us humbler, and at the same time wiser. It penetrates to the heart of reality and has a faculty of discovering the truth hidden by a form.

 

Christians must be simple

The early Christians were simple in this way because they loved one another, because they loved Christ and the Christ within each other. Dr. Grensted points this out in the following words, giving us a fine summation of the attitude of the early Christians and of their approach, in those enthusiastic days, to Christ and to life in the world:

"They spoke in plain terms of God. They did not think of Jesus of Nazareth as a crucial experiment. They knew Him as Friend and Master, and they flung their whole being into the enthusiasm of His friendship and service. Their preaching was the good news about Jesus. They assumed that men already meant something when they spoke of God, and, without challenging the inheritance which they received from Judaism, they set side by side with it the Jesus whom they had known living, and dead, and alive again. They had been through much more than a time of inexplicable miracles, healings, and voices, and a strange mastery over Nature itself, and at the end a conquest of death. If they had told the world, and us, these things alone, they would have been believed. Such stories have always found a hearing.

And men would still have known nothing more of the meaning of God. But their experience had been one of such a Friendship as man had never known, of disastrous failure and forgiveness beyond all believing, and of a new, a free, a creative life. Nothing of all this was of their own achievement. They knew they were men remade, and they knew that the mode of their remaking was love. This was providence, deliverance, greater and more significant than anything that the Jew had ever claimed for the Creator-God. Yet they could not think of it as other than His work, since God, as all their national tradition taught, is One.

It interpreted for them, as we might put it in our more cautious way, the creative reality to which they, with all men, had looked with uncertainty and even with fear. Henceforth the central hypothesis which men call God was known as love, and everywhere He was made manifest just in so far as love had passed out from Christ to the fellowship of the Christian community."

Christ had risen, and by His Resurrection proved that humanity had in it the seed of life, and that there was no death for the man who could follow in the steps of the Master.

 

And He Arose from the Grave

In the past, being wholly engrossed with consideration of the Crucifixion, we have been apt to forget the fact of the Resurrection. Yet on Easter Day, throughout the world, believers everywhere express their belief in the risen Christ and in the life beyond the grave. They have argued along many lines as to the possibility of His rising, and whether He rose as a human being or as the Son of God. They have been deeply concerned to prove that because He rose again, so shall we rise, provided we believe in Him.

In order to meet the theological need of proving that God is love, we have invented a place of discipline, called by many names, such as purgatory, or the various stages of the different faiths on the road of departed spirits to heaven, because so many millions die, or have died, without ever having heard of Christ. Therefore belief in Him as an historical figure is not possible for them. We have evolved such doctrines as conditional immortality, and the atonement through the blood of Jesus, in an endeavour to glorify the personality of Jesus and safe-guard Christian believers, and to reconcile human interpretations with the truth in the Gospels. We have taught the doctrine of hell-fire and eternal punishment, and then tried to fit it in to the general belief that God is love.

Yet the truth is that Christ died and rose again because He was divinity immanent in a human body. Through the processes of evolution and initiation He demonstrated to us the meaning and purpose of the divine life present in Him and in us all. Because Christ was human, He rose again. Because He was also divine, He rose again, and in the enacting of the drama of resurrection He revealed to us that great concept of the continuity of unfoldment which it has ever been the task of the Mysteries of all time to reveal. The uniqueness of Christ's work lay in the fact that He was the first to enact the whole of the initiation ceremonial rites and ritual publicly, before the world at large, thus giving to humanity a demonstration of divinity centred in one person, so that all could see, could know, believe and follow in His steps.

The same stories are told of Hercules, of Baldur, of Mithra, of Bacchus, and of Osiris, to mention only a few of a large number. One of the early Church Fathers, Firmicus Maternus, tells us that the mysteries of Osiris bear a close resemblance to the Christian teaching, and that after the resurrection of Osiris his friends rejoiced together, saying, "We have found him." Annie Besant points out in an illuminating passage that:

"In the Christian Mysteries—as in the ancient Egyptian, Chaldean, and others—there was an outer symbolism which expressed the stages through which the man was passing. He was brought into the chamber of Initiation, and was stretched on the ground with his arms extended, sometimes on a cross of wood, sometimes merely on the stone floor, in the posture of a crucified man. He was then touched with the thyrsus on the heart—the `spear' of the crucifixion—and, leaving the body, he passed into the worlds beyond, the body falling into a deep trance, the death of the crucified. The body was placed in a sarcophagus of stone, and there left, carefully guarded. Meanwhile the man himself was treading first the strange obscure regions called `the heart of the earth,' and thereafter the heavenly mount, where he put on the perfected bliss body, now fully organised as a vehicle of consciousness. In that he returned to the body of flesh, to re-animate it. The cross bearing that body, or the entranced and rigid body, if no cross had been used, was lifted out of the sarcophagus and placed on a sloping surface, facing the east, ready for the rising of the sun on the third day. At the moment that the rays of the sun touched the face, the Christ, the perfected Initiate or Master, re-entered the body, glorifying it by the bliss body He was wearing, changing the body of flesh by contact with the body of bliss, giving it new properties, new powers, new capacities, transmuting it into His own likeness. That was the Resurrection of the Christ, and thereafter the body of flesh itself was changed, and took on a new nature."

Thus we find that the resurrection story is of very ancient date, and that God has always held before humanity, through the Mysteries and through His illumined Sons, the fact of immortality, as before our Christian world, through the death and resurrection of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Conclusion

The outstanding need of Christianity today is to emphasise the living, risen Christ. We have argued too long over the death of Christ, seeking to impose a narrow sectarian Christ upon the world. We have fed the fires of separation by our Christian divisions, churches, sects and "isms." Most of them are founded upon some sectarian presentation of the dead Christ, and of the earlier aspects of His story. Let us now unite on the basis of the risen Christ—Christ alive today, Christ the source of inspiration and the founder of the kingdom of God; Christ, the cosmic Christ, eternally on the Cross, yet eternally alive; Christ, the historical Saviour, the founder of Christianity, watching over His Church; Christ, the mystic, mythic Christ, portraying upon the canvas of the Gospels the episodes of unfoldment so that all who live may know and follow; and Christ, alive today in every human heart, the guarantee of, and the urge towards divinity, which humanity so constantly exhibits.

May the Roses Bloom Upon your Cross.