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The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions & Answers
THE FRUIT OF EVOLUTION
QUESTION: What is it we bring back after our evolutionary journey? If Spirit
is perfect in the beginning, what can we add? (Vol. II, #32)
ANSWER: We are taught that in the beginning of manifestation God, the Great
Spirit, differentiates within Himself (not from Himself) a number of Spirits
which are as sparks from a flame, partakers of the divine nature, yet no one
will contend that a spark is as good and as illuminative as the flame, though
of the same substance. Before the differentiation these Spirits possessed and
partook of the divine all-consciousness, omniscience, and other attributes.
These divine faculties are latent in them, and the pilgrimage through matter,
the evolutionary journey, is designed for the purpose of fanning these sparks
into flames and unfolding the attributes which are in latency to potency, so
that they may become dynamic powers, ready for use by each individual Spirit.
However, there is something more gained. When the wind blows over a new-mown
hay field it absorbs and carries with itself the fragrance of the myriad of
flowers. It is laden with the incense peculiar to that field. In another
place, where the wind blows through a graden of roses or of orange blossoms,
it gathers a different scent. Similarly with the evolving Spirits. Each one,
during the fanning process in the evolutionary field, gathers the aroma of its
individual experience, and at the end of evolution when, as Prodigal Sons, we
return to the bosom of the Father, each one of us will carry with him or her
the aroma of his particular and individual experience upon the evolutionary
journey. This composite essence, then, will be amalgamated with the great
Divine Spirit of the Father; we shall then all be partakers of one another's
experience, and the Father will be partaker of all of our experience. Thus
there will be a distinct gain to all concerned, for besides having evolved our
own individuality we shall learn and partake of the knowledge and experience
gathered by all the other Spirits in our life wave.
THE ROSICRUCIAN VIEWPOINT ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
QUESTION: Does the Higher Philosophy approve of capital punishment, and if so,
please state the reasons why. When a man has been executed, does he come under
the law of infant mortality in his next life and die as a child the same as
victims of accidents? (Vol. II, #33)
ANSWER: The Western Wisdom Teachings are never in conflict with the Christian
religion, and we know that according to the doctrine of Christ the principle
of retaliation, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," is absolutely wrong.
Besides, from the occult standpoint there are other good and sufficient
reasons why capital punishment is emphatically the worst possible manner of
dealing with a dangerous man. So long as such a man is in the physical body it
is easy to restrain him and put him in a place where he cannot do society any
harm, but when we hang or electrocute him we actually set him at liberty in
the Desire World where it is possible for him to influence others to a much
greater extent than here.
Such people who are a menace to society are not slow in finding out their
possibilities and taking advantage of them. They incite others who have a
grievance against the community to do their work by encouraging them to wreck
buildings, commit murder or rape, or perhaps gratify a personal grievance
against some enemy by taking his life. Thus one murder will result in a number
of other crimes by the practice of capital punishment. On the other hand, if
the murderer were imprisoned for the safety of the community it is possible
that during the years of his life in such an institution he would change his
views. A great many of them do repent of their crimes, and then when released
from the body and sent out into the Desire World at death they are no longer a
menace to society and will not have an evil influence upon others.
For these reasons capital punishment is really subversive of the purpose for
which it is meted out. It does not act as a deterrent to others, but actually
fosters crime. Thus, even apart from the facts that the practice of
retaliation is absolutely wrong, that we have no right to take a life which we
cannot give, and that at times the wrong man is found guilty and executed for
a crime he never committed while the real murderer goes free, capital
punishment should be abolished to lessen crime.
Referring to your question as to whether a murderer who has been executed
will have to die as a child in the next life, we may answer, yes. According to
the law of infant mortality, anyone who dies under horrible circumstances so
that he does not attend to the panorama of his life, which is reviewed just
after death, does not reap the fruits of his past life. When a person is
executed, the shock, the anger, and the resentment he feels--the horrors of
the whole proceeding--deprive him of the peace and quiet necessary to the
post-mortem work so that he will not obtain a record of the life just ended.
Therefore, this lack will have to be supplied by educational work done after
he has died as a child in the next life exactly on the lines we have shown in
other places in the Western Wisdom Teachings where the law of infant mortality
is explained.
JUDGING SOUL AGE
QUESTION: I should like to ask a question regarding a statement made by Mr.
Heindel in some of his writings to the effect that when the Ascendant is in
Aries it shows that the native is a "young soul," or in other words, as it
were, in the beginning of material manifestation. Opposing this, Mr. Heindel
also says that whenever the Ascendant occurs in Scorpio, it indicates that
dissolution has taken place as a beginning.
Now while the Aries aspect indicates a physcial proposition, the Scorpio
aspect leaves one in doubt. Is this Scorpio aspect related to the physical
alone and in what manner? Does dissolution follow immediately or is it of a
gradual nature, finally culminating in the passing through the sign Pisces?
Mr. Heindel also states that the chart of a seven months child is difficult
to handle in that it seems out of line with the native concerned. I am a seven
months' example and can vouchsafe for the truth of this statement, but taking
the forepart of this letter into consideration, I am at a loss as to just how
I can reconcile conditions in my home as regards the Ascendant of each member
and the apparent indication and inclination of each as opposed to myself.
(Vol. II, #36)
ANSWER: Even if it were true that we have made the statement you ascribe to us
that those who have Aries on the Ascendant at birth are young souls, that
would be no guide in your case, because you admit being a seven months' child.
Therefore, the general principles could not be applied in your case, but as a
matter of fact we have never made such a statement. If you look up the passage
to which you have reference, you will find that your memory played you a
trick. What we have said, and still say, is that the Spirit is born under all
the twelve signs in order that it may gain the experience which comes from
each and it may be taken on general principles that those who are born with
Aries on the Ascendant have just entered upon a new life cycle, a higher
spiral on their path of evolution.
Thus it is evident that others in their immediate family or environment may
have any of the other eleven signs rising and still be one or more rungs or
spirals below or above the one who has Aries on the Ascendant. When this is
understood you will also readily realize that when a person reaches Scorpio,
the sign of death and dissolution, the fruits of all the lives under the
various preceding signs are beginning to ripen and dissolve, so that when the
Spirit progresses through Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, these fruits are
gradually assimilated and the seed ripens for the entrance of the soul into
Aries and the commencement of a new cycle.
It should also be understood that the number of births under any particular
sign varies according to the aaptability of the Spirit and the readiness
wherewith it learns the lessons that have been set for it by the divine
Hierarchies. There may be only one birth under Aries in a certain life cycle
and perhaps five or ten under other signs, and vice versa, so that if two
Spirits were to enter birth under the sign Aries on the same spiral of
evolution and one were diligent in learning his lessons in the school of life,
he might be promoted to the Taurus or even the Gemini class before the other
left Aries. Then he having a particular liking for Gemini work might speed on
past the other who would be slow in the Cancer path, and so on. There are no
definite rules. Everything depends upon the inherent quality of the Ego, and
what one does is no criterion whatever for what another may do. Thus you
cannot judge the status of any one merely by examining his Ascendant.
There is only one method that gives an approximate solution of the problem
and shows what is the intention of the divine Hierarchs concerning a
particular life, and that is by comparing the relative progression of the
Ascendant and the Midheaven. When you do this you will note that one of them
moves faster than the other. Supposing, for instance, that you progress the
horoscope of a person for forty years. Let us say that one degree of Aries is
on the Midheaven and one degree of Cancer on the Ascendant at birth. Suppose,
then, that at the age of forty the Midheaven has progressed to Taurus 5 and
the Ascendant to Leo 15. This shows that the Midheaven has traveled 35 degrees
while the Ascendant has traveled 45. The Midheaven denotes the spiritual
tendencies and opportunities in life, while the Ascendant shows the material
side. Thus it is evident that the opportunities placed before that Ego have
been mainly material and the tendency of his evolution in the particular life
under consideration would be of the earth, earthy.
But, mark this: the horoscope, as we have repeatedly reiterated, shows only
tendencies, and it is quite possible for a person with such a horoscope to
determine to go his own way and cultivate all the spiritual opportunities he
possibly can. If he has sufficient will power to do this he may change his
life entirely. Another, whose Midheaven progresses faster than his Ascendant,
might find it difficult to attain material success, but would have all the
opportunities for soul growth he could wish placed in his path. He also may
determine that he will rule his stars and succeed in worldly things, but
whether he does or not depends upon the strength of his will pitted against
the suasion of the stars.
This article was adapted from "The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions
and Answers, Vol. II," by Max Heindel, published by The Rosicrucian Fellowship.