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Philosophic Encyclopedia

Take an alphabetized topical "grand tour" of the Rosicrucian Philosophy!

-A-

    "After having been strengthened in the ineffable harmony of the higher world called the Third Heaven (mentioned by St. Paul in II Corinthians 12:2), the Ego has a desire for new experiences in the Physical world and begins to contemplate a new birth. This conjures up a series of pictures before the vision of the Spirit — a panorama of the new life in store for it, containing the principal events which begin at the cradle and end at the grave. In some cases several panoramas may be shown, so that the advanced Ego has a choice.

    Having chosen the life it will live, the Spirit, possessing only the forces of the four seed-atoms (the nuclei of the dense, vital, and desire bodies, and the sheath of mind), the Ego begins its descent into the Physical World. The forces of the mind of the last life are awakened from their latency in the seed-atom, and begin to attract materials from the Region of Concrete Thought for which it has an affinity. The same then occurs for the desire, the etheric, and the dense bodies. This material forms itself into a great bell-shaped figure, open at the top, where the seed-atoms are. When the proper time comes, the building of the new body and its placement in the proper environment is done by the four great Beings known as the Recording Angels, or Lords of Destiny. The vital body is built by the inhabitants of the heaven world and the Nature Spirits in such a manner as to form a particular type of brain. However, the returning Ego itself incorporates therein the quintessence of its former vital bodies, and in addition to this also does a little original work.

    The vital body, having been molded by the Lords of Destiny, will give form to the dense body, organ for organ. This matrix or mold is then placed in the womb of the future mother. The seed-atom for the dense body is in the triangular head of one of the spermatozoa in the semen of the father.

    When the impregnation of the ovum has taken place, the desire body of the mother works upon it for a period of time from eighteen to twenty-one days, the Ego remaining outside in its desire body and mind sheath, yet always in close touch with the mother. Upon the expiration of that time, the Ego enters the mother's body. The bell-shaped vehicles draw themselves down over the head of the vital body and the bell closes at the bottom. The Ego broods over its coming instrument, asserting its individuality and resisting formation by the mother of the nucleated blood cells. The old cells gradually disappear, so that when the silver cord is tied at the quickening, all nuclei have disappeared, and the Ego is absolute autocrat of its vehicle, a precious heritage." ...MORE »
-B-
    "Max Heindel came to Los Angeles, California, in 1903, where he acted as engineer for a time but ill luck overtook him. Hunger and privation were his daily companions but nevertheless he was not idle. With a dauntless spirit and a determination to succeed along more advanced mental lines, he became interested in the study of metaphysics and joined the Theosophical Society of Los Angeles, of which he was vice-president in 1904 and 1905. His heart was ever longing for the knowledge of the deeper mysteries of life. His earlier years had been full of sorrow and had awakened his mind to search for the explanation of life and being and had created in him a desire to understand the sorrows, privations and sufferings of humanity. The thought which was ever uppermost in his mind was to find some means by which he could help to lift the burdens of his brothers and sisters in the world. This light began to dawn when he contacted the teachings which had been given out by Madame Blavatsky of the Theosophical Society. While connected with this society he met the woman who was years later to become his spiritual inspiration. She it was who helped him to find work, for Augusta Foss was also interested along similar lines of research and she was instrumental in interesting Max Heindel in the science of astrology. In this science he found a field with many possibilities in that it is truly a science of the soul. It gave him the key by which he could unlock the mysteries of man's inner nature. By learning to know and understand the weaknesses of character he could then help to guide and help them to find their proper place in the world.

    Overwork and privation brought on a severe spell of heart trouble in 1905 and for months he lay at the point of death but upon recovery he was even more keenly awake to the needs of humanity. He realized that it was not so much from the need of physical food that mankind suffered as it was because of soul hunger which lead them to do the things that brought suffering upon them. He started out on a lecture tour which eventually led him to Germany.

    While in Germany, in the fall of 1907, where he had gone with the hopes of contacting the Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order, he was unsuccessful, as it appeared to him, and in great dejection he prepared to return to America; but one day a visitor appeared to him whom he later learned was an Elder Brother of the Rosicrucian Order, (and who became his Teacher). This Being was clothed in his vital body, and offered to impart to him the teachings for which he had spent time and money to find in Germany; but these teachings could only be given after he, Max Heindel, would make a solemn promise never to divulge them, (they must be kept secret). Having passed through an unhappy period of soul hunger he was most desirous of sharing his knowledge with others, who like himself were also seeking, he refused to accept anything which he could not pass on to the world. The Teacher left him.

    Later the Teacher appeared in his room again and told him that he, Max Heindel, had stood his test. He stated that if he had accepted the offer, namely, to keep the teachings secret from the world, he, the Elder Brother, would have not returned. He was told that the candidate whom they had first chosen, who had been under their instruction for several years, had failed to pass his test in 1905; also that Max Heindel had been under the observation of the Elder Brothers for a number of years as the most fit candidate, should the first one fail. In addition he was told that the teachings must be given to the public before the close of the first decade of the century, which would be the end of December, 1909." ...MORE »

-C-
    "The parent must realize that what we term birth is only the birth of the visible, physical body, which is born and comes to its present high stage of efficiency in a shorter time than do the invisible vehicles of man, because it has had the longest evolution. As the fetus is shielded from the impacts of the visible world by being encased in the protecting womb of the mother during the period of gestation, so also the subtler vehicles are encased in envelopes of ether and desire stuff which protect them until they have matured sufficiently and are able to withstand the conditions of the outer world.

    The vital body is born at about the age of seven, or the time when the child cuts its second teeth, and the desire body is born at about fourteen, or the time of puberty. The mind comes to birth at about twenty-one, when we say a man has reached majority.

    There are certain important matters which can be taken care of only during the appropriate period of growth, and the parent should know what these are. Though the organs have been formed by the time the child comes to birth, the lines of growth are determined during the first seven years, and if they are not outlined properly during that time, an otherwise healthy child may become a sickly man or woman." ...MORE »
-D-
    "During life in the physical world, the human Ego works through its four vehicles: namely, the physical, vital, desire, and mental bodies, all of which are connected to one another by the silver cord. At night the Ego withdraws into the inner worlds taking with it the mental and desire bodies, leaving the physical body together with the vital body, lying on the bed. The Ego first brings about harmonious rhythm of the mind and desire bodies. These bodies work upon the vital body; the vital body then commences to restore the tired and worn out physical atoms to health and vitality.

    This restoration can only be done during the time the desire body and mind are removed, for it is their activities which use up the physical energy during the day, and in order that the vital body may be freed to rebuild this exhausted physical vehicle, the Ego and the two higher vehicles (the desire and mental bodies) separate from the two lower vehicles, but remain tied by the silver cord. At death, when the physical body can no longer hold on to its higher vehicles, when disintegration must ensue, the Ego is forced to vacate its house, made of clay, which it has built and used for an allotted length of time, and in which it has learned many helpful and soul-building lessons. It has now reached a period on the path of evolution where the Ego must take time for the assimilation of the lessons which were learned while functioning in the world of matter. Death is to the soul what sleep is to the physical body: a time of rest and recuperation so that the spirit may draw from these experiences greater soul power.

    At death, the Ego leaves the physical body by way of the parietal-occipital sutures, but instead of the vital body remaining with the physical body as is the case during sleep, it also leaves the physical body, together with the desire and mental bodies, for the spirit's work in the physical body is finished for this Earth life. The vital body has now a different work to do; it is no longer called upon to keep the physical atoms in health.

    At death, the vital, desire, and mental bodies are seen to leave the physical body through the head. The spirit, which is leaving its earthly prison house to decay, takes with it its most cherished belonging, the seed atom, the only part of the physical which cannot die and which it brings back with it at each Earth life. During Earth life, there is a tiny atom in the apex of the left ventricle of the heart which is called the permanent seed atom. This seed atom of the physical vehicle has been used as a nucleus for a physical body ever since the spirit possessed a physical vehicle. When we speak of a permanent seed atom, we do not mean that the physical atom is used, but the forces which flow through it. These forces remain with the Ego through rebirth after rebirth, or until this particular spirit has finished its evolution in the physical world. Then these forces will be transferred to the seed atom of the vital body which will become the permanent seed atom of the next period." ...MORE »

-E-
    "You know the analogy between man — who enters his vehicles in the daytime, lives in them and works through them, and at night is a free spirit, free from the fetters of the dense body — and the Christ Spirit dwelling in our Earth a part of the year. We all know what a fetter and what a prison this body is, how we are hampered by disease and suffering, for there is not one of us who is always in perfect health so that he or she never feels a pang of pain, at least not one who is on the higher path.

    It is similar with the Cosmic Christ, who turns His attention toward our little Earth, focusing His consciousness in the planet in order that we may have life. He has to enliven this dead mass (which we have crystallized out of the Sun) annually; and it is a fetter, a clog, and a prison to Him. Therefore, it is right and proper that we should rejoice when He comes at Christmas time each year and is born anew into our world to help us leaven this dead lump wherewith which we have encumbered ourselves. Our hearts at that time should turn to Him in gratitude for the sacrifice He makes for our sakes during the winter months, permeating this planet with His life to awaken it from its wintry sleep, in which it would remain were He not thus born into it to enliven it.

    During the winter months He suffers agonies of torture, "groaning, travailing, and waiting for the day of liberation," which comes at the time we speak of in the orthodox churches as the passion week. But we realize that according to the mystic teachings, this week is just the culmination or crest wave of His suffering and that he is then rising out of His prison; that when the Sun cross the equator, He hangs upon the cross, and cries "Consummatum est!" — "It has been accomplished!" That is to say, His work for that day has been accomplished. It is not a cry of agony, but a cry of triumph, a shout of joy that the hour of liberation has come, and that once more He can soar away a little while, free from the fettering clod of our planet." ...MORE »
-F-
"When the mists of Atlantis commenced to settle, some of our forbears had grown embryonic lungs and were forced to the highlands years before their compeers. Therefore they wandered in the wilderness while the promised land as we know it today was emerging from the lighter fogs, and at the same time their growing lungs were fitting them to live under the present atmospheric conditions. Two more races were born in the basins of the earth after the pioneers had left it. Then a succession of floods drove them all to the highlands. The last flood took place when the Sun by precession entered the watery sign Cancer about ten thousand years ago, as told Plato by the Egyptian Priests. Thus we see that there is no sudden change of constitution or environment for the whole human race when a new epoch is ushered in, but an overlapping of conditions which makes it possible for the majority by gradual adjustment to enter the new conditions, though the change may seem sudden to the individual when the preparatory work has been accomplished unconsciously. The metamorphosis of a frog from a denizen of the water to the airy element give an analogy of the past emergence of humanity from the continent of Atlantis to the Rainbow Age of our current fifth epoch." ...MORE »
-G-

-H-
"But let this be borne thoroughly in mind, that the process of praying or concentrating is not a cold intellectual process. There must be an amount of feeling adequate to accomplish the desired object, and unless this intensity of feeling is present, the object will not be realized. This is the secret of all the miraculous prayers which have been recorded: the person who prayed for something was always intensely in earnest; his whole being went into the desire for this or that thing for which he prayed, and thus he lifted himself up into the very realms of the divine and brought down the response from the Father." ...MORE »


-I-
"We read in the Bible the story of how Noah and a remnant of his people with him were saved from the flood and formed the nucleus of the humanity of the Rainbow Age in which we now live. It is also stated that Moses led his people out of Egypt, the land of the Bull, Taurus, through waters which engulfed their enemies and set them free as a chosen people to worship the Lamb, Aries, into which sign the sun had then entered by precession of the equinox. These two narratives relate to one and the same incident, namely, the emergence of infant humanity from the doomed continent of Atlantis into the present age of alternating cycles where summer and winter, day and night, ebb and flow, follow each other. As humanity had then just become endowed with mind, they began to realize the loss of the spiritual sight which they had hitherto possessed, and they developed a yearning for the spirit world and their divine guides which remains to this day, for humanity has never ceased to mourn their loss. Therefore the ancient Atlantean Mystery Temple, the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, was given to them that they might meet the Lord when they had qualified themselves by service and subjugation of the lower nature by the Higher Self. Being designed by Jehovah it was the embodiment of great cosmic truths hidden by a veil of symbolism which spoke to the inner or Higher Self." ...MORE »
-J-

-K-

-L-
    "It all came about from a German high-explosive shell.

    Nothing happens without a cause. We might say that this story began in Germany when Gretchen Hammerstein put the finishing touches on a certain high-explosive shell and with the contact of her fingers filled the shell with the vibrations of her hatred for the Americans. We might note the various occurrences which, each the result of an endless train of circumstances, contributed to the fact that this particular shell was brought to the German front at just such a time and just such a place. But to follow up these lines of happenings, almost infinite in number, would require an infinitude of patience.

    So we will take up the history of events when this high-explosive shell burst in the American trenches, scattering, besides its material and visible charge and fragments, the hatred for Americans which Gretchen Hammerstein had packed into it." ...MORE »
-M-
"The Christ came to Earth to teach mankind a particular lesson; and if He was destined to become the Savior of mankind, then the greatest lesson which He could have taught man was that of faith; faith in his God and faith in a life after death. By His very death Christ Jesus must bring to man faith, and the belief in a life after death. He preached immortality, and to further impress this fact upon humanity, He must go through the throes of death in order to return to life and bring to man proof of an after-death life. To accomplish this He appeared to His beloved disciples in His spiritual body. In I Corinthians, 15:6, Paul says, "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once: of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep." He walked and talked to them so that they might believe that what He had preached, the immortality of the soul, was a fact and that after man has laid aside his physical body, he still lives in a finer and more ethereal body." ...MORE »




-N-
"In the ether we may also observe the angels, whose densest body is made of that material, as our dense body is formed of gases, liquids, and solids. These beings are one step beyond the human stage, as we are a degree in advance of the animal evolution. We have never been animals like our present fauna, however, but at a previous stage in the development of our planet we had an animal-like constitution. Then the angels were human, though they have never possessed a dense body such as ours, nor ever functioned in any material denser than ether. At some time, in a future condition, the earth will again become ethereal. Then man will be like the angels. Therefore the Bible tells us that man was made a little lower than the angels. (Hebrews 2:7)" ...MORE »
-O-
"Earthbound Spirits gravitate to the lower regions of the Desire World which interpenetrate the ether, and are in constant and close touch with those people on Earth most favorably situated for aiding them in their evil designs. They usually stay in this earthbound condition for fifty, sixty, or seventy-five years, but extreme cases have been found in which such people so remain for centuries. So far as the writer (Max Heindel) has been able to discover, there seems to be no limit to what they may do or how soon they will let go. But all the while they are piling up for themselves an awful load of sin, nor can they escape suffering therefore; for the vital body reflects and etches deeply into the desire body a record of their misdeeds, and when at last they do let go and enter the purgatorial existence, they meet the retribution which they well deserve. This suffering is naturally lengthy in proportion to the time they have continued their nefarious practices after the death of the dense body — another proof that 'Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small.'” ...MORE »
-P-
    "Most people have an instinctive interest in what happens after death of the physical body, though ideas about it vary infinitely. Unfortunately, even many professed Christians are quite fearful about death and look forward to it with dread. This is a great mistake and a hindrance to the individual, for his fearsome thoughts affect detrimentally the value to him of what actually does take place.

    That there is a definite, wonderful life for the Spirit after it is released from its physical body is no longer a matter of blind faith. There are many people who have become sufficiently clairvoyant to observe conditions on the other side of the "veil" and thus to resolve any doubt previously held about this vital manner. As a matter of fact, humanity in general is slowly developing etheric vision, so that in the approaching Aquarian Age knowledge concerning conditions in the land of the living dead will be as available as it is now concerning foreign countries here on Earth.

    Life on earth is only one phase of a recurring evolutionary cycle which we all undergo, experiencing and learning in our physical bodies on Earth, then leaving the physical plane to assimilate the essence of what we have learned, rebuild our bodies, rest, and return to Earth to repeat the cycle. The work done by man in the higher worlds is many-sided, and in a sense more far reaching than his work on Earth. His life there is not in the least an inactive, dreamy, or illusory existence. It is a time of the greatest and most important activity in preparing for the next life, as sleep is an active preparation for the work of the next day.

    Among those who have developed their clairvoyant faculties in a positive manner, i.e., under control of their will, and can observe accurately what goes on in the invisible worlds, was Max Heindel, an Initiate of the Rosicrucian Order. In his book, The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, he describes in some detail what happens at the time of passing and afterward between Earth lives in the higher worlds. Most of the following is taken verbatim from this most enlightening volume." ...MORE »

-Q-

-R-
    "A basic cosmic law taught in the Scriptures is that of rebirth: the doctrine that as differentiated Spirits in God we are reborn again and again in bodies of increasing efficiency on the physical plane to learn the lessons incident to material existence, and to unfold our latent divine potentialities into dynamic powers.

    It is evident that the Jewish priests believed in the theory of rebirth, or they would not have sent to ask John the Baptist, "Art thou Elijah?" as it is recorded in the first chapter of St. John's Gospel, 21st verse. In the 14th verse of the 11th Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel we have the words of the Christ concerning John the Baptist which are unambiguous and unequivocal. He said, "This is Elijah." Upon a later occasion, at the time when they had been upon the Mount of Transfiguration, as recorded in the 17th Chapter of Matthew, the Christ said, "Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. . . . Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist."

    In the 13th verse of the 16th Chapter of Matthew we find the Christ asking His disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"

    "And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

    "And He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?"

    "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

    We notice from these passages that Christ Jesus did not contradict His disciples and this is quite significant. He was essentially a teacher, and if they had entertained a wrong idea concerning the idea of rebirth, it would have been His manifest duty to have corrected them. He did not indicate that there was any need for correction, however, and Peter's reply conveys a knowledge of the deeper truths involved in the present mission of the Christ." ...MORE »
-S-
    "Note that when we, with our three-dimensional consciousness, view the world of a lower dimensional consciousness, we can make things appear out of "nowhere" or disappear in their world, and we can see their past and future all at once. Throughout history there have been certain people who have exhibited these types of abilities in relation to our three-dimensional consciousness. They have demonstrated the ability to cause things to appear or disappear, to describe what happened in past events at which they were not present, and to foretell the future (so they are called prophets). Christ was able to bring bread and fishes into existence when there were many people who needed food (Matt. 14:13-21), and to disappear from a crowd without being seen (Luke 4:28-30), John 8:59). He was able to tell the whole past history of people whom he met for the first time (John 1:43-51, John 4:7-19), and he repeatedly exhibited that he knew what experiences he and his disciples would encounter before they encountered them (Matt. 17:24-27, Mat. 20:18-19, Matt. 26:20-25, Matt. 26:31-35, Luke 5:1-11). It is reasonable to relate the consciousness of Christ and the other prophets of four-dimensional consciousness.

    "Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians (3:14-18), wrote, "I bow my knees to the Father...that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is breadth, and length, and depth, and height." Paul included four dimensions here, and implied that not only the saints could comprehend these, but that we also will be able to comprehend them when Christ dwells in our hearts and we become rooted and grounded in love." ...MORE »

-T-
    "To help spread the Rosicrucian teaching is a personal duty of the Rosicrucian student. The Elder Brothers, the custodians of the Western Wisdom Teachings, gave them to the Western World through Max Heindel on condition that he be as persistent in giving them out as he had been in seeking them. Evidently we come under a similar obligation to give to others the knowledge which we have received.

    What can we do to help in this work? Is it necessary that we have first-hand information of the spiritual planes before we can be of service? No! "There is need of the tiniest candle." The little wheels make it possible for the big wheels to operate.

    Spreading the teachings by personal example is the first thing which we have to consider. The eyes of the world are upon us, and the movement is credited or blamed according as we comport ourselves. Our neighbors know something about our lives, and by our fruits are we known.

    The second point to consider is the spreading of the Teachings through local Centers. Centers are but combinations of persons, and a Center as a whole will express only what its members individually express. Therefore we each have a personal responsibility in the matter of keeping our local Center up to a proper standard. Faithfulness in attendance and care to conduct ourselves in a dignified and reverent manner are very necessary. When properly directed, local Centers become magnets which attract those who are in need of help. All whose location and conditions permit should join a local Center, for "in union there is strength." ...MORE »
-U-

-V-
    "The Law of Assimilation is that "no particle of food may be built into the body by the forces whose task that is until it has been overcome by the indwelling Spirit." The Ego must be absolute and undisputed ruler in the body, governing the cells as an autocrat, or they would all go their own ways as they do in decay when the Ego has fled.

    The level of the consciousness of the cell determines its power as a unit. The lower its consciousness, the easier it is for the Ego to act as the governing head of the bodily functions. Cells taken into the body also have their individual and collective consciousness. Therefore, the level of their spiritual attainment is a factor to be considered when food is to be used by the organism. The different kingdoms have different vehicles and consequently a different consciousness. The mineral has only its dense body and a consciousness like the deepest trance. It would, therefore, be easiest to subject foods taken directly from the mineral kingdom. Mineral food would remain with us the longest, obviating the necessity of eating so often; but unfortunately we find that the human organism vibrates so rapidly that it is incapable of assimilating the inert mineral directly. Salt and like substances are passed out of the system at once without having been assimilated at all. The air is full of nitrogen which we need to repair waste; we breathe it into our system, yet cannot assimilate it, or any other mineral, till it has first been transmuted in Nature's laboratory and built into the plants.

    The plants have a dense and a vital body, which enables them to do this work. Their consciousness is as a deep, dreamless sleep. Thus it is easy for the Ego to overpower the vegetable cells and keep them in subjection for a long time, hence the great sustaining power of the vegetable." ...MORE »

-W-
"These three vehicles, the physical, vital, and desire bodies, together with the link of mind, are the tools of the spirit in its evolution, and, contrary to the common conception, the ability of the spirit to investigate the higher realms does not depend upon the finest of these bodies as must as upon the denser. The proof of this assertion is close at hand, and indeed, anyone who has ever seriously tried has had this proof himself. If not, he may have it forthwith simply by following the directions for changing the condition of his mind. Let us say that a person has formed certain habits of thought which he does not like. Perhaps after a religious experience he finds that in spite of all his desires these habits of thought will not leave him. But if he decides to cleanse his mind so that it shall contain nothing but pure and good thoughts, he may do this by simply refusing to admit impure thoughts. He will find that after a week or two his mind is noticeably cleaner than at the commencement of his effort; that it holds by preference the religious thoughts he is seeking to generate in it. Even a most abnormally degenerate mind can be thoroughly cleansed inside of a few months. This is actual knowledge to many who have tried it, and anyone who wishes and is sufficiently persistent may have the same experience and enjoy a clean mind in a very short time." ...MORE »
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Contemporary Mystic Christianity



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