In view of the considerable attention and publicity currently being given
to psychism, it will be found beneficial to review the Rosicrucian Fellowship
Teachings concerning this phenomenon, and thus to understand why these
Teachings emphasize the superiority of positive spiritual growth over negative
psychic development.
As far as the growth of so-called extra-sensory faculties is concerned,
humanity is divided into two general categories. Among the members of one
category, the "ordinary" people engaged in material pursuits and by and large
out of touch with the spiritual worlds, the connection between dense and vital
body is close. In the other category, that of the so-called "sensitives," the
connection between the two vehicles is loose. These "sensitives", in turn, are
also divided into two classes; voluntary clairvoyants, positive and actuated
by their own wills; and involuntary clairvoyants, negative and amenable to the
will others.
A lax connection between vital and dense bodies induces sensitivity to
spiritual vibrations. The pituitary body and the pineal gland, two organs
presently dormant in most people, were eons ago connected with the
involuntary nervous system and invested man with involuntary clairvoyance.
They are the instruments with which voluntary clairvoyance, under control
of the cerebro-spinal nervous system, will be attained
as man progresses spiritually. The man who consciously evolves his spiritual
faculties controls the vibration of these organs by will, and the power to
"see" in the other worlds is constant, to be used at his discretion.
The voluntary clairvoyant develops his sensitivity, and learns to control
his extrasensory abilities, as a result of exercising his will in living a
pure, spiritual life and devoting himself to selfless service to others. In
time, after he has proved himself worthy, he receives the teaching necessary
to complete the connection between pineal gland and pituitary body and to
become a trained clairvoyant -- a master of his faculty at any and all times,
free to exercise it or not, as he pleases.
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that part of the vital body may be withdrawn, the positive clairvoyant may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. He has, by pure and selfless living,
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 vehicle, 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. He is as fully conscious in the spiritual as in
the material world and, after awakening in the morning, is well aware of what
he has done in the spiritual world at night, while he was asleep.
The case of the negative clairvoyant is entirely different. He, too,
because of the loose connection between physical and vital bodies, is
sensitive to spiritual vibrations. Since he is of a negative temperament,
however, and since retrogression is more readily accomplished than
progression, he makes no effort to submit this sensitivity to his own
domination -- in fact, it is not likely to occur to him that he might
eventually do so. Instead, he easily renews the negative activity of the
pineal and pituitary organs, and becomes a negative clairvoyant. Inasmuch as
the negative faculty is exercised by means of the involuntary nervous system,
it is not under the control of the will and is, thus, sporadic in nature. The
involuntary clairvoyant has no control over what he sees or experiences in the
other worlds. He is aware only of what happens to come before him, and cannot
use his power for investigative purposes.
Negative clairvoyants often allow themselves to come under the control of
earth-bound Spirits who constitute themselves as "spirit guides," and are, in
many cases, unscrupulous entities who seek to coerce their human victims for
their own nefarious purposes. The negative clairvoyant then becomes a trance
or materializing medium, and, when this happens, it can truly be said that his
life is no longer his own.
In the case of a materializing medium, the materializing earthbound Spirit
entrances its victim, and, because of the loose connection between his
vehicles, draws the ether of the medium's vital body out through the spleen
and uses it for its own materialization. The vital currents which give us
vitality are specialized. Deprived of this vitalizing principle, the body of
the medium sometimes shrinks to a fraction of its usual size; his flesh
becomes flabby and the spark of life burns very low. When the vital ethers are
returned and he awakens, he is exhausted. This procedure naturally has
extremely adverse consequences to health — a hazard which does not exist for
the positive clairvoyant.
Mediumship, once entered into, does not usually remain a matter of choice.
Once a Spirit control has gained ingress, the medium loses the power to shut
it out. If he is content to do the control's bidding — even, sometimes, to the
point of committing murder or suicide — he escapes harassment, but if he tries
to balk or rid himself of the now-unwelcome Spirit, he is likely to experience
great agony at the hands of the more unscrupulous of these entities. Some
Spirit controls-usually those least experienced and, therefore, most
dangerous — go so far as to push the Ego and the higher vehicles out of the
medium's physical body and step in themselves to take temporary or permanent
control. This condition is generally known as obsession, and is the basis of
many so-called "mental cases."
Even more perilous is the situation which threatens the medium after death.
The Spirit control to which he has been subject during life does not then
release its hold; on the contrary, its despotism often becomes more intense
after the medium enters the spiritual realms and may continue for many years
before the medium can finally break away. Thus the medium, in addition to
experiencing the torture that comes from being deprived of his vehicles, lags
behind in his evolutionary timetable.
It should be obvious to the student that mediumship, or any other negative
undertaking in which one Ego surrenders his free will to another is, at best,
hindering to evolutionary progress — which depends on individual initiative — and at worst, is extremely dangerous in terms of both life on Earth and life
after the passing. Yet most of the psychics who are now receiving public
notice and acclaim are negative in character. Those few spiritually advanced
Egos who have developed positive extrasensory perception use their abilities
in service, selflessly and quietly, without calling attention to themselves or
their talents.
The object of the Rosicrucian Philosophy and method of development is to
free the student from dependence upon others and to help him acquire the
utmost degree of self-mastery and self-reliance. Negative psychism of any sort
obviously represents a condition of dependency which is completely at variance
with this end. Both self-mastery and self-reliance, together with attendant
positive spiritual growth, are achieved only when we live noble, unselfish
lives, devoting our time to serving God and man, and keeping our thoughts and
deeds pure and elevated. Only in this way can we strengthen the two higher
ethers, develop our soul bodies, respond positively to the spiritual
vibrations to which we will become increasingly sensitive, and learn to avoid
all external influence and dominance. Only when we feel, within our innermost
beings, a holy, unselfish desire to help humanity, can we begin to make
progress in the direction of positive clairvoyance.
Negative clairvoyance is, so to speak, more or less thrust upon a person.
He has done nothing on his own initiative to generate the ability to perceive
in the other worlds and does not, at least initially, set out purposely to do
so. Some psychics, in fact, have publicly expressed the wish that they could
cease to encounter the, to them, disturbing and distracting phenomena which
sporadically intrude upon their consciousness.
Positive clairvoyance, on the other hand, is achieved solely after
determined effort and persistence, both in living the spiritual life of purity
and service and in performing the requisite exercises which are given at the
appropriate time. Many people simply do not make the sustained effort which
will achieve the necessary degree of spirituality, but without the will and
effort, positive spiritual perception will not be attained.
Positive clairvoyance, once achieved, remains a permanent asset which the
Ego retains in subsequent lifetimes — at least, as long as he continues to
conduct himself as an aspirant should. Negative clairvoyance, however, is a
temporary attribute, not secured from one lifetime to another. Thus, although
it is much more difficult to develop positive clairvoyance, this becomes, once
attained, an enduring power of inestimable present and potential value to the
Ego.
To evolve voluntary clairvoyance is an arduous task; this faculty,
therefore, is possessed by few. Negative clairvoyance, unfortunately, has been
developed by many who have no idea of the potential dangers to which they are
exposing themselves.
Surely, if we wish to work with the trend of evolution, for ourselves
individually and for humanity as a whole, we should strive to develop every
constructive faculty we have in potential, including particularly the
superphysical ones. It is wise, however, to cultivate them along the lines
most beneficial to our own evolutionary progress and to our powers of service
to God and man. Negative psychic development is hazardous to the Egos
concerned, and seldom results in observations or "revelations" of intrinsic or
lasting value. Positive, trained clairvoyance, on the other hand, subject to
the will and determination of the Ego, is a highly effective instrument of
investigation and scientific study. Many spiritual Truths will be revealed
through the use of this faculty, once it has become commonplace among mankind,
as it is destined to be.
The Spirit evolves by dwelling in vehicles of dense matter and by working
with the material found in the world. Thus, the Spirit progresses, and matter
is also being refined because the Spirit works with it.
The more advanced Spirits naturally draw to themselves finer matter than those
behind them upon the path of evolution, and the atoms in the bodies of a
highly evolved humanity are more sensitive than those of the earlier peoples.
—
Letters to Students, by Max Heindel
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