CHAPTER VII.

CHRIST, THE LIGHT OF IMMORTALITY.
Light dawned in man with disobedience. Our physical eyes are merely images of the spiritual forms of perception, as sunlight symbolizes the light of spirit. Imagination is the spiritual eye, and by it are all discoveries made. When man's eyes were opened his horizon enlarged, and the area of the exercise of his powers was limited only by that horizon. He could no longer be limited by " the garden," a child restrained by fear, a slave to any power but that of his own choice. He entered a new and wider life, and is henceforth become his own providence. God no longer clothes him as He does the lilies of the field, nor is he fed like the birds of the air. Un- aided and alone, he must produce for himself. This is the price of knowledge and freedom.
Physical slavery is grievous, but it is a slight misfortune compared with mental and spiritual bondage. The mind which gathers truth by ob-
CHRIST, THE LIGHT OF IMMORTALITY. 1 23
servation and investigation is free, but the mind which reflects only the opinions of others is in bondage to those opinions. He is a creed-bound slave, confined in his little garden by the com- mand " thou shalt not" think, for fear of the consequences, who wears his opinions as he does his garments, things which are the work of other hands and brains. Such souls shut the illimitable universe out and bury themselves in the tombs of their forefathers, breathing over and again the mephitic vapors of decay and death, through fear of man's greatest boon, freedom of thought. The pure breath of spirit blows over the moun- tain of thought, the quickening power of the Christ. It cleanses the blood of its sluggish vapors, changes the red lust color, and wafts the soul to the throne of the Great God.
Passion and love of self are fruitful sources of disease, but the serpent of sensuality, lifted up, placed on a standard of high thought and action, something to be looked up to for help, a power having a divine use in the world of humanity, is for the healing of the nations. It is no longer the serpent of lust but the holy spirit of love that " casteth out fear," for " fear is torment."
124 EVOLUTION OF IMMORTALITY.
We only know that Christ is within us when we have an experience which demonstrates His presence in the soul. We beget the Son of man by an effort of will in love. He is the light of love and cannot be begotten of fear. That light can never be confounded with the smoke and vapor which is the issue of passional love. If you would have that light lift up your love, set it on a standard above even your powers of attain- ment, and never let it fall into the dust and degra- dation of lust. Feed its fires with noble thought and constant efforts to become more and more worthy, merciful, charitable, gentle, and lovely, for this is the Christ begotten in the soul. The light of love illuminates even the physical blood, puri- fying and permeating it with joy and peace. It is thus we grow wings to the soul. . There is neither doubt nor fear in the soul filled with the light of love. It bears healing in its wings and makes man superior to the evils of life and the circumstance of death. In it is the germ of immortality, that instinct which recoils from the presence of death and prophesies of eternal being beyond the change of form.
From the cradle to the grave man's work, as
CHRIST, THE LIGHT OF IMMORTALITY. 1 25
we perceive it, is the manipulation of matter, but after countless ages of experiences he is still pausing at the first letter of the alphabet, in which is concealed the knowledge how to control the matter of his body. Yet it is here that he must learn the lesson of immortality. To produce a body at will ; to increase or retard the circulation of the blood ; to expand and contract nerves and muscles ; to concentrate vitality at any given point ; to increase or decrease sensation in the whole or any part of the body ; these are some of the evidences of immortality.
Man has no cause to boast of his manhood or the power of his will until he can control more of himself than his muscles and his fists. He must control digestion and the motions of the bowels by thought and will, that non-turbulent, steady, persuasive power of the regenerated will. Those who can accomplish this have already taken a stride on the road of power. Here and there are those who can withdraw the soul from the body, leaving it senseless and inert clay for a time, while the true man wanders abroad over the chart- less ocean of spirit. One step further and the physical body shall also be made to pass into the
126 E VOL UTION OF IMMOR TALIT Y.
unseen, to appear and disappear at the will of the one to whom it belongs, and of whom it is a part.
Will controls matter, love controls the will, and the true man controls his love. Immortality is of the whole man ; he cannot be saved in pieces, neither can half of a man become immortal. The way to immortality is in the body, but no form remains fixed. The immortal have power to change forms at will. Form limits freedom. Forms of thought imprison the mind as the body holds the spirit. Those who are free in thought think little of forms of thought that are hoary with age. The tendency of form is to lie down, to be prone and quiet, while spirit is vibrating with ascensive buoyancy and motion.
Life-giving, immortalizing, religious thought when formulated soon becomes enwrapped in cer- emonies which become automatic, and the ecstasy of individual experience of its exaltation turns to a cold and barren public duty. So it is with the form which we call man. The free soul ignores form, or regards it as a hindrance ; and the cults which teach that its power can be lessened by opposing and denying its legitimate demands but seek a way from the soul into freedom. The
CHRIST, THE LIGHT OF IMMORTALITY. 1 27
body is a sacred edifice, the temple of the living God, and He only may change and dissolve it.
If man were to withdraw himself wholly from the body at death, it would vanish like a vapor. Death is only a partial withdrawal, for as long as the thought of the form remains, something of the body will hold together. A partial withdrawal of the man is demonstrated in sleep and in trance.
Jesus possessed the power wholly to withdraw from the body, and it vanished into the invisible world. He passed through the form of death to show the world the dominion of man over the forces of form, both of organization and disor- ganization. The light of the Christ shone out preeminently in the man Jesus, who affirmed that of himself he could do nothing, that it was the Father working in him, and that those who believe in the Father should do greater works.
The spirit within himself and without he recog- nized as a creative, loving presence, the Christ, by whom and through whom he worked, suffered, and died. That " he did not many mighty works " in some localities shows the deficiency of the Christ spirit in the aura of those places. His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, the an-
128 E VOL UTION OF IMMOR TALITY.
nouncement, "Thy faith hath made thee whole," his feeling that "virtue had gone out of him" at the touch of the diseased woman, and especially his cry on the cross, "My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me ? " all go to prove that he recognized a power within and without greater than himself, with which he was intimately con- nected.
Human nature is changeable and cannot furnish a permanent abiding place for the Christ spirit, and in the absence of it Jesus the man " cried out with a loud voice and gave up the ghost." But the Holy One could not see corruption, and when its object was so far accomplished, the Christ spirit again took up the body of the man Jesus, and after exhibiting it to the disciples on several occasions, caused its permanent disappear- ance.
We of the Rosy Cross hold that the Christ is begotten in us by the union of the soul with that all-embracing energy which ebbs and flows throughout conscious being. We also hold that it is no respecter of persons, but is born in every soul that loves, believes, and wills its presence. The Christ is called the Son of man because it is
CHRIST, THE LIGHT OF IMMORTALITY. 1 29
begotten by the love of man for God and his brethren.
When Jesus alluded to death it was the physical fact with which we are acquainted. To the Jews he said, " Your fathers did eat manna in the wil- derness and they are dead." There is no spiritual death ; the breath of God cannot die. The sal- vation Jesus taught was of this world, being free- dom from pain, disease, and death. He affirmed that he would lay down his life, but none could take it without his consent.
Christ speaking in Jesus says, " He that believ- eth on me shall not die ; and though he were dead yet shall he live again." To believe with the heart is to do and to be. The fact that Jesus spent thirty years of his life like an ordinary man and then fasted forty days and nights alone on the mountain proves that he was not exempt from the struggle all must know who would evolve within themselves the immortal Christ, the Son of man.
I3O EVOLUTION OF IMMORTALITY.
THE ROSY CROSS.
The origin of the Rosy Cross is known only to the oldest initiates of the order. Its symbols are as ancient as the Egyptian Mysteries and its princi- ples underlie all religions, ancient and modern. In modern times the names of Christian Rosen- krutz, Robert Fludd and Francis Bacon have figured prominently in its literature ; but historically, there are few exoteric landmarks of the Order.
Rosicruciae is spiritual, not material ; a Fraternity rather than an Order. Its members are gathered from the East and the West, from among the lofty and the lowly, the learned and the unlearned, wherever there are free souls, and sympathetic and aspiring natures. It embraces all ages, races and climes, and reaches from the visible far into invisible realms of being. Silence, secrecy and unpretending good works are its characteristics, and one member may pass his life next door to
THE ROSY CROSS. I3I
another and neither be aware of the bond between them unless some stress of need draw the curtain aside. The law of Silence is particularly empha- sized, obedience to the injunction to " enter into the closet and shut the door" being imperative on all who would have access to the sources of power.
Each age calls for restatements of truth, specially adapted to its understanding and use, and the pres- ent age is no exception. That which was hidden from the ignorant and vicious under symbols and figures in the past is emerging from its outgrown shell so that he who runs may read. The veil of Isis has become a misty cloud, destined to disappear in the broader light of the coming century, and while the Rosy Cross has its lodges, passwords and signs, these external forms are regarded with indifference by the genuine Rosicrucian, who is aware that he can become a complete epitome of the Order only through development of its prin- ciples within himself.
While the Rosy Cross has no creeds or dogmas to which the initiate must subscribe, there are certain principles which all true Rosicrucians ac- cept. Among them is belief in the impartial
I32 EVOLUTION OF IMMORTALITY.
Fatherhood of God and the universal Brotherhood of Man, thus recognizing the Unity of Spirit in all manifestations of Life.
Reincarnation is generally accepted as a truth, and salvation is the freedom of the soul from successive embodiments in earthy forms, wherein pain and pleasure alternate ; where the glow of genius is dimmed by the darkened understanding of age, and the flame of passion is quenched by the chill of disease and death.
Humanity desires happiness, but none ever fully attains it, because it is sought in individual conditions and possessions, while it can be gained only through the uplifting of all souls everywhere. Life is homogeneous, and perfect rest will come to the individual soul only when the soul of the race is at rest. Therefore, whatever makes for the kingdom of heaven among men is the way to hap- piness for the individual. Men and women are born free and equal, but each one comes imme- diately into conditions destructive of freedom and equality, — conditions which man himself has created in the evolutionary processes of thought and life. He binds himself with creeds, forms and codes of action which divide man from man,
THE ROSY CROSS, 1 33
create the iron bondage of caste, and limit freedom of thought by fear.
The recognition of universal brotherhood, and of the truth that all are entitled to equal rights and privileges in the house of the Common Father and Mother, is an important step in the path the soul must travel toward the perfected life.
The cult of the Rosy Cross embraces the culture of the whole man, and this is carried on through vibrations set up in the emotional or soul nature by the Will. These vibrations exalt and expand the energies of the soul, and this culture is the work of salvation, which is not freedom from con- sequences, but deliverance from evil desires and tendencies. That which is recorded cannot be erased, but a new record may be made which will cast the old into the limbo of forgotten things.
The past belongs to God, with all its failures and sins ; but the future is man's to mould, and fashion as he will, for himself and for the race.
Vibrations may be indefinitely transferred by oral or mental suggestion, and the instructed soul consciously arouses, excites and directs the thoughtless and ignorant through vibrations. Ig- norance unguards the soul, furnishing conditions
1^4 % V°L UTI0N 0F I MM OR TALI TV.
of receptivity to good and evil suggestions, which uplift or degrade. Mind responds to mind, soul to soul, spirit to spirit, through vibrations in the ether.
The invisible world of spirit is drawing near to the earth-plane, and the souls of men respond wherever they are sensitive to etheric vibrations. The Rosy Cross has long sensed this incoming spiritual tide and confidently expects the breaking away of the clouds of ignorance which have long obscured the light of the inner heavens. The pyramids, the buried cities, the tombs and moun- tain retreats of the old world are giving up their long hoarded secrets to the push and enterprise of the age ; but their wealth of knowledge and wisdom, though grand and wonderful, sinks into insignificance when compared with the treasures of the kingdom concealed in the soul of man ready to be revealed for use. This is the Kingdom of Heaven which is taken by force, the force of per- sistent desire and effort.
Thoughts are not things, — they are greater than things. Thought is the energy, the inherent force of things, and comes from the Primal Intelli- gence which is above and beyond all things. The
THE ROSY CROSS. 1 35
mind is an instrument manipulated by unseen, but not altogether unknown forces. Its energies do not belong to us ; they are lent for use, and the only merit which we can claim because of superior adaptability of the instruments is in the quality of their use.
The power to project this force or energy of the soul is inherent in human nature, and a depart- ment of the Rosy Cross culture is devoted to in- struction and training in its use. To vibrate the etheric atoms of the body is to set in motion the ether of space ; to exercise the Will in breathing is to connect with the space of Will, charging the body with electricity, power and life ; but the fer- vent desire to attain to any condition sets in vibra- tion the finer essences of spirit that connect with the soul of the universe, the Infinite Love. Every aspiring soul reaches some plane in spirit that corresponds to itself, and which it can absorb and use.
There are Seven Spaces of Spirit corresponding to the Seven Great Powers, — four Mundane and three Spiritual, or psychic. Those corresponding to the Mundane Powers are, — Mineral, Vegetable, Animal, Human ; the Spiritual Spaces are, — Faith,
I36 E VOL UTION OF IMMOR TALIT Y.
Will, and Love. All the spaces are rilled with Societies, Orders, Associations, Brotherhoods, which correspond to every condition possible to man. Connection with the beings inhabiting these spaces may be attained by systematic train- ing and effort. This is not mediumship, so called, but the entering into and possession of the knowl- edge and power of the space contacted. Man, body and soul, is the Temple of the Infinite Spirit, and in him are etheric atoms belonging to all spiritual states and spaces ; some active, some latent. Those which are active connect the indi- vidual with the space with which he has the closest affinity, and the influx from it is largely uncon- scious. To illustrate : Beethoven was by nature affiliated with the Musical Societies and, being a fine instrument attuned to the inspirations of that space, he holds the world entranced by super- human melodies. Socrates contacted the Philo- sophical space, Napoleon, the Strategic ; but the full soul of the Prophet of Galilee came forth from and breathed the inspiration of the most interior space, the space of Love.
To aspire is to become, in time and in eternity ; for aspiration connects the soul with the spaces of
THE ROSY CROSS. 1 37
spirit vibrating with immortal energies. Man makes and unmakes himself; " He fails, sickens and dies through feebleness of will." Physical life is only a series of vibrations whose intensity may be greatly increased by persistent use of spiritual forces.
Degrees of soul-force depend on the rapidity of the vibrations of the flame uniting the three powers which constitute the human ego. This trinity of Intelligence, Will, and Love is a manifes- tation of the Divine Trinity in Unity, making of man a microcosmic God.
The soul is a glowing spark in an Infinite Flame.
The vibrations of these triune forces develop heat, which is generally diffused throughout the body as a gentle warmth. This heat may be power- fully increased and drawn to a center in the breast, where it burns with a pure and conscious flame. This is the baptism with fire and the Holy Ghost ( Geist, Spirit) and is typified by the fire kept burn- ing on the altars of the ancient temples. It is also the transmuting fire of the Rosicrucians, which certain of the old alchemists misunder- stood and materialized to mean the transmutation of the baser metals into gold.
I38 E VOL U TION OF IMMOR TAUT Y.
This flame in the breast is an evidence of the Christ-union, the seal of immortality, and is pos- sible only to the pure in heart. To the impure and unholy, the increase of spirit vibrations fills the soul with an unquenchable thirst and an in- satiable hunger, which destroy soul and body by a slow combustion of unrest, impure desires, disease and death. This flame is the point of contact with the source of all power and knowledge, and sometimes it finds a voice. With Moses it objec- tified in the form of a burning bush, and the " still small voice " of spirit became audible to the ex- ternal ear.
Referring to this flame the great Persian sage, Zoroaster, says, " When you see the fire, listen for the voice of the fire."
This inner fire burned with conscious power when the disciples walked with the risen Jesus on the way to Emmaus. " Did not our hearts burn within us, while he spake to us on the way?"
It has well-nigh ceased to burn on the altars of human hearts, but the Rosy Cross has preserved a spark of it and now calls to the wise virgins, whose lamps are trimmed and burning, to unveil the light for the illumination of the world.
THE ROSY CROSS.
139
Love is the only antidote for Evil ; force will suppress, but will not prevent it. The peaceful, gentle, forgiving vibrations of love open the in- visible spaces from which descends purifying and regenerative power. Through the vibrations of love, war will cease, crime and its vindictive pun- ishment will pass away, and practical help will supersede sermons, prayers, and the legal re- straints with which society now ignorantly strives to protect itself. Crime should be prevented rather than punished, criminal tendencies detected, undermined, and destroyed, and the transmission of criminal instincts rendered impossible. All this may be done through spiritual vibrations, and this is one of the fields of work which specially en- gages the attention and efforts of the Rosy Cross.
The concentration of effort and the union of many minds in one vibration creates societies, sects, governments, on the plane of its action ; in the same way spirit, by projection , creates and de- stroys. Spirit individualized in a human body is no less spirit than when disrobed. There are conclaves in the spaces of spirit in which the souls of men and women who are still of the mundane world take part, equally with those who have cast
I40 EVOLUTION OF IMMORTALITY.
off the body. Convocations are held where the interests of earth-life are represented by those in earth-bodies who, in soul projection, are in the spiritual spaces, and questions touching human interests most nearly are considered. Such a con- vention, giving exclusive attention to the applica- tion of the great principles of sex, has long been in session. It has removed the ban of silence from woman, and caused her equality with man to be recognized in many ways; but the projection of this truth into the external world has been difficult, owing to the prejudices and superstitions of men. Rosicrucm invites woman's cooperation and has made her eligible to its councils and helpful influences on the same terms as her brothers ; it now boldly proclaims the feminine principle as embodied in woman to be the Saviour of the Race. Being the most spiritual, she is the vibratory center between God and man. Through her ele- vation in the thought, will, and love of man, the influx of crime, lust, and disease from the lowest hells will be checked, and the incarnation of lofty and pure souls will be facilitated. This can only be accomplished by the cooperation of the visible world of souls with the invisible.
THE ROSY CROSS. 141
Sex is of the body, soul, and spirit, and is as eternal as is the Creative Power, for by and through its principles all things exist. Its activities are always creative, for generation on one plane creates another plane similar but a little higher. Vibrations of the body are the result of vibrations of spirit, which they involve, and all vibrations are creative in accord with their plane of activity. Sound vibrations reach the ear, thought vibrations the mind ; but the powerful and far-reaching vibra- tions of emotion move the soul, and the motion is infinitely sustained.
Love is the creative center ; and the vibrations that harmonize the conditions, interior or exterior, of each individual, are generated at that center. It is the love of one, not of many ; for all sincere and genuine Rosicrucians are monogamists.
Love in the physical has its correspondence in the spiritual nature, — it is one, for Love is Spirit, and all its vibrations are creative. What we name matter is an effect produced by spirit transform- ing itself through vibratory motion.
Nature makes no mistakes ; she is the word of God to which nothing can be added or taken away by man, except to his own hurt. The separation
I42 EVOLUTION OF IMMORTALITY.
of the masculine and feminine in thought, emo- tion, or physical life, is destructive, not construc- tive. In their perfect blending on all planes, lies the secret of power, and the Lost Word is unity — one.
The natural use of the organs of the body, as of the faculties of the mind and powers of the soul, is an imperative duty to all who would per- fect the human nature. The orderly exercise of mind and will is required to preserve the har- monious balance of being, so that life on all planes shall march together in orderly sequence.
To be self-poised and perfect in rhythmic motion, like the worlds swinging in space, is the preroga- tive of every human being ; but only those who have found the center, and lighted the flame on that altar, approach that condition. It is not at- tained by ignoring the selfhood or in disuse of the functions of body or mind.
The Rosy Cross makes no noise ; it loves the Infinite Silence, and works through vibrations of Thought, Will, and Love. It is ready to point out the path and to clasp hands with any who desire to work for the advent of the new civiliza- tion. To this end, the fraternity desires souls
THE ROSY CROSS. 1 43
rather than money; earnest, active, sincere stu- dents and workers. Not all who knock can enter. Before one can become a member of the visible Fraternity, he or she is already enrolled among the Invisibles.
" Not every one who saith Lord, Lord, can enter into the kingdom," saith the Christ, and one be- fore Him affirmed, " Many are the wand-bearers, but few are the true Bacchanals."
Those who can recall the conditions of life fifty years ago will appreciate the gigantic strides man has made along the lines of progress. The twi- light of the stage-coach has broadened into the noonday of steam and electricity ; the inspiration of books has largely given place to scientific cer- tainties, to ascertained truths and facts of things, thus widening and deepening the scope of free thought.
Dr. Franklin ushered in a new age, the age of electricity, when he called forth a message from the shadow of God which pronounced the death sentence on the limitations of matter, annihilating time and space by putting " a girdle around the earth in forty minutes," as prophesied by Shake- speare's tricky sprite. As the age of crude force
1 44 E V0L VTION OF 1MM0R TALITY.
merged into the electrical age, bringing with it everything worth preserving, so the wires and dynamos and circuits, which now witness to the external activities of man's restless intelligence, will give place to the simpler methods of the mental age, when the possibilities of mind will be- come manifest. The present laborious processes of education will become obsolete, and telepathy will take the place of the old, cumbrous methods of instruction in the imparting of knowledge.
Daguerre pictured the outside of things fifty years ago ; modern photography reproduces the inside, and it is only a question of a little more time and a few more experiments when mental states will be photographed and man's nature will be mapped out, as physical geography maps the surface of the planet. The swamps and lagoons in human nature which send up the malaria that generates crime, disease, death, will be located, as will the life-giving seas and breezy, moral moun tain tops. Mind will be generated, rather than adipose tissue, and God will be enthroned in the heart of the world, rather than in some far-off anachronistic City of Gold.
Speed characterizes the electrical age; let us
THE ROSY CROSS. 1 45
move quickly to help God save the world. He demands only the sacrifice of meanness, of enmity to our brother man ; and this is the only bar to infinite progress.
No one can borrow the light of the Spirit. Each virginal lamp must shine by its own light, and each man stands or falls alone. " God helps those who help themselves." His tables are laden with flowers and fruits which are not forced on any one ; the command is, " Help yourself T
Recognizing the value of organization for cer- tain work which is before us, the Western Cult of the Rosy Cross has established a bureau of in- struction, where those who desire to learn and work with the Fraternity may apply.
Rosicrucle A. By order of Her who is Nameless.
AUG 31 1900
1 COPY DEL. TO CAT. DIY.
oie. 1* 1901