M. A. DONOHUE & CO.

PRINTERS, BINDERS, PUBLISHERS, CHICAGO
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No man loves God who hates his kind ;
Who tramples on his Brother's heart and soul. Who seeks to shackle, cloud or fog the mind
By fears of Hell has not perceived our goal.
God-sent are all religions blest ;
And Christ ; the Way, the Truth and Life To give the heavy-laden rest
And peace from Sorrow, Sin and Strife.
At His request the Universal Spirit came
To all the churches; not to one alone; On Pentecostal morn a tongue of flame
Round each apostle as a halo shone.
Since then, as vultures ravenous with greed,
We oft have battled for an empty name And sought by dogma, edict, creed,
To send each other to the flame.
Is Christ then divided? Was Cephas or Paul
Nailed to the Cross to die ? If not: Then why these divisions at all?
Christ's love doth enfold you and I.
His pure sweet love is not confined
By creeds which segregate and raise a wall. His love enfolds, embraces Humankind ;
No matter what ourselves or him we call.
Then why not take Him at His word?
Why hold to creeds which tear apart ? But one thing matters be it heard,
That brother-love fill every heart.
There is but one thing that the world has need to know ;
There is but one balm for all our human woe ; There is but one way that leads to heaven above ;
That way is human sympathy and love.
MAX HEINDEL.
109i£C5
THE REASON Why we have increased the price of this ~boolc.
It is one of the fundamental tenets of the Rosierucians never to charge for services, and their pupils are required to give as freely as they have received.
The writer has endeavored to follow that injunction both in spirit and to the letter. Perhaps he followed it too closely when the first and second edition of this book was published at one dollar, for at that price there was no margin for delinquent accounts and one dealer still owes us for about 1,000 books of the first edition. We have now sold two editions and yet the original electroplates from which the book is printed have not been paid for.
Since then we have spent a considerable sum for cor- rections and addition to the second edition without raising the price, and now we have again had a large outlay to make this volume what it is. We have rearranged and considerably amplified the last chapter, which deals with the Rosicrucians, from page 515 and on, we have labored assiduously to make the large index — which is both alpha- betical and topical — and the book is now more than six hundred pages, well printed, handsomely finished and durably bound as a textbook ought to be. Therefore we trust our friends will realize that we are giving full value in paper, printing and binding for the increased price, that they are indeed receiving the teaching and labor of the writer as a free gift.
A WORD TO 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 x: 15). All occultists recognize the far-reaching importance of this teaching of Christ, and endeavor to "live" it day by day.
When a new philosophy is presented to the world it is met in different ways by different people.
One person will grasp with avidity any new philosophical effort in an endeavor to ascertain how far it supports his own ideas. To such an one the philosophy itself is of minor importance. Its prime value will be its vindication of HIS ideas. If the work comes up to expectation in that respect, he will enthusiastically adopt it and cling to it with a most unreasoning partisanship ; if not, he will prob- ably lay the book down in disgust and disappointment, feeling as if the author had done him an injury.
Another adopts an attitude of skepticism as soon as he discovers that it contains something which HE has not previously read, heard, or originated in his own thought. He would probably resent as extremely unjustified the accusation that his mental attitude is the acme of self- satisfaction and intolerance; such is nevertheless the case; and thus he shuts his mind to any truth which may possibly be hidden in that which he off-hand rejects.
Both these classes stand in their own light. "Set" ideas render them impervious to rays of truth. "A little child"
5
6 A WORD TO THE WISE
is the very opposite of its elders in that respect. It is not imbued with an overwhelming sense of superior knowledge, nor does it feel compelled to look wise or to hide its nescience of any subject by a smile or a sneer. It is frankly ignorant, unfettered by preconceived opinions and therefore eminently teachable. It takes everything with that beauti- ful attitude of trust which we have designated "child-like faith," wherein there is not the shadow of a doubt. There the child holds the teaching it receives until proven or disproven.
In all occult schools the pupil is first taught to forget all else when a new teaching is being given, to allow neither preference nor prejudice to govern, but to keep the mind in a state of calm, dignified waiting. As skepticism will blind us to truth in the most effective manner, so this calm, trustful attitude of the mind will allow the intuition, or "teaching from within," to become aware of the truth con- tained in the proposition. That is the only way to culti- vate an absolutely certain perception of truth.
The pupil is not required to believe off-hand that a given object which he has observed to be white, is really black, when such a statement is made to him ; but he must cultivate an attitude of mind which "believeth all things" as possible. That will allow him to put by for the time being even what are generally considered "established facts," and investigate if perchance there be another viewpoint hitherto unobserved by him whence the object referred to would appear black. Indeed, he would not allow himself to look upon anything as "an established fact" for he realizes thoroughly the importance of keeping his mind in the fluidal state of adaptability which charac- terizes the little child. He realizes in every fibre of his being that "now we see through a glass, darkly," and
A WORD TO THE WISE 7
Ajax-like he is ever on the alert, yearning for "Light, more Light."
The enormous advantage of such an attitude of mind when investigating any given subject, object or idea must be apparent. Statements which appear positively and unequivocally contradictory, which have caused an immense amount of feeling among the advocates of opposite sides, may nevertheless be capable of perfect reconciliation, as shown in one such instance mentioned in the present work. The bond of concord is only discovered by the open mind, however, and though the present work may be found to differ from others, the writer would bespeak an impartial hearing as the basis of subsequent judgment. If the book is "weighed and found wanting," the writer will have no complaint. He only fears a hasty judgment based upon lack of knowledge of the system he advocates — a hearing wherein the judgment is "wanting" in consequence of having been denied an impartial "weighing." He would further submit, that the only opinion worthy of the one who expresses it must be based upon knowledge.
As a further reason for care in judgment we suggest that to many it is exceedingly difficult to retract a hastily expressed opinion. Therefore it is urged that the reader withhold all expressions of either praise or blame until study of the work has reasonably satisfied him of its merit or demerit.
The Eosicrucian Cosmo-conception is not dogmatic, neither does it appeal to any other authority than the reason of the student. It is not controversial, but is sent forth in the hope that it may help to clear some of the difficulties which have beset the minds of students of the deeper philosophies in the past. In order to avoid serious misunderstanding, it should be firmly impressed upon the
8 A WORD TO THE WISE
mind of the student, however, that there is no infallible revelation of this complicated subject, which includes everything under the sun and above it also.
An infallible exposition would predicate omniscience upon the part of the writer, and even the Elder Brothers tell us that they are sometimes at fault in their judgment, so a book which shall say the last word on the World- Mystery is out of the question, and the writer of the present work does not pretend to give aught but the most ele- mentary teachings of the Kosicrucians.
The Rosicrucian Brotherhood has the most far-reaching, the most logical conception of the World-Mystery of which the writer has gained any knowledge during the many years he has devoted exclusively to the study of this subject. So far as he has been able to investigate, their teachings have been found in accordance with facts as he knows them. Yet he is convinced that the Rosicrusian Cosmo-conception is far from being the last word on the subject ; that as we advance greater vistas of truth will open to us and make clear many things which we now "sec through a glass, darkly." At the same time he firmly be- lieves that all other philosophies of the future will follow the same main lines, for they appear to be absolutely true.
In view of the foregoing it will be plain that this book is not considered by the writer as the Alpha and Omega, the ultimate of occult knowledge, and even though it is entitled "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-conception," the writer desires to strongly emphasize that it is not to be under- stood as a "faith once for all delivered" to the Rosicrucians by the founder of the Order or by any other individual. It is emphatically stated that this work embodies only the writer's understanding of the Rosicrucian teachings con- cerning the World-Mystery, strengthened by his personal
A WORD TO THE WISE 9
investigations of the inner Worlds, the ante-natal and post- mortem states of man, etc. The responsibility which de- volves upon one who wittingly or unwittingly leads others astray is clearly realized by the writer, and he wishes to guard himself as far as possible against that contingency, and also to guard others against the possibility of going wrong inadvertently.
What is said in this work is therefore to be accepted or rejected by the reader according to his own discretion. All diligence has been used in trying to understand the teach- ing; great pains have been taken to put it into words that shall be most easily understood. For that reason only one term has been used throughout the work to convey each idea. The same word will have the same meaning where- ever used. When any word descriptive of an idea is first used, the clearest definition possible to the writer is given. None but English terms and the simplest language have been employed. The writer has constantly endeavored to give as exact and definite descriptions of the subject under consideration as possible ; to eliminate all ambiguity and to make everything clear. How far he has succeeded must be left to the student to judge ; but having diligently used every possible endeavor to convey the teaching, he feels compelled to guard also against the possibility of this work being taken as an authoritative statement of the Rosicru- eian teachings. Neglect of this precaution might give undue weight to this work in the minds of some students. That would not be fair to the Brotherhood nor to the reader. It would have a tendency to throw the responsi- bility upon the Brotherhood for the mistakes which must occur in this as in all other human works. Hence the above warning.
There is an Indian story which says that anyone who has
10 A WOED TO THE WISE
two semi-circular lines on the palm-side of the outer joint of the thumb "carries a grain of rice with him." They assert that such an one will always be well received, hospitably treated and befriended wherever he goes. The writer has the mark mentioned, and the prog- nostication has been marvelously true in his case. Friends have met him everywhere and have treated him in such a way that he has been literally overwhelmed with kindness at every turn. So also in the work upon this book. Dr. von Brandis furnished the means whereby he first came into contact with the Rosicrucian teachings. Kingsmill Commander and Jessie Brewster loyally helped him in a literary sense, Mrs. M. E. Rath Merrill and Miss Allene Merrill executed a number of the drawings, and Wm. M. Patterson has given to the writer not only personal services but financial aid to enable him to publish at cost of print- ing and handling. This work has been produced for Love's sake. No one connected with it from first to last has received or will receive a penny of recompense. All have given freely of time and money. Therefore the writer wishes to express his heartfelt gratitude to them all, and the earnest hope that they may find other and greater opportunities for the exercise of unselfish service.
MAX HEINDBL.
LIST OF CONTENTS.
PABTL
MAN'S PRESENT CONSTITUTION AND METHOD OP DEVELOPMENT. Frontispiece, Diagram 16, The Lord's Prayer.
A Word to the Wise -.-. vs... 5
The Four Kingdoms, diagram 16
Introduction 17