CHAPTER XIII

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE.

The most Fatal enemy of the soul is Doubt.
He who doubts his own powers cripples himself. He
who forgets his doubt rises superior to himself.
He who believes in, and has confidence in himself,
has more power than he who doubts his own powers.
Moreover, the more confidence a man has in others
the greater is his friendship, and the more friends he
has. Friendship is the measure of influence, and,
consequently, of power. Out of belief comes knowl-
edge ; and out of knowledge comes faith, or, rather,
that which approximates faith and makes it possible,
viz., Intuition.

Perfect faith comes from perfect knowledge ; but
inasmuch as we are imperfect beings, and, conse-
quently, have no perfect knowledge — not even of
ourselves, and still less of others — how can we even
approximate a definition of faith, much less a knowl-
edge of the powers it may confer upon its possessor !
Why scoff at the sayings of Jesus, when we do not
even know what he meant by faith ? He certainly
estimated its value very highly, for he said : " If ye
■y have faith like a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE. 141

to the mountains, be ye moved and cast into the sea,
and it shall be done." It is evident he coupled it
with the will, for it could be done by a command, and
no prayer or supplication is even suggested. What
great thinker ever extolled doubt, or taught that it
ever conferred any great blessing upon its possessor ?
-Not one ! It is simply a destructive power — a nega-
tion ; it builds nothing ; it destroys all that it
touches.

A desire to know the truth is commendable. Re-
spect for others leads to the interchange of ideas and
investigation. This is good. Never doubt a propo-
sition till you are sure you thoroughly understand it.
Never doubt the truth of another till his falsehood is
a demonstrated fact. Know a thing before you re-
ject itA Be hospitable to the wayfarer : for although
you may be imposed upon many times, you may some
time entertain an angel. Some thoughts are angel-
sent.

But Paul's thought in reference to faith being " an
evidence, — and the substance of things hoped for/'
is open to question.

Jesus gave no definition of faith further than to
assert that it is a power above all nature's powers.
A power that can change, disorganize and remove
the solid mountain, heal the sick, raise the dead,
make food for the hungry by a thought or word, and
in fact endow its possessor with immortality here on
earth.

It is passing strange that his disciples, who were

142 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

intimately associated with him, should all be silent
touching this wonderful power, and it is still more
strange that the definition of so important an item of
the gospel should be left to one who had no acquaint-
ance with its founder, — one who had never heard
him speak of that or any other subject.

According to the expressed declaration of Jesus,
Paul had no faith at all, — how then could he tell
what it is. What great works did Paul do? He
preached and founded churches and wrote epistles
for their instruction, but had not will power enough
to protect himself from the wild beasts which de-
voured him in the arena at Rome. " Evidence/'
Indeed. What prostitution of spirit to mere theoriz-
ing. "Greater works than these shall ye do be-
cause I go to the Father," said the gentle Jew of
Nazareth. Alas ! What does the record show. If
he cried out in anguish of spirit more than once —
" Oh ye of little faith " — to his immediate disciples,
how much greater would have been His anguish and
cry at the performances of Paul and the early Chris-
tians, and what would it be now were he present. It
is due to Paul that the Saviour's words are given
another meaning than they were intended to convey.

It is evident that belief is intentionally connected
with faith from his saying: "he that believeth in me
shall not die ; and even if he were dead yet shall he
live again/ ' But why was not the whole of that
declaration reported ?

He evidently explained that faith is a universal

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE. 1 43

spirit and not limited to any one person. His decla-
ration to the woman who touched the hem of his
garment and was healed — " thy faith hath made thee
whole " — also his saying "I have not seen such
faith, no, not in Israel," all go to show that the
power was more in the one who was sick than in him
who did the healing. As it is written, — "he did not
many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

There is no question but that belief is the begin-
ning of soul power, and that faith is the highest of all
soul powers y but of the powers which lie between the
lowest and the highest, — of the places where one
may pause to rest, close one's eyes to the awful alti-
tude and grow accustomed to the changes in mind
and body which must occur in the transformation
from weakness to power, — who hath explained them ?

We often believe in things in which we have not
full confidence, hence on the road to power, the first
step above belief must be confidence, and this con-
fidence is generated in the mind by the union of belief
with the object or principle believed in. Confidence
is begotten within by a test of our powers — it is
begotten between individuals by association — and
while nearer to power than mere belief, yet is it a
long way even below knowledge, to say nothing of
faith, which is the opposite or antagonist of knowl-
edge which it supersedes and sets aside as of no
value outside of the laws of nature.

We believe in things of which we have no practi-
cal knowledge, but such belief is of the mind while

144 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

confidence is of the soul and is therefore a matter of
feeling. Self knowledge gives us all the power we
have over mundane things, but inasmuch as our self
knowledge is limited to belief or, at the extreme, to
self confidence, our personal power is mainly a weak-
ness of which we may very justly be ashamed.

Faith is a soul power inherent in all but not mani-
fest in all alike. It may be said that it is the pose or
attitude the ego takes in reference to the surround-
ing universe of life and power.

It is weakness that needs support and it is a mis-
take to assume that a weak person could possibly
contain a power to move a mountain.

Faith is not belief in some one else, yet belief
arouses the faith which lies dormant within, nor does
it matter who or what may be the object in which
one believes ; but the belief which arouses faith must
be that which takes hold of the Heart, — conse-
quently true faith is within and closely and intimately
connected with the Ego itself from whom all power
descends. Faith in self is inspired by God who
dwells within and it is that which one feels; but it
cannot be known in any other v/ay than by a union
or focus of all the senses, both physical and psychic.

In proportion as one believes in himself, is he
strong, to be, to do, and to enjoy ; for God dwells in
self as a conscious entity ; but to believe on others is
an open road to disappointment and failure, and while
the weak must lean upon some other thing, therefrom
arises the erroneous idea that faith is a belief in some-

\

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE. 145

thing of a stronger nature upon which one may lean
for support. This is true as to childhood, but are
we to eternally remain children ? The full grown
man trusts in his own strength. Is this not evidence
which sets aside the knowledge applicable to chil-
dren and weakness, and, furthermore, does it not
show that faith is a self supporting and self steady-
ing power ? If mere belief in one's own power, —
which leads to effort, and is one step to self knowl-
edge,— can do so much to make man great, how
much greater could he be if he Knew himself intui-
tively without the effort and experiences.

Knowledge is acquired by painful labor ; intuition
is the open door of the soul through which life and
all that appertains thereto flow in ; while faith is the
key which unlocks the door.

The forming of the judgment or the understanding,
is the greatest altitude the mind can reach. Here
knowledge takes hold of nature at its best, which
does indeed induce a love of intelligence for nature
whereby mind is caused to revolve around it, eter-
nally at home and satisfied.

Now by reason of this great love for nature does
mind antagonize faith, for it is hard to believe in any-
thing above nature, whereas the highest point that
knowledge can reach, is impossibility. This is a
vacancy in mind unfilled by knowledge of mundane
things. Impressions lead to belief beyond and above
material things, and with this belief comes Doubt,
which holds the door of the soul fast locked, and man

146 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

prostrate and bound to the wheel of nature, which
ever "goes round and round.' '

The fact is that we attach undue importance to
mental powers. Mind predominates soul to such
extent as to obscure and prevent all manifestations
of soul powers. In all voluntary movements of mind
and of body, the will is the motor ; but in soul
movements — involuntary motions — Desire is the
moving force. Desire is to the soul what the
indrawn breath is to the body, i.e. — the accumula-
tion of energy. Desire is " father of the thought/'
It is a silent opening of the soul to receive, — a
suction which indraws any physical sense desired,
thus rendering it inoperative or disconnected with
the will, as is one's hand when paralyzed.

The power of Irdhi, according to the Buddhistic
cult, which is developed by meditation and training,
is the same as manifested by Jesus in walking upon
the waters of the sea of Galilee, by Gautama
when standing in the air preaching to the people,
by Philip (Acts 8-39) before alluded to, and by
many mediums of modern times in the manifestation
of the power of Levitation, or of floating in the air.
The allusion to William H. Mack in the first part
of this work illustrates this power of the soul to
indraWy modify or suspend the specific weight of the
atoms of matter composing the body.

The senses are indrawn in part or wholly in
Hypnosis or in trance, and the indrawing of sight
and hearing by abstraction of mind is of common

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE. 1 47

but the main point is that this power is
involuntary or of the soul rather than of thought and
of the mind, — the power of Emotion and not of the
will.

The soul which opens wide its portals at a throb
of sympathy or desire, automatically calls to itself all
the power necessary to accomplish, but doubts and
fears must first be indrawn. Peter could walk upon
the water if his eyesight and his knowledge of the
laws of matter had been suspended or held in
abeyance.

Desire must always lead the will and from this
fact has arisen the practice of prayer. But the vocal
expression of desire weakens its power ; since all
power ascends from the Ego at the invitation of the
longing soul, which in voiceless earnestness opens
inwardly. The power of the soul to answer its own
prayer was called Faith by Jesus.

The giving of gifts from one to another is merely
a temporary benefit at its best and often proves a
curse rather than a blessing ; while that which one
acquires by unaided effort is lasting and a source of
character growth. Jesus, understanding this, healed
the sick merely as illustrative of the powers of Faith,
and often said, — "see that thou tell no man'1 —
" Give God the glory." He never claimed that he
of Himself could do anything, — it was always the
Father within him who did the work ; but even
then there was no claim of giving. It is "thy faith "
■ — not mine — that heals. "If Ye have faith/' etc.

148 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

The faith that heals and the faith that saves is in the
Self . if ye have it not there, no power outside of
you can impart it, and no knowledge — except it
touch the soul — can confer one single throb of
pleasure or pain.

x Man with all his knowledge and boasted powers is
not so near the spirit world as the dumb brute which
knows nothing. And yet, knowledge is our only
hope, for mind is the light of this existence, and
knowledge being the ultimate of mental action, if, at
its highest point, or apex, it meets the spirit world
with sufficient intensity to become impregnated with
a desire for something grander, and a more lofty idea
of human nature and its possibilities, with not merely
an idea "to know good and evil," but to know the
Good, and to have power to do it under all circum-
stances, then, indeed, it may truly be said to be the
road to power. As such I recognize it.

Analyze, sift, digest all the facts and phenomena
of this existence ; weigh the stars and suns of space,
and trace them in their eternal voyage ; dissect the
human form, and search the convolutions of the brain,
and, if at the end, you have no belief in the divinity
of creative power, no belief in the spirit that has
escaped your telescope, your scalpel, and your scales,
tell me not that your knowledge is the road to power.
For real power is repose, rest, trust, confidence and
harmony. That which brings no satisfaction and
rest is destructive.

So, knowledge may build up the soul and expand

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE, 149

-^il

it, or it may contract and weaken it. If knowledge
makes a man egotistical and proud, it does him harm ;
but that knowledge which causes one to realize how
small and insignificant he is, and how very little he
knows, and of how little value that knowledge really
is to him, makes one negative, and receptive to the
world of intelligences which surround him. Then it
is that they come near and speak to his soul, and he
conceives an idea of "Brahm," "Allah," "Jeho-
vah," "Jove," or "God."

The knowledge of facts is good, for it expands the
mind ; and when the mind is sufficiently expanded,
it leads to deep thought, reverie, abstraction ; and
abstraction opens the door of the soul, viz., the

IMAGINATION.

The imaginative are the credulous. Power does
not come from one thing alone, but from the All —
the Infinite. Knowledge is necessary to weakness
and infancy ; but for the gods there is no knowledge
— it is simply faith.

^ Faith includes all things of an inferior nature, as
the over-arching dome of heaven encircles all within
it. It is beyond all knowledge, then who can explain
it, or who can understand it ? It is to the soul what
knowledge is to the mind. As we can only approxi-
mate knowledge mentally, so we can only approximate
faith intuitively. According to our knowledge, so is
our faith. In exact proportion as we know wife, chil-
dren and friends, do we have faith in them.

Knowledge is not predicated upon anything but

150 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

truth. It is not satisfactory to merely know that a
thing is false. We must know the truth in order to
be satisfied, and to be made whole and clean. As
you know yourself, you have faith in yourself. As you
know God you have faith in him. All that the mind
can grasp of anything is that which appears, and this
appearance is a revelation of something hidden. It
may come in dreams or in visions, or in reverie, or in
contemplation, reading of books, or conversation ;
or listening to sermons or lectures may provoke the
conditions necessary to induce revelations ; but in
whatever way it may be induced, it is subjective ; it
is a union with the thing thought of — a oneness of
spirit and being.

You have faith in yourself because you are at one
with yourself. You have faith in your wife in exact
proportion as you are one with her. Faith in things
changeable, and hence untrue, is destructive ; because
they desert you and leave you empty.

Faith is a power which comes to man as a revela-
tion, in the expansion of the soul, when the mind is
closed up, laid away, as it were, or suspended — held
in abeyance. Then things sublunary disappear ; and
the ineffable glory appears, and, entering in, is one
with soul — giving power undreamed of by mortal
man. Faith steadies, sustains and fortifies the will ;
combines all spirit in one. The powers of dissolution
and of creation are of faith. It is effortless. It is
the suspension of all mundane laws.

Knowledge is of no account, only as it assists one

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE. 151

to enter into the Spirit. Then it is set aside, as a
man having scaled a wall, and not being obliged to
return, throws the ladder down. Think you this
faith and power can come to us ? Nay ! We must
ascend to it through a regeneration in the Spirit, and
by a birth of the Spirit. It is another mode of ex-
istence, to be entered only through birth. Salvation
is from weakness, disease and death, and thus from
hell ; for hell is an outgrowth of these.

We work the best we can to prepare the way ; but
we make mistakes and failures in our ignorance, and
fall continually. But faith is a gift of the Spirit in
answer to our intentions and aspirations. In faith
there are no mistakes nor failures. It is not possible
to lose faith when once attained. How is it possible
for a child after it is born, to become as it was prior
to birth ? Faith is universal. There is no one or
particular faith/'

There is no such thing as " the faith ; " conse-
quently faith cannot be lost, any more than God can
be. Talk about "falling from grace/ ' and "losing
the faith ! " Nonsense ! They never have any to
lose. There is a fall, however, in the pretense of
possession. The pretender always falls.

It is the habit to speak of faith as a something akin
to belief — as blind — as less than knowledge. But
this shows our ignorance. Faith is to the Divine
mind what knowledge is to the natural. Through
and by knowledge things of use are produced and
multiplied in the earth. Through and by faith matter

152 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

is evolved from the spirit, which, from a chaotic,
formless state, takes form such as the will may
determine.

By this method Jesus made bread and fish for the
hungry multitude. A few loaves and fishes were
sufficient to furnish a nucleus of attraction, when, in
obedience to his will, his Spirit flowed in and assumed
the form desired.

In support of this Idea that it was his spirit which
entered into the loaves and fishes and multiplied
them, i.e., was transmuted there and then into bread
and meat, please read his own declaration (see Mark
xiv. ch., 23d and 24th verses : Luke xxii. 19; Matt,
xxvi. 27, 28, 29). " Take and eat, this is my body,"
etc., " Drink ! this is my blood ! " "I and my Father
are one." How beautiful, and yet so simple ! God is
in everything, and is everything. We eat him, we
drink him, and we breathe him. These things sup-
port these bodies, but the thoughts we think are the
breathing in of our spirits from his spirit. The ele-
ments composing food are the same as those compos-
ing our bodies. Attraction is the soul and life of
every atom of matter in existence, this principle in
humanity is termed affection or love, and Jesus said,
" God is a Spirit," — not a form but a Spirit. John,
the " beloved Apostle," in speaking of the same
thing afterwards, wrote, " God is Love," and " No
man hath seen God at anytime." Why? Because
spirits are not seen but felt. Anger, pride, avarice,
etc., are spirits, but they have no form except as they

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE. 153

take form in acts, they are felt within us, and mani-
fest themselves outwardly. Thus God or love dwells
in all that is ; and he who hath most love in his
heart sees and feels the most of God in all outward
manifestations, because he feels him within. So
when you eat your meals, consider it is partaking
of "the sacrament/ ' The thoughts you have of
your food call the spirit uppermost in your minds
thereto, and charge it with life and health ; or if you
eat with an envious, covetous, or an angry mind —
then disease and death attend your eating and drink-
ing. If you love your food, it does you good, but if
you loathe it for any reason, you better not partake.
Be thankful for what the Good Lord doth send;
for in so doing you do become full to overflowing
with the spirit, and food becomes spiritualized and
multiplied, assuming any quality desired. Not only
that, but food may be produced spontaneously, as
Jesus produced it, or any poisonous substance may be
made harmless — solid matter moved from place to
place without visible force. The methods by which
this may be done are not easily explained, even when
one possesses the power. Why ? Because the power
does not exist wholly in mind. Mind leads up to it,
as it leads to the soul. Faith is a soul-power which
descends into the man at times by reason of the union
of Belief and Knowledge. For knowledge is a thing
felt by the soul, as well as comprehended by mind.
I do not believe 2X2 make 4. I know it — it is a
demonstrated certainty; and my soul rests satisfied

154 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

in its fulness of this truth. Belief is in things of
which the soul may glimpse truth in an uncertain
twilight, — which when found out becomes a cer-
tainty to the soul, and knowledge to the mind —
thus the soul and mind are connected, or the door
opens, for Spirit with its satisfaction and rest, to enter
into the man with power. The nature of the knowl-
edge determines the elevation and satisfaction of the
soul, and the degree of power given. Thus does one
enter into the Spirit, and the Spirit enters into him,
first by evolution, second by involution. The Mind
by concentration and limitation of thought evolves a
stream of light in one direction, which when at its
ultimate height receives a rush of Spirit in which
Power resides. In view of this principle of evolution
Jesus said : " First seek the kingdom of God, and
then all other things shall be added unto you." The
kingdom " is within you ; " it " is at hand ; " it " is like
unto a pearl of great price ;" or "like a little leaven
which a woman hid in three measures of meal.yy The
meal is a type of the body, mind and spirit

The wisdom of things is seen in their mechanism ;
the order and harmonious arrangement and adjust-
ment of parts, and the ease and perfection of motion
without jar or friction. The same is true of the
mental and spiritual man as of the physical. The jar
and friction of this life is what wears out the machine
called man. Each and every atom of the body is in
motion, and they are in health well poised and lubri-
cated. This is harmony. But when there is not a

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE, 155

proper balance of all the essentials, there is a discord-
ant friction of parts, and a loss of power, motion,
health and vigor. The soul furnishes the lubricator,
viz., magnetism.

The kingdom of heaven is harmony, power, eternal
youth, life, innocence, and peace. The principal ele-
ment of the kingdom is wisdom born of love and will.
If love be lacking, or be of a low, vulgar order, the
wisdom born of her will be inharmonious, and the
kingdom is that of disease. By wisdom, through
faith, are all things made. But if the wisdom be
inharmony, and the faith be small, or none at all,
what can you expect to flow from the spirit ; or,
what quality of life will be generated ?

Bear constantly in mind, kind reader, that when I
speak of God, I speak of your power of will and
love. When I speak of wisdom, I have reference to
the harmony of yourself. Harmony means a great
deal Harmony means oneness ; no conflict ; no
opposing elements ; no warfare between the flesh and
the Spirit. " The lamb and lion have lain down
together/ ' Remember, health is altogether due to
what little harmony we have. The greater the har-
mony, the more wisdom. The greater the wisdom,
the more life, peace, rest, pleasure. Discord wears
us out. The best of us scarce last half a century,
and that length of time is enough to disgust most
people of life.

^ We are scarcely able to generate magnetism enough
to keep this human machine in order more than fifty

I $6 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

years at the utmost. Now, were the love pure and
innocent, and the will strong and God-like, the wisdom
or harmony of the machine would be more perfect,
and the life evolved, or the spirit set in motion, pos-
sessed of such power that mountains might be dis-
solved ; or bread, fish, flowers, clothing, or human
forms evoked at pleasure, and the machine possessing
such power could wear on eternally without friction
or age.

" Greater works than these shall ye do, because I
go to the Father " (Spirit.) The dark and noisome
earth — the fiery constellations of heaven, with their
countless hosts, all exist by the will of God, and are
sustained by his love and wisdom. But he lies slum-
bering as in a tomb in the things he has made ! The
mighty mountains piercing the clouds, crowned eter-
nally with purity, as a flame-tip, tell us in their vomit-
ings of fire — in their groaning, and shaking, of the
nature of him who sleepeth beneath.

Tombstones are they, flame-shaped and spiral,
marking the resting-place of the infinite. They show
the oozing out of his power, and the aroma of his
presence fills space, things and men with his return-
ing consciousness, which, when fully returned, will
swallow up all things as matter in fire. The chan-
ging forms — the mutability of things — is due to the
fire which dissolves, changes, and combines matter.
The will baptizes the fire as with water, and thus in
wisdom preserves forms, and perpetuates life. It
holds it in check, and regulates the heat so that we

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE. I $7

are not consumed. This is the esoteric meaning of
the baptism with water.

If the will can restrain the fire through its exer-
cise, it also can unchain the lightnings and vomit out
flame, which, though unseen, shall not be unf elt, and
which, meeting things on the way, passes through,
dissolves, and causes them to disappear noiselessly,
in decency and in order. The same hidden and un-
seen power drove back the lightnings in their mad
revel on " dark Galilee " at the simple words, " Peace !
Be still."

It is the unnaturalness of man that keeps the Infi-
nite under. We cannot return to nature, but we can
rise up to the supernatural, and still exist. We suffer
pain, because of the deficiency of fire. How easy for
the strong will to turn a flame upon the dark door of
it, and exorcise it as if by magic. We are full of
darkness and sorrow, because we are vacant. How
easy to be full if we are only wise !

To attract the fire and hold it by baptism is full-
ness ; which, indeed, is life-pleasure ; nay, ecstasy,
beside which trance is as a dream. In purity all
power resides. Fire renders all things pure. It
reduces, refines, purifies and illuminates all things.
Fire flows from love. But you do not know what
love is. You think it hath something of sex in it ;^
and so it has, for sex is a symbol of it. The ecstasy
of a virgin soul when first baptized by the contact of
a spirit, all in harmony, is a poor expression of love
in its abstruse sense. But it is the best I have.

158 THE TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS.

Love is not the soul. But the emotions we feel that
satisfy us, we call love. These emotions felt by the
soul are produced by movements of the spirit being
projected by the will from the mind to the soul.
Soul is the mother ; Spirit is the father ; and love
dwells in a latent state in all things till roused into
action. So Spirit or God being love, produces emo-
tions only by action, which is effected by mind in us.
When latent l it is power — when active, the creator.
, The highest and most ecstatic and exalting emotions
mankind know — those that transform us into Gods,
or debase us to the lowest Hells — are produced by
the union of the sexes.

It moves the whole sensorium of the soul, and by
its motions evolves a spiritual fire that burns in the
nerves like a volcano. As a volcano vomits out
molten earth and mineral, so fire, trained by the will
(baptism) decomposes all dross and baseness, which it
eliminates from the system, leaving nothing but the
pure metal. Beware of the fire, if you are impure !
It will leave not a vestige of you, soul, mind or body.
Love builds up or destroys. Slow, lingering decay
is as certain as rapid combustion. Nothing comes
out of God's crucible but immortal beings.

THE SOUL. 159