Self-Surrender And The Astral Body

[QUOTING]

So it is critical for every candidate to bring about the correct order and regulation in the magnetic system of his microcosm. This must be the highest aim of the pupil's way of life. By means of the lipika, the magnetic system, the astral fire of his astral body is brought into a particular motion, and this affects every vehicle of the personality and every aspect of his life.

This is how it works: the astral substance set in motion flows into the liver and brings the blood into a certain condition through which the person will live and act. In this way, he often finds that he is forcibly conditioned. He lives in accordance with the astral fire flowing into his liver. Through this force, all his nerve centres are connected with each other. One might well say that the entire nerve ether is extracted directly from the astral fire, from the astral body. The nervous system, and in particular the nerve fluid, causes considerable difficulties in your body and in your life, for instance the unwholesome inclination to sympathy and antipathy.

The astral nerve fluid also determines the state and quality of the endocrine system. All the endocrine organs burn, work exclusively on and through the astral fire. Furthermore, it determines all your moods. In short, your entire nature, your character, your attitude towards life and also the state of your will, stem from the condition of the astral body. Thus the astral body governs your entire life-state.

Your way of life must therefore be aimed at bringing about various fundamental changes in your astral body. Therein lies the key of your life. If you do not succeed in doing so, all your efforts will in fact be in vain. So what would your way of life be? There are various reformative aspects in your life. The primary one is and must be self-surrender. If you were to forget self-surrender, I-lessness, even the most assiduous efforts to fulfill all aspects of life-reform would be in vain.

Where does self-surrender, the crucifixion of one's own will, begin? It begins with the I, the bodily consciousness, the result of everything that seethes and boils in your astral body; it begins with the end product of the astral anarchy which manifests itself in your life. It must begin with the I. As a result of long experience, the I discovers that things are not as they should be, that there is something wrong with his life, that he keeps on encouraging difficulties and confusions in his life, until he finally understands the words: 'He who is willing to lose his life for My sake, shall gain the Kingdom, the New Life". He who is not willing to lose the life of his I, he who is not willing to enter self-surrender to the living-soul, will certainly not enter the immortal life of the soul.

If this is truly realized, if the necessity of this warning is understood, the way to self-surrender lies open, the mystical and gnostic, practically applied self-surrender to the True Soul, to the Rose of the Heart. This Rose, which makes itself known in the heart, at the top of the right heart ventricle, is the mathematical centre of the microcosm and at the same time the central heart of the astral body. The Rose must bloom; the unfoldment and blossoming of this Rose is the rebirth of the Soul.

In the heart of the Rose, in the centre of our astral system, lies the primordial idea of the Father, the  Logos, the primordial principle of our existence, God's Eternal Idea regarding us, His creatures. That is why the practical, gnostic human being dedicates his consciousness, his I-being, the end product of the astral chaos, to the Rose. When the Rose  has been awakened once again, when once again it can radiate Power, a new, pure astral current arises which fills his entire life. Then, for the first time in his state of existence, the morning, Aurora, dawns.

As soon as self-surrender and its results are approaching completion, as soon as the meeting at the Jordan between Jesus the Lord and John the Baptist can indeed be celebrated, the Soul will bloom, the Soul-Rose will come to life, and at the same moment the Spirit will descend upon it like a dove. Then the gospel words will be heard:

'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased'.

From "The Clock and The Globe" - Esoteric Analysis of the Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[QUOTING]

In the symbolism of the holy language, 'John the Baptist' is the nature-born man, the candidate who "makes straight the paths" as he calls out for deliverance by the Gnosis. The 'Jesus-man' represents the candidate whose divine-spark has been awakened. The river Jordan represents the blood fluids. The dove is the universal symbol for the Divine Spirit.

When the Johannine-man and the Jesus-man meet at the river Jordan for the Baptism, this symbolizes that the power of the Gnosis has entered the heart and is now streaming throughout the blood. The candidate is ready to begin his walk on the Path of Return, assisted by the mighty astral power of the Gnosis and over-shadowed by the Comforter, the divine Spirit.

Shortly thereafter, John the Baptist is beheaded...the nature-born man, his task of preparation complete, ceases to hold sway over the system. It is now the reborn Soul that takes charge of the task of purifying the system and re-uniting with the divine Spirit.

None of this can take place, however, without the surrender of the self to something Higher.

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

~ g
.