The Importance Of Self-Surrender

[QUOTING]

So it is crucial 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 he is forcibly conditioned. He lives in accordance with the astral fire flowing into his liver. Through this force, all his nerve centers are connected with each other. One might 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 lipika (the auric being or the firmament) represents the totality of forces and values which have resulted from the various personalities in the field of manifestation of a microcosm. All these forces together from the lights, the stars of the microcosmic firmament. These lights are a magnetic foci which, according to their nature, determine the quality of the forces and substances extracted from the atmosphere and absorbed by the microcosm, and so, by the personality. The nature of the personality is therefore determined by the nature of these lights. The change of the personality must be preceded by a change of the lipika, of the lights.This will only be possible through the sacrifice of the I, the I-demolition or self-surrender, also called endura.

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 to 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. There 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 should 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 fulfil 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 this life, that he keeps on encountering 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 center of the microcosm and at the same time the central heart of the astral body.  The Rose must bloom; the unfoldment and blossoming of the Rose is the rebirth of the Soul.

In the heart of the Rose, in the center 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, unreservedly to the Rose. When the Rose has been awakened once again, when once again it can radiate power, new, pure astral currents arise 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 between Jesus the Lord and John the Baptist at the Jordan 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" - The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

Man's worst enemy is himself. The toughest battle you will ever fight will be with yourself. Because it is the I that rules you, wanting all for itself, concerned only with what is good for itself, repelling all that does not contribute to the satisfaction and aggrandisement of the self.

How difficult is it for one to ignore the promptings, the pleadings, the cajoling, the rationalizing, the persuasive arguments of the I? It is very difficult, extremely so because we are brought up from a young age to "love yourself". This simple concept does nothing but send us careening off into a life of chasing self-fulfillment at any and all costs, placing ourselves in front, and our brother or sister behind.

But what is wrong with loving myself, the I will postulate? The answer? Look about you and see what this doctrine of selfishness has created for mankind and the world. See where the quest to satisfy the self has gotten you in your own life. To love the self above all others goes against the grain of the Divine Plan for mankind. It has estranged us far from Spirit. To begin walking the Path back towards Spirit, we must surrender our selves, we must cease to allow the I to steer the boat. We must look out and away from the self, endeavoring to live lives of unselfish service, objectivity, non-conflict and unconditional love.

If we can do this, we will be demonstrating by our actions - not just our words, but by our actions - that we are prepared to walk the walk. That we are ready to stand aside and make way for The Other One, the True Human Being that lies within us, awaiting Resurrection.

~ g
.

Long-Ago Message From A Brother Twice-Born

[QUOTING]

The spirit of the Enwrapped One returned to the body at the behest of the Lord of the Twice-Born, and he who had survived became a Twice-Born One. When led forth into the Place of Glorification his face shines with an inner beauty indescribable. From that day onward his conduct and attitudes are changed and he is at peace with all men and with himself. He needs nothing from earthly life and seeks nothing. He accepts and enjoys whatever life offers, for he has learned the answer to the riddle of life and solved the Secret of the Ages.

Your brother was one who underwent the Initiation of the Twice-Born, and he has drawn the curtain aside a little to reveal only what is permitted. It is little enough but sufficient for you to understand why, when kings and governors rose to position and power, they declined the ordeal. It is understandable, for the final ordeal brought earthly life as close as possible to extinction, without complete severance of the spiritual umbilical cord. Before this, went more than twenty years arduous preparation. Yet long and terrible though it was, the time and austerity did not exceed the necessary limits by even one jot. In sorrow your brother must say that it was not an ordeal required to obtain something man has never possessed, it was to regain something he had lost. It was, however hard as it may seem, the lowest price payable for the Secret of the Ages.

For long years he who aspired to become one of the Twice Born had to practice the awakening of his spirit and bring his body under complete control. The first thing to overcome was met long before any threshold was approached, it was something which lurked in the uncontrolled thoughts of men. The frightening experiences during the years of preparation had to be modified and their effect channeled off, otherwise the awakening spirit would have been completely overwhelmed. As the material body of man cannot come too close to a blazing fire, so cannot the spirit approach too close to the sphere of divinity.

Having arisen from the Womb of Rebirth, the spirit is completely freed from any doubt about the immortality of man. Can a man doubt the source of sunlight when he can see the sun arising in glory before his eyes? Having joined the Twice-Born each man has a choice, he can go on to higher development within the Realms of Light, or he can remain to help others. Your brother chose to remain.

This wisdom of the Twice Born has spread to every corner of the Earth, and Caverns of Initiation are opened everywhere. But increasingly, through the years, men have declined to undergo the austerities and trials essential to bring them into the clear light of Truth. Therefore, the places of initiation decay and their secrets are lost, men grope in the dark and try to open a Door to which they have no Key. If a man has not the courage or the time, the inclination or the ability to sail to a far distant land, then if he would know about that land he must listen to those who have made the journey. So it is with those who would know the Secret of the Ages.

Men possess creed of little value because they are unwilling to pay the price of something better. Your brother has no way of explaining his ultimate experience to others. Although he has looked upon the face of Truth and now understands the purpose of life, what he has seen must remain locked within the heart. Though he no longer has to be satisfied with belief alone, he cannot extend his certainty to others. Yet men forever seek him out hoping to share with him the wonderful knowledge which has so gloriously transformed his life. This he tries to do, within the limits imposed by his own expanded enlightenment, beyond that he cannot go.

The spirit of the Twice Born can be liberated at will. How often have you seen your brother in a state of ecstasy which he cannot describe? It is a state beginning in quiet bliss, flowing outward in bright radiance from an inner light which can even illuminate the material darkness about him. He hears the music of the sacred spheres and sees the throbbing pulsations of life heaving about him, like waves upon the great seas. He becomes aware of an inflowing of unspoken Knowledge from a surrounding power. It does not come from any one point, but appears to flow out of all things and to penetrate all things. Material objects lose their density and become visible within, they become as though compounded of ten thousand whirling spheres of brightness. Colours are no longer dull and restricted, they become infinite in depth and number. The spirit becomes lost in adoration and wonder at the beauty revealed in everything. The soul is aware of something glorious within all this and knows it for the spirit outflowing from its source.

There is a complete unconsciousness of others, for the Greater Sight transcends their material bodies. The spirits of men are seen in a harmony of colours and their bodies as whirling masses of power. The experiencing soul is lost in a sea of sensitivity and feeling. There is a swelling surge of harmony, a sounding of glorious chords. It is the sea that washes the shores of eternity lapping upon the nearer strand.

It is an experience that no one can give to another or adequately describe to him. It is the earned reward of those who have paid the price. It is not the only reward, for throughout the life of one who is Twice-Born there is boundless feeling of well-being, sickness and disease are unknown. There is an abiding love for all men, a sense of brotherhood, and over all this the certain knowledge of the immortality of the soul and its unity with The Source. The impressions received in moments of illumination are everlasting. They fill the spirit with a glorified splendour. There are flashes of inspired visions, and the future unrolls and can be read as the past. There is a form of joyous rapture experienced by those who have risen from the Womb of Rebirth, and when it comes it can no more be held back than the sun can be stayed in its rising.

When the body of your brother lay enwrapped within the Womb of Rebirth, his spirit was carried out as on the wings of a seraph and became lost in a sphere beyond understanding. He knew not which way to go or what to seek. Then, like a roll of distant thunder, there was a swelling sound and there came an over-dazzling light. It grew steadily more brilliant until your brother saw a beautiful form of divine Glory arrayed in a splendour beyond all earthly bounds. The cumbersome words of Earth cannot do justice to what your brother wishes to describe. It is like trying to sew a silk garment with rope, or to eat sweetmeats with a spade. Words are wholly inadequate symbols.

The vision of glory which had been granted passed away and your brother found himself in the familiar sphere of the Spirit. Once the mysterious border has been crossed it remains open ever after and can be re-crossed almost at will. You are told of these things because your brother knows that the age of the Twice-Born draws to its close. Because of those who have devoted their lives to the discovery of Truth, there is progress in the sphere of the Spirit. Nothing has been lost, nothing has been in vain; the Great Gates are still closed, but they are no longer bolted. Now they will open at a knock. The road is better marked and the way more clearly indicated. They who lit the Path have departed from Earth, but their service has not ended. They serve still in another place. While life on Earth moves forward, life in the sphere of the spirit does not stand still.

From "The Book of the Sons of Fire" - Fourth Book of The Bronzebook - The Kolbrin

[END QUOTING]

The books of the Kolbrin are thousands and thousands of years old. Their chronicles span aeons of time.

Long ages ago there were those who tread the Path through arduous austerities and years of rigorous preparation. The above passage comes from one who was successful in completing The Great Work. He was able to consummate the Alchemical Wedding, the re-linking of Spirit with the Reborn Soul.

Our brother attempts to describe what such an existence is like for one who has been "Twice-Born". He did the best he could with the words available to him.

The Path is as old as Time itself. We are now at a point where it is much easier to obtain the One Goal than it ever was in the past. All who are ready should take advantage of the Grace of an Age which is now currently available to all of mankind.

"Knock and it shall be opened to you".

~ g
.

Get It Right

This is what the masses of humanity believe to be true:

"I am a body with a soul. If I believe in a particular "god" and follow a particular doctrine, then when I die my soul will leave the body and travel to "heaven" where I will be with Jesus or Buddha or Moses or seventy-two virgins or whatever my earthly religion has indoctrinated me to expect to find on the other side".

The foregoing is categorically incorrect. Here's another one:

"I am a body with an immortal soul. The purpose of life is to improve the quality of my soul until someday, I reach 'Nirvana'. I do not know what Nirvana even means. I think it means bliss. This process of soul-growth may take many lives to compete. I, me, will continue to repeatedly return to earth-life until I have reached the required level of soul-growth at which point I will travel to 'Nirvana'."

Wrong again. I won't even bother to get into the ridiculous confusion of the atheist.

Now, for the truth about what is happening here:

You are a temporary, emergency-order being, no more and no less. It is the microcosm that is immortal but stranded here on the physical plane. You are "born" as a personality into the material-sphere and mated with a microcosm in the hope that you will somehow, through diligent seeking, find the Key to the Mystery and awaken the divine part of you that is not of the earth-plane. That divine part of you is the Spirit-spark atom positioned in the center of the microcosm. The location of this Divine Nucleus corresponds roughly to the area of the upper right ventricle of the physical heart. It can only be awakened by the touch of a like-vibration. This divine vibration is called Gnosis.

Your "soul" is a mortal soul. It gradually dissolves after death. As for "spirit"? You have no spirit. Correction. Your "spirit" is currently disconnected from your earthly vehicles. You have no contact with "spirit".

The purpose of your life, the One Goal, is to purify and renew the soul so that Spirit can enter and re-unite with it. When the Spirit-Soul has been restored, the physical body can then undergo transfiguration. The old "you", the material-sphere human-being is effectively replaced and absorbed by the Other One, the divine True Human Being. The Tri-Unity of Spirit-Soul-Body will have been restored.

Consciousness will expand to encompass planes of existence currently undetectable to you. As a divine True Human Being, united with Spirit (which is of God) you will become an instrumentarium for carrying out the will of God on the material plane. Immortality will be restored.

This is the glorious destiny of man. It does not take lifetimes to achieve. It can be achieved in one short lifetime if the temporary, emergency-order human-being gains insight into his condition, discovers The Path and sincerely begins to yearn for Liberation. At that point, contact can be made between the Divine-Spark and the power of the Gnosis. From there, the human-being must undergo the endura, a surrendering of the self. Once the "I" and its selfish desires have been neutralized, the candidate will have to begin living with a new attitude to life. A life characterized by Unselfishness, Giving and Service. As the candidate persists in this Quest, living out of the New Field of Life, at a given moment he will no longer be of the earth, earthly. He or she will be in the world, but no longer of the world.

This is the Purpose for which you were "born". To pursue any other goal aside from Liberation will result in a failed incarnation and the dissolution of "you". Your microcosm will be emptied and in a few hundred years be made to return to physical life again to unite with a new temporary, emergency-order personality (which will not be "you"). This new personality will attempt to obtain for the microcosm the One Goal that you and umpteen other personalities before you failed to reach.

The only way to escape the "second death" (the dissolution of the remaining personality vehicles after the death of the physical body) and retain the "you-that-you-are" is to follow The Path of Liberation to a successful conclusion. Upon transfiguration, which is the culmination of the fivefold Gnostic process of Rebirth, the you-that-you-are will be merged with the Glorified Personality that will have been re-born through your efforts during this incarnation. Your consciousness will merge with a Greater Consciousness. Your eyes shall be opened.

Therefore, do not waste this valuable incarnation partaking in foolishness and chasing earthly desires. These things are a chimera, illusions that will fade into nothingness. You are not here to "enjoy life", "have fun", "be happy", get rich, be famous, partake in myriad pleasures, copulate excessively, indulge fetishes and compulsions, etc. You are here on a cosmic rescue mission. You are here to liberate your microcosm from its eternal prison. By doing so, you shall also liberate yourself and fulfill the Divine Plan of the Logos.

You can no longer say that "no one told me". It has now been revealed to you. Do not hesitate. Enough time has been wasted. Start today.

~ g
.

The Great Crystal - Conclusion

[QUOTING]

Nevertheless, everyone has a "black king" with him, as a result of his karma and his parentage. Every human-being will need to take this fact into consideration. That is why, as we have seen, The Alchemical Wedding draws our attention to the presence of this black king. And we understand now that the first task is to bring together in our system all the elements necessary for the success of the alchemical wedding.

Then the great battle has to begin. Only then can The Great Work begin in reality. If one is able to begin this battle while young, it is of the greatest importance. So what a privilege it is for a child to have parents who understand all this and adapt their actions accordingly. Seen in this light, parenthood is a great privilege, a glorious task and a high vocation.

It is so very important to guide children into the sphere of the One True Human Calling. If, early in life, you give the child's pineal eyes the opportunity to absorb the mental attitude of a gnostic attitude to life, you will be teaching him to direct himself towards following The Path, and he or she will do this quite naturally, from within. And by so doing, you will quickly activate the faculties of the pineal gland mentioned above. Then, when the child reaches adulthood, he will have no difficulty at all in understanding mentally matters concerning The Path, not as lessons he has learned, but as self-evident truths. For through the crystal property of the pineal eyes a vital force is emanated which influences the entire being. This force will drive both body and soul in the same direction.

But this wonderful structure can also be mis-used and the pineal faculty dis-organized by various systems of education adapted to the concerns of the nature-of-death. If the pineal glands of the very many children who are harmed by such education are not nevertheless touched by something of the Original kundalini-fire, so that a few of the pineal eyes are affected, escape from imprisonment in the nature-of-death is out of the question. And even then, a far greater struggle to reach Liberation awaits them.

We would also like to mention the danger associated with the adoption of certain thinking habits. Many people maintain a thought-life which consists partly of fantasizing and for the rest is based on an incorrect attitude to life and on negativity. If such a wrong thought-life is maintained long enough, compulsive thought processes will develop which are often so strong that closely concealed thoughts drive one to evil practices or even a total inability to act.

Now that we have said all this, the meaning of he strange statues mentioned in the text will be clear. These statues moved as if they were alive and their appearance was fantastic. Every human-being has such a gallery of images stored in the pineal granules, and is frequently victimized by them. A rigid, inflexible mentality is always to be accounted for by such images. Only in a few cases does one benefit from them, when during childhood one's thought-life develops in such a way that body and soul spontaneously enter the Great Process of Liberation. But in many cases this gallery of images only means a thought-life, an "I"-life, incapable of making body and soul follow the liberating Path, or which leads to a state of total passivity. That is why very strange things are enacted in and by this fantastic gallery of images, sometimes so strange that we understand C.R.C. when he says he cannot possibly mention them all.

We hope that by saying all this we have alerted you fully with regard to the wonderful instrumentarium in your head sanctuary, of which you know so very little but which in fact requires your vigilance from second-to-second.

Therefore: be -- and remain -- watchful!

From "The Moving Statues" The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross, Vol I - JVR

[END QUOTING]

Teach Your Children.

Control Thy Thoughts.

~ g
.

The Great Crystal

[QUOTING]

To understand you will first need to know that the exterior of the pineal gland is covered with a granular, sand-like layer. These "grains of sand" are minuscule, so tiny that the pineal gland --  which itself is no larger than a pea -- has hundreds of them on its surface. The interior of the pineal gland consists partly of grains of a yellow or gold-like, glowing substance. These grains are larger than those on the outside. This "sand" on the outside of the pineal gland is not found in very small children, but it occurs in large quantities in young people in the prime of life. During growth from youth to adulthood, the number of grains constantly increases until a certain age, after which they gradually disappear.

Through a variety of experiments, physiologists have discovered that esotericists are right to claim that these "grains of sand" in the pineal system have a very important function, for they are involved in the thinking processes and also in memory and intelligence . These things have been investigated particularly during recent years, and no doubt you will be able to find out more from the literature published on the subject. For instance, it has been found that if there are insufficient granules on the surface of the pineal gland, the thinking processes are seriously obstructed or sometimes even entirely prevented.

The golden, luminescent granules both within and on the exterior of the pineal gland, can be compared with minuscule gemstones or crystals. They have a wonderful function. Whenever a thought arises in the brain as a result of a perception, an experience, or some other occurrence, this activity is absorbed by one of the exterior pineal crystals, retained and reflected to the interior of the pineal gland. But the crystal also reflects back the absorbed thought-image, sending it in various directions. So it is as if the pineal gland is covered with countless tiny eyes which receive thoughts and retain, reflect and radiate them. This small organ therefore, has an enormous radius of action.

The granules inside the pineal gland are crystals which have to do with the hereditary and karmic condition of the person concerned. So on the one hand, the pineal gland is influenced by the parents and the ancestors -- hence by hereditary factors -- and on the other hand by the auric sphere of the microcosm -- hence by karmic factors. The sum of these influences determine the quality of the pineal gland as an organ of perception and assimilation. The quality of the pineal gland will therefore demonstrate these two distinct aspects in the great majority of people.

On this basis, the crystals on the exterior of the organ are formed. These crystals correspond with various part of the bain and with the chakra system in the body as a whole. So the radiations of these crystals arouse a related activity throughout the bodily system, and naturally, the nerve-ether will be in harmony with this.

Besides its karmic and hereditary disposition, the child's pineal gland also possess a greater or lesser fundamental receptivity to the Light-power of the Gnosis. It is even possible for such crystals to be present in the pineal gland at birth. This clearly indicates the incalculable value of a positive and correct way of life on the part of the parents during the pre-natal state.

End Part I

From "The Moving Statues" The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross, Vol I - JVR

[END QUOTING]

The pineal gland is man's "third eye". Once active in ages and times past, it is now dormant. It is a crystalline structure, and, as you may or may not know, crystals are excellent receivers and transmitters (see: the radio). Within this tiny organ lies great potentiality. It is what makes multi-dimensional consciousness possible -- if it can be awakened in the proper manner.

By awakening, we are not speaking of the exercises advanced by certain occult groups. This will only lead to a negative sensitivity. The entity must follow the Path, in true self-surrender, in order to attract the pure vibrations that are required to awaken this powerful organ of perception.

~ g
.

"Goodness" Is An Illusion On Earth - Conclusion

[QUOTING]

If you are a candidate on the Path, we can describe your situation as follows:

Firstly, you know about the Path

Secondly, you are interested in the Path and have set your heart on it

Thirdly, as a result, you have been taken up into a gnostic Living Body

Fourthly, you are therefore subject to an intense radiation emanating from it.

Fifthly, on the one hand, you are standing in the midst of the nature-of-death and its influences, while on the other you are experiencing the radiations of the Gnosis.

Sixthly, it is a fact that the world's atmosphere is becoming increasingly evil and full of misery, while at the same time the influence of the Gnosis, which manifests itself in you in the Living Body, is growing in intensity.

Seventhly, you are therefore bearing a twofold burden and it is as if you are being torn limb from limb. On the one hand there is the nature-of death, on the other, the influence of the Living Body of the Gnosis.

You are being torn apart, and that is something no one can endure for long, unless you actually walk the Path you know so well in theory, taking all the consequences into consideration. Please understand what we are saying. We are not trying to blame you in any way. We only mean to draw your attention to a factual state which has existed until now, either wholly or in part. What is required now? What is necessary is that you begin immediately to experience the Path, and to walk it with the greatest possible speed. What you need is to throw yourself into the actuality of pupilship. You need to experience the Path. You need to realize your pupilship, immediately, positively.

Do you realize, in view of the facts we have mentioned, that many are teetering on the brink of an abyss? That is why, in view of the extremely rapid unfoldment of the course of world events, it is high time that you intervened radically in your own state-of-being. In everything in which you still remain on the negative side of things, you ought to intervene before it is no longer possible to do so.

You know the way. You are familiar with the method. At the same time, the power to break through is at your disposal. Why are you sighing then?

There is nothing to sigh about, because hands are outstretched in the thousands to lift you out of the morass. But if you don't take hold of the outstretched hand, how can you ever be helped?

"The Delusory Goodness of Evil" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol III - J. Van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

Get to it.

Don't talk about it...be about it.

~ g
.

"Goodness" Is An Illusion On Earth

[QUOTING]

It is necessary to place these words in the living present. By now you will no doubt agree with us that The Good is not to be found in this world and that life is nothing but trouble and sorrow, that pain and grief are man's lot. But there are optimists as well as pessimists, cheerful people as well as prophets of doom.

There are those who accept life as it is. There are also those who struggle hopelessly against it. There are those who worry all the time, and those who are quite content. But virtually all know in their heart of hearts  that, if it comes to the crunch, the 'good' they are searching for or think they have found is a shadow, an unreality. And even if that knowledge is not present, there are still feelings of doubt from time to time, and quite so often disappointments, too. For the 'good' turns out to be not so 'good' after all, but only a greater or smaller part of evil.

You will understand though, that what we have said does not apply to life-spark entities, who have no awareness of these things. They are just like animals and do not have an inner life.

Now if you are a pupil of the young Gnosis, take a look at yourself. Great opportunities are available to you, because you participate in the Living Body of the School. However, we would like to ask: 'Are you happy at this moment? Have you raised yourself above the level of grief and pain? Have you freed yourself from sorrow and suffering? Has sorrow gone from you? Do you stand, morning, noon and night, in the joy of the children of God? Is it not so that your course through life, particularly in these times, is very burdensome? Could it not be said that you are enmeshed in problems without number and that you have a thousand-and-one worries? What is the cause of all this?

Have you every noticed that many people complain of ill health? This is often true of pupils of the School. Many do not look well. The main complaint is tiredness. One has the impression that many experience these difficulties because of long periods of stress without sufficient rest. The diet of most pupils, too, is far from ideal.

This is a symptom of our times. All over the world, in fact, this general deterioration can be observed. The state we have entered into now was predicted several years ago. Pupils were warned about it again and again.

Why were they warned? What can one do about it? As nature-born human-beings aren't we all threatened by the same dangers?

No, you were warned repeatedly because there is something you can do about it! But one of the difficulties of these times is that people do not listen well and understand so poorly. More over, people forget very quickly. Everything we are telling you today, you could well have forgotten entirely by tomorrow, not intentionally, not because you are primitive, but because what you hear, you repress!

The atmosphere in which we live has changed. The Great Game is being played! You observe how world events are affected by the Great Game, how they correspond to the unmasking*. But do you observe how the Great Game has already begun with respect to you?

A general sickening, weakening and poisoning of all mankind has begun. We announced this well beforehand, so that you would not be victimized by it. All those complaints show that all are being swept along in the mighty current of destruction. Coughing and sneezing, anemic and laden with all kinds of symptoms we are carried along by the current, unable to resist. Uneasiness and despondency prevail wherever you look.  People are asking themselves: 'Where is this all going to lead? What is going on?'

The tenth book of Hermes provides us with an opportunity to give an objective answer to these questions: the human-being of this world is unable to perceive! What the eyes see, as Hermes says, are only chimera and shadows of the lower nature.

How so? On account of your head sanctuary. On account of your sensory faculties. The entire head sanctuary of the nature-born human-being is attuned to the nature-of-death, His sensory faculties, whether coarse or refined, are attuned to duality, to ordinary nature. This state-of-consciousness is forever unsuited to perceive The Only Good; The Only Good that, at the very least, is the Living Soul-state's condition of existence. That which most closely approaches the essence of The Good is hidden from our eyes. The most Mighty, the most Glorious, entirely eludes the centers of consciousness, the sensory organs of the head sanctuary.

The Good, The Only Good, is not to be found in this world. The radiation of The Good, however, the universal Seven-Spirit, is nevertheless omnipresent. And you can participate in this radiation. In that lies the possibility of ascent. But it is not enough simply to know this; that would mean only that you have grasped it intellectually. As long as this knowledge remains mere intellectual cognizance, it will do you no good.

"The Delusory Goodness of Evil" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol. III - J. van Rijckenborgh

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The Ten Forces

"...the absolute, insurmountable unity of The Twelve can be assailed by the Ten Forces; only the Ten Forces can bring a solution, for when they begin to assert themselves, The Twelve automatically recede".

The Ten Forces, or Virtues, are:

Gnosis
Joy
Courage (Forebearance)
Self-Control
Righteousness (Justice)
Magnaminity
Truth
The Only Good
Life
Light

[QUOTING]

If you understand the Process of Rebirth, if you can really see how the Light-raiment of the Sophia develops -- and only a complete acceptance will make this possible --  if you truly recognize the Gnosis, the Sophia, then ignorance, the first vice, will be driven out. Hermes says that if you truly come to recognition, to insight, from within, you will be purified. If you do not simply accept the truth of the Gnosis on authority, but experience it from within, ignorance will recede from you.

Through purification and growing self-knowledge, ignorance is cast out and straight away, a great tremor of Joy will pass through you, reverberating throughout your being. This Joy casts out all sorrow: the second vice. It cannot be compared with any joy in the nature-of-death, any happiness arising from the interplay of opposites. It is a scintillating force from the life-sphere of the Soul-state; it confers upon you an inner state that will never fade.

Imagine that this ignorance has been taken away from you in a fundamental way, and in your nature-born state of experience it is as if the veils have been removed. Ignorance has vanished. And straight away, a glorious radiation descends into you from the Light-raiment of the Sophia - if you possess it - bringing with it an inner Joy that fills you utterly and passes all understanding. And behold, intemperance is driven out in the same way, for the flood of inner Joy poured out over you continues flowing into you in a steady rhythm, feeding and sustaining you. And as a result, any tendency towards disequilibrium -- which is what Hermes  means by 'intemperance' -- disappears.

If you are living in such a torrent of abundance, you will no longer want to keep on renewing your attachment to the nature-of-death. This renunciation of everything dualistic, this forebearance will drive out the vice of desire. By 'desire', Hermes means 'chasing after earthly goals' == the constant pursuit of  things on a horizontal level, things which are purely of the earth, earthly. So, when you stand in the steadily flowing current of energy coming from the Light-vesture surrounding you, the vice of desire will be driven out.

If you regard life and action in the nature-of-death with an objective eye, because you possess and experience the Inner Man, then, as Hermes says, this will provide a foundation for Justice. Then all unrighteousness will be banished without any trouble at all.

The person with an enlightened Soul lets his light shine over good and evil alike, over everyone and everything. Hermes calls this virtue Magnaminity, which drives out the vice of greed. Hermes does not mean greed for money or goods, or anything like that, but greed, miserliness with respect to your expressions of sympathy and the giving out of your love-radiations.

The Soul belong to everyone and is in everyone. The Soul makes no distinctions. Like the sun, it shines on good and bad alike. All that approval and disapproval, all those sympathies and antipathies people have, amount to nothing more than foolish, miserable unfairness and bias, and in Hermes' terms this vice can be called the worst, the most shameful desire. If you free yourself from this vice by radiating your Soul-power to everyone, regardless of who they are, then you will stand in the power of Truth. Then Truth will reveal itself, the Truth that dispels all lies, all deceit. Lies and deceit, in this sense, are the attachments and sympathies the nature-born human being harbors out of habit, or because of the expectations of society.

The world thirsts and sighs for truth! Only if Truth, in its absolute sense, enters the candidate, can The Only Good become perfect and complete in him. When Truth finds admittance, the Good, the Life and the Light appear. All jealousy, and any other vices, must then depart. And finally the moment comes when, out of the dark, dualistic nature-born body, no further vice emerges. All vices are banished, overcome by the storm of the soma psychikon. As soon as the Ten Virtues have entered, the Twelve Vices are vanquished. Only in this way can the Process of Rebirth from the Sophia be brought to completion. Many of you possess such splendid and glorious Soul-quality, and with it you should root all those vices out of your personality, with great determination, like a storm. Then you will make your body, your personality, a suitable tool in the service of God and mankind. Then there will no longer be anything to prevent you from rising right out of the nadir of materiality, and resurrection will become a fact. We hope and pray that you will soon complete this labor of purification.

"The Development of Gnostic Consciousness" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol. IV - J. Van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

Remember, however, that the "I" cannot cultivate these Virtues. They are bestowed upon the candidate once the Divine-Spark has been awakened and, in self-surrender, the candidate endeavors to 'walk in the light' from that point on. This reversal can be done, it must be done, in order for the Goal to be reached.

We must let go of the vices that 'make us human' and embrace the virtues that will enable us to become god-men and god-women.

~ g
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The Twelve Vices (Listed)

[QUOTING]

The human-being possesses twelve fundamental vices, horrifying to behold. These are:

ignorance
grief and sorrow
intemperance
desire
injustice
greed
deceit
envy
guile
anger
thoughtlessness
malice

These fundamental vices are present in every human being born of matter. There is no exception. The worker in God's vineyard, sent out to labour in the nature-of-death, is daily reminded: 'Take care in your contact with the inhabitants of the nature-of-death. Keep in mind the twelve fundamental vices. If one of them fades into the background, it is more than likely that the others will act with re-doubled vigor'.

And that is how the Inner Man can be kept prisoner, if brothers and sisters in whom the Soul has been resurrected do not use their Soul-power to neutralize their own vices. And if they do not, no further progress can be made.

People often battle to control their vices. They observe these vices in themselves, or other people point them out, and then, full of good intentions, they often try to neutralize them with their ego. But that is never any use, in a liberating sense. These fundamental vices can only be rooted out with living Soul-power.

The period during which the influence of the New Soul is increasingly exerting itself, but the birth of the Inner Man from the substance of the Sophia has not yet taken place, is a critical one. That is why many pupils who already possess something of the Inner New Man are often obstructed in their progress by the presence of the Twelve Fundamental Vices. One can never afford to forget them for a moment.

'The Development of Gnostic Consciousness" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol IV - J. van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

Next: The Ten Forces

The Twelve Vices

[QUOTING]

The personality you yourself are, is not only of the earth, earthly, but of the zodiac. If you have ever studied astrology, you will know that our solar system, with all its planets and their moons, moves within and is enclosed by the twelve signs of the zodiac, so that the zodiac and everything it contains forms one system. This system triggers everything that happens in your life, and your personality is determined by it. This tent-dwelling owes its whole existence to the action of the twelve signs of the zodiac. If you study these things you will realize that the zodiac forms one astral system out of which all its inhabitants have to live, whatever planet they come from.

So this system and everything it contains is the nature-of-death, the non-static realm in which the forces of antitheses hold sway, constantly cancelling each other out. Even without astrology you can easily find proof of this, because astronomy, too, shows how every process of the universe-of-death is characterized by a constant rising, shining and fading. You can confirm for yourself the validity of Jacob Boehme's idea that the zodiacal system is a closed-off space in which 'God has enclosed mankind, so that the evil taking shape therein would not penetrate the entire universe'.

Hermes states plainly that the twelve vices are the direct result of zodiacal activity. He says: the zodiac consists of twelve elements; one nature, but manifold of conception. This means to say that you are born under one sign of the zodiac, one zodiacal activity. So there is one aspect which is fundamental in your life, and the other eleven merge with it. They all work together to mislead mankind. They form an absolute, insurmountable unity, and that is why the twelve vices are anchored fundamentally in man. You have not learned them. You have not cultivated them. They are not the result of evil, and neither are they the result of an accumulation of sins. No, they are twelve fundamental flaws that appear in your life as vices. Think of the two words: 'flaw' and 'imperfection'. As long as any flaw is present there can be no perfection, and the result will be a certain amount of disorder.

To put it another way, our nature is a nature in genesis, it is only an aspect of what it must one day become. That is why we speak of a birth in nature and a birth in the Spirit, of Soul-birth and Spirit-birth, and of being 'twice-born'.

The twelve vices are present in man in their positive and negative, their good and evil aspects, and thus are capable of building up heavy karma, under which man wanders bowed under a great burden of sin. And that is how what is not-yet-perfect can be held fast in the clutches of imperfection.

The existence of these activities and their effects has always been known to mankind. However far back you go in history, you will find knowledge of the forces of the zodiac. Think, for instance, of the Great Pyramid, that mighty Egyptian symbol whose construction is based entirely on measurements and data derived from the zodiacal system and the solar system. You will also see how the forces of the zodiac have always been a source of great confusion for seekers. This confusion lasts until the pupil on The Path discovers that the absolute, insurmountable unity of The Twelve can be assailed by the Ten Forces; that only the Ten Forces can bring a solution, for when they begin to assert themselves, The Twelve automatically recede.

"In The World, But Not Of The World" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis Vol. IV - J. van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]
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