Consciousness And The New Soul Principle

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Consciousness occurs when the animating principle, causing life, occupies a central position in the system There is much natural life where, indeed, there is evidence of an animating principle, but this principle does not exist within the life-system, but influences it from without, As a result, no consciousness can be present in such a life-manifestation. We think here, for instance, of plants and insects. Indeed, with most species of animals there is no question at all of an individual animating principle, they exist out of a group-soul.

Other animals have a kind of half-consciousness. The animating principle only partially dwells in it; it does no lie concentrically in the physical vehicle but hangs and vibrates partly outside of it. With some of the higher species of animals such as horses and dogs, the animating principle approaches almost the in-dwelling condition, as is the case with human-beings. Were this evolution of the animal species to continue as to their nature-born state, dogs, horses and human beings would stand on equal footing. Then would occur what many authors during the course of history have fantasized: the manifestation of thinking, consciously living animals and the forming of animal communities. Think of Gulliver's Travels, by the well-known author Jonathan Swift. Gulliver comes upon a community of horses who think and live as humans.

In-dwelling animation, situated concentrically in the vehicles of the personality,makes thought possible, that is, a brain activity in the human sense.

The material body is built up of cell and atoms. It lives and remains vital because it possesses an etheric double. This etheric double continually propels a fourfold life-force into the organism. If this etheric vehicle did not function properly, all kinds of physical difficulties would arise.

The material body with its etheric double are vivified by an animating principle. When the thread between the animating principle and the organism is broken, in some way or other, death occurs and the organism disintegrates because it can no longer maintain itself in the system. We ascertained that life originates out of the co-operation of the animating principle, an etheric double and a material body.

Consciousness occurs when an animating principle is in-dwelling. It is possible to distinguish various conditions of consciousness, half-consciousness, etc., which are caused by the relationship of the soul to the organism. The question is whether the soul principle is situated concentrically or only partially in the vehicles. Our investigation makes it clear that the soul principle transcends life, is superior to mere form and appearance. Everything stands or falls on the basis of the soul principle with its animating activity.

What then, is this soul principle? It is of an astral, or sidereal nature. One can associate it with the astral vehicle of the personality that is drawn around the material body with its etheric double as a mantle.

The astral vehicle is composed of atoms of a higher, finer gradation than the etheric and material atoms. So there are material, etheric and astral atoms which correspond with the three spheres: the material, the etheric and the astral sphere. An etheric sphere surrounds the material  body of the earth and the astral sphere encircles the etheric sphere. The astral body of man resides in this sphere at night; it is drawn up into it. The astral body exists in three conditions, in three grades of density, in three different vibration frequencies.

In duality, (please pay attention to this, for then you will understand what transfiguration is) one of these astral conditions works positively and the other two negatively. The positive pole of the astral body corresponds with the liver-spleen system, more particularly with the liver, while the two negative poles correspond with the hart and the head. In practically all dualistic people the seat of consciousness is centralized in the liver-spleen system and the emotional and thought-life are attuned to it. This condition is fundamental to all nature-born people.

From "Live Out Of The New Soul Principle - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol 1 - Jan van Rijckenborgh

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Equanimity

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"Do I love the Soul enough? Is my self-surrender to the Soul really complete? Can the new Soul-power be sufficiently active in me and can it take shape in my being? Is everything going well with me? What way of life would be the best, the most efficient, in this respect?"

These are common questions which every pupil is faced with at one time or another.

We aim to confront the student of The Alchemical Wedding and those who are approaching the feast of the wedding hall with the imperishable fact that the love of God, which must become a reality within the True Man, is given to every creature; that it shines over good and bad alike.

The love of God is over everything and everyone. It is undivided. It knows no more or less. If a person has truly been reborn as to the Soul, he too can live according to this glorious Law. The love-radiation of the Soul, too, is emanated equally to all. It cannot do otherwise. With imperishable hope it comes to all who need help; to all who are seeking: to those who have gone astray and have been damaged; and also to those who still utterly oppose its requirement of Renewing Life. The Soul never flags in its loving activity. its loving Service. It faithfully perseveres, throughout all eternity.

You should not confuse the love of God, which is over everything and everyone, with the un-scientific "do-gooding" of some people, which is quite superficial and useless, and in fact even harmful. The love of God which goes out from every true Soul-being to all in the same measure, will help one and punish another, it will build up one and break another down. It gives to each one what he or she needs, in an absolute impersonal intervention. It has no I-central motives whatsoever.

Now that we have said all this about the love of God, we would like to point out to you that the first requirement for gaining control over your astral self is the absolute constancy of vibration of your entire astral body. Once you have attained this absolute constancy, the gate to the Alchemical Wedding is opened wide to you. The ability to do so is present within you. The astral body itself is able to achieve it. To make this clear, let us remind you that the astral body, or desire body, has three faculties: attraction, repulsion and equanimity. The faculty of equanimity -- not to be confused with neutrality or indifference  -- is an invariable, impersonal, objective, silent, dynamic radiation, emanating in absolute uniformity to all God's creation. If, on the basis of Soul-growth, you can attain this, strong feelings and emotional disturbances, with all their results, will no longer take place in you. Then you will stand like a candle, shining and clear, in God's greatest temple.

As long as this stillness of the astral light has not been realized within you, your astral turbulence will be manifested in three aspects. You will find yourself continually in conflict, both internally and externally. You will seek and attract what you strongly desire, and you will repel, and thus fight against, what offends or displeases you. And you will be indifferent  to what does not interest you, to those things you do not love or towards which you are inwardly hostile. In this way, your entire personality will be undermined by a continual whirl of impressions and influences.

If however, strengthened by the Soul, you are able to ascend to that equanimity, that equilibrium of astral vibration, you will quite naturally be able to attract and receive what is good, but without emotion. What is not good will simply be unable to enter your system. You will not need to devote a single particle of energy to what does not need it or is not worth it, although you are nevertheless connected with it. Through astral equilibrium you will be able to demonstrate a way of life in harmony with the Sermon on the Mount. Then you will love those who hate you. You will not resist the evil one and you will bless those who curse you. And you will do all this not in a personal, I-central way -- for that would be impossible in such a way of life, lived according to the Sermon on the Mount -- but on the basis of the disposition and nobility of the Soul, which enables every candidate to live such a life.

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A good friend once reminded me that one should not spend any time looking at one's feet while trying to walk the Path, for that one will be sure to bump into things.

Free advice in tow, we should also not spend too much time wondering if we are "worthy" to walk the Path. There are no "saints" on this planet. All have sinned, all have erred, for many lives, in different bodies. What is important about this ending-cycle is that we take advantage of the Grace that is being offered to all.

Stilling the astral body is a key component of what needs to be done on the way to transfiguration. Once again, like attracts like. The Gnosis is neither positive or negative. It is a sublime equilibrium, emanating from the heart of the Logos. If we remain slaves to our emotions, affinities and dislikes, we will continue to careen helplessly back and forth between the pairs of opposites and miss the point of Balance.

Find the Middle Way and maintain it. For when the astral body emanates equanimity it will enable the candidate to receive in return the abundant love of God.

~ g
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The Need For Astral Purification

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We hope that we have now made clear how necessary it is to gain knowledge and control of one's astral body (see The Neglected Astral Body).

Soul-quality and pupilship are the primary necessities for the fulfilment of this so important task. There must be new soul-quality, derived from the Rose of the Heart and active in the blood and nerve-fluid; an absolutely serious pupilship demonstrated in a life of actual deeds.

New soul-quality will also manifest itself in mental hygiene, in a new purified thought-life. You gain access to your astral body and can set it into motion by means of your thought-life. Every thought has an immediate astral effect, entirely in accordance with the thought's nature, quality, content and strength. So the nature of your mentality is of the greatest importance for the quality and maintenance of your entire personality. However, after the initial step of thought-hygiene, the next most important thing is the psychological and physical organization of your astral body. The pupil must know what he can and may do in that respect, for through the astral body ethers are released, and it is ethers that construct and maintain the material body.

As Rose-power and Rose-fragrance, new soul-quality makes the pupil's material body receptive to very sublime impressions, to astral influences far above the level of nature. These influences find it increasingly difficult to gain entrance to the system because of the ever finer, higher vibrations of the astral body. Serious pupilship ensures the candidate a harmonious link with the Living Body of the Spiritual School. Then, through the power of the Living Body, one can easily rise above harmful effects which the candidate, in his weakness, would ordinarily find difficult to withstand.

So it is important for those who are striving for true life-renewal in the sense of The Alchemical Wedding to realize clearly that besides a properly oriented material way of life, the conscious maintenance of pure astral behavior is also a necessity. If such practical, astral behavior fails to come, or is only partial, the Alchemical Wedding cannot be celebrated. Then the pupil will come to a standstill on his Path and will be unable to progress one millimeter further. It will be like the toiling of the Pistis Sophia, who struggles to achieve some result in her pupilship but is continually over-powered by the might of the aeons, by the countless variety of counter-influences active in the astral body, which victimize the entire fourfold* personality.

* man's mental, astral. etheric and physical vehicles

The Alchemical Wedding for which the candidate strives necessitates the realization of a threefold link: the reborn soul, the fourfold personality and the Spirit need to be combined into an absolute unity within the microcosmic field.

We have already discussed an important part of the preparation to restore this unification between the Spirit, Soul and Body and in the part of The Alchemical Wedding already explained the candidate has given proof of this preparation: the soul-birth has taken place in him; he has gained sufficient sensitivity to understand and react positively to the call to New Life emanating from the universal Gnosis; consequently he is ready to make sacrifices for the sake of the Liberating Path; he wants to seek the temple of initiation; and he has withstood the test of the seven weights.

From "The Ten Stories - Esoteric Amalysis of the Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross, Vol 1 - Jan van Rijckenborgh

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Pymander - Conclusion

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The Bridegroom

When the new state has been reached by means of the Holy Spirit and the candidate has been connected with his Pymander, he will enter an entirely new state-of-life, because "a state of consciousness is a state of life".

When the seven rays of the Logos touch the seven cerebral cavities in this positive way and enter them on the basis of the purified soul; when Osiris meets Isis, that is, when the Spirit meets the soul, then out of this encounter the Son of eternal fullness will arise. This is the new state of consciousness, a state which, though in the world, is no longer of the world. The process of generation and manifestation of the Pymandric man takes place in the ordinary physical body of nature-born man. In view of his physical existence the person concerned is still in the world, but by virtue of his Pymandric state, no longer of the world.

If a dualistic person is loosely attached to his vehicle, so that the splitting of the personality can easily occur, such a person -- and very often at the most inconvenient moments -- is more in the reflection-sphere than in the physical sphere of duality. When he then looks into the life of the physical sphere, it often appears to be unreal to him. As you will know, this situation may also occur during the transition between waking to sleeping.

Those who possess such sensitivity (this splitting of the psyche often occurs in women) and hear of the gnostic Path for the first time, or launch themselves upon it with their natural I, often make the serious mistake of assuming that their state-of-being is already the Pymandric state. Their actions and behaviors give rise to all sorts of deplorable consequences. This is a dangerous and complicated state of I-centrality, but we use it as an example to explain the following:

The Pymandric state-of-being entails many difficulties and is far from perfect. This is because the candidate does not enter this phase with a transfigured personality, but with a transmuted personality, a nature-born personality that has been subjected to some change. Transmutation always precedes transfiguration. Therefore, at that moment, the pupil does not yet possess the New Personality which belongs to the world of the Living Soul-State, the Sixth Cosmic Domain. That Personality has yet to manifest itself.

There is a New Soul, a Golden Wedding Garment, that surrounds the old personality. And the entrance of the Spirit has come about, so that the bride meets the bridegroom and transfiguration, the Alchemical Wedding, can begin.

Just imagine yourself in this state. The Spirit has entered, Pymander and the Soul have united. The new-born Soul-man feels released. His consciousness comprises the seven rays and via these seven rays he is capable of merging with the All, and of descending to wherever his consciousness drives him. He understands with his Spirit-Soul everything that is on earth, in heaven and above heaven. He surveys the majestic Plan of the sublime Deity. A Released One can read this Plan in all things. He beholds the Good, the only autonomous Good. However, in this state he knows himself still to be connected to a nature-born personality. He is still in the nature of death, in the midst of a social confusion that is so vast, so stupid and so frightening that he feels as if he is in a snake pit. He considers his sojourn here in the nature of death as an adversity. Therefore, he rejects this drab reality in a decisive and fundamental way, in a manner never done before. He accepts all the consequences so as to rise to the One and Only.

You will understand that the rejection of "all things corporeal and incorporeal" concerns both the physical sphere and the reflection-sphere of duality. For the brother or sister who has been released the tinsel splendor of the nature of death becomes as nothing.

In this state of most majestic glory, coupled with the most dreadful experience of distress, which in most cases has to be undergone in a weak body, the brother or sister has received the Holy Grail.

The Grail is the out-pouring of the Seven-Spirit in the head sanctuary. The Grail grants an awakening in the New Morning, but at the same time a vision into an unfathomable black night. There is of course a reason for this. In this state of no longer being of the world, but nevertheless being in the world (and how!) the brother or sister can serve the Logos in two fields, in the world of the Living Soul-State, the Golden Head, but also in the nature of death. This he will do; he accepts it.

That is the Holy Grail, the Divine Cup. On the one hand Liberation, on the other, Service. It is being able to serve on account of being liberated, and being liberated on account of the service rendered. On the one hand, one experiences new grief, one enters a new state of grief, but on the other hand one experiences a magnificent glorification. On the one hand there is the prayer: "Father, if it is possible that this cup pass me by", and on the other hand: "Not my will, but Your will be done", and one empties the Cup to the last drop. That is to accept the Way of the Cross until the morning of the Resurrection, without complaint. That is the Holy Grail. Freedom, the reward of the Liberated Ones, is always born in and through sacrifice.

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Father + Mother = Son

Seven-Spirit + New Soul = Spirit-Soul human being

Osiris (Spirit) + Isis (Soul) = Horus (Spirit-Soul human being)

Christ (Spirit) + Jesus (Soul-man) = Christ-Jesus (Spirit-Soul human being)

Pymander (Seven-Spirit) + New Soul = Pymandric Man (Spirit-Soul human being)

We are walking the Path to Liberation, trying to replace everything physical about us with that which is Divine. First, we must attract the radiations of the Gnosis and thereby awaken our sleeping Divine Spark. Then, we must continue to attract this Divine energy so that it can circulate throughout our light-vesture (the astral and etheric bodies). Steadfast dedication to this task of transmutation will result in the construction of a new Soul vehicle, the Golden Wedding Garment. This New Soul (the bride) will unite with the Seven-Spirit (the bridegroom) in an alchemical wedding that will result in the rebirth of the Divine Man.

All this can be done, in fact, must be begun while we are still in the physical body. The New Soul and the old mortal soul will co-exist to an extent. However, this process of transmutation requires that the Divine part of the candidate increases, while the gross material part decreases. The candidate's job is to enable this to happen by adopting a new attitude of life - selflessness - and living in self-surrender. This means that we can no longer answer to the desires of our I-being or live for ourselves. We must instead act in total cooperation with the New Forces that are building the New Soul and live to serve others, not ourselves. As image-bearers of the Divine Man, this is our task, our duty.

"29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

30 He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3 29-30

We are friends of the Bridegroom, and members of the Wedding.

~ g
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Pymander II

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As the radiations of the Seven-Spirit descend into the heart, they meet the proto-atom, the Rose, which contains the structure of lines-of-force of the True Man, the latent spiritual principle. As soon as the rays of the Seven-Spirit touch the reborn soul, the Rose is awakened to life.

If you have a plan regarding a given object, this will give rise to a structure of lines-of-force in your astral body. If someone then asks you to tell him about your plan, you will look, eyes turned inwardly as it were, into that structure and describe the plan. You will trace all the lines-of-force and the image will become visible to your audience.

The same applies to the proto-atom, the Rose of the Heart, which contains the image of the True Man. This image can be awakened and take shape only if the Seven-Spirit can act within you by means of the matured soul.

If we look at this activity from the point-of-view of the head sanctuary, the radiations of the Seven-Spirit acting on the seven cerebral cavities form Pymander; seen from the heart sanctuary they form the Spirit-Soul,  the structure of lines-of-force of the True Man. This Pymandric man, this structure of lines-of-force which is within us and urges us on, raises us out of the animal state into the world of the Living Soul state. It places the microcosm in a new Reality and under a new Law. Those who have thus been baptised and purified in the power of the Spirit, will achieve a perfect human existence and particpate in the Gnosis, the living Knowledge of God. They will acquire a new state of consciousness, in which Knowledge is an absolute faculty.

Dualistic knowledge is likewise a consequence of a faculty. In the dualistical, animal state, the ability to think exists and by means of it knowledge is acquired; disjoint, fragmented, relative knowledge. However, if the Pymandric state predominates, absolute Knowledge becomes a faculty. Then one will not acquire knowledge by means of intellectual training, but Knowledge will be an essential part of the personality. The opposite development is described in Hermes as follows:

"However, those who have sinned against the Proclamation* by not listening to it, remain within the limits of reason, as they have not received the powers of the Spirit and do not know why they were created, nor by whom. The sensorial perceptions of such human beings are almost equal to those of irrational animals, and as their nature is a mixture of passions, they have no admiration for what is worthy of reflection and contemplation; they devote themselves to their bodily pleasures and desires and believe that man has come into being for such things. However, those who have partaken of God's gift are no longer mortals, as proved by all their deeds, but Divine men who understand with their Spirit-Soul all that is on earth, in heaven and perhaps, above heaven. Having beheld The Good, those who have raised themselves in this way have learned to consider their sojourn here on earth as a disaster. They repudiate all things corporeal and incorporeal to reach the One and Only."

End Part II

From "Receiving the Holy Grail" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol 2 - Jan van Rijckenborgh

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* The Proclamation:

God imparted reason to all men, but not the Spirit. It was His will that the link with the Spirit should be obtained by all souls, however, as a prize for the race.

He sent down a great Mixing Vessel, filled with the powers of the Spirit and He appointed a herald and bade him proclaim to the hearts of men:

"Immerse yourselves in this Mixing vessel, you souls who can; you who believe and trust that you will ascend to Him who sent down this Vessel; you who know for what purpose you were created".

It is said that the seed contains within it all that is required for it to grow to a majestic maturity. A tree doesn't grow because of something outside of it. The instructions and attributes needed for it to grow and fulfill its tree-destiny are already embedded within the seed.

So it is with the proto-atom, the Rose of the Heart, the Divine Spark. This sleeping atom contains within it all of the lines-of-force necessary to bring forth the True Man. The image of a Divine Possibility lies within. That is why we are called image-bearers; because we carry within our hearts the Divine Atom containing the lines-of-force, the image of the Divine Man.

The tree needs water and sunlight. The child requires food, water, love and guidance. The Coming New Man enters the process of soul-rebirth when the Seven-Spirit begins to water the Rose of the Heart..

This is the gnostic meaning behind the parable of the Mustard Seed.

~ g
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Pymander

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'Those who gave heed to this proclamation and were purified by immersion in the powers of the Spirit, became partakers in the Gnosis, in the living knowledge of God, and, as they had received the Spirit, became perfect men".

The process of reversal, the process of the first baptism, is well-known to you. It has been discussed countless times in the School and explained in detail in our literature. It is the first task of pupilship of the Spiritual School.

Anyone who brings about this reversal in the light-power of the Gnosis, in the light-power of the Universal Gnostic Chain, causes a transmutation of the five soul fluids in the system of his personality. The soul fluids determine the composition and nature of the atoms of which the personality is composed.

It is in this transmutation that the soul is purified and reborn;  a rebirth which especially influences and modifies the head sanctuary, so that the system is opened for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel, the beginning of this procedure is referred to as "receiving the sign of the Son of Man", which concerns the transmuting modifications which must take place in the head sanctuary if one is to participate in the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit.

In this way, the candidate is prepared for his meeting with Pymander. Thus the purified soul receives the prize of the perfect souls. It is only when one possesses Pymander that one is truly a man. Only then does one emerge from the animal state. Then, one is a Manas, a thinker in a God-fulfilling sense.

What actually is Pymander? Or the Spirit-Soul? Or the Holy Spirit? Is it possible to distinguish this Spirit when it has manifested itself? Yes, it is possible. The following explanation may be useful.

Seven rays emanate from the Logos, seven activities, seven immense streams of power, which move the entire All. By the word "All", you should understand "primordial substance". The entire universe is filled with primordial substance. This, together with all the life that awakens from it, is moved by seven streams, seven rays, the seven Lords of Fate as they were called by the classical Rosicrucians. All the biological activities of nature, including animal life, are to be explained by the activities of the Seven Rays.

All that takes place in the universe, all that moves and develops, no matter how and where, is subject to a Plan. Everything is awakened and crushed again, everything rises and wanes, including the human kingdom which, apart from its ability to reason, does not differ in any way from the animal kingdom. Everything is subject to a Plan, which is aimed at awakening the possibility of a new development in all of biological life. If this Project fails or cannot as yet succeed, then what has been created is dissolved again to awaken later, out of the womb of eternity, to be given a new possibility.

The Plan of the Logos and its Seven-Spirit concerns the awakening of a new possibility in us all. If this fails we will perish. We are then subject to the law: "You are dust and to dust you shall return". We shall then remain chained to the effects of he wheel of life and death.

The rhythm and periodicity of the Cosmic Days and Nights, of the tidal movements of the All, are controlled and put into effect by the seven rays of the Logos. Thus the seven rays have an elevating effect on the creature. If this process of elevation does not succeed, the creature will be de-natured. "You are dust and to dust you shall return". Animal-man, natural man, is constructed in such a way that he can be elevated and can react positively to the seven rays, in this way rendering de-naturation and death unnecessary. So the prize for the perfect souls is freedom from death.

When the soul purifies and regenerates itself, when it is reborn and carries out the transmutation of the personality in harmony with this soul-birth, then, as a matter of course, the soul man will also be confronted by the seven rays of the Logo in an entirely different way.

As soon as you entrust yourself to the gnostic Light and start to walk the Path, a transmutation, an atomic change will develop in your nature-born state, in the body you now possess, a change which will primarily affect the heart and head sanctuaries. Your head sanctuary will be prepared to receive the Seven-Spirit in a positive way. As soon as the soul has been born, the seven streams of the Seven-Spirit will penetrate the seven cerebral cavities. It is thus obvious that the perfect soul will receive the seven radiations in an entirely different way from that in which the man of nature receives them.

End Part One

From "Receiving  the Holy Grail" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol 2 - Jan van Rijckenborgh

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About Shamballa

The following is in response to a comment posted by andrew on 4/21/2014:

The Lectorium Rosicrucianum does not function in the reflection-sphere. The reflection-sphere is the last place that one will find a true brother of the RosyCross. With all the effort that is spent trying to warn mankind about the dangers of the reflection-sphere, there is no way that help of any sort would be extended to ailing humanity from that sphere. To do so would go against what we know to be true about this nature-order and its twin spheres.

If any entity approaches you from the reflection-sphere, even if he says he is God Himself, place no undue value or emphasis on the communication. The reflection-sphere is the realm of deception and illusion. Nothing truly divine could operate in that region. Yes, there are spirit-guides and invisible helpers and the like. But all of these entities are fallen entities, light-spirits, reflection-sphere phenomena. None of them have obtained Liberation and most of them do not know how. If they did, they wouldn't be hanging around in the reflection-sphere!

When a true brother or sister of the RosyCross transitions, their destination will be the Vacuum of Shamballa, not the reflection-sphere. Why? Because the awakening of the Divine Spark, combined with insight, yearning for salvation, self-surrender, a new attitude of life and a life of selfless service to humanity creates a vibrational change in the microcosm. The entity's soul-vehicles vibrate at too high a level to be attracted by any region of the reflection-sphere. Remember, like attracts like.

Communication between fallen humanity and those in Shamballa is not possible, at least not in the ways that man is accustomed to (i.e., dreams, apparitions, voices, etc.). Shamballa is composed of ethers that are not of this world. Physical humanity has not yet activated the sensory apparatus required to "see" Shamballa or its inhabitants. The only communication that that can be expected from Shamballa comes in the form of impressions that are sent out constantly into the world from its location somewhere in the Gobi Desert.

Shamballa is open to all who follow the fivefold gnostic Path, not just pupils of the LRC. The advantage of joining with LRC is that it provides those who are truly sincere with the ability to walk the Path aided by a gnostic power-field built up over the centuries by previous brotherhoods, such as the Essenes, the Manicheans and the Cathars. We refer to this power-field as the Thirteenth Aeon. With this aid, every step that the candidate takes is sure-footed and true. With perseverance and steadfastness, obstacles are overcome. All of this is provided through the agency of group unity, the Universal Brotherhood. Within this power-field, it is one for all and all for one. The strong will stand for the weak.

An additional note: although the Vacuum of Shamballa is centered in a physical location (the Gobi), it is not a material-sphere or reflection-sphere location, per se. It is more of a borderline between this Seventh Cosmic Domain and the Sixth Cosmic Domain, the Divine Kingdom. Therefore, its ethers are of a very subtle nature, more Divine than physical. This is why it is referred to as a vacuum, because there is a complete absence of material-sphere ethers present therein.

In order to be taken up into this realm the preparation of the etheric, astral and mental bodies has to begin here in the material-sphere during the physical life. After death, the physical body is of no more use ("flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven)"). At that time it is our soul-vehicles that must have been prepared and made ready for the Journey to Shamballa. That is what walking the Path is about, that is the purpose of the Path. And that is the mission of Lectorium Rosicrucianum. Linked to the New Field of Life, it provides a safe-haven of development for those who are sincerely ready to leave this world and never come back.

For more on the Vacuum of Shamballa, you may want to read The Brotherhood of Shamballa by Jan van Rijckenborgh

~ g
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Heaven Is Real (?)

There's an American movie just released this week entitled Heaven Is Real. It tells the story of a four-year old child's near-death experience Among other things, the boy related that he spent time with Jesus. Based on actual events, the story purports to confirm that "heaven is real", after all, why would such a small child tell such a huge lie?

This writer has not seen the movie or read the book. The child is probably not lying about his experience. He did go to what he thought was heaven. But long-time readers of this blog know where he really went: the ordinary reflection-sphere, the so-called 'heaven-worlds' of mankind.

The reflection-sphere is exactly what its name implies. It is, in many ways, a reflection of the material-sphere. It is where man goes when he drops the physical vehicle, at death. It is also where man travels during the hours of sleep. It goes by many names: 'the after-life', 'the other side', 'the great beyond', etc. There are many different grades of vibration there, from the lowest and most coarse to the highest and most refined.

One of the attributes of the subtle realms is the malleability of form. Basically, with a little effort, one can make oneself look like anyone desired. Jesus and other exalted personalities are particular favorites.

Many will see this movie and be inspired. Others will scoff in disbelief. No matter what the reaction, both groups will remain ignorant of the real truth: that the 'heaven' which man and his churches hope and believe exists, is but a sham-heaven, the other half of the twin spheres of duality. It is not an 'eternal home' for the soul but simply a temporary staging area where the microcosm is emptied before taking on a fresh personality for another incarnation in the material-sphere.

Mankind knows so little, so very little. Because of his ignorance, he is taken advantage of time and again by the aeons of this nature. This is why it is necessary to obtain much-needed insight into the conditions under which we are laboring. Seek unceasingly. It is this insight that will assist the candidate in unmasking this nature-order. It is this insight that will lead the candidate to turn away from the things of the world and hopefully, towards the Path of Light.

There is a real Divine Kingdom, but it lies completely outside of this nature-order and its twin spheres of physicality. It is the Sixth Cosmic Domain and is where the true Seeker will direct his efforts at obtaining Liberation. There lies our true Eternal Home.

~ g
.

The Gift Of The Mysteries

[QUOTING]

Mary answered and said: "to all men who are in the world, will all which is appointed him through the Fate, whether good or bad or sin or death or life, -- in a word, will all which is appointed them through the rulers of the Fate, have to come unto them?"

The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: "Amen, I say unto you: All which is appointed unto everyone through the Fate, whether all good or all sins, -- in a word, all which is appointed them, cometh unto them.

"For this cause, therefore, have I brought the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; otherwise no flesh in the world would be saved. For without mysteries no one will enter into the Light-kingdom, be he righteous or a sinner.

"For this cause, therefore, have I brought the keys of the mysteries into the world, that I may free the sinners who shall have faith in me and hearken unto me, so that I may free them from the bonds and the seals of the aeons of the rulers and bind them to the seals and the vestures and the orders of the Light, in order that he whom I shall free in the world from the bonds and the seals of the aeons of the rulers, may be freed in the Height from the bonds and seals of the aeons of the rulers, and in order that he whom I shall bind in the world to the seals and vestures and the orders of the Light, may be bound in the Light-land to the orders of the inheritances of the Light.

"For the sake of sinners, therefore, have I torn myself asunder at this time and have brought them the mysteries, that I may free them from the aeons of the rulers and bind them to the inheritances of the Light, and not only the sinners, but also the righteous, in order that I may give them the mysteries and that they may be taken into the Light, for without mysteries they cannot be taken into the Light.

"For this cause, therefore, I have not hidden it, but I have cried it aloud clearly. And I have not separated the sinners, but I have cried it aloud and said it unto all men, unto sinners and righteous, saying: 'Seek that ye may find, knock that it may be opened unto you; for everyone who seeketh in Truth, will find, and who knocketh, to him it will be opened'. For I have said unto all men: They are to seek the mysteries of the Light-kingdom which shall purify them and lead them into the Light-kingdom.

"For this cause therefore I have rent myself asunder and have brought the mysteries into the world, because all are under sin, and all are in need of the gift of the mysteries.

From Pistis Sophia, Chapter 133

[END QUOTING]

Man dilly-dallies in the world wasting his energy on hair, makeup, money, power "love"...all the while missing the One Thing Needful.

Our karma (the Fate) is extensive, and spans many lives lived here in the nature of death. We have piled iniquity upon iniquity, multiplied our sins to such an extent that it is almost impossible to balance all that karma in one, two or a few short lives. This is why the Christ-Light, the ancient Gnosis, manifested itself in the physical world through the physical body of the initiate Jesus. Just as a doctor uses a needle to inject a patient with a cure, so did the Universal Brotherhood use a purified physical vehicle (Jesus) to deliver the antidote for mankind's ailment (the Christ).

At the baptism on the Jordan, the Christ-energy entered the vehicles of the initiate Jesus and, from that point forward, used that body in order to deliver the mysteries of the Light to the kingdom of men. Had it not been for this tremendous mission of mercy, humanity would have met its ruin long ago.

Put away the things of the world. They are false and have mislead you for ages. Seek ye the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the Sixth Cosmic Domain, your long-forgotten home. Accept the Gift that has been offered to all mankind. Open your heart to the Gnosis.

~ g
.

The Great Adversary

[QUOTING]

Question: I have been in the School for six years. I have welcomed it from within and recognize it a the only way of salvation. Yet at certain moments there arises a complete resistance in me, accompanied by feelings of fear, presumably the primeval fear of the animal-I. This condition causes me much suffering, for I do not want it, but it still comes to the surface from within my system. Would it be better for me to return to preparatory pupilship?

Answer: No friend, it would not be better. For what seems to be happening to you? When the Light touches us, we make the great adversary more wakeful. You should not see this adversary as a 'devil' that exists outside you, but as an inner resistance that is inside you. The fact that your adversary is agitating against you and causing tensions to arise in you proves that the Light is intervening in your life.

Think in the context of the gnostic gospel of the Pistis Sophia, of the intense struggle that she has to engage in and that is depicted in such wealth of detail on that gospel. The Pistis Sophia is -- if you think, for instance, of her Songs of Repentance -- cast into the deepest doubt on various occasions and finds herself in the same situation as yours, although she expresses it in different words: 'Would it not be better for me to stop?' For right in the beginning she penetrates behind the veils of the Thirteenth Aeon, but is then driven back to her natural place. For one cannot omit anything on the Path! One must overcome everything, and the adversary within you exerts itself right up to the last moment.

How did the adversary in your system come into being? Well, that can be quite easily understood. You will know that this life is not the first one you have lived. Many lives lie behind you, many conditions of existence in the nature of death. And in this nature of death you have transgressed the laws of the Lord many times in the past, and have done many things in the wrong way. That is logical, for otherwise, you would not be sitting here. And that applies to everyone.

It is as a result of all this that a sinful being, an adversary, has come into being and grown within man. It is a living, astral situation which -- and this is not nice to hear -- does not die but is re-animated in man at each new birth, with the animation of each new personality. That is why we are sitting here, and that is what we have to reckon with, as we can read in the Bible in connection with Jesus the Lord. Before he walked his via dolorosa, He had to settle accounts with the satan in Him.

Jesus the Lord gave us the example, and so it must be with all of us: we must settle accounts with the adversary within us. Therefore, questioner, do not be troubled. Have absolute confidence in your pupilship, for during these days you have received everything you need to deal with this fatal adversary in such a way that it will never come back.

The adversary in you is a being of delusion, but nevertheless a being that lives, in the same way as the reflection-sphere lives but is nevertheless a total delusion. If you want another example, think of Gustav Meyrink's book, The Angel in the Western Window. Think of the central character in this story who, even though he stands in the court of initiation, is confronted there with his adversary. The adversary, which manifests itself in various guises, appears in that story in the form of a most beautiful woman, who beguiles him into a situation which could have proved fatal. But just in time he begins to reflect, and suddenly realizes that this wonderful seductive woman is no longer there: she has disappeared forever. A mist rises, full of rottenness and death, and with that the struggle is ended. Had he gone one step further, he would have fallen into an abyss, so the story tells.

In many respects, this story gives a very clear image of reality. So, questioner, it would be foolishness to say: "I will simply go back to preparatory pupilship", for in most cases, though not all, this is the beginning of the end. This thought is being suggested to you by your adversary! It is the adversary within you that suggests: "Don't bother to try. You just won't succeed. You are not strong enough!" And it entices you with thoughts of all sorts of so-called 'pleasures' of ordinary nature, such as your cigar. So do not go back to preparatory pupilship. Just persevere!

From "The Light-Vesture of the New Man" - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

Man's greatest adversary is himself. As described above, we fight that which lives within. This is why the battle is so difficult, because we are prone to go lightly on ourselves and take the path of least resistance. It has taken us a long time to accumulate the strength and resolve to make the effort we are making now, in this life. Don't throw it all away. With each day, vow to make that much more progress.

Once the decision is made to walk the Path of Return, we are linked with a tremendous Radiation that is not-of-this-world. If we steadfastly walk this Path, the way will be made smooth, the adversary will weaken, wither and eventually withdraw. If we back-slide, it will be as if we are trying to cross a mighty river against an overwhelming current. The strengthened adversary will throw us over its shoulder and carry us away as war booty.

Be sure that this is the Path you wish to tread. Be certain that you desire it with all your heart. There is no going back. Ahead, glory awaits.

~ g
.

For, With and Through

[QUOTING]

When the Universal Brotherhood of the Sons of God begins to work on behalf of a life-wave, such work is never experimental and not at all subject to speculation. Such work is always founded on a plan, which is put into operation at precisely the right moment in time, and which will succeed completely. Thus, when the Brotherhood of the Sons of God began its work for mankind in the Aryan period, with the aim of making known The One Truth, and enabling it to find acceptance, its success was assured in advance.

Seen in the long term, this work is threefold; it has three phases. In the first phase, the Universal Chain worked for mankind, in the second phase it worked with mankind and in the third phase, through mankind.

This means that in the initial phases of the Aryan era, when man's racial body was only barely suitable for expressing his awakening consciousness in the material-sphere, and when there was as yet no question of a really conscious way of life, it was the Sons of God who regulated and guided young mankind's course through life and all the related processes. So at that time, the sublime Brotherhood literally worked for mankind.

In the second phase, young mankind's consciousness was sufficiently grown and developed and man lived through his nadir on earth. The intellect developed sufficiently for man to be shown the Truth that lies at the foundation of all existence. From that time onwards, the Sons of God came into direct contact with mankind. You will understand how necessary that was, for how would human beings have come to know the Truth by themselves? It had to be made known to them by those who actually lived out of The One Truth!

Thus began the mighty and glorious period spoken of in legends, the period in which the gods appeared on earth and lived among mankind as true kings and priests. And thus the Truth came to dwell among us, to call us to our true Fatherland.

Then, the third period was born: mankind had been told about the Truth. Man had seen the Living Truth take shape in many. The great breakthrough had become a reality. Now man had to prove that he could reach Liberation on his own strength. From then on, Truth would have to be made known in and through man himself. The human king-priesthood came into being. And the Sons of God withdrew to their own Regions, so that from there they would be able to give all the necessary help and guidance.

So it should be clear that since time immemorial there ahas always been an unshakable, indestructible Hierarchy of human king-priests, completely in harmony with and linked to the Universal Chain of the Sons of God. Think of the Order of Melchizedek. Think of Christ Jesus our Lord, a Son of God, born of man. The passage of time has dimmed to some extent their message to mankind, but the Truth lives! It exists, in and throughout all ages, and there will always be those who proclaim it.

Amen.

From "The Return of Christ and the Manifestation of the New Ethers" - The Light-Vesture Of The New Man - J. van Rijckenborgh, Catharose de Petri

[END QUOTING]
.

The Wheel Of Birth And Death

[QUOTING]

Earlier we pointed out that, as a consequence of the Fall, mankind sank into a lower stratum of our globe and that the laws prevailing in our domain of life are dualistic, whereas in the stratum where we formerly lived they were static. By this we mean that everything in this world is subject to a process of rising, shining and fading, because all faculties continually change to their opposites. This is the signature of the world of Time, of all that is changeable, temporal and transitory. It is the world of unceasing disintegration. The world of statics, on the other hand, is everlasting, unchangeable being; it is the world of absolute freedom, only linked to God; it is the Kingdom of Heaven.

The dualistic world is at the same time a curse and a mercy. It is a curse because nothing in it is lasting, everything comes and goes, good and evil keep each other in balance and all this is utterly hopeless and without purpose. It is a mercy because, due to this instability, nothing can crystallize permanently, eternally. It continually breaks up the evil we have committed and keeps fallen mankind in motion.

In this connection we also need to consider two other laws on nature: the law of death and the law of microcosmic reincarnation. Both these merciful emergency laws are inherent in the dualistic character of our stratum of life.

Death is caused by a disharmonious metabolic process, in which the renewal of cells does not keep pace with their wastage.  The human organism normally renews itself within a period of seven years but, in the long run, this proves to be too slow; there is more use than replenishment of forces, more wear than renewal so that, due to all kinds of diseases, man must die. True, it is possible to prolong human life somewhat by means of eugenics, but death is inescapable.

There is a widespread belief that when man dies he will go to his 'eternal home', but this is a mystification and totally wrong. Like any other stratum, the dualistic (or physical) stratum consists of two halves or spheres: the earthly sphere and the hereafter, divided into heavenly and hellish spheres. At death, the visible human figure disintegrates. The dead physical body stays behind in the earthly sphere, along with the blood soul and the lower aspects of the vital (or etheric) body. The consciousness and the soul, together with the rest of the body, which consists of the higher ethers, the desire body and the mental body, after spending some time in a region of transition, depart either for the heavenly or for the hellish sphere. On 'the other side', the desire body and the mental body also disintegrate after a longer or shorter period. The consciousness and the soul remain, together with several proto-atoms from each body, in which the essence of the life-just-lived is preserved as the harvest of experience.

When the microcosm has emptied itself in this way, the admission of a new mortal personality in the field of manifestation becomes necessary, because of the powers that are unchained. These powers are concentrated in the auric being, the lipika, as the karma of the microcosm. The microcosm is again attracted to the earthly principle of existence and brought into contact with the parents of the new personality, which is then born in the earthly sphere and, during this process, also brought into contact with the blood soul of its microcosmic predecessor.

In this way a new earthly life begins, subjected to the past. The wheel begins a new, downward rotation and the journey to the grave is begun again. So man, the microcosm, remains bound to rising, shining and fading, in uninterrupted, automatic repetition, without any prospect of release, perhaps thousands of times.

How can we free ourselves from this Wheel? There is no way...unless man realizes his state as a Prodigal Son, resolves to return and begins the process of Transfiguration, the process of personality exchange. Then and only then will he be freed from the Wheel. No sooner and no later.

From "The Wheel of Birth and Death" - Elementary Philosophy of the Modern Rosycross - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

So, how does it feel to be a cosmic hamster? The foregoing represents the truth regarding the fundamental mechanics of man's existence both in the flesh and out of it. Man is stuck on a treadmill to nowhere and completely unconscious of his predicament. That is why messengers periodically incarnate in an attempt to open men's eyes so that some may see the light of truth. These Sent Ones are charged with an extremely difficult task because humanity has been so thoroughly and completely lied to and bamboozled that they believe wrong is right and right is wrong.

Death, so-called, is a necessary part of what passes for life in this emergency-order. If it were not for this periodic interruption of physical existence man would crystallize beyond salvation. If man were allowed to live for hundreds or thousands of years, the damage done to both microcosm (man) and macrocosm (the solar system) would be incalculable. Just think for a moment of humanity's present situation, of its selfish leaders, its blind followers, its selfish fads and selfish, sick perversions. Can you imagine what would happen to the world if all of these things were allowed to continue without interruption? Disaster.

Because man is ignorant (ignorant meaning 'un-informed', not 'stupid') he fears the inevitability of death. That is why it is the mission of the Sent Ones to reveal to mankind that there is a way to conquer death, but we must follow a narrow path and enter by way of a narrow gate. That is the purpose of the Gnosis, the agency of the Divine Plan of Salvation.

Only those who have a spark of Remembrance will be driven to seek the Path of Return. Those entities who are at comfortable and content with physical life and the unceasing interplay of the Pairs of Opposites will have to remain chained to the Wheel for as long as it takes for them to develop the desire to return Home.

~ g
.

The Auric Being

[QUOTING]

The pupil must know then that there are three great hindrances to finding the True Path.

- the first is our I-being and all the delusions of the material-sphere
- the second hindrance emanates from the reflection-sphere and all the forces and entities active therein, whilst
- the third and, to date, scarcely mentioned hindrance emanates entirely from one's own microcosm and especially from its least-known part, the auric being. This third hindrance exerts its full influence when the pupil threatens to escape the first two.

The auric being is a field organized in a sevenfold manner, in which all the powers and organs of the microcosmic firmament are present. Besides its readily conceivable spherical shape, this auric being also has the form of a personality, but a much larger personality than the earthly one which we know, which we are. You will certainly understand that the auric personality is a being of light; and as this personality bears the organs of the lipika, one can rightly speak in a certain sense of a heavenly being, a shining, sparkling, mighty being, two metres high at the very least, full of multi-dimensional splendor.

Therefore one must say that every microcosm possesses two personalities; an earthly form and an auric form. But this auric heavenly form with its almost cyclopean stature, equipped with great abilities, must certainly not be confused with the Original Figure which must be born gain in the microcosm and which will again be able to enter the Original Human Realm, the Immovable Kingdom. Just as the earthly figure of the microcosm must be renewed by transfiguration, so too must this heavenly figure.

In occult literature in particular the auric personality is referred to as 'the higher self', as 'the true man', as 'the god within us', and the pupil is induced to merge into perfect union with this higher self. Highly sensitive persons or those with mediumistic characteristics from time to time receive impressions from the higher self, or are occasionally confronted with it. In a state of mystical-religious exaltation, the lower self is often overshadowed by the higher self. The ignorant imagine such overshadowing to be experiences of special divine grace but in reality they see nothing other than their own auric prototypes.

The well-known stigmatist Therese Neumann, who was quite at home with the heavenly virgin and was virtually worshipped as a miracle of the church, was not the victim of an illusion or a trick of the reflection-sphere, but established a negative-occult connection with her own auric being. This was her "heavenly virgin"! Experiences with Jesus apparitions, etc., obtained in mystic exaltation, all have exactly the same cause.

If you examine your own experiences on the basis of this information, you will probably arrive at the conclusion that you too have experienced the touch of this auric being at some time or other, that you too have seen or felt something of this sort.

You will perhaps ask: "Where does the auric being obtain its splendour and glory? Why is it so mighty? What is its nature, aim or being? Is that being good or bad?

In order to obtain a satisfactory answer to these questions, you must consider everything the Universal Doctrine has imparted to you up to now concerning the auric being.

The auric being is, among other things, a firmament of sense centers and focal points. All these principles together form a unity, a flaming fire, a synthesis of great powers in which a certain fire has been kindled. One of the expressions of this flaming unity is a fiery, shining apparition in which we recognize the gigantic image of a human form, grotesque, magic, strangely imposing.

Another expression of this huge fire is the small world arising within this firmament, the micro-planet, terrestrial man, the lower self. We are begotten of this flaming auric fire, we are maintained by this fire. Thus the auric form finds its reflection in our earthly form but in turn is fed and maintained by the activity of our existence. It is therefore obvious that when we look up in exalted adoration to our microcosmic firmament, to our own microcosmic heaven, a response is sent by our own fire-god from whom we originate and exist. It is equally obvious that if we want to tread the path of the true Divine mysteries with the I, with our own non-transfigured small world (~ g: "microcosm" literally means 'small world'), the auric fire-god will bar our way. For out of their mutual dependence follow the I-centeredness and self-maintenance of the ordinary self.

So there is indeed a 'god' within us: the lipika-being. It is our creator, we are its creatures. This creator can never relinquish his creature, for in their mutual dependence the destruction of the creature means the destruction of the creator. In other words, although it has a form, the fire-being in our own firmament in many respects possesses 'impersonality'. It is bad when we are bad, it is good, when we are good. And it will be broken up when we break up our own self in the process of endura. To say that we stand upon the Path while this lipika-being is still alive with all its old power, is to lie.

From "Two Figures in the Microcosm" - The Coming New Man - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

Lipika-being def.

This is the auric firmament, the entire system of sense centers and power foci in which man's karma is embedded. Our earthly, mortal being is a projection of this firmament, which determines its possibilities, limitations and character.

The auric being, or lipika, represents the entire burden of sin of the fallen microcosm. It is the old (microcosmic) heaven which must pass away and be replaced by a 'new heaven'. This transformation comes about as the result of a total reversal of life, with the aid of the Gnosis, and it leads to the formation of a 'new earth', the resurrection of the true man in whom Spirit, Soul and Body once more form an imperishable unity in accordance with the Divine Plan.

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more" Revelations 21:1

~ g
.