Filename: RC1021.TXT
Source: "Max Heindel's Letters to Students"

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                                  FOREWORD:

   For  eight years Max Heindel,  the mystic and occultist sent out  to  the
students of The Rosicrucian Fellowship a letter each month filled with  much
valuable information,  explaining the cause of many of the difficulties  oc-
curring in daily life,  not only of individuals but of nations as well,  and
giving a feasible solution of them.  These letters,  ninety-seven in number,
sent  out between Christmas 1910 and January 1919,  constitute  the  subject
matter of this book.

   Being  the authorized messenger of the Brothers of the Rosicrucian  Order
and consequently in close touch with them, Mr.  Heindel was continuously re-
ceiving  and giving out occult information to his students relative  to  the
past,  present,  and future evolution of life and form,  which on account of
his tutelage under the Brothers of the Order he was able to verify for  him-
self and to which he was able to add many details.  The letters in this book
give  many  side lights on the Rosicrucian philosophy  and  many  practical,
helpful hints for living the life of the Christian mystic.

   In  many of these letters there is a reference to  accompanying  lessons.
Each letter was accompanied by a lesson in pamphlet form.   The greater part
of these lessons have already been published in book form, and are available
for reference by readers of this book.   The volumes of lessons published to
date are as follows:  FREEMASONRY  AND  CATHOLICISM;  THE  WEB  OF  DESTINY;

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MYSTERIES OF THE GREAT OPERAS; THE MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTMAS; AND
GLEAMINGS OF A MYSTIC.   The lessons not already published will appear later
in a second volume of GLEAMINGS OF A MYSTIC.   The readers of these  letters
will obtain much more from them if they will consult the corresponding  les-
sons as they proceed.

   In giving these letters to the world we feel that we are making a contri-
bution of permanent value and importance,  and one from which the student of
esotericism will obtain much assistance in his progress on the Path.

                                LETTER NO. 1:

                               Christmas, 1910

                            FRIENDSHIP AS AN IDEAL:

   In  a religious movement it is customary to address one another as  "sis-
ter"  and "brother,"  in recognition of the fact that we are all children of
God,  who is our common Father.   Brothers and sisters are not harmonious at
all times,  however.   Sometimes they are even misguided enough to hate  one
another, but between friends there can be no feeling but love.

   It  was a recognition of this fact which prompted the Christ,  our  great
and  glorious Ideal,  to say to His disciples:   "Henceforth I call you  not
servants.  .  . .but friends." (John 15:15)  We cannot do better than follow
our  great Leader in this as in all other things.   Let us,  therefore,  not
merely be content with the fraternal relationship, but let us endeavor to be
friends in the very holiest and most intimate sense of the word.

   The  Elder Brothers,  whose beautiful teachings have brought us  together
upon  the  Way of Attainment,  honor their disciples in the  same  way  that
Christ honored His apostles,  namely,  by giving them the name of  "friend."
If  you persist in the way upon which you have started,  you  will  sometime
stand in their presence and hear that name  utters  in  a  voice so soft, so

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kind,  and so gentle that it beggars description or even imagination.   From
that  time  there  will be no task you would not  perform  to  deserve  that
friendship.   It will be your one wish, your one aspiration,  to serve them,
and  no  earthly  distinction will appear worthy  of  comparison  with  that
friendship.

   Upon my unworthy shoulders has fallen the great privilege of transmitting
the teachings of the Elder Brothers to the public in general and to the stu-
dents,  probationers,  and disciples of the Rosicrucian Fellowship  in  par-
ticular.   You have requested that your name be placed on my  correspondence
list,  and I gladly extend to you the right hand of fellowship, greeting you
by the name of FRIEND.   I appreciate the trust you repose in me,  and I as-
sure  you that I shall endeavor to aid you in every way within my  power  to
deserve your trust.   I hope that you will also aid me in my work for  your-
self  and others by a charitable judgment of any shortcomings you  may  dis-
cover in me or in my writings.   None need the prayers of others so much  as
one who must be a leader.

   Please remember me in your devotions,  and be assured that you shall have
a place in mine.

   I  enclose the first lesson in the hope that the foregoing may  establish
our relations upon a footing of sincere friendship.

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                                LETTER NO. 2:

                               February, 1911

                          SOUL GROWTH THROUGH DOING:

   I  hope  that you thoroughly studied the Christmas lesson and  are  thor-
oughly  familiar  with the phenomenon of the spiritual ebb and flow  in  the
universe  so that you will be able to give a reason for your faith in  "holy
Night."  In this month's lesson the idea is carried to a further conclusion,
not  previously taught publicly.   There are other teachings in this  little
lesson which shed a clearer light upon the immaculate mystery-birth than has
ever been given before,  and I hope that you will diligently study it during
the coming month so that you may realize to the full the transcendent beauty
of the sublime Rosicrucian teaching on this subject.

   But  whether you have studied the Christmas lesson and are able  to  dis-
course  upon the spiritual ebb and flow or whether you will be able  to  ex-
pound  the Immaculate Conception at the end of this month is after all  sec-
ondary in importance to what you answer to the following question:   Did you
take  advantage of the flood tide of spirituality at Christmas to  seek  out
some one in distress as suggested in the last paragraph of the lesson?   Did
you put it to practical use in the world's work?   I hope you did,  for only

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as we practice the teachings in our immediate circle of influence will  they
bear fruit in soul growth.  We may read till we get mental indigestion,  but
actions speak louder than words.  Also there is a bad place said to be paved
with good intentions.   Therefore, dear friend, let me urge upon you the ne-
cessity of doing! doing! doing!

   Often we see in the home,  office, shop,  or assembly room that a certain
things  ought to be done.   But the attitude of the man of the world  is  to
shirk.  He turns away saying:  Why should I do it?  Let some one else attend
to  it.   We should reason differently, however.   We should  not  plan  how
little  we can do.   If so we are not fitting ourselves to become  Invisible
Helpers.   If we see that a task has to be performed,  we should say to our-
selves:  Some one will have to do that; WHY NOT I?

   In this coming month dear friend, let us take as a spiritual exercise the
following  of this motto,  "Why not !?"   If we follow it  consistently,  we
shall reap a greater blessing than we confer upon others.

   May God abundantly bless you and strengthen you in your efforts.

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                                LETTER NO. 3:

                                 March, 1911

                         UNSELFISH SERVICE TO OTHERS:

   You  have of course studied in some measure the various teachings of  the
Rosicrucian Order,  and when I address myself to you, it is not as if I were
speaking to a stranger who is unfamiliar with the teachings or perhaps  even
skeptical  of the existence of such an Order.   These teachings have  spread
like  wildfire in the Western world during the past two years,  and that  of
itself  shows a power behind them which is not of the ordinary  human  kind.
This you will probably realize better when you have read the lesson for this
month,  which deals with this mysterious Order and shows it relation to  the
Rosicrucian Fellowship.

   Has it ever occured to you to inquire, my dear friend,  what binds you to
this Fellowship?   You know there are not outward bonds, that you have taken
no  oath of allegiance,  and that you have not been intrusted with  any  se-
crets.  What then constitutes the Fellowship of which we speak?

   It cannot be the teachings,  for they are open to the whole world and are
assented  to  by many who have not requested that they be enrolled  as  stu-
dents.   Neither is it the enrollment as a student which creates  the  inner
bond, for many study only to benefit THEMSELVES and have not fellowship with

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the rest of us.  Rather, it is the SERVICE which we perform and the earnest-
ness  wherewith we practice the teachings and become living examples to  the
world  of  that brotherly love which Christ spoke of as fulfillment  of  all
commandments.

   Last month we took for our motto the thought that if a certain task  were
to be performed which seemingly belonged to no one in particular,  we  would
say,  "Why not I?" instead of letting some one else do it or letting it lie.
I trust you have performed this unselfish service often,  and thus  cemented
the bonds of fellowship.

   In  this coming month I would ask you to give your thoughts and your  ef-
forts  to advance the teachings of the Fellowship.   Do not attempt to  con-
vince  any one against his will or to proselyte,  but try to find out in  an
unostentatious  manner what bothers your neighbor in a spiritual way.   Then
try  to  help him with our teachings.  But whether you say anything  to  him
about  where  you received them or not must depend upon your  own  judgment.
The main thing is to spread the teachings,  not to advertise the Rosicrucian
Fellowship.

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                                LETTER NO. 4:

                                April, 1911

                            A PLEA FOR THE CHURCH:

   Last  month I promised to take up further elucidation of the  Rosicrucian
Order  and its relation to the Fellowship, but I forgot that Easter  was  at
hand  and would require attention first.   I hope you will agree that it  is
more important to study this great cosmic event,  particularly as we live in
a  Christian  land and,  I hope,  are Christians at heart.   In  fact,  dear
friend,  the keynote of what I would bring out this month is really  A  PLEA
FOR  THE  CHURCH,  and it is with that end in view that I have  printed  the
poem, "Creed or Christ?" at the end of the lesson.

   We are all Christ in the making,  the love nature is unfolding in us all,
and  why should we not identify ourselves with one or another of the  Chris-
tian churches which cherish the Christ ideal?   Some of the best workers  in
the Fellowship are members, yes, and ministers, of churches.   Many are hun-
gry for what we feed upon.   WE cannot share it with them by standing aloof,
and  we do ourselves harm by neglecting to take advantage of the  great  op-
portunity to aid in elevating the church.

   Of course there is no compulsion.  You are not REQUIRED to join or attend
a church, but if you do go there in the spirit of helpfulness, I can promise

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you  that you will experience a most wonderful soul growth in a  very  short
time.  The great Recording Angels, who give to each nation the religion best
suited to its needs,  placed us in a Christian land,  because the  Christian
religion  will help us in soul growth.  Even admitting that it has been  ob-
scured by creed and  dogma, we should not let that prevent us from accepting
those teachings which are good,  for  that  would be as foolish as to center
our attention upon the spots in  the  sun  and  refuse  to  see its glorious
light.

   Please think this matter over, dear friend, and let us take for our motto
this month,  GREATER USEFULNESS,  that we may grow abundantly by striving to
improve our opportunities.

                                LETTER NO. 5:

                                  May, 1911

                           VALUE OF RIGHT FEELING:

   I  hope  you  enjoyed last month's lesson.   Perhaps you  will  think  it
strange,  but I have fairly reveled in it myself, for it aroused by devotion
most  powerfully to think how the Divine Life pours itself out for us  peri-
odically so that we may have more abundant life.  Without that annual influx
of God's life,  all life,  or rather form,  would cease to exist.   It is by
FEELING the higher emotions that we raise ourselves the easiest.  It is good
to study and to develop our minds,  but there is a great danger in this  age
of becoming ensnared in the meshes of intellect.  Paul  struck  the  nail on

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the head when he said:  "Knowledge puffeth up,  but love edifieth."   We all
wish to KNOW;  it is natural that we should, but unless our knowledge serves
to make us better men and women, better SERVANTS to our fellows, it does not
make us GREATER in the sight of God.  Therefore cultivation of RIGHT FEELING
is of enormous importance,  and I sincerely hope that you have FELT the Eas-
ter lesson for that is the only way to get full benefit from it.

   Picture  to yourself that great wave of divine energy projected from  the
Invisible Sun which is the manifestation of the Father.  Try to feel the awe
you would experience if you could see it,  as the trained seer can and does.
Watch it in imagination as it strikes the earth on Holy Night at  Christmas.
Let  the feeling work upon you about the way it sinks into the earth and  is
the active cause of the germination in all kingdoms.  Christ used the simile
of  the brooding hen to describe His feelings towards other beings,  and  if
you  try to FEEL the sprouting of all things in nature as indicated  in  our
Easter lesson, you will realize a side of the subject which may have escaped
you.

   I hope that you will long use this lesson as material for mediation as it
is different from one of the intellectual lessons that may be grasped by the
mind and put aside.  This lesson is of PERMANENT VALUE,  and the oftener you
take it up and let it work upon your heart.  the more closely you will  come
to THE HEART OF THINGS,  which is God, the great and loving Father who pours
out His life alike for the tiniest plant and the tallest monarch of the for-
est; who cares for beast and bird,  for the outcast and homeless rover,  and

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for the royal potentate in his palace, without discrimination.

   May  God  abundantly bless you and open up to you the storehouse  of  His
riches,  which surpass all earthly enjoyments,  and may you FEEL the wave of
love  which  He pours out afresh from year to year as a reality.   Then  you
will never be lonely if you are alone, and you will be, oh!  so much richer,
no matter how much you are blessed with earthly love,  and so much more able
to radiate that most sublime of all emotions, Spiritual Love.

                                LETTER NO. 6:

                                 June, 1911

                              HEALING THE SICK:

   Christ gave two commands to His disciples when He said:  "PREACH THE GOS-
PEL,  AND HEAL THE SICK."  We saw in last month's lesson how closely the of-
fice  of spiritual advisor is linked with healing of physical ailments,  for
though the immediate and apparent cause of disease may be physical,  in  the
final  analysis  all ailments are due to transgression of the LAWS  OF  GOD,
which  we  usually call "LAWS OF NATURE"  in our materialistic  attempts  to
eliminate the Divine.   Bacon, with rare spiritual perception,  said:   "God
and  Nature differ only as the seal and the imprint."   As flexible  sealing
wax is molded to the rigid lines of the seal,  so also nature passively con-
forms  to the immutable laws of its Divine Creator,  and thus health  and  a
carefree  condition  are  the  rule  among the lower kingdoms.  But when the

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human stage is reached, when individuality is evolved and we begin to demand
choice,  prerogative, and emancipation, we are apt to transgress the laws of
God, and suffering invariable follows.

   There is a side of the moon which we never see,  but we know it is there,
and  that hidden side of the moon is just as much a factor in  creating  the
tides as the part of the moon which is nearest to us and visible.   So there
is  also  a  hidden  side to man which is as productive  of  action  as  the
physical being we behold.  Transgressions of divine laws upon the mental and
moral  planes of action are quite as responsible for physical  disorders  as
the hidden side of the moon is effective in producing the tides.

   If the above were understood,  physicians would no longer puzzle over the
annoying fact that while a certain kind and quantity of medicine produces  a
cure in one cause, it may be absolutely impotent in others.  A large and in-
creasing number of medical men are now convinced that the LAW OF DESTINY  is
an important factor in producing disease and retarding recover,  though they
are not believers in the fallacy of an inexorable fate.  They recognize that
GOD DOES NOT WILLINGLY AFFLICT US NOR AIM TO GET EVEN WITH THE TRANSGRESSOR;
they understand that all sorrow and suffering are designed to teach us  les-
sons which we would not or could not learn in any other way.  The stars show
the period estimated as requisite to teach us the lesson,  but EVEN GOD CAN-
NOT DETERMINE THE EXACT TIME not the amount of suffering necessary; we, our-
selves,  have a prerogative,  FOR WE ARE DIVINE.   If we awake to our trans-
gression and commence to obey the law ere the stellar affliction ceases,  we

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are cured of our mental, moral, or physical distemper;  if we persist to the
end of one stellar affliction without having learned our lesson,  a more in-
imical configuration will enforce obedience at a later time.

   It is in this connection that the spiritually minded health adjuster  may
often  render most efficient service and shorten the period of suffering  by
pointing out to a sufferer why he is afflicted.   Even when the healer finds
himself  unable to cope with the disease, he may very often cheer a  patient
through a period of unavoidable distress by a promise of relief at a certain
time.  In my ministrations to the sick during bygone years it has not infre-
quently been my privilege to thus point out the Star of Hope, and, so far as
I  remember,  my  predictions of recovery at a set  time  have  always  been
verified,  sometimes in an almost miraculous manner,  for THE STARS ARE  THE
CLOCK OF DESTINY AND ARE ALWAYS CORRECT.

   In the above you have the great reason why we should study astrology from
the spiritual standpoint.   In next month's letter I hope to bring out some-
thing more definite concerning the Spiritual Panacea,  but in the meantime I
am  sure  you will be glad to know that we have bought the land of  which  I
spoke.   It is one of the sightliest spots in beautiful southern California;
in fact, though I have traveled all over the world, I have never seen a view
to compare with that of the site of our future Headquarters.  It is situated
upon  a high tableland,  giving free scope to the vision for forty  or  more
miles  in all directions.   On the north the Santa Ana Mountain Range  wards
off the cold north winds so that the climate is  practically  frostless  all

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the year round.   Below us to the east is the beautiful San Luis Rey Valley,
with its river like a silver band wending it way through fertile fields past
the historic old Spanish Mission where the Franciscan Fathers taught the In-
dians  for centuries.   Farther eastward the San Jacinto mountain rears  its
snow-capped peak against a sky of deepest azure.   In the south the  promon-
tory  of La Jolla,  with its picturesque caves,  hides from view  the  great
natural harbor of Uncle Sam's southwesternmost city--San Diego.  Towards the
setting  sun  we  behold upon the placid bosom of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  San
Clemente Island, also Santa Catalina with its wonderful submarine gardens--a
composite  picture of glory and inspiration,  in itself sufficient to  evoke
all that is purest and best in any one at all spiritually inclined.

   We have named this beauty spot of nature, "Mt. Ecclesia,"  and a building
fund  has  already been started to erect suitable buildings:   a  School  of
Healing,  a  Sanitarium,  and last but not least,  a  place  of  worship--an
Ecclesia,  where the Spiritual Panacea may be prepared and sent all over the
world to be used by properly qualified helpers.

[PAGE 676]

                                LETTER NO. 7:

                                 July, 1911

                       BAPTISM OF WATER AND OF SPIRIT:

   Last month we started to consider the sacraments, and it was my intention
to write upon COMMUNION this month,  but the subject has proved so vast that
it takes in almost everything from Genesis to Revelation,  besides a  number
of  physiological aspects such as the chemistry of good and the blood;  also
the atmosphere,  etc.   Further, it is inseparably connected with the second
coming of Christ.   It will require more time than I can give to get it  out
early in the month, also it will cover several lessons.  Therefore I thought
it best not to use that subject until next month, and in the meantime I have
decided  to give you a lesson from the new book--THE ROSICRUCIAN  MYSTERIES.
This  lesson  is  partly taken from the chapter entitled,  "The  Mystery  of
Light, Color, and Consciousness."  You will find it most interesting and in-
structive.

   Regarding last month's lesson on BAPTISM, you will have noted that so far
from  being  only an outgrowth of the dogmatism commonly attributed  to  the
church,  it  is the symbol of condition which actually existed in  the  past
when humanity was indeed a brotherhood.   It is a fact of the greatest  sig-
nificance that until the time of Christ,  the LAW demanded an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth,  but ere He commenced to preach the gospel of  LOVE

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to  our neighbor and forgiveness towards those who trespass against  us,  He
went  under the Waters of Baptism, and there received the Universal  Spirit,
which will supplant the egoism of today.

   Thus  He became filled with love,  and therefore NATURALLY radiated  that
quality, as naturally as a stove filled with burning coal radiates heat.  We
may preach to the stove forever that its duty is to heat, but until we  fill
it with fuel, it will remain cold.  Likewise, we may preach to humanity that
we ought to be brothers and love one another, but until we put ourselves "IN
TUNE  WITH THE INFINITE,"  we can no more love our neighbor than  the  empty
stove can heat.   As Paul says,  "Though I speak with the tongues of men and
of angles,  and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass,  or a tinkling
cymbal."

   THE  BAPTISM OF WATER refers to a past condition when we  were  irrespon-
sible  as the child we take to church today,  but THE BAPTISM OF  SPIRIT  is
something yet in the future for most of us,  and it is this for which we are
striving.   Let us pay particular attention to the thirteenth chapter of 1st
Corinthians  during this coming month.   Let us endeavor to practice in  our
daily  lives at least one of the virtues which Paul says lead  to  illumina-
tion,  so that we may soon fit ourselves to see face to face the beauties of
the sacraments, which perhaps are now but dimly perceived as through a dark-
ened glass.

[PAGE 678]

                                LETTER NO. 8:

                                August, 1911

                              RULING OUR STARS:

   I  hope you enjoyed last month's lesson on "The Mystery of  Light,  Color
and  Consciousness,"  and that you now have a more thorough  realization  of
what is meant by the saying,  "In Him we live and move and have our  being,"
for everywhere,  throughout the whole universe,  wherever light  penetrates,
there God also is.   Even in the places which WE call dark because the  con-
stitution of our eyes prevents perception of objects there, organs of vision
differently constituted can function as exemplified in the instance of  cats
and owls.

   Christ said,  "Let your light shine."  To the spiritual vision each human
being  appears  as a flame of light,  variously colored  according  to  tem-
perament, and or greater or less brilliancy in proportion to purity of char-
acter.   Science has discovered that all matter is in a state of flux,  that
the particles which compose our bodies continually decay and are  eliminated
from the system,  to be replaced by others which remain for a short time un-
til they also decompose.  Likewise our moods,  emotions,  and desires change
with every passing moment,  the old giving place to the new in an interminal

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succession.   Therefore, they also must be composed of matter and subject to
laws similar to those which govern visible physical substances.

   We even can,  and do,  change our mind; we can cultivate it in one direc-
tion or another as we please,  just as we can develop the muscles of arm  or
limb,  or we can allow the member to atrophy.   Therefore the mind also must
be  composed  of a changeable substance.  But the ego,  the  Thinker,  never
loses its "I"-dentity.   In both childhood and old age that "I"  remains the
same regardless of changes in thoughts,  feelings,  emotions,  and  desires.
Though the body,  which we use as a garment, changes with the passing years,
WE are eternally and everlasting the same.

   The quality of mutability of matter and evanescence of form is the  basis
of all spiritual progress,  however, for it matter were immutable as spirit,
there would be no possibility of advancement.  So long as we drift with  the
tide  of life and do not consciously control the ebb and flow of  matter  to
and from our being,  we are the sport of circumstances.   Then when a ray of
Mars is projected at a certain angle to the atoms of our body,  we feel  all
the aggressiveness which it carries.   A Saturnian beam,  on the other hand,
brings us depression;  it fills us with gloom and fearful forebodings.   But
as we evolve and arrive at an understanding of the MYSTERY OF LIGHT,  COLOR,
AND CONSCIOUSNESS, we gradually learn to rule our stars.  Then by conformity
to the laws of nature we become masters of our own destiny; and it is of vi-
tal importance that no matter what the aspects which may rule at any certain

[PAGE 680]

time we should always assert ourselves and say:

   "It matters not how strait the gate,
   How charged with punishments the scroll,
   `I' am the master of my fate;
   `I' am the captain of my soul."

                                LETTER NO. 9:

                              September, 1911.

                       INVISIBLE GUARDIANS OF HUMANITY:

   You saw in the lesson,  on Baptism, how we went back to the earliest days
of  evolution  upon our planet to find the significance of  that  sacrament.
You will have noticed also in last month's lesson how the Sacrament of  Com-
munion has its root in the beginning of time.   Thus it is apparent that un-
less we are capable of investigating the past history of the human race,  we
can  obtain no clear conception concerning anything connected with  mankind.
Goethe spoke of "DAS EWIG WERDENDE"--the ever becoming.  Change is the main-
spring of progression, and if we look upon man AS HE IS NOW,  without regard
to  what he has been,  our deductions as to his future must  necessarily  be
very limited.

   The last lesson illustrates the Law of Analogy,  showing how man was fos-
tered  by Divine Guardians in a manner similar to that in which  the  little
child is care for by its parents to prepare it for the battle of  life;  and

[PAGE 681]

we may be sure that though these guardians have withdrawn from VISIBLE lead-
ership,  they  are still with us and keep a watchful eye upon  their  former
wards,  just as we who are parents continue to take an interest in the  wel-
fare  of our children after they have left our hearth and home to fight  the
battle of life for themselves.

   When  we have had our spiritual eyes opened and have learned  to  distin-
guish the various classes of beings in the higher realms,  that guardianship
is one of the most reassuring facts to the observer;  for though no one  may
interfere with the free will of mankind and though it is contrary to the di-
vine plan in any way to coerce a man into doing that which he does not  want
to  do,  there is no bar against suggestions along lines which he  would  be
likely to choose.   And it is due to the wisdom and love of these Great  Be-
ings that progress along humanitarian lines is the watchword of the day.

   During  the  ages which have passed,  we in the Western world  have  par-
ticularly felt the sorrow and pain due to war and strife.   The struggle for
existence  is  constantly becoming more and more acute;  it is  dictated  by
"man's  inhumanity to man."   But there is also another factor developed  by
the Lords of Love and Compassion,  namely,  the altruistic movements,  which
are multiplying in number at a wonderful rate,  and gaining in efficiency as
the years go by.   it is a noteworthy fact,  however,  that alms-giving  and
charity  which degrade the recipient are being more and more  superseded  by
HELP  TO  SELF-HELP,  which  elevates  who we aid as well as those who give.

[PAGE 682]

That kind of help involves thought and self-sacrifice, which are fostered by
our  Invisible  Guardians  among  the stronger  who  are  now  their  weaker
brothers' keepers.

   It  is a cause for considerable congratulation that a number of our  Fel-
lowship members are workers in institutions conducted along the above lines,
and  I sincerely hope to see the day when a large majority will be  able  to
take up work of this nature, each in his respective environment.   But begin
at home, be kind to all with whom you immediately come in contact,  and when
you have been found faithful in a few things,  the larger opportunities will
not be wanting.

                                LETTER NO. 10:

                                October, 1911

                           FLESH FOOD AND ALCOHOL:

   It  is  one  of the usual human characteristics to  eulogize  that  which
pleases us,  and deprecate that for which we have an aversion,  but I  trust
that you will have learned from last month's lesson the one great and glori-
ous  fact  that IN THE FATHER'S KINGDOM ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER  FOR  GOOD.
Those among us who are content to live upon vegetables,  and those among  us
who feel no desire for strong drink, are usually too prone to look down upon
our  brothers  and sisters who still use flesh food and intoxicants  with  a
feeling of, "I am so much holier that thou";  but  you  will  doubtless have

[PAGE 683]

perceived  from what has been said in the lesson that such a feeling is  en-
tirely gratuitous.  Flesh food and alcohol have had a very material share in
the world's progress, and were it not for them we should not today be enjoy-
ing  many  of the comforts and labor-saving devices which make life  in  the
Western world so much easier than in primeval times.   Neither is the day of
their  usefulness entirely past;  they are necessities in the lives of  many
people.   Besides, as the Good Book says, it is not that which goes into the
mouth that defiles,  but that which proceeds therefrom;  and the attitude of
haughty disdain for those who still use flesh foods, or are subject to alco-
holism,  is far more subversive of spiritual growth than the mere  partaking
of these foods.

   Let  us therefore not condemn others,  but let us try to see  the  matter
from their side,  and allow them to have their free will as we wish to  have
ours.   Neither let us obtrude our views upon them nor seek to make converts
to our mode of living among those who are not yet ready.   THE CHANGE  OUGHT
TO COME FROM WITHIN, and it should not be dictated by a consideration of the
healthfulness  of vegetable food,  nor by the spiritual acceleration  to  be
gained  from a diet prepared without flesh.   The highest motive  should  be
compassion for the poor victims which are slain to appease appetites.

   It may be said, however, with safety that we eat too much flesh, and like
all compounds of nitrogen,  such as nitro-glycerine,  gun-cotton,  and other
explosives,  flesh foods are extremely unstable and dangerous to the system.
Therefore we will do well if we urge moderation upon all with  whom  we come

[PAGE 684]

in contact.   Science is sufficiently well aware of the facts in the case to
furnish ample backing for any one who undertakes this mission.   We may  not
save the lives of as many animals by preaching moderation among our  associ-
ates  as we would if we could convert them to a bloodless diet,  but if  our
motive is to avert tragedy to all possible,  that will be the wisest course.
Also is we can inculcate a spirit of compassion,  the desire for flesh  will
soon vanish before the spirit of love.

                                LETTER NO. 11:

                                October, 1911.

                  PREPARATIONS FOR REMOVAL TO MT. ECCLESIA:

   Saturday, October the 28th, at 12:40 P.M. sharp, Pacific time, we are go-
ing to break ground for the first building on Mt. Ecclesia, the home-site of
the Rosicrucian Fellowship.   The house will be comparatively small,  and we
are  striving to make it as inexpensive or we shall not be able to build  at
all.  I am even doing the work of architect and contractor to save expenses.
Nevertheless, we consider this first breaking of ground an epoch of greatest
import in the young life of our society, for though our private quarters may
be cramped we shall have a large workroom and accommodation for several  as-
sistants until funds become available for erection of the Ecclesia and other
pretentious structures more worthy of our mission in the world.

[PAGE 685]

   We  realize most keenly that the magnitude of our work in the  world  de-
pends  in a large measure upon the support and co-operation of  our  associ-
ates,  and we therefore most earnestly solicit your active  assistance  upon
this  momentous occasion,  to the end that our society may become a  greater
power for good than any which has gone before.

   You  know that thoughts are things;  that they are forces of a  magnitude
proportionate to the intensity of purpose behind them.   There is no  easier
or  more effective method of putting our whole being in tune with a  certain
design,  and hurling a powerful thought in a desired direction, than earnest
Christian prayer.

   Now, I have two distinct requests for your help in prayer, and I hope and
trust you will give your most hearty support.

   In  the first place,  though altogether unworthy,  it will be my duty  as
leader to break the ground for our future Headquarters at the time set,  and
it is is possible for you to withdraw to your closet,  please give  yourself
up to earnest prayer that the Headquarters then being started may grown  and
prosper in every good way;  for the united prayers of our students all  over
the world will be an immense force in that direction.

   But you can do more;  the cumulative thought of many friends directed day
by day towards a common center will work wonders.  Will you send us a prayer
every night to strengthen Mrs. Heindel, the workers at Headquarters, and my-
self,  so that we may grow purer, better,  and more efficient workers in the
service of humanity, and that we may thus become  more  potent  to alleviate

[PAGE 686]

the sorrow, suffering, and distress of all who seek our aid?

   Further,  will you write me once in a while assuring me of your  sympathy
and  co-operation?   I may not be able to reply and thank you  individually,
but  you  can rest assured that I shall appreciate your expression  of  good
will none the less.

                               LETTER NO. 12:

                               November, 1911

            GROUNDBREAKING FOR FIRST BUILDING ON MT. ECCLESIA:

   This month I am departing from my usual custom of devoting the  student's
letter entirely to a review of the previous months lesson,  in order to tell
you of the ceremony we had at Mt. Ecclesia on the 28th, when we broke ground
for  the first building on the site of our permanent Headquarters.   I  feel
sure you were with us in spirit, that you are eager to hear about it,  and I
know the recital will bring us in closer touch.

   Our first idea was to forego any outward show or ceremony.  We desired to
avoid all unnecessary expense as our funds are not, even now,  sufficient to
finish the building inside,  and we shall have to rough it for awhile  until
conditions are more favorable.

   I had intended to go there and hold the service mentally, and alone,  but
it seemed so cold, dreary,  and  desolate  not  to  have one friend there in

[PAGE 687]

person to rejoice with me on that momentous occasion,  not even my dear com-
panion in the work-Mrs.  Heindel.  Moreover, as this is a very important af-
fair  of the Rosicrucian Fellowship and not a personal matter,  I felt  that
opportunity to attend ought to be given the members.   The thought grew upon
me until I decided to ask the Teacher's advice; and, as he most heartily ap-
proved, we made an appropriation for the purpose of celebrating the event in
a simple,  yet fitting manner,  and sent notices to friends in the immediate
vicinity.

   We made a large cross of the same style as our emblem,  and on the  three
upper ends we had painted, in gilt letters, the initials: C R C.  These, you
know, represent the symbolical name of our great Head, and designate our em-
blem  as  the Christian Rose Cross,  which conveys an idea of beauty  and  a
higher life so different from the gloom of death usually associated with the
black cross.

   This cross and a climbing rose we decided to plant at the same time as we
broke ground for the building, so that they might symbolize the verdant life
of the various kingdoms traveling to higher spheres along the spiral path of
evolution.

   On the 27th,  Mrs. Heindel and I started for Oceanside,  nearly exhausted
from  the  strain of packing and moving.  The first rain of the  season  was
falling,  and  we felt some apprehension concerning the effect on  the  cer-
emony;  but  as we looked toward the almost cloud-hidden  mountains  in  the
east, we beheld the largest, most glorious rainbow we had ever seen-a double
rainbow  in  fact-and it's southern foot seemed to stand directly  upon  Mt.
Ecclesia.

[PAGE 688]

   Our responsibility to aid thousands of weary hearts to bravely bear their
burdens has often seemed beyond our strength;  yet always have we found  our
powers renewed by looking within;  and this time it seemed as if all  Nature
wanted to cheer us and was saying: "Take courage,  remember the Work is  not
yours  but  God's;  trust entirely in Him; He will point the  way."   So  we
clasped  hands  and took heart with new strength to carry on  the  beautiful
work of which Mt. Ecclesia is to be the center.

   The day of the ceremony was an ideal California day;  the sun shone is  a
cloudless sky.  Wherever we looked from Mt. Ecclesia, oceans, valleys, moun-
tains  seemed to smile.   Both the workers and visiting members were  enrap-
tured with the incomparable beauty of the Headquarters site.   Those present
were:   Annie R.  Atwood, of San Diego; Ruth E.  Beach,  of Portland,  Ore.;
Rachel M.  Cunningham,  Rudolf Miller and John Adams of Los Angeles;  George
Kramer, of Pittsburgh, Pa; Wm. M. Patterson, of Seattle, Wash.; Mrs. Heindel
and myself.

   At the appointed time I broke ground for the building.  All helped to ex-
cavate for the cross, which was set by Wm. Patterson.  Mrs.  Heindel planted
the rose, which was then watered by all present.  May it grow, may it bloom,
to adorn the nakedness of the cross and be an inspiration to purity of  life
that  will cover all past sins,  no matter how dark the life may have  been.
The address--as it should have been delivered-constitutes this month's les-
son.  Circumstances occasioned some modifications.

[PAGE 689]

                                LETTER NO. 13:

                  GENERATIVE PURITY THE IDEAL FOR THE WEST:

                               December, 1911

   Have you grasped the main point in our last month's lesson on the symbol-
ism of the Rose Cross, the crux of the Western Wisdom Teaching?   It is Gen-
erative Purity.

   The great Leaders of humanity always prescribe conditions most  conducive
to the growth of each race; different religions for the masses,  and varying
methods  of attainment for the few.   The populous condiion of the far  East
proves  a universally unrestricted indulgence of the passions upon the  part
of our younger Chinese and Hindu brothers.  Therefore the Wisdom Teachers of
the  East prescribe celibacy for their disciples as a means of gaining  con-
trol over passion.

   In  the  West conditions are more complicated and  dangerous.   Here  the
floodgates of passion are,  in a large measure, dammed up;  not from a sense
of the sanctity of the generative act,  but because of selfishness and  fan-
cied  economic necessity.   This method often leads to insidious  perversion
and loose practices.   Were not passion so strong,  this method might indeed
result in race suicide.   To require an aspirant born under such  conditions
to live a celibate life would only given him further incentive  to  selfish-

[PAGE 690]

ness and self-sufficiency; so it is regarded as a mark of merit when a pupil
of the Western Mystery School marries and continues to live a life of  chas-
tity.

   It has been a detriment to the Western world that various societies  have
promulgated  Eastern doctrines-celibacy among others-here, and it was a  se-
vere shock to me when an officer in one such organization deplored the  mar-
riage of one of their lecturers,  and told how it had embarrassed them  that
his  wife was about to be confined.  As the years brought new  additions  to
the family the society has since relegated him to private life.

   The  exact reverse would have happened to pupils of the  Western  School.
They  are most highly honored if able and willing to give a body and a  home
to one or more waiting spirits,  provided, of course,  that they live a life
of chaste conjugal love during the intervals.

   Thus while the younger,  weaker Eastern soul is commanded by the  Compas-
sionate Teachers,  who temper the wind to the short lamb, to be celibate and
flee temptation, the older Western spirit is allowed to test its strength by
living  in conjugal relations and perchance in accomplishing  an  immaculate
conception such as symbolized by the chaste,  beautiful rose which  scatters
its seed without passion, without shame.

   A  New Race is being born now.   Pure-minded Christian men and women  are
awakening more and more to the claims of the unborn.   Let us celebrate  the
anniversary  of our Savior's birth by praying that pure conditions may  soon
become  general,  and  that all children may be well-born.   Last,  but  not
least, let each of us teach, preach, and live this doctrine.

[PAGE 691]

                               LETTER NO. 14:

                               January, 1912.

                            THE COMING AGE OF AIR:

   Reviewing last month's lesson,  there is the startling statement that  in
the next epoch we shall abandon our present terra firma and live in the  air
clothed  in a gaseous body.   Another writer along these lines has  provoked
much amusement by a series of articles so wildly imaginary that the opinions
which  we  have heard expressed unanimously vote him  champion  among  story
tellers.   Yet he stays on earth; his temples are as solid as a rock;  and I
have  hesitated to publish the above mentioned teaching till I decided  that
duty required me to speak, even if some students do class me as visionary.

   The trouble is,  we have all become so much more impregnated with materi-
alism than we realize, and it hinders us in our quest.  As students of tran-
scendental philosophy, we have accustomed ourselves to regard individual and
intermittent  life in a ethereal body possible attainment for the  few,  but
that  the  whole human race may live permanently for a whole  epoch  in  the
air!--truly, it made me hold my breath when I realized that the Bible  means
exactly  what it says when it states that WE SHALL MEET THE LORD IN THE  AIR
AND BE WITH HIM FOR THE AGES.

   Looking towards the future through the perspective of the  past, however,

[PAGE 692]

the idea should really cause no surprise for it is strictly in line with the
path whence we have come to our present development.   We lived at one  time
like the mineral and were imbedded in the gaseous earth.   We grew  outwards
from the fiery core during a plantlike existence.   Our peregrinations  com-
menced  upon the thin earth crust at a later time;  and we are now upon  the
highlands  of the earth,  far from the inner core where our  evolution  com-
menced.   The march of progression has been OUTWARDS all the while,  and  it
follows that the next step ought to raise us above the earth level.

   I  am giving this teaching out for consideration because the majority  of
our  students believe in rebirth and the Law of Consequence,  which are  the
main  arbiters  of  destiny during the  present  dispensation  of  recurring
cycles.  Knowledge of these laws is of great value as it enables us to order
our life intelligently, building in THIS LIFE the conditions of the NEXT EM-
BODIMENT.

   The majority of Christians have not this great advantage,  but they live,
never  the  less,  through all the tribulations of THIS AGE--the Kingdom  of
Men-in the grand hope that they may qualify for admission the the Kingdom of
God--THE NEXT AGE. Our view of life has a SHORTER, theirs, a LONGER,  focus.
They  live less scientifically than those among us who apply our more  exact
knowledge of present conditions, but they are fitting themselves for the FU-
TURE  Age if they LIVE by the Bible.   Their information may be  vague,  but
they live and die in the firm belief of the great and  cardinal  truth  that

[PAGE 693]

they will GO TO HEAVEN and be with THE LORD FOREVER if they are real  Chris-
tians.

   If  we believe ONLY in rebirth,  we can expect nothing but  a  continuous
RETURN TO  EARTH to battle with the LAW of Jehovah;  we have no part in  the
LOVE of Christ.   To be perfectly in line with the facts, to be able to live
by THE WHOLE TRUTH, we must realize that birth and death are evanescent fea-
tures  of this age of concrete existence,  but LIFE ITSELF IS  INTERMINABLE.
John  tells us very definitely that though it does not appear what our  con-
stitution shall be, we shall be changed to the likeness of Christ and remain
deathless  throughout the Age;  and it behooves us to keep this  great  hope
firmly before us and pray for the Kingdom to come, as our Lord taught.

                                LETTER NO. 15:

                               February, 1912

                     THE ROLE OF STIMULANTS IN EVOLUTION:

   Our  last lesson finished the series dealing with the sacrament  of  Com-
munion by description of how the spirit alcohol,  which is fermented OUTSIDE
the system,  is being superseded by sugar,  which ferments WITHIN.   I trust
you  to see the thread of the argument which has been running through  these
lessons:   That  a stimulant from the lethargy attendant upon a  meat  diet;
that the bacchanalian orgies in ancient temples, which properly fill us with

[PAGE 694]

horror nowadays,  were the on immense value in human development;  that  the
first  miracle of Christ and His Last Supper were devoted to a  dispensation
of the stimulant;  the He ordained its use "till He come";  that as consump-
tion of sugar increases,  use of alcohol diminishes and,  concurrently,  the
moral standard is gradually elevated;  that people grow more altruistic  and
Christlike in proportion to their use of the non-inebriating stimulant,  and
that  therefore the temperance movement is one of the most powerful  factors
to hasten the coming of Christ.

   But as we cultivate finer and more delicate feelings,  we shall shrink in
horror also from flesh food;  and some day it will be considered as morbid a
taste to desire to use the stomach as a receptacle for the corpses of killed
animals as it now adjudged by society a morbid taste to desire strong  drink
inordinately.   As  students of the Western Wisdom Teaching  we  should  not
judge,  however,  but recognize the fact that many really require these  ar-
ticles  in  moderation;  but the matter is being adjusted by  the  invisible
leaders of evolution in a manner not yet obvious to casula observers, though
it is quite discernible to deeper investigators.

   It is evident that evolutionary progress is elevating the lower  kingdoms
as well as humanity.   The animals,  particularly the domesticated  species,
are nearing individualization,  and their withdrawal from manifestation  has
already commenced.   As a result it will in time be possible to obtain flesh
food.   Then the death knell of "King Alcohol"  will have struck,  for  only
flesh eaters crave liquor.

[PAGE 695]

   In the meantime plant life is growing more sentient.   The lateral  limbs
of  trees  produce  more abundantly than do  vertical  branches  because  in
plants,  as in us, consciousness results from the antagonistic activities of
the desire and vital currents.  Lateral limbs are swept through their entire
length by the desire currents which circle our planet and which act so  pow-
erfully  in  the horizontal animal spines.   The desire currents  rouse  the
sleeping plant life in the lateral limbs to a higher degree of consciousness
than is the case with the vertical currents radiating from the center of the
earth.  Thus, in time, the plants will also become too sensitive to serve as
food and another source must be sought.

   Today, we have considerable ability in working with the chemical, mineral
substances;  we mold them into houses, ships, and all the other things which
evidence our civilization.   We are master of the minerals OUTSIDE our body,
but powerless to assimilate and use them INSIDE our system to build our  or-
gans  until the plant life has transmuted crystals into  crystalloids.   Our
work with the minerals in the exterior world is raising their vibration  and
is  paving the way for direct interior use.   By spiritual alchemy we  shall
build the temple of the spirit, conquer the dust whence we came, and qualify
as true Master Masons prepared for work in higher spheres.

[PAGE 696]
 
                                LETTER NO. 16:

                                 March, 1912

                           NECESSITY FOR DEVOTION:

   As the subject of marriage, with which our last month's lesson dealt,  is
in certain sense receiving a further treatment this month,  I feel that  the
letter  to students this month may perhaps be most profitably devoted  to  a
point on which I have for a long time wished to speak.

   The ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION has met with such phenomenal success and
called  forth  so much gratitude and admiration all over the  world  that  I
ought to be flattered at the attention it is commanding everywhere.  But, on
the contrary,  I am beginning to feel more and more afraid that the book may
miss the mark at which our Elder Brothers have aimed.   Its purpose,  desig-
nated on pages 17 and 18,  is to satisfy the mind by intellectually explain-
ing the world mystery,  so that the devotional side of the student's  nature
may be allowed to develop along lines which the intellect has approved.  The
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION ,  I believe,  has won its way because of  this
appeal  to the intellect and the satisfaction it has given to the  inquiring
mind.   Hundreds, yes thousands, of letters have testified that students who
have searched in vain for years have found here what they sought.   But  few
have seemed able, as yet,  to  transcend  the  intellectual  conception, and

[PAGE 697]

unless the book gives the student an earnest desire to transcend the path of
knowledge and pursue the path of devotion it is a failure, in my estimation.

   In another society formed along these lines,  I have known groups to  sit
in classes for years wrangling before a chart of the atom, delving deep into
the minutiae of its spirals and spirillae,  but cold and indifferent to  the
woe of the world around them;  and it is with great sorrow deepening  appre-
hension  that I note the development of a tendency in that  direction  among
some  of our students,  a tendency in that direction among some of our  stu-
dents,  a  tendency which I hope may be checked before it kills  the  heart.
"Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth," says Paul, and this is well exem-
plified in the attitude of leaders in the society to which I have reference,
who  often belittle the Christian religion on the platform or in  print  be-
cause it lacks an intellectual conception of the universe.

   Let me recall to you the warning given by our Teacher in the  ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION   with  reference  to diagrams:  "They  are  at  best  only
crutches  to aid our limited faculties;  when we make a diagram  to  explain
spiritual  mysteries,  it is as if we should take the wheels out of a  watch
and lay them side by side to illustrate how the watch keeps time."  Although
charts may be a valuable help at a certain stage of our development,  it be-
hooves  us always to remember their limitations and STRIVE TO ATTAIN BY  OUR
INTUITION the true spiritual idea.   I feel also that it is of the  greatest
importance   that   students   should  keep  the   true   purpose   of   the
COSMO-CONCEPTION,  its aim and its end, most clearly  and  accurately before

[PAGE 698]

them  at  all times.   It is stated in black letter son  the  return  postal
cards,  and  I would advise every student to write it in LARGE  letters  and
past  it  into the ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION  where it may be  seen  each
time the book is opened,  for though we have all knowledge and can solve all
mysteries,  we are but as tinkling cymbals unless we have love and USE IT to
help our fellow creatures.

                                LETTER NO. 17:

                                 April, 1912

                           STRAGGLERS IN EVOLUTION:

   From  the teaching contained in last month's lesson you  will  understand
that  there  is absolutely not foundation for the idea,  as  commonly  held,
about  lost souls.   There is not a single word in the Bible  which  carries
with  it the idea that we have become accustomed to associate with  the  En-
glish  word "forever."   The Greek word is AIONIAN and means "an  indefinite
period of time,  an age"; and when we read in the Bible the words,  "forever
and ever" they should really be translated "for ages and ages."  Besides, as
it is a truth in nature that "in God we live and move and have our being," a
soul lost would mean that a part of God would be lost, and that of course is
unthinkable.

   Since writing last month's lesson another point has occurred to me  which
will illustrate how the "lost" of  one  Period  are  dealt with in the next.

[PAGE 699]

You  remember that we have spoken of the Lucifer spirits as stragglers  from
the  Moon Period and that we stated that they could find no field of  evolu-
tion  in the present scheme of manifestation.   The archangels  inhabit  the
sun,  the angels have charge of all the moons,  but the Lucifer spirits were
incapable  of dwelling upon either luminary.  They could not assist in  gen-
eration purely and unselfishly as do the angels,  but were actuated by  pas-
sion and selfish desires, so that a separate place had to be found for them.
Therefore  they were placed upon the planet Mars,  a fact well known to  the
ancient astrologers who have Mars rule over Aries,  which has dominion  over
the  head (remember,  the brain is built by subverted sex force),  and  also
gave that planet rule over Scorpio,  which governs the reproductive  organs.
Aries is the 1st house in a flat horoscope,  denoting the beginning of life;
Scorpio  is the 8th,  signifying death; and therein is contained the  lesson
that all which is generated by passion and desire is bound to meet  dissolu-
tion.  Thus Mars is, astrologically and estorecially, "the devil"; and Luci-
fer,  the chief among fallen angles, is truly the adversary of Jehovah,  who
directs the fecundating force from the sun through the lunar agency.

   Nevertheless, the Lucifer Spirits are aiding in the process of evolution.
From  them we received the iron which alone makes it possible to live in  an
oxygenated  atmosphere.   They have been, and are,  agitators  for  material
progress,  and we have no right to anathematize them.   The Bible distinctly
forbids  us  to revile the gods.   Jude states that not even  the  archangel
Michael dared revile Lucifer, and in the Book of Job the latter is spoken of

[PAGE 700]

as among the sons of God.  His ambassador to the earth, Samuel, is the angel
of  death,  signified by Scorpio,  but is also the angel of life and  action
symbolized by Aries.  Were it not for the stirring martial impulses we might
not  feel  sorrow as keenly as we do,  but neither could we  make  the  same
progress, and surely "it is better to wear out than to rust out."

   Thus you see how these "lost sheep" of a former age are given a change to
retrieve their estate in the present scheme of evolution.  They are delayed,
and,  as stragglers,  must always appear evil, but they are not "lost beyond
redemption."   They may save themselves by serving us, probably by transmut-
ing Scorpio into Aries, generation into regeneration.

                                LETTER NO. 18:

                                  May, 1912

                    KEYNOTE OF THE ROSICRUCIAN TEACHINGS:

   The burden of last month's lesson was that it is our duty to pass on  the
fruits of our study in an endeavor to benefit the world.   But mystics  usu-
ally  stand aloof from their fellows and the world looks askance at  us  and
our beliefs.   This ought not to be, and analysis will prove that the teach-
ings  objected to are relatively unimportant and that the most vital of  the
teachings  will  find ready acceptance and prepare the way for  further  in-
structions.

[PAGE 701]

   The  value of any particular teaching depends upon its power to make  men
better  HERE and NOW;  to make them kind and considerate at home,  conscien-
tious in business, loyal to friends, forgiving to enemies;  and any teaching
which is easily applied,  and will accomplish such results,  need no further
recommendation.

   Where shall we look for such a teaching?  We have a monumental cosmogony,
describing world periods,  revolutions, epochs, and races.   Will that study
make men more kind?  Or, if we can get them to pore over the mystery of num-
bers  and names in the Kabala, will they become more conscientious?   Surely
not; therefore such knowledge is of minor import.  Will it make men moral if
we  teach  them of involution and evolution,  or if we describe  the  cyclic
journey of the soul through purgatory and heaven?   It will not necessarily,
at  least till we have convinced them that under the Law of  Consequence  we
are subject to rebirth,  and reap as we sow.   Even a hint of such a belief,
however, would turn most people from us.

   But,  you  will ask,  what them is left of our teachings?   The  greatest
teaching of all, and the most practical.  One that will arouse no antagonism
in any devotee of any religion,  or even in an agnostic,  for it need not be
labeled religious.   It will produce most beneficent results from the day it
is applied,  and affect future lives also, regardless of whether the man who
practices  it ever hears the word Rosicrucian or learns more of  our  teach-
ings.

   If  you want to really work in God's vineyard--the  world--don't  isolate
yourself.  Abstract study may be good part of the time,  but  go  out in the

[PAGE 702]

world;  win the confidence of people in church, club, or shop.  If you set a
good example,  they will inquire the secret,  and you will be privileged  to
give them the greatest teaching ever known:

                          THE SECRET OF SOUL GROWTH:

   You may talk to them something like this:

   "Every  night when I have gone to bed I review the happenings of the  day
IN REVERSE ORDER.   I try to judge myself impartially.   I blame where blame
is due,  repent,  and resolve to reform.  I praise myself, it praise is mer-
ited, and determine to do better next day.

   "I  fail  often to keep my good resolutions,  BUT I KEEP ON  TRYING,  and
little by little I succeed."

   It may be well to explain that by reviewing events in reverse order  they
are more firmly implanted in the memory,  but further elucidation should  be
avoided until you are certain your friend is seeking a solution to the prob-
lem of life.

   This is discriminative propaganda.

                                LETTER NO. 19:

                                 June, 1912

                     SACREDNESS OF SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES:

   Many  letters  have been received during the past  month  voicing  appre-
ciation of students in respect to the last lessons, and it has been a source
of  gratification to note the deep-felt love for the Fellowship and the  de-
sire to know "how it all came about."  Thus  I  feel  somewhat  better about

[PAGE 703]

introducing my personal experiences than I did in the first place.

   At the same time it cannot be too strongly emphasized that indiscriminate
relating  of superphysical experiences is one of the most harmful  of  prac-
tices,  no matter from what standpoint we look at it.   In Lecture  No.  11,
"Spiritual  Sight and Insight,"  the matter has been  thoroughly  explained.
The "treasure-trove"  must be lifted in silence;  and from the Greek myth we
learn that Tantalus was hurled down into the infernal regions for  divulging
spiritual secrets.  In other words, we cannot attain true illumination while
we  go hawking our dreams and visions from pillar to post and  recount  them
even  to  people manifestly unwilling to listen.   Thereby  we  profane  and
cheapen what we ought to reverence,  and the desecration is apt to focus our
vision in the infernal regions, the lower strata of the desire world.

   Again,  such recitals always tax the credulity of those to whom they  are
related.   There is not measure whereby we may gauge their  accuracy.   They
often seem to have no practical bearing upon the problem of life;  and  even
if we have faith in the veracity of the visionary, there is not value in his
stories unless we can find an underlying law or purpose.  Thus the statement
of the law is sufficient without embellishment.  Perhaps, the best illustra-
tion of this point may be given by relating how I discovered the law of  in-
fant mortality which was never published till it appeared in our literature.

   My  Teacher one day set me the task of following a certain person's  life
through two previous embodiments and reporting.  I  had  no  idea that I was

[PAGE 704]

being sent in quest of a law, but thought the purpose was to develop my fac-
ulty of reading the Memory of Nature.  When ready,  I reported the result to
my  Teacher who inquired particularly the circumstances attending  death  in
each  of the two lives.   I answered that the man died in battle  the  first
time and from sickness as a child the last.   That was correct,  and another
person's  life was given me to investigate.  That one died in bed the  first
time,  and also died as a child the last time.  A third person's life termi-
nated in a fire the first time, and seemingly also as a child the last time.
I say "seemingly,"  for I could scarcely believe the evidence of my  senses,
and felt diffident when I reported to my Teacher.   I was surprised when  he
said I was correct.   This feeling grew as I,  in turn investigated fourteen
person's  lives.   IN the first life they died under varying  circumstances;
some in battle, others by accidents, and others in bed surrounded by weeping
relatives; but in the second life all passed out as children.

   The Teacher then told me to compare these lives to find why they died  as
children,  and  for many weeks I studied them night after night,  but  could
find not similarity in the conditions of their first death until one  Sunday
morning  just  as I was entering my body,  it flashed through my  brain.   I
awoke with a shout--Eureka!  I almost jumped into the middle of the floor in
my joy at having found the key.  The horrors of battle, fire,  and accident,
and  the  lamentations  of  relatives alike  prevent  deep  etching  of  the
life-panorama;  and  the value of a life terminated  under  such  conditions
would be lost save for the following death as a child and subsequent tuition

[PAGE 705]

first in the first heaven,  a fully elucidated in our literature.   The law,
as there stated, logically explains a mystery of life independent of the ac-
curacy of my story.  As I relate it only to give point to our lesson, I feel
consistent  when exhorting others to silence as to their  spiritual  experi-
ences.

                                LETTER NO. 20:

                                 July, 1912

                       INITIATIVE AND PERSONAL FREEDOM:

   What do you think is the main point in last month's lesson?  It is not MY
experiences,  although students have attached a great deal of worth to them,
but in reality they are insignificant save as they serve to convey  teaching
of benefit part from them.  The greatest value of that which was recorded in
last  month's lesson is the reiterated and emphatic insistence  on  absolute
PERSONAL FREEDOM in the Rosicrucian Fellowship.

   In this respect the Western Mystery Teaching differs most radically  from
that  given to the younger souls of the East,  where each has his  Master--a
despot whom he slavishly serves in all things as "Kim"  did the Guru he fol-
lowed, for there is considerable truth and fact in Kipling's story.   There,
absolute  and unquestioning obedience to the command of the EXTERIOR  Master
he sees and serves physically is the  means  of  spiritual  advancement; the

[PAGE 706]

pupil is entirely without choice or prerogative,  but neither has be respon-
sibility.

   Among  the older souls of the WEST who aspire to spiritual growth,  there
can be no Master or Guide.  We are to learn to stand alone.  We may not like
it;  we may be afraid, and want a Master or Guide to free ourselves from re-
sponsibility.   In that fact lies the reason, I think,  why so many intelli-
gent  and cultured people have joined spiritualistic circles  and  societies
promulgating Eastern teachings.  Advanced beyond normal Western development,
they sense the Great Beyond,  and it draws them as the wide expanse of  blue
sky draws the nestling,  despite fears, to trust its untried wings;  but the
inward urge compels; and, fearing to trust themselves, they grasp eagerly at
the hand of "Masters"  or "Spirit Guides" in the hope of attaining spiritual
power by their help.  But the baby must crawl and fall;  it must rise,  fall
again  and hurt itself.   The experience is unpleasant but unavoidable,  and
far  to be preferred to the consequences of tying the infant to a  chair  to
save it from falling;  then its limbs would become useless.   And so do  the
latent spiritual powers of the unfortunates who come under the (to  Western-
ers) baneful domination of Spirit Guides and Eastern Masters.

   The  Western Teacher is more like the parent bird which pushes the  young
off the nest if they do not go themselves.  We may hurt ourselves, but WE DO
LEARN  TO  FLY.   Take  my  own case:  Pushed out  in  the  world  with  the
Rosicrucian teaching and told to spread it,  you may be sure I have held  by
breath many a time as the realization grew of what a gigantic undertaking it

[PAGE 707]

is,  and how insignificant Mrs.  Heindel and I are.   Often,  when the  work
seemed about to swamp us, we have prayed and prayed for help, but as we look
back  we  can see what lessons we have learned by the  struggle.   Sometimes
frined have remarked:   "Oh,  how we wish the money would be forthcoming  to
build the Ecclesia and schools,  so that the work might be carried into  the
world with greater effect";  but we realize that there are other lessons be-
fore us,  and that when we are ready,  the means for further extension  will
come; until then, our wings need more training.

   It is the same with every associate of the Fellowship.   We are to  learn
the  lesson  of  working  for a common  purpose,  without  leadership;  each
prompted alike by the Spirit of Love from within to strive for the physical,
moral,  and spiritual uplift of all the world so the stature of  Christ--THE
LORD AND LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

                                LETTER NO. 21:

                                August, 1912

                 THE CHRIST SPIRIT AND THE SPIRITUAL PANACEA:

   You  remember reading in the ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION  about  how  in
the ages from Noah to Christ,  under the regime of Jehovah,  universal self-
ishness was fostered in the entire human race.   Man was told that  "Heaven,
even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth has He given to the children
of men."  Thus man was  urged to  seek  material  possessions,  and  had  no

[PAGE 708]

conception of treasures in heaven,  which are the fruits of  self-sacrifice.
As  a consequence,  his heaven life became more and more  barren;  spiritual
progress waned,  and unless a new impulse had been given, it must eventually
have ceased.

   Then the Cosmic Christ Spirit, the "Redeemer,"  commenced His  beneficent
work,  and  eventually obtained access to the earth through  the  "cleansing
blood  of Jesus"  when it flowed on Golgotha;  and now the Christ Spirit  is
working  from within our globe to attentuate its physical and  superphysical
constituents.   An enormous spiritual inrush was felt at the moment He  came
into full possession of the earth on Golgotha;  so great,  indeed,  that the
intense light blinded the people.   From that moment the principle  altruism
commenced to take a greater hold upon our race;  we are gradually ceasing to
look to our own interest alone, and are laying up treasure by an interest in
the welfare of our fellow men.  Had not Christ come,  another moon must have
been thrown off to rid us of the worst elements,  but from this we are being
saved  by grace through sacrifice of the Cosmic Christ  Spirit--a  sacrifice
that does not involve His death as commonly understood,  but is an  infusion
of the earth with a higher life which enables us to live more abundantly  in
spirit.

   In  this coming of Christ to earth we have an analogy between it and  the
adminisering of the spiritual Panacrea, according to the law, "As above,  so
below."   There  is in every little cell of the human body a  separate  cell
life,  but  over and above that is the ego which directs  and  controls  all
cells so that they act in harmony.  During  certain protracted illnesses the

[PAGE 709]

ego becomes so intent upon the suffering that it ceases to fully vivify  the
cells;  thus bodily ailment breeds mental inaction and it may become  impos-
sible to throw off disease without a special impulse to dispel,  the  mental
fog and start the cell activities anew.   That is what the Spiritual Panacea
does.   As  the inrushing Christ life on Golgotha commenced  to  dispel  the
shell of fear bred by inexorable law that hung like a pall about the  earth;
as  it started the millions of human beings upon the path of peace and  good
will,  so also when the Panacea is applied does the concentrated Christ life
therein contained rush through the patient's body and infuse each cell  with
a  rhythm that awakens the imprisoned ego from its lethargy and  gives  back
life  and health.   May God grant that we shall soon be able to  bring  this
great boon to suffering humanity.

                                LETTER NO. 22:

                               September, 1912

                          THE MYSTIC BREAD AND WINE:

   If  I had asked the students to write me what--in their opinion--was  the
most  important point in last month's lesson,  what do you think would  have
been answered in the majority of the cases?   I believe many would feel that
the  connection between the bread,  the wine,  and health was the  principal
idea; and perhaps I may be responsible for that view because I printed those

[PAGE 710]

words  in  bold type.   But while it is of signal important that  we  should
grasp this connection between the bread, the wine, and health,  and apply it
in  our lives to the very utmost power of our ability,  if we do so for  any
less reason that given by our Lord, it is essentially selfish,  and will not
further  out development nearly as much as if we do it as He requested,  "in
remembrance of Him."

   Just look at the matter in this light,  dear friend,  and you will  grasp
the idea.   Under the regime of Jehovah,  selfishness crystallized the earth
to such an extend that spiritual vibrations were almost stilled.   Evolution
was  coming to a standstill,  and the blood had become so  impregnated  with
egoism that the race was in danger of degenerating.   The Cosmic Christ then
manifested through Jesus to save us.  Cleansing the blood from egoism is the
Mystery  of Golgotha;  it commenced when the blood of Jesus flowed,  it  has
continued  through the wars of Christian nations whenever men fought for  an
ideal,  and will last until the horrors of war by contrast have sufficiently
impressed mankind with the beauty of Brotherhood.

   The Christ entered the earth on Golgotha.  He is leavening the earth anew
and making it responsive to spiritual vibrations,  but His sacrifice was not
consummated  in a moment by DYING to save us in the generally accepted  way.
He is still GROWING AND TRAVAILING,  WAITING FOR THE DAY OF LIBERATION,  for
the "manifestation of the sons of God";  and truly do we hasten that day ev-
ery  time we partake of food for our finer bodies symbolized by  the  mystic
bread and wine.  But we would be much more efficient in accelerating our own

[PAGE 711]

liberation  and in hastening "the day of our Lord"  if we always did  it  IN
REMEMBRANCE OF HIM.

   Do you remember "Sir Launfal's Vision"?   It was not the size of the gift
that counted; the gold coin he flung to the beggar was materially more valu-
able than the crust he gave later; but the coin was given in a spirit of im-
patience  to  be  rid  of a loathsome presence.   The  crust  was  given  in
rememberance of the Christ,  and for His sake, and that made all the differ-
ence.

         "And Sir Launfal said: 'I behold in thee,
         An image of Him who died on the tree;
         Thou also hast had thy crown of thorns,
         Thou also hast had the world's buffets and scorns,
         And to thy life were not denied

         The wounds in the hands and feet and side;
         Mild Mary's Son, acknowledge me;
         Behold, through him I give to Thee!"

   The  more we cultivate the spirit of doing all things whatsoever for  the
sake of Christ and His Liberation, the better and the more fruitful lives we
shall lead.

Continued with "RC1022.TXT"

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