Filename: RC4003.TXT

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                 ROSICRUCIAN CHRISTIANITY PHILOSOPHY COURSE:

                                LESSON NO. 20:

                   THE BENEFICENT EXPERIENCES OF PURGATORY:

   Let us not become alarmed by this word "purgatory,"  for although the ex-
periences in this state may be painful, at the same time they are  extremely
beneficent, because they free the ego from the weights which would otherwise
prevent it from rising into the higher regions.  This is the reason why pur-
gatory comes first after passing out in death.  From our standpoint we might
consider  it desirable to have heaven first,  particularly if we have had  a
hard earth life, but this is scientifically impossible;  until our spiritual
specific gravity is decreased, we cannot rise.

   Purgatory  is  located in the three lowest regions of the  desire  world.
Its principal function is to tear out the coarse desire stuff which we  have
built into our desire bodies by wrong living during earth life.   All coarse
and  selfish desires are torn out by the force of repulsion,  which  is  the
prevailing  force in this region.   Self-assertion is the mainspring in  the
force  of  repulsion.   By  means of this force  all  qualities  based  upon
unbrotherly self-assertion are destroyed.

   The  life  panorama  of the preceding life now unrolls  before  the  ego,
bringing with it the purging forces appropriate to each incident.   Here the
ego feels all the pain that it caused others.   Here is suffers the pangs of
destructive desires,  such as those for liquor, tobacco, and drugs,  because
these desires can not possibly be gratified.  It suffers until these desires
die out for lack of gratification.   The pain connected with this process is
approximately  three times as keen as that of similar experiences  in  earth
life,  because the process if three times as fast,  and because the ego  now
has no physical body to dull the pain.  The purgatorial period is ordinarily
about one-third as long as the earth life just past.

   A practical lesson may be deduced from the above,  namely,  that the best
way  to get rid of evil desires here is simply to push them out of the  con-
sciousness and let them die out from nongratification.   Fighting them  cre-
ates  thought forms to which they attach themselves and which prolong  their
life.   Starvation,  therefore, is the only practical method.   This applies
particularly to clearing the mind of impure thoughts.   Also we may note the
foolishness  of acquiring a lot of handicaps during life in the form of  de-
structive desires for such things as tobacco and drugs.   But if we have ac-
quired these desires,  we may also see the great advisability of getting rid
of them here during our earth life when we can do it with only one-third the
pain and discomfort which would be required after passing to the other side.
Even from a selfish standpoint it is only good sense to give these things up
while we have the chance to do it easily.

   As  a  result of the experiences of purgatory  conscience  is  developed,
which will tend to restrain the ego in future lives from repeating its  mis-
takes;  also it will come back in the next life freed from the  binding  ef-
fects of evil desires and able to exercise free will,  which it could not do
if  those  desires had not been expurgated.   The  temptation,  however,  to
gratify  those  same  desires  will  be  repeated  until the ego has finally

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developed the will power to master them.  Then they will no longer enter his
consciousness.

   After  going through the purgative processes the ego is able  to  proceed
into the heaven worlds and enjoy the life there, which it could not possibly
have done before.   Many people labor under the delusion that if they  could
only get into heaven as soon as they die, they would be happy; but as a mat-
ter  of  fact the vibrations of the heaven planes are so high  that  if  the
ordinary person were to be transported there before the purgative  processes
had been gone through with,  he would be in the most intense agony,  because
his spiritual vehicles are vibrating at a very low rate,  and to raise their
rate  of  vibration suddenly to that of the heaven planes would bring  on  a
condition analogous to that of electrocution.

   People who during earth life enjoy vice and cruelty or use black magic to
gain  power over others harden the vital body and cause it to become  inter-
locked with the desire body.   The two them constitute what is known as  the
"sin  body."   Such individuals are earthbound after passing over  into  the
purgatorial regions.   The forces of purgatory are not able to  disintegrate
the  sin body with the usual speed, with the result that these  egos  remain
earthbound  in some cases for hundreds of years.   They still  retain  their
evil disposition.   Moreover, they are in our very midst,  closer than hands
or feet, and by mental suggestion they are able to incite those of weak men-
tality  to  crime.   Thus  they are far more  dangerous  than  the  physical
criminal.

   Now  comes  what  is the most practical part of this  lesson,  namely,  a
method by which we may avoid purgatory if we will but take time by the fore-
lock.   This  is  the Rosicrucian method of retrospection.   Each  night  we
should go over the events of the day in reverse order,  beginning with those
of  the evening and proceeding backward to those of the  morning,  examining
each one very carefully to ascertain its spiritual quality of good or  evil.
We should let the experiences flow back into the consciousness,  endeavoring
to feel the pain which we have caused others,  and also endeavoring to  feel
the  unspiritual quality of our wrong actions of the day.   By doing  so  we
shall be living our purgatory each night, and when we pass over to the other
side,  we shall not have to go through the intensified  purgatorial  experi-
ences  which the ordinary persons does.   Thus we shall not only  save  our-
selves much pain,  but also much time,  which we may use for service in  the
higher worlds,  gaining added soul growth thereby:  we shall also be able as
a result to come back to rebirth sooner.  In addition,  this process of ret-
rospection  will release the emotional energy generated each day,  and  thus
eliminate  the  possibility of its causing neurotic  ailments  later.   This
method really constitutes the daily forgiveness of sins, because from day to
day we thus blot our our sins from the Book of God, namely the record within
our own hearts.

   Please study the preceding lesson carefully;  then without consulting it,
answer fully but concisely the following questions,  and send the answers to
us.

1. Why does purgatory come before the heaven life?  Could we enjoy heaven
   before passing through purgatory, and if not, why?

2. What is the nature of the purgatorial force, and how does it act?

3. What happens in purgatory to those who have injured others on earth?

4. What is the best method of getting rid of sensual desires, and why is
   this method the best?

5. What quality is developed as the result of purgatory?

6. What is the sin body, and what dangers to the living come from it?

7. How may we avoid purgatory, and what is the advantage of this?

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                                LESSON NO. 21:

                            THE REALMS OF BLISS:

   Having reviewed the experiences encountered in the lower regions, we will
now  consider  the so-called realms of bliss,  namely,  the  various  heaven
worlds.  But let us disabuse our minds of the idea that the sole function of
these higher regions is to give us bliss.  Bliss is only one of the products
of  the life that is led there.  The more important functions of  these  re-
gions are assimilative and educational.  First, we assimilate and build into
the  consciousness the spiritual quality of the good actions which  we  per-
formed during earth life.  This gives us the quality of right feeling, which
will be with us in future lives as an incentive to right action.  Second, we
are educated in the higher processes of life and body building.

   The first heaven, into which the ego proceeds after leaving purgatory, is
situated in the three higher regions of the desire world.  This is the world
of color and of emotion.   Here the life panorama again unrolls,  but now it
gives us joy instead of pain.  We now feel all the happiness which we caused
others in the preceding life and the gratitude which they felt.  We also ex-
perience joy from the spiritual qualities of the constructive acts which  we
performed.   Thus we learn the lesson that good and truth and right bring  a
supreme reward.   Here,  also, the ego realizes the fruition of all the con-
structive  desires  which it had during the preceding earth life  but  which
were not then gratified.   Here he is able to enjoy art and poetry if he has
within  him the qualities which correlate him with them.   Character  counts
here--nothing else.

   Altruism and beneficence here receive their reward.  Moreover,  the plans
are  developed  by which in succeeding lives the person may  carry  his  hu-
manitarian activities still farther.  The studious have at their command un-
limited facilities for the study of the sciences and arts.   The artist  has
unrivalled facilities for developing his artistic conceptions.   The  colors
with which he works are living colors, and he molds them with his thought.

   In the first heaven the children have a wonderful time, namely, those who
die under the age of fourteen before the birth of the desire body.  They are
organized  into  classes,  and  are  given  systematic  instruction  in  the
spiritual  principles of right living,  so that when they return  to  earth,
they may be far advanced in that direction.  Many a weak spirit is caused to
die young in order that it may get this training,  by which greater  success
may be insured to it in future lives.

   After  having exhausted all the experiences of the preceding  life  which
had to do with the desires and emotions, the ego sloughs off its desire body
and proceeds into the second heaven,  which is located in the Region of Con-
crete Thought,  and which is the world of tone.   Music of the most  sublime
character  constitutes  one of the special enjoyments of this  region.   The
second heaven is the ego's real home.  Here it remains for hundreds of years

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ordinarily,  leading a very active existence.  This is the region of  arche-
types.   Nothing can exist on earth,  from a physical body to  the  physical
contour of a continent, until its archetype has been constructed in this re-
gion.   Here  the ego undergoes an extensive course of  instruction  in  the
building of archetypes.  It also examines the archetypes of the projects and
structures upon which it worked during life and finds out wherein they  were
good or wherein they were defective; thus it discovers why it failed in car-
rying out certain designs in the preceding life.

   An important part of the work in this region is to prepare archetypes for
the vehicles of the next earth life.  In general the ego is not permitted to
inhabit a body better than it is capable of building, and here the ego takes
a university course in this process.  It also builds the quintessence of its
discarded  bodies  into the threefold spirit,  making it  usable  as  future
spiritual power and perception.   In the last stages of this period the  ego
resolves  its  mind  into the essence which feeds or  builds  the  threefold
spirit, and it is then ready to take another flight to still higher regions.

   The world which the ego now enters is called the third heaven, located in
the Region of Abstract Thought.   The threefold spirit is now naked,  having
left its four lower vehicles behind it, but retaining, however, the seed at-
oms of each for future use in building new vehicles.  For the ordinary indi-
vidual  at our stage of evolution the third heaven is not a place of  activ-
ity.   Its  vibrations  are  too  far above him.   About  all  the  ego  can
ordinarily do here is to rest,  bathing in the divine harmony which pervades
this region and gaining the strength to come back to rebirth.   When  suffi-
cient  spiritual force has thus been assimilated,  the ego is imbued with  a
desire for new experiences, and proceeds on its way to rebirth.

   The process of nightly retrospection is a great aid to the ego in connec-
tion  with this phase of the post-mortem existence,  because  by  practicing
retrospection  each night the first heaven life (as well as the  purgatorial
life)  may be lived on earth,  leaving the ego free to  proceed  immediately
into the second heaven after it has passed out of the body.   By so doing it
is  able  to  make far greater progress in its spiritual  education  in  the
higher  regions than otherwise,  and also it is able to return to earth  for
service in the plan of evolution at an earlier date.  We should begin by ex-
amining  in reverse order all the acts of the day where we helped others  or
made  them happy in any way.   We should endeavor to feel the happiness  and
gratitude which they experienced,  and also to realize the spiritual quality
of our good actions.   This process is earnestly recommended to the esoteric
student who wishes to make rapid progress.

   Please study the preceding lesson carefully;  then without consulting  it
answer  fully but concisely the following questions.

1] What are the most important functions of the heaven worlds?

2] What is the origin of the happiness experienced in heaven?

3] Where is the first heaven located, and what are some of its activities?

4] Describe the second heaven existence.

5] Where and how do we learn to build our bodies?
    
6] Where is the third heaven, and what does it do for the ego?

7] Why do we leave heaven after having once got there?

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                                LESSON NO. 22:

                           REBIRTH AND CONSEQUENCE:

   The  real object of life is not present happiness but experience  whereby
we  may unfold our latent spiritual powers and develop them  into  faculties
for greater service in God's plan of evolution.  God is evolving through us.
We  are cells in the cosmic body of God.   We are spiritualizing matter  for
Him so that it may be a vehicle in which He may function.   We are as neces-
sary to God as God is to us.  It is our business, therefore,  to develop our
spiritual  qualities and our latent talents to the utmost in order  that  we
may co-operate with this great plan.

   The  three  great objects of evolution through matter  are:   First,  the
spiritualizing  of  the  character;  second, the development  of  the  will,
whereby we direct the faculties gained by experience; third, the development
of the creative mind,  by which we shall eventually create directly and con-
sciously.   If  we co-operate with the plan,  happiness will be  a  constant
by-product.

   To gain all this development it is necessary for the ego to be reborn  in
a  physical body many times.   When all the experience of any life has  been
spiritually  assimilated in the higher worlds, the spirit feels the urge  to
gain  new experience.   This desire impels it irresistibly to rebirth.   Our
knowledge of rebirth does not rest upon speculation.   Rebirth is one of the
first facts demonstrated to the pupil of the Mystery School.   He is  taught
to watch a child in the act of dying;  then to follow that child through the
invisible world,  day by day, until it comes to rebirth within a period of a
few years.   After the pupil has done this, he knows with absolute certainty
that rebirth is a fact and not merely a metaphysical theory.

   The first step when the ego starts towards rebirth is to select its  par-
ents  or have them selected for it.   This is not a matter of blind  chance.
We  ordinarily have parents assigned to us whom we have served in  preceding
lives  so  that they are in duty bound to do this service for us.   In  this
connection  we may see our duty to provide when possible the  means  whereby
egos  may  come back to us as children in order that later they  may  do  us
similar  service.   When the ego has toits credit a certain amount  of  good
destiny,  it is given a panoramic view of several different lives  involving
different  parents and allowed to make a selection.   After the  choice  has
been made,  the main outlines of the life have been determined,  and the ego
no longer has free will with reference to them.  It still, however, has free
will as to details.  These may be executed in a spirit of love, helpfulness,
and tolerance,  or in a rebellious spirit,  hating the environment in  which
the ego has been placed.  Thus may it generate for itself either good or bad
destiny for a future life.

   In  the actual progress of coming back to rebirth the various seed  atoms
first attract to themselves the materials for a new set of vehicles, namely,
a mind,  a desire body, a vital body, and a physical body.   These materials
are  eventually built into the new vehicles, at which time the ego comes  to
physical rebirth.  This  occurs  at  a time when the planetary forces are in

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harmony with the destiny engendered by the ego in preceding lives.   It can-
not be reborn at any other time, because the forces inherent in its seed at-
oms will prevent.   After birth the planetary forces impinging upon the  ve-
hicles of the ego from day to day impel it in certain directions in  harmony
with its previously created destiny, and thus become the automatic executors
of that destiny.  Planetary forces, however, DO NOT COMPEL.  When a man uses
his  will  to  work with evolution, he masters  and  directs  the  planetary
forces.

   The Law of Consequence or the Law of Cause and Effect is continually  op-
erating.   From the minute of birth the forces which were set into operation
in preceding lives and which have not yet expended themselves begin to oper-
ate  upon the child and its vehicles.   All the old hates and loves come  to
the surface.   Ancient enemies present themselves in order that the ego  may
work  out  its destiny with them and transform them  into  friends.   Former
friends help the ego and work with it to the mutual advantage of both.  Thus
do  we  slowly but irresistibly move onwards towards  universal  friendship.
Through  the Law of Consequence man learns that every act carries  responsi-
bility,  and that every force which he sets into operation must have a  cor-
responding effect.  If by carelessness or selfishness he causes pain or loss
to others, the Law of Consequences will bring similar conditions upon him at
a later date, and thus he will learn the injustice of acting in this manner.
If he does not heed the lesson, nature will give him even harder experiences
until  he finally makes the necessary effort and actually obtains the  power
to control himself.

   If the acts which we not perform are constructive and considerate of  the
rights  of others,  then in a future life we shall be born under  conditions
which will bring us success and happiness.  If, on the contrary, we yield to
our  passions,  disregard others,  or are indolent and  careless,  we  shall
surely  be reborn under conditions and among people who will make our  lives
apparent  failures and bring us much unhappiness.   By these failures,  how-
ever,  we shall learn were we erred in preceding lives,  and also what it is
necessary  for us to do in order to retrieve the past.   Then when we  apply
our wills to the solution of the problem, we shall achieve success,  and the
Law of Consequence thenceforth will work for us instead of against us.

   Throughout  life the quality which the Rosicrucians call Epigenesis is  a
work;  that  is,  the power to set into operation a limited  number  of  new
causes  which are not determined or forced upon us by our acts of the  past.
If were were totally bound by the past and unable to generate new causes, we
should be unable to develop original creative power or free will.   But  the
spiritual faculty of Epigenesis here comes to our rescue, and enables us, if
we will, to work our way into ever greater spheres of power and usefulness.

   Please study the preceding lesson carefully;  then without consulting  it
answer  fully but concisely the following questions.

1] What is our relation and our duty to God?

2] What are the object of life and evolution?

3] How are the outlines and environment of an earth life determined?

4] How do we acquire a new set of bodies, and how do planetary forces
   influence us?

5] Describe the operation of the Law of Consequence?

6] How is the era of universal friendship being brought about?

7] How may we retrieve the past?

8] What is Epigenesis?

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                                LESSON NO. 23:

                    THE SOUL, SOUL BODY, AND SOUL GROWTH:

   There  is much confusion in the popular mind as to the  distinctions  be-
tween soul,  soul body, and spirit.  In Rosicrucian parlance these terms re-
fer  to separate and distinct realities, whereas in ordinary usage they  are
used more of less interchangeably.   In the Rosicrucian literature the  soul
is spoken of as the quintessence of the three lower vehicles and the experi-
ences  obtained in those vehicles which involve right thought and right  ac-
tion.   This essence is extracted by the spirit or ego and used as a pabulum
by it.   The soul builds up the powers of the spirit, adds to its conscious-
ness, and enables it to extend its field of operation.

   Ordinarily  the experiences of life,  recorded through the breath in  the
vital  body,  are ground in the mill of retrospection in purgatory  and  the
first heaven,  where their essence is extracted and built into the spirit in
the form of soul power.  We do not need to delay, however, the extraction of
the  soul qualities and their coalition with the spirit until we  arrive  in
purgatory or the first heaven.  We may, if we will,  go thought this process
each night by the use of retrospection exercise which has been described  in
earlier lessons in this course.   The complete amalgamation of the soul with
spirit does not take place until near the end of our great Day of Manifesta-
tion.   We add to our soul by the experiences of every life,  and  after  we
have lived many lives, particularly if they have been well lived,  we become
soulful.  When we have the quality of soulfulness, it is recognized by those
around us.

   The soul is threefold,  as follows:  The conscious soul is the  spiritual
extract of the physical body and the experiences in it, and is correlated to
the Divine Spirit.   The intellectual soul is the extract of the vital body,
and is correlated to the Life Spirit.  The emotional soul is the extract  of
the desire body, and is correlated to the Human Spirit.  All the experiences
of our daily lives are being utilized through the processes of evolution and
built into soul for our use in future lives,  either on this plane or higher
planes.

   The soul body is a distinct entity.  It is not an extract as is the soul.
It  is one of the vehicles of the spirit or one of its bodies.   It is  com-
posed of the two higher ethers of the vital body, namely,  the light and re-
flecting  ethers.   The soul body is built by a life of love and service  to
humanity.  Such a life not only attracts and builds in a large proportion of
the two higher ethers,  but in time it also causes a cleavage to take  place
between them and the two lower ethers.   After this cleavage has been accom-
plished,  the  soul body is separate and distinct from the lower ethers, and

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is available as a separate vehicle or body for use in soul flights.   It  is
spoken of in the New Testament in the Greek version as the "soma psuchicon."
It  constitutes the gold and blue of our aura,  and it may be seen with  our
etheric vision.   It distinguishes the saint from the ordinary man.   We are
helped to built it by Christ,  the indwelling Planetary Spirit of the earth,
through His etheric emanations, which pass from the center of the earth out-
ward and through our vital bodies on the way.

   The  soul body is retained by the ego through the purgatorial  and  first
heaven existences;  that is, it coalesces with the desire body and the mind,
and  accompanies them through these two regions.   Humanitarian work  builds
the soul body, but a low and sensual life prevents it from growing,  causing
the two ethers to be build in to the exclusion of the higher.  When the soul
body has been built,  the person who possesses it is capable of leaving  his
physical  body at will,  and after some instruction he is able  to  traverse
space  from  one place to another with the utmost freedom.   He is  able  to
"travel in foreign countries";  that is, he is able to go to any part of the
world which he wishes, and practically with the speed of thought.   The soul
body does not pass through space by means of walking, neither does it fly by
the  aid  of wings.   It is propelled by the will in  conjunction  with  the
thought,  and follows the direction indicated by thought.  It travels almost
with the speed of light, and to think oneself to be in a certain place is to
be there almost instantaneously.   This is a wonderfully satisfying and con-
venience  mode of travel.   It is entirely independent of vehicles  such  as
trains and steamboats.  Moreover, there is not necessity of purchasing tick-
ets or going through the trouble of getting passports.   We can visit in the
soul body all the countries of the world, observe their inhabitants and con-
ditions  and  the  activities going on there,  then return at  will  to  our
physical bodies and surroundings.

   Among the important activities which are carried on in the soul body  are
those of an "Invisible Helper."  When one has developed the soul body to the
point  where he can function in it during sleep,  he is capable of being  an
Invisible  Helper.   He is then able to take part in the healing  activities
under the direction of higher beings,  and is able to give help to the  sick
and  afflicted which would otherwise be impossible.   The Invisible  Helpers
are  taught to direct streams of magnetic healing force to  their  patients,
and some are able to materialize hands with which to manipulate the diseased
portion  of  the patient's etheric or vital body.   In  addition,  they  are
taught  to speak the creative word of power,  which removes diseased  tissue
and builds in new cells.
                              (To be continued)

   Please study the preceding lesson carefully;  then without consulting it,
answer  fully but concisely the following questions.

1] What is the difference between soul, soul body, and spirit?

2] Describe the different kinds of soul, and tell how they are obtained.

3] How may we hasten the process of soul growth?

4] How is the soul body built, and how differentiated form the lower ethers?

5] How long is the soul body retained?

6] Describe travel in the soul body.

7] What are the Invisible Helpers, and how do they heal?

[PAGE 53]

                                LESSON NO. 24:

               THE SOUL, SOUL BODY, AND SOUL GROWTH (Continued):

   During the Great War many Invisible Helpers were developed to work on the
battle fields with the wounded soldiers.  At the beginning of the war,  how-
ever,  there are few available, because very few of humanity had attained to
this development.   As the war progressed,  more and more Invisible  Helpers
were  developed  to meet the emergency,  and at the end of it there  were  a
great number at work.

   The soul body continues to grow after it has been born, that is, after it
has  been separated by cleavage from the lower ethers--provided it  is  fed.
Like  any other body it must receive food in order to grow and remain  in  a
condition of health and strength.   But if we fail to provide suitable  good
for the soul body after its birth, we shall experience a great soul  hunger,
compared with which physical hunger is as nothing.   The good which must  be
given to its consists in acts and thoughts of love and service to others and
to   humanity   in  general  as   opportunity   permits.    Self-forgetting,
self-sacrificing  service builds the soul body and attracts the golden  soul
ethers.

   In  the  beginning of our Day of Manifestation we all started  as  Virgin
Spirits, but even then some were more adaptable, more willing, and more pro-
gressive than others,  and some, therefore,  proceeded into involution  with
greater  speed and greater enthusiasm than others.   Those are the ones  who
have  become the pioneers of our present day.   Those are the ones who  have
developed  soul and the soul body more rapidly than the others.   Those  are
the ones of whom we speak as "old souls,"  as contrasted with the more back-
wards ones whom we call, "young souls"; not young in point of time but young
as  regards development.   The very young ones are spoken of as the  "strag-
glers,"  those who declined to take up the work of involution and evolution,
and  who in many cases refused to advance,  with the result that  they  have
fallen very far behind the pioneers.

   Soul is the spiritualized product of the body--the result of the spirit's
work  in the body.   There is no standing still in nature nor in  evolution.
We must either go forward or backward.  If we go forward, we continually add
to the soul which we have built in the past.  If we go backward,  the trans-
mutation of the threefold body into soul is retarded,  and evolution depends
upon soul growth.   In other words,  the soul,  really being pabulum or food
for  the  spirit,  is continually used to nourish the spirit, and it must be

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continually replenished if the spirit is to progress.  If the lower self be-
comes  so strong that it overrules the ego or spirit and insists upon  going
backward,  we become soulless.   During this process the work upon the  soul
body ceases,  because it is intimately connected with the soul.   The breath
record of our evil acts,  which is etched into the desire body after  death,
is sometimes spoken of as "the soul that sinneth" and which dies through ex-
purgation.  This has been fully described in the lesson on purgatory.

   Another  danger which results when the lower self becomes unruly and  re-
fuses to follow the promptings of the spirits is that the vehicles which  it
has built by involution and partially spiritualized may be lost by  disinte-
gration,  namely,  the physical, vital, desire, and mental bodies,  together
with their corresponding seed atoms.

   This is a very serious matter, because when the ego has lost its vehicles
and  their seed atoms it is no further means of continuing its evolution  in
this Day of Manifestation.   It must, therefore,  go back into chaos and re-
main  there until a new life wave starts to which it may attach  itself  and
thus continue its evolution.  But this is a great loss,  and the spirit suf-
fers greatly from it.  The spirit or ego, however, does not die.  The spirit
is deathless.  It was differentiated in God at the beginning as part of God,
and it will forever remain such.  It cannot die, but it can lose its bodies,
and thus for a time be practically impotent and helpless.

   When the ego has lost its seed atoms, it is no longer able to come to re-
birth in its present life wave.  This, however, is not a total loss, because
when it starts forward again in another life wave, it will start at a higher
point than it did in the present cycle.  This is due to the fact that  since
the beginning of the Saturn Period the Virgin Spirit has acquired the  three
veils of Divine,  Life, and Human Spirit, respectively,  which together with
the  Virgin Spirit itself constitutes the Ego.   The veils of Divine,  Life,
and Human Spirit thus gained are retained through chaos, and give the Virgin
Spirit a start in a later evolutionary day.  Nevertheless the loss is great.
Therefore it behooves us all to improve our opportunities to the utmost  and
live  the life of righteousness or right-doing in order that we  may  accom-
plish that which it was designed that we should accomplish, and incidentally
gain the great joy and peace and power which will result therefrom.

   There is another possibility, however, that of losing all seven vehicles,
thus  leaving the Virgin Spirit entirely naked,  so that all the  work  done
since the beginning of the Saturn Period is lost.  This is the result of ex-
treme materialism and is a matter of grave concern to occult scientists.


1] What is necessary in order for the soul body to continue to grow?

2] What is the food required by the soul body?

3] What is soul hunger?

4] What do we mean by old souls, young souls, and stragglers?

5] What is the connection between evolution and soul growth?

6] What happens when the lower self refuses to follow the guidance of the
   spirit?

7] What results from the loss of the seed atoms, and why?

8] Why does good sense require us to live the best lives possible?

9] What causes greatest apprehension to occult scientists?

[PAGE 55]

                                LESSON NO. 25:

      THE PATH OF ATTAINMENT, FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE, AND SPIRITUAL SIGHT:

   The  Path  of Attainment is the path on which we  develop  our  spiritual
sight and spiritual powers.  Spiritual sight is often spoken of as the sixth
sense.   Ordinary humanity has only five senses,  but we all have the  sixth
sense dormant, and some of the pioneers have developed it.  There was a time
when  we only had four senses fully developed;  another,  when we  possessed
three, and so on.  In the period, for instance, when we only had four active
senses,  there were undoubtedly some who said that it was impossible to have
a  fifth sense;  that those visionaries who told of a fifth sense  were  de-
luded.   History repeats itself.   Today the rank and file of humanity  have
five senses,  but some report the existence of a sixth.   They are often re-
garded by the others as being deluded.  When these advanced individuals tell
of realms and visions and powers of which we are not made aware by our  five
senses,  there are always some to say that they are the product of  imagina-
tion.  Yet we know that they are not.  We know that these higher regions and
powers exist.

   The first evidence of the development of the sixth sense consists in sen-
sitiveness  to the vibrations from the planes above the physical.   When  we
have  become sensitive to these vibrations,  even if our sixth sense is  not
actively developed,  we sense the fact that these higher planes exists,  and
we  also  perceive the truth in philosophies which describe them.   In  this
class  are  the majority of the students of esoteric philosophy.   The  mere
fact  that  they are students of this philosophy and that they are  able  to
sense the truth in it proves that they have become more or less sensitive to
superphysical vibrations.

   The  sixth  sense,  or the spiritual sight by which we  obtain  firsthand
knowledge of the higher planes,  is threefold.   The lowest grade is etheric
sight,  that by which we perceive the etheric world and the etheric entities
therein,  such as the nature spirits.   By etheric sight we are able to  see
through  physical objects and observe conditions in any part of them.   This
applies to all substances except glass.

   the  second  grade of spiritual sight is the clairvoyance of  the  desire
world.   By this sight we perceive the desire world and the desire bodies of
entities living therein.  In clairvoyance an object appears to be spread out
before us so that we see the whole of it at a single glance.   Clairaudience
is another method of contacting the desire world.   This enables one to hear
the spiritual voices of those who live there.

   The  third  grade  of spiritual sight is that by which  we  perceive  the
spiritual realities in the world of thought.  Here we contact the archetypes
of all existing things.   These archetypes, being living entities,  speak to
us  and  convey knowledge to us about themselves.   It is difficult  to  put
knowledge obtained by this method into logical order, because we perceive it
as a whole,  and not as made up of parts as in the cause of our physical vi-
sion.

[PAGE 56]

   Spiritual sight may be positive or negative.   The positive form is  that
which the student of a positive occult school develops.   It is developed by
living a life of purity and service,  thus awakening the pituitary body  and
pineal gland.   By certain exercises,  after a spiritual life has been lived
the proper length of time,  the pituitary body is set into vibration in such
a  way that if deflects the lines of ascending sex force and causes then  to
pass through the pituitary body and pineal gland,  thus bridging the gap be-
tween the two.  Thereby positive spiritual vision is obtained,  which is un-
der the control of the will.   In the case of the occultist the greater part
of the current of sex force flows upward through the spinal canal and larynx
to the brain,  then downward through the heart.   The occultist develops the
intellectual  side  of his nature to a greater degree  than  the  devotional
side.   In the cause of the mystic the greater part of the current flow  up-
wards  through the heart and larynx before reaching the brain.   The  mystic
develops the heart or devotional side of nature to a greater degree than the
intellectual.  Both forms come under the head of positive spiritual develop-
ment.

   The negative path of development is that of mediumship,  which is  devel-
oped through the solar plexus and the sympathetic nervous system instead  of
through the brain and cerebro-spinal system.   The spiritual sight which  is
developed by the medium is not under his control,  and is not subject to his
will;  therefore it is a very poor kind of sight.   Moreover,  it is not re-
tained during future lives,  whereas the positive spiritual sight gained  by
the true occultists or mystic is thus retained.

   The occultist and the mystic must each in time attain the development  of
the other;  in other words,  the heart side and the head side of the  nature
must eventually be equally developed.  The negative mediumistic stage is one
which is frequently passed through by the aspirant on his way to the  devel-
opment of positive spiritual sight.  The mediumistic state, however,  is one
which we should not cultivate, and it is not necessary to pass through it at
all.

   Spiritual sight and occult powers can be safely developed only in connec-
tion  with a life of service to humanity.   If we develop these powers  from
any other motive than that of co-operating with the great plan of evolution,
we  are in danger.   If our motive in developing is the selfish  desire  for
power  for  our own purposes and our own individual  advantage  exclusively,
then we are opening up our aura to evil entities who will service us  tempo-
rarily  in  obtaining the power which we desire,  but whom in turn  we  must
eventually serve.  They will exact the payment of the debt to the uttermost,
and  in paying the debt the aspirant is often dragged down to the depths  of
degradation.
                              (To be continued)

   Please study the preceding lesson carefully;  then without consulting it,
answer  fully but concisely the following questions.

1] What is the Path of Attainment?

2] Describe the sixth sense.  What is the first evidence of its development?

3] Describe the three grades of spiritual sight.

4] Describe the development of positive spiritual sight.

5] How is negative spiritual vision developed, and what are its
   disadvantages?

6] What is the difference between the occultist and the mystic, and what
   must each eventually do?

[PAGE 57]

                                LESSON NO. 26:

     THE PATH OF ATTAINMENT, FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE, AND SPIRITUAL SIGHT:
                                 (Continued)

   Vanity  over  one's spiritual development admits elementals to  his  aura
which often bring about his downfall.  Therefore the Bible is scientifically
correct when it warns us against pride.   This is particularly dangerous af-
ter we have started on the Path of Attainment.   The aspirant's vehicles are
sensitized on his path by the pure living which he practices and by the  ex-
ercises which he pursues.  He must be much more careful, therefore, than the
ordinary  person to avoid sensuality in any form,  because it will pull  him
down with greater rapidity than it will others.

   Among the first exercises which the aspirant to first-hand knowledge must
practice is that of keen observation of details.  It is true of the ordinary
person that he has eyes but does not see.  The aspirant must practice seeing
everything about him with great minuteness; otherwise there will be conflict
between  the conscious records in the mind and the subconscious  records  in
the vital body, and this will produce inharmony.  As we pass along a street,
we can improve our observation by noting distinctly all the houses and their
details, including the lawns, the style of architecture, et cetera; later on
we should endeavor to recall these details.   By so doing we shall  increase
our power of observation to a marked degree.

   Concentration  and positive thought are the next mental powers to be  de-
veloped.   In practicing these we must hold our mind to a point and not  let
it wander.   Though wandering destroys though power; concentration builds it
up.  Positive thought will ordinarily accomplish wonders in any field of en-
deavor, and which will make us a success.  Negative thought opens up our au-
ras  to entities of an undesirable nature,  and if continued long enough  we
may  become  subject to their domination and helpless to  protect  ourselves
from them.  Therefore practice concentration at all times.

   Higher exercises for the aspirant are those of meditation and discrimina-
tion,  contemplation and adoration.   Information regarding these can be ob-
tained  from the "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception," and their study  is  highly
recommended.  The systematic repetition of spiritual truths builds them into
the vital body and gradually makes them a part of the character if they  are
fortified by works.   By this means one can make his character whatever  the
wishes it to be; and character is destiny.

   The  aspirant often retards his progress by anxiety,  which is a form  of
fear.  This creates fear elementals in the mind.  The aspirant should do the
things  which he knows to be right and then have no anxiety for the  future.
"Perfect love casteth out fear."  Therefore if we have a tendency to fear of
any kind,  we can build up our finer vehicles by the practice of love in one

[PAGE 58]

way or another so that eventually we shall be fear-proof.  This is necessary
before we develop our occult powers to any great degree,  because unless  we
are masters of fear, it is not safe for us to expose ourselves on the invis-
ible planes,  and it is not safe for us to travel on those planes away  from
the protection of our physical bodies.   While we are still subject to fear,
we  are  subject  to the malevolent activities of beings  on  the  invisible
planes who would do us harm.  The very fact that we feel fear proves that we
are not fully capable of defending ourselves against these entities.   Fear,
therefore, is the first great enemy which the occult student must overcome.

   Some  mystic students fall into the error of developing  spiritual  sight
through the aid of drugs, crystal gazing, or wrong breathing exercises.   In
time disease or obsession is likely to result from these practices,  because
they are negative in character.  They develop the spiritual sight thought he
counter-clockwise vibration instead of the clockwise,  and thereby those who
practice them open themselves to the lower desire world and the depraved en-
tities which live there.  Eastern breathing exercises,  not being adapted to
the Westerner,  in some cases life the whole vital body out of the physical,
rupturing  the  connection between the etheric sense centers and  the  brain
cells, causing insanity.  In other cases they produce a cleavage between the
life and chemical ethers,  resulting in consumption.   Our students are ear-
nestly  advised against the slightest beginnings of these  practices.   Deep
hygienic breathing, however, is good and is recommended.

   Finally,  equipoise on all planes is the great object to be gained by the
occult student.   This is threefold, consisting, first, of mental concentra-
tion;  second,  of emotional balance; third,  of spiritual power.   But even
when this has been obtained,  even when the higher vision has been developed
and  we are able to leave our bodies consciously,  we do not  possess  omni-
science.   We are then only at the point of beginning our education  in  the
spiritual worlds.   We must learn there exactly as we learn by a long course
of patient work and patient applications to the problems of our new environ-
ment.  We can see, therefore, how foolish it is to follow after teachers who
have developed perhaps only one of the three grades of spiritual sight,  and
that one perhaps imperfectly.   We can also see how foolish it is to indulge
in  hero worship relative to any one on account of his clairvoyant  develop-
ment,  or  to take everything which he may give out as  being  unqualifiedly
true and worthy of acceptance.   Everything which is obtained from the inner
world through any grade of spiritual sight must be subjected to the tests of
logic and common sense, and if it cannot pass these tests,  we are justified
either in rejecting it or, at least, in investigating further before accept-
ing it.

1] How only may occult powers be developed safely?

2] What is the effect upon the aspirant of spiritual vanity?

3] Why must the occult student guard particularly against sensuality?
  
4] Why should we cultivate keen observation?

5] Contrast positive thought with negative thought.  Why is the former
   advisable?

6] What are the occult results of anxiety and fear?

7] Describe the effects of drugs, crystal gazing, and wrong breathing
   exercises?

8] How must first-hand spiritual knowledge be obtained?

Continued with file "RC4004.TXT"

End of File

