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The Rosicrucian Cosmo-conception 1
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[PAGE 1] THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
T H E R O S I C R U C I A N C O S M O - C O N C E P T I O N
OR
MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY
AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE UPON
MAN'S PAST EVOLUTION, PRESENT CONSTITUTION
AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
BY
MAX HEINDEL
[1865-1919]
Its Message and Mission:
A SANE MIND
A SOFT HEART
A SOUND BODY
THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP
International Headquarters
Mt. Ecclesia
P.O. Box 713
Oceanside, California, U.S.A., 92054
[PAGE 4] ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
CREED OR CHRIST
No man loves God who hates his kind,
Who tramples on his brother's heart and soul;
Who seeks to shackle, cloud, or fog the mind
By fears of hell has not perceived our goal.
God-sent are all religions blest;
And Christ, the Way, the Truth, the Life,
To give the heavy laden rest
And peace from sorrow, sin, and strife.
Behold the Universal Spirit came
To ALL the churches, not to one alone;
On Pentecostal morn a tongue of flame
Round EACH apostle as a halo shone.
Since then, as vultures ravenous with greed,
We oft have battled for an empty name,
And sought by dogma, edict, cult, or creed,
To send each other to the quenchless flame.
Is Christ then twain? Was Cephas, Paul,
To save the world, nailed to the tree?
Then why divisions here at all?
Christ's love enfolds both you and me.
His pure sweet love is not confined
By creed which segregate and raise a wall.
His love enfolds, embraces human kind,
No matter what ourselves or Him we call.
Then why not take Him at His word?
Why hold to creeds which tear apart?
But one thing matters, be it heard
That brother love fill every heart.
There's but one thing the world has need to know.
There's but one balm for all our human woe:
There's but one way that leads to heaven above--
That way is human sympathy and love.
-Max Heindel.
[PAGE 5] A WORD TO THE WISE
A WORD TO THE WISE.
The founder of the Christian Religion stated an occult maxim when He
said: "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child
shall not enter therein" (Mark X:15). All occultists recognize the
far-reaching importance of this teaching of Christ, and endeavor to "live"
it day by day.
When a new philosophy is presented to the world it is met in different
ways by different people.
One person will grasp with avidity any new philosophical effort in an
endeavor to ascertain how far IT SUPPORTS HIS OWN IDEAS. To such an one the
philosophy itself is of minor importance. Its prime value will be its vin-
dication of HIS ideas. If the work comes up to expectation in that respect,
he will enthusiastically adopt it and cling to it with a most unreasoning
partisanship; if not, he will probably lay the book down in disgust and dis-
appointment, feeling as if the author had done him an injury.
Another adopts an attitude of skepticism as soon as he discovers that it
contains something which HE has not previously read, heard, or originated in
his own thought. He would probably resent as extremely unjustified the ac-
cusation that his mental attitude is the acme of self-satisfaction and in-
tolerance; such is nevertheless the case; and thus he shuts his mind to any
truth which may possibly be hidden in that which he off-hand rejects.
Both these classes stand in their own light. "Set" ideas render them
impervious to rays of truth. "A little child" is the very opposite of its
[PAGE 6] A WORD TO THE WISE
elders in that respect. It is not imbued with an overwhelming sense of su-
perior knowledge, nor does it feel compelled to look wise or to hide its
nescience of any subject by a smile or a sneer. It is frankly ignorant,
unfettered by preconceived opinions and therefore EMINENTLY TEACHABLE. It
takes everything with that beautiful attitude of trust which we have desig-
nated "child-like faith," wherein there is not the shadow of a doubt. There
the child holds the teaching it receives until proven or disproven.
In all occult schools the pupil is first taught to forget all else when
a new teaching is being given, to allow neither preference nor prejudice to
govern, but to keep the mind in a state of calm, dignified waiting. As
skepticism will blind us to truth in the most effective manner, so this
calm, trustful attitude of the mind will allow the intuition, or "teaching
from within," to become aware of the truth contained in the proposition.
That is the only way to cultivate an absolutely certain perception of truth.
The pupil is not required to believe off-hand that a given object which
he has observed to be white, is really black, when such a statement is made
to him; but he must cultivate an attitude of mind which "believeth all
things" AS POSSIBLE. That will allow him to put by for the time being even
what are generally considered "established facts," and investigate if per-
chance there be another viewpoint hitherto unobserved by him whence the ob-
ject referred to would appear black. Indeed, he would not allow himself to
look upon anything as "AN ESTABLISHED FACT," for he realizes thoroughly the
importance of keeping his mind in the fluidal state of ADAPTABILITY which
characterizes the little child. He realizes in every fibre of his being
that "now we see through a glass, darkly," and Ajax-like he is ever on the
alert, yearning for "Light, more Light."
[PAGE 7] A WORD TO THE WISE
The enormous advantage of such an attitude of mind when investigating
any given subject, object or idea must be apparent. Statements which appear
positively and unequivocally contradictory, which have caused an immense
amount of feeling among the advocates of opposite sides, may nevertheless be
capable of perfect reconciliation, as shown in one such instance mentioned
in the present work. THE BOND OF CONCORD IS ONLY DISCOVERED BY THE OPEN
MIND, however, and though the present work may be found to differ from oth-
ers, the writer would bespeak an impartial hearing as the basis of SUBSE-
QUENT judgment. If the book is "weighed and found wanting," the writer will
have no complaint. He only fears a hasty judgment based upon lack of knowl-
edge of the system he advocates--a hearing wherein the judgment is "wanting"
in consequence of having been denied an impartial "weighing." He would fur-
ther submit, that the only opinion worthy of the one who expresses it MUST
BE BASED UPON KNOWLEDGE.
As a further reason for care in judgment we suggest that to many it is
exceedingly difficult to retract a hastily expressed opinion. Therefore it
is urged that the reader withhold all expressions of either praise or blame
until study of the work has reasonably satisfied him of its merit or de-
merit.
THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION is not dogmatic, neither does it appeal
to any other authority than the reason of the student. It is not controver-
sial, but is sent forth in the hope that is may help to clear some of the
difficulties which have beset the minds of students of the deeper phi-
losophies in the past. In order to avoid serious misunderstanding, it
should be firmly impressed upon the mind of the student, however, that there
[PAGE 8] A WORD TO THE WISE
is no infallible revelation of this complicated subject, which includes ev-
erything under the sun and above it also.
An infallible exposition would predicate omniscience upon the part of
the writer, and even the Elder Brothers tell us that they are sometimes at
fault in their judgment, so a book which shall say the last word on the
World-Mystery is out of the question, and the writer of the present work
does not pretend to give aught but the most elementary teachings of the
Rosicrucians.
The Rosicrucian Brotherhood has the most far-reaching, the most logical
conception of the World-Mystery of which the writer has gained any knowledge
during the many years he has devoted exclusively to the study of this sub-
ject. So far as he has been able to investigate, their teachings have been
found in accordance with facts as he knows them. Yet he is convinced that
THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION is far from being the last word on the
subject; that as we advance greater vistas of truth will open to us and
make clear many things which we now "see through a glass, darkly." At the
same time he firmly believes that all other philosophies of the future will
follow the same main lines, for they appear to be absolutely true.
In view of the foregoing it will be plain that this book is not consid-
ered by the writer as the Alpha and Omega, the ultimate of occult knowledge,
and even though is entitled "THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION," the writer
desires to strongly emphasize that is not to be understood as a "faith once
for all delivered" to the Rosicrucians by a founder of the Order or by any
other individual. It is emphatically stated that THIS WORD EMBODIES ONLY
THE WRITER'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROSICRUCIAN TEACHINGS concerning the
World-Mystery, strengthened by his personal investigations of the inner
[PAGE 9] A WORD TO THE WISE
Worlds, the ante-natal and post-mortem states of man, etc. The responsibil-
ity upon one who wittingly or unwittingly leads others astray is clearly re-
alized by the writer, and he wishes to guard as far as possible against that
contingency, and also to guard others against going wrong inadvertently.
What is said in this work is to be accepted or rejected by the reader
according to his own discretion. All care has been used in trying to make
plain the teaching; great pains have been taken to put it into words that
shall be easily understood. For that reason only one term has been used
throughout to convey each idea. The same word will have the same meaning
wherever used. When any word descriptive of an idea is first used, the
clearest definition possible to the writer is given. None but English terms
and the simplest language have been used. The writer has tried to give as
exact and definite descriptions of the subject under consideration as pos-
sible; to eliminate all ambiguity and to make everything clear. How far he
has succeeded must be left to the student to judge; but having used every
possible means to convey the teaching, he feels obliged to guard also
against the possibility of this work being taken as a verbatim statement of
the Rosicrucian teachings. Neglect of this precaution might give undue
weight to this work in the minds of some students. That would not be fair
to the Brotherhood nor to the reader. It would tend to throw the
responsibility upon the Brotherhood for the mistakes which must occur in
this as in all other human works. Hence the above warning.
[PAGE 10] A WORD TO THE WISE
During the four years which have elapsed since the foregoing paragraphs
were written, the writer has continued his investigations of the invisible
worlds, and experienced the expansion of consciousness relative to these
realms of nature which comes by practice of the precepts taught in the West-
ern Mystery School. Others also who have followed the method of
soul-unfoldment herein described as particularly suited to the Western
peoples, have likewise been enabled to verify for themselves many things
here taught. Thus the writer's understanding of what was given by the Elder
Brothers has received some corroboration and seems to have been substan-
tially correct, therefore he feels it a duty to state this for the encour-
agement of those who are still unable to see for themselves.
If we said that the vital body is built of PRISMS instead of points, it
would have been better, for it is by refraction through these minute prisms
that the colorless solar fluid changes to a rosy hue as observed by other
writers beside the author.
Other new and important discoveries have also been made; for instance,
we know now that the Silver Cord is grown anew in each life, that one part
sprouts from the seed atom of the desire body in the great vortex of the
liver, that the other part grows out of the seed atom of the dense body in
the heart, that both parts meet in the seed atom of the vital body in the
solar plexus, and that this union of the higher and lower vehicles causes
the quickening. Further development of the cord between the heart and solar
plexus during the first seven years has an important bearing on the mystery
of childlife, likewise its fuller growth from the liver to the solar plexus,
which takes place during the second septenary period, is a contributory
cause of adolescence. Completion of the Silver Cord marks the end of
childlife, and from that time the solar energy which enters through the
spleen and is tinted by refraction through the prismatic seed atom of the
vital body located in the solar plexus, commences to give a distinctive and
individual coloring to the aura which we observe in adults.
[PAGE 11] LIST OF CONTENTS
LIST OF CONTENTS.
PART I.
MAN'S PRESENT CONSTITUTION AND METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT.
A Word to the Wise ................................................... 5
The Four Kingdoms, diagram ........................................... 16
Introduction ......................................................... 17
CHAPTER I. The Visible and Invisible Worlds ......................... 24
Chemical Region of the Physical World ............................ 29
Etheric Region of the Physical World ............................. 34
The Desire World ................................................. 38
The World of Thought ............................................. 48
Diagram 1. The Material World a Reverse Reflection
of the Spiritual Worlds .................................... 52
Diagram 2. The Seven Worlds ..................................... 54
CHAPTER II. The Four Kingdoms ....................................... 56
Diagram 3. The Vehicles of the Four Kingdoms .................... 73
Diagram 4. The Consciousness of the Four Kingdoms ............... 74
CHAPTER III. Man and the Method of Evolution.
Activities of Life; Memory and Soul-growth ....................... 87
The Constitution of the Seven-fold Man ........................... 88
Diagram 5. The Three-fold Spirit, the Three-fold Body and
the Three-fold Soul ........................................ 95
Death and Purgatory .............................................. 96
Diagram 5 1/2. The Silver Cord .................................. 98
The Borderland ................................................... 112
The First Heaven .............archies ......................................... 325
The Saturn Period ................................................ 327
The Sun Period, the Moon Period .................................. 328
The Earth Period ................................................. 329
Jehovah and His Mission .......................................... 333
Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis ............................. 336
A Living Soul? ................................................... 344
Adam's Rib ....................................................... 346
Guardian Angels .................................................. 347
Mixing Blood in Marriage ......................................... 352
The Fall of Man .................................................. 360
Diagram 13. The Beginning and End of Sex ........................ 364
PART III.
MAN'S FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND INITIATION.
Diagram. The Seven Days of Creation ............................. 366
CHAPTER XV. Christ and His Mission.
The Evolution of Religion ........................................ 367
Jesus and Christ-Jesus ........................................... 374
Diagram 14. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ............. 377
Not Peace but a Sword ............................................ 383
The Star of Bethlehem ............................................ 388
The Heart an Anomaly ............................................. 393
The Mystery of Golgotha .......................................... 400
The Cleansing Blood .............................................. 406
Diagram, "As Above, so Below" .................................... 410
CHAPTER XVI. Future Development and Initiation.
The Seven Days of Creation ....................................... 411
Diagram 15. The Symbolism of the Caduceus ....................... 413
Radiates, Mollusks, Articulates and Vertebrates .................. 416
Spirals within Spirals ........................................... 420
[PAGE 14] LIST OF CONTENTS
Alchemy and Soulgrowth ........................................... 421
The Creative Word ................................................ 425
CHAPTER XVII. The Method of Acquiring First-Hand Knowledge.
The First Steps .................................................. 430
Western Methods for Western People ............................... 437
The Science of Nutrition ......................................... 441
Table of Food Values ............................................. 450
The Law of Assimilation .......................................... 457
Live and Let Live ................................................ 460
The Lord's Prayer ................................................ 462
Diagram 16. The Lord's Prayer ................................... 464
The Vow of Celibacy .............................................. 467
The Pituitary Body and the Pineal Gland .......................... 473
Diagram 17. Path of the Unused Sex Currents ..................... 475
Esoteric Training ................................................ 477
How the Inner Vehicle is Built ................................... 480
Concentration .................................................... 486
Meditation ....................................................... 489
Observation ...................................................... 492
Discrimination ................................................... 493
Contemplation .................................................... 494
Adoration ........................................................ 495
CHAPTER XVIII. The Constitution of the Earth and Volcanic Eruptions . 498
The Number of the Beast .......................................here comes a day when the form dies and goes to
decay. The life that came, whence we know not, has passed to the invisible
beyond, and in sorrow we ask ourselves, Whence came it? What was it here?
and Whither has it gone?
Across every threshold the skeleton form of Death throws his fearsome
shadow. Old or young, well or ill, rich or poor, all, all alike must pass
out into that shadow and throughout the ages has sounded the piteous cry for
a solution of the riddle of life--the riddle of death.
So far as the vast majority of people are concerned the three great
questions, Whence have we come? Why are we here? Whither are we going?
remain unanswered to this day. It has unfortunately come to be the
popularly accepted opinion that nothing can be definitely known about these
matters of deepest interest to humanity. Nothing could be more erroneous
than such an idea. Each and every one, without exception, may become ca-
pable of obtaining first-hand, definite information upon this subject; may
personally investigate the state of the human spirit, both before birth and
after death. There is no favoritism, nor are special gifts required. Each
of us has inherently the faculty for knowing all of these matters; but!--
Yes, there is a "but," and a "BUT" that must be written large. These facul-
ties are present in all, though latent in most people. It requires persis-
tent effort to awaken them and that seems to be a powerful deterrent. If
these faculties, "awake and aware," could be had for a monetary consider-
ation, even if the price were high, many people would pay it to gain such
immense advantage over their fellow-men, but few indeed are those
[PAGE 20] THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
willing to live the life that is required to awaken them. That awakening
comes only by patient, persistent effort. It cannot be bought; there is no
royal road to it.
It is conceded that practice is necessary to learn to play the piano,
and that it is useless to think of being a watchmaker without being willing
to serve an apprenticeship. Yet when the matter of the soul, of death and
the beyond, of the great causes of being, are the questions at issue, many
think they know as much as anyone and have an equal right to express an
opinion, though they may never have given the subject an hour's study.
As a matter of fact, no one unless qualified by study of the subject
should expect serious consideration for an opinion. In legal cases, where
experts are called to testify, they are first examined as to their compe-
tency. The weight of their testimony will be nil, unless they are found to
be thoroughly proficient in the branch of knowledge regarding which their
testimony is sought.
If, however, they are found to be qualified--by study and practice--
to express an expert opinion, it is received with the utmost respect and
deference; and if the testimony of one expert is corroborated by others
equally proficient, the testimony of each additional man adds immensely to
the weight of the previous evidence.
The irrefutable testimony of one such man easily counterbalances that of
one or a dozen or a million men who know nothing of that whereof they speak,
for nothing, even though multiplied by a million, will still remain nothing.
This is as true of any other subject as of mathematics.
As previously said, we recognize these facts readily enough in material
affairs, but when things beyond the world of sense, when the super-physical
world is under discussion; when the relations of God to man, the inner-most
[PAGE 21] INTRODUCTION
mysteries of the immortal spark of divinity, loosely termed the soul, are to
be probed, then each clamors for as serious consideration of his opinions
and ideas regarding spiritual matters as is given to the sage, who by a life
of patient and toilsome research has acquired wisdom in these higher things.
Nay, more; many will not even content themselves with claiming EQUAL
consideration for their opinions, but will even jeer and scoff at the words
of the sage, seek to impugn his testimony as fraud, and, with the supreme
confidence of deepest ignorance, asseverate that as THEY know nothing of
such matters, it is absolutely impossible that anyone else can.
The man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first step toward
knowledge.
The path to first-hand knowledge is not easy. Nothing worth having ever
comes without persistent effort. It cannot be too often repeated that there
are no such things as special gifts of "luck." All that anyone is or has,
is the result of effort. What one lacks in comparison with another is la-
tent in himself and capable of development by proper methods.
If the reader, having grasped this idea thoroughly, should ask, what he
must do to obtain this first-hand knowledge, the following story may serve
to impress the idea, which is the central one in occultism:
A young man came to a sage one day and asked, "Sire, what must I do to
become wise?" The sage vouchsafed no answer. The youth after repeating his
question a number of times, with a like result, at last left him, to return
the next day with the same question. Again no answer was given and the
youth returned on the third day, still repeating his question, "Sire what
[PAGE 22] THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
must I do to become wise?"
Finally the sage turned and went down to a near-by river. He entered the
water, bidding the youth follow him. Upon arriving at a sufficient depth
the sage took the young man by the shoulders and held him under the water,
despite his struggles to free himself. At last, however, he released him
and when the youth had regained his breath the sage questioned him:
"Son, when you were under the water what did you most desire?"
The youth answered without hesitation, "Air, air! I wanted air!"
"Would you not rather have had riches, pleasure, power or love, my son?
Did you not think of any of these?" queried the sage.
"No, sire! I wanted air and though only of air," came the instant re-
sponse.
"Then," said the sage, "To become wise you must desire wisdom with as
great intensity as you just now desired air. You must struggle for it, to
the exclusion of every other aim in life. It must be your one and only as-
piration, by day and by night. If you seek wisdom with that fervor, my son,
you will surely become wise."
That is the first and central requisite the aspirant to occult knowledge
must possess--an unswerving desire, a burning thirst for knowledge; a zeal
that allows no obstacle to conquer it; but the supreme motive for seeking
this occult knowledge must be an ardent desire to benefit humanity, entirely
disregarding self in order to work for others. Unless prompted by the
motive, occult knowledge is dangerous.
Without possessing these qualifications--especially the latter--in
some measure, any attempt to tread the arduous path of occultism would be a
[PAGE 23] INTRODUCTION
hazardous undertaking. Another prerequisite to this first-hand knowledge,
however, is the study of occultism at second-hand. Certain occult powers
are necessary for the first-hand investigation of matters connected with the
pre-natal and post-mortem states of man, but no one need despair of acquir-
ing information about this conditions because of undeveloped occult powers.
As a man may know about Africa either by going there personally or by read-
ing descriptions written by travelers who have been there, so may he visit
the superphysical realms if he will but qualify himself therefor, or he may
learn what others who have so qualified themselves report as a result of
their investigations.
Christ said, "The Truth shall make you free," but Truth is not found
once and forever. Truth is eternal, and the quest for Truth must also be
eternal. Occultism knows of no "faith once for all delivered." There are
certain basic truths which remain, but which may be looked at from many
sides, each giving a different view, which complements the previous ones;
therefore, so far as we can see at present, there is no such achievement
possible as arriving at the ultimate truth.
Wherein this work differs from some philosophical works the variations
are caused by difference of viewpoint, and all respect is paid
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