Rosicrucian
We are associated with The Rosicrucian Fellowship, Oceanside - California
„Hold on to instruction, do not let go; guard it well, for it is your life”
Proverbs 4:13
In this first stanza the soul, enamored of the Word, the Son of God, the Bridegroom, desiring to be united to Him in the clear and substantial vision, sets before Him the anxieties of its love, complaining of His absence. And this the more so because, now pierced and wounded with love, for which it had abandoned all things, even itself, it has still to endure the absence of the Beloved, Who has not released it from its mortal flesh, that it might have the fruition of Him in the glory of eternity. Hence it cries out,: "Where have You hidden Yourself?"
It is as if the soul said, "Show me, O You the Word, my Bridegroom, the place where You are hidden." It asks for the revelation of the divine Essence; for the place where the Son of God is hidden is, according to St. John, "the bosom of the Father," which is the divine Essence, transcending all mortal vision, and hidden from all human understanding, as Isaiah says, speaking to God, "Verily You are a hidden God." From this we learn that the communication and sense of His presence, however great they may be, and the most sublime and profound knowledge of God which the soul may have in this life, are not God essentially, neither have they any affinity with Him, for in very truth He is still hidden from the soul; and it is therefore expedient for it, amid all these grandeurs, always to consider Him as hidden, and to seek Him in His hiding place.
We must remember that the Word, the Son of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is hidden in essence and in presence, in the inmost being of the soul. That soul, therefore, that will find Him, must go out from all things in will and affection, and enter into the profoundest self-recollection, and all things must be to it as if they existed not. Hence, St. Augustine says: "I found You not without, O Lord; I sought You without in vain, for You are within," God is therefore hidden within the soul, and the true contemplative will seek Him there in love.
The soul may then with truth call Him Beloved, when it is wholly His, when the heart has no attachments but Him, and when all the thoughts are continually directed to Him. It was the absence of this that made Delilah say to Samson, "How do you say you love me when your mind is not with me?" The mind comprises the thoughts and the feelings. Some there are who call the Bridegroom their Beloved, but He is not really beloved, because their heart is not wholly with Him. Their prayers are, therefore, not so effectual before God, and they shall not obtain their petitions until, persevering in prayer, they fix their minds more constantly upon God and their hearts more wholly in loving affection upon Him, for nothing can be obtained from God but by love.
What more can you desire, what more can you seek without, seeing that within you have your riches, your delight, your satisfaction, your fullness and your kingdom; that is, your Beloved, Whom you desire and seek? Rejoice, then, and be glad in Him with interior recollection, seeing that you have Him so near. Then love Him, then desire Him, then adore Him, and go not to seek Him out of yourself, for that will be but distraction and weariness, and you shall not find Him; because there is no fruition of Him more certain, more ready, or more intimate than that which is within.
ST.JOHN OF THE CROSS
„By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”.
John 13:35.
Dear friends!
After seven years of very fruitful European International Meetings we would like to invite you again to be with us in Austria and participate in creating a positive and constructive attitude for a global spiritual development.
The theme of the meeting will be: Practicing the christian principles of divine love and awareness in daily life.
Please prepare yourself for sharing your experiences concerning these themes because these topics will be worked out mostly in workshops.
This international meeting of the Rosicrucian Fellowship will take place at Kloster Pernegg in Austria from July 29th to August 1st 2004 (see contact address below for your inscriptions).
The meeting will last from the arrival on Thursday July 29th in the afternoon, about 2 p.m. - till Sunday August 1st after lunch.
The price for the whole meeting, inclusive board and lodging is as follows:
€ 209,00 for each person in single room for the whole meeting
€ 182,00 for each person in double room for the whole meeting
* If you want to come earlier or stay longer the Kloster Pernegg will charge(as a group price) about 63 € for single room and 54 € for double room for board and lodging per day.
Please make the reservation for this meeting as soon as possible to:
E-Mail: kloster.pernegg@nextra.at Homepage: www.stiftgeras.at
Please see the attachments for how to get to Kloster Pernegg!
After you have made your reservations please tell us of your coming, about your possible participation, and about the language (s) that you speak. Please write to: newsletters@telering.at
Or: PF 4-A-2231 Gänserndorf Austria
We hope to see you soon and wish you in the mean time all the best
May the roses bloom upon your cross
Study group Vienna
* * *
Letter No. 79 from “Letters to Students” page 192-195, by Max Heindel:
S A C R I F I C E A N D S P I R I T U A L P R O G R E S S
From time to time letters are received at Headquarters asking in various terms the question: "How can I make more spiritual progress?" I have therefore thought well to devote this letter to a consideration of this subject.
It is a law in nature that "from nothing, nothing comes" Yet a great many people labor under the fallacy that spiritual truth and advancement may be had without money and without price. In a certain sense that is true, because it is absolutely wrong and vile to barter spiritual power for filthy lucre, as was so forcefully shown by Peter when he dealt with Simon the sorcerer, who wanted to buy spiritual powers from him and offered him money in exchange. At the same time there is a definite price upon spiritual growth which must be paid by every one who wants to attain it.
In the first place, the old interests must be sacrificed. We all remember the parable about those who were
bidden to the feast of the king but who refrained from coming for various reasons. One had taken a wife and wanted to enjoy his honeymoon; another had bought oxen and wanted to inspect his new property; and so on, with the result that they all neglected their opportunity and lost their chance of advancement.
The same proposition comes to us today in different guise. We may be willing to sit at home and read a book about spiritual things in our leisure hours when we have nothing to do that interest us more, but when the Great Work demands some of our time, we have various excuses. "I have a daughter I want to send through college," says one. "When that is done and my obligations are liquidated, I will take hold." Another says: "My business needs my presence every day, and at night I am tired.
I cannot work for the Fellowship in the evening or attend their meetings, for I would not be fit to give all my energies to my work next day. But when I retire from business, I will take hold. A third says: "I have many children who demand my attention and attendance at various social functions. I cannot go to the Fellowship meetings and neglect them. But when they are married, I will work for the cause."
It is perfectly true that when we have assumed obligations we must discharge them to the best of our ability. At the same time there is also more than a possibility that if we think thoroughly over the matter we will find that we have some time left from our duties which may be devoted to the Great Work. In this connection it may be well to remember the incident of some coming to Christ and saying to Him: "Thy mother and they brethren stand without, desiring to speak with Thee."
He answered, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?....Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Again He said: "If any man come to Me, and hate not his Father, mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or Father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My Name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
There is and must be a sacrifice involved in the regenerate life. It has been my experience personally, and in watching thousands of others, that in the direct proportion that any one gives of his thoughts, his time and money to the cause he has espoused so will he reap spiritual benefit. When one consecrates all that he is to the regenerate life and follows the guidance of the spirit it will soon be seen that his very intensity of purpose in the new direction shuts out the old things. He has no longer time for them.
They pass out of his thoughts and drop away. In one way or another the daughter gets through college or finds some equally suitable employment. The business prospers even better than when the proprietor devoted all his time and all his energies to worrying and money grubbing. The children find another chaperon fully as capable as their mother when sometimes she is working for the spiritual cause. In every case that which we give up for the work's sake, the time that we spend in the cause of Christ, and the money we expend in discriminate charity are all provided for and compensated for under the law that works for good.
As the psalmist says: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." The law enunciated by Christ, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you," holds good in this day as well as when it was spoken. This I have found by actual experience, and every one else who lives the life and does the work will find that the same holds good in his or her case. There is growth only in service.
* * *
The Parable of the ten virgins:
Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be like unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a great cry made, behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said into the wise, give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered saying, not so, lest there be not enough for us and you: but go rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said. Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Keep your lamps burning.
The gospel of the holy twelve. Translated from the original aramaic by Ouseley
* * *
Thoughts
I realize many will call my little work useless; these people, as far as I'm concerned, are like those whom Demetrius was talking about when he said that he cared no more for the wind that issued from their mouths…these men desire only material wealth and are utterly lacking in wisdom, which is the only true food and wealth for the mind. The soul is so much greater than the body, its possessions so much nobler than those of the body. There are many who would, with reason, blame me by pointing out that my proofs are contrary to established authority, which is, after all, held in great reverence by their inexperienced minds. They do not realize that my works arise from unadulterated and simple experience, which is the one true mistress, the one true muse. The rules of experience are all that is needed to discern the true from the false; experience is what helps all men to look temperately for the possible, rather than cloaking oneself in ignorance, which can result in no good thing, so that, in the end, one abandons oneself to despair and melancholy.
Leonardo da Vinci
Aquarian art
Where have You hidden Yourself,
And abandoned me in my groaning, O my Beloved?
You have fled like the hart,
Having wounded me.
I ran after You, crying; but You were gone.
St. John of the Cross
On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearnings -- oh, happy chance! --
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.
In darkness and secure, By the secret ladder, disguised -- oh, happy chance! --
In darkness and in concealment, My house being now at rest.
In the happy night, In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught, Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart.
This light guided me More surely than the light of noonday,
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me -- A place where none appeared.
Oh, night that guided me, Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed in the Beloved!
Upon my flowery breast, Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him, And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck And caused all my senses to be suspended.
I remained, lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.
St. John of the Cross
We would like to announce to you that the whole set of the Newsletters are to be found in:
https://rosicruciannews.tripod.com/newsletters.htm
If you have an E-mail address please let us know, so that we can send you the Newsletters there.
Our address for your suggestions/ articles etc. is:
E-mail: newsletters@telering.at
“NEWSLETTERS”
PF 4
2230 Gänserndorf
Austria
LINKS:
INTERNATIONAL ROSICRUCIAN MEETING IN AUSTRIA JULY 29th TO AUGUST 1st 2004
INTERNATIONALES TREFFEN DER ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP IN ÖSTERREICH 29.JULI – 1. AUGUST 2004
MEETING INTERNAZIONALE ROSACROCIANO IN AUSTRIA-29 LUGLIO / 1 AGOSTO 2004
Official web sites:
http://www.rosicrucianfellowship.org
A NEW ROSICRUCIAN SITE DEDICATED TO ALL WHO SERCH FOR TRUTH
