SELF FULFILMENT THROUGH DIVINE

OBLIGATIONS

“Commune with thyself, O man! And consider wherefore

thou wert made. Contemplate thy powers, contemplate
thy wants and thy connections; so shalt thou discover
the duties of life, and be directed in all thy ways” -
Unto Thee I Grant.

Principles of life

The title of this lecture could be expanded to a simplified

form as follows; man is divinely compelled to follow
certain principles of life in order to achieve the purpose
of his existence and without which he can never know
complete satisfaction or happiness.

It is obvious that we cannot live our lives in any way we

fancy. The way we live our lives will bring us benefits or
repercussions depending on or conduct. These benefits
and repercussions act as compelling influences towards
our living according to principles that would increase the
benefits we enjoy while minimizing the repercussions we
suffer.

These principles when identified become obligations to

man since the desire for a better life is universal.

Divine obligations arise as a result of the Divine laws

which regulate the affairs of man and the operations of
nature.

Consciousness of Divine Laws

As Christians when we think of Divine Laws, the 10

commandments received by Moses on the mountain top
readily come to mind.

What happened to Moses on the mountain top could be

understood from an interesting perspective when we are

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familiar with the fundamental features of the
phenomenon known as cosmic consciousness.

Cosmic consciousness has been deeply researched into

by the famous author Richard Burke among others and
his findings published in his widely circulated book titled
“Cosmic Consciousness”.

Cosmic consciousness comes to those who have prepared

themselves according to certain principles. The onset of
cosmic consciousness comes usually during a period of
relaxation or meditation. The individual finds himself
rising in consciousness to higher levels of sublime
harmony. Then in the midst of a blaze of light he
experiences a profound unity with all things in existence.
Both living and non living thing things are perceived to
pulsate with universal life. This indescribably ecstatic
experience is accompanied by a deep and complete
understanding of Divine laws. The experience which may
last from a few minutes to a couple of hours comes to an
end completely of its own accord.

There is always a great urge in the individual after the

experience to encourage and direct humanity towards
the higher ideals that will lead to a better life on earth.
However, the profound knowledge acquired must be
interpreted into terms that can be readily assimilated by
the average mind. Without this the impact of the newly
acquired knowledge on humanity could be severely
limited.

The account in the bible of Moses that led to the 10

commandments has been identified by some experts as a
clear case of the experience of cosmic consciousness.
The 10 commandments would therefore be an
interpretation of the direct insight into the Divine Laws
by Moses for the assimilation of the average mind of that
time and culture.

The interpretation of Divine Laws are very adequate for

many circumstances, however a more intimate

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understanding of the Divine law itself will empower the
individual for greater achievements than otherwise.

An example of a simple interpretation of a law can be

found in the description of the law of gravity as “the law
that everything that goes up must come down”. This
interpretation serves many day to day purposes however
it cannot suffice if you want to send a rocket to the moon
or a satellite into orbit. Indeed an object can be made to
go up without coming down. This is possible as a result
of a more intimate understanding of the law of gravity
beyond the simplistic interpretation given.

The better we are acquainted with Divine Laws the more

accurate we can be in working with the forces of nature
and also in establishing our Divine Obligations.

Divine laws operate in the physical world as the laws of

nature and the laws of matter while they operate in the
non physical world as spiritual laws. The mind of man is
regulated by spiritual laws some of which are under
scientific investigation by psychologists.

It is a fact that man generally underrates the importance

of spiritual laws especially with regard to the powers of
his own mind. This is because the tangible presence of
the physical world is overwhelming to his senses when
he is awake. However, when he is asleep, his thoughts
which are intangible when awake, take on a physically
tangible form in dreams.

Mind over Matter

The superiority of spiritual laws over physical laws or of

mind over matter has often been clearly demonstrated in
the life of man. In a bizarre experiment conducted by
some scientists, a prisoner on death row was told that he
would be set free if he complied with and survived an
experiment on human endurance.

Having secured his agreement, the prisoner was

strapped to a bed in a dark room. A sharp blade was

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used to make an incision near his ankle to draw blood
that would drip into a bucket positioned beneath the leg.

However, unknown to the prisoner the cut was made very

slight such that very little blood came out and instead
water from a hose was made to continuously drip into
the bucket. The effect of this was that the prisoner was
made to feel that his own blood was draining into the
bucket as he heard the sound of the water dripping into
it.

When the scientists came to check on him in the

morning, he was dead. He was killed by his own
thoughts.

In a different situation, a lady who was suffering from

cancer was being operated on in an operation theatre.
However, when the surgeons opened her up and
inspected her internal organs they observed that the
cancer was so extensive that any attempt at surgery
would be fatal for the patient. So she was stitched up
without doing anything about the cancerous tissues in
her body.

When she came out of the anesthesia, the leading

surgeon decided to lie to her by telling her that the
operation was very successful and that she was
completely free of cancer.

To the surgeons amazement all traces of the cancer

disappeared in a few days. She was healed by her own
mind.

Aspects of Self

The mind can be said to be the centre of the power of

the expression of self. The mind can be classified into
two aspects, namely the conscious mind and the
subconscious mind.

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The conscious mind covers those aspects of ourselves
that we are conscious of such as the sensations of
physical senses, our thoughts and our emotions.

The subconscious mind covers those aspects of ourselves

that we are not directly conscious of. However there is a
definite relationship between both aspects of mind. The
subconscious mind can act on the conscious mind and
produce tangible results which may range from mild to
amazing.

The subconscious mind is like a field in which the

conscious mind can plant “seeds” and expect the
“sprouting of plants”. The nature of the plant and its
growth will depend on the nature of the seed and manner
of planting.

Within the subconscious mind operate the laws which

maintain our habits and direct our instincts. We also find
here complete memory, the power of intuition and the
soul personality.

To attain self fulfillment, the purpose of each and every

aspect of the self as found in the conscious and
subconscious minds must be understood and fulfilled.

Pleasure and pain are the two fundamental experiences

in life that serve as indicators of the success or failure of
our efforts to fulfill the purposes of the various aspects
of self.

If we know the conditions that lead to enduring pleasure

and those that lead to pain for each aspect of our
self/mind we would have gone a long way towards
establishing our divine obligations.

The table below attempts to list out these contrasting

conditions for the various aspects of self/mind;

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MIND/SELF ASPECTS OF ENDURING ENDURING
MIND/SELF PLEASURE PAIN
CONSCIOUS Physical Normal Harsh
MIND sensations conditions conditions

Thoughts Knowledge Ignorance &

superstition
Emotions Tranquility & Anxiety
ecstasy
SUBCONSCIO Habits Empowermen Enslavement
US MIND t

Instinct Health Sickness

Intuition & Creativity Destruction

memory
Soul Evolution Stagnation
Personality

Divine Obligations

Those conditions that produce enduring pleasure are

suitable for the fulfillment of our purposes and must be
sought after. The conditions which produce enduring
pain are those which indicate a misuse of the powers of
self and therefore unsuitable for the achievement of our
purposes.

To attain the conditions of pleasure described in the

table certain obligations need to be fulfilled.

To experience normal physical conditions we must fulfill

the obligations of moderation and balance.

To experience knowledge we must fulfill the obligations

of humility and meditation.

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To experience tranquility and ecstasy we must fulfill the
obligations of morality.

To experience empowerment we must fulfill the

obligations of service.

To experience health we must fulfill the obligations of

moderation and balance.

To experience creativity we must fulfill the obligations of

service and spiritual attunement.

To experience evolution we must fulfill the obligations of

service, prayer, and spiritual attunement.

Will Power

The force that enables the self to express itself is the

will power. Without the will power there would be no
self. It is therefore necessary to develop the will power
to such a high degree that it would easily overcome any
obstacle on the path to self fulfillment.

Special training is required to develop the will power up

to this level of efficacy. Anytime we take on a difficult
task, we are strengthening our will power and the
benefits of its increased power will serve us in
subsequent tasks. Conversely, failure to apply our will
power when we should would weaken its power and
affect our next task accordingly.

AMORC

The attainment of self fulfillment through Divine

obligations is the path to self mastery. Mystical
illumination or cosmic consciousness is the coveted prize
at its culmination.

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The attainment of this exalted status will normally
require many incarnations of steadfast effort on the
path.

The number of incarnations required however can be

significantly reduced when assisted by the mystical
training given in AMORC.

The graded lessons of AMORC cover all the key areas for
the development of self. Diligent study and application of
the lessons would bring about a hastening of our
evolution towards self mastery and cosmic
consciousness.

May the Divine Mind grant us a greater understanding of

our obligations and the strength of will to steadfastly
fulfill them that we may progress swiftly along the path
of Light, Life and Love.

So Mote it Be!