EY ACB al aa IIB casa MASTER MONOGRAPH TEMPLE SECTION q ROSICRUCIAN ORDER k J This monograph always remains the property of the ‘Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M.O.R.C. It is not purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh Eleventh Degree Degree Monograph Monograph One One SSG AY ea esi SRE RN SS TASTE FR caesar AaTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion VOV ON @ The allegory of Christian Rosenkreutz again is brought to the attention of the members in this first outer chamber of the Eleventh Degree. The following excerpt = from the aelesio bre a Latin work which appeared in 1615, specifying the purpose and in- tent of the Rosicrucian Organization, refers to Christian Rosenkreutz. The adept is forewarned of the patient progress, step by step, toward the Greater Light: +++ we hold that the meditations of our Christian father (C.R-C.) on all subjects which from the creation of the world have been invented, brought forth, and propagated by human ingenuity, through God's revelation, or through the service of Angels or spirits, or through the sagacity of under standing, or through the experience of long observation, are so great, that if all books should perish, and by God's almighty sufferance all writings and all learning should be lost, yet posterity will be able thereby to lay a new foundation of sciences, and to erect a new citadel of truth; the which per- haps would not be so hard to do if'one should begin to pull down and de- stroy the old, ruinous building, then enlarge the fore-court, afterwards bring light into the private chambers, and then change the doors, staples, and other things according to our intention, ‘Therefore, it must not be expected that new comers shall attain at once all our weighty secrets. They must proceed step by step from the smaller to the greater, and must not be retarded by difficulties. —CONFESSIO FRATERNITATIS, 1615he ae ‘Weekly Master Monograph ———___—-A M 0 R C—_________The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER ONE PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! This lesson constitutes the first preliminary instructions re- garding the Eleventh Degree of the Rosicrucian Order. You have not entered the Eleventh Degree, for your processes of entering that De- gree will be gradual, but you have completed the Tenth and stand upon the Threshold of the Eleventh, and I now greet you at the first portal of the chambers of the Eleventh Degree. Certain things will have to be explained to you before you may enter the various outer chambers of the Temple of the Eleventh Degree, and you will have to prepare your- self for the initiation which will take place when you are finally ready to enter the Great Temple. A great deal has been said in recent years by those who would at- tempt to criticize the Rosicrucian Order by saying that the true Rosi- erucian body of members is a spiritual rather than a material body, and that the real initiations are psychic or spiritual rather than material ones. Most of those who have made these remarks either in magazine articles, books, or otherwise, are not members of the Rosi- crucian Order and therefore are not well informed on the subject about which they are speaking. They have gathered this little information about the spirituality of the organization from something they have read in ancient books or records. They have been attempting to say that the real Rosicrucian Order does not have lodges and Temples of a material nature such as ours, and does not have material initiations in these Temples, nor is it any real physical organization at all. Their emphasis upon the spiritual side of the organization is meant by them to imply that the physical side has never really existed. In this they are in error. The physical side of the Rosicrucian Order has always been the largest and most perceptible part of its member- ship and activities, but the spiritual side has been its strongest in the accomplishment of the great work. What the ancient manuscripts or books referred to was the fact that the real power of Rosicrucianism lies in its spiritual organiza- tion and in the accomplishments of its members who represent that spiritual ‘organization. The records of history show the continuous and unbroken existence of the physical organization of Rosicrucianism throughout the world. These same records, however, could say nothing more about the spiritual side of the organization except that it was the greatest, the strongest, and the most powerful part. Many an eminent Rosicrucian writing in an enthusiastic way about Rosierucian- ism has wholly ignored the physical organization and spoken highly of the spiritual and invisible body of Rosicrucians. This has led casual readers of such manuscripts or records to think that the physical or- ganization did not exist at all. I think that every one of us will agree that the most vital and important part of a church congregation lies in its spiritual power and, therefore, in its spiritual organization, but this does not deny the fact on SE a‘Weekly Master Monograph ——————A M 0 R C_______The Rossicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER ONE PAGE TWO that even a church must have a physical organization also, and a mate- rial temple as the foundation for the greater and higher work. It is absolutely true that the most potent and important part of the Rosi- erucian activities is centered in the invisible membership of the spiritual organization. You members of the Tenth Degree have been preparing yourselves to : become a part of that invisible spiritual organization. The word . invisible, here, does not mean that each one of you is invisible, or that any of the members of this spiritual organization is invisible, or that all of you are living only in psychic bodies or spiritual bodies. It simply means that those who are in this spiritual branch of the work do not come together to forma physical, material, visible lodge or class of students. You shall see before the Eleventh Degree is com- ! pleted that each one of you is a member in an invisible organization. | This organization is invisible only because the members of it do not | come together, do not meet with one another in classes, or do not have a separate temple or lodge of a physical nature for their use. It does not mean that because they are a part of the spiritual organization they have nothing to do with the physical things of life, for after all, the true purpose of any spiritual movement, or any spiritual development or : attainment, is to function through and perfect the physical. eliminate all physical and material things of life, there is no purpose left for the existence of spiritual power and knowledge. We might just as well say, with the same truthfulness, that if a man's body is com- pletely annihilated and reduced to dust of the earth and scattered broadcast so that there is no longer any physical body in any form or shape, there would no longer be any need for the mind of that body or the intellect to exist. The purpose of the mind in the physical body is to govern, direct, control, and perfect the existence of the physical body. The soul in man is there for the purpose of directing, con- trolling, and perfecting the evolution of the physical body and the per- sonality and not to live an independent and separate life. If all physi- cal bodies of men and women throughout the universe were to cease ex- istence completely forever and ever, there would no longer be any need for individual soul expressions or spiritual bodies of any kind. In other words, a spiritual body, like the mind or the intellect, has no purpose or function separate and independent. It mst carry on some duties, some activities, in order to have any purpose for its existence. The spiritual part of the Rosicrucian organization is its very soul, but we i have already learned in the lower Degrees that the highest manifesta- tion of the soul and the greatest revelations of its unfoldment and achievement are made manifest through the physical body, and the $/ physical world, The spiritual or soul body of the Rosicrucian | organization is the governing, controlling body, which carries on the greater work and highest work of the physical organization. ! | ' | If we eliminate the physical body of the individual entirely and !‘Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C——______Thee Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER ONE PAGE THREE In the last monograph of the Tenth Degree a little light was thrown on the subject of the "body" of C.R-C. Now, you will come to understand that the spiritual body of Christian Rosenkreutz, which was allegorically found in a Tomb in Germany early in the 17th century, and found at other times in tombs in other lands, is the soul body or spiritual body of the Rosicrucian organization. I explained to you that this body of C.R-C. was the body of men and women living in se- erecy and in preparation for the revival of the great work at various periods. Each of you who passes into the Eleventh Degree will be a part of that spiritual body for the revival of the great work in this country at some future time. When that time comes, the body of C.R-C. will be larger than the body has been in any of the previous periods when it has come out of the tomb of silence to revive the work. It is only natural that the spirit- ual body of an individual or of an organization should evolve and grow larger from century to century. When the body of C.R-C. was discovered in Germany in the 17th century, it actually consisted of twelve members. At an earlier time it consisted of only nine, and in a later period it consisted of thirty-one, and in more recent times it consisted of over a hundred members. By the time the spiritual body is found again in America in the 2lst century, it will probably consist of about one thousand carefully selected, well-trained and prepared individuals. They will be so attuned to each other, so well-prepared to work in har- mony, and so well-trained in mutual understanding and cooperative think- ing, that they will act and function like one perfect body, and this will be the spiritual body of C.R-C. Today you stand on the threshold of the first portal of the Great Temple. There are many chambers surrounding this Temple through which each one of you will pass before you approach the threshold of the in- ner Temple itself. According to our records, as well as ancient tradi- tions, some of you who are reading this monograph possibly will advance part way through the Eleventh Degree, then before completing it, pass through transition into a higher Temple for further preparation. I have no way of knowing who they will be, nor how, nor when it will occur; neither is it given for you to know. We do know, however, that according to the law of probability, two or three will thus advance. This advancement will not be sudden, nor will it be extended by suffering and misery; but rather it will be a peaceful experience. I am sure that none of you will “yp ave any fear of such passing, for you will become acquainted with its e possibility sufficiently in advance to be prepared for it, and welcome the great initiation. Of course, this transition may ocour for some, not just because they are in the Eleventh Degree, but simply because the time of the great transition in their life cycle corresponds to the period when they would have attained that degree of advancement. Each of you now reading this first monograph of the Eleventh Degree‘Weekly Master Monograph _——————A M 0 R C—————Thee Rossicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER ONE PAGE FOUR eventually will attain the great initiation which will take you into the higher Temple and prepare you for a still greater work. Before this oc- curs, it is very positive that each one of you shall pass through the smaller chambers surrounding the Temple of the Eleventh Degree and enter the inner Temple, receiving there such instructions as will make you at peace with the world, and powerful in your ability to manifest spiritu- ality and complete Cosmic Illumination at the same time. Those members who are now on the threshold of the Eleventh Degree are going to become the most spiritually illuminated of all of the mem- bers in the Rosicrucian Order under my jurisdiction. This means that they will be among the most advanced members in the organization through- out the world and will be attuned with the spiritual bodies in other lands and locations. These spiritual bodies of members in various countries are those in preparation for the future revival of the great work that constitutes the Great White Brotherhood. In other words, the Great White Brotherhood today consists of the spiritual bodies of members in each land, united in one universal, spiritual, invisible organization. The Great White Lodge of this Brotherhood exists on the spiritual or psychic plane. As each member of the Great White Brotherhood, or the spiritual bodies in various lands, passes through transition and receives the higher initiation, he enters the Great White Lodge of the Cosmic plane. The members in the Great White Lodge are constantly in attunement and in communication with their fellow members of the Great White Brotherhood on this earth plane. This exchange of communication and contact is what brings to the Great White Brotherhood here on earth the wonderful illu- minating messages, the manifestations of the Cosmic contact, and the guidance and inspiration in the preparation of our teachings. The Guardian of the threshold of the Eleventh Degree now gives you this ancient traditional lecture. You are to visualize yourself seated upon a stone bench ina cool, gray room of a magnificent Temple. There is absolute stillness and quiet. You are unaware of what is going on in the world around you—of business, city noises, or any earthly activities. Your teacher, who is the guardian, stands upon a raised platform at one end of this room. A beamof sunlight shining through one of the small latticed windows in the upper part of the wall illuminates him. His aura shines in great brilliancy. He speaks to you, who are seated in the shad- ows, as he has spoken in centuries past: "Where you are now seated represents the first chamber of the series of rooms of preparation. This great Temple building in which we are located is a square structure. In the very center of it is a Temple in the shape of a six-pointed star, which is formed by the in- terlacing of two triangles. This inner Temple is precisely in the center of the great square building. It is a magnificent, si- $y/ lent, pencetul Temple. Around all of the sides of this six- pointed star are twelve small antechambers or preparation rooms, each like this one, which is the first of the twelve.‘Weekly Master Monograph ———A M 0 R C———_—_The Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER ONE PAGE FIVE "It has been my pleasure to receive you at the outer portal of this great building and to direct your footsteps across the threshold into this chamber where you are receiving your first instructions. It will be my continuous pleasure to guard the threshold and from time to time admit another or others to this chamber. It will be my duty to refuse to allow anyone to leave this Temple, or to cross the threshold into the world again, unless he has violated his obligations or has reversed the bless- ings that have come upon him, thereby deserving to have the door closed forever to his future advancement. In other words, I shall be as careful in my guardianship regarding the worthiness of those who seek to retire from the progress now before them, as I shall be regarding those who ap- proach this threshold and seek for further advancement. The tests and trials to determine your worthiness to continue are as frequent as have been the tests and trials to determine your worthiness to enter this holy chamber. Therefore, it will be my duty to protect you from self- deception and the temptations of the outer world which may tempt you to retrace your steps, to leave this great Temple and resign your place in the line of progress. "For many years, you have had every opportunity to determine whether you desire to continue the progress you have been making; whether you de- sire to remain a brother or sister of the Rosy Cross and follow the Path to its ultimate goal. Of your own volition and by your own ex- pressed desires, you have continued to this Chamber without undue in- fluence, without any coercion, and without any promise of reward other than that which would be beneficial to your soul and the joy and hap- piness which comes into the life of every advance adept on the Path. Since we assume that you are sincere in your determination to pro- gress, we have the right to interpret any sudden change in this attitude of yours as the result of the voice of the Tempter from without trying to discourage you from your sincere determination and lead you into dark- ness. This is why it will be my duty to guard your exit as I have guard- ed your entries, and why I shall inquire into your motives for wishing to retrace your steps just as I have inquired into your desires to advance. From this day on, you will be under the protection of the Great Masters who will look upon each one of you as their chosen child. You shall be known as Children of the Light. Like a good father and a good parent, the Masters will look with concern upon any desire to depart from this Holy home and this Holy family." This is the ancient lecture of the Guardian of the first chamber. It is not the last time that we shall hear his voice or hear his words. Each time we progress to another chamber of the Great Temple he will remind us of our progress and our obligations. While we are in each chamber for a while, the Masters will prepare us with instructions of profound wisdom. In this way a series of discourses, modern- ized only in their language, will be given to each one of you through the medium of these Eleventh Degree lessons. I need not remind you at this time that they will contain the highest‘Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C____—Thee Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH pee ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER ONE PAGE SIX knowledge and information revealed by the Great White Brotherhood, in- spired by the Great White Lodge, and held secret and sacred by the spiritual organization of the Rosicrucians. Therefore, each of you shall guard well these lessons and hold secret for the time being the fact that you have advanced to the first portal of the Eleventh De- gree. Also you shall await definite instruction in regard to each new | point and each new lesson. May Peace, Happiness, and Spiritual Joy be with each one of you. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTER Note: The enneadie star in the center of the triangle, appearing on your present monograph pages, represents three interlaced triangles and denotes mystical, infinite, and finite perfection, It likewise is the symbol that designates the Eleventh Temple Degree of the Rosicrucian Order. @Summary of This Monograph vougy Below is a.summary of the important principles of this mon: . It contains the essential statements which you should not forget After you have carefully read the complete mone. graph, try to recall as many as you can of the Important points you read, Then read: this summary and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing your memory. G You are now at the first portal awaiting the entrance into the various outer cham- bers of the Eleventh Degree. Here you are prepared for entrance into the inner Tem- ple which leads to the manifestation of Cosmic Illumination. 5 @ The members on the threshold of the Eleventh Degree are going to become the most spiritually illumined of all members of the Rosicrucian organization, @ Members of the Great White Brotherhood who have passed through transition and have received higher initiation on the Cosmic plane become members of the Great White Lodge. Through exchange of communication with the Great White Lodge, the Great White Brotherhood receives messages of guidance for its instruction. G Some members may pass through transition and receive initiation on the Cosmic plane before completing the Eleventh Degree, but they will be prepared in advance for a peaceful transition. @ The physical; material activity always has been the largest part of the membership of the Rosicrucian organization. The spiritual part always has been the truly strong. est power, accomplishing the greatest work. @ The seventeenth century allegory of Christian Rosenkreutz refers to the spiritual body of the Rosicrucian organization in preparation for the revival of its active work.THE INSTITUTION BEHIND THE ROSICRUCIAN ORGANIZATION Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California, U.S.A. "Consecrated to truth and dedicated to every Rosicrucian"1 Rolls 1 Ne Ny \ a RACK sy : cE i iS MASTER MONOGRAPH ‘TEMPLE SECTION q ROSICRUCIAN ORDER k AWORC. This monograph always remains the property of the ‘Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M.O.R.C. It is not purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh Eleventh Degree Degree Monograph Monograph Two Two D a tt Sarr SatTHE CONCURRENCE an This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion a wv. 'Y, © Some students of mysticism choose the path of renun- ciation to attain their goal; others choose action. Since ‘oan must lem 0 conquer the viisitudes of lie, and srapestonaby mingling wih mankind, the path Peisciesty i tae bese ol Cdl tigen the Balbalial the Bap Sy which Kris, the incamation of the Deity, had with Ar aera ig of India, some three thousand years before Christ: ota Renunciation and pursuit of action are both means of bliss. But of these twain, better is its pursuit than its renunciation. The simple, not the wise, think right performance and renunciation diverse; but whoso pursueth either well gaineth the fruit of both. Hard to obtain is true renunciation without right performance. ‘Whoso is fixed in holiness, pure in heart, victorious over his senses and his self, seeing all beings in himself, is not defiled by action. The man of devotion, Knower of Truth, when he doth see, hear, touch, eat, move, sleep, breathe, will hold that he doth nothing of himself, but that the senses move amidst their objects. —Attributed to Vyasaget ‘Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C—___—The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TWO PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! We will continue our preliminary discussions regarding the work of the Eleventh Degree. There are several important subjects to be discussed. We have some ancient instructions which outline the method of procedure in several of the older jurisdictions. Each varies slight- ly according to the personal plans of the teacher. In one case, the pre- liminary instructions begin by telling the members of this new Degree how they should proceed to prepare their minds for the incoming of new knowledge. In another case, the teacher began his preliminary in- structions by outlining the important elements of the first steps so that the students would be ready for them. In still another case, the procedure seemed to be metaphysical rather than mental. The class of students and their needs mst be taken into consideration when pre- paring the lessons. Our knowledge of the individuality of each mem- ber informs us that he is now prepared intellectually and spiritually for the material which follows. In this work of the Eleventh Degree there are some new rituals, many new principles, and many discussions. We are now reaching a point in our work where many principles that will be touched upon in our studies have not yet been tested thoroughly by all the members in America or in other lands, for they are new and surprising as well as very interesting. Some of them we may discuss without coming to any conclusion as to whether we should use them or not. Some of the prin— ciples that we will have in this Eleventh Degree, while being accepted with enthusiasm, will also be received with some degree of skepticism. In other words, the true Rosicrucian spirit will come to the front and you will say to yourself: "I cannot believe that this principle is true but I want to believe that it is; therefore, I am going to test it for myself." You will remember that in the early Degrees, we re- minded our students that a true Rosicrucian should always be a walking question mark. We do not want any of our principles accepted merely on faith without personal experience. Of course, I know that in these modern days many of the laws which were unproved a few years ago are now accepted facts. Perhaps you would not feel inclined to test and demonstrate these principles to yourself because they are evident truths to your present-day understanding. Some of the principles in our lessons were undoubtedly tested for days, weeks, and months, by students many years ago, but today we would not think of testing them except by putting them into application, for we know very well that they are true. Our experiences with radio and similar modern scientific achieve ments have demonstrated some of the higher laws to us in a better way than we could have tested them in our own laboratories. Such will not be the case with many other principles contained in the Elev- ey, enth Degree. Only a few years ago, it would have been almost impossible to have selected a number of members and trusted to their intelligence and ability the testing of the principles‘Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C————The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH ap ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TWO PAGE TWO contained in this Eleventh Degree. The last few years have brought so much understanding and psychic development to our highest members that they are now ready to experiment and understand principles which they would not have been able to understand ten years ago. In the next few years the progress of our own work and the progress of scientific achievement outside our organization will prepare more and more mem— bers to understand and utilize the highest mystical principles in our @_ monographs. Our next discussion concerns individual preparation. Advancement in this Degree will depend solely upon the wholehearted devotion of the student. It is not necessary for him to accept things on faith without experiencing them, but it certainly requires devotion, trust, and confidence in the organization to study carefully new lessons, keeping the knowledge secret, and cooperate in every way with the spirit of this Eleventh Degree. However, according to tradition, one member of the Eleventh Degree will eventually become doubtful and distrustful, and will have to be removed or allowed to withdraw. Somewhere in the present Eleventh Degree about midway in the work there will also be one who is not as sincere and honest in his devotion to the work as he should be. He, too, will have to be withheld from any further progress. Aside from this, I realize that these Eleventh De- gree lessons are going to a class of very devoted and trusting stu- dents. We are reaching a point in the work where each of you is about to become as familiar with all the high principles of the work as I am. In other words, you are reaching a point where your own intellectual mastership of the teachings and your own development becomes equal to that of the teacher. This is inevitable in every school and system. Instead of bringing any sadness, or any unpleasant situation, it brings joy to the heart of the teacher. In every true teacher there is always the hope that he will have in his class some students who will become greater than he is in the understanding and mastership of the lessons. It is the desire of great teachers of voice, piano, violin, art, law, or science, that someday their pupils will become greater masters than themselves. It is this unselfish desire on the part of teachers that has produced the world's greatest performers and masters in every line of effort. I know that those who go on, inevi- tably attaining greater heights than I have attained, will help others to reach similar heights and thus aid in carrying on the great work. After all, our real ambition is to see the great work progressing and ¢ to make sure that it will continue in the future. = This brings us back again to the purpose of our present activi- ties. It is to prepare for the future cycle many years from now when the new period of the Rosicrucian Order is to be reborn. In $y/ order that each of you in this Eleventh Degree may become a real master and a real worker in the future, you must begin now to purge yourself of every element that might deter you from‘Weekly Master Monograph _—_——-A M O R C—________The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TWO PAGE THREE attaining pure and undefiled mastership. Although it may be question- able whether in this earthly incarnation we can attain perfect master- ship, it is certainly possible to rise so high in this incarnation that the finishing touches of perfection will be attained after our transition while we are dwelling in the Cosmic waiting for our next reincarnation. The degree of perfection that we attain in that period of Cosmic waiting and Cosmic instruction will depend upon how nearly perfect we make ourselves here before transition comes. First, we must eliminate from ourselves all of those traits of character which interfere with our broad and universal comprehension and Cosmic attunement. This does not refer to the petty things of life, but to the larger and more universal things. It does not refer to our temporary and passing anxieties, or even to our passing ha- treds, distastes, and angers. These things do not leave any definite or indelible impression upon our psychic selves. They are purely of the flesh and with the passing of the flesh at transition they pass away also. We cannot rise above the human element and cease being human with any hope that this will in any way perfect the psychic self within. The psychic self within is helped mostly by allowing the human self to learn its lessons and become acquainted with life through experiences. Again we are reminded of the Rosicrucian principle that taking one's self away into a retreat to live an isolated life of meditation and spiritual contemplation does not bring real attainment and mas- tership to the psychic self. The one who daily battles with the vi- cissitudes of life and suffers all of its anguish and yields to its many temptations, then overcomes them one by one while still being hu- man and constantly in human touch until the last moment of conscious breath, is the one who is attaining the greater mastership in life. Each experience and each lesson of life should teach us two lessons: first, the weaknesses of our own judgment and will power; second, the universal nature of all experiences and all things. For instance, consider the man who throughout his lifetime has indulged freely in the use of liquor until it finally has brought him down to the very depths of sorrow, despondency, and poverty, but who then saves himself by rising above the temptations of liquor. He not only attains a higher degree of mastership in this respect than one who was never tempted or never yielded to the temptation, but through the suffering he had and the problems he had to face, if he is a mystic he will understand more fully one of the universal weaknesses of humanity and one of the universal problems of civilization. This universal understanding, this sympathetic knowledge that all human beings are thus tempted and yield in order to learn the lessons of life, will save him from look- ing with disdain and cynicism upon those who yield to the temp- tations of life. It is this broadening of the universal un- derstanding, this sympathetic sensing of what others have in their hearts and what others have to face in their daily‘Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R CT he Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —p— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TWO PAGE FOUR lives, that establishes an attunement with the universal mind and brings illumination. By this, you will see that the true mystic, who is seeking the highest attainment, is not one who becomes pious or allows the atti- tude of superiority to affect his consciousness. Even though he may rise from his low plane of sin and thereby attain self-mastership, he must always be conscious of the fact that the others who have not yet risen above these low planes are human, good, and probably are learn- ing important lessons in life. The mystic must understand that sin is only that which one knows to be wrong and wilfully refuses to obliter- ate from one fe. The women of the street and the men of the gut- ters are not to be looked upon as irredeemable or unworthy of our con- sideration. They are not be to condemned as sinners but to be pitied as those who have not yet learned self-mastership. They are neither beneath our dignity nor equal to us in attainment; nevertheless they are still our kin. As one philosopher said: "But for the grace of God, there go I." We should be able to look upon the lowest of human specimens and realize that it is by the grace of God's illumination and by the saving grace of our own mastership that we are not that one. This broad viewpoint of all of life brings the God consciousness into our beings and makes us see things as God sees them. This will bring with it a consciousness of conditions and an understanding of laws and principles which no teacher can convey, nor prophet reveal, unless the recipient is attuned through sympathetic understanding. You will learn in this Eleventh Degree what the teachers and workers of the Rosicrucian Order have had to suffer and sacrifice in order to maintain the work of the organization and fulfill their promises. You will be able to realize what it is to be the leader or the head of an organization such as ours, and to have made en- thusiastic promises early in life which you find difficult and painful to fulfill as your days pass by. You will know how you must understand human nature and deal with it diplomatically and understandingly in order to help conquer its weaknesses and attain mastership. You will understand why error must be met with error, and sin brought face to face with sin, in order that there may be not only the least conflict but also the most dramatic realization. You will see why it is that in order to overcome delusion, another form of delusion must be substi- tuted until one neutralizes the other and the eyes and tho mind are open to receive the truth. You will realize also why it is that those who dwell in darkness cannot be taken out instantly into the brilliant effulgence of the Greater Light. They must emerge gently and gradu- ally from one degree of darkness to a lesser degree of darkness, dwell- ing ina false, soft light before coming face to face with the true Greater Light. You will know why the truth must be presented in simple forms and formilae for the understanding of those who are youthful in its reception, rather than in all of its astonishing magnificence. You will see that the adult isWeekly Master Monograph. ‘A M O R C———_______The Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TWO PAGE FIVE but the child grown older, and that the child's methods of comprehen- sion still exist in the adult when it comes to facing new knowledge. All of these things help us to understand why man often prefers to dwell in darkness rather than face the Greater Light, and why mis- gonceptions have a stronger appeal to the minds of many than truth. You will see that often the adult is like the child in preferring to believe in his fairies rather than to step into the world of realities and learn that they no longer exist. You will come to know also that no matter how man may seek to know the truth, or what symbols he may use to represent the truth to his consciousness, he is, after all, adoring the truth and paying homage to it in his own humble way. You will learn that it is wrong to judge a man by the mistake he has made in his symbols, but rather he should be judged by the motive in his heart. It would be unjust to Judge the pagan as a heathen be- cause he symbolized his god in stone; for he conquered more than we when he learned the value of creating any symbol at all. The motive in his heart was to pay adoration to that which was superior to him- self, and in his adoration he professed and expressed sincere loyalty, reverence, and obedience. Perhaps we lack this in our modern times of greater comprehen- sion. The man who worships gold in his heart is worshipping that which he concedes has greater power than he himself Possesses. He is deluded by the thought that he does possess this greater power by Possessing the gold. But the very acknowledgment in his heart that there is something greater than the strength of his muscles or the in- tellect of his mind is a hopeful sign; sucha man is far from being irredeemable. It is better that he die in the vain adoration of his gold than that he should die with no faith in anything superior to himself, But to take from this man his gold and rob him of that which represented to him a superior power, and attempt to tell him that he was deluded, would bring to him not salvation but absolute loss of all hope and a loss of all sense of salvation. It must be our purpose to sympathize with his adoration for gold and gradually to substitute for that gold something that is far superior. This substitution cannot be made suddenly, for revolution will not leave a permanent effect. We must not destroy the faith in his heart or the conviction in his mind that there is something superior to himself, but rather foster it and let it mature into a grander and nobler symbol, until the gold will become to him merely a useless possession which he will cast aside willingly for the shimmering glitter of a new symbol far in advance of the one he has adored. After all, our sins and all of the temptations of the flesh are representative of false adoration; the condemnation of these symbols will bring no change in the heart. All of these ideas and many others must be understood if you are to be attuned sympathetically for the work of the Eleventh Degree. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERv Summary of This Monograph Vi Vey Below isa summary of th important principles of this monograph. It contains the essential statements which you should not forget. After you have carefully read the complete mono- graph, try to recall es many as you can of the important points you read. ‘Then read thie summary and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing week to refresh your memory. @ Much material may be presented now which formerly was necessary to be withheld. Many principles previously necessary to be proved have become accepted facts due to modern scientific achievements. @ Advancement in this Degree will depend upon the wholehearted devotion of the stu- dent. @ Those students who continue in this great work will assure the continuance of this work by helping others to reach greater heights. @ Icis necessary to purge yourself to attain mastership. @ Mastership, unattained in this incarnation, may be perfected in the Cosmic plane, while awaiting reincarnation. The degree of perfection depends upon progress made prior to transition. @ Mastership cannot be attained by isolated meditation, but rather by experiences among mankind. @ Each experience should teach the weakness of our own judgment and will power, and the universal nature of all things. Sin is only that which one knows to be wrong and wilfully refuses to obliterate from ‘one’s life. @ False adoration should be replaced with more worth-while symbols. Those dwelling in darkness must emerge gradually into the Greater Light.MASTER MONOGRAPH TEMPLE SECTION c | ROSICRUCIAN ORDER 3 ‘This monograph always remains the property of the Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M.O.R.C. It is not purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh Eleventh Degree AK Degree Monograph Monograph Three 5THE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion Wa VV o¥e Amidst the cares of state and the coarse clangor of arms of the second century A.D., the Emperor Marcus ‘Aurelius learned to retire into the sanctuary of his own soul. This meditation, a form of diary written solely for his own use, is as great a source of inspiration today as it was during his day: Men seek for themselves private retiring places such as country villages, the seashore, mountains; yea thou thyself art wont to long much after such places. But this thou must know proceeds from simplicity in the highest degree. At what time soever thou wilt, it is in thy power to retire into thyself and to be at rest and free from all businesses. A man cannot any whither retire better than to his own soul; he especially who is beforehand provided of such things within, which whensoever he doth withdraw himself to look in, may presently afford unto him perfect ease and tranquility. —MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONIUS, 121-180 A.D.Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C———_—Thee Rosicrucian Order ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER THREE PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! For several months each of you will remain in the antechamber of the Great Temple for the receiving of preliminary instructions. These instructions will be intensely interesting and undoubtedly will help @¥u to make some of the most interesting Cosmic contacts you have ever experienced. In order that you may be always conscious that you are in this antechamber, I want you to think of it not only during the daytime, but also each night when you retire. As you prepare to go to sleep, let your last thoughts be that you and the others in this class of initiates of the Eleventh Degree are living in a great temple or monastery, and that each of you has been given a little cell-like room, adjoining the temple and close to the antechamber, for your per- sonal study and sleeping room. As you get ready to go to sleep, visualize yourself in this small stone room with stone walls, stone ceiling, and a stone floor with only a small rug on it, a small wash- stand, a single iron bed, a table with a light on it, two chairs, and a small wardrobe. In one corner are several small bookshelves with a number of reference books. At one end of the room is a small window rather high up from the floor but yet low enough for you to be able to look over the window sill and see the great open spaces outside. Op- posite the window is a small curved-top doorway with a heavy wooden door bearing a great lock and big iron hinges. Everything is plain * but clean and neat. There is absolute quiet. A wonderful feeing of safety and peaceful vibrations pervades this room. If you visualize this each night as you go to sleep you will be attuning yourself with the very conditions that existed years ago and still exist in many places where temples of this kind are in use. : | | Those members who joined our first tour to Egypt and the Holy Land had the fortune to see similar cells in old monasteries. Since there was difficulty in obtaining hotel accommodations for a party of eighty, on occasions we were obliged to find lodgings and food in a ' convent or monastery. In such a monastery just outside the city of Jerusalem several members of the party found lodgings for three days in small stone rooms similar to those described above. It was here ; that many interesting Cosmic experiences were had. Every advanced student of the higher principles of life sooner @°7 later desires a secluded place where he or she may enjoy the same strict privacy that the old monks and mystics enjoyed in the Oriental lands. There is something very beneficial as well as fascinating about being absolutely alone with your aura and with the Cosmic vibra- tions, where you can be safe from intrusion or interruption and con- template, meditate, concentrate, and attune with the Cosmic. Even one hour a day of such separation is highly beneficial. Of course, it is not possible for everyone to spend the entire night in such complete separation, but it is possible for| Weekly Master Monograph ———————A M OR C———____The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —_D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER THREE PAGE TWO everyone to have an occasional hour in the evening in some room where outside interference is absolutely prevented. The ancient mystics claimed that when they entered into this little room of their own and closed the door they shut out the ma- terial world and separated themselves from it. The only way anyone could enter that room was through Cosmic vibrations, and only by the @) solicitation or invitation of the person inside. They meant by this that even other highly advanced mystics could not project into that room, and that no psychic body could enter unless invited to do so by the person living within. This fact has been found to be true. That is why the little private room becomes not only a sanctum for worship and study but a place of peace and protection against any of the in- trusions of the world. While we are at our daily affairs, and going about the streets or in the open spaces, others may reach us by psychic contact whether we are thinking of them or inviting them or not. But there are two fun- damental Cosmic rules which have proved to be true through thousands upon thousands of experiments. These rules are as follows: First, that no person can project himself into the presence of another when that other person is attending to some intimate, personal, private matter that should not be open to the gaze or contact of another. Thus we have found that no one can make such a contact while one is bath- ing, writing a confidential letter, or performing or taking part in any of the intimate, personal, private matters of our individual lives. Anyone attempting to project or reach us at such times finds that his intrusion is halted by a great bright light that blinds him to seeing anything or making any contact in any form. Thus the Cosmic guarantees to each one of us complete and perfect privacy and intimate periods of separation. The second law is that when the mystic is in his sanctum with the doors closed no one may enter except by invita- tion. The only contact that can be made at such times by an uninvited person is merely that of getting close enough to discover that you are in your sanctum and are to be left alone, but no person making a pro- jection at such a time will be able to tell either what you are doing in your sanctum or what you are thinking. They simply learn that you are in your sanctum and closed against any uninvited intrusion. With such conditions existing, the little private sanctum becomes a marvelous place for meditation, study, and experimentation. It means that you can concentrate upon some individual, or upon one of the Great © Masters and invite him to come to your room, feeling absolutely cer- tain that no one else can come but the one you invited. It means that all outside disturbing noises, even of a psychic nature, cannot inter- fere with the experiment or your thoughts. It means that the room will become highly charged with your own vibrations and that through these you can carry on better experiments than when the room is charged with your own vibrations plus those‘Weekly Master Monograph _———_A M 0 R C——______The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER THREE PAGE THREE of others who may be thinking about you or reaching into your room. Therefore, the Guardian of the chamber informs all of the Neophytes at the beginning of the Eleventh Degree of the necessity and value of separating oneself from the world for short periods of time. We hope also that every one of the members in the Eleventh Degree will strive to maintain a sanctum or study room at home that is as little used by @trer members of the family as possible. If, while you are lying in bed at night preparatory to going to sleep, you visualize yourself as being in your little room, you may have solitude, even though actually you may not be alone. Tf you will think of yourself while going to sleep as being separated from the rest of the world, it will help you to maintain, while you are asleep, @ separate attunement with the Cosmic. This will bring you many inter- esting experiences or contacts through the night. Many of these you will probably remember in the morning. I suppose you know that in many countries the central room of the home, or a small room built in the center of the house, is the holy room for the household. The occupants of the home only enter this room early in the morning to make their prayers and salutations, or to wash their hands before meal time and pray again, or for medi— tation and religious thought. The early history of the Jews shows that they had such a sacred place in their homes. It is unfortunate that as the Jews reached the Western world and parts of Europe they abandoned this wonderful sacred principle until it is almost an un- known custom in the Western world today. We have accepted the idea that a church should be built in each community where we can go once or twice a week for prayer and meditation instead of having such a sa- ered place in our own homes. It is easy to notice that as the idea of community churches began to be established the real religious sanctity of the home was abandoned and religious thought in the family diminished, until today the average home has little or no religious thought in it; only the Sunday church service provides for our re- ligious needs. In proportion as man abandoned the home sanctum and its accompanying daily religious practices, he became less and less at- tuned with the Cosmic. This is the real cause of the lack of true un- derstanding of Cosmic principles and religious thought in the Western world today. The building of more churches and the preaching of more critical sermons will not help the situation whatever. Our own rec- cords show that among our members of the Rosicrucian Order, with their @tuay sanctums at home, there is more religious thought and spiritual practice than in the homes of those who depend solely upon the church for the place of worship and religious thought. In the ancient days when the Guardian of the outer cham- bers spoke to the Eleventh Degree members of the value of their little cells, he did not have to explain all that I have here, nor criticize the absence of sanctums in their homes,Weekly Master Monograph ——————A M O R C———_—___The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER THREE PAGE FOUR for most of them, since early childhood, were familiar with the use of sanctums and the method of religious study associated with them. The Guardian impressed upon the Neophytes of the first chamber the con- tinued necessity of periodic separation from the world and of soli- tary contemplation. The average member of our Order already has learned the value of having a sacred place in his home as a retreat for meditation and attunement with God, but, as previously pointed out, this is not true in the average modern home. We notice in the early history of the first Rosicrucians that came to America in 1694 that two ancient mystical principles were im- mediately put into practice. Instead of building a number of small homes for each family, or building a great central temple for all of them to come into for worship and study, they built two large houses in which to live. One of them was for all of the unmarried men and the other was for all the unmarried women. In each of these houses the bedrooms were small and like the cells of ancient times. Here the members could sleep and study separately in accordance with the ancient principles. The women's house still stands in Pennsylvania and is one of the interesting shrines of the old Rosicrucian activi- ties. The second principle that they put into practice was the dig- ging out of a number of small caves in the mountainside where the principal officers or leaders of the movement could go for further study and contemplation, each in his own cave and in imitation of the ancient authorities who used to live exclusively in such caves in the rocks or mountains. In these caves in Pennsylvania these officers used to sit for hours at a time in study and contemplation with abso- lute quiet and peace. The largest of these caves used by the Master Xelpius still remains and is another one of the interesting sights pointed out by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as one of the earliest landmarks in Pennsylvania, Many of our members in the east- ern part of the United States have visited that cave. It is close to Mystical Lane at Fairmount Park and is known as The Mystic Cave. Thus we see that the mystics always had a love for privacy and separateness from the world. It was this ancient Oriental mystical practice that was responsible for the first monasteries and convents built by the Roman Catholic Church. The Rosicrucians, however, did not believe that a person should start early in life and live a whole life of solitary confinement in such an institution and do nothing but meditate and pray without helping in the great work of the world. They claimed that each one of us had an earthly mission to perform and that this mission mst not be neglected nor should our duty to religious principles be neglected; therefore, part of our time should be spent in earthly practices that would help the world and mankind and part of the time be spent in religious thought and personal devel- opment. Each one of you should contemplate these suggestions. Arrange to have some privacy for an hour of such meditation‘Weekly Master ‘Monograph ————____A MO R C—_____tThe Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER THREE PAGE FIVE whenever possible. You are going to be given thoughts to contemplate, principles to meditate upon, and ideals to visualize and to take into the Cosmic, and you will want privacy, peace, and quietness when you do so. Certainly each of you can arrange with the family or with your home life to have an hour to yourselves two or three nights a week, either early or late in the evening or early in the morning, and you should do your utmost to have this arranged in your home, pan arrange occasionally to have an hour to yourself sometime before breakfast, or when the rest of the family is asleep, you will find that your mind is clear, and Cosmic contact is keener and you are more Teceptive. Therefore, an occasional hour or even a half-hour spent in thought or study early in the morning will be very beneficial and helpful to you in the experiments and studies that are to follow in this Degree. It will be well for you to think over these points during the coming week. Try two or three periods of nighttime concentration all Slone, and try one in the morning, so that you will be familiar with the points that will be explained in the next lesson. I thank each one of you who has written to me of your apprecia- tion of the Tenth Degree and of your entrance into the Eleventh De- gree. I assure you that we will all become more closely bound together by vibrations of harmony and peace. Each of you shoula begin to May Peace Profound abide within each of you, Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERe€ Summary of This Monograph a ey Below isa of the important principles of this monograph. It contains the essential statements which you should not forget After you have carcully read the complete monte graph, try to recall as many as you can of the important points you tead. ‘Then read this summary and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing week to refresh your memory. @ With the disappearance of home sanctums man today gives less thought to Cosmic attunement. Several of the historical landmarks of the early Rosicrucians still remain in Pennsyl- vania. ‘Students profit greatly from an hour daily spent in uninterrupted and secluded con- templation and meditation. ‘© No person can project himself psychically into the presence of another when that person is attending to intimate personal matters. @ A balance should be maintained between earthly practices to benefit mankind and concentration of psychic development. @ Attunement with the Cosmic while asleep can be made by separating oneself from the world prior to sleep. Many interesting Cosmic experiences may be remembered in the morning. \@ The visualization of the stone cell before retiring, will help in the attunement of the conditions of many years ago, @ Cosmic contact is sometimes keener during the quiet hours of the morning before breakfast.OCH | FADE NTH) ATA [ANT oer enter MASTER MONOGRAPH TEMPLE SECTION q ROSICRUCIAN ORDER k ‘This monograph always remains the property of the Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M. purchased by, but loaned to, th Ra sont ee eave tp reid) "Al nae ited, grea ai cig Eleventh Eleventh Degree Degree Monograph Monograph Four Four D Ths gate gntand hry fll, ed rua, th Spree Coat the yer the ember hich cs Hi aR che Cirors Sr tet aph a ol of reaier:" The gfe heen are ssculng mamber and apt store Sil'ngM oF fhe member and "soli Sued Settling ot “aTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion Vv View \@ One of the allegories of greatest import to be found in all mystical literature from ancient my ‘to the pres” ent-day writings is that of the Bride and Bri , often referred to as the Chymical Marriage in transcendent and physical alchemy, Many of the truths of transcendental alchemy were presented by the Lp stb cobbler of the sixteenth century, Jacob Bochme. Toe illumination he many truths which had been denied persons of great academic learning. The reader will be able to recognize readily a comparison of the following allegory written by Boehme and the allegory presented in the Parabola in this week's monograph: CaS et ‘The fiery soul, pure as clear gold, and tested in the Fire of God, is the husband of the noble Sophia, for she is the tincture of the light. If the tinc- ture of the fire is perfectly pure, then will Sophia be united with it, and thus Adam receives again the most noble bride that was taken away from him during his sleep, and will take her into his arms. This is neither a man nor a woman, but a branch on the pearltree standing in God's paradise. But how the bride receives her groom in his clear and bright fire-quality, and how she gives him the kiss of love, this will be understood only by him who has been at the marriage of the Lamb. To all others it will be a ‘mystery. —JACOB BOEHME, 1575-1624 e‘Weekly Master Monograph A MOR C- ‘The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FOUR PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! Once again you are assembled in the antechamber for your special instructions and preparation. This time the Guardian who is giving you such instructions opens a large and ancient-looking book bound in hand-tooled leather bearing many symbols, and fastened with a peculiar @iock. He stands before you and opens the lock of the book and then opens the book itself. We see the yellowed pages with partly faded brown writing and large, colored, fancily printed initials at the be- ginning of each paragraph. He proceeds to tell us that the first lesson of the special in- structions will be read from the ancient records. He tells us that the book he holds in his hands was first published in the sixteenth century, and that the Rosicrucian monks in Germany in one of the old monasteries—in the form of a castle up on the hills overlooking the Rhine—prepared this book by consulting the oldest manuscripts and re- corded traditions and teachings of the Order so that they might be saved for posterity. This ancient book is still in the archives of the Order and is one of the many that will be used in the work of the Eleventh Degree. The Guardian turns to the first part of the book and to the sec- tion that is entitled, "A Simple Spelling Book for the Daily Practice of Disciples." This section of the book is signed by "A Brother of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, P.F, with annotations by P.S." The Guardian now prepares to read from the first lesson in that book and the title of it is "Parabola." This name you will come to remember often in the future and it will become highly significant in connec- tion with many other ancient Rosicrucian papers and lessons, and you will probably sense it often in some of your experiments, for it isa symbolical name, which some of you may discern from a realization of its original meaning. Before the Guardian reads to you, or before we quote here what the Guardian reads to you, I would like to call your attention to the fact that here and there in the paragraphs of this lesson, you will find numbers in brackets. These numbers refer to important points of the story, which we want you to keep inmind. After this story is com- pletely presented to you in these lessons, I will add comments and ex- @& Planations to the statements which are identified by these bracketed numbers. You are to try to discover in this story some very important and veiled messages and lessons. You are to meditate this week upon the paragraphs of this story and see if you can determine the wonder- ful secret message that is contained in it. The Guardian tells all of those in his class before him that they are to take his story with them into their cells and individually meditate upon it and derive from it such personal points as their inner mind interprets.Weekly Master Monograph-————A MO RC. The Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FOUR PAGE TWO Now let us proceed with listening to this very old and intensely interesting story which has never been given to our students in this form at any time in the past: "Once when I was walking in a young, green, and beautiful wood, reflecting upon the trouble of this life, also beweeping the misery caused us through the lamentable fall of our first parents, my thoughts made me to err from the usual path, and I found myself, I know not how, upon a narrow foot-path, quite wild, untended and impassable, which was so overgrown with many bushes and plants, that it was easy to see how little it was used. Therefore, I started and had gladly turned back: but such was no longer in my power, especially as so mighty a wind blew behind me that I had rather been able to take ten steps forward than one back. (1) "Therefore, I was constrained to wander on and not heed the rough going. "After walking a good time I came at last to a charming meadow, like a round circle, surrounded by beautiful fruitful trees, named by the inhabitants Pratum Felicitatis. There I found a band of old men, all with ice-gray beards, except one rather young man with pointed black beard, as also another whose name I indeed knew, whose counte- nance, however, I could not for the time being see, and who was still younger. They disputed upon all sorts of things, particularly upon a high and large secret nut, hidden in nature, which God kept hidden from the great world, and only revealed to those alone who loved him. "I listened long to them, and their discourses pleased me well; but some of them wanted to break loose from the bridle, not indeed in respect of the 'materiae’ or work, but of the 'Parabolas, similtu- dines,' and other 'Parerga': therein they followed the figments of Aristotle, Pliny, and others, which one had copied from the other. Thereat I could not contain myself any longer, but mixed in some of my mustard, refuting such empty things from experience, until the greater part of them agreed with me, examined me in their Faculty and made it pretty uneasy for me, but my grounding was so good that I passed with honours, so that they all wondered among themselves, deciding unani- mously to receive me into their College, whereat my heart rejoiced. (2) "But, said they, I could not become a real colleague until I had learnt to know their Lion right well and knew completely what he, . inwardly as well as outwardly, knew and could do. Therefore I should put forth diligence that he become subject to me. I had enough trust in myself this to do, and promised them to do my best. For their society pleased me so well that it would now have taken much for me to separate from them. (3) "They led me to the Lion, describing him to me at great length: But how I was to proceed with him in the beginning,The Rosicrucian Order Weekly Master Monograph A MO R C TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FOUR PAGE THREE nobody would tell me: some of them hinted, but very confusedly, that the ordinary multitude could not understand him, but gave me to under- stand that when I had bound him fast and secured myself from his sharp claws and pointed teeth, they could not hide anything further from me. Now, the Lion was very old, grim and monstrous, his yellow mane hung over his neck, he seemed quite unconquerable, so that I was half hor- rified at my own temerity, and gladly would have turned back, had not my promise, and the circumstance that those ancients surrounding me were all-expectant as to what I should do, deterred me. I stepped up to the Lion in his trench with show of confidence and began to coax him, but he, with his brightly shining eyes, looked at me so fixedly that from very fear I nearly fled abjectly, although I remembered that I had heard from one of the ancients, whilst on the way to the Lion's trench, that very many people had undertaken to compel themselves to approach the Lion, of whom few had succeeded, yet would I not bring shame upon myself, and bethought me of certain grips learnt with great diligence in this 'Athletica,' besides which I was well experienced in natural 'Magia’ and so forgot all flattery, and attacked the Lion with such nimble artifice and subtlety, that before he was well aware I drew the blood out of his body, yea from out his heart, which was beautifully red but very choleric. Then I anatomized further and found, to my no small wonder, that strangely enough his bones, of which there were many more than his blood, were white as snow. (4) "As all this became clear to my dear ancients, standing there above around the pit and watching, they began hotly disputing together as far as I could see, but what they said I could not make out, as I was still deep down below in the pit: Still, as they closed upon each other with words, I heard how one said, he must bring him to life again, otherwise he cannot be our Colleague. (5) I would not go a long way round and betook myself out of the pit over a great place, and came, I don't know how, upon a very high wall whose height climbed over 100 ells towards the clouds, but above it was not as broad as a shoe, and there went, as I went up, to the end an iron railing right in the middle of the wall with many cast-iron supports. On to this same wall I came, I say, and it seemed to me there went somebody a few steps ahead of me on the right side of the rail. "After following this person a while I saw behind me on the other side also somebody following, whether a man or a woman I am still in doubt, who called to me and said it were better to wander on his side than where I was walking, which I easily believed, for because of the rail, which so stood in the middle and made the way too narrow, walk- ing was very bad at such a height. Then I saw several who wanted to go such a way fall over behind me. Therefore, I swung myself under the rail, holding fast with the hands and continuing my way on the other side,(6) till I came at last to a part of the wall which was very precipitous and dangerous to climb down. Then Iwas sorry that I had not remained on the other side (7),Weekly Master Monograph_—A M O R Che Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH =p ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FOUR PAGE FOUR and I could not get through beneath to the same, so it was impossible for me to turn about and so get myself on to the other way. Therefore I dared, trusting to my good feet, held fast, and so arrived down be- low without hurt, and after I had wandered a little further, so I saw and knew of no more danger, and knew not where the wall and rail had gone to. e "Arrived down below, there I found a beautiful Rosebush, with beautiful red roses growing upon it, of which I broke several off and stuck inmy hat. (8) But I noticed there a wall which went round a large garden. In the garden there were youths. Maidens were standing outside the wall, These would gladly have joined the youths but fought shy of the trouble of going all the way round to the gate of the garden. Then I took pity on them, went again the way I had come, but on a level, and so quickly that I soon came to several houses, think- ing to find the gardener's house. But I found there very many people, each having his own chamber. Working alone they were slow; together they worked diligently; yet each had his own work. But what they were doing, it occurred to me, I had done and worked before this, and all their work was known to me, Strange, thought I, see, if so many other people do such dirty and slovenly work, a mere appearance, ac- cording to their own fancy, but having no 'Fundament' in nature, so are you to be pardoned. Therefore, knowing that such arts disappear like smoke, I would not delay to no purpose, and went the way I had determined. "As I now went toward the garden gate, several to one side re- garded me sourly, so that I feared they would hinder me in my 'Propo- sito' (Purpose): But others said: see, he wants to get into the gar- den, and we have so long done garden-service here, and have never got in how we will laugh at him if he doesn't succeed. But I took no no= tice of all this, because I understood this matter of the garden bet- ter than they, though I was never inside, but I went straight to a door, which was locked fast, so that also from outside one could neither see nor find a keyhole. But I observed that a small round hole, not to be perceived by the common eye, was in the door, and thought at once that there one would have to open the door: I got ready, there- fore, with my specially prepared skeleton-key, unlocked the door, and went in. Once inside I found some other barréd doors, which I however opened without trouble. But this was a passage, just as though it were in a well-built house, about six shoes wide and twenty long, with a ceiling above. And although the other doors were yet closed, still, since the first door was opened, I could see well enough into the garden. "I wandered on into the garden in the name of God. There I found in the middle a tiny garden, about square in shape, each side six measure-yards long, which was fenced with wild roses blooming very beautifully. But because it rained aA MOR C——_____The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FOUR PAGE FIVE Weekly Master Monogr: little, and shone the sun thereby, there was a very charming rainbow. After I had gone by the tiny garden and wanted to go to the place where I should help the maidens, soon I became aware that in place of the wall stood a low trellissed fence, and there went the most beauti- ful maiden clad in pure white silk, with the most majestic of youths robed in scarlet, past the Rose-Garden with their arms about each Qother, and carrying many sweet-smelling roses in their hands. I spoke to them, inquiring how they had got over the fence. This my best-be- loved Bridegroom said she, helped me over, and we are now going out of this lovely garden to our chamber to cultivate friendship. I am glad, said I, that without further trouble on my part, satisfaction is done to your will; nevertheless look you how I have hurried and have come round such a long way in so short a time in order to serve you. "After that I came to a great mill, built inside of stone, there- in were no flour bins or other things such as belong to grinding, but one saw through the wall some water=wheels going in water. I asked why this was. An old miller answered me that the mill-stones were shut off on the other side. When I then saw from the weir-bridge a mill-boy go in, him I followed. When I had now come over the bridge, which had to its left the water-wheels, I stood still and marvelled at that which I saw. For the wheels were now above the bridge, the water coal-black, yet its drops were white, and though the bridge was not over three fingers broad, yet I dared to go back again, ana held on to the wooden rails which were over the weir-bridge, and so passed over the water in security and without getting wet. Then I asked the o14 miller how many water-wheels he had: Ten, he answered. The adventure would not go out of my thoughts, and I would gladly have known what the meaning was. But when I noticed that the miller didn't want to let out, I went away, and there was before the mill a lofty paved hill, on it were some of the aforesaid ancients. They walked in the sun, which was then shining very warmly, and had a letter written to them by the Faculty, about which they consulted. I soon perceived what the contents might be, and that they concerned me, therefore went to them and said: Gentlemen, is it about me? Yes, said they, the woman whom you took not long ago you mst keep as your wedded wife, or we must report it to our Prince. I said, that will cause no diffi- culty, for I was born with her in the same moment and brought up with her from childhood, and having taken her once I will always keep her, and death itself shall not separate us: For I love her with all my ,ardent heart. What complaint have we then, answered they, the Bride © is also content, and we have her will; you must let yoursélves be mar- ried. Well contented, said I. Very well, said the one, so will the Lion receive back his life again, and become mich mightier and stronger than before. (9) 3 "Then I remembered my foregoing trouble and work, and thought within myself, strangely enough, it must concern not myself, but another well known to me: In him I see our Bride-Weekly Master Monograph A MO R C—_________The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH =p ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FOUR PAGE SIX groom with his Bride, clothed as before walking along, ready and pre- pared to be wedded, of which I was very glad: For I was in great anxiety lest the things should concern me. (10) "Now then, as expected our Bridegroom in his gorgeous scarlet clothes with his sweetest Bride, whose white silk gown gave out such bright rays, came to the ancients; they wedded the twain soon, and I was not a little astonished that this Maiden, who should be her Bride- groom's Mother, was still so young that she even now seemed newly born. (11) "Now, I know not what sins these two must have committed, that they, although they were brother and sister, bound themselves together with love to such a degree, that they were also not to be separated, and so then were willing at the same time to be charged with incest. These two were brought, instead of a bridal-bed, after a splendid wod- ding, into a perpetual prison. So that their doings could be watched the prison was transparent, a bright, crystal-clear apartment, like a celestial globe, fitting their high birth ana prominent standing. To this prison they were condemned and therein locked up, there in con- stant tears and true repentance to do penance for their misdeeds com— mitted. But beforehand all outward clothing and finery, used as orna- ment was taken from them, so that they were obliged to live quite naked together. Nobody was allowed to go into the apartment to wait upon them, but after they had been supplied with necessary food and drink, taken from the water before-mentioned, the door of the room was se- eurely bolted and locked, also the seal of the Faculty was impressed upon it, and I received the order that I should guard them, and during the winter, before the door, sufficiently warm the room, that they neither freeze nor burn, and that they in no wise get out and escape. Should, however, contrary to expectations, this mandate be abused, I should be grievously punished for this. The thing didn't please me, my fear and care damped my courage: for, thought I to myself, it is no small thing which I have been commanded to do. I knew also that the "Collegium sapientiae' was not in the habit of lying but of putting in- to practice what it said. However, as I could not change matters, and further as this locked chamber was in the middle of a strong tower, which was yet again surrounded by strong bastions and high walls, wherein one could, with a fair but continual fire, warm the chamber, so I undertook the office, and began in God's name to warm the chamber and protect the imprisoned married couple from the cold. © “But what happens? As soon as they feel the least warmth, they embrace each other so tenderly that such a thing will not soon be seen again, and they remain also in such ardour that the heart of the young Bridegroom melts for very fervour of love in his body, also his whole body melts at the same moment in the arms of his be- loved and falls apart. As she, who loved him not less than he her, saw this, so she wept from her heart for him and at the‘Weekly Master Monograph _———___—-A M 0 R Che Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FOUR PAGE SEVEN same time buried him, so that one could not see, for the tears she had shed, which flooded everything, where he had gone to. She gave herself to her weeping and mourning for a short time, and such the pain at her heart that she did not want to live longer but gave herself up volun- tarily to death. Alas for me, in what anxiety, distress and trouble was I, that I should see both of those entrusted to me in the same ment perish in water and lie dead before my eyes. My certain ruin stood before me, yes, and what was worse for me, I feared more the scorn and derision, which I saw in my mind's eyes, I should be exposed to, than any harm which could happen to me." (12) (To be continued in next lesson.) Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERo Summary of This Monograph Fe Below is of the is inciples of this Te ‘ins the tial: eaters Wiel oR Gand aK Serge ACyon tare el eke oe graph, try to ‘as many as you can of the important points ‘you read. ‘Then read. this yummary and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing week to'refresh your memory. @ The student should meditate the meanings of the veiled messages contained in Ha Danabla tise W0Fy of which follows: q ‘The author, after meditation upon the vanities of life, enters upon the seemingly im- passable mystical path. The wind causes many difficulties and he is tempted to leave the path. He meets members of the mystical college who grill him in many ways, but he passes their tests with honors. Through grips and magia the difficult task of con- quering the Lion is made easy. This Lion must be revived in order to become a Col- league. The High Wall surrounding the Lion pit, he scales and follows, Someone precedes him; many who follow fall, but he is successful in reaching the ground safely. In the garden he plucks a rose for his hat. With a key he manages, where others have failed, to enter the garden, which is filled with wild roses and enhanced by a rainbow. Reference is made to the Bride and Bridegroom, clad in white and red respectively. In order to revive the Lion, the author is requested to wed the Bride. ‘The Bride and Bridegroom, charged with incest, are imprisoned, and all their raiment and finery removed. They are given food and water from the mystical mill stream. Their cell is guarded by the author, who sees that they are protected. With warmth and ardor, the Bridegroom melts; through weeping, the Bride also dies; both perish- ing in water. @ The Parabola is concluded in the next monograph.MASTER MONOGRAPH TEMPLE SECTION r | ROSICRUCIAN ORDER k ‘This monograph always remains the property of the Supreme Grand Lodge of AM.O.R.C. It is not Purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh Degree Monograph ive Eleventh Degree - Monograph FiveTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion VIR Sy. @ The Virgin Sophia is referred to in mystical literature under various names. In the Parabola she is called the Bride, the Virgin, and the Queen; however, her qualities remain the same and are recognized by those who have @ made her sequaintance, The following quotation from the Scottish poet, William Sharp, ak though not using any of the aforementioned names, clearly shows that he has known the ‘Virgin Sophia: So inexpressible, she seemed to say: ‘Thou art mine own, mine equal and my spouse, My complement, without whom I were nought; So in mine eyes thou are more fair than I, For in thee only is my life fulfilled.’ Then added, in harmonious voice, aloud: ‘Thou long hast thought upon life's mystery, Its vast, eternally recurring rounds Of rest and rebirth and activity, And sought therein the passage of the soul From light to dark, from dark to light again. Come then with me, and we will see in part The latter in its human phase unveiled.” So saying, with her presence she endowed Him with new senses, faculties and powers. That far surpassed the limits of the old. —WILLIAM SHARP, 1855-1905Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C—_____—The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH =—D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FIVE PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! We will continue the symbolical story and enjoy the strange mys- ticism and secret message that is contained in it. Here follows the remainder of the Parabola: “Whilst spending some days in such troubled thoughts, taking @ counsel with myself and turning the matter over and over again in my thoughts as to what was best to be done, it occurred to me how Medea brought the dead body of Aesonis to life again, and I thought to my- self: If Medea could do such a thing, why should you not also suc- ceed? I began to consider how I would do such a thing, but found no better way than to continue with warmth until the water had disap- peared and I should see again the dead bodies of our loving couple, hoping then to escape all danger for my usefulness and earn praise. I proceeded, therefore, with my warmth begun, and continued with it for forty whole days, then I became aware that the longer the time the more the water decreased, and the dead bodies, though as black as coal, began to show themselves again: and indeed this would have hap- pened sooner had not the apartment been so firmly locked and sealed. Which I might, however, under no circumstances open. Then I noticed how the water rose up and hurried towards the clouds, collected itself together above in the apartment and fell down like rain: so that it could not get away then, until our Bridegroom with his dearest Bride lay dead and putrified, and therefore stinking in the highest degree, before my eyes. "Meanwhile a very beautiful rainbow was seen in the apartment, produced by the sunshine in the wet weather, with extraordinarily fine colours, which gladdened me not a little in the affliction I had passed through, but mich more was I glad at seeing my two lovers lying before me. But there is no joy so great but what it is mixed with much sor- row: I also then experienced grief in my joy, for meanwhile those who had been commended to my care lay dead before me without a sign of life. But as I knew that their chamber was made of such pure and dense Materia, and also so firmly locked that their soul and spirit could not get out but were kept close within, so I went on with my continual warmth, day and night, in the carrying out of my office, quite imagining that the twain would not return to the bodies as long as the damp remained. For such are well preserved in damp nature. As this I then also found in very truth. For I became aware, through @VAretUl observation, that towards evening many vapours rose up from earth through the sun's force, and drew themselves up into the above, just as though the sun would draw water. They became condensed during the night into a lovely and very fertile dew, which in the morning fell and wetted the earth, also washing the bodies of our dead ones, so that the more the bathing and washing took place the longer, more beautiful and whiter they became from day to day. But the whiter and more beautiful they became, the more the moistures disappeared, till at last, when the air was clear‘Weekly Master Monograph___—A M O R C—__________The Rossicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH =p ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FIVE PAGE TWO and fair, and all misty and damp weather had passed, the spirit and Soul of the Bride could no longer contain themselves in the clear air, but went into the clarified and now transfigured body of the Queen, which soon received them and immediately came to life: which gladdened me as you may easily understand with a strange joy, as I saw her arise in the costliest garments such as have rarely been seen, and adorned with a precious crown set all over with diamonds, and heard her sa‘ Hear ye children of men, perceive all ye born of women, that the Al- mighty has the power to set up and depose kings: He makes rich and Poor according to his will: He kills and brings to life again. (13) Behold in me a true and living example of this. I was great and became small: but now, after being humbled, am I a Queen supreme over many kingdoms: I was Killed and brought to life again; to me, Poor one, have the great treasures of the wise ones and the mighty ones been entrusted and given over. "Therefore, unto me has also been given the power to make the Poor rich, and to bestow mercy on the humble, and to bring health to the sick. But I am not yet equal to my best beloved brother, the all- powerful King, who is still to be awakened from the dead. When he comes he will prove that my words were his. (14) "After she had said this, the sun shone very brightly, and the day became warmer than before, and the dog-days were at the door. But because, long before, for the great and splendid wedding of our new Queen, all sorts of costly garments, as of black velvet, grey damask, grey silk, silver taffeta, snow-white silk, and one especially beauti- ful robe of silver, threaded with costly pearls and splendid diamonds, had been prepared, so also at the same time were prepared for the young King different clothes of costly stuffs of Incarnat, of yellow- gold colours, and lastly a red velvet garment sewn with costly rubies and carbuncles in great number. But the tailors who made the clothes were invisible, so that I wondered, when I saw one coat after another and one dress after another ready before my eyes, how could it happen, especially as I knew that nobody but the Bridegroom and his Bride had entered the chamber; but what made me marvel most of all was that, as Soon as another coat or dress was ready, the former disappeared in the same moment before my eyes, so that I did not know where they went to, or who had locked them away. (15) "When this costly apparel was ready, there appeared the great and® mighty King in glittering splendour, to which nothing can be compared: and when he found himself locked in, he begged me in friendly and very gracious words to open the door for him, and that I would grant that he come out, and it would be of great use to me. Although I ey had received the strict order not to open the door, yet I was 50 impressed by the great authority and gracious speech of the King, that I opened for him with good will. And as he wentWeekly Master Monograph _——————A M 0 R C———__—The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER FIVE PAGE THREE out he was so friendly, so gracious, even so humble, that he indeed bore witness thereto that nothing sits so well on high personages as these virtues. But because he had passed through the dog-days in great heat, he was very thirsty, run-down and tired, and ordered me to bring some of @ the swiftly-running water from under the mill-wheels, from which, when I had brought it, he quaffed a large draught with great avidity, then went again into his chamber, and ordered me to lock the door securely after him, so that nobody could disturb him or awaken him from sleep. "Herein he rested some days, and called to me to open the door. But I noticed that he had become mich handsomer, richer in blood, and more splendid, which observing also himself, and attributing this to such a splendid and wholesome water, he soon demanded more water, and also drank much of it, more than before, so that I at last began to consider building the chamber much wider. When then this King had drunk of this fine drink, despised by the ignorant, to his heart's content he became so handsome and splendid, that I have never in all my life seen either such a magnificent person or such deeds and con- duct. Then he led me into his kingdom and showed me all the treasures and riches of the world, so that I must confess that not only the Queen proclaimed the Truth, but left the greatest part of those who know him to describe: for gold and noble carbuncle-stones were there in endless quantities, rejuvenation and restitution of natural forces, as also restoration of lost health and taking away of all illness were common things there. But most excellent of all was that the people of that same land know their creator, fear and honour him; and obtain from him wisdom and understanding and at last, after this temporary glory, attain to eternal beatitude. There unto may God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost help us. Amen." (16) Thus ends the mystical story. You will note that there are six- teen places in this story where there are numbers in brackets. These sixteen places will be referred to in our next contact when the sig- nificance of certain passages and phrases will be explained. In the meantime, you are to reread the entire story again, including the installment that was sent to you last week, and see if you can work out in your own mind, and especially, in your intuitive consciousness, the real mystery and significance of this message. You should medi- tate upon it, dwell upon it, and read some of the passages over a number of times, It is this sort of study and analysis that is going @to wring you s certain form of mystical attunement and help you in the work that is to follow. I will not tell you any more at this time but leave you to have this one very important message, or strange Parabole, to study WwW during the coming week. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERSummary of This Monograph vo -. Tey Below is a of te important principles ofthis monograph. Tt contains the essential statements which you should not forget. After you have carefully read the complete momo- graph, try to as many as you can of the important points you read. ‘Then read this Summary and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing week to refresh your memory. @ The symbolical story of the Parabola continues: @ The author, wishing to revive the Bride and Bridegroom, remembers how Aesonis was brought to life by Medea. For forty days he continues with warmth until the water has disappeared showing the dead bodies black as coal, His task is delayed because of the firmly locked apartment. The water rose and fell as rain, causing a rainbow in the apartment. The rain washes the bodies white as snow. The spirit and soul of the Bride and Bridegroom, unable to contain themselves in the clarified air, immediately come to life in the bodies of the Queen and King, who are vested in splendid raiment made by invisible tailors. As more elaborate finery is made the former clothing dis- appears. The Queen informs the author that unto her has been given the power to make the poor rich and to bring health to the sick, and bestow mercy on the humble. Even greater than the Queen is the King, who after drinking the mystical water be- comes more magnificent. He leads the author to his Kingdom wherein natural forces are restored, and the people know and honor their creator,SVE LENNON] SWNT EFRON E IAN] SN | AEE NL Rue Hire HU | MASTER MONOGRAPH TEMPLE SECTION c | ROSICRUCIAN ORDER kb ‘This monograph always remains the property of the Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M.O.R.C. It ie not purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh Eleventh Degree Degree Me onograph M onograph i oraed to, istered name id aymbols, Se SES He the ‘he ite "ot thom to Sher alied "craton or eee eens ee See atesTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion vovudgy The following stanzas are selected from the mystical poem called the “Cherubic Wanderer,” written by the mediaeval German physician, philosopher, and mystic, Johannes Scheffler, also known as Angelus Silesius. In Saka these stanzas veiled truths are to be found concerning the antic way and the means of obtaining it. Note particularly the references the Rose, the mystical marriage, and the mystical rebirth: IN SILENCE YOU WORSHIP GOD Who desires to worship God's Majesty In truth he must lunge hime no the cred sllenee, Who in heaven will crown his head with roses He must be pricked on earth with thorns. THE SPIRITUAL MATER DEI Towards Mary, all meekness, God so flamed up in Tove That He considered it a bliss to become Her Child If you be meek like the Virgin Immaculate Yourself shall become your mother,—and God your Child. BLESSED VIRGIN Say, lofty Lady, was it meekness Thine Which won Thee the right of a Mother of God? For I myself am longing to become The Virgin, the Bride and God's Mother On this earth ST. ALEX How could St. Alex be so valiant as to dismiss his bride on the nuptial day? Why could he be a bridegroom, who was the bride himself and had betrothed himself for ever to the Divine Bridegroom? A STRANGE MARRIAGE Oh, what a marriage! The God of glory, the king of kings took a slave's daughter, my soul, for His spouse. . . . BY SILENCE WE LEARN Be silent, my darling, for: whose soul has grown silent altogether, he shall receive more of God than he ever wished. —JOHANNES SCHEFFLER, 1624-1677 e‘Weekly Master Monograph A M O R C- The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SIX PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! I hope that during the past two weeks, each of you has been dwell- ing in your little cell room of meditation and has received from the inner self the interpretation of the Parabola that was given to you by your guardian instructor. Some of you may look lightly upon the pres- entation of this incident in your early work of the Eleventh Degree and think that this whole story and all that is connected with it does not deserve the time and space of two weekly lessons. You are to be the judges, and if this is your conviction and you act accordingly by giv- ing the subject little or no attention, then the results will be as you would have them, and the responsibility is solely your own. I can only say that the time will come when you will regret taking that at- titude; you will discover that you have missed something of great importance. In order to help you discern the secret points of this allegori- cal story and give you the key whereby you can unlock the mysteries contained in it, I am going to give you my personal and modern under- standing of it as well as its ancient interpretation. I will combine these two interpretations into one. Even so, there will be veiled meanings and messages in my interpretation which will be for each one of you, personally, to decipher and extract. In other words, the real meaning of this Parabola will be different for each one of you in some slight degree, and I think that you will discover these slight differ— ences very easily after meditating this week upon the interpretation that I am now going to give you. The special meaning to be found in this story will be the Key to your future work in this Degree. This key probably will dawn upon you after you have heard my interpreta- tion, or after some weeks of further instruction and meditation have been enjoyed by each of you. You will recall that in the presentation of the Parabola, as con- tained in the preceding fourth and fifth monographs, there were numbers with brackets around them at the end of certain paragraphs. Will you please take Monograph Number Four now and hold it in your hands for reference while you read the following interpretation: At the end of the first paragraph of the Parabola, given in Mono- graph Four, you will see Figure 1 in brackets. The author of the story begins by telling how he entered upon the mystical Path after meditations on the vanities and sufferings of life. He describes how he found the mystical Path to be narrow, uneven, and seemingly impass- able, and not a popular or well-known Path to the goal. He tells how he was tempted to leave it. The wind with its blowing is used as a symbol to represent the mighty Cosmic forces that reside within us and urge us to go on even when other worldly conditions and the arguments of friends and others tempt us to go backward. Per- haps you will discern, in the symbol of the wind, the Holy Ghost that descended upon Jesus and which left Him at His‘Weekly Master Monograph A M O R C—____—The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH =o ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SIX PAGE TWO Crucifixion, and which is always pictured as a strong breeze. It is the Holy Ghost that must come upon each of you and dwell within you while you are preparing yourselves at the beginning of this Eleventh Degree for the greater work that is to follow. Therefore, make a no- tation in your consciousnss that the symbol of the wind represents the Holy Ghost. Now, skip to the third paragraph, beginning with the words I lis- tened long to them, Here, we see that the student has been accepted into a mystical school. In other words, he has contacted the mystical Collegium or the secret brotherhood, and you will note that the student was again tested, tried, and grilled in many ways, yet he passed all of these tests with honors just as you have passed many tests in re- cent months and years, especially throughout the work of the Tenth Degree. Now, read the fourth paragraph, beginning with the word But. Here we see the symbolism of the Lion introduced. This is another symbol for you to register in your mystical memory. The Lion here represents the outer physical man or the outer physical body with its worldly or mass consciousness containing the thoughts that the masses have adopted, or the ideas that the newspapers, magazines, and public utterances have created in the physical consciousness of the average human being. Becoming acquainted with the Lion means becoming ac- quainted with the real outer man as separate and apart from the inner man, After we once discover the weakness of our outer self as a sepa- rate entity, we can appreciate better the strength of the inner man. The symbolism in this paragraph is very deep and it must be analyzed carefully in order that its hidden message may be discovered. Now, let us take the next paragraph, beginning with the phrase They led me to the Lion, At the end of this paragraph we have Figure 4. You will notice that the beginning of this paragraph states that the mystics and students of the school led this new member to the Lion. In other words, their teachings and their instructions enabled the student not only to discover the Lion but helped establish between them a very close acquaintance. You realize, of course, that all of our monographs in the previous Degrees have been doing this very thing. Throughout this paragraph we find references to natural magic or, as we call it nowadays, white magic. And, you will notice also that reference is made to a grip. The grip here is not a grip with the hands upon the Lion, but the secret grip or handclasp whereby one member of a secret society makes himself known to another and thereby brings to his side the support of those who are in sympathy with him. The pit in which the Lion was located refers to man's worldly con- sciousness; the blood and snow refer to the allegorical and mystical principles of the red and white tinctures, and also to the male and female biological differences. This paragraph is certainly a beautiful story, which I hope each of you will study very carefully. e ©‘Weekly Master Monograph ——————A M OR The Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SIX PAGE THREE Let us now continue to the next paragraph, beginning with the word As. In the center of this paragraph, we find Figure 5. We note that the whole paragraph refers to the killing, or destruction in a mystical sense, of the outer man; in other words, the Lion. The ref- erence to reviving the Lion refers to the rebirth or regeneration of (@ro outer self in order that it may live hereafter in proper attune- ment with the inner self and as though both were one harmonious unit. ; In the next paragraph, beginning with the words After following, we find Figures 6 and 7. Number six indicates the left side which, as you probably have learned in earlier lessons, is the mystical side of the physical brain, and is important in many mystical experiments. Number seven, on the other hand, refers to the right side. This should be significant to you. In the next paragraph, beginning with the word Arrived, we find Figure 8. The author speaks of red roses that were broken off and stuck in his hat. Here I can make a little explanation that could not have been made years ago. In many of the Shakespearean folios in their original form containing the hidden ciphers, which reveal the identity of Sir Francis Bacon, there are symbolical drawings or illus- trations and decorations in various places. In a number of these draw- ings, a character representing Sir Francis Bacon, or Shakespeare, is found wearing a peculiar hat with roses stuck in it. Some of these illustrations show a rose on the front of each of his fancy shoes. In Bacon's day, the Rosicrucians had adopted the symbolism found in this paragraph of the Parabola. In their general assemblies where they wore a hat, they wore a rose for secret identification. The rose has always been the symbol of the secret mysteries and of the mystical unfoldment of the soul, and is representative of the Mystic Path. In the time that this Parabola was written, the explanation of the rose given to the initiates was that the rose in full bloom is the attri- bute, quality, and adornment of the Virgin Sophia, or the soul in its female principle of the godhead. For the first time this introduces into our studies of the higher Degrees the old thought and principle that the godhead is both male and female, as explained in previous lessons of the lower Degrees. The Egyptians symbolized this dual principle of God by the words rah representing the male; and mah representing the female, and the com- Wounded word Rama representing God, as both male and female powers. Jesus was claimed by the ancient mystics to represent the rose of life. The return of Jesus to the consciousness of God at the time of the Ascension was called the Chymical Marriage by the ancient Rosicrucians. This will open up to you a great volume of mystical understanding, and you should delve into it more deeply by re- calling all that you have read about the ascension of Jesus to the heavens and further studying its significance. The rose was also considered equivalent to the white lotus of theWeekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C__—______The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH ep ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SIX PAGE FOUR Orient, which grew in purity in the midst of stagnant pools of filthy water and symbolized the pureness of the soul rising from the earthly sordidness. More in regard to the rose will be discovered in this paragraph by a careful analysis. Since it is difficult to analyze more of this story than the first nine paragraphs in one week, I shall conclude the interpretation of the Parabola in the following monograph. Remember, I do not mean that you make purely an intellectual study of these paragraphs, but rather meditate upon one or two phrases at a time, and as great a length of time as will permit the inner self gradually to unfold a special meaning. Personally, I have noticed that sometimes two days are required for a certain mystical phrase to unlock something within my consciousness, or within the soul, and to bring it gradually to my outer consciousness, Therefore, give as much time and thought to these paragraphs as possible, as though they were a secret formula containing the cipher code that would solve the personal problems of your life in a mystical way. Do not be in a hurry to reach any com- mon conclusion that the outer self artificially may create. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERSummary of This Monograph Vo Vigew: Below is a of the important principles of this monc |. It contains the essential ffsterionts Which, you Hota OC torget After You hava camtilly road the comsctierehaes graph, try to recall as many as you can of the important points you read. ‘Then read this Summary and see if you have forgotten any, Also refer to this summary during the ensuing ‘week to refresh your memory. @ In the interpretation of the Parabola, we find the wind referred to as the Cosmic forces within urging us ever upward. It’algo symbolizes the Holy Ghost. @ Along the Mystic Path, the author meets the members of the collegium, or secret brotherhood, whose tests he passes. @ The Lion, signifying the outer, objective man, is overcome by secret formulas such as learned in the Rosicrucian studies. The reviving of the Lion is the rebirth of the outer self and its attunement with the Inner Self. @ The pit is the materiality which man must surmount in order to advance. @ The left side of the wall refers to the symbolic mystical side of the physical brain. @ The rose is highly significant. It symbolizes the unfoldment of the soul, the spiritual Christ rising to join with His Father, the Virgin Sophia, and the Chymical Marriage.THE INSTITUTION BEHIND THE ROSICRUCIAN ORGANIZATION Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California, U.S.A. “Consecrated to truth and dedicated to every Rosicrucian"TEMPLE SECTION E | ROSICRUCIAN ORDER k This monograph alvays remains the property of the Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M.O.R.C. It it nob purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh Degree Monograph Seven Eleventh Degree Monograph Seven Se 4 NY SS] - 1 — \ ZN does, ipso oy eigen Cobre aw be eprom end cla opr Sine ogeaaon ha Regan neo \ Th fo grote ol um fo rind gna mavemaTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion Wo Vg © After studying the mystical symbolism of the Parabola and its interpretation, as given in the lessons and induced from serious meditation, the reader should be able to gather further insight into the Chymical Marriage, as @ mentioned by the philosopher Jacob Boehme: ‘The virgin says: I have something against you. I have raised you up from among the thoms. When you were a wild animal, I have configured in you my own image, But the wild animal is among the thorns: this I will not take unto my bosom, You are still living within your wild animal, When the world takes that animal, because it belongs to it, then will I take you. Thus cach one will take its own belongings. Why do you therefore love so much that wild animal which causes to you nothing but sorrow? You cannot take it with you. It does not belong to you, but to the world. Let the world use it as it may, but remain you with me. It will be only a little while; then will your animal break, and you will be rid of it, and remain with me. How will you then rejoice, if you think of that animal, which afflicted you day and night, and of which you are then free. As a flower grows up out of the earth, so do you rise up out of your wild animal, ‘You say, ‘Tam your animal; you are born in me.’ Listen, my animal! I am - greater than you. When you was to become, I was your conductor. My essences are out of the root of eternity; but you are of this world. You will break; but I remain eternally in my power. Therefore I am far nobler than you. My works are in power, while yours remain as shadows. When I am once rid of you, I will then never accept you again as my animal; but (I take) my new body which I am regenerating within the deepest root of the holy element. —JACOB BOEHME, 1575-1624‘Weekly Master Monograph ————A M O R C—————Thee Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SEVEN PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! Before beginning this week's instruction, I want to thank each of you for the very fine letters expressing your great joy in the work of the Tenth Degree, and your keen interest in the work of the Elev- @uth Degree. In nearly every instance, each has reported some strange sensation of Cosmic peace or attunement that has come since the first week of Eleventh Degree study. From your letters, it appears that the members of this Degree already have discovered the secret of seclusion by nightly visualizing their rooms as personal sanctums in the great monastery. I have never gotten over the fascination of being alone by in- closing myself in my cell. Very often on my trips, when I must reside for a day or two ina hotel, I find it extremely pleasant to turn the room into a cell and live the life of a Rosicrucian in this sense. Often I have heard from others how disturbing it is for them to sleep ina different room each night, especially ina hotel room with all its dis- turbing vibrations from previous occupants and the distracting noises from surrounding rooms. All of these subtle influences are easily eliminated by turning the room into acell. As you will learn later, this transformed room is reached easily by those desirable psychic pro- jections which you would receive. Your room may be entirely empty except for yourself, or may be peopled with those friends that you would call into psychic manifestation, just as you wish it to be. But the fact remains that there is a great spiritual peace and in- flux of the Christ Consciousness that comes to each who retires at night with the mental and spiritual assumption of transcendental iso- lation and physical separateness. This will develop more strongly and more significantly as you progress with the work of this Degree. Gradually your cell room will become not only your spiritual sanctum but your metaphysical laboratory and your alchemical workshop, Here, the highest principles of our teachings will be easily applied and directed by you. Here the Cosmic will make many manifestations to you. You will fina yourself engulfed in the aura of Cosmic radia- tions, which will bring regeneration and rebirth to your entire being. We now will continue to analyze the second part of the Parabola and dwell on the significance of the various paragraphs. We will begin with the eleventh paragraph appearing on page four of Mono- raph Four beginning with the words I wandered on. At the end of this paragraph is Figure 9, The paragraph refers to a garden into which the mystic wandered. This garden with its small opening repre- sents certain experiences of a mystical nature which can be understood only after actual practice with the experiences. The key represents an experience which will open wide the door into the lotuses. This is symbolical for the roses inWeekly Master Monograph ——————-A M O R C——___Thee Roosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —cC— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SEVEN PAGE TWO the garden. The next interesting point about the paragraph is the first reference to the Bridegroom and the Bride, represented as the youth and the maiden, In all mystical literature of a symbolical na- ture, reference is made to the Bride and Bridegroom. In this story, the Bridegroom is the author of the vision, or the one who is telling the story. The mill to which he came is Nature's own laboratory viewed from a transcendental viewpoint. © The mystics speak with the youth about the forthcoming wedding with his Bride, and it is to be noted that the youth and the maiden were born at nearly the same time and brought up together. It should be noted that the Bride is his soul. Therefore, through this marriage the Lion, which is the mystically unawakened or lifeless man, is brought to life again to become stronger and mightier, and to become an adept and an initiate. This will make him master of all things through mystical re- birth. The secret of the Bride and Bridegroom is a secret of the proper unity of soul and body, of the reawakened and regenerated physical man in perfect harmony with the eternal, immortal soul. Many hours of con- templation and meditation upon this sublime principle, so beautifully symbolized in all literature as the wedding of the Bridegroom and Bride, will reveal a great lesson that will never leave your consciousness. Now we will go on to the next paragraph beginning with the words Then I remember. At the end of this, we have Figure 10. Here, we are reminded of certain psychic struggles through which every mystic must pass. For instance, there is the problem of transposing con- sciousness from the lower self to the higher self. This always brings struggles and anguish, and along with it the temptation to turn back- ward on the Path or to give up the task as a difficult one to accom- plish. We are shown in this paragraph that the first great temptation that comes to the mystic at this point of his development is the voice of pride, vanity, or self-consciousness, which whispers to him and tries to convince him that by transposing the consciousness to his higher self, he will lose his earthly individuality or personality. That seems to be the one point where so many yield to the voice of the tempter and turn backward in their progress. They look upon the phys- ical I am as more important than the inner self. The very idea that the outer self may be lost in a sublime transfer of its consciousness to the inner self, is horrifying to personal vanity and pride. Yet, pride and vanity are the two great stones which hold millions of persons earthbound and prevent them from ever entering the spiritual kingdom. Personally, I think that if there are any two outstanding points in the whole preparatory instructions of the Parabola, they are in con- nection with the symbolism of the marriage of the Lion with the maiden, as referred to above, and the resulting test of our pride and vanity. Many ancient manuscripts of a very high spiritual nature state that there is no greater sin of the flesh than that of vanity or pride. In one ancient manuscript it is distinctlyWeekly Master Monograph ———___—-A M O R C—_______—The Rossicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SEVEN PAGE THREE stated that even the sin of lust or adultery, which is looked upon as the greatest temptation of the flesh, or greatest personal indulgence of the flesh, is not as reactive upon the progress of one who is trying to better himself, as is the indulgence in pride and vanity. The one is purely of the physical emotions of the flesh, while the other has its gratification and satisfaction in the emotional part of man which is so @tzonely connected with the psychic or spiritual part of man. Jesus eferred to this weakness of the flesh in many ways; for instance, when he said that those who had great wealth or worldly possessions must dis- pose of them before they could enter the kingdom of heaven. He did not refer to the possession of absolute necessities, nor even to the enjoy- ment of many of life's luxuries, but he did refer to the vain-glorious indulgence in wealth, which satisfied the pride and vanity of the lower self. Likewise, all of the ancient injunctions against having any other gods before the one great God referred to man's glorifying the physical Pleasures and things of life through his vanity and pride. They did not refer to the worshipping of lesser gods, as the heathens did through a lack of understanding of the nature and existence of the true God, for God would rather have the uninformed and uninstructed person worship anything that he considered higher and more spiritual than himself, than to worship either something lesser than himself or to worship nothing at all. It is in this point that the mystics disagree with the orthodox Christians. While the latter condemn the primitive forms of worship, the mystic says that man's primitive forms of worship were the very foundation of his spiritual awakening. The minute man begins to worship something that will bring him spiritual or inner contentment, and concentrates his faith in something other than him- self, he is walking bravely and boldly on the Path toward spiritual development. After all, man does not lose his personality through rebirth and the spiritual marriage of his outer self with the inner self; rather, he is reborn and his consciousness is united with the universal consciousness of God. It is only in this way that his real personality is immortalized and preserved for eternity. The mystery of all this paragraph is worthy of many weeks of contemplation. Let us proceed to the next paragraph, Figure 11, beginning with the words Now then. Brief as is this paragraph of the Parabola, it is highly significant and important. It touches upon the evolution ary system of the mystic, which is the fundamental of all the myster- ies of the world, The ancient myths, the sagas of the ancient herces, @the spiritual legends, and the veiled allegories of the oldest of the mystical writings, all refer to the same fundamental principle; namely, the death of the old man. This, of course, refers to the mystical death and the resulting resurrection or rebirth. Here the author of the Parabola says that he was surprised to find the Bride who had to be the mother of her Bridegroom still so young. ¢y/ The rebirth of the self always brings with it a realization of the youth of the self and how young it really is in the scheme of universal things.q ‘Weekly Master Monograph. “A M OR C————_____The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SEVEN PAGE FOUR In the next paragraph beginning with the word Now, we find Figure 12 at the end of this long paragraph. Undoubtedly, you have dis- cerned that the secret chamber of the bridal scene represents the hu- man inner being, wherein the mystical Bridegroom becomes united with the Bride. The warming of the chamber refers to the raising of the vibrations of the spiritual self through mystical concentration. One of the most beautifully allegorical stories of mystical development was that written by Jane Leade, the famous and greatly beloved leader of the Rosicrucian lodge in London, known as the Philadelphic Lodge. This was, incidentally, where the Rosicrucians from Germany and other countries visited for a few weeks before setting sail from Europe to come to America in 1695-1694 to establish the first Rosicrucian or- ganization in the New World. Among the few preserved stories and writings of this wonderful, spiritual woman, we find the human in- terior referred to as a stove which is necessary continually to be heated, Therefore, we see that even in modern times the ancient symbolism was still used. The origin of this allegory is based upon the ola symbol of spirituality being the mystical flame burning within. You will recognize how true to form the AMORC has held its ritualistic principles when you analyze our Temple ceremonies as established in this jurisdiction. In every First Degree initiation in all of our Temples, the Vestal Virgin, or Colombe, extinguishes her vestal flame during the ceremony. Then the master explains that the flame now burns in our hearts instead of burning at the Vestal Altar. No other Rosi- erucian organization but the legitimate one makes even the slightest ref- erence to this very essential principle. It is significant to note here also that the author states that the warmth of the fire thus started in his being continued for forty days. I will pass over the signifi- cance of the number forty, for you can discover easily by reading mystical literature that forty is a mystical number, Even in the Christian Bible the number forty is used many times in connection with the flood-and various other occurrences. When the student has started the great mystical fire burning within him, and the flame has reached any degree of brilliancy, the warmth and the fire will continue for some time, even after the student has discontinued his practices, but then gradually it begins to weaken until sooner or later it mst be revived. This is why we say that a student who is once upon the Path may stop his studies and practices for awhile and still have the development continue, but then he must once again revive the flame if he wants to have the utmost benefit from it. We must keep in mind, however, that the significant story of the Pa- rabola was not written for those who are just starting upon the Path, and those who have just kindled a small, new flame for the gy/ first time. Throughout this paragraph the author paints many allegorical, mystical pictures. This is done in order to pre- vent any profanation of the sacred mysteries, Reference is e‘Weekly Master Monograph ———A M O R C—________—The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SEVEN PAGE FIVE made in this paragraph to the Collegium Sapientiae. This is one of the oldest and purest of Rosicrucian terms and is not found in any other system of mysticism. It means a college of knowledge or a temple of wisdom, In ancient days all of the Rosicrucian Temples were called Collegi: & At the close of the next paragraph, beginning with the word Whilst, we find Figure 13. This long paragraph further describes the mystical stages taking place within the student who is practicing and developing. All of you will find in the experiences of your own life, since you joined the Rosicrucians, some point that agrees with the veiled allegories of this paragraph. We will skip to the paragraph beginning with the words Therefore unto me. At the end of this paragraph is Figure 14. Here we find the awakened soul, or the so-called Virgin Sophia, speaking within tho student before his mystical marriage. Here is surely a promise of what each of you will be able to do after you have reached a certain point in your progress. You can see plainly that you have been in t preparation for this work ever since you joined our organization. In the next paragraph beginning with the words After she had said this, we find Figure 15 at the end of the paragraph. This is to call our attention to the fact that the paragraph contains the peculiar phrase that seems very modern; namely, the reference to dog days. Here in America these dog days ocour during the hottest period of the summer. In this Parabola, however, something different is meant. The Dog Star, called Sirius, in Egypt was consecrated to Anubis, who was the god of the dead, and who was symbolized as having a dog's head. Among the Greeks, this god was known as Cerberus. This god was the guard of the underworld and his presence will be announced in an infallible way to each mystic who in his evolution descends to hell. In other words, this guard of the underworld will be made known to-us whenever we permit ourselves to degrade our development or proceed in the wrong direction. It is the mystic’s guard against entering too deeply into the underworld through temptation and sin. Notice throughout this paragraph how worldly things are offered as temptations, and how rapidly one adored material thing fades into in- significance when a more tempting earthly thing is offered, thus lur- ing us continuously on a downward scale until nothing less than the @ greatest of earthly temptations will please us. The Parabola ends with the word Amen, after which we have Figure 16. This is to call our attention to the fact that this word, which is used in the Bible and in Christian religion, does not have the sig- nificance that usually is given to it. In the book of Revela- tion, Jesus himself is called the AMEN and the word is an Egyptian one and was originally one of the names of the great god of Egypt. Its real meaning lies wholly in the vowel‘Weekly Master Monograph ———__——A M 0 R C———_____Thee Rossicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER SEVEN PAGE SIX sounds when properly pronounced, and these vowel sounds mean or create perfect manifestation. Jesus was sucha manifestation. When the word Amen is used at the end of a prayer or a petition, it means that after having expressed one's wishes, the vowel sounds of ah-men are uttered to start the laws working to bring about a perfect manifestation of the plea. Thus we find that the entire Parabola is a description of the inner evolution of the mystic after having started upon the Path. © It is a perfect allegory of the Hermetic art. Much has been left un- explained by me in order that it will be revealed in the only perfect way possible, and that is from your own inner consciousness. Afew * points have not been explained because we are not yet ready to reveal the real meaning. I hope, therefore, that every one of you will meditate on this Parabola, and especially on the significance of the interpretations Ihave given, and thus be ready next week for some interesting revelations. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERSummary of This Monograph Vv v Vv Below is a summary of the important principles of this monograph. Tt contains the essential statements which you should not forget After you have carcfully read the complete mono- graph, try to as many as you can of the important points you read. ‘Then read this summary and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing week to refresh your memory. @ The symbolical interpretation of the Parabola continues: The garden represents mystical experiences, entered by the key of personal experience as actually practiced. The author recognizes himself as the Bridegroom. Through the perfect union with the Bride, the Lion, or unawakened man, is mystically reborn. The mill is Nature’s transcendental laboratory. @ Man does not lose his personality through rebirth; his consciousness is united with the universal consciousness of God; his real personality is immortalized. @ The chamber of the Bridal scene is the ‘human inner being. The warming refers to the raising of spiritual vibrations through concentration. In ancient days all Rosicru- cian Temples were called Collegii. Many of the struggles related in this allegory can be compared to the mystical ex- periences of the Rosicrucian student. @ The Virgin Sophia foretells many things able to be accomplished by the student. @ The Robes and unseen tailors represent temptations, each fading when a more elab- orate article of temptation appears. @ The word Amen is of Egyptian origin, meaning or creating perfect manifestation. The whole Parabola is a description of the inner evolution of the mystic after start- ing upon the Path,THE INSTITUTION BEHIND THE ROSICRUCIAN ORGANIZATION Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California, U.S.A. “Consecrated to truth and dedicated to every Rosicrucian”q a Supreme Grand Lodge of A. purchased by, but loaned to, the Eleventh Degree Monograph Eight MASTER MONOGRAPH TEMPLE SECTION F| ROSICRUCIAN ORDER k This monograph always remains the property of the It is not -eiving member. Eleventh Degree Monograph | Eight { Sy NET NHT TNFA TE FR SS aNGi ea eat OR AasTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion V Viv @ One of the greatest sources of profound lectures given briefly and tersely in parables is to be found in the Bible. These parables contain many deep and hidden mysteries, to be understood only by those enlightened ones of the inner circle, One such parable refers to the Bride and Bridegroom, the wedding feast, and the invited guests: And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying: the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king which made a marriage feast for his son, and sent forth his servant to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying: Tell them that are bidden: Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: Come to the marriage feast. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; and the rest laid hold on his servants and entreated them shamefully, and killed them. But the king was wroth; and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then saith he to his servants: The wedding is ready, but they thar were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the partings of the highways, and as many as'ye shall find bid to the marriage feast. And those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found both bad and good: And the wedding was filled with guests, But when the king came in to behold the guests he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment, and he said unto him: Friend, how camest thou in thither not having a wedding garment? And he was speech less. Then the king said to the servants: Bind him hand and foot and cast him out into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called but few are chosen. (Matthew XXII: 1-14) JESUS THE CHRIST-AM OR C————Thee Rossicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —cC— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER EIGHT PAGE ONE Weekly Master Monograph Beloved Members, Greetings! Again I come before you—speaking as though I were the Guardian of the Antechamber in whose presence you members assemble—to continue your preparation for the work of this Degree. Again I speak to you, s if standing before you in the small antechamber and using the ords, thoughts, or ideas that were given to the most exclusive and preferred members of the advanced Degrees of the organization. You may think that these talks in this antechamber are brief, for sometimes they may appear constricted and terse. But I trust that our members have reached beyond that point where they judge the impor tance of a lecture by its length in minutes or its number of words. I am reminded, in this regard, of a great lesson which Henry Khunrath, the famous Rosicrucian mystic of the Middle Ages, delivered at a spe- cial conclave of advanced adepts. This man was not only an advanced mystic and a high officer in the organization, but he was famous for the fact that he could reduce his ideas and thoughts to a few simple words. It is said that often he would spend days in preparing a special talk to these advanced members, and on the day of their meeting he would spend hours arranging for the meeting, and some of the members would spend many hours traveling to reach the little college in which these sessions were held. The other members of lower grades and the officers of the organization would watch the students hurrying into the college building. They would see Khunrath, attired in his long, flowing gray robes and peculiar square cap, rush into this building with an armful of manuscripts and books. Everything indicated that there was going to be a very long and important session of special in- struction for these highly advanced brothers and sisters. Then some- one would close the door to the lecture hall, and there would be si- lence throughout the hallway of the building. The crowd outside, hav- ing a recess in their work and sitting under trees in review of ear- lier lessons, would wait for this man's special class to end. It is said that often only two or three minutes would pass when the door would open again and out would come the students with grave expres~ sions on their faces, and Khunrath would hurry off toward one of the outer buildings that he used as his home. If any of the students were stopped and asked what kind of lecture was received in so short a time, “he would shake his head and say, "Marvelous, wonderful, beautiful, }and profound." To all others it seemed that the class scarcely had boon called to order, certainly the learned teacher had not even time in which to make his introductory remarks, when the class would be dismissed and ‘the great lesson ended. All the younger students marvelled at such instruction in so brief a time, and at the fact that what each student received often required weeks to contemplate and analyze.Weekly Master Monograph ——————-A M O R C—_________The Roosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER EIGHT PAGE TWO It is recorded further that on one occasion when Khunrath was called before a great conclave of members of all grades and Degrees of Rosicrucian study, he was asked to give to his mixed group of students one of his remarkably short and inspiring lessons for which he was famed. Realizing that the mystery of his brief instructions was upper- most in their minds, and that all of those who had not attended his special class were anxious to know what could be said in a few words @ that would constitute a truly great lesson, he rose before the audience and said that at last he had been able to accomplish the great dream of his life and that after years of labor, analysis, test, and trial, he had been able to reduce one of his greatest lessons to the briefest possible time of delivery. "In fact," he said, "I have now the honor and the pleasure to deliver to you what is not only the ultimate of my am- bitions in this direction, but what is probably the shortest and brief- est lecture ever given in a Rosicrucian or other college. I find it possible now to reduce one of my greatest discourses to but a single word. That word I will give to you as the summum bonum of my carefully evolved lecture. I give you this word and ask you to see the truth in it, to discover its great principles, to analyze its profound meaning, and absorb from it the greatest lesson of your life. Therefore, I pro- nounce my lecture in one word." He gave one word to his audience. It was a German word which, translated as closely as possible into Eng- lish, is equivalent to The Over-soul. It is said that the effect of this one dynamic word upon his audi- ence was like an electric shock or bolt of lightning striking every student within hearing of his voice. There was nothing in the vowel sounds of the word, nothing in his oratory to produce this effect, be- cause Khunrath spoke softly and without any theatrical effects whatso— ever. Yot, that lecture will remain in Rosicrucian history as the most wonderful lesson ever taught. I have noticed, in many writings of the Middle Ages, that wherever the term Over-soul is used, thore is almost @ reverential and sacred reference to the fact that it was first used by Khunrath in his profound and memorable lecture. We, too, are soon to know the significance of the Over-soul. We will realize that this one German word, or the two words in English, constitute a thought; and that thought expresses a great law, or many great laws and principles, and identifies or distinguishes one grand and magnificent phenomenon of Cosmic manifestation. You will see that his students and every Rosicrucian in any part of the world can take © this one thought, expressed in a hyphenated word, and meditate for weeks upon it, and from such meditation derive more than one great lec- ture or lesson of instruction. Therefore, we should hesitate to gauge the value of any instruction by its length or its number of words. Each of you is now in a stage of development and understanding in your progress where one word, or at least one thought, may seize‘Weekly Master Monograph———____A M 0 R C_________The Rosicrueian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER EIGHT PAGE THREE hold of your consciousness and electrify it into a seeking of under- standing and comprehension that will result in the addition of knowl- edge equivalent to a whole series of Lessons and lectures. Throughout this Degree many of the monographs will be brief, as far as words are concerned, but profound and beyond human appreciation at the first reading. Iwo very great problems confront us in presenting these lectures to you. First, we cannot be too clear and too revealing in everything we want to say, because it is forbidden by the organization to put into black and white some of the thoughts contained in the Eleventh Degree. They are supposed to be revealed only by whispered words from the lips of one to the ears of another, out of sight and hearing of any other person. Secondly, it is impossible to translate into the English language some of the thoughts and teachings originally pre- pared and written in Latin or Sanskrit. The thought does not seem to be the same when translated. Since some thoughts cannot be ex- pressed in words of any kind, the reader mst meditate and contemplate upon the translated words in order to derive the real meaning. Remem- ber that we do not teach truth; we do not publish truth; we cannot speak truth. Truth mst grow from within and be felt or sensed in a spiritual way without the limitations of words or phrases. If you de- rive any truths from our teachings, they will not be truths which we have given to you, but truths which have grown within you from the little seeds which we have sown in your consciousness. Keep in mind, therefore, that the Rosicrucian teachings are only seeds and not truths, and that our whole process is merely the selection of the proper seeds and the proper method of planting them in fertile soil where they will grow into truths; for truth is the fruit of the tree of knowledge and is not the tree itself. Even in the foregoing paragraphs, you will find concealed some important lessons. There are certain phrases and certain great truths which should be analyzed and developed into a significant principle for you. Take the statement, "Truth is the fruit of the tree of knowl- edge and not the tree itself." If you will succeed in turning that phrase into a lecture, you will be doing what the students of Khunrath did. Just see the significance of certain words and ideas in that phrase. First of all, truth is likened to fruit or flowers, or some- thing that starts with an almost imperceptible bud on the tree. It @ evolves slowly into full manifestation and then becomes a nourishment which mist be taken into the body where its individual identity is lost through being absorbed into the body or consciousness. The next important point is that knowledge is likened to a tree. That is an actual symbol, but it now has new signifi- cance. Knowledge, like a tree, has its main trunk and many branches of expression. Knowledge, like a tree, also is vis- ible only after it has been co-ordinated and united into oneWeekly Master Monograph: “AMO RC——___The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH C= ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER EIGHT PAGE FOUR "trunk" preparatory to reaching out to cover the various branches of selence and art. But we never see the sources of the "trunk," or in other words, the primitive and original sources of the main body of Knowledge. Like a tree, knowledge has its primitive roots or original Sources from which it has gathered and accumulated facts or the ele- ments necessary to constitute a great trunk of truth. Like a tree, also, knowledge does not show any bias or prejudice in regard to the channels through which it secures its nourishment. The roots of a tree will enter into any kind of soil or condition in order to get what they want, and also the roots of a tree will penetrate the thickest and most stubborn soil, and will push rocks out of the way or go over them, or go through crevices of any kind, in order to get what they need. Likewise, the roots of the tree are unselfish servants to sup- ply the great knowledge that constitutes the tree itself. I could go on for a long period of time showing you the great lesson that can be taken out of this one paragraph. I hope that you will do the same thing with all of the paragraphs which follow in this and succeeding lessons. We now are going to proceed with the first great lesson growing out of the symbolism in the Parabola. We are going to touch upon that which has been considered the greatest mystery or mystical element in all of the sacred mystical teachings. It is known as the alchemical marriage or Chymical Marriage. It is known also in the early Chris- tian teachings as the spiritual marriage. We find the first injunc- tion, or law, relating to this matter expressed in these words: *Be= hold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him." Just to let you see how differently the idea is expressed in Latin and how briefly the thought can be stated, I will give you the Latin version in its veiled form: Ecce sponsus venit, exite obviam ei. It is said that the or- igin of this phrase was in the writings of St. Matthew, who credited it to Christ Jesus. Undoubtedly, Jesus did teach this law to his disciples, but he was not the first to give that great law to disciples. When Jex sus used these words, he used them as a teacher and as a human teacher, and not as the Christ principle, because the Bridegroom is the Christ and Jesus would not have used the law to intimate that he was referring to himself, Christ, or the Christ consciousness, is the Bridegroom; and the human nature in its outer worldly manifestation, including its human consciousness, is the Bride. Here are the two who are to be united in the holiest of marriages. We are to notice in this law several com- mands and several promises of reaction. We are first commanded to behold. The real meaning of that word is more than simply look, or watch out; it means to concentrate carefully and devote one's atten- tion to a certain thing. It means to be held or bound by that HE/ one idea so that we will not fail to observe and be ready for its manifestation. So we are to behold, and therefore be ready for the coming of the Bridegroom.‘Weekly Master Monograph———A M O R C__—___—Thhe Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER EIGHT PAGE FIVE We are to understand that the promise is made that the Bridegroom will come to us, near us, or close enough for us to be able to make the contact. The Bridegroom is not off at a distance place where we must journey in order to make the contact, but we are to understand that the Bridegroom will rise up or develop, or gradually make His ap- ene in our presence through some spiritual processes, whereby the ridegroom comes into our environment. In the next place, the command says that we are to go out in order to make the contact. Here is an excellent example of the difficulty in translating certain thoughts into words and especially into the English language. Notice that the Latin uses the word exite. We are to send out the outer nature so that it may make the contact with the Bridegroom. In other words, we are to come out of the prison, out of the shell, or out of the false atti- tude in which we have been living, in order that this outer self may contact the Bridegroom. The second promise is implied in the words to meet. There will be a meeting, a blending, a uniting of the Bride and Bridegroom as the ultimate result of the rest of the command. These are all significant words upon which you should speculate and find the law or the princi- ple which applies to you, especially. For instance, do you realize what sort of prison you mist come out of in order to meet the Bride- groom? Your prison, my prison, and the prison of all our members are distinctly different. My prison may be very great and strong; it may be alluring and tempting for me to stay in it, for I may have become thoroughly accustomed to it and think that it is as fine a place to re- side as any that I have ever seen. Our prisons are not just our bod- ies, but our mental attitudes, our habits, our standards of thought and beliefs, our faiths, and all the hundred other things that tie us fast to certain conditions in life. You may have to give up certain pleasures or indulgences, or you may have to abandon certain beliefs that have been very dear to you and most consoling. These are the things that constitute the prison out of which we must come. The physical body, itself, is not a sinful thing in which we are impris- oned, for it is one of God's creations. The thing that binds us and holds us fast more than any physical body is the mind of that body and the thoughts and principles it has established as its rule and guide in life. So to come out of your prison will mean a different problem for each of those in this Eleventh Degree. There is no living person who can tell you what you have to do in this regard better than you can tell yourself. You must discover what it is and what it means to you, through meditation and contemplation. In order to behold the situa- tion, each one of us has a different problem; to meet the Bridegroom presents other proble1 How far is it necessary to go to meet the Bridegroom? The promise is made that the Bridegroom is coming to us if we behold the law, but how far will the Bride- groom come toward us? Surely, we cannot expect the Bridegroom‘Weekly Master Monograph_———A M 0 R C——__—Thee Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —c ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER EIGHT PAGE SIX to come all the way, for we are enjoined to go out to meet him, That means that we, too, must journey part of the way. Undoubtedly, the Bridegroom will come nearer to some of us than to others, because of the distance we have advanced previously in our Journey along the Path. There may be some of you who are already very close to the Bridegroom, and there may be others who are far away, You have the consolation, how- ever, that as you approach and struggle in your efforts to get closer tog the Bridegroom, the Bridegroom is coming toward you. In other words, he is going to meet you halfway; at least, if you do your part. Meeting the Bridegroom may mean to some of you a very definite struggle. It will mean subduing many of your passions ; subduing and eliminating desires and ambitions, and placing this ambition ahead of all the rest. It will mean also purging yourself of undesirable qualities, for you will not went to meet the Bridegroom in poor clothing, unclean, unkempt, and unworthy. The bride always arrays herself to look the loveliest, sweetest, and the most attractive on her wedding day. This is for no other purpose than to make herself truly worthy of the bridegroom. Thus, it mst be with each one of you in this marriage. This is all we shall say at this time regarding the Chymical Mar- riage, for you will find, in your weekly contemplation of the many rules and laws, much food for thought. The law is a seed; if you plant it in your consciousness it will continue to grow throughout the rest of your life. Remember, the meeting with the Bridegroom may take place any week, any month, in the near future. Next week we will have more regarding this marriage and the proc- esses. Now, let me touch upon another law for your further considera- tion and study. There are certain mysteries in life which are held as sacred mysteries in life, or in the spiritual world, which man ulti- mately cannot solve and understand. The greatest of all mysteries is that of God's consciousness in man, The first step toward the under- standing of this mystery is to cease thinking of God as external. God is not only in the universe but also in man, The consciousness of God is everywhere, as well as in man. It is man who is in the universe and not on it or merely of it, The consciousness of God is life, but it is more than this; it is love and it is power. Of all the attri- butes of this mysterious consciousness, the greatest is that of love. For love is creative as well as protective, and it is inspiring and illuminating. Therefore, it is life and light. If man will consider himself as the light of the life in the love of God within him, he will come to understand his own relationship to God so much better. In these few words lies a key to volumes of knowledge, and it is neces- sary for me to withhold any further words of instruction and allow the self to develop from the seeds thus given on these few pages so that great truths may be born in your consciousness. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERSummary of This Monograph YO le Below is a of the important principles of this monograph. It contains the essential Steed ick yor tote ue tcgek After fou have continly read Goo apes graph, try to ‘as many as you can of the important points you read. ‘Then read this summary and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing week to refresh your memory. @ Many profound lectures have been simple, brief and terse. The great Rosicrucian, Khunrath, reduced one lecture to one word, meaning “Over-soul.” @ One thought, meditated upon, might be equivalent to a complete sermon. @ Truth must grow from within. Truth is the fruit of the tree of knowledge and not the tree itself, Rosicrucian teachings are the seeds of truth. @ In the Chymical Marriage, the Christ consciousness is the Bridegroom, and human nature is the Bride. @ This marriage must take place within man, The Bridegroom cometh; the Bride not only must behold him, but must be prepared to meet him; must go out to meet him. @ The consciousness of God is within man, as well as surrounding him. @ The consciousness of God is life, love, and power. The greatest of these, love, is creative, protective, inspiring, and illuminating. @ Man is the light of life in the light of the love of God within him.THE INSTITUTION BEHIND THE ROSICRUCIAN ORGANIZATION Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California, U.S.A. “Consecrated to truth and dedicated to every Rosicrucian"MASTER MONOGRAPH TEMPLE SECTION q ROSICRUCIAN ORDER k ‘This monograph always remains the property of the Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M.O.R.C. It is not purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh Degree Monograph 4 Eleventh Degree MonographTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion J: sae Found among the compilation of the teachings of the ee 16th and 17th centuries, is the follow: cerpt of alchemical writings. Reference is made to ae Aah ripe abc is eevee hip lcate, Te sey be interpreted in a physical or transcendental sense: . . then it happened that the darkness was covered with clouds, and the sun began to shine through, yet at the same time three parts of it were still heavily darkened; and lo, an arm broke through the clouds, and my body trembled because of it, and it held in its hand a letter with four seals hanging down from it, on which stood written: I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon: Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked ubon me, etc. But as soon as the fixum acted in the humidum, a rainbow spanned itself and I thought of the covenant of the Most High, and lo, with the planet and the fixed stars, the sun overcame the darkness, and over every mountain and valley there came a lovely and bright day; then all fear and terror had an end, and everything beheld this day and rejoiced, praised the Lord, and said: The winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers ‘appear on the earth; the time of the singing of the birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Aureum Seculum Redivium (The Golden Age Restored) 1621 (Taken from the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians) eWeekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C-_—_——The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH pS ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER NINE PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! Again we are assembled in the anteroom for further preliminary instruction. We anticipate with keen interest further instruction re- garding the Chymical Marriage and the uniting of the Bride and the Bridegroom. Therefore, we sit in silence and our interest is tense while we wait for the first words of our guardian and instructor. ‘nally he rises before us and breaks the silence with the following words: My Fratres and Sorores, this is to be the Obscure Night. It is an occasion in your instruction and guidance which you will remember always as the Obscure Night. That you may understand what is meant by this, let me explain it so that it may register in your conscious- ness for all time. In fact, it should so register itself in your consciousness that throughout this incarnation and into the next, and the following ones, you will always recall the occasion of the Obseure Night. You have not yet attained the Marriage and you have not yet attained the full realization of the interior life, but you have taken the first steps and are entering into the first stages of the processes which lead to these things. Your studies and your work at the present time do not constitute the gratification of your desire to attain the spiritual marriage and the quickening of the interior life, but merely a quickening of the transcendental activi- ties that lead to these wonderful things. But between that quicken- ing, and those first steps that you have just taken and the realiza- tion of your desires, there is a period of spiritual darkness which comes to all who have reached the great Path. This period of darkness was called the Obscure Night by the Essenes and by the early Christians. They derived the understanding of it and the name of it from the works and experiences of the early mystics of the Orient. It is equivalent to the Mystical Mystery of Aridity, which is mentioned so frequently in the spiritual writings of Latin theology. It also is referred to as the Black State of the Mat- ter of the Alchemist. It is really the significant darkness before the dawn of initiation. It is the passage of the soul through Hades. It also is symbolized in the higher mystical teachings as the Death of Tartarus, which precedes the evolution of the inner light and the edu- cation of the withdrawn glory. Even in many other fraternities or brotherhoods which have copied their ritualistic initiations from the Gspiritual initiation of the Rosicrueians, this darkness of the Obscure Night is symbolized by the blindfold which is placed over the eyes of the candidates. Thus, throughout the mystical writings and symbol- ism of all ages, and even in the classical writings of the Greeks and Romans, as well as their mythology and theology, the Obscure Night is referred to in veiled words or terms so that the un- worthy will have no understanding of what is meant. In some writings of a mystical nature, it has been referred to as the sudden discovery of a fearful mystery, or as a period of time——— ‘Weekly Master Monograph AM ORC=——— ~The Rosicrucian Onder | ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH = ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER NINE PAGE TWO that is "dark, delusive and dangerous." This Obscure Night is a state or condition in which the eye of the mind is turned inward upon itself and has not yet perceived the greater light within, It is the en- trance for the first time into an unknown world when all is neces- sarily in doubt, darkness, danger, and vague vastness. In the quotation of one of the oldest mystical writings regard ing this intensely interesting period of development, it is described as a condition where “are heard the noises and the voices of many strange and devouring creatures, some of which are escaped with dif- ficulty, and almost each has a different sound." This description is symbolical, of course. The world into which you enter at this time is unquestionably vast, for it is illimitable in space and immor- tal in time. It is absolutely dark; darker than any darkness known to man; for the worldly light does not reach it, and the spiritual light has not yet been discerned. The noises and the voices of many strange creatures are the vibrations of consciousness of every living thing in the universe. The devouring nature of some of these creatures sym- bolizes the temptation and absorption of some of the worldly charac- ters who attempt to lead us from the Path and hold us spellbound in their grasp. In order to enter into this darkness and dwell in it for a time, fortitude and strength of character, as well as determination, is re- quired. Those who, because of timidity or fear, hesitate at the en- trance of this Obscure Night or after the first hour's experience therein, are sometimes called dwellers in the alchemical garden. This peculiar phrase means that these persons are waiting until they learn the alchemist'’s secret of transmuting fear into fearlessness, and hesitancy into action, Therefore, if you ever read or hear of those who are dwelling in the alchemical garden, you will know that they have not passed through the Obscure Night and have not found the rising sun or the Great Light of the New Dawn. Those who enter fearlessly and enthusiastically into the first hour of the Obscure Night, and seek to go all through the remaining hours, will find that the first hour represents the greatest effort and struggle necessary to pass the night. In other words, it is the initial hour, and the first step in that hour, that represents more than half of the labor required to pass through the whole night, and assures success to each who manifests this fearlessness and enthu- siasm. It is evident, therefore, that the Obscure Night is a period just before the New Dawn, or the New Birth into the Greater Light. Some mystical writings refer to this New Dawn as the Golden Dawn, and those who dwell in the Golden Light of the new day are called Brothers and Sisters of the Golden Dawn. i eae ©Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C_———Thhe Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH 55 ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER NINE PAGE THREE In some mystical writings, it would appear as though there was an entirely separate organization known as the Order of the Golden Dawn, sometimes referred to as the G.D. This is supposed to refer to the highest development in the Rosicrucian fraternity. But in order that those unfamiliar with the processes may not understand from the writ- ings to what the symbolism refers, it is often said that only those in @tne order or Brotherhood of the Golden Dawn know the real work of the Rosicrucians. Likewise, some mystical writings of the past have said that the true fraternity of the Rosicrucians would be found only. in » the Order of the Golden Dawn; in other words, in the G. D., but that this real fraternity has no temples made by hand, nor any visible or- ganization. This has been the puzzling statement that has led so many persons to believe that the real Rosicrucian Order had no con- erete organization, no visible brotherhood, no temples, nor lodges on earth. Many eminent writers on mysticism of the present time have been misled by these veiled references and, therefore, their readers have been misled, much to our regret. On the other hand, many mystical writers purposely have veiled their statements by intimating that there was no visible organization, in order to discourage the curiosity seeker. One such great Rosicru- cian writer was Karel Weinfurter, who wrote a very outstanding manu- script on "The Lost Word Regained.* In recent years, some of his writings were translated into English and published in English. The book is very difficult to secure, since it had a limited edition and was not for public distribution. However, in this translated version we read the following words: "A great many are marching the same way as did and do the members of the sublimest brotherhood upon earth, known as Rosicrucians, or the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross. . «+ the actual Rosicrucians have no visible brotherhood, no lodge where they meet each other, whereas they do exist and there is a possibility to get into personal touch with them. But this is only reserved to i those mystics who have attained the actual inner baptism.” } It will be seen by this statement that the author is paradoxical. | If there really was no visible organization or brotherhood of Rosicru- i cians, then his second statement that it is possible to get in personal } touch with them would be absolutely false. He has worded his state- | ment very carefully by the use of a few adjectives. He says that the actual Rosicrucians have no visible brotherhood, meaning there- | (Py, thet the real or highest, or most advanced Rosicrucians, consti- | tuting the inner, secret group, do not have temples or lodges, in which to pursue their studies. This, you will realize, is absolutely true, inasmuch as you, who are now in the Eleventh Degree and pre- paring to enter this inner circle or sanctuary, will have no visible | lodge or temple where you come together to study, but will | meet in the invisible psychic sanctuary, Yet it is possible i for you to meet others in the same sanctuary, and come in per- | sonal touch with them. You will notice also that he says that i‘Weekly Master Monograph A M OR C——__——_The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER NINE PAGE FOUR in order to meet these unknown, actual Rosicrucians, it is necessary to have attained the actual or real inner baptism. The significant word here is the word inner. This, you will understand in a few mo- ments. Those persons constituting the general Public who read such @ statements as the above-mentioned, and then hear of our organization and its worldly activities, often come to the conclusion that the mate- rial organization of Rosicrucians is false and unreal. That explains why so many persons who have only casually read mystical literature are ready to claim that there is no real, visible organization of Rosicrucians, and that any claim in this regard is false and mislead- ing. It is difficult to argue with such persons, for you cannot ex- plain the truth to them; therefore, all that you can do is to say that they may believe as they please, but the time may come when they will know better. As you approach the hour of the Golden Dawn, or the moment of new birth, when you come face to face with the Greater Light from within, you will be then face to face with the Portal of the Sanctuary. Here is another symbolical term with which you should become familiar. The Portal of the Sanctuary is the entrance way to the great temple where the Holy Assembly dwells in peace, power, and proficiency. Passing from the Obsoure Night, with its many hours of meditation and prepa- ration, to the place and condition of facing the new light of the new day at the great Portal of the Sanctuary, constitutes the baptism of regeneration. Here, then, will occur the Chymical Marriage and the uniting of the Bride and the Bridegroom, Let us now contemplate in sacred reverence and sublime apprecia- tion that which occurs during the hours of the Obscure Night. This night is a period of trial and of temptation where the soul will pass through all of the bitterness of Calvary and where the Christ within us seems to be foresaken by the Father of All. It is a night of contradic— tion and of that special conflict which comes out of the worldly spirit of perversity. Here, both the mind and the senses are drawn strongly toward earthly things. Even though the spirit may be strong and the desire may be burning with enthusiasm, nevertheless the weakness of the flesh will tend to yield, and mind and senses will desire to go backward toward the worldly form and nature of things. We can com- Pare ourselves in this dark night as being like the children of Israel @ in the desert, with the human side yearning for the flesh pots of Egypt and turning away from the lighter food of the spiritual manna, which had not yet been tasted, and of which the power and influence had not yet been realized. Thus we see that this great night of obscurity is a turning point in our attainment of spiritual illumination. It is a time when there is every opportunity for the closest union between the heart of man and the heart of God, and many really spiritual natures have never passed beyond this night,9 Weekly Master Monograph -A MOR C——____—The Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER NINE PAGE FIVE for they were weak in their determination and too easily won by the voice of the Tempter. Such great mystics, even as Cornelius Agrippa, failed to pass it because of their deep interest in the material side of their knowledge. On the other hand, such eminent mystics as William Postel and Thomas Vaughan, and thousands of others, passed through the Night easily and safely and with great joy in their hearts. In the early rituals of the Roman Catholic Church reference was made to this mystical pe- riod, and the applicant for admission to the higher and inner circles of the church was instructed to desire the healing agony of the purgato- rial fire. "Without a sob or a resistance” was he to contemplate his passage through the night. Those who, like the children of Israel, re- main wandering in the desert of the Obscure Night and enter not into the promised land of the Golden Dawn, always face, throughout their lives a bitter struggle to accomplish their ultimate desires and hopes. Yet, God does not leave them forsaken, for their attainment and accomplishment in the past, which brought them to the hour of the Ob- soure Night, saves them in the end and allows them to enjoy health, happiness, and the necessities of life, even though they do not at- tain the greater mastership and control of universal principles. In this period of darkness, preceding the dawn, when we must face the trials and temptations that will test our determination and our worthiness, it is only right that we should contemplate the act of prayer and its value. In such a time, our prayers should be expres- sions of aspiration and pleas for strength, that we may remain stead- fast in our desires and yield not to temptation. Our prayers should also be invocations wherein the soul, collecting all of the forces from the Cosmic, summons these to her assistance that she may in turn strengthen our natures and aid us to face the situations that arise. So, we find that the Obscure Night is one of transcendental ex. periences. It is the time when the angel who is to follow will follo and the angel who is to rise will rise. It is the time when those principalities and powers surrounded by strong hosts and mighty angels of both the Cosmic and mundane world beckon unto us to unite with them and enjoy what they have to offer. Therefore, you are to dwell in the Obscure Night for the next few @ Months, giving as much of your time to prayer and meditation as is Possible. Each week, through these weekly lessons, you will receive guidance and instruction as to how to strengthen yourselves, remain steadfast, and reject the temptations, in order to reach the hour of the Golden Dawn and the birth of a new day with a new life for you. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERSummary of This Monograph q: Ve Below is a summary of the important principles of this monc h. It contains the essential statements which you sould wet forget After you have carefully reed the complete tones graph, try to recall as mony as you can of the Ymportant points ‘you read, ‘Then read this summary: and see if you have forgotten any. Also refer to this summary during the ensuing week to refresh your memory. @ The Obscure Night is a period of transcendental experiences preliminary to the en- trance into the Temple of Illumination; a turning point of spiritual illumination. @ The first hour of the Obscure Night is that of greatest struggle. @ During the Obscure Night, our prayers should be expressions of aspiration and pleas for strength against temptation. @ The Obscure Night is known also by such terms as Mystical Mystery of Aridity, Black State of Matter, and the Death of Tartarus. It is symbolized in the passage of the soul through Hades; by the blindfold used in initiation ceremonies. @ The Obscure Night is referred to in mystical literature of all ages. Although many mystics pass easily through the dark night, many find it extremely difficult, and some fail completely.MASTER MONOGRAPH ‘TEMPLE SECTION q ROSICRUCIAN ORDER b ‘This monograph always remains the property of the ‘Supreme Grand Lodge of A.M.O.R.C. Ht is not ‘purchased by, but loaned to, the receiving member. Eleventh ¢ Eleventh Degree Degree Monograph Monograph TenTHE CONCURRENCE This Week’s Consideration of a Famous Opinion wv. Violen q roa ec crucian ination: In the spirit of the word is to be understood the whole of Divinity, with all its powers and effects, and with its whole essence; its uprising, penetrat- ing, and changing; the whole action and the whole generation. tee Thus every creature has its own center for its outspeaking, or the sound of the formed word within itself, both the eternal and temporal beings; the unreasoning ones as well as man; for the first Ens has been spoken out of the sound of God, by wisdom, out of her center into the fire and light, and has been formed into the fiat, and entered into ‘compaction’. The Ens is out of the eternal, but the compaction is out of the temporal; and therefore in everything there is something eternal hidden in time. In that quality in which each word in the human voice in the act of out- speaking forms and manifests itself, either in the love of God, as in the Holy Ens, or in the wrath of God; in the same quality will it be taken up again therein after it has been spoken out. The false word becomes infected by the devil. eee The word is near to thee, even within thy heart and lips, and God him self is the word which is in thy heart and lips. —JACOB BOEHME, 1575-1624‘Weekly Master Monograph A M 0 R C—___——Thee Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH pe ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TEN PAGE ONE Beloved Members, Greetings! While you are dwelling in the Obscure Night, waiting the develop- ment of certain conditions and manifestations, and determining just what is your individual effort for the future, there are certain lit- tle helps that I can give you in a veiled way, which were given to the mystics in ancient times while they dwelt in the period of the Obscure Night. They came together each morning at sunrise for their usual sal- utations and prayers. Before retiring to the privacy of their cells to spend their time in meditation and contemplation, the Guardian stood before them and read certain texts or proverbs. These were brief paragraphs or sentences; each one a great fundamental truth or law, veiled in the briefest words so that they could take these thoughts with them to their cells to be used as keys to meditate upon during the day. One of the manifestations that will come to you sooner or later, perhaps during the Obscure Night, will be the keen realization of sev- eral words, or one word of several syllables, that will seem to im- press themselves upon you in a strange way. First, let me tell you that this word or group of words will constitute what the ancient mys— tics called the inner word. In the Christian doctrines it is referred to as The Word. Emphasis is given to the fact that all spiritual per- sons eventually come to believe that in the beginning of all creation there was one great word called The Word. This is the so-called lost word. It is not the lost word, however, that will come to you during your development, but a word that will be important to you throughout your lifetime and probably of little value to anyone else. If I were to speak from my own experience and judgment, I would call this the thought rather than the word, or the inner thought instead of the in- ner word, because this inner word may be just one word, as I havi said, or several words; but in every case, the word or words will con- stitute a single thought. Of course, it is possible for one word to convey a-thought to the mind of another which would take a number of words to explain. Take the one word love for instance. It is easy enough to express the idea with one word, so far as conveying the thought to another is concerned, but the moment one attempts to ana- lyze the thought, a great many more words than one are necessary even to outline the nature and effect of love. Each highly-evolved being on the Path, who has participated in the Chymical Marriage, will have this word or thought as the secret key to his inner consciousness. I cannot tell you mich about it at the present time, because even what I have said in the few lines above is apt to create suggestions or ideas in your mind that may influence the coming of the word, or cause you to create one artifi- cially. I hope, therefore, that none of you will allow your minds to concentrate upon the word love, or any other word arbitrarily selected by you, and unconsciously foster or force‘Weekly Master Monograph A M O R C- The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TEN PAGE TWO a selected word upon yourself and thereby blot out the real word or group of words that should come from the Cosmic. Since it is too easy to deceive ourselves in this regard, I hesitate to explain very much about it. It is as though you were being led into a great garden of many flowers and told that you were to select one of them, which was to be the key to your life. Then suppose that you were told that the right selection of this flower would come as a Cosmic urge and that you were to sit in the midst of the flowers until you had an inspiration and a conviction as to which flower was to be selected. If nothing more were told to you about it, you probably would depend solely upon a Cosmic impulse. But if I went on to explain to you that the flower was of a certain color and grew-to a certain height on a bush, merely to illustrate to you what I meant by selecting a flower, the chances are that my words might cause you to look for a bush or a flower nearly like the one I had described, and unconsciously to-select that one instead of listening to the Cosmic impulse. However, I may tell you the following facts, taken from the old- est of the Rosicrucian manuscripts, without unduly influencing you. The inner word or thought is an expression of the divine self in each one of us. In fact, the early mystics of the Christian era claim that it is the voice of the prophet spoken on our own beings. The outstand- ing fact about this is that the word or thought becomes an infallible guide, incapable of error. Please read that sentence again. The thought or word is for you, and you alone. You might meet, sometime in your lifetime, one or two persons who have received the same or a similar word or thought, but it is more than likely that you will go through life without ever having found another with the same thought or word. Of course, you will not give this word to anyone else except a person whom you know to have gone into the Eleventh Degree, who has passed through the same stages of development as yourself, and who also has received a word. The exchange of words with such persons can do no harm, inasmuch as once the true word has been given to a person, or the true word has been realized, nothing said by anyone else can ever change it for you. In other words, if you have listened care- fully and heard the proper word or thought, the fact that someone else has a different one, or a word that has meant more to him than your word seems to mean to you, will never cause you to look for a new word in exchange for the one you have, because once properly realized you will know that your word is yours and that there could never be an- other one to take its place. I have said that it would become a guide for you. I mean by this that this word will be mich like a magic power of some kind, not be- cause it really deals with magic, but because you will realize its power and its significance; you will obey it, and listen to it $/ 2° though it were some magic power that influenced you. You will know that this word or group of words, spoken softly when you are alone or in the silence, immediately will attune youWeekly Master Monograph. ‘AMOR C——_____The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH == ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TEN PAGE THREE with the Cosmic and bring you into intimate contact with one of the great Masters of the Cosmic. You will discover that the word will Protect you from harm, relieve illness, change conditions, and vibra~ tions. It will do many other startling things for you, not merely through the vibrations of its sound but because it will immediately bring you under the protection and guidance of one of the great Mas- ters. It is of value to know, however, that the guardian always warned his pupils that others in the past occasionally had disobeyed the word or ignored it; in such circumstances, they had quickly learned that such an act brought them grief and sorrow. Of course, we are all human end the human element in us is very apt to cause us to feel at times that our own reasoning is superior to any other thoughts that may come from the outside or the inside. In other words, the voice of the Tempter often tries to make us ignore the inner word and listen te our Seeeoeesoning. In such cases, inevitably we fail, thereby learning a lesson, You will judge from what I have said here in this veiled way that this inner word or thought will come to you at times when you are in doubt or when you need the still small voice to guide you. I am not going to tell you, however, how, when, or where the word suddenly will manifest itself to you when you most need it. This, you must learn from experience. We have an excellent example, in the very old mystical stories of Moses in the Christian Bible, of a person who at times disobeyed the Divine Voice and paid no attention to the inner word. Perhaps you have never realized that the story of Moses is more allegorical ana sym- bolical than a truthful presentation of facts. It is one of the most joiled stories that the Bible contains. At times it would seem that Moses was not one person but several persons. If we keep in mind the fact that Moses simply symbolized the one whe had been initiated, but who swayed back and forth between earthly temptation ana Divine urge, we will realize that we are not reading the story of one man, but of a character that represented many men or many personalities. The one ful mystical fact that while a man is both spiritual and physical, and can have in him the Divine Voice, ready and willing to urge him ana advise him, God has ordained that man shall havo free will and shall Whear the temptation of the world as well as the advice of the inner consciousness. He has the privilege of choosing as he pleases. This leads me to a point where I may safely and confidentially comment on one of the ancient Rosicrucian laws which we have refrained from using in any of the lower Degrees because it is So apt to be misunderstood. That law is this: "Do what thou wilt, is the whole of the law; love is the law; love underWeekly Master Monograph. “A M O R C—_______The Rosicrucian Order ‘TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TEN PAGE FOUR will." The first part of that law is the most significant. "Do what thou wilt, is the whole of the law." Now that does not mean that you can do as you please, and that there is no other law except the law permitting you to go through life and do anything and everything that you desire to do. You would see at once that such a principle would not be any law at all. The key to the whole law lies in the wora will. This command to do the things you will to do means to do the things that you have reasoned upon, examined, analyzed, and finally agreed upon, with the understanding that you will assume all the responsibility for your act, and bear all of the Karma that results therefrom. You see, therefore, that the law is very much like the other one expressed in our teachings, "If you dare to do, you will have the power to do." After you have had the inner word given to you and have become ac- quainted with the signal alarm or impulse from the self within which tells you when you are right or wrong in your planning, then, if you will to do anything, that shall be the law unto you. Of course, I am again veiling my words. You must analyze every word and thought in the foregoing sentences and meditate upon them in order to arrive at the sublime, transcendental truths contained in them. There are two sources of will in the universe. One is the will of God; the other is the will of man. Let all of your actions be according to will. That is the whole of the law. You must do either the will of God or your own will, for there is no other law but this. I now will quote one very beautiful passage that is the outstanding gom of thought in the oldest of Rosicrucian writings, dealing exclusive. jy with this subject of the inner word and attempting to make you feel and realize the sound and nature of the word. Just listen to this beautiful expression: “The lingual powers of nature are to the inner self what the scale of tones in music is for the musician. The letters or vowel sounds of the alphabet are the school for the inner self. Man must let the very spirit of these sounds work upon him until his life's emotions become awakened to the point of infallibility, as the ear of the misician be- comes trained in hearing msical sounds with infallibility; in other words, the inner self mist become so familiar with the intimate powers of the soul of the inner word that God ceases to be something far and strange, and the inner self is able to speak with God as though speak- ing with the outer self." There is another beautiful extract which I think I may safely use at the present time. It is from the same manuscript. "God is of the essence of the word, and the essence of the word is expressed : e in the vowel sounds or letters of the human language. In the beginning, when there were not yet worlds or beings, or crea- tures, there was naught but seeming space. Space was filledWeekly Master Monograph ——___A M 0 R C—___—The Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH —D— ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TEN PAGE FIVE with powers and with the forces of God. These powers had to be organ- ized that they might become constructive, creative, and beneficent. God organized these powers by the sending forth of the word which by the vowels and the essences of their powers controlled the powers of the universe." Still another passage may guide you in your contemplation: "God has given himself unto or into man, and the spirit of man or his con- sciousness is a part of God. But more than this, through the vowel sounds of his language God has permitted man the privilege and capac- ity of calling the spirit powers of the universe and of thus becoming identified with them and bringing his ego into contact and attunement with God." There is much more that I can tell you after you have found your word, but I dare not say more at present. It is inevitable that at various points on the Path your teacher must leave you alone to medi- tate and contemplate. It may be that at such times your heart and soul will ery aloud for one word of instruction, or one answer to a great problem; but the Master must remain silent; the answer must come from within. Thus it is with each one of you. You must dwell in si- lence, meditation, and contemplation, during your period of the Ob= secure Night, and wait for the Dawn when the marriage will take place; in the meantime, listen for the inner word. That word may be a famil- iar one that you have often heard. It may be a sentence composed of two, three, or four short words like a proverb, or a prophetic saying, or a law or a command. I cannot tell you what it will be like, and God forbid that I should give you one that would not be the true one. It must come to you. Through your prayers and through your medita- tion, you will bring it to you. Arise, if you can, early in the morning at sunrise, and before eating or breaking fast, bathe, then sit or stand in a position facing the sunrise, and search for the word. Scan the horizon of the sky where the sun is rising as though you were seeking the rising of the Son of Man, and the Son of God to come forth with the word written on a seroll. Then search yourself inwardly. Listen to every sound that may come to your mind, every word that may come to your thoughts from within. Write down those that seem strongly impressed upon your con- sciousness, but do not adopt them or accept them unless, after many days of seeking, the same word continues to come or the same thought is expressed. Pray for the light to come to you and pray for the word to reveal itself. Go into contemplation after breakfast again, if you can, or at midday, or at sunset, and again before retiring. The most important period of your life is at hand, and every moment that you can give to such contemplation or medi- tation during the Obscure Night will be worth all of the trouble, time, and denial of pleasures that you can possibly‘Weekly Master Monograph ————A M 0 R C—____—Thee Rosicrucian Order TEMPLE MONOGRAPH =e ELEVENTH DEGREE NUMBER TEN PAGE SIX give to this period. Do not ask others what success they are having until you are ready to answer that you have been successful, and then do not discuss this matter with any except those whom you may discover to be in the same position and same point of development as yourself. It may be many weeks before you receive the word; or it may be close at hand. I ean only pray for you that it may be soon. In the mean- time, I will send you again next week some further thoughts upon which to contemplate. This lesson should be read many times during the coming week, taking a paragraph of it at a time for contemplation and meditation. Analyze carefully each sentence and make it a part of your very being. May the Cosmic Masters be with you and guide you. Fraternally, YOUR CLASS MASTERSummary of This Monograph VON Below is a summary of the important principles of this It contains the essential statgments which you stould not fonget "After you have cardolly read he oalese a graph, try to ‘as many as you can of the important points you read. Then read this Tumba st ae af pnt ave Rtguei ony Also Teles wy ae eo a a week to refresh your memory. @ Each is to look for the inner word, the expression of the divine self within, which is a guide incapable of error. It will protect you, relieve illness, and change vibrations, @ The inner word varies with each individual, but remains infallible once obtained. @ This word will attune the user with one of the great masters of the Cosmic, @ Disobedience of the word brings grief and sorrow. gq The voice of the Tempter tries to make one ignore the inner word and listen to one’s own reasoning. © Moses exemplifies an initiate who vacillated between the inner word and the voice of the Tempter. @ “Do what thou wilt, is the whole of the law; love is the law; love under will.” The inner voice forewarns if what one wills to do is either right or wrong; if tight, what one wills to do is a law unto oneself.THE INSTITUTION BEHIND THE ROSICRUCIAN ORGANIZATION Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California, U.S. A. “Consecrated to truth and dedicated to every Rosicrucian"