Teachings of an Initiate E-Book

Max Heindel

• Herausgeber: Ale.Mar.
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

This volume of the writings of Max Heindel is a series of messages he sent out through monthly lessons to his students. Chapters include: The Days Of Noah And Of Christ; The Sign Of The Master; What Is Spiritual Work?; The Way Of Wisdom; The Secret Of Success; The Death Of The Soul; The New Sense Of The New Age; God's Chosen People; Secret Springs; Its Promotion Of Spiritual Sight; Peace On Earth; The Gospel Of Gladness; The Esoteric Significance Of Easter And The Inception Of The Rosicrucian Philosophy; The Lesson Of Easter; The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God; Religion And Healing, and more.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1. The Days Of Noah And Of Christ

Chapter 2. The Sign Of The Master

Chapter 3. What Is Spiritual Work?

Chapter 4. The Way Of Wisdom

Chapter 5. The Secret Of Success

Chapter 6. The Death Of The Soul

Chapter 7. The New Sense Of The New Age

Chapter 8. God's Chosen People

Part 1. Secret Springs

Part 2. Its Promotion Of Spiritual Sight

Part 3. Peace On Earth

Part 4. The Gospel Of Gladness

Chapter 10. The Esoteric Significance Of Easter And The Inception Of The Rosicrucian Philosophy

Chapter 11. The Lesson Of Easter

Part 1. Material Analogies

Part 2. Retrospection--A Means Of Avoiding Purgatory

Chapter 13. The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God

Chapter 14. Religion And Healing

Chapter 15. Address At The Ground Breaking For Mt. Ecclesia

Part 1. (Issued May, 1912)

Part 2

Part 3

Chapter 17. Eternal Damnation, And Salvation

Chapter 18. The Bow In The Cloud

Chapter 19. The Responsibility Of Knowledge

Chapter 20. The Journey Through The Wilderness

TEACHINGS OF AN INITIATE

BY

MAX HEINDEL

Foreword

This volume of the writings of Max Heindel, the Western Mystic, is the concluding number embodying the messages he sent out through monthly lessons to his students. These lessons, reprinted since this great soul was called to a greater work in the higher worlds on January 6th, 1919, may be found in the following books in addition to the present volume: "Freemasonry and Catholicism"; "The Web of Destiny"; "The Mystical Interpretation of Christmas"; "The Mysteries of the Great Operas"; "The Gleanings of a Mystic"; and "Letters to Students." These writings comprise the later investigations of this seer.

The helpful messages and the spiritual encouragement that the readers have received from the inspired words in the earlier volumes we know have been far-reaching in their effects. We also feel that in years to come enlightened and advanced students and seekers along mystical and occult lines will realize more and more the true value of the works of Max Heindel. His words reach the very depths of the heart of the reader. Many who have read his first work, "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception," have been thrilled by their contact with it.

Max Heindel, who was the authorized messenger of the true Rosicrucian Brotherhood, lived the teachings which he taught. Only one who has suffered as he suffered during his lifetime is able to touch the heart strings of humanity. Only he who has felt the labor pains of spiritual birth which has admitted him to the realms of the soul can write with the power to thrill his readers. As the result of such a spiritual birth the writings which Max Heindel has bequeathed to humanity will live and bear fruit. May the readers of this book feel the heart throbs of this great lover of humanity, who sacrificed his very physical existence in his desire to impart to man the wonderful truths which he had garnered through his contact with the Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order.

 --August Foss Heindel

Chapter 1. The Days Of Noah And Of Christ

When Nicodemus came to Christ and was told about the necessity of rebirth, he asked, "How can these things be?" And we also with out inquiring minds are often anxious for more light upon the various teachings concerning our future. It helps us if we can feel that these teachings fit into physical facts as we know them. Then we seem to have firmer ground for our faith in other things which we have not yet proved.

 It has been the writer's work to investigate spiritual facts and correlate them with the physical in such a manner as would appeal to the reason and thus pave the way for belief. In this way it has been his privilege to give light to seeking souls on many of the mysteries of life. Recently a new discovery was made which, though it seemed as remote from connection with the coming of Christ as east is from west, throws considerable light on that event, especially on the manner of our meeting with the Lord "in the twinkling of an eye" as the Bible has it. Our students well know how distasteful it is to the writer to relate personal experiences, but sometimes, as in the present case, it seems necessary, and we shall crave indulgence for using the personal pronoun while relating to the incident.

 One night some time ago while in transit to a place in a far country where I had a mission to perform, I heard a cry. Though the human voice can be heard only in air, there are overtones which are heard in the spiritual realms at distances exceeding those traversed by wireless messages. The cry was close by, however, and I was on the scene in an instant, but not soon enough to give the needed help. I found a man sliding down a slanting embankment, bare of vegetation, perhaps a dozen feet in width, and as it proved on subsequent examination, almost smooth, and without a fissure which would have afforded a hold for his fingers. To have saved him would have involved materialization of both arms and shoulders, but there was no time. In a moment he had slid over the overhanging precipice and was falling to the floor of the canyon below, probably several thousand feet, though I am not certain, being a poor judge of distance.

 Prompted by a natural spirit of fellow feeling I followed and on the way observed the phenomenon which is the basis of this article, namely, that when the body had attained a considerable velocity, the ethers composing the vital body commenced to ooze out, and when the body crashed into the rocks below, a mangled mass, there was very little of any ether left in it. Gradually, however, the ethers drifted together, took form, and hovered with the finer vehicles above the mangled corpse; but the man was in a stupor unable to sense or realize the fact of his altered condition.

 As soon as I saw that he was beyond present help I went on; but on thinking the matter over it dawned on me that something unusual had happened and that it was my duty to find out if the ethers left that way in every one who feel, and if so, why. Under old-time conditions this would have been difficult, but the advent of the flying machine claims many victims, especially in these unfortunate war times. It was therefore easy to ascertain the fact that when a falling body has attained a certain velocity, the higher ethers leave the dense body, and the falling man becomes insensible. As the body reaches the ground, it is mangled, but the poor man may regain consciousness when the ether has reorganized itself. He will then begin to suffer from the physical consequences of the fall. If the fall continues after the higher ethers have left, the increased velocity dislodges the lower ethers, and the Silver Cord is all that remains attached to the body. This is ruptured at the moment of impact with the ground, and the seed atom passes on to the breaking point, where it is held in the usual way.

 From these facts we came to the conclusion that it is the normal air pressure which holds the vital body within the dense. When we move with an abnormal velocity, the pressure is removed from some parts of the body and a partial vacuum formed, with the further result that the ethers leave the body and flow into this vacuum. The two higher ethers, which are most loosely bound, are the first to disappear and leave the man senseless after they have produced the panorama of life in a flash. Then if the fall continues to increase the air pressure in front of the body and the vacuum behind, the more closely bound lower ethers are also forced out, and the body is dead before it reaches the ground.

 It was found by examining a number of people in normal health that each of the prismatic atoms composing the lower ethers radiated from itself the lines of force which set spinning the physical atoms in which it is inserted, enduing the hole body with life. The united trend of all these units of force is toward the periphery of the body, where they constitute what has been called the "Odic Fluid," also designated by other names. When the air pressure from without is lowered by residence in a high altitude, a tendency to nervousness becomes manifest because the etheric force from within ruses outward unchecked; and were the man not able to shut off the outflow of solar energy in part by an effort of will to overcome the difficulty, no one could live in such places.

 We had heard of "shell shock" and we were aware that numbers of people who had not even the slightest wound were found dead on the battle field. In fact, we had seen and spoken with people who had passed out in this manner but were at a loss to know why death has resulted. They all disclaimed fear and were unanimously in their assertion that they had suddenly become unconscious and a moment later they had found themselves in that they had not a single scratch on their bodies. Our preconceived idea that it must have been a momentary fear at a particularly close call which though unrealized, had caused their demise, prevented a full investigation; but the ascertained results of the consequences of a fall led us to believe that something similar might take place in this connection, and this surmise proved to be correct.

 When a large projectile passes through the air, it creates a vacuum behind it by the enormous velocity wherewith it moves, and if a person is within this vacuum zone while the shell is passing, he suffers in a measure determined by his own nature and his proximity to the center of suction. His position is in fact a reverse replica of the man who falls; for he stands still while a moving body removes the air pressure and allows the ethers to escape. If the amount of ether dislocated is comparatively slight and is composed only of the third and fourth ethers which govern sense perception and memory, he will probably suffer only a temporary loss of memory and inability to sense things or move. This disability will disappear when the extracted ethers are again fitted inside the dense body--a much more difficult achievement than where the physical body succumbs and the reorganization takes place without reference to that vehicle.

 Had the people thus hurt learned now to perform the exercises which separate the higher and lower ethers, they might have found themselves outside the body in full consciousness and perhaps ready for their first soul flight if they had had the courage to undertake it. However that may be, it is safe to say that on their return to the dense body they would have experienced very little if any inconvenience, and in case the vacuum had been strong enough to extract all four ethers and cause death, there would probably have been no unconsciousness such as overtakes the ordinary person; for it was discovered that the people who said that they felt unconscious for a moment only were wrong. It required a time varying from one to several days in the cases we investigated before the vital body was reorganized and consciousness reestablished.

 Let us now see what bearing these newly discovered facts have on the coming of Christ and our meeting with Him. While we lived in ancient Atlantis in the basins of the earth, pressure of the moisture-laden mist was very heavy. This hardened the dense body, and as a further result the vibrations of the interpenetrating finer vehicles were considerably slowed down. This was especially true of the vital body, which is made of ether, a grade of matter belonging to the physical world and subject to some of the physical laws. The solar life did not penetrate the dense mist in the same abundance as is present in the clear atmosphere of today. Add to this the fact that the vital bodies of that day were almost entirely composed of the two lower ethers, which further assimilation and reproduction, and we shall understand that progress was very slow. Man lad mainly a vegetative existence, and his main exertions were devoted to the purpose of obtaining food and reproducing his kind.

 Had such a man been removed to our atmosphere conditions the, lack of exterior pressure would have resulted in an outflowing of the vital body which means death. Gradually the physical body grew less dense and the amount of the two higher ethers increased, so that man become fitted to live in a clear atmosphere under a decreased pressure such as we have enjoyed since the historical event known as the "Flood" when the mist condensed. Since that time we have also been able to specialize more of the solar life force. The larger proportion of the two higher ethers now found in our vital bodies enables us to express the higher human attributes appropriate to the development of this age.

 The vibrations of the vital body under the present atmospheric conditions have enabled the spirit to build that which we call civilization, consisting of industrial and artistic achievements and of moral and spiritual standards, the industrial and moral excellence being as closely connect and interdependent as the artistic achievement is dependent on a spiritual conception. Industry is designed to develop the moral side of man's nature, art to unfold the spiritual. Thus we are now being prepared for the next step in our unfoldment.

 Let it now be remembered that the qualifications necessary for our emancipation from the conditions prevailing in Atlantis were party physiological; we had to evolve lungs to breathe the pure air in which we are now immersed and which allows the vital body to vibrate at a more rapid rate than did the heavy moisture of Atlantis. With this in mind we shall readily see that future advancement lies in freeing the vital body entirely from the trammels of the dense body and letting it vibrate in pure air.

 This is what happened in the lofty altitude exoterically known as the "Mount of Transfiguration." Advanced men of various ages, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus (or rather the body of Jesus ensouled by Christ) appeared in the luminous garment of the liberated soul body, which all will wear in the New Galilee, the Kingdom of Christ. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom,: for it would interfere with the spiritual progress of the day; so when Christ appears we must be prepared with a soul body and thus be ready to part from out dense body to be "caught up and meet Him in the air."

 The results of the investigation which form the basis of the present article may give us an insight into the method of transition when compared with the information given in the Bible. It is said that the Lord will appear with a mighty sound like the voice of an Archangel. We read of thunders and the blasts of trumpets in connection with the event. A sound is an atmospheric disturbance, and since the passage of a projectile made by man can lift the vital bodies of soldiers out of their dense bodies, it needs to argument to prove that the shout of a superhuman voice could accomplish similar results more efficiently--"in the twinkling of an eye."

 "When shall these things be?" asked the disciples. They were told that as it was in the days of Noah (when the Aryan Epoch was about to be ushered in), so should it be in the Day of Christ. They ate and drank, they married and were given in marriage. But some who perhaps seemed not so different from the rest, had evolved the all-important lungs so that when the atmosphere cleared they were able to breathe pure air, while others who had only the gill clefts perished. In the Day of Christ when His voice sounds the Call, there will be some who will find themselves with a properly organized soul body, able to ascent above the discarded dense bodies, while others will be like the soldiers who meet death from "shell shock" on the battle fields today.

 May we prepare for that day by following in His steps.

Chapter 2. The Sign Of The Master

There are at the present time many who, judging from the signs of the times, believe Christ to be at the door and are watching him in joyful anticipation. Though, in the opinion of the writer, the "things which must first come to pass" have not taken place in many important particulars, we must not forget that He gave warning that "as it was in the days of Noah, so shall be in the day of the Son of Man." Then they ate, drank, and made merry; they married and were given in marriage up to the very moment when the flood descended and engulfed them. Only a small remnant was saved. Therefore we who pray for His coming will do well to watch also lest our prayers be answered before we are ready, for He said, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night."

 But there is also another danger, a very great danger which He pointed out, namely, "There shall be false Christs;" and "they shall deceive even the very elect, if that were possible." So we are warned that if people say, "Christ is here in the city or there in the desert," we are not to go, or we shall certainly be deceived.

 But on the other hand, if we do not investigate, how shall we know? May we not run the risk of rejecting Christ by refusing to hear all claimants and judging each according to merits? When we examine the injunctions of the Bible upon this point, they seem bewildering and altogether subversive of the end they are supposed to help us attain, and the great question,: How shall we know Christ at His coming?" is still rife. We have issued a pamphlet on this subject but feel sure additional light will be welcome to all.

 Christ said that some of the false Christs would work signs and wonders. He always refused to prove His divinity in that sordid manner when asked to do so by the scribes and Pharisees, because He knew that phenomena only excited the sense of wonder and whetted the appetite for more. Those who witness such manifestations are sometimes sincere in their efforts to convince others but they are generally met with an attitude of mind which says in effect: "You say you have seen him do so and so and therefore you believe. Very well! I also am willing to be convinced. Let him show me."

 But even supposing a Master were willing to prove his identity, who among the multitude is qualified to judge the validity of the proof? No one! Who knows the sign of the Master when he sees it? The sign of the Master is not a phenomenon which may be repudiated or explained away by the sophists, neither is it something the Master may show or hide as he pleases, nor can he take it up and lay it aside at will. He is forced to carry it with him always as we carry out arms and limbs. It would be just as impossible to hide the sign of the Master from those qualified to see, know and judge it as it would be for us to hide our members, from anyone who has physical sight. On the other hand, as the sign of the Master is spiritual, it must be spiritually perceived, and it is therefore is impossible to show the sign of the Master to those who lack spiritual sight as it is to show a physical figure to the physically blind.

 Therefore we read: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it." A little further on in the same chapter (Matt. 16) we find the Christ asking His disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" The answer developed that though the Jews saw in Him a superior person, Moses, Elias, or one of the prophets, they were incapable of recognizing His true character. They could not see the sign of the Master, or they would have needed no other testimony.

 Christ then turned to His disciples and asked them, "But whom say ye that I am?" And from Peter came the answer weighted with conviction, quick and to the point, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He had seen the sign of the Master, and he knew whereof he spoke, independent of phenomena and exterior circumstances, as emphasized by Christ when He said, "Blessed art thou, Simon, Son of Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." In other words, the perception of this GREAT TRUTH depended upon an interior qualification.

 What this qualification was, and is, we learn from the next words of Christ: "And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter (PETROS, A ROCK,) and upon this rock (PETRA) I will build my church."

 Christ said concerning the multitude of materialistic Jews: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonah"; and much speculation has been the consequence among equally materialistic Christians in latter times. Some have contended that an ordinary whale did swallow the prophet and later cast him ashore. Churches have divided on this as on many other foolish issues. But when we consult the occult records we find an interpretation which satisfies the heart without doing violence to the mind.

 This great allegory, like so many other myths, is pictured upon the film of the firmament, for it was first enacted in heaven before it was staged on the earth, and we still see in the starry sky "Jonah, the Dove," and "Cetus, the Whale". But we will not concern ourselves so much with the celestial phase as with its terrestrial application.

 "Jonah" means dove, a well recognized symbol of the Holy Spirit. During the three "days" comprising the Saturn, Sun, and Moon revolutions of the Earth Period, and the "nights" between, the Holy Spirit with all the Creative Hierarchies worked in the Great Deep perfecting THE INWARD parts of the earth and men, removing the dead weight of the moon. Then the earth emerged from its watery stage of development in the middle Atlantean Epoch, and so did "Jonah, the Spirit Dove," accomplish the salvation of the greater part of mankind.

 Neither the earth nor its inhabitants were capable of maintaining their equilibrium in space, and the Cosmic Christ therefore commenced to work with and on us, finally at the baptism descending AS A DOVE (not in the form of a dove but AS a dove) upon the man Jesus. And as Jonah, the dove of the Holy Spirit, was three Days and three Nights in the Great Fish (the earth submerged in water), so at the end of our involutionary pilgrimage must the other dove, the Christ, enter THE HEART of the earth for the coming three revolutionary Days and Nights to give us the needed impulse on our evolutionary journey. He must help us to etherealize the earth in preparation for the Jupiter Period.