rosicrucian digest, april 1942

8/12/2019 Rosicrucian Digest, April 1942

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R O S I C R U C IA N O R C H E S T R A

The Rosicrucian Orchestra is seen here in the Francis Bacon Auditorium, Rosicrucian Park, where it periodically renders concerts.Recently it entertained a large number of men of the United States Army. It is one of the several cultural activities sponsored byAM OR C at Rosicrucian Park, and consists of member-employees of the staff and their friends. The Orchestra is under the capabledirection of William F. Tyler, and is composed of both professional and amateur musicians who volunteer their talent.

(Courtesy of the Rosicrucian Digest.)


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LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT...

7 / m J t 4 m

EV E R Y O N E has a final aim something he

wants to accomplish. Fai lure to ac hieve it isusually due to the method used or lack of one.

How much nearer the realization of your idealsare you today than five years ago? A re you sure

you hav e put forth yo ur best efforts? W or kinglong hours and forgoing pleasures are not suf-ficient to assure success. What are you psycho-logica lly and emotionally best fitted for? Re -member, what you like to do is no test of your

capabilities.Th ere are two way s to live. One is to exist,

accepting events as they arise. Th e other is to

plan a future and put yourself, all of yourselfinto it. N o inte llige nt plan of liv in g can excludethe human factors, the qualities and powers ofself imagination, intuition, will power, concentration, and memorizing. If you seek to masterlife by attention only to the world outside of

yo ur self, you are doomed to further di sappo int-ments.

You are the beginning of every enterprise thatconcerns you. But what do you know of your -self? No mechanic, draftsm an, or businessmanstarts a campaign or a venture without a thor-

ough understanding of his tools and instruments.You are your greatest instrument dont dissipate

your capabilities. Le ar n to apply them intelli-gently and enjoy gratifying results.

This Book Will Amaze You

Throughout the world, the Rosicrucians, an age-oldfraternity of learning, have been known as career cre-ators. Thousands of men and women, by means of themasterful Rosicrucian teachings, have established careersthat brought them great personal satisfaction. The Rosicrucians point out how to use what you already possessas a human heritage the powers of mind. Use thecoupon below to receive a free Sealed Book. It will

begin to tell you more about yourselfand what theRosicrucians can do for you.

Scribe S. P. C.The Rosicrucians (A M O RC )San Jose, California

Please send me the free, sealed book. I am interested in knowing how I may obtain the masterful

Rosicrucian teachings.

N ame.................................................................................

Address.............................................................................

THE ROSICRUCIANS, AMORC - San Jose, California, U.S.A.


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3SS5SSS5SSS5SSSSS5S5S:rsxs:3XEE333:

R O S I C R U C I A N D I G E S TC O V E R S T H E W O R L D

APRIL, 1942

Rosicrucian Orchestra (Frontispiece)

Thought of the Month: Developing Character

The Significance of Newtonian Mechanics

Cathedral Contacts: Conso la t ion ............................

Sacred Cities of the Andes: O n the Border of the Past

Work Rea l and Apparent

Relaxation and Rhythm ....................

Understanding the Cosmic and Its Laws

Our Freedom ............

Creative Thinking ........................

Sanctum Musings: The Dual Aspect in Life ...............

Keep Your Feet On the Ground

The Idea of Experience .......

Built W ithou t the Sound of H amm er (Illustration)

Subs cript ion to the Rosicrucian D igest, Three Dollars per year. S ingle

copies twenty-five cents.

Entered as Second C lass Mat ter a t the Post Of f ice at San Jose, Ca l i

fornia, under Section 1103 of the U.S . Postal Ac t of Oct. 3, 1917.

Ch an ges of add ress must reach us by the tenth of the month preced ing

date o f i ssue.

Stateme nts m ade in this publ icat ion are not the offic ial expressions of

the organization or i ts off icers unless stated to be off ic ial communications.

Publ ished M onth ly by the Supreme C oun c i l of

T HE R O S IC R U C IA N O R D ER A M O R C

R O S IC R U C I A N P A RK S A N J O SE , C A L I F O R N IA


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T H ETHOUGHT OF THE MONTH

DEVELOPING CHARACTER

B y T H E I M P E R A T O R

E ARE being con-s tantly rem inde dthat the satisfac-tory culmination

of so many humane n t e r p r i s e s d e -pend s solely uponcharacter. What,then, is character?Let us offer thef o l l o w i n g d e f i -n i t ion as a pre-l im inary to ou runderstanding of

this enigmatic quality of human nature:"Character is that conduct we wilfullydisplay under the influence of our de-s ires and the c i rcu m s tan ce s o f our

environment.In the light of the above, it is obvious,

for example, that fish and birds canhave no character. Th ey are incapableof interposing willthe power of men-tal decision between their reac tions totheir instincts, on the one hand, andthose effects which environment mayhave upon them, on the other hand. Do-ing that which follows from the verynecessity of our own nature is no in-dication of character; for analogy, fight-ing when we are cornered and our life

depends upon it, and persisting in aneffort to acquire sustenance or to securebodily comfort. These th ings are likesneezing. Th ey are purely functional.In other words, they come about fromthe manner in which we, as a living

The k ind, are co n st i tu ted . Certain ly we

Rosicrucian US admit I*13' 3 bird iS n .disPlay 9n . character when it uses its wings to rlydigest afte r its prey, for it cann ot do otherA pril wise and exist as the kind of thing1942 which it is.

It is cogent, therefore, that one whoexclusivelyeven though resolutely

pu rsues end s in life which are self-centered, that is, directly related to hisindividual, instinctive requirements, isdevoid of character. If this were no t so,then, for example, every person whothrough determination and persever-ance has amassed a fortune, should bedesigna ted a noble character. Likewise,then, anyone who has attained a posi-tion of personal power through his ownefforts, and from which he principallyderives benefits, should also be knownas a notable character. Un fortunately,this is often the case. Such persons,however, are only following a naturalcompulsion which all human beings pos-

sess to some degree. T he fact tha t theymay have attained success, wealth, or

power, for exam ple, is not proof ofcharacter. W e cannot intelligently usesuccess as the rule to measure character.Would we say that one horse revealsmore character than another because hecan run faster? Also because one hu -man possesses great acumen or talentsin furthering an end which is motivated

by his instinc tive natu re does not inferthat these are elements of character,any more than those muscles which

make the legs of one horse fleeter thananother.Further, that an individual may have

exercised a tremendous power of will toacquire wealth or to attain power or tosatisfy some instinctive end. does notalter the fact that the result may still bedevoid of character. First, let us under-stand that in such an instance, the willis only being used as an instrument to

bring about power and wea lth, or tosatisfy the natu ral desires. Second, in

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such circumstances where an individualben ds all means to serve such en ds th athe is consequently adjudged to havea strong will, it may be in reality noth-ing more than the impelling force of thenatu ral desire itself. Is a starving ani

mal displaying will, for example, whenit viciously fights a larger adversary tosecure the only available food? Th enagain, should we admire that will asan exhibition of character which com-

pels one to ga in his en d ru th less ly ,even if it is within the bounds of thelaw? Co ntrary , then, to genera l belief,strength of will alone is not indicativeof character.

The roots of character are psychical.The impulse of character springs fromthat moral discernment whereby we at-tempt to determine the right and wrongof our conduct. Th ese impulses makethemselves felt and are developed inthose reflective moodswhich we period-ically have. A t such times we do not

ju dge th at cond uc t to be good , which isalone to our advantage, but that whichalso extends to the welfare of others.Good conduct takes on an impersonalaspect. Th is comes abou t throug h manshigh degree of self-consciousness. Bythe means of selfconsciousness, mancan realize his own entity. He is notonly able to perceive the world around

him as do animals, but he can likewisebe conscious of his ego. In other words,he is cognizant of his being, as an en-tity in the world, and its relation toother things of that world and to otherhumans. The refore, by means of thisse l f consc iousness , man acqu i res athree-dimensional existence. First, self;second, othe r things; an d third, thosechanges which he can bring about inthe first two dimensions, namely, him-self and the world.

It is common experience that in the

finite or worldly dimension, man ap-praises as good th at which more aptlygratifies his physical desires. In thedimension of self, however, he estimatesas the highest good only that whichgives him distinction, which sets himoff from other things, and which com-

plem en ts th at concep tion which se lf has,as a being, and as separate from otherentities. Such satisfaction is found inthe third dimension, in mans functionof changing and modifying self and the

things of this world. T o the extent thathe excels in this, does he think his con-duct good.

W e therefore are inclined to gradu-ate all living things in their relativecomparison to ourselves. The nearer

they approach having those facultiesand attributes which we possess as men,the higher we esteem them. Th ose ani-mals which display a high degree ofintelligence and a well developed facul-ty of memory, and such affections asremorse and loyalty, are held by us to

be high in the scale of life. Con sequ ent-ly, any deportment of man which is

purely and continuously somatic, andwhich is of a kind in which animalswould find equal pleasure, or is com-monly natural for animals to have, isdisagreeable to the ego of man. It of-fends his consciousness of self, that dis-tinction and uniqueness of functionwhich alone brings pleasure to self.

The self has its sentiments, just asthe body has its appetites. Th ese are

po pu larly known as the virtue s, such as,for example, justice and truth. Thoughself finds its greatest happiness in itsd is t inct iveness and separateness , i tsympathetically extends this right ofdistinction and separateness to othersof its kind. Th eref ore, the virtues orthe sentiments of self are always im

personal. N o one guided by self andthat true moral discernment referred toas conscience, can experience happinessat the expense, the pain, or discomfitureof another. If we therefore analyze eachof the virtues, we will see that they in-clude the welfare of others, at least in-directly. W he n one begins to shape hisconduct according to these dictates ofthe consciousness of self, he conse-quently is developing that manner ofliving which the world designates ascharacter.

The first display of character is seen,therefore, in the circumscription of thephys ical ap pet ites and desires. It is notthat a man or woman of character prac-tices complete repression or negation ofthese desires, but they do relegate themto the following order: first, that theirfunction does not impose a hardshipupon or detrimenta lly affect others. Ifthey did not do this, it is patent thatthe free indulgence of their physical de-sires would possibly bring about such a

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result as would offend self and depriveit of those comparatively higher pleas-ures derived from experiencing the vir-tues. Second, self cannot be consciousof that state of excelling as such, andin which it finds its pleasure, if it real-izes that its bodily conduct has degen-erated to the level of beasts.

There is no selfdeception of the ego,the real you. You always have an ab-solute opinion of yourself, of which youare thoroughly convinced, whether youadmit it to another or not. W ith the ex-ception of those who are mentally un-

balan ced, regard le ss of ho w vulgar orpro fa ne a m an's co nduc t, or how ani-malistic he is, he is aware to self thathe is just that. T he fact of the matteris that a man who lives like an animal,more often is quite indignant and visibly

disturbed if he is referred to as one.This indicates that to some degree atleast, he is conscious that he is not de-

port in g himself acco rd ing to th at con-duct which self would dictate if hepe rm itted.

W ha t we often make the mistake ofreferring to as a weak character is onewho possesses th at inner comprehensionof the virtues and of what constitutes akind of conduct which is designatedcharacter, but who is unable to effect it.This is due to will power. W ill power,

however, as we have seen, is of char-acte r only in an incho ate sense. It isthat concentration of mind upon an endwhich compels the individual to movein a certa in direction in life. It may, aswe have shown, apply to the reversalof character as well. But once self hasdefined that conduct as an end to pur-sue in which it finds pleasure, it alsorequires will to hold us on the course.W ill pow er utilizes nervous energy, forit compels a focusing of the minds

power. O rganic distu rb ances, severe

illness, often leave the will weak. It isquite noticeable that one who is ex-tremely ill, and consequently very w eak,with difficulty is able to restrain hisemotions. The refore , before we severe-ly rebuke for weak character one whoapparently realizes the required conductof character, let us first determine thecondition of his health.

Good character is also found mani-fest in ambition, initiative, love of na-ture and of the exercise of mind, the

urge to create something, to build, todevelop realities out of the world. Th ismay consist of the sheer joy found insimply producing lar ger a nd finer crops,as a farmer does, or in the invention ofsome needed device, or the perfectionof ones job. Self, by this means, iscomplemented in the furtherance of itsability to excel and to master. Ho w-ever, such ambition and initiative mustalways fall within the bounds of whatself has defined as the virtues. Co nse-quently, such ambition is never anti-social or to the detriment of others. Forthese reasons as well, an indolent man,no matter how honest or truthful, neverhas character. Conversely, an industri-ous man who is mendacious and resortsto perfidy, also has no character.

Socrates said that virtue cannot betaught. Th erefo re, since virtue is theessence of character, we may add thatneither can character be taught. How -ever, man can be instructed in the man-ner of developing character. H e can beshown the technique by which he candiscover it himself. It is necessary, how-ever, to realize that heredity does playa tremendous part in the developmentof characterperhaps we should say theevolution of the individual. Th e moreobjective the lives of our progenitors,the more difficult we will find it to de-

velop chara cter. If it is the custom ofpare nts to live almos t co ntinu ou sly inan empirical world, that is, to be con-tinually moved by their physical sensesand mentally to shape ends which al-ways serve them, and if they are frank-ly almost absolute extroverts, their chil-dren are apt to be severely handicappedin experiencing the requisites of char-acter. Consciousness of self requiresfairly frequent interludes of introspec-tion, of self examination, or some train-ing whereby the child is permitted to

becom e close to se lf. O ne must occa-sionally, at least, reflect on his life, whathe has done or hopes to do, and allowto arise intuitively within the conscious-ness the sentiments of self which arefiner and more delicate sensations thanthose of the bodily desires, so that therecan be a com parison of the two. If ourliving, our achievements, our ideals atsuch times, conflict with those senti-ments, those dictate s of self; if, fran k-ly, self feels offended, ashamed, we

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can most assuredly realize, then, thatour life, what we have done regard-less of success, is not representative ofcharacter.

This tendency to turn to self, to beresponsive to its finer and more sensi-

tive app eals, must be cultivated. If, forgeneration after generation, the individ-ual has been made to feel that what the

body dic ta te s shou ld be pu rsued so longas one may avoid responsibility for hisacts, then responsiveness to moral dis-cernm ent diminishes. You can not verywell teach a child that something is anexample of poor conduct, for all he willlearn by that is the rule, so many wordsto be put aside when it affords him nonatural pleasure. The child must bemade to experience the consequence of

that act which conflicts with the rightsof others, and which, for example, mayconstitute an injustice.

Many a child who has been told"Don't do this because it is wrong.and has failed to heed it, has, however,

broken dow n and cried when the resultsof his injustice have been graphicallyexplained, and he has sympathetically

experienced the hurt of the one he haswro nged. In such an instance, knowl-edge of what he has done offends thesentiments of self and causes a fargreater displeasure than that bodily

plea su re which he de rived in do ing awrong act, and he remembers it. Th echild learns, then, the need to examineall of his acts, and consequently de-velops character. The form charactertakes is in the display of our conduct,

but it ar ises deep within the conscious-ness of self. H e who is never alone

with himself, turning his consciousnesson his own being, will never be pointedout as an example of character.

V V V

Underlying LifeBy F r a t e r R . J o h n F r a n c is K n u t s o n

IFE is the result of Love.And Life would inevitably cause the manifestation of Love, else only

chaos could follow.Fo r Love is Pow er, and reacts with L ife; Love is the motivation and

the resultthat which underlies and permeates all living.

T ha t which underlies and interpenetrates all Being is God. Is not GodLove?

Love is the manifesting of God ; tha t which transfixes and tran sfigures Being,purif ies and elev ates it in to true Light . T o align oneself w ith Love is to be aligned,in attunement with Godand after long cycles of selfless, purified aspiration, beGodGodinMan.

And this is the Christ Spiritthe Holy Ghost, as Theology names it.

From " Meditations on Love."

YO U CANT AFFO D TO BE SICKNo one at any time can afford to be incapacitated to be confined at home, suffering

and neglecting his duties and interests. To allow a minor illness to develop into some-

thing more serious during these times constitutes more than an inconvenience. It is reallya catastrophe. The circumstances of the day put exceptional and exacting demands uponall of us. There is more that we should do than ever, more that we should keep upand that requires health. W hy endure further discomfiture and hit and miss methods forregaining your health?

The Rose-Croix Research Institute and Sanitarium is preparedthrough a competentstaff and most modern facilities, equipment and methodsto diagnose your case and toassist you. O f course, not all types of cases can be or are acceptablebut pe rh ap s yo ur sis one that will be. The physicians will frankly tell you if they believe they may be ableto help you or not. Medical and drugless methods, including the Rosicrucian system oftherapeutics, are made available to every patient, whether a Rosicrucian or not. Fees androom rates are exceptionally reasonable. Do not bargain with health act! Write today:Rose-Croix Research Institute and Sanitarium, Bascom and Forrest Avenues, San Jose,California, for free explanatory literature.

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The Significance of Newtonian MechanicsBy E r w in W a t e r m e y e r , F . R . C .

T h i s a r t i c le , a n d o t h e r s t o f o ll o w f ro m t im e t o t im e i n t h e p a g e s o f t h e " R o s i c r u c ia nD i g e s t" d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f th i s y e a r , a r e c o n t ri b u t io n s o f F r a t e r E r w i n W a t e rm e y e r . w h oi s , du r i ng t h i s pe r i od , c a r r y i n g on s pe c if i ed r e s e a r c h i n t he l a bo r a t o r i e s o f t he Ros e C r o i xU n i v e r s i t y a t R o s i c r u c ia n P a r k u n d e r th e d i r e c ti o n o f th e I m p e r a t o r . T h e r e s u l t s o f h i sw o r k a r e b e i n g m a d e a v a i l a b l e t o m e m b e r s , a n d c e r t a i n o f h i s a c t i v i t i e s a r e a n n o u n c e d i ns p e c i al c o m m u n i c a ti o n s t o m e m b e r s o f th e o r g a n i z a ti o n .

S U P R E M E S E C R E T A R Y .

ANY times duringhis course of in-struction the Rosi-crucian student isadvised to studyand examine withg r e a t c a r e t h elaws of science.He i s a s k ed t oacquaint h im selfas thoroughly ash i s c a p a b i l i t i e s

p e rm it w i th th emethods, working

tools and results of the scientific methodin order to be capable of applying thesesame methods to the technique of hisown development. In fact, the wellrounded scientific training of the stu-dent is considered to be of such im-

portance t h a t th e c u r r ic u lu m of theRoseCroix University offers two sep-ara te courses in science a course in

biological science deal ing with the lawsg o v e rn i n g living o rg an i s m s , an d acourse in physical science which teachesthe fundamental laws governing the be-havior of all matter. T he acquisition ofa wellrounded scientific background is

The considered so necessary tha t our stuRosicrucian den t s a re encouraged to s tudy bo thn . cou rse s in s u c ce s s i v e y e a r s i n s t ea d1'igest 0f registering for only one course asApril r eq uir ed b y t h e r eg u l a t i o n s o f t h e1942 university.

Nev erthe less , m any s tu dents are hes i-tant to pursue the study of science.Quite aside from the fact that most ofthem have from their early childhoodon accepted the absolutely erroneousthought that even a partial mastery ofscience is beyond the abilities of theaverage man, these students feel thatthey have risen to such sublime heightsof Cosmic ecstasy that the contempla-tion of any such mundane subject asscience is below their dignity as stu-dents and adepts. T he y regard with illconcealed pity and compassion the stu-dents of science, and consider them as

being poo r st ru ggling souls who havebecome en meshed in th e net of mater ialforces and who must immediately berescued therefrom.

The intelligent reader of this articlewill smile upon reading these lines, buthe will recall that usually those men orwomen who are directing their gaze ex -

clusively skyward into the clouds aremost likely to stumble to the ground,their feet trip ped not by a sizeablerock, but by a most diminutive pebble.

As above, so below. Th is tradi-tional Hermetic maxim permeates theentire esoteric study. T he laws of thematerial world, dimly perceived throughour imperfect objective senses, are re-flections of the hig her world. Hen ce, itfollows that a ca reful an d diligent studyof the laws of the material universe will,

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after thorough meditation, graduallyreveal those laws of the total universeof which the mundane laws representthe reflection. Just as we m ay dimlysense the magnificent brilliance of thesun by the reflections which its rays

cast upon the immediate objects of thesurrounding world, and we may there-by deduc e from these im perfec t ref lec-tions the grandeur and power of theircelestial source, thus we as students canuse the laws of material science and bythe process of logical induction use themas signs and guideposts in the compre-hension of the universal plan.

In the manuscripts of the esoterictradition the student is consistently ad-vised to consult the "Libe r M , theliber mundi, the "Book of N atu re. Heis informed that in order to advance hemust study this book thoroughly andcom prehend its significance. He is toldthat without proper acquaintance withthe laws of nature as revealed to himin his daily life, and through intensivestudy and meditation, the gate to higherunderstanding will be closed and hewill remain seated at its threshold.

N o t all students real ize th at con-cealed within the findings of mundanescience there lies a treasurehouse of

princ ip les which are directly ap plicab leto their esoteric studies.

Perhaps a great obstacle to the per-ception of this truth is due to the factthat many students have never beenproperly taught exactly ho w to re ad thisBook of Nature. T hey dimly sense thata treasurehouse of principles exists,

but they hav e not yet gra sped the keyswhich will unlock the treasure storedtherein. It is the purpose of the presentarticle to assist such students in theirstudies and to show them by concreteapplication how the laws of mundanescience may be used to reveal those

laws of nature which are fundamental.The simplest and clearest manifesta-tions of the higher laws take place inthe domain of mechanics. It is the ob-

ject of th e science of mechanics to in-vestigate and study various types ofmotion and their causes. M otions andtheir causes are easily observable. Everyscientific textbook dealing with the sub-

ject of mechanics will divide the su bjectmatter into two divisions for the pur-

pose of clari ty and sim plicity . These

two divisions are called kinematics anddynamics. The science of kinematicsstudies the nature of all possible typesof motion irrespective of their causes.It classifies and describes the variousmotions which are found in nature. Thescience of dynamics, on the other hand,deals with the factors which give riseto motion. The cause of motion is calleda Force, and the science of dynamicsstudies the relations which exist be-tween forces and the motions caused bythem.

W e are acquainted from our studieswith the fact that our objective sensesare so constructed that they perceiveonly motions or changes in motion, par-ticularly vibratory motions. W e knowthat there is motion everywhere. W eknow that evolution and devolution

manifest themselves to our objectivesenses by means of changes in motion.For this reason the study of mechanicsis of fundamental importance to us.

It was the scientist Isaac Newtonwho was the first to analyze the multi-tudinous mechanical experiments of thescientists before his time, and who con-densed all their findings into three com-

prehe ns ive laws. T hese th ree laws arenow called "Ne w tons Laws of M otion.They are so comprehensive that all ob-servable facts concerning motions may

be de rived from them . These th reelaws form the foundation of "Newton-ian M echanics. T he y are basic stonesin the science of physics.

Let us briefly state the three laws ofmotion and explore their significance.The First Law of Motion:

"Every object either remains in astate of rest or continues to move withuniform speed (velocity) in a straightline unless acted upon by an externalforce.

In other words, every object, if in a

state of rest, will forever remain in sucha state, and every object which is mov-ing along at a uniform speed in astraight line will forever continue to doso, unless an external agent is causedto act upon the object. Th is externalagentthe cause of any change in mo-tionNewton calls "force.

There are several facts concealed inthis law which must not escape our at-tention. W e note that the law clearlyasserts that any change of motion is

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caused by a force, by an external agent.It asserts that every manifestation isdue to a cause, and that the cause ofany chan ge in motion is a force. Th usthe law of motion conforms to the lawof the triangle. W e also note that it isa change in motion which occurs whenan y force is applied to a body. If the

body is in itia lly at re st , then upon ap-pl ication of a force th e body will com-mence to move. If a bo dy is already inmotion when the force is applied, thenthe application of a force will eithercause the body to move faster than itoriginally did, orif the direction of theapplied force is opposed to the direc-tion of motion the bod y will slowdow n to a less fast pace. In either casethe manifestation produced by the ap-

plied fo rce is a change in the existing

state.Another consequence of the first law

of motion is not so very apparent uponfirst reading, but it is rather startling tothe beginning student. Th e law assertsthat a state of uniform motion is abso-lutely equivalent to a state of rest asfar as an applied force is concerned.The body which moves on and on atan absolutely steady and unchanging

pa ce is ju st as in ert ' as a bod y whichlies on the ground in a state of absoluterest. A ny positive or negative action

involves a change in the existing modesor conditions. T hu s uniform motion ina straight line is just as devoid of actionas a state of complete rest.

The tendency of any object to per-sist in a given state and to oppose anychanges which might be imposed uponit is called by scientists In ertia." Th efirst law of motion is for this reasoncalled the Law of Inertia. T he be-ginning stud ent, in considering the wordinertia, usually believes that this termis entirely restricted to denoting a state

of rest. W he n examining more closely,he then discovers that inertia has amore extended significance, and that itimplies a state of no change. A stateof rest is a special case of a more gen-eral condition. It is a state which pos-sesses no change in position. A stateof inertia, on the other hand, is moregeneral. It may be either a state of nochange in position or a state of nochange in uniform motion.

Thus the first law of motion assertsthe fact that no manifestation can be

pro duced w ithout an active, positivecause, and that it is a change in existingconditions which constitutes true prog-ress, or evolution. It is a change inexisting conditions which is the true

test of whether any applied positiveagency has produced a true manifesta-tion. W e now consider

The Second Law of Motion:

The change in momentum of a bodyis proportional to the force and also tothe time during which this force acts.

Before analyzing the second law letus become familiar with its terminology.By the word momentum of a body ismeant the product of its mass and itsvelocity. If you des ire to compute themomentum of any object, you first as-

certain its mass, say in pounds, and thenmultiply this figure with the amount ofits velocity (or speed), say in miles perhour. U nd er ordinary conditions themasses of terrestrial objects do notchange. Hen ce wh en the speed of anobject increases, its momentum alsoincreases.

Th e word "momentum has also beencalled the qua ntity of motion. It is,roughly, a measure of the power whicha given sta te of motion possesses. Asmall bullet may have a very large

momentum if it moves at a high speed,even if its mass is small. A larg e motortruck may possess a large momentumeven when it moves slowly on accountof its large mass.

W e are now in a position to analyzethe second law of motion. This law tellsus exactly how great a change is pro-duced in the existing conditions of a

body by th e ap pl ied force. W e notethat these changes depend upon twofactors acting together, namely, theforce and the time. The product offorce and time is also called the im-

pul se . A very la rg e force ac ting fo rthe duration of a very small time in-terval is capable of producing the sameeffect as a small force that is allowed toact for a long time interval. Th us themanifestation which any positive causeis able to produce does not depend uponthe magnitude of the active, positivecause alone, but also depends upon thelength of time the active cause is al-lowed to act. T h e same law of motion

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states the exact quantitative relation be-tween mechanical causes and effects.It enables the scientist to calculate with

prec ision the chan ge in motion which ispro du ced by any specified force. W elast consider

The Third Law of Motion:To every action there is an equaland opposite reaction.

Every student is familiar with thetruth of this law. Th e law asserts thatcontact forces are always equal and op-posite. If a box is placed up on a table,then the position of the box against thetable must be exactly counterbalanced

by a force of the table again st the box.If this law were not true, then whatwould happen? If the box pushes witha greater force down upon the tablethan the table pushes upward, then the

box would ooze right th rough thetable, so to speak, due to the fact thatit encountered a smaller resistance thanthe force which it exerts itself. O n theother hand, if the table pushed with agreater force against the box then the

box would ascend into the air .W e observe that contact forces are

alw ays equal and opposite. If an ac-tion is produced, then by its very exist-ence it creates an opposite reaction ofequal strength. Every positive actiongenerates a negative reaction. T his re-

action is always equal in strength to theaction.The action is never greater than the

reaction. If this we re possible then itwould violate the law of conservationof energy. If the reaction could begreater in magnitude than the actionwhich caused it, then this process could

be used to ob tain something from noth -ing. If the reaction we re less in m agni-tude than the action, then energy would

be lost. This we know is not true .

The three laws of motion form thefoundation of the science of mechanics.Every course in physics commences withtheir study. But their greatest import-ance for us as Rosicrucian students liesin the fact that these laws are universal

and are applicable to all types of forces.The laws as stated in the textbooks byph ys ics are gen eral izat ions de rived fromexperiments performed with materialobjects. The se laws are reflections ofmore general and more universal laws,and when we meditate, these laws be-come apparent.

W he n the three laws of motion arecarefully examined they will reveal thefundamental laws of causes and effects.The manifestations of all forces mustobey these laws, whether these forces

are m aterial or immaterial. It is onlyafter we have divorced the laws fromtheir specific material content that theyreveal their full significance.

The full significance of any law ofnature can only be realized if the lawitself is fully and correctly understood.This statement appears to be a truism,

but nev er theless it is too of ten violated .Reading the statement of a law of na-ture in a textbook and committing thewords of the textbook to memory is notsufficient. This is only the preliminary

step. T he succeeding step is to be ableto visualize the law clearly on the ma-terial plane, and then on the immaterial

plan e. M aste ry of any law means theability to use it correctly. Mem orizinga law and being able to reiterate it likea parrot does not connote mastership.True mastership of a natural law mani-fests in the ability to apply the law tothe proper domain of its operation. Thetest of mastership of a law is in thefruits which its application produces.

HOME STUDY W ITH A FUTU EDo you realize that members of this organization can study in the privacy of their

homes a series of six fascinating discourses on subjects of their choice, which will not

only prove of great interest and value but which prepare them for future enrollment in

the Rose-Croix University? These discourses constitute the matriculation lectures that

prepare members for actual classroom work at the University. Write to the Registrar

of the Rose-Croix University for full information concerning these matriculation lectures,

so you will be prepared to attend the University. Make your plans to attend this year.

The term begins June 22 for a period of three weeks, immediately preceding the Rosi

crucian Convention.

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The "Cathedral of the Soul is a Cosmic meeting place for all minds of themost highly developed and spiritually advanced members and workers of theRosicrucian Fraternity. It is a focal point of Cosmic radiations and thoughtwaves from which radiate vibrations of health, peace, happiness, and innerawakening. Various periods of the day are set aside when many thousandsof minds are attuned with the Cathedral of the Soul, and others attuning withthe Cathedral at the time will receive the benefit of the vibrat ions. Those whoare not members of the organization may share in the unusual benefits as wellas those who are members. The book called "Liber 777" describes the periodsfor various contacts with the Cathedral. Copies will be sent to persons whoare not members if they address their requests for this book to Friar S. P. C.,care of AM ORC Temple, San Jose, California, enclosing three cents in postagestamps. (Please state whether memberor notthis is important.)

CONSOLATION

\N Y of ou r mem-b e rs a n d n o n -m e m b e r f r i e n d sw h o h a v e r e a dthis section of theRosicrucian D i-ges t have sentfor a copy of the

book, Liber 777,

w h i c h e x p l a i n st h e o r i g i n , p u r -p o s e s a n d p ro -gram o f serviceso f f e r e d b y t h e

Ca thedral of the Soul. Th ese individY he ua s have found inspiration, guidance

Rosicrucian anc^ cons lat i n in their observ ance ofn . the instructions regarding the Cathedral~*&e.5 0f the Soul. T he y have used the prinA p n l ciples outlined, and have been able to1942 enter this Ca thedral of the Soul when -

ever they wished, free from any limita-tions that might be found placed upona physical institution. As a resu lt of

pa rt ic ipat ion in its ac tivi ties th ey havefound strength to meet the demands ofthe day and to face their own personal

problems with a more ph ilosophicalattitude.

There are certain definite purposes

for certain of the periods observed inthe Ca thedral of the Soul. W ith aspecific purpose a definite service may

be performed . One of these serv icesconstitutes th re e p e rio d s offered forconsolation toward which all must turnat some time in life. It is well that westop to consider from time to time theneeds that may exist at another time.All too frequently men wait until theneed arises and then are found wanting.It is not necessary to be a hoarder in


15/44

order to take a future need into consid-eration. W hile no one can deny the rea-sonableness of considering those phys-ical necessities which it might be nec-essary for us to accumulate for a par-ticular time or event, few give attention

to the accumulation of peace of mind,of strength of purpose, and of an under-standing outlook that can be used intimes of psychological or emotionalstress.

It would be difficult to define consola-tion, because to console one is not anact limited to the physical objectivemind. T o one who is in grief no logicalexplanation of the cause of grief can,in itself, alleviate mental anguish . Allmen must have need for consolation,however, because perils, and misfor-tunes, and want, and pain, and injuryare more or less the lot of every manthat cometh into the wor ld. M an mustface in his life the inevitable fact thatthere will be adjustments to undesirableincidents that he must necessarily make,and tha t fac t a lone s tands as anacknowledgment of the ability of manto prepare himself for the time whenthese stressed conditions must be faced

by him. Sad indeed is the case of theindividual who suddenly faces deathand has never formed a philosophy oflife. It is then tha t fear of this stage of

transition is expressed, because it isunknown. Few who have developed anyabi li ty of hu m an fo rt i tu d e fear theknown, even though the known be un-desirable. It is the unknown tha t bringsfear and question into the mind of man.

There will be times when we willseek consolation. It is only futile todeny this fact. W e will seek to be con-soled for a loss, whether that loss be ofa loved one or of an ideal. If we havenot prepared, then regardless of the di-rection in which we turn, we probablywill find only reasoning, which will not

console us. It is well for us to say whenwe are not in need of consolation thatlife and conditions must change andthat some of our plans will fail, but nowwhen we have health and vigor and our

plans are going ahead , it is on ly natu ra lthat many would find it gloomy or atleast not an incentive for future growthand advancement to stop and give con-sideration and time to the period whenloss and grief will bring the need forconsolation.

Consolation that will affect us to theextent that it will be able to replace aloss is an attitude of mind and an ac-quired emotional reaction that must beestablished now. He who has a phi-losophy of life will know in his own

thinking the why and the wherefore ofexistence. He will und erstan d the lifeforce itself, and in understanding will

be able to view its en tire man ifes tation,whether in a physical body or in itshigher state of eternal existence. Knowl-edge, and experiencing of that knowl-edge when not under emotional tension,will create an attitude that will be theimmediate bulwark upon which to standwhen uncertainty comes. Remember,our friends can give sympathy and canaid us in their sympathetic attitude bytheir und erstan ding. How ever, it is

really untrue that one individual canactually give true consolation to an-other. Consolation is so closely boundwith our own emotional lives that wecan almost say it is more nearly an at-tribute of the soul than of our physical

being. T h a t is why we find a period ofconsolation in the Cathedral of theSoul. It is not a period tow ard which todirect our attention only when grief,sorrow and loss have already reachedus and when disappointment has be-come our lot for the moment, although

any period of the Cathedral of the Soulthat is sincerely entered into will givehelp at such a time. How ever, we allshould use this period now, now whenwe possibly do not need consolation fora particula r loss or event. Now is thetime to build within us the philosophyand understanding that will give us asteady outlook and ability to adjust ouremotional reactions to the conditionsthat confront us equally as well as wewould expect the intelligent man to ad-just his reason ing to the problems of hisbusiness da y. Con solation , then , isfound w ithinno t withou t. It is foundin creating an understanding within.As we reason that eventually we willhave to call upon that reserve, let usnot forget the attitudes, studies and

possib ly most of allthis per iod of con-solation offered by the Cathedral of the

Soul that will direct us toward having

the foundation upon which to stand

while we bear the load that we may

have to carry.

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Sacred Cities of the AndesBy T h e I m p e r at o r

T h e f o l lo w i n g l a th e s i x t h e p is o d e o f a n a r r a t i o n b y t h e I m p e r a t o r c o n c e r n in g h i s r e c e n tjo u r n e y b y a ir , t r a in , a n d p a ck , in to th e in te r io r o f th e A n d e s to s tu d y a n d fi lm th e a n c ie n tc a p i t a l , t e mp l e s , a nd c u l t u r a l r e ma i ns o f t he onc e l o s t I nc a n Empi r e . Edi t o r .

ON THE BORDER OF THE PAST

HE financial condi-tion of this rail-road of SouthernPeru was reflect-ed in its roadbed.The coaches bob-be d up and down,at times violentlyweaved from sideto side. W hile our

car leaned to theleft, perhaps thef o r w a r d c o a c hwould simultane-

ously lean to the right, indicating thateven for the length of two coaches theroadbed was neither level nor uniform.This continuous rocking sensation wasconducive to a form of terrestrial malde mer, if one were so inclined. Exceptfor a raging headache and still labored

breathin g, on e wou ld not ha ve an y con-ception of traveling at an altitude vary-ing from twelve to thirteen thousandfeet.

On either side of the train was anexpansive plain, moreover what appear-ed as a floor of a gre at valley. It wasnearly level, with only gradual swells.

The W he n one though t of great heights, hisRrxlmirirtn eYes looked up at the tremendo us rangesry- . of the Co rdillera Blanco, which walled

us in. Th ese gigantic walls were creneApril lated with a series of peaks, each long1942 ago assigned a name and a legend by

the Indians and the Conquistadors. Acontinuous mantle of snow and ice uni-formly covered them, the scintillatingwhiteness contrasting with their bluish

bleak side s an d the bri llian t verd ure oftheir lower slopes. I mused tha t it wasas if some colossal paint brush dippedin white h ad with one tremendous strokestreaked alike their ragge d ledges. Th emost amazing hue was the vivid scenic

postca rd blue of th e sk y. It was almos tindigo. Nev er before had we seen sucha depth of blue. W e comm ented that itresembled the picture postcards of sev-eral years ago, before the advent ofnatural color photography, when thescenes were tinted by artists for theengraving process. Apparently thoseartists sought to have each elementof the sceneflowers, sky, shrubs, andthe coloring of all objects, in fact, viewith each other in eye appeal, by mak-ing each color as intense as possible.

Had we seen a natural color photographof this high altitude Peruvian sky be-fore our arrival, we would have mostcertainly wrongly evaluated it. Therarity of the air permits a greater in-tensity of the ultraviolet rays of thesun to penetrate the atmosphere, ac-counting for the extreme bluish violetof the sky. In this altitude, one must beextremely cautious on bright days,even when the sun feels only mildly

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warm, or he will experience a verysevere sunburn.

O ur engine was creating for us aneverchanging panorama, for on thiscomparative level, it was attaining aspeed of approximately fortyfive milesan hour, and as if in glee at its new-found prowess, punctuated the silencewith fre quen t shrill blasts. The loco-motive engineer was a man of great im-

portance in th is high Andean pla teauregion. He was a symbol of the outsideworld and of the age of machinery,even if the equipment he used was quiteold and dilapidated. A t each occasion-al water tower, he descended from hiscab to acknowledge the tacit ovation ofthe curious Indians who walked abouthim and his engine with an air of

bewilderment.Here on a slight knoll as we rolled

past was a Peru vian sh ep he rd , similarto many we had seen during this day.They would turn and stare after us.They were nearly all dressed alike, inshort knee length, stovepipeshaped,dark blue woolen trousers, their headsthrust through colorful ponchos, muchsoiled by continuous usageslept in, infact. Th eir heads were almost alwaysenclosed in the typical skullfitting knit-ted cap, with its ear flaps. T his chapwas in the act of playing a reed flute,which shepherds almost always carrysomewhere on their persons. Perh apsno more primitive instrument can befound. M ad e of a stalk of native grass,it is so constructed as to emit five or sixshrill notes. T he quaint selections they

play upon it haunt your memory, andyou eventually find yourself hummingor wh istling them. It is the most com-mon musical instrument seen among theIndians, and its origin may be found inthe musical instruments of their Incaforebears.

The flocks these shepherds tend atthis altitude consist of a mixture ofsheep and llamas. Th e llama is a cameloid ruminant, and has all of the ma-levolent characteristics of the camel.He displays that austere indifference toall humans. Up on very little provoca-tion, he becomes vicious, spitting uponthose near him and kicking straightforward on a level with his body withhis sharp front hoofs, which can be aserious blow. O ne must approach thesecreatures with caution, unless he thor-

oughly understands them. W hen fullgrown their backs may attain a heightfrom the ground of some four feet.Many of them are beautiful animals to

beho ld , th eir co ats be ing eith er pu rewhite, tan, or black, or a blending of

them. Th eir wool is far longer, and ex-ceedingly finer, tha n tha t of sheep. Infact, it is silky and is highly valuable asas export product, especially when mixedwith that of the alpaca, a sheeplikeruminant, indigenous to South America.The Indians also eat the flesh of thellama, which is said to be quite palata-

ble, and man y of th eir ga rm en ts ar emade from its wool and hide. The aver-age price of the full grown llama, inAmerican money, is about $8.00 or$12.00. These flocks usually number

from a half dozen to twenty, and repre-sent the principal wealth of the Indian.T he Incas are said to have been the firstto have domesticated this animal. Con -trary to popular conception, it is prac-tically useless for transportation pur-

po se s. It is not a burden car rier . TheIndians, however, place upon it small

pouches or bags , neve r in excess of fiftypounds weig ht a lthough they them -selves are able to ca rr y considerablymore. Further, these animals do notthrive in altitudes below 6000 feet.They display no more intelligence thanthe sheep with which they mingle free-ly, and in an apparently peacefulrelationship.

Some hours had now elapsed, and wewere far into the valley plateau. Indianvillages were becoming frequent, and ofa picturesqueness almost defying de-scription. Such villages usually consistof two irregular rows of mud brickdwellings. Us ually adjoining the vil-lage is the plant for the manufactureof such bricks. This plant in rea lity isnothing bu t an open field, in which hav e

been bui lt and la id upon the grou ndwooden forms (so m etim es m ade ofstone), or molds to shape the varioussized blocks or bricks desired, of whichthere are no more than two or threesizes. Shallow pits are dug, in whichthe claylike soil is mixed with waterand churned or kneaded, and thenmixed with dry grass or reeds to rein-force it. T he n this substance is com-

pre ss ed in to the molds and ex posed tothe sun for dehydration.

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The hutlike homes consist of oneroom, sometimes two, are squat andone story in height. Th ey are usuallynever in excess of seven feet in heightand are all uniform in color, namely,the natural reddish brown of the soil.

The roofs, some pitched and othersmerely sloping, like that of a leanto,consist of thatch, that is, woven balsaor similar reeds. The re is a doorway,

but no door. The w indows consist ofbut one ape rture, perh aps a foot squa re ,with no covering of any kind. Thoug hrain on this fertile plateau is muchmore p le n tif u l than along the aridcoastal slopes, there is apparently noway of preventing it from entering theseapertures. T he rolls of reeds that com-

pose the roof , however, are exception-ally absorbent. The rainfall would need

to be extremely heavy before it wouldpenetrate the in terior of the dwellingfrom the roof. T he s treet, if it is to beso designated, consists of but a path

be tween the sh ort rows of homes. It isgutted with ruts and holes made by thedomestic animals, dogs as well, that areallowed to burrow dust holes in it forthemselves. Children, dogs, pet sheep,and young llamas freely go in and outof the huts together.

N ear the vi llage small patch es ofgroun d are cultivated. Corn is one of

the principal commodities. The m ethodof cultivation is by means of a wooden

plow, which co nsists of but a na tura lcrook of the limb of a tree, the point ofwhich is suitable to make a shallowfurrow. Th e beam of the plow is partof the same limb, which is attached tothe yoke of a team of lumbering oxen.Fortunately the train passes these vil-lages slowly. Uno ccupied Indian men,sitting in a soporific mood, in the dustand in the shade of the dwellings, lifttheir heads and follow the train with

their eyes. Indian women come to thedoorways with their ponchos bulging,indicating tha t they are carrying infantson their backs, like small sacks of grain.Even the heads, feet, or hands are notvisible. T he y stare with expressionless

The faces afte r this link with the outsideRn


19/44

today. It is known as Que chua , andprevai ls in the Cuzco and Lake Titicacaregions among the Indians. It is oftenreferred to as the language of Court,as it was spoken in the palaces of theIncas in Cuzco. Th is and its companiontongue, known as "Aymara, which isspoken in the Northwest and South ofLake Titicaca, were the common tonguesof the Incas at the time of the SpanishConquest. Quechua is not infrequent-ly spoken as fa r no r th as Qu i to ,Equador.

It had now become dark, and we wel-comed the gestures of the halfIndiantrain attendant, whose duties were toserve as a combination porter and chef,for the preparation of such meals as thetrain could afford, that we should gathertogether our baggage. W e looked for-

ward to a nights sleep, after a tediousbut most in tere sting days journey.

The next morning showed bright andwarm. W e had not by any means be-come accustomed to the ordeal of thealtitude. The slightest exertion, likewalking up a small incline, caused much

pant ing and a w arn in g head pang lestwe incur ano ther raging headache. E n-gaging the assistance of the proprietorof the principal, really the only, lodgingplace in the city th at could be gracedwith the title of hotel, and which was

owned by the railroad which terminatedat Cuzco, we prepared to go to an im-

porta nt archaeolog ical si te of the region.From now on, we were to be extremely

busy photo graphin g each objec t andeach site of historical and of mysticalinterest. Cuzco is a city of stone. Stoneis its most plentiful building material.Lum ber is a scarcity and costly. Almostall soft lumber, imported before the

pre se nt war, came from Canadian fo r-ests some from Sw eden, and verylittle from the United States, becauseits production costs were too high forcompetition.

The streets of this old city, with oneexception, are quite narrow, and all

paved with cobblestone. T he sidewalksconsist of great slabs of granite, re-minding us of the slabs of pure marbleused on many sidewalks in Athens,where such material was common evenin antiquity. Th e buildings are of twodistinct types. The larger ones, the

better homes and bu siness estab lish -

ments, are made of solid stone blocks,some twelve or fourteen inches longand ten inches wide, many of themerected upon foundations of originalIncaic ruins, which are still visible. Theroofs are mainly of corrugated iron,pain ted red, or of til ing once importedfrom Spain. This massiveness and themonochrome of the stone gives the citya somber appearance.

Cuzco is wired for electricity, forwhich there is a hydro plant not fardistant in the mountains surroundingCuzco Valley. The lighting is veryelementary, however, using low wattage

bulbs or lamps, hard ly ever exceeding20 watts, giving a distasteful yellowglow. Some of the bulbs even use theobsolete carbon filament. A shade orreflector which would intensify the light

or cause it to be indirect is a novelty.In other words, almost all users of theelectric bulb use it as they would acandle, without any accessories, merelyinserting it in the socket.

Automobiles are very few in number,because all must be im ported from othercountries, principally the United States,and upon them is placed a very highduty, far beyond the reach of most ofthe inhabitan ts of Cuzco. Gasoline isalso expensive. Ho rses are rare becausegrain for them is as well. H ard y burros

are quite common, though not so muchso as in Egypt and the lands of theLevant. Hum ans here again are burdencarriers. Peruvian Indian coolies carrytremendous loads upon their stooped

backs , s t a g g e r in g alon g b o w le g g e d ,showing signs in their bare legs of vari-cose veins, caused by the excessiveweights they must carry. Th e load ispart ly su ppor ted by a band ab ou t theirforeheads, and the arteries of theirnecks stand out like kn otted cords underthe strain. Fo r such a load being trans-

ported for a distance of a half mile,they may receive less than one sole, orabout twelve or thirteen cents in UnitedSt ate s money. It was also qua int to seea flock of llamas being driven by ashepherd down one of the principalstreets, toward a bazaar or market

place. Civilians in mod em dress wend -ed their way in and out among thehaughty beasts.

W e had left the city and were nowclimbing one of the hills of the range

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which bordered Cuzco. Our vehiclestruggled up the steep grade. A s werose above the city, we looked backupon it. It sprawled beneath us. Th erein the center rose in majesty the cathe-dral tower, built upon the ruins of theonce magnificent sacred Temple of the

Sun. In our min ds eye, we could seethose Incas of old who had made

lengthy, fatiguing journeys on foot,from throughout the extensive Empire,to visit it once in their lifetime. W ecould see them falling prone upon theground as their gaze for the first timefell upon this symbol of the sanctuaryof their deity. And now well, we

withhold our opinion. W e must firstvisit it.

V V V

Work Real and Apparent

By F r a t e r C a r l L. F l i n d t

H E T H E R we re al-ize it or not, wh en-ever we work, wework once to getthe job done ando n c e f o r sh o w.This applies to alllines of endeavor,even to the show

b u s in e s s i t s e l f .For ins t ance , i nthe early years oft h e c a r e e r o f alate humorist and

rope thrower, he performed a trick witha double lasso which was so deft andneat that a large New York audiencefailed to realize that he had done any-thing worthy of note at all. H e had

perfo rm ed th e tr ick su cces sful ly andwell, but because the audience as awhole failed to appreciate it, he wasforced to go over it again and to drama-tize the effort so that it could be appre-ciated and understood.

N ow whenev er we follow th e Rosi-

crucian path (or perhaps it could bedescribed as ones own path of greatestefficiency), there appear many thingsthat are done rather deftly and withoutmuch show of effort which our friends

The or employers or customers or clients

Rosicrucian may labf> " t0 easy" and V fai! , appr eciate at times. If it is not possible

Digest to show by checkchart, the time rate ofApri l ones achievements, then one must work1942 for sho w if it is necessary to make

the processes of ones efforts apparent.This effort for show is likely to vary inits requisites with the audience, but forgeneral jobs one might work out a gen-eral type of motion such as gestures or

body tenseness o r a fren zied or st ra in edexpression about the face or a general

bobbin gu pa ndd own ap pearance. T hechief characteristic of this show is

phy sica l aler tness and even ra pid phy si -cal motion.

W o rk is defined as effective force.

One might strain at a two ton rock try-ing to push it along by hand all day andnever make it move as much as a hairs

bre adth , and technica lly perfo rm nowork whatsoever. Yet one would nodoubt sweat profusely, expend muchenergy, and probably eat ravenously.Similarly, in performing some simpletask, if one made a great show ofstamping abo ut and nod ding o nes head,the casual observer would consider onehard a t work. O f course, if he lookeda second time he would probably be

greatly mystified and would eventuallychan ge his mind. Bu t the first casualimpression is as far as many people lookinto things, and it must be taken intoaccount. O n the other hand, one who is

pract ised an d deft in any field of en-deavor can perform a difficult task witha minimum sho w of effort. A Rosi-crucian learns to look beneath the sur-face of such show and to know the truthrelating to such matters.

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Relaxation and RhythmBy H. C. B l a c k w e l l , F. R. C.

O GET fun out of

lifewhether youp la y , w o rk , o rsing relax! Lifedoes not mean ath ing i f i t doesn o t h a v e t h a trhythm, that har-mony of relaxa-tion. The tighteryou hold onto lifethe less you willenjoy it, the lessfun you will get

out of it.Any great teacher or mystic will tellyou that once you get a pupil to relaxthe rest is easy. If the dancer doe sntrelax to the music, he doesnt dance,though he may go through some mo-tions in company with a partner . Ingood music well played, whether swing

or classical, you have an aid to relaxa-

tion which, in turn, will loosen your

vertebrae and your taut neck muscles

if you give it a chance. Yo u'll find you

enjoy music most when you are tired.

You sit back, you relax, you forget

your troubles. M aybe you re exhausted

from a hard day's work, and so you get

something out of the music that you

wholly miss when youre fresh with

every muscle taut, and every nerve on

edge waiting for something to happen.

Once youve discovered this have

sensed the freedom of spirit that comes

from relaxing in rhythmyouve pos-

sessed yourself of one of the simplest

means of rebuilding vitality.The evil spirit of our age is tension.

If you would get out of a rut and curediscouragement and defeatism you willhave to do something entirely differentthan you are now doing. T his does notrefer to your mode of making a living,it means the use of your spare time.You must find new interests, you mustcome into contact with experiences andcircumstances which have been abso-lutely unknown to you in the past, youmust learn all over again how to get

the zest out of life which everyoneshould enjoy; but, above all else, relax.It takes tremendous expenditures of

time and effort just to maintain thestatus quo, just to keep in the same old

place, but if yo u w ant to get somew hereelse you will have to go twice as fast,and you will never accomplish this ifyou do not know how to relax each

time there is an opportunity. If you are

in the habit of brooding over situations

and you desperately need relaxation,

do something different, rest your mind,

and keep psychologically healthy so

that you can cope with the affairs of

life. But while doing something differ-

ent, relax; remem ber there is no need

for tension. Finding and developing

new interests is exhilarating, exciting,

confidencerestoring, its fun. Re laxa-

tion is the key that unlocks new vistas

of happiness and assures continued

mental well being for all of us.

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Understanding the Cosmic and Its LawsBy D r . H . S p e n c e r L e w i s, F. R . C .

(Rosicrucian Digest, February, 1930)

M a n y o f t h e a r ti c le s w r i t t e n b y o u r l a t e I m p e r a t o r , D r . H . S p e n c e r L e w i s, a r e a sde a t h l e s s a s ti me . Th a t i s , t he y a r e c onc e r ne d wi t h t hos e l a ws a nd p r i nc i p l e s o f li f e a ndl i v i ng wh i c h a r e e t e r na l , a nd t hus ne ve r l o s e t he i r e f f i c a c y o r t he i r i mpor t , a nd a r e a she l p f u l a nd a s i n s p i r i ng whe n r e a d t oda y a s t he y we r e whe n t he y w e r e wr i t t e n f ive, t en ,f i ft e e n , t we n t y o r mor e ye a r s a go , a nd l i ke wi s e w i ll c on t i nue t o be a s he l p f u l a nd a si n s t ru c t i v e in t h e f u t u r e . F o r t h i s r e a so n , a n d f o r t h e r e a s o n t h a t t h o u s a n d s o f r e a d e r s oft h e R o s i c ru c i a n D i g e s t " h a v e n o t r e a d m a n y o f t h e e a r l ie r a r t i c l e s o f o u r l a t e I m p e r a t o r ,we a r e go i ng t o a dop t t he e d i t o r i a l po l i c y o f pub l i s h i ng i n t he Ros i c r uc i a n D i ge s t " e a c hmon t h one o f h i s ou t s t a nd i ng a r t i c l e s s o t ha t h i s t hough t s w i l l c on t i nue t o r e s i de w i t h i nt h e p a g e s o f t h i s p u b l ic a t io n .

The

Rosicrucian

Digest

April

1942

N T H E newspaperc l ip p i n g s a n dmagazine articleswhich we receivefrom all parts of

the w o rld , therei s o n e wo r d , o rphrase, which wef i n d b e c o m i n gquite popular, andq u i t e g e n e r a l l yused in connec-tion with the at-tempts on the pa rt

of men and women in all lands to ex-pre ss thei r ideas re gard in g a sp iritu almind or consciousness, and its methodsof work. Th e phrase which seems to bethe most popular is, The Cosmic is re-

sponsible for these things.The word Cosmic is used more now-

adays by those who have had a littlephilo soph ical training or have re ad alittle in books or magazines pertainingto the metaphysical things of life, andis rapidly supplanting other words orterms, which were just as popular in the

pas t. In one way , we may rejoice inthe fact that an appreciation of theexistence of such a universal power as

the Cosmic implies, is becoming so uni-versally understood; but we must notforget that along with the widespreaduse of such a term there is sure to be avery popular misunderstanding of itsrea l m ean ing an d of the laws andpr inciples used by th e C o sm ic in itsmanifestations.

Perhaps one of the most erroneousand most serious conceptions held bythe ave rag e C h r i s t i an today is t ha twhich is embodied in the statement sooften heard, God has willed it, it isGod's will, through God it has beendone! If there is going to be a tenden-cy on the part of men and women gen-erally throughout the world to use theword Cosmic in place of the wordGod, and with the same thought in

mind as when they have used the wordGod in express ions l i ke tha t g ivenabove, then we must immediately beginan educational campaign to prevent this,and make the public better acquaintedwith what the Cosmic really is and howit manifests.

The error connected with the state-ments regarding Gods Will and Godsmanifestations is based upon a miscon-ception of the theological fact that God

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created all things and all things are ofHim. Th is the o lo g ic a l p r in c ip le , ortruth, includes the understanding thatnot only did God create good and evil,

but in Him we have ou r life and ourbeing eterna lly. The olog ical ly , it means

that God is the cause of all causes. Buta misunderstanding of this theological

principle ha s evolved in the Chr istianreligion a fear of God, inasmuch as Godis conceived of as being a person or anintelligence ruling the universe and allof the manifestations of the universe,and directing, controlling and influ-encing every incident , every affai r ,every problem, trial, blessing, reward or

benefit th at co ns titu tes the experience ofthis life.

Such an idea is easily elaborated

upon by the unthinking and nonanalytical minds to such an extent as to bringinto their consciousness what is now afairly universal belief regarding Godand His relationship to the incidents ofour everyday life.

Thus, we find the average Christianof a few years ago firmly believing thatGod in His high position and with HisOmnipotent power, arbitrarily pointedHis fingers toward any one of us, andin an instant caused us to have an ex-

perience, good or ba d, to suffer disease,accident, pain, want or misery, or toenjoy an expected or anticipated pleas-ure, blessing, reward, compensation ormaterial benefit of some kind; and everyhour of our lives was subject to the ar-

bit ra ry in terven tion , the perso na l voli-tion, and immediate action of Godsmind; that we, as humans, were subjectto His moods and fancies, His impulsivedecisions, and His arbitrary decrees.Because of the varying impulsive de-cisions, and His arbitrary decrees, be-cause of the varying nature of the inci-dents of our lives for which God was

responsible, we were told that God wasjust and merciful, kind and loving, andyet stern and rigid, unrelenting and

jealous, revengeful and the last courtand the last judge in our appeals.

This belief was sure to foster a fearof God, rather than a love of God; for itwas quite apparent that with our earth-ly, incompetent, finite, humble compre-hension we could never understand thereason for any of Gods sudden deci-sions and Divine decrees, and, there-

fore, we could make no provision topro tect o u r s e lv e s against th em , andcould most certainly discover no man-ner in which to insure ourselves of onlythe blessings and only the good thingsin life. If God caused a blessing or

happiness to be our lot for a few min-utes, it was due to His mercy and notto any act on our part that either justi-fied it or warran ted it. W e could notdemand a blessing in exchange for agood deed, for that would be a pre-sumption upon the intelligence and in-finite laws and workings of the mind ofGod, which we could not comprehend.W e could not be sure that through

proper living , prop er th inking and prop-er treatment of our fellow man wewould be free from pain and suffering,accident, poverty and want, for thiswould reduce part of the activities ofthe God consciousness to a system ofgive and take, equivalent to a law ofcompensation, and this would be incon-sistent with the idea that God was all

powerful, infinite in His und ers tandin g,superior to any laws or rules of auto-matic action, and supreme in His rightto set aside any law, any principle, andarbitrarily intervene.

Thus, there was nothing left for theChristian to do but strive as best hecould to obey Gods dictates and in-

junc tions by always living in fear ofGod's sudden wrath, sudden determina-tion to teach us a lesson or impress uswith His omnipotent power.

W as it not quite common a few yearsago for the socalled good Christianand the so ca l l ed devou t Chr i s t i anchurchman to proclaim publicly that hewas "living in the fear of God? W asit not quite a common expression tohear Christians say that they were"walking in the fear of God? W as notthe word fear" the most dominating

factor in the life of every sincere Chris-tian? De ath was feared, the darkn essof space was feared, the silence of nightand the unconsc iousness o f na tu ra lsleep were feared, the coming of an-other day was feared, the unknownevents of the future were feared, andeverything about our lives as Christianswas feared, because of the fundamental

belie f th at God in terven ed arbitrarily inthe things of this life, and in accord-ance with a system purely optional on

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His part and far beyond our humancomprehension.

Gradually, a host of Christians havecome to learn that God is neither re-vengeful nor jealous, nor even merciful,

but merely just and true in accordancewith a law of compensation decreed by

Him in the beginning of time, and bywhich all things are judged impartially,and, therefore, fairly and in a mannerwhich we can comprehend; and Chris-tians have come to learn tha t G od is notto be feared, but to be understood, andthrough the understanding develop arealization in our lives that by living inaccordance with His laws, we mayproper ly an ticipate th at reac tion, th atcompensation, that adjustment, either insorrow, grief or pain, or in joy, and richrewards of happiness and benefits, as

automatically result from our own ac-tions. Th is leads us to understand thatwhile we are here we must look into ourown actions, into the events of our ownlives, and discover wherein we have

been wilfu lly or unconsciou sly in erro rto have brought upon ourselves a mani-festation of Gods laws, instead of hold-ing ourselves blameless, and, with re-gret, admit that God arbitrarily visitedHis powers upon us for no reason with-in our understanding, and for no act ofour doing.

W ha t we must guard against, how-ever, at the present time, is a wide-spread substitution of the word "Cos-mic for the word God in connectionwith the old ideas regarding G od s in-tervention as explained above. No w wehear that the Cosmic visits its wrathupon us, or arbitrarily and without ap-pare nt reason or cause, rewar ds us orpu nishe s us, blesses us or cond em ns us.This belief will lead to a fear of theCosmic like unto the fear that manyhad of God. W e must prevent this byacquainting the Neophyte, or the casual

student of the metaphysical principles,with the fact that the Cosmic does notact arbitrarily, that it does not act im

pulsively, spontaneously and withoutlaw or reason when it seems to inter-vene in the affairs of our lives.

The Cosmic is the Divine Intelligenceand Consciousness of God, and it is

just , impartial and ab so lu te ly fair. Itstendency is always constructive, its am-

bition is to recreate and be beneficent inall its manifestations. But, whatevermay be the lot of our lives, whatevermay be the incident of the hour or theday that changes our status or bringsto us a manifestation of the higher laws,whether it be through illness, accidentor suffering, through a joyous blessing,a rich reward of goodness, or a happymoment of laughter, we are experi-encing from the Cosmic that which wehave earnedor deservedor created andcaused through our own actions, past

or present, and are now finding thereaction, the reflection from the Cosmicwithout personal or impersonal intervention, and without revenge, retribution, jealousy, hatred or partiality.

In our own lives it behooves us,therefore, to have faith, rather thanfear, to give obedience rather than dis-obedience to the Cosmic laws and prin-ciples established by God and eternallyactive, automatically, in the lives ofevery human being. Let us adore Godand the Cosmic for His sublime and

transcendental wisdom, and attempt inevery way to cooperate with the Cos-mic principle with a joyous heart. W iththe knowledge that by lifting our con-sciousness up to the Cosmic and intothe Cathedral of the Soul we will cometo understand the Cosmic laws and

princip les , and th ereb y attune ourselveswith their constructive operations sothat reactions in our own lives will bewhat we would have them and w hat weare earning and deserving by our wayof living and thinking. Th is, then, will

br ing us closer to God an d make us asintimate with the Cosmic as the Cosmicis intimate with us.

The

Rosicrucian

Digest

April

1942

V V V

Griefs and misfortunes have their chief source in an excessive love of thatwhich is subject to many variations, and of which we can never have control."

Spinoza.

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Our FreedomByC e c i l A. P o o l e , F. R. C . , Supreme Secretary

E A R E consciousof freedom today,

be cause our con-ception of it doesn o t e x i s t i n a l lpart s of the world.The fac t tha t i td o e s n o t e x i s tm a k e s u s m o r econsc ious of thev a l u e s r e c e i v e dwhen freedom ispossible, a n d fo rt h a t r e a s o n w e

are willing to sacrifice in order to haveand hold it. M an has always prided

himself on his conception of his per-sonal existence as a free being. Regard-less of the philosophical speculation asto the freedom of the will, there is hard-ly any individual who will completelygive up the conception of his own free-dom of choice in action and thought.W e no doubt have many satisfactoryproofs to ourselves th at we have com-plete freedom of choice. W e arr ive atthis conception in our own thinking by

believing th at we ar e co nstantly facedwith decisions upon which our freechoice will be the only determining fac-

tor as to the path we will follow.At the same time it cannot be denied

that we are aware of being directed bycertain other forces that enter our lives.Have you ever been conscious of pre-dicting the actions of another individ-ual? Have you ever seen a person aboutready to make a decision or take a step,and have drawn the conclusion in yourown mind as to what the decision would

be or which of the choices wou ld bemade, based upon your knowledge of

that individual 's general character,ba ck gro und and temperament? If youknow these factors in a general wayyou can predict with a fair degree ofaccuracy what an individual would dound er certain conditions; tha t is, youwill know to a limited extent what thereactions will be to any situation. Ifyour knowledge of the individualsphys ical and men tal makeup were com-plete, if you kne w all the here ditary an denvironmental factors that brought histhinking, concepts and attitudes to wh atthey are today, and if, furthermore, you

knew the exact control which the in-dividual had over his emotional reac-tions, does it not follow that all actionswould be predictable, that under a cer-tain set of circumstances only one re-action would be possible? Because ofthe individual's background and make-up no other possible reaction could beconceived. Yet the individual whomyou might know and understand thatcompletely would in himself believe hewas making a choice based entirelyupon his own decision and upon freewill. In oth er words, as it has been

po in ted out by nu merous commentarieson philosophy, it seems that everyonein the world, with the exception of one-self, is governed by certain causes thatare the indicators of all actions.

I assign free will to myself to the ex-tent that I believe I personally make thedecision or choice, bu t yet I will analyzeyour choice and agree that it could nothave been other than it was because of

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The

Rosicrucian

Digest

Apri l

1942

your particular mental, physical andemotional makeup or equipment. Ofcourse, it cannot be that I alone havefree will. Th is only proves tha t freedomof will and freedom of choice are gov-erned by many factors; that while mostof us will agree that in the broadest

sense of the word freedom of will doesexist, we must all agree that freedom ofchoice and action is not completely iso-lated within a momentary decision.That is, a decision I make at this mo-ment is brought about by all the eventsof my life and all the factors of my en-vironment that have contributed to makeme w hat I am at this moment. W iththis understanding the conclusion might

be reach ed th at freedom exists on thepart of the individu al in the matter ofchoice and free will, but it is a condi-tion that exists over a period of thewhole span of life or lives. In otherwords, the decision that I will make to-morrow when I am faced by alternativedecisions will be based upon what isordinarily considered as freedom ofchoice, but actually that decision is be-ing made now as well as at the momentwh en it actually tak es place. It is beingmade now, because my attitudes andtotality of existence are in the processof becoming a part of what I will be atany future time. W hatev er I do at anyone time becomes a part of the decision

that I will make at any future time.W her ein, then, really lies our freedom?Freedom lies in the experiencing ofknowledge. T he man who is bound isnot physically free until he throws offhis shackles. If these binding forces arestronger than he, they will dominatehim regardless of the struggle he putsup again st them. How ever, if he is ableto break the shackles that bind him by

putt in g all the phy sica l an d mentalpo wers of his ex istence into play, heimmediately has become free of theirconfining influence. He has used knowl-

edge , t r ans l a t ing i t i n to expe r i encethrough action.

Is your freedom hampered by shack-les? Are you r decisions today the de-cisions that your abilities, knowledgeand experience point out they should

be , or ar e you bo und first by economicregulations and social demands? Inord er to earn a livelihood must you servea force or agency with whi'h you are

not in sympathy because you feel thatthe freedom of thought and exercise of

pr inciples th at might com e by throwingoff that binding force might be less de-sirable than the economic security youreceive by continuing to serve it? Areyou boun d by social custom? Do you

wish to take a step which to you will bethe exercising of choice, but you againweigh the contentment and happinessthat might come from such a choiceagainst what someone will say? W hileour freedom, as already pointed out,must be considered as spread over theentire influences that have made ourlives what they are now, it is otherwiselimited by the binding of external andinternal factors that influence our livesand fail to permit us to exercise thefreedom of conviction and thoug ht. Itis so easy for us to rationalize ourchoices. It is easy fo r a man in an un-favorable environment to say that it is

bett er th at he does w hat he is doing inorder to secure economic security forthose who depend upon him, that heshould not interfere with the socialsystem and become an outcast, or thathe can do more where he is in a quietway than he could by exercising the ut-most of his abilities.

It must not be forgotten that evolu-tion is more in accord with Cosmic and

N atu ral Law th an is revo lution; th at

when man makes a choice to tear downall that exists in order to perpetuate hisown opinion at the moment, he is in-evitably being more destructive thanconstructive. W hile the processes ofevolution are usually not revolutionary,there is always the point of emergencewhere new factors begin. According tothe physical theory of emergence, some-thing that emerges from another con-dition is a process and not a revolu-tionary change. This is easily illus-tra ted in the field of chem istry: from

the combination in proper proportionsof hydrogen and oxygen there emergesa dif ferent m an ifes ta t io n which weknow as water. W ate r does not neces-sarily manifest the peculiar character-istics of either or both of its component

par ts , but manife sts its ow n chara cte r-istics and has emerged as the result ofthe combination. T his is a law foundoperating throughout Nature. Forms ofl ife that have come into existence

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through the evolutionary process haveall possibly developed as emergents.Therefore, what we are able to put intoeffect in our environment after we have

broken certain binding forces is to beginthe point of emergence. T he life that

grows to be constructive when it wasdestructive must at one point begin toemerge from its previous state ofexistence.

In Sir James Mathew Barries play,Dear Brutus . the re is the fam il iarquotation: T he fault, dea r Brutus, isnot in our stars but in ourselves, thatwe are underlings. M an must realizethat all without him is not workingagainst him, that environment is likefireit can destroy or it can transmute.W e cann ot say that fire is solely a de-structive element, and it is difficult for

us to realize it is ever destructive whenwe enjoy the warmth of our homes ona cold evening. Th is is merely one il-lustration found manifest in all Nature,in all environment. Forces about uscontribute to our wellbeing and some-times apparently interfere, dependingupon our understanding of their useand our intelligent directing of theiraction into the proper channels. Menwho seek to assign their difficulties toconditions outside themselves acknowl-

edge their own weakness to cope withthe situation. If we admit our positionafter having failed, we are contributingthe fault to ourselves and not to ourstars.

If we really prefer to believe in the

freedom of choice, why do we searchfor prophecies of the future whichwould necessitate the belief in extremefatalism if we were to believe in the

prophecies themselves? M ans intelli -gence and the use of his subjective soul

po tent ia lities ar e the factors th at teardown any fixed system of future action,

be ca use while some men wil l dri ft withthe current, there will always be thosewho are effectively using their abilitiesto direct the same current constructive-ly. W e prefer freedom and prefer to

believe th at we have freedom of choice.

Then let us frankly face what it is tobe free. Jesus said: You shal l knowthe truth and the truth shall make youfree. All great masters have reiteratedthis fact; tha t man has within himselfthe ability to know the truth, the abilityto recogn ize it. If he refus es to do so,if he scorns it when it becomes appar-ent, he is only limiting himself and notderiving the benefits of freedom. There-fore, if you would be free, be not hesi-tant to accept the truth.

THE UNSEEN ELEMENTS OF FOODFood is an important item today. Much time is being given to its conservation and its

proper use. Proper eating contributes to good health. Good health upon the part of thecitizens of a country contributes to stability and high morale. Are you familiar with goodvalues? W e all understand the chemical values of food, but what of the unseen elementsthat contribute to our well-being and general health? Each morsel of food contains unseenelements which affect the magnetic balance of your entire being. Your state of happinessand contentment may depend entirely upon your understanding of the food values inwhat you eat. A helpful book entitled "The Spiritual Property of Food tells of theseunseen elements in food. You may order a copy for only thirty-five cents postpaid fromthe Rosicrucian Supply Bureau.

TH OUG H THE EYES OF A P OPHETUnder the circumstances existing in the world today no one can deny the existence of

a curiosity to know what the future holds. Many have claimed to be able to prophesy.Many prophecies made during the past few years or months have not been as accurateas those which have been handed down through time by the sage, Nostradamus. Readhis prophecies and draw your own conclusions rather than accepting the opinions ofothers. T wo interesting books tell of his life and work

rosicrucian digest, april 1942

Documents