Marriage of the Mind by George F. Buletza

t M a r r ia g e

-

^

MARRIAGE OF THE MIND

or PRO CESSES OF INSIGHT AND INTEGRATION

th e

i

N lirsu Dy George I-. b u le iz a , Mn.D., i . r . c . , > . k . u .

by George F. Buletza, Ph.D., I.R.C., F.R.C. i '

AMOK

MARRIAGE OF THE MIND V V V

Marriage of the Mind Processes of Insight and Integration

by George F. Buletza, Ph.D.

©1997, Supreme Grand Lodge o f the Ancient & Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. Published by the Grand Lodge o f the English Language Jurisdiction, AM ORC, Inc.

© 1 9 9 7 by S uprem e G ran d L odge o f A M O R C , Inc. A ll R ig h ts R e s e rv e d

ISBN 0-912057-94-7

© 1997, S uprem e G rand L odge o f the A n c ien t & M ystical O rd er R osae C rucis P ublished by the G rand L odge o f the E nglish L anguage Jurisdication, A M O R C , Inc.

L ib r a r y o f C o n g r e s s C a ta lo g C a r d N o .: 97-066324

N o part o f this publication m ay be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, o r transmitted, in a ny form or b y any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, o r otherwise, without prior written perm ission o f the publisher.

C over A rt: © 1997, S uprem e G rand L odge o f the A ncient & M y stic al O rder R osae C rucis

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 P rinted and bo u n d in U .S.A .

D E D IC A T IO N

▼ TO TH E GOD OF O UR HEARTS AND REALIZATION

T This book is dedicated to You who gave us the Rose and the Cross that we might know M astery in Self. You have given us the means to let go o f all impediments to Self-Mastery, the means to be as we are created to be: a full, integrated, and coherent expression o f the unity and wholeness that is the Cosmic. This book is dedicated to You, the D ivine Essence that is the H eart o f each one o f us.

▼

The Rosicrucian Library C ares T hai Infest C onscience o f Science and O th e r E ssays, The C onscious Interlud e, T he C osm ic M ission Fulfilled E ssays o f a M odern M ystic E ternal F ruits o f K n ow ledge, T he G reat W om en Initiates H erbalism T h ro u g h the A ges Im m ortalized W ords o f the Past, T he In S earch o f R eality Inner W orld o f D ream s, The L em uria— T he Lost C ontinent o f the Pacific M ansions o f the Soul M arriage o f the M ind M ental A lchem y M ental P oisoning M ystic Path, T he M ystical L ife o f Jesus, T he M ysticism — T he U ltim ate E xperience M ystics at Prayer R osicru cian P rinciples fo r the H om e and B usiness S anctuary o f Self, T he S ecret D octrines o f Jesus, T he S ecret S ym bols o f the R osicrucians S e lf M astery and F ate w ith the C ycles o f Life

Sepher Yezirah So M ote It Be! Son o f the Sun S ym bolic Prophecy o f the G reat Pyram id, The T ech n iq u e o f the D isciple, T he T ech n iq u e o f the M aster, T he T housand Y ears o f Y esterdays, A T h ro u g h the M in d ’s Eye U niverse o f N um bers, T he “U nto T hee I G ra n t” W ay o f the H eart, T he W h isperings o f S e lf

O ther volumes will be added from time to time. Write fo r com plete catalogue. See address on last page.

C O N T E N T S

List o f Illustrations.....................................................................9 P re fa c e ....................................................................................... 11 1

B eginnings......................................................................... 15

2

Creating Sym bols of T ransform ation..........................21

3

Thought as E x p erien ce................................................... 29 Process for Thinking Together.................................29 The Nature o f T h o u g h t............................................. 36 The Images in M a n .................................................... 42 The Hidden M eaning W ithin T h o u g h t...................51

4

Symbol Interpretation......................................................63 Confidence: The U nfolding S e e d ...........................63 On the Nature of C onfidence................................... 67 A ttaining C onfidence.................................................74 Confidence: The M anifestation............................. 78

5

Birth of the Divine C h ild ................................................87

6

The Science o f In tu itio n .................................................95

7

Im agination......................................................................105 The Inw ard Dream of the S o u l............................. 105 The Circle: Guide to Personal U nderstanding... I l l Exercising the Im agination.................................... 118 Im agination and the H ealing M in d ...................... 126 Im agination in P ractice........................................... 134

(Continued on next page)

8

Creative E x p ressio n ...................................................... 137 Source and Action of C re a tiv ity ..........................137 Evoking O ur C reative P ow er............................... 143 Clustering for E n lig h ten m en t.............................. 156 Creatively H ealing the W hole P e r s o n ............... 160 Creativity as a M arriage of the M in d ................. 166

9

Consum m ation o f the M ystical M arriag e................ 171

10 The M asters A m ong U s ................................................187 11 F re e d o m ............................................................................197 The W illingness To Be O urselves....................... 197 G ratitu d e ................................................................... 202 In Search of the M ystic’s J o y .............................. 209 12 T ran scen d en ce................................................................219 Beyond W orthiness.................................................219 Through the A b y ss..................................................227

A PPEN D ICES 1

Insight: O bject to S y m b o l............................................ 233

2

Insight: Symbol Interpretation....................................237

3

The Cluster P ro c e ss.......................................................241

Reference Notes and B ibliography...................................243

L IS T O F IL L U ST R A T IO N S

FIGURES

1 One subject’s representation o f the duality of f i r e ..............................................................................24 2 One subject’s representation o f the marriage o f fire and w a te r........................................................................ 28 3 IQ s c o re s.............................................................................30 4 Operative m odel of mind and b ra in ............................. 33 5 Operative model of m ed itatio n ..................................... 34 6 “Thought is like unto a large running river . . . .....40 7 “Thinking is an act of the s o u l. . . ...........................41 8 “A s the particles of light radiate in all directions . . . ........................................................... 42 9 “In certain senses God, the Cosmos, and Man can be regarded . . . .................................................43 10 Recording a h o lo g ra m .................................................... 45 11 Hologramic thought-im age............................................ 48 12 One contributor’s symbol for th o u g h t........................ 54 13 A model of m ind and its m anifestation; a model of spiraling p la n e s............................................................ 56 14 Symbols and accom panying quotations submitted by participants.........................................................60/61 15 Truth shatters the c h a in s.................................................76 16 Silberer’s symbolic conception of human judgm ents......................................................................97 17 Correspondence of the m ethodologies of science and Rosicrucian m ysticism ..................................... 101 18 A model o f spiraling planes o f consciousness........ 102 19 Four great pow ers of the m edicine w h e e l................ 113 (C ontinued on next page)

20 Rosicrucian m ethod o f concentrationcontem plation-m editation........................................115 21 M edicine w heel form ed from s to n e s .........................116 22 The phases of creative ex p erien ce............................. 138 23 D ena’s cluster and v ig n ette.......................................... 144 24 K urt’s cluster and v ig n e tte........................................... 146 25 Frater A’s v ig n e tte.................................................. 150/151 26 Frater B ’s cluster and v ig n e tte.................................... 155 27 One frater’s vision o f the “w alking question m arks” .......................................................................... 158 28 Image o f Isis in holy g a r b ............................................ 160 29 Four behavioral dram as substituting for actual experience....................................................................163 30 Contribution o f each side o f the brain to creative experience....................................................................167 31 Universal symbol of th o u g h t...................................... 168 32 Illustration from an Indian p ain tin g ...........................169 33 Five states of experiences leading to insight, integration, and m e a n in g ........................................172 34 Five levels o f conscious ex p e rie n c e ..........................173 35 Becom ing fre e ................................................................. 190

1 2 3 4 5 6

TABLES Responses to “W hat is Nature of Thought?” (Group 1 ) .......................................................................38 Responses to “W hat is Nature of Thought?” (Group 2 ) .......................................................................39 The purpose o f thought i s : .........................................52/53 The source of confidence: responses to the e x p erim en t.....................................................................72 Evaluations o f confidence experiences........................ 73 The Catteal 16 personality facto r................................ 120

PREFACE

outhful inner direction led me to a fascination with the w orkings of the m ind and nervous system. I wanted to know how the mind w orked and how it could be used. If it w ere true that we only use ten percent o f our brain, then I w anted to learn and to assist others in learning how to use m ore of the total mental pow er that we possess. It w as ob­ vious that my future w ork lay in being prepared in the “hard” sciences, neuroanatomy, neurocytology, and neurochem is­ try. G raduate studies and post-doctoral w ork becam e more and more technical and specialized. I began to w onder about the fulfillm ent o f my life purpose. Then, unexpectedly, the opportunity to undertake the kind o f investigations into the nature o f self that I w as most interested in presented itself. I becam e a m em ber o f the Rosicrucian Order, A M ORC (The Ancient M ystical O rder Rosae Crucis), in 1961. Dur­ ing the first few m onths of my early studies both at Ohio W esleyan U niversity in D elaware, Ohio, and with the Rosi­ crucian Order, A M O RC, little about the O rder w as known to me except through advertisem ents prom ising a scientific and esoteric method of study. Follow ing an inner urge, it w as clear to me that Rosicrucian studies w ould provide me w ith practical strategies for directly dealing w ith w hat I per­ ceived to be problem atic and important. The events of the time, my early studies and experiences, all appealed to my penchant for inner direction. For me, joining the O rder was a hom ecom ing. Here w ere people w ho approached life philosophically and eso-

terically, the w ay I w anted to. A s a group they talked about atom ic theory and then reflected upon its personal signifi­ cance. They investigated the mind and then reflected upon its im portance to everyday life. Rosicrucian studies provided me w ith an outline or su­ perstructure upon which I could fit all the course w ork re­ quired in college. A nd this proved to be the case throughout graduate school at the U niversity of California at Berkeley, where I received my Ph.D., and in my post-doctoral research w ork at Stanford U niversity M edical School. Moreover, these practical approaches and techniques provided m eth­ ods for verifying personal goals and the m eaning life had for me. My first experiences w ith these Rosicrucian teach­ ings provided me w ith practical strategies for directly deal­ ing w ith life’s opportunities and what I perceived as terrible problems. In the sum m er o f 1975 the Rosicrucian Order reinsti­ tuted a research program started some fifty years before by the first Im perator in North A merica, Dr. H. Spencer Lewis. Since I served on the sum m er faculty o f Rose-Croix U ni­ versity, served as a m em ber o f A M O R C ’s International Re­ search Council, and as M aster o f O akland Lodge, it was natural that I be asked to consult in the form ation of a new research program . Part-time consulting grew into full-tim e directing o f laboratories, personnel, and investigations. For tw elve years, M indquest, a monthly report and article deal­ ing w ith our research, w as published in the Rosicrucian D i­ gest and then translated and published in eight languages. The subject that w as central to the many investigations made in the A M O RC research facilities at Rosicrucian Park

and in the laboratories o f m em bers of the International Re­ search Council w as a process o f thought leading to insight, integration, and new expressions o f creativity. Through this book, I am grateful for the opportunity to share with you my enthusiasm for a way of experiencing life and self w hose origins can be found in antiquity. *

*

*

M any people contributed to the creation o f this book. The ideas and processes explored here were also entertained, experienced, and explored in antiquity and evolved over many centuries. In our present cycle of experience these ideas were once again investigated, promulgated, and shared by the officers, em ployees, and m em bers o f A M O RC. Re­ search that greatly contributed to this body of work w as con­ ducted by a fine team of A M O RC scientists and other staff researchers, both at Rosicrucian Park and throughout the w orld. A special acknow ledgm ent goes to A M O R C re­ searchers M ichael Bukay, Sandra Huff, June Schaa, Chris­ tine Van Dorn, and Dr. O nslow Wilson. Personally, I also received the benefit o f tutelage from m any teachers. Forem ost o f these were Dr. M arian E. Smith at Stanford U niversity M edical School and the VA Hospital in Palo A lto; Dr. W ilbur B. Quay, o f the U niversity of Cali­ fornia, at Berkeley; and Dr. Theodore R. A tkins at Clemson University. Dr. Bernice Zam ora and M adge Doss edited the original m anuscript. In addition, many friends also made suggestions, read chapters for me, inserted tables and fig­ ures. These supportive friends included Carm en and Juan Alvarez, Francoise Beaudoin, Roberta Ellarae, Pall Grondal,

Tim Sika, Linda Stanley, Jacqueline and Robert Vickery. The additional love and assistance o f m any colleagues, friends, and loved ones throughout the w orld resulted in the gift, to me, of this book.

CHAPTER 1

BEGINNINGS

ur physical senses and objective consciousness give to the outer w orld a sense o f substantiality and reality. Some of us, however, also dream o f firs t causes. This is the very essence o f m etaphysics. M any people have an inner yearning for m eaning and significance, for the eternal, the beautiful, the true. O ur feelings, em otions, and sentiments of love, peace, and jo y can seem form less, and yet these qualities o f our experience can be as m uch a part of our consciousness as the outer w orld we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. O ur subjective, inner experiences, however, can appear to be m ore vague and intangible than our more con­ crete and objective ones.

O

A lthough som e o f us m ay be unaw are of it, w e all con­ stantly search for the bond between the tw o worlds, the infi­ nite and the finite, or the spiritual and the material. Even in the ancient w orld, there were people w ho noticed that they w ere so constituted as to perceive tw o worlds. Some an­ cient philosophers and medieval alchemists termed this bond­ ing or union o f objective and im aginative faculties the M ys­ tical M arriage, the M ysterium Coniunctionis, or w hat some today call the M arriage o f the M ind. This mystical m ar­ riage is a universal pattern lying deep w ithin ourselves, b e­ ing essential to the experience and expression o f w hat we actually are. This M arriage of the M ind is one of the most im portant subjects we can choose to investigate while on the path leading to M astery in Self.

Ancient m yths tell us that the chosen path w hich leads to the M ystical M arriage is im portant in and of itself. The Chymical Wedding o f Christian Rosenkreutz tells us that there are four paths to choose from as we journey to the M arriage Feast. The First Way is short, but filled w ith danger, fearful dragons, birds of prey, steep ascents, precipices, and the many obstacles and pitfalls found with trial-and-error approaches in life. Those w ho arrive at the M arriage Feast by this route are filled w ith attitudes and feelings o f conceit, self-im por­ tance, and hubris— that is, w hat the ancient Greeks were referring to as overw eening pride. The people w ho suc­ ceed on this first way feel that their great accom plishm ents and achievem ents are solely due to their ow n efforts; noth­ ing is sim ply given to them as a gift of life. Unfortunately, their pride and arrogance also prevents them from receiving the fruits of illum ination and insight, w hich are the gifts of the Chymical M arriage. Those w ho chose the long, easy, m eandering path, the Second Way, did not show up at the feast before the story ended. Presumably, they were still aimlessly drifting through life when the tale w as over. We might hope, however, that m aybe they w ould make it for the next telling of the story. The Third Way w as one m eant for spirits. Christian Rosenkreutz felt that this w ay w as unfit for him self, or for people like us. Some people in m ystical pursuits choose such a way, and becom e lost in purple and pastel fantasies that have little connection to objective realm s of conscious­ ness. Certain ancient m yths speak o f time spent in such a fairyland reverie, before the hero or heroine realize the m is­ take and choose to break the spell and return to the world. In the Arthurian romances, Morgan Le Fay spent many weeks

in such a fairyland before regaining her senses and return­ ing to Cam elot and her duties in Avalon. The fourth w ay w as sim ply called the Royal Road. To enter upon this path one had to recognize that he or she had been one o f the chosen. Even Christian Rosenkreutz found such a choosing to be intim idating. Yet, judging him self to be unw orthy or not, he still found him self w alking on this Royal Road because, enraptured, he had followed a small, w hite bird (traditionally, a small, w hite bird represents in­ nocence and intuition). This unlikely method of his elec­ tion to the Royal Road caused Christian Rosenkreutz to doubt his w orthiness. W hile still doubtful, he proceeded, discov­ ering that on this fourth way questions were asked o f him and gifts were given by the G atekeepers of the way. He did not arrive at the feast by m eans o f his ability alone. He arrived at the feast having shared his life and past experi­ ences and having allowed them to be w edded to the Royal Gifts that were given along the way. Since ancient times, people have had intuitions about the tw o sides o f a divided hum an nature, som etim es ex­ pressed as E ros and L ogos, heart and mind, the right-hand way and the left-hand way. Even in our most objective and rational m om ents w e can feel a counterw eight within: the vague and undefinable aspects o f our im agination and sub­ conscious. These intuitions and creative urges usually are the province of poets, philosophers, and mystics, rather than the province o f the com m on-sense view o f the man of sci­ ence and w orldly affairs. However, the facts o f recent neu­ rological and psychological investigations on hemispheric functioning are now m oving the view s of science closer to

that of the poets and mystics. M odern research indicates that there are tw o basic ways o f knowing, based upon d if­ ferences in the functioning of our tw o cerebral hem ispheres. Hence, the purpose o f this book is our personal realization o f our unity and oneness o f consciousness. In such a whole­ ness, w e can know the “m arriage” of these tw o w ays of ex­ periencing life. In research conducted by Rosicrucians, w e have found that w e can all be seeking insight and illumination— the fruits of the M ystical M arriage. Yet, creative insight often seems to have a w ill of its own. We can spend hours, days, or even m onths trying to solve a problem w ith little apparent suc­ cess. Then, suddenly, without m ental effort, the solution flashes across the screen of our consciousness, accom pa­ nied by feelings o f “ aha!,” certainty and joy. In order to study in the laboratory this natural process o f insight expe­ rience, a system o f questions w as devised. R ather than only approaching this subject in an abstract way, you m ay enjoy experiencing this thought process for yourself. In the next chapter there are a series of questions de­ signed to direct you through objective, form ative, and sym ­ bolic states of consciousness. As many Rosicrucian stu­ dents have done, you may also w ish to choose to w ork w ith a candle flam e as a point o f concentration for answering these questions for yourself, and then you w ill be able to com pare your answ ers with com posite answ ers draw n from the responses o f m any o f these students. This com parison w ill assist you in assessing w hether your answ ers are spe­ cific and addressed to the questions asked. Note your body sensations or feelings as you pass from one state of con­

sciousness to another. W hen you are objectively describing som ething, do you fe e l the same as when you are describing how som ething w orks? W hat are your body sensations as you ask yourself w hat m eaning can this som ething hold for you? W hat can you learn about yourself from these changes in feeling and m ood? Could this have anything to do with your realization o f your M astery in Self?

CREATING SYMBOLS OF TRANSFORMATION he creative process is dual in nature. It involves both an active doing and a receptive not-doing. The doing part requires concentration, study, and analysis. N ot-doing involves relaxing the objective mind so that there results a release of the Inner S elf’s powers. A t a subconscious level, disjointed thoughts shift and realign them selves, and a solu­ tion or inspiration spontaneously appears. In A M O R C ’s research facilities w e wondered if this process o f creative insight and the likelihood o f illum ination could be facili­ tated and directed. We asked ourselves w hether the prin­ ciples contained in the Thought Process (utilizing the prin­ ciples and techniques o f C oncentration, C ontem plation, M editation, and A ssum ption) could be used to jo in together doing and not-doing, conscious and subconscious activities, so that we could im prove our ability to m aster ourselves and creatively direct the forces o f nature.

T

To study the natural process o f insight in the laboratory, w e used a system o f questions based on Rosicrucian prin­ ciples and techniques. We observed that this system o f ques­ tions could indeed guide a person through the various learn­ ing stages leading to an insight experience. To start the pro­ cess, subjects first chose an object of interest on w hich to concentrate. They then answered a series o f questions about the object of concentration. M any subjects chose a burning flame. The follow ing sum m ary dem onstrates how a subject

concentrates by using a candle flam e and this process. The sum m ary is a com posite drawn from the responses of many subjects.

C O N C E N T R A T IO N

Q uestion: H ow w ould you objectively describe the candle flam e in term s o f your five physical senses? A n sw er: People pointed out that, “the flame is blue at the base and gradually m erges into bright yellow at the tip.” Others said, “I see an aura around the flam e.” “M elted wax drips dow n the side o f the candle and smoke rises from the flam e.” “The w ick is black w ith a red spot on its tip.” “A s the flam e burns the candle gets smaller.” “The flam e is hot to touch yet I can pass my finger quickly through the flam e without being burned.” “I can smell a slight odor of the burning candle but I do not hear nor taste the flam e.” Q uestion: W hat does fire do? How does fire affect your life? A nsw er: Responses to this question included, “Fire gives light and w arm th.” “ One fire can start other fires thereby m ultiplying its light and w arm th.” “ I use fire to cook food and heat my hom e.” “ My car runs by burning gasoline.” “The m etal in my car w as smelted w ith fire.” “Fire is the basis of industry.” “The Sun and stars are fire. All life on earth is fueled by Sun-fire. All chem ical elements were born in the furnace o f stars.” “If fire did not exist, neither w ould I in my present form .”

PROCESSES OF INSIGHT AND INTEGRATION C O N T E M PL A T IO N

Q u estio n : You have observed fire and you know what fire does. How does it do this? Why is it capable o f doing this? In other words, what is the mechanism of action by which fire accomplishes what it does? A nsw er: In contem plating an answ er to this question, many people reported a shift in consciousness from that o f con­ centration. One person rem arked, “W hen hot enough, an object bursts into flam e. The flam e com bines with oxygen and produces light, heat, and new chem icals.” Others added, “The flam e ignites other objects by raising their vibratory rate so that they, too, com bine w ith oxygen.” “W hen the oxygen is depleted or the fuel expended, the fire dies.” The Sun-fire does not use oxygen. Hydrogen is con­ verted to helium by a process of nuclear fusion. Eventually the Sun w ill consum e itself. Its spent atom s will gradually coalesce and becom e building blocks for newer, evolving stars.” Q uestion: H ow does the mechanism of fire which you have just described operate in and through you? Analogously, how are you sim ilar to fire? A n sw er: For many people this question evoked a sense of poetry, analogy, and metaphor. People stated that, “Like fire, my body consum es fuel and produces heat.” “ My thoughts radiate light w hich can help others along the path to understanding.” “Each fire I set in the mind o f others m ultiplies the light given to m e.” “W hen I die my soul-fire will continue to burn, and like the stars, I w ill be reborn in new form .”

Q u estio n : W hat is the m eaning of the fire principle? W hat law is being illustrated? A n sw er: M any begin to feel excitem ent when dealing with m eaning and significance. O bservations included, ‘T h e flow ing, grow ing, expanding nature of the flam e is a sym ­ bol o f life.” “By its association w ith body heat, fire sym ­ bolizes good health and also represents a w ild craving for nourishm ent (the all-consum ing fire).” “Both fire and life feed upon other lives in order to keep alive.” “Fire is an alchem ical elem ent w hich operates in the center o f things as a unifying, stabilizing factor.” “Fire is related to the Sun, allied w ith central control and superiority.” “The fire principle is the seed w hich is reproduced in each successive life. A s a m ediator between form s w hich vanish and form s being created, fire is a symbol of transfor­ m ation and regeneration.” It is also an “agent of transm uta­ tion since all things derive from and return to fire.” M ost sym bols of life are also sym bols o f death. This is so because both life and death are conditions of change and

Fig. 1. One subject's representation o f the duality o f fire.

transition. Thus, “ . . . fire is also a destroyer.” The dualistic sym bolism denotes both physical destruction and determ i­ nation of spirit. “Fire is an im age of energy which may be found at the level of anim al passion as w ell as on the plane of psychic strength.” One m ay give oneself up to the fire, sim p ly use the fire fo r co m fo rt, or steal the fire like Prom etheus. H owever approached, it must be rem em bered that “fire is ultra-life,” To pass through fire is sym bolic of transcending the human condition. In dealing w ith a candle flam e, some people dealt with the nature o f fire and others w ith light. For instance, some people pointed out that “Light is spirit. Spirit energy is rec­ ognizable by its lum inous intensity. Its w hiteness alludes to a synthesis o f all.” Light is also “ . . . the creative force, cosm ic energy em anating in seven colors.” To becom e illu­ mined w ith fire and light is to become aware o f the light and, thus, o f one’s spiritual strength. (For a m ore detailed explanation o f this process o f Concentration, Contem pla­ tion, and M editation, please see Appendix 1.)

A SSU M PT IO N

Q u estio n : In your im agination paint a nonverbal picture which illustrates your ideas about the m eaning of this prin­ ciple of fire. If you w ere to becom e the symbol of fire in your picture, what m ight you experience? Do not “control” your visualization, but sim ply observe w hat surprises oc­ cur. A n sw er: The experience o f being a sym bol in our mind can be pow erful and lead to the transform ation o f previous atti­

tudes and outlooks in the world. A s som e people shared, “I becom e the fire and am surprised that there is no sense of heat. I extend tongues o f flam e and consum e and purify objects around m e.” “1 take a problem and draw it into the fire of my Inner Self, burn away the outer trappings, and see the principle at the problem ’s core. I now project the principle out into the external w orld and give it new clothing and application.” “By assum ing that I am the fire I discover that I can be an agent o f transm utation. A nything, not just problem s, can be draw n into the fire, reduced to its essence, and projected back into the world in a purer form .” “I discover that as fire I must be careful not to bum other people but as I watch they, too, becom e fire. I com bine with the fires o f many people to form one big fire.” “ I experi­ ence the w hole Earth united as a spiritual fire.” “A s fire I enter into water. The w ater is very dark and black. 1 radiate light but I can no longer see the light I am radiating. I continue to radiate. The more I radiate the more the darkness of the w ater seem s to close in on me. I fight this at first and then I let it happen. The dark w ater com es into my center, but then it is transmuted and is simultaneously radiated outward as fire and light. Simultaneously, the w a­ ter flow s into our center and flows outw ard as light. The seem ing duality is all one, loving m otion. Soon the w aters are consum ed and out o f the puddle that is left rises a large golden globe. It is golden, but like an opal, shines w ith all the colors of the rainbow. A s I enter the globe, I rediscover the dark w ater and at the center a star of fire and light. It is very difficult to relate in w ords the pow er and profound in­

sight o f this experience. The duality that resolves into one flow applies to everything!” *

*

*

D escriptions as given here do not have as much m ean­ ing for the individual reader as having the actual insight ex­ perience for oneself. Talking about mystical experience does not equal having a m ystical experience. The reader may w ish to try several experim ents such as the one outlined here. Concentration, contem plation, and m editation on water, air, or objects found in everyday experience (even paper clips, rubber bands, and pencils) have yielded surprising insights to research participants. The sym bols and insights you dis­ cover are only lim ited by the lim its you yourself put on your im agination. Insight itself is a result o f a unification of many thought processes, including the active and passive stages o f con­ centration, contem plation, and m editation. This research program dem onstrated that insight can be encouraged by the application of the aforem entioned Rosicrucian principles and techniques. In the laboratory, physiological m easure­ m ents taken during the various stages leading to insight resulted in observations of increasing parasym pathetic acti­ vation or relaxation. Brain w aves moved from high am pli­ tude beta w aves during concentration to low amplitude alpha and theta w aves in m editation. D uring the experience o f assum ption w here subjects im aginatively experienced w hat it might be like if they were the symbol in their pic­ ture, brain w aves w ere flat from 1.5 to 40 H ertz on both sides o f the brain. N onetheless, subjects reported active

experiences and surprising insights during this period. These studies are o f great im portance to the student, for w ith in­ sight w e can learn M astery in Self and guidance of the forces of nature.

F ig. 2. One subject's representation o f the marriage o f fire and water.

CH A PTER 3

THOUGHT AS EXPERIENCE

P R O C E S S F O R T H IN K IN G T O G E T H E R

he w ord thinking is used so indiscrim inately that it has lost precise meaning. It is com monly used to describe any process in the mental realm, frequently being used and confused w ith such w ords as form ulating, visualizing, con­ sidering, contemplating, reasoning, imagining, dreaming, and so on. But regardless of how the term is used, thinking is norm ally associated w ith m ental processes occurring w ithin each individual mind. Apart from attention given to the sensorial perceived w orld, we also give attention to the processes o f the m ental w orld, to the parade of w ord forms and structures, and to our picture im ages and m ental maps. W hat is com monly called thinking permits this mental world to exist.

T

O f course, individual m inds can be linked together by their choosing to hold com m on thoughts, a sort of “ m eta­ bolic” product o f individual thinking processes. Today, thoughts are stored, transferred, and m anipulated by such mental “prostheses” as books, com puters, and television. The w ritten and spoken word, and the pictured thought com ­ m only expressed and shared, link together individual minds into groups and into ever larger organizations. Although com m on thoughts link m inds into chains of being, the pro­ cess o f thinking still rem ains separate and self-contained w ithin each individual mind. Each mind thinks apart. H ow ­

ever, on matters o f inform ation and judgm ent it is generally accepted that “tw o heads are better than one.” Indeed, when new ideas and approaches are being looked for, the more heads the better. Consequently, many m inds are asked to participate on juries and referendum s. M odern research both supports and denies this view. W hen IQ tests made up of m ultiple-choice questions are adm inistered to a group, an average IQ score is readily ob­ tained. But if the plurality preference for each question is recorded and added together, to obtain the group’s aggre­ gate answers to each question (the collective know ledge as determ ined by referendum ) the group’s aggregate IQ score for all the questions is well above the group average, usu­ ally by as much as thirty points. Thus, any given question tends to be answ ered correctly by the majority. W hen the aggregating method is applied to the group’s higher IQ scor­ ers, the resulting aggregate group score is even more im ­ pressive. It can am ount to as much as thirty points higher than that of its highest scoring member! Dr. N orm an Dalkey of U CLA (the originator o f aggre­ gate IQ scoring) and Dr. A rthur Jensen o f the University of 3A

average group mean i

>h

—

Si

....... . ho

w > i7 Ii

l iii

10 scores

high IQ group aggregate score : a

group aggregate score *I

T5i

T si

u ii

....

is i

in i

iTi)

3B

iwT

bimodal curve

Fig. 3. IQ Scores. 3A. Group mean o f an average distribution in comparison to group aggregate scores. 3B. A bim odal curve.

California at Berkeley have pointed out that there are logi­ cal reasons for cum ulative intellectual power. On a difficult multiple-choice question most of the answers, being guesses, are spread more or less equally across all possible answers. This spread form s a normal distribution or a bell curve (see Fig. 3 A). H owever, those w ho really know the correct an­ swers produce a m odal hum p (see Fig. 3 B). Their plurality vote w ould dictate the correct answer. M inds linked together can act synergistically (for m u­ tual benefit), yet in many groups and organizations indi­ vidual m inds are bound fast by the links in the chain. In­ deed, in some groups synergism operates in reverse, the w hole becom es less than the sum of its parts, not more. One reason for anti-synergistic thinking is group pressure for im m ediate convergence o f thought. Face-to-face group dis­ cussions can quickly narrow the range of disagreement bring­ ing about quick agreem ent on a w rong answer. In group discussions a bias is often developed toward the m ost vocal segm ent o f the group, w ith all m em bers not having an equal chance to play an active role in determining judgm ents, forecasts, and decisions. This can be as true in com m unity and business m eetings as in structured strata­ gem s such as sym posia and brainstorm ing. Covering the blackboards w ith volunteered alternatives but without ano­ nym ity can be no m ore productive than “open” discussion, because this allow s spoken error and bias to seep into gen­ eralized group assumptions without leaving any telltale trace on the record. For group discussions to be effective every m em ber participates equally and every thought and idea of­ fered is likew ise treated equally and w ithout bias.

Humility and open-m inded group behavior m ay be a quality we are still striving to attain as a norm. In his book, Victims o f G roupthink, Yale psychologist Dr. Irving Janis reports a surprisingly rigid adherence to group norms as well as unexpected pressures tow ard uniform ity in otherw ise highly intelligent groups. C om m ittee group behavior was marked by illusions of invulnerability, arrogance, group loy­ alty, and illusions of unanim ity and uniform ity based on the fallacy that silence m eans consent. They collectively ratio­ nalized away suggestions that decisions be reconsidered, and self-appointed “m ind-guards” em erged to shield the group from any inform ation that m ight have shattered its com pla­ cency about the rightness of its decisions. Is conform ity a necessary product o f groupthink? Is it possible to make intelligent, creative group decisions for the universal good, untram m eled by conform ist pressures or the stresses of idiosyncratic thinking and em otion? “ Per­ haps,” suggests Dr. John Calhoun of N IM H (N ational Insti­ tute o f M ental Health), “ if w e w ere intelligent enough to develop a ‘social b rain ’ and then use it to its fullest poten­ tial.” To do so, w e might begin by seeing ourselves as if we were the individual neurons (brain cells) of a group mind. In other w ords, the individual mind o f m an might be used as an intuitive and logical m odel for society (see Fig. 4). Such an evolved social brain w ould require a sensing system to scan the universe of concepts, ideas, philosophies, purposes, and functions, and it would require an im agining system to develop a continuous creative anthology and syn­ thesis. Finally, an appreciative system w ould be required to discrim inate, evaluate, and condense the group-generated

Fig. 4. A n operative m o d el o f m in d and brain. The individual m ind o f man might be used as an intuitive and logical m odel fo r society.

M ARRIAGE OF THE MIND

ideas into group-validated principles and ideals. Each m em ­ ber would becom e a unit in a mind greater than itself. Each m em ber w ould not only share in the thoughts produced within the group, but w ould be a participant in a group think­ ing process. The neurosciences teach that in the brain cortex each neuron is a self-contained, individual cellular unit. Each w orks silently and efficiently to add its part to the whole of thought. A single thought is a vibratory w aveform that en­ com passes the entire cortex, being the product o f the com ­ munity o f neurons w orking together. Impulses and m es­ sages originating in the low er brain centers are constantly integrated and evaluated in ever higher centers until finally im pressions and thoughts burst forth in full aw areness on the surface o f the mind. If such occupation and facilitation of ideas are to be ac­ com plished in a social brain, then a m ethod must be devised to transcend the influence o f the kind o f tyrannical group pressures revealed by Dr. Janis. A possible method is inti­ m ated by the aggregate scored IQ test w herein responses o fig . 5. An operative m odel o f meditation. You may wish to use this model in composing your response fo r the M asterthoughts experiment. Begin concentrating by objectively definining the nature and use o f thought. When you try to account fo r why thought works and how it operates within you, you may immediately note a shift in your inner state o f consciousness. See i f you fe e l differently when you objectively define in comparison to when you ask why. M any w ill again fe e l another shift as they examine the universal meaning o f thought and when they ask to receive a universal sym bol or picture which will unify all o f their ideas and observations concerning thought. Concentration-contemplation-meditation is an orderly and holistic process o f study lead­ ing to that knowledge and wisdom perm eating mystic experience.

are independently w ritten out by each m em ber o f the group. With the w ritten response the least talkative m em ber is el­ evated to the sam e operational plane as the most garrulous. With a social brain, then, unbiased facilitation may be ef­ fected by having each m em ber anonym ously subm it w rit­ ten responses, by having an unbiased jury review, and then by reporting the results back to the group. The freshly as­ sim ilated know ledge is then further refined through another round or two of the same silent procedure. Will such a utopian model for a group mind really work? Can the thinking processes of individual m inds be synthe­ sized into the operations of a greater m ind? Thinking to ­ gether, can w e produce practical, beneficial, and holistic results? We can experim ent. Let us think together. In 1977 each reader o f M indquest w as invited to submit a concise, written response to the follow ing three-part ques­ tion: (1) W hat is thought?; (2) How does thought relate to man?; (3) D oes thought have a universal purpose? Im ag­ ine a universal sym bol which encom passes all o f your ideas concerning thought.

T H E N ATURE O F T H O U G H T

O ver 400 M indquest readers throughout the w orld sub­ mitted their ideas concerning the nature, use, and purpose of thought. A panel o f ten people then reviewed the subm it­ ted ideas and each panel m em ber w rote a synopsis. The A M O RC Research Staff synthesized the synopses for pre­ sentation as a series o f M indquest reports.

From these reports it was obvious to the Rosicrucian scientists responsible for the M indquest program that think­ ing involves em otion, reason, memory, intuition, and im agi­ nation, as well as the five senses. W hat also could be seen is that there is a basic elem ent shared by objective, form a­ tive, and sym bolic thinking. At each level o f thought, im ­ ages are used. Im ages are used to recollect, to create or receive new insight, to analyze, reason, evaluate, and ob­ serve. Thoughts constantly transform , m oving, changing shape, and coalescing. Thoughts can be sustained, focused, and projected with suggestion and visualization in such pro­ cesses as m editation, dream, prayer, and ritual. Some im ­ ages even trigger the transform ation of other images. The m ovem ent o f thought through consciousness can occur spontaneously or it can be directed at will. W hether directed or not, thoughts attract, channel, and give form to energy. Thought can be transm itted over a distance as in telepathy, and directed toward the ordering o f m ovem ent in e x te rn a l o b je c ts . R ece n t e x p e rim e n ts in v e s tig a tin g psychokinesis have suggested that the em anative pow er of controlled thought can produce m olecular changes in water, accelerate grow th and regenerative processes in plants and animals, and cause objects to m ove as if propelled by some m ysterious force. A ccording to these views, thought would appear to have a concrete character, perhaps affirm ing the old adage that thoughts are things,” and as one contributor poetically adds: Thoughts are free, for they are living things. The closer they dwell w ith truth, the greater the lifepow er flow ing through them. Take care, for these living thoughts, these gentle seed o f w inged-life,

for they are our children w ho w ill be our parents in the next rebirth. M ost participants w ho answ ered the question, “W hat is thought?” fell into two categories. One group (see Table 1) indicated that thought is a product of hum an consciousness and occurs as a person interacts with the environm ent. The other group (see Table 2) indicated that thought is the es­ sence of all that exists w ithin the Divine Mind. In these tables the definitions o f thought were classified into tw o broad categories. One point of view stated that thought is a product of hum an consciousness w hen interact­ ing w ith the inner and outer w orld. In this sense, thought is dependent upon people’s physical and psychic faculties (see Table 1). The other view point finds thought to be the es-

Thought Is: “M an’s attempt to comprehend his realization of the universe and to cope with what he can and cannot comprehend.” “An everiiving, self-renewing process o f imagination.” “The interpretation o f intuition. Thought orders our experiences into conceptual knowledge to be used and transformed into con­ structive action.” “Mental pictures based on abstractions o f our sensory modality.” “The visualization of objective, subjective, and subconscious pos­ sibilities.” “Reality. Everything we perceive is in terms of thought.” “The sum tool of all the mental processes by which ideas are formed.” “Thought generates speech. Speech in turn generates thought.

Table 1

Thought Is: “The essence o f Being. This thought causes all things in the uni­ verse to develop and evolve.” “The third point o f the triangle which results from a combination of Spirit Energy and Vital Life Force.” “ Reflection. It is the universe looking at itself.” “The infinite expression of the One Mind commonly called God— the Cosmos, Universal Soul.” “The expression o f the creative faculty o f the Universal Mind (God) which is also reflected in m an.” “Thought in its most pure state is a constant vibration, emanating from the supreme energy and creative mind o f God." “The universe is a thought in the mind of God.”

Table 2

sence o f all that exists. A ccording to this idea, thought is the creative force or principle o f the universe (See Table 2). Proponents for both viewpoints describe thought as a tool w hich people use to understand them selves and their place in the universe. In this sense thought is seen as a process for transform ation. We use thought to acquire new inform ation about our inner and outer worlds and to analyze the beliefs we hold. W hen w e com pare new observations and ideas w ith our current belief systems, questions arise. These questions are refined through further observation, analysis, and com m u­ nication o f ideas with other people. A fter we “let go” o f our grip on the question, intuition silently unifies our diverse ideas and show s us a new and different way o f looking through our images. Through the process of thought, our

Fig. 6. " Thought is like unto a large running river, sometimes running deep, filling peo p les’ minds, sometimes running almost aimlessly. A t one point o f the river are somewhat materialistic thoughts— at another point are divine thoughts; duality. ” Note: This figure and the accompanying caption, as well as those o f the fo llo w in g three fig u re s, w ere s u b m itte d by p a r tic ip a n ts in the “Rosicrucians Thinking Together” experiment.

beliefs are continuously transform ed into more encom pass­ ing and useful realities. The more we leam through thought, the larger our frontier of know ledge becom es, and the more questions w e have about the unknown. A s one member stated: “Thought is an everliving, self-renew ing process of im agination.” Images, then, are processed on three different levels. On the physical level we realize our objective sensations in terms of images stemming from sight, sound, odor, touch, and taste. On the mental (or ideation) level, im ages are processed by

our faculties o f inductive and deductive reason to form judg­ ments and opinions. On the sym bolic or soul level images are stored as memory patterns w hich can be recollected and recom bined by the intuition to produce different form s of im aginative ideas or images. At this sym bolic or soul level our thoughts acquire meaning, significance, and purpose. Two elem ents that go into the thought process are de­ sire and will, which provide the im pulse for all thinking and activity; observation and the senses w hich provide the raw material and experience for complete memory; the emotional content that kindles and colors it; reason and analysis which gives to thought a form and an order; the im agination and visualization that allow s thought to assum e m eaningful shape; and the faith based on knowledge that sustains it (see the quotation for Figure 7).

Fig. 7. “ Thinking is an act o f the so u l whereby it becom es conscious o f itself and o f other things outside itself. ”

Thought is the innerm ost expression o f the human con­ sciousness, the w hisperings o f the self, the m ind in action, directed awareness. It is accom panied by certain molecular m ovem ents in the brain and nervous system that produce ionic, electric, and m agnetic vibrations. At the same time

there is a tendency in thought to seek expression in the sub­ conscious movement tow ard physical creation and mani­ festation w hich is patterned after the forms o f inner sym ­ bolic realities. A thought does not necessarily consist of labels or words, but rather a psychic glow, w hich may or may not be expressed in w ords (see quotation for Figure 8).

Fig. 8. “A s the particles o f light radiate in all directions from the Sun, and upon striking a prism, are diffused into rays o f various colors, so p erp e tu a l thought em anates from the U niversal Mind, strikes the prismatic mind o f man, and becomes diffused into a variety o f meaning, each mind imprinting upon it its own particular vibration. ”

T H E IM A G E S IN MAN

At the beginning of this chapter w e saw that thoughtimages are the building blocks of im agination, reason, and perception. We saw that thoughts are useful because their movement in the mind corresponds with changes taking place in the external world. In the next two parts of this chapter we will exam ine the way many M indquest contributors in­ terpreted the relationship of thoughts to them selves and the universe. An attem pt will be m ade to integrate the two dif­ ferent views: that we are thought, versus that the universe is thought. Most participants in the M asterthought Experiment expressed the idea that thought w as either a product o f hu­ man consciousness or that thought w as the essence of the

universe. To explore these two points of view further, we w ill ask ourselves the question, “ How does thought relate to ourselves?” A ccording to participants in the M indquest program, our thoughts determ ine the kind of “psychic atm osphere” that surrounds us. Thus, to these participants it is essential that our thoughts be salutary and wholesom e in character, as oth­ erwise they can prove injurious to the mind and body. Posi­ tive and courageous thoughts create a healthy “atm osphere” and attract beneficent responses and influences from others. By allow ing the mind to dw ell on depressing and/or anx­ ious thoughts we often create the very conditions w e want to avoid. In the Bible, Job cursing his fate exclaim s, “The thing I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is com e unto me.” — Job 3:25. T he im plications are that productive thought united with rectitude o f spirit results in wisdom. Our attitudes and ac­ tions are often the direct result of our thoughts. By affect-

Fig. 9 .“. . . In certain senses God, the Cosmos, and Man can be regarded a s within each other, but they still remain dis­ tinctive ideas, and in no real sense equal. N or m ust it be fo rg o tten th a t a ll things, o f which the hum an m ind can hold any conception, are fo r ever within the One Inconceiv­ able Godhead, Who is o f neces­ sity before a ll and beyond all. ” — The Divine Pymander

ing the autonom ic nervous system , our thoughts and atti­ tudes m ay m anifest in the body as radiant health or psycho­ som atic disease. Thoughts are, therefore, intim ately associ­ ated w ith our physical body. One further im plication o f a contem plation o f thought is that our conscious thoughts arise from the subconscious. Once thoughts becom e conscious we can discriminate among them. We can choose to flow w ith certain thoughts and let others pass by. The thoughts in our conscious m ind again sink into the subconscious and there becom e seeds for new thoughts. Hence, this cycling o f thought is an ever renew ­ ing source for creativity and inspiration, leading the imager to experiences of an expanding consciousness. To these participants, thought was felt to generate a se­ ries o f radiating and vibratory im pulses that have psychic and ultim ately physical properties, so that any thought sus­ tained in the mind over a period of time intensifies and ac­ cum ulates energy. P sychoanalysts speak o f a cathexis (G reek for “holding”), the accum ulation of psychic energy w hich infuses a particular idea. Cathexis is said to be high w hen a person strongly feels, concentrates hard, and vividly im agines. It builds up like an electric battery which con­ stantly seeks to discharge itself, or, in other words, to find expression and fu lfillm en t. In the case o f hatred, the cathected energy seeks an outlet in aggression; in a hum or­ ous situation, in laughter; in a loving relationship, in kind­ ness, benevolence, and knowledge. A s one contributor said, “W hen archetypal energies becom e vividly experienced in the im agination, they must necessarily manifest in our outer reality.”

HOLOGRAM RECORDING

HOLOGRAM VIEWING LASER" } >

& REFERENCE BEAM

RECONSTRUCTED

WAVtFRONTS

Fig. 10. To record a hologram, laser light is split in two and bounced o ff mirrors through microscope lenses. M ost o f the light from the first beam illuminates the object, which reflects a complex wave pattern onto the film. The second beam serves as a reference wave, overlapping and interfering with the object wave (just like the meeting o f two waves re­ sulting from two rocks being thrown into a p o o l o f water). The meeting o f the two beams creates an interference pattern on the film that ap­ pears as a pattern o f swirls. The exposed, processed film is a hologram, visible in any laser light that duplicates the original reference wave. The swirls in the hologram diffract this light, exactly duplicating the object wave. This wave is projected toward the observer who sees a three-dimensional image as through a window. Even a part o f the holo­ gram is capable o f reconstructing the entire three-dimensional image, although the intensity and the perspective will correspond to the po r­ tion o f the hologram used. See text fo r how modern neuroscientists have discovered analogous mechanisms in their study o f thought and the operations o f the mind.

In creating a reality, the energies and structure o f the mind may operate like a hologram . A hologram is a light interference pattern stored on an ordinary photographic plate w hich can be reassem bled and projected as a three-dim en­ sional im age in space. To make the interference pattern and to project the three-dim ensional image, coherent light from a laser is used. A s shown in Figure 10 when coherent light from the laser is focused on an object bounced off mirrors and onto an ordinary photographic plate, a hologram nega-

tive is made. This does not take the form o f a negative im ­ age as in ordinary photography. Instead, the “ negative” is one o f a wave pattern of swirls. W hen coherent laser light is transm itted through the hologram , a three-dim ensional image is projected. If the hologram is cut in half or in quar­ ters, the entire image is still projected from each piece, but it is only one-half or one-quarter as intense. Furthermore, each piece o f the negative shows the three-dim ensional im ­ age from a different point o f view or perspective. The studies and theories of several m odern schools of neuroscience suggest that our brains may form thought-images in a way that is analogous to holography.1 For thirty years, the brain scientist Karl Lashley searched for an engram, that is, the substance and site o f a m emory image. He trained experim ental animals, then selectively removed por­ tions o f their brains (cerebral cortex), som etim es fifty per­ cent or more, hoping to scoop out the exact part that con­ tained the memory. His search never succeeded. Instead, Lashley w as continually frustrated by the same finding: no m atter what part was removed, it proved impossible to eradi­ cate what had been taught. As if it were a hologram, the only correlation was that the intensity of m emory loss de­ pended on the amount of cortex removed, regardless of from where it w as removed. Corresponding to the hologram m odel o f brain function is the neuron ensem ble or statistical configuration theory. The ensemble configuration theories explain how the same group o f neurons respond to various stim uli, but w ith dif­ ferent response patterns and, also, how a single neuron can participate in more than one thought-image. A ccording to

these theories a thought or a memory engram functions some­ w hat like the grid of lights that spells out a movie title on a m arquee, or the headlines atop the Allied Chem ical Tower in New York City (see Figure 11). W hen the brain is at rest, isolated neuronal cells sponta­ neously fire in random patterns w hich sw eep through entire populations o f neuronal cells to form a unique configura­ tion in the brain. A s anim als continue to perform their tasks, these established brainw ave patterns grow stronger. Thus, w herever a specific thought is recollected, a unique wave pattern signifying the thought is released throughout numer­ ous regions of the brain. This w ave pattern, or field, is stable and can be recalled even w hen parts o f the brain are se­ verely dam aged, such as Lashley’s studies indicated. The ensem ble-configuration theory accounts for the fact that learning causes synchronization o f a large num ber of neurons; this involves excitation of certain nerve cells and inhibition of others. D ata suggest that each new experience creates a physical representation with a specific energy-field geom etry in the brain. But exactly w hat shape this geom ­ etry takes and how it is consolidated into a thought is not explained by the ensem ble-configuration theory. The holo­ gram model w ould suggest that the energy field geom etry is sim ilar to the hologram ’s swirling interference pattern of light energy. The focus of attention would produce a m ulti­ dim ensional thought-im age, including sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch com ponents, in the sam e m anner as a threedim ensional image is projected from the hologram. It may be that not only the m ind but the entire universe operates like a hologram .2 The theories and publications of

Fig. 11. The Hologramic Thought Image. According to one “electrical” theory, thought may function some­ what like the grid o f lights th a t s p e ll out h e a d lin e s atop the A llied C hem ical Tower in Tim es Square. When the brain is at rest, isolated nerve calls sponta­ neously fire in random p a t­ terns; m essages are con­ veyed when certain bulbs light up and others remain "blank. ” R e c a llin g the thought-image o f the RoseCroix consists o f sequences o f e le c tr ic a l p a tte r n s sw eeping through entire populations o f nerve cells to form a unique configu­ ration in the brain. In ac­ tual fact, the brain does not construct thought images as if it were projecting im ­ ages onto a movie screen. The neuronal configuration o f an “image'* m ay look more like the pattern in the top diagram. See text fo r details on how such a pat­ tern could be interpreted as a thought-image. RECOLLECTION OF IMAGE

physicist David Bohm describe the nature of the universe as an enfolded order som ething like a hologram. The enfolded order consists of a realm of frequencies and potentialities underlying an illusion of concreteness. The concrete, un­ folded aspect o f things is a secondary manifestation. These appearances are abstracted from the intangible, invisible flux th a t is not co m p rised o f p arts, b u t o f an in sep arab le interconnectedness. From the vantage point o f this reality m odel, the universe itself begins to look very much like a T h o u g h t— a re a lity s u g g e ste d by m any m y stic s and Rosicrucians of old, and by a num ber of M asterthought con­ tributors. N euroscientist Karl Pribram and physicist Itzhak Bentov add that the brain may be a hologram interpreting a holographic universe. In m ystical terms, “m an’s thought interprets and experiences universal Thought.” This m odel of the universe offers an explanation for experiences o f illum ination, transcendence, ESP, and altered states of consciousness where there is an access to the en­ ergy and force field domain— the prim ary actuality. A c­ cording to this view, thought-im ages are a part of each other, interconnected by a universal hologram. Could this holo­ gram be the direct result o f the dual energy/force that Rosicrucians call Nous? In this view, thoughts are affected by, and them selves effect, other thoughts. Inner experiences of tim eless space and unity may correspond to a neural attunem ent w ith the prim ary actuality, the prim ordial hologram, the universal Thought. Inner experiences o f connectedness, o f time and of space may correspond to the substantial images of the universe. These im ages point to the separate parts o f the outer world and suggest that everything is related.

Thought, then, enables us to see the reality of relation­ ships and to assume the actuality o f experience. It carves the world into tiny pieces. The more relationships one can perceive am ong these pieces, the m ore we come to realize how everything in the universe is related to everything else. Through thought we com e to appreciate both the unity and the diversity o f all that exists. Since thought constitutes our inner and outer realities, then shared realities can bind us together, allow ing us to live in harm ony with each other. The more universal the thought we share, the more univer­ sal is the com m unity in w hich w e live. M inds attuned w ith other minds w ork synergistically; that is, the expressed en­ ergy o f m inds thinking together is greater than the sum of energy separately expressed by m inds that are not in ac­ cord. In holographic terms, the intensity is greater because more of the total mind is being used to project the reality image. Similarly, thought is the basis o f language w hich per­ mits the sharing o f the variously perceived facets o f truth. Expressed thought binds people together in shared beliefs and opinions, or challenges them to clarify and identify their ow n ideas if opposed. Thinking becom es synergistic when individuals direct their thoughts to the same subject or idea. W hat is known as group-thought involves the com bined mental energy o f several people directed to a specific objec­ tive. It is in these w ays that Rosicrucians Thinking Together w ork to bring forth in the world the greater light of under­ standing. A s a light in a darkened room, these Rosicrucians strive to bring to hum anity their own love of knowledge and their knowledge of a universal love.

Thought, then, becom es the innerm ost expression o f hu­ m an consciousness. T hought gives form to experience. Thought enables people to be aware o f w hat they do, what they have done, and enables them to plan ahead. O ur own individual thought creates our reality. Universal Thought creates actuality. W ithout thought, man w ould not exist to him self. A s one contributor explained, “O ur consciousness of thought superim poses on the existence o f our inner and outer w orld the fact that thoughts are known. The world becom es a dem onstrable world as man confirm s its exist­ ence for the Creator.” W hat the hologram model does not explain is: W ho does the looking? W hat is it that perceives the thought-im age created out o f the swirling energy patterns that make up the substance and force o f thought? We can seek the perceiver as we explore the third question, “Does thought have m ean­ ing and purpose?”

T H E H ID D EN M EA N IN G W IT H IN T H O U G H T

As discussed previously in this chapter, thoughts are the im ages from which realities are created. Thought-im ages are the ever-living, self-renew ing building blocks in im agi­ nation, in reason, and in perception. Thought is useful be­ cause the m ovem ent of images in the mind can correspond w ith changes taking place in the external world. The reason that a correspondence exists between mind and universe may be that both operate in analogous ways. From the vantage o f a hologram ic m odel, the universe looks m uch like a thought.

A. CREATION “Thought is necessary to the manifestation of the universe.” “Thoughts require action to have purpose.” “Thoughts are needed to bring creative forces into usable form.” “The universe is sustained and ordered by thought. On the personal level, thought can be said to be the crucible in which human desires are transmuted into realities.” B. E V O L U T IO N “The purpose o f thought is to change man from a passiveresponding animal into an active participant o f creation.” “The purpose o f thought is to advance life forms.” “The purpose o f thought is survival. Living things will die without an ongoing fulfillment o f purpose and thought.” “ Man may be an approach to an ultimate thought form.” 1. Transcendence: “Elevation to higher planes o f awareness.” “Elevation to a state beyond thought— to a state o f absolute unity, beauty, light, harmony.” 2. Self-Realization: “Realizations of unity, essence, and meaning.” “Self-realization in order to achieve goals.” 3. Culture Formation: “The purpose behind the elementary ideas or germinal ideas from which the social structure has been developed.” “Thought is the primary image leading to the manifestation of certain patterns o f associated ideas that may be recognized in all types o f culture.” 4. Communication: “Communication allows new opportunity to live virtuous lives in harmony and at peace with other men.” “Communication teaches man to assume self-responsibility.”

C. U N IF IC A T IO N , SY N T H E SIS, AND M EA N IN G : 1. U nity: “The power o f thought is increased as thoughts are combined.” “A single thought in harmony with ‘universal’ thought will be strength­ ened.” “The sum of thought is greater than the separate thoughts making it up.” “To bridge the gap between material energy and force.” “To think together— to realize the brotherhood o f man.” “To bring order out o f chaos.” “To bring oneness with G od.” “To bring about a marriage o f mind.” 2. K now ledge and Insight: “To achieve goals.” “To explore possibilities.” “To assign probabilities.” “To provide light on m an’s path.“ “To discover natural law and invention.” “To gain understanding of what brings about thought.” “To allow m an’s reflected view to mirror the image of the creative force.” “To reach a satisfactory conclusion to any situation.” “To create realities.” 3. M eaning an d Significance: “The universal purpose o f thought lies in its very essentiality; in its essence lies the means for its expression, execution, and fulfillment.” “Thought illumines the meaning, purpose, and significance in m an’s universe. This is because thought gives visible form to the invisible.” “Thought is a formative, elemental symbol. Its purpose is to be.” “Divine Mind does not have purpose. It is purpose.”

Table 3. (both pages) THE PU RPO SE O F THOUGHT IS: to allow fo r the creative evolution o f Being, the creative evolution as a process o f BECOMING. Thought is universal imagery in an ongoing process o f becoming. The many ideas which contributed to the formulation o f this “purpose ” are summarized and outlined above.

V V• I I ' ' ' 1 f / \ ‘ l . 1 / N \ '• \ U *,/ ' * ' / *\

\ \

*

^

\ -v' »

^

'

\

•

s

^ ; " s, s >

, -W

—

■

!

■

-

/

/

/

*

• ' * '

r ~-

8 ’

®ne contributor’s symbol fo r thought. The sm all circles represent data being draw n toward the center and as­ similated by the mind in increasing degrees o f understanding.

Cf r -

i^

/

V

y t" ^

y/ ' /• 1t /,

/ j

"

V\vN"*x -

,

^ /

n

*-*/'/'■'>'** *■ > • v - 'J l

—

/

'

^

■'' v

iM.

/

' ’

.1! r

•

\

s N x

■ v

/>.■'' •' / : i i ' ' \ \

N*

V

Some participants feel that thought does not have a pur­ pose. A ccording to this view, purpose is a philosophical concept invented by hum an thought. Therefore, the idea of purpose can only be expressed in relationship to human par­ ticipation and intelligence. Several participants suggested that “thought creates purpose, but thought itself has no pur­ pose.” The majority o f participants felt that a purpose could be ascribed to thought. A s summarized and tabulated in Table 3, the purpose of thought may be that o f creative evolution, transcendence, self-realization, culture formation, m eaning­ ful knowledge, insight, and reintegration. These ideas might be sum m arized by the statem ent, the purpose o f thought is

the creative evolution o f Being. For hum ans the statement might read, the purpose o f thought is the creative evolution o f hum anity's realization o f Being. According to the Rosicrucian ontological model, the two basic com ponents of being are energy (Spirit Energy) and force (Vital Life Force). Force is the organizing principle or intelligence o f being; and energy is the “substance” that is organized (see Figure 13). The structure of both thought and the universe are related in that both consist o f this en­ ergy and force. The force o f being organizes energy into subatom ic particles, atom s, m olecules, living organism s, planets and stars. In the human mind, the force of being organizes energy into archetypes, images, ideas, symbols, realities, and initiatory experiences. Even the behavior o f universe and mind is similar. In the universe energy patterns are continually transformed. Stars and planets are continuously created and destroyed in the m etam orphosis o f matter. Thoughts, too, melt and coa­ lesce in continuous cycles of transform ation and rebirth as old realizations grow and transform into new and more use­ ful realities. In the universe, m atter and energy are inter­ changeable under appropriate conditions. In the mind, thought-im ages and energy are also interchangeable. This may be experienced in m om ents o f insight, illum ination, or altered consciousness. One of the m ost serious challenges facing the neophyte is to move toward an intelligent open-mindedness. This does not mean that we must reject or abandon the experience or know ledge we have already gained. W hat it does mean is that, as creative im agination perm its us to do, w e must tol-

Fig. 13 A: A m odel o f M ind and its manifestation. Fig. B: A m odel o f spiraling planes o f consciousness in which realities are continually trans­ form ed.

erate am biguities without anxiety, integrate concepts in our thinking that seem to be diametrically opposed on the sur­ face, rely as much on our intuition as our intellectual analy­ sis, validate, investigate and learn about new discoveries relevant to our inner goals and do so w ithout fear. This is no easy task, for it requires us to com m it ourselves to our pur­ pose w ith the certainty that com petence requires, w hile re­ alizing that w hat we are now sure o f may be proved “un­ true” tom orrow and that every answ er is but the parent to a host o f new questions. The more w e can understand and practice the art and science o f creative thinking, the more we will be able to do just this.

Each neophyte, called by that still, quiet voice of con­ science, eventually com es to the state o f Being-at-One (of Being-in-Love) w ith w hat had previously seemed to be an­ other outside himself. In such an assum ption experience, there is a realization o f the greater Self. Being then be­ com es realized as indivisible. A s we forsake the thoughts of separate being, w e becom e m ore universal. We w itness the universe im aged w ithin our Self. Three important questions— W hat is thought?, W hat is the Universe?, and H ow are the two related?— are resolved in the realization that m an is mind and contains images o f a universe as a reflection o f him self, Being. Separate desires for know ledge, happiness, and im m ortality can then be “im ­ aged” as a single force— to be. The Self then realizes what it is to be Self-conscious. W ith Self-consciousness, Being can becom e the perceiver o f Being. The initiate then drinks from his own sacred stream and therein quenches his thirst for higher evolution. He is fulfilled. He is returned to his beginning. A s expressed by T. S. Eliot, We shall not cease from exploration And the end o f all exploring Will be to arrive w here w e started A nd know the place for the first time. As sym bolized in Figure 13, our thoughts m ove through spiraling planes of consciousness in w hich our realities of Being are continually transform ed. Each turn o f the spiral returns us to a beginning w hich holds a greater potential for unfoldment. Having realized that a “thought” is not an independent entity, but an im aged representation o f subconscious ener­

gies and forces, and having also realized that a “person,” is likewise not an independent entity, but a sym bolic repre­ sen tatio n o f co sm ic en erg ies and fo rces, th ere are no thoughts, no entities w hich are constant and self-contained. A person is a being through which universal forces work. A thought is an imaged idea through which human forces work. These forces are both constructive and destructive. Both are essential in the universal cycles of energy exchange, the form ation and disintegration of ideas and forms. The concept of duality arises, for exam ple, when it is believed that there is a “m e” w riting and “another” reading, or when it is believed that there is a “m e” speaking and “an­ other” listening. In our reality we perceive separate images that give rise to differences in experience and meaning. Perception involves both physically distinct sensations and our interpretations and re-creation o f them in our mind, so that the elements are often rearranged into new form. It also involves understanding the mutability or changeable­ ness o f these, their transform ation into each other, their transm utability in the alchemical sense. In other words, the essence— the totality— o f “perception,” which produces the key to wholeness and self-mastery, is its im perm anence and illusory characteristics on the physical plane and its tim e­ less, spaceless infinity on higher levels. The human is formed as a vehicle for Being, but it is through w ords as appearances of learning and separation that he falls into ignorance. Through w ords and im ages as an expression of know ledge (directly felt experience) the initiate is raised again and again so that the One Self, the One Being, realizes m ore o f its actual Self. Thought w hich

recollects know ledge o f the actual is not merely learned. A s a seed it is already there within. One purpose o f Rosi­ crucian philosophy is to provide an atmosphere where the initiate may harm oniously participate in the unfolding ex­ perience o f the flow ering o f Being.

Fig. 14 A: “7 imagine the rain­ bow in color as a universal o f thoughtfo r the follow ing reasons: 1. It appears to be a connecting line or bridge from one point to another. 2. It has no beginning and no end. 3. It is intangible and elusive. 4. It can be w eak or strong, clear or hazy. 5. It makes something where there was noth­ ing. 6. It is colored by atm o­ spheric conditions as thought is colored by emotion. 7. To go be­ yond the rainbow to the prover­ bial ‘p o t o f g o ld ' has been m a n ’s dream. To g o beyond thought is to transcend into light and perfect beauty, to achieve Cosmic Consciousnsness. ’’

Fig. 14 B: "Thought is the vehicle by which the universal conscious­ ness p ro g resses to the higher spiritual state. ”

Fig. 14. Symbols and accompanying quotations were submitted by par­ ticipants in the "Rosicrucians Thinking Together ” experiment.

Fig. 14 C: “Being does nor state a purpose; it ju st is. The exist­ ence o f natural laws indicates that repetition o f cycles, disap­ pearance o f one form and emer­ gence o f another— anything nec­ essary will be done to ensure the ongoing o f Being. A n d it is go­ ing to fill the circle o f all that is. Differentiation, the focalization o f Being into personality, results in purpose. The personal mind, because o f limitation, sees direc­ tion and value in thought and therefore assigns it a purpose. Therefore, purpose would be the r e a lity f o r in d iv id u a ls a n d groups. I f there is universal pu r­ pose in actuality, we can never get closer to it than reality. But were we created to give purpose to Being?"

Fig. 14 D: “Thought is aware­ ness. It is Being. It is a state o f experiencing the now. Thought gives man a conscious realiza­ tion o f him self and his surround­ ings. I f this were not so, He would not exist to himself. ”

SYMBOL INTERPRETATION

C O N FID E N C E : T H E U N FO L D IN G SEED

n the suprem e initiation o f the Eleusinian M ysteries there w as displayed for the initiate or m ystes an ear of grain, grown and silently harvested out of season. The seed was, for the m ystes, a miracle that captured the sense o f wonder and confidence that can follow a sudden inner experience of the m iraculous gift that life is for humanity.

I

A ncient man came to expect life to wax and w ane ac­ cording to the seasons of the year. Persephone would spend part of the year in the underw orld and part of the year in flow er and fruition. Year after year of regular cyclic experi­ ence led m any people to believe that they should receive life’s gifts at particular times. Yet, gifts can cease to be gifts when w e expect them. They lose their capacity to surprise and delight, to shock and aw aken us to new w ays o f think­ ing, to spontaneously arouse our heightened consciousness. Life becom es ordinary, drab, uninspiring when we know w hat w e deserve and w hat we ought to have right now. We count on life to be predictable, to behave in a regular way, and if it does not, we becom e upset and lose our confidence in life. And do we have com plaints! “W e’ve gotten too much rain this year and now w e have floods!” Or, “W e’ve gotten too little rain this year and now we have a drought!” “C an’t count on the weather— can’t trust it!”

“Education is a mess. You can ’t trust the teachers to teach Junior to read!” Others ask, “How can w e trust poli­ ticians? W ho elected them, anyway?” And who hasn’t heard, “How can anyone be confident in banks—just look at these interest rates!” M any people today have lost confidence in life. Life does not m eet our expectations o f w hat we think it should be. If people today have lost such confidence, this is a re­ flection o f a greater loss of confidence in the divinity within ourselves. W hen we lose our job, when w e cannot afford a house we think we should have and deserve to have, w hen w e b e­ come seriously ill, when there appears to be little security and little hope for a better life in the future, we may have difficulty feeling confident. In a chaotic world, in a tum ul­ tuous w orld o f strife, psychological studies appear to show that feelings of self-esteem and self-confidence follow ex­ periences o f success. If life is w orking out well (the way we want it to), then most people say that they feel confident. Som etim es this confidence prom otes m ore success. Yet when life persistently becom es difficult and does not meet expectations, then suicide rates go up, and depression, cyni­ cism, worry, and fear becom e the dom inant em otional con­ text o f our lives. The ancient world too w as plagued by such cyclic loss of confidence. For this reason, a confidence solely based on outer-world success was not held by the ancient mystery schools to be sufficient for a person’s true needs. Such con­ fidence w as known to be an ephem eral mask, cloaking a

basic insecurity and a hunger for a genuine confidence that could be an unshakeable foundation throughout life. Today many people still feel that if w e could ju st learn more, read more books, and attend more lectures, w e would finally succeed in overcom ing the problem s that life offers us. If we were just m ore successful, had m ore successful experiences, then w e could be confident. Then w e could rely on the ordered predictability o f this w orld. However, the ancients observed that such a view often produced an illusion of self-esteem and confidence that rose to the heights of overw eening pride or hubris, and sank to the depths of despair, depending on the tem per o f the times. Conversely, they observed that some people avoid some of the ups and dow ns as well as avoiding personal grow th by developing an inflated self-confidence that might say, “If only people w ould listen to me, we would all be better off. I ’m confi­ dent in my ability. It’s other people who are m essing up the world. It’s other people you can ’t have confidence in.” M any self-help books w ould have us develop such a cloak o f self-confidence. Rosicrucians often suggest that such a method does not work. A s one Rosicrucian Imperator, Ralph M. Lewis, said, “To have merely a feeling o f assumed confidence when we want to do anything is to fool ourselves and gain nothing.” The w ord confidence, m ade up o f the Latin prefix con“w ith” and fidere “to tru st,” m eans “w ith intense trust.” Tracing the origins of this w ord we find associations with reliability, fidelity, com m itm ent, help, support, consolation, truth. The word confidence is a pow erful word. This is the foundation upon w hich people base their ability to fulfill

their function in life and m anifest their innerm ost desires. As another Rosicrucian Imperator, Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, put it, “The secret o f success in all things having a mental or psychic foundation is genuine confidence, not blind faith or the cloak of m ere belief. By genuine confidence w e are led to the attainm ent of self-mastery.” People often think that confidence or trust is the result of learning. Actually, the practice of Rosicrucian exercises can dem onstrate for us that it is our perceptions and realities that are the result of learning. In fact, perception is learn­ ing, reality is learning, for cause and effect are never sepa­ rated. Rosicrucian students can attune w ith an inherent con­ fidence because we come to know that the world is not gov­ erned by m an-m ade laws. By practicing the Rosicrucian experim ents and exercises w e experience that the w orld is governed by a cosm ic order or power. The pow er is in us but not o f us. It is the pow er that keeps all things in a state of being, both orderly and creatively evolving. Through this pow er the initiate looks upon the world w ith confidence and intense trust. Once this universal or cosm ic pow er has been consciously experienced and accepted, it becom es im ­ possible— ridiculous— to trust the petty strengths and trivial successes o f the mundane world. W ho would attem pt to fly with the w ings o f a sparrow w hen the mighty pow er o f an eagle has been given? W ho o f us w ould place trust in the shabby offerings of outer successes and failures, w hen cos­ mic gifts are laid before us? In our previous exercise (found in Chapter 2) we were able to reach insight through w hat could be called inductive thinking. In the exercise w e m oved from objective reality (concentration on a specific object) to a sym bolic reality

(realization of a general principle). However, it is also pos­ sible to experience m eaningful insights by reversing this process. We can proceed from a symbolic reality to an ob­ jective reality. This deductive approach is an aid to us in understanding w orks of art, dream s, and sym bols received in m editation. The deductive approach is also o f assistance in understanding the nature and qualities of Self. W ith this second approach we are again guided by ask­ ing ourselves a series o f questions. These questions in their general form can be found in Appendix 2. Each question is designed to draw upon specific mental faculties. The first approach w as dem onstrated w ith the use of a candle flame. We shall dem onstrate the second approach w ith an intan­ gible quality o f Self, that of confidence.

ON T H E N ATURE O F C O N FID E N C E

The w orld today is beset w ith econom ic and social prob­ lem s characterized by a lack of confidence, a lack o f trust in ourselves, others, and our institutions. To the average per­ son these problem s may seem unsolvable and overw helm ­ ing. The mystic can come to know that events or forces that at one time seemed threatening can, through understanding, becom e our allies and becom e instrum ents for m aterializ­ ing the desires o f our Inner Self. Let us join together in the Great Work of increasing that understanding to create greater harmony, peace, and unity in our lives, the lives o f others, and our world. You are invited to explore w ith us the nature o f confi­ dence, how it com es to us and influences our behavior. To

do this, we will use a version of the Rosicrucian Thought Process specifically developed to relate confidence to life experience. With confidence w e can realize our M astery in Self. The Rosicrucian Thought Process, consisting of Con­ centration, Contem plation and M editation, is explained in the Rosicrucian m onographs, and is discussed and am pli­ fied in Chapter 2 of this book. This process uses experi­ ences and questions to explore various stages o f objective and subjective consciousness. Using this process we can integrate our inner and outer w orlds, resulting in a greater sense of w holeness and confidence. We shall begin by experiencing som ething o f the nature of confidence. As w e do this, our first objective w ill be to pay attention to and observe bodily sensations or feelings. For instance, take a deep breath. How are you feeling right now? Notice your heartbeat, your breathing, and other body sensations. Are you feeling heavy or light, cold or warm, tight or expansive, dim inished or confident, or are the feel­ ings you are experiencing at this mom ent different? W hat­ ever they are, breathe deeply and let those feelings expand and intensify. This is the base point, the beginning, for you. We w ill now approach confidence through three exercises. A fter doing each exercise, stop for a mom ent, consider what you experienced, then write a brief description o f the feel­ ings (bodily sensations) experienced. Exercise A. R ecall a m om ent of personal achievem ent, a mom ent of success, a m om ent in which you did things “right.” How do you feel as you relive this experience? W hat does this experience do for your self-esteem , self­

assurance, your confidence, your ability to trust yourself and others? If you w ere asked to try to do again w hat you did then, how would you feel? Would you be as successful now? As you experience this, keep noticing your feelings. Breathe deeply and allow these feelings to intensify. W hen you are ready, stop for a mom ent and then write a brief description o f your feelings and experience. Exercise B. Now recall an occasion when you failed in an im portant endeavor, that m om ent when you realized that you did som ething “w rong.” How do you feel? W hat does this exercise do for your self-esteem , self-assurance, your sense of confidence, your ability to trust yourself and oth­ ers? Would you be w illing to repeat this experience again? Would you do things in the same way, or would you change your approach? Do you find it easier to recall successes or failures? W hat does this tell you about yourself? Now, how do you feel? Breathe deeply and allow your feelings to in­ tensify. Continue noticing your feelings. W hen you are ready, stop for a mom ent and then write a brief description of your feelings and experience. Exercise C. Now im agine w hat it might feel like if you w ere a seed— a seed ju st now opening, unfolding to the world, unfolding potentials that have lain dorm ant, asleep w ithin you. You do not know how life will unfold from w ithin you: as a root, a stem, a leaf, a bud, a blossom. How do you feel as you experience the surprises that occur as you unfold and are caught up in the adventure o f living? W hat does this experience do for your self-esteem , self-as­ surance, your sense o f confidence, your ability to trust your­ self and others? Again, breathe deeply and allow your feel­ ings to intensify. Be one with your feelings as you continue

unfolding. W hen you are ready, stop for a m om ent, and then write a brief description of your feelings and experi­ ence. N ow expand your feelings to encom pass the complete experience of confidence: Seed, Failure, Success. Compare your feelings as unfolding Seed, in Failure, in Success. How do you feel at this m om ent? W hat does this expanded sense o f the feeling of all three experiences do for your self­ esteem , self-assurance, your sense of confidence, your abil­ ity to trust yourself and others? Once again, breathe deeply, and allow your feelings to intensify. W hen you are ready, stop for a m om ent, then w rite a brief description o f your overall experience and feelings. Let us now explore these experiences by asking ourselves a few questions. 1.

Sum m arize your experience in each o f the three parts, Success, Failure, the U nfolding Seed. W hich w ere the m ost exciting, the m ost pleasant, the least pleasant?

2.

W hat did you learn about confidence from these three exercises? If w hat you learned could be represented as a picture, w hat would the picture look like? Draw it.

3.

W hat is the underlying principle, the fundam ental truth that you experienced about confidence? Express this truth in one or tw o words. How is this sym bolized by your picture?

4.

D oes this principle w ork in yourself, in other people, in animals, in plants, in m inerals, throughout nature?

5.

Does this principle w ork differently in Success, in Fail­ ure, as the U nfolding Seed? Feel the process going on here. W hat is it? D escribe how this principle, this fundam ental truth w orks in the outer world.

6.

Have your experiences changed your ideas about con­ fidence in any w ay? If so, describe these changes.

7.

W hat does confidence do for you? Complete the fol­ lowing statem ents: “With confidence I can . . . I do . . . I am . . . ”

8.

How in your everyday life can you use these insights gained during your experience w ith confidence?

9.

Complete the follow ing sentence: “U sing my new un­ derstanding o f confidence, I intend to be open to the following experiences during the next tw o w e e k s :..

10. After two weeks complete the following statement: “As a result of my new level of understanding of confidence, the following has happened to m e :. . . ” Readers of M indquest were invited to participate in this experiment. Participants compared their recollections of past successes and failures to the visualized experience of being an unfolding seed w hose grow th and developm ent flowed out o f inherent forces w hich Rosicrucians refer to as Vital L ife Force and the Inner Self. These participants obtained insight into their experiences by using the Thought Process o f Concentration, Contem plation, M editation. O f the respondents, 56.5% discovered from their expe­ rience that confidence for them is based on an intense trust in the Vital Life Force represented by the seed, w hereasl3%

agree with the psychology books that state confidence is based on past successes. These results appear in Table 4. One participant reported that she discovered “Confidence is . . . it exists . . . it’s always there, actual. Success and failure are the realities.” A nother participant added, “ Con­ fidence is the acceptance o f oneself w ith the Source and how w e let it express.” A nother participant clearly com pared her experience to her expectations. “ D uring the exercise I cam e to the real­ ization that confidence came from w ithin, deep w ithin. I always thought that confidence is som ething w e gain from experience. I saw m yself as having confidence in one area, but not another. I alw ays thought I would gain more confi­ dence in w eak areas as I had m ore and m ore experience in that area. A s a result o f the exercise I see that is the hard way . . . the long way.” A nother respondent continued this thought. “ Confidence now has a capital ‘C ’ in my realiza­ tion. Once I allow the Inner Self to come through, confi­ dence com es w ith it. I am confident I can achieve all the things I want to achieve by tuning in with the Inner Self.

Confidence based on Seed

56.5%

Confidence based on past success

13.0%

Unclear response

30.4% Total respondents (46)

Table 4. The Source o f Confidence: Responses to the Experiment.

The abilities are all there. I can now go into areas in which I lacked confidence and now have confidence.” That genuine confidence prom otes grow th by m eans of experiences o f both success and failure w as also indicated in these reports. For instance, one non-m em ber wrote, “With confidence I can afford to m ake m istakes, to learn from my failures as w ell as my successes. I now see success and failure as tw o crutches propping me up. With confidence I w ill eventually outgrow my dependence on them .” A s shown in Table 5, a majority (95.8% ) found the rec­ ollection o f failure unpleasant. Success w as found to be pleasant by 53.3% . Pleasant and unpleasant, success and failure are judgm ental dualities. Excitem ent, however, is m ore likely to be a feeling that spontaneously arises from within. Participants found the most exciting experience was that of the Vital Life Force (85.2% ). A s a participant in N ew Zealand put it, “Im agining my being an unfolding seed gives me a great delightful experience, alw ays w orth look-

Experience

Pleasant

Unpleasant

Exciting

Success (%)

FailuTe (%) Seed (%)

Number partici­ pants responding to questions

53.3

0

46.7

30

0

95.8

4.2

24

7.4

7.4

85.2

27

Table 5. Evaluations o f Confidence Experiences

ing forward to. Not knowing how life will unfold, and watch­ ing my potential reveal itself, is sim ply too w onderful to express in words, as it will all turn out even better than I can imagine (despite my personal reservations).” The enthusiasm o f a participant in Canada reflected the Rosicrucian position on genuine confidence. “This experi­ ence has given me the realization that confidence is not a facade or cover under which we shelter, but is a condition of life, even a privilege of life, always there to be realized.” The practical benefits a genuine confidence can afford w as summed up by an English Rosicrucian student. “ I al­ w ays felt I lacked the confidence to interact w ith people . . . to express my feelings. Since participating in this exercise there have been some subtle changes to my approach to life. It has been easier to com m unicate w ith others, in particular, strangers. A lso greater understanding for others and ways in w hich I can be o f service to them is grow ing w ithin my being.”

ATTAINING C O N FID E N C E

Genuine confidence, the foundation of self-mastery, is an attribute of our inner nature that is o f particular signifi­ cance to Rosicrucian students. For this reason, many stu­ dents are w illing to explore subjective feelings, beliefs, and experiences, so that they might discover w ithin them selves the inner nature, operation, and practical significance o f a genuine confidence. In the second part of this chapter w e explored our re­ search participant’s responses to an exploration of genuine

confidence with use of the questions em ployed in the Rosicrucian Thought Process. In agreem ent with many psychol­ ogy texts, 13% of our research participants experienced con­ fidence as an attitude based on past experiences of success. For another 57% , however, confidence was an attribute of being, som ething we experience when w e are attuned with the Inner Self. It is an attribute o f w ho we are when we are being ourselves. If this is indeed w hat genuine confidence is, how do we come to experience this, rather than experiencing low self­ esteem , unw orthiness, and inadequacy? If confidence were merely based on past success, then all we would need is more and more success to be more and more confident. The methodology here seems simple: Always be right, good, and successful. Yet, does anyone experience life this way, as being always right, good, and successful? How much suc­ cess do we need to experience before w e are worthy o f feel­ ing confident? If we think that we are always right, are we not also heavy with pride, seem ingly disconnected from life and other people? With a need to be right so as to feel con­ fident, can we adm it to ever being w rong? W hen we are wrong, do we not feel guilty, unworthy, depressed? How do we escape this trap? How can we experience the genu­ ine confidence the ancient Rosicrucians so highly praised? A nsw ers to this question fell into five areas: letting go, attunement, flowing, wholeness, and love. For instance, one participant in the research project w ho expected to do poorly because he always felt that he lacked confidence, was amazed by the results o f the exercise. W hile exploring a particu­ larly painful area in which he usually failed, he came to a sudden insight about what w as holding him back. “ I was

not aware that o n e’s confidence w as so directly linked to one’s state of being, to o n e’s attunem ent to the Cosm ic and Inner Self. Such a direct relationship is truly am azing.” Letting the Inner Self shine enabled this individual to real­ ize his inner strength. A nother participant explained the process this way: “ I learned that we all could have the confidence w e w ant, but most of the time we block it and d o n ’t let it come through. Simply put, w hat it is, is. If one lets the Inner Self break through, from where all flows, he w ill be given inspiration, strength, and confidence. If the m echanism were a picture, it w ould be of a chain being broken by a sword, letting out the strength and confidence.” A nother person described the flow o f confidence that results when the protective w alls com e down. “A s a sound w ave goes through its cycles o f positive and negative, it provides an individual tone. Elim inate either the positive or negative portion o f the w ave, and the w ave ceases to be. The m echanism for experiencing confidence is always to

accept each m om ent of the day as a challenge to let the flow continue.” One individual had such a beautiful experience of the cosm ic love connecting her to everything in the universe, that she was able to break through the many inhibitions that usually kept her from feeling confident. She w rites, “ Sud­ denly I am overw helm ed w ith love. It is w ithin me at all times . . . I realize that Self is part o f the Cosmic. I allow love, trust, and intuition to flood me w ith the realization that I am indeed confident.” One of the participants dealt with too m uch self-reli­ ance. An inner realization of som ething greater than herself led to a personal insight. She states, “1 realize that I had been excluding myself, w ithdraw ing from the greater whole, and then trying to accomplish w ithin m yself things which needed the w hole for expression. D uring the experience I had the sudden realization that the Sun does not shine in and for itself alone. It lights up our Earth and M oon, and all it m eets as its rays speed on for all eternity. If its rays are an extension o f or remain a part of the Sun, how greatly has the Sun expanded to embrace the U niverse? We, too.” W hen people experience being who they are, they re­ port feeling whole, attuned, connected; they experience unity, peace, love, joy, and gratitude; they feel confidence. One participant in the research project sum m ed up the process as a series of steps. “Confidence is a gift I receive w hen I am who I am, when I let go and let the Inner Self direct. Thus, the first step is my w illingness to be a w alking ques­ tion m ark by letting go the blocks to an inner aw areness of truth. That is, my letting go of the expectations and beliefs

o f what I think is true, even what I fear is true. Second, my mind now being silent, I can listen to my Inner Self and obey the inner prom ptings of my heart. Third, in this obedi­ ence I experience confidence, joy, contentm ent, freedom. Success and failure no longer matter; being true to Self does. Flowing through these steps I realize that living with my Inner Self is confidence.” Living with the excitem ent associated with confidence moved one o f the participants to write, “ Confidence is not the more or less static notion I used to conceive of, but is a dynam ic, surprising, ever-adapting principle that can per­ meate my entire life. Why, this confidence is Self-mastery, isn’t it?”

C O N FID E N C E : T H E M A N IFESTA TIO N

We all know what success feels like: the thrill, the ex­ citement, the satisfaction. We know failure too: the pain, the despair, perhaps the shame. We desire success, the sense o f pow er and control, the sense o f safety we derive from consistently doing things right. The benefits from success are w ell known and w ell expounded in the w orld about us. Less known are the joys of a genuine confidence honored by the ancients and by m odern Rosicrucians. Can the expe­ rience o f a genuine confidence based on a trust in the Inner Self favorably compare w ith a confidence based on outer world successes? Rosicrucians distinguish an assum ed confidence advised as a requirem ent for success by many self-help books from the genuine confidence arising from a trust in the Inner Self.

The form er relies on a seeming trust in outer, m undane con­ ditions, while the latter confidence is a trust that requires no mundane reasons to support it. An assum ed confidence re­ quires external support, w hile a genuine confidence gives support. We wondered if the genuine confidence o f the an­ cients could be readily experienced today in our modern world. Could the nature and the w ay of this kind o f confi­ dence be described in a m anner understandable to the m od­ ern w orld? And could this confidence hold value for a pro­ ductive person in modern society? As a result of experiencing genuine confidence, partici­ pants discovered in their daily lives such m ystical qualities o f Self as wholeness, unity, love, peace, trust, contentment, creativity, enthusiasm , joy, freedom, and gratitude. For ex­ am ple, one m em ber w rote, “ I can be myself. I can let go and be free. I can experience more instead o f expecting more. I feel like an oak tree dropping little acorns, w atch­ ing these seed-ideas becom ing new oak trees, and letting them grow on their own. I do not have to be concerned for them. Like the acorns these ideas can flourish on their own. Instead o f my needing to be in control, now I am grateful to be able to w atch and participate w ith confidence.” A m em ber from Texas w rote that as a result of partici­ pating in the experiment, many unexpected things manifested in his life. “In my everyday life I can realize the continuity and unity that runs through all aspects of consciousness, with the constant realization that as I attune w ith the purity o f the One, I am one and all is whole. I have cleansed my con­ sciousness o f many fears. It seems as if the dirty clothes I had been w earing during the past year have been laundered and cleaned with a lemon-fresh scent. O ftentim es, giving

up old ideas and desires is hard, but confidence offers me the opportunity and ability to change w ith the effervescent flow o f energy bubbling through all m atter and all life forms in the Cosm ic.” With a genuine confidence some participants report over­ com ing such problem s as sm oking, procrastination, lack of com m itm ent, and the fear of form ing new relationships. A respondent who had been having difficulty m anaging her life felt that, “With confidence I gain a clearer perspective. I am applying this new know ledge in my daily affairs, and feel I am now responsible again for my own life.” A nother participant also reported trouble w ith m anag­ ing tim e and w ith deciding w hat tasks to undertake first. This m em ber found that decisions were made as she let her Inner Self through. “Picturing the list on my desk, I can pick one item at a tim e to accomplish. I can let my Inner Self do the picking and com plete the task. I am finding that things are getting done one item at a time w ith no effort at all. T he tasks are no longer overw helm ing me at the start.” One member, choosing to deal with the problem of pro­ crastination, used his new -found confidence to m anifest the com pletion of several projects. “In the past two w eeks this genuine confidence greatly aided my successful com pletion of several tasks in unfam iliar territories. Errors w ere next to non-existent and the results from my business ventures were gratifying, inform ative, and profitable. In my personal life I com pleted several social activities that had been put off due to insufficient confidence in the past. I w as able to manifest all of this because I now see confidence works simi­

larly in all situations. All ‘different’ situations in life are really part of the oneness of the universe.” A nother m em ber w rote expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the exercise because it had such a profound effect on his life. He w rote, “There have been subtle changes in my approach to life. I have noted, grow ­ ing within my being, a greater understanding for others and w ays in w hich I can be o f service to them .” A participant also reports that genuine confidence al­ lowed her to “solidify relationships,” and “undertake a dif­ ficult m aster’s degree program .” A nother m em ber adds that with genuine confidence, “ I can move through challenges w ith the inner support of know ing I am doing the right thing for me. With confidence I do w hatever task is set before me. With confidence I am freed from em otional and selfish baggage and I am able to relate to others from a secure and loving place. I now see this truth is everyday life. It is the key to m anaging my daily affairs w ith love, and as I listen to the Inner Self, my daily affairs arrange them selves.” A nother participant w rote that she always felt herself to be a victim. Due to a lack of confidence she felt that she w as at the mercy o f others and at the mercy of the environ­ ment. A s a result o f participating in the experim ents she reports that she has begun “to elim inate self-doubt. I can now trust m yself and others, for we are all instrum ents of the Cosmic. I am now more productive, for I truly believe I make a contribution to the environm ent.” “Since confidence com es from w ithin,” w rites one m em­ ber, “ I can approach all areas with confidence.” She found,

“Work and living circumstances are improving and I am now m eeting financial obligations w ithout worry.” A nother participant reports, “Things I used to see as threats I now see as supports. I see them as feedback to support the overall picture. Confidence is assurance that the Cosm ic gives us nothing that is not a support for us.” W hile genuine confidence is often accom panied by ex­ periences o f oneness, unity, love, w holeness, joy, peace, contentm ent, gratitude, humility, creativity, excitem ent, en­ ergy, and enthusiasm , the experience does not appeal to all. A few participants preferred to base their confidence on past outer-world successes. These participants also thought their confidence w as beneficial and highly desirable. A confidence based on outer-world successes “ . . . gives me a better self-im age and a more positive attitude.” With success and confidence “I can walk, talk and argue with any­ one, anywhere. I do things I know are right and beneficial to everyone. I am very sure o f success in w hatever I lay my hands on.” With success, one m em ber writes, “ I can con­ tinue w orking alone, accom plishing what I can. 1 am still an idealistic failure to anyone who know s me, but it doesn’t make quite as much difference anymore. W hether I get oth­ e rs’ approval or not, as long as I know m yself that I am not hurting others, not taking advantage, I can make m yself hap­ pier without constantly feeling guilty for not having done more for everyone else first.” Confidence based on either outer-world success or on an intense trust in the Inner Self can apparently provide ben­ efits. The results obtained here suggest that the form er may

support self-concepts o f separateness, while the latter may prom ote self-concepts involving unity, oneness, and con­ nectedness. All the traits we aspire to as Rosicrucian students rest on confidence or intense trust. How often the student is told that once genuine self-confidence is achieved, all the other traits of self-m astery follow. M any m ystical traditions and w ritings, including Unto Thee 1 G rant, point out that only the trusting can afford honesty, for only they can see its value. The trusting are inherently tolerant, for they have no need to judge others of the world. The trusting can afford to be gentle for harm ing others is the outcom e of false judgm ent. Inner joy is an inevitable result o f gentleness w ith others and w ith self. Thus, it also is a result of having tolerance and honesty and trust. W hen we discover that we can be joyful living in this world o f adventure and ever-new experience, we find we can be more open. We can becom e w alking question marks, open-m inded to what life has to teach us. Can we be open to the w orld and relationships if w e are resistant, intolerant, dishonest with ourselves and others, untrusting? W ithout trust, can w e be generous? Can we give away, release, and let go of our knowledge and accom plishm ents, sharing what we have with others that we may be open to receiving new gifts from life? Can w e “ let g o ” in the Rosicrucian sense, without trust? Patience also is natural to those w ho trust, w ho have confidence. Those w ho are confident in the outcome, re­ gardless o f what it will be, can afford patience, to wait w ith­

out anxiety, to anticipate events with joy and an open-hearted desire to learn, grow, and evolve. To lead people to an experience of that cosm ic power that creates in us confidence or intense trust, the ancient m ystery schools gave w orthy aspirants an opportunity for initiation. In reference to the Eleusinian M ysteries, Aristotle com m ents that the m ystes or initiate w as not m eant to learn anything, but to suffer an experience and be moved. Per­ haps this is w hat the Zen Master, Nan Sen, m eant when he said, “ Learning is not the path, intellect is not the Buddha.” W hat then w as the startling shock the m ystes received when confronted by an ear o f grain, grown out o f season and si­ lently harvested? In prior cerem ony and myth the m ystes had becom e aware of the cycles o f death and rebirth. The sacred ear of grain certainly gave the initiate the recollected certainty of life’s continuity. A precious intellectual revelation, as we w ell know, but one that even many non-initiates were aware of. The ear o f w heat in this context w ould not inspire in the initiate the confidence in his own fate that reports o f the time w ould indicate, or the m agic form ula that w as uttered would suggest: “And behold in this season w hen no grain grows, an ear of grain has grow n.” In fact, the eaT of grain grown and m aturing with supernatural suddenness is like the vine grow ing in a few hours in part o f the revels of Dionysus; and we find the very same plant m iracles in the nature festivals o f m any ancient cultures. The ear o f wheat suddenly grown, silently harvested and displayed to the m ystes is really a mystical revelation— a revelation o f the eternal cosm ic principle within us, the prin­

ciple that gave to hum anity the fruit o f life. This principle cannot be injured, cannot be destroyed, is actual and ever­ lasting. M oreover, the revelation denotes an unexpected ap­ pearance o f the eternal principle for a tim eless m om ent in the m ind and heart o f the initiate. Here we have the m eaning o f the display. This alone can account for the quiet beatific certainty conferred upon the in itia te du rin g the S u p rem e E leu sin ian In itiatio n . Shocked by the ear o f grain appearing out o f time, and with the use o f the ancient technique o f assum ption, the m ystes becom es one with the grief o f D em eter at the apparent loss o f the daughter, Persephone, to the underw orld of sleep, darkness and death; and one w ith the joy o f D em eter at the return of her daughter in the spring of reawakened conscious­ ness. In that tim eless m om ent out o f season, the m ystes can plunge to the depths and rise to the heights o f godlike feel­ ing, yet rem ain at center still Self— tim eless, actual, cre­ ative. In this m om ent the initiate gives birth to a confidence, an intense trust in the directive pow er o f life and its pow er for renewal, adaptation, and evolution transcending ordi­ nary human experience and expectation. Upon deep reflection, perhaps, we too shall find that the m eaning of such initiation and its experienced truth is all the more profound in that it does not make the initiate d e­ pendent on the favor o f any single pow er or idea, but links the initiate through an experience o f cosm ic presence with the great m ovem ents and m om ents o f a divine cosmos.

he Thought Processes (involving the principles and tech­ niques o f Concentration, Contem plation, M editation, and A ssum ption) indicate that the human mind is a constel­ lation o f sensory inform ation, feelings and em otions, induc­ tive and deductive reasoning, m odern and archaic m em o­ ries, intuition and im agination. Thinking can use all of these faculties and qualities o f the w hole mind. The Rosicrucian Thought Process can assist in developing mental faculties, each in their proper place and time, so that each can contrib­ ute its part to the whole of our understanding.

T

Each stage o f the Thought Process contributes to our experience o f wholeness. Concentration exercises can in­ crease aw areness in the objective and subjective worlds. In contemplation our judgm ent and reason are used to discrimi­ nate and evaluate our sensory inputs and im aginative con­ structions. By discovering m echanism s o f action and their practical application, w e learn to m aster ourselves and bal­ ance our inner and outer worlds. In m editation and assum ption, confusion and disjointed thoughts can melt away, to be replaced by a unifying, health­ ful, and loving experience o f the Inner Self. Imaginative im pressions received in m editation and assum ption give deeper m eaning to the fruits o f concentration and contem ­ plation. They can explain the past, give insight into the present and indicate future possibilities. These psychic im ­

pressions and inner experiences can offer courses of action, guide us in decision making, and lead us to new insights to again be validated by observation, contem plation, and ex ­ perience. Insight, itself, is a result o f a unification of all thought processes, including active and passive stages. Since cre­ ativity involves both doing and not-doing, w e cannot force the process. However, through the application o f principles like these, w e com e to understand the m echanism of cre­ ativity. We discover that we can use all of our conscious abilities to their fullest extent so as to meet life’s challenges harmoniously. Then, w e can relax the objective mind and release problem s to the powers o f the Inner Self. Below our conscious awareness, unconnected thoughts and observa­ tions shift and realign themselves, offering a solution or in­ spiration— often w hen we least expect it— one that we can contem plate further and possibly act upon. Synchronicity is C.G. Ju n g ’s term for experiences which present us w ith m eaningful coincidences in our lives. Syn­ chronistic experiences associated with im agination, creativ­ ity, and mysticism are often difficult to com municate. Sym ­ bolic experiences often elude intellectual statements. If, for exam ple, we were only to set forth a philosophy, we could proceed by setting forth the concepts involved. If we were interested in presenting a body o f theoretical knowledge, we would proceed by presenting the assum ptions, describ­ ing the evidence, and moving toward our conclusions in logi­ cal terms. We could analyze, delineate, and com m unicate our position by m eans of intellectual ideas. But in the m ys­ tical approach the prim ary material to be com m unicated is not only intellectual. The material to be com m unicated is a

quality o f our experience. The essence of this com m unica­ tion can be a tone or feeling. Tone and feeling are often w hat is lost in an intellectual statem ent. In general, the poetic and mystical approach com m uni­ cates concepts through the use o f analogies and metaphors. M any years ago A lfred A dler m ade the rem ark that, “ Man knows more than he understands.” A dler calls to our atten­ tion that, w hile our know ledge o f the world is w orked out prim arily by m eans of intellect, w e also possess a way of know ing that operates by som ething other than rational pro­ cedures. If intellect and reason can be spoken of as operat­ ing on the “ surface” of the mind, then this other aspect of knowing may lie much deeper. This know ing lies beneath the surface of conscious awareness. D escribing our experi­ ence o f what A dler spoke o f as “greater than understand­ ing,” can be m ost difficult. To speak o f any experience of the psyche can be diffi­ cult. W hen we speak of the levels or p lanes of conscious­ ness, w e can understand that we are using an image and conception o f depth and height only in a m etaphoric sense. These term s are not m eant literally. This m etaphor of depth provided a fruitful context of thought ever since Freud be­ gan to think in term s of the strata o f the unconscious. Freud, however, approached the depth o f personality in term s of repression. This is the idea that a person living in society has certain urges and m em ories which he cannot bear and is unwilling either to express, experience, or remember; there­ fore, he represses them. O nce they are repressed, Freud believed that they dropped into the unconscious. In the un­ conscious they were supposed to be transformed so that they

w ere no longer expressed in literal form but were sym bol­ ized. F reud’s m odel provided a basis for a pathology o f the mind. In contrast to this conception, Ju n g ’s m odel o f the mind is sim ilar to the m ystical approach. Jung and the mystic study the subconscious in term s o f a natural process of grow th, tran sfo rm atio n , and even tran sm u tatio n o f the psyche. The m etaphor that is most appropriate is that of the seed or the unfolding rose. In the seed there is the potential­ ity that carries all the possibilities of w hat the full-grown species can become. Thus, the fullness of the oak tree is latent in the acorn. Similarly, between the depths and heights o f man, the m arriage of objective consciousness and the subconscious produces a new child of the mind— the bearer of hum an potentialities. This sym bolic child of the mind contains the possibili­ ties for developm ents that are present in the individual, but w hich are not visible because they have not yet becom e m anifest in life. We cannot see them until they begin, like the rose, to unfold and fulfill them selves in the outer world. For this the aspirant is w illing to develop a capacity for ob­ serving the inw ard process of grow th w hile it is still in m o­ tion. With this also come abilities to distinguish the corre­ sponding opportunities for grow th in the outer w orld o f the senses. A s we become more sensitive, attuning both inwardly and outwardly, we are able, w ith the balancing force o f con­ tem plative reason, to draw these potentialities forward. To provide an opportunity for this is a prim ary task o f the R osi­ crucian experience.

A C hild o f the M in d is a sym bol o f the future. The child is also sym bolic o f that stage of life when old form s of think­ ing are transform ed and acquire a new simplicity. From this condition o f transform ation arises the conception o f the m ind’s child as being sym bolic o f the Inner Self, the M ystic Center, the Entheos (God or divine force within). The Child of the M ind is o f the Soul, a product o f the conjunction of conscious and subconscious. In fact, one often dream s of a child when a great spiritual change is about to take place. In Egyptian myth, Osiris (a Soul figure) is dismembered, taken apart and disassociated. He can be thought o f as a symbol o f the analytical mind and the left side o f the brain. Isis (another Soul figure) reassem bles Osiris, puts him back together and unites with him. She is a symbol of synthesis, im aginative thought, and the right side o f the brain. The product o f the m arriage w as Horus, the holy Child. Horus is a much revered symbol because he has the pow er to en­ com pass all that Osiris and Isis separately represent. He w as also a m ore ancient symbol than either Isis or Osiris. H orus or the H aw k w as an em blem of the Soul and implied solar transfiguration. From H orus the figure of the phoenix was derived. The Phoenix is H orus before the throne of the M ystical Golden Dawn. Jung has indicated that such powerful sym bols appear as spontaneous im ages which em erge from the depth of the subconscious. They act as vehicles by w hich the potential­ ity latent in the subconscious is carried forward as “on wings of thought.” The transform ing symbol em bodies the open future as that future is becom ing the present in the open child-like recesses o f the individual. The symbol provides

the m otive force by which this potentiality can unfold and becom e manifest in the world o f form. From this perspective, it seem s most inadvisable to ap­ proach an im aginative symbol only in an analytical way. If we reduce our inner sym bols to experiences o f the past, we deprive them o f their potentiality. Relying solely on analy­ sis can result in a m ajor error o f interpretation because the symbol, as a factor of unfoldm ent, does not have its origins just in our past experience any m ore than the potentials of an egg are drawn just from the past experience of the chicken it is about to become. To break the symbol apart and ana­ lyze it before it has been com pletely experienced deprives the symbol o f its pow er for life. Better to let the symbol live its life first before perform ing an autopsy and dissect­ ing it. Thus, a more vital and productive way to w ork with sym bols and thoughts is to w ork w ith them affirm atively, to encourage them, nurture them, and draw them forw ard by giving them life through the principles and techniques of assumption. By means of such life, the process o f individual growth and unfoldm ent can proceed, m oving through the symbol which functions as the active psychic vehicle for expansion o f consciousness. M any seekers come to the Rosicrucian O rder feeling frustrated because their lives seem so m eaningless to them. They may feel that if they could know the m eaning of life, they could be more productive, fulfilled, and at peace within themselves. We w ish to share our knowledge w ith them, but o f course, w e cannot do this in one easy lesson, or even in ten lessons for that matter! For w e cannot tell a person

w hat the m eaning of life is. Each person com es to experi­ ence the m eaning of life for him self and herself. Each per­ son com es to be initiated into a meaningful life, for the ex­ perience o f a meaningful life involves an intim ate aw are­ ness. A m ajor part o f the meaning of life is contained in the process of discovering it. Awareness of a m eaningful life develops from an ongoing growth that is experienced through an ever-deepening contact w ith actuality, w ith w hat is. To speak as if this w ere an objective knowledge, like the War o f 1812 between England and the United States, misses the point. The m eaning o f life is indeed objective w hen it is reached, but the way to it is by a path o f subjectivities as well as objectivities. It is by way o f a marriage o f objective with the subjective, rational with irrational, analytical with im aginative. It requires a series o f profound experiences within the privacy of the psychic self. The m eaning of life cannot be told. It is a secret, a mystery. It happens to a person. A know ledge o f the nature of thought and an aw are­ ness o f o n e’s own psyche is valuable in assisting this to hap­ pen, but m eaning is a gift that is given to a person from within.

hrough the study o f intuition the Rosicrucian reaches th e fro n tie r o f in te lle c tu a l an d s p iritu a l pow er. Rosicrucians learn that great progress in peo p le’s lives de­ pends on the release and utilization of intuitive powers. No significant discovery, insight, or creative production has com e about solely as a result of objective m ental activity. Laboratory experim ents as well as scores o f interviews with scientists, w riters, com posers, and artists attest to the fact that solutions to problem s are achieved only after they have been released to the subconscious or intuitive faculty of the mind.

T

Claude M. Bristol and H arold Sherm an, in their book T.N.T. or the Creative Pow er Within, tell about Thom as Alva E dison’s practice o f taking multiple catnaps as he worked on an invention. W hen he felt blocked, after exerting him ­ self to the utmost, Edison would lie down on his couch and fall asleep. He claim s always to have received additional light on his problem. The German psychiatrist H erbert Silberer experimented with this process by putting him self in a borderline state and trying to think through com plicated problem s he had been unable to solve in the normal w aking state. He found that the com plicated problem he w as considering would dis­ appear from aw areness and would be replaced by a m ean­ ingful form o f sym bolic imagery. One problem Silberer

contem plated w as, “If intuition is universal, why do some people intuit to do one thing, w hile others intuit to do som e­ thing else?” Silberer wrote: In a state of drow siness I contemplate an abstract topic such as the nature o f judgem ent valid for all people . . . . A struggle between active thinking and drowsiness sets in. The drow siness becom es strong enough to disrupt normal thinking and to allow, in the tw ilight state so produced, the appear­ ance of an auto-sym bolic phenom enon. The content of my thought presents itself im mediately in the form o f a perceptual picture (for an instant apparently real): I see a big circle (or transparent sphere) in the air w ith people around it w hose heads reach into the circle. This symbol expresses practically everything I w as thinking of. The [universal] judgem ent is valid for all people w ithout exception— the circle includes all the heads. The validity must have its grounds in com m onality: the heads all belong in the same hom ogeneous sphere. Not all judgem ents are [universal]: the body and the lim bs of the people are outside (below ) the sphere as they stand on the ground as independent individuals. W hat had happened? In my drowsiness my abstract ideas were, w ithout conscious interference, replaced by a perceptual picture, by a symbol. (See Figure 16)

Silberer goes on to say that he found this picture-think­ ing an easier form of thought than rational logic. Silberer

Fig. 16. Silberer’s sym bolic conception o f human judgments.

conducted extensive experim ents in the borderline state, considering com plex, abstract thought and w aiting atten­ tively for sym bolic im ages to appear. He found that his thoughts in this state alw ays gave rise to images, thus dem ­ onstrating to him that the mind autom atically transform s verbal inform ation into unifying picture symbols. A nother exam ple Silberer gave is as follows: “ My thought is: I am to im prove a halting passage in an essay. Symbol: I see m y­

self planing a piece of w ood.” He therefore proceeded to “ shave” w ords from the essay. In term s of the principles taught by the Rosicrucians, w hat Silberer did w as to put him self in a receptive, border­ line state; he introduced a problem he had already analyzed, and looked for an answ er to appear as a receptive visualiza­ tion. The results of his experiments dem onstrated that prob­ lem -solving visualizations are often symbolic. Imaginative images or symbols that spontaneously come to our awareness arise from beyond our objective conscious­ ness. They come to us from an inner center, from an intui­ tive faculty of mind. They do so in their capacity to join inner and outer worlds, spiritual w ith material, invisible with visible, macrocosm w ith m icrocosm, im agination w ith ob­ jectivity, actuality w ith reality. If w e are w illing, they bring about for us a m arriage o f the mind. Sym bolic thinking can be an art of thinking in images rather than words. An image is expressed as a sym bol to com m unicate a m eaning beyond the obvious, beyond the grasp of reason. Because there are innum erable things be­ yond the range of objective, hum an understanding, we con­ stantly use sym bolic term s to represent concepts (such as infinity) that we cannot define or fully com prehend. The symbol, then, is a m echanism for understanding. It forms a bridge between a metaphysical world in which a Divine Mind encom passes A ll, and the physical world of the brain and senses in w hich All can never be perfectly known. In the physical w orld, no m atter how pow erful a telescope or m i­ croscope m an builds, there always rem ains m atter that can­ not be seen even w ith the aided eye. The hum an physical

senses, as com plex and m arvelous as they are, are limited in w hat they can perceive. T herefore, hum an know ledge gained through the physical senses can never be perfect or complete. Contrary to popular belief, the scientific method com ­ bines intuition with objective observation to acquire new knowledge. New ideas come from intuition, w ithout which the inform ation w e gather through random observation w ould be a m eaningless train of facts. Intuition and reason bring the random observations together into a m eaningful relationship and into an ordered system. Experim entation and em pirical observation are m ethods for verifying and validating the new ideas already hypothesized by the intu­ ition, thus adding these ideas into the realm o f new know l­ edge. In scientific research the key is to possess the insight that will enable one to ask the m eaningful question. The answ er is im plicit in the question. The m eaningful question is arrived at by transcending the older realities and the physi­ cal perceptions that are based on these older realities. The new symbol— the instrum ent o f understanding— allow s us to transcend the lim its o f old realities and perceptions. Goethe said, “In the symbol, the particular represents the g e n e ra l. . . as a living and m om entary revelation of the in­ scrutable.” Intuitive sym bols can reveal the essence o f great truths that cannot be com prehended by the intellect alone. Sym ­ bols, by their nature, can resolve paradoxes and create order from disorder. In flashes o f insight, they provide know l­ edge w hich joins dispersed, disparate fragm ents in a unitary

vision. We see, if only for a mom ent, the greater schem e of things, the unity o f the universe, and our place in it. We see unity in term s o f form and image corresponding to the ob­ jective world surrounding us— the only things that are “ seeable”— yet we now see these concrete images in a novel, non-ordinary light. Intuitive cognition is apt to be unreliable unless preceded by (1) a w illingness to have a transform ed viewpoint, (2) a w illingness to m ake an energetic effort to gain information, and (3) a w illingness to conduct a scientific evaluation of the idea. The sym bolic model or hypothesis can be evalu­ ated by experience in the objective world. Thus, w hile sym ­ bolic m odels and intuitive hypotheses can be derived by proceeding stepwise through a process of concentration-contem plation-m editation, w e return to an objective state of concentration so as to verify the validity of the intuited sym ­ bol. If we allow it, our process o f thought can be an ascend­ ing spiral, for in returning to concentration, more details are again observed; the return to contem plation reveals even more about the operation o f the idea being considered; while a return to the borderline or m editative state may dem on­ strate that our intuited symbol can now explain more, and give m eaning and significance to m ore aspects o f the objec­ tive world than we previously realized. A return to the m edi­ tative state can also result in the transform ation o f the origi­ nal realization into a m ore powerful symbol or model. The transformed symbol is now m ore pow erful in the sense that it has the capacity to explain and predict more about nature (see Figures 17 and 18).

W h e n th e h u m a n mind approaches a basic problem such as the na­ ture o f matter, observa­ tions only provide raw data with which to begin. The observations them ­ selves do not contain the concepts w ith w hich the data can be given signifi­ cance and meaning. For ex am p le, a stone or a solid block o f wood does not suggest the moving p a rtic le s o f m a tte r in term s o f w hich the atom is conceived. The con­ cep tio n o f the ato m ic theory does not lie in the w ood, but in the mind of ,

,

.

1