Wisdom of the Mystic Masters

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First published in a Parker hardcover edition June 1968

Published in a Prentice Hall Press trade paperback edition February 1971

Copyright © 1968 by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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ISBN 9780139615320

Ebook ISBN 9781101666937

Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 68-24130

Version_1

Introduction

This book is written to help you achieve a fuller, better life. You have a right to happiness. I want to help you attain it. You may want and need a home and security, love or friendship, or perhaps money. These can all be yours if you first gain understanding, if you know what to do and how to do it.

The Rosicrucian Order, a non-profit teaching fraternity or brotherhood, devotes itself to teaching people like yourself and myself. Its training methods are thorough. The course is long and covers every phase of life as we know it. A person can spend many years studying it, as I have, and find something new and exciting in each lesson. But today few people have the time for years of introspective study. Life is moving at a more rapid pace and if one is to learn at all he or she must learn quickly—and now.

It is for this reason I have decided to condense into this book the knowledge and training methods I have acquired in thirty years of study.

The Rosicrucians have taught for many hundreds of years that we use only a very small fraction of our total ability. Brain specialists now confirm this. Dr. George Crile of Cleveland, an outstanding authority, has stated the average man normally uses less than 5 percent of his brain capacity and even the greatest geniuses rarely employ more than 15 percent. What a great race of beings we would be if we put to use just half of our physical equipment.

The Rosicrucians maintain that every man and woman can develop these innate abilities. More than this, they say that if you wish to take your place in the world as a responsible citizen you have an obligation to awaken the dormant areas of your being. Some years ago, John Dickson, then publisher of a great Chicago daily newspaper, expressed this need vividly when he said,

Life is like a railroad. The vast majority of people are passenger coaches and freight cars. They perform a useful service but they cannot make themselves go and have to be pushed or pulled by someone else. Only a few are like the locomotives that move not only themselves but also countless others. Without them we would have no progress, humanity would stagnate and eventually drift into savagery.

The Rosicrucians say it lies within the capacity of everyone to be a locomotive, and I propose to show you how you can become one. Now, for the first time in book form are given here the training methods of the Rosicrucians. When studied and practiced, these techniques will enable you to unfold your nature and exert control over yourself and your environment.

Let me make this clearer. There is a Rosicrucian I know, a widow, who lives on one of the islands of the West Indian Commonwealth. She is fond of solitude and her material wants are simple. So when her soldier husband was killed she bought a house and a few acres of land on this island. She has a small pension and rounds out her income by raising chickens, so all her needs are met.

Not long ago one of the great windstorms that come in August and September—hurricanes they are sometimes called—struck her island. When it had passed she found that her house, sturdily built and closely shuttered, was intact but that her chicken house was destroyed. This was a serious blow, because she did not have the money for a new one. So she bethought herself of her Rosicrucian teachings and resolved to put the principles to work.

The following morning it was necessary to check over the property and find out if any serious damage had resulted from the storm. Fortunately, only a few trees were down but in a small clearing about two hundred yards from her house was a great surprise. There, completely intact sat a fine, strong, new-looking chicken house. It had not been there before the storm, so she could only conclude that the great wind in its freakish way had deposited it there. She told everyone in the nearby village but when after a week no one had come to claim it, she had it moved into her chicken yard, where it stands to this day.

The mechanics of this are unimportant. It might just as well have happened in another way. She might have received an unexpected legacy, or someone might have come along with a desire to buy an unused piece of her property. But the fact remains that she needed and wanted a chicken house; she used her Rosicrucian knowledge and she got it. You, too, can perform the same kind of service for yourself when you understand the Rosicrucian teachings and have trained yourself in their techniques.

Much has been written and taught about the use of the mind. There are literally hundreds of books and treatises which tell you how to get rich or how to get well or how to win friends by using the mind. These are all quite true. The mind is a most powerful instrument. There is no doubt about it. But it is not easy for the average person like you or me to learn how to use the mind. We must learn something about ourselves first. We must understand our own human nature before we can really put our minds to work. It is access to this knowledge, this fully rounded understanding that I give to you in this book. Take it. Study it. Learn the truth about yourself and the world in which you live. Train yourself so that you may unfold your innate abilities and exert control over yourself and your environment.

If you would be a healer and bring healing strength to yourself and others study these chapters well. Everyone has the capacity to heal. Learn how to use this ability which is in you and give generously of your new-found strength that you and those near you may grow in health and well-being.

If you need more of the wealth of the material world, you are entitled to it. There are two whole chapters which will help you find the solution to this problem—and help you find peace of mind as well.

If you are interested in telepathy, you can train yourself to be sensitive to others’ thoughts and feelings and in turn impress them with your own.

If you happen to be concerned about death—and many people are—study the chapter on Birth, Death and Reincarnation. The body may weaken and disintegrate and you may have to leave it but your conscious awareness of yourself and your surroundings continues without interruption. When you have had just one successful experience with etheric projection as described and taught in Chapter Thirteen and for the first time found yourself out of your body and in full possession of all your faculties, you will never fear death again. Once you succeed in this practice, the greatest and most sublime experiences await you.

Take this book. Keep it near you always. Refer to it in need. Let it help you in every way. That in it you may find the path to a richer, healthier and more rewarding life is my most earnest wish for you.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Human Body: How to Understand Yourself and Attain Harmonium

THE ROSICRUCIANS ARE PROBABLY BEST KNOWN FOR THEIR REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN HEALING. EVEN RELATIVE NEWCOMERS TO THE TEACHING FREQUENTLY ACHIEVE SURPRISING CURES. HEALING IS SO IMPORTANT AN ENTIRE CHAPTER IS DEVOTED TO IT. IN THE PRESENT CHAPTER THE HUMAN BODY AS ROSICRUCIANS UNDERSTAND IT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE IN KEEPING IT WELL IS EXPLAINED. THIS BALANCE IS REFERRED TO AS HARMONIUM. ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND HARMONIUM AND HOW TO MAINTAIN IT, YOU NEED NEVER BE SICK AGAIN.

Chapter 2

The Principle of Karma: How You Can Make and Remake Your Future

WE SAY ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL BUT WE MEAN BY THIS ALL MEN ARE ENTITLED TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS BEFORE GOD. NO ONE IS SO BLIND OR FOOLISH AS TO IMAGINE THERE IS ACTUAL EQUALITY OF ABILITY OR ENVIRONMENT OR PHYSICAL EQUIPMENT OR CONDITIONS OF BIRTH BETWEEN MEN. THESE INEQUITIES EXIST BUT THEY CAN BE OVERCOME. THIS CHAPTER TELLS WHY THEY EXIST AND BY UNDERSTANDING THEM HOW YOU CAN MAKE OR REMAKE YOUR FUTURE.

Chapter 3

Birth, Death and Reincarnation

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH? FACTUAL REPORTS, NOT ROMANTIC IMAGINING. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE INDIVIDUAL IS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR AFTERLIFE EXPERIENCES. DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE AND REASONS FOR THIS. HOW DEVELOPMENT MAY CONTINUE BETWEEN INCARNATIONS. REBIRTH. WHAT TAKES PLACE BEFORE BIRTH AND WHY. APPROACHES TO THE NEW LIFE. EXAMPLES. QUOTATIONS FROM ROSICRUCIAN EXPERIENCES.

Chapter 4

The Power of Thought: First Steps to the Control of Your Destiny

OBSERVATION. CONCENTRATION. MEDITATION. TRAINING EXERCISES HELP YOU DEVELOP EACH SKILL. CONTROL, PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, MENTAL, AND HOW TO ACHIEVE IT.

Chapter 5

The Power of Thought: Physical-Etheric and Emotional Energy

ENERGY. ETHERIC ENERGY. EMOTIONAL ENERGY. EXERCISES TO ACHIEVE CONTROL OF EMOTIONAL ENERGY. HOW TO EMPLOY EMOTIONAL ENERGY TO ACHIEVE YOUR PURPOSES. AN EMOTIONAL CASE HISTORY.

Chapter 6

The Power of Thought: Controlling Mental and Psychic Energy

MENTAL ENERGY. HOW TO DEVELOP MENTAL POWER FOR CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE AND ENVIRONMENT. HOW TO STUDY YOUR OWN THINKING PROCESS. HOW YOUR THOUGHTS AFFECT OTHERS. THOUGHT FORMS. THOUGHT RADIATIONS. CREATIVE THOUGHT. AN ACTUAL EXAMPLE FROM LIFE. SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL THINKING.

Chapter 7

Healing Through the Power of Psychic Energy

EXPLANATION OF HEALING TECHNIQUES. TYPES OF HEALING. THE ROLE OF PSYCHIC ENERGY IN HEALING. HOW TO APPLY IT. HOW TO CREATE HARMONIUM. HOW TO HEAL YOURSELF. HOW TO HEAL OTHERS. THE ROLE OF KARMA. EXAMPLES OF HEALING. CASE HISTORIES.

Chapter 8

Understanding the Law of Cycles

HOW YOU CAN EMPLOY A KNOWLEDGE OF CYCLES TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH AND FORTUNES. LEARN TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MOMENTUM AND AVOID TRYING TO SWIM AGAINST THE CURRENT. PERSONAL CYCLES. HEALTH CYCLES. BUSINESS CYCLES. GOOD PERIODS AND HOW TO FIND THEM. HOW TO AVOID BAD CYCLES. THE BEST TIMES TO FURTHER YOUR INTERESTS.

Chapter 9

The Power of Prayer

HOW TO PRAY FOR WHAT YOU NEED—AND GET IT. ROSICRUCIAN UNDERSTANDING OF PRAYER. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND PRAYER AND HOW TO PRAY AND THIS ACCOUNTS FOR PRAYERS THAT ARE SEEMINGLY UNANSWERED. HOW YOU CAN GET WHAT YOU NEED THROUGH INTELLIGENT PRAYER. TYPES OF PRAYER AND THEIR PARTICULAR EFFICIENCY. EVERYONE CAN PRAY SUCCESSFULLY WHEN HE HAS BEEN SHOWN HOW. HOW ROSICRUCIANS PRAY. HOW TO PRAY FOR OTHERS AND REALLY HELP THEM. UNREASONABLE VERSUS REASONABLE PRAYER.

Chapter 10

How to Understand and Use Telepathy

KINDS OF TELEPATHY—INSTINCTUAL, EMOTIONAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL. HOW TO READ MINDS. HOW TO ATTUNE WITH OTHERS. HOW TO SEND AND RECEIVE TELEPATHIC MESSAGES. THE PROBLEM OF TIME LAG. EXAMPLES. TELEPATHY TRAINING IN A ROSICRUCIAN LODGE. FUTURE NEED FOR TELEPATHIC ABILITY.

Chapter 11

How to Generate and Apply Psychic Energy

PSYCHIC ENERGY IS THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN THE POWER TO PERSUADE. HOW TO INCREASE IT. ITS BENEFITS. SEEMING MIRACLES PERFORMED BY MEANS OF PSYCHIC ENERGY. VARIOUS TECHNIQUES AND EXERCISES TO HELP YOU ACQUIRE AND INCREASE YOUR PSYCHIC ENERGY. HOW TO AVOID LOSING PSYCHIC ENERGY. VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF PSYCHIC ENERGY—SUCH AS DOWSING, PSYCHOMETRY, TELEPORTATION, PRECOGNITION, LEVITATION AND DOMINANCE—AND PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF EACH.

Chapter 12

Achieving Psychic Development

HOW TO ACHIEVE PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. HIGHER PSYCHIC ENERGY AND HOW TO ACQUIRE IT. THE PSYCHIC CENTERS. EXERCISES AND TECHNIQUES TO DEVELOP THEM. MANTRAMS. VISUALIZATIONS. COLOR. THOUGHT. RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED. CLAIRAUDIENCE. CLAIRVOYANCE. INSPIRATION. INTUITION. ILLUMINATION. CONTACT WITH A HIGHER BEING.

Chapter 13

The Secret of Psychic Projection

HOW TO BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE. ETHERIC PROJECTION. ASTRAL PROJECTION. MENTAL PROJECTION. TECHNIQUES FOR MASTERING EACH ART WITH PRACTICAL EXERCISES. HOW TO APPEAR TO OTHERS AND HAVE THEM RECOGNIZE YOU. EXAMPLES. CASE HISTORIES.

Chapter 14

The Rosicrucian Way of Life

THE PURPOSE OF THE ROSICRUCIAN ORDER, ITS AGE AND TRADITIONAL ORIGIN. FAMOUS ROSICRUCIANS. HOW KNOWLEDGE IS DISSEMINATED BY ROSICRUCIANS IN ADVANCE OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ONE

The Human Body: How to Understand Yourself and Attain Harmonium

In the Golden Age of Greece at the time of the great philosophers the words Gnothe Seauton were inscribed in large letters over the entrance to the Athenian Temple. This means Know Thyself, which was considered the primary essential to all knowledge by the wise men of that time. So in this first chapter I want to help you to get to know yourself better so that you will find it easier to understand and work with the instructions given later on in the book.

You probably think that you already know yourself very well. From one point of view you may. You have within you a record of all you have done and all that has happened to you since you were born. If you can translate all of this action into true understanding you do not need this book. But the chances are ten thousand to one that you cannot, and do not. For example, if you have a headache, what do you do? Most people take a headache remedy and try to get relief from the pain as quickly as possible. Then, when comfortable at last, they give it no further thought. Very few try to seek out the cause. Sometimes, of course, the cause is all too obvious. Yet even then the tendency is to seek relief of the effect, the headache, rather than correct the cause.

Having spent your entire life with this body of yours, you should now know it better than this. Headaches are not necessary. And even when sudden, unexpected pressures do create one, you should know how to eliminate it quickly and easily without pills or other medication. If you cannot, you do not know much about yourself.

You have tremendous capacities, far more and far greater than you suspect. You have been taught, or you have taught yourself, certain skills of hand or mind in order that you may contribute the fruits of these skills to the general economy and thus earn a livelihood. This is normal practice. Yet if you had been encouraged to spend the same time and effort in learning about yourself and proper instruction had been available to you your contribution to the general good would be ten, twenty or fifty times greater than it is and the rewards to you proportionate. Since it is never too late to learn, start now to study yourself.

The Rosicrucians teach that we have a dual nature, a material body occupied and energized by a spiritual essence. This is not a new idea by any means. It is basic to all major religions, most of which call the internal essence the soul. In recent years science has begun to adopt a similar view. Many men prominent in the fields of biology and biological chemistry now admit to the existence of an intangible something which affects the material being, a something which they are not yet prepared to identify. This seems very much like the soul of the religionists.

The Rosicrucians say every human being uses two kinds of energy, physical energy and soul (or psychic) energy. Our physical energy comes to us from what we eat and drink and from the air we breathe. A small part of our psychic energy comes to us this way but most of it comes through our psychic centers. These centers can be likened to transformers which tap the sea of energy around us and condition it for our use.

One Great Sea of Vibrating Energy

Now here is a new idea, you say. What is this about a sea of energy? The Rosicrucians teach that all is energy vibrating at different rates. Everything we can see, feel, smell, hear or taste is a form of vibrating energy. A hundred years ago this idea was very difficult for people to accept but today we know, and all of our scientists agree, that physical matter is made up of atoms which in turn are composed of electrons and protons and neutrons all in violent motion, in other words particles of energy moving at incredibly high speeds. The Rosicrucians go a step further and maintain that not only the material world which we see, but the air we breathe and the space beyond from here to the stars is one great sea of vibrating energy.

The physical world vibrates at a relatively slow rate but as you move away from it to higher levels, the vibratory rate increases while the texture becomes finer and more tenuous. This finer energy is not only out in space but all around us. In it we live, move and have our being. This is the energy which our psychic centers pick up and transform (step down) for our use in physical, emotional and mental action. We will study vibrations and the psychic centers in detail later on but for the present all we need know is that they function in everyone and in some more efficiently than in others.

When this psychic energy is stepped down to a point where it is used by the physical body, it manifests itself very much like electrical energy, only more subtly. Like electricity, it has polarity and this polarity can be controlled. Most people have too much energy of negative polarity and not enough positive. Thus they are out of balance. Balance is very difficult to achieve and even more difficult to maintain. The Rosicrucians call perfect balance harmonium. In the chapter on healing, this is discussed in detail. Too much food and all low-grade emotions tend to overbalance your body to the negative side. When you become too negative some sort of illness is manifested. This is your body’s way of telling you that you have been doing something wrong and to stop it. It is also possible to overbalance yourself on the positive side and this usually results in nervous tensions or mental illness. It is well to remember that the ideal is a state of equilibrium and to strive to achieve this. A completely practical method is to be moderate in all you eat and drink, to refrain from indulging the lower emotions and to think clearly—and often. This latter is not a joke. None of us thinks enough, really thinks. Usually when we imagine we are thinking we are merely playing or replaying an old emotional record in our minds.

Attaining Harmonium

Many normal everyday things have an elevating influence on us and help us approach the much desired harmonium. The contemplation of beauty in any of its forms is helpful. Laughter, too, is a great healer. And, of course, clear thought. But in addition the Rosicrucians offer exercises which are designed to create the necessary counterbalance in order to bring you nearer harmonium. These are now explained.

One exercise is designed to correct a condition which is excessively negative and the other is designed to accomplish the opposite objective, namely to correct an over-positive condition. In using these exercises, select a spot where you will not be disturbed for about ten minutes. Sit in a straight-backed chair. Take three deep easy breaths to relax yourself and then proceed with the proper exercise.

To Counterbalance a Negative Condition

Separate your feet but keep them placed squarely on the floor. Sit erect and allow your hands to lie loosely in your lap or on your knees without touching each other. The index and middle finger and the thumb of each hand must be held touching each other in a sort of triangle composed of the first two fingers and thumb. When you are finally relaxed, take a deep breath, hold it for a count of seven and then release it easily. After a short rest, repeat this, taking another deep breath and holding it for the count of seven. Then rest and repeat this until you have done it seven times, after which change your position and put the whole procedure out of your mind.

This exercise is normally adequate to counterbalance the average negative condition. However, in cases of deep-seated or chronic ailments it will need repeating. Always wait at least two hours between treatments because it usually takes that long for results to become apparent. The earlier you treat yourself when falling out of balance, the easier it is to come back to normal. So be aware of yourself and when you feel the least bit out of sorts give yourself a treatment to regain your positive-negative balance.

To Counterbalance an Over-Positive Condition

Sit comfortably as in the previous treatment. This time your feet should be touching each other, squarely on the floor but touching. Your hands must also be touching at the fingers. Hold them in front of your body at the chest level, thumb touching thumb and each finger touching the tip of its corresponding finger on the other hand. Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. Exhale slowly and when the air is all out of your lungs, hold it out for the count of five. Then breathe in and out easily and slowly for about five or six breaths until you are once again relaxed. Then repeat, holding the breath out for the count of five. Repeat the entire procedure five times, then stop, breathe normally and put the entire exercise out of mind.

This so-called negative treatment (to counterbalance excess positive) is exceptionally effective in treating the common cold if practiced in the early stages of infection. The cold symptoms are the outward evidence of your system’s attempt to rid itself of an invasion by certain types of hostile microorganisms. A positive treatment does no good in these situations but the