Joseph J. Weed
1953
Our lives today are not simple. In recent years living has become more and more complex until we now find ourselves beset on all sides by a multitude of serious problems.
These problems are political and national or international in nature, they are economic, they are scientific and educational and they are personal. The confusion of ideas in the world seems to reflect itself in our personal lives and we experience distress and tension which increase with each passing day.
It would be most interesting and instructive to examine and consider all of these problems; but this would take a very long time, certainly a great deal more time than is allotted today and furthermore I am afraid that an adequate treatment of them is considerably beyond my present ability.
But we Rosicrucians are a special group. We are esotericists or esoteric students and as such we have problems that are very peculiarly our own. And it is with these that it is important we concern ourselves today.
In any appraisal of humanity as a whole, esotericists will rank very high. If we were to grade each human being according to the development of his consciousness or inner self, we might find humanity divided into six general groups. At the very bottom would be animal man, which fortunately only represents a very small percentage of the whole. These people are very little more than physical bodies and are literally a dead weight on the rest of humanity.
Next to the bottom, in fifth place, we have emotional man, those with the so-called Atlantean type of consciousness. This is still the largest group on the planet. Their daily lives are controlled by their wants and desires, their little joys and sorrows and the trivial incidents of ordinary life. These people do not lead a purposeful existence. They do not plan their lives, nor are they led onward by some high objective. Actually, the group next above them in development, the so-called intelligentsia, do their thinking for them, give them goals to fight for, causes to champion, yes, even wars to be won.
The intelligentsia are the fourth group, the next above the emotional in the human scale. These people are the present rulers of the material world, so to speak, and yet they are for the most part spiritually unawakened. They have been very successful in developing their minds, and their consciousness is focussed in their thinking or brain apparatus. They have conquered nature and the high degree of technical development that exists today is due to their mastery of material substance. As far as the material life of the planet is concerned, they are the most powerful group and if a great many of them were not also men of good will, our world would be doomed. Those who do not have their heart center opened to even a small degree are self-centered, competitive, separative, selfish and skillful in getting for themselves all that they can get. They hide behind the fallacy that human progress has been achieved only through struggle and fight and competition, claiming that without this no one would work very hard and nothing worthwhile would get done.
But, fortunately for this world and for us as human beings, many of this group are also members of the next, the third highest group. These are the men and women of good-will throughout the world. These are the peace makers. They are people of understanding and sympathy. They can see the other fellow's point of view and even though they may not agree with it they can tolerate it and get along with its possessor. It is upon this group that the future of this planet chiefly rests. Their hearts are alive and have not been stifled by their intellects. They are not predominantly selfish, they are not self-seeking but are willing to share what they have and to try to create a better world where cooperation and right human relations may he achieved.
The next field, the second in point of development, is made up of the people we have earlier referred to as esotericists. It is in this group that Rosicrucians should find themselves. Here is where we belong and if we are not focussed here it is our own fault. This relatively high position does not mean we are any more perfect in the physical, material sense. In fact, the opposite is more often true. It is almost as if the soul deliberately chooses a less attractive vehicle in order that its own light may shine through all the more brightly. Then, too, many of us do not take advantage of our opportunities. Some react emotionally to the instruction and information imparted. They seize upon occult tid-bits such as what Master lives where, or what His identity was in a previous incarnation, and proudly parade this as special knowledge before the newer members. These people are deluding themselves. They experience a feeling of self-exaltation because of some fancied superiority or closeness to Hierarchy. Actually, they have only made themselves appear a little less than sane in the eyes of every thinking man and a little less than reliable in the eyes of the Hierarchy. This then is one of our problems, one of Today's Problems, which we will discuss further.
Above all others in development are those in group one. This group we know as Hierarchy and it is made up of Masters of Wisdom who have transcended all human weaknesses and strengths, yet are men like ourselves, and also of the immediate pupils of these Masters, the various initiates and advanced disciples. This top group is responsible for administering the Plan of God, as far as this can be known. Their numbers are relatively few, too few for the magnitude of the tasks at hand. But they are being added to daily, thank God, from the ranks of esotericists, the people like you who are struggling to develop themselves and to help others. This is our ultimate goal --- to become an accepted disciple and fit for initiation. This is what we strive for and this is why we are esotericists --- which leads me back to Today's Problems.
Our problems of the present are different today than they were 100 years ago and are different from what they will be 100 years hence. As mentioned earlier, one of the most serious is to achieve a realistic approach, one might almost say a "matter-of-fact" approach to our Rosicrucian work. There is a very general tendency to lend importance to the mysterious and to emphasize those things which are strange and different. For example, too much emphasis is placed by some upon the unusual powers of the Masters, upon Their ability to perform miracles and their God-like appearance, and not enough upon the fact that They are extremely hard working, unselfish Beings Whose entire time and attention are devoted to the care and development of this planet and the beings on it.
One hundred years ago, or even fifty, esoteric students the world over were still struggling under the Piscean influences, which meant that their immediate goal was to get into an Ashram of a Master or to meet a Master in order to gain greater wisdom and greater spiritual powers. Today this is still an ultimate goal, but our immediate objective is, or should be, different. And this is another of our problems. Today it is more important for us to learn to help ourselves by helping others, to learn to teach ourselves by teaching others, to learn to achieve personal peace of heart by making peace in the world about us, to learn cooperation by joining a group and learning how to get along in it. Our Rosicrucian Order is just such a group. We have joined it. Now we must learn to get along with each other in this group. This implies more than just not quarreling with each other. It implies the ability to give and to receive, to help and to accept help, to supply to another what you have in abundance and to accept from him what you lack. And all without expectation of credit or applause or reward. All must be matter-of-course.
The world needs practical, common-sense and rationally minded esotericists. It is the avowed purpose of the Rosicrucian Order to help create in this field. The lessons and exercises, the Chapters and Lodges are designed to accomplish this end. New leadership must emerge in order to bring a better spiritual understanding to the rest of humanity, to help alleviate human suffering and misery, with its continuing cruelties, bitterness and starvation, and to bring to birth in the consciousness of the people a strong desire for better things for all men. It is the responsibility of the esotericists of the world to supply this leadership. It is your responsibility as Rosicrucians to think and work to this end. The esoteric truths must come to be known and accepted by all men. The superior smile, seen so often today when Karma or reincarnation or Hierarchy are mentioned, must give way to thoughtful respect. This can only be accomplished by you, by your earnestness and zeal combined with a most common sense treatment of all the Teachings at all times. This is today one of our two greatest challenges, this is one of Today's Problems.
The other great problem is that of money. This is a most difficult problem to discuss, to analyze and to solve. The whole question of money is enshrouded in the most powerful glamours and surrounded by the most deep-seated prejudices. My very mention of this here has caused a slight emotional stirring akin to resentment in the auras of quite a number of you. Money and its function and its place in the scheme of things is the least understood of any of the energies we employ. Yes, money is energy, a form of crystallized energy. Of all the energies we employ, it is most closely identified with the material. It stands in the minds of most people for material success, for all the things of the material world that bring ease, luxury and the satisfaction of desire. Its lack means frustration of desire, poverty and want. We all use it, we all need it but so few understand it.
The major clue to understanding money lies in the statement that it is a form of energy. Energy is effective only when it is used and the more freely it flows and with the least restraints, the more effective it becomes. You can never really own money any more than you can own energy. You can use it, yes, and the freer the flow in and through your control, the more rapid will the flow become. This means that more and more money will flow through you if you will let it flow freely, without restriction or restraint and even expedite its movement a little by spreading it around --- by giving it away.
As you can well realize, this statement is oversimplifying the problem a little bit. But in principle, it is completely true, even though in practice it sometimes presents a more complicated picture. This doesn't mean that it is wrong to put money into a bank, or to save for a rainy day, or to invest in bonds or securities. No. The question of money flow and impedance has to do with your mental attitude towards money. Is it easy and relaxed ? Or is it tense and restrained ? Do you concern yourself greatly about money, or do you take it as it comes and adjust your life accordingly ? Here are the major clues to the proper handling of money.
Some of the most powerful illusions and glamour in the world today are built up around money. This is a stronghold which the lords of the material world guard most jealously and they have ringed it round about with their most brilliant artifices. Whence do you think comes the oft repeated and most universal idea that a man of God, a man of the Spirit, should not have money and should not seek money? Why not? He must have the energy to walk --- then why not the energy to ride and save time. And now here again, my friends, I would call your attention to the fact that this idea is so deeply imbedded in the emotional natures of some of you that my challenge of it creates a noticeable stir or ripple in your group aura.
It is this very "taboo", and I assure you that it is nothing more than a "taboo", which is the second great problem facing us today. In speaking of the techniques to be employed in establishing peace on our planet and ushering in the long awaited Golden Age, one of the Masters said : "The crux of the problem in getting this work done is financial." Does this surprise you? Today, almost no money is dedicated to spiritual purposes --- almost none. Yet, if we but realized it, one of the acid tests for those aspiring to discipleship is the knowledge of how to handle money and the actual providing of money for specific spiritual projects. The student on the probationary path must learn the recognition, control and manipulation of energies before he can proceed further. Due to this taboo, this glamour, he often falls entirely to touch the problem of money, one of the greatest energies which we have to deal with.
You must be realists. You must learn how to handle money, how to control money. This is not a matter of magical formulae, but a simple, every day, matter-of-fact approach. And again, let me repeat that the most important clue to the successful manipulation of this energy, money, is in your mental attitude to permit an unimpeded flow. You must let go of it easily, you must be expansive with money.
I know that most of you are most generous with money. This is part of the technique and you are to be commended for it, but complete success only comes when all the mental blocks are removed. This means that first things must come first and money must be given, yes given, in the proper proportions for the proper purposes. Up until now, the very highest purpose, the work of the Hierarchy, the Plan of God so to speak, has received the least money. Yet a moment's reflection will show you how necessary money is to the proper working out of any plan on this planet. No physical change can he brought about, no change of any kind can be brought about without the use of energy. Money in our lives is like gasoline in a motor. It is energy in capsule form that can be applied instantaneously at the point of greatest efficiency. What has prevented us and what still prevents us from supplying money to accomplish the most important objective before us, by far and away our most important objective, the spread of esotericism?
True, we give some, but for the most part we give pennies when we should give dollars and actually thousands are needed. What is this mental block that prevents us from giving more than a few dollars a year to further the Plan of God when without a second thought we will spend two or three times the amount for some relatively unnecessary physical satisfaction? Here, my friends, you have one of the walls of glamour built by the lords of the material world around the idea of money. And as a probationer or postulant or neophyte, it is one of your tasks to pierce and destroy this curtain of glamour. Here are indicated two steps, first to pierce and then to destroy. It is necessary for you as an individual to achieve an understanding of the flow and the use of money. Then after you have attained this, it is your responsibility to help destroy the glamour about money and bring a better understanding of it into the lives of others.
Your comprehension of money is a personal problem, one which you yourselves will have to solve in your own way. Some clues can be given, namely, money is like a flowing river or an electric current. It must be contained by banks like river banks or by insulation on the electric wire. It must be directed because if uncontrolled and undirected it is dangerous and will be dissipated without doing good. On the other hand, it must not be damned or blocked or restricted in any way. Its free flow must be unimpeded so that it may move swiftly. It must be aimed or channeled into the proper courses, toward the proper objectives and only you can decide for yourselves which of these are proper and right for you.
Having come to some knowledge of money and attained some skill in its handling, the next part of this problem is to help others do likewise. This can be accomplished by:
Practical suggestion and personal example need no comment. Each one will have his own technique in offering suggestions to others and I can only say that the more impersonal and, let us say, self effacing the attitude, the more effective the suggestion will be. The power of personal example is well known to all and I am sure that each one of you fully understands that your proper handling of money, your open-heartedness and generosity will open the eyes and hearts of others and lead them to do likewise.
Concerning the third course, meditation, a few comments may be helpful. The glamours which exist in connection with money and restrict or inhibit its proper use by man are all emotional in nature. They can be broken down and destroyed by the proper use of the mind, by employing mental energy. Thus, meditation and its accompanying visualization can provide a potent instrument in freeing our whole concept of money from its restricting shackles. One very sound meditation is to visualize money as a golden stream or river flowing from the Divine Source. Then by an act of the will consciously direct the flow of this golden stream so that it will move away from the domination of the lords of the material world and come under the control of the Forces of Light.
Another type of meditation, which will achieve the same objective is to visualize the Divine Mother in radiant garments and shining like the sun sitting with Her robe held extended in Her two hands out before Her. And passing Her come thousands of people with shining faces and open hearts and as they pass they drop a coin or a piece of gold onto Her outstretched robe.
Now some of you will ask, and rightly so, "Why is this money needed and what will be done with it?" In brief, the money is needed to expand the work and this is how it will be used. Today there are thousands of people in many countries whose minds are open and ready for esoteric teachings. It is the responsibility of the esoteric orders to reach as many of these people as possible and here is where your help and your money are needed most. We Rosicrucians are not the only esoteric group working to this end. There are several other true Orders and Brotherhoods with the same objective. Whereas the money you offer may help only the Rosicrucian work, your suggestions, example and meditation will help the entire Hierarchical movement in this direction. Thus, your every effort will be felt in the vast whole and properly recognized and appreciated.
The problem of money for spiritual work is one of special importance to all Rosicrucian students. A more rational and common sense attitude towards the problem of money with relation to spiritual work is imperative in the esoteric field, for generally speaking, a large proportion of esotericists do not recognize the fact that money is one of the seven major fields of activity right now concerning the attention of Hierarchy. The redirection of money on a large scale is essential to the proper working out of its present plans for humanity if they are not to be postponed and long delayed. There is an abundance of money, should humanity so choose, for spiritual purposes. We do not have to magically create this money. It already exists. Millions are actually available in the hands of men and women of good will today. But it must be realized by you that money is the energy which can set in motion and make possible the expansion and growth of esotericism in all countries to all people --- no matter what their color, caste or church. Money does not yet lie in the proper hands and the need for it is great. It must be re-directed, re-channeled and it is upon our shoulders as esotericists, as Rosicrucians, that a share of this burden rests.
This is the cause I bring before you, these are our problems of today for which I seek your aid --- a common sense, practical approach to your esoteric work and a genuine and whole hearted endeavor on your part to bring about a re-direction of money to spiritual purposes.
Joseph J. Weed
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A Rosicrucian Speaks
Joseph J. Weed
Copyright: The Chatsworth Press
Last Modified on: January 19, 2014
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