The Path of the Rose

As we move through the him drum of life we are faced with obstacles and challenges and one cannot but be drawn to ask - "Why?" It is not unusual for people to often seek answers to these questions in religion, philosophy and many other sources - but always the thirst remains. In fact many experience this quest as something of a curse the more you seek for the answers in all the usual places the more thirsty you become.
Ever being enticed by the sages of old who had a real connection to God, which sadly was not transmitted with their sage words, so with their passing so went the connection. Like a picture a beautiful cool river shown to a person wandering the desert in search of water all it accomplishes is enforcing the emptiness, driving home the fact that what can be found is out there but beyond any ability to find. Some even hold on to this mirage and try to believe it into reality, they read endless books and accounts of the image in the mirage - but sadly in their heart of hearts, they know that they are no closer, yet again the mirage has evaporated. The thirst becomes ever more demanding - for what is within again seek unity with God - or rather we need to find the path to realising that God has been within us all along - after all it would be impossible to convince anyone that there can ever be any separation in spirit other than perception.
In my humble opinion it is the fact that our perception is divorced from reality which keeps the mirage a reality and it is us not God who prevents us from perceiving unity, that fabled end to the Grail quest. In my life the more I learnt of many religions the more I found them to be the same, all pointing in different directions to the same destination. In their zealous development of their dogma, spirituality is often drained from the words and soon all that remains is dogma, carefully extracted is all the golden spirituality - what remains is the husks, the ore devoid of anything of true value - all that remains is ritual and instructions and complexity. God would never make the road back that difficult nor would God not want us to question. The Bible says we should believe like children - maybe children have changed but children learn by experience and questioning - its adults who do as they are told after all that is childlike has been removed by our education system. The question remained for me - what now - it was only per chance that I came across the Rosicrucian approach and it encouraged questions, embraced all religions and  truly helped me find my inner peace - not because I was told to believe but because through personal experience I have found to be true. I don't believe that the Rosicrucian path is a worthwhile path - I know it is. And that's worth more to me than being told so or even reading a million books with authors who each for their own reasons repeats the same things over just in different language.
There is only one God, that has never changed nor has the true faith - you just need to find it for yourself.

Personal Mysteries - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

It is amazing when one looks at one's personal evolution; from the first day you remember until today. It is interesting to sit down and contemplate how your life has changed, how views and beliefs have have transformed themselves and by extension how you see yourself.
In my heart of heart's I realise that I have not so much changed but rather that I have only become more eloquent in expressing my own personal inner truth.
Don't we in those rare moments of silence, recognise the truth about who we really are?
We are all spirit, and God is spirit and spirit has no start or end no beginning nor end. Which truth is expressed in the Bible when God says "I am the Alpha and the Omega" He does not say I was at the beginning and shall be at the end. For God,as for spirit there is no time, distance other than that which we imagine, when we get distracted from our true nature and purpose, while on our temporary sojourn in a material body.
Religion to me is only man's attempt to try to reconcile God's spiritual reality with a mistaken view of who we really are, mistaking our soul as a passenger on our very real material body. It is with respect concerning in my personal view that people cannot recognise this fact. Maybe its because recognising this fact creates problems in that many people may say that then it makes sense that there would be reincarnation.
It is interesting that even in Christianity, reincarnation was accepted. Even Jesus, stated when he asked who people thought he was they recounted that some said he was Elijah etc, it is interesting that Jesus did not correct them concerning reincarnation, which he should have done, had it been a fallacy as he had done with many other topics before, but he did not when it came to reincarnation. But these are my personal thought and no more.

Gnosis

To be blessed with true gnosis is a sacred gift. It is that true knowledge of God which creates a real and personal relationship between you and God. The biggest step is realising that God has not given a monopoly of Truth to any  world religion.

The absolute failure of religion to adequately answer peoples' most important questions is indicative of this chasm between organised religion and God. If you seek God, look withing, for within you will find a compass which is never wrong. It is so that many religions contain profound truths buried under all the dogma, but with gnosis one can overcome the worldly and discern that which is truly Godly.

The Mystical Path

I find it perplexing that people do not take the time and effort to use language correctly. If one looks at the true meaning of the word mysticism as applied by the Rosicrucians as a group, one finds a glaring gap between that meaning and that ascribed to mysticism by the broader public.

This chasm is made even greater by the statements made by fundamentalist religionists when condemning everything and anything to the an act of the devil which does not strictly confirm to their extremely narrow personal world view interpretation. the fact is that mysticism seeks to establish a closer union between the practitioner and the Divine. This is not for purposes of telling the future etc.

This is a sacred and noble path, who is trod daily by many who seek a close and personal relationship with God. It was once stated that God does not need priest or professors telling Him what to think or do. If it is so that God is our father (Our Father who art in Heaven) then we can approach God directly without intermediary. It is so that the group dynamic is important in any endeavour for it supplies support but that is the sum total of its use.

The belief that there is a correct and incorrect path is incorrect, in my personal belief and experience, everyone comes to God by various paths, but everyone comes to God eventually.

As God is all powerful and all knowing, it would be folly to suggest that he did not build into each of us within our soul a spark which which knows its way back or rather recognises that we have never been apart from God. The mystical path in my view is rather a process of remembering. It is a path which makes sense of a world that no longer has any sense of itself. It is in mystical interpretation that the mistakes of literal interpretation is corrected and where spiritual matter can be interpreted for what they are.

To choose the mystical path is to choose to follow your natural in born path home to God.

What is a Mystic - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

It is often said that mystics are strange and at best very suspect bunch of weirdos. This is no so, but naturally there are nuts everywhere and unfortunately for mystics, we do tend to attract nuts.

What is a "mystic":

"Mysticism (from the Greek μυστικός, mystikos, an initiate of a mystery religion)^[1] is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Mysticism usually centers on a practice or practices intended to nurture those experiences or awareness." It the definition given in a Wikipaedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysticism)

It could also be said:

"In a very real sense, because mysticism concerns the essence of life, it is audacious to even try and define it. Words are insufficient, often in the way of understanding. That to which the word "mysticism" refers, is a quality of presence that is quite literally beyond and before any words. Still, and like others, I feel compelled to try and come as close as I can to pointing toward something that speaks of our original nature. I beg pardon in advance for the terrible insufficiency of language and the limits of my own mere glimpses into these realms of an endless sacred mystery. Still, let me try.

A mystic is one who, above all else in life, desires to know, not in the intellectual sense of knowing, the deepest Truth of existence. A mystic is one who senses more to life than making a living or being of service in the world although these things are both necessary and good. The mystic, however, is looking beyond an exclusive or preoccupied focus on these survival or self-actualization to something more. He is looking to discover the deepest truth of our being as incarnate souls; to understand our greatest potential as reflections of God; to realize our wholeness within the ground of all. The primary interest in life for the mystic is to discover truth, to know God, to see into mans whole nature. The mystic sees all of life as an abundant opportunity to discover, realize, and express the Divine.

Mysticism springs from an insatiable curiosity for understanding the essential questions of life: matters of God, creation, the infinite and the human potential for knowing truth. The mystic is in reality the ultimate scientist who, looking beyond the apparent or obvious in all matters, asks, "Is this that I am seeing reality or the illusions that stem from fear?" "What existed before this sense of reality?" "What existed before my mental constructs, my beliefs, my self identity?" "Who is this that observes and is self-reflecting?" "What is at life's very source?" (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mystic-mysticism-life-existence-discover-realize-express-divine.html)

Essentially, Mysticism is seeking integration with the Divine, so that one may know God.

As part of this process it helps to fully develop one's God given talents, which may seem fantastical to some but these are not developed for egotistic reasons, rather as part of a greater mission, a much greater goal.

Mystics have come from all faiths and religions, but they all share many points in common.

But more of that in a later post.

Why travel the path of the Rosicrucians

I am a member of AMORC (the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis). There is no question that the value that I derive from the Order neither comes from any belief in its origin, nor its name or any illusions of grandeur which may flow flow from such an association.

AMORC has a well structured development system which follows a graded initiation system. This is vital to ensure that a person develops slowly and correctly on all levels. There are some who criticise the Order, but these same individuals and groups find just cause to justify their judgement and criticism of everything which is not exactly a carbon copy of their beliefs.


I started my studies with AMORC no being under any misconception. I wanted to see visible and real changes in me as a person or I decided I would terminate my membership. Today I am a very happy and committed member of the Order and have even joined the TMO which is a Order under the sponsorship of AMORC.

Would I recommend that someone join this Order. I cannot. the simple reason is that although I have benefited greatly from this Order, that I cannot judge its worth to someone else. What I can say is that the Order has been very supportive. Their subs are very reasonable when viewed in the light of the quality of their written courses and their infrastructure. It is without any doubt, that I recommend this Order, for anyone seeking to develop themselves on all levels.

Meditation (Port Elizabeth, South Africa)

It is wonderful to hear that more and more people are starting to see the benefits of meditation in their personal lives. It is so powerful to experience something personally instead of just reading about something or being told to believe something. This is what makes meditation so powerful. It is commonly known that most famous religious figures who were visionary where in fact mystics. It is this ability to transcend creed and denomination that gave their wisdom a boundless appeal because the soul knows no creed, it only longs for God