The International School of the Golden Rosycross:
An Introduction
PART 1
The quest for the meaning of life.
Why do human beings exist? What is the real purpose of human life?
Perhaps you are no longer satisfied by the conventional answers to these questions, and feel driven by a very deep-seated inner urge to find some indefinable, missing 'something.' Perhaps you give it a name - you say you want to find out who you really are, or you want to experience conscious union with God, or you want to become a more loving human being - a source of healing in the world - or you want to find inner peace, and lasting happiness.
Or perhaps you can't quite put a name to what you are looking for, but you know it's something, and you have to find it.
In fact, the urge to find that 'something' is quite powerful in you, powerful enough to drive you out of the ordinary acceptance of life that so many other people appear to enjoy, and onto a quest that may already have led you through libraries, courses, workshops, groups and all kinds of experiences.
Sometimes you feel as though you're getting near your goal, but then, just when it looks as though it's almost within your reach, it slips out of your hands again. So you keep going... You keep trying.
If you, too, are involved in this quest, you may well find that the teachings of the Rosycross can be of help to you.
It must be emphasized, though, that what the International School of the Golden Rosycross teaches is not meant to be accepted 'on authority.' Rather, its aim is to awaken in you an awareness of something that, deep down, you know already although, temporarily at least, you may have forgotten it.
When this inner fount of wisdom is awakened within you, and you learn to listen to it, and follow it, the path to liberation will be opened wide. In this way, we can become fountains of Living Water for the benefit of all our fellow human beings.
Let us explain what we mean:
The dual nature of the human being
First of all, there is one fundamental Rosicrucian insight which, though at first glance may seem very simple, can actually prove decisive in our quest for life's meaning.
This insight, if understood and worked with on a daily basis, can help enormously in purifying our urge to seek, so that it becomes much more dynamic and capable of reaching its goal. This insight is the knowledge that our urge to seek - our yearning for absolute truth, perfection, healing, love - does not originate in the part of ourselves we are accustomed to calling 'I,' although it may appear to do so.
Our thirst for the Absolute actually originates from an eternal principle latent within us. This eternal principle is quite distinct from the "I", or ego, and remains in a more or less dormant state in most people. The Rosicrucians call this principle of eternity the 'Rose,' but it is also known by many other names, such as 'divine spark,
'spirit-spark atom,' the Christos, the Pearl of Great Price, the Precious Jewel in the Lotus, and so on.
The two orders of existence
This brings us to the second fundamental tenet of the Rosicrucians: the knowledge that the Rose - the eternal principle latent in the heart - is subject to one set of laws, while the rest of our being is subject to another. We call these two sets of laws the 'two orders of existence,' or the 'two nature orders.'
Apart from the Rose, our whole being is a product of nature, entirely subject to the laws of time and space. That is why, of ourselves, we can never achieve anything absolute and lasting, for our creations will always be subject to finiteness and temporality.
The Rose, on the other hand, as the principle of eternity latent within us, is subject to the laws of eternity. That is why, if we want to transcend space and time, if we want to reach the Absolute, the eternal, we will never be able to do so with any part of our self as it is at this moment. If we want our thirst for the Absolute to be satisfied, we will need to begin by 'standing aside,' as regards our ordinary,
I-central consciousness, and allowing the eternal principle latent within us to develop so that it gradually becomes predominant in our system.
A bridge from time to eternity
As a gnostic school, the International School of the Golden Rosycross helps and
supports its pupils in their efforts to shift the I-central consciousness from its position as 'king' in their inner household, and to restore it to its proper role: that of 'servant' to the growing True Self within, the Christ-Self, the Rose. Simultaneously, this Rose within them is given all the sustenance it needs to be able to grow.
If the pupil cooperates and perseveres in this process, the Rose increasingly unfolds and blooms; it becomes an inner source of light and love that sheds its perfume and radiance over all, for the benefit of all.
In the following sections we would like to tell you more about the Rosicrucian
understanding of how this source of the eternal within you can be unlocked.