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taught and to practice this scientific method. The result then is that instead of having to spend in purgatorial
expiation a period of time about one-third as long as the life lived in the dense body, he who steadily and
unwaveringly practices this method finds himself as a free lance in the invisible world, not bound by
limitations which hold and fetter all others, and therefore free to use his entire time while in the lower regions
in the service of suffering humanity. But there is a great difference between the opportunities there and here;
here one-third of our life is taken up with rest and recuperation, another third is taken up in work so that we
may obtain the wherewithal to keep this physical body fed, clothed, and housed; and only the other third is at
all available for the purposes of rest, recreation, or soul growth. It is different in the Desire World where the
CHAPTER XVI. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT PART II RETROSPECTION
37
Teachings of an Initiate
spirit finds itself after death. The bodies in which we function there do not require food or raiment, neither do
they need shelter; they are not subject to fatigue either, so that instead of spending two-thirds of the time as
here in providing the necessaries of the body, the spirit is there free to use its instruments the whole twenty-
four hours, day after day. Therefore the time saved in the invisible world by having lived our purgatory day
by day is the equivalent of that portion of an entire earth life which one spends in work. Also during all that
time thus saved no thought or care need be given to anything else but how we may help to further the scheme
of evolution and aid our younger and less fortunate brothers. Thus we reap a rich harvest and make more soul
growth in that post-mortem existence than would be possible in several ordinary lives. When we are reborn
we then find ourselves with all the soul powers thus acquired and must further along upon the path of
evolution than we could possibly have been under ordinary circumstances.
It is also noteworthy that while other methods of soul unfoldment evolved and taught by other schools carry
with them danger which sometimes may bring those who practice them into the insane asylum, the scientific
method of soul unfoldment advocated by the Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian order is always bound to
benefit everyone who practices it and can never under any circumstances cause any harm to anyone. We may
also say that there are other helps that have not been mentioned here which are communicated to those who
have proved their worth by their persistence, and while they do not directly aim at the evolution of spiritual
sight, this will be evolved by all who practice them with the necessary faithful perseverance.
CHAPTER XVII. THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD
"The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not
heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set
a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man
to run a race."
Everywhere for miles around us we see the glorious sunrise, bringing light and life to all; then the day star
mounts high in the heavens, later to decline towards the western horizon in a glorious burst of flame as its
sinks into the sea, leaving an afterglow of indescribable, variegated tints coloring the heavens as with liquid
fire of the softest and most beautiful hues, which the brush of the painter can never paint to perfection. Then
the moon, the orb of night, rises over the eastern hills, carrying the stars and constellations upward in her
train toward the zenith, and following the sun in its everlasting circle dance; the stellar script thus describes
upon the map of heaven man's past, present and future evolution among the ever changing environments of
the concrete world, without rest or peace while time lasts.
In this ever changing kaleidoscope of the heavens there is one star and only one that remains so
comparatively stationary that to all intents and purposes and from the standpoint of our ephemeral life of
fifty, sixty, or one hundred years it is a fixed point the North Star. When the mariner sails his ship upon the
waste of waters, he has full faith that so long as he steers by that mark he will safely reach his desired haven.
Nor is he dismayed when clouds obscure its guiding light, for he has a compass magnetized by a mysterious
power so that through sunshine or rain, in fog or mist, it points unerringly to that steadfast star and enables
him to steer his ship as safely as if he could actually see the star itself. Truly, the heavens declare the wonders
of the Lord.
As it is in the macrocosm, the great world without us, so it is in our own lives. At our birth the sun of life
rises, and we begin the ascent through the years of childhood and youth toward the zenith of manhood or
womanhood. The ever changing world which forms our environment, including fathers, mothers, sisters, and
brothers, surrounds us. With friends, acquaintances, and foes we face the battle of life with whatever strength
CHAPTER XVII. THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD 38
Teachings of an Initiate
we may have gained in our past lives, to pay the debts contracted, to bear the burdens of this life, perhaps to
make them heavier according to our wisdom or unwisdom. But among all the changing circumstances of life
and the vicissitudes of existence there is one great and grand guide which like the North Star never fails us; a
guide ever ready like the steadfast star in heaven to help us steer our bark of life into clear sailing God. It is
significant to read in the Bible that the wise men in their search for the Christ (OUR GREAT SPIRITUAL
TEACHER) also followed a star that led them to this great spiritual Light. What would we think of the
captain of a ship who lashed the wheel and let his ship drift with the tide, leaving it to the change of wind or
fate? Would it surprise us if he were eventually shipwrecked and lost his life upon the rocks? Surely not. The
marvel would be if he should reach the shore.
A great and wonderful allegory is written in cosmic characters in the sky. It is also written in our own lives,
and warns us to forsake the fleeting life of the material and to seek the eternal life of God.
We are not left without a guide, even though the veil of flesh, the pride of life, and the lusts blind us for a
time. For as the mariner's magnetic compass points to the guiding star, so the spirit draws us to its source with
a longing and a yearning that cannot be entirely quenched no matter how deep we may sink into materialism.
Many are at present groping, seeking, trying to solve that inner unrest; something seems to urge them on
though they do not understand it; something ever draws them forward to seek the spiritual and to reach up for
something higher our Father in Heaven.
David said, "if I ascend up into heaven thou art there; if I make my bed in the grave thou art there; thy right
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