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Love's
Apotheosis
By Raymund
Andrea, F. R. C.Grand Master, AMORC, Great Britain [From The Rosicrucian Digest December 1929] OUR IDEAS of spiritual values undergo many transformations during the search for the light of the soul. In moments of clear vision, when we are at peace within, knowledge and experience fashion themselves into harmonious wholes which are seen to be definite phases of the soul's evolution. In these rare intervals we are able to observe ourselves dispassionately from an altitude of spiritual contemplation. We desire truth fervently, and in good time it dawns with the clearness of light upon the mental vision. Truth in these calm retrospects of the mind, the truth about ourselves and life; the growth and meaning of the years become focused in the present hour that we may make a right assessment and a wise determination for the future. And one of the first things we realize is, that the Spirit within is the only true guide, and that under its influence life is a process of revelation and reconstruction. Truth comes, and all the past is transfigured by its coming. We, too, are changed. The significance and relationship of that which before remained detached and meaningless is discerned and understood, because thought and emotion ascend to superior levels and acquire new power and dignity. In a word, we see the wonderful blending of the human with the divine. It is by virtue of these revelations of truth to the unfolding soul that love attains to its apotheosis. Love is a divine mystery; its apotheosis appears to be the object of all our incarnation. Little is this suspected in the earlier stages of the soul's growth; we only realize it through the manifold transformations of love as the soul reaches maturity. How wonderful, for instance, it is that the sweet, silent, understanding communion between two souls is gradually transformed by the power of the Spirit within into a deep, solemnizing all-inclusive humanity which blesses wherever it touches. It is only at that stage that the glory and purpose of love begin to reveal themselves and the soul visions somewhat of the deific nature of the Masters who take thought for and guide it. It is only then that the soul sees the possibility of the renunciation of its personal life and the blending of itself with the Cosmic life and love divine. The denial of love is love's crucifixion; and to crucify love is to abrogate the law of life, which decrees the growth of love. You cannot discount the law of love and live. Love is the divine fire in the heart of man and must be recognized and nurtured. It is true that only a spiritual love can reach the apotheosis; but that dawns only after long probation. To become perfect, love must realize itself in every phase of its manifestation; not by denial, but by complete realization comes the apotheosis. The experiences of the relations of love in its personal aspect are appointed ministers and constitute a necessary probation. These experiences humanize, enrich, and sanctify the lover as he passes on to the higher recognition and relationship. No outpouring of the heart's immortal treasure, however trivial and unsatisfying, nor whatever pain may be attendant upon it, is unfruitful; all are instrumental in effecting that conscious detachment of the soul from love's limitations and the ultimate establishment of its full-orbed Cosmic expression. The dawn of spiritual love works a revolution in the life of man. Glancing back along the eventful path he has trodden, he surveys the change wrought in his constitution with tranquillity and quiet joy, nay, with humiliation. He hath lost much, but the gain is infinite. The child heart is his which knows no fear. He has passed, if only for an interval, within the sacred precincts of ineffable peace and experienced the true rest of the soul. Harmless and void of all offence, he receives the power to read the hearts of others and minister to them. For him, this is the only true life and he desires none other. His one prayer is that the old self may be utterly transcended and forgotten, with all its conscious pride, its feverish ambitions and restless antagonisms, and that the will of love shall be done in and through him. What is there in the world that can be compared with this sanctifying resurrection? How often it is mistaken and misconstrued, and taken for weakness when only it is strength. Truly has it been said that the power of the disciple appears as nothing in the eyes of men. When the apotheosis is reached the compassion of the Masters ceases to be merely a name on the tongue of the aspirant; he knows it as a living force actuating his own personality. He is automatically freed from many laws which hitherto circumscribed his life and comes to recognize but one, the law of sacrifice. HE GIVES HIMSELF. That statement looks simple enough, but it means nothing less than the birth of Christ in a man. How rarely do we meet, even among occult students, with the divine, active quality of true self-effacement? Yet no man can become a real saviour of men without it; and a true aspirant will conceive it to be the highest goal of his aspiration. Think what it means to the great host of encompassing souls upon earth, bound fast by the bonds of the manifold limitations of love, with all their consequent fluctuations of tumultuous passions, their bewildering psychic complications, and the eternal hunger of bleeding hearts continually broken; think what it means when the aspirant, with the light of the apotheosis upon his brow and its deep peace in his heart, glances across the sea of human life and, gathering the sorrow and the chaos into his own ardent bosom, dedicates his soul to the service of man! That love has supernal power. It is the only key to the human soul. It is invested with a divine magnetism which nothing in the personal life can resist. Moreover, it is the far off dream of every soul. The love which has been tried in all the furnaces of life and become radiant, is the one priceless treasure which all souls are instinctively feeling after. And nothing but a true self-effacement will give you this vision of the world's need, or enable you to a right dedication to it, or provide you with a panacea for it. As the aspirant unfolds in spiritual knowledge finer adjustments to truth and to his fellow men become ever necessary, and far-reaching responsibilities devolve upon him. His one passion is to GIVE HIMSELF, whether it signifies gain or loss. The apotheosis attained, his one and inestimable privilege is that of shedding its glory continually around him. It becomes wondrously potent and fulfills its purpose without let or hindrance in countless ways in the common lives of men. There is no ostentatious announcement of its benign influence. It passes silently into the human heart as strength, calm, and lofty aspiration. It is an atmosphere of prayer; and where it rests a sweet resignation possesses the soul and the burden of life is mysteriously lightened. In the Masters of life the grand alchemical process of transmutation is seen in its perfection. How familiar in our ears is the everlasting praise of the compassion of the Buddha and the Christ. We are apt to think that examples of divine blessedness are for some reason incompatible with our time. This is a mistake. Not every glorious soul stands before the world as a teacher of men. There are with us those who perform such holy works of the fulness of the apotheosis as would stagger the credibility of the uninitiated. Few were they who were able to recognize the Masters in the olden time. It is precisely the same today. Again and again the Master passes by; but not a sign of recognition will be manifested, unless as his devoted disciple you have sought him UNCONDITIONALLY through the years in the silence of the heart. | ||
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