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Seeking Cosmic AidAre We Ready to Accept the Help That is Offered?By Frater William Lowell [From The Rosicrucian Digest May 1931] The very advancement of women's rights and privileges in the business as well as the scientific and art world indicates the practical turn of thinking on the part of all men and women. Man has come to realize that woman can be practical in her thinking and reasoning and in the application of her talents and that she has a practical place in life as well as a theoretical and philosophical one. Woman, on the other hand, has come to realize that the practical life is not only the more efficient but the more enjoyable, and she has demonstrated that she is willing to sacrifice some of the shallow things and the purely inactive and philosophical phases of life for the more interesting and enjoyable. In religious matters this trend toward practicalism manifests itself very definitely, much to the consternation of those who try to hold all religious thinking and teachings on the basis of ethereal and esthetic philosophy. Fortunately, man finds that the greatest avatars of all ages, including Jesus the Christ, exemplified this very idea by the practical application of the religious doctrines. That religion or that system of religious thought, which is not susceptible to practical application in the practical affairs of our lives, is doomed to future oblivion. It is not what a man thinks in his heart or what he believes in his mind that makes him of value to society or to the rest of the human brotherhood, but it is the way he lives and the way he practices his principles that counts. Therefore, his beliefs and guides in life must be expressed in practical terms and incorporate practical principles which he can use knowingly and efficiently. Too many of the religious leaders today who bemoan the changing religious attitude of the populace fail to take all of this into consideration, but sooner or later some new church movement will take advantage of this logical and thoroughly Christ-like attitude of the public and its following will become great and enthusiastic in a few years. In the meantime, those students of the higher metaphysical and psychological principles of life have already found the key to their problem and a satisfactory code of right thinking and right living. The Rosicrucian Brotherhood has exemplified this spirit in all the ages and that is why it is the largest of these modern, progressive movements in every civilized land. It may seem strange to refer to a very old organization as a modern one; but, in fact, the Rosicrucian Brotherhood has been a modernistic and progressive movement ever since its inception and in each age and each period of its activities it has been a few cycles in advance of human evolution and leading the thoughts of men instead of following them. With all of its modern thoughts today and its very advanced principles it is no more modernistic in its progressiveness than it was a thousand years ago. In the Middle Ages the Rosicrucian principles were looked upon as so far in advance of the popular thought that many believed the leaders to be visionaries and dreamers, but when demonstration after demonstration on the part of the followers of the Rosy Cross proved that man could apply these principles in a practical way and advance his own best interests in life, the critics soon discovered that the term modernism or modernistic does not always imply lack of feasibility or rationalism. It may seem to those who look upon the Rosicrucian principles in a casual way that the constant reference to the Cosmic and the Cosmic laws is but a substitute for similar principles to be found in the religious doctrines. The mystics, however, have a more intimate knowledge of the Cosmic laws and their precise methods of working than the average religious enthusiast has regarding Heaven and the divine laws briefly outlined in his creeds and dogmas. But there are still those students of the metaphysical and Rosicrucian principles who do not understand some of the fundamental manifestations of Cosmic law and since these are always of a practical nature and appeal to the practical mind he feels inclined to speak briefly of them. In the first place, asking the Cosmic for help is the most logical, reasonable, and efficient manner of seeking help of any kind. The Cosmic should not be appealed to as the last resource or the court of appeals in grave problems or serious situations, nor should it be looked upon as a possible substitute for effort on our part. But the Cosmic should be made a partner in all of our activities, in all of our plans, and in all of our hopes and aspirations. To wait until the obstacles which surround and confront us appear to be insurmountable, or until the web that we have woven because of our ignorance has so entangled us that we cannot extract ourselves, or until we have muddled our affairs so greatly that no living being can help, and then make an appeal to the Cosmic for help is absurd. On the other hand, only the foolish fanatic would lie down under the shady tree and ask the Cosmic to feed him and take care of his necessities. Most of those who are accustomed to praying to God for help and who still appeal to Him for a sudden and unique manifestation of His omnipotent power never think of Him except when every other human power has failed and when dire disaster is at hand. Such persons wonder why most of their prayers are not answered and they have lost faith in the efficacy of prayer, whereas they should have lost faith in their own foolish understanding of the divine principle involved. The business man who has sufficient problems of a legal nature to require frequent consultation with a selected attorney is soon advised that the better plan is to consult the attorney before making important negotiations, signing important papers, or making important plans that involve legal principles. He will be told by the conscientious attorney that the prevention of complications through securing the cooperative assistance of a legal mind is not only more pleasant and certain of better results, but is more economical. The man or woman who has any faith at all in Cosmic help should realize, therefore, that making the Cosmic a partner in his activities and securing Cosmic guidance and inspiration continuously will not only aid in having Cosmic help of a practical nature, but it will often lead to a prevention of complications that demand emergency action. In most cases where Cosmic help is sought in connection with the very start or beginning of a problem that may require superhuman assistance, the Cosmic inspires the individual with the right steps to take and through the faculty of intuition or of other emotional agencies, indicates to the individual when he is making a wrong step. In fact, in many instances contemplated actions and carefully considered plans are abandoned after an appeal is made to the Cosmic for advice or assistance. Surely it is more profitable and more rational to abandon a plan that the Cosmic does not choose to support or cannot consistently help rather than try to force it to an ultimate conclusion against many natural obstacles and without having any Cosmic help at any time. Therefore, Cosmic help should be sought constantly and at the start or beginning of any important matter. Secondly, it is useless to seek Cosmic help unless one places complete reliance upon and confidence in the Cosmic. Surely we would think little of legal or medical advice if when consulting one of the best representatives of such professions we felt it our duty to outline the plan that we thought best and insisted upon many of the details of such a plan being adopted, regardless of any opinion that the expert might have. If the Cosmic is worthy of any consideration on our part at all it is worthy of complete confidence and trust. I know that thousands who appeal to the Cosmic for help will instantly say that they do have such complete confidence, and, in fact, they would resent any intimation that they did not have such faith. Imagine, therefore, the situation that arises when such persons approach the Cosmic for help with a pre-conceived plan and a very definite schedule worked out. They do not ask the Cosmic to help them to attain the ultimate end of their desires but to assist them in carrying out the plan or schedule they have conceived. Comparing this again with our practice of consulting an attorney or physician, it is equivalent to going to the most eminent medical man, whose superior wisdom we accept on the one hand but whose help we restrict on the other hand, by telling him what is wrong with us and what we want to have done and insisting that the ultimate result be attained through the use of certain remedies and exercises which we have conceived in our minds as being the better or the only ones to use. The physician would very likely inform us that unless he could use and exercise his experience and wisdom and adapt his own means and methods to attain the results desired he would prefer not to take the case at all. I wonder how many persons who appeal to the Cosmic for help, with a definite scheme and plan already arranged, ever stop to think that perhaps the reason why they did not obtain the results they wanted was because the Cosmic took no interest in the case whatsoever. And I wonder if it dawns upon the consciousness of these people that the Cosmic refused to help because it refused to have its means and methods restricted or prescribed or proscribed. Certainly complete trust and confidence would mean such faith that we would hesitate to even consider our own wisdom and experience in life as of any value in comparison with the wisdom and experience of the Cosmic. In the first place, we cannot be sure in each and every instance that the thing we desire is being expressed in our own mind in precisely the way it should be expressed, and we cannot be sure that we really do desire or require the thing we are asking for. But granting that the ultimate result or the ultimate attainment of our hopes and aspirations is definite in our mind and is worthy of our enjoyment, certainly we have no way of knowing what is the better method for bringing such a result into realization. For that reason we should have in mind nothing but a definite picture of the ultimate result and leave out of the picture altogether all of the intermediate steps and all of the intermediate activities that must occur in order to bring about the result. The next important point to consider is the fact that the Cosmic has the right, by reason of its omnipotence, and the privilege, by reason of its superior wisdom and understanding, to give us something entirely different than that which we are asking for. This does not mean that if we ask the Cosmic for bread it will give us stones, but we might well ask for bread when something else would be more nourishing. I know of one instance where a woman, who was situated in moderate circumstances in life and who had been denied much pleasure and thrilling excitement during her youth, longed for sufficient money to enable her to spend most of the hours of the day in such frivolity and in such gaiety and enthralling occupations that would enable her to forget that the time was passing or that the days were long or that she had any sorrow or grief of any particular kind. She desired contentment, peace, and some form of mental occupation that would simply hold her interest indefinitely and without fatigue or monotony. She had the preconceived idea, however, that the possession of money would enable her to enjoy her desires and through no other agency or channel could such contentment and experience come to her. Therefore, she had sought the assistance of the Cosmic in financial matters constantly. She had an entirely wrong conception or picture of what it was she desired in life and she certainly had a wrong conception of how it could be brought about. The Cosmic, however, in listening to her pleas for definite activity, free from fatigue or monotony, conceived of a different method than of giving money. It thought of the plan of giving this woman something to do of such an interesting nature that she would be preoccupied or so occupied throughout the greater part of the day that she would have no opportunity to think of the sorrows and griefs and the monotony of her commonplace life. Therefore, the Cosmic unexpectedly placed her in a position where she indulged to her heart's content in a new activity that entertained her so and pleased her so that she was willing to sacrifice meals and sleep to keep at her work. In a short time the profit from her efforts enabled her to have some money and with the possession of the money she was now free of any desire to want to spend it in the manner in which she had originally planned. Therefore, she kept at her new occupation and allowed the money to accumulate and after six years of this devotion to a new activity she summed up the entire situation by saying that the Cosmic had given her something better than money would ever have bought for her and yet she also had the money. Now the Cosmic does not always work this way nor does it always work in any manner that we can establish, as a general rule. Each of us has individual requirements and individual lessons to learn along with individual blessings to receive and the Cosmic's methods include a consideration of all these points. Truly we should ask for what we wish and try to visualize it and picture it to the best of our ability. But we should do so with such faith that after having asked for what we want and pictured our desires we should immediately resign the entire matter to the Cosmic and leave it there to be worked out in whatever way the Cosmic desires. Likewise we should be ready to accept any substitute or any change. One may desire to go to Europe and petition the Cosmic for help in this regard, to find that the Cosmic has suddenly changed our conditions and situation so that we are practically forced to take a train and go to the West instead of a boat toward the East. We may not understand such a change and may not believe that it has any connection with what we have been asking for, but again if we have faith we will accept the situation and wait until the Cosmic manifests its ultimate help for us. We must be patient, faithful, dependable, and above everything else sure of whatever the Cosmic does as being absolutely the best for us. Keeping these points in mind will save us much worry and concern over the working out of our plans, for if we have not made any definite plans we will not be disturbed if we do not see them being realized or brought into action. On the other hand, if we have only the definite and ultimate result in mind and are leaving the methods to the Cosmic, we can wait in patience and confidence for the ultimate manifestation, whatever it may be. We cannot question the Cosmic's motives nor the Cosmic's superior wisdom. We cannot doubt that all is for the ultimate good regardless of what the Cosmic does for us. We should not challenge the Cosmic's better knowledge over our own conditions and conditions around us. Truly should each one of us say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." The Cosmic is the consciousness and directing force of God and this superior mind and wisdom is ready to serve us if we are ready to obey and are worthy of having Cosmic help of any kind. | ||
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