great white brotherhood.pdf

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ROSICRUCIAN ORDEROY9,^:C

oVo

Supplement ary Monograph

The subiect matter of this monograph must be understood by the reader or studentof same, not to be the offrcial Rosicrucian teachings. These monographs constitute a series

of supplementary studies provided by the Rosicrucian Order,.AMORC, both to- membersand h'orrmembeis. because they aie not the secret, private teachings of the

_Order.

'Ihe oi;ec'. uf t :t-i :::pp,ic:-;:',;ia+ =..^cg:l;'::: :.i ti, '-,sa'l-:, tl:: r.-,irC of i"L.+ s'.uJen: l;presenting him with th-e writings, opinions, and dissertatiorrs of .authorities in various fieldsirf num.ri'enterprise and endeivor. Therefore, it is quite probable that the reader willnote at times in these supplementary monographs stat-emenis made which are inconsistentu'ith the Rosicrucian teailiinss or viewpoint. But with the realization that they are mere-

lDns slalements maqe wnrcn are lnconsrsrenldut with the realization that they are mere-r"ith the Rosicrucian teachlngs or vrewpornt. tsut wlth the reahzatron that they are mere-

ly supplementary and that the Rosicrutian Organization i.s not endorsing or -condoningy supplementary ano tnal tne nosrcrucran \JrSanrzauon ls nor enqorsrn8 or con(lonlngthem, bne must iake them merely for their prima facie value. Throughout the supple-mentary series the authors or trinslators of the subject will be given due credit wheneverthem, One must take them merely lor tnelr Pnma lacle value. rnrougnoul ,Ine supple-mentary series the authors or trinslators of the subject will be given due credit wheneverwe havl knowledge of their identity.

RoSICRUCIAN PAR.K, SAN

'OSE,

CALIFORNTA

"Consecrated to truth and dedicated to every Rosicrucian"

vrith the Rosicrucian teachin

SPECIAL SUBJECT

GREAT WHITE BROTHERHOOD

LECTURE NUMBER

RAD- 3 /7t

ffi



Rosicrueian Order - AIvIORC

AI\iAI.YTICAT DISCUSS IONS(Supplementary Lecture)

THE GREAT WHITE BROTHERTIOOD

-B-Page One

All the sources of the wisdom which mankind cherishes and pre-

serves are not known. Some still remain a challenging and intriguingmystery. The threads of much of our knowledge are lost in the obscuri-ty of antiquity. We can rightly presume that it is time alone whichconceals their beginnings from us. It is, however, more than strangethat paralleling general events of the past, the causes of most ofwhich are clearly indicated, are also certain "sudden appearances" ofa nelr wisdom, that is, an elaborately developed system of thi.nkitg,antlEve-ilEiences. Why, for example, are kings of thousands of yearsd9o.r their dynasties, their rise and fall in power, often preciselychronicled, and a €rans$endenial wisdon of 'Lhe sai{ia era Geems to havea spontaneous, unheralded, unexplained origin?

Men, as history relates, have been often so endowed cosmically

with lnner vision and encyclopedic minds that they as individuals havebecome virtual fountains of wisdom from which virgin ideas f1ow.Pharaoh Amenhotep rV, Plato, and Aristotle are-ffiEE ffir thesegeniuses of antiquity. The world is content to accept them as theauthors of that which they expounded, since in comparatively moderntimes there have been others who. as individuals have also greatly ad-vanced learning by their singular efforts and intell-igence. Suchrevelations may be explained physiologically by saying that the indivi-duals had a peculiar configuration of the cortical areas of theirbrains, a special grouping of their brain neurons. Mysticallyr oD theother hand, they may be heralded as recipients of an intuitive knowl-edge; that is, they hrere channels through which the consciousness of

God flowed to mingle with their mortal minds.Nevertheless, revelation

or intuition does not explain the mysterious initial appearance of agreat wisdom tE-aa irF peoFE

Wisdom may be said to be an applied knowledge, a knowledge whichhas been refined by usage amounting to a skill. Wisdom, therefore, isnot r_evee .ed,_b-ut is.developed aver-.a period of time-from conceptq which,in their simple form, may have originally flashed into the conscious-ness of man. There are numerous examples of such wisdom appearing likebright stars on the horizon of those civilizations which historyrecords. However, such learning did not drop from heaven. Men some-where at some time by the sweat of their brows unearthed it in humanexperience no matter how sudden its apparent appearance. It may have

taken centuries or even ages to develop it to the degree of perfectionit had when it first came to the attention of the masses of men.During such an interim, it was either secreted from most men, or elseit was Lost through some cataclysmic upheaval, to be rediscovered anddisc1osedinitsferfectedwho1E.obviousJ.y,profane]oigEr_history knows not the source of such wisdom, or it would be factuallyreLated.

To cite a specific example, the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, generallyeonceded to have been erected during the reign of Pharaoh Cheops about



White Brotherhood

Rosicrucian Order - AIIORC

AI{ALYTICAL DISCUSSIONS(Supplementary tecture)

-B-Page Two

2gOO 8.C., is not alone a stupendous edifice but a monument as well toa tremendous learning possessed by its builders. It is, we may sdY, a

symposium of numerous arts and sciences. It reveals in its engineerlngaia- its precise measurements a masterfuL knowledge of mathematics andof physiis. Futher, the locationr or rather its orientation in re-

lation to the land surface of the earth, shows a knowledge of thegeography of the earth far beyond the borders of Egypt. Since it isifso cbnlended with merit that the apex of the pyramid was used forastronomical observation, this then is one more application of thewisdom its great mass rePresents.

Any school boy knows that the Egyptians were renowned in antiquityfor thei-r }earnitr9, but what is not often realized is that less than a

qentury and a ha-Li befori,*lhg,$Lea-t P-yrqmid of Gizeh ry19-L19f3--S3Ly ofEnd arts a-iid science's='usEd*iii'iE3 ConstifrE€I6fr,-ailE"whi-eii-Tt*-Sfffil:ffi7were unknown. There are no evidences that 150 years before that timethe uffiFans had any knowledge of masonry which permitted them to

quarr{-Lhe hard stone, such as that of which theGreat Pyramid-was

6onstiucted, nor are there any evidences of the variety of tools andinstruments needed for such construction. F\trther, the precise exacti-tude exhibited in the measurements of the Great Pyramid is not to be

found in any other structures previously erected. Certainly, if highermathematics was known previously to the extent that it was commonly used

in the construction of the ereal Pyramid, it would have been employed inother enterprises.

It is not explanatory to state that such knowledge could lrurg been

conceived within tire perioE of a century and ? half preceding the Greatpyramid, because lve hive been able to aLcomplish seeming miracles in a

tife time during our period. All that we have and are doing today is

founded upon th6se baiic principles or points of knq,trledge that havecome down to us. Certainiy we will admit that it is easier to evolvethe use of fractions in ar-ithmetic from the simple addition and multi-plication than it is or must have been to conceive and develop

-

irithmetic from the very beginning. It is far easier, for_further,;;dia, to be able to expaid int6 -a

beautiful literature from a simplevocaijulary tiran,to begi.. io =eLa.te

h.:iiia::,.-*Ceas to ';ccaL .seq:nds..for thefirst timl. It vras, [herefore, impossible for the Egyptians t9 h-ave

conceived and developed the knowledge and wisdom employed in the build-ing of the Great Pyramid in 150 years.

Such wisdom must, have spread to Egypt at that time from some

remote land, or vras released in Egypt in that period by whoever was

preseiving it from a distant past;-- lf- it came from some other area ofifre wortOl any achievements there which were the result of it must have

been destroye8, or remnants of such a great culture would be known tous ioaay, .ira it would far antedate Egyptian civilization. That such

wisdom inay have su:rrived the complete-destruction by nature of a

civiLizat].on and a land in which it prevailed, has been a persislgttlegend for ceniuries, with increasiqg-possibilities of its becoming

ta6t in the near future. Not only aia-ptato in his dialogues refer to a

land beyond the "Pillars of HercuLes" that sank beneath the sea, and



White Brotherhood-B-

Page Three

of which Solon was said to have been informed by Egyptian priests, butthe ancient Egyptians themselves in their writings make reference tosuch a strange 1and. In a hieroglyphic inscription that has come tolight is a tile thousands of years oId relating how an ancient mariner,upon becoming Lost at sea, finally came upon a remote land far to the

elst and in i great sea. Upon it were a strange people possessinggreat wealth and marvelous achievements.

However, wherever such great wisdom may have originated, it iscertain that those who knew it and were accustomed t,o it wouLd make

every sacrifice to preserve it. Men may be d.iverse in character and inmany things-of whictr tfrey and their lives are composed, but there isusullly something, some influence or interest, that wilL bind them intogroups, Love of such wisdom, and the desire to preserve it, would be a

bond. I,ioreover, they wouici revel i.n expou:rclirrg it. They woul,3 th'us beinclined to exclude themselves from the profane, disinterested world,and build themselves an environment conducive to their great love, andthere work

inan atmosphere of culture.

Such a place for such a society or brotherhood of men has oftenbeen an ideal- as well as a fact in history. Sir Francis Bacon in hisbook ttreffi-atlantis refers to the Solomon I s House in BensaLem on a

remote isiFndEffihinkers congregated in secrecy to dedicate them-selves to the search for truth and the furtherance of knowledge. Inthe Fama Fraternitatis, great historical manifesto of the Rosicrucians,the ilEg6ffimegena' relates that Christian Rosenkreuz and his 'as-

sociates erected a Domus Sancti Spiritus (House of the HoIy Spirit) inwhich they could elaborate on and prepare for dissemination the knowl-edge which they had acquired in their journey eastward. Consequently,it is not just-presumption to say that this wisdom reached Egypt-in

some enigmltic way and was cloistered by a brotherhood to be usedwhen

it could give the greatest impetus to mankind.

The Hebrews have such a tradition, and in fact, actual literaryworks which they profess is of that secret wiSdom. These are known as

the kabala. fabaia is a Hebre'w word meaning tradition. There stillare a great man ' amcng the Hebre'rrs r+ho maintain that- besi'Ce thc wfit-ten, the BibLer-or the spoken Iaw, the Talmud and l,lidrash, the Hebrewsalso possessed an equally divine and secret teaching of great antiquity.Such Leaching must never be written down or spoken except to thoseinitiated. it is declared by them that the Lord told Moses, "Thesethings shalt thou disclose, and these shal-t thou hide." The Kabala,ther6fore, is to them the voice of the secret wisdom. It may strain

the creduiity of some to believe that God imparted such wisdom directfrom Moses, Lut that the ancient Hebrews were a repositorT for such a

secret wisdom is not to be disputed, and the true Kaba1a is excellentevidence.

The Kabala during the middle ages was perverted into a gibberishof symboLs and words plrporting to give man some magical contro]. ofnatu-re, the power to perlorm miracles, in fact. Even today much

-of

what is issuld as the Kabala is of that nature. However, the main

Rosicrucian Order - AIvIORC

AI.IAIYTICAI DISCUSSIONS(Supplementary Lecture )



White Brotherhood


AI{ALYTICAL DISCUSSIONS(Supplementary Lecture)

-B-Page Four

doctrines of the true Kabala attempt to explain the relation of God tohis world. It may be said emphatically that the authentic Kabala is a

work of philosophi trying to ixpLain. the origin- of _tlings. The_oldestbook ot ine xaUlfi is-th6 Sephel Yezirah or Book of Creation. It issaid rhat its iuitror, tfrat-iilfts-c@Ler ffifIf tEffifa'ham. There

is no reaaon to doqbt this, since so many of the Hebrew legends thathave persisted have eventually been corroborated by archeologicaldiscoveries.

The kabalistic Book of Concealed Mystery opens with the statementhe kabalistic Book of Concealect lyE _gEy. opens wLEn Ene sEaEe

thatitis.'th;_;;;rffin6-e@anLe..'Phi1osophJ.ca1Iythis means that the work seekJ to reconcile the contraries, to harmonizethe differences between the various conditions in nature or within man,

thereby producing harmony. Equilibrium.or ba11n9e,1 l 3I tI-"11-:-1*l.ilr*ir;;- ;t - i*Jo: in* sig*s sds or st:rai+s .^ a+r1,i.rr*-t:a].ance- js- found-

a-.- b-, g u-..E--rrf

vr -.. ? r : _ _-_ L _

p"ri..t llving .ira orri"rstanding. There is blso reason to believe thatItris secret wisdom of the Hebrews emanated from the same source as thatpossessed by the egyptians. However, the Hebrews emphasized certain

u"p."i"-of it to tfr6ie whom they initiated in their brotherhood.

One of the most mystical groups which was thoroughly conversantwith the concealed mystlries wai the Essenes. Each member of theEssenes was aLso one of the great brotherhood whose consciousness was a

;;;;;ii"ry-tJr tne ancient wisdom. The Essenes had their own system ofa;;;;" ritn mviticaf initiationq for each, and there was a dress and

syfrbolism pectfm each-'egree which indicated the attainment of themember.

One of the degrees composing what was really a sect within theEssenes was known ai the Theiapeuti. The members were especially

trained in the art ofhealing, in the care of the sick, and in_tle

prevention of disease. In ofher words, these sages specialized-in. the-appficaiion of tnit portion of the secret wisdom which concerned the

"'.,ii"gof disease an-d the maintenance of health. To Rosicrucians it is

oi sp6ciaf inierest that the Essenes had an inner shrine in their homes

--a Sanctum--for meditation. Pliny, referring to the Essenes, saidtf:ei;-@s are ZliffiEfrom all other,,-peoples and nationq-r...

Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, in his book rhe Yvslic.al if. oI g+-,,which gives a iascinating and lengthy account of, the Essenes, relatesthat tiese p.rp"io.ior" 5t trre secrel wisdom first assumed their name

Essenes at aleiandria, EgyPt. He points out that the word Essene isderived from gh; Egypiian-irord Kasirai, which means secret. He aIsQ

states that there is a Hebrew word Chsahi which is similar insound,

ifr" *."ning of which is secret and giIent. He recounts how the Essenes,after receiving l[.ir-irrfif.Eon anEpF.sing through. certain rites ofenlightenmentl'*.i" attired in whiter- signiiying their attainment and

iLlumination. So common did thffi?actice become that they were oftenreferred to as "The Brethren in White."

Thebes, the ancient cap5.tal of Egypt, had at one time been the

Sacred Ark, namely, the repo-"itory for-Lhe mysteries. Since it was no



White Brotherhood


A {ATYTICAT DISCUSSIONS( Supplementary Lecture)

-B-Page Five

longer such a repository, this brotherhood in white sought to find. a

new ark to preieive the wisdom and to further it. This was a trustina i" obli-gation they must fulfill toward whoever had imparted theirwisdom to them.

The main body of the White Brotherhood Left an indelible mark upon

human society-."-tir"v-*"".a

like a torch of light across the face ofcontinents. fhe disliples they made and left in their wake in turn be-

societies. Th;t are well established-in history and several of them

are in exist.""l ioa.V. finaify t,his main body of mystics entered the

mountain fastness of ribetr--*rritn-irt.v decided should become the new ark

for the"on""ii"-

mysteriei of.'r,rhich

Lfrey h':ue the custgdians '

centuries passed, the Great White Brotherhood membership

became dispersed throughout- itt" Tibetan monasteries ' By no me-ans must

this be i.nterpiet.a-itit ihe memuers of the Great White Brotherhood

became Buddhists exclusiv.it. As members of the Brotherhood, they metat various places in great issemblages to perform. thej'r own ancientmystical rites and to have their own maste-rs and teachers orate to them

upon the mystEri"". They h;a-totfrittg to do with the Buddhist orders,nor did they possess . 9r"it-t;6ia lecLuded away r dr idea which appeals

to the imagination.

It is necessary to reiterate today that the Great white Brother-

hood does not a1lude to race. The reference to white is not in con-

nection with racial color. From remote times, y[Ffras been -symbolicof purity, p"it"-[i"", "na

spiiitualitv. cleinliness and perfectionare easily associated with wiite becauie such is, to the €Y€r without

blernish. esy-trologicallythis physical cleanliness and purity-was

transferred to spirituar varues- aia to morals and characler. Eventuallywhite birds (as Lhe dove), *hit. f]-ags, clothing' buildings' ald-religious accoutrements *"t"- emp1oyefi io symbo3'lze purity of mind and

spiritual Perfection.

Ilerodatus, aneiest- Greek-histo:rian I lel.ateq.= _h3t the- prigsts of

ancient Egypt-*.r. robed in white. The Essenes of "-ofa,'aCcording tohistorical and mystical accounts, also were attired in white' In India

most of the Brahman sages wear white and in Sikkim' Nepal' Tibet' and

the Himalayas generally, th;-tt"y.. flags adjoining lamaseries or sacred

precincts are white.

Thomas stanley in his history of Greekphilosophy describes the

clothing of the stuients of Pythag-oras at crotona as being of whitematefial. Dtany other modein iefi-iious sects as well use white for sim-

ilar significii,."-in their-iiiuaristic attire or ornanentation. The

Islamic Sufis wear white. ft. Great White Brotherhood' therefore'altudes to tne"I;irii;;i ideals and activities of this bodv and not to

their clothingr-Lnd most certainly not to theii race.

The Brotherhood was not pledged to an ascetic existence' It was

nor a serfisf,-["t'-i-".iii.""-$at.'-tt did not wish to escape the



Rosicrucian Order - A 4ORC

AI{AIYf ICAL DI SCUSSIONS(SuppLementary Lecture

-B-Page Six

realities of the world permanently but rather to prepare its members

under ideaL conditions to eope with the world when they would returnto it after study and meditation in a corununity established for thispurPose.

They were truly a brotherhood. They were bound in PrinciPle- bythe common end of the study of cosmic and natural laws and the futher-ance of human enlightenment. They pLedged themselves in initiationand by solemn oath to give themselves to study and worship of theDivine and its phenomena.

The knowledge acquired through mystical illumination and from such

research as would-today be called empirical or scientific_inquiry was tobe passed on to humanily. It was not to be hoarded as a forbiddenwis'aom ior the .gxciustvE ,advantage rti 'a f'ew- - :t, -iras a frt-*-resotte'that'emissaries, high initiatesr'masters of knowledge gleaned from nature,were to return-to the worLd with that wisdom in the future. TheY were

tobecome founders of,mystical societies or to associate with orders

having a true and noble purpose so as to guide and instruct them. Thiswas done. Tradition rec6rds that some of the exalted Rosicrucianfry-stiG-and teachers were students of these masters of the Great WhiteBrotherhood.

With the passing of time and the firm establishment of initiaticmystical orders of renown throughout the world, as the RosicrucidnOider (AMORC), the Great White Brotherhood as a select school finallydissolved. fi no longer functioned as a secret retreat for those who

were students of life;s mysteries. Its members either establishedmysticil orders in the woitdr or they contributed their experience- and

w-isdom to existing mystical bodies. Today the Great White Brotherhood

is an association-of mystical orders and brotherhoods which havean

authenticated historical and initiatic background.

White Brotherhood

No individual can affiliate direetty with the Great White Brother-hood and receive personal j.nstruction from it. He must become an

initiated member 6f one of its member-orders. fn recent years thereh;;;-t;;n iii"a"ien-u groups or-charLataie advertising t.lrenseJ'-e-s as theGreat white gioiherho5a iirviting anyone'to receive instruction directlyfrom it. There is no such body-Uy Lhat name today having any authentichistorical descent from the ancient Great WhiLe Brotherhood. Numerous

novels contain glamorous tales about secluded monasteries in Tibet where

the Great White Brotherhood functions as a strange body. These talesare misleading and the authors know it. Their descriptions of- the

customs of th6 country and even of the terrain indicate that the writershave never even visited the area.

Like the masters of the Great White Brotherhood who finally went

back into the world to serve it, it is also our duty to ry glsg.This is a time for advancement and not for retreat from the world ancl

its problems. It is not sufficient for one just to hie away o a

mounlain top and-give nis entire time over to study. The study must be



White Brotherhood

Rosicrucian Order - AITIORC

A {AI,YTICAT DISCUSS IONS(Supplementary Lecture )

-B-Page Seven

applied as we1I. Our sacrifice is not to endure freezing mountainbllsts nor to wrap ourseLves in coarse clothing but rather to practiceself-discipline so that we may faithfully apply ourselves to the f.ightwhich has been entrusted to us.

The Divine Hierarchy is a group of Cosmic Masters or directorswho aid in evolving the personalities of the souls on the earth plane.lhis Hierarchy or Holy Assembly reside on the Cosmic Plane. They oncewere mortals iuch as we, and their personalities were evolved as we arenow evolving ours.

Through incarnation after incarnation on earth, they Iived,learned, anl strived as we do. In each incarnation they had a mjssionto fuLfill also. After transition, when their souls were drawn intothe great -Un1versa-t SouL, the1r pgfsonaiiii-es w-€r-e inrpr=ss-ed b.v t'heGreat Divine InteJ-ligence with the significance of their earthly ex-perienees and what would be expected of them in the next incarnation.

ifreir personalitiesgradually -volved and were perfected until eventuaL-

Iy they had that same degree of perfection as the Universal Soul itself,of which their souls were a Part.

Eventually came the Great f llunr.ination when the personality.em-bracedwLthcom}1eteunderFEffi[irl,'ffiServancetheuniversa1wisdomof the great Coimic or Divine Soul. No longer was it necessary for thesoul and its personality to incarnate in physical form again._ From thattime on it relided in the Cosmic realm, and it was assigned the more

noble tasks of inspiring other men on earthr of giving other.souls.whowere incarnated thl inc6ntive to heed the wisdom of the Cosmic SouI, withwhich theirs was imbued, and to follow their example--the example of theCosmic Masters.

There are approximately L44 such great souls constituting the HoIyAssembly. fhey aie the guides and teachers of the stil1 evolvingpersonaiities, and they do not become j-ncarnated again in physical formexcept as the Cosmic may decree.

There are a nurnber oi ,flastgrs accurciirrg tcr the Rosicr.iciari Maiiual.

''UndertheircareacertaingrouPofhighlnitiatesaffiffiffi-each incarnation for still higher work in a next incarnation, and _someof these are assS-gned the duty, the service and the real labor, ofmaintaining the p5sitions of imperators, ltagtailFttii,-ropffi in theseveral brinches of the Great Wtrite Brotherhood organizations, of whichthe Rosicrucian Order is the highest. These Imperators, Magir and-

Hierophants in various lands, together with the Masters, comPose theIloly Assembly of the Great White Lodge.

"The Great White Brotherhood, on the other hand, is the schooL orFraternrF,-ETrrrGaE-ffige,andintothisinvisib1ebrother-nzffiib1ememberseverytrue-studentonthePathPreParesIo'admission. The Great White Brotherhood has no visible meeting place.

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