why are we here? and why are our lives unequal? (1929).pdf

7/27/2019 Why are we here? and Why are our lives unequal? (1929).pdf

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AMOR Ct r a d e m a r k

P R I N T E D I N U. S . A.

R O S I C R U C I A N P R E S S . S A N J O S E . C AL .

2Q

f tWhy areWe Here?

— A N D —

Why are Our Lives

Unequal ?

A ROSICRUCIAN

EXPOSITION

Public Inquiry Leaflet No. 2



Why Are You Here?iQSPl

AVE you ever thought o f why you werehere on earth, just why you were so pla ced in your re la ti on to th e soci al world ,the po li ti ca l w orld , and th e businessw o r l d ? W h y a re s om e b o rn a s A m er -icans, some as French, some as Germans

and some as Japan ese? W hy are some born whit e , and so me born black?

And why, above al l things, are some

born w i th th e ble ssi ng s of th is m ateria l wor ld s ur -rounding them, and o thers born in want , perhaps d i re

po v e r ty ? W h y do so me so ea sil y a tt a in g rea t succes sand others s t ruggle through l i fe and never seem to be

able to r ise above a common place with even thenecessities ?

W ho wi l l answ er these ques tions and h o w ? Do thechurches with their rel igious doctrines offer us anysat isfactory accounting for these inequal i t ies of l i fe?Do any of the rel igious doctrines point out a reason for these things and make us feel that all is well, all is

comprehensible, and al l perfect ly acceptable to us?Science also fails with all of its theories, all of its

pr incip le s and pro found examinati ons, to make plainto us why there is hu ma n life at all , and the pu rpose of our existence with all of its obstacles, tests, trials andrewards .

Some Must Know the Answers

Surely some must know the t ruth, and there must bethose who can reveal the facts and present to us our

l ives and our l iving in the t rue l ight .

The answers to the quest ions asked above do not con-stitute eithe r religious or scientific doctrines. It may bethat al l t ruth is sa cred and al l knowledge sc ie n ti fi c, bu t w h en wre tu rn to ortho dox re li gious doct ri nes fo r



the answers to many important quest ions, we find thatmodern rel igion does not consider many of these vi tal

po in ts , an d le aves them to sc ie nce ; and w h en w e tu rnto science for the same information, we find again that

this cold, unemotional, and limited field has no placeei ther for considerat ion of those things which are closeto the hear t and sou l o f the average man and woman.

So we are forced to seek some other source of know-ledge, some other system, philosophy, or perhaps schoolof arcane wisdom, where at least some l ight wil l bethrown upon the prob lems and a few fac t s revealedto our unders tanding .

What the Ancient Sages Knew

N a tu ra l ly w e tu rn b a ck w ard to th e pa st , to th os egreat sages of ancient lands who were not l imited byrel igious or scient i f ic doctrines in their researches, andwho cont r ibu ted so much in format ion to the advance-ment o f c iv i l i za t ion . However we may tu rn , and whereever, our search leads us to the Orient , to the lands of mystery temples and mystery schools , to the select andexclus ive groups of wise men and women who cons t i tu -ted the great secret schools of uncommon knowledge.

W h a t d o w e fi n d? T h a t m an y o f t h e t ru t h s pr e sen ted

in the rel igious doctrines of the modern churches and agreat many of the scient i f ic principles expounded bythe modern, limited schools of scientific research alikeh av e d raw n t h e i r f u n d am en t a l p r i n c i p l e s an d t h e i r fundamenta l t ru ths f rom the t each ings of the ancien tsages. W e are astounded to find that man y of the thingswe have been led to bel ieve were n ew discoveries,modern revelat ions, and secret f indings of science andrel igion in recent years , were known to the ancientsfor centuries , and then seemingly lost during the middle

ages.

We Discover Great Truths

Just a casual search through the books that containthe teachings of the ancients surprises us , page after

page, w i th the answ ers to m an y of li fe’s qu es ti on s,which the advanced minds of today are seek ing todiscover but do not f ind. Th ey ha ve turned their backsupon the great wisdom of the past because i t was of the

schools and temples of mystery.

One of the mos t un iversa l ly known and accep teddoctrines of these ancients was that of reincarnation. Reincarnat ion answers al l of the quest ions asked at the b eg in n in g of this ar t ic le, and it answ ers a th ousandmore th at puzzle you and me and mil l ions upon mil l ionsof hum an beings. W hy then, is i t so ignored today ?And why do people smile and some even express very

p la in ly the ir d i sap prov a l of th e ve ry th oug ht of re -inc arn at io n? It is because they do not under stand, and

ha ve ne ver given the subject of reincar nat ion the fiveminute s’ serious considerat ion t ha t i t needs to makethem real ize that perhaps i t is , after al l , the one uni-versal key to all of life’s problems.

Some Serious Points

T hin k of this one point . Unti l recent years thedoct r ine of re incarnat ion was accep ted and used bynearly al l of the civi l ized races of mankind as a de-

pendable ke y a n d gu id e to th e mys te ri es and mir acle sof l i fe . Today , on ly the modern Jewish re l ig ion andthe modern Chr i s t i an re l ig ion have cas t re incarnat ionaside as an u n w a n t e d explana t ion. In al l the other rel igions of the world, and with thousands upon thou-sands in the Jewish and the Chris t ian rel igions, thedoctrine of reincarnat ion is s t i l l a dependable and

proven so lu ti on to the im p or tan t pro b le ms of li fe . T h eancient Jewish rel igion incorporated the principles of re incarnat ion as abso lu te ly fundamenta l to a l l under-s tanding , and the ear ly Chr i s t i an church , inc lud ing

the minist ry of Jesus and his teachings, contained thedoctrine of reincarnation as a scientific, religious, andethical law o f the un iverse .

Do you believe that millions, even billions, of personsin the world can uni te in accept ing a certain doctrine,



year after year, century after century, and s t i l l be

wr ong ? For instance the JVorl d A lm a n a c shows that inthe world today there are 1.849,500,000 persons con-nected with churches of various denominat ions. Of this great host , the presentday Chris t ians and the

presen tday Jew s to ta l 69 3, 00 0. 00 0; le av in g 1,151 ,500, 000 persons whose religious beliefs include the doctrineof reincarnat ion as a sc ie nti fic an d Cosm ic la w o f li fe . And among the mil l ions of Chris t ians and Jews of today, more than half of them have also adopted thedoctrine of reincarnat ion. Reincarnat ion , as a sat is-factory explanation of life’s problems, is spreading so rap id ly among Chr i s t ians and Jews today tha t news- papers and magazin es, books and pamphl ets , are con-ta in ing references and remarks regard ing the doct r inein order to meet the growing demand for some infor-mation on this subject.

Appeals to the Intelligence

Intel l igent men and women have discovered that the bia sed and u n fa i r att acks m ad e on re in carnati on bysome religious writers and by some scientists were for the purpose of taking away from men and womenthe one great answer to all their questions, and thegreat l ight which enables them to meet their dai ly

prob le ms and a tt a in mastersh ip an d success.

If we cast aside the doctrine of reincarnat ion, wecannot understand correct ly and perfect ly many thingsin the Chris t ian Bible and in the Jewish scriptures .In the Chr i s t i an Church , re incarnat ion was t aught inthat branch of the church teachings cal led the “Lesser Mysterie s” ; and in the book of Malachi , fourth chapter and fifth verse, we read about Elijah and his previous incarnat ion. Then, we unders tand a l so what Jesusmeant in the book of Matthew’, when He asked the

mul t i tude about John , and sa id , “But what went yeout to see?” And w e a l so unders tand th rough re in-carnat ion wha t Jesus meant a l t er the Transf ig ura t ion

by th e words addressed to Pe te r, Jam es and J o h n : “ Bu t1 say unto you, that El ias has come already, and they

L

kn ew n o t .........................and the disciples und ers too d.”The disciples of Jesus had been taught the principlesof reincarnation, for we find reference to these teachingsai l through the ancient scriptures , and the Jews werethoroughly famil iar with the doctrine, and Jesus dem-

onstrated His complete acceptance of that doctrine.That Jesus was fami l i ar wi th the mys tery pr incip lesof life that constituted a hidden wisdom not revealed 'othe masses in all details, is shown in Corinthians,chapter two, verses s ix and eight .

Endorsed by Eminent Authorities

Josephus, the great wri ter and his torian of the t imeof Jesus, refers to incarnation and its principles as the pow er of th e vir tu ous “ to revive and li ve again" , andhe also refers to “the return of souls into new bodies”.Hume, the eminent phi losopher and i l luminator of men's minds, said that reincarnat ion is “the only systemof immortal i ty that the phi losopher can hearken to”.The eminent Schopenhauer wro te tha t he found thedoctrine of reincarnat ion “springing from the earl iestand noblest ages of the human race, always spreadabroad upon the earth as a belief of the great majority

of mankind, nay, as the teachings of all religions withthe except ion of the modern Jews and the two whichha ve come from it”. He is ref err ing to the modernChris t ian and modern Jewish rel igions which haveevolved from (he ancient teachings.

We can turn to the wri t ing of the ancient Krishna,Pytha goras, Plato, Apollonius, and thousands ol otherswho wrote about ant i taught the doctrine of reincarna-tion. Am ong the poets we find Dryden, Robert Brow n-ing , Wal t Whi tman, Edward Carpenter , Wordsworth ,

Lnfcad in Hearn , and hundreds of o thers refer r ing toreincarnat ion as an establ ished and acceptable doctrinewhich in no way detracts from the beaut ies and greatt ruths of any of the presentday rel igious doctrines.And even today eminent business men, headed by l lenry



Ford , and many Chr i s t i an c lergymen and phys ic ians ,hold fast to the doctrine of reincarnat ion.

Think now of the s ign i f i cance of tha t wonderfu l po em by O l ive r W e n d e l l Holm es, in “T h e C h am b ered

N a ut i lu s” .

“Build me more s tately mansions, O my soul ,

As the swift seasons rol l !

Leave thy low vaul ted pas t !

Let each new temple, nobler than the last ,

Shut thee f rom heaven wi th a dome more fas t .

T i l l thou a t l eng th are f ree ,

Leaving thine outgrown shel l on l i fe’s unrest ing

sea.”

What Reincarnation Reveals

Reincarnat ion shows why we were born as we were ,w h y w e h av e w h a t w e d o h av e , an d w h y w e h av enot the things w:e desire. I t shows also how w e mayat t rac t and br ing in to our l ives the th ings we rea l lyneed , the th ings tha t we should have, and that arewai t ing to be brought in to our own use and appl ica t ion ;and i t shows how we may cast out of our exis tence and

out of our path those obstacles , l imitat ions, pains andsorrows that hold us fast in the grip of some mysteriouscondi t ion tha t remains on ly so long as we wi l fu l lyremain in darkness . Reincarnat ion shows that af t er

this l i fe is ended there is no heaven or hel l beyond (a f t er a pause of end less t ime awai t ing some judg-ment day) , bu t an immedia te t rans format ion in to anew l i fe again on ear th , wi th every oppor tun i ty to goon again and l earn and mas ter , earn and a t t rac t , secureand hold the things we do not have in this incarnat ion.

I t shows that our heaven and our hel l s are crea ted for us dai ly by our own acts , and we suffer their joys andtheir torments , here and now, and that as Jesus sa id ,the k ingdom of I l eaven i s a lways a t hand . Reincarna-t ion proves that each t ime we are reborn, we are borninto a bet ter body, under bet ter ci rcumstances and in a

more progressive civi l izat ion, i f we but desire i t and p rep a re for it w h ile here on earth. Re incarna t ion

shows that God is absolutely fair and just , and thatHe has not p re d e te rm in ed and p red esti n ed some of us

to angel ic l i fe, regardless of our acts on earth, andothers to a l i fe of hel l f i re and brimstone regardless of our desires and our pleas to escape such unearned

j ud gm en t . R e in ca rn a t io n show' s tha t G od has g ivento each one of us an opportuni ty to bui ld our fate andcreate our des t iny , and that as we have bu i l t , and aswe are bu i ld ing now, as we have crea ted and are s t i l lcre at in g the future, even so shal l i t be. For tomorrow

is the resul t of today’s making, and our future l ivesa re w h a t w e m ak e t h em n o w .

The Key to the Mysteries

But there is a key, a law, a principle, to understand.There are deta i l s tha t we mus t read and comprehend

if we would get the utmost out of the great doctrine of reinca rnat ion. Th is is offered to you by a branc h of theancient schools now operat ing in America as one of theoldest educat ional movements of arcane knowledge,establ ished on the American shores in 1694, and enjoy-ing the h igh regard of thousands of Americans , l ead ing

thinkers , and most progressive, happy successful menand w omen. T his o r gan izat ion i s known as the Rosi crucian Brotherhood. I ts complete name is the “ A n c i e n t

a n d M y s t i c a l O r d e r R o s a e C r u c i s ” , abbrev ia ted in to

t he in it ia ls “ A M O R C ” . I ts me mb e rs hi p is lo ca te dthroughout the Nor th American Cont inen t , f rom thecolds of the icy north, to the equator, with branches,classes , publ ic lectures , reading rooms, and every meansand fac i l i ty fo r the d i s seminat ion of the mos t in ter -es t ing , p rof i t ab le , and a l lu r ing knowledge avai l ab le

to men and women. I t do es not se ll its te achin qs. I t i s not a commercial organizat ion, nor a rel igioussect, not a scientific school of p ro fo u n d th eo ries . Itis a fraterni ty, a brotherhood, in the truest sense,ex tending i t s cord ia l hand of f r i end ly greet ing toevery man and woman who seek to r i se above thei r



p la nes in l if e and beco me m aste rf u lly su cc ess fu l andsupremely happy and a t peace .

I f you wish to know more about the Rosic ruc ianteachings as being disseminated in al l par ts of thec ivi l ized wor ld , and espec ia l ly in Nor th Amer ica

through the hundreds of branches, just address a let ter to any one of the branches or to the Nat iona l Head-quar te r s and very in te res t ing l i te ra ture wi l l be mai ledto you without obligation.

Regardless of your present opinions, rel igious beliefsor stat ion in l ife , you wil l f ind the Rosicrucian teach-ings of prac t ical value , f ree f rom speculat ive theories,unbiased in sectar ianism, and dist inctly different f romany philosophy or system of thought you may have con-tacted.

I f no address of the neares t branch appears on thelast page of this pamphlet , then address your let ter for

the free and interest ing l i terature to:

ROSI CRUCI AN BUREAU OF F AC TS

Rosic ruc ian Park,

S a n J o s e , C a l i f o r n i a

N o t e : — T h e r e is bu t on e in te rna tiona l RosicrucianOrd er opera t ing throughout the wor ld . I t s comple tename, is A n c i e n t , M y s t i c a l , O r d e r R o s a e C r u c i s

( a bbr e v i a t ed i n to one w or d by the i n i t ia l s— A M O R C) .This organiza t ion does not sponsor a f ew modern pub li sh ing ho us es or bo ok pro posit ions op era t in g under similar names, or sel l ing instructions or books under the name of Rosicrucian fe ll o w sh ip s , so ciet ie s, f r a -

ternities and other synonymical t i t les.

I

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