SPIRITUAL CHRISTMAS - Rozekruis Pers (PDF)

SPIRITUAL CHRISTMAS Guiding hand for inner reflection and inspiration in the Christmas season Rozekruis Pers Inspiration and renewal The Christmas season is the perfect time to focus on the things that really matter in life. During this dark time of year we receive an ideal opportunity for inspiration and renewal. So why not take some time for reflection and inspiration during the season of the Holy Nights and the Holy Days? Countless people have preceded you and experienced its beneficial influence. From December 22nd to January 6th, allow yourself to strengthen the foundations of your inner development by reading a narrative from The Aquarian Gospel every evening and, the next morning, the reflection based on it. Some reactions: The texts brought me many happy moments – deeply joyful feelings – and I will certainly think back to them often. Lovely to start and end the day in this way. Ada The deepening texts were a confirmation for my soul path. Life is so much greater than we can see. That’s what makes life so wonderful and unique. Angelique What great texts with which to start the day in these special times. They colour your day and give tremen- dous encouragement. Astrid This is a story completely different from what I’ve ever been taught. It gives a whole new dimension and more spiritual deepening than I have ever imagined. Leo So much is said with so few words, in such simple lan- guage. That touches the heart. The basis of pupilship is outlined here. Rudolph My spiritual quest always seemed a lonely road, because there seemed to be none with whom I could really share my faith. But now, by actively participating in this series of lessons, I feel I’m going through a deep process of transformation. Here I experience the energy of a com- munity of people who truly follow the spiritual path. Stephan I want to thank everybody who made this project possi- ble for their efforts. We listened every day and experienced the peace that this created. Ralph SPIRITUAL CHRISTMAS omslag boek spirituele kerst ENGELSE VERSIE.indd 1 19/10/16 18:25  1 Spiritual Christmas Rozekruis Pers www.rozekruispers.com  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Rozekruis Pers www.rozekruispers.com  Spiritual Christmas and New Year Guiding hand for inner reflection and inspiration in the Christmas season André de Boer Tanja Rozema Rozekruis Pers www.rozekruispers.com  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 4 colofon Book development Lectorium Rosicrucianum Graphical design and print Rozekruis Pers, Haarlem, the Netherlands Letter Adobe’s Chaparral Pro Paper 90 grams BioTop from Antalis ISBN 978 90 6732 457 1 © Rozekruis Pers – Haarlem, the Netherlands, 2016 Rozekruis Pers Bakenessergracht 5 2011 JS Haarlem, the Netherlands +31 23 532 38 52 [email protected] www.rozekruispers.com  Contents Spiritual Christmas preface – publisher 6 introduction – Daniël van Egmond 8 December 22 preparing yourself 13 December 23 recognising the inner being within you 19 December 24 preparing your way 29 December 25 giving birth to the divine being in yourself 39 December 26 in this sign you will conquer 49 December 27 your magic gifts 59 December 28 threats from the world and from yourself 67 December 29 your assignment in life 79 December 30 looking back at the past 89 December 31 taking leave of your teachers 101 January 01 developing your talents 111 January 02 the hidden treasure in your heart 121 January 03 attention for your inner development 131 January 04 awakening of the spirit-consciousness within you 141 January 05 seven fundamental principles for your life 153 January 06 the descent of the holy breath 163 5  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Preface I n the autumn of 2014, we came into contact with André de Boer, who was filled with the idea to create an online program about the deeper meaning of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. He suggested creating a small team that could realize a series of writ- ten and spoken texts which discuss the spiritual path that every human being can follow on the basis of the mysteries behind the Christmas narrative. More and more, people are searching the internet for what they need. That is certainly true for philosophical knowledge, spirituality and wisdom. So we were quickly convinced that creating an online program would be an appropriate way to share the esoteric back- grounds of Christmas and New Year’s Eve with a wide audience, and decided to do this by offering daily emails with links to texts that are suited to the day of the year. In sixteen consecutive days, from December 22 to January 6, participants received a narrative from The Aquarian Gospel, followed by a reflection on that narrative. Many participants were enthusiastic about this online program, not only because the texts appealed to them but also because they could listen to them. In this way the Christmas period received more value and meaning for them. Many asked for similar online programs that deal with the other two major Christian festivals. We honored these requests by establishing the online programs ‘Spiritual Easter’ and ‘Spiritual Pentecost’ in the spring of 2016. 6  7 In the autumn of 2016 ‘The Mirdad mysteries’ followed, and we are working on two more programs entitled ‘The mysteries of Tao’ and ‘The mysteries of the soul’, planned for release in 2017. Soon after the first program there came an explicit request to also publish the texts in the form of a book. There was a clear desire to be able to read the texts on paper; also, a book of these texts was considered an appropriate Christmas present. Thus we see that active participation in the digital world is able to increase the interest in the printed word! We are therefore particularly pleased that the texts of the online program ‘Spiritual Christmas’ are now published as a book and an e-book. This year (2016) the ‘Spiritual Christmas’ program will again be of- fered through email and the website www.spiritualtexts.academy. The book Spiritual Christmas allows you to read the texts offline or read them along with the spoken word. We especially thank Daniel van Egmond for the profound words in the introduction to this book. Rozekruis Pers Doride Zelle  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Introduction the wonder of the light-birth Daniël van Egmond D uring the autumn equinox light and darkness are pre- cisely in balance with each other. Subsequently the influence of the darkness begins to increase more and more as the power of the light is fading. The darkness is the deepest around Christmas and we can only wait in confidence until the light is born again. That is how people of yore experienced the alternation and struggle between the light and the darkness in their own lives.Before villages and towns were bathed in electric light, the increasing darkness was almost tangible to the inhab- itants and they could not help but eagerly await the new light. They heard stories about the miraculous birth that took place in this darkness in the distant past: God’s son was born in a hidden place in order to liberate humanity from the darkness. The light that would soon become stronger again was a sign of this birth. It was not only an external light but could also be experienced as an inner light that pierced the darkness of everyday life. Christmas has always been interpreted in a spiritual way in the Christian mystical movements. It is not so much important whether the son of God ever came to be born on earth or not; what matters is that his birth is going to take place within us. Not until the rise of the Rosicrucian movement in the 17th cen- tury and the increasing influence of the writings of Jacob Boe- hme was the inner meaning of Christmas discussed more and 8  9 more outside the monastery walls: Christmas is not so much the commemoration of an historical event but rather a miracle that can happen to all of us; it is the birth of this son within us.The Christian Theosophical tradition of Jacob Boehme relates that we are living in darkness as long as there has not been an inner transformation or rebirth. What to our ordinary eyes is light, is deep darkness to the inner being. This tradition emphasizes that we should make a radical dis- tinction between the outer and the inner man. We are the outer being, as it is functioning in our daily lives. Our attention is constantly drawn to our sensory experiences. But above all we are governed by the incessant flow of our thoughts, feelings, fantasies and desires. Although we believe that we ourselves are the source of this continuous flow, we are unable to stop it. Consequently we are determined by this stream, rather than the opposite. Since this condition is comparable to the dream state, most traditions emphasize that we are not awake in our daily lives, but rather still asleep. The only difference between daytime sleep and the ‘normal’ night time sleep is that during the former we do respond to all kinds of sensory stimuli. And just as during sleep we believe to be awake, even in our so-called waking state we are still in a kind of sleep. But what or who, then, is the inner man? It is the soul which can be born within us. Just as Jesus was born of Mary, so may the soul be born of us, external people. For that reason, Angelus Silesius, a pupil of the Christian Theosophical and Rosicrucian tradition, wrote: What good does Gabriel’s “Ave, Mary” do Unless he give me that same greeting too? We can – like Mary – learn to no longer identify ourselves with the incessant flow of thoughts, feelings and desires. But that  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 10 implies that we, outer beings, need to wake up and be willing to listen to the words that Gabriel and other messengers speak to us. Living in our darkness, but awakened by these messengers, we learn to say in complete self-surrender: let it be to me according to your word. Therefore, Angelus Silesius said: Be silent, silent, dearest one, Only be silent utterly. Then far beyond thy farthest wish God will show goodness unto thee. In order to receive this message, it should become silent within us so that we can become focused. It means that we no longer automatically respond to whatever we are being told, but that we are really going to listen, and – like Mary – keep the words in our hearts like a seed that will later be able to unfold. This attentive attitude of life is a necessary condition for the inner man – the Son of God – to be born within us. Such an attitude to life means that we learn to listen and observe in a responsive manner. Usually, however, we have already made up our minds before the other person has finished speaking and we do not really listen to what he or she is telling us. Only rarely do we let ourselves be surprised by what presents itself to us in the world. For we have seen it all so many times; by now we know what the world looks like. A receptive mode of perception, however, suddenly allows the everyday things to present themselves to us in new and re- freshing ways.That is the beginning of the return of the light! When we are waiting, being quiet and receptive, then the light can penetrate into the darkness of our waking consciousness; then the moment of the inner Christmas has arrived. The outer human being lives mainly from the head; hence the incessant stream of thoughts that constantly drags us along. On the other hand, in the tradition of the Rosycross, the heart takes the cen- tral place, often symbolized by the rose. The heart will open, to  11 the extent that we learn to live our lives with attention. As Angelus Silesius said: Thy heart receives God’s dew and all that with Him goes When it expands toward Him as does an opening rose. Dew is an alchemical symbol. When the dew descends from heav- en on the outer man who has died, then the resurrection will take place: the soul - the son of God - will arise from the earthly shell of the outer man. Indeed, this process means that the outer man must die. If we no longer speak and act from our own will and desire, but instead become attentive and receptive to the soul, then the outer man actually begins to die. Without this pro- cess of dying – without the darkness that precedes the birth of the light – the birth of the soul cannot take place: If He should live in you, God first Himself must die. How would you, without death, inherit His own life? Without this birth, our life as an outer human being is infertile. The outer man is composed of dust and will return to dust. This ‘dust’ refers not only to the physical body but to our entire per- sonality, to everything with which we usually identify ourselves. We should learn to let go of all this, because: Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem were born, but not within thy self, thy soul will be forlorn. That sounds serious, and it is. But the annual return of the light which we celebrate at Christmas reminds us ever again of the light that can be born within us. The annual - and daily - return of the outer light nourishes our hope and our confidence that the miracle of the birth can also take place in us. Bilthoven, oktober 2015.  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z  december 22 preparing yourself  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z december 22 reflection preparing yourself I n this book you will find the texts of the daily emails that were sent to the participants in the online program Spiritual Christmas during the Christmas season of 2015/2016, from De- cember 22 – the day after the winter solstice – until January 6, the day of Epiphany. The texts allow you to contemplate the esoteric meaning of Christmas and the Christmas season. By focusing your attention on it you create a receptivity to a very spiritual process: the Light-birth within yourself. That is the Christmas miracle of awakening and activating the divine being within you. It is the beginning of a completely new spiritual path that never ends. In English, the time period following Christmas has a meaningful name: ‘holidays’, which literally means ‘holy days’, days that can be seen as a gift to focus on healing in the broadest sense of the word. These days, when you can be ‘vacant’ from all your usual worries, allow you to be filled with healing powers. The word ‘vacant’ means ‘empty’, while the word ‘holy’ is related to ‘being whole’.According to several traditions the cosmic ‘gates to the divine’ are wide open during the period from December 24 until January 6. This time pe- riod from Christmas until Epiphany is also referred to as the twelve holy nights. This idea is not based on historical events of more than two thousand years ago; rather it concerns cosmic processes. Spiritual development Where did the idea of the twelve nights originate? Long before Christianity arrived in Europe, the Germanic and Celtic peoples 14