After the eight Mandamus lessons, the atrium section begins. The atrium is a kind of anteroom, which the neophyte must pass through before he enters the guarded chambers of the temple, reserved for initiates beyond the neophyte level. There are three atrium levels.
Neophyte Section, Atrium 1
In this monograph, AMORC has included "The Rosicrucian Chant."
This monograph carefully cements the foundation for the ultimate spiritual authority of AMORC by instilling in the initiate the belief in the continual presence of the invisible masters. Notwithstanding the invisible masters, it is the visible master of the Rosicrucian order -- that is, the imperator -- and other high officials in the order who are the proper intermediaries between God and Man.
The whole world is reduced to the invisible masters of the Rosicrucians, the visible masters of the Rosicrucians, and the members of AMORC. They are truly the chosen people. Everybody else is an outsider, a second-class galactic citizen. This is the "us vs. them" perspective fostered by the Rosicrucian system.
Even the most complex cult doctrines ultimately reduce into two basic poles: black versus white; good versus evil; spiritual world versus physical world, us versus them.
There is never room for pluralism. The doctrine allows no outside group to be recognized as valid (good, godly, real) because that would threaten the cult's monopoly on truth. There is also no room for interpretation or deviation. If the doctrine doesn't provide an answer directly, then the member must ask a leader. If the leader doesn't have an answer, he can always brush off the question as unimportant or irrelevant.
Pet devils vary from group to group. They can be political ad economic institutions (communist, socialist, or capitalist), mental- health professionals (psychiatrists, deprogrammers), or metaphysical entities such as Satan, spirits, UFO creatures, or just the cruel laws of nature. Devils are certain to take on the bodies of parents, friends, ex-members, reporters, and anyone else who is critical of the group. The "huge conspiracies" working to thwart the group are, of course, proof of its tremendous importance. [1]
When I was on the street, though homeless and without food, I still thought of myself as a specially chosen person in charge of humanity. So, in the middle of my misery, I had to be grateful to AMORC and to its leaders for having chosen me to serve.
Having been continually asked to study the Rosicrucian teachings with "zeal," I gave my all. That is why, in spite of the humiliations of my poverty and disenfranchised lifestyle, I was unable to leave. It was a privilege to be the servant of H. Spencer Lewis and his exalted officers.
The ultimate goal of AMORC is clearly to become "illuminated." Illumination is the moving target that keeps all members hooked, tracking their quarry every day.
The Rosicrucian Initiation Atrium 1 neophyte section begins with a discussion of the ancient pharaoh, Akhenaton, reputed to have initiated monotheism in Egypt. Akhenaton is spoken about often in the monographs.
The Atrium 1 neophyte section affirms that the Rosicrucian organization, "our order," insists on the members' freedom. Still, one cannot help but note the powerful words of identification and indoctrination, "our order." In time, members will learn to make AMORC their order, too. I remember referring to AMORC as "our order," never realizing how significantly that phrase implied an acknowledgment and acceptance of the organization as it portrayed itself.
The neophyte is then told by AMORC that he has crossed the great portal that gives access to the three waiting rooms of the symbolic temple of the Rosicrucian tradition. These three waiting rooms are called "atriums" by AMORC. The fortunate neophyte who can successfully pass through these rooms will eventually be able to access the path of the initiate. AMORC warns that not everyone will make it through the atriums.
Atrium 1 Monograph 1 affirms that as a new neophyte of the order, the member should begin the sanctum period by following the appointed ritual.
The ritual that the monograph refers to is the ceremonial washing of one's hands and drinking of a glass of water before making contact with the celestial sanctum. This reminds me of my experience of going to the park office bathroom to wash my hands, and prepare to make contact with celestial sanctum while I was homeless. It was as if I had accepted my sacred duties, while tightly shutting my eyes to the reality of the world around me.
In AMORC, suggestions morph into mandates. The monographs begin by offering the neophyte the option of burning some incense before making contact with celestial sanctum. Later it will be more of a mandate, something like, "You must burn incense." Then we are told to make the sign of the rosy cross, a series of gestures that resemble, but are different than making a cross in the Catholic church or protestant denominations, as in the brochure The Rosicrucian Initiation: The Guide of the Neophyte.
The ritual supposedly permits you to create a harmonious bonding with the egregore of AMORC and the masters that are watching over the Rosicrucian order. The efficacy of this ritual depends on the sincerity with which you approach the sacred study period in your home sanctum.
In this monograph is the first mention of the term egregore, a word that helped intensify my dependency on AMORC during the last twelve years of my membership. In the monograph, we read what appear to be normal, fraternal statements about the order. Nothing in the initial innocent description of the egregore reveals how the concept can be used to entrap a member, providing the foundations for a powerful phobia about the world outside AMORC.
AMORC then introduces the subject of reincarnation. This concept, along with the concept of spirit, prepares members for the Rosicrucian belief about when life begins and ends. This will eventually lead to the acceptance of abortion.
Although appearing to be very tolerant of members' individuality and freedom, ultimately, as one pursues the Rosicrucian path, AMORC will always be portrayed as being right in its depiction of fundamental issues of science, religion, and economic and social issues. Over a period of time, members are led to accept all of AMORC's beliefs and reject any outside beliefs conflicting with the Rosicrucian canon. Like all destructive cults, AMORC affirms, "We are right, and everyone else is wrong."
At one point in the monograph, AMORC affirms that the world as we know it is nonexistent. It all only exists in our own mind. Our vocabulary and use of words do not convey the real nature of things. This is soon followed by the assertion that "It is possible to modify the manifestation of matter."
WHEN YOU GO BACK AND BACK
NOT FOR THE FUN OF IT
OR FOR THE POWERS INVOLVED
BUT TO GO BACK TO BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE
WHO YOU ARE TURNS OUT TO BE SPIRIT
TURNS OUT NOT TO BE MATTER AT ALL
NO MATTER
NEVER MIND
NO MIND
NEVER MATTER
EITHER WAY IT WORKS
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
Here AMORC lays the foundation to instill in members the belief that they, the select people of this Earth, can change everything.
Practical Application
Atrium 1, Monograph 2
The concurrence begins with a quotation taken from the work Le Passage de la Matiere a la Vie (The Passage of Matter to Life) by Emmy Guittes, who contends that the Buddha asserted that life began with the emergence of immortalized "spirit units," which essentially serve to build physical bodies. They are careful to say that her writing bears a relationship to the Rosicrucian idea of spirit but is not identical to it.
We are reminded that the terms cohesion, adhesion, attraction, and repulsion bear a relationship to the four forces manifested in matter due to the action of spirit. Spirit manifests through the universe in the form of vibration.
RETURN TO THE ROOTS
YOU LIVE OUT YOUR KARMA
THE BEST I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT KARMA IS:
IF YOU ARE PURE SPIRIT
YOU ARE NOT MATTER! ... YOU ARE THAT
ETERNAL SPIRIT ...
WELL:
IF EACH OF US IS THAT VERY OLD BEING ...
AND NOT THIS YOUNG BODY,
OR THIS BODY THAT IS GOING
THROUGH THIS LIFE ...
WHY DON'T WE
REMEMBER?
WHY DON'T WE REMEMBER IT ALL??
WHY CAN'T WE READ
THE ENTIRE AKASHIC RECORD??
BECAUSE OF OUR ATTACHMENTS TO
THE PHYSICAL PLANE OF REALITY ...
BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF OUR IDENTIFICATION
WITH OUR OWN BODY-SENSES
AND THOUGHTS.
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
Again, the monograph affirms the antiquity of its knowledge. Members soon learn to identify anything good in the world with the Rosicrucian tradition. For example, around 1988,one well-educated frater in Kings Rosy Cross Lodge in Brooklyn told us that Toussaint Louverture (one of the Haitian liberators before 1804)must have been trained by Rosicrucians -- the same ones who landed in Pennsylvanian in the New World. There was absolutely no reason to think this, other than the fact that the man helped liberate Haiti. It was a natural step of logic for someone who believed that Rosicrucianism had a corner on everything real or important.
AMORC details what science says about vibratory frequency, but also states that science does not tell the whole story. Vibration also occurs in the spiritual world, where you need special faculties to perceive it. This will be an essential part of the Rosicrucian teaching.
By hinting at special information to come, AMORC retains its members' interest and allegiance. These promises of future disclosure of secret knowledge entrapped me for many years. For instance, the constant trumpeting of AMORC's divine authority and unimpeachable power suggested to me that my financial problems could very well be the result of AMORC's intentional testing of my loyalty and dedication. Only my loyalty under this extreme stress would prove me worthy of receiving the special information that would change me from being an ordinary man to a Rosicrucian adept.
The rest of this monograph makes AMORC's case that all things vibrate at certain distinct frequencies. We are living in a world of vibration. The monograph concludes with an observation that the human body, just like all other objects in the universe, is also just a bundle of vibrations in the larger, vaster ocean of vibrations.
YOU FINALLY UNDERSTAND
THE MESSAGE YOU COMMUNICATE
WITH ANOTHER HUMAN BEING
HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LOOK
ON THE MUSCULATURE OF YOUR FACE
IT'S MUCH DEEPER THAN THAT
MUCH DEEPER!
IT'S THE VIBRATIONS
THAT EMANATE FROM YOU!
IF YOUR VIBRATIONS ARE PARANOID
THAT'S WHAT'S BEING RECEIVED
AND WHEN YOU'RE AROUND PETS
(BIRDS OR CATS PARTICULARLY)
OR VERY YOUNG CHILDREN
OR VERY FLIPPED OUT PSYCHOTICS
THEY WILL KNOW YOU IMMEDIATELY.
YOU CAN COME AND SAY
"HELLO DEAR, HOW ARE YOU?'
AND THE DOG WILL GROWL ...
YOU CAN'T COME ON BECAUSE THEY'RE LISTENING
TO THE VIBRATIONS THAT HAND IS READING
OUT AND SENDING.
AND YOU REALIZE THAT EVERY MOMENT YOU ARE
A FULL STATEMENT OF YOUR BEING,
AND YOU'RE SENDING OUT VIBRATIONS THAT ARE
AFFECTING EVERYTHING AROUND YOU,
WHICH IN TURN IS AFFECTING
EVERYTHING THAT COMES BACK
AND
WHEN YOU MEET SOMEBODY WHO IS
CAUGHT IN THE WORLD OF
WE AND THEM AND YOU ARE HIM
TO THAT PERSON
AND YOU GET CAUGHT IN HIS MIND NET
YOU ARE BOTH
JUST
INTENSIFYING
ONE ANOTHER'S
PARANOIA.
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
By 2003, I was convinced that the Rosicrucian teachings contained many deceptive, incomplete, and wholly unproved assertions, but I could not completely reject the monographs' claims because by then I was a victim of my own cult personality. I put great stock in the infallibility of these teachings.
Since mind control depends on creating a new identity within the individual, cult doctrine always requires that a person distrust his own self. The doctrine becomes the "master program" for all thoughts, feelings, and actions. Since it is the truth, perfect and absolute, any flaw in it is viewed as only a reflection of the believer's own imperfection. He is taught that he must follow the prescribed formula even if he doesn't really understand it. At the same time it is said that he should try to work harder and have more faith, so he will come to understand the truth more clearly. [2]
For someone who, thankfully, has never experienced thought reform and mind control processes, it may be difficult to convey the inner conflicts that rage within someone who has been subjected to this type of emotional and mental manipulation. It may be equally difficult to explain the times these conflicts are deadened by the overriding of one's normal doubts and fears by the extreme domination of one side of oneself, which I am calling the "cult personality."
The cult personality is formed to direct extreme loyalty and attachment to the organization, dedication to its practices, and overwhelming certainty about its beliefs. So sometimes I would be living in conscious conflict, sometimes in extreme certainty. And sometimes there would be moments of unconscious rebellion -- and occasionally total unconsciousness, accompanied by missing time, the most extreme component of the process.
In my case, at a certain point, I was not able to read a monograph without feeling the extreme dissonance between my critical, rational mind that would raise a number of red flags about the veracity of its content and that part of me that felt obligated to accept the Rosicrucian claims without questioning. The rational power within me had not found the power to keep the rest of me from surrendering completely to the claims of AMORC.
SURRENDER
WHAT ARE YOU GIVING UP? A HOLLOW LITTLE TRIP
THAT'S GOOD FOR ANOTHER 40 YEARS AT BEST.
YOU'RE GIVING IT UP FOR:
ETERNAL UNION
WITH
PURE ENERGY & PURE LIGHT
BECAUSE SURRENDER MEANS
YOU
NO LONGER DIE
IT'S AS SIMPLE
AS THAT
THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS.
BECAUSE: YOU THAT LIVES AND DIES IS
YOUR EGO
AND FEAR OF DEATH ONLY COMES THROUGH
THE BRITTLENESS OF THE EGO
TOTAL TOTAL
SURRENDER SURRENDER
THERE'S NO MORE YOU, NO MORE
LIFE AND DEATH
YEAH I'M GOING TO DIE WOW! DIG THAT! I'M GOING
TO LIVE WOW! DIG THAT! GARBAGE WOW!
NEW BLOSSOMS ON THE TREE WOW!
PATTERNS OF ENERGY
ALL PATTERNS OF ENERGY
YOU'RE PART OF IT ALL
THAT'S THE PLACE!
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
Practical Application
In the practical application section, the monograph clearly states that the scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was a Rosicrucian. Was he, though? Was every important person of the past a Rosicrucian? If he was, it is certainly difficult to find out. If one does a search on the Internet, "Michael Faraday Rosicrucian," his name pops up on a lot of Rosicrucian (AMORC) or AMORC-influenced sites.
It is difficult to prove, one way or the other, that many of these historical figures were Rosicrucians. Saying that a person was a Rosicrucian may mean either that he or she belonged to an order that was called Rosicrucian directly, or (even more difficult to prove) that he or she belonged to an AMORC tradition. These traditions are ultimately based on a conglomeration of mystical organizations called FUDOSI, whose own authenticity gave it the right to confer authenticity on another organization -- clearly a questionable practice.
Atrium 1, Monograph 3
This monograph encourages members to reject their own sensory perceptions.
The doctrine that the perceived world is illusory is a thread of thought in many religious doctrines -- including the philosophy of Hindu Vedanta and Christian Gnosticism -- in their many varieties and styles of expression. Since this book is not propounding a specific philosophy or belief about the universe, we are merely interested to note that, in the case of AMORC, this doctrine functions to increase members' dependency on AMORC for fundamental questions, now that their day-to-day sense of reality is being undermined.
Once, while living in a stinking hotel room in Miami, I spent an entire week almost without taking a bite of food. Why? Because I was preoccupied with trying to find out what my intuition was telling me.
My conscious, self-imposed restriction of food wasn't a normal health or religious fast, but an act of self-neglect. I doubted the ideas associated with my physical senses and with the physical plane, and so sought "Higher Guidance" through this extreme method. I want to add that, in my opinion, there may very well be a legitimate role for fasting for health and religious purposes, but not for someone whose basic reality, common sense, and natural reality has been undermined by cult indoctrination, enhanced suggestibility by certain trance-inducing processes, and the aura of doctrinal infallibility.
AMORC analyzes the five senses, focusing on the eyes. In its discussion, it utilizes the example of movie projection, citing the scientific explanation of the process as correct -- but not complete. In this neophyte section, AMORC is preparing its case for the Rosicrucian view trumping the modern scientific world view, fostering members' belief in its infallible authority.
SADHANA
YOU'VE GOT TO BE QUIET INSIDE TO DO
THAT KIND OF PHOTOGRAPHY
IT'S VERY EASY TO "PHOTOGRAPH"
'INANIMATE OBJECTS' -- LIKE OTHER PEOPLE
BUT: TURN THE LENS RIGHT IN ON
THE VERY STUFF YOU'RE HIDING IN --
SHOOT THE CAMERA THIS WAY!
VERY POWERFUL STUFF!
SO ALL I CAN DO ALL THE TIME IS TO
COOL MYSELF OUT ...
THAT'S ALL I'M DOING -- I DO NOTHING BUT
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
This monograph explains the physical senses with many common scientific explanations, underlining the limitations of modern science's point of view, which is based on ordinary perception. AMORC claims that its own explanation of the extrasensory perception of spirit, and its vibratory nature beyond the range of the senses, is the real and more complete one. If you want to know more, you are told to stay in AMORC.
The point here is not whether such vibrations or their perception exists, but that when you commit yourself to AMORC, you are committing yourself to a larger view, which includes a specific interpretation and suggested applications of the vibratory nature of reality.
Atrium 1, Monograph 4
Concurrence
This monograph takes its introductory quotation from Nicolas Copernicus's book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, which suggests that the Earth may revolve around the sun. In this excerpt, Copernicus quotes Virgil, the Latin poet, who speaks of how from a moving ship, land appears to recede in the distance. From the ship, everything else but the ship is moving. This provides a good opportunity for AMORC to point out the limitations of people's ability to perceive objectively.
It claims that people are wrong to blindly accept the testimony of their senses. To make its point, the monograph uses Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, Galileo, and their various scientific and doctrinal disputes with religious and "scientific" authorities. These controversies and the outcome of various new scientific theories like those of Galileo and Copernicus concerning the revolution of the Earth around the sun, illustrate how accepted knowledge is not always true.
Continuing the discussion, the shortcomings of the scientific method are highlighted. AMORC points out that the scientific method can learn from mysticism -- meaning the Rosicrucian order, AMORC itself, the world's most perfect template of knowledge.
There is a long-remembered H. Spencer Lewis quotation, "You have to be a live question mark." AMORC directly states that this question must apply to their teaching as well. To me, this statement of the member's right to question, although charmingly permissive of a member's freedom to question the teachings, in fact, provides cover for an all-pervasive authoritarianism.
In The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power, [3] Joel Cramer and Diana Alstad catalog a variety of "strong indications of belonging to an authoritarian group." They include:
1. A "party line" or point of view from which no deviation is allowed. Members who deviate from this point of view are made to feel bad for entertaining these rebellious thoughts.
2. The authority is deemed somehow perfect or infallible. It has the moral right to question any kind of deviance.
3. The organization is placed above the members' own judgment.
4. Members are discouraged or prohibited from talking to others outside the group.
5. The leadership is defended, no matter what.
6. Member feels confused and fearful, a kind of general malaise, a condition caused by repression of doubts.
In reality, no member truly questions AMORC. Throughout the order, a compliant slave mentality, rather than a strongly claimed Jeffersonian rationality, rules the members' approach to the material.
The overall intention is to instill doubt in the members about everything they have ever learned, through a slow, steady "unfreezing" process. Eventually, reason and critical thinking will no longer penetrate a member's actual approach to the monograph. Subtle forces will erode their ability to reason and think freely when confronting the Rosicrucian hypotheses.
By affirming reasonableness and freedom, AMORC creates a psychological vulnerability in the minds of their students. Their minds are now completely open to the so-called enlightened Rosicrucian methods. In most cults, there is a strong, seemingly rational foundation laid during the early indoctrination phase.
One interesting concept, brought out in this monograph, is the assertion that Rosicrucians have no actual right to property. Anything that a member possesses really belongs to the Cosmic. To me, although seemingly idealistic, this doctrine is an attempt to further obliterate personal identity and freedom. In later degrees, AMORC will ask its members to use not "I" but "we" instead. The we belonging to what? Perhaps the we of "our order." Slowly, individual consciousness is raked over to toward the hive mentality.
Practical Application
AMORC assures its members that their doctrine denying the private ownership of property has nothing to do with communist or socialist theory. AMORC affirms that karmic law is the reason behind the differences in individual wealth. The exercise is to meditate on property from a philosophical and mystical point of view.
Atrium 1, Monograph 5
This monograph deals with the science of vibrations, which allegedly has been the foundation of Rosicrucian teachings for centuries. The monograph claims that if a member shows patience and perseverance in his work, he will reach a point where he gains a global understanding of mysteries, which, in his present state, he is not capable of yet.
The monograph then addresses the Rosicrucian concept of thought, presented as a more correct concept than the conventional scientific definition.
AMORC expounds on the value of the encephalogram and the meaning of an EEG to a conventional doctor. But AMORC adds it own explanation to complete the "lacking" medical definition. 'It then continues to provide the reader with a mixture of philosophic and scientific definitions of the brain. It contends, using its "centuries-old wisdom" card, that "science has finally localized the different zones of the brain, but the Rosicrucians knew since antiquity about such things." It promises that in the future, when the member gets to the sixth temple degree, previous knowledge about health from antiquity will be passed on to the member to help treat a great number of sicknesses.
AMORC goes on to discuss the impact that certain brain injuries can have on specific parts of the physical body or on the ability to speak certain languages. It points out how medical doctors are capable of repairing certain brain injuries with surgery.
Finally, AMORC warns against spending too much time idly watching television or films, as this will decrease members' mental powers and ability to concentrate. What the person outside of AMORC will not realize is that AMORC is setting the groundwork to isolate members from TV, cinema, and eventually the world. They will do so by providing an overwhelming amount of material, including reading, exercises, and meditation practices, that will consume all of the member's time.
DID YOU EVER GO TO THE MOVIES AND GET SO CAUGHT UP
IN THE MOVIE THAT YOU FORGOT WHO YOU WERE
AND THEN THE LIGHTS CAME ON AND
YOU WONDERED ... WHERE AM I?
WHAT'S GOING ON? OH IT'S A MOVIE
WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO IS CREATE IN YOURSELF
AN
ABSOLUTELY CALM CENTER WHERE IT'S
ALWAYS RIGHT HERE & NOW IT IS JUST
LIGHT IT IS JUST IS-NESS GETTING INTO THE
EATING
GOING TO
THE TOILET
GETTING INTO BED
UP THE STAIRS
JUST THE IS-NESS
TALKING
RUNNING DOWN THE STREET
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
Most of the monographs contain one or more of these elements: --
1. Complementary and disarming statements about the liberty of belonging to other religious organizations
2. From time to time, semi-complementary comments on science, again disarming, so the member will not realize that his whole worldview, including his entire reliance on the scientific perspective, is about to be undermined.
These positive statements about modern medicine, science, religion, and other belief structures reassure the student, helping to create receptivity and ultimately vulnerability to subsequent indoctrination and mind control elements in AMORC'S overall program.
Atrium 1, Monograph 6
In my opinion, it takes at least sixteen to eighteen weeks, four and a half months, to complete the indoctrination. I did not know that the process had even taken place, not until some twenty-four years later.
Experiments
Experiment 1
In this process, the neophyte, while taking a walk, pauses in front of a storefront. There, he takes a few moments to observe the contents displayed in the store window. He is asked to focus on those objects, trying to mentally photograph them.
After that, the neophyte stops looking at the objects and forces himself to remember the items in the window one by one. He must then verify how well he did, renewing the process until he is satisfied that he has accomplished his task.
Think how this kind of intentional introspective experience will intrude into the simple act of taking a walk. When you come across people on your journey, you must totally ignore them because you are "proudly doing your Rosicrucian exercises." This experiment will distance you from everyone.
Experiment 2
The neophyte is asked to listen to a specific music performance and attempt to identify each instrument, naming them aloud. The explicitly stated goal is not the nomenclature of the instruments but the ability to maintain concentration during the entire time the piece is playing.
Strangely enough, it was the practice of Rosicrucian exercises that destroyed my ability to concentrate.
Experiment 3
While taking a walk, the neophyte should stop at a place where there are rocks on the ground. He is asked to take one at random, without looking. As he feels the rock in his hand, he tries to define the angles, the shapes, and so on. As he does that, he attempts to see the rock mentally as a whole. After a few moments of concentration, he will open his eyes and try to verify his success.
Experiment 4
When he has the opportunity, the neophyte is asked to take a walk in a public garden or in a forest or some other place where he can smell the perfume from the flowers or vegetation.
He is then asked to sit down and close his eyes, concentrating on the unique odors that come to him as he sits. He is to force himself to think only about these odors. He continues until he feels that he is one with the flowers' scents.
Experiment 5
The next time he is eating fruit, the neophyte is asked to take time to savor the flavor. He is then asked to repeat this experiment with regular food, but mentally figure out the ingredients that are in the dish.
Practical Application
AMORC makes a big promise for those smart enough to be attentive and do their exercises. It promises that the exercises, which sharpen the members' concentration, form the development of mystical powers, which will lead to a number of psychic phenomena:
• telekinesis, the ability to move objects with one's mind
• telepathy, the ability to transmit and receive thought, often at a distance
• psychic projection, often called astral projection or leaving one's bodies
• vibroturgy or psychometry, which has been defined as the ability to sense vibrations from objects; these vibrations are often believed to have been embedded in the objects from other sources, usually people
• absent healing (ability to treat a subject without being present)
Atrium 1, Monograph 6
The Deepening: The Fire of Indoctrination
AMORC asks the member to concentrate on the light of a candle this time. AMORC does not mention the term "hypnotism" in reference to this exercise, but now I know this type of practice can create a semi-hypnotic state that opens the members to AMORC's suggestions, planted through the monographs.
Symbolism of Fire
To show members how important and meaningful concentration on the candle light is, AMORC philosophizes on the relation between the candlelight and fire. AMORC claims that for centuries candlelight has symbolized fire, the raw, primitive fire that hearkens back to prehistoric man, living in caves, perhaps worshiping the magical source of light and heat that provided the foundations of his warmth and nourishment. This conversation about fire is not really all that mystical. A professor of anthropology could have said this.
Finally, as expected, the symbolism of fire in ancient Egyptian temples comes up. The column of current Rosicrucian temples is mentioned, and then the Shekinah is spoken of. This is the first time such a term is mentioned in the monographs. Shekinah is a Kabbalistic term, a Hebrew word meaning "divine presence." The Kabbalah is an ancient Jewish mystical teaching whose central symbol is the tree of life or otz chiim in Hebrew. The tree of life in the Old Testament, as you may remember, was set in the Garden of Eden and guarded with a flaming sword. It was the source of immortality, which was taken from Adam and Eve when Eve partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Moses approached God to receive his mission, he confronted an "angel" in a burning bush, perhaps another indirect reference to the symbol or the experience embodied by the tree of life. Some would say that the otz chiim corresponds to the symbol of the Christian cross, and that the rosy cross -- the cross bearing a living rose -- is a symbol of life rising out of death, a symbol of resurrection and immortality.
Alchemy of Fire
AMORC notes how religious Christians and others came to misunderstand the symbolism of fire. The true meaning of fire is a secure secret of mystical proportions, held safely by true mystics and, of course, the Rosicrucians. The laws and principles of Rosicrucian masters, since time immemorial, have been linked with fire.
Experiment
The neophyte is asked to extinguish one candle and leave the other burning. He then must sit with his feet flat on the floor, executing four or five neutral or normal breaths. Once he is completely relaxed, he must focus on the lighted candle, taking care not to blink. He must keep this focus until he feels he has become one with the candle.
STILL
YOU DO YOUR THING
LIVE YOUR LIFE IN THE WORLD
THE WATER GOES ON DOWN THE STREAM
YOU CHOP THE WOOD AND CARRY THE WATER
YOU DO YOUR THING YOUR MIND DOES ITS THING
YOUR SENSES THEIR THING BUT
YOU
ARE NOT ATTACHED
BECAUSE YOU SAT IN FRONT OF THE CANDLE FLAME
UNTIL THERE WAS JUST YOU AND THE CANDLE FLAME
& THEN FINALLY
YOU EXTRICATED YOURSELF FROM THE ATTACHMENT
TO YOUR OWN THOUGHTS
TO THE TYRANNY OF THE "DRUNKEN MONKEY"
EVEN TO THE THOUGHTS OF I & CANDLE FLAME
NOT SO THAT YOU WOULD NEVER THINK AGAIN
I MEAN FEW PEOPLE WHO KNOW ME
DON'T APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT I THINK
& I HAVE KEEN DISCRIMINATION & I HAVE NOT LOST MY MIND
& I AM A SOPHISTICATED AWARE BEING
& YET
BEHIND EVERY WORD
& BEHIND IT ALL
IS A MANTRA
GOING INSIDE MY HEAD
IN WHICH I AM SITTING
CALMLY WATCHING THIS WHOLE DRAMA UNFOLD
MY THINKING MIND IS A PERFECT SERVANT AND A LOUSY MASTER
I AM WATCHING HE WHO SPEAKS * I AM WATCHING THEY WHO LISTEN *
I AM WATCHING THINKING * THOUGHTS ARE CLOUDS *
THE ENTIRE PROCESS FROM THIS PLACE INSIDE
IS ALWAYS CALM
A PLACE IN WHICH THE FLAME NEVER FLICKERS.
AND AS I LEARN TO LIVE IN THIS EXTERNALLY CALM PLACE
IT GETS DEEPER AND DEEPER AND CALMER AND CALMER
AND WISER AND WISER
AND LIGHTER AND LIGHTER
AND I AM MORE LOVE AND I BECOME MORE AND MORE
LIKE THE SUN
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
During this experiment, the neophyte is asked to try not to be conscious of himself or who he is. In other words, he should lose himself in the object of his concentration. When losing focus, he should pause momentarily and then renew his concentration, though no more than twice at one time.
Then, he should relight the second candle and continue studying the monograph. When finished with the practical application, the last page of the monograph, he should briefly meditate.
Practical Application
This monograph speaks of the "importance" of using incense when preparing to study a monograph or going into the sanctum to meditate. AMORC states that some people do not like the smell of incense or even can not tolerate it. AMORC says that, in reality, it is not incense these people are allergic to, but the religious context that displeases them. AMORC adds that such people do not like churches or mysticism.
The dislike of incense may have a kind of superstitious basis. In some cases, it may have to do with mental blockages or a form of superstition connected to religious forms. The dislike of incense, AMORC asserts, is rare among people who are interested in spirituality.
AMORC adds that the use of incense is a supplementary element to create in yourself and your sanctum an atmosphere favorable to the study and application of mysticism. They link the incense with the symbolism of fire because it takes fire to transmute the incense and bring out its scent to a room. Nonetheless, this seems a particularly hard sell for using incense.
I believe that incense enhances the relaxation attendant on the candle burning and heightens the state of auto-hypnosis. I believe AMORC pushes the need for it because it facilitates a deepening of this state.
Note that after you finish the candle exercise, in my opinion, you will generally be in a state of auto-hypnosis, a state that is probably deepened the more the member identifies with AMORC as the exclusive source of spiritual authority.
I have already noted how this process of identification is a form of psychological transference, in which authority is transferred from oneself to another authority, whether a person or an institution. Transference heightens suggestibility. A person will be more likely to believe a person to whom he has transferred authority. Combine this transference with repeated conditioning caused by hypnotic induction, and you have a powerful process for enhancing suggestibility on the part of the subject.
For the purposes of this book, I will call this process "the deepening." The deepening is the gradual infusion of cult-specific doctrines and behavior into the subject's mind and emotions. This indoctrination accelerates the further growth of identification with the cult beliefs, culture, and values. It creates the perfect atmosphere for growing the cult personality, a personality which has been broken down, reshaped, and refrozen in the image that the cult desires -- a compliant, nonthinking workhorse, highly suggestible and ready to do the master's bidding.
In my frustration and with a flash of humor, I have called this type of conditioned personality a zombie and have called the deepening process "zombificiation." But in reality, this is not a funny process for the person undergoing it.
Much of this book is about how the deepening happens and what its implications are, particularly in the peculiar way it is furthered by AMORC's special form of mind control, which I call "remote indoctrination." Remote indoctrination is a fascinating idea, permitting the practitioner to accomplish many things in a cheaper and socially and politically safer way than in cults which require more human interaction in their conditioning.
Imagine going back to the fifties, when the Chinese were using brainwashing techniques on prisoners of the state. Instead of wasting thousands of dollars on interrogators, all they would have to do would be to lock up a prisoner with some pieces of paper, some incense, and a few candles. Of course, they would have to convince him that the material was worth reading. Perhaps they could actually let him out of the prison, put him on a work farm, and convince him, through surrogates, that the pieces of paper carne from a rebel organization and that in order to become an effective enemy, he would need to enhance his spiritual power.
So he would study and meditate and become self-indoctrinated, thinking all along that he was free and working against his oppressors, not for them. Whatever the ruse, the process of indoctrination could go on for weeks or months with very little involvement on the part of the government. All along, their victim would be working hard on the farm for them and becoming more and more a believer in the alternative reality they had provided him.
In light of AMORC's indoctrination techniques, as the deepening continues, the "suggestions" to reread the monographs or redo the exercises become more orders than suggestions.
Atrium 1, Monograph 8
In the beginning of this monograph, AMORC reminds the neophytes that they have been informed from the beginning that the purposes of the teachings are practical, not simply intellectual. To that end, members must perform the exercises diligently, learning how to increase their power of concentration, which is not, in itself, the result of intellectual study.
Experiment 1
The neophyte is asked to repeat the experiment of atrium 2, number 7, the last monograph, but to do so with the goal of seeing the aura of the candle. The neophyte will sit before the candle, take a few breaths, and stare at the flame. He will then perceive the flame as a kind of whitish glow or "halo" around the candle.
Once he perceives the aura, the neophyte must concentrate on the color red until the aura becomes red. Then, he is asked to do this for all the seven colors of the rainbow. The question, provided the initiate has some success, is then, was the color of the candle induced to objectively change, or did it change only in the eye of the neophyte?
This appears to be an exercise in creating a positive hallucination, a hypnotic process requiring a certain level of trance. After all, the member, in this experiment, is obviously creating a color that isn't there.
Experiment 2
This next experiment also involves a candle. In this experiment, you try to imagine the candle flame taking on the appearance of a rosy cross or, if desired, to imagine the rosy cross in the flame, all the time mentally saying, "Rosy cross" until you actually see it.
In this experiment, the member does not create a color but a complete image. The member is learning to be adept at creating a full-fledged positive hallucination, making images in his mind appear as actual, real, sensible objects.
Practical Application
The neophyte is asked to combine the three experiments of visualizing the aura, color, and rose cross together. He is also asked to take a color photograph of a house for use with the next monograph.
Atrium 1, Monograph 9
AMORC assumes that everyone was successful to some extent in the candle aura and image experiments. In my personal experience, I went back to the previous monograph with the candle experiments, reread the passages, and repeated the experiments over and over until I was successful at them.
Visualization
AMORC, in introducing the topic of visualization, explains that the Rosicrucian experiment in the candlelight was meant to put members in harmony with the profound symbol of the Rose Cross. As a result of that, members will receive a special spiritual influx - that is, an influx of spiritual energy.
Later on, members will learn that questioning or doubting the order's teaching can block a member from receiving the vital spiritual energy he needs to succeed. Obtaining this spiritual energy is a goal of the experiments. As AMORC progressively places itself as the only door to spiritually, a member begins to realize the magnitude of belonging to the order.
Opening the Door to Self-Blame
AMORC explains that the purpose of visualization is to create mentally what you want to realize materially. If what you desire is in compliance with karmic law, it will be realized. This means that when a member's desire is not actualized -- that is, produced in manifestation -- then the practitioner quickly looks to himself as the cause. The general conclusion would be that the failure is due to the member's karma.
DESIRE
THE FIRST THING IN MY TEACHER'S BOOK,
THE FIRST THING HE EVER WROTE ON HIS
SLATE (BECAUSE HE WAS SILENT) WAS:
DESIRE IS A TRAP
DESIRELESSNESS IS MOKSHA
(LIBERATION)
DESIRE IS THE CREATOR
DESIRE IS THE DESTROYER
DESIRE IS THE UNIVERSE
AND: THAT APPLIES TO THE PHYSICAL PLANE
THE ASTRAL PLANE
THE CAUSAL PLANE
HEAVEN
DEMONS
HELL
(THE DEMONS ON 43RD ST.
AS WELL AS THE DEMONS
ON THE ASTRAL PLANE!)
ARE ALL THE CREATIONS OF DESIRE!
ALL THE MANIFESTATIONS
OF THE DIVINE MOTHER
ARE CREATIONS OF DESIRE!
* THAT'S WHY NAGA, (THE NAKED ASCETIC),
WORKED ON GETTING RAMAKRISHNA TO
GO BEYOND HIS LOVE FOR KALI.
GIVE UP EVEN THE
DESIRE TO BE EXPERIENCING THE BLISS
OF BEING IT ALL
OF BEING WITH THE DIVINE MOTHER
THE BUDDHISTS SAY: (I'M TALKING ABOUT THE NON-DUALISTIC
BUDDHISTS)
CUT OUT ALL THIS MIDDLE STUFF!
THEY SAY:
DON'T GET HUNG UP ON ALL THESE DIFFERENT
DESIRE TRIPS. JUST GO BEYOND IT ALL.
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
But karma is not the easiest thing to identify. Karma from what? From a past lifetime? From something you just did? From something you are hiding about your life -- from yourself, from others? Since the karmic cause is difficult to identify -- and not really addressed at this point by the AMORC teachings -- the result will be self-condemnation or, if not quite so strong, a growing sense of failure.
Of course, at this stage, by constantly referring to its teachings as preliminary, the other consequence is that the neophyte comes to believe that the problem may be that he does not have enough information yet. The door to the realities behind the exercise is not yet unlocked. He begins to question his commitment to the order or wonders whether his method for proceeding with his lessons is somehow essentially flawed.
Of course, if the problem really lies in the claims and methodologies themselves, then there can be a much greater problem for the committed member.
Experiment
This experiment tells the neophyte to look at the picture of the house he was asked to procure in the last monograph. The neophyte is asked to concentrate on every detail and then recreate the whole picture mentally. He is told that this is an essential part of the process of visualization. The member is then told to consult an encyclopedia or another reference book to read about light and colors.
Neophyte Section
Atrium 1, Monograph 10
AMORC then proposes three new experiments.
Experiment
The neophyte is asked to sit comfortably and r4elax for a moment by following the usual instructions. All three of these experiments are about visualization.
1. Visualize scenery in nature.
2. Visualize a house that you have visited in the past.
3. Visualize someone that you know well.
AMORC says that developing this capacity for visualization will lead to a greater mastery of the neophyte's environment and life.
False Promises
The member is told that these visualization experiments will continue in the next monograph. Meanwhile, the member is asked to practice these experiments, because they will help him realize his most valuable desire.
Neophyte Section
Atrium 1, Monograph 11
In the concurrence, the beginning of the monograph, in a deviation from the normal course of study, AMORC asks that the neophyte read the monograph first before he reads the quotations in the concurrence itself.
One of those quotes is from the New Testament, Mathew 7:7-11: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (American Standard Version). There are several other quotes, all from works of Plato.
Now AMORC gives an exercise, which is the conclusion or the actual practice of the visualization exercises in the previous monographs. According to this monograph, if the Cosmic does not see any objection to your need, the object of your visualization in these exercises will be fulfilled. According to this monograph, these visualizations are based on mystical principles that have been proven to work.
So when I applied these principles to my green card project and my goal of going to college and was not successful, I came to the conclusion that maybe it was not Cosmic will for me to have my green card and go to college. So I started reasoning to myself that it was not important for everyone to go to college. Also, I started thinking that it may not have been God's will that I have my green card in the United States. The reason for this change in thought is that, by this time, I believed in the infallibility of the Rosicrucian order.
In the monograph, AMORC speaks about the creative power of thought, again touting the power of its visualization and manifestation exercises. Still, AMORC has built in potential excuses that the neophyte can give to AMORC and himself if the manifestation doesn't take place immediately.
For example, if the manifestation does not happen on for a member on his own projected timetable, AMORC says it is because the member is reasoning at the human level and is not patient.
Now if you continue to think about the desire after you have said it -- after, metaphysically, it has already been accomplished -- you will keep it in your consciousness and keep it from being fulfilled.
Practical Application
In this last page on practical application, AMORC asks members to meditate and send peace to humanity. By asking the Cosmic for the good of other people, you show the Cosmic that you are unselfish.
Atrium 1, Monograph 12
This monograph asserts that the understanding of miracles will provide a key to the kind of miraculous manifestations reported by adepts in previous centuries. In the same paragraph, it affirms the absolute necessity for the neophyte to read the monographs more than once.
THOSE OF LITTLE FAITH
NEED LONG FINGERNAILS AND LONG HAIR
TO BELIEVE ITS HAPPENING
"LEST YE SEE MIRACLES
YE WILL NOT BELIEVE"
SAID OUR BUDDY
TALL
SAUL
AND THE
ASTRALS
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
They then contend that, for centuries, the Rosicrucians have used a method of transmission of thought at distance that does not require that receptor be aware of thought being sent to them. AMORC does not deny the difficulty of this process but pushes its members to keep trying until they succeed without letting themselves become discouraged.
Atrium 1, Monograph 13
AMORC states that black magic, or the process of using negative thought to affect other people's lives, is a myth. AMORC states that what does affect other people is not the practice of the sorcerer but the fear that people have of black magic.
AMORC perhaps does not practice black magic, but it does instill in people an irrational fear of the order's own metaphysical power. Here is an example. On one occasion instead of going to a lodge convocation where I was scheduled to serve as a guardian at 3:30 PM, I got a taxi fare from the Miami Airport to Miami Beach to make an extra $20. The taxicab caught fire three miles into the trip. Owing to my programming, my obsessive need to connect everything to AMORC, I attributed the fire to my failure to give priority to my AMORC duty. I did penance by discreetly putting extra money in the AMRA box. That event, the taxicab catching fire and my interpretation of it, had3 domino effect on me. It triggered a fear that would lead me to devote an excessive amount of time to the Miami lodge (by the way, the AMRA box was not suppose to be used for penance but acting under fear of the cult that what I did).
In this monograph, AMORC basically claims that a person cannot be harmed by the bad thoughts or evil spells of another unless they attribute reality to that power -- that is, if they are superstitious.
Despite the fact that AMORC correctly attacks this type of manipulation by people who cast spells and who would try to influence people against their will, AMORC utilizes the full power of its members' subconscious to reinforce their members' beliefs in their ultimate infallibility and power of the order's own practices.
