ORDER MYSTERIES AND HYMNS OF GOD, COSMOS, HUMANITY

We think about the future almost every day. Our own future, or that of our loved ones and sometimes we also think about the prospects for society and for our planet earth. We allow the choices that we make in our lives to be determined largely by our ideas and insights about what is good for the future. We choose a profession, we connect with certain people and groups, and we have an affinity with ethical and moral principles that we try to observe. In doing so, we are guided by the image we have of humanity, of the world and perhaps also of God, or the divinity.

In our life we come into contact with all kinds of visions and methods to personally control the direction of our life. Almost each one them is derived from three major currents that have existed for millennia: the materialistic way (the way of the body), the mystical way (the way of the heart) and the occult way (the way of the head). The solutions that we realize based on these three approaches have direct consequences for our state of being, for our life and for our environment.

Many religions, philosophies of life and spiritual movements speak of an ideal, material or spiritual reality that exists or that can be realized. We can be inspired by such ideas, but they do not at all change the fact that we are mortal.

Countless methods have been developed that are said to enable us to break through the veils that are enveloping our existence, so that we can penetrate into a more profound understanding and thus take control of our destiny. Consider, for example, astrology, magic, alchemy and also the natural sciences and neurosciences. They indeed offer us opportunities to become a more powerful person in the three-dimensional reality. However, they are unsuitable for liberating us from ourselves.

The gnostic path, which is a central issue in this book, points in a different direction, where it is no longer primarily about me, but is about the Other in me who can go the way of the mysteries. The Other – that is the immortal and divine man hidden within me – can awaken and grow within me, so that I can gradually place my life at the service of that divine aspect within me.

This reversal of roles takes place in a process called transfiguration. That renewal process starts with a deep inner desire and cannot be forced in any way. Yet a correct understanding is necessary to be able to walk the path of transfiguration.

This book, Mysteries and Hymns of God, Cosmos, Humanity, is part of the book series of the Spiritual Texts Library. The publications are guidelines for people of the 21st century who want to go a path of spiritual awareness and renewal in their daily lives. They are based on carefully selected classical spiritual texts with clear reflections about these passages that have been taken from the more than four-centuries-old living tradition of the Rosicrucians. All books of the Spiritual Texts Library are spiritually inspired, broadly oriented and deeply rooted. They are ideal as a starting point for philosophical reading groups, as they are available as free online programs on the website spiritualtexts.academy, where it’s possible to listen to all the texts and to read them.

‘Mysteries and Hymns of God, Cosmos, Humanity’ is the third and final part of a trilogy about the gnostic mysteries relating to the path of transfiguration. These three books can be recognized by the image of a sun on the cover. The mysteries are of a universal nature and are therefore not linked exclusively to a particular religion, philosophy or spiritual movement. The universal wisdom doctrine is expressed in many different, sometimes divergent, traditions, but unfortunately we often find superficialities, crystallizations and degenerations therein, so that our mind tends to withdraw from it.

The first book in the trilogy, Mysteries and Symbols of the Soul, is based primarily on classical spiritual texts from various authentic spiritual traditions. The second book, Mysteries and Challenges of Birth, Life and Death, is based on the Jewish- Christian tradition, particularly Bible texts that can be a true inspiration for us. This third book, ‘Mysteries and Hymns of God, Cosmos, Humanity’, is based on texts from the hermetic tradition, allegedly derived from the legendary Egyptian initiate, Hermes Trismegistus.

The texts of the three-times-great Hermes are still largely unknown to the general public and also to professionals such as theologians, psychologists, pastors and spiritual caregivers. Yet they can be an important help for people looking for life renewal and life fulfillment. Over the centuries they have remained virtually undamaged and have not lost any of their power of expression. They make clear how humanity is part of a divine creation plan, providing directions on how mankind can become able to participate in its implementation.

J. van Rijckenborgh (1896-1968), one of the founders of the International School of the Golden Rosycross, became acquainted with the hermetic heritage in the 1950’s, discovering the great value they can offer for the development of humanity. He published a new Dutch translation and provided extensive commentaries, as published in the four-part book series ‘The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis’. The hermetic quotes in this book stem from that book series and also from the booklet ‘De Castigatione Animae’ (The Admonition of the Soul), translated in English by Walter Scott. Each chapter is preceded by a short section from the explanations by J. van Rijckenborgh.

In the first volume of ‘The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis’, J. van Rijckenborgh describes the situation of a person bound to the temporal world, while his destiny is eternity. The second volume5 describes in detail how you can be liberated from the temporal world. As a starting point he uses the insight that humans in their present existence do not know God. Remove yourself, he says, let go of the bond with the forces of nature. In volume three, the author describes the difficulties that you, as an aspiring person, may encounter in this process. Those difficulties consist of, among other things, the confusion about good and evil, the activity of the mind, and finally our tendency to use everything for ‘our own maintenance’. In the fourth volume, the author reaches a culmination when he penetrates into the purification of the heart and the thinking, by means of allowing access to truth as a purifying vibration. People and society are constantly changing. That is why it is important that the gnosis is continuously being communicated in such a way that the people of today can be reached, addressed and also touched inwardly.

The three volumes of the aforementioned trilogy together give a good impression of the philosophy of the Rosycross. This is not a clearly defined doctrine, but a garment in which the universal doctrine of wisdom, which cannot actually be expressed in words, can temporarily be clothed. Differently formulated on the basis of a metaphor from chapter 7: these three books are the barrels that allow the wine to be received.

The first part of this book, ‘Mysteries of God, Cosmos, Humanity’, consists of nine spiritual texts from the so-called Corpus Hermeticum and nine pertinent thematic reflections. They are directed both to the heart and to the head. The second part, ‘Hymns of God, Cosmos, Humanity’, is composed of 22 hymns based on spiritual world literature.

We sincerely hope that this publication will contribute to the recognition of the call of the gnosis for self-realization in the present time, and that countless people will be able to prepare themselves to use the key to liberation for themselves, for humanity and for the world.

Rozekruis Pers,
Doride Zelle

Source: Mysteries and Hymns of God, Cosmos, Humanity – Realizing the plan of God