EsoBites: Humanism Fails To Equate With Mysticism
October 1, 2016
The basic tenet of the Rosicrucian Studies is that neither man nor woman can achieve awakening and enlightenment using only the psychoneurological skills provided through neo-Darwinian evolution. Something more is required, something which is nonphysical and higher in essence than our psychobiological creature.
Such higher elements manifesting in aspirants in one or two modalities. For most students of our Order, the purpose of practicing the Rosicrucian Teachings is to attain to a deeply desired goal or endpoint. Such endpoints being the achievement of personal union with a tangible entity generally named Creator or God. How such God is perceived varies between individuals and is culturally-ingrained during childhood and adolescence.
The conceptual breath of the various formulations of culturally-personalized God or Deity is vast. In many religions, particularly in the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic religions, God is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and can be experienced as the ultimate super-sensible Being.
In other cultures, it is taught that man cannot perceive or interact personally with the Absolute, Infinite Source. Therefore, such Source bringing to life a Sacred Image for people to love and interact with. The Yoga God Isvara is one example.
Most esoteric schools teach that the Absolute Source is beyond conscious description. It is formless, colorless, and transparent to the physical and psychic sensory organs. It lacks Qualia, in and of itself. It is neither here nor there, now nor later. It just Is. The experience of union with the Absolute is wordless and thoughtless. Some, speak of this pinnacle as one of pure bliss, pure awareness, pure presence. In Hinduism it is called Brahman.
In the west, many Rosicrucian aspirants comprise the first category. A smaller set of aspirants practices the Rosicrucian Teachings pursuant to a deeply felt desire so to attain to union with the Source or Absolute responsible for existence. Such Source is not objectified, as in the first set of students, as it is without form or descriptors. It just Is. One finds that he or she can be said to exist, not exist, both exist and not exist, and neither exists nor not exist.
Rosicrucianism satisfies the standard definition of ‘mysticism,’ as “a doctrine of an immediate spiritual intuition of truths believed to transcend ordinary understanding and a direct, intimate union of the soul with God through contemplation or ecstasy.”
Either way, it insists upon the existence of a Higher World which is more powerful, loving, intelligent than natural human creatures. This Higher World imparts a spiritual gift to some human creatures allowing them to transcend the physical using the Laws and Energies of the Higher. Such transcendence being expressed by the ancient esoteric moniker,’ The Work.’
Though, it diverges from the subject at hand, I do need to explain the meaning of the moniker, The Work. For in truth, it is commonly misunderstood to the detriment of the creatures of the material world.
The Work refers to the First Divine Law placed into our Universe so to provide opportunities for H. sapiens sapiens to transcend from its’ state of psychobiological evolution (mechanical evolution) so to be transformed into the spiritual, objectively conscious species H. sapiens experrectus (he who knows that he is awakened). The name of the First Divine Law is ‘The Work Imperative.’
The Work Imperative resides in the Upper World and manifests within the Middle World (where our psychic Personalities reside) as, what I call, der Ubergeist or the Over-Spirit. This is the immediate Source for all Esoteric Schools. From this Single Source, Initiates come to earth so to form esoteric schools, such as AMORC. The teachers and tyros of each school from Fraternities (now you understand why I use the phrase, ‘our Fraternity’).
The reason why AMORC also utilizes the phrase, ‘the Rosicrucian Order’ is to remind all of us that the Source resides as One Invisible Order in the Middle World.
As history is full of illuminated mystics (Isvara- or Brahman-based), the mystical way is effective on an individual basis. Can the same be said for secular humanism? I think not, for the following reasons.
Mysticism stands in stark contrast with the philosophy of humanism. Humanism is defined as “a set of moral-ethical theories and practices emphasizing reason, scientific inquiry, and human fulfillment in the natural world. Humanism believes that Mankind can solve its personal and social problems given sufficient education, proper upbringing, and advanced technologies. While, moral-ethical, it rejects the importance of God’s existence or belief in such.”
Modern esoteric schools also teach ethical theories and objective practices using reasoning, scientific inquiry, and wholesome behavior; but, experience has taught them that mankind, using its own skills, cannot heal itself.
In essence, humanism believes that processes inherent in the material world (including body and mind), evolving under Darwinian evolution alone, are sufficient for man to solve all world problems. Humanism appears to possess a logical flaw as it assumes that mankind is capable of changing 50,000 plus years of human behavior arising from our genomes solely using more scientific knowledge. It seems a pipedream to me.
However, there do appear to be scientifically sound reasons why secular humanism cannot solve the ‘human-ecology problem.” Another way to state this is, “Can any physical system rise above its inherent nature so to improve its inherent operation?
Moreover, it silently presumes that human minds have access to a future source of greater intellect and unknown and useful information. Such a presumption automatically invalidates its foundation principles. Moreover, it is my personal opinion that such a belief system violates the phenomenological principles of thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and essential information theory (beyond the primitive system of Claude Shannon–not allowing for meaning and value).
For every system is enclosed by a boundary which is partially permeable to different information typologies existing external to the system. Leaving us with the question, how did such information come into the universe in the first place?
Perhaps, my essence friend, Ken, will provide a good scientific-mathematical answer for us. Jolly-good project.