The Heart Unafraid – A Mystic’s Courage -- Michael Shaluly: transcript

the title of this symposium the practical application of rosicrucian mysticism stresses an essential element of being a rosicrucian being a mystic does not mean living separate from society one must participate in being human and experience all that this means it requires work participation relationship building service to others pursuing dreams and many other facets each of us face these elements as we go through life infused in these challenges our fears years of failure fear of the unknown fears for safety and security for social acceptance and so forth we can develop the courage to face these challenges

and our heart unafraid can be our guide so here we see the picture the heart unafraid where might we find it as we look out into the grand vistas of this world where do we find that heart unafraid we ponder upon the precipice of bewilderment as we trudge through life a child at the first day of school a young person just stepping out into the business world someone facing retirement or a big change in life all look at an abyss of unknowing we see remarkable new opportunities yet we know not what we will find whether we make it across or fall into the void we look out at the grand beauty of the

elements filled with joy and thanksgiving yet we also recognize a fear of what seems to be a much greater power than our mortal existence somewhere inside of us we know that we should face all that comes our way fearlessly and with courage life we learn in our teachings is the greatest gift and privilege from the cosmic yet knowing this in principle does not always translate to living life with courage how might we as mystics alleviate fear as an obstacle to our own mastery once we enter the portals of our order our teachings give us an opportunity to examine what consciousness is we gradually learn about our material mind with the objective and subjective consciousness

and our subconscious mind gradually we learn how to take a step out of our material self and examine our being in so doing we take stock of the world we have built around us and the character we have allowed ourselves to become as we progress we grow into and spend more time with our spiritual essence gradually we look upon ourselves in the world from this enlightened plane from this view seeing our outer soul personality with its frailties can be trying we embarked upon a mystical path to commune with our better aspects yet we reach a point where we see ourselves the mistakes we have made and continue to make perhaps the pain and suffering that we caused ourselves and others and how far it seems

our soul personality is from illumination some say this is the dark night of the soul we may feel attached to a way of life that we suddenly recognize is an illusion in the sense that it doesn't have the importance in the overall scheme of things that we thought it had perhaps we may wish to continue this attachment even when we know that we must let that attachment go we grow up listening to authority figures who proclaim to have our answer to life these were often well intentioned people we respect admired and looked up to yet we've reached a point now where we recognize that the guidance of these individuals ran counter to our own intuition our heart speaks to us but perhaps we lack the courage

to listen we may say to ourselves how can i be right i'm not an expert brothers and selves [Music] we find ourselves in the peace of solitude when we can put learned traditions in their rightful place a subtle voice awakens to our conscious mind we can be leery to follow this voice especially when it gives a directive that runs counter to our rational mind the pureness of inner revelations can be intimidating when we have a strong attachment to a material something mysticism helps us to remove that veil of comfort with calm power and understand that which can set us free from the restraints of our misdirected ego mysticism is the act the effort

the practice of discovering our master within and learning to follow this master's guidance our own guidance it leads us to hear that echo of god's directive that is only good and righteous the cosmic directive is incapable of guiding us astray we have a perfect advisor with us all the time we just need to gain the courage to welcome this power and allow it to guide us it won't force itself on us we must learn to find it embrace it and bring it forth into our world this practice is hard to put into words if someone watches a magnificent sunset they may say it was beautiful there were various colors and so forth but if you probe deeper and ask them to describe not what they physically saw

but to describe their inner experience it becomes harder for the person to put into words our creator speaks in its own language it brings that contemplative feeling to our conscious mind it is that feeling that language that we need to learn to follow there are ways to study this language we have meditation ritual and various symbols that can assist us to create a communion contemplate the following word symbolism long ago prayers were answered upon smoke dispersed to the sky floating symbols voicing guidance to pronounce

without words that man speaks stirring from earth from sagas ago imprints of antiquity divulge that we have long been here to ponder without words that nature speaks and as the sun rises in the east our pleas still lift upon it shower of ancient rays shine hope to see without words that god speaks our ceremonies whether done at home in our sanctums or at an affiliated body are moving symbols that convey

another aspect of self to us in one of our rituals an officer states i am truth i am light i am life i am the guardian of your soul this is more than a person's words fulfilling a role in a drama these are words from you to you from your master within to your evolving soul personality from the god of your heart is a guiding light showing you your way in this world it is an affirmation that you need not fear this guardian of your soul is at your side to lend you courage and give valor to your journey here on earth our rose cross a sacred symbol of you

you carry the burden of incarnate life on this plane whether you realize it or not this is a service to humanity you have agreed to uphold just being here and experiencing is a service to humanity stay at your mystical work you may feel that you are not learning enough or your experiments are unsuccessful if you are working with your teachings you are advancing and your inner self is moving closer to your thoughts a pure desire behind what you see is guiding you your mystical work is your truth and your way it does not need to be preached it needs to be subtly spoken fearlessly performed and quietly revealed as our grandmaster story

actually revealed that to us earlier when you allow yourself to be guided by your heart your heart unfolds to the invisible splendor of existence in other words when you do the right thing you will feel and experience the rewards they are much stronger and deeper than any material reward you may receive think back what is one of your happiest memories chances are it is centered around giving or love or some other deep-seated part of you rather than a monetary or physical thing we say that the rose cross can be a strong arm to lean upon allow it to give you strength

our sacred rose cross comprises all of us and all the contributions of all who came before us this is the egregore of our order all of the greatest minds who have contributed the most to our evolution have been and are a part of the essence and guidance of this rose cross jesus moses el morya katumi pythagoras and all those who placed a guiding light within our world that we might have a greater understanding of our experience here on earth you are a part of this great cross and egregor carrying forth the burden of humanity's effort to spiritualize matter awaken each day to a recognition of this cross you bear towards the mastery of life

this is borne out in our rosicrucian morning prayer god of my heart god of my realization thank you for the return of consciousness and for the privilege of serving one more day in the fulfillment of your cosmic decrees going to the last sentence give me the courage and the opportunity to accomplish the service that i am meant to perform as a rosicrucian and citizen of the world that last sentence is a plea for courage to assist us to accomplish a service we are meant to perform we can define courage as the ability to do something that frightens us or is facing our fears and acting anyway proceeding through the discomfort of change

and the mastery of fear not the absence of it and mark is unique in its physical structure and that it is completely voluntary a member participates out of their own desire and often at odds with family or close associates there is often no tradition that ties a member to the order only an inner guidance not an outward one that leads us to the god of our hearts in our mystical work the god of your heart not peer pressure or society's dictates has brought you here and it is why you continue to work within this mystical field you have had to exert a type of courage to be here knowingly or unknowingly you have moved forward with the mystics courage to be an unconditional

servant to humanity our imperfect soul personality is ensconced by the perfect universal soul as shown by this diagram from our monographs those coincidences premonitions imaginations dreams all of these are very real and a large part of you often our inspiring thoughts are briefly acknowledged and then we let them go or we have a beautiful dream and we say to ourselves it was just a dream we tend to dismiss a large part of ourselves because it is not a physical thing over a lifetime we dream for years of our lives we daydream and imagine for many years more this is a great part of our human experience and it's every bit a part of us as any

physical experience be prepared for your inspiring thoughts write them down record them in some other way do your best to capture them because the divine is always urging the good forward in you and utilizing this good allows you to fulfill your purpose remember that its directive will be kind loving constructive and inspiring there is a divine power behind creation ancient mystics paid homage to the beauty of this world and the all-encompassing love behind conscious life we know that mind body and soul that we are a part of this ever evolving recognition of god's love we also recognize the overwhelming power of the natural world and our ego in its protective design

instills fear in our minds so that we might protect ourselves from the elements real and imagined to survive and continue the advancement of humanity's evolution here on earth we need to learn to balance these inborn fears with our ever evolving soul personality that is linked to the universal soul which is eternal and beyond harm this is a picture of a woman and child alone against immensity there is a connectedness between souls and between them and their surroundings there is love and wonder as to the design of all things there is a mystical impulse of being this scene tugs at the soul and brings both joy and reflection it can show us as lonely and weak against the natural elements but it can

also show us as an integral part of it we see a conscious awareness a directive of movement and an effort to be in all the elements of this scene we are in a privileged position of observing states of consciousness all around us we experience consciousness evolve from our childhood and into the various stages of our lives we watch this from outside ourselves and we watch as we watch children grow into adulthood we are witness to consciousness evolving throughout what we experience in this world we also can segment different conscious states in our minds and separate the spiritual from the material which we are doing now as we examine this scene when we say that something is spiritual it raises that subject to a loftier level and takes on a greater importance in our

minds our teachings show us that our very existence and all things related to our existence is spiritual leonardo da vinci understood the concept of our spiritual quest while living on earth when he stated make your work to be in keeping with your purpose whatever your occupation in life go out into the world of yours and infuse it with your desire to be an unconditional servant to humanity don't preach the virtues of a mystical life perform the virtues of a mystical life the dignity of human work is part of your participation in the grand workings of the grand architect through work we fulfill inspired creativity we form manipulate and process the creative evolution on this plane this picture depicts saint joseph the

carpenter and foster father of jesus training the young jesus in carpentry showing but one example of the holiness of human labor unconditional service to another and a path towards a heart at peace we are linked to each other just as we are linked to all things when we assist others we assist all things an ancient hermetic law states that the universe is mental this alludes that all things are conscious and that our consciousness is somehow linked to an everywhere consciousness if this were true it would be imperative for us to strive to direct positive thought and emotion into the world here is a slide showing one of many similar constructs we find in nature on the left is imaging of a brain cell

on the right is a simulated image of the universe unconditional service has positive effects on our brains and our health studies have shown that brain chemistry rewards service by producing chemicals that give a sense of serenity and inner peace viewing the brain with mri during moments of selfless behavior shows that even the thought of giving engages this response a study published in 2013 in the american journal of public health found that giving time and assistance to others reduce the mortality risk tied to stress more than exercising four times a week not only volunteering but also charitable donations trigger a healthy response even thinking about giving to a meaningful cause engages this reward system these studies point out that our

intentions or how we feel about our actions matter if the giving is trivial or grudging positive results were absent meaningful giving or even contemplating heartfelt generosity takes your focus off yourself and brings health into the movement of consciousness everywhere when you give part of yourself in a selfless manner the inner inner benefits are very real if indeed the universe is mental then our intentions our positive observations are fulfilling universal evolution the work that we do at symposiums like this are preparation the studies we perform at home are preparation the work we do at affiliated bodies our preparation through these efforts we learn about

ourselves and our creator when we step into the world that is where we do battle is in everyday opportunities that we are to take what we learn and make it a part of who we are and make it a part of the world around us it is out in the world that we do battle with ourselves draw your double-edged sword of strength and mercy wisely and prepare to battle the attacks of ignorance that come your way from your teachings draw courage to forever allow your inner master to guide you it is in our hands to sow that mystical thread to the fabric of society so that those who will follow us may also follow the mystical path we must become the knights of service towards the state of the rose quoi

we know of the challenges we face to transform our understanding that a part of us that is unreal must surrender to a greater actuality this process this part of our inward journey towards our true essence is indeed a trial that takes courage as we become the faithful chivalrous nights of service to all humanity so for a couple of minutes frotters and sorors you can hold out your hands slightly and visualize that you are holding hands with all those participating today and all those on earth who support our work each of us are mystic philosophers striving to be unconditional servants perhaps we don't know exactly what this means but we can make attempts to follow the dictates of our hearts

and bring others out of misfortune remain unafraid at doing the right thing feel the support of that rose qua egregor your fellow frauders and sorors your good deeds will be noticed and will inspire others to continue this great work may each of us recognize always that the heart is unafraid we just need to develop the mystic's courage to follow her guidance thank you frauders and sorors you