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Letter to Christian Bernard, AMORC Imperator

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Letter to Christian Bernard
Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC

 

By Luis Prada

 

Christian Bernard, Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC

Christian Bernard, Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC

Posted on March 19, 2003.

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Christian Bernard is the present Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC since April 12th, 1990.  He is the head of this worldwide organization dedicated to the dissemination of mystical and philosophical teachings.  Currently he is living in France and works at the Château d’Omonville.

 

This letter was sent to the Imperator at the end of 1996.  What it is discussed here currently applies to AMORC, since the thinking and status quo within the Rosicrucian Order management continues unchanged as was in the time the interview referred to below was conducted.  The majority of the suggested changes has not happened yet.  An acknowledgement of this letter was never received.  It is incredible that the comments below, for instance, regarding technology in cyberspace were expressed by the Head of the Rosicrucian Order, they look like a backwards thinking not proper of a progressive mind. The Rosicrucian Order AMORC has a wealth of mystical and esoteric teachings, in addition to the lessons received by members, part of which is locked or of difficult access to researchers and members.

 

Because the present Rosicrucian AMORC management has a strong zeal to preserve the authenticity and purity of the Rosicrucian teachings, sort of a dogmatic position, this management does not want their organization be identified as another New Age movement nor to include New Age subjects such as channeling, interaction with Ascended Masters or Extraterrestrials, or the UFO phenomenon, as part of their teachings.  This is also the position of some other kabalistic groups.  This position makes these groups independent and dissociated with the New Age stream, which makes increasing of membership more difficult for them, and as a result creates a financial struggle.  Of course, they have also the rational that the teachings are only for those prepared and not for everybody and that if you are ready then you knock at the door of the organization, that money is not the motivator, etc.

 

The problem is that more and more New Age organizations are openly sharing and distributing information that is similar or the same as the Ageless Wisdom since they are also tapping into the same Source, so most people have so much material available today through the Internet, books, workshops, Expos, etc., that they may not see a need to formally affiliate with any organization, especially if this one does not cover these new and fascinating subjects.  That was not the case in the twentieth century, though, when the Rosicrucian Order thrived throughout the world.  Things have changed but the management’s mind set has not.  The Aquarian bottom line is:  The Aquarian Age will be of an open society where everything will be openly shared.  Anybody who plays the old Piscean game of hiding information may not survive or may “freeze”, better, go into hibernation for a while.

 

Update of January 2, 2005:  Through the internet circulated via emails a document called “Morkink Revisited, A Modern Fable Tale” in which is depicted in allegorical way the current status of the Rosicrucian English Grand Lodge at the Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California.  I can testify that as far as my experience within that Lodge is concerned what is written in this document is true and I know the real names and personalities of most of the players, whose names were replaced by fictitious names.  Obviously the true should be extracted from the fantasy of the tale and the artistic license.  There is a tremendous mismanagement within that Lodge, the current administration has harassed members of the staff and fired the ones connected with the old tradition of the Lewis’ family.  Several letters have been written by Rosicrucian members to the Imperator Bernard to inform him of the state of affairs and to the Supreme Lodge regarding these abuses and Christian Bernard has ignored so far these reports as he ignored this letter.  What’s wrong with the man?  To download “Morkink Revisited” in PDF Format, click Download Morkink Tales I , Download Morkink Tales II.

 

You may order a copy of the full interview for a modest fee that covers copy and shipment costs by writing to:


Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, c/o Rosicrucian Library, Rosicrucian Park, 1342 Naglee Avenue, San Jose, CA 95191, USA

 

 

Christian Bernard
President & Imperator, Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC
Ordre de la Rose-Croix
Château d’Omonville
27110 Le Tremblay, France

REF.: Comments on Interview Published in the Rosicrucian Digest , 1996, No. 4.

 

Beloved Imperator:

 

I enjoyed your insightful interview conducted by Frater Robin M. Thompson, Rosicrucian Digest Editor.

 

Also through reading your answers I received some insights that I like to share with you as you kindly have asked us to do in a letter to the members of the 12th Degree.

 

I don’t want to sound improper in my comments since they are made with humility and a pure and sincere desire for the good of the Order. Unfortunately for lack of space and time I am focusing here only in the point in disagreement; the points not touched here have been of great benefit for me enlarging my own perspective.

 

I.———

 

Referring to AMORC teachings you said that they “are extremely old and are not the work of one individual, as is the case for the majority of pseudo-mystical movements currently in existence. Rosicrucian philosophy is the result of knowledge passed down through the ages by initiates.

 

This answer implies two conditions for a movement to be authentic: 1. To be very old,  and, 2. Not to be formed by an individual, especially somebody that is incarnated today.

 

Contrary to what is indirectly implied by this answer, I think that not all “the majority” of mystical movements are “pseudo-mystical” simply because they are formed or founded by one individual. In fact considering only philosophical and spiritual movements, not religious but organizations such as AMORC, there are others formed by individuals which are authentic and worthy of study and that even complement our monographs.

 

The founder of a new movement can be an avatar or a venerable master that came to earth with a particular mission such as the formation of a movement with a unique point of view or focus in a certain area of mysticism. The fact that he or she is an individual —not a group— not necessarily invalidates the teaching or makes it lack of the proper power or mystical rights for its existence. Some individuals actually, even though not publicly proclaimed, have received the lineage from higher forces or secret orders that carry no public face. Such is the case of our fraternal Martinist Order founded by Dr. Gerard Encausse. Even though you may not disagree with this point of view still your answer for omission points out to the exclusion of other spiritual movements founded by individuals.

 

Referring to the second condition, it gives to me the impression that in order for a teaching to be good, sound and necessary to the upliftment of mankind has to have the condition of being extremely old or founded by an individual that has reincarnated so long ago in ancient past that his/her life and deeds are covered in the mist of forgotten. In other words, he/she has to be dead (and well dead) that no survivals or acquaintances of him/her exist today. I personally disagree with this view point knowing that no organization, regardless of its age, can claim to be the only one possessor of all Truth. I think new teachings, not new to this planet but new to this race, are being given today that are not included in mystical organizations such as the Rosicrucian Order since the time for these new teachings to be revealed is just now. Before this time they were sealed to mankind, for she lacked the proper preparation to assimilate them or because they had no practical application given the state of spiritual and material evolution at that time. This knowledge of a revelatory nature is imparted by prophets, masters and seers dressed in modern clothes that use the technology available today for its diffusion. Some of it will be incorporated in future Rosicrucian monographs as member contributions, as has happened in our Order throughout the ages.

 

The Christian Bible makes allusion to teachings sealed to humankind:

 

·       Daniel 12, 9: “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” This means that these spiritual blessings have not been imparted in ageless wisdom.

·       Rev. 10, 4: “And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

 

Some of this wisdom, I emphasize some, is part of the so called ‘New Age’. It is the teachings of the future given to mankind before the end of times.

 

II. ———

 

Machines that were designed to help us have succeeded in replacing us, thus explaining why so many people are without work.

 

Machines certainly have succeeded in replacing human power but in laborious, repetitive and boring tasks opening avenues for more interesting jobs that require knowledge and judgment. Obviously those people in the lower scale of preparation are affected as they were during the Industrial Revolution of the last century. This is the inevitable and painful step in man’s progress that can not be hindered even though humans for multiple reasons have always attempted to do so.

 

III. ———

 

…there are no plans whatsoever to make the teachings available using information technology (on disk, CD-ROM, the Internet, etc.), for this would go against our teachings’ traditional origins and their initiatory aims.

 

What do the teachings have to do with the media through which they are transmitted? This point of view does not sound in line with the spirit of the Order of open mindedness that Dr. H. Spencer Lewis expressed in action when he, at the beginning of the century, worked in the building of a radio, and electronics and electromagnetic experimentation. Today the equivalent of that early technology is the computers and Internet. We should have been the first of the mystical organizations to have entered into this ongoing global network for the Spreading of the Light. Certainly we are using computers in our offices but basically as data bases and word processors, a natural evolution of office automation necessary to function in today’s business world. But the real use of technology I am referring to here is in the dissemination of knowledge using whatever media is available as a necessity to cover a wider range of audiences. We should already, at least five years ago, have offered books and graphics in CD-ROM (with voice and video clips), such as old and rare manuscripts and printed material from our archives using this technology of the future. Also our web page, for instance, should have more mystical articles to attract students of these subjects.

 

Our lack of knowledge on the potential of cyberspace should not be the limiting factor to establish plans for its use. I think thousand of Brethren of our Order have the sufficient qualification to assess these technologies and see their practical application for the Spreading of the Light.

 

The use of this technology obviously is not going to replace our initiatory process and the fraternal mingling in conventicles, conventions and retreats that stimulates our minds and psychic selves. Group initiations can not be replaced by technology at least in the form known today as Internet chat clubs and home study via a computer.

 

Should we not move ahead with these technologies we may continue to lose opportunities to increase membership at a low cost and to reduce costs of printing and mailing distribution of lessons on paper. (Members may be offered the low-cost option of receiving lessons via Internet.)

 

IV. ———

 

… monographs are made up of small booklets of five to ten pages each. This does not seem excessive to me and I am convinced that it is more noble, dignified, and natural to gain knowledge through studying the contents of a booklet rather than via a computer screen. In my opinion, nothing can replace the emotional, cultural, and spiritual impressions experienced when you hold a monograph in your hands and discover page-by-page, paragraph-by-paragraph, line-by line, and word-by word, the knowledge contained therein.

 

Two points can be discussed here with respect of this statement: 1. The rate or frequency at which the monographs are received, 2. A personal (subjective) opinion evaluating the reading of information via a computer screen versus a booklet in printed form.

 

With respect to the first point I think an individual viewpoint should not be taken as the measuring rule to determined the adoption of this already emerged media. I think everybody is different and assimilates information at a different pace. That is one of the reasons why some students fall back in their studies creating an accumulation of the lessons while others are fast and ready before the new set of lessons arrive. Also this has to do with how much time the member allocates to the monographs as opposed to other occupations and studies.

 

The Internet lessons certainly can regulate the download of information by:

 

1.     The assignment of a password to download lessons. This password checks membership, Degree and paid dues.

2.     The assignment of a fixed elapsed time to download lessons. This forces the member to allocate enough time for his/her psychic development and for the exercises and experiments.

 

Now I will say something about the second point of your answer. The student may not necessarily study the monographs on the ‘screen’ but may print them at his/her own cost, not the Order’s. Studying on a CRT screen is not really convenient. The member may certainly save the lessons in backup files. Research using the computer is more efficient since the computer lesson may have a buildup word- or subject- search engine.

 

Future computers, already developed in universities 10 years ago, use flexible printed circuits boards that will allow the machines to look like a regular book or a newspaper.  Also the Flat Panel Display is already replacing the traditional bulky CRT monitor making the reading ‘on the screen’ an experience similar to reading a conventional book as to “hold a monograph in your hands and discover page-by-page, paragraph-by-paragraph, line-by line, and word-by word, the knowledge contained therein.”   Certainly this dream and much more, not to be mentioned here lest we fall in the realm of impractical speculation, will be a reality and will be used for the enjoyment of our teachings in the comfort of your Home Sanctum —not necessarily to tie us up in front of a desk top computer—. For that near future the printing of the monographs will not be even necessary since we may be connected in line at any time with Internet via satellite. This obviously is a nature friendly approach saving the trees or, as you said, “the excessive destruction of forest.

 

V. ———

 

In talking about the rise and fall of civilizations, you said, “… we must realize that this is all part of a natural process, in the same way as every living creature is born, develops until maturity, and then dies.

 

Of course, this last statement is part of the old paradigm, “every living creature is born, develops until maturity, and then dies.” In the new paradigm of the Aquarian Age, human beings can overcome this law of nature with a higher law with the development of the Spiritual Body or Light Body to achieve immortality. The individual can make this his or her own law in which is possible not to die of a physical death and take with him/her the physical body to astral planes such as Enoch did. The growth of the Light Body —what is called the Clavis of Solomon, the keys, not the solution— can be sped up with the consumption of the Philosopher’s Stone or Manna, the white powder of gold brought about through alchemical processes. I wonder why these teachings being part of the mystery schools of Egypt are not even mentioned in our monographs. The ascension to a multidimensional reality will happen for the collective consciousness of mankind. Still, though, mankind has to undergo the process of inner development such as the one obtained through AMORC teachings with the gradual development of the soul personality, since, as you said, ” … for [on the mystical path] there is no speeded-up, no shortcuts to be taken.

 

I became acquainted with these teachings (the Light Body) through the study of the initiations in the Great Pyramid of Gizah. By the way, the Light body is a biological superconductor with high spin elongated deformed nuclei. The intake of the manna reconnects us with the image of the Adam Kadmon through a resonance operating through hyperdimensional space manifested as paranormal energies. An adjusting of the conventional resonance patterns results in the changing of the molecular structure reconnecting the 12-helix DNA and the full development of the seven chakras. See The Book of Knowledge, The Keys of Enoch by J. J. Hurtak.

 

The regeneration process and acquisition of immortality is philosophically studied in the sacred Martinist teachings, “The object is always the realization of man’s true nature and the acquisition of conscious immortality“. See Superior Deg., Discourse Two.

 

VI. ———

 

To date, we have revised the teachings up to the 11th Degree, and the work continues. The sole aim of this task is to adapt the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Rose-Croix to our times, but in such a way that we maintain all its purity and authenticity.

 

The aim to adapt the teachings to our times is laudable but in the maintaining of all their purity and authenticity there is a fine line … a very subtle line … between preserving the authenticity or falling into dogmatism and fundamentalism. May it not be our case and may we be open to new contributions of members as we have been in the past when our Beloved Order was a sub-rosa movement with no public face, without a so called ‘good’ or official image to keep.

 

VII. ———

 

With respect to your busy life “keeping abreast with correspondence coming from thousands of members, supervising activities of approximately 400 affiliated bodies … “, organizations of new lodges, management, etc., I would comment that how each one manages his or her own life is his or her own business. I only would like to suggest a more delegation of functions so that you may free up time to write more often. The role of Imperator should be heavily focus on Spreading Spiritual Light to members, this is what, at the end, makes the Imperator be remembered and prolong his influence for posterity.

 

VIII. ———

 

On the eve of the 21st century and the third millennium —which incidentally coincides with the entry into the Aquarian Age— the Rosicrucian tradition has a fundamental role to play in the awakening of humanity to authentic spirituality and to make us true agents of universal peace.

 

I think this is true only if we welcome and sponsor other fraternal orders into the Office of the Christ for the Spreading of the Light as a common One Truth for the liberation of mankind from the bondage of fear, sin and ignorance. Let us be of a true open mind to receive the teachings that are still to come to Earth. So mote it be!

 

May the Cosmic bestow upon you good health and wisdom for the Spreading of the Light.

 

In the Bonds of the Order,

Luis Prada, FRC

 

 

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