When we turn to the rose in the heart, we become apprentices of the Rosycross. This means that while we live in this world, we direct ourselves to the light of Gnosis. Through an open life-attitude we receive this light, and at the same time radiate it into the world.
The cross is the symbol of this move-ment: the vertical beam for the in-streaming light, the horizontal for the out-streaming light.
Thus we link our earthly reality with the light of Gnosis and surrender ourselves to its working. In this way, we begin to answer the call of the essential human existence.
Self-Surrender
But this light of Gnosis must find a ground of work within us. It must become embodied in us, and this is a process.
At first, when we feel the touch of the light, we feel a joy and wonder. We recognize that another force is working in us, different from the impulses of ordinary life. But if nothing further follows, daily existence takes over, and the voice of the rose-heart fall silent again.
The ego tends to construct its own image of the path of liberation and then tries to live according to that image.
But answering the call of our true being means surrendering to the archetype of God’s plan, which lies hidden deep within us all.
Self-surrender means allowing the new ensouling to take root in the heart. This quiets the will of the ego and inspires us to clear away everything that blocks the process. It is all the work of the new force, the Christ force, the radiant power of divine love.
J. van Rijckenborgh once wrote:
“Self-surrender is the most difficult thing a natural human being can be asked. It can only begin through an immense love for the liberating life, and through the insight that the key to the new life lies hidden in ourselves.”
When this insight leads to the birth of the new soul in the heart, and when that soul-breath can reach the sanctuary of the head, then Spirit unites with soul. The whole vibration of the personality is changed. The garment of light is transfigured into a Golden Wedding Garment. This is the foundation of a new personality.
Those who go forward in the twofold process of the Gnostic light soon discover a golden radiance in and around their auric field, bringing a breath of new life that streams from the Living Body. The Bible speaks of this as the Golden Wedding Garment as: a living testimony that the forces of the Spirit are entering the whole system of heart, blood, head, and body, renewing it from within.
The School as a Living Power Field
The School of the Golden Rosycross is not simply an outer organization. Its essence is the living power field in which pupils may receive the forces necessary to walk the path of liberation.
It is called a school because it offers stages of development. Orientation, pupilship and initiation unfold as the seeker responds inwardly to the call. Conferences, temple services, and gatherings are not ends in themselves but occasions where the power field of Gnosis becomes accessible.
But what is this school really? It is a place of worship of the Highest Good, which is in its essence also our own deepest essence. It is dedicated to the unnamable divine within. The physical vehicle of the school exists to serve anyone who can hear the call of their innermost being, and to provide opportunities to reconnect with it.
In this way the school functions as a bridge. When we speak in our meetings, then words are more than words, they become formulas of light, designed to bring harmony to the soul so it may remember its source.
In these precious moments, a bridge is lit between this field of time and the realm of eternity. Everyone present is touched by the divine radiation that lives in the power field.
This power field arises when a collective of souls attune themselves together to the source of the All-Good.
Through the harmonizing action of Gnosis, the school itself is always transforming, breaking down what no longer serves, building up what radiates the soul. This happens in the organization, in its pupils, in its members, and in all who listen with an open heart.
When we say “school,” we mean an initiation school, as has existed in all ages. It is not a spiritual escape from life but a help for life, a place where seekers can serve and follow the light, while daily existence continues with its challenges, but also with its new opportunities.
Bread and Wine
The Gnostic path is a path for all who long to discover the deeper meaning of life. It is not a recipe, not a series of steps that can be imposed from outside. It is a living reality that takes hold of our being and expresses itself in every aspect of our daily life, especially in our relationships with one another.
The positive light of the new soul is a force before which the negative, dialectical self must yield. Its radiation is the true bread and wine of life, the nourishment for the birth, growth, and realization of the inner, spiritual human being.
We are called to be co-workers in the great plan of creation. Knowledge of this plan, Gnosis, is not a luxury, nor an exclusivity. It is a necessity for anyone who wishes to live consciously.
For this reason the School speaks clearly, not out of worldly motives but out of love for humanity. A love that flows from the Christ-centered field of Gnosis.
The Rose and the Cross
Let us return to the image of the Rose Cross itself.
A golden cross, reaching upward and outward, radiant with light and peace. At its center, the golden rose, opening in quiet majesty. This is not a cross of suffering but of transformation. It is a paradox of radiant surrender.
The story of Christ can be understood as the example of the perfect human being, not only on a wooden cross long ago, but crucified within every human heart, at the intersection of two worlds: light and darkness, God and man.
At that point of crossing, the rose blooms. And the invitation resounds again: to open our hearts, to clothe ourselves in the Golden Wedding Garment, and to walk in the light of the Rose.
