There can be no denial in this respect,in the simple reading of the gospels as they have been transmitted to us. We cannot accept these precepts when they are allied with later doctrines or dogmas and, contrary to all good sense, reject or interpret them because they appear to contradict these same doctrines or dogmas. The gospels form a whole in which each word has a value which is impossible to challenge without changing the teachings entirely. It is now universally recognized that Jesus was an Essene, and thus a member of a secret society, and it is necessary to be grateful to the scholars who, after the recent discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, had the good sense to resist much intrigue and pressure in order to reveal to the world this important fact, which assuredly disturbed religious dogmas which were too rigid and declared infallible, and threatened the foundations of the whole system established by man but alleged divine. It is true that the time for this has come with the new age, and that the truth should have come out in any case, as it will come out in other areas, despite everything; the long period of 'the mysteries' (or whatever they were called in order to conceal true wisdom) being already completed. The frequent reading of such works as The Mystical Life of Jesus and The Secret Doctrines of Jesus by our great channel Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, is more than ever recommended to each disciple on the Path. These works are not dogmatic. Even a Rosicrucian may refuse to believe them without incurring the least reproach and without his standing or his progress in the A.M.O.R.C. being in the least affected. However, one or two decades will not pass without some new discoveries bringing to these works the weight of indisputable proof, as has been the case recently for some of the statements contained in these books, previously judged fantasies by ignorant fanatics.
But that is not the question. What is important to recall is that the order to heal was given originally to a select group of duly prepared disciples, and, consequently, to those who would receive a similar inner molding, and who would have attained the same degree of evolution, the same state as they had.
I must make myself well understood here. I do not wish to imply in any way that only those who might have been molded and prepared by the close disciples of Jesus were concerned with the injunction to heal given by the Master, but I wish to emphasize unequivocally that no one can pretend to heal by the application of spiritual and mystical principles without first having attained, through special discipline or training (and that of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, is one of these) the degree or inner state which the close disciples of Jesus had reached. I shall add that this degree or inner state is acquired more rapidly and more effectively if there has been serious and persevering work within a traditional authentic organization. I have cited the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, as a prime example, but one may also acquire it (more rarely, it is true) outside of any organization, by solitary (even unconscious) observation of the great principles, chief of which is love of one's neighbor, and we will come back to this later. Healing is undeniably one of the mystical powers in which a harmonious unfoldment develops in the sincere disciple, this statement being made in the exact spirit of the chapter dedicated, in this book, to the examination of this particular subject. But it would be useful to insist on the fact that the degree (or the inner state) necessary for practicing the art of healing with absolute success could be attained not only by a way essentially Christian and by a guided preparation, but also by any way, whatever its name, religious, philosophical, or otherwise, and by a personal and lonely path, long and hazardous as it may be in comparison with a proven technique undertaken within a specific framework or environment.
These few reflections therefore reduce very noticeably the number of those who can pretend to practice spiritual healing. This number will be further reduced in proportion to our analysis, but at the desired moment the Cathedral of the Soul will deliver its message on this subject, and perhaps mention will be made of the miracle of good will and of a Light (the only Light) of Love, even in the least prepared. We shall soon see. While waiting, let us note that the definitions given up to now lead to the clear conclusion that there are true and false healers, the first being rare, extremely rare, compared to the second, who are found in profusion, and whose practices, sometimes scandalous and always calculating, would merit for their proponents a still stronger qualification, if that were possible, than that of charlatans of evil. I shall take a simple example: a 'healer', whose name I shall conceal, asked some years ago a 'fee' of 50 French francs and a photograph of those who, by chance, consulted him. In this way, every day he received at least a dozen photographs. Now, his method, his unique work, consisted of holding in his folded hands each day for some minutes, the photographs which had been sent to him. Doubtless he obtained occasional results, but these were not attributable to him. The sick people themselves, who had an unreserved trust, had created an effective visualization, causing the return to inner harmony which their body had needed to permit nature (that is, the Cosmic flow) to accomplish its work of regeneration. Of course, the majority did not declare themselves satisfied with the 'services' of this healer. He has since disappeared into the anonymity of the crowd, with, according to popular opinion, his 'ill-gotten goods*. There are innumerable examples of this kind!
In Switzerland there is a district where healers are free to work as they please. They are located side by side, and they work in frantic competition. Their earnings from this work are, for the most part, modest, and consequently a great many of these healers give up their practices. Would they do that if their power was real, if their purpose was unselfish? Each can answer this question for himself.
I have mentioned previously that some patients of a certain healer had, without knowing it, healed themselves, and one could state, rightly, that an invalid always heals himself, no matter whom he calls on - healer or doctor - and whatever may be the medicine which he eventually takes. I shall speak a little later about official medicine, but everyone will have already deduced from the foregoing that the fundamental element in healing (spiritual or any other) is the confidence of the invalid and his mental state. Before all healing, Jesus asked 'Believest thou in me?' and he would only work then, because he knew that, without the bond established by confidence between himself and the sick person, no result could be obtained. The relative and temporary success of certain unprepared healers is explained, partly, by the confidence which they have had in themselves for a long time, more or less, and partly by the trust which their patients have in them. If this confidence ceases on the one hand or on the other, it is a definite setback. Now such a situation is not found in that which concerns the true healer, he who fulfills the required condition of degree or inner state on which I have based the needed explanations. The sole act of appealing to him constitutes the necessary proof of confidence; and the true healer possesses an unshakeable confidence in himself because it is inherent in his state. He alone has the power to perform healing, if healing is possible.
What one calls sickness is a breakdown of equilibrium in the transmission of Cosmic energy in the particular vehicle which is the human body. Thus, following repeated errors, a more or less important organ is no longer able to fulfill its function correctly. Like a defective element in the motor of an automobile, the deficiency of the organ will produce 'misfiring' which will be felt in the entire physical vehicle, or even, in a more serious case, will lead to a complete breakdown if there is no quick intervention. Naturally, in the physical body (and science has just recognized this) the fundamental centre is located in the head at the level of the brain, the heart apparently being second to that.
Two things follow: the first is that thought is the master of the body, and we understand why healing requires confidence, which is a powerful form of positive thought. The second is that an increase of the power of Cosmic energy in the body, stimulated by the true healer, may 'release' the deficient organ and reestablish harmony in the circuit. It is even possible, in extreme cases, to create a form of 'substitution', the circuit following a different course, so that equilibrium may be restored without the assistance of the imperfect organ until it may be restored by the full complement of Cosmic energy and by the positive mental state of the patient.
Painting by Astrella
