EQUINOX MESSAGE September 2019
Builders of the Adytum
Equinox Message
OUR PRICELESS TREASURE
September 2019
When we first become members of the Builders of the Adytum, few of us have a clear concept of the priceless treasure we have been given. In his book, The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order, Paul Case describes in considerable detail the Rosicrucian Graded system of Initiation and the meaning and significance of the various Grades and Paths represented on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. In this book and later in our lessons, we learn that the 10 Sephiroth on the Tree of Life are grouped by Grades into three “Orders.” The First or lowest Order is comprised of the four Sephiroth of the Kingdom, Foundation, Splendor, and Victory. The Second Order includes the spheres of Beauty, Severity, and Mercy; and those who have advanced to these Grades are designated as “Adepts.” It is indicated throughout the history and materials of B.O.T.A. that both Paul Foster Case and Ann Davies were Adepts who had advanced to these Second Order Grades. The Third Order is comprised of the three highest Sephiroth on the Tree: Understanding, Wisdom, and the Crown. Those individuals who have attained these Grades are referred to as “Masters.”
Our beloved Ann Davies tells us in her “Profile on Dr. Paul Foster Case, Founder of Builders of the Adytum” (1963 Adytum News Notes) that Paul Case received direct personal instruction from the Master R for the purpose of forming the Builders of the Adytum. Ann Davies often related that she continued to receive direct guidance and instruction from the Master R, even after Paul Case passed.
So, what does this mean for us? It means that the B.O.T.A. lesson curriculum, prepared by our beloved Paul Case and Ann Davies, was under the guidance and direction of one who has attained to those levels of human development or consciousness indicated by the Highest Grades on the Tree of Life.
Unfortunately, there are immature souls who have not attained this high level of development, in whom the drive for power and influence over others is the primary motivation, and who mistakenly believe that anyone can copy or duplicate the written lessons of our curriculum and revise or “re-package” them to suit their own misguided intentions, then re-introduce them as their own version of the Sacred Wisdom Teachings.
The “Treasure beyond price” cannot be extracted by using mere words and ceremonies without the “Key,” which is the only way into the “Vault” wherein the treasure is kept. This Key is a moral and ethical preparation that cannot be feigned.
From the final chapter in The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order, referring to its members, we read:
“Anyone can look for entrance, and any man who is within can teach another to seek for it; but only he who is ripe can arrive inside. Unprepared men occasion disorder in a community and disorder is not compatible with the Sanctuary. This thrusts out all who are not homogeneous. Worldly intelligence seeks this Sanctuary in vain; in vain also do the efforts of malice strive to penetrate these great mysteries; all is undecipherable to him who is not prepared; he can see nothing, read nothing in the interior.
He who is ripe is joined to the chain, perhaps often where he thought least likely, and at a point of which he knew nothing himself. Seeking to become ripe should be the effort of him who loves Wisdom.”
What does our Order offer that imposters do not? Linkage, connection, a true relationship with the Inner School or Third Order. It is not the words on the page, the rituals we read and perform, but the connection made through their instrumentality that gives life to the Work of B.O.T.A. As long as we hold to the ethical, moral, and spiritual principles of our founders, we can maintain the outer order of B.O.T.A. as a viable vehicle of the Inner School. Through this linkage we come together as a Body of Light, no matter how loosely connected we are on the outer plane. Whether we live, study, and practice in isolation, or we are able to participate in outer-plane group work, the connection to the greater Body of Light is real and supportive as long as we remain true Builders.
Fraternally in L.V.X.,
The Board of Stewards
Note: The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order, by Paul Foster Case, is available in English and German at the B.O.T.A. website www.bota.org at the Online Store. http://store.bota.org/1002.html