Embedded Files
Autumn 2018
Autumn 2018
Rocky Mountain Atelier (RMA) Newsletter
Rocky Mountain Atelier (RMA) Newsletter
(scroll to bottom of page for event schedule)
Autumn 2018
Atelier Master’s Message
Atelier Master’s Message
Greetings, fellow Martinists!
“Take back my will, O Source of all, take back my will; for if I can suspend it one instant before You, the torrents of Your life and light, having nothing to resist them, shall pour impetuously within me. Help me to break down the woeful barriers that divide me from you; arm me against myself;”
—The Unknown Philosopher, Louis-Claude de St. Martin, from his Prayers
“God helps those who help themselves.”
—Algernon Sidney, Discourses Concerning Government
The two leading quotes seem in opposition. Shall we surrender to the Divine or must we be Divinity’s baton wielder? Well, we’re all about bustin’ them dualities. (Third point of the triangle, anyone?)
This started with a message I received from the director of a meditation program that I have done. She asked what one thing I wished mediation could do for me. I let that message stew in my inbox for a while expecting to dash something off in one of my bouts of inbox sanitation. When I did work my way down the list to it, I found I was stumped. What -did- I want meditation to do for me? I could come up with a long list of benefits already received, but what could I ask of meditation?
It occurred to me that I might be able to use some "cushion time" to work on one problem in particular: self-doubt. I mean a very particular kind of self-doubt, the kind that holds you back and keeps you from starting something new. It’s a whiny irritating voice that tells you a thing will be too painful, too embarrassing, too hard or just too -not-you-.
You see, one of the things that got me over that sort of hump with joining the Martinists was a comment I read about its Way of the Heart. It said that we come to many decision points where we struggle to know which way to go, but the quiet voice inside, if we listen to it, always has the answer. We can drown it out with our own chatter, but we know it’s there.
So, seek the quiet place to find what you need to do, then get out and do it. We have to both -be- the baton -and- wield the baton. I sent my answer to the meditation instruction with my thanks for letting me think about this question.
My thanks also to our new TMO sisters and brothers for allowing me the honor of initiating you into Martinism. Welcome, again.
May You Ever Dwell in the Eternal Light of Divine Wisdom
William Fickas, S.I.
Master, Rocky Mountain Atelier
Traditional Martinist Order
TMO Schedule – Spring 2018
TMO Schedule – Spring 2018
Spring 2018
Provincial Master’s Message
Provincial Master’s Message
My Brothers and Sisters, Fraters and Sorores,
For those of you who are old enough to remember the movie “Alfie”, the old 1966 version, you will remember the line, and the theme song, “What’s it all about, Alfie?” At some point in each of our lives, after undergoing painful events and seemingly meaningless tribulations, we ask this same question. It all boils down to “What is the meaning of life?” We will all have different explanations and philosophies answering this question after some time of being a mystic. Let me share some of my observations and insights regarding this fundamental question.
To me, the universe was created with love and this spirit of love continues to permeate every aspect of it. If you close your eyes and extend your aura to everything surrounding you, you can feel that essence of love and caring and mothering energy all around you. The universe cares about each and every one of us and provides us with everything we need to “come home” to our Divine Father/Mother.
Now, “everything we need” includes lessons on how to properly function as a conscious being. This is provided through what we have been taught to call Karma. There are many levels of Karma, although it must really be a continuous spectrum of effectivity. In the beginning we learn the correct actions that will keep us from feeling physical pain, like learning not to put one’s finger into a flame. Gradually we start to learn what will bring us pleasure, like the taste of ice cream. Soon the sensual lessons give way to social ones where we learn that in order to “fit in”, or be acceptable to the people with which we associate, we must conduct ourselves within certain guidelines. We learn social graces and tact. Eventually, we graduate to the lessons that have to do with satisfying our conscience and Divine urgings. We take on the lessons to be in concert with the highest good of all creation.
Even though we graduate through these levels of Karma, we continue to learn at all levels up to and including our current level of learning. So we will still experience pain, physical and emotional, as we continue to learn our lessons. Life can be painful and have suffering as we continue to exist in this wonderful, caring, and loving universe. We experience only what we need to cause us to improve ourselves and become the Divine being we were intended to be. All these experiences are gifts provided by the loving universe.
And then what? When do we “graduate”? We all know of the concept that “we all are one.” There is only one big Soul and we are all connected to this single Soul. What makes us unique is that we operate not from this big Soul, but from a less perfect self, a self that has had particular life experiences (perhaps over many lifetimes) and has formed a unique personality that we use to interpret the world and to find our way in it. The Rosicrucians call this the soul personality. Now, it is this soul personality that we work to perfect and to get to the point of “graduation.” The implication of “we are all one” and “we have a soul personality” is that as each one of us perfects our soul personality through the gift of Karma, that is, modifies our approach to life and begins living in harmony with the Divine, then we are only perfecting part of the whole. Even if we individually reach the pinnacle of spiritual perfection, the rest of humanity may be at a lower state and the collective soul personality is still imperfect. This means that to “graduate”, all humanity must have reached the state of spiritual perfection.
What a bummer! You mean I can’t just work on myself, but I must also try to guide others to this state of spiritual perfection too! Yes, Alfie. Whatever our state of spiritual evolution, we must try to impart any lessons we have learned to help those not quite so far along on their path. And we do this not because we are striving to “graduate”, but because we, too, operate out of the universal essence of Love.
So there you have it, Brothers and Sisters; my concept of what it is all about. Your concept may be different and I cannot refute any other interpretation of life. After all, in this loving universe, there is infinite room for diverse ideas.
May you ever dwell in the Eternal Light of Divine Wisdom!
David Schloegel, F.R.C.
Provincial Master
Traditional Martinist Order
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