Love and Desire: From The Sanctuary of Self - Rosicrucian Order Library, Part 1 of 2

The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, also known as the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, is a worldwide cultural, educational, and philosophical organization that is perpetuating the profound and practical teachings of the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian library is a source of spiritual wisdom and insight that includes the important writings by the respected imperators of the Order such as Dr. Harvey Spencer Lewis, Ralph M. Lewis, and Christian Bernard. Now, we will read from chapter IV, “Love and Desire,” from Part One - “The Mysteries,” in Frater Ralph M. Lewis’s book, “The Sanctuary of Self.” “Love is perhaps the most perplexing to mankind of all his inner experiences, and yet it is one had by every individual to some extent. Love is not a product of the It, is not an intellectual achievement, but an emotional, psychic one had by the self. Because it is such, love has been idealized by the poets and bards to such an extent that most persons believe that it is something to be left to a chance experience, or to be mysteriously attained without formula or method.” “The physical nature of man is one aspect of his generally accepted triune being. There are factors which are essential to it, such as food, drink, shelter, and sleep. When there is a deficiency of them, there is unbalance. The plenitude or fullness of man’s physical nature is its normal state. This normalcy is accompanied by the sensation of gratification, a kind of pleasure which we know as happiness. When there is a deficiency, a lack of that upon which man’s physical being depends, we become conscious of an irritability or of a disharmony. This disharmony engenders desire.” “Each of our objective or receptor senses has an ideal or a quality which is sought after.” “Each sense has a corresponding quality or beauty which is desired. Anything which will bring pleasure or gratification to a sense is by another name beautiful to it.” “Desire, then, is the urge to find the beautiful or its equivalent. It is the seeking out of that thing or condition which will satisfy that nature which the desire serves.” “Man must realize, however, that the end of life is not merely the satisfaction of the physical desires. To pursue these physical loves alone leaves unsatisfied the desires of the other natures. It keeps man continually in distress.”