Experiment No. 51 – Purification of the Earth

The stated goal of this experiment is enabling the student to help purify the Earth’s aura from millennia of negative energies contributed by ignorant and unevolved individuals amongst us. Through the regular application of these purification techniques, the Earth should be cleansed of these contaminations and realigned towards the regeneration of human civilization. According to the monograph, once this occurs we will become one with the Cosmic Consciousness again.

To practice the purification rituals, students must follow these steps:

1. Sit in a relaxed meditative position.
2. Close your eyes. Inhale and exhale with a few deep breaths.
3. Chant the Celestial Sanctum invocation
4. Imagine yourself ascending away from your current position. Away from your city, your country and finally the Earth.
5. Move away from the Earth in this vision, until the planet becomes a distant blue speck.
6. Look out instead to space, and you should find a location which corresponds to the Celestial Sanctum (the monograph gives no direction as to what this place looks like)
7. Locate the flow of vibrational energy emitted from this sanctum, and focus your efforts on directing this flow back to the Earth.
8. Once a connection is established, the flow should become visualized as an aura of bright light surrounding the Earth. This represents the regeneration of the Earth’s aura.
9. Once completed, stop your vision and place yourself in a state of receptiveness to any divine communications which may follow.
10. Return to yourself, by reversing your path from the Celestial Sanctum.

Theories on Cosmic Consciousness

Panpsychism is an ancient Greek concept which states that consciousness (in some cases defined as the soul) is an essential aspect of all things, including plants, animals and rocks. While these non-human objects may contain a less sophisticated version of consciousness it exists nevertheless. These ideas really came into their own during the Italian renaissance when Cardano, Spinzoza and Patrizi (who coined the term panpsychism) built upon the Hellenistic concepts.

According to Cardano, each individual consciousness existed within a larger overarching hierarchy which came together to form a larger whole, or One. This concept of cosmic unity is espoused by AMORC itself.

“Instead we will learn to respect all life and to consider animals as “lesser beings” evolving increasingly toward a state of Cosmic Consciousness.”

Later on more scientifically inspired 18^th and 19^th century philosophers like Julien La Mettrie and Denis Diderot stripped the idea of its supernatural origins. They argued that the fundamental aspect was not a soul but a mind-like expression which could be seen in all living matter, and expressed as sensitivity towards both enjoyment and pain.  In 1919 Schopenhauer argued that, just as humans have an internal will but are in physical terms no more than a material object thus all material objects must contain a similar internal will.

In recent years, these ideas have once again taken shape in certain field of science. In describing the fundamental aspects which comprise the universe, physicists attempt to explain the natural attributes of the atoms at its very base. They talk about the mass, spin and charge of electrons when exposed to outside forces like gravity and electromagnetic energy but they don’t describe how an electron behaves when it is free of these influences. In fact, modern mathematics can only define these atoms in relation to their circumstances. Thus, where the intrinsic behaviors of particles are concerned, there is once again room for consciousness.

Criticisms

There are four criticisms which could be levied at these ideas of panpsyschism.

1. While it’s reasonable to assume that all humans possess consciousness the only consciousness we can indisputably prove is our own. So then how can we extrapolate our limited evidence even further and apply to everything from trees to minerals?
2. Human consciousness is generally attributed to the area of the brain known as the Neocortex, this is the last portion of the human brain to have evolved, our neocortex is also significantly larger than almost any other species (except dolphins). Thus, while consciousness may not be limited to humans the essential building blocks are certainly not present in all things.
3. Most evolutionary theorists argue that language is an essential part of consciousness, as it helps human beings understand their identity in a wider context. Most other material objects possess no discernable form of communication.
4. If any collection of thoughts and processes can yield consciousness, then surely the search for artificial intelligence wouldn’t be as difficult? Connected networks like the Internet, and even home computers should be able to express their consciousness quite easily. Yet this ability eludes them.