“The Cosmic is always ready to assist in the manifestation of aspiration and desires which contribute to humanity’s happiness, for happiness when it is based on a virtuous life, serves as a pillar for the evolution of the soul personality. When we visualize the fulfillment of a desire which is in complete harmony with the overall good, it automatically receives the Cosmic’s approval and becomes a thought form.”

This idea of obsessive positive thinking manifesting into reality has been around for centuries. From Napoleon Hill’s 1936 self-help tome Think and Grow Rich to the work of modern day gurus like Tim Robbins and perhaps most famously in Rhonda Byrne’s now notorious book The Secret. The jist of all of these philosophies is basically the same as the one detailed here, which is essentially that if an individual continues to visualize positive outcomes for themselves then these thoughts will attract similar thoughts from the Universe (like attracts like). Eventually, this will lead to your dreams manifesting into reality. By contrast, if an individual continues to focus on negative things, then the same process will be play out in reverse and they will never be able to realize any of their ambitions.

If you follow AMORC’s line of reasoning, then you must assume that any good outcomes are a result of positive visualization and that only those with good intentions, pure hearts and a fervent faith in the power of the Cosmic are provided with their just rewards.

This is an extremely dangerous way to view the world. Consider the amount of suffering in the world; would you blame an orphaned refugee’s predicament on a simple failure to envisage better outcomes for themselves? Do you really believe that those in dire situations do not wish to escape? What ill-intentions does a child have that their prayers could be neglected in this way? 

If this seems too extreme, then let’s consider a more personal example. Say, you follow these precepts of constant positive thinking and you find yourself in an unexpected accident due to which you’re forced to incur several unforeseen medical bills while missing a substantial amount of work. Are we to believe that this unfortunate incident was wholly due to a lack of positive thinking? If so, the natural remedy would be to ferociously police your thoughts and drive out any potential sources of negativity. Because if you have this level of control over your destiny, then everything bad that happens to you is a personal failing.

“From this standpoint, any positive thought form, whether individual or collective, eventually manifests on the earthly plane. If we sometimes have the opposite impression, it is only because we reason as humans and lack patience.”

Now, while the average person is unlikely to take this type of thinking to that sort of extreme. An already indoctrinated recruit who has been promised limitless power may well see it as a necessary step to their spiritual and emotional evolution. With the adoption of this philosophy comes shame, guilt, and a perpetual sense of failure, which again, must be buried deep inside because these emotions are a sign of impatience and hopelessly human reasoning.

One wonders how AMORC wants us to think if not with reason and logic. For the only alternative would be to think illogically and irrationally.