The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, or Christian Occult Science

REGARDING THE DEDICATION.

From the beginning of November 1907 to the end of March 1908, the writer devoted his time to investigating the teachings of Dr. Steiner, who was absent from Berlin nearly all that time. In the last of about six personal interviews with Dr. Steiner, the writer mentioned that he had commenced a book along occult original: "occult lines"; referring to hidden or esoteric spiritual knowledge lines; a compendium of the teachings of the East and West.

Dr. Steiner then urged that if any of the teachings promulgated by him were used, he ought to be mentioned as the authority and source of information. Consequently, the writer agreed to dedicate the work to Dr. Steiner.

During January, February, and March 1908, the Elder Brother—whom the writer now knows and reveres as Teacher—came at times, clothed in his vital body In Rosicrucian terminology, the "vital body" or etheric body is the first invisible vehicle of the human spirit. and enlightened the writer on various points. In April and May, after unwittingly passing a test, the writer was invited to journey to the estate on which the Temple of the Rosy Cross is located.

There he met the Elder Brother in his dense body original: "dense body"; the physical, material body.; there he was given the far-reaching, synthetic philosophy embodied in the present work—which, in the opinion of many long-term students in England, on the Continent, and in America, embodies everything that has been taught publicly or esoterically original: "esoterically"; intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with specialized knowledge. in the past, besides much more that has never before been printed.

Therefore, the unfinished manuscript for the book mentioned to Dr. Steiner was destroyed. However, as the later and more complete teaching given by the Elder Brother corroborated the teachings of Dr. Steiner along main lines, it was thought better to dedicate the book to Dr. Steiner than to seem like a plagiarist. Of that there would have been small danger, however, for the plagiarist invariably gives less than the authority from whom he steals; it will be found that in any case where previous works are compared with the present one, this book will in all cases provide more information.

The dedication has therefore been a mistake; it has led many people who merely glanced at the book to infer that it embodies the teachings of Dr. Steiner and that he is responsible for the statements made herein. Such an inference is obviously unfair to Dr. Steiner, and a careful reading of pages 8 and 9 will show that it was never intended to convey such an idea. The writer does not see how to convey the true idea in a dedicatory sentence, and has therefore decided to withdraw the dedication, with an apology to Dr. Steiner for any annoyance he may be caused by the hasty conclusions concerning his responsibility for the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.