The Divine Law

Perhaps no other phrase is used as much in the books of the Fraternitas Ros Crucis as the
Divine Law.

There is nothing particularly mysterious about the Divine Law. It is simply the Universal
Operating Law of Creation. It is a Law of Universal Balance, a Law of Equal Exchange. Each
great spiritual teacher of humanity has taught its basic principles and adapted them to the
people of the time. While each of these interpretations may seem to vary since they were
conceived for a specific time and group of people, the underlying Law does not, and cannot,
change. Divine Law is unchangeable because it is the only Law that allows the present state of
Creation to exist. There is nothing arbitrary about the Divine Law, since all existence is
completely dependent upon its absolute perfection of operation.

There is order in all creation. For such order to exist, there must be a balancing Law of exact
debits and credits in all facets of our Universe. We are all reimbursed, be it good or not so
good, for every thought, desire and deed. This reimbursement will usually be in kind, although
not necessarily so.

This Law is simple, but infinitely complex in its execution. It leaves nothing to chance. If we all
understood and accepted the fact that we are all under the Law of Equal Compensation, a man
or woman would have to be insane to do ill to themselves or others.

This Law is found in business and science. In accounting we have the balance of debits and
credits; we also have the expected compensation for every honest task performed. In science, we
find even more exemplification of the Law of Equal Exchange. For every action there is an equal
but opposite reaction. Matter cannot be destroyed or created (except by a nuclear reaction), only
transformed. Each side of every chemical or mathematical equation must be equal.

The Divine Law is not an arbitrary Law. It is not just God's idea of how a Creation should be run.
Rather, it was the only Law and set of rules and regulations that could create a Universe out of
undefined matter. Take away the Divine Law, and you immediately return Creation to Chaos
and consideration of humanity to only a vague memory.

This set of principles that God found to be essential to establish the Universe and to prevent it
from immediately returning to Chaos is what we now call the Divine Law.

This Law is not arbitrary. It is simply the only functioning mechanism that is sufficiently
balanced and powerful to sustain matter in its various organized forms to produce the Universe
we now know and love. As such, it should be obvious that the Divine Law can show no partiality.
It is, and must remain, completely neutral. It is for this reason that the Bible informs us:
God (insert Divine Law) is no respecter of persons.
(Acts 10:34)

God does not punish! No, like the Nazarene and other Master Teachers before him, God weeps
to see the suffering of those who, out of ignorance or desire, attempt to defy the Divine Law and
thereby bring upon themselves the reaction of this exact Law.

The Divine Law is not a capricious edict of the Creator. It is simply the only functioning
mechanism under which our Universe can exist. When the various spiritual texts of each
authentic religion admonished humanity to "obey" the will of God, they used language they felt
the common people could understand and apply, but which, in fact, is not the full explanation.
What they would have said if the people had ears to hear was:
Learn to understand the Divine Law, and live in harmony with it. Since this is the basic
Law of your existence, any attempt to defy Gods Law will always create an undesirable
reaction for you.

How the Divine Law Impacts Each Life
The Divine Law is nothing more or less than the functioning mechanism of our existence. It
manifests in every conceivable manner, since there is nothing in all of life, human and
otherwise, that can function in any way without interfacing with this Law. If our actions are in
harmony with its principles, we prosper and gain all that is good and useful in life- both
spiritually and worldly. If, on the other hand, we attempt to work counter to the principles of
this functioning mechanism, we will suffer the consequences of our ignorance or defiance.
Neither people nor God can set aside the reaction of this mechanism.

There is one thing that distinguishes humans from all other creatures that function under the
Divine Law. We have a reasoning mind that allows us to decide, first, what is the Law and,
second, whether we choose to follow the Divine Laws governing our existence. Unlike animals,
we are not required by instinct or by external forces (like the stars and planets) to follow the
Divine Law. We have been given a choice, and this Divine gift of free will introduces into
Creation the factor of drama. Will we or will we not follow the Divine Law? Once we learn to do
so, we will, as promised, become like the gods, knowing good and evil?

This is the great secret of all action and reaction in our world. No one sits in judgment on our
actions; no one punishes us because we break some arbitrary rules set up by a jealous and
vengeful God long ago. We create reactions only from the actions we perform of our own free
will. If these actions are in harmony with the functioning mechanism of our existence (the
Divine Law), the resulting reactions will be what we generally call good. If our actions are not
in harmony with this functioning mechanism, they will be what we call bad or unpleasant.

Regardless of what others do, you can live in harmony with the Divine Law and reap the
beneficial reaction of the good thoughts, desires and actions that you alone have created. The
Nazarene stated this teaching point as,
what difference does that make to you? You follow me.
John 21:22
Follow me means follow the Divine Law no matter what others do. What matters most is that
your good thoughts and actions return to you with more good. This is one of the most reassuring
facets of the Divine Law.

The Law of Exchange: The Golden Rule
One of the most important principles of the Divine Law is its absolute reliance on balance and
equal exchange. It is this principle that allowed the Creator to make Order out of Chaos. For this
reason we have the assurance that Order is Heaven's first Law, and such order can only be
obtained, and equally importantly, maintained by the reliance on balance and equal exchange.

We find that the Mystery Schools and Master Teachers throughout the ages, including the
Master from Galilee, taught the Law of balance and compensation in different words, so that the
Law would be adapted to those to whom they spoke. However, in all instances the message was
the same:
There is an exact balance to the Divine Law. You will be treated by the Law in exact
proportion to the way you treat the Law and thereby others. Whatever actions you take
will create an equal reaction that will, in time, return to you with interest, be that good or
ill.

It is just for this reason that the Golden Rule exists as one of the main tenets of the worlds
oldest religions:
Christian:
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the
Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Luke 6:31

Judaism:
What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is
commentary. Talmud, Shaddab 3id

Islam:
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for
himself. Sunnah

Confucianism:
Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment
against you, either in the family or in the state. Analects 12:2

Buddhism:
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. Unana-Varga 5,1

Hinduism:
This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto
you. Mahabharata 5,1517

Taoism:
Regard your neighbors gain as your gain, and your neighbors loss as your own loss.
Tai Shang Kan Yin Pien

Zoroastrianism:
That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good
for itself. Dadisten-I-dinik,94,5

Egyptian:
He sought for others the good he desired for himself. Let him pass on.

The Divine Law is not only the Law of balance and equal compensation; it is also the Law of
power. It is the Law of all positive and negative energy. It is the Law of Yin and Yang; male and
female; day and night; Summer and Winter; growth and death and, then, rebirth once again. It
is the Law of motion and action, for motion is life and there can be no life without motion and
there can be no motion without such opposites.

Cause, Effect and Consequences
God does not, and would not, attempt to circumvent the Divine Law. The rest of Nature (animal,
vegetable and mineral) cannot circumvent the Divine Law. Only humans, possessing both a
mind and free will, have the ability to attempt to circumvent the Divine Law. The Bible describes
the attempt to defy Divine Law as sin and the resultant consequence as punishment.

At the beginning of Creation God set the Divine Law into motion as the only possible way of
maintaining order in the Universe. God well knew that not even God could alter this Law once it
was set into motion without destroying the entire Creation. This Law, this Divine Law, is self-
perpetuating and self-maintaining. It does not, cannot, show favorites; to do so would be to
destroy the balance of the Law and this, as discussed, would instantly destroy the Law itself and
with it all of God's Creation.

We do not find the scientific nature of this cause and effect reaction of Divine Law explained in
Scripture because the people were not yet that far advanced. However, it is easily explained
today. Under the Divine Law all must remain in balance, or the entire system will return to
Chaos; there is no middle ground. To maintain this essential exact order, the Divine Law must
be self-maintaining. That is, the action of the Law must be such that any movement in one
direction must at the same time be compensated by a reactive motion in the opposite direction.

Thus evil, sin, wrongdoing, misfortune, catastrophe, call it what you will, is the result of our
attempted defiance of the Divine Law. God will not (and the rest of existence cannot) attempt to
defy Gods own Divine Law. We, not God, not other individuals, and not fate are responsible for
the good and adverse reactions that come to us. We have been the creators of all the good and
bad reactions we find in our world. Furthermore, if the bad is to be corrected and changed, it is
we and we alone who must do the correcting and changing, because the balanced reactive nature
of the Divine Law will allow for no other corrective measures.

Equal exchange has to be one of the obvious principles of a just and orderly Law. The Divine
Law is just that. For whatever we receive in this life we must be willing, even eager, to make full
and just compensation. This is essential to maintain the necessary balance required by the
Divine Law. As we become more and more acquainted with the Divine Law, we come to
understand that all so called sin is nothing more or less than an attempt to take that which we
do not deserve, because under the Divine Law we have not yet paid the price. That is, we were
not willing to make the proper compensation to the Divine Law so as to allow it to preserve its
required balance. Since the Divine Law cannot become unbalanced, whenever we attempt to
take that which we have not earned, the Law must take from us that which we have earned
previously to compensate it for the loss. This is a hard concept to accept at first, but it is the only
way the Divine Law can maintain the required Universal Order.

Since there is always a certain amount of interest to be extracted by the Divine Law so that its
books are balanced in regard to the time interval between the attempted stealing and the
payback, there is always a steady loss to all those who insist on stealing from the Law. Some
may take exception to the word stealing and yet there is none better, for that is exactly what
transpires. When you attempt to take that which you have not yet earned, you must, under the
reaction of the Law, attempt to take from someone who has earned it. All that exists belongs to
someone or something, and you cannot legitimately attempt to take it unless you give just
compensation in return. To do otherwise is to set into motion an adverse reaction of the Divine
Law to the perpetrator.

Perhaps the best example of this principle of cause and effect of Divine Law is the exercise of the
sexual nature of men and women. Gods Divine Law arranged the sexual nature of men and
women to provide all good things for them and the world we know as Earth. God carefully
designed things so that this sexual function, like everything else in life, provided both privileges
and responsibilities. The privileges are the undeniable pleasures of the sexual embrace. The
responsibilities, on the part of the husband is the care and protection of his wife and family, and
on the part of the wife is the trials and dangers of bearing children as well as the required
dedication to raising them. Under these circumstances, we should not be surprised to discover
that one of man's and womans first efforts to circumvent the Divine Law was an attempt to
enjoy the pleasures of sexual congress without accepting the natural consequences of such acts.

Moses details this original sin, our first attempt to circumvent the Divine Law, in his story of
Adam, Eve and the serpent. This initial act of humans trying to defy Divine Law is expressed as
Adam and Eve experiencing their new sense of nakedness (Genesis 3:7). Moses used the story
of Adam and Eve to explain the consequences of our actions under Divine Law.

Adam and Eve symbolize the beginning of human desire to transgress the Divine Law by
attempting to steal sexual pleasure while refusing to accept the responsibilities for their
actions. In fact, such desires and resultant actions are the root of nearly all the sin, disease and
suffering in the world today. It does seem that many continue to follow in the footsteps of Adam
and Eve. Such actions create the same debt that forced Adam and Eve out of the Garden of
Eden, the same debt that brought about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the same debt
that produced the downfall of Greece and Rome. It was, and is, our greatest obstacle to finding
true health and happiness on this planet.

Our Creator set into motion a great law to give all of us humans the best of everything. This
Divine Law assures us that if we are willing to do our part we can always count on it to do its
part. It shows no favorites, it is no respecter of persons; it treats rich and poor alike. It has
neither creed, nor color, nor gender bias. Its basic principle is simple:
Whatever you give to me, I will give back to you in kind. If you bring me love, I will
return to you love in abundance. If you bring me hate, it is hate that you shall receive
until it is overflowing. You make the choice. I only reflect your choice-with interest.

Biblical Teachings Concerning The Divine Law
There is nothing arbitrary about the Divine Law, since all existence is completely dependent
upon its absolute perfection of operation. The Nazarene intimated the degree of this perfection
when he stated,
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall on the ground
without your Fathers will. But so far as you are concerned, even the hairs of your head
are all numbered.
(Matthew 10:29-30)

If we substitute the Divine Law for your Fathers will this statement is in full harmony with
all that has been taught in the Mysteries. The Nazarene did not mean that God went around
counting hairs of peoples heads. The Nazarene is teaching us that the Divine Law of God is
omnipresence and omnipotence. The Divine Law is so inclusive in its monitoring of Creation
that no detail, no matter how minuscule, could be overlooked by it in its efforts to maintain
order and prevent a return to Chaos.

This same inference (that of the Father being a synonym for the Divine Law) is given in the
statement,
Therefore, you become perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48)

What the Nazarene is telling his listeners is, Learn to function in harmony with the Divine Law
which, by its very nature, must be perfect or the world as you know it would immediately return
to Chaos.

Moses taught this Divine Law as,
Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for
burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
(Exodus 21:23-25)

While most think of these verses only as the command for punishment, it is actually a statement
of the Law of Equal Exchange. Moses meant his people to understand that not only were they to
extract such punishment, but that under the Law of Exchange, such punishment would be
visited on them if they broke the Law.

In the Gospel of St. Matthew we find the same Law but in different words from the mouth of the
Teacher from Galilee,
For with the same judgment that you judge, you will be judged, and with the same
measure with which you measure, it will be measured to you.
(Matthew 7:2)

Saint Paul restated the Divine Law when he assured his listeners:
But let every man examine his own work, and then may he glory within himself alone
and not among others. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him who is taught
the word become a partaker with him who teaches all good things. Do not be deceived;
God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. He who sows
things of the flesh, from the flesh shall reap corruption; he who sows things of the
Spirit, from the Spirit shall reap life everlasting.
(Galatians 6:4-8)

To show the fineness of the Law we have more words from the Nazarene,
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
(Matthew 10:30)

This verse from Matthew tells us that there is no detail so seemingly insignificant that it does not
come under the Law of Equal Exchange and Balance. Every single hair (every thought, word and
deed) is counted under Divine Law.

Lastly, the Nazarene tells us that we are not free of the consequences of our attempts to defy
Divine Law until we, by our own efforts, make exact compensation for them:
Try to get reconciled with your accuser promptly, while you are going on the road
with him; for your accuser might surrender you to the judge, and the judge would
commit you to the jailer, and you will be cast into prison.
Truly I say to you, that you would never come out thence until you had paid the last
cent.
(Matthew 5:25-26)

If you break the Divine Law of Equal Exchange you will not be free of the reaction of your initial
act until you have paid all back to the smallest possible fraction, a cent as it were.

Conclusion
The Divine Law is the functioning Law of Creation. It is not a capricious creation of God or
people. The Divine Law is the only functioning mechanism that can hold the Creative material of
Chaos together to form the Universe. Humans are unique in that we have the ability to work in
harmony with the Divine Law OR attempt to circumvent it. We have this ability because we were
given the gift of free will.

When we attempt to circumvent Divine Law, we always bring reactions that are in direct
proportion to the extent of the attempted circumventions. The Law is utterly impartial. It
returns whatever is sent forth on its waters. Send all things good and positive and they shall
return to you in abundance. Send those things that hurt and destroy and these too will be
returned by the Divine Law with equal enthusiasm.

The Divine Law is with us to stay. We can either live a life that is at odds with the Law in almost
everything we do and consequently reap the husks and noxious weeds of existence or we can
learn to work in harmony with it and prosper in every possible way . The choice is ours. The
greatest gift we have from our Creator is the ability to make this choice.
The Great Work
Even if we learn to accept the principle of the Divine Law, we might well ask these
questions, Why did God give the power of free will to human beings? Would it not
have been easier just to make men and women mere followers of instincts like the rest of
the animals?

The answer is simple:
Only with such free will are we able to reach the Divine estate intended by our
Divine Creator, to become as one of the gods. The process and effort required to
reach this spiritual attainment is rightfully called the Great Work.

The ancient Mystery Schools taught that the accomplishment of the Great Work is the
main reason for our sojourn on Earth. They, like the Nazarene himself, taught that this
was the only way to the fulfillment of all the desires, ambitions and loves of earthly life,
and the only road to an immortal productive and creative existence once earthly life is
completed.

The Creation Story
In order to gain a solid grasp of the concept of the Great Work, we need to move back in
history several hundred thousand years to a time when human beings as we know today
did not exist. In the world of that time, all Creation was functioning in full harmony with
the Divine Law instituted by our Creator. However, at some point in time, one of Gods
celestial beings- what we call souls, had a desire to come down and experience life on
earth.

On the Earth, the creature we now call Homo sapiens had evolved to a point where some
of Gods celestial beings in the soul world (souls) could descend to earth and inhabit the
physical bodies of early upright human beings. This rather fascinating and intriguing
situation produced what the Bible terms the Garden of Eden.

What has been taught us by the Keepers of the Mysteries, was that the combination of
this Celestial entity (the soul) and the human body had done very well for a while, but
eventually the angelic part of this dual being allowed the mortal part to corrupt the more
Godly. This is when human beings first disobeyed the Divine Laws of Universal Balance.
This time period, when the mortal part of the soul-body human being became dominant,
is illustrated in the Bible by Adam and Eve being evicted from the Garden of Eden.

Once this dual entity, soul and human body, by its free will, attempted to circumvent the
Divine Laws of God, the angelic part of became entrapped in the physical body of this
two-legged animal and a new being was formed:

A hybrid of animal and angel that we now call a human being.

Humans are thus a paradoxical dual being that is part mortal and part immortal. A
being that is less than an angel, but because of the opportunity to learn from our
transgressions, a being that has the ability to become greater than an angel- one of Gods
Celestial Helpers.

Only through personal effort to overcome the animalistic passions of our nature, thereby
resuscitating the angelic portion of this dual entity, can we obtain our lost estate. The
soul, the one time angelic part of men and women, must learn to find wisdom by
overcoming the same weaknesses that cost us our original innocence. This effort will
allow us to gain godhood by knowing both good and evil and choosing, of our own free
will, the good over the evil.

This is the great Drama of the Ages. It is the supreme experiment of God to date. It is
what has always been known as The Great Work, and such it truly is.

Once the angel-human being attempted to circumvent the Divine Law, Gods creation on
earth became a whole new ball game. Drama, wonderful drama, was introduced into this
perfect but perhaps dull world. The famous British Initiate Lord Bulwer-Lytton once
wrote a novel entitled, What Will He Do With It? This statement perfectly describes the
underlying nature of what Initiate Masters call The Drama of the Ages.

Prior to the fall of man (which is again, the animal part of us having succeeded in
gaining control over the angelic part of us) the world had no real drama. That is, there
was no suspense, no indecision, no guessing- no fun! However, with this fall all these
and many more fascinating opportunities were introduced into Creation. For the first
time since God's Big Bang (the formation of organized matter out of Chaos), even God
could not predict what might go on in the world of earth.

It is for this reason that Sidney Beard described the Great Work as both an adventure
and a romance:
The Workers and Teachers of the higher spheres see to it that all requisite help is
rendered and instruction given- faithful and constant cooperation alone being
asked in return. The earthly pilgrimage then becomes a romance, filled with
unsuspected happenings that are intentionally brought about, and all of which
tend to facilitate the progress of the aspirant for Real Knowledge and that higher
service in God's Kingdom which becomes possible for those who are spiritually
and mentally qualified.
(Our Real Relationship To God, by Sidney Beard)

The Biblical Precepts of the Great Work
Scripture describes the first descent of the angelic soul into the newly formed Homo
sapiens body as:
the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took
them wives of all which they chose.
(Genesis 6:2)

Using less poetic patriarchal language, our angelic souls (sons of God) were permitted
by God to leave their heavenly abode and enter the human bodies of both men and
women (took wives from daughters of men).

This rather fascinating and intriguing situation produced what the Bible terms the
Garden of Eden, a period in human history aptly described in Scripture:
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons
of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the
same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
(Genesis 6:4)

Unfortunately, this halcyon time of the men ad women of renown did not last for long.
If we go to the next Biblical verse that follows the above, we discover that all was not
well in Paradise:
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(Genesis 6:5)

Our angelic part, our soul, was the quintessence of innocence prior to its earthly
escapades. As such, it was but a servant of God and Gods Helpers. However, with our
souls attempt to defy and circumvent Divine Law (our fall), it gained a new
opportunity, as indicated in this verse from Genesis:
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good
and evil: [he discovered evil by his attempt to circumvent the Divine Law] and
now, lest [if] he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life [accomplish
the Great Work], and eat [follow the Divine Law], and [then he will] live for ever:
[having made of himself an immortal god].
(Genesis 3:22)

One of the most intriguing phrases in the Bible is the first line from this verse:
Behold, the man is become as one of us.

It should not take more than a moment's contemplation for an astute seeker to see the
fascinating concepts inherent in this verse. It is obvious that God is talking to others
who, like God, are godlike in that they too understand the nature of good and evil (that
which is in harmony with the Divine Law and that which is not). To these other Celestial
Helpers (gods), God clearly states, in this chapter and verse, that the human fall was
not entirely that bad. For our fall also gave us the opportunity and ability find our way
back to God and become like the gods, one of Gods co-worker. This is true, provided
we follow the Divine Law and make the effort complete the Great Work.

How Is this Great Work Accomplished?
Now that you have an idea of what the Great Work is, we can address the manner in
which it must proceed. Our unique dual being (half angelhalf mortal) must return to
the scene of the crime (come back to Earth) over and over until one of two things
occurs:

1. The angelic part is able to so transform the mortal self that it is able to restore
its pre-fall contact with the Creator. Once this state of Soul Illumination is
achieved, the Soul has the option of taking its place in the Celestial world above
or returning to Earth to help others.
or
2. The animal part succeeds in completely destroying the angelic. In this case the
body may survive, but without the angelic, all hope of immortality is lost and only
oblivion follows the death of the body. The remnant of what was the soul is
returned to God forever losing the possibility of Immortality.

The Great Work consists of several parts. One of the most important is the willingness
and successful effort to pay all past debts. Whenever there is an attempted transgression
of the Divine Law, a debt is incurred. Most of us have a large cache of these past debts,
not alone from this life, but also from our many other incarnations since we first became
dual beings eons ago. All such debts must be paid on the plane of their creation:
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the
things that are God's.
(Matthew 22:21)

Each area of activity has its own province; debts created in Heaven must be paid in
Heaven and those created on this physical plane must be paid on this physical plane.

The Initiate Masters (individuals who have completed the Great Work in its totality)
assure us that there are two ways to pay these debts:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. We may pay them by suffering the reaction of the Divine
Law, or <!--[endif]-->
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. We may pay them by neutralizing them by our good deeds
in the present or future lives. <!--[endif]-->

For example, an individual may kill many of his fellow-humans in one life, only to
neutralize the Divine Law's adverse reaction by saving the lives of many more in a
subsequent incarnation.

While no one can complete the Great Work or forego this Circle of Lives until he or she
has compensated for all past debts created here on Earth, this is only the physical or
first part of the Great Work. There still exists the spiritual part to be accomplished. This
is the effort to attain Soul Illumination and begins with the process of transmutation.