by Admin
The Albigen System gets its name from a book titled The Albigen Papers by Richard Rose, who began to use that term after he published the book and began his teaching career. To understand the system one can begin by looking at the man.
Richard Rose was an intense seeker who went through a number of different stages before he had a self-realization “experience” at the age of thirty. From a young age he was determined to act on his spiritual tendencies. Over time he became well-grounded in a number of disciplines, but by nature he was an original thinker, always having his own, penetrating and unique way of seeing things, based on personal experience.
In the beginning of his search he was dismayed by the lack of sincerity in the people and systems he encountered, and made a pledge to himself that if he ever found “an answer” he would help other people find it. Years later he developed a system of searching based on the combination of factors he believed had been instrumental in his own life.
“The Albigen System is one of purity aimed at raising energy.”
~ The Monitor Papers
Choice of the word Albigen reflects the resonance that Mr. Rose had with the Albigensians (Cathars), a “heretical” Catholic-Gnostic group who practiced high moral standards, a celibate lifestyle, renunciation of the material world, and had the determination to rebel against tyranny and fight to the death for their beliefs. *
* See Wikipedia Siege of Montségur
In his personal search Rose studied many systems, including Christianity, Christian Spiritualism, raja yoga, magic, Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, hypnotism, conventional psychology and the physical sciences. After his illumination experience at age 30 he continued his assiduous studies. He did not encounter Zen until after he became enlightened, but after meeting a Zen master and learning his techniques he said that Zen was the most efficient and direct system. He later discovered Ramana Maharshi and said that Ramana expressed the most accurate description of enlightenment as sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi. Elements from all of the above can be seen in the methods that Rose taught.
General Principles
- One’s actions are without meaning if the actor is not known, so the search for truth is man’s primary aim.
- “Truth” means the truth about man, his true nature, his consciousness, attributes he may have, his origin, his destiny, his relation to his Creator if there is one, etc.
- One’s life can become a “vector” pointed at truth.
- It is a mistake to postulate a definition of truth and then try to prove it. As long as the truth is undefined, a vector pointed at truth can only be a vector pointed away from untruth. This is called the path of the “reverse vector”.
- “Man’s right to doubt is sacred.”
- Rose begins with empirical life and addresses the empirical man. That is, he starts a conversation, or more properly, an interrogation, with man in his ordinary state rather than asking him to accept a concept structure or high philosophy, or to learn a foreign vocabulary. He begins with the application of common sense and an honest appraisal of one’s personal circumstances. (See “Lecture of Questions”.)
- Truth is defined as the most likely of available possibilities. The least likely after investigation are discarded. Then what has been retained is examined again.
- One must have a rational basis to operate even while one is led by intuition. Intuition is clarified by testing it. Intuition is crucial but it is balanced by logic and reason.
- “The only reasonable life is one that is governed by the most consistent reasoning.” See Deposition of Conclusions of Life’s Philosophy.
- One must tread the dual path of survival in this life while looking for survival beyond it.
- While looking, one should understand the capacities and limitations of the physical vehicle, which means to study energy conservation and transmutation.
- The human being is part of the natural aquarium of life and must be understood as such even if his origin is in the stars. Observations of the zoological aspects of human life will lead one to very different conclusions about the meaning of social and personal activities than is admitted in ordinary culture.
- It is a mistake to concentrate on abstract truth at the beginning. Putting the house in order is a necessary step. One’s current lifestyle is the truth one is currently living. Physical activities such as going to meetings on a regular basis or keeping a journal are very helpful in maintaining one’s focus.
- One does not need to invent a method at the beginning. Methods have been in existence and tested over thousands of years. One can begin with a system that appeals to the intuition and follow it until something better is discovered.
- Group Work is highly recommended but not required. Working with one’s fellowman has many advantages over working alone. The reasons for this are described as “Laws” in The Albigen Papers and in lectures.
- As with any science, there is a monumental amount of information available; the difficult part is separating the wheat from the chaff. Basic guidelines are recommend, which can be used until one’s intuition is developed.
- These guidelines by definition are things to avoid:
- Concept structures, appeals to belief and authority, untested imagination.
- Organizational maladies such as hierarchies, money-orientation, sexual immorality.
- Utilitarian systems which aim at well-being or success while disregarding larger truths.
- In the big picture, it is one’s ignorance and egoism that must be overcome. The conjunction of ego and inability to respond to truth bears investigation.
- There is always a contradiction in theory between what appears to be predestination and what might be accomplished through will. Since one can never prove the determining factor, one must act as though one has a will. One’s life becomes an “eternal fact”, and if nothing else, a person can make his fact-status one of searching rather than of despair.
- The human mind is bound to dualistic modes of thinking, so one needs to understand both sides of an argument, either or both of which could be true, while developing an intuition which can see beyond the pairs of opposites.
- An oft-expressed principle in magic is that imagination plus desire plus will equals creation (“to know, to dare, to do, and to be silent”). This presents a problem for the searcher who wishes to discover the truth rather than create something out of the imagination. Blavatsky said in order for a spiritual experience to be considered valid “scientifically” it must be unexpected and spontaneous rather than planned or conceived in advance.
The forgoing is a theoretical foundation for the “reverse vector” method. A confirming fact according to Mr. Rose was that he experienced becoming—beyond the world of illusion that was involuntarily taken from him. He discovered that the world did not exist the way he understood it previously, and he realized his true nature beyond all doubt. But the searcher cannot substitute the experience of another for one’s own realization, and until everything (a final answer) is known, then everything remains unknown.
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