Brotherhood is a concept that no longer means anything to many, especially when it concerns a community in connection with Christ.
Brotherhood or Fraternity is a concept that means almost nothing to ordinary people in their daily struggle for existence, especially when it concerns a community in connection with Christ.
What actually is a brotherhood in the right sense of the word? We could say that a brotherhood is a collective, a community, but is that a brotherhood? A city is a collective but not a brotherhood, because do people understand and appreciate each other and consciously work for each other with love? No, most live without caring about others, so there is no question of a true Christian brotherhood here. We must therefore make a sharp distinction between a community standing in the world and a brotherhood that is still in the world, but is increasingly detaching itself from it. In the latter case we can speak of a Brotherhood of Christ.
Moreover, a close brotherly association of people has the inherent possibility to reveal a higher essence in itself. That is the intended goal and the secret of group unity in a brotherhood! This is a very important fact, and it immediately means that such an association of people in a close-knit group has added value. An added value that can help the group rise above itself.
In other words: a group of spiritually like-minded pupils can create something that an individual is not capable of… In this context, let us remember the words of Christ:
Where two or more of you are gathered together in my name, there am I in your midst.
How the process of such an added value of the whole compared to the parts works, for example, shows us the so-called Gestalt theory, which proves that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Some simple examples from everyday life can make this clear to us. An illiterate person who has just mastered the individual characters can perceive the number of A’s and E’s in a book, but the whole, the Gestalt of the text, still completely escapes them. However, when they have learned to make such a Gestalt, they will from then on do this completely spontaneously and they no longer read spelling, but immediately see the words in the text. Now not every Gestalt has the same qualitative level. One Gestalt is more highly developed than the other. A rose has a higher shape development than a glass ball.
The quality of the ‘Gestalt’ is therefore apparently formed by the degree of differentiation of the various parts that together form a close and harmonious unity. The living form of the human body is a beautiful example of such a differentiated and harmonious whole. It also provides evidence that limited diversity is necessary for optimal functioning, because one heart as an organ is indispensable, but two hearts would preclude any functioning!
How should we place this Gestalt theory within a fraternal association of pupils from a spiritual school? Now, there must also be a certain diversity within such a circle of people in order to function optimally as a brotherhood. There must even be a twelvefold differentiation, as these twelve must be able to attract the thirteenth into their midst! In a spiritual brotherhood, this thirteenth naturally represents the Christ power.
Before delving further into brotherhood, first something about the number 12. Within esotericism the number 12 is:
- a cosmic number
- the number of fullness
- the number of space
The 12 as a cosmic number has its origins in Babylonian culture. There the world space was already divided into twelve fixed points, the zodiac signs. Clairvoyantly they were still able to fathom the deep mysteries of this number and it also formed their number system, which at that time was twelvefold. From the cosmos, man on earth is influenced twelvefold by the planets through the twelve points in his auric being.
It was further said that 12 is the number of fullness. It is a special number that we can call rich, because the sum of the divisors is more than the number 12 itself. (1+2+3+4+6= 16)
It is like the horn of plenty, like a bowl overflowing, and the rich numbers are few.
the rich number 12
and her divisors
1+2+3+4+6= 16
Of course, if there are rich numbers, there must also be poor numbers. These are less than the sum of the divisors and they occur frequently. For example, 14 with a sum of the divisors of 1+2+7=10
the poor number 14
and her divisors
1+2+7= 10
Third and finally, there are numbers that are called perfect because the sum of their divisors is equal to the number itself. The 6, for example, is such a number. Its divisors are 1+2+3=6. Other perfect numbers include 28, 496, 8128 and another eight-digit number!
other perfect numbers
28
496
8128
33550336
The numbers are mentioned here deliberately because every person also has their own inner number that is located around and near the heart. We can divide humanity, as well as the three groups of numbers, in this way. People with a perfect, or rich, number, such as 12, are well-rounded personalities. They are more than initially suspected.
There are also people, and these are very common, who turn out to be less than what they think they are. They are equal to the poor numbers, which are less than the sum of their divisors. Finally, there is a small group of people who are perfect. Their inner wealth is rarely noticed! They are like the perfect numbers of, for example, 6 and 28, where the sum of the divisors is equal to the number itself. They form the group of perfect ones, the parfaits. There are very few of this type of person, yes very few!
Finally we come to the last property of the number 12, which is also called the number of space. Christ, the great Sun Brother, entered our space with His coming and brought us something completely new. He preached charity and taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves. What’s so special about that, you might ask? To understand this better, we are obliged to take a look into the past. In ancient cultures, such as the Jewish with its twelve tribes, people experienced their religious feelings in a completely different way. Their religious feelings ran according to the bloodline within tribe and family. Those connections took them within the time stream. That religiosity was passed on from father to son, from mother to daughter. They did not see their neighbor in space, but rather in time as their son after them or as their father before them.
They were completely determined by time through their blood ties. That is why ancestor worship was very regular in those ancient times. Think of the Chinese with their ancestral tablets.
The foregoing has already made it clear to us that within such a close association of people, a certain degree of differentiation must also be present, so that it can respond harmoniously to the influence of the thirteenth, the Christ. This means that different types of people must be given a place within the group, but in such a way that they function as one harmonious whole. The individual members must also have high moral and social skills. The way we treat our neighbors determines our true progress on the path. It is precisely this process of meeting the other, meeting our neighbor, that should be central to our lives. It is the foundation of existence, because through our neighbor (and for our neighbor) we can learn to find Christ! That is the secret and in this context remember Christ’s words:
What you do to the least of your brothers, you do to me.
So these words have a profound meaning!
Together we form an indissoluble unity and people should become aware of that! The closer the bond, the more we can help and heal the other, but also… harm in a negative sense. Every negativity therefore also has its own consequences. In this way one can cut off oneself and others from the healing power of Christ, with the result that we become increasingly ill.
It is therefore of the utmost importance to see in our fellow man a creature who is made in the likeness of God and who also desires peace and harmony. So in every person one could see the reflection of God. Whoever treats a person in a lower light kills this consciousness in them.
When we as a Brotherhood try to serve our neighbors and ourselves in this way, the Christ power, the power of renewal, can descend into us as the thirteenth element.
The number 13 is a very special number: it is a prime number, divisible only by one and itself. It is the symbol of a new beginning, a new life, it is the number of fulfillment.
Thus we, standing in the Brotherhood of Christ, awaiting the power of Christ, can all be worthy John people.
Then the group will ensure that everything received sounds together in one tone and in one vibration. Together they call upon the One Holy Name, from the depths of their being.
