Michal Eben was born October 7, 1954, in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He attended basic school and gymnasium at Ústí nad Labem (Northern Bohemia), public musical school (piano), and Czech Technical University (electro-accoustics) in Prague.

He worked for five years at the Research Institute of Radio and Television in Prague; twelve years at the Semafor Musical Theatre in Prague as a musician (keyboards), arranger and leader of the band; and was later a self-employed computer specialist, typographer, and typesetter.

Frater Eben has been a member of AMORC since 1993. Since 1994 he has been a member of the AMORC committee, typesetting monographs and monthly bulletins. From fall 1995 Frater Eben has been employed in the AMORC administration office in Prague. In 1996 Frater Eben was nominated as “acting” Grand Master. In April 1997 he was elected as the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge for Czech and Slovakian Languages Jurisdiction.

Frater Eben has two daughters and now lives in Prague with his wife, Stefania, and two dogs. He hopes that all aforementioned activities, knowledge, and experiences will continue to serve the Order to the largest possible extent.

Discourse
Rosicrucians often use analogies and allegories. Let us have a closer look at these methods and see how they could be used nowadays.

There are many examples of both the usefulness and the inaccuracy of these methods. We have to accept the fact that neither analogies nor allegories are proofs. They are simply supporting tools that we can use in order to explain something to others or to clarify it for ourselves.

Let us apply these principles to the main topic of this Conference, which is Peace.

Peace is generally defined as an absence of violence or war. We create an analogy that would liken the state of war to some active principle, as for example, a flood of water; and peace would thus be likened to a result obtained by using passive means, which, in the case of flooding water, involves the employment of protective barriers of some kind. Imperator Ralph Maxwell Lewis used this concept in his “Creed of Peace.”

But this is only a part of the problem. A view from another angle could lead to an analogy that would liken the condition of war to darkness and the condition of peace to light. Such an attitude is well represented in the Rosicrucian affirmation “Peace Through Understanding,” by Grand Master Live Söderlund, or in the affirmation “Contribution to Peace,” by Grand Master Serge Toussaint.

These two approaches are not contradictory, as one might at first think. On the contrary, it appears that nowadays we need to stick with both of them concurrently.

Let us add a third point to create a complete triangle. Our Imperator, Frater Christian Bernard, wrote, “We cannot know peace of soul as long as we have not attained peace of heart and peace of body.” This is the key. Peace actually begins within ourselves.

I am going to leave it to you to find an appropriate vision, analogy, or symbol for peace, and visualize it as often as possible for the benefit of our civilization.