Maximilian Neff serves as the Grand Master of the German Language Jurisdiction of AMORC. He is also a Director on the Board of the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC. Frater Neff was born in 1949 and joined the Rosicrucian Order in 1976. He began working at the Grand Lodge of the German Language Jurisdiction in 1981, and served as General Administrator for seven years before becoming the Grand Master in 1999.

Frater Neff has created and developed an extensive program of seminars for members and the public and established the new seat for the German Language Jurisdiction in the city of Baden-Baden, a well-known spa. The German Language Jurisdiction now owns a beautiful building there, including the new Grand Temple. Frater Neff is committed to perpetuating and preserving the oral and initiatic traditions of our Order and to working to spread the Light of AMORC.

Discourse
When I was asked to speak on the subject of Service, I was somewhat taken aback because for me, and I’m sure for you also, service is an integral part of life, and seems to need no explanation. One simply does it! However, as students of the Rosy Cross we learn not to just do something, but to do it consciously and according to Rosicrucian principles. Therefore, let us explore what service means in the Rosicrucian tradition.

I am convinced that service is a fundamental pattern of human behavior. To serve means to give something of one’s self, to be helpful to others, without thinking of one’s own interests. There are many avenues or approaches to service, but for mystics an inner wish to serve must always emerge if that service is to be of value.

God is the best example of service, for in the beginning God gave so that the spiritual universe, the Cosmic, could come into being. God gave unceasingly and does so still today, for, after all, the undertaking of the Creator cannot be pressed into the earthly conceptions of past, present, and future, since these concepts express only on the earthly plane. From this we learn that when we devote ourselves to service and work creatively, we move closer to the essence of God.

To serve means that we each recognize our importance as a cog in the wheel of life and the development of humanity. This wheel of life will only turn significantly and creatively when humans take part in the process. Actually, service is inborn in human beings; only the lower ego has any difficulty in cultivating this cosmic principle. Persons who serve do not have their own interests at heart, only the interests of the greater community. But mystics realize that this service comes back to us in the flow of creative cosmic energy. How can this be so?

Service is an action, and therefore it always brings about a reaction, which is a perfect illustration of the Rosicrucian Law of the Triangle. According to this inviolable law, an action generates a reaction, both on the physical and spiritual planes, resulting in a manifestation, which is the third point of the triangle. Our service to others generates a further flow of energy and blessings back to us. To view service with this attitude and act accordingly is always a creative process. Rosicrucian students soon learn how their service to others, the greater community, brings an influx of energy into their own lives. Here we see the flowing energy and power of the Cosmic at work!

Thus serving is always a creative, energizing principle, an important instrument for furthering the development of our soul personality. For after all, the world, as it comes to meet us, is really only a mirror of ourselves.

My dear Brothers and Sisters, it is my wish that you also will find your path of service to others. But bear in mind that it should always be an act done consciously and with joy, because enjoyment is an important companion in our mystical development.

So Mote It Be!