Richard Rose’s Psychology of the Observer The Path to Reality Through the Self

Psychology of the Observer: Origins and Purpose 21
Elie Wiesel has spent a lifetime searching for the ultimate spiritual answer to the crucial questions
posed by this experience, as did Frankl. He has studied religious, philosophical, and psychological
teachings for decades, as well as agonizingly inside himself, for a satisfying, comprehensive solution
to this problem, and his voice speaks for millions more, alive and dead. He admits to not having yet
found the truth of the matter, and has rejected all conventional explanations offered. He has displayed
admirable integrity and courage in not settling for false answers to fill in the painful void, and in
keeping his search open (Estess, l980). In response to my personal testimony to him and further
inquiry regarding these difficult issues, Wiesel wrote: “I wish I could say I have all the answersbut I
have none. All I have is a need to question. Will He answer? That too is a question” (personal
communication, 3/87). The direction and manner of search described in this study is an attempt to
find one possible way to that elusive answer.
Scope of the Study
The primary content of this report will be the Albigen System, as described in the works of
Richard Rose, as well as my personal contacts with him and practice of the teaching with his other
students over a 15 year period.
Although other teachings and teachers of transpersonal psychology will also be discussed,
this study will focus mainly on Rose’s work for several reasons. This is in addition to the immediate,
obvious reason that in this one dissertation it will be difficult enough to even do justice to the full
scope of the Albigen System, much less to adequately cover every contribution of importance in the
whole field of transpersonal psychology.
The primary reason is simply that I believe Rose’s innovative contribution richly deserves this
consideration, and a thorough study of it like this one has never before been written. Even in the
whole field of transpersonal psychology, which is itself little known to either the general psychological
community or to students of esotericism in particular, Rose is not well known. This is a terrible waste
of a rare and invaluable reference source.
The singular system he has developed has been found to be extremely insightful and practical
by those who have managed to encounter it by fate, reward, or accident. A scholarly discourse on it
would be most helpful in making his findings more readily available to those who would appreciate
them. I consider Rose to be a modern giant of spiritual psychology, and a serious overview of his
findings can be considered as one grateful tribute to his offering.
While Rose does not claim to have invented something entirely new, the material he provides
does have a functional advantage for the seeker of Enlightenment over many other existent spiritual
teachings. Although various principles in the Albigen System are also found in other sources, often
each teaching is either not a complete system in itself, but only focuses on certain issues, laws, or
aspects of the path, or does not go into enough practical detail about the complete path it may be
describing, leaving the teaching open to misinterpretation or misuse by the immature student. In
addition, Rose does stress specific principles crucial to this level of search that have seldom, if ever,
been presented in other esoteric teachings, such as pointofreference, becoming the truth, and
retraversing the projected ray.
As an example of the hazards of implementing an incomplete teaching, Rose considers the
techniques involved in mind science and hypnosis to be valid in themselves and that they parallel
material in his own system. People can create things, adjust circumstances, heal bodies, empower
themselves, and change their statesofmind through such psychological means. Yet, Rose believes
each method or discipline to not be a complete path to SelfRealization in itself, but only one aspect of
it.