The following writing was originally published in three parts in the
"Metaphysical Magazine"*
and subsequently was printed as a small book. In this text, Franz Hartmann
summarizes the teachings he received from a group of Rosicrucians (see link) and the facsimile can be downloaded here.
(* April 1896, p.257-268; May 1896, p.347-355; June 1896, p.454-463.)
(First part)
PREFACE
The author of these articles, having
been for many years acquainted with a society of German mystics who instructed
him in their views, has herein attempted to reduce their teachings to a system
and to add such explanations as may render them more comprehensible to the
seeker for truth and immortality. It may be added that the said mystics are
quite illiterate people, being not even able to read, and therefore cannot be
suspected of having gathered their opinions from books. They are not “mediums,”
such as speak by inspiration of things which they do not understand in their
normal condition, but have been taught by their own spiritual Self. What they
know is the result of continued efforts to rise to the plane of that higher
Self.
1.
WHAT IS THE FORCE?
Before attempting to examine the
correlation of energies: physical, psychical, or spiritual it is first of all
necessary to answer the question: What is force?
External observation and internal
experience teach that force is a quality or function of something. This
function consists in motion, and that which moves is undoubtedly something
substantial, as otherwise it could not be felt and would cause no sensation
either within our organs of sense or our minds.
This motion (or emotion) is a
function of energy, and, as every atom of matter manifests some kind of force,
energy is said to be inherent in matter; but it would be more correct to say
that all of that which we call matter is merely bound up energy, and that there
is no such thing as matter without its aspect force.
In fact the assumption of the
existence of matter apart from energy contradicts both common sense and
philosophy, unless we imagine all bodies to be dead whose energy is not
manifest; but this evidently erroneous, since even the grossest material bodies
are capable of exhibiting chemical action. On the other hand, any motion or
emotion is a certain aspect of matter, for without something that moves it
would be quite unimaginable. Thus every force is something substantial.
Substance (from sub, under, and
stare, to stand) means the basis of all existence, and this basis or
understanding is energy. Death cannot create life; neither can inertness cause
motion or force. Existence itself is a phenomenon. It is the manifestation of
the power to be. Nothing is produced in the absence of any power adequate to
produce it, and everything gives birth only to its like.
The whole world is the product of
energy-an accumulation of energy without any dead matter. What we call matter
is merely the visible manifestation of accumulated or latent energy in various
forms. The word matter merely expresses a certain condition of energy, and
force a certain state of substance.
This energy or substance may be
described in its active state as Will, or its passive state as Space-provided
we do not imagine space to be an empty nothing or a kind of room filled with
cosmic ether. Space means extension, and extension is a manifestation of
energy, which being universal may be called Cosmic energy (Universal
world-power), or in a higher aspect a manifestation of the Universal Spirit.
The cause of this universal energy,
which manifests itself in three aspects as space, matter, and force, cannot be
scientifically known, because it is infinitely greater than the human
intellect. It is everywhere in space, but is not space itself. We may call it
Life, or Consciousness, or Will; but this brings us no nearer to its comprehension.
Perhaps it is best to call it Being itself.
In its spiritual aspect the universe
appears to us a manifestation of the power and splendor of the eternal,
indivisible, universal, infinite, nameless One, as a product of Will and
Wisdom, manifesting itself as various states of Being and producing forms,
whether visible to us or not, upon the different planes of existence-physical,
psychical, and spiritual. Even material science is beginning to open its eyes
to this view, and the time seems to be not far distant when it will be
understood that matter itself is nothing, and that a great scientific truth is
expressed in the Bible where it says:
-
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. . . . All things were made by him, and without him
was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light
of men” (St. John I, 1-4).
This also fully agrees with the
doctrines of the ancient Indian sages, for they teach the omnipresence of a
Universal Spirit (Atma), whose manifestation is Life (Prana) and whose product
is Nature (Prakriti), with its multifarious forms, each representing a certain
sum of qualities (Tattwas) originating in the activity of the Universal Spirit.
These forms and qualities are
continually subject to change, but the power that produces them is
unchangeable. It is eternal, one, and indivisible, thought the form which it
produces are innumerable and apparently without end.
But, however true these explanations
may be, they cannot be demonstrated objectively to the materialistic intellect
without any definition of God; and as God is beyond all intellectual
comprehension and cannot be defined, the fundamental cause of all existence
will remain forever a mystery to natural science, unless science becomes
spiritual and men call to their aid the power of spiritual perception, and
learn to know God by realizing the nature of the divine ideal within their own
hearts.
2. THE EXACT SCIENCE
There has been a great deal of talk
about the “exactness of science,” and exact science is usually supposed to be
attained by closing one’s heart against every high an exalted influence,
suppressing every noble emotion, denying the existence of such principles as
justice and truth, and rejecting the recognition of everything that is not of a
grossly material nature. It is to relegate all ideals to the garret where
exploded superstitions are kept; to fancy that life is a product of matter;
that the appearance of a thing is its reality, and that no other reality
exists.
The time for this kind of “exact
science” appears to be nearly at an end; spiritualism (not spiritism) has
sounded its funeral knell, and it is not worth while to waste more words about
it. Folly is always in its own way; it therefore cannot see the truth; neither
can the presence of truth be proved to a fool, who is incapable of
understanding any proof beyond his own folly.
There is another kind of exact
science, however, which consists in recognizing not merely the appearance of
things but the soul whose symbols they are. This sort of really exact science
is not merely the result of external observations, but has for its basis the
recognition of principles. It requires for its acquisition the capacity to feel
and realize the presence of that which is invisible, high, and elevating in
nature; to discern that truth, beauty, justice, benevolence, etc., are not mere
forms of speech, or adopted “ethics,” but principles, capable of
developing into actual powers; also a clear mind, a sound judgment, and a
certain degree of purity of heart.
The means for the acquisition of
this interior knowledge are the possession of soul and the observation of the
action of its powers after they have awakened and entered into one’s own
consciousness. External observation can teach us only that which is
superficial. He who desires to find the pearl that rests upon the bottom of the
ocean must dive below the surface of error into the sea where the waters are
deep. He must draw his wisdom from the living fountain of wisdom itself, and
not from speculations and sophistry-must cease to live merely in theory, and realize
eternal life in himself.
3. THE INFINITUDE OF SPACE AND
FORCE
The well-known astronomer, Camille Flammarion, says:
« Infinity! Eternity!
The study of astronomy bathes and
drowns us therein.
What measure can we take?
If we could travel through space with the velocity of lightning, we
would require millions of years to arrive at those regions where the distant
worlds are shining; but, having arrived there, we would find that we have not
advanced a step nearer to the limits of space: for space is infinite; the
infinite is without limitation, and in all directions are so many worlds, so
many consecutive suns, that if we were to expose a photographic plate long
enough to their rays it would finally be covered with so many luminous points
touching each other that the whole field would represent only one radiating
heaven—for wherever we look there are innumerable suns, one beyond the other.
And we live upon one of these worlds, upon one of the most insignificant
ones, at some point of the limitless infinity which is illumined by one of
these without number. We live within a limited horizon, like silkworms in their
chrysalis.
We know nothing of the causes of these phenomena; we ourselves are
evanescent creations of the moment, whose knowledge does not penetrate deeper
than to that which seems, and whose field of vision is comparatively as good as
nothing; while it is big enough to cause us to fancy that we know something,
and we even flatter ourselves and are bloated by a sense of superiority,
imagining that we are lording nature. We pride ourselves not a little about the
possession of that which we fancy to be real, and which after all is nothing
but an illusion. »
As it is above, so it is below: the
internal world is like the external one. Beyond and within we find the glamour
upon the surface and the reality in the deep. No man has ever intellectually
sounded the depths of his own being. Within himself he finds infinity and
eternity, if he enters deep enough. Within his soul are unmeasured worlds,
infinite space, and no end. Within the world which we call our own we find the
same powers and qualities as in the external world by which we are surrounded.
These powers are states of our own self, whether conscious or unconscious. If
we penetrate still deeper we come to a region in which all conception of self,
personality, and limitation ceases: we enter the formless, where nothing exists
but God in silence and rest.
Space, Power, Energy, Substance, and
Quality are convertible terms; they merely refer to the different views we take
of one and the same thing. Space is the extension of world-power, or energy;
force, the action of energy; substance, force in action; matter, the
manifestation of energy; and qualities, the manifestation of power. Thus is
consciousness a condition, or quality, but also power and space. It may be
concentrated upon a mere point, or may extend far into infinity.
Purity of mind is a state, or
condition, but it is also a power which protects the soul against the entrance
of that which is impure and contrary to its own nature. Knowledge is a power
which enables man to perform certain works. Ignorance is a power sufficiently strong
in appearance temporarily to oppose the truth; conceit is a power just strong
enough to reject knowledge; self-love, superstition, bigotry, malevolence,
hate, envy, greed, wrath, etc., are all external powers of various kinds,
representing the absence of the opposite realities or true qualities of the
real principles.
Whenever a principal becomes
manifest, it is a power. Heat, light, magnetism, etc., manifested as powers,
endowing bodies with their own qualities. Heat causes water to become warm; light
causes glass to luminous; magnetism causes steel to attract iron. These bodies
would not possess such qualities if the respective powers were not manifested
in them; nor could any man be loving, wise or knowing if the powers of love,
wisdom, and knowledge were not manifested or active in him.
All powers, forces, and activities
are ultimately nothing but modifications of the activity of the Divine Will in
nature, manifesting itself in individualized forms according to their
conditions, and endowing them with certain qualities. In an acorn the power by
which an oak-tree grows manifests itself in that growth, without knowledge on
the part of the acorn. From a pine-seed the same powers produces a pine.
Man, having an individual
consciousness of his own, is conscious of the presence of the powers that move
within his soul, and he imagines these forces to be his own products and
property. A tree cannot intelligently employ the energies with which it is
endowed by nature; but man, having intelligence, may employ them for his own
benefit, and thus establish the conditions under which he may grow to still
higher states, in which even greater powers will become manifested in him and
endow him with higher, nobler, and more potent qualities.
4. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH
The greatest of all spiritual
powers, one which lifts man above and beyond his animal nature and frees him
from error and illusion, is that of spirituality recognizing the truth. This
does not mean the intellectual assent to this theory or that theory being true,
but the realization of divine truth within the understanding — the true
understanding of the real, itself, apart from all theories, opinions,
deductions, arguments, dogmas, doctrines, and fancies pertaining thereto. We
know what we ourselves are as soon as we fully realize our condition, and,
recognizing it, we require no argument or dogma concerning it; nor will any
theory, hypothesis, or opinion help us to know our state if we do not experience
and realize it ourselves.
All explanations and theories serve
merely to enable us to liberate ourselves from such errors and prejudices as
stand in our way in recognizing the truth. But the truth itself is not thereby
revealed; it becomes known only when its power becomes internally manifest.
Wisdom is not a matter of knowing, but of becoming. Truth can neither be
manufactured nor created.
No one can manifest the light of
truth in the soul of another: this can only be accomplished by the light of the
truth itself. As in the animal kingdom one animal serves as nutriment for
another, so in the intellectual realm one mind feeds upon the products of
another. Each man lives upon the thoughts that have grown in the garden of
another; but the spirit of God in man is free, and a soul in whose
consciousness that spirit has entered lives in the recognition of truth,
independent of all theories and speculations. The soul, having awakened to a
realization of its divine nature, lives in its own immortality, independent of
all things — in its own divine consciousness.
No such state can be created by means
of the imagination or fantasy, nor by means of hypnotism or suggestion. It is a
condition produced in no other way than by the manifestation of the power of
wisdom in man. Thus darkness cannot create light, but when the light becomes
manifest the darkness disappears. Likewise, there is no wisdom created by
ignorance or conceit; but when the power of wisdom becomes manifested in man,
there is an end of these conditions.
An imaginary conviction that this or
that thing is true, even if such conviction be based upon the strongest reasons
of plausibility and probability, is no real knowledge or self-recognition of
truth. The truth is really known to no man until it is realized in him; but
when the light of truth arises as a living power within his soul, penetrating
and illuminating his understanding, causing him to enter into full harmony and
become one with the truth, he may then truly say, not only “I know the truth,”
but like one of old, “I [im my personal state] am the Truth.”
This, however, is not to be interpreted
as if to mean that we should reject all theories or treat opinions of others
with contempt. Theories are means by which to arrive at practice; they are like
crutches used by children before they are able to walk. They are sometimes good
for discarding errors; but a knowledge of theories is not identical with
the recognition of truth.
The first requirement for the
attainment of real knowledge, of any power or quality whatever, is its
possession. We may obtain knowledge in regard to the action of external forces
by observing that action, even if these forces are not in our conscious
possession. Thus we behold the effect of a stroke of lightning, hear the
rolling of thunder, witness the action of steam, etc., and obtain a knowledge
of certain effects, making our deductions in regard to the nature of the
causes; but we cannot know the real nature of love or hate, desire or
contentment, spirituality or benevolence, purity or justice, unless we
consciously possess these qualities. No one can really know what hunger is
unless he has experienced it himself.
5. THE POWER OF SPIRITUAL
KNOWLEDGE
All that is beyond our experience is
to us mysterious and occult. Man, in the aspect of an intellectual
animal, knows nothing real in regard to spiritual powers; but when a spiritual
power enters his consciousness it becomes a part of his being and ceases to be
occult. He knows that power as soon as it consciously enters into his
possession. After that he will need no scientific arguments to prove that such
powers exist; while without that possession all such scientific speculation
amounts to nothing but theory.
All existence is relative. There is
no personal God in existence for those who do not experience the power of the
divine state of being within their own persons; but as soon as the power of divinity
begins to stir within the depths of our hearts, we know beyond doubt that it is
capable of endowing us with divine qualities by manifesting itself therein and
raising us into a higher, impersonal state. Those who deny the possibility of
such a transformation, or refuse to believe in it unless they receive external
scientific proof, thereby prevent the realization of the divine ideal within
themselves.
The blind clamor continually for
external proofs in regard to the existence of God; but the wise, in whom the
fire of divine love has burned the illusion of self, and in whom the divine
power of eternal truth has become manifest, need no external proof. As soon as
the God within has conquered the animal in his nature, thus allowing him to
enter into the divine state, he is himself an impersonal, divine being, even
while occupying a personal form.
The first step in this progress is
the attainment of purity. The mind of man collects and combines ideas and
erects an artificial system of knowledge — a patchwork constructed of theories
and built upon sand; but real soul-knowledge, founded upon the rock of wisdom,
is not attained unless the light of eternal truth penetrates the soul as the
light of the sun shines in a pure crystal. The self-knowledge thus attained is
not like objective science, which springs from external observation,
philosophic speculation, and a knowledge of appearances and probabilities — a
product of one’s own fancy; but a revelation of the truth, produced by the
power of truth itself. Such spiritual knowledge does not belong to the
external, personal mind of man, but to the spiritual, celestial, inner state of
being, whose light becomes reflected in the mind of the terrestrial man.
To feel the presence of God within
the soul is to be already in possession of the divine power of spiritual
perception; for only that which is divine in man can feel and experience that
which belongs to the divine state: only the God in man can sense the presence
of God in the universe. The soul enters into possession of God as soon as it
becomes conscious of his presence; while, on the other hand, the possession of
even the highest latent divine faculties is practically useless to a man who is
ignorant of their possession — just as legs would be to a man unable to walk, or
money to one who did not know that it belonged to him.
But when these spiritual powers
become manifested in our bodies, they become as it were our own properties,
endowing us with their qualities. We may then study their action within
ourselves and use them just as the physicist studies and uses the action of the
external forces of heat and electricity; and we will find that even these
spiritual powers are ultimately only modifications of one fundamental power;
consequently they are correlated to each other and their activity is mutually
conditioned in each.
These powers do not belong to our
personal self, any more than heat, electricity, life, etc., are created by our
own bodies; but they are forces of universal nature becoming manifest in us. In
the same sense, that which we call our virtues are not our own productions, but
manifestations of divine principles which belong to the spiritual state of
Being and become manifested in the personalities of human beings. Self-created
virtues are products of the illusion of self. Self-righteousness, self-conceit,
etc., are not true powers, but fanciful creations which hinder the
manifestation of truth.
The vices of egotistic persons are
less repulsive to behold than their assumed self-made so-called virtues, because
the former are the natural outcome of the illusion of self, while the latter
are the unnatural products of ignorance and conceit, misleading in every sense.
True virtue does not belong to the illusion of self, but to the true and
impersonal state of man. All that is real in man belongs to God, the immortal
reality; all that is illusive in him belongs to the illusion of self,
the father of lies.
Purity is freedom. To be pure is to
be free. If we were purified of the illusion of self-conceit, limitation, and
form, we would be free of that power that binds us to material existence, and
recognize that in our real essence we are not “worms of the earth,” but
spiritual beings, omnipresent, all-penetrating, and all knowing. Our essence
(Atma), or Universal Self, is one and indivisible. I am Atma, but I do not
realize the fact because I am deluded by the isolation and limitation of the
corporeal form with which I am firmly connected and identify myself.
When I begin to recognize Atma (my
universal) I shall know myself in reality. There is nothing to keep me from
this spiritual recognition, except those elements in my material nature which
do not belong to my real self. Foremost among these is my power of
self-reasoning, which, owing to the delusion of sense, causes me to make the
mistake of identifying myself with my personal form, and thus to ignore the
true Self, which is without limitation.
Within the superficial strata of the
soul, the images produced by the world of phenomena are produced in a manner
comparable to the inverted images produced upon the surface of a lake by the
objects standing at the shore; but within the depths of the soul, to which
these reflections do not penetrate, rests the divine spark of truth, which,
when it is fanned into a flame by divine love, illumines the kingdom of mind
and destroys its illusions.
The more the soul is filled with
carnal desires and the mind with sensuous images — the deeper those desires
penetrate toward the centre and the more such images take substantial shape — the
greater will be the obstacles to the internal revelation of truth; but when the
soul is purified of desires the mind becomes free of illusions. It is said that
when the external eye of the soul opens, its internal eye closes itself. When
the soul turns away from the delusions of the senses and rises upon the wings
of the will to the region of truth, the door of the sanctuary in which the truth
is unveiled will open itself.
The soul in its essence is pure,
requiring no improvement. The sky is pure, but the smoke and the vapors arising
from the earth cause impurities and clouds therein which obstruct our view of
the sun. The soul in its essence is free; our own misconceptions and the errors
to which we cling are the “naughty sisters” which keep the “beautiful princess”
captive. The strong will, illumined by the light of true understanding, I the
“radiant prince” for whom she waits to liberate her from her prison.
Purity dwells in the love of the
real and not in the attraction of “self.” The love of truth does not consist in
fanatically clinging to some opinion which we fancy to be true; it is a power
that springs from the recognition of that which is eternal and real. Love of
truth is not self-righteousness, but the realization of the unity of all being.
It is the love of that power which resides in all things, holds all worlds
together, and moves all objects. This power is Love itself; for the truth is
the life, and the life of all things is Love.
He who loves the truth loves in
reality nothing else but the divine and universal Self, which is the One of the
universe. Human love, so-called, is the desire for the gratification of some
personal desire; but love in its true and spiritual meaning is the presentiment
or recognition of the divine oneness of the All, and ultimately its
realization. He who sacrifices himself to the love of truth yields nothing, but
gains everything; he merely gives up his captivity and enters into freedom.
6. THE ILLUSION OF PERSONALITY
Man in his essential nature is
“Mind” (Manas), an inhabitant of the celestial sphere; his material, limited
form is the product of sensuous desires. He is spiritually asleep and dreams of
physical existence; while he sleeps his dream is enacted and appears to him as
a reality. During the dream his will is bound to his desires, becoming free
only when he awakens; but this awakening does not depend upon the life or death
of his physical body. The body may die and man be still bound to material
existence, because he is yet bound to his personality and his personality to
the earth.
Only when man, whether in or out of
the body, awakens to the realization of his own real, impersonal state, does
his will become free. Then he enters into freedom. The will of a man in freedom
is the will of God, because it is one with the law and not subject to anything.
He who attains self-knowledge in truth knows the will of God.
(Second part)
Man is an ethereal being, dwelling
within a material, animal form — a mask that constitutes his personality. When
he attains consciousness of his true, immortal state, he may either throw off
his “shell” or retain it; he is free. This attainment of freedom is gained by
self-sacrifice, which is merely the renunciation or abandonment of an illusion,
and by no means difficult to perform when its nature is understood. Without
this understanding, however, asceticism is a very useless quality, for all
sacrifices for the love or aggrandizement of self are foolish.
The self cannot conquer the self;
the illusion cannot destroy the illusion. Such liberation and redemption take
place, not through self-conceit, but by the power of that entity which is the
divine self of all beings. Such attainment of divine self-knowledge is not an
“absorption into nothing,” but an ascending in divine power.
An icicle is formed in the ocean; in
form it is different from the water that surrounds it, but in essence it is
identical therewith. It melts and becomes what it was before. It has not lost anything
save its personal form. Within the all-consciousness is formed a speck of
“matter,” owing to the birth of a delusion of self caused by previous Karma — congealed
by self-love and incrusted by self-conceit. Penetrated by the heat of that love
which springs from the realization of truth, the crust is dissolved and man
again enters into his true, celestial, all-conscious state.
7. PURITY IS FREEDOM
To surrender that which is no longer
required, and is merely an impediment in our way, is not a sacrifice, but a
blessing. In the enjoyment of freedom there is no room for the desire for
bondage. The discrimination between freedom and slavery, between the enduring
and the evanescent, is the key to the understanding of the great mystery.
Grasp that key yourself and open the
door that leads to immortality. Pure is that which is true, because it is free
from falsehood; pure is that which is real, for it is free from the unreal;
pure is that which is innocent, for it is free from sin; pure is that love
which is free from egoism; pure is renunciation, when it is free of all
expectation of personal reward. Knowledge is pure when free from error, and
from that freedom arises tranquility. Within tranquility resides beatitude and
contentment, and within contentment is bliss; for it consists in the absence of
all unfulfilled desires. Tranquility is the fountain of the revelation of
wisdom, because only in a mind undisturbed by passions can the light of truth
reflect its own purity and the image of God assume substantial form.
Freedom is purity, because the soul
that is free of all selfish desires is purified of egoism and error. Freedom is
mastery over self. Where the elusive selfhood ceases, there is nothing to be
subservient nor to rule. He is not free who, owing to the unruliness of his
lower nature, is forced continually to stand guard over it; free is he who has
outgrown that self. He who has become one with the law is not its subordinate.
Freedom is the law by which all
humanity (and through humanity all nature) aspires. Freedom is the true life,
for it is that state in which no death exists. Forms die; the activity of life
therein ceases to manifest itself, but life itself does not die. True freedom
consists in obedience to the divine law — the will of God. This is divine,
universal Love, which is the power of the realization of truth. God wills only
to manifest himself to himself, and whoever strives to obey the law and thus to
fulfill the conditions under which this manifestation can take place — he alone
loves God, and not he who cries, “O Lord!”
Neither do those love God who with
prayers and incantations seek to explain to him their personal desires, or with
the beating of drums and the blowing of trumpets to persuade him to obey their
requests. The will becomes free through the recognition of truth. The free will
of God and the free will of man are identical. Freedom is the completion of
love: the union of the love of man to God with the love of God to his own
manifestation in man. This love is self-knowledge. A merely intellectual
knowledge is like an empty shell; it contains no real love. Neither does the
love for illusions give birth to self-knowledge. Real love springs from the
recognition of the oneness of the All. It is the at-one-moment, or harmony, by
which the Divine essence in all things becomes known.
It is with the action of spiritual
powers in matter as with the hen and the egg: if there had been no hen there
would be no egg; and if no egg had existed the hen would not have grown. The
activity of each other is conditioned by that of the other; one gives birth to
the other and is born from it. In the Eternal there is neither “first” nor
“last.” If I recognize God as my own impersonal Self, all that I sacrifice to
God will be sacrificed to myself.
In sacrificing or letting go my hold
of that which in reality is nothing, I make no sacrifice, but gain the
possession of all. For the purpose of enabling me to let go of that which is
nothing, however, it is necessary to possess the power to recognize its
nonentity, and this power comes only from the possession of truth. No one can
endow himself with that which he does not possess.
The truth is not of man’s making;
therefore no man can recognize the truth by his own efforts alone. That power
comes to him only through the “grace of truth;” in other words, it is the
result of Karma, caused by his obedience to the law in previous incarnations. When
he is ready to receive it, it will descend upon him like the sunlight upon the
earth.
He who surrenders himself internally
to God is free; but he who without sacrificing his self only sacrifices
treasures for the sake of gratifying his desire for personal freedom gains
nothing, for he is still bound by that personal desire and acts under the
impulse of the delusion of self. That which enables man freely to surrender all
his desires and possessions is the realization of the power and bliss of
freedom itself, void of selfishness.
Freedom is not merely a state, but a
power; otherwise it could not be experienced and known. A quality or condition
becomes an experienced power in us when it is alive in our own consciousness. A
king insensible to his imperial dignity would be a poor ruler. A man who never
experienced his own dignity as a human being is only an animal in human shape.
To be conscious of the state in which we exist endows us with the power to
fulfill its functions and develop its qualities.
Freedom is not bound to any
locality; the spirit of man in freedom is everywhere, and has the power to act
in any place where it chooses to manifest its individual consciousness. Keeping
in mind the fact that substantial forms (not only material, but also spiritual
forms) are created by the spirit of man, there is nothing astonishing in the
circumstance that a self-conscious spirit may produce thought-images and
apparitions representing his own character in places where the conditions for
such manifestations are present.
The thoughts of people continually
act mutually upon each other, and at great distances, even across the ocean.
Many are not aware from whence their thoughts, ideas, and inspirations come.
Thoughts are free to wander to whatever place they may be attracted; but the
will is not free unless it have mastery over the thoughts. The enlightened will
must be the lord and the desires the servants; if the master obeys his servants
they will make him an object of sport.
To arise in freedom is to arise in
power. This is not accomplished by weakness, nor by a flight of fancy, nor by
means of pious dreams or assumed indifference, nor by ignorance of contempt,
nor by asceticism, vegetarianism, assuming certain postures, or holding one’s
breath; it is accomplished only in the power of that spirit which lifts us out
of the sphere of self — and this power is our own when it becomes manifested in
us. While we remain in that power, it is active within us. It forms the
nutriment by which the soul grows, the mind firm, and the body healthy and
beautiful. Without that power all our philosophy will be only theoretical and
imaginary, and our life only a vapor and dream. The present age, while
excelling in intellect, is sadly deficient in that power.
From the recognition of freedom
springs the realization of justice. A man being led by desires has his special
favorites, his likes and dislikes, and does not realize the power of justice,
which endows alike all creatures with certain rights; but he who is above all
beholds the eternal reality in a fly
no less than in an elephant, in an idiot as much as in a sage. The nutriment of
justice is love, because it strengthens the recognition of truth. The symbol of
freedom is represented by the Cross, formed of faith, love, hope, and patience.
The Cross represents the sacrifice
of the illusion of self and the attainment of impersonal power — the death of
the material elements and the entering into freedom by means of the union of
the soul of man with the Spirit of God. Bound by the chains of sensuousness,
captured by the delusion of egoism, sleeps the soul, forgetful of its true
origin and home. Subject to a continual change of birth, effort, and death,
with intermissions of rest, the soul suffers until it conquers the illusion
that keeps it within the vicious circle of necessity; but, awakening to the
realization of its true being, it throws off its veil and enters again into
freedom.
The
presentiment of the coming freedom, which arises when the power of
self-knowledge begins to stir within the soul, is due to the presence of faith.
Real faith is the indubitable recognition of a ray of spiritual light, at first
dimly perceived through the clouds of matter, but whose source is the central
Sun of the universe. This presentiment is not yet perfect knowledge — only its
beginning; but when the soul arises in that power the mists disappear and the
sunshine breaks forth in its glory.
Belief and
superstition, dogmas and opinions have nothing to do with faith. Theories are
without spiritual power, even if based upon correct arguments; they do not
constitute real faith, even if advocated by the most respectable authorities.
No man has ever attained real knowledge through basing his faith upon the
authority of any person whatever. True faith has no other foundation than the
recognition of truth; it is the recognition of truth itself. Faith resting upon
the dictum of this or that person, or upon any other basis than the direct
perception of truth, cannot be theosophia
(real knowledge, divine wisdom, or self-recognition of truth).
True faith
does not consist in opinions, nor in any system of beliefs in regard to
"the Path;" it is itself the
Path of Light, which leads to divine self-knowledge. A man may be in
possession of the true faith, and yet ignorant of the doctrines of external
science, philosophy, and theology. Merely intellectual speculation has nothing
to do with the possession of the spiritual power of self-perception.
The
beginning of that path of wisdom is light; its middle the word that speaks in the
silence; its end the full revelation of the supreme and divine state of Being —
not of some other individual, but of that inconceivable state which constitutes
the true Self of everything, our own included. By the power of truth we arrive
at a true understanding, and by the power of understanding we arrive at the
perception of truth. Through the darkness we come to the light; the light shows
us the way, the darkness being necessary to enable us to distinguish the nature
of light.
The dawn of
freedom begins at the moment when man realizes the power of faith, which means
to experience the capacity to discriminate between the eternal and the
evanescent within him. Whoever knows the Eternal has already tasted of
immortality, because only that which is immortal in man can enable him to know
immortality. Immortality is freedom. The house in which freedom dwells is the
omnipotence of divine law, for free will is itself the law. to which all nature
bows in obedience.
Freedom is redemption. The freedom
of man does not consist in liberty of the action of the senseless elements that
constitute his animal nature, any more than the freedom of a nation consists in
the liberty of its criminals and fools. Man maintains his freedom by subduing
his subordinates, namely, the desires and vagaries that spring from his lower
nature. A man with the power of God in and above himself is ordained by that
power as lord over himself, and does not need to call upon any other Lord or
Master in the universe.
The redemption of man takes place
through no foreign power and by no merely external Saviour; it eventuates
through internal wisdom, and the beginning of self-knowledge is the beginning
of final redemption. This redeeming power of wisdom is neither a personal power
nor a function of self. The self is an illusion and cannot be redeemed. The
divine man redeems himself from the illusive, material, personal self; and in
redeeming him self he redeems of the personal man all the impersonal elements
that belong to his own divine nature. Only that which is not bound by
personality can enter into true liberty and immortality. Wisdom is the door to
freedom, and self-knowledge the throne upon which freedom dwells.
8. KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM
The light of truth shines from above
upon the pathway of life, but wisdom is born in the soul of man when he
recognizes the light of truth. The knowledge of a man is within, and of all the
wisdom in the world only that portion will benefit one which becomes manifest
in himself. Love is the seat of faith, and the seat of man's wisdom is the word
which the truth speaks silently in his heart.
Experience is the mother of
knowledge, and all knowledge not based upon experience is not real. For this
reason man was born to eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, that he
may taste it himself and not merely learn some theory in regard to its flavor.
Illusory knowledge is continually mistaken for real knowledge; but the
touchstone of the latter is justice, and justice is measured by its works. Wisdom
is not a product of nature; it rules all nature, wherever its laws are obeyed.
Wisdom rules all things in which it
becomes manifest. It is "supernatural," in being superior to nature;
but it becomes manifested in nature, and not outside of it. It is a power
higher than all mechanical forces, animal instincts, and intellectual
functions; it cannot be monopolized by any sect or society, nor given out or
revealed by any president or pope. The interior revelations of wisdom are not
speculation. A truth once revealed is seen and experienced, and not subject to
doubt by those in whom the revelation takes place; but it is not a true
revelation to those who have not experienced it themselves.
What the ancient sages and mystics
taught of truth and divine revelation was not concocted by their intellects nor
produced by combining ideas, nor by any foreign God dwelling in the sky; it was
revealed to them by the manifestation of divine wisdom within their own souls.
All that is taught by modern philosophers who experience nothing of God is a
repetition and combination of ideas learned from others.
Speculation is based upon logic, but
the revelation of truth rests upon nothing but its own divine self. All nature
is a revelation of truth, even if we do not understand its meaning. It is like
a book printed in a language not understood by every one. Nature changes, but
wisdom remains. If the whole world were to perish and heaven and earth
disappear, Divine Wisdom would remain what it always was, and its Will would
cause a new manifestation by the creation of a new world.
However intellectual a man may be,
there is no real knowledge in him so long as the revelation of truth has not
taken place in his soul. It is the manifestation of wisdom within the heart
which illumines the mind and distinguishes the sage from the theorist. Real
knowledge cannot be obtained from books. Books may teach us where we must seek
for the truth, but they cannot furnish it. They may tell us what we must do to
render possible the manifestation of wisdom, but they cannot reveal wisdom
itself. Wisdom is imparted by nothing save its own power.
All the things we see in nature are
but symbols and representations of truth, not the truth itself. If we
misinterpret the meaning of these symbols, it is not the fault of truth but of
our own ignorance. The truth, when seen and realized, is always self-evident.
It is a light, and whoever realizes its presence both sees and knows the fact —
he requires no other proof; but those who do not see its light will fail to recognize
it in spite of all proof.
The object of wisdom is to reveal
itself — to teach, educate, and elevate the beings in whom it becomes manifest,
and to render them immortal by endowing them with self-knowledge. Wisdom
liberates man from ignorance, error, and sin; it teaches him to recognize his
own nature as an intelligent spiritual power in the universe, and to regard his
material body as a nonessential part of his eternal being. Wisdom is the
realization of the divine Will, and this realization consists in becoming, not
in mere theory.
"Thy will be done" means
"Let us attain spiritual self-knowledge; "in other words," Let
divine wisdom be manifested in us," for the will of God consists alone in
striving to manifest divine wisdom, and there is nothing to hinder that
manifestation in us except our own ignorance. To know the forms and forces of
nature and their mutual relations is objective science, but not yet divine
wisdom. Science deals with phenomena; wisdom is the revelation of truth,
eternal and unchangeable. Science without a foundation of wisdom is without
truth, because it is barren of any perception of the eternal reality. Only that
science is true which has for its foundation the recognition of eternal truth.
(Third part)
Wisdom is born to us by means of the
revelation of truth within ourselves. Truth is a power by the manifestation of
which the world is what it really is. If the world were not real in some sense
it would not be here. Some philosophers fancy that the world exists merely in the
imagination; but imagination changes nothing in the existence of the world. It
is true that “I” know nothing about my surroundings, except the images
produced on my mind by sensations coming from external objects, whether I know
of their presence or not. Thus that which we perceive is an appearance;
but behind this is the truth from which it proceeds. If there were no
sun there would be no sun-rays; if there were nothing, nothing would seem to
exist. The truth is the light, the objects its shadows; the shadows are
instruments for the external manifestation of light.
By means of the manifestation of
truth in man, a mortal and animal human being becomes transformed into a divine
being. This does not take place through belief in theories, however true they
may be, but by means of the self-revelation of truth. What the ancient Indian
sages meant to say — which has been widely misinterpreted by modern writers — was
that the world is a representation of images on the universal mind. If we were
to know our divine Self, we would find that the universal mind is our own, and
that the world is God’s creation; but as long as we merely fancy ourselves to
be anything higher than what we really know, our own existence is not that of
God, but illusory, and we ourselves are the products of a passing illusion.
9. WISDOM, BEAUTY AND TRUTH
From wisdom the recognition of
beauty is born; for whatever is wise is good, and whatever is good is
spiritually beautiful. The possession of wisdom clarifies the soul, and through
the soul it beautifies the body, because the body is the ultimate expression of
the qualities of the soul. Wisdom manifests itself only to those who love
wisdom, and the love of wisdom is realized by following its dictates. The power
to obey the dictates of wisdom originates in true faith in the power of wisdom
to manifest itself, and this faith again springs from a real love for the manifestations
of real wisdom, which becomes active by works.
True faith is always accompanied by
true deeds, whether internal or external; but faith without true, unselfish
love is an illusion—a dead tree bearing no fruit. Not even the highest human
intellect can create a particle of divine wisdom, any more than a piece of iron
can make itself red hot, or become so without an effective cause; but as the
metal may be rendered hot means of exposure to heat, likewise a clear mind will
be illumined by the light of wisdom when the truth becomes manifest in the
heart.
Theories change, but wisdom remains
always the same. For this reason the wisdom of those who found the truth
thousands of years ago differs not in quality from that of those for find it
now, or in whom it may become manifest in the future. The revelations of wisdom
are ever the same, because wisdom alone reveals its own eternal self. Eternal
truth never varies; but its manifestations differ in form, according to the
conditions under which it becomes manifest. Thus the light of the sun is always
in space; but whether it is day or night with us depends on our being in either
in the light or in the shadow. Wisdom is only one; but it may become manifest
in a greater or lesser degree: just as the sunlight is one, but acts with more
or less intensity, according to conditions.
No man creates his own powers; he at
best establishes conditions under which universal energies may grow into power
within him. No man is wise, good, or beautiful unless the principles of wisdom,
goodness, and beauty are active within, endowing him with their own qualities.
The principle is the essential thing; the form is only the medium or instrument
for its revelation. Principles are eternal and imperishable; but they do not
exist for us as long as they are not manifest. When a power is becoming active,
it constitutes a “principle,” which means beginning.
All self-made virtues are only
delusions and hypocrisy; they do not spring from energy and reality, but from
the illusion of self and self-admiration. They are mere imitations. Egoism is
an illusion, and all that is born from it is unreal. He who thinks that his
self is better than that of another in the eyes of God will laugh at his folly
when the day of self-knowledge dawns; for then he will know that, his real Self
being the Self of all, his personal self is a delusion and not a reality. That
which prevents men from realizing the presence of divine power within
themselves is the fact that they regard nothing something real and reality
as nothingness. The stars are not to be found by means of a torch. The
artificial light of self-conceit serves no purpose in seeking for the light of
divine wisdom. Our self-created qualities have to become as nothing before the
divine and real qualities can become manifested in us.
The knowledge which belongs to the
illusive self is useful for that self, so far as it concerns the things of this
life of illusions; but the illusions of self can have no real knowledge in
regard to that which belongs to the real. If I were to know theoretically all
the mysteries of the Trinity, it would amount only to a theory. To attain real
knowledge of the Holy Trinity I would have to become holy myself (which means
to overcome the delusion of self), and enter into the oneness of the Trinity — that
divine consciousness in which the knower, the known, and the knowledge are one.
To enter into that state of
selflessness, in which all idea of self and limitation disappears and the power
of the divine “Master,” the Self, arises within the soul, tearing away the
veils of error that hide the truth, has become the object of all the mysteries
of the past and will be that of those of the future. Among human intellectual
animals each wants to be personally more clever, more knowing, more self-wise
and self-righteous than his neighbor; and even among the leaders of sects,
churches, and societies we repeatedly hear the song: “I am better than thou!”
But the real sage desires no other
wisdom than that which belongs to his God; the true mystic is content to know
in regard to spiritual things only that which is known to the God within, and
in the light of that knowledge the illusion of the personal ego disappears like
a shadow in the light of the sun. When the divine man in his power and glory
arises within the soul, there will be no longer room for the personal self with
its dreams. A real mystic never seeks to obtain occult knowledge or magic power
for personal gratification or aggrandizement, because he knows that the
conception of self, instead of being an aid, is the greatest obstacle to his
progress; and that, far from that self having to be magnified and glorified, it
ought to be entirely abandoned.
As the hammer is nothing without the
smith, so in the kingdom of spirit the personality is worthless except as an
instrument for the manifestation of spiritual power. A saw having a life and
volition of its own, squirming in the hands of the carpenter, would be
rejected. Likewise a man whose thinking, willing, and acting are inspired by
his own self and its errors is a useless instrument for the manifestation of
truth.
He who has entered into the spirit
of wisdom and abandoned self knows of no I and thou, no mine and thine; he only
knows the One, who includes and embraces and penetrates all, and is
nothing else but himself. This is a truth self-evident to the wise, but
incomprehensible to those who love their own selves above all. If a man ignores
or denies God and calls himself wise, he declares himself an ignoramus, because
real wisdom is the wisdom of God in man, which belongs to Deity alone and to no
mere person.
Divine wisdom is a state of
consciousness of the universal Spirit. How, then, can a narrow or limited
intellect be in a state of universality, or having any real knowledge thereof?
How can a person have the qualifications of a god while he knows practically
nothing of God? Spirituality and intellectuality are quite different things:
the latter belongs to the intellect and the former to the spirit.
Personality cannot inclose
universality; but the intellect may enter into a state of spirituality, thereby
ceasing to be personal. This accomplished by the adaptation of individual
consciousness to universal spiritual consciousness, when the light of divine
wisdom becomes manifest in the mind. This adaptation does not depend upon the
will and pleasure of every individual; it requires the possession of the power
for adaptation. This power is called divine, universal Love, and its exercise
consists in obedience to the law of love.
Truth means reality. Only
that which is real is true, and whatever is true is real; all else is illusive.
That which is true appears unessential as long as the reality is not known and
appearances are mistaken for truth. Truth is eternal, and it does not change
the nature of truth whether a man recognizes it or not; but the real existence
of man depends on his recognition of truth. Without that recognition he
himself remains only a dream.
Those who do not love the truth
close their eyes before it while clamoring for proofs of its existence; but the
wise man knows the truth, because his personality is absorbed in it. The blind
man seeks to arrive at a knowledge of light by means of arguments and
deductions. The wise man departs from error and enters into the truth, the life
of which is the death of error; therefore those who love their errors dislike
the truth. They ask for it, perhaps, but rejects it when it offers itself. The
revelation of truth is the annihilation of self-conceit; at first it appears as
a frightful object, but in the end as an angel of light. After the illusion of
self is destroyed, we find that it was nothing more than a shadow in the
kingdom of light.
The fountain of wisdom is
inexhaustible; it furnishes nutriment to the soul, and thus the latter grows
into power. Not by means of a creed or belief in respectable authorities, but
by the power of wisdom does the Lotus-flower of divine self-knowledge become
unfolded, like the blossom of a rose that opens its leaves to the sunshine. The
fruits of self-knowledge ripen in the light of truth, which can never grow
less.
The whole universe is a mirror of
truth. We see the images reflected therein by the light of truth; but the truth
itself can be seen only by the light within ourselves. The recognition of truth
elevates and fortifies the true faith, whose soul is hope and which is
penetrated by love. Hope, in its spiritual meaning, is not the expectation of a
personal reward here or hereafter; but as the lark joyfully greets the sun at
the dawn of day, without thereby taking into account the benefit which it is to
receive, so the soul at the dawning of the day of wisdom rejoices because it
knows that the sun will rise for it in the east.
The life of all faith is the Will;
it is the foundation of all being. The will of the creatures for life, whether
it acts consciously or unconsciously to them, is said to be the cause of their
existence. As long as that will, pervaded by ignorance, is stronger than
knowledge, man will not succeed in rising above the ever-moving circle of
necessity. A will born from imagination is only imaginary; but the will that is
illumined by real knowledge is spirit, and free. Spirit is not a product of man;
man is a product of the action of spirit. In his present existence man is the
product of his actions in previous existences, and these actions were the result
of imagination and will.
Mortal man being earth-bound, has no
free will of his own. His body follows the laws of material nature and his
actions are guided by his desires. He begins to have a will of his own only
when he attains self-knowledge by becoming one with the law, because in that
case the will of the law is acting through him, and he himself is the law. The
fulfillment of the law is the fulfillment of duty, which takes place when in
consequence of man’s highest aspirations and abandonment of the illusion of
self the law reveals itself to him within his own consciousness.
The spirit (consciousness) is the
fructifying principle; the will is the womb that gives birth. Imagination is
the masculine and the will the feminine, and in the full-grown spirit the “male
and female are one.” Consciousness does not exist without something that is
conscious; imagination without will is without substance; spirit without
substance remains unrealized and unmanifest. The will is the soil in which the
imagination deposits its eggs. Within the will-substance are developed the
seeds of instincts that grow into desires, develop into ideas, and bloom into
thoughts, finally bearing fruit as actions.
A man ignorant of his own real
nature is nothing but an empty shell, because he is filled with ignorance.
Ignorance is nothing; it is the absence of knowledge, and be nothing it can
have no origin. In that empty shell the imagination of nature performs its
seeming works; nature’s powers attain sensation and consciousness therein; they
feel and desire and think within him, creating a false self-consciousness;
hence that bundle of qualities imagines itself to be something and mistakes the
thoughts of its inhabitants for its own.
As the wind plays among the leaves
of a tree, moving them in whatever direction it happens to blow, so the will of
nature in man moves his thoughts and guides his actions. He thinks that he
rules, but all the time he is ruled by influences which he does not recognize.
Only the spirit that has attained self-knowledge has power over the will. This
power is called faith; it is the power which may move mountains of error after
it has become like a mountain itself.
Existence is one — therefore
there can be only one foundation or cause of all that exists; but the forms of
existence are innumerable, and each has its own cause, all of which have a
common origin in the one Cause of all, whose modifications they are. This cause
is Reality; but what the Reality is cannot be described, because it is
infinitely greater than the limited power of the human intellect. It can be
grasped spiritually only by the spirit of man — when that spirit has attained
consciousness of its own infinite expansion.
The possibility of such an expansion
of spiritual consciousness is not amendable to any proof that would convince a
skeptic; it can only be known by experience. The skeptical mind keeps itself
from experiencing that state of infinity, because it is imprisoned in its own
ignorance and its horizon is obstructed by its own doubts. The possibility of
the attainment of a higher state can be actually known to us only when we have
attained that state ourselves.
10. GOD IS THE SUPREME LAW AND THE ONLY REALITY
All that the narrow, terrestrial
mind may know are the theories regarding the action of the universal law, but
not the law itself. God alone can know his divine law, for he is himself the
Law. The law of God is divine and perfect, but its action is not perfectly
manifested under all circumstances; perfection consists in harmony, and
whenever the conditions for the manifestation of a power are inharmonious the
manifestation itself will not be perfect. That which is called matter, but
which has no absolute existence and is therefore unreal, is opposed to spirit;
the will of that which is “solidified ignorance,” so to speak, hinders and
perverts the manifestation of wisdom.
The divine will is the spiritual,
self-conscious will; in other words, the will in a state of divine wisdom. This
will, in freedom, is its own law; therefore, it is not guided by fancies,
desires, whims, and passions. It is divine, because it is one with divine,
universal law, unchangeable by anything, and eternal. It is the law itself. Its
manifestation differs according to the conditions under which it becomes
manifest. What may be lawful and right in an animal is not the same in man; for
in the animal the law of egoism is the ruler and lord supreme, while in man’s real
nature the true king and ruler is wisdom.
The animal needs to obey the law of
self-preservation; man has the power to rise above self. If all creatures had
been so constituted in the beginning that there would have been no egoism to
overcome, they would have had no opportunity to test their strength or to
attain individual power and freedom. The development of the power of egoism
upon the animal plane furnishes to man the conditions for its overcoming within
his own two-fold nature.
There is no scientific definition of
God. He is nothing objective and nothing different from man’s real Self.
We can only attribute to him negative qualities and say that he is infinite,
eternal, without beginning and without end. A god whom limited intellect could
comprehend would not be a God; the intellect would be the greater. But we may
form certain conceptions in regard to the state of divine being, according to
the way in which divine power becomes manifest to us.
If we, therefore, call God by
different names, they refer merely to the various aspects in which we view that
state. All scientific, philosophic, and theological speculations in regard to
the essence of God are fruitless attempts of human self-conceit to grasp that
which the terrestrial intellect has not the power to comprehend; they are
foolish, because based upon the misconception that the eternal Reality in the
universe is something different than our own.
We may form a conception of God as
being All-consciousness in a state of tranquility, in which there exists no
disharmony; as absolute Being, having no other cause for subsisting than its
own Self; as the eternal Fountain of all existences and the Essence of all
things; or as the only Reality, without which nothing real exists; but all
these definitions are inadequate. God is everything, and yet nothing special.
God is far more than space. Space is not God, but only his body.
God is all things, and yet no
particular thing. We may speak of his breath as the life of everything; of his
Justice as the fulfillment of his law; of his Word as the whole of creation; of
his Will as infinite Love; of his Spirit as the truth. But if we regard him as
the Source of all good, he appears to us as a loving Father; in his aspect as
the Fountain of happiness, he is himself eternal Bliss; manifesting his power
in all nature, he reveals himself as a divine Teacher; and revealing himself in
our hearts, he comes to us as our Redeemer.
The motion of his power in the
universe is his Will, his activity in all things their life, and his
manifestation in the soul of man the revelation of wisdom. His dwelling-place
is in all that he has called into existence; his seat is the self-consciousness
of the spiritually awakened man; he is himself (in his own essence) eternal
rest, being, and bliss; his kingdom is wisdom, his word is the truth, his life
is light, and the way to him is through patience.
In his aspect as the Absolute, God
is related to nothing; but the Absolute is not he. God comes into existence for
us only when we enter into relationship with him. The law of God is to reveal
himself to himself, and the law of man is to serve as a suitable instrument for
that revelation. The Absolute has no relative qualities; there is nothing to
which it could be related. When the presence of the Absolute becomes manifest,
however, it assumes relative qualities. Reality does not exist for us unless we
realize it; the ideal is only a dream unless its realization takes place.
God (in his own essence) is neither
good nor evil; there being nothing real but God, he is above both conditions.
There is in reality nothing in regard to which he could be evil or good, for he
is the All. God is neither an angel nor a devil; neither a man nor an animal;
neither moral nor immoral; neither virtuous nor depraved. God is the Reality,
and for us he is precisely that which we in reality become ourselves. Relative
qualities come into existence in consequence of the relationship of things to
each other. God is not a thing, but a state of being. Good appears as evil if it
manifests itself in what seems the wrong place, or under what seem to be wrong
circumstances; evil is good whenever it is necessary.
God for us has no divine qualities.
These come into existence for us only when they enter into being in ourselves.
We learn to know them only by obtaining possession of them; we attain their
possession only when they become manifested in us; and it is this manifestation
that causes us to enter into the divine, impersonal state. Thus the question,
What is God? resolves itself into the corollary, What am I?
To answer this question is not a
matter of natural science, but of self-consciousness; and he who has attained
that state cannot satisfactorily describe it to another who has not experienced
it himself. To attempt it were useless, because he would be little understood
as God himself, whose sole object for untold ages has been to manifest himself,
and whose manifestation is the whole of the universe, but who is still
misunderstood and unknown. Real knowledge of God is not a matter of
understanding for the mortal mind; it belongs alone to the “Son of God,” having
become revealed in man. Only the God in man can really know the Divinity
of the universe to be his own real Self.
