the Golden Poppy that closes when the sun goes down. Another plant, a
variety of orchid, has a long, slender, flat stem, or tube, about
one-eighth of an inch thick, with an opening at the extreme end, and a
series of fine tubes where it joins the plant. Ordinarily this tube
remains coiled up into a spiral, but when the plant needs water (it
usually grows upon the trunks of trees overhanging swampy places) it
slowly uncoils the little tube and bends it over until it dips into the
water, when it proceeds to suck up the water until it is filled, when
it slowly coils around and discharges the water directly upon the
plant, or its roots. Then it repeats the process until the plant is
satisfied. When the water is absent from under the plant the tube moves
this way and that way until it finds what it wants--just like the trunk
of an elephant. If one touches the tube or trunk of the plant while it
is extended for water, it shows a great sensitiveness and rapidly coils
itself up. Now what causes this life action? The plant has no brains,
and cannot have reasoned out this process, nor even have acted upon
them by reasoning processes. It has nothing to think with to such a
high degree. It is the Will behind the curtain, moving this way and
that way, and doing things.
There was once a French scientist named Duhamel. He planted some beans
in a cylinder--something like a long tomato can lying on its side. He
waited until the beans began to sprout, and send forth roots downward,
and shoots upward, according to nature's invariable rule. Then he moved
the cylinder a little--rolled it over an inch or two. The next day he
rolled it over a little more. And so on each day, rolling it over a
little each time. Well, after a time Duhamel shook the dirt and growing
beans out of the cylinder, and what did he find? This, that the beans
in their endeavor to grow their roots downward had kept on bending each
day downward; and in their endeavor to send shoots upward, had kept on
bending upward a little each day, until at last there had been formed
two complete spirals--the one spiral being the roots ever turning
downward, and the other the shoots ever bending upward. How did the
plant know direction? What was the moving power. The Creative Will
behind the curtain again, you see!
Potatoes in dark cellars have sent out roots or sprouts twenty and
thirty feet to reach light. Plants will send out roots many feet to
reach water. They know where the water and light are, and where to
reach them. The tendrils of a plant know where the stake or cord is,
and they reach out for it and twine themselves around it. Unwind them,
and the next day they are found again twined around it. Move the stake
or cord, and the tendril moves after it. The insect-eating plants are
able to distinguish between nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous food,
accepting the one and rejecting the other. They recognize that cheese
has the same nourishing properties as the insect, and they accept it,
although it is far different in feeling, taste, appearance and every
other characteristic from their accustomed food.
Case after case might be mentioned and cited to show the operation of
the Will in plant-life. But wonderful as are many of these cases, the
mere action of the Will as shown in the _growing_ of the plant is just
as wonderful. Just imagine a tiny seed, and see it sprout and draw to
itself the nourishment from water, air, light and soil, then upward
until it becomes a great tree with bark, limbs, branches, leaves,
blossoms, fruit and all. Think of this miracle, and consider what must
be the power and nature of that Will that causes it.
The growing plant manifests sufficient strength to crack great stones,
and lift great slabs of pavement, as may be noticed by examining the
sidewalks of suburban towns and parks. An English paper prints a report
of four enormous mushrooms having lifted a huge slab of paving stone in
a crowded street overnight. Think of this exhibition of Energy and
Power. This wonderful faculty of exerting force and motion and energy
is fundamental in the Will, for indeed every physical change and growth
is the result of motion, and motion arises only from force and
pressure. Whose force, energy, power and motion? The Will's!
On all sides of us we may see this constant and steady urge and
pressure behind living forces, and inorganic forms as well--always a
manifestation of Energy and Power. And all this Power is in the
Will--and the Will is but the manifestation of the All-Power--the
Absolute. Remember this.
And this power manifests itself not only in the matter of growth and
ordinary movements, but also in some other ways that seem quite
mysterious to even modern Science. How is it that certain birds are
able to fly directly against a strong wind, without visible movement of
their wings? How do the buzzards float in the air, and make speed
without a motion of the wing? What is the explanation of the movements
of certain microscopic creatures who lack organs of movement? Listen to
this instance related by the scientist Benet. He states that the
Polycystids have a most peculiar manner of moving--a sort of sliding
motion, to the right or left, upward, backward, sideways, stopping and
starting, fast or slow, as it wills. It has no locomotive organs, and
no movement can be seen to take place in the body from within or
without. It simply slides. How?
Passing on to the higher animal life--how do eggs grow into chickens?
What is the power in the germ of the egg? Can the germ think, and plan,
and move, and grow into a chicken? Or is the Will at work there? And
what is true in this case, is true of the birth and growth of all
animal life--all animal life develops from a single germ cell. How, and
Why?
There is a mental energy resident in the germ cell--of this there can
be no doubt. And that mental energy is the Creative Will ever
manifesting. Listen to these words from Huxley, the eminent scientist.
He says:
"The student of Nature wonders the more and is astonished the less, the
more conversant he becomes with her operations; but of all the
perennial miracles she offers to his inspection, perhaps the most
worthy of his admiration is the development of a plant or of an animal
from its embryo. Examine the recently laid egg of some common animal,
such as a salamander or a newt. It is a minute spheroid in which the
best microscope will reveal nothing but a structureless sac, enclosing
a glairy fluid, holding granules in suspension. But strange
possibilities lie dormant in that semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate
supply of warmth reach its watery cradle, and the plastic matter
undergoes changes so rapid, and so purposelike in their succession,
that one can only compare them to those operated by a skilled modeller
upon a formless lump of clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is
divided and subdivided into smaller and smaller portions, until it is
reduced to an aggregation of granules not too large to build withal the
finest fabrics of the nascent organism. And, then, it is as if a
delicate finger traced out the line to be occupied by the spinal
column, and moulded the contour of the body; pinching up the head at
one end, the tail at the other, and fashioning flank and limb into due
salamanderine proportions, in so artistic a way that, after watching
the process hour by hour, one is almost involuntarily possessed by the
notion that some more subtle aid to vision than the achromatic lens
would show the hidden artist, with his plan before him, striving with
skilful manipulation to perfect his work.
"As life advances and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror
of his insect contemporaries, not only are the nutritious particles
supplied by its prey (by the addition of which to its frame growth
takes place) laid down, each in its proper spot, and in due proportion
to the rest, as to reproduce the form, the color, and the size,
characteristic of the parental stock; but even the wonderful powers of
reproducing lost parts possessed by these animals are controlled by the
same governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, the jaws,
separately or all together, and as Spallanzani showed long ago, these
parts not only grow again, but the new limb is formed on the same type
as those which were lost. The new jaw, or leg, is a newt's, and never
by any accident more like that of a frog's."
In this passage from Huxley one may see the actual working of the
Creative Will of the Universe,--moving behind the curtain--and a very
thin curtain at that. And this wonderful work is going on all around
us, all the time. Miracles are being accomplished every second--they
are so common that we fail to regard them.
And in our bodies is the Will at work? Most certainly. What built you
up from single cell to maturity? Did you do it with your intellect? Has
not every bit of it been done without your conscious knowledge? It is
only when things go wrong, owing to the violation of some law, that you
become aware of your internal organs. And, yet, stomach and liver, and
heart and the rest have been performing their work steadily--working
away day and night, building up, repairing, nourishing, growing you
into a man or woman, and keeping you sound and strong. Are you doing
this with your reason or with your personal will? No, it is the great
Creative Will of the Universe, Universe,--the expression of the purpose
and power of the One, working in and through you. It is the One Life
manifesting in you through its Creative Will.
And not only is this all. The Creative Will is all around us in every
force, energy and principle. The force that we call mental power is the
principle of the Will directed by our individual minds. In this
statement we have a hint of the great mystery of Mental Force and
Power, and the so-called Psychic Phenomena. It also gives us a key to
Mental Healing. This is not the place to go into detail regarding these
phases--but think over it a bit. This Will Power of the Universe, in
all of its forms and phases, from Electricity to Thought-power, is
always at the disposal of Man, within limits, and subject always to the
laws of the Creative Will of the Universe. Those who acquire an
understanding of the laws of any force may use it. And any force may be
used or misused.
And the nearer in understanding and consciousness that we get to the
One Life and Power, the greater will be our possible power, for we are
thus getting closer and closer to the source of All Power. In these
lessons we hope to be able to tell you how you may come into closer
touch with this One Life of which you and all living things are but
forms, shapes and channels of expression, under the operation of the
Creative Will.
We trust that this lesson may have brought to your minds the
realization of the Oneness of All--the fact that we are all parts of
the one encircling unity, the heart-throbs and pulsations of which are
to be felt even to the outer edge of the circle of life--in Man, in
Monad, in Crystal, in Atom. Try to feel that inner essence of Creative
Will that is within yourselves, and endeavor to realize your complete
inner unity in it, with all other forms of life. Try to realize, as
some recent writer has expressed it, "that all the living world is but
mankind in the making, and that we are but part of the All." And also
remember that splendid vistas of future unfoldment spread themselves
out before the gaze of the awakened soul, until the mind fails to grasp
the wondrous sight.
We will now close this lesson by calling your attention to its
CENTRAL THOUGHT.
There is but One Power in the Universe--One Energy--One Force. And that
Power, Energy and Force is a manifestation of the One Life. There can
be no other Power, for there is none other than the One from whom Power
may come. And there can be no manifestation of Power that is not the
Power of the One, for no other Power can be in existence. The Power of
the One is visible in its manifestations to us in the natural laws and
forces of Nature--which we call the Creative Will. This Creative Will
is the inner moving power, urge and pressure behind all forms and
shapes of Life. In atom, and molecule; in monad, in cell, in plant, in
fish, in animal, in man,--the Life Principle or Creative Will is
constantly in action, creating, preserving, and carrying on life in its
functions. We may call this Instinct or Nature, but it is the Creative
Will in action. This Will is back of all Power, Energy, or Force--be it
physical, mechanical or mental force. And all Force that we use,
consciously or unconsciously, comes from the One Great Source of Power.
If we could but see clearly, we would know that back of us is the Power
of the Universe, awaiting our intelligent uses, under the control of
the Will of the All. There is nothing to be afraid of, for we are
manifestations of the One Life, from which all Power proceeds, and the
Real Self is above the effect, for it is part of the Cause. But over
and above--under and behind--all forms of Being, Matter, Energy, Force
and Power, is the ABSOLUTE--ever Calm; ever Peaceful; ever Content. In
knowing this it becomes us to manifest that spirit of absolute Trust,
Faith and Confidence in the Goodness and Ultimate Justice of That which
is the only Reality there is.
Peace be with you.
THE FOURTH LESSON
THE UNITY OF LIFE.
In our First Lesson of this series we spoke of the One Reality
underlying all Life. This One Reality was stated to be higher than mind
or matter, the nearest term that can be applied to it being "Spirit."
We told you that it was impossible to explain just what "Spirit" is,
for we have nothing else with which to compare or describe it, and it
can be expressed only in its own terms, and not in the terms applicable
to its emanations or manifestations. But, as we said in our First
Lesson, we may think of "Spirit" as meaning the "essence" of Life and
Being--the Reality underlying Universal Life, and from which the latter
emanates.
In the Second Lesson we stated that this "Spirit," which we called "The
Absolute," expressed itself in the Universal Life, which Universal Life
manifested itself in countless forms of life and activity. In the same
lesson we showed you that the Universe is alive--that there is not a
single dead thing in it--that there can be no such thing as a dead
object in the Universe, else the theory and truth of the One underlying
Life must fall and be rejected. In that lesson we also showed you that
even in the world of inorganic things there was ever manifest life--in
every atom and particle of inorganic matter there is the universal life
energy manifesting itself, and in constant activity.
In the Third Lesson, we went still further into this phase of the
general subject, and showed you that the Creative Will--that active
principle of the Universal Life--was ever at work, building up new
forms, shapes and combinations, and then tearing them down for the
purpose of rebuilding the material into new forms, shapes, and
combinations. The Creative Will is ever at work in its threefold
function of creating, preserving and destroying forms--the change,
however, being merely in the shape and form or combination, the real
substance remaining unchanged in its inner aspect, notwithstanding the
countless apparent changes in its objective forms. Like the great ocean
the depths of which remain calm and undisturbed, and the real nature of
which is unchanged in spite of the waves, and billows of surface
manifestation, so does the great ocean of the Universal Life remain
unchanged and unaltered in spite of the constant play of the Creative
Will upon the surface. In the same lesson we gave you many examples of
the Will in action--of its wondrous workings in the various forms of
life and activity--all of which went to show you that the One Power was
at work everywhere and at all times.
In our next lesson--the Fifth Lesson--we shall endeavor to make plain
to you the highest teachings of the Yogi Philosophy regarding the One
Reality and the Many Manifestations--the One and the Many--how the One
apparently becomes Many--that great question and problem which lies at
the bottom of the well of truth. In that lesson we shall present for
your consideration some fundamental and startling truths, but before we
reach that point in our teachings, we must fasten upon your mind the
basic truth that all the various manifestations of Life that we see on
all hands in the Universe are but forms of manifestation of One
Universal Life which is itself an emanation of the Absolute.
Speaking generally, we would say to you that the emanation of the
Absolute is in the form of a grand manifestation of One Universal Life,
in which the various apparent separate forms of Life are but centers of
Energy or Consciousness, the separation being more apparent than real,
there being a bond of unity and connection underlying all the
apparently separated forms. Unless the student gets this idea firmly
fixed in his mind and consciousness, he will find it difficult to grasp
the higher truths of the Yogi Philosophy. That all Life is One, at the
last,--that all forms of manifestation of Life are in harmonious Unity,
underlying--is one of the great basic truths of the Yogi Teaching, and
all the students of that philosophy must make this basic truth their
own before they may progress further. This grasping of the truth is
more than a mere matter of intellectual conception, for the intellect
reports that all forms of Life are separate and distinct from each
other, and that there can be no unity amidst such diversity. But from
the higher parts of the mind comes the message of an underlying Unity,
in spite of all apparent diversity, and if one will meditate upon this
idea he will soon begin to realize the truth, and will _feel_ that he,
himself, is but a center of consciousness in a great ocean of
Life--that he and all other centers are connected by countless
spiritual and mental filaments--and that all emerge from the One. He
will find that the illusion of separateness is but "a working fiction
of the Universe," as one writer has so aptly described it--and that All
is One, at the last, and underlying all is One.
Some of our students may feel that we are taking too long a path to
lead up to the great basic truths of our philosophy, but we who have
traveled The Path, and know its rocky places and its sharp turns, feel
justified in insisting that the student be led to the truth gradually
and surely, instead of attempting to make short cuts across dangerous
ravines and canyons. We must insist upon presenting our teachings in
our own way--for this way has been tested and found good. We know that
every student will come to realize that our plan is a wise one, and
that he will thank us for giving him this gradual and easy approach to
the wondrous and awful truth which is before us. By this gradual
process, the mind becomes accustomed to the line of thought and the
underlying principles, and also gradually discards wornout mental
sheaths which have served their purposes, and which must be discarded
because they begin to weigh heavily upon the mind as it reaches the
higher altitudes of The Path of Attainment. Therefore, we must ask you
to consider with us, in this lesson, some further teachings regarding
the Unity of Life.
All the schools of the higher Oriental thought, as well as many of the
great philosophical minds of the Western world, have agreed upon the
conception of the Unity of Life--the Oneness of All Life. The Western
thinkers, and many of the Eastern philosophers arrived at this
conclusion by means of their Intellectual powers, greatly heightened
and stimulated by concentration and meditation, which latter process
liberated the faculties of the Spiritual Mind so that it passed down
knowledge to the Intellect, which then seized upon the higher knowledge
which it found within itself, and amplified and theorized upon the
same. But among the Eastern Masters there are other sources of
information open, and from these sources come the same report--the
Oneness and Unity of Universal Life. These higher sources of
information to which we have alluded, consist of the knowledge coming
from those Beings who have passed on to higher planes of Life than
ours, and whose awakened spiritual faculties and senses enable them to
see things quite plainly which are quite dark to us. And from these
sources, also, comes the message of the Oneness of Life--of the
existence of a wonderful Universal Life including all forms of life as
we know it, and many forms and phases unknown to us--many centers in
the great Ocean of Life. No matter how high the source of inquiry, the
answer is the same--"All Life is One." And this One Life includes
Beings as much higher than ourselves, as we are higher than the
creatures in the slime of the ocean-bed. Included in it are beings who
would seem as archangels or gods to us, and they inform that beyond
them are still higher and more radiant creatures, and so on to infinity
of infinities. And yet all are but centers of Being in the One
Life--all but a part of the great Universal Life, which itself is but
an emanation of The Absolute.
The mind of man shrinks back appalled from the contemplation of such
wonders, and yet there are men who dare to attempt to speak
authoritatively of the attributes and qualities of "God," as if He, the
Absolute, were but a magnified man. Verily, indeed, "fools rush in
where angels fear to tread," as the poet hath said.
Those who will read our next lesson and thus gain an idea of the
sublime conception of the Absolute held by the Yogi teachers may
shudder at the presumption of those mortals who dare to think of the
Absolute as possessing "attributes" and "qualities" like unto the
meanest of things in this his emanated Universe. But even these
spiritual infants are doing well--that is, they are beginning to
_think_, and when man begins to _think_ and _question_, he begins to
progress. It is not the fact of these people's immature ideas that has
caused these remarks on our part, but rather their tendency to set up
their puny conceptions as the absolute truth, and then insisting upon
forcing these views upon the outer world of men, whom they consider
"poor ignorant heathen." Permit each man to think according to his
light--and help him by offering to share with him the best that you
possess--but do not attempt to force upon him your own views as
absolute truth to be swallowed by him under threat of damnation or
eternal punishment. Who are you that dares to speak of punishment and
damnation, when the smell of the smoke of the hell of materialism is
still upon your robes. When you realize just what spiritual infants you
still are--the best of you--you will blush at these things. Hold fast
to the best that you know--be generous to others who seem to wish to
share your knowledge--but give without blame or feeling of
superiority--for those whom you teach today may be your teachers
tomorrow--there are many surprises of this kind along The Path. Be
brave and confident, but when you begin to feel puffed up by your
acquirement of some new bit of knowledge, let your prayer--_our_
prayer, for we too are infants--be, "Lord, be merciful unto me, a
fool!"