teaching of the Bible and that of the New Thought. Treated in detail,
the subject would extend to many volumes explanatory of the Old and New
Testaments, and if that great work were ever carried out I have no
hesitation in saying that the agreement would be found to extend to the
minutest particulars. But the hints contained in the foregoing papers
will, I hope, suffice to show that there is nothing antagonistic between
the two systems, or, rather, to show that they are one--the statement of
the One Truth which always has been and always will be. And if what I
have now endeavoured to put before my readers should lead any of them to
follow up the subject more fully for themselves, I can promise them an
inexhaustible store of wonder, delight, and strength in the study of the
Old Book in the light of the New Thought.
1902.
XX
JACHIN AND BOAZ
"And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand,
and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand
Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz." (II Chron. iii, 17.)
Very likely some of us have wondered what was the meaning of these two
mysterious pillars set up by Solomon in front of his temple, and why
they were called by these strange names; and then we have dropped the
subject as one of those inexplicable things handed down in the Bible
from old time which, we suppose, can have no practical interest for us
at the present day. Nevertheless, these strange names are not without a
purpose. They contain the key to the entire Bible and to the whole order
of Nature, and as emblems of the two great principles that are the
pillars of the universe, they fitly stood at the threshold of that
temple which was designed to symbolise all the mysteries of Being.
In all the languages of the Semitic stock the letters J and Y are
interchangeable, as we see in the modern Arabic "Yakub" for "Jacob" and
the old Hebrew "Yaveh" for "Jehovah." This gives us the form "Yachin,"
which at once reveals the enigma. The word Yak signifies "one"; and the
termination "hi," or "him," is an intensitive which may be rendered in
English by "only." Thus the word "Jachin" resolves itself into the words
"one only," the all-embracing Unity.
The meaning of Boaz is clearly seen in the book of Ruth. There Boaz
appears as the kinsman exercising the right of pre-emption so familiar
to those versed in Oriental law--a right which has for its purpose the
maintenance of the Family as the social unit. According to this
widely-spread custom, the purchaser, who is not a member of the family,
buys the property subject to the right of kinsmen within certain degrees
to purchase it back, and so bring it once more into the family to which
it originally belonged. Whatever may be our personal opinions regarding
the vexed questions of dogmatic theology, we can all agree as to the
general principle indicated in the role acted by Boaz. He brings back
the alienated estate into the family--that is to say, he "redeems" it in
the legal sense of the word. As a matter of law his power to do this
results from his membership in the family; but his motive for doing it
is love, his affection for Ruth. Without pushing the analogy too far we
may say, then, that Boaz represents the principle of redemption in the
widest sense of reclaiming an estate by right of relationship, while the
innermost moving power in its recovery is Love.
This is what Boaz stands for in the beautiful story of Ruth, and there
is no reason why we should not let the same name stand for the same
thing when we seek the meaning of the mysterious pillar. Thus the two
pillars typify Unity and the redeeming power of Love, with the
significant suggestion that the redemption results from the Unity. They
correspond with the two "bonds," or uniting principles spoken of by St.
Paul, "the Unity of the Spirit which is the Bond of Peace," and "Love,
which is the Bond of Perfectness."
The former is Unity of Being; the latter, Unity of Intention: and the
principle of this Dual-Unity is well illustrated by the story of Boaz.
The whole story proceeds on the idea of the Family as the social unit,
the root-conception of all Oriental law, and if we consider the Family
in this light, we shall see how exactly it embodies the two-fold idea of
Jachin and Boaz, unity of Being and unity of Thought. The Family forms a
unit because all the members proceed from a common progenitor, and are
thus all of one blood; but, although this gives them a natural unity of
Being of which they cannot divest themselves, it is not enough in itself
to make them a united family, as unfortunately experience too often
shows. Something more is wanted, and that something is Love. There must
be a personal union brought about by sympathetic Thought to complete the
natural union resulting from birth. The inherent unity must be expressed
by the Individual volition of each member, and thus the Family becomes
the ideally perfect social unit; a truth to which St. Paul alludes when
he calls God the Father from Whom every family in heaven and on earth is
named. Thus Boaz stands for the principle which brings back to the
original Unity that which has been for a time separated from it. There
has never been any separation of actual Being--the family right always
subsisted in the property even while in the hands of strangers,
otherwise it could never have been brought back; but it requires the
Love principle to put this right into effective operation.
When this begins to work in the knowledge of its right to do so, then
there is the return of the individual to the Unity, and the recognition
of himself as the particular expression of the Universal in virtue of
his own nature.
These two pillars, therefore, stand for the two great spiritual
principles that are the basis of all Life: Jachin typifying the Unity
resulting from Being, and Boaz typifying the Unity resulting from Love.
In this Dual-Unity we find the key to all conceivable involution or
evolution of Spirit; and it is therefore not without reason that the
record of these two ancient pillars has been preserved in our
Scriptures. And finally we may take this as an index to the character of
our Scriptures generally. They contain infinite meanings; and often
those passages which appear on the surface to be most meaningless will
be found to possess the deepest significance. The Book, which we often
read so superficially, hides beneath its sometimes seemingly trivial
words the secrets of other things. The twin pillars Jachin and Boaz bear
witness to this truth.[5]
[Footnote 5: The following comment was made by Judge Troward,
after the publication of this paper in _Expression_:
"_The Two Pillars_ of the Universe are Personality and
Mathematics, represented by Boaz and Jachin respectively.
This is the broadest simplification to which it is possible
to reduce things. Balance consists in preserving the
Equilibrium or Alternating Current between these two
Principles. Personality is the Absolute Factor. Mathematics
are the Relative Factor, for they merely Measure different
Rates or Scales. They are absolute in this respect. A
particular scale having been selected all its sequences will
follow by an inexorable Law of Order and Proportion; but the
selection of the scale and the change from one scale to
another rests entirely with Personality. What Personality can
not do is to make one Scale produce the results of another,
but it can set aside one scale and substitute another for it.
Hence Personality contains in itself the Universal Scale, or
can either accommodate itself to lower rates of motion
already established, or can raise them to its own rate of
motion. Hence Personality is the grand Ultimate Fact in all
things.
"Different personalities should be regarded as different
degrees of consciousness. They are different degrees of
emergence of The Power that knows Itself."]
XXI
HEPHZIBAH
"Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more
be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land
Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married"
(Isaiah lxii, 4). The name Hephzibah--or, as it might be written,
Hafzbah--conveys a very distinct idea to any one who has lived in the
East, and calls up a string of familiar words all containing the same
root _hafz_, which signifies "guarding" or "taking care of," such as
_hafiz_, a protector, _muhafiz_, a custodian, as in the word _muhafiz
daftar_, a head record-keeper; or again, _hifazat_, custody, as
_bahifazat polis_, in custody of the police; or again, _daim-ul-hafz_,
imprisonment for life, and other similar expressions.
All words from this root suggest the idea of "guarding," and therefore
the name Haphzibah at once speaks its own meaning. It is "one who is
guarded," a "protected one." And answering to this there must be some
power which guards, and the name of this power is given in Hosea ii, 16,
where it is called "Ishi." "And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord,
that thou shalt call me Ishi; and thou shalt call me no more Baali."
"Baali" means "lord," "Ishi" means "husband," and between the two there
is a whole world of distinction.
To call the Great Power "Baali" is to live in one world, and to call it
"Ishi" is to live in another. The world that is ruled over by Baali is a
world of "miserable worms of the dust" and such crawling creatures; but
the world that is warmed and lightened by "Ishi" is one in which men and
women walk upright, conscious of their own divine nature, instead of
dodging about to escape being crushed under the feet of Moloch as he
strides through his dominions. If the name Baali did not suggest a wrong
idea there would be no need to change it for another, and the change of
name therefore indicates the opening of the mind to a larger and sounder
conception of the true nature of the Ruling Principle of the universe.
It is no imperious autocrat, the very apotheosis of self-glorification,
ill-natured and spiteful if its childish vanity be not gratified by
hearing its own praises formally proclaimed, often from lips opened only
by fear; nor is it an almighty extortioner desiring to deprive us of
what we value most, either to satisfy its greed or to demonstrate its
sovereignty. This is the image which men make of God and then bow
terrified before it, offering a worship which is the worship of Baal,
and making life blank because all the livingness has been wiped
out of it.
Ishi is the embodiment of the very opposite conception, a wise and
affectionate husband, instead of a taskmaster exploiting his slaves. In
its true aspect the relation of husband and wife is entirely devoid of
any question of relative superiority or inferiority. As well ask whether
the front wheel or the back wheel of your bicycle is the more important.
The two make a single whole, in which the functions of both parts are
reciprocal and equally necessary; yet for this very reason these
functions cannot be identical.
In a well-ordered home, where husband and wife are united by mutual love
and respect, we see that the man's function is to enter into the larger
world and to provide the wife with all that is needed for the
maintenance and comfort of the home, while the function of the woman is
to be the distributor of what her husband provides, in doing which she
follows her own discretion; and a sensible man, knowing that he can
trust a sensible wife, does not want to poke his finger into every pie.
Thus all things run harmoniously--the woman relieved of responsibilities
which are not naturally hers, and the man relieved of responsibilities
which are not naturally his. But let any perplexity or danger arise, and
the woman knows that from her husband she will receive all the guidance
and protection that the occasion may require, he being the wise and
strong man that we have supposed him, and having this assurance she is
able to pursue the avocations of her own sphere undisturbed by any fears
or anxieties.
It is this relation of protection and guidance that is implied by the
word Hephzibah. It is the name of those who realise their identity with
the all-ordering Divine Spirit. He who realises this unity with the
Spirit finds himself both guided and guarded. And here we touch the
fringe of a deep natural mystery, which formed the basis of all that was
most valuable in the higher mysteries of the ancients, and the substance
of which we must realise if we are to make any progress in the future,
whatever form we may adopt to convey the idea to ourselves or others. It
is the relation of the individual mind to the Universal Mind, the
combination of unity with independence which, though quite clear when we
know it by personal experience, is almost inexpressible in words, but
which is frequently represented in the Bible under the figure of the
marriage relations.
It is a basic principle, and in various modes pervades all Nature, and
has been symbolised in every religion the world has known; and in
proportion as the individual realises this relation he will find that he
is able to _use_ the Universal Mind, while at the same time he is guided
and guarded by it. For think what it would be to wield the power of the
Universal Mind without having its guidance. It would be the old story of
Phaeton trying to drive the chariot of the Sun, which ended in his own
destruction; and limitless power without corresponding guidance would be
the most terrible curse that any one could bring upon his head.
The relation between the individual mind and the Universal Mind, as
portrayed in the reciprocally connected names of Hephzibah and Ishi,
must never be lost sight of; for the Great Guiding Mind, immeasurably
as it transcends our intellectual consciousness, is not another than
_ourselves_. It is The One Self which is the foundation of all the
individual selves, and which is, therefore, in all its limitlessness, as
entirely one with each individual as though no other being existed.
Therefore we do not have to go out of ourselves to find it, for it is
the expansion to infinity of all that we truly _are_, having, indeed, no
place for those negative forms of evil with which we people a world of
illusion, for it is the very Light itself, and in it all illusion is
dispelled; but it is the expansion to infinity of all in us that is
Affirmative, all that is really living.
Therefore, in looking for its guiding and guarding we are relying upon
no borrowed power from _without_, held at the caprice and option of
another, but upon the supreme fact of our own nature, which we can use
in what direction we will with perfect freedom, knowing no limitation
save the obligation not to do violence to our own purest and highest
feelings. And this relation is entirely _natural_. We must steer the
happy mean between imploring and ignoring. A natural law does not need
to be entreated before it will work; and, on the other hand, we cannot
make use of it while ignoring its existence.
What we have to do, therefore, is to take the working of the law for
granted, and make use of it accordingly; and since that is the law of
Mind, and Mind is Personality, this Power, which is at once _ourselves_
and above ourselves, may be treated as a Person and may be spoken with,
and its replies received by the inner ear of the heart. Any scheme of
philosophy that does not result in this personal intercourse with the
Divine Mind falls short of the mark. It may be right so far as it goes,
but it does not go far enough, and fails to connect us with our vital
centre. Names are of small importance so long as the intercourse is
real. The Supreme Mind with which we converse is only to be met in the
profoundest depths of our own being, and, as Tennyson says, is more
perfectly ourselves than our own hands and feet. It is our natural Base;
and realising this we shall find ourselves to be in very truth "guarded
ones," guided by the Spirit in all things, nothing too great and nothing
too trivial to come within the great Law of our being.
There is another aspect of the Spirit in which it is seen as a Power to
be used; and the full flow of life is in the constant alternation
between this aspect and the one we have been considering, but always we
are linked with the Universal Mind as the flower lives by reason of its
root. The connection itself is intrinsic, and can never be severed; but
it must be consciously realised before it can be consciously used. All
our development consists in the increasing consciousness of this
connection, which enables us to apply the higher power to whatever
purpose we may have in hand, not merely in the hope that it _may_
respond, but with the certain knowledge that by the law of its own
nature it is bound to do so, and likewise with the knowledge that by
the same law it is bound also to guide us to the selection of right
objects and right methods.
Experience will teach us to detect the warning movement of the inner
Guide. A deepseated sense of dissatisfaction, an indescribable feeling
that somehow everything is not right, are the indications to which we do
well to pay heed; for we are "guarded ones," and these interior
monitions are the working of that innermost principle of our own being
which is the immediate outflowing of the Great Universal Life into
individuality. But, paying heed to this, we shall find ourselves
guarded, not as prisoners, but as a loved and honoured wife, whose
freedom is assured by a protection which will allow no harm to assail
her; we shall find that the Law of our nature is Liberty, and that
nothing but our own want of understanding can shut us out from it.
XXII
MIND AND HAND
I have before me a curious piece of ancient Egyptian symbolism. It
represents the sun sending down to the earth innumerable rays, with the
peculiarity that each ray terminates in a hand. This method of
representing the sun is so unusual that it suggests the presence in the
designer's mind of some idea rather different from those generally
associated with the sun as a spiritual emblem; and, if I interpret the
symbol rightly, it sets forth the truth, not only of the Divine Being as
the Great Source of all Life and of all Illumination, but also the
correlative truth of our individual relation to that centre. Each ray is
terminated by a hand, and a hand is the emblem of active working; and I
think it would be difficult to give a better symbolical representation
of innumerable individualities, each working separately, yet all
deriving their activity from a common source. The hand is at work upon
the earth, and the sun, from which it is a ray, is shining in the
heavens; but the connecting line shows whence all the strength and skill
of the hand are derived.
If we look at the microcosm of our own person we find this principle
exactly reproduced. Our hand is the instrument by which all our work is
done--literary, artistic, mechanical, or household--but we know that all
this work is really the work of the mind, the will-power at the centre
of our system, which first determines what is to be done, and then sets
the hand to work to do it; and in the doing of it the mind and hand
become one, so that the hand is none other than the mind working. Now,
transferring this analogy to the microcosm, we see that we each stand in
the same relation to the Universal Mind that our hand does to our
individual mind--at least, that is our normal relation; and we shall
never put forth our full strength except from this standpoint.
We rightly realise our will as the centre of our individuality, but we
should do better to picture our individuality as an ellipse rather than
a circle, a figure having two "conjugate foci," two equilibriated
centres of revolution rather than a single one, one of which is the
will-power or faculty of _doing_, and the other the consciousness or
perception of _being_. If we realise only one of these two centres we
shall lose both mental and moral balance. If we lose sight of that
centre which is our personal will, we shall become flabby visionaries
without any backbone; and if, in our anxiety to develop backbone, we
lost sight of the other centre, we shall find that we have lost that
which corresponds to the lungs and heart in the physical body, and that
our backbone, however perfectly developed, is rapidly drying up for
want of those functions which minister vitality to the whole system, and
is only fit to be hung up in a museum to show what a rigid, lifeless
thing the strongest vertebral column becomes when separated from the
organisation by which alone it can receive nourishment. We must realise
the one focus of our individuality as clearly as the other, and bring
both into equal balance, if we would develop all our powers and rise to
that perfection of Life which has no limits to its glorious
possibilities.
Keeping the ancient Egyptian symbol before used, and considering
ourselves as the hand, we find that we derive all our power from an
infinite centre; and because it is infinite we need never fear that we
shall fail to draw to ourselves all that we require for our work,
whether it be the intelligence to lay hold of the proper tool, or the
strength to use it. And, moreover, we learn from the symbol that this
central power is generic. This is a most important truth. It is the
centre from which all the hands proceed, and is as fully open to any one
hand as to any other. Each hand is doing its separate work, and the
whole of the central energy is at its disposal for its own specific
purpose. The work of the central energy, as such, is to supply vitality
to the hands, and it is they that differentiate this universal power
into all the varied forms of application which their different aptitudes
and opportunities suggest. We, as the hands, live and work because the
Central Mind lives and works in us. We are one with it, and it is one
with us; and so long as we keep this primal truth before us, we realise
ourselves as beings of unlimited goodness and intelligence and power,
and we work in the fulness of strength and confidence accordingly; but
if we lose sight of this truth, we shall find that the strongest will
must get exhausted at last in the unequal struggle of the individual
against the universe.
For if we do not recognise the Central Mind as the source of our
vitality, we are literally "fighting for our own hand," and all the
other hands are against us, for we have lost the principle of connection
with them. This is what must infallibly happen if we rely on nothing but
our individual will-power. But if we realise that the will is the power
by which we give out, and that every giving out implies a corresponding
taking in, then we shall find in the boundless ocean of central living
Spirit the source from which we can go on taking in _ad infinitum_, and
which thus enables us to give out to any extent we please. But for wise
and effective giving out a strong and enlightened will is an absolute
necessity, and therefore we do well to cultivate the will, or the active
side of our nature. But we must equally cultivate the receptive side
also; and when we do this rightly by seeing in the Infinite Mind the one
source of supply, our will-power becomes intensified by the knowledge
that the whole power of the Infinite is present to back it up; and with
this continual sense of Infinite Power behind us we can go calmly and
steadily to the accomplishment of any purpose, however difficult,
without straining or effort, knowing that it shall be achieved, not by
the hand only, but by the invincible Mind that works through it. "Not by
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
1902.
XXIII
THE CENTRAL CONTROL