DEATH AND IMMORTALITY
I think most of my readers will agree with me, that the greatest of all
the promises is that of the overcoming of death, for, as the greater
includes the less, the power which can do _that_ can do anything else.
We think that there are only two things that are certain in this
world--death and taxes, and no doubt, under the ordinary past
conditions, this is quite true; but the question is: are they really
inherent in the essential nature of things; or are they not the outcome
of our past limited, and often inverted modes of Thought? The teaching
of the Bible is that they are the latter. On the subject of taxes the
Master says: "Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's" (Matth.
xxii, 21), but on another occasion he said that the children of the King
were not liable to taxation (Matth. xvii, 26). However we may leave the
"taxes" alone for the present, with the remark that their resemblance to
death consists in both being, under present conditions, regarded as
compulsory. Under other conditions, however, we can well imagine "taxes"
disappearing in a unity of thought which would merge them in
co-operation and voluntary contribution; and it appears to me quite
possible for death to disappear in like manner.
In whatever way we may interpret the story of Eden, whether literally,
or if, like some of the Fathers of the church such as Origen, we take it
as an allegory, the result is the same--that Death is not in the essence
of man's creation, but supervened as the consequence of an inverted mode
of thinking. The Creative Spirit thought one way, and Eve thought
another; and since the Thought of the Creating Spirit is the origin of
Life, this difference of opinion naturally resulted in death. Then, from
this starting-point, all the rest of the Bible is devoted to getting rid
of this difference of opinion between us and the Spirit of Life, and
showing us that the Spirit's opinion is truer than ours, and so leading
us to adopt it as our own. The whole thing turns on the obvious
proposition, that if you invert the cause you also invert the effect. It
is the principle that division is the inversion of multiplication, so
that if 2 × 2 = 4 then you cannot escape from the consequence that 4/2 =
2. The question then is, which of the two opinions is the more
reasonable--that death is essentially inherent in the nature of things,
or that it is not?
Probably ninety-nine out of a hundred readers will say, the whole
experience of mankind from the earliest ages proves that Death is the
unchangeable Law of the Universe, and there have been no exceptions. I
am not quite sure that I should altogether agree with them on this last
point; but putting that aside, let us consider whether it really is the
essential Law of the Universe. To say that this is proved by the past
experience of the race, is what logicians call a _petitio principii_--it
is assuming the whole point at issue. It is the same argument which our
grandfathers would have used against aerial navigation--no one had ever
travelled in the air, and that proved that no one ever could. My father,
who was a junior officer in India when the first railway was run in
England, used to tell a story of one of his senior officers, who, on
being asked what he thought of the rapidity of the new mode of
travelling, said he thought it was "all a damned lie," which opinion
appeared to him to settle the whole question. But I hope that none of my
readers will hold the same opinion regarding the overcoming of death,
even though they might express it in more polite language. At any rate
it may be worth while to examine the theoretical possibility of the
idea.
To begin with, it involves a self-contradiction to say that the energy
of any force can stop the working of that force. If a force stops
working, it is for one of two reasons, either that the supply of it is
exhausted, or that it is overcome by an opposite and neutralizing force.
But we have seen that the Originating Cause of all things can only be an
inexhaustible Power of Life, and therefore the hypothesis of it becoming
exhausted is eliminated; and similarly, since all the forces of the
Universe proceed from this Source, it is impossible for any of them to
have a nature diametrically opposite to that of the source from which
they flow. So the alternative must be eliminated also. Accordingly, the
outflow, undifferentiated, of Life and Energy from the Eternal
Substantive of Spirit, is never stopped _by its own current_ in any of
its differentiated streams; it is impossible for a current to be
stopped by its own flow, whether it be a current of electricity, steam,
water, or anything else. What then does stop the flow of any sort of
current? It is the Resistance or _inertia_ of the channel through which
it flows; so that we come back to the formula of Ohm's Law, C = E/R as a
general proposition applicable to any conceivable sort of energy.
The neutralizing power then, is not that of the flowing of any sort of
energy, but the rigidity, or inertia of the medium through which the
energy has to make its way; thus bringing us back to _rouah_ and
_hoshech_, the expansive and compressive principles of the opening
verses of Genesis. It is the broad scientific generalization of the
opposition between Ertia, or Energy, and Inertia, or Absence of Energy;
and since, for the reasons just given, Ertia cannot go against itself,
the only thing that can stop it is Inertia.
Now the components of the human body are simply various chemical
elements--so much carbon, so much hydrogen, etc., as any textbook on the
subject will tell you; and although, of course, every sort of substance
is the abode of ceaseless _atomic_ energy, we all recognize that merely
atomic energy is not that of the powers of thought, will, and
perception, which make us organized mentalities instead of a mere
aggregation of the various substances exposed to view in a biological
museum, as constituting the human body--you might take all these
substances in their proper proportions, and shake them up together, but
you would not make an intelligent man of them. We are therefore safe in
saying that the physiological body represents the principle of inertia
in us, while the something that thinks in us represents the principle of
Ertia.
The balance of power between the Life Principle in us and the Death
Principle, is then, necessarily, a question of the balance between these
two, the spirit and the flesh, or ertia and inertia.
Why then does the balance preponderate to the life-side for a certain
length of time, and then go over to the opposite side?
Now this brings us to the distinction which the old writers drew,
between the "Vital Soul" of any living thing and the Spirit. Their
conception of the "Vital Soul" was very much the same as I have set
forth in the chapter on "The Soul of the Subject." It is the
individual's particular share of the Cosmic Soul or Anima Mundi, whether
it be an individual tree, or an individual person; and the ordinary
maximum length of time, during which the Vital Soul will be able to
overcome the inertia of its physical vehicle, depends upon the
particular class to which the individual belongs. What the ordinary
maximum is in regard to any species is a matter of experience, and it is
in this way that we have fixed the usual limit of human life at
three-score years and ten.
Now it is here that we shall begin to profit by some knowledge about the
invisible part of ourselves. The actual molecules of our body, as I have
just said, are only so much dead matter. This inert material is pulled
about in various directions by strings which we call muscles, according
to the movements we wish our bodies to make, and these muscles are set
in motion by the vibrations of the nerves.[4] But what is it that
occasions these vibrations of the nerves? Here we begin to pass beyond
the limits of official Science, though not beyond the limits of
recognizable Law. We have to recognize the existence of an etheric body
acting as an intermediary between intention, desire, or (in the case of
human beings) thought of the soul and the physical vibrations of the
nerves. This is why, in an earlier chapter, I have drawn attention to
our power of sending out etheric vibrations beyond the limits of the
physical body, as in the case of De Rocha's experiments. Such
experiments show that there is in us something not composed of dense
matter, which is able to convey vibrations to dense matter; and it is
this something which we speak of as the etheric body.
But if we wish to trace the links by which our thought operates upon the
physical body, we find ourselves compelled to postulate yet another
intermediary, what I have spoken of as the "Vital Soul"--a vehicle which
does not _consciously think_, but in which what we may call
race-consciousness becomes centred in the individual. This
race-consciousness is none other than the ever-present "will-to-live"
which is the basis of physical evolution--that automatically acting
principle--which causes plants to turn towards the sun, animals to seek
their proper food, and both animals and men to try instantly to escape
from immediate danger. It is what we call instinct which does not
reason. I may give a laughable experience of my own to illustrate the
fact that conscious reason is not the method of this faculty. Once when
on leave from India I was walking along a street in London in the heat
of a summer's day and suddenly noticed just at my feet a long dark thing
apparently wriggling across the white glare of the pavement. "Snake!" I
exclaimed, and jumped aside for all I was worth, and the next moment was
laughing at myself for not recollecting that cobras were not common
objects in the London streets. But it looked just like one, and of
course turned out to be nothing but a piece of rag. Well, instinct did
its duty even if it did make a fool of me; but there is certainly no
conscious reasoning in the matter, only the automatic action of inherent
Law--"Self-preservation is the first law of Nature."
This Vital Soul, then, is the seat of all those instincts which go
towards the preservation of the individual's physical body, and towards
the propagation of the race; and it is on this account that our
theosophical friends call it the "Desire Body" or, to use the Indian
term "Kama rupa." It acts with conscious intention, but not with
conscious _reasoning_. It is thus distinguished on the one hand from the
etheric body, which is a mere vehicle for finer vibrations than can take
place in the denser matter of the physical body, but which has _no
intention_; and on the other from the _mind_ which acts by conscious
reasoning, and it thus forms an intermediary between the two.
The importance of recognizing the place of this higher intermediary in
the ascending scale of living principle is, that for all practical
purposes the animal world does not rise higher than this in the scale.
It is true that in particular instances we find the first dawning of the
mental faculty in an animal, but it is only very faint; so this does not
affect the broad general principle. The point to be noted is that up to
this stage human beings are built on the same lines as animals, and what
distinguishes us, is the addition in ourselves of a higher factor,--that
of the reasoning mind exercising the power of conscious thought.
Now it is the direction of this thought that influences the three lower
factors. The sequence, going upwards, is as follows:--movement is
communicated to the physical body by the etheric body; and movement is
communicated to the etheric body by the Vital Soul; then, in proportion
as the purely instinctive action of the Vital Soul is controlled by the
conscious thought, so its action upon the two lowest principles is
modified.
Here, then, is the crucial point. In what direction is the conscious
thought going to modify the action of the three principles that are
below it? If it takes the soul of mere racial desire and the physical
body as its standard of thought, then it naturally follows that it
cannot raise it any higher. It has descended to _their_ level and so
cannot pour any stream of life into it, on the simple principle that no
current can ever flow from a lower to a higher level, whether the
difference in level be that of actual elevation, as in the case of
water, or different in potential, as in the case of electricity. On the
other hand if the conscious mind recognizes that itself proceeds from
some higher source, it looks to receive life from that source, and its
thought is modified accordingly, and in turn re-acts correspondingly
upon the lower principles.
If this is clear to the student, he will now see how it is that by
limiting our conception of life to the current ideas entertained by the
race, we impress these ideas on our three lower principles. It is true
that these three principles are not capable of reasoning themselves, but
the highest of them, the Vital Soul, has its action modified by the
reasoning principle above it, and so communicates to the two lowest
principles corresponding waves of vibration. And in this connection we
must remember the distinction between the two systems of nerves; the
voluntary system connected with the brain and forming the medium of all
voluntary action, and the involuntary, or sympathetic system connected
with the solar plexus and controlling all the automatic actions of the
body, and thus being the agent of that continual renewal of the physical
organism which is always going on, and keeps in existence for a life
time a body which begins to disintegrate immediately the soul has left
it.[5] Now it is through this inner Builder of the Body that our Thought
re-acts upon our physical organism. The response is purely automatic,
for the simple reason that there is no original thinking power in the
three lower principles; the action is that of the Law as directed by
Thought or Word.
In this way then, it appears to me, the Personal in us acts upon the
Impersonal in us; and if we assume, as I think we may, that this action
takes place by means of etheric waves, we have, on general scientific
principles, a clue to what we read in the Bible about the transmutation
of the body. The theory of the constitution of the atom shows us that
its nature is determined by the number of its particles and their rate
of revolution, and that a change in the rate of revolution results in
the throwing off of some of the particles. Then the number of particles
being altered, there results a change in the distribution of the
positive and negative charges within the sphere of the atom, since they
must always exactly balance one another; and this change in the
distribution of the positive and negative charges must instantly result
in a corresponding change in the geometrical configuration of particles
constituting the atom.
That the particles automatically arrange themselves into groups of
different geometrical form within the sphere of the atom, has been
demonstrated both mathematically and experimentally by Professor J.J.
Thompson,[6] these geometrical forms resulting of course from the
balance of attraction and repulsion between the positive and negative
charges of the particles.
That the transmutation of one substance into another is not a mere dream
of the mediæval alchemists is now already shown by Modern Science. Under
suitable conditions an atom of Radium breaks down into atoms of another
sort known as Radium Emanations, and these again break down into yet
another sort of atoms to which the name of Radium Emanations X has been
given, while Radium Emanation also gives rise to the atom of Helium
(N.K. 124). Thorium also behaves in the same manner, transmuting into
atoms called Thorium X, which again change into atoms of another sort to
which the name of Thorium Emanations has been given and these in turn
transmute into atoms of yet another kind, known as Thorium Emanations X.
The same is the case also with Uranium which, however, so far as is yet
known, undergoes only one transmutation into what is known as Uranium X.
The transmutation of one sort of atom into another is therefore not a
mere visionary fancy, but an established fact; and although our
laboratory experiments in this direction may not as yet have gone very
far, they have gone far enough to show that a Law of Transmutation does
exist in Nature. Then, since the difference between one sort of atom and
another results from the difference and arrangement of their particles,
and the difference in the number and arrangement of the particles
results from the difference in the speed of their rotation, and this
again results from the difference in the energy or rate of vibration of
the particles, we come back to different rates of etheric vibrations as
the commencement of the whole series of changes; and as is proved by the
facts of wireless telephoning, different rates of etheric vibrations can
be set in motion by the varying sounds of the human voice, even on the
physical plane. May it not be then, that by the same law, vibrations of
other wave-lengths, yet unknown to science, will be set in motion by the
unspoken word of our thought?
The substance known as Polonium, even by its near approach to an
electric bell, causes it to ring, and if etheric waves can thus be
started by an inanimate substance, why should we suppose that our
thought has less power, especially when metaphysically we cannot avoid
the conclusion that the whole creation must have its origin in the
Divine Thought?
From such considerations as these, I think we may reasonably infer that
if the mind be illuminated by a range of thought coming from a higher
mind, there is no limit to the power which may thus be exercised over
the material world, and that therefore St. Paul's statement regarding
the transmutation of the present physical body, is one which should be
included in the circle of our ideas, as being within the scope of the
Laws of the Universe when their action is specialized by the power of
the Word (1 Cor. xv); and similarly with regard to other statements to
the same effect contained in the Bible. What is wanted is the
realization of a greater Word than that which we form from the current
experience of the race. The race has formed its Word on the basis of the
lower principles of our being, and if we are to advance beyond this, the
Law of the subject clearly indicates that it can only be by adopting a
more fundamental Word, or Idea, than that which we have hitherto thought
to include the entire range of possibilities. The Law of our further
Evolution demands a Word not formed from past experiences, but based
upon the eternal principle of the All-Originating Life itself. And this
is in strict accord with scientific method. If we had always allowed
ourselves to be ruled by past experiences we should still be primitive
savages; and it is only by the gradual perception of underlying
principles, that we have attained the degree of civilization we have
reached to-day; so what the Bible puts before us is simply the
application to the life in ourselves of the maxim that "Principle is not
limited by Precedent."
Now the Bible Promises serve to put us on the track of this Principle:
they suggest lines of enquiry. And the enquiry leads to the conclusion
that the two ultimate factors are the Law and the Word. What we have
missed hitherto is the conception of the limitless possibilities of the
Law, and the limitless power of the Word. On one occasion the Master
said to the Jews "Ye know not the Scriptures neither the power of God"
(Matth. xxii, 29) and the same is the case with ourselves. The true
"Scripture" is the "scriptura rerum" or the Law indelibly written in the
nature of things, and the written Scriptures are true only because they
contain the statement of the Principle of the Law. Therefore until we
see the Principle of the Law we "know not the Scriptures." On the other
hand, until we see the Principle of the operation of the Word through
the Law, we do not know "the Power of God"; and it is only as we come to
perceive the interaction of the Law and the Word that we see the
beginning of the way that leads to Life and Liberty.
But although it is evident from the text just quoted, as well as from
other intimations in his Epistles, that St. Paul fully grasped the
principle of the transmutation of the body, he himself tells us that he
has not yet realized it in practice. He says he has not yet "attained to
the resurrection from the dead," but is still pressing on towards its
attainment (Ph. iii, 12). And it is to be remarked that he is not here
speaking of a general "resurrection _of_ the dead," but, as the word
_exanastasis_ in the original Greek indicates, of a special resurrection
from among the dead; this indicates an _individual_ achievement, not
merely something common to the whole race. From this and other passages
it is evident that by "the dead" it means those whose conception of Life
is limited to the four lower principles, thus #unifying# the mind with
the three principles which are below it; and the same idea is expressed
in a variety of ways all through the Bible. This therefore shows that he
is quite aware that knowledge of a principle does not enable us then and
there to attain the completeness of the application, and if this be the
case with St. Paul, we cannot be surprised to find it the same with
ourselves. But on the other hand knowledge of the principle is the first
step towards getting it to work.
Well, St. Paul is dead and buried, and so I suppose will most of us be
in a few years; so the question confronts us, what becomes of us then?
As Milton puts it in "Il Penseroso" we want:
"to unsphere
The spirit of Plato and unfold
What worlds or what vast regions hold
The immortal mind that hath forsook
Her mansion in the fleshly nook."
Yes, this is a question of deep personal interest to us; but as I cannot
speak from experience, I will restrict myself to seeing whether we can
form any sort of general hypothesis on the basis of the principles we
have recognized. What then is likely to survive? The physical body is of
course disintegrated by the chemistry of Nature. The etheric body
probably continues to retain its form longer, because it is a
condensation of etheric particles wrought together by the etheric waves
sent out by the Vital Soul, and is therefore not subject to the laws of
chemical affinity. The Vital Soul, being the race-principle of life in
the individual,--that principle which automatically seeks to preserve
the individual from disintegration,--probably survives longer still,
until, ceasing to receive any reflex vibrations from the body, it grows
gradually weaker in its sense of individual guardianship, and so is
eventually absorbed into the group-soul or generic essence of the class
to which it belongs. This is probably what happens in the case of
animals for want of any higher vivifying principle, and would be the
same with us were it not for the fact of having such a higher principle.
In our case I should imagine that the influx of etheric waves, received
from the thought action of the mind, would have the effect of continuing
to impress the Vital Soul with a sense of individuality, in terms of its
own plane, which would prevent it from being absorbed into the
group-soul so long as the vital current from the mind continued to reach
it. But eventually that current would cease to reach it, and in some
cases, because the individual mind that governed it would gradually
realize that its connection with the physical plane had ceased, and in
others, because through a higher illumination the mind had, of its own
volition, turned its thought in another direction. In either case, on
the ceasing of the influx of that vitalizing current, the Vital Soul of
the human being would likewise be absorbed into the Cosmic Soul, or
Anima Mundi.
How long the processes of the disintegration of the etheric body, and
absorption of the vital soul may take, is a question on which I can
offer no opinion beyond saying that certain psychic phenomena suggest
that in some cases they may take a long period of time. But for the
reasons I have now given, it appears to me that the permanently
surviving factor is the thinking mind which is our real self, and is
positively our centre of consciousness after the physical body has been
put off.
By the facts of the case its consciousness is no longer affected by
vibrations received from the physical body; and therefore, to the
extent to which our idea of life has been centred in that body, we shall
feel its loss. If our motto has been "Let us eat and drink, for
to-morrow we die" we shall feel very dead indeed--a living death, a
consciousness of being cut off from all that constituted our enjoyment
of life--a thirst for the satisfaction of our customary ideas, which we
have no power to quench; and, in proportion as our habitual mode of
thought is raised above that lowest level, so will our sense of loss be
less. Then, by the same Law, if our habitual mode of thought is turned
towards pure, beautiful, and helpful ideals, we shall feel no loss at
all, for we shall carry our own ideals with us, and, I hope, see them
more clearly by reason of their disentanglement from mundane
considerations. In what precise way we may then be able to work out our
ideals I will not now stop to discuss. What we want first is a
reasonable theory, based upon the principle of that universal Law which
is only varied in its actions by the conditions under which it works;
so, instead of speculating as to precise details, we may generalize the
question of how we can work out the good ideals which we carry over with
us, and put it this way:--Our ideas are embodied in thoughts; thoughts
start trains of etheric waves, which waves induce reciprocal action
whenever they meet with a receiver capable of vibrating synchronously
with them, and so eventually the thought becomes a fact, and our helpful
and beautiful ideal becomes a work of power, whether in this world or in
any other.
Now it is to the forming of such ideals that the Bible, from first to
last is trying to lead us. From first to last it is working upon one
uniform principle, that the Thought is the Word, that the Word sets in
motion the Law, and that when the Law is set in motion it acts with
mathematical precision. The Bible is a handbook of instruction for the
use of our Creative Power of Thought, and this is the sequence which it
follows--one definite method, so fundamental in its nature, that it
applies equally to the making of a packing-case or the making of a solar
system.
Now we have formed a generalized conception, based on this universal
method, of the sort of consciousness we are likely to have when we pass
out of the physical body. Then our thought naturally passes on to the
question what will happen after this?
It is here that some theory of the reconstitution of the physical body
appears to me to hold a most important place in the order of our
evolution. Let us try to trace it out on the general lines of the
Creative Power of Thought indicated above, the keynote to which is that
the Law is specialized by the Word, and cannot of itself bring out the
infinite possibilities contained in it without such specializing, just
as in all scientific development of ordinary life. The clue to the whole
question is, that our place in the Universal Order is to develop the
infinite resources of the Original Life and Substance into actual facts.
"Nature unaided fails." The Personal Factor must co-operate with the
Impersonal, alike for setting up an electric bell, or for the
furtherance of cosmic evolution; and the reason it is so is, because it
could not possibly be otherwise.
If now we start by recognizing this as our necessary place in the
Progressive Order of the Universe, I think it will help us to form a
reasonable theory as to the reconstruction of the body. First of all,
why have we any physical body at all? As a matter of fact we have one,
and no amount of transcendental philosophizing will alter the fact, and
so we may conclude that there is some reason for it. We have seen the
truth of the maxim "Omne vivum ex vivo," and therefore that all
particular forms of life are differentiations of the one Basic Life.
This means a localizing of the Life-Principle in individual centres. The
formation of a centre implies condensation; for where there is no
condensation the Energy, whether electricity or Life, is simply
_dispersed_ and _achieving no purpose_. Therefore distinctness from the
undifferentiated Original Life is a necessity of the case. Consequently
the higher the degree of Consciousness of Individuality, the greater
must be the Consciousness of _Distinctness of Personality_.
We say of a "wobbly" sort of person: "That fellow is no use, you can't
depend on him." We say of a person whose ideas, intentions, and methods
are subject to continual variations under all sorts of outside
influences, whether of opinions or circumstances, that he has "no
backbone," meaning that he is in want of individuality. He has no real
thought of his own, and so has no Word of Power by which to co-operate
with the Law; therefore, to the extent to which this is the case with
any of us, we are of no use in furthering the unfoldment of Evolution,
whether in ourselves or anywhere else.
Now we talk a lot about Evolution or the _un_-folding, but we seem often
not to realize that there must be something to unfold; and that
therefore _In_-volution, or the concentration of the Life-principle,
must be a condition precedent to its _E_-volution. This process of
Involution must therefore be a process of gradually increasing
concentration of the Life-principle, by association with denser and
denser modes of the Universal Substance. Then, on the principle of
Vibration, the less dense the substance in which the Life is immersed,
the more it must be subject to being stirred by vibratory currents other
than those produced by the conscious action of the Ego, or inherent
Life, of the individuality that is being formed.
But "_the Sum of the Vibrations in anything determines the mode, power,
and direction of its action_"; therefore, the less the Ego be
concentrated through association with a dense vehicle, the more "wobbly"
it must be, and consequently the less able to take any effective part in
the further work of Creation. But in proportion as the Ego builds up an
_Individual_ _Will_, the more it gets out of the "wobbly" state--or, to
refer once more to the idea of etheric waves--it becomes able to select
what vibrations it will receive, and what vibrations it will send out.
The involution of the Ego into the physical body, such as we at present
know it, is therefore a necessity of the case, if any effective
Individuality is to be brought into existence, and the work of Creation
carried on instead of being cut short, not for want of material, but for
want of workmen capable of using the tools of the builders' craft--the
Law as "Strength" and the Word as "Beauty."
The Descending Arc of the Circle of Being is therefore that of the
Involution of Spirit into denser and denser modes of Substance,--a
process called in technical language by the Greek name "Eleusin," and
the process continues until a point is reached where Spirit and
Substance are in equal balance, which is where we are now. Then comes
the tug of war. Which of the two is to predominate? They are the
Expansive and Constrictive primal elements, the "rouah" and "hoshech" of
the Hebrew Genesis.
If the Constrictive element be allowed to go further than giving
necessary form to the Expansive element, it imprisons the latter. The
condensation becomes too dense for the Ego to receive or send forth
vibrations according to its free will, and so the Individuality becomes
lost. If the condensation process be not carried far enough, no
Individuality can be built up, and if it be carried too far, no
Individuality can emerge; so in both cases we get the same result that
there is no one to speak the Word of Power without which "Nature unaided
fails."
Thus we are now exactly at the bottom of the Circle of Being. We have
completed the Descending Arc and reached the point where the realization
of the Distinctness of Conscious Individuality enables us to choose our
own line, whether that of progressing through the stages of the
Ascending Arc of Being, or of falling out from the living Circle of
Progression, at least for a period, into what is sometimes mystically
spoken of as "the Moon," or (in descending order) the "Eighth Sphere,"
and which is called in Scripture "The Outer Darkness,"--the rigidity
which stops the action of Life.
Therefore it is with regard to this stage of our career that the Bible
lays so much stress on the conflict between the Spirit and the Flesh--it
is a fact in the course of our evolution, and the purpose of the Bible
is to teach us how to move forward along the Ascending Arc of the Circle
of Being, so as to build up individualities which will be able to use
the tools of Intelligence and Will in the great work of Evolution, both
Personal and Cosmic.
Now what is shown diagrammatically as the Ascending Arc of the Circle of
Life is the Return from its lowest point, or the _Full Consciousness of
Personal Distinctness_, gained through _the Material Body_, back to its
highest point or the Originating Life itself. This is the truth embodied
in the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is a Cosmic truth, and this
return journey is technically called by the Green name "Anaktorion." It
is the Rising-again, that is from matter to Spirit, and is the
Resurrection Principle.
But what is accomplished by the journey of the Ego round the Circle of
Life?
_A New Centre_ of Intelligence and volition is established; from this
the Creative Word of Power can be spoken--a _Complete Man_ has been
brought into existence, who can take a _free and intelligent_ part in
the further work of Creation, by his understanding of the interaction
between the Law and the Word. The "Volume of the Sacred Law" lies open
before us, and the Vibratory Power of the Word to give effect to it is
the "Blazing Star" that illuminates its contents, and so we become
fellow-workers with the Great Architect of the Universe.
For these reasons it appears to me that our self-recognition in a
physical body is a necessary step in our growth. But why should the
reconstruction of a physical body be either necessary or desirable? The
answer is as follows:
Obviously self-recognition is the necessary basis for all use of those
powers of selection and volition by which the Impersonal Law is to be
specialized so as to bring to light its limitless potentialities; and
self-recognition means the recognition of our personal Distinctness from
our environment. Therefore it must always mean the possessing of a body
as a vehicle, by means of which to act upon that environment, and to
receive the corresponding reaction from it. In other words it must
always be a body constituted in terms of the plane upon which we are
functioning. But it does not follow that we should always be tied down
to one plane.
On the contrary, the very conception of the power of the Word to
specialize the action of the Law, implies the power of functioning on
any plane we choose; but always subject to the Law, that if we want to
act on any particular plane in _propria persona_, and not merely by
influencing some other agent, we can only do so by assuming a body in
terms of the nature of that plane. Therefore, if we want to act on the
physical plane, we must put on a physical body. But when we have fully
grasped the Power of the Word we cannot be tied to a body. We shall no
longer regard it as composed of so many chemical elements, but we shall
see beyond them into the real primary etheric substance of which they
are composed, and so by our volition shall be able to put the physical
body on or off at pleasure,--that at least is a quite logical deduction
from what we have learnt in the preceding pages.
Seen in this light the "Resurrection Body" is not the old body
resuscitated, but a new body, just as real and tangible as the old one,
only not subject to any of its disabilities,--no longer a limitation,
but the ever ready instrument for any work we may desire to do upon the
physical plane.
But perhaps you will say, "Why should we want to have anything more to
do with the physical plane? surely we have had enough of it already!"
Yes; in its old sense of limitation; but not in the new sense of a world
of glorious possibilities, a new field for our creative activities; not
the least of which is the helping of those who are still in those lower
stages which we have already passed through.
I think if we realize the position of the Fully Risen Man, we shall see
that he is not likely to turn his back upon the Earth as a rotten, old
thing. Therefore a new physical body is a necessary part of his
equipment.
If, then, we take it as a general principle, that for self-recognition
upon any plane a body in terms of that plane is a necessity, this will
throw some light on the Bible narrative of our Lord's appearances after
his Resurrection. It is noteworthy that he himself lays stress on the
body as an integral part of the individuality. When the disciples
thought they had seen an apparition he said: "Handle me and see that it
is I _myself_, and _not_ a spirit, for a spirit hath not flesh and
bones as ye see I have" (Luke xxiv, 39). This very clearly states that
the spirit without a corresponding body is not the complete "I myself";
yet from the same narrative we gather that the solid body in which he
appeared is able to pass through closed doors, and to be disintegrated
and re-integrated at will. Now on the electronic theory of the
constitution of matter which I have spoken of in the earlier part of
this book, there is nothing impossible in this; on the contrary it is
only the known Law of synchronous vibration carried into those further
ranges of wave-lengths which, though not yet produced by laboratory
experiment, are unavoidably recognized by the mathematicians.
In this way then the Resurrection of the Body appears to me to be the
legitimate termination of our present stage of existence. What further
developments may follow, who shall say? for we must remember that the
end of one series is always the commencement of another--that is the
doctrine of the Octave. But this is far enough to look forward in all
conscience. As to _when_ the completion of our present stage of
evolution will be attained, it is impossible even to hazard a guess; but
that the _individual_ attainment of such a Resurrection is not
dependent on any particular date in the world's history, is clearly the
teaching of Scripture. When Martha said to Jesus that she knew her
brother would rise again "at the last day," he ignored the question of
"the last day," and said "I am the Resurrection and the Life" (St. John
xi, 25); and similarly St. Paul puts it forward as a thing to be
attained (Ph. iii, 15). It is not a resurrection _of_ the dead but _from
among_ the dead that St. Paul is aiming at--not an "anastasis ton
nekron," but an "anastasis _ek_ ton nekron."
Doubtless there are other passages of Scripture which speak of a general
resurrection, which to some will be a resurrection to condemnation (St.
John v, 29), a resurrection to shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. xii,
2). This is a subject upon which I will not attempt to enter--I have a
great many things to learn, and this is one of them; but if the Bible
statements regarding resurrection are to be taken as a whole, these
passages cannot be passed over without notice. On the other hand the
Bible statements regarding _individual_ resurrection are there also, and
the general principle on which they are based becomes clear when we see
the fundamental relation between the Law and the Word. Only we must
remember that the Word that can thus set in motion the Law of Life, and
make it triumph over the Law of Death, cannot be spoken by the limited
personality which only knows itself as John Smith or Mary Jones. We must
attain a larger personality than that, before we can speak the Word. And
this larger personality is not just John Smith or Mary Jones magnified;
that is the mistake we are all so apt to fall into. Mere magnification
will not do it. A square will continue to be a square however large you
make it; it will never become a circle. But on the other hand, there is
such a thing as stating the area of a circle in the form of a square;
and when we learn to regard our square as not existing on its own
account, but as an expression of the circle in another form, our
attention will be directed to the circle first, as the generating
figure, and _then_ to the square as a particular mode of expressing the
same area. If we look at it in this way we shall never mistake the
square for the circle, but we shall see that as the circle grows, the
corresponding square will grow with it. It is this dependence of the
square on the circle that makes all the difference, and makes it a
living, growing square. For the true circle represents Infinitude. It is
not bounded by a limiting circumference as in the merely symbolic
geometrical figure, but is rather represented by the impulse which
generates an ever widening circle of electro-magnetic waves; and when we
realize this, our square becomes a living thing. The "Word" that we
speak with this recognition is no longer ours, but His who sent us--the
expression, on the plane of individuality, of the Thought that sent us
into existence and so it is the "Word of Life." This is the true
Resurrection of the Individual.