The Great Affirmative appears in two modes, the cosmic and the
individual. In its essence it is the same in both, but in each it
works from a different standpoint. It is always the principle of
Being--that which is, as distinguished from that which is not;
but to grasp the true significance of this saying we must
understand what is meant by "that which is not." It is something
more than mere non-existence, for obviously we should not trouble
ourselves about what is non-existent. It is that which bath is
and is not at the same time, and the thing that answers to this
description is "Conditions." The little affirmative is that which
affirms particular conditions as all that it can grasp, while the
great affirmative grasps a wider conception, the conception of
that which gives rise to conditions. Cosmically it is that power
of Spirit which sends forth the whole creation as its expression
of itself, and it is for this reason that I have drawn attention
in the preceding lectures to the idea of the creation ex nihilo
of the whole visible universe. As Eastern and Western Scriptures
alike tell us it is the breathing-forth of Original Spirit; and
if you have followed what I have said regarding the reproduction
of this Spirit in the individual--that by the very nature of the
creative process the human mind must be of the same quality with
the Divine Mind--then we find that a second mode of the
Originating Spirit becomes possible, namely that of operation
through the individual mind. But whether acting cosmically or
personally it is always the same Spirit and therefore cannot lose
its inherent character which is-that of the Power which creates
ex nihilo. It is the direct contradiction of the maxim "ex nihilo
nihil fit"--nothing can be made out of nothing; and it is the
recognition of the presence in ourselves of this power, which can
make something out of nothing, that is the key to our further
progress. As the logical outcome of the cosmic creative process,
the evolutionary work reaches a point where the Originating Power
creates an image of itself; and thus affords a fresh point of
departure from which it can work specifically, just as in the
cosmic process it works generically. From this new standpoint it
does not in any way contradict the laws of the cosmic order, but
proceeds to specialize them, and thus to bring out results
through the individual which could not be otherwise attained.
Now the Spirit does this by the same method as in the Original
Creation, namely by creating em nihilo; for otherwise it would be
bound by the limitations necessarily inherent in the cosmic form
of things, and so no fresh creative starting point would have
been attained. This is why the Bible lays such stress on the
principle of Monogenesis, or creation from a single power instead
of from a pair or syzegy; and it is on this account that we are
told that this One-ness of God is the foundation of all the
commandments, and that the "Son of God" is declared to be
"monogenes" or one-begotten, for that is the correct translation
of the Greek word. The immense importance of this principle of
creation from a single power will become apparent as we realize
more fully the results proceeding from the assumption of the
opposite principle, or the dualism of the creative power; but as
the discussion of this great subject would require a volume to
itself, I must, at present, content myself with saying that this
insistence of the Bible upon the singleness of the Creative Power
is based upon a knowledge which goes to the very root of esoteric
principles, and is therefore not to be set aside in favour of
dualistic systems, though superficially the latter may appear
more consonant to reason.
If, then, it is possible to put the Great Affirmation into words
it is that God is ONE and that this ONE finds centre in
ourselves; and if the full meaning of this statement is realized,
the logical result will be found to be a new creation both in and
from ourselves. We shall realize in ourselves the working of a
new principle whose distinguishing feature is its simplicity. It
is ONE-ness and is not troubled about any second. Hence what it
contemplates is not how its action will be modified by that of
some second principle, something which will compel it to work in
a particular manner and so limit it; but what it contemplates is
its own Unity. Then it perceives that its Unity consists in a
greater and a lesser movement, just as the rotation of the earth
on its axis does not interfere with its rotation round the sun
but are both motions of the same unit, and are definitely related
to each other. In like manner we find that the Spirit is moving
simultaneously in the macrocosm of the universe and in the
microcosm of the individual, and the two movements harmonize
because they are that of the same Spirit, and the latter is
included in the former and pre-supposes it. The Great
Affirmation, therefore, is the perception that the "I AM" is ONE,
always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this
harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative
power; and when the individual realizes that this always-single
power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in
himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its
singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with
what it is doing AROUND him. Then he sees that the affirmation "I
and my Father are ONE" is a necessary deduction from a correct
apprehension of the fundamental principles of being; and then, on
the principle that the less must be included in the greater, he
desires that harmonious unity of action be maintained by the
adaptation of his own particular movement to the larger movement
of the Spirit working as the Creative Principle through the great
whole. In this way we become centres through which the creative
forces find specialization by the development of that personal
factor on which the specific application of general laws must
always depend. A specific sort of individuality is formed,
capable of being the link between the great Spiritual Power of
the universal and the manifestation of the relative in time and
space because it consciously partakes of both; and because the
individual of this class recognizes the singleness of the Spirit
as the starting point of all things, he endeavours to withdraw
his mind from all arguments derived from external conditions,
whether past or present, and to fix it upon the forward movement
of the Spirit which he knows to be always identical both in the
universe and in himself. He ceases the attempt to dictate to the
Spirit, because he does not see in it a mere blind force, but
reveres it as the Supreme Intelligence: and on the other hand he
does not grovel before it in doubt and fear, because he knows it
is one with himself and is realizing itself through him, and
therefore cannot have any purpose antagonistic to his own
individual welfare. Realizing this he deliberately places his
thoughts under the guidance of the Divine Spirit, knowing that
his outward acts and conditions must thereby be brought into
harmony with the great forward movement of the Spirit, not only
at the stage he has now reached, but at all future stages. He
does not at all deny the power of his own thought as the creative
agent in his own personal world,--on the contrary it is precisely
on the knowledge of this fact that his perception of the true
adjustment between the principles of Life is based; but for this
very reason he is the more solicitous to be led by that Wisdom
which can see what he cannot see, so that his personal control
over the conditions of his own life may be employed to its
continual increase and development.
In this way our affirmation of the "I am" ceases to be the
petulant assertion of our limited personality and becomes the
affirmation that the Great I AM affirms its own I AM-ness both in
us and through us, and thus our use of the words becomes in very
truth the Great Affirmative, or that which is the root of all
being as distinguished from that which has no being in itself but
is merely externalized by being as the vehicle for its
expression. We shall realize our true place as subordinate
creative centres, perfectly independent of existing conditions
because the creative process is that of monogenesis and requires
no other factor than the Spirit for its exercise, but at the same
time subordinate to the Divine Spirit in the greatness of its
inherent forward movement because there is only ONE Spirit and it
cannot from one centre antagonize what it is doing from another.
Thus the Great Affirmation makes us children of the Great King,
at once living in obedience to that Power which is above us, and
exercising this same power over all that world of secondary
causation which is below us.
Thus in our measure and station each one of us will receive the
mission of the I AM.