What is the central principle at the root of all things? It is Life. But not just the life we see in different forms; it’s something deeper and more unified. This "unity of the spirit" is pure and undivided because it hasn't yet diversified. This might seem abstract, but it's the foundation of all scientific understanding of spirit. Without it, we can't explain the countless forms that spirit takes.
Life, in this sense, is the sum of all its manifestations. It isn't any one thing specifically, but it holds the potential for everything. This is a highly abstract concept, but it's about the core from which growth happens, expanding in every direction. This core is "the unknowable" – not because it can't be thought of, but because it can't be fully analyzed. It's something we perceive rather than understand through relationships and comparisons. We've moved beyond questions of relationships and are faced with the absolute.
At its innermost, this is absolute Spirit. It's Life that hasn't yet differentiated into any specific form; it's the universal life at the heart of all appearances. Understanding this is key to unlocking the true power and accessing the core of the Living Spirit. Some might argue it's contradictory to call this "the unknowable" and then talk about understanding it. Yet, even St. Paul wrote about exploring the depths and heights of the inner side of things to attain the knowledge of love that surpasses understanding. If he could embrace such seemingly illogical phrasing, we can also speak of knowing "the unknowable." This knowledge is the foundation of all other knowledge.
This undifferentiated universal life is the ultimate fact that all analysis must lead to. Regardless of the level of analysis, it must always come down to pure essence, pure energy, pure being – something that knows and recognizes itself but cannot be broken down into parts because it is fundamentally whole. Pure Unity. Analysis without synthesis is destructive; it’s like a child pulling a flower to pieces and discarding the fragments instead of understanding the flower's construction and appreciating the vast synthesis of nature's power that the flower represents. The value of analysis is to lead us back to the original point of what we study and teach us the laws that guide its formation.
Understanding the construction's laws, we can reverse our analysis to gain the power to build, always reaching beyond the limits of those who see "the unknowable" as synonymous with “nothingness."
This idea of the unknowable is the root of all materialism. Yet, no scientist, regardless of their materialistic tendencies, treats the unanalysable residue in their experiments as nothing. Instead, they use this final unanalyzable fact as the basis for their synthesis. They find that in the end, it is some form of energy, whether as heat or motion. They don’t abandon their scientific pursuits because they can't analyze it further. Instead, they embrace it, understanding that energy's conservation, indestructibility, and the impossibility of adding or subtracting from the world's total energy are the unchanging facts on which physical science is built. They base all their knowledge on their understanding of "the unknowable." And rightly so, for even if they could analyze this energy further, they would encounter the same problem of "the unknowable." Our progress involves continuously pushing the boundaries of the unanalysable, always a step further back. But the idea that there could be no ultimate unanalysable residue is inconceivable.
By realizing the undifferentiated unity of the Living Spirit as the central fact of any system, whether it be the entire universe or a single organism, we follow a strictly scientific method. Our analysis leads us to this final fact, and then we accept it as the basis for synthesis. The Science of Spirit is just as scientific as the Science of Matter. Both start from the same initial fact: the fact of living energy, which defies definition or explanation. However, the Science of Spirit considers this energy under the aspect of responsive intelligence, which is outside the scope of physical science. The Sciences of Spirit and Matter are not opposed; they complement each other. Neither is fully comprehensible without some knowledge of the other, and they merge into one another in a borderland where no arbitrary line can be drawn. True scientific study reveals the dual aspect of things: the inner and the outer. Only a truncated and incomplete science refuses to acknowledge this.
Studying the material world is not materialism if it progresses to its legitimate end. Materialism is the limited view that denies the existence of anything beyond mechanical effects and causes. A system that recognizes no higher power than physical force will ultimately resort to physical force or fraud as its highest appeal. I speak of the system's tendency, not the morality of individuals, who often surpass the systems they profess. History shows us the dangers of materialistic thought, whether in the Italy of the Borgias, the France of the First Revolution, or the Commune of the Franco-Prussian War. To avoid these destructive tendencies, we must embrace the study of the inner and spiritual aspects of life, which leads to truth and love instead of deceit and violence. Some may wonder why the New Jerusalem is described in the Book of Revelations as a cube, with "the length and the breadth and the height of it equal." This is because the cube represents perfect stability, with all sides balanced. It signifies the manifestation of that central life-giving energy, which is not any one plane but generates all planes. It is the above and below and all four sides. At the same time, it is a city, a place of habitation, because the "within" is Living Spirit, which resides there.
Just as one plane of the cube implies all other planes, any manifestation implies others and the "within" that generates them. To progress in the spiritual side of science – and every science has its spiritual aspect – we must focus on this "innermost within" that generates the cube. Our common language reflects this intuitive understanding. We speak of the spirit within, the spirit of a thing, the spirit of the times, and so on. Recognizing this animating spirit, we should understand it from within, rather than from without, to grasp its true nature. Thus, every symbol of a spiritual fact has its foundation in living reality, the same principle that flashes upon us intermittently and vaguely. We may realize that this universal and unlimited power of the spirit will manifest individually when we are attuned to the whole. Regardless of how far we go in our studies of spiritual science, we will find only particular expressions of this one universal life. The "Unity of the Spirit" is the key.
By understanding and embracing this unity, we unlock the deeper truths that lie at the heart of all existence, guiding us toward a more profound and comprehensive understanding of life and the universe.
**Denotes a subtitle added for a more contemporary feel that was not included or used in the original work.
Adapted from the original work: Troward, T. (1921). The Hidden Power, and other papers upon Mental science. Robert M. McBride & Company. All Material Cited is Free Use within the Public Domain.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.