THIRD
LESSON
THE
EMBODIMENTS OF THE
SOUL IN HUMAN FORM.
THE GENESIS.
Creation is the direct action of God's
Will producing
what after- ward may be governed by law. Law is not creative, but
governing.
There can be no Law without a Law Maker, no Force without a Cause, no
Cause
without Intelligence, Volition.
THE INFINITE
CREATIVE POWER IS GOD;
Manifested in the universe.
Matter is the primal postulate of
Creation; God,
the Infinite Hypostasis
CREATION
PRECEDES GENERATION.
The Creative Act brings
into existence,
Genetic Law perpetuates.
Creation is as constant as
Generation.
There is but one connecting power
between the
Creator and matter, and that is the
BREATH OF GOD.
The Breath of God is the Generic life
of all material
things.
Where the "Beginnings" are is
Creation; i. e.,
where God meets matter.
Each beginning is a creation; whether
of a solar
system, a sun, a world, or, after dynamic evolutions, of the different
types of organic life.
Every distinct type is a creation.
The Book of Genesis, in the Hebraic
Bible, is
the Kabalistic account of Creation, and contains that which (when
interpreted
correctly) clearly sets forth the enactments of the Divine Will.
Thus after the six "evenings" and six
"mornings,"
i. e., six periods, preceding and six following the Creative action,
Creation
was complete in your solar system, as it had been in all previously
created
systems. "In the beginning," referring only to the commencement of
Creative
enactments in the cyclic relations of your solar system and the earth.
EVOLUTION FOLLOWS CREATION.
Thus prepared matter awaits the
expression of
the Soul.
When any solar system is ready for
expressions
of life, there occurs that which is typified, according to the
symbolism
of the ancient interpretation, in the Book of Genesis. The physical
life
has been evolved to meet the involved Soul, and, at the point where
they
can meet, creative expression in the physical form takes place, and
could
no more be prevented than could two lines of light approaching each
other
be prevented from conjunction, or any two coincident lines, be
prevented
from meeting. Just where matter is prepared to meet this involved Soul
science can never discover, and only Revelation can make known.
The Breath of the Soul is the generic
life in
matter of the expressions of the Soul under such circumstances as we
shall
make known.
THE SPIRIT
IS THE BREATH OF LIFE
that reaches matter from the Soul.
At the gates of Paradise--the typical
Eden of
human existence, the Eden of innocence, of unconsciousness of the
Soul-state
and also of that which is to come; the complete unconsciousness of what
matter is to be when expression begins--stand the summoning Angels and
Archangels. They do not leave the Soul companionless. Such Souls
as are to take on expression in outward life are grouped according to
their
states, and enter the typical Eden of human life where the earth has
been
prepared, by the Creative Act of the Deity and the operation of law, in
a generic sense, to meet the Soul. The first impulsion from the Soul in
its dual capacity, and the impulsion from the Deity conjoined, produce
man, the typical Adam and Eve.
"So God created man in his own image,
in the image
of God created He him; male and female created He them."
"And the Lord God formed man of the
dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became
a living Soul."
In the first paragraph quoted the dual
nature
of God and the dual nature of the Soul are revealed. We think "his own
image" refers to the image of the Soul, i. e., dual. "In the image of
God
created He him," the image of the Soul is like the image of God, which
is further proven by "male and female created He them." In the
second
paragraph quoted, "the dust of the ground" refers to all atomic life
beneath
man; as it is a well known, and almost axiomatic, fact in science that
the human organism contains some portion, however minute, of all the
primal
substances of the earth. "And breathed into his nostrils
the
breath of life;" here is the Spirit of God producing the
action
of "breath of life," spirit of man; life is used here for existence,
genesis instead of being; the latter is the Soul state.
"And
man became a living soul;" i. e., the Soul had taken on the
expression
of life instead of remaining in the state of being.
The Garden of Eden, the Paradise of
the dual expression
of material life on earth, appears clear under the light of this
interpretation.
This Paradise, the Eden, is the state of innocence into which the life
is first introduced on earth, ignorant and innocent, "a little lower
than
the angels," because the angel is that which must lose itself in
matter,
even thus divided, to begin expression. Therefore, when dual life
finds expression in material form occurs that which is
denominated
"the fall," i. e.: the Soul has put off its celestial, and has
taken
on its terrestrial state.
This typical Garden of Eden, portrayed
in the
Book of Genesis, is the introduction of man and woman on earth, the
expression
of the Soul, not only in its dual, but in its involved state. "The
fall"
of man is the descent from the celestial kingdom to material life, the
introduction into matter. And the whole narrative (although it seems to
have been termed a fable by some) is a very careful and very distinct
statement
of that which was known to the Ancients and preserved by the Kabala
concerning
the contact of the Soul with matter. And that was denominated the Eden
state, because it is the state of pleasantness, of innocence.
Innocence
differs from purity in this: that innocence is without knowledge,
purity
is victory. So after all, this state of innocence is the state of being
tempted, and the matter or material things in which the Soul seeks
expression
must contain the elements of temptation. The serpent was the coil of
material
life which surrounds, encompasses or forms the environment here.
All that is meant in the Adamic fall is, that the consciousness of the
celestial state is overshadowed or eclipsed by the consciousness of
time,
or the sense of this limitation, so that the outward state is not aware
of the Soul and its celestial state.
The earth and heaven having been
prepared, the
Creative Act by the Creator, was, for the last time, in operation;
producing,
THE FIRST
EXPRESSION OF THE SOUL
ON EARTH: MAN AND WOMAN.
The typical Adam and Eve.
Adam: the red earth, i. e., the
creature of the
earth.
Eve:
life,
) i. e., the saviour, the woman, the spouse, the
Eva:
Serpent, <
tempter, the sharer.
Evi:
desire,
)
This Creation (Adam and Eve) was not
simply one pair,
(but whenever and wherever the earth or other involving planets are
ready
for the Adamic birth there man and woman are created.) They appeared as
created, not as generic beings.
The inbreathing of the Soul into
matter is Spirit,
that which precedes every embodiment is the breath of its life; and the
breath of that life is the Spirit of that life. The spirit of Adam,
therefore,
is the spirit of the first or primal man; and the spirit of Eve, the
spirit
of primal woman. This dual expression of Adam and Eve, or the man of
earth
and the woman of earth, and the woman the serpent, mean: out of the
paradise
of the Soul, the man of earth, abandoning the spiritual companionship
which
precedes the earthly, and the celestial companionship which was before
that, enters the mortal state; the earth is the serpent, the primal
mother,
the Egyptian Isis, the surrounding coils of the Senses. It was not Eve
(matter, or the wisdom of the serpent) who was the Soul wife of Adam,
she
was the outward expression of which Lilith was the Soul; as Adam was
not
the Bridegroom of the Soul. Thus the outward woman came unto Adam as
told
in the Garden of Eden, following him into material life from within.
As the masculine is the aggressive
nature, representing
the conquering power, the element of force in the universe; so the man
preceded the woman. In the translation it is said: that God took a rib
from the side of Adam, and this He made into the woman. This may be
interpreted
in its primal meaning in ten or twelve different ways. The
interpretation
we would give it would mean that it was the inner or vital portion of
Adam's
life, the part nearest the heart, which means the innermost essence or
the life that was expressed after Adam, and this innermost expression
took
the form of Eva, and this form was, not only Eve, (life,) but Evi,
(desire,)
temptation, because while nature might not tempt man, while the
physical
surroundings might not be sufficient temptation, there was embodied in
Eve that which was nearest and dearest. Therefore the whole moral
proposition
of the world, as related to man and woman, is revealed in this great
secret
of the dual existence in the primal state of physical expression, as
here
portrayed.
There is no interchange of sexes in
the expressions
of the Soul. Embodiment in man is the expression of the Impulsion from
the Soul in its masculine, and woman from the Soul in its feminine
state.
Here let us distinctly state that it is not according to our teaching
that
there is ever any transference of the sexes, the masculine principle of
the Soul is always expressed in masculine form, and the feminine
principle
always appears in the feminine form. The masculine principle is the
aggressive,
the conquering element, the feminine is the inner, the center, the
conserving
element. In all instances of the first expressions in matter the
masculine
is first and the feminine afterward, thus the typical Adam and Eve
illustrated
the usual order of the expressions of Embodiments in earthly life.
There are always the two expressions
in human
form representing one Soul (the masculine and the feminine embodiments)
upon the earth at the same time, each expressing a corresponding degree
of unfoldment. Beginning equally in the first embodiment, this equality
(of unfoldment) continues through all subsequent embodiments.
You must bear in mind that we do not
teach that
there are more expressions from the same Soul than the one man and
woman
upon the earth at the same time.
THE FIRST
EXPRESSION OF THE SOUL,
IN
MATTER IS IN THE FORM OF MAN AND WOMEN.
No lower type of existence could
express that
which humanity reveals; no other type than humanity could express the
Soul
and that which is intended to be expressed or represented. But, as in
all
kinds of existence there must be the lowest expression, you must begin
at the commencement.
The first state of human life is the
state into
which the Soul descends, having taken upon itself the involution toward
expression. That is the beginning so far as humanity is concerned, no
human
life so low upon the earth that that life does not represent the
beginnings
of all Souls in their expressions here, and none so high that they do
not
typify the attainment of all Souls ere expression is finished here.
Every
Soul thus voluntarily taking upon itself expression in matter must
begin
at the beginning. As one learns a language by beginning, with the
alphabet
and grammar; as one learns arithmetic by beginning with the numerals
and
their combinations, and higher mathematics must follow arithmetic, so
in
the expressions in matter Souls commence with the state that is lowest
upon the planet that is approached.
Not having experienced the existence
of earth,
when a Soul approaches this planet it must take upon itself the
beginnings
of human expression. So the primal step is of the earth, earthy; and
the
Adamic state is the typical earthly race of mankind, illustrative of
all
who take up this mortal life. This first stage of existence, the
infancy
of the race, is partially revealed by science; but the spiritual and
primal
solution of existence is unknown, and the material one is sought for.
In
the spiritual explanation is found the only true solution of life: that
when the birth on earth begins, the expression of Souls must take the
farthest
point from the celestial state. Souls, in expression, do not begin by
conquest over the earth, that is attained. If you do not begin
at
the lowest stage to build, you can have no foundation for the edifice;
and the archway would never be built if a strong foundation were not
laid
beneath the soil; so this physical existence, in its primitive stages
of
expression, is simply of different degrees of consciousness, which may
be called man, and these stages in their primal degrees constitute the
beginning of every expression on earth.
As when a very good man may engage in
some material
work which requires all his thought and attention; the work itself may
be much inferior to him, but he must devote all his energy to
it;
or if one is building a house, although it is built for the body and
not
for the spirit, yet the thought is intent upon the building; so in the
lowest or first expression of material life existence is what is
expressed.
The race is typified in the individual; the babe only gives expression
to physical life at first, all else is hidden, has being, but is
unexpressed.
The same is true in all beginnings; even when pretty well advanced in
general
human expression, if one begins a new work it is executed clumsily and
awkwardly at first. One who had never drawn a picture could not very
well
portray even the simplest forms at first; there must be many strange
lines
and blemishes before anything deserving the name of art can be reached.
The first steps in material life are, therefore, as said before, steps
of existence.
THE EMBODIMENTS
ARE IN SUCCESSION,
AND EMBRACE THREE GENERAL DIVISIONS OF HUMAN LIFE.
The first is the Adamic stage, of
Physical life.
The second is the Hermetic stage, of
Intellectual
life.
The third is the Messianic stage, of
Spiritual
life.
The expressions of physical life are,
at first,
seemingly without intellectual or moral purpose, yet in reality the
intellectual
and moral purposes are there ready to come forth when the successive
steps
of victory over matter shall have made it possible. In each of these
general
stages there are many degrees (or culminations) and in each degree many
successive lines of embodiment.
The successive lines of the expression
of one
Soul in any one planet are really typified in the single life of man
and
woman. Childhood is the state of physical growth; there is the
feebleness
and limitation to conquer, and the physical surroundings seem to
overcome
whatever else may he enfolded there. When the childhood of the race is
here there seems little, through its various degrees of physical
growth,
to indicate that which at last attains success over its physical
surroundings
when the mental and moral natures begin to unfold. These first feeble
lines
of expression are what occur in the many successive embodiments of the
first stage of expression. It would possibly not be very gratifying to
you to know what is the first expression, nor would it flatter you,
perhaps,
but evolution does not flatter either. You can not find the lowest
human
expressions upon the earth at the present time. But take the lowest
human
states as illustrative of this typical beginning, though not in reality
the beginning, then consider all grades until you reach the highest
expression,
this would be typical of the conclusion, the final state upon the
earth.
With the exception of the first stages there are manifested to your
vision
nearly all the different stages upon the earth to-day, of what the Soul
experiences in the many aeons of its expression upon this planet.
The three stages or degrees of
expression are
primarily stamped upon the human race; but it is best to here explain,
that while the intellectual and moral possibilities are hinted
at
in the primal nature of man, the expression of those
possibilities
seems, in the infancy of human embodiments, to be excluded; as we
discover
in the states of races, and individuals who seem to have no unfolded
moral perception. Remember we have not created those states, we are
explaining
why they exist. This lack of mental and moral expression indicates that
the first stages of expression do not include the moral problems; they
have not yet been reached in the scale of human progress toward perfect
expression.
Physical life has first to be entered
upon, the
victory over it and the environment of the senses, must come afterward.
The embodiments follow one after
another in more
rapid succession in the physical states of expression, since there is
little
or nothing of the moral and spiritual harvest to gather, so the
successive
embodiments in the first states come rapidly. The growth is slow, and
the
perceptible advancement in expression from one embodiment to another
would
scarcely he noticed until the final result. In this first stage of
expression
man seems inferior to the animal kingdom since he has no instinct
to govern his appetites, and his mental and moral nature is still
undeveloped
in expression. This is because the only law of man's government is
the mental and moral (spiritual), and because of this he has no blind
instinct
to guide him.
The degree of physical expression
merely must
be repellent to contemplate by itself, as it includes all states that
precede
intellectual activity or mental attainment; constitutes the existence
wherein
the sensuous life governs, wherein there may be enjoyment of the
senses,
wherein there may be some degree of perception, a certain manifestation
of intelligence, but no approach to the intellectual or spiritual
awakening,
which must come when the race or when the individual is dominated by
the
higher nature.
A DISTINCT
RESULT OR PERFECTION
IN ANY GIVEN LINE OF EXPRESSION IS A CULMINATION.
Each culmination is the termination of
a line
of successive embodiments toward a certain point of perfect expression
in one direction; and while there may be latent suggestions of other
lines
in the same series of embodiments, there is always a dominant
purpose,
in each embodiment of that series, in the direction of the culmination.
In illustration of this you have the
typical states
of mere physical enjoyment: the glutton, the one whose happiness
consists
in the amount of food consumed, and this is made the basis of
competition.
There are some who are typical of that state even now upon the earth.
You
will discover that the achievement in that direction, when it amounts
to
what is considered an achievement, is really almost marvelous as a tax
upon physical endurance. It is not difficult to perceive that this
state
was idealized in the Epicureans, whose motto was borrowed from an
honored
source. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow you may die." In the
Bacchanalian
feasts and revels of your Anglo-Saxon ancestors no man was considered a
devotee who did not finally sink with stupor at the end of a banquet.
The
race has yet a sufficient number of those who have not risen above this
shrine. You can possibly conceive of the state of heroism in which
humanity
must have existed when the highest victory, the noblest exaction, the
greatest
conquest, was that which was put into the stomach!
It is not very long since the evidence
of the
highest civilization consisted in the greatest amount of physical
strength.
The prize ring is a remnant of that which in ancient Rome was the test,
almost, of the highest humanity. You have, the model of art and
intelligence,
the example of Greece,. to prove to you that physical strength was
considered
the standard of human perfection. The feats of the gladiators and the
wonderful
skill of the athletes will serve to illustrate this; while in the
tournaments,
in ancient days, prowess was recognized in the greatest physical
strength.
Achilles was scarcely more admired then than now. The ideal Hercules
still
remains the type of perfect manhood, and even Jove, the Thunderer, is
worshiped
upon more mountains than Olympus.
In ancient Egypt, those deities who
presided over
man's physical well-being were the Gods that were most revered:
revealing
to the senses the majesty of their power, leading man to conquest and
victory
by the violence of physical force. The remnant of that age, which once
was universal, is now to be found in those states of the race, some
types
of which are existent upon the earth to-day, who have nothing beyond
the
physical so far as revealed; who merely exist for that first stage of
expression,
yet the culminations in that direction are always to be found where
there
is achievement in any physical enterprise. The colossal architecture of
Egypt includes a culmination in that direction, although accompanied by
another impelling force which is soon to be found dominant. Modern
armies
fighting at a distance, with weapons that do not bring them into
hand-to-hand
conflicts, illustrate another kind of force, a more complex state of
expression;
but the kind of courage or skill found in the prize ring, or in those
contests
between individuals, who, face to face and hand to hand, enter into
tests
of mere physical strength without any moral aim, without any sense of
patriotism,
without any object in view save the privilege of pounding one another
into
a recognition of the brute strength of one or the other of the
combatants,
illustrates the typical childhood of the race, and of individual
expressions
in the first contact with human existence. Were this the end, the
states
of humanity that express nothing higher would indeed be hopeless.
That which was witnessed in Rome and
Greece as
legitimate amusement for the highest in the land, is now tolerated
among
sporting men only. The typical Hercules of antiquity was the typical
victory
by bodily strength. No one can doubt but that in some state he has
expressed
that same victory.
The spirit of each embodiment is the
breath, or
impetus, from the Soul toward a culmination. A culmination is the
highest
point that can possibly be attained in a given line. In that past age
all
humanity was being expressed on that physical plane, there are those
still
attaining perfection and conquest in that direction; whatever is less
than
a culmination or perfection in a given line is an embodiment toward it,
so that the small contests of the weaklings of those ages were but
steps
toward the accomplishment of the Herculean state. Those who have
outgrown
the prize ring, and the desire for physical contest, may safely
conclude
that in a past condition they have expressed themselves to the fullest
extent in that direction. Every step toward this culmination is a step,
however, toward the knowledge of its fallacy.
When physical perfection is reached,
it is simply
to reveal that there is something beyond; as one may climb up, out of
breath,
a great steep of a mountain that seems to be high, only to discover
that
it is the smallest height, and that he must descend into a valley to
reach
the next one beyond; these typical descents are the weaknesses in human
life, whether physical, mental, or moral; so after Hercules comes the
pigmy
to illustrate that true strength is not in the body. This being the
first
stage of victory, it is also the first revelation of weakness.
THE MERELY
PHYSICAL VICTORY
CONTAINS ITS OWN DEFEAT.
Matter in organic form contains the
elements of
disintegration. Physical indulgence implies satiety; and material
achievement
is followed by material decline. As matter is the first obstacle
encountered
in expression, so to vanquish matter seems at first to be the only end;
but as vanquishment does not come by mere victory in material things, a
more excellent way is shown.
THE SECOND GENERAL DEGREE OR STAGE OF
EXPRESSION
IS THAT OF THE INTELLECT.
Hermes (another name for Mercury) was
the god
of the intellect: trade, commerce, invention, mathematics, indeed all
learning,
as well as thievery and robbery, were typified in this ancient deity.
Not all at once does the mind assert
its presence
and begin to be a dominant force. It begins with the beginning of the
embodiments,
and commences to manifest its power before the physical is fully
expressed,
and there are glimmerings all the time, through individual lines of
life
and through all history, that even when a man insists upon the greatest
physical strength of the nation or the individual, there is something
unfolding
besides that, that you have two lines revealed in expression at the
same
time and in the same lives.
We will point to Greece as a
culmination of intellectual
and physical without the moral strength. The Spartans especially were
among
the races of which you have any knowledge in which this typical
physical
life was somewhat subordinated to the mental, or intellectual; but even
the Spartan refused to allow those who were
imperfect at birth to live, thus
producing a
race of heroes, from a physical standpoint. And in fact even Grecian
art
did not in reality, excepting through Grecian philosophy, rise above
purely
a physical standpoint. You will perceive that, while the physical may
be
dominant in the individual expression, and in the nation, (as the
aggregation
of individuals,) there also enters what is termed the mental power.
This
is a certain reflex from the spiritual, is a shadowy suggestion of the
spiritual, and compared to it is like the light of the moon compared to
the sun. This mental power constitutes the first thirst for knowledge;
the first idea of traffic; the advantage over fellow-beings in trade;
the
selfish wish to accumulate wealth; the inventions and discoveries that
promote selfish enjoyment through mental devices; handicraft, all
skillful
labor of the hands, indeed the whole domain of the empire over the
earth
by mental achievements, the mind governing the labor of the hands. And
you here perceive the distinct line of demarcation between man and that
which is not man in the visible creation of earth, in this: that man is
the only creature as a physical being who destroys his kind: other
generic
existences in the animal kingdom only destroy other animals (not those
of their own species usually) for food; but man destroys his
kind,
in the lowest states for food, and in the next states in order that he
may satisfy the demands of the idea of conquest, of victory over his
fellow-man.
The first dominant idea of man is the idea of conquest, even when the
mental
state intervenes and takes possession, when the physical state is on
the
decline.
As intellectual power is the next
step, its conquests
constitute the next victory; for the most part the average human life
pauses
there for a time, imagining this to be the real height. Greece in her
pride
of intellectual strength was as unscrupulous as she was in her physical
conquests.
There is no greater deformed monster
in the universe
than the intellectual giant devoid of moral strength, as there is no
greater
monstrosity than the physical giant devoid of intellectual and
spiritual
strength. But as one illustrates one step of progress, so the other
illustrates
another. The learning, skill, and conquests of the Hermetic
philosophers
will serve to show what man's intellectual endowments may become. But
each
step must be taken by each Soul.
The Pharaohs, Caesars, and Napoleons
of history
illustrate the culmination of intellect in the line of ambition.
Certain
learned Egyptians, Grecians, and even more modern philosophers,
illustrate
the culmination of a line of scientific achievement. To-day the whole
world
may be said to be tending toward this culmination of intellectual
strength;
while in the past there have been individuals and nations who have
illustrated
this culmination, the whole world now, as an average, worships at this
shrine of intellect. May not the story of Oedipus be intended as an
example
of the blindness of mere intellectual power?
The mental states (i. e., states of
intellectual
achievement) seem to be somewhat enwound with the spiritual; but the
latter
is not dominant, seems only secondary, or exists as an aid to the
intellectual
achievements: as in the observations of natural laws; discoveries in
astronomy
or geology; various inventions and devices for carrying forward the
scientific
pursuits of the world, and for the overcoming of the material
disabilities
under which mankind labor. In this direction must be included all
inventions,
all discoveries of territory, all voyages upon sea and journeys upon
land,
everything that enables man to build and pile up great monuments of
power,
and works of physical appliance for the purpose of fortifying his
physical
strength.
Thus the pursuit even of abstract
science, separate
from any moral impulse, is, in itself, a mental, and not a spiritual
expression,
and the greatest advancement, as it is termed, in the glory of art,
science,
and civilization, may occur without the slightest approach to any
spiritual
expression.
The mental steps are not only much
more various,
but they combine many, and more intricate, problems. We will use a few
simple illustrations, by which you will be able to follow out the
analyses
by applying these illustrations, in modified forms, to the entire realm
of mental pursuits. As there must be culminations in all lines of
physical
life by each Soul, so these intellectual culminations will be many. In
certain stages of expression there are several arts, and sciences, or
phases,
of intellectual pursuit at the same time. But take, for instance, the
individual
life, the typical expression of the Soul that has only passed all the
stages
of physical culminations, and physical weakness, and believes that,
after
all, physical strength is the greatest, but must be accompanied by
mental
power. Then the individual begins to know the mental, or rather
commences
the lines upon lines of mental approach to conquest.
The steps in the direction of art, for
instance,
are various and slow at first. In music, the one who struggles to that
which can not be attained in one embodiment, for which there is little
ability, and yet for which there is such desire, the struggle with
persistence
is continued through many embodiments. Among the average children, you
will find, perhaps, nine of every ten who can learn music; seven of the
ten learn indifferently, three out of the ten learn horribly; and all
learners
are as so many embodiments of torture. Your neighbor's child, over
there,
is on the road to a culmination in music, but through the various
sounds
you are made aware that the child is very far, as yet, from
culminating.
Is, not this true of poetry? One genius writes a poem and sets a
whole brood of janglers to making rhymes as near to poetry as the
crowing
of the cock is to the song of the nightingale. Some one sings, a song
and
the echo is caught up by every bluejay and catbird. Yet these who only
croak now will one day sing.
IN ALL AGES
GENIUSES ARE
THE CULMINATIONS OF A GIVEN LINE.
We would name Mozart as a genius
because, untaught,
in childhood he knew the principles of harmony. He did not know because
he had never had experience, but he knew because he had had experience
in previous lives, he had taken all the steps until that life was the
culmination.
This enabled Mozart to know music at three years of age; not because
his
Soul, or spirit, was any more tuneful than any other, but because he
had
taken the preceding steps in preceding lives to that culmination; while
another might be culminating in poetry, another in painting, or other
art,
he was culminating in music. This is encouragement for all those who do
not know musical harmony now, encouragement to such of you as may be
tortured
by your neighbors, or friends, who imagine they are attaining some
state
of musical perfection; they will attain it. When genius, appears the
world
recognizes its light. All steps, toward genius are steps of aspiration.
The man who wishes, to play, the one who wishes to sing, certainly
shall
play and sing because it is something yet to be attained. What a
pitiful
sight it was, in the minds of many of his friends, to see the giant
genius
of Goethe endeavoring to paint a picture! He could write a poem, he
knew
much of philosophy and science, he had spiritual intuitions that were
deeper
than those of other men around him, but he wanted to do that which he
could not do,
he must needs study painting!
If the art or gift is something that
has been
attained; if one has been a musical genius, that is evident from this
fact:
that one is not seeking for it, and yet is familiar with music. Here is
a man who can play well, his friends say: why do you not follow music?
He has no desire to do it because he can do it, because it is
a
part of his past experiences. People are most anxious to undertake that
which they can not do. You will hear people say: oh, that is beautiful
music but I have no desire to perform myself; but you will hear them
criticize
some particular portion with accuracy and taste; it is because they
have
been cultivated in that direction. Many art critics do not paint, but
they
certainly have a priori knowledge of art. We use all these
illustrations
because they come into your daily lives, and they show you the lines of
experience in yourselves and others around you, and prove to you what
is
the meaning of these different degrees of unfoldment. Otherwise between
the man who has no talent and a genius, like Mozart or Beethoven, there
would be a wide space impossible to span in eternity, but when you know
that the man who has no gift or talent, will have, that he is on the
road
to genius, and will culminate in that direction, it will clearly
illustrate
that genius travels in lines of unfoldment toward perfect expression,
that
there is achievement in one degree after another, that the one who can
paint pictures is only at one end of the line and the one who cannot,
but
wishes to, is at the other end.
Genius is the culmination of many
steps toward
perfection in one direction. Then wherever there is genius distinctly
manifested
it is the final expression of the individual Soul in that one direction.
Each may know by the geniuses of the
world what
the culminations of all will be, or have been, for each Soul must
express
itself as perfectly as any other in those directions.
It is not best to speculate what the
individual
state is, or where one is on the earthly pilgrimage, what the stage of
development one has just passed, or what one is entering into; just now
each one must experience the line of the individual embodiment for what
it presents itself to be, knowing that what one desires to attain is a
prophecy.
In these lessons it is well to
separate personalities
from principles as far as possible, and yet know that every
principle
stated here applies to every individual Soul; and knowing this, there
is
an explanation for all the fragmentary existences seen in the world,
and
the experiences within one's self.
States of mental and intellectual
unfoldment are
sometimes mistaken for something higher; it is well to draw the line
distinctly
at once, and see that no amount of human achievement, such as victory
through
the methods of mechanical and intellectual labor, can be called victory
in the end excepting as an illustration of what life is not for: just
as
the physical culmination is nothing in itself, but is an expression of
what life will not finally express; so the intellect is an expression
of
that which the mind will not finally express, viz., intellect without
spirit;
as in the preceding illustration the expressions were of the body
without
intellect, but both are states of expression which every Soul, having
entered
this race, must surely run, must have passed through or must pass
through,
whichever the degree of the present expression may be, in the usual
course.
We would again reiterate: the world is
beyond
the culminating period of mere physical strength, and we may call this
the approach to the culmination of intellect. The power of the
intellect
is worshiped to-day as physical power was worshiped in past ages. The
giant
has simply advanced another decree; the giant of intellect has taken
the
place of the giant of physical strength. Now the whole civilized and
enlightened
world tends toward the worship of the god of the intellect, which is,
of
course, as fallacious a worship, as blind a worship, excepting as a
stage
of growth in expression, as the worship of the god of the senses.
Two lines, and indeed two degrees of
culmination
are often expressed at once, as in the Pharaohs, Caesars, Alexanders,
and
Napoleons of history, whose pride and ambition for conquest and earthly
dominion were accompanied by equal ability to win the desired goal.
If one has passed the desire for
earthly kingdoms,
how barren seem the victories and achievements in that direction! Who
would
wish to be the Czar of all the Russias? Who would possess the throne,
crown,
and scepter of any kingdom of earth, having borne that burden and
having
had knowledge of the bauble of empire? But if one aspires to rule a
kingdom,
have pity, for he is in the line toward that expression, and he does
not
know what he seeks until he shall find it and know it is dust and
ashes.
So you understand why there still must be wars, why there still must be
heroes in battle, why there still must be kings and kingdoms.
All who are upon the earth in human
expression
have not yet passed the condition of physical greatness or mental
victory
incident upon the overcoming of these states. Whole races have gone on
beyond it, but all have not yet reached the very beginning of it. So
there
will follow other races that will begin the intellectual period that
you
are now culminating in.
As, you are now culminating in the
directions
known in Egypt and Greece in part time; as their intellectual
culminations
were prophecies of that which nations are now achieving; so your
victories
in intellect are prophecies of what the whole world will one day become.
Solon and Lycurgus in giving great
laws to the
State; Homer, Hesiod, Anacreon, Aeschylus, Pindar, the poets of Greece;
Pythagoras, Euclid, and those who in mathematics handed down, even from
the first, the numbers to the nations that were to follow; Memnon
inventing
letters; Thales and Cadmus in giving other letters and mathematics to
Greece--these
are all culminations in certain lines.
As the physical giant finds his,
reaction in the
dwarf, so the giant of intellect must find his antithesis in the
imbecile;
for frequently the giant in body is imbecile in mind, and in the
dwarfed
or deformed body the brightest spirit is seen. The imbecile in
intellect
is no greater monstrosity than the giant in intellect. The states of
physical
and mental imperfection thus reveal the true perfection that is still
beyond.
THE THIRD
GENERAL DEGREE
OF EXPRESSION IS THE SPIRITUAL
DEGREE.
In entering upon the consideration of
this, the
most complex stage of human expression, it should be remembered that,
as
there is no partiality in the Soul, so there is no partiality in the
experience.
Each Soul begins at the beginning of experience here, and passes
through
physical conquest and the physical disappointment, the intellectual
conquest
and the intellectual disappointment, and enters upon the spiritual
conquest
and all its difficulties to finally overcome them. The physical victory
is not a conquest over the physical nature, nor is the intellectual
achievement
a conquest over the intellect.
When you see certain lives that begin
better than
others, when you see certain individuals that have moral qualities, and
others that seem to have none; when you see those who have every
opportunity,
every means of advancement, yet can not avail themselves of them
because
of their condition, there must be some real solution, and that solution
is found only in this system which we are explaining to you now. If you
are journeying up a mountain and have commenced your journey sooner
than
another, you will be at a higher altitude than the one who commenced
afterward;
but as he follows along, he will find the same steep and stony places,
the same briers and thorns, the same difficulties to encounter; for
human
nature is so constituted that only what one experiences does one really
know. This is proven from the fact that no nation benefits by the
history
of any other nation. There never was a war that could not have been
avoided
if the lessons of history had been studied. But study does not make
experience,
and the lessons of history are not known until each individual or
nation
realizes them. This is why history repeats itself, that all may have
similar
experiences. This also becomes the leveler; the intellectual or moral
giant
and the intellectual or moral dwarf must somewhere be reconciled, or
there
is partiality in the kingdom of God. Then let us see how this
reconciliation
takes place. Under this light the intellectual giant is an imbecile
spiritually,
if he has not spiritual growth; and therefore, if he has pride of
intellect,
which he does if he has not spiritual growth, is not the natural
reaction
from that a descent into the valley to find the weakness of mere
intellectual
strength? A mother loves her imbecile child as well as her bright one;
she is even more tender toward it, she knows somewhere there is a clue
to that mysterious labyrinth that seems to imprison from the outward
world
the life that is within. If she could know that sometime there may have
been pride of intellect, and triumph over the weaknesses of others, she
would realize that this feeble condition is not more pitiable, and that
behind that seemingly benighted brain there is the Soul that, one day,
will shine forth, not in intellect alone, but in the greater and
diviner
light of spiritual beauty.
If the theory of the materialist, or
the mere
secularist, or even of the ordinary theologian were true, there would
be
no possibility of reconciling physical deformity with spiritual grace
and
power. But how often do you see, even in the child born with physical
deformity,
the light of the mind, the light of the spirit that teaches such
marvelous
lessons of patience that all the world can listen and learn wisdom.
Look
at the man who boasts merely of his physical power, and then behold the
little child, perhaps a hunchback, whom he may trample ruthlessly
beneath
his feet, and see the light within that eye, the patience that is
there,
and the humility, and learn that this towering form is a dwarf beside
the
feeble one. Thus are outward conditions not only reconciled, but made
to
be steps in the individual growth and advancement. Woe unto those who
feel
strong in their mere physical might; that strength is of the earth, it
is fleeting, it passes away; and they must learn by humility, by being
conscious of weakness of body and mind, the greater strength of the
spirit.
For the most part the ascent through
matter, after
taking the first steps in the infancy of life, is like a spiral
pathway;
but there are deviations which are the reactions from heights that are
not real, as the superficial height of the body, or the superficial
height
of the intellect. So that which seems to be a descent is not so in
reality;
neither is it so in the mental or moral kingdoms, for, as said before,
the giant of the intellect, or he who has no goodness or moral strength
is a monstrosity, and the reaction from that leads to the simplest
mind,
but a mind of sweetness and goodness. You often hear people say: such a
sweet nature, but no mind. What is the value of mind if it is not
goodness?
To encompass the universe with strong terms and technicalities and fail
in the real essence of life! These simple minds, as they are termed,
who
must have descended from the height of superficial intellectuality to
the
humility, perhaps, of knowing nothing, to learn the lessons of
sweetness
and goodness, are really on the way to be giants of strength in spirit.
The strength of spirit is attained
through struggles
that may encompass all conditions of life. Not gigantic to the extent
of
over weening physical strength, but for the purpose of usefulness as
much
as strength as is needed; not gigantic to the extent of worshiping the
intellect at the expense of the heart, but to succeed in all and to
fail
in all, until one can forward the work of the spirit, until it has
conquered
all states, not only sin but, the greatest of all sins,
self-righteousness,
and stands in sublime and exalted humility as the typical illustration
of conquest over the earth. All states between that and the lowest
condition
which you can picture are states of human experience that every Soul
must
pass through. Meanwhile there infiltrates into these experiences a
religious
or spiritual element, a suggestion that that which the body, or the
mind,
only accomplishes is no, accomplishment at all.
The first religious experiences must
have come
like earthquakes and tornadoes, undoubtedly taking possession of the
first
great nation at the height of its physical and intellectual splendor;
and
as the lightning tears down the temple or destroys the giant oak, so
the
first religious thought, flashing into a mind blind with physical and
intellectual
power, must have been like the rending of the veil in the temple. This
spiritual power is the beginning of inspiration in every age; we mean
the
recognized inspiration. Whatever flows into man's life from the divine,
infiltrates through the body and, the mind. We do not call that
inspiration
which is the usual activity of spirit in the organic nature, this is
simply
the power which the spirit uses, but which is not spiritual power. The
distinction between the two is evident; one may give expression to many
things by a power which is from within, but when that which is from
within
is expressed it becomes an impelling force, a light divine. While each
one, as an individual, may cause certain things to be done, still when
the life that is Soul is manifested and recognized, it becomes the real
life, and all that is done is acknowledged to be under its sway.
The spirit begins its triumph where
the intellect
fails: and we may say that this ascent is a gradual spiral ascent,
increasing
as one goes on, extending in new lines as one advances. But in the
steps
of expression, although there is continual ascent, there are also,
seemingly,
declensions: as between mountains there are depressions, but the
valleys
there are higher than the preceding mountain tops; so in the line of
embodiments
there are descents into the valleys of humility, but the seeming
decline
is not so in the absolute sense, for the valleys are among the heights.
REACTION IS AS
MUCH A LAW
OF GROWTH AS ACTION.
The reaction from physical success and
splendor
must naturally follow, although this would be just the opposite to
physical
success and splendor; then following gluttony would there not be
starvation?
and following the Hercules would there not be the pigmy and deformed
one?
There must be the spiritual synonym and meaning for every physical
fact.
However you may trace the cause of physical deformity to physical
sources,
you can find no other solution, in the great world of moral and
spiritual
force, than that deformity has its complement and balance in
overweening
physical strength unaccompanied by moral force; also the valley from
the
height of a non-intellectual and non-spiritual physical expression is
the
valley of deformity, that being its vale of humility; and then and
there,
in that valley, is the beginning of mental power, as the descent from
the
intellectual height is an illustration of the beginning of spiritual
strength.
The moral problems are most complex,
and here
is the whole conflict, here the battle ground seems to be after all;
for
when the moral perception enters, there is a different outlook, a
different
purpose, a different condition. That which under the mere physical
existence
seems right, under the moral light seems wrong. So that while it might
be right under physical law for the ancient Spartans to slay the child
that was born weak, the moral awakening reveals to the human mind that
physical weakness may not be mental and spiritual weakness, and that
human
beings have no right to determine, as valuable lessons of life may be
intended
to be taught even by weakness.
How mistaken the Spartans were in
putting the
imperfect bodies to death was illustrated by the fact, that with all
their
physical and intellectual perfection the Grecians could not preserve
their
moral integrity; how wrong they were in supposing that physical or
intellectual
life could be the basis of all advancement was illustrated by the
elements
of corruption that crept in, sweeping them from the face of the earth.
Instead of now slaying imperfect
children, they
are protected and provided for. The blind are made to know of life by
touch
and hearing; they are aided to perform their tasks, and that which is a
physical imperfection becomes the aid to songs divine, and sometimes to
spiritual vision. Supposing Milton had been slain because blind, where
would have been the visions of paradise; the illustration of that
genius
that exalted the world?
When the mental force is taking
possession it
is often veiled before recognition, the antitheses are the stepping
from
heights that are false; as the physical height has its downfall in
order
that a better height may be attained, so in the intellectual world
there
is the recession. Let no one suppose that, when placed in the spiritual
balance, the human intellect without Soul weighs any more than the dust
which expresses no intellect; let no one suppose that simply
intellectual
expression, unaccompanied by moral force or intention, can weigh any
more
in the great scale of real life, than that life whose intellect is
veiled,
and yet, in all appearances, wears a fair face, with features that are
delicately chiseled, but under some law has come into the world with no
intellectual outlook, with no face for earthly victory. These
illustrations
are extreme; but there is no more extreme depth, or fictitious height,
than that of the pride of intellect, of which this extreme is the
necessary
and natural antithesis. So were you to see a beautiful form and face,
as
perfect as any divinity worshiped by Grecian worshipers of art,
unaccompanied
by qualities of the mind and Soul in keeping with that form, you might
well say the next expression would be one of deformity.
As there is deformity in the world,
and as it
must have a mental and moral as well as a physical cause, or there must
be injustice to some one, so it is but proper to recognize that
imperfections
in the physical and mental life are illustrations of moral propositions
and are portions of the great equity of existence; then, too, in
reconciling
the relations of kings who wish to be peasants and peasants who wish
they
were kings, every one has an opportunity of trying both. No one at the
end of all these different experiences can say that any line of
expression
or experience has been denied. All must know what it is to be slaves,
as
all have a natural tendency to be tyrants, all must know by the
knowledge
of possession what are the responsibilities, trials, and temptations,
as
well as the redeeming and excusing features in each expression. So he
who
labors for his daily bread is made to do double labor by the
deflections
of the millionaire, and he may be unreconciled to this; he who subsists
by honest toil must be obliged to change places with the man whom he
envies;
when he experiences the poverty of riches he is glad enough then to
return
to the more humble and noble position. In fact, whatever men covet they
will have an opportunity of trying. Whatever they do not care for in
worldly
possessions they have experienced and outgrown.
When we consider the moral world, as
the intellectual
is very much more complicated than the physical struggle, how much more
intricate become the moral problems! The moment the spirit begins to
assert
itself the battle begins. It is not a battle between the intellectual
nature
and material life, when the intellect becomes, unqualifiedly, the
victor;
but here is the battle of ages; between the voice that finally works
its
way
through from the Soul into outward expression, and man's unconquered,
selfish,
nature; here is the conflict and the battle ground; here it is that the
Titans wage war; here it is that all final victories are won. The other
struggles, for physical or intellectual supremacy, are merely different
states of selfishness; but the first time man knows that he must
forfeit
self, or that there is a stage wherein he must vanquish selfish
desires,
the battle begins; that is the moral starting point. The intellectual
nature,
and even the physical life, asserts man's supremacy; but what he can
win
by conquering self he learns for the first time in his moral nature, he
has it in the voice of the Soul, which tells him he has no right to any
possession merely because he can win it. As a giant would not be
excused
for treading down children in the street, as a man of intellect should
not be excused for defrauding those who are ignorant, so man's moral
nature
begins, by slow degrees, to make him aware that his intellect and that
his physical life do not justify their full assertion; that he has no
moral
right, even though he has the physical power, to win supremacy and hold
it; and the real law of life is, when possessing strength not to use it
against others, but for others.
The subtle difference between the man
who cannot
kill and the one who is a murderer, is the difference in conquest over
self. He who says he can slay if he choose, does violence to either his
moral or intellectual nature; for the choice depends upon the
growth,
upon the degree of conquest. There have been conditions of human
civilization
when it was a virtue to kill. There are states of society, even today,
under the law of what is denominated self-defense, wherein it would be
considered a virtue to kill. Between the man who slays for gold and the
man who slays to protect gold, do you suppose there is any great moral
difference? The conquest is to win a victory over self, not over
another.
And that which is denominated virtue in one state of growth, becomes
impossible
in another. A primal virtue in the ages of physical supremacy is
conquest,
slaughter for individual or national empire. Second only to this in
lack
of moral or spiritual perception is the sacrifice of life in what is
commonly
called "self-defense." One can not slay, one can not do violence
to another, one can not betray in any manner, one can not degenerate to
any vice, one can not censure, if one has outgrown or overcome the
state
indicated. Neither angel nor demon can tempt the man who is above
temptation.
It is in this moral battle ground that
the wonderful
equity of this divine system is more and more manifested. This is not
only
the reconciliation of the world, it is the hope of the world. There are
those in the world today, illustrating the states devoid of all moral
impulse,
without power to overcome any passion, absolutely a prey to all the
conflicting
elements within and around them. There are other natures in whom
saint-like
qualities preponderate, who do not experience an unworthy thought.
'Where
is the law of science or the scheme of any theology, other than we are
announcing, that can explain the discrepance between these two states?
what opportunity is given, in time or eternity, by any other system
than
this, to reconcile one man's goodness, that seems to be born in him,
and
the infamy of another, that seems to be born in him, with the Infinite
love and goodness? Accounting the state of purity and perfection in
expression
as something man has won from within the Soul, the moral excellence as
a height that the others will win, that all others will have
opportunity
to attain just as great a height, just as absolute a victory, the
present
seeming inequalities in moral states are no longer hopeless. If we did
not know that the child would grow to become a man, how helpless and
devoid
of hope would infancy seem! When we declare, therefore, that
every
step of expression in life is a step toward victory, does it not teach
that those who condemn and censure, in an individual sense, have not
outgrown
the condition which they condemn and censure? If one sees a man who is
a murderer or a criminal of any kind, one may pity the state of the
criminal,
one may say he has not outgrown hatred, malice, and revenge, but unless
one has hatred, malice, and revenge, one can by no means wish to visit
upon him that which he has visited upon others.
As life goes on there is no need to
point to what
is highest; the saints, martyrs, and philosophers put to death, the
teachers
of human history and the Messiahs who have been crucified, illustrate
the
highest thought of human conquest, and each state that is less than
that
is still a state that ultimately tends toward it. When we are asked: Do
you declare, then, that it is necessary for all states of expression to
be experienced by all Souls? we answer unqualifiedly,
THAT WHICH IS
NECESSARY FOR
ONE SOUL IN ITS COURSE OF EXPRESSION THROUGH
MATTER
IS NECESSARY FOR ALL.
It could not be made necessary for one
unless
for all. There would be moral chaos.
The feminine in all possible states of
woman's
life, the masculine in all possible states of man's life; and the true
test of victory is in the fact that, not only is there no condemnation,
but like John Bunyan, who, on seeing a convict being borne to the place
of execution, said: "But for the grace of God there goes John Bunyan,"
or like Wilberforce, who said he never saw a criminal but he thought it
might have been himself, or like the highest prophets and teachers who
endeavor to aid the unfortunate, and do not insist upon condemning
them--there
is a sort of knowledge that it might have been one's self. Do not think
that the state of being without sin is not won.
It is not our province to declare in
what state
any human being is. You will see some lives that seem to illustrate the
highest moral growth today, and tomorrow they may be found under a
cloud
of human weakness and human censure; they fall, as it is termed, into
temptation.
There are no elernentaries nor personal demons in the upper or lower
air
lurking around to tempt mankind. Temptation is the natural consequence
of this involution in matter, and is the selfishness of man's human
nature;
the triumph over it is that which at last overcomes self.
The flaming sword suspended at the
gateway of
Eden, that Adam and Eve could not return, was the sword of conscience,
the awakened conscience, which prevents the Soul from returning again
into
the Eden state, the state of innocence. That which each must do, having
entered the pathway of experience and knowledge, is to find the
heavenly
state in the final victory, and that final victory is in self-conquest.
It must not be forgotten that in the
general system
of unfoldment toward moral perfection in expression, there are false
impressions
and fictitious heights that are supposed to be real. There is no
greater
state of deformity than the state of supposed righteousness in the
individual,
we mean the, "I am holier than thou." What the physical giant is
without
intellectual and moral growth, what the intellectual giant is without
goodness
or virtue, so is the giant of self-righteousness, the typical scribe
and
Pharisee, the hypocrite, be who removes his garments lest they be
contaminated
by contact with the sinner; such is the self-righteous. Make no
mistake,
even that pride has its fall. Sometimes you witness that those who
assume
the greatest virtue are the soonest under a cloud. Sometimes those who
have a superficial consciousness of being good are put to the
profoundest
test, and their goodness is found to be only on the surface. True
goodness
is so simple, so humble, so childlike, so divine, so beyond all
compare,
that it is not aware, nor boastful. The true moral victor, who can not
sin, avoids not the sinner, but uplifts and strengthens him who errs.
Only
in this triumph does moral perfection become complete, after all the
stage
of struggle and attainment, when the world is overcome.
It will be well to remember that each
separate
state is conquered by knowing it, then by knowing it is not a real
victory.
The thesis might seem to be that the Soul conquers matter by yielding
to
it, the antithesis is that the Soul conquers matter by knowing that
yielding
to it is not the real victory.
But enough has been said in this
lesson to show,
that each Soul enters expression in human embodiments in the most
infantile
state possible on earth; for all states are experienced by all Souls;
and
that each Soul in dual existence, the masculine and feminine, is always
expressing similar states at the same time. That there are three
distinct
general degrees of achievement: the physical, the mental, and the
moral.
Each of there degrees has its seeming and its real victory.
The false.
First: The false physical
strength, accompanied
by pride of physical conquest.
Second: Intellectual power and
achievement as
a finality.
Third: A fictitious moral strength,
self-righteousness.
The weakness of physical strength, the
fallacy
of mere intellectual power, and the downfall of self-righteousness, are
reactions.
The true.
First. Victory over the
physical.
Second. Conquest over the intellectual.
Third: True goodness, the ultimate
moral triumph
over the world.
For each of these degrees and states
(as well
as the reactions) many successive embodiments are necessary, until the
final victory.
The next lesson will be a
continuation of this
subject: Embodiments in human life.
PSYCHOSOPHY PART ONE
..THE
SOUL: ITS
NATURE, RELATIONS, AND EXPRESSIONS IN HUMAN EMBODIMENTS..
.LESSON
IV
