THE SECRET DOCTRINE OF THE ROSICRUCIANS/PART 6
PART
VI
THE
UNIVERSAL FLAME OF LIFE
In
the Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians,
we find the
following Fifth Aphorism:
The Fifth
Aphorism V. The One is
the Flame of
Life. The Many
are the Sparks
in the Flame.
The Flame once
lighted kindles everything within
its sphere. The
Fire is in
everything and everywhere;
there is nothing
dark or cold
within its sphere.
In this
Fifth Aphorism of
Creation, the Rosicrucian
is directed to
apply his attention
to the concept
of the Universal Life—the Life of
the World Soul, permeating everything
everywhere within its
sphere of existence. This concept
of the World
Soul as a
Flaming Fire of
Life, abiding in
the entire Universe
in all of
its parts, is represented by
the Rosicrucians by
the symbol of
a circle filled
with flaming fire.
The symbol
of Life has
always been the
Flaming Fire, in
all occult teachings.
The Eternal, Universal
Fire, or Flame, which
kindles ever all
that presents itself
to its influence,
yet ever remains unchanged and
undiminished in its Essence,
has ever been the favorite
symbol of the
occultists for the
Universal Life in Manifestation.
When the term "Spirit" is used
to indicate "Life," then
the Flame or
Fire has always
been the symbol
for Spirit.
And, indeed,
the Flame is the most
appropriate symbol for Life that can be thought of. For the
Flame while ever
remaining the same, yet is never
composed of the same
particles or sparks
for even two
consecutive seconds. The
Flame, itself, in
its Essence, ever remains the same and unchanged, yet its
Manifestation is always accompanied and
correlated to the appearance and disappearance of innumerable
tiny particles of
material substance which it kindles into sparks, then destroys by the
process of combustion, and
then replaces by
others of similar
nature. And so it
is with the
Universal Life. It
ever persists unchanged and
unaltered in its
Essence, yet constantly manifesting itself through
and in countless
material forms which come and
go and are
in turn replaced
by other forms. The
form appears, is
consumed, and perishes—yet
the Flame abides
and survives all change. Those
who have plunged
deep into the
esoteric teachings are
aware that there
are many other very
good reasons why
the Flame or
Fire is the
best possible symbol
for Life, but
it is not
thought expedient to go
into these further
reasons at this
time and in
this place.
It was
formerly the teachings
of science that
the Universe was
composed of two
great classes of
Things, as follows: (1)
Living Things, and
(2) Lifeless Things.
In the first
class were placed
all human and
animal life, at least
during their term
of vital existence; plants were afterward added, though somewhat grudgingly,
by science. In the second class,
all Things below
the plane of
animal or plant
life were placed;
it being taught
that minerals, chemical elements,
etc., were utterly lifeless. Any who ventured to question this
accepted classification were deemed
of unsound mind,
and unworthy of
serious consideration.
But the
esoteric schools of
thought, and the
occultists, were always
insistent upon the
principle that there
was nothing lifeless in
the universe—that everything
was instinct with
life in some form,
degree, or phase.
And, lo! modern science
has at last reached the point
where it is practically looking
Occultism squarely in
the face, in
full agreement upon this
important point. The
old idea of
a half-lifeless universe
is fast passing
away, and men of advanced
science are beginning
to whisper to
each other that
"The Universe is
Alive, as a
Whole and in all of its parts." Surely this is
a remarkable change
in scientific opinion.
This
changed conception of
science is picturesquely
expressed by Luther
Burbank, the "wizard of
plant life," as follows:
"All my investigations have
led me away from
the idea of
a dead material
universe tossed about
by various forces,
to that of
a universe which
is absolutely all force,
life, soul, thought,
or whatever name we may
choose to call
it. Every atom,
molecule, plant, animal, or
planet, is only
an aggregation of
organized unit forces,
held in place
by stronger forces,
thus holding them for a time
latent, though teeming with
inconceivable power. All
life on our
planet is, so
to speak, just
on the outer fringe
of this infinite
ocean of force.
The universe is
not half-dead, but
all alive."
Prof. Dolbear
goes back even
to the Ether
of Space in
his assumption of
Omnipresent Life, when
he says: The Ether
has besides the function of
energy and motion,
other inherent qualities, out of which could emerge under
proper circumstances, other phenomena, such as life, mind, or whatever may be in that substratum." Prof.
Cope has intimated that
"the basis of
Life lies back
of the atoms
and may be
found in the
Universal Ether."
Saleeby,
in his well-known work of Evolution, in which
he carries to its logical
conclusions the work
of Herbert Spencer, says:
"Life is potential
in matter; life-energy
is not a
thing unique and
created at a
particular time in the
past. If
evolution be true,
living matter has
been evolved by
natural processes from
matter which is,
apparently, dead. But if
life is potential
in matter, it
is a thousand
times more evident
that mind is potential
in life. The evolutionist is
impelled to believe
that mind is
potential in matter.
(I adopt that
form of words
for the moment, but not
without future criticism.)
The microscopic cell,
a minute speck
of matter that
is to become
man, has in
it the promise and
germ of mind.
May we not
draw the inference
that the elements
of mind are present
in those chemical elements—carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur,
phosphorus, sodium, potassium, chlorine—that are found
in the cell. Not only must we
do so, but
we must go
further, since we know that each
of these elements, and every
other, is built up out of one invariable unit, the electron, and we must therefore assert that mind is potential
in the unit of matter—the electron
itself. It is
to assert the
sublime truth first perceived by
Spinoza, that mind and matter are the warp and
woof of what
Goethe called 'the
living garment of God.'
Both are complementary expressions of the Unknowable Reality
which underlies both."
Flammarion has
said: 'The universe
is a dynamism.
Life itself, from the
most rudimentary cell
up to the
most complicated organism, is a special kind of movement, a
movement determined and
organized by a
directing force. Visible matter,
which stands for
us at the
present moment for
the universe, and
which certain classic
doctrines consider as the
origin of all
things—movement, life, thought—is
only a word void of meaning. The universe is a
great organism, controlled
by a dynamism of
the psychical order.
Mind gleams through
its every atom.
There is mind in
everything, not only in human
and animal life,
but in plants,
in minerals, in
space." [The student must
always remember that where
there is "mind," there must be
"life;" and where there is "life," there must
be "mind." Hence the
importance of these
admissions of modern
science.]
Haeckel in
his "Riddle of the Universe," sometimes
called "The Bible of
Materialism," makes the following statement, remarkable
coming from such a source:
"I cannot imagine
the simplest chemical and physical
process, without attributing the movements of the material particles to
unconscious sensation." Again, he
says: "The idea of chemical affinity
consists in the fact
that the various
chemical elements perceive
the qualitative differences in other elements—experience 'pleasure' or 'revulsion'
at contact with them, and execute specific
movements on this ground." He adds,
at another point: "The
sensations and responses in plant and animal life
are connected by
a long series
of evolutionary stages with
the simpler forms
of sensation that
we find in
the inorganic elements,
and that reveal
themselves in chemical affinity." He
quotes with approval the statement of Nageli that:
"If the molecules possess
something that is related,
however distantly, to sensation, it must be uncomfortable
to be able
to follow their
attractions and repulsions; uncomfortable
when they are
forced to do
otherwise."
But not
only is modern
science giving approval
to the oldest
conceptions of the
occultists concerning Universal Life in
the manner mentioned
above, i.e. by
general statements; it is also
quoting with approval the
experiments and discoveries of
leading scientists along
the same line—experiments which
go to prove
the general statements above quoted.
Let us consider
a few of
these experiments and
discoveries in the
laboratories of modern
science.
Science has
practically created counterparts
of the diatoms
or "living crystals"—created artificially, in the
laboratories, creatures similar to
these links between
the mineral and
the animal forms. The diatoms are
tiny geometrical forms, composed of a tiny
shell of siliceous
material enclosing a
minute drop of
plasm, resembling glue. These
creatures are visible through the microscope, and are
so small
that thousands of
them might be gathered
together on the
head of a pin. They so closely resemble crystals that a very
careful examination is
required to distinguish them from
true crystals; and
yet they are
alive, and perform
all the functions
of life.
Crystals,
as you
know, are born,
grow, live, and
may be killed by chemicals or
electricity. Some investigators have
discovered indications of
elementary sex functions
in certain crystals. A
scientific writer has
said: "Crystallization,
as we are
to learn now,
is not a
mere mechanical grouping
of dead atoms—it
is a birth."
The crystal forms from
the mother liquor,
and its body
is built up
systematically, regularly, and
according to a well-defined pattern,
plan, or design—as
true to the
pattern as are
the bodies of
plants and animals.
The certainty is present
in the crystal
creative life activity.
And, not only
does the crystal
grow in this
way, like a
plant or an animal, but it
also reproduces itself
by separation and
division, just as
do the individuals of the lower forms of plant-life
and animal-life. The distinguishing
point between the growth and
reproduction of crystal
forms and that of
the higher forms
of life has,
heretofore, been held to be as follows: the crystal takes
its nourishment from
the outside and builds
up its bodily structure on
its outer surface,
while the lowly
forms of plant-life
and animal-life takes its
nourishment from the
outside but builds
up its bodily
structure from within.
If the crystal
had a soft-centre
and took its
nourishment in the
way of the
low form of
plant-life or animal-life (building
from within) it would
be almost identical
with the diatom;
or if the diatom grew from the
outside, and had
a hard centre,
it would be considered
a true crystal;
so, as you
see there is
very little real
difference between them. And,
now, lo!
even this distinction is
apparently to be
wiped out by
the discovery of
artificial living crystals, evolved
in the laboratory.
Careful scientific
tests have determined
that there is
what is known
as "the fatigue
of elasticity" in
metals, which is relieved
by a rest
or "vacation." This
has also been
found true of
razors, the edges
of which are restored by a little rest, thus corroborating
the ancient "superstition" of users
of razors. Tuning
forks have been
found to lose their
power of vibration
by over-use, a short rest
restoring the same.
Machinery in mills and factories have been found to be benefited by an occasional "day
off." Metals have been discovered
to be subject
to disease and infection, and
in some cases
have been found
to have been
actually poisoned and
afterward restored by
antidotes. Window glass, especially
the fine stained
glass of cathedral
windows, is found
to be subject
to an infectious disease, spreading from
pane to pane,
and resulting in
the disintegration of
the substance of the glass. Workmen's tools have been
found to experience
fatigue, and to be the better for
an occasional holiday or longer vacation. Every
observing machinist has observed certain
idiosyncrasies in particular
machines which need
"humoring."
The
most conclusive scientific report upon this
interesting subject, so far as
known to the present writer,
is that which recites
the celebrated series
of experiments conducted upon
so-called "non-living matter, several
years ago, and which
are recorded in
the book entitled
"Response in the
Living and Non-Living," by the scientists who conducted
the experiments, Professor J. Chunder
Bose, of the Calcutta University, who occupies a high position in
the scientific world. Professor Bose's
experiments have aroused
the greatest interest
in prominent scientific circles,
and have aided greatly in corroborating the
conclusions of other
scientists who hold
that "there is
no such thing
as dead matter."
Proceeding from
the fundamental postulate
that the best
and only true
test of the
presence of life
is the response
of matter to external stimulus, Professor Bose has demonstrated
that in many
instances so-called inorganic
matter, such as metals,
minerals, etc., give
a response to
such stimulus which
is similar, if
not indeed identical,
to the response of the matter
composing the bodies
of "living" animals,
plants, and men.
He devised certain very delicate apparatus for
registering and measuring such
responses, the same
being traced as
curves on a
revolving cylinder. He employed
that most delicate
scientific instrument called
the “Galvanometer” in
these experiments. The Galvanometer will
register the faintest irritation of nerve-matter, or living muscle;
and the experiments
proved that it would
also register the variations of
minerals, metals, etc., subjected to
the stimulus of outside force; the curves or tracings
being practically identical in
either case.
Professor
Bose reports that when he attached the
Galvanometer to bars
of various metals
they gave a
similar response when struck
or twisted; the
greater the degree
of irritation caused
in the metal
the greater the
degree of response. It
should be noted
that the living
nerve or muscle
reacts and registers
in precisely the
same way, and so
far as
the instrument indicated
the response of
muscle, nerve, metal, and mineral was identical. Just
as the
nerve or registered "fatigue" after frequently
repeated stimulus, so
did the metal
or mineral so register. And, just as the nerve or muscle registered
the renewal of
vigor after a
rest, so did
the metal or
mineral. To all
intents and purposes the
"living" and "non-living" matter
gave the same
response and evidence
of "life." Moreover,
the instrument showed something
like "tetanus" in
metals, caused by repeated
shocks; recovery after
the rest being also recorded. Moreover,
several metals recorded
fatigue from other
causes; and in
some cases the
metals showed the effect of
poisoning, recovery by the application
of antidotes, and
also the signs
of excitement or
intoxication from other forms
of stimulus.
The
experiments also showed that metals
manifest a condition
akin to sleep;
that they can
be killed; that
they exhibit torpor and
sluggishness; that they
wake up, and
can be roused
into activity; that they may be
stimulated, strengthened, weakened, drugged or intoxicated;
that they suffer
from extreme cold
or heat; that
they respond to the
presence of certain
drugs just as
do living plant
and animal. A
piece of steel
subjected to the
effect of poison recorded on
the delicate instrument
a gradual fluttering and
weakening, resulting in
final death, just
as does a portion
of animal matter,
or an organ
of the body
of an animal,
or a piece
of the living
substance of a
plant. When revived before
it was too
late, the response
of the metal
was gradual in
the case of
both muscle and
metal. A most interesting fact
is the statement
of the experimenter that even the poisons which served
to "kill" the
metals showed a like
susceptibility to the
actions of other
poisons, and were
found to be,
themselves, capable of
being "killed" by poisons.
In the case
of these metal
"killings," however, the molecular structure was apparently
not affected, just as the similar
structure in the
animal tissue is
not affected—in both
cases there was
apparently a causing
of a "something within"
to cease to function
in the substance,
a "something" which
may as well
be called a
"soul" as any
other term.
Other scientific laboratory experiments have revealed most interesting facts concerning
the production of
living things from
"non-living matter." Dr. Charles Bastian, of London, England, has
prepared and exhibited more than five thousand
microphotographs showing the evolution of organic living
forms from the
inorganic "non-living" (so-called). He
claims to have
produced certain microscopic
black spots from
a previously perfectly
clear liquor, which spots
gradually enlarge and
are transformed into
certain forms of lowly bacteria.
Professor Burke, of Cambridge,
England, claims to
have produced from
sterilized bouillon, by the action
of sterilized radium
chloride, certain minute living bodies which manifest
subsequent growth and
reproduction by subdivision.
The
ordinary student of
chemistry and physics
is familiar with
what is called
"metallic
vegetation," notably in the
case of
the "lead tree,"
in which there
is manifested the
appearance of plant
forms on the
part of the
acidulated solution of certain
metallic substances. In
the case of
the "lead tree"
an acidulated solution
of acetate of
lead is placed in
a wide-necked bottle, from the cork
of which bottle
a piece of
copper wire is
suspended, at the
end of which dangles
a piece of
zinc which hangs
at the centre
of the lead
solution. When the
bottle is corked
the copper wire begins
at once to
be surrounded with
a growth of
metallic lead closely
resembling a very fine moss, which moss
gradually develops branches and
limbs and finally
foliage, in the
end a miniature
bush or tree
being formed. Other metallic solutions produce similar phenomena.
Saltpeter, subjected to
the effect of
polarized light, assumes
forms closely resembling the
orchid. Crystals of frost form on window panes
the shapes of
leaves, branches, foliage, blossoms, flowers, etc.
Many metals tend
to crystallize in
the forms of vegetable
growth; and this
is particularly significant when it
is remembered that
crystals are beginning
to be regarded
as "almost alive"
by modern science,
as noted in a
preceding paragraph of the present
chapter.
The
scientific magazines, a few years ago,
contained references to
an interesting experiment
performed by a German
scientist using certain
metallic salts. The
scientist subjected the
salts to the
action of a
galvanic current, and was
astounded to discover
that around the
negative or cathode
(female) pole of
the battery the
particles of the metallic
salt began to
group themselves in
the form of
a tiny mushroom,
with stem and
umbrella-like top. These
metallic mushrooms at first displayed a
transparent appearance, but
gradually developed color,
and finally assumed a
pale straw color
on the stems,
with a bright
red color on
the top of
the umbrella and
a faint rose
tint on the under
surface. But the
most startling feature
of the phenomenon was that
the metallic mushroom
had fine veins or
tiny tubes running
along the interior
of the steins,
through which the
nourishment, or additional
material for growth, was
transported—the mushroom being
fed from the
inside, as in
the case of
the true fungus mushroom. It
seemed that, to all intents
and purposes, these
metallic mushrooms were practically the connecting
link between mineral
and vegetable life.
As
has been
stated elsewhere in
this chapter, modern
science now stands
on the threshold
of the discovery
(by actual laboratory proof)
that there is
no such thing as
"lifeless" matter—and that
Everything is Alive. This has been the
contention of the
occultists for thousands
of years. As
a writer has
said, it would
seem that as
in the case of
the great Tunnel
of the Alps,
the two bands
of workers, each
on its own
side of the
mountain, were fast approaching the
place where only
a thin partition
separated them one
from another; and
that already they
can faintly hear the sounds of each others' picks penetrating the
thin dividing wall
between the two
camps. The occultist may
now safely await
the day when
modern science will
actually "prove for
him the old
teaching of the esoteric
schools."
Moreover, science
is coming very
near to the
place when it
will perceive the truth
of the old
occult axiom that "All Power
is Will-Power," and
that the movements of electrons, atoms, molecules,
and masses of
matter are in response
to an inward
"feeling" resulting
from the attraction
or repulsion to
or from other
forms of matter,
and the "will" action
in response thereto, as Haeckel and
Nageli (materialistic scientists
though they may
be called) have claimed
for half a
generation past. The
contention of the
Materialists that Life
and Mind are
but qualities of Matter,
and are to
be found in
all forms of
material objects, needs
but to be
inverted in order
to show the
Truth, long since uttered by the
ancient occultists, namely
that Matter is
but the Outer
Garment of Soul
(Life-Mind), and that all
material forms are ensouled
by Life and
Mind. The conception of the Materialists
is but the
Inverted Pyramid of
Error, while the
conception of the
Occultists is the
firmly placed, and soundly
resting, true Pyramid
of Truth—that Rock
of Ages which
can never be
overturned, for it
rests squarely and firmly
on the Eternal
Base of Being.
Remember, O
student, the Rosicrucian
aphorism that "The
Fire is in
everything and everywhere:
there is nothing dark
or cold within
its sphere."
Comments
Post a Comment