THE SECRET DOCTRINE OF THE ROSICRUCIANS/PART 2
PART
II
THE
ETERNAL PARENT
In the
Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians we find the following Aphorism of Creation:
The First
Aphorism I.
The Eternal Parent
was wrapped in
the Sleep of
the Cosmic Night.
Light there was
not: for the
Flame of Spirit was
not yet rekindled.
Time there was
not: for Change
had not re-begun.
Things there were
not: for Form had
not re-presented itself.
Action there was
not: for there
were no Things
to act. The Pairs of Opposites there were
not: for there
were no Things
to manifest Polarity. The
Eternal Parent, causeless, indivisible, changeless, infinite,
rested in unconscious, dreamless sleep. Other than
the Eternal Parent
there was Naught, either Real or Apparent.
In
this First Aphorism of Creation the
Rosicrucian student is
directed to apply
his attention to
the concept of the
Infinite Source of All Things—the Eternal
Parent "from which
all things proceed." This Eternal Parent—the
Infinite Unmanifest, is represented by
the Rosicrucians by the symbol
of a circle,
having nothing outside
of itself and nothing
within itself.
The
circle, however, must not be interpreted
as conveying the
idea of limitation; rather
is it intended
to convey the idea
of limitlessness. The
symbol, although the
best possible for the purpose, is inadequate—this by reason
of the impossibility of representing the
Infinite by a
finite symbol. The
only adequate symbol of
the Eternal Parent
would be that
of Infinite Space,
and this, of
course, cannot be
represented by a sign,
for no matter
how wide the
circle might be
drawn there would
always be Space
beyond it. But, recognizing the
impossibility of an adequate
symbol, the ancient Rosicrucians have adopted the
empty circle as the
best possible finite
symbol of the
Infinite Unmanifest.
The
concept of Infinite Space has always been
regarded by the
Rosicrucians as the
best possible concept with which to "think of"
the Infinite Unmanifest, since the latter cannot be actually
"thought" in consciousness as a Thing, and consciousness
is capable of thinking only of Things. Strictly speaking,
the Infinite Unmanifest
is a "Nothing" rather
than a "Thing";
and yet not
such a "Nothing"
as implies "not-ness" or
"naught," but rather such
a "Nothing" as
implies "The
Possibility of Everything, yet
without the limitations of
Thingness."
Infinite Space
cannot be considered
a "Thing," for
it has none
of the characteristics of a "Thing." And yet it
cannot be denied
actual existence and
presence. Roughly speaking, it
may be defined
as "A No-Thing,
containing within itself the possibility
of infinite Thingness, or the infinite possibility of
Things." Infinite Space must be thought
of as the
Absolute Container of
Everything, whether Manifest
or Unmanifest—for outside of Infinite Space there is only Nothingness,
or, more strictly
speaking, there is no outside
of Infinite Space.
Infinite Space,
therefore, has always
been the accepted
occult and esoteric
symbol by means
of which men are able to "think of"
the Infinite Unmanifest—the Eternal
Parent, wrapped in
the Sleep of
the Cosmic Night.
In one of the ancient
occult catechisms, the
question was asked:
"What is that which ever
has been, is
now, and ever shall
be, whether there
be a Universe
or not, and
whether there be
gods or not?"
And the answer
is: "Space!"
The strength
of this symbol
of Infinite Space, as indicating the Infinite Unmanifest, is perceived
when the mind tries
to think, or
even imagine, the
absence of Infinite
Space—either as absent
before its creation,
or else as
absent after its
destruction. It will,
of course, be discovered that
the human mind,
and the human
imagination, finds it impossible
to think of
Space being absent
in either event.
The mind is
compelled to think
of Space as
being Infinite, and as
being Eternal, without
regard to whatever
else is held
to be either
present or absent
at any time, past,
present, or future. And at the
same time, the
mind finds that
it is unable
to define Space
as a Thing—yet
it dare not regard
it as a
Nothing or Naught.
It is found
that Infinite Space
must be always
thought of as
necessarily eternally present, and yet ever free from the limitations
of Things.
Moreover, as
Infinite Space is
invisible and beyond the other
senses, it cannot be "known" or
cognized as a Thing. Thought regarding
it must always
report "not this;
not that" regarding
it; and it
answers to the
ancient sage's statement of
Reality that: "The
Essence of Being
is without attributes, formless, devoid
of distinctions, and unconditioned. It is different from
that which we
know, and from
that which we do not
know. Words and
thought turn from it
without finding it. The wise
answer only by silence all questions
concerning its nature. To all suggestions concerning its
qualities, properties, and
attributes, the wise simply answer: 'neti,
neti'—'not this, not that!' Of
THAT the wise assert
simply 'IT IS.'" And as other ancient sages have said:
"The imagination, the understanding,
and abstract thinking
will always strive
in vain to
represent the Infinite;
for no form
of finiteness (to which
thought and speech
also belong) can
express the Infinite;
nor can that
which was timed
express the Timeless and
Eternal; nor can thought resultant
from the chain
of causation grasp
the Causeless or
Self-Existent." So, in every
way, and from every angle of view, we discover that
the concept of Infinite Space
is a noble
and worthy symbol of
THAT which we
mean when we try
to think
of the Infinite
Unmanifest—of the Essence of
Being before Manifestation into Activity and
Form.
The
First Aphorism states that "The Eternal Parent was
wrapped in the
Sleep of the
Cosmic Night." In this
sentence there is
a reference to
that teaching concerning
the Cosmic Days
and Nights, which
under some of many
names is found
lying at the
base of all esoteric teachings
and occult philosophies.
The highest human and superhuman intelligences have
testified to the
fact that Rhythm
is abiding in,
and manifest through,
the Cosmos— from the
tiniest point of
Manifested Being to the
Totality of Being, there is
found to ever
exist the presence
and manifestation of Rhythm.
There is
reported to us
from the highest
occult sources of
information the fact
that the ALL presents Itself alternately in great
periods of Manifestation
(called the Cosmic
Days), followed by
a like great
period of Unmanifestation (called
the Cosmic Nights).
During the Cosmic
Night the Eternal Parent
exists as if
wrapped in an unconscious
and dreamless sleep,
from which with
the Dawn of
the new Cosmic Day it awakens gradually into
Manifestation. The Cosmic Day, in turn,
gradually finds itself
changing into a
Twilight, which slowly
but surely darkens into
the Cosmic Night
when all again
is stilled and
quiet. And so
on, and on, and on,
in infinite sequence and
repetition—in infinite rhythm—the Cosmos presents this succession of Days and
Nights: of Manifestation and Unmanifestation. And, so it has
been forever and
ever, and will
continue forever and
ever, without end, ceasing,
or interruption. Such
is the report
of the wise
and the illumined
teachers of the
race.
A
great occult teacher
has written of this teaching, as
follows: "The Esoteric Doctrine teaches, like Buddhism
and Brahmanism, and even
the Kabala, that the
one infinite and
unknown Essence exists from all
eternity, and in regular
and harmonious successions is either passive or active. In
the poetical phraseology of Manu these
conditions are called
the 'Days' and
the 'Nights' of Brahma.
The latter is either 'awake' or
'asleep' * *
* Upon inaugurating
an active period, says the Secret Doctrine, an
expansion of this
Divine Essence from without inwardly, and from within outwardly, occurs in obedience to eternal
and immutable law,
and the phenomenal
or visible universe
is the ultimate
result of the
long chain of cosmical forces thus progressively set in
motion. In like
manner, when the
passive condition is
resumed, a contraction of
the Divine Essence takes
place, and the
previous work of
creation is gradually and
progressively undone. The visible universe
becomes disintegrated, its
material dispersed, and
'darkness' solitary and
alone, broods once more
over the face
of the 'deep.'
To use a
metaphor from the
Secret Books, which
will convey the idea more
clearly, an out-breathing of the
'unknown essence' produces
the world; and
an inhalation causes
it to disappear. This
process has been
going on from
all eternity, and our present universe is
but one of
an infinite series, which
had no beginning
and will have no end."
In this
connection, the student
of Herbert Spencer
will find in the ancient occult doctrines
and teachings an unsuspected firm
basis for the
teaching of his
modern master. Spencer in his
teaching of the
universal presence and activity
of Rhythm but echoes the
old occult teachings
on the subject.
Note the following
from the pen
of the modern prophet
of Evolution: "Apparently, the
universally coexistent forces
of attraction and repulsion which, as we have
seen, necessitate rhythm
in all minor
changes throughout the
universe, also necessitate
rhythm in the totality of its changes—produce now an immeasurable period during which the
attracting forces predominating, cause
universal concentration, and then an
immeasurable period, during which the repulsive forces predominating,
cause universal diffusion —alternate eras of Evolution and Dissolution."
The First
Aphorism further states: "Light
there was not:
for the Flame of
Spirit was not
yet rekindled."
This
is apt to prove a
"hard saying" to
those who, having
the half-truth only,
and not realizing
the existence of the
other half, have
thought of Infinite
Reality as being
Spirit, of which
the Flame is
of course the
occult and esoteric symbol. But
the best ancient wisdom, as voiced by the most careful teachers,
have ever taught
those qualified to know the
whole truth that
not only back
of Matter, but
also back of
Spirit, there abides
an Eternal and
Infinite Essence, which is
neither Spirit nor
Matter, but which
is the unconditioned
root and source
of both Spirit and Matter. Light
and Flame—the two
universally recognized esoteric
and occult symbols
of Spirit—have back
of them the "lightless and
heatless" Essence of
Light and Heat. The Infinite Reality is
the Essence of
the Spirit Light and
Flame—not the Light
and Flame itself.
The student will
be aided in
grasping this truth,
if he will
contemplate the flame of a
lamp, a candle,
a gas-flame, or any other
kind of physical
flame; he will perceive
to be present, under and
at the centre
of the flame,
a dark, transparent, "something" which is the "essence" from
which the Flame itself
proceeds, and upon
which it draws for support and sustenance. In occult terminology the
counterpart of this
on the higher
planes of Being
is called "the
Dark Flame"—it is the Essence
of the Flame and
Light, and not
Flame or Light
itself. As an
ancient writer has
said: "The Essence
is the 'spirit
of the fire,' and
not Fire itself;
therefore, the attributes
of Fire, i.e.,
heat, flame, and
light, are not
the attributes of the
Essence, but rather
of the Fire
of which the
Essence is the
Cause."
Therefore,
the Infinite Unmanifest—the sleeping Eternal
Parent—must not be
thought of by
the student as
being Spirit, in the
sense of the
latter term as
commonly employed in
our thought. Rather
is it akin
to Pure Space
from which the Flame
emerges, and in
which it is
contained. There is
close reasoning and
distinction here, which
will become clear to
the student as
he proceeds, but
which must be
noted even now
in passing.
The First
Aphorism further states: "Time
there was not:
for Change had
not begun."
Here,
again, is expressed another
"hard saying" for
the student who
has not grasped
the true meaning
of "Time." Time, in the strict
philosophical meaning of the term,
does not mean
pure duration of
existence—instead, it means "the measure of
changing existence." An
enduring existence in
which there is
no change of
form, activity, or degree,
mental or physical,
is Timeless. Time,
in fact, is
but the "measure
of Change." Without
Change there can be
no Time, in
the true sense
of the latter
term. Pure Being
manifests not Time.
Time is the
result of Becoming, or Change, and is always measured by change
or becoming in
something.
The following
statement from a
modern text book
may serve to point to
the difference between
the conception of Pure Duration,
and Time: "Pure Duration is conceived without regard
to the motions of changes
in things. Time
on the contrary
is the sensible
measure of any portion
of duration, often
marked by particular
phenomena, as the apparent
revolution of the
celestial bodies, the rotation
of the earth
on its axis,
etc. Our conception
of Time originates
in that of
motions; and particularly
in those regular and equable motions
carried on in the heavens,
the parts of
which, from their
perfect similarity to each other,
are correct measures of the
continuous and successive
quantity called Time,
with which they
are conceived to co-exist.
Time, therefore, may
be defined as, the perceived
number of successive
movements. Time, based upon
the movements of
the celestial bodies,
or the earth,
is frequently measured
by instruments based
upon such movements, such
as watches, clocks,
sun-dials, etc."
We
are also
conscious of the
passage of Time
by changes in
our mental states,
our thoughts, our
mental images, etc., both
in the waking
state or the
state of dreams. Without changes in the outside world, represented to
our consciousness by perceptions of
such changes, or
without changes in
our mental states,
Time would not
exist for us. It
thus follows that
given an Eternal
Changeless Reality, for
whom and by whom
no "outside world" has been or
is manifested; and
which is wrapped
in an unconscious
and dreamless sleep,
such as is
pictured in the
First Aphorism; for such
a Reality there
could exist no Time—no Time would present itself—Timelessness would abide,
until Change began
once more.
Therefore, the
student will perceive
the necessary truth
of the statement
of the First
Aphorism that for
the Eternal Parent, wrapped
in the Sleep
of the Cosmic
Night, "Time there
was not: for
Change had not begun."
It is impossible
to hold otherwise,
considering the nature
of Time, and
the absence of
Change during the Cosmic
Night of the
Eternal Parent. The student
will perceive that
given Infinite Existence,
and the absence of Change, then we
must necessarily postulate
Pure Duration, and the
absence of Time.
There is no
logical escape from this
conclusion.
The First
Aphorism further states: "Things
there were not:
for Form had
not re-presented itself."
Here,
again, we are presented with
an unescapable conviction. A "Thing" is
"Whatever exists, or is conceived to exist, as a separate
entity, and as
a separable or
distinguishable object of
thought." Every "Thing" must
manifest "form."
"Form" is (1)
the shape or
structure of anything,
as distinguished from
the material of which
it is composed, hence,
the configuration or
figure of anything; (2)
the mode of
acting or manifestation
of anything to the senses, or to the
intellect; (3) the
assemblage of qualities
constituting a conception, or the internal
constitution making an existing
thing what it
is."
Strictly speaking
a "Thing" must
be capable of
being thought of or pictured as
composed of qualities, attributes,
or properties distinguishing it
from other things;
hence every "Thing" must
manifest form in
order to be so
distinguished and perceived
by the senses
or by the
intellect as a
Thing. The Eternal
Parent—the Infinite
Unmanifest—cannot be held
to manifest Form, or to display or present any particular
quality, property, or attribute of
Manifestation, when in its state of Unmanifestation. When
the Eternal Parent
takes upon itself
the robes of Manifestation
it proceeds to
manifest the appearance
of Things—these Things each
displaying Form, and certai qualities, properties,
or attributes which
distinguish them from other
manifested Things. It is axiomatic in
metaphysics and philosophy
that the Unmanifest
cannot be thought of as possessing or
manifesting (in its essential nature) any one set of
qualities, properties, or
attributes which appear
later in its
Manifestation of Things, as
distinguished from the
opposite set of
qualities, properties, or
attributes. And it
cannot be thought
of as possessing (in
its essential nature)
of both of the opposing sets of qualities, attributes, or properties, for "opposites cancel each
other," and "antinomies condition not."
Instead
of possessing qualities,
properties, or attributes—or
Form, in any
of the meaning
of that term—the Unmanifest must be regarded as
possessing the "possibility of
infinite manifestation of
Form, qualities, properties, and
attributes in its manifestations," or "the infinite possibility of
the manifestation of Form, qualities, properties, or attributes
in its manifested
Things." The Infinite
Un-manifest cannot be
thought of as
a Thing, either in
itself, or by
means of its
symbol of Infinite Space. Rather,
as an illumined
occult master has
expressed it, it must
be regarded as
"An Omnipresent, Eternal,
Boundless, and Immutable Principle, regarding which all speculation is impossible,
since it
transcends the power
of human conception
and could only
be dwarfed by any
human expression or
similitude. It is
beyond the range
and reach of
thought—it is unthinkable
and unspeakable." In the
period of the Cosmic Night,
there being nothing
present except the
Infinite Unmanifest, therefore
it is seen that,
necessarily, "Things there
were not: for Form
had not re-presented
itself." There is
no logical escape
from this conclusion.
The
First Aphorism further states: "Action
there was not:
for there were
no Things to
act."
This statement
requires little or no explanation.
There being no Things
present, there were
no Things to
act. And all action
of the Infinite
must be through,
by, or in Things.
All action requires
Change, and where
there is no Change
there can be
no action. And
yet, it must
not be thought
that the Infinite
Unmanifest is powerless,
for it possesses all
Power; it must
not be thought
that it is
motionless, for in
itself it is
Abstract Motion. Speaking
in finite terms, it
may be said
that in its
state of the
Infinite Unmanifest the
Eternal Parent dwells
in a state
of such infinite Motion
that as compared
with relative Motion
it is in
a state of
Absolute Rest.
The
First Aphorism further states: "The Pairs of
Opposites there were not: for there
were no Things
to manifest Polarity."
As every
student of philosophy
knows, or should
know, every Thing manifests a combination of qualities, properties, or
attributes. Each quality, property, or
attribute, is one of
a Pair of
Opposites—one Pole of
the Two Poles of
Qualities which are
ever found present.
Given one quality,
property, or attribute
of Thingness, it necessarily follows
that there is
in existence in
other Things an
Opposite, or "Other
Pole"—its antithesis. There
is no exception to
this rule, and
though the Opposite may
at first appear
to be absent,
diligent search will surely reveal it, and its necessary
existence must be logically
predicated.
Thus
we have the following
familiar Opposites: Hard
and Soft, Hot
and Cold, Large
and Small, Far
and Near, Up and
Down, Day and Night,
Light and Darkness,
Long and Short,
etc. Even where
our language fails
to supply a definite
term for the
Opposite of a discovered quality, property, or attribute, the Opposite
may be expressed by
prefixing the term
"Not" to the observed quality, property, or attribute.
Some thinkers
have sought to
imply that the
term "Infinite" implies
a quality, property, or attribute
which was the opposite
of Finite, but this is merely a play upon words. The word "Infinite" implies simply an
absence of limitations, bounds, or form,
and does not indicate any limit, bound,
or form no
matter how extended. It is impossible to form a mental
image of The Infinite Unmanifest, or
to attach Thingness
or Form, or
quality, property, or attribute
of any kind
to it—hence the
term "Infinity" is
not a true
Opposite. It is
only when Manifestation begins that the Pairs of Opposites or
Polarity put in an appearance.
The Infinite
Unmanifest possesses the
possibility of an infinity of manifestations, all objects of
which manifestation must exhibit one or
the other of any given set of qualities,
properties, or attributes. But to the Infinite Unmanifest
itself—the Eternal Parent,
in its essence—there
can be no
Polarity or presence
of any one
set of Pairs of
Opposites.
Here, as
elsewhere, the student
is directed to
think of the
Infinite Unmanifest by
means of its
symbol of Infinite Space, whenever
he wishes to
test any of
the statements of
the First Aphorism.
The
First Aphorism finally states: "The Eternal Parent,
causeless, indivisible, changeless, infinite, rested in unconscious, dreamless, sleep. Other than the Eternal
Parent there was Naught, either
Real or Apparent."
That the
Eternal Parent is
Causeless is a
self-evident fact, for there
is nothing which
could have caused the Eternal and Original Being, from which
all Manifestation proceeds. That
which is Eternal
must, of necessity, be
Causeless. That which
is Infinite, can have no Other which could have caused it. And
it could not have
been caused from
or by Nothing,
for "from Nothing,
nothing comes." That the
Eternal Parent is Indivisible is
likewise self-evident, for anything that can be divided or separated
into parts or particles,
must in the
first place be
originally composed of
parts or particles.
And anything that
is composed of parts or particles must be merely a Composition,
an Aggregate, a Collection, or Crowd of such parts and particles, and, therefore, not a Real Entity or Unity at
all. Moreover, that which is Infinite
cannot become divided or separated
into parts or particles without losing its essential
Infinity—a divided Infinite is
no Infinite at all,
but merely a
Collection or Crowd
of Finite Things.
Absolute Indivisibility must
be predicated of
True Unity and Infinite
Being. There is no logical
escape from this conclusion.
That the
Eternal Parent is
incapable of Essential
Change is likewise
self-evident, for though
It may manifest
an infinity of change,
nevertheless it must always remain
essentially Itself, and never anything else but Itself. Moreover, not
being composed essentially of
qualities, properties, or
attributes, it cannot
undergo the change which comes
from the shifting
of the poles
of the Opposites.
And not having
Form, it cannot
experience the change which
arises from Change
of Form. Absolute Immutability must be predicated of
the Eternal Parent. There is
no logical escape
from this conclusion.
That the
Eternal Parent is
Infinite is likewise
self-evident. It must
be Infinite, for
there is nothing else
by which it
may be limited,
defined, bounded, caused, influenced, or affected. That which is
Absolute and Original, Ultimate
and Elementary, can have
no binding or
limiting conditions or
Things. Absolute Infiniteness must be
predicated of the
Eternal Parent. There is no
logical escape from this conclusion.
That
the Eternal Parent rested in
"Unconscious, dreamless
sleep" is held by all advanced metaphysicians and philosophers to
be a logical
necessity, if we are to
postulate the existence
of a period or state of Unmanifestation. For, as all psychologists
and philosophers know,
consciousness (even in
the form of
dreams) is impossible without Change.
A changeless state
of consciousness can
only be expressed
as Unconsciousness. And
yet, the student must
not fall into
the error of
believing that this Infinite
Unconsciousness implies "inferiority to consciousness"; for rather does it imply a state of "rising above" ordinary
consciousness—a state of Infinite Super-Consciousness—a state of transcending
consciousness, in which
there is ever present the
"possibility of
consciousness" without the
exercise thereof. Ordinary
consciousness is a
descent from this state of
Unconsciousness, not an ascent. This
distinction is important,
and must not
be lost sight
of by the
student.
As we shall
presently discover, when
Manifestation begins to
dawn into appearance,
then, and then
only, the Eternal Parent
may be said
to begin to
"dream"—to dream of an infinity of universes, succeeding each
other in rhythmic sequence. And
only when the
Eternal Parent shall
awaken fully from
the dream, into
the bright noontide
of infinite self-consciousness, may It be
thought of as
being fully "awake" and
conscious. These facts
will unfold themselves
as we proceed
with the consideration
of the Aphorisms.
"Other than
the Eternal Parent
there was Naught, either
Real or Apparent." Here,
again, we have
a self-evident truth.
There can have
been no other
Real being—no "other"
to the
Infinite and Absolute
Reality—for the predicate of Infinity
and Absoluteness carries with it
the implicit predicate of
Aloneness, Oneness, and
Uniqueness. There can
be no "other" Real
being to Infinite Reality.
And, in the
absence of Manifestation, there can have been no Apparent (i.e., manifested
or "created" Thing
or Things) Thing in existence in the period of the Infinite Unmanifestation. There is no logical escape
from this conclusion.
Finally, the
student is once
more bidden to
fall back upon the symbol of Infinite Space, in
this consideration of the
Infinite Unmanifest, whenever
he finds it
difficult, or almost
impossible, to conceive of the truth of
the statements contained in
the First Aphorism
as concerned with
the Eternal Parent
in the state
of the Infinite Unmanifest in the
Cosmic Night. The symbol will
be found perfectly
adequate in order
to permit one to "think of the
Infinite Un-manifest," although,
of course, it
is impossible to
paint a mental
picture of either
symbol or the reality
which it represents.
Edgar Allen
Poe has well
said of the
thought and concept
of "The Infinite," and
similar efforts of
the human mind to
think of the
unthinkable: "This merest
of words, and
some other expressions
of which the
equivalents exist in nearly
all languages, is
by no means
the expression of
an idea, but
of an effort
of one. It
stands for the
possible attempt at an impossible conception. Man
needed a term
by which to
point out the
direction of this
effort—the cloud behind which
lay, forever invisible,
the object of
this attempt. A
word, in fine,
was demanded by
means of which
one human being might
put himself in
relation at once
with another human
being and with
a certain tendency
of the human intellect.
Out of this
arose this term,
which is thus
the representative but
of the thought
of a thought.
* * The fact
is that, upon
the enunciation of
any one of
that class of
terms to which
this belongs,—the class representing thoughts
of thought, he who has
a right to
say that he
thinks at all
feels himself called
upon not to entertain
a conception, but
simply to direct
his mental vision
toward some given
point in the
intellectual firmament where lies
a nebula never
to be solved.
To solve it,
indeed, he makes
no effort, for
with a rapid
instinct he comprehends, not
only the impossibility, but
as regards all
human purposes, the
inessentiality of its
solution. He sees at
once how it
lies out of
the brain of
man, and even
how, if not
exactly why, it
lies out of
it."
In the
Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians,
therefore, there is no attempt
made to define
the Essence of
the Eternal Parent—in fact,
it is held,
in the spirit
of Spinoza's celebrated
aphorism, that "To
define The Infinite
is to deny The
Infinite." In refusing
to ascribe the
finite qualities, properties, and
attributes of Personality to the Eternal Parent, the
Rosicrucians do not
mean to imply
that The Infinite
Reality is below
the plane of
Personality, but rather that
it is so
immeasurably above that
plane, and so
infinitely transcends all
Personality, that it is childish
to think or speak
of it in
the terms of Personality.
It
has been held by eminent thinkers that even the finite intelligence
of man is
capable of conceiving
of a state
of intelligence as
much higher than
that of the
most intelligent man as
the latter is
higher than that
of the black
beetle. This being
so, it can
readily be seen
that such a Power, to
which the manifestation
of such a
superlative degree of intelligence being
is but a
bagatelle effort of power,
is, and must
be, in its
essential nature so
infinitely above the plane
of human personality
that it is practically an
insult to think
of it in the terms
of Personality.
As has
been frequently stated
in this consideration
of the First
Aphorism, the state
of Being of
the Infinite and Absolute
Reality—the Eternal Parent—during
this state of
the Infinite Unmanifest cannot be expressed in words, for
it is beyond words. It
can be thought
of only symbolically—by means
of Its only possible symbol,
i.e., that of Infinite Space. Even
symbolized, it can
be thought of
only in terms
of negation; for
being in the
state of Absolute Being (which
as Hegel says
is practically identical
with Non-Being, when
the term "Being" is
used in the
sense of finite, conditioned, and
qualified Being), it cannot be thought of as possessing any of
the qualities, attributes, or properties
of Thingness. Therefore,
its state of
Being can be
suggested only by
using the terms
implying the negation of
all those qualities,
properties, and attributes
which men ascribe
to Things—even to
those Things which they
feel rather than
conceive, and which
represent even the
remotest limits of
their mentative efforts.
Edwin Arnold,
in his beautiful
poem "The Light
of Asia," has
well expressed the Buddhistic conception of this "beyond-thoughtness" of
the Essence of the Infinite
Reality, in the
following words:
"Om
Amataya!
Measure not
with words the
Immeasurable;
Nor
sink the string
of thought into
the Fathomless.
Who asks
does err; who
answers, errs; say
naught!
Shall any
gazer see with
mortal eyes?
Or any searcher
know with mortal
mind?
Veil after
veil will lift—but
there must be
Veil upon
veil behind!"
And,
so, the Rosicrucians regard the fact of the Infinite Ummanifest—the Absolute
Essence—only under the symbol
of the Infinite
Sea of Pure
Space, resting in
a state of
Absolute Calm and
Absolute Transparency through which
the mortal eye
gazes and seems
to see but
NOTHING: but which
the Illumined Intuition
knowness to be Allness
instead of Nothingness—Absolute and Infinite Being
instead of Nothingness—Infinite Life,
instead of Death!
Though it
cannot be perceived
by mortal sense,
and though it transcends the highest effort of both intellect
and imagination to conceive
or picture, yet
the highest reports
of Pure Reason
inform us that
it must be
present, and the highest
reports of Intuitive
Faith render it
impossible to doubt
its all-presence and
reality. To the
ignorant and the half-wise,
this symbol may seem to indicate Nothing: but to
the illumined and
truly wise, it
is seen to represent
Absolute ALLNESS of
Reality. Gaze ye,
then, upon this
symbol of Infinite
Space with awe,
for it represents our
highest (though feeble)
efforts at expressing
the nature of
the Infinite Essence
of Being!
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