) c. X ST T- -J — « TT"TT>^., t— < t UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN- BOOKS YACKS The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/creativeprocessi00trow_0 The Edinburgh Lecture Series. THE CREATIVE PROCESS IN THE INDIVIDUAL BY T. TROWARD (Late Divisional Judge, Punjab) Author of the ‘ Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science,’ &c. Antor gens ©pt. jttax. I say no man has ever yet been half devout enough, None has ever yet adored or worship’d half enough, None has begun to think how divine he himself is, and how certain the future is. I say that the real and permanent grandeur of these States must be their religion, Otherwise there is no real and permanent grandeur. — Walt Whitman. LONDON : STEAD, DANBY AND CO., 1 1 A, CHURCH STREET, KENSINGTON. (All rights reserved.) HiO Roger Bros. Publishers 429 Sixth BLve. New York CONTENTS PAGE Foreword i I. — The Starting-Point 5 II. — The Self-contemplation of Spirit .. .. 18 III. — The Divine Ideal 37 IV. — The Manifestation of the Life Principle 51 V. — The Personal Factor 66 VI. — The Standard of Personality .. .. 82 VII. — Race Thought and New Thought .. .. 91 VIII.— The Denoument of the Creative Process 97 IX.— Conclusion 137 FOREWORD. In the present volume I have endeavoured to set before the reader the conception of a sequence of creative action commencing with the formation of the globe and culminating in a vista of infinite possibilities attainable by everyone who follows up the right line for their unfoldment. I have endeavoured to show that, starting with certain incontrovertible scientific facts, all these things logically follow, and that there- fore, however far these speculations may carry us beyond our past experience, they nowhere break the thread of an intelligible connection of cause and effect. I do not, however, offer the suggestions here put forward in any other light than that of purely speculative reasoning ; nevertheless, no advance in any direction can be made except by speculative reasoning going back to the A 82 \ 672 2 Foreword. first principles of things which we do know and thence deducing the conditions under which the same principles might be carried further and made to produce results hitherto unknown. It is to this method of thought that we owe all the advantages of civilization from matches and post-offices to motor-cars and aeroplanes, and we may therefore be en- couraged to hope such speculations as the present may not be without their ultimate value. Relying on the maxim that Principle is not bound by Precedent we should not limit our expectations of the future; and if our speculations lead us to the conclusion that we have reached a point where we are not only able, but also required, by the law of our own being, to take a more active part in our per- sonal evolution than heretofore, this discovery will afford us a new outlook upon life and widen our horizon with fresh interests and brightening hopes. If the thoughts here suggested should help any reader to clear some mental obstacles from his path the writer will feel that he has not written to no purpose. Only each reader Foreword. 3 must think out these suggestions for himself. No writer or lecturer can convey an idea into the minds of his audience. He can only put it before them, and what they will make of it depends entirely upon themselves — assimilation is a process which no one can carry out for us. To the kindness of my readers on both sides of the Atlantic, and in Australia and New Zealand, I commend this little volume, not, indeed, without a deep sense of its many short- comings, but at the same time encouraged by the generous indulgence extended to my previous books. June, 1910. T.T. Cbe Creatine process in the individual. CHAPTER I. The Starting-Point. It is an old saying that “ Order is Heaven’s First Law,” and like many other old sayings it contains a much deeper philosophy than appears immediately on the surface. Getting things into a better order is the great secret of progress, and we are now able to fly through the air, not because the laws of Nature have altered, but because we have learnt to arrange things in the right order to produce this result — the things themselves had existed from the beginning of the world, but what was wanting was the introduction of a Personal Factor which, by an intelligent perception of 6 The Creative Process in the Individual. the possibilities contained in the laws of Nature should be able to bring into working reality ideas which previous generations would have laughed at as the absurd fancies of an unbalanced mind. The lesson to be learnt from the practical aviation of the present day is that of the triumph of principle over pre- cedent, of the working out of an idea to its logical conclusions in spite of the accumulated testimony of all past experience to the con- trary ; and with such a notable example before us can we say that it is futile to enquire whether by the same method we may not unlock still more important secrets and gain some knowledge of the unseen causes which are at the back of external and visible conditions, and then by bringing these un- seen causes into a better order make prac- tical working realities of possibilities which at present seem but fantastic dreams ? It is at least worth while taking a preliminary canter over the course, and this is all that this little volume professes to attempt ; yet this may be sufficient to show the lay of the ground. Now the first thing in any investigation is to The Starting-point. 7 have some idea of what you are looking for — to have at least some notion of the general direction in which to go — just as you would not go up a tree to find fish though you would for birds’ eggs. Well, the general direction in which we all want to go is that of getting more out of Life than we have ever got out of it — we want to be more alive in ourselves and to get all sorts of improved conditions in our environment. However happily any of us may be circumstanced we can all conceive some- thing still better, or at anyrate we should like to make our present good permanent ; and since we shall find as our studies advance that the prospect of increasing possibilities keeps opening out more and more widely before us, we may say that what we are in search of is the secret of getting more out of Life in a con- tinually progressive degree. This means that what we are looking for is something personal, and that it is to be obtained by producing con- ditions which do not yet exist ; in other words it is nothing less than the exercise of a certain creative power in the sphere of our own par- ticular world. So, then, what we want is to 8 The Creative Process in the Individual. introduce our own Personal Factor into the realm of unseen causes. This is a big thing, and if it is possible at all it must be by some sequence of cause and effect, and this sequence it is our object to discover. The Law of Cause and Effect is one we can never get away from, but by carefully following it up we may find that it will lead us further than we had anticipated. Now, the first thing to observe is that if we can succeed in finding out such a sequence of cause and effect as the one we are in search of, somebody else may find out the same creative secret also ; and then, by the hypothesis of the case, we should both be armed with an infal- lible power, and if we wanted to employ this power against each other we should be landed in the ‘ impasse ’ of a conflict between two powers each of which was irresistible. Con- sequently it follows that the first principle of this power must be Harmony. It cannot be antagonizing itself from different centres — in other words its operation in a simultaneous order at every point is the first necessity of its being. What we are in search of, then, is a The Starting-point. 9 sequence of cause and effect so universal in its nature as to include harmoniously all possible variations of individual expression. This pri- mary necessity of the Law for which we are seeking should be carefully borne in mind, for it is obvious that any sequence which trans- gresses this primary essential must be contrary to the very nature of the Law itself, and con- sequently cannot be conducting us to the exercise of true creative power. What we are seeking, therefore, is to dis- cover how to arrange things in such an order as to set in motion a train of causation that will harmonize our own conditions without antagonizing the exercise of a like power by others. This therefore means that all indi- vidual exercise of this power is the particular application of a universal power which itself operates creatively on its own account inde- pendently of these individual applications ; and the harmony between the various individual applications is brought about by all the indi- viduals bringing their own particular action into line with this independent creative action of the original power. It is in fact another io The Creative Process in the Individual. application of Euclid’s axiom that things which are equal to the same thing are equal to one another ; so that though I may not know for what purpose someone may be using this crea- tive power in Pekin, I do know that if he and I both realize its true nature we cannot by any possibility be working in opposition to one another. For these reasons, having now some general idea of what it is we are in search of, we may commence our investigation by con- sidering this common factor which must be at the back of all individual exercise of creative power, that is to say, the Generic working of the Universal Creative Principle. That such a Universal Creative Principle is at work we at once realize from the existence of the world around us with all its inhabitants, and the inter-relation of all parts of the cosmic system shows its underlying Unity — thus the animal kingdom depends on the vegetable, the vegetable kingdom on the mineral, the mineral or globe of the earth on its relation to the rest of the solar system, and possibly our solar system is related by a similar law to the dis- tribution of other suns with their attendant The Starting-point. ii planets throughout space. Our first glance therefore shows us that the All-originating Power must be in essence Unity and in mani- festation Multiplicity, and that it manifests as Life and Beauty through the unerring adapta- tion of means to ends — that is so far as its cosmic manifestation of ends goes : what we want to do is to carry this manifestation still further by operation from an individual stand- point. To do this is precisely our place in the Order of Creation, but • we must defer the question why we hold this place till later on. One of the earliest discoveries we all make is the existence of Matter. The bruised shins of our childhood convince us of its solidity, so now comes the question, Why does Matter exist ? The answer is that if the form were not expressed in solid substance, things would be perpetually flowing into each other so that no identity could be maintained for a single moment. To this it might be replied that a condition of matter is conceivable in which, though in itself a plastic substance, in a fluent state, it might yet by the operation of will be held in any particular forms desired. The idea 12 The Creative Process in the Individual. of such a condition of matter is no doubt con- ceivable, and when the fluent matter was thus held in particular forms you would have con- crete matter just as we know it now, only with this difference, that it would return to its fluent state as soon as the supporting will was with- drawn. Now, as we shall see later on, this is precisely what matter really is, only the will which holds it together in concrete form is not individual but cosmic. In itself the Essence of Matter is precisely the fluent substance we have imagined, and as we shall see later on the knowledge of this fact, when realized in its proper order, is the basis of the legitimate control of mind over matter. But a world in which every individual possessed the power of concreting or fluxing matter at his own sweet will irrespective of any universal co-ordinating principle is altogether inconceivable — the conflict of wills would pre- vent such a world remaining in existence. On the other hand if we conceive of a number of individuals each possessing this power and all employing it on the lines of a common cosmic unity, then the result would be precisely the The Starting-point. 13 same stable condition of matter with which we are familiar — this would be a necessity of fact for the masses who did not possess this power, and a necessity of principle for the few who did. So under these circumstances the same stable conditions of Nature would prevail as at present, varied only when the initiated ones perceived that the order of evolution would be furthered, and not hindered, by call- ing into action the higher laws. Such occasions would be of rare occurrence, and then the departure from the ordinary law would be regarded by the multitude as a miracle. Also we may be quite sure that no one who had attained this knowledge in the legitimate order would ever perform a * miracle ’ for his own personal aggrandisement or for the purpose of merely astonishing the beholders — to do so would be contrary to the first principle of the higher teaching which is that of profound reverence for the Unity of the All-originating Principle. The conception, therefore, of such a power over matter being possessed by certain individuals is in no way opposed to our ordinary recognition of concrete matter, and so we need 14 The Creative Process in the Individual. not at present trouble ourselves to consider these exceptions. Another theory is that matter has no exist- ence at all but is merely an illusion projected by our own minds. If so, then how is it that we all project identically similar images ? On the supposition that each mind is independently projecting its own conception of matter a lady who goes to be fitted might be seen by her dressmaker as a cow. Generations of people have seen the Great Pyramid on the same spot ; but on the supposition that each individual is projecting his own material world in entire independence of all other individuals there is no reason why any two persons should ever see the same thing in the same place. On the supposition of such an independent action by each separate mind, without any common factor binding them all to one particular mode of recognition, no intercourse between in- dividuals would be possible— then, without the consciousness of relation to other individuals the consciousness of our own individuality would be lost, and so we should cease to have any conscious existence at all. If on the other The Starting-point. 15 hand we grant that there is, above the in- dividual minds, a great Cosmic Mind which imposes upon them the necessity of all seeing the same image of Matter, then that image is not a projection of the individual minds but of the Cosmic Mind ; and since the individual minds are themselves similar pro- jections of the Cosmic Mind, matter is for them just as much a reality as their own existence. I doubt not that material sub- stance is thus projected by the all-embracing Divine Mind ; but so also are our own minds projected by it, and therefore the relation be- tween them and matter is a real relation and not a merely fictitious one. I particularly wish the student to be clear on this point, that where two factors are projected from a common source their relation to each other becomes an absolute fact in respect of the factors themselves, notwithstanding that the power of changing that relation by sub- stituting a different projection must necessarily always continue to reside in the originating source. To take a simple arithmetical ex- ample : — by my power of mental projection 1 6 The Creative Process in the Individual. working through my eyes and fingers I write 4x2. Here I have established a certain numerical relation which can only produce eight as its result. Again, I have power to change the factors and write 4 x 3, in which case 12 is the only possible result, and so on. Working in this way calculation becomes possible. But if every time I wrote 4 that figure possessed an independent power of setting down a different number by which to multiply itself, what would be the result ? The first 4 I wrote might set down 3 as its multiplier, and the next might set down 7, and so on. Or if I want to make a box of a cer- tain size and cut lengths of plank accordingly, if each length could capriciously change its width at a moment’s notice, how could I ever make the box? I myself may change the shape and size of my box by establishing new relations between the bits of wood, but for the pieces of wood themselves the proportions determined by my mind must remain fixed quantities, otherwise no construction could take place. This is a very rough analogy, but it may be The Starting-point. 17 sufficient to show that for a cosmos to exist at all it is absolutely necessary that there should be a Cosmic Mind binding all individual minds to certain generic unities of action, and so pro- ducing all things as realities and nothing as illusion. The importance of this conclusion will become more apparent as we advance in our studies. We have now got at some reason why concrete material form is a necessity of the Creative Process. Without it the perfect Self- recognition of Spirit from the Individual standpoint, which we shall presently find is the means by which the Creative Process is to be carried forward, would be impossible ; and therefore, so far from matter being an illusion, it is the necessary channel for the self-differen- tiation of Spirit and its Expression in multi- tudinous life and beauty. Matter is thus the necessary Polar Opposite to Spirit, and when we thus recognise it in its right order we shall find that there is no antagonism between the two, but that together they constitute one harmonious whole. B CHAPTER II. The Self-Contemplation of Spirit. If we ask how the cosmos came into existence we shall find that ultimately we can only attri- bute it to the Self-Contemplation of Spirit. Let us start with the facts now known to modern physical science. All material things, including our own bodies, are composed of combinations of different chemical elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, &c. Chem- istry recognizes in all about seventy of these elements each with its peculiar affinities ; but the more advanced physical science of the present day finds that they are all composed of one and the same ultimate substance to which the name of Ether has been given, and that the difference between an atom of iron and an atom of oxygen results only from the difference in the number of etheric particles of which each is composed and the rate of their motion The Self-Contemplation of Spirit. ig within the sphere of the atom, thus curiously coming back to the dictum of Pythagoras that the universe has its origin in Number and Motion. We may therefore say that our entire solar system together with every sort of ma- terial substance which it contains is made up of nothing but this one primary substance in various degrees of condensation. Now the next step is to realize that this ether is everywhere. This is shown by the undulatory theory of light. Light is not a substance but is the effect produced on the eye by the impinging of the ripples of the ether upon the retina. These waves are excessively minute, ranging in length from i-39,oooth of an inch at the red end of the spectrum to i-57,oooth at the violet end. Next remem- ber that these waves are not composed of advancing particles of the medium but pass onwards by the push which each particle in the line of motion gives to the particle next to it, and then you will see that if there were a break of one fifty-thousandth part of an inch in the connecting ether between our eye and any source ' . light we could not receive light 20 The Creative Process in the Individual. from that source, for there would be nothing to continue the wave-motion across the gap. Consequently as soon as we see light from any source however distant, we know that there must be a continuous body of ether between us and it. Now astronomy shows us that we receive light from heavenly bodies so distant that, though it travels with the incredible speed of 186,000 miles per second, it takes more than two thousand years to reach us from some of them ; and as such stars are in all quarters of the heavens we can only come to the con- clusion that the primary substance or ether must be universally present. This means that the raw material for the formation of solar systems is universally dis- tributed throughout space ; yet though we find that millions of suns stud the heavens, we also find vast interstellar spaces which show no sign of cosmic activity. Then something has been at work to start cosmic activity in certain areas while passing over others in which the raw material is equally available. What is this something ? At first we might be inclined to attribute the development of cosmic energy The Self -Contemplation of Spirit. 21 to the etheric particles themselves, but a little consideration will show us that this is mathe- matically impossible in a medium which is equally distributed throughout space, for all its particles are in equilibrium and so no one particle possesses per se a greater power of originating motion than any other. Conse- quently the initial movement must be started by something which, though it works on and through the particles of the primary substance, is not those particles themselves. It is this “ Something ” which we mean when we speak of “ Spirit.” Then since Spirit starts the condensation of the primary substance into concrete aggrega- tion, and also does this in certain areas to the exclusion of others, we cannot avoid attributing to Spirit the power of Selection and of taking an Initiative on its own account. Here, then, we find the initial Polarity of Universal Spirit and Universal Substance, each being the complementary of the other, and out of this relation all subsequent evolution pro- ceeds. Being complementary means that each supplies what is wanting in the other, and that 22 The Creative Process in the Individual. the two together thus make complete whole- ness. Now this is just the case here. Spirit supplies Selection and Motion. Substance supplies something from which selection can be made and to which Motion can be imparted ; so that it is a sine qua non for the Expression of Spirit. Then comes the question, How did the Universal Substance get there ? It cannot have made itself, for its only quality is inertia, therefore it must have come from some source having power to project it by some mode of action not of a material nature. Now the only mode of action not of a material nature is Thought, and therefore to Thought we must look for the origin of Substance. This places us at a point antecedent to the existence even of primary substance, and consequently the initial action must be that of the Originating Mind upon Itself, in other words, Self-con- templation. At this primordial stage neither Time nor Space can be recognized, for both imply measurement of successive intervals, and in the primary movement of Mind upon itself the The Self-Contemplation of Spirit. 23 only consciousness must be that of Present Absolute Being, because no external points exist from which to measure extension either in time or space. Hence we must eliminate the ideas of time and space from our con- ception of Spirit’s initial Self-contemplation. This being so, Spirit’s primary contemplation of itself as simply Being necessarily makes its presence universal and eternal, and conse- quently, paradoxical as it may seem, its inde- pendence of Time and Space makes it present throughout all Time and Space. It is the old esoteric maxim that the point expands to infinitude and that infinitude is concentrated in the point. We start, then, with Spirit contemplating itself simply as Being. But to realize your being you must have conscious- ness, and consciousness can only come by the recognition of your relation to something else. The something else may be an external fact or a mental image ; but even in the latter case to conceive the image at all you must mentally stand back from it and look at it — something like the man who was run in by the police at Gravesend for walking behind himself to see 24 The Creative Process in the Individual. how his new coat fitted. It stands thus : if you are not conscious of something you are conscious of nothing, and if you are conscious of nothing, then you are unconscious, so that to be conscious at all you must have some- thing to be conscious of. This may seem like an extract from “ Paddy’s Philosophy,” but it makes it clear that con- sciousness can only be attained by the recog- nition of something which is not the recog- nizing ego itself— in other words consciousness is the realization of some particular sort of relation between the cognizing subject and the cognized object; but I want to get away from academical terms into the speech of human beings, so let us take the illustration of a broom and its handle — the two together make a broom ; that is one sort of relation ; but take the same stick and put a rake-iron at the end of it and you have an altogether different implement. The stick remains the same, but the difference of what is put at the end of it makes the whole thing a broom or a rake. Now the thinking and feeling power is the stick, and the conception which it forms is The Self -Contemplation of Spirit. 25 the thing at the end of the stick, so that the quality of its consciousness will be determined by the ideas which it projects ; but to be con- scious at all it must project ideas of some sort. Now of one thing we may be quite sure, that the Spirit of Life must feel alive. Then to feel alive it must be conscious, and to be conscious it must have something to be conscious of; therefore the contemplation of itself as stand- ing related to something which is not its own originating self in propria persona is a necessity of the case ; and consequently the Self-con- templation of Spirit can only proceed by its viewing itself as related to something standing out from itself, just as we must stand at a proper distance to see a picture — in fact the very word “ existence ” means “ standing out.” Thus things are called into existence or “ out- standingness ” by a power which itself does not stand out, and whose presence is therefore indicated by the word “ subsistence.” The next thing is that since in the beginning there is nothing except Spirit, its primary feel- ing of aliveness must be that of being alive all over ; and to establish such a consciousness of 26 The Creative Process in the Individual . its own universal livingness there must be the recognition of a corresponding relation equally extensive in character ; and the only possible correspondence to fulfil this condition is there- fore that of a universally distributed and plastic medium whose particles are all in per- fect equilibrium, which is exactly the descrip- tion of the Primary Substance or ether. We are thus philosophically led to the conclusion that Universal Substance must be projected by Universal Spirit as a necessary consequence of Spirit's own inherent feeling of Aliveness ; and in this way we find that the great Primary Polarity of Being becomes established. From this point onward we shall find the principle of Polarity in universal activity. It is that relation between opposites without which no external Motion would be possible, because there would be nowhere to move from, and nowhere to move to ; and without which external Form would be impossible because there would be nothing to limit the diffusion of substance and bring it into shape. Polarity, or the interaction of Active and Passive, is therefore the basis of all Evolution. 2 7 The Self -Contemplation of Spirit. XThis is a great fundamental truth when we get it in its right order ; but all through the ages it has been a prolific source of error by getting it in its wrong order. And the wrong order consists in making Polarity the originat- ing point of the Creative Process. What this misconception leads to we shall see later on ; but since it is very widely accepted under various guises even at the present day it is well to be on our guard against it. Therefore I wish the student to see clearly that there is something which comes before that Polarity which gives rise to Evolution, and that this something is the original movement of Spirit within itself, of which we can best get an idea by calling it Self-contemplation. Now this may seem an extremely abstract conception and one with which we have no practical concern. I fancy I can hear the reader saying “ The Lord only knows how the world started, and it is His business and not mine,” which would be perfectly true if this originating faculty were confined to the Cosmic Mind. But it is not, and the same action takes place in our own minds also, only with 28 The Creative Process in the Individual. the difference that it is ultimately subject to that principle of Cosmic Unity of which I have already spoken. But, subject to that unifying principle, this same power of origina- tion is in ourselves also, and our persona^ advance in evolution depends on our right use of it ; and our use of it depends on our recog- nition that we ourselves give rise to the par- ticular polarities which express themselves in our whole world of consciousness, whether within or without. For these reasons it is very important to realize that Evolution is not the same as Creation. It is the unfolding of potentialities Evolved in things already created, but not the calling into existence of what does not yet exist — that is Creation. The order, therefore, which I wish the student to observe is, first the Self-contempla- tion of Spirit producing Polarity, and next Polarity producing Manifestation in Form — and also to realize that it is in this order his own mind operates as a subordinate centre of creative energy. When the true place of Polarity is thus recognized, we shall find in it the explanation of all those relations of things The Self -Contemplation of Spirit . 29 which give rise to the whole world of phe- nomena; from which we may draw the practi- cal inference that if we want to change the manifestation we must change the polarity, and to change the polarity we must get back to the Self-contemplation of Spirit. But in its proper place as the root-principle of all seco 7 idary causation, Polarity is one of those fundamental facts of which we must never lose sight. The term “ Polarity ” is adopted from electrical science. In the electric battery it is the connecting together of the opposite poles of zinc and copper that causes a current to flow from one to the other and so provides the energy that rings the bell. If the connection is broken there is no action. When you press the button you make the connection. The same process is repeated in respect of every sort of polarity throughout the universe. Circulation depends on polarity, and circula- tion is the manifestation of Life, which we may therefore say depends on the principle of polarity. In relation to ourselves we are con- cerned with two great polarities, the polarity of Soul and Body and the polarity of Soul and 30 The Creative Process in the Individual . Spirit ; and it is in order that he may more clearly realize their working that I want the student to have some preliminary idea of Polarity as a general principle. The conception of the Creative Order may therefore be generalized as follows. The Spirit wants to enjoy the reality of its own Life — not merely to vegetate, but to enjoy living — and therefore by Self-contemplation it projects a polar opposite, or complementary, calculated to give rise to the particular sort of relation out of which the enjoyment of a certain mode of self-consciousness will necessarily spring. Let this sentence be well pondered over until the full extent of its significance is grasped, for it is the key to the whole matter. Very well, then : Spirit wants to Enjoy Life, and so, by thinking of itself as having the enjoyment which it wishes, it produces the conditions which, by their reaction upon itself, give rise to the reality of the sort of enjoyment contemplated. In more scientific language an opposite polarity is induced, giving rise to a current which stimulates a particular mode of sensation, which sensation in turn becomes a The Self -Contemplation of Spirit. 31 fresh starting-point for still further action ; and in this way each successive stage becomes the stepping-stone to a still higher degree of sen- sation — that is, to a Fuller Enjoyment of Life. Such a conception as this presents us with a Progressive Series to which it is impossible to assign any limit. That the progression must be limitless is clear from the fact that there is never any change in the method. At each successive stage the Creating Power is the Self-consciousness of the Spirit, as realized at that stage, still reaching forward for yet further Enjoyment of Life, and so always keeping on repeating the one Creative Process at an ever- rising level ; and since these are the sole working conditions, the progress is one which logically admits of no finality. And this is where the importance of realizing the Single- ness of the Originating Power comes in, for with a Duality each member would limit the other ; in fact, Duality as the Originating Power is inconceivable, for, once more to quote “ Paddy’s Philosophy,” “ finality would be reached before anything was begun.” This Creative Process, therefore, can only 32 The Creative Process in the Individual. be conceived of as limitless, while at the same time strictly progressive, that is, proceeding stage by stage, each stage being necessary as a preparation for the one that is to follow. Let us then briefly sketch the stages by which things in our world have got as far as they have. The interest of the enquiry lies in the fact that if we can once get at the principle which is producing these results, we may dis- cover some way of giving it personal applica- tion. On the hypothesis of the Self-contemplation of Spirit being the originating power, we have found that a primary ether, or universal sub- stance, is the necessary correspondence to Spirit’s simple awareness of its own being. But though awareness of being is the neces- sary foundation for any further possibilities it is, so to say, not much to talk about. The foundation fact, of course, is to know that I Am ; but immediately on this consciousness there follows the desire for Activity — I want to enjoy my I Am-ness by doing something with it. Translating these words into a state of consciousness in the Cosmic Mind they become The Self -Contemplation of Spirit. 33 a Law of Tendency leading to localized activity, and, looking only at our own world, this would mean the condensation of the universal etheric substance into the primary nebula which later on becomes our solar system, this being the correspondence to the Self-contemplation of Spirit as passing into specific activity instead of remaining absorbed in simple awareness of Being. Then this self-recognition would lead to the conception of still more specific activity having its appropriate polar opposite, or material correspondence, in the condensation of the nebula into a solar system. Now at this stage Spirit’s conception of itself is that of Activity, and consequently the material correspondence is Motion, as distin- guished from the simple diffused ether which is the correspondence of mere awareness of Being. But what sort of motion ? Is the material movement evolved at this stage bound to take any particular form ? A little consideration will show us that it is. At this initial stage, the first awakening, so to say, of Spirit into activity, its consciousness can only be that of activity absolute ; that is, not as related to any c 34 The Creative Process in the Individual. other mode of activity because as yet there is none, but only as related to all-embracing Being ; so that the only possible conception of Activity at this stage is that of Self -sustained activity, not depending on any preceding mode of activity because there is none. The law of reciprocity therefore demands a similar self- sustained motion in the material correspond- ence, and mathematical considerations show that the only sort of motion which can sustain a self-supporting body moving in vacuo is a rotary motion bringing the body itself into a spherical form. Now this is exactly what we find at both extremes of the material world. At the big end the spheres of the planets rota- ting on their axes and revolving round the sun ; and at the little end the spheres of the atoms consisting of particles which, modern science tells us, in like manner rotate round a common centre at distances which are astronomical as compared with their own mass. Thus the two ultimate units of physical manifestation, the atom and the planet, both follow the same law of self-sustained motion which we have found that, on a priori grounds, they ought in order The Self -Contemplation of Spirit. 35 to express the primary activity of Spirit. And we may note in passing that this rotary, or absolute, motion is the combination of the only two possible relative modes of motion, namely, motion from a point and motion to it, that is to say centrifugal and centripetal motion ; so that in rotary, or absolute, motion we find that both the polarities of motion are included, thus repeating on the purely mechanical side the primordial principle of the Unity including the Duality in itself. But the Spirit wants something more than mechanical motion, something more alive than the preliminary Rota, and so the first step towards individualized consciousness meets us in plant life. Then on the principle that each successive stage affords the platform for a further outlook, plant life is followed by animal life, and this by the Human order in which the liberty of selecting its own conditions is immensely extended. In this way the Spirit’s expression of itself has now reached the point where its polar complementary, or Reciprocal, manifests as Intellectual Man — thus constitu- ting the Fourth great stage of Spirit’s Self-recog- 36 The Creative Process in the Individual . nition. But the Creative Process cannot stop here, for, as we have seen, its root in the Self- contemplation of Spirit renders it of necessity an Infinite Progression. So it is no use asking what is its ultimate, for it has no ultimate — its word is “Excelsior” — ever Life and “Life more Abundant.” Therefore the question is not as to finality where there is none, but as to the next step in the progression. Four king- doms we know : what is to be the Fifth ? All along the line the progress has been in one direction, namely, towards the development of more perfect Individuality, and therefore on the principle of continuity we may reasonably infer that the next stage will take us still further in the same direction. We want some- thing more perfect than we have yet reached, but our ideas as to what it should be are very various, not to say discordant, for one person’s idea of better is another person’s idea of worse. Therefore what we want to get at is some broad generalization of principle which will be in advance of our past experiences. This means that we must look for this prin- ciple in something that we have not yet The Divine Ideal. 37 experienced, and the only place where we can possibly find principles which have not yet manifested themselves is in gremio Dei — that is, in the innermost of the Originating Spirit, or as St. John calls it, “ in the bosom of the Father.” So we are logically brought to per- sonal participation in the Divine Ideal as the only principle by which the advance into the next stage can possibly be made. Therefore we arrive at the question, What is the Divine Ideal like ? / CHAPTER III. The Divine Ideal. What is the Divine Ideal ? At first it might appear hopeless to attempt to answer such a question, but by adhering to a definite principle we shall find that it will open out, and lead us on, and show us things which we could not otherwise have seen— this is the nature of principle, and is what distinguishes it from mere rules which are only the application of 38 The Creative Process in the Individual. principle under some particular set of condi- tions. We found two principles as essential in our conception of the Originating Spirit, namely its power of Selection and its power of Initiative; and we found a third principle as its only possible Motive, namely the Desire of the living for ever increasing Enjoyment of Life. Now with these three principles as the very essence of the All-originating Spirit to guide us, we shall, I think, be able to form some conception of that Divine Ideal which gives rise to the Fifth Stage of Manifestation of Spirit, upon which we should now be pre- paring to enter. We have seen that the Spirit’s Enjoyment of Life is necessarily a reciprocal — it must have a corresponding fact in manifestation to answer to it ; otherwise by the inherent law of mind no consciousness, and consequently no enjoy- ment, could accrue ; and therefore by the law of continuous progression the required Recip- rocal should manifest as a being awakening to the consciousness of the principle by which he himself comes into existence. Such an awakening cannot proceed from a The Divine Ideal. 39 comparison of one set of existing conditions with another, but only from the recognition of a Power which is independent of all conditions, that is to say, the absolute Self-dependence of the Spirit. A being thus awakened would be the proper correspondence of the Spirit’s Enjoyment of Life at a stage not only above mechanical motion or physical vitality, but even above intellectual perception of existing phenomena, that is to say at the stage where the Spirit’s Enjoyment consists in recognizing itself as the Source of all things. The position in the Absolute would be, so to speak, the awakening of Spirit to the recognition of its own Artistic Ability. I use the word “ Artistic ” as more nearly expressing an almost unstate- able idea than any other I can think of, for the work of the artist approaches more closely to creation ex nihilo than any other form of human activity. The work of the artist is the expression of the self that the artist is, while that of the scientist is the comparison of facts which exist independently of his own person- ality. It is true that the realm of Art is not without its methods of analysis, but the analy- 40 The Creative Process in the Individual. sis is that of the artist's own feeling and of the causes which give rise to it. These are found to contain in themselves certain principles which are fundamental to all Art, but these principles are the laws of the creative action of mind rather than those of the limitations of matter. Now if we may transfer this familiar analogy to our conception of the working of the All-Originating Mind we may picture it as the Great Artist giving visible expression to His feeling by a process which, though subject to no restriction from antecedent conditions, yet works by a Law which is inseparable from the Feeling itself — in fact the Law is the Feel- ing, and the Feeling is the Law, the Law of Perfect Creativeness. Some such Self-contemplation as this is the only way in which we can conceive the next, or Fifth, stage of Spirit's Self-recognition as taking place. Having got as far as it has in the four previous stages, that is to the produc- tion of intellectual man as its correspondence, the next step in advance must be on the lines I have indicated — unless, indeed, there were a sudden and arbitrary breaking of the Law of The Divine Ideal. 4i Continuity, a supposition which the whole Creative Process up to now forbids us to enter- tain. Therefore we may picture the Fifth stage of the Self-contemplation of Spirit as its awakening to the recognition of its own Artistic Ability, its own absolute freedom of action and creative power — just as in studio parlance we say that an artist becomes “ free of his palette.” But by the always present Law of Reciprocity, through which alone self- consciousness can be attained, this Self-recog- nition of Spirit in the Absolute implies a corresponding objective fact in the world of the Relative ; that is to say, the coming into manifestation of a being capable of realizing the Free Creative Artistry of the Spirit, and of recognizing the same principle in himself, while at the same time realizing also the rela- tion between the Universal Manifesting Princi- ple and its Individual Manifestation. Such, it appears to me, must be the concep- tion of the Divine Ideal embodied in the Fifth Stage of the progress of manifestation. But I would draw particular attention to the con- cluding words of the last paragraph, for if 42 The Creative Process in the Individual . we miss the relation between the Universal Manifesting Principle and its Individual Mani- festation, we have failed to realize the Principle altogether, whether in the Universal or in the Individual — it is just their interaction that makes each become what it does become — and in this further becoming consists the pro- gression. This relation proceeds from the principle I pointed out in the opening chapter which makes it necessary for the Universal Spirit to be always harmonious with itself ; and if this Unity is not recognized by the in- dividual he cannot hold that position of Reciprocity to the Originating Spirit which will enable it to recognize itself as in the Enjoyment of Life at the higher level we are now contemplating — rather the feeling con- veyed would be that of something antagonistic, producing the reverse of enjoyment, thus philosophically bringing out the point of the Scriptural injunction, “ Grieve not the Spirit.” Also the reaction upon the individual must necessarily give rise to a corresponding state of inharmony, though he may not be able to define his feeling of unrest or to account for it. The Divine Ideal. 43 But on the other hand if the grand harmony of the Originating Spirit within itself is duly regarded, then the individual mind affords a fresh centre from which the Spirit contemplates itself in what I have ventured to call its Artistic Originality — a boundless potential of Creativeness, yet always regulated by its own inherent Law of Unity. And this Law of the Spirit’s Original Unity is a very simple one. It is the Spirit’s necessary and basic conception of itself. A lie is a statement that something is, which is not. Then, since the Spirit’s statement or conception of anything necessarily makes that thing exist, it is logically impossible for it to conceive a lie. Therefore the Spirit is Truth. Similarly disease and death are the negative of Life, and therefore the Spirit, as the Principle of Life, cannot embody disease or death in its Self-contemplation. In like manner also, since it is free to produce what it will, the Spirit cannot desire the presence of repugnant forms, and so one of its inherent Laws must be Beauty. In this threefold Law of Truth, Life, and Beauty, we find the whole underlying 44 The Creative Process in the Individual. nature of the Spirit, and no action on the part of the individual can be at variance with the Originating Unity which does not contravert these fundamental principles. This it will be seen leaves the individual absolutely unfettered except in the direction of breaking up the fundamental harmony on which he himself, as included in the general creation, is dependent. This certainly can- not be called limitation, and we are all free to follow the lines of our own individuality in every other direction ; so that, although the recognition of our relation to the Originating Spirit safeguards us from injuring ourselves or others, it in no way restricts our liberty of action or narrows our field of development. Am I, then, tiying to base my action upon a fundamental desire for the opening out of Truth, for the increasing of Livingness, and for the creating of Beauty ? Have I got this as an ever present Law of Tendency at the back of my thought? If so, then this law will occupy precisely the same place in my Micro- cosm, or personal world, that it does in the Macrocosm, or great world, as a power which The Divine Ideal. 45 is in itself formless, but which by reason of its presence necessarily impresses its character upon all that the creative energy forms. On this basis the creative energy of the Universal Mind may be safely trusted to work through the specializing influence of our own thought* and we may adopt the maxim “ trust your desires ” because we know that they are the movement of the Universal in ourselves, and that being based upon our fundamental recog- nition of the Life, Love, and Beauty which the Spirit is, their unfoldments must carry these initial qualities with them all down the line, and thus, in however small a degree, becomes a portion of the working of the Spirit in its inherent creativeness. This perpetual Creativeness of the Spirit is what we must never lose sight of, and that is why I want the student to grasp clearly the idea of the Spirit’s Self-contemplation as the only possible root of the Creative Process. Not only at the first creation of the world, but at all times the plane of the innermost is that of Pure Spirit (f) and therefore at this, the * See my Dore Lectures, 1909. (+) See my Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science. 46 The Creative Process in the Individual. originating point, there is nothing else for Spirit to contemplate excepting itself; then this Self-contemplation produces corresponding manifestation, and since Self-contemplation or recognition of its own existence must necess- arily go on continually, the corresponding creativeness must always be at work. If this fundamental idea be clearly grasped we shall see that incessant and progressive creativeness is the very essence and being of Spirit. This is what is meant by the Affirmativeness of the Spirit. It cannot per se act negatively, that is to say uncreatively, for by the very nature of its Self-recognition such a negative action would be impossible. Of course if we act negatively then, since the Spirit is always acting affirma- tively, we are moving in the opposite direction to it ; and consequently so long as we regard our own negative action as being affirmative, the Spirit’s action must appear to us negative, and thus it is that all the negative conditions of the world have their root in negative or inverted thought : but the more we bring our thought into harmony with the Life, Love, and Beauty which the Spirit is, the less these in- The Divine Ideal. 47 verted conditions will obtain, until at last they will be eliminated altogether. To accomplish this is our great object; for though the pro- gress may be slow it will be steady if we proceed on a definite principle ; and to lay hold of the true principle is the purpose of our studies. And the principle to lay hold of is the Ceaseless Creativeness of Spirit. This is what we mean when we speak of it as The Spirit of the Affirmative, and I would ask my readers to impress this term upon their minds. Once grant that the All-originating Spirit is thus the Spirit of the Pure Affirmative, and we shall find that this will lead us logically to results of the highest value. If, then, we keep this Perpetual and Pro- gressive Creativeness of the Spirit continually in mind we may rely upon its working as surely in ourselves as in that great cosmic forward movement which we speak of as Evolution. It is the same power of Evolution working within ourselves, only with this difference, that in proportion as we come to realize its nature we find ourselves able to facilitate its progress by offering more and more favourable con- 48 The Creative Process in the Individual. ditions for its working. We do not add to the force of the Power, for we are products of it and so cannot generate what generates us ; but by providing suitable conditions we can more and more highly specialize it. This is the method of all the advance that has ever been made. We never create any force ( e.g . elec- tricity) but we provide special conditions under which the force manifests itself in a variety of useful and beautiful ways, unsuspected possi- bilities which lay hidden in the power until brought to light by the co-operation of the Personal Factor. Now it is precisely the introduction* of this Personal Factor that concerns us, because to all eternity we can only recognize things from our own centre of consciousness, whether in this world or in any other ; therefore the practical question is how to specialize in our own case the generic Originating Life which, when we give it a name, we call “ the Spirit.” The method of doing this is perfectly logical when we once see that the principle involved is that of the Self-recognition of Spirit. We ♦ See my Dor6 Lectures, 1909. The Divine Ideal. 49 have traced the modus operandi of the Creative Process sufficiently far to see that the existence of the cosmos'Ss the result of the Spirit’s seeing itself in the cosmos, and if this be the law of the whole it must also be the law of the part. But there is this difference, that so long as the normal average relation of particles is main- tained the whole continues to subsist, no mat- ter what position any particular particle may go into, just as a fountain continues to exist no matter whether any particular drop of water is down in the basin or at the top of the jet. This is the generic action which keeps the race going as a whole. But the question is, What is going to become of ourselves ? Then because the law of the whole is also the law of the part we may at once say that what is wanted is for the Spirit to see itself in us — in other words, to find in us the Reciprocal which, as we have seen, is necessary to its Enjoyment of a certain Quality of Consciousness. Now, the fundamental consciousness of the Spirit must be that of Self-sustaining Life, and for the full enjoyment of this consciousness there must be a corresponding individual conscious- D 50 The Creative Process in the Individual. ness reciprocating it ; and on the part of the individual such a consciousness can only arise from the recognition that his own life is iden- tical with that of the Spirit — not something sent forth to wander away by itself, but some- thing included in and forming part of the Greater Life. Then by the very conditions of the case, such a contemplation on the part of the individual is nothing else than the Spirit contemplating itself from the stand-point of the individual consciousness, and thus fulfilling the Law of the Creative Process under such specialized conditions as must logically result in the perpetuation of the individual life. It is the Law of the Cosmic Creative Process trans- ferred to the individual. This, it seems to me, is the Divine Ideal : that of an Individuality which recognizes its Source, and recognizes also the method by which it springs from that Source, and which is therefore able to open up in itself a channel by which that Source can flow in uninterruptedly ; with the result that from the moment of this recognition the in- dividual lives directly from the Originating The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 51 Life, as being himself a special direct creation , and not merely as being a member of a generic race. The individual who has reached this stage of recognition thus finds a principle of enduring life within himself-, so then the next question is in what way this principle is likely to manifest itself. CHAPTER IV. The Manifestation of the Life Principle. We must bear in mind that what we have now reached is a principle, or universal potential, only we have located it in the individual. But a principle, as such, is not manifestation. Manifestation is the growth proceeding from the principle, that is to say, some Form in which the principle becomes active. At the same time we must recollect that, though a form is necessary for manifestation, the form is not essential, for the same principle may mani- fest through various forms, just as electricity 52 The Creative Process in the Individual. may work either through a lamp or a tram-car without in any way changing its inherent nature. In this way we are brought to the conclusion that the Life-principle must always provide itself with a body in which to function, though it does not follow that this body must always be of the same chemical constitution as the one we now possess. We might well imagine some distant planet where the chemi- cal combinations with which we are familiar on earth did not obtain ; but if the essential life-principle of any individual were transported thither, then by the Law of the Creative Pro- cess it would proceed to clothe itself with a material body drawn from the atmosphere and substance of that planet ; and the personality thus produced would be quite at home there, for all his surroundings would be perfectly natural to him, however different the laws of Nature might be there from what we know here. In such a conception as this we find the im- portance of the two leading principles to which I have drawn attention — first, the power of the Spirit to create ex nihilo, and secondly, the The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 53 individual’s recognition of the basic principle of Unity giving permanence and solidity to the frame of Nature. By the former the self- recognizing life-principle could produce any sort of body it chose ; and by the latter it would be led to project one in harmony with the natural order of the particular planet, thus making all the facts of that order solid realities to the individual, and himself a solid and natural being to the other inhabitants of that world. But this would not do away with the individual’s knowledge of how he got there ; and so, supposing him to have realized his identity with the Universal Life-Principle sufficiently to consciously control the projec- tion of his own body, he could at will disin- tegrate the body which accorded with the conditions of one planet and constitute one which accorded just as harmoniously with those of another, and could thus function on any number of planets as a perfectly natural being on each of them. He would in all respects resemble the other inhabitants with one all-important exception, that since he had attained to unity with his Creative Principle 54 The Creative Process in the Individual. he would not be tied by the laws of matter as they were. Any one who should attain to such a power could only do so by his realization of the all- embracing Unity of the Spirit as being the Foundation of all things ; and this being the basis of his own extended powers he would be the last to contravert his own basic principle by employing his powers in such a way as to disturb the natural course of evolution in the world where he was. He might use them to help forward the evolution of others in that world, but certainly never to disturb it, for he would always act on the maxim that “ Order is Heaven’s First Law.” Our object, however, is not to transfer our- selves to other planets but to get the best out of this one ; but we shall not get the best out of this one until we realize that the power which will enable us to do so is so absolutely universal and fundamental that its application in this world is precisely the same as in any other, and that is why I have stated it as a general proposition applicable to all worlds. The principle being thus universal there is The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 55 no reason why we should postpone its appli- cation till we find ourselves in another world, and the best place and time to begin are Here and Now. The starting point is not in time or locality, but in the mode of Thought ; and if we realize that this Point of Origination is Spirit’s power to produce something out of nothing, and that it does this in accordance with the natural order of substance of the particular world in which it is working, then the spiritual ego in ourselves, as proceeding direct from the Universal Spirit, should be able first, to so harmoniously combine the working of spiritual and physical laws in its own body as to keep it in perfect health, secondly to carry this process further and renew the body, thus eradicating the effects of old age, and thirdly to carry the process still further and perpetuate this renewed body as long as the individual might desire. If the student shows this to one of his aver- age acquaintances who has never given any thought to these things, his friend will un- doubtedly exclaim “ Tommy rot ! ” even if he does not use a stronger expletive. He will at 56 The Creative Process in the Individual. once appeal to the past experience of all man- kind, his argument being that what has not been in the past cannot be in the future ; yet he does not apply the same argument to aeronautics and is quite oblivious of the fact that the Sacred Volume which he reverences contains promises of these very things. The really earnest student must never forget the maxim that “ Principle is not bound by Pre- cedent ” — if it were we should still be primitive savages. To use the Creative Process w r e must Affirm the Creative Power, that is to say, we must go back to the Beginning of the series and start with Pure Spirit, only remembering that this starting-point is now to be found in our- selves, for this is what distinguishes the indi- vidual Creative Process from the cosmic one. This is where the importance of realizing only one Originating Power instead of two inter- acting powers comes in, for it means that we do not derive our power from any existing polarity, but that we are going to establish polarities which will start secondary causation on the lines which we thus determine. This The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 57 also is where the importance comes in of recognizing that the only possible originating movement of spirit must be Self-contemplation, for this shows us that we do not have to con- template existing conditions but the Divine Ideal, and that this contemplation of the Divine Ideal of Man is the Self-contemplation of the Spirit from the standpoint of Human Individuality. Then the question arises, if these principles are true, why are we not demonstrating them ? Well, when our fundamental principle is ob- viously correct and yet we do not get the proper results, the only inference is that some- where or other we have introduced something antagonistic to the fundamental principle, something not inherent in the principle itself and which therefore owes its presence to some action of our own. Now the error consists in the belief that the Creative Power is limited by the material in which it works. If this be assumed, then you have to calculate the resist- ances offered by the material; and since by the terms of the Creative Process these resist- ances do not really exist, you have no basis of 58 The Creative Process in the Individual. calculation at all — in fact you have no means of knowing where you are, and everything is in confusion. This is why it is so important to remember that the Creative Process is the action of a Single Power, and that the inter- action of two opposite polarities comes in at a later stage, and is not creative, but only dis- tributive — that is to say, it localizes the Energy already proceeding from the Single Power. This is a fundamental truth which should never be lost sight of. So long, however, as we fail to see this truth we necessarily limit the Creative Power by the material it works in, and in practice we do this by referring to past experience as the only standard of judg- ment. We are measuring the Fifth Kingdom by the standard of the Fourth, as though we should say that an intellectual man, a being of the Fourth Kingdom, was to be limited by the conditions which obtain in the First or Mineral Kingdom — to use Scriptural language we are seeking the Living among the dead. And moreover at the present time a new order of experience is beginning to open out to us, for well authenticated instances of the The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 59 cure of disease by the invisible power of the Spirit are steadily increasing in number. The facts are now too patent to be denied — what we want is a better knowledge of the power which accounts for them. And if this begin- ning is now with us, by what reason can we limit it ? The difference between the healing of disease and the renewal of the entire organ- ism and the perpetuation of life is only a difference of degree and not of kind ; so that the actual experience of increasing numbers shows the working of a principle to which we can logically set no limits. If we get the steps of the Creative Process clearly into our minds we shall see why we have hitherto had such small results. Spirit creates by Self-contemplation ; Therefore, What it contemplates itself as being, that it becomes. You are individualized Spirit ; Therefore, What you contemplate as the Law of your being becomes the Law of your being. Hence, contemplate a Law of Death arising out of the Forces of the Material reacting 6o The Creative Process in the Individual. against the Power of the Spirit and overcoming it, and you impress this mode of self-recogni- tion upon Spirit in yourself. Of course you cannot alter its inherent nature, but you cause it to work under negative conditions and thus make it produce negative results so far as you yourself are concerned. But reverse the process, and contemplate a Law of Life as inherent in the very Being of the Spirit, and therefore as inherent in spirit in yourself ; and contemplate the forces of the Material as practically non-existent in the Creative Process, because they are products of it and not causes — look at things in this way and you will impress a corresponding con- ception upon the Spirit which, by the Law of Reciprocity, thus enters into Self-contemplation on these lines from the standpoint of your own individuality ; and then by the nature of the Creative Process a corresponding external- isation is bound to take place. Thus our initial question, How did anything come into existence at all, brings us to the recognition of a Law of Life which we may each specialize for ourselves ; and in the degree to which we The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 61 specialize it we shall find the Creative Principle at work within us building up a healthier and happier personality in mind, body, and circum- stances. Only we must learn to distinguish the vehi- cles of Spirit from Spirit itself, for the dis- tinction has very important bearings. What distinguishes the vehicles from the Spirit is the Law of Growth. The Spirit is the Formless principle of Life, and the vehicle is a Form in which this principle functions. Now the vehi- cle is a projection by the Spirit of substance co-ordinate with the natural order of the plane on which the vehicle functions, and therefore requires to be built up conformably to that order. This building up is what we speak of as Growth ; and since the principle which causes the growth is the individualized Spirit, the rate at which the growth will go on will depend on the amount of vitalizing energy the Spirit puts into it, and the amount of vitalizing energy will depend on the degree in which the individualized Spirit appreciates its own living- ness, and finally the degree of this appreciation will depend on the quality of the individual’s 62 The Creative Process in the Individual. perception of the Great All-originating Spirit as reflecting itself in him and thus making his contemplation of It nothing else than the Creative Self-contemplation of the Spirit pro- ceeding from an individual and personal centre. We must therefore not omit the Law of Growth in the vehicle from our conception cf the working of the Spirit. As a matter of fact the vehicle has nothing to say in the matter for it is simply a projection from the Spirit ; but for this very reason its formation will be slow or rapid in exact proportion to the individual spirit’s vitalizing conception. We could imagine a degree of vitalizing conception that would produce the corresponding form instantaneously, but at present we must allow for the weakness of our spiritual power — not as thinking it by any means incapable of accomplishing its object, but as being far slower in operation now than we hope to see it in the future — and so we must not allow ourselves to be discouraged, but must hold our thought knowing that it is doing its creative work, and that the corresponding growth is slowly but surely taking place — thus following The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 63 the Divine precept that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Gradually as we gain experience on these new lines our confidence in the power of the Spirit will increase, and we shall be less inclined to argue from the negative side of things, and thus the hind- rances to the inflow of the Originating Spirit will be more and more removed, and greater and greater results will be obtained. If we would have our minds clear on this subject of Manifestation we should remember its threefold nature : — First the General Life- Principle, secondly the Localization of this principle in the Individual, and thirdly the Growth of the Vehicle as it is projected by the individualized spirit with more or less energy. It is a sequence of progressive condensation from the Undifferentiated Universal Spirit to the ultimate and outermost vehicle — a truth enshrined in the esoteric maxim that “ Matter is Spirit at its lowest level.” The forms thus produced are in true accord with the general order of Nature on the par- ticular plane where they occur, and are there- fore perfectly different from forms temporarily 64 The Creative Process in the Individual. consolidated out of material drawn from other living organisms. These latter phantasmal bodies are held together only by an act of con- centrated volition, and can therefore only be maintained for a short time and with effort; while the body which the individualized spirit, or ego, builds for itself is produced by a per- fectly natural process and does not require any effort to sustain it, since it is kept in touch with the whole system of the planet by the continuous and effortless action of the in- dividual’s sub-conscious mind. This is where the action of sub-conscious mind as the builder of the body comes in. Sub-conscious mind acts in accordance with the aggregate of suggestion impressed upon it by the conscious mind, and if this suggestion is that of perfect harmony with the physical laws of the planet then a corresponding build- ing by the sub-conscious mind will take place, a process which, so far from implying any effort, consists rather in a restful sense of unity with Nature.* * For the relation between conscious and sub-conscious mind see my “Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science.” The Manifestation of the Life Principle. 65 And if to this sense of union with the Soul of Nature, that Universal Subconscious Mind which holds in the cosmos the same place that the subconscious mind does in ourselves — if to this there be superadded a sense of union with the All-creating Spirit from which the Soul of Nature flows, then through the medium of the individual’s sub-conscious mind such specialized effects can be produced in his body as to transcend our past experiences without in any way violating the order of the universe. The old Law was the manifestation of the Principle of Life working under constricted conditions : the New Law is the manifestation of the same Principle working under expand- ing conditions. Thus it is that though God never changes we are said to “ increase with the increase of God.” E CHAPTER V. The Personal Factor. I have already pointed out that the presence of a single all-embracing Cosmic Mind is an absolute necessity for the existence of any creation whatever, for the reason that if each individual mind were an entirely separate centre of perception, not linked to all other minds by a common ground of underlying mentality independent of all individual action, then no two persons would see the same thing at the same time, in fact no two individuals would be conscious of living in the same world. If this were the case there would be no com- mon standard to which to refer our sensations ; and, indeed, coming into existence with no consciousness of environment except such as we could form by our own unaided thought, and having by the hypothesis no standard by which to form our thoughts, we could not form The Personal Factor. 67 the conception of any environment at all, and consequently could have no recognition of our own existence. The confusion of thought in- volved even in the attempt to state such a condition shows it to be perfectly inconceivable, for the simple reason that it is self-contradictory and self-destructive. On this account it is clear that our own existence and that of the world around us necessarily implies the presence of a Universal Mind acting on certain fixed lines of its own which establish the basis for the working of all individual minds. This paramount action of the Universal Mind thus sets an unchangeable standard by which all individual mental action must eventually be measured, and therefore our first concern is to ascertain what this standard is and to make it the basis of our own action. But if the independent existence of a com- mon standard of reference is necessary for our self-recognition simply as inhabitants of the world we live in, then a fortiori a common standard of reference is necessary for our recognition of the unique place we hold in the Creative Order, which is that of introducing 68 The Creative Process in the Individual. the Personal Factor without which the pos- sibilities contained in the great Cosmic Laws would remain undeveloped, and the Self-con- templation of Spirit could never reach those infinite unfoldments of which it is logically capable. The evolution of the Personal Factor is therefore the point with which we are most concerned. As a matter of fact, whatever theories we may hold to the contrary, we do all realize the same cosmic environment in the same way ; that is to say, our minds all act according to certain generic laws which under- lie all our individual diversities of thought and feeling. This is so because we are made that way and cannot help it. But with the Per- sonal Factor the case is different. A standard is no less necessary, but we are not so made as to conform to it automatically. The very conception of automatic conformity to a per- sonal standard is self-contradictory, for it does away with the very thing that constitutes per- sonality, namely freedom of volition, the use of the powers of Initiative and Selection. For this reason conformity to the Standard of Per- The Personal Factor. 69 sonality must be a matter of choice, which amounts to the same thing as saying that it rests with each individual to form his own conception of a standard of Personality; but which liberty, however, carries with it the inevitable result that we shall bring into manifestation the conditions corresponding to the sort of personality we accept as our normal standard. I would draw attention to the words “ Normal Standard.” What we shall event- ually attain is, not what we merely wish, but what we regard as normal. The reason is that since we subconciously know ourselves to be based upon the inherent Law of the Universal Mind we feel, whether we can reason it out or not, that we cannot force the All-producing Mind to work contrary to its own inherent qualities, and therefore we intuitively recognize that we cannot transcend the sort of person- ality which is normal according to the Law of Universal Mind. This thought is always at the back of our mind and we cannot get away from it for the simple reason that it is inherent in our mental constitution, because our mind 70 The Creative Process in the Individual. is itself a product of the Creative Process ; and to suppose ourselves transcending the possibilities contained in the Originating Mind would involve the absurdity of supposing that we can get the greater out of the less. Nevertheless there are some who try to do so, and their position is as follows. They say in effect, I want to transcend the standard of humanity as I see it around me. But this is the normal standard according to the Law of the Universe, therefore I have to get above the Law of the Universe. Consequently I cannot draw the necessary power from that Law, and so there is nowhere else to get it except from myself. Thus the aspirant is thrown back upon his own individual will as the ultimate power, with the result that the onus lies on him of concentrating a force sufficient to overcome the Law of the Universe. There is thus con- tinually present to him a suggestion of struggle against a tremendous opposing force, and as a consequence he is continually subjecting him- self to a strain which grows more and more intense as he realizes the magnitude of the force against which he is contending. Then as he The Personal Factor. 71 begins to realize the inequality of the struggle he seeks for extraneous aid, and so he falls back on various expedients, all of which have this in common that they ultimately amount to invoking the assistance of other individualities, not seeing that this involves the same fallacy which has brought him to his present straits, the fallacy, namely, of supposing that any individuality can develop a power greater than that of the source from which itself proceeds. The fallacy is a radical one ; and therefore all efforts based upon it are foredoomed to ulti- mate failure, whether they take the form of reliance on personal force of will, or magical rites, or austerity practised against the body, or attempts by abnormal concentration to absorb the individual in the universal, or the invocation of spirits, or any other method — the same fallacy is involved in them all, that the less is larger than the greater. Now the point to be noted is that the idea of transcending the present conditions of humanity does not necessarily imply the idea of trans- cending the normal law of humanity. The mistake we have hitherto made has been in 72 The Creative Process in the Individual. fixing the Standard of Personality too low and in taking our past experiences as measuring the ultimate possibilities of the race. Our liberty consists in our ability to form our own conception of the Normal Standard of Per- sonality, only subject to the conditions arising out of the inherent Law of the underlying Universal Mind ; and so the whole thing re- solves itself into the question, What are those fundamental conditions ? The Law is that we cannot transcend the Normal; therefore comes the question, What is the Normal? I have endeavoured to answer this question in the chapter on the Divine Ideal, but since this is the crucial point of the whole subject we may devote a little further attention to it. The Normal Standard of Personality must necessarily be the reproduction in Individuality of what the Universal Mind is in itself, because, by the nature of the Creative Process, this standard results from Spirit’s Self-contempla- tion at the stage where its recognition is turned towards its own power of Initiative and Selec- tion. At this stage Spirit’s Self-recognition has passed beyond that of Self-expression The Personal Factor. 73 through a mere Law of Averages into the recognition of what I have ventured to call its Artistic Ability ; and as we have seen that Self-recognition at any stage can only be attained by the realization of a relation stimu- lating that particular sort of consciousness, it follows that for the purpose of this further advance expression through individuals of a corresponding type is a necessity. Then by the Law of Reciprocity such beings must possess powers similar to those contemplated in itself by the Originating Spirit, in other words they must be in their own sphere the image and likeness of the Spirit as it sees itself. Now we have seen that the Creating Spirit necessarily possesses the powers of Initiative and Selection. These we may call its active properties — the summing up of what it does. But what any power does depends on what it is, for the simple reason that it cannot give out what it does not contain ; therefore at the back of the initiative and selective power of the Spirit we must find what the Spirit is, namely, what are its substantive properties. 74 The Creative Process in the Individual . To begin with it must be Life. Then because it is Life it must be Love, because as the undifferentiated Principle of Life it cannot do otherwise than tend to the fuller development of life in each individual, and the pure motive of giving greater enjoyment of life is Love. Then because it is Life guided by Love it must also be Light, that is to say, the primary all-inclusive perception of boundless manifesta- tions yet to be. Then from this proceeds Power, because there is no opposing force at the level of Pure Spirit ; and therefore Life urged forward by Love or the desire for recog- nition, and by Light or the pure perception of the Law of Infinite Possibility, must neces- sarily produce Power, for the simple reason that under these conditions it could not stop short of action, for that would be the denial of the Life, Love, and Light which it is. Then because the Spirit is Life, Love, Light, and Power, it is also Peace, again for a very simple reason, that being the Spirit of the Whole it cannot set one part in antagonism against another, for that would be to destroy the wholeness. Next the Spirit must be The Personal Factor. 75 Beauty, because on the same principle of Wholeness it must duly proportion every part to every other part, and the due proportioning of all parts is beauty. And lastly the Spirit must be Joy, because, working on these lines, it cannot do otherwise than find pleasure in the Self-expression which its works afford it, and in the contemplation of the limitlessness of the Creative Process by which each realized stage of evolution, however excellent, is still the stepping-stone to something yet more excellent, and so on in everlasting progression. For these reasons we may sum up the Sub- stantive Being of the All-originating Spirit as Life, Love, Light, Power, Peace, Beauty, and Joy ; and its Active Power as that of Initiative and Selection. These, therefore, constitute the basic laws of the underlying universal mentality which sets the Standard of Normal Personality — a standard which, when seen in this light, transcends the utmost scope of our thought, for it is nothing else than the Spirit of the Infinite Affirmative conceived in Human Personality. This standard is therefore that of the Universal Spirit itself reproduced in 76 The Creative Process in the Individual. Human Individuality by the same Law of Reciprocity which we have found to be the fundamental law of the Creative Process — only now we are tracing the action of this Law in the Fifth Kingdom instead of in the Fourth. This Standard, then, we may call the Uni- versal Principle of Humanity, and having now traced the successive steps by which it is reached from the first cosmic movement of the Spirit in the formation of the primary nebula, we need not go over the old ground again, and may henceforward take this Divine Principle of Humanity as our Normal Standard and make it the starting point for our further evo- lution. But how are we to do this ? Simply by using the one method of the Creative Process, that is, the Self-contemplation of Spirit. We now know ourselves to be Reciprocals of the Divine Spirit, centres in which It finds a fresh stand-point for Self-contemplation ; and so the way to rise to the heights of this Great Pattern is by contemplating it as the Normal Standard of our own Personality. And be it noted that the Pattern thus set before us is Universal. It is the embodiment The Personal Factor. 77 of all the great principles of the Affirmative, and so in no way interferes with our own particular individuality — that is something built up upon this foundation, something additional affording the differentiating medium through which this unifying Principle finds variety of expression, therefore we need be under no apprehension lest by resting upon this Pattern we should become less ourselves. On the contrary the recognition of it sets us at liberty to become more fully ourselves because we know that we are basing our development, not upon the strength of our own unaided will, nor yet upon any sort of extraneous help, but upon the Universal Law itself, manifesting through us in the proper sequence of the Creative Order ; so that we are still dealing with Universal principles, only the principle by which we are now working is the Universal Principle of Personality. I wish the student to get this idea very clearly because this is really the crux of the passage from the Fourth Kingdom into the Fifth. The great problem of the future of evolution is the introduction of the Personal y8 The Creative Process in the Individual. Factor. The reason why this is so is very simple when we see it. To take a thought from my own ‘ Dore Lectures ’ we may put it in this way. In former days no one thought of building ships of iron because iron does not float ; yet now ships are seldom built of any- thing else, though the relative specific gravities of iron and water remain unchanged. What has changed is the Personal Factor. It has expanded to a more intelligent perception of the law of flotation, and we now see that wood floats and iron sinks, both of them by the same principle working under opposite conditions, the law, namely, that anything will float which bulk for bulk is lighter than the volume of water displaced by it, so that by including in our calculations the displacement of the vessel as well as the specific gravity of the material, we now make iron float by the very same law by which it sinks. This ex- ample shows that the function of the Personal Factor is to analyze the manifestations of Law which are spontaneously afforded by Nature and to discover the Universal Affirmative Principle which lies hidden within them, and The Personal Factor. 79 then by the exercise of our powers of Initia- tive and Selection to provide such specialized conditions as will enable the Universal Prin- ciple to work in perfectly new ways transcending anything in our past experience. This is how all progress has been achieved up to the pre- sent ; and is the way in which all progress must be achieved in the future, only for the purpose of evolution, or growth from within, we must transfer the method to the spiritual plane. The function, then, of the Personal Factor in the Creative Order is to provide specialized conditions by the use of the powers of Selec- tion and Initiative, a truth indicated by the maxim ‘Nature unaided fails’; but the diffi- culty is that if enhanced powers were attained by the whole population of the world without any common basis for their use, their pro- miscuous exercise could only result in chaotic confusion and the destruction of the entire race. To introduce the creative power of the Individual and at the same time avoid con- verting it into a devastating flood is the great problem of the transition from the Fourth 80 The Creative Process in the Individual. Kingdom into the Fifth. For this purpose it becomes necessary to have a Standard of the Personal Factor independent of any individual conceptions, just as we found that in order for us to attain self-consciousness at all it was a necessity that there should be a Universal Mind as the generic basis of all individual men- tality; only in regard to the generic build of mind the conformity is necessarily automatic, while in regard to the specializing process the fact that the essence of that process is Selec- tion and Initiative renders it impossible for the conformity to the Standard of Personality to be automatic — the very nature of the thing makes it a matter of individual choice. Now a Standard of Personality independent of individual conceptions must be the essence of Personality as distinguished from individual idiosyncracies, and can therefore be nothing else than the Creative Life, Love, Beauty, etc., viewed as a Divine Individuality, by identifying ourselves with which we eliminate all possi- bility of conflict with other personalities based on the same fundamental recognition ; and the very universality of this Standard allows free The Personal Factor. 81 play to all our particular idiosyncracies while at the same time preventing them from antag- onizing the fundamental principles to which we have found that the Self-contemplation of the Originating Spirit must necessarily give rise. In this way we attain a Standard of Measurement for our own powers. If we recognize no such Standard our development of spiritual powers, our discovery of the im- mense possibilities hidden in the inner laws of Nature and of our own being, can only become a scourge to ourselves and others, and it is for this reason that these secrets are so jealously guarded by those who know them, and that over the entrance to the temple are written the words ‘ Eskato Bebeloi ’ — * Hence ye Profane.’ But if we recognize and accept this Standard of Measurement then we need never fear our discovery of hidden powers either in ourselves or in Nature, for on this basis it becomes im- possible for us to misuse them. Therefore it is that all systematic teaching on these subjects begins with instruction regarding the Creative Order of the Cosmos, and then proceeds to exhibit the same Order as reproduced on the F 82 The Creative Process in the Individual. plane of Personality and so affording a fresh starting point for the Creative Process by the introduction of Individual Initiative and Selec- tion. This is the doctrine of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm ; and the transition from the generic working of the Creative Spirit in the Cosmos to its specific working in the Indi- vidual is what is meant by the doctrine of the Octave. CHAPTER VI. The Standard of Personality. We have now got some general idea as to the place of the personal factor in the Creative Order, and so the next question is, How does this affect ourselves ? The answer is that if we have grasped the fundamental fact that the moving power in the Creative Process is the self-contemplation of Spirit, and if we also see that, because we are miniature reproductions of the Original Spirit, our contemplation of It becomes Its contemplation of Itself from the The Standard of Personality. 83 standpoint of our own individuality — if we have grasped these fundamental conceptions, then it follows that our process for developing power is to contemplate the Originating Spirit as the source of the power we want to develop. And here we must guard against a mistake which people often make when look- ing to the Spirit as the source of power. We are apt to regard it as sometimes giving and sometimes withholding power, and conse- quently are never sure which way it will act. But by so doing we make Spirit contemplate itself as having no definite action at all, as a plus and minus which mutually cancel each other, and therefore by the Law of the Creative Process no result is to be expected. The mis- take consists in regarding the power as some- thing separate from the Spirit ; whereas by the analysis of the Creative Process which we have now made we see that the Spirit itself is the power, because the power comes into exist- ence only through Spirit’s self-contemplation. Then the logical inference from this is that by contemplating the Spirit as the power, and vice versa by contemplating the power as the 84 The Creative Process in the Individual. Spirit, a similar power is being generated in ourselves. Again an important conclusion follows from this, which is that to generate any particular sort of power we should contemplate it in the abstract rather than as applied to the par- ticular set of circumstances we have in hand. The circumstances indicate the sort of power we want but they do not help us to generate it ; rather they impress us with a sense of some- thing contrary to the power, something which has to be overcome by it, and therefore we should endeavour to dwell on the power in itself, and so come into touch with it in its limitless infinitude. It is here that we begin to find the benefit of a Divine Standard of Human Individuality. That also is an Infinite Principle, and by identifying ourselves with it we bring to bear upon the abstract conception of infinite Im- personal Power a corresponding conception of Infinite Personality, so that we thus import the Personal Factor which is able to use the Power without imposing any strain upon our- selves. We know that by the very nature of The Standard of Personality. 85 the Creative Process we are one with the Originating Spirit and therefore one with all the principles of its Being, and consequently one with its Infinite Personality, and therefore our contemplation of it as the Power which we want gives us the power to use that Power. This is the Self-contemplation of Spirit em- ployed from the individual standpoint for the generating of power. Then comes the appli- cation of the power thus generated. But there is only one Creative Process, that of the Self- contemplation of Spirit, and therefore the way to use this process for the application of the power is to contemplate ourselves as sur- rounded by the conditions which we want to produce. This does not mean that we are to lay down a hard and fast pattern of the con- ditions and strenuously endeavour to compel the Power to conform its working to every detail of our mental picture — to do so would be to hinder its working and to exhaust our- selves. What we are to dwell upon is the idea of an Infinite Power producing the hap- piness we desire, and because this Power is also the Forming Power of the universe 86 The Creative Process in the Individual. trusting it to give that form to the conditions which will most perfectly react upon us to pro- duce the particular state of consciousness desired. Thus neither on the side of in-drawing nor of out-giving is there any constraining of the Power, while in both cases there is an initiative and selective action on the part of the indi- vidual — for the generating of power he takes the initiative of invoking it by contemplation, and he makes selection of the sort of power to invoke ; while on the giving-out side he makes selection of the purpose for which the Power is to be employed, and takes the initiative by his thought of directing the Power to that purpose. He thus fulfils the fundamental requirements of the Creative Process by exer- cising Spirit’s inherent faculties of initiative and selection by means of its inherent method, namely by Self-contemplation. The whole action is identical in kind with that which produces the cosmos, and it is now repeated in miniature for the particular world of the indi- vidual ; only we must remember that this miniature reproduction of the Creative Process The Standard of Personality. 87 is based upon the great fundamental principles inherent in the Universal Mind, and cannot be dissociated from them without involving a conception of the individual which will ulti- mately be found self-destructive because it cuts away the foundation on which his individuality rests. It will therefore be seen that any individu- ality based upon the fundamental Standard of Personality thus involved in the Universal Mind has reached the basic principle of union with the Originating Spirit itself, and we are therefore correct in saying that union is attained through, or by means of, this Standard Personality. This is a great truth which in all ages has been set forth under a variety of symbolic statements ; often misunderstood, and still continuing to be so, though owing to the inherent vitality of the idea itself even a partial apprehension of it produces a corres- ponding measure of good results. This falling short has been occasioned by the failure to recognize an Eternal Principle at the back of the particular statements — in a word the failure to see what they were talking about. All prin- 88 The Creative Process in the Individual. ciples are eternal in themselves, and this is what distinguishes them from their particular manifestations as laws determined by tem- porary and local conditions. If then, we would reach the root of the matter we must penetrate through all verbal statements to an Eternal Principle which is as active now as ever in the past, and which is as available to ourselves as to any who have gone before us. Therefore it is that when we discern an Eternal and Universal Principle of Human Personality as necessarily involved in the Essential Being of the Originating Uni- versal Spirit — Filius in gremio Patris — we have discovered the true Normal Standard of Per- sonality. Then because this standard is noth- ing else than the principle of Personality expanded to infinitude, there is no limit to the expansion which we ourselves may attain by the operation in us of this principle ; and so we are never placed in a position of antago- nism to the true law of our being, but on the contrary the larger and more fundamental our conception of personal development the greater will be the fulfilment which we give to the The Standard of Personality. 89 Law. The Normal Standard of Personality is found to be itself the Law of the Creative Process working at the personal level ; and it cannot be subject to limitation for the simple reason that the process being that of the Self- contemplation of Spirit, no limits can possibly be assigned to this contemplation. We need, therefore, never be afraid of form- ing too high an idea of human possibilities provided always that we take this standard as the foundation on which to build up the edifice of our personality. And we see that this standard is no arbitrary one but simply the Expression in Personality of the ONE all- embracing Spirit of the Affirmative ; and therefore the only limitation implied by con- formity to it is that of being prevented from running on lines the opposite of those of the Creative Process, that is to say, from calling into action causes of disintegration and des- truction. In the truly Constructive Order, therefore, the Divine Standard of Personality is as really the basis of the development of specific personality as the Universal Mind is the necessary basis of generic mentality ; and go The Creative Process in the Individual. just as without this generic ultimate of Mind we should none of us see the same world at the same time, and in fact have no conscious- ness of existence, so apart from this Divine Standard of Personality it is equally impossible for us to specialize the generic law of our being so as to develop all the glorious possi- bilities that are latent in it. Only we must never forget the difference between these two statements of the Universal Law — the one is cosmic and generic, common to the whole race, whether they know it or not, a Standard to which we all conform automati- cally by the mere fact of being human beings ; while the other is a personal and individual Standard, automatic conformity to which is impossible because that would imply the loss of those powers of Initiative and Selection which are the very essence of Personality ; so that this Standard necessarily implies a personal selection of it in preference to other conceptions cf an antagonistic nature. CHAPTER VII. Race Thought and New Thought. The steady following up of the successive stages of the Creative Process has led us to the recognition of an Individuality in the All- creating Spirit itself, but an Individuality which is by its very nature Universal, and so cannot be departed from without violating the essential principles on which the further ex- pansion of our own individuality depends. At the same time it is strictly individual, for it is the Spirit of Individuality, and is thus to be distinguished from that merely generic race- personality which makes us human beings at all. Race-personality is of course the neces- sary basis for the development of this In- dividuality; but if we do not see that it is only the preliminary to further evolution, any other conception of our personality as mem- bers of the race will prevent our advance 92 The Creative Process in the Individual. towards our proper position in the Creative Order, which is that of introducing the Per- sonal Factor by the exercise of our individual power of initiative and selection. It is on this account that Race-thought, simply as such, is opposed to the attempt of the individual to pass into a higher order of life. It limits him by strong currents of negative suggestion based on the fallacy that the perpetuation of the race requires the death of the individual* ; and it is only when the individual sees that this is not true, and that his race-nature constitutes the ground out of which his new Individuality is to be formed, that he becomes able to oppose the negative power of race-thought. He does this by destroying it with its own weapon, that is, by finding in the race-nature itself the very material to be used by the Spirit for building- up the New Man. This is a discovery on the spiritual plane equivalent to the discovery on the physical plane that we can make iron float by the same law by which it sinks. It is the discovery that what we call the mortal part of * See “ Self- Synthesis ” by Dr. Cornwall Round. Race Thought and New Thought. 93 us is capable of being brought under a higher application of the Universal Law of Life, which will transmute it into an immortal prin- ciple. When we see what we call the mortal part of us in this light we can employ the very principle on which the negative race-thought is founded as a weapon for the destruction of that thought in our own minds. The basis of the negative race-thought is the idea that physical death is an essential part of the Normal Standard of Personality, and that the body is composed of so much neutral material with which death can do what it likes. But it is precisely this neutrality of matter that makes it just as amenable to the Law of Life as to the Law of Death — it is simply neutral and not an originating power on either side ; so then when we realize that our Normal Standard of Personality is not subject to death, but is the Eternal Essence and Being of Life itself, then we see that this neutrality of matter — its inability to make selection or take iniative on its own account — is just what makes it the plastic medium for the expression of Spirit in ourselves. 94 The Creative Process in the Individual. In this way the generic or race mind in the individual becomes the instrument through which the specializing power of the Spirit works towards the building up of a personality based upon the truly Normal Standard of Individuality which we have found to be in- herent in the All-originating Spirit itself : and since the whole question is that of the intro- duction of the factor of personal individuality into the creative order of causation, this can- not be done by depriving the individual of what makes him a person instead of a thing, namely, the power of conscious initiative and selection. For this reason the transition from the Fourth Kingdom into the Fifth cannot be forced upon the race either by a Divine fiat or by the generic action of cosmic law, for it is a specializing of the cosmic law which can only be effected by personal initiative and selection, just as iron can only be made to float under certain specialized conditions ; and conse- quently the passage from the Fourth into the Fifth Kingdom is a strictly individual process which can only be brought about by a personal Race Thought and New Thought. 95 perception of what the normal standard of the New Individuality really is. This can only be done by the active laying aside of the old race- standard and the conscious adoption of the new one. The student will do well to consider this carefully, for it explains why the race can- not receive the further evolution simply as a race ; and also it shows that our further evolu- tion is not into a state of less activity but of greater, not into being less alive but more alive, not into being less ourselves but more ourselves ; thus being just the opposite of those systems which present the goal of existence as re-absorption into the undiffer- entiated Divine essence. On the contrary our further evolution is into greater degrees of conscious activity than we have ever yet known, because it implies our development of greater powers as the consequence of our clearer perception of our true relation to the All-originating Spirit. It is the recognition that we may, and should, measure ourselves by this New Standard instead of by the old race- standard that constitutes the real New Thought. The New Thought which gives New g6 The Creative Process in the Individual. Life to the individual will never be realized so long as we think that it is merely the name of a particular sect, or that it is to be found in the mechanical observance of a set of rules laid down for us by some particular teacher. It is a New Fact in the experience of the individual, the reason for which is indeed made clear to him through intellectual perception of the real nature of the Creative Process, but which can become an actual experience only by habitual personal intercourse with that Divine Spirit which is the Life, Love and Beauty that are at the back of the Creative Process and find expression through it. From this intercourse new thoughts will continually flow in, all of them bearing that vivifying element which is inherent in their source, and the individual will then proceed to work out these new ideas with the know- ledge that they have their origin in the selection and initiative power of the All-creating Spirit itself, and in this way by combined meditation and action he will find himself advancing into increasing light, liberty and usefulness. The advance may be almost imperceptible from one The Denoument of the Creative Process. 97 day to another, but it will be perceptible at longer intervals, and the one who is thus moving forward with the Spirit of God will on looking back at any time always find that he is getting more livingness out of life than he was a year previously. And this without strenuous effort, for he is not having to manu- facture the power from his own resources but only to receive it — and as for using it, that is only the exercise of the power itself. So following on these lines you will find that Rest and Power are identical ; and so you get the real New Thought which grows in Newness every day. CHAPTER VIII. The Denoument of the Creative Process. Then comes the question, What should logic- ally be the denoument of the progression we have been considering ? Let us briefly re- capitulate the steps of the series. Universal Spirit by Self-contemplation evolves Universal G 98 The Creative Process in the Individual. Substance. From this it produces cosmic creation as the expression of itself as function- ing in Space and Time. Then from this initial movement it proceeds to more highly specialized modes of Self-contemplation in a continually ascending scale, for the simple reason that self-contemplation admits of no limits and therefore each stage of self-recogni- tion cannot be other than the starting-point for a still more advanced mode of self-contem- plation, and so on ad infinitum. Thus there is a continuous progress towards more and more highly specialized forms of life, implying greater liberty and wider scope for enjoyment as the capacity of the individual life corres- ponds to a higher degree of the contemplation of Spirit ; and in this way evolution proceeds till it reaches a level where it becomes im* possible to go any further except by the exercise of conscious selection and initiative on the part of the individual, while at the same time conforming to the universal prin- ciples of which evolution is the expression. Now ask yourself in what way individual selection and initiative would be likely to act Opinions op the S^ess. By the same Author : THE EDINBURGH LECTURES ON MENTAL SCIENCE. 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