Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser MysteriesBesant, Annie
Religion
Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries
Besant, Annie
Christianity -- Miscellanea; Mysticism; Theosophy
But we saw that there was a Fourth Person, or in some religions a second
Trinity, feminine, the Mother. This is That which makes manifestation
possible, That which eternally in the One is the root of limitation and
division, and which, when manifested, is called Matter. This is the
divine Not-Self, the divine Matter, the manifested Nature. Regarded as
One, She is the Fourth, making possible the activity of the Three, the
Field of Their operations by virtue of Her infinite divisibility, at
once the "Handmaid of the Lord,"[270] and also His Mother, yielding of
Her substance to form His Body, the universe, when overshadowed by His
power.[271] Regarded carefully She is seen to be triple also, existing
in three inseparable aspects, without which She could not be. These are
Stability--Inertia or Resistance--Motion, and Rhythm; the fundamental or
essential qualities of Matter, these are called. They alone render
Spirit effective, and have therefore been regarded as the manifested
Powers of the Trinity. Stability or Inertia affords a basis, the fulcrum
for the lever; Motion is then rendered manifest, but could make only
chaos, then Rhythm is imposed, and there is Matter in vibration, capable
of being shaped and moulded. When the three qualities are in
equilibrium, there is the One, the Virgin Matter, unproductive. When the
power of the Highest overshadows Her, and the breath of the Spirit comes
upon Her, the qualities are thrown out of equilibrium, and She becomes
the divine Mother of the worlds.
The first interaction is between Her and the Third Person of the
Trinity; by His action She becomes capable of giving birth to form. Then
is revealed the Second Person, who clothes Himself in the material thus
provided, and thus become the Mediator, linking in His own Person Spirit
and Matter, the Archetype of all forms. Only through Him does the First
Person become revealed, as the Father of all Spirits.
It is now possible to see why the Second Person of the Trinity of Spirit
is ever dual; He is the One who clothes Himself in Matter, in whom the
twin-halves of Deity appear in union, not as one. Hence also is He
Wisdom; for Wisdom on the side of Spirit is the Pure Reason that knows
itself as the One Self and knows all things in that Self, and on the
side of Matter it is Love, drawing the infinite diversity of forms
together, and making each form a unit, not a mere heap of particles--the
principle of attraction which holds the worlds and all in them in a
perfect order and balance. This is the Wisdom which is spoken of as
"mightily and sweetly ordering all things,"[272] which sustains and
preserves the universe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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