The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science — John Shaqi
The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental ScienceTroward, T. (Thomas)
Religion
The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science
Troward, T. (Thomas)
New Thought
Now the great fact to be recognized about a unity is that, _because_ it is
a single unit, wherever it is at all the _whole_ of it must be. The moment
we allow our mind to wander off to the idea of extension in space and say
that one part of the unit is here and another there, we have descended from
the idea of unity into that of parts or fractions of a single unit, which
is to pass into the idea of a multiplicity of smaller units, and in that
case we are dealing with the relative, or the relation subsisting between
two or more entities which are therefore _limited by each other_, and so
have passed out of the region of simple unity which is the absolute. It is,
therefore, a mathematical necessity that, because the originating Life-
principle is infinite, it is a single unit, and consequently, wherever it
is at all, the _whole_ of it must be present. But because it is _infinite_,
or limitless, it is everywhere, and therefore it follows that the _whole_
of spirit must be present at every point in space at the same moment.
Spirit is thus omnipresent _in its entirety_, and it is accordingly
logically correct that at every moment of time _all_ spirit is concentrated
at any point in space that we may choose to fix our thought upon. This is
the fundamental fact of all being, and it is for this reason that I have
prepared the way for it by laying down the relation between spirit and
matter as that between idea and form, on the one hand the absolute from
which the elements of time and space are entirely absent, and on the other
the relative which is entirely dependent on those elements. This great fact
is that pure spirit continually subsists in the absolute, whether in a
corporeal body or not; and from it all the phenomena of being flow, whether
on the mental plane or the physical. The knowledge of this fact regarding
spirit is the basis of all conscious spiritual operation, and therefore in
proportion to our increasing recognition of it our power of producing
outward visible results by the action of our thought will grow. The whole
is greater than its part, and therefore, if, by our recognition of this
unity, we can concentrate _all_ spirit into any given point at any moment,
we thereby include any individualization of it that we may wish to deal
with. The practical importance of this conclusion is too obvious to need
enlarging upon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account