181. How are extremes placed in contrast?
They are designated by distinctive names, such as inside and outside, top and bottom, light and dark, good and bad.
182. Are these separate entities?
No, they are parts or aspects of one Whole.
183. What is the one creative Principle in the physical, mental and spiritual world?
The Universal Mind, or the Eternal Energy from which all things proceed.
184. How are we related to this creative Principle?
By our ability to think.
185. How does this creative Principle become operative?
Thought is the seed which results in action, and action results in form.
186. Upon what does form depend?
Upon the rate of vibration.
18y. How may the rate of vibration be changed?
By mental action.
188. Upon what does mental action depend?
Upon polarity, action and reaction, between the individual and the Universal.
189. Does the creative energy originate in the individual or the Universal?
In the Universal, but the Universal can manifest only through the individual.
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190. Why is the individual necessary?
Because the Universal is static, and requires energy to start it in motion. This is furnished by food which is converted into energy, which in turn enables the individual to think. When the individual stops eating he stops thinking; then he no longer acts upon the Universal; there is consequently no longer any action or reaction; the Universal is then only pure mind in static form mind at rest.
There is no thought in my mind but it quickly tends to convert itself into a power and organizes a huge instrumentality of means.—Emerson.
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TELLS what the true business of life is and the result. It shows that we can obtain no results as long as we remain oblivious to the only power there is, an understanding of the principles, forces, methods and combinations of mind and its relation to the Universal mind. It explains that the Universal can act only through the Individual; it shows that we are the channel for its activity, that it is within us, that we are it. We can, of course, fail to recognize it and so exclude it from our consciousness, but it will nevertheless be the basic fact of all existence. It tells of inspiration, the art of adjusting the individual mind to that of the Universal, the art of becoming a channel for the flow of Infinite Wisdom.
INTRODUCTION. PART TWENTY.
For many years there has been an endless discussion as to the origin of evil.
Theologians have told us that God is Love, and that God is Omnipresent. If this be true, there is no place where God is not. Where, then, are Evil, Satan and Hell? Let us see:
God is Spirit.
Spirit is the Creative Principle of the Universe.
Man is made in the image and likeness of God.
Man is therefore a spiritual being.
The only activity which spirit possesses is the power to think.
Thinking is therefore a creative process.
All form is therefore the result of the thinking process.
The destruction of form must also be a result of the thinking process.
Fictitious representations of form are the result of the creative power of thought, as in Hypnotism.
Apparent representations of form are the result of the creative power of thought, as in Spiritualism.
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Invention, organization and constructive work of all kinds are the result of the creative power of thought, as in concentration.
When the creative power of thought is manifested for the benefit of humanity, we call the result good.
When the creative power of thought is manifested in a destructive or evil manner, we call the result evil.
This indicates the origin of both good and evil; they are simply words which have been coined in order to indicate the nature of the result of the thinking or creative process.
Thought necessarily precedes and predetermines action; action precedes and predetermines condition.
Part Twenty will throw more light upon this important subject.