Thomas Troward - The Hidden Power And Other Papers upon Mental Science

at this point, or at any point short of the whole. The test of the

soundness of any principle is that it can operate as effectively on a

large scale as on a small one, that though the nature of its field is

determined by the nature of the principle itself, the extent of its

field is unlimited. If, therefore, we continue to follow up the law we

have been considering, it leads us to the conception of a unit of

intelligence as far superior to that of the individual man as the unity

of his individual intelligence is superior to that of the intelligence

of any single atom of his body; and thus we may conceive of a collective

individuality representing the spiritual character of any aggregate of

men, the inhabitants of a city, a district, a country, or of the entire

world.

Nor need the process stop here. On the same principle there would be a

superior collective individuality for the humanity of the entire solar

system, and finally we reach the conception of a supreme intelligence

bringing together in itself the collective individualities of all the

systems in the universe. This is by no means a merely fanciful notion.

We find it as the law by which our own conscious individuality is

constituted; and we find the analogous principle working universally on

the physical plane. It is known to physical science as the "law of

inverse squares," by which the forces of reciprocal attraction or

repulsion, as the case may be, are not merely equivalent to the sum of

the forces emitted by the two bodies concerned, but are equivalent to

these two forces multiplied together and divided by the square of the

distance between them, so that the resultant power continually rises in

a rapidly-increasing ratio as the two reciprocally exciting bodies

approach one another.

Since this law is so universal throughout physical nature, the doctrine

of continuity affords every ground for supposing that its analogue holds

good in respect of spiritual nature. We must never lose sight of the

old-world saying that "a truth on one plane is a truth on all." If a

principle exists at all it exists universally. We must not allow

ourselves to be misled by appearances; we must remember that the

perceptible results of the working of any principle consist of two

factors--the principle itself or the active factor, and the

subject-matter on which it acts or the passive factor; and that while

the former is invariable, the latter is variable, and that the operation

of the same invariable upon different variables must necessarily produce

a variety of results. This at once becomes evident if we state it

mathematically; for example, _a_, _b_ or _c_, multiplied by _x_ give

respectively the results _ax_, _bx_, _cx_, which differ materially from

one another, though the factor _x_ always remains the same.

This law of the generation of power by attraction applies on the

spiritual as well as on the physical plane, and acts with the same

mathematical precision on both; and thus the human individuality

consists, not in the mere aggregation of its parts, whether spiritual or

corporeal, but in the _unity_ of power resulting from the intimate

association into which those parts enter with one another, which unity,

according to this law of the generation of power by attraction, is

infinitely superior, both in intelligence and power, to any less fully

integrated mode of spirit. Thus a natural principle, common alike to

physical and spiritual law, fully accounts for all claims that have ever

been made for the creative power of our thought over all things that

come within the circle of our own particular life. Thus it is that each

man is the centre of his own universe, and has the power, by directing

his own thought, to control all things therein.

But, as I have said above, there is no reason why this principle should

not be recognised as expanding from the individual until it embraces

the entire universe. Each man, as the centre of his own world, is

himself centred in a higher system in which he is only one of

innumerable similar atoms, and this system again in a higher until we

reach the supreme centre of all things; intelligence and power increase

from centre to centre in a ratio rising with inconceivable rapidity,

according to the law we are now investigating, until they culminate in

illimitable intelligence and power commensurate with All-Being.

Now we have seen that the relation of man to the lower modes of spirit

is that of superiority and command, but what is his relation to these

higher modes? In any harmoniously constituted system the relation of the

part to the whole never interferes with the free operation of the part

in the performance of its own functions; but, on the contrary, it is

precisely by means of this relation that each part is maintained in a

position to discharge all functions for which it is fitted. Thus, then,

the subordination of the individual man to the supreme mind, so far from

curtailing his liberty, is the very condition which makes liberty

possible, or even life itself. The generic movement of the whole

necessarily carries the part along with it; and so long as the part

allows itself thus to be carried onwards there will be no hindrance to

its free working in any direction for which it is fitted by its own

individuality. This truth was set forth in the old Hindu religion as the

Car of Jaggarnath--an ideal car only, which later ages degraded into a

terribly material symbol. "Jaggarnath" means "Lord of the Universe," and

thus signifies the Universal Mind. This, by the law of Being, must

always move forward regardless of any attempts of individuals to

restrain it. Those who mount upon its car move onward with it to

endlessly advancing evolution, while those who seek to oppose it must be

crushed beneath its wheels, for it is no respecter of persons.

If, therefore, we would employ the universal law of spirit to control

our own little individual worlds, we must also recognise it in respect

to the supreme centre round which we ourselves revolve. But not in the

old way of supposing that this centre is a capricious Individuality

external to ourselves, which can be propitiated or cajoled into giving

the good which he is not good enough to give of his own proper motion.

So long as we retain this infantile idea we have not come into the

liberty which results from the knowledge of the certainty of Law.

Supreme Mind is Supreme Law, and can be calculated upon with the same

accuracy as when manifested in any of the particular laws of the

physical world; and the result of studying, understanding and obeying

this Supreme Law is that we thereby acquire the power to _use_ it. Nor

need we fear it with the old fear which comes from ignorance, for we can

rely with confidence upon the proposition that the whole can have no

interest adverse to the parts of which it is composed; and conversely

that the part can have no interest adverse to the whole.

Our ignorance of our relation to the whole may make us appear to have

separate interests, but a truer knowledge must always show such an idea

to be mistaken. For this reason, therefore, the same responsiveness of

spirit which manifests itself as obedience to our wishes, when we look

to those degrees of spirit which are lower than her own individuality,

must manifest itself as a necessary inflowing of intelligence and power

when we look to the infinity of spirit, of which our individuality is a