Thomas Troward - THE EDINBURGH LECTURES ON MENTAL SCIENCE

and--Nothing; and the addition of Nothing to Spirit leaves _only_ spirit:

x + 0 = x.

From these considerations we see that the ultimate foundation of every form

of matter is spirit, and hence that a universal intelligence subsists

throughout Nature inherent in every one of its manifestations. But this

cryptic intelligence does not belong to the particular _form_ excepting in

the measure in which it is physically fitted for its concentration into

self-recognizing individuality: it lies hidden in that primordial substance

of which the visible form is a grosser manifestation. This primordial

substance is a philosophical necessity, and we can only picture it to

ourselves as something infinitely finer than the atoms which are themselves

a philosophical inference of physical science: still, for want of a better

word, we may conveniently speak of this primary intelligence inherent in

the very substance of things as the Atomic Intelligence. The term may,

perhaps, be open to some objections, but it will serve our present purpose

as distinguishing _this_ mode of spirit's intelligence from that of the

opposite pole, or Individual Intelligence. This distinction should be

carefully noted because it is by the response of the atomic intelligence to

the individual intelligence that thought-power is able to produce results

on the material plane, as in the cure of disease by mental treatment, and

the like. Intelligence manifests itself by responsiveness, and the whole

action of the cosmic mind in bringing the evolutionary process from its

first beginnings up to its present human stage is nothing else but a

continual intelligent response to the demand which each stage in the

progress has made for an adjustment between itself and its environment.

Since, then, we have recognized the presence of a universal intelligence

permeating all things, we must also recognize a corresponding

responsiveness hidden deep down in their nature and ready to be called into

action when appealed to. All mental treatment depends on this

responsiveness of spirit in its lower degrees to higher degrees of itself.

It is here that the difference between the mental scientist and the

uninstructed person comes in; the former knows of this responsiveness and

makes use of it, and the latter cannot use it because he does not know it.

We have now paved the way for understanding what is meant by "the unity of

the spirit." In the first conception of spirit as the underlying origin of

all things we see a universal substance which, at this stage, is not

differentiated into any specific forms. This is not a question of some

bygone time, but subsists at every moment of all time in the _innermost_

nature of all being; and when we see this, we see that the division between

one specific form and another has below it a deep essential unity, which

acts as the supporter of all the several forms of individuality arising out

of it. And as our thought penetrates deeper into the nature of this

all-producing spiritual substance we see that it cannot be limited to any

one portion of space, but must be limitless as space itself, and that the

idea of any portion of space where it is not is inconceivable. It is one of

those intuitive perceptions from which the human mind can never get away

that this primordial, all-generating living spirit must be commensurate

with infinitude, and we can therefore never think of it otherwise than as

universal or infinite. Now it is a mathematical truth that the infinite

must be a unity. You cannot have two infinites, for then neither would be

infinite, each would be limited by the other, nor can you split the

infinite up into fractions. The infinite is mathematically essential unity.

This is a point on which too much stress cannot be laid, for there follow

from it the most important consequences. Unity, as such, can be neither

multiplied nor divided, for either operation destroys the unity. By

multiplying, we produce a plurality of units of the same scale as the

original; and by dividing, we produce a plurality of units of a smaller

scale; and a plurality of units is not unity but multiplicity. Therefore if

we would penetrate below the outward nature of the individual to that

innermost principle of his being from which his individuality takes its

rise, we can do so only by passing beyond the conception of individual

existence into that of the unity of universal being. This may appear to be

a merely philosophical abstraction, but the student who would produce

practical results must realize that these abstract generalizations are the

foundation of the practical work he is going to do.

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.

Pure spirit is the Life-principle considered apart from the matrix in which

it takes relation to time and space in a particular form. In this aspect it

is pure intelligence undifferentiated into individuality. As pure

intelligence it is infinite responsiveness and susceptibility. As devoid of

relation to time and space it is devoid of individual personality. It is,