William Atkinson - The Essential Works of William Walker Atkinson - 50+ Books in One Edition

This truth has been expressed variously by the illumined of the race in veiled terms capable of being understood only by those who have learned to recognize Truth when they meet it, but which are meaningless to those who have not yet reached that point of evolution and who are content to read into the messages the half truths of which alone they are capable of comprehension. The following, from the pen of one of the wise ones of the world, illustrates the principle: "The Universe is eternal in toto , as a boundless plane, periodically the playground of numberless universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing." Gautama, the Buddha, gently reproved and cautioned his followers against the error of the Days and Nights of Brahm in these words:

"The Books teach Darkness was, at first of all,

And Brahm, sole meditating in that Night:

Look not for Brahm and the Beginning there! "

THE LAW OF CHANGE.

The Law of Change is ever dominant and operative in the Eternal Creations of Spirit. Worlds and Universes have their birth, their growth, their decline, their death; the same law is operative everywhere and in everything. All is under the Law. But there is no original creation from Nothing, and no total Destruction of the essence, nature, substance, and principle of Things. Everything is "becoming" from something else and in turn is "becoming" into something else. A beginningless and endless chain of sequence is manifest. Nothing is originally created; nothing is lost. Everything is transformed. The Law of Conservation, by which every particle is saved only to be transformed again, is ever in operation. Nature is economical. Although she has all the substance there is, and all the energy there is, she wastes not a single portion of either. She gathers up her scraps and worn-out materials and transforms them into something else fresh and new.

THE LAW OF CONTINUITY.

There are no sudden changes in the Eternal Creation. The Law of Continuity is ever in operation and acts in the direction of blending and shading one thing into another—the cause into the effect, the preceding into the succeeding thing, the variations into each other. There is no break in the orderly sequence and procession of things. It is impossible to determine where one thing ends and the next begins. Nature's processes are like the movement of the moving pictures, each change blending into that which follows it. There are no breaks or intermissions in the Eternal Creation. We can realize the continuity of Time. Time being but the measurement of Change, we see that the changing objects are as continuous as is Time. Like a mighty river the Eternal Creation flows on, without interruption, break, cessation, or separation.

THE LAW OF RHYTHM AND CYCLES.

The Law of Rhythm and Cycles also is ever constant. Everything rises and falls. Everything moves in circles. Everything swings to and fro like a pendulum. This is as true of the atom as of the Universe, as true of the great Cosmic energies as of the human emotions and feelings. Nothing remains still and unchanged, but is ever swinging between the two poles of its being, rising and falling with the energy of its being, moving in a circle around the circle of its being. The slightest examination or the most profound study of the Universe impresses this fact upon us. There is nothing to which this law does not apply. When it is understood it may be pressed into service and turned to advantage; when not understood it rules us like the arbitrary decrees of a tyrant.

BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SHIVA.

The Hindu mythology pictures deity as a Trinity: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, Shiva the Destroyer. This idea represents the operation of the Cosmic energies of the Eternal Creation. Every moment something is being created, then held in balance and preservation, and then destroyed. The moment of activity may be but an infinitesimal portion of a second of time, or it may extend over an æon of time, but the principle is the same and the end is the same. There is ever the outward creative movement, then the suspension of balance and preservation, then the inward destructive movement of return. It is as if the One threw off from itself its Creation; then, the outward force being expended, followed a period of balance and suspense, this, in turn, succeeded by the inward movement back toward the One. This is the symbol of Creation as embodied figuratively in the various mythologies and as stated as cold fact by science.

THE REIGN OF LAW.

The Cosmos is governed by Law. Law manifests as many laws, but the latter are merely aspects of the one Law. There is nothing in the Cosmos not under Law. Nothing is over and above Law. Physical, mental, and Spiritual activities, forms, shapes, and conditions are all governed by Law. Law is invariable. Those who claim otherwise err. Those who would take anything outside the realm of Law and Order endeavor but to remove that thing from the Cosmos. The very word "Cosmos," in its ‘Original Greek, means "Law and Order." It is applied to the Universe in the sense of attributing Law, Order, and Harmony to it.

THE INNER AND OUTER.

In the Universe we perceive all changes resulting from a twofold cause. There is ever present the inner impelling force or energy which urges the thing forward, and there is ever present the outer forces or energies of environment which serve to modify, influence, and determine the progress and direction of the inner energy or force. All change is the result of the action and reaction of these two principles of energy. This is true of the atom and the sun; of the tiniest living thing and of man; of the physical, mental, and Spiritual. There is always this action and reaction. Not only is the inner force modified and influenced and in a way determined by the outer forces, but the latter, in turn, are influenced, modified, and in a way determined by the inner. Like two great giants wrestling for supremacy, the Inner and the Outer ever act and react upon each other and the evolutionary result is the outcome of the struggle. But the result is not the final termination, for the struggle is renewed at the moment of the decision and goes on forever throughout all Eternity.

THE UNITY OF CREATION.

In all of this we may perceive the Unity of Creation—the fact that all is an expression of the same fundamental REALITY. The same laws apply to the high as well as to the low, to the great as well as to the small, to the complex as well as to the simple. There is no great, no small, no high, no low, no complex, no simple in the eyes of Infinity. In Creation all is finite and comparative; nothing is absolute. There is nothing fixed or unchangeable; everything changes. There is nothing final or ultimate; everything has its degrees, with something higher and something lower. There is nothing at rest, at peace, still; everything is in constant motion, unrest, and change. For the things of Manifestation are finite; only in the bosom of the Infinite is there found that which is absolute, immutable, ultimate, peaceful, and at rest.

SURFACE AND DEPTHS.

Finally, we are ever brought to the realization that all this infinite variety and extent of Creation is but a surface expression of Spirit, and that deep down beneath this surface disturbance and activity there abides the eternal calm, peace, unchangeableness, and rest of the Infinite. Spirit does not change in order to Create; it does not divide itself in order to express Variety; it remains ever itself , unchanged, unaltered, undisturbed, while the magnificent Cosmic Dramatization goes on in Eternity. We are ever resting upon the Bosom of the Deep. There we are ever secure. We can never be thrown from its surface, and if we sink into its depths we are as secure as ever, for then we are at one with it, relatively as well as absolutely.