William Atkinson - The Complete Works of William Walker Atkinson

And God in his manifestation of Energy comprises all the Energy and power that can be conceived of by man—and more. All Energy and Power is that of God. He is Omnipotent—all powerful.

And God in his manifestation of Spirit, is Omniscient. He possesses all knowledge. There can be no knowledge outside of himself. He is the sum of all Knowledge and Wisdom. He makes no mistakes—he changes not his Mind—he repents not—he learns not—he knows and has always known.

And God in his manifestation of Substance, is Omnipresent— his Substance is everywhere, and there is no other Substance. The Materialist is correct when he states that Matter is Omnipresent—present everywhere—but he mistakes the manifestation for that which lies back of it—the manifestation for the manifestor.

The metaphysician, the occultist and the physical scientist have arrived at the same stage. From their differing points of view they see that Spirit, Energy and Substance (or as the scientists term them, Intelligence, Force and Matter) are Infinite and Eternal. Many have agreed upon this point, and have been unable to analyze further. They have stated that there were these three Principles in the Universe, and that further back they could not reason. They are right, but they fail to see that these things are not Causes but are the manifestation of the One—the Causeless Cause—God.

We cannot form the faintest idea of God except through his three manifestations, and their combinations. We are just reaching the stage in mental development where we are beginning to understand some little about these manifestations and their laws. We are just beginning to avail ourselves of our little knowledge regarding them, and are learning to turn our knowledge to account, in the direction of making use of some of the wonderful forms of Energy which we have discovered. We have, as yet, only the most elementary knowledge of these manifestations of God, and we might go on for millions of ages, and still be in the kindergarten stage. And until we can at least faintly grasp the meaning and nature of these wonderful manifestations of God itself, we cannot hope to even dimly imagine that which lies behind them—God himself.

And why attempt to fathom the unfathomable at this time? Why attempt to master the higher mathematics of life, when we are just learning that two and two make four? What folly. Let us learn as much about these manifestations as we can—let us grow into the broader knowledge of them that is coming to us from without and from within—and rejoice. Let us look forward to the worlds we have still to conquer—the ages of blissful knowledge that lie ahead of us—and be glad. Let us rejoice and shout that at last we have found the Path—and let us travel it with confidence and courage and joy.

Let us not weep, now that we have found that God is so much greater than we ever dreamed of. Let us not feel that he has been set so much farther away from us, for such is far from being the case. When we once get our new bearings, we will see that as our idea of God has grown, we, ourselves, have grown in proportion. Let us realize that with the consciousness of the existence of God we have gained a consciousness of being nearer to him—of being a part of The Whole—of not being merely created by God, but of being begotten of him—as possessing an atom of his spirit—a portion of his Substance—a particle of his power—of being of him, and not from him—of being a part of Him, and not apart from him. And let us know that as we grow, unfold and develop, we will acquire a greater share of all of his attributes, Knowledge, Power, and command over Space. Let us remember that we are begotten of him, and as the child possesses all the qualities of the Father, in a less developed form, so do we, the Children of God, possess a particle of each of His attributes. Think of it for a moment, and then remember that we are growing.

“Thou great eternal Infinite, the great unbounded Whole.

Thy body is the Universe—thy spirit is the soul.

If thou dost fill immensity; if thou art all in all;

If thou wert here before I was, I am not here at all.

How could I live outside of thee? Dost thou fill earth and air?

There surely is no place for me outside of everywhere.

If thou art God, and thou dost fill immensity of space,

Then I’m of God, think as you will, or else I have no place.

And if I have no place at all, or if I am not here,

‘Banished’ I surely cannot be, for then I be somewhere.

Then I must be a part of God, no matter if I’m small;

And if I’m not a part of him, there’s no such God at all.”

— Anonymous .

Table of Content

There is but One—God’s manifestations apparently innumerable, but in reality but One— Universal Oneness—Centre and circumference—The rays from the Centre reach all parts of the circle—High and low; beautiful and hideous; exalted or depraved; all a part of the One— Separateness but an illusion—God the only standard of perfection—Individuality does not decrease but grows—Beginning to understand—Truth everywhere—Sin the result of a belief in separateness—Invariable laws in operation—The fundamental consciousness of religion—The Universal Presence—The Oneness of All explains psychic mysteries, and relationships between persons and things—Human sympathy growing—The point towards which the race is traveling.

“ There is but One.” God’s manifestations are apparently innumerable, but from the Cosmic view All is but One, in the last analysis. The mind cannot grasp this idea fully without the aid of symbols, or figures of speech. The man of the Cosmic knowing is conscious of this Oneness of All but cannot clearly express it in words to others. The mind creates a symbol in an attempt to express the inexpressible. The mystics have attempted to express this idea of Oneness by a symbol—a circle with a central point, with rays emanating from the central point and reaching to the circumference, touching it at all points.

The circle represents the Universal Oneness, the central point representing the Central Intelligence, Power, Presence—God— surrounded by his emanations. This symbol is inadequate, for the pictured circle has dimensions—there is something outside of it. The circle of God’s emanations has no such dimensions— no such limitations—and there is no outside . All is included and nothing is left out. There is no out —all is in . And, in the symbol, the rays emanating from the Center have spaces between them, leaving some part of the space uncovered by the rays, while in reality the Central rays touch and cover every part of the emanated Universe—there is no place, person, or thing not in touch with the Center—not in communication with God. God’s Love, Presence, Power, and Spirit reach all, and are still a part of him, just as the rays of the sun spread in all directions and are still parts of the sun. But any symbol, figure of speech, or form of expression is inadequate. The inexpressible cannot be expressed. The finite cannot express the infinite.

All is One. The most beautiful thing—the most loathsome object; the life-giving draught from the crystal spring—the most deadly poison; the beautiful mountain—the destroying volcano; the spiritual man—the bloated drunkard in the gutter; the man teaching and living the highest Truth—the murderer awaiting the gallows; the noblest type of womanhood—the leering denizen of the pavement; the harmless dove—the venomous cobra; all are included in the circle. None is left out— none can be left out. We must include the lowest as well as the highest. On other planes of life are radiant creatures as much higher than Man, as we know him, as Man is higher than the amoeba. And on still other planes are forms of life lower than any known to us. And they likewise are included. They are all in the circle—archangel and elemental form. They are one with us—the higher and the lower. And the higher know, and do not shrink from the relationship—nor does the man who sees the Truth shrink from the relationship. All is One. And the One is in All.