English
But strange possibilities lie dormant in that semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate supply of warmth reach its watery cradle, and the plastic matter undergoes changes so rapid, and so purposelike in their succession, that one can only compare them to those operated by a skilled modeller upon a formless lump of clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided into smaller and smaller portions, until it is reduced to an aggregation of gran- ules not too large to build withal the finest fabrics of the nascent organism. And, then, it is as if a delicate finger traced out the line to be occupied by the spinal column, and moulded the contour of the body; pinch- ing up the head at one end, the tail at the other, and fashioning flank and limb into due salamanderine pro- portions, in so artistic a way that, after watching the process hour by hour, one is almost involuntarily pos- sessed by the notion that some more subtle aid to vision than the achromatic lens would show the hid- den artist, with his plan before him, striving with skilful manipulation to perfect his work. "As life advances and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror of his insect contemporaries, not THE CREATIVE WILL. 71 only are the nutritious particles supplied by its prey (by the addition of which to its frame growth takes place) laid down, each in its proper spot, and in due proportion to the rest, as to reproduce the form, the color, and the size, characteristic of the parental stock; but even the wonderful powers of reproducing lost parts possessed by these animals are controlled by the same governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, the jaws, separately or all together, and as Spallanzani showed long ago, these parts not only grow again, but the new limb is formed on the same type as those which were lost. The new jaw, or leg, is a newt's, and never by any accident more like that of a frog's." In this passage from Huxley one may see the actual working of the Creative Will of the Universe, — moving behind the curtain — and a very thin curtain at that. And this wonderful work is going on all around us, all the time. Miracles are being accomplished every second — they are so common that we fail to regard them. And in our bodies is the Will at work? Most cer- tainly. What built you up from single cell to ma- turity? Did you do it with your intellect? Has not every bit of it been done without your conscious knowl- edge? It is only when things go wrong, owing to the violation of some law, that you become aware of your internal organs. And, yet, stomach and liver, and heart and the rest have been performing their work steadily — working away day and night, building up, repairing, nourishing, growing you into a man or 72 GNANI YOGA. woman, and keeping you sound and strong. Are you doing this with your reason or with your personal will? No, it is the great Creative Will of the Uni- verse, — the expression of the purpose and power of the One, working in and through you. It is the One Life manifesting in you through its Creative Will. And not only is this all. The Creative Will is all around us in every force, energy and principle. The force that we call mental power is the principle of the Will directed by our individual minds. In this state- ment we have a hint of the great mystery of Mental Force and Power, and the so-called Psychic Phe- nomena. It also gives us a key to Mental Healing. This is not the place to go into detail regarding these phases — but think over it a bit. This Will Power of the Universe, in all of its forms and phases, from Electricity to Thought-power, is always at the dis- posal of Man, within limits, and subject always to the laws of the Creative Will of the Universe. Those who acquire an understanding of the laws of any force may use it. And any force may be used or misused. And the nearer in understanding and consciousness that we get to the One Life and Power, the greater will be our possible power, for we are thus getting closer and closer to the source of All Power. In these lessons we hope to be able to tell you how you may come into closer touch with this One Life of which you and all living things are but forms, shapes and channels of expression, under the operation of the Creative Will. THE CREATIVE WILL. 73 We trust that this lesson may have brought to your minds the realization of the Oneness of All — the fact that we are all parts of the one encircling unity, the heart-throbs and pulsations of which are to be felt even to the outer edge of the circle of life — in Man, in Monad, in Crystal, in Atom. Try to feel that inner essence of Creative Will that is within yourselves, and endeavor to realize your complete inner unity in it, with all other forms of life. Try to realize, as some recent writer has expressed it, "that all the living world is but mankind in the making, and that we are but part of the All." And also remember that splendid vistas of future unfoldment spread themselves out be- fore the gaze of the awakened soul, until the mind fails to grasp the wondrous sight. We will now close this lesson by calling your at- tention to its CENTRAL THOUGHT. There is but One Power in the Universe — One Energy — One Force. And that Power, Energy and Force is a manifestation of the One Life. There can be no other Power, for there is none other than the One from whom Power may come. And there can be no manifestation of Power that is not the Power of the One, for no other Power can be in existence. The Power of the One is visible in its manifestations to us in the natural laws and forces of Nature — which we call the Creative Will. This Creative Will is the inner moving power, urge and pressure behind all forms and shapes of Life. In atom, and molecule ; in 74 GNANI YOGA. monad, in cell, in plant, in fish, in animal, in man, — the Life Principle or Creative Will is constantly in action, creating, preserving, and carrying on life in its functions. We may call this Instinct or Nature, but it is the Creative Will in action. This Will is back of all Power, Energy, or Force — be it physical, mechani- cal or mental force. And all Force that we use, con- sciously or unconsciously, comes from the One Great Source of Power. If we could but see clearly, we would know that back of us is the Power of the Universe, awaiting our intelligent uses, under the control of the Will of the All. There is nothing to be afraid of, for we are manifestations of the One Life, from which all Power proceeds, and the Real Self is above the effect, for it is part of the Cause. But over and above — under and behind — all forms of Being, Matter, Energy, Force and Power, is the ABSOLUTE — ever Calm ; ever Peaceful ; ever Content. In know- ing this it becomes us to manifest that spirit of abso- lute Trust, Faith and Confidence in the Goodness and Ultimate Justice of That which is the only Reality there is. Peace be with you. THE FOURTH LESSON The Unity of Life. In our First Lesson of this series we spoke of the One Reality underlying all Life. This One Reality was stated to be higher than mind or matter, the near- est term that can be applied to it being "Spirit." We told you that it was impossible to explain just what "Spirit" is, for we have nothing else with which to compare or describe it, and it can be expressed only in its own terms, and not in the terms applicable to its emanations or manifestations. But, as we said in our First Lesson, we may think of "Spirit" as meaning the "essence" of Life and Being — the Reality underlying Universal Life, and from which the latter emanates. In the Second Lesson we stated that this "Spirit," which we called "The Absolute," expressed itself in the Universal Life, which Universal Life manifested itself in countless forms of life and activity. In the same lesson we showed you that the Universe is alive — that there is not a single dead thing in it — that there can be no such thing as a dead object in the Universe, else the theory and truth of the One underlying Life must fall and be rejected. In that lesson we also showed you that even in the world of inorganic things there was ever manifest life — in every atom and par- ticle of inorganic matter there is the universal life en- ergy manifesting itself, and in constant activity. In the Third Lesson, we went still further into this phase of the general subject, and showed you that the Creative Will — that active principle of the Universal 75 76 GNANI YOGA. Life — was ever at work, building up new forms, shapes and combinations, and then tearing them down for the purpose of rebuilding the material into new forms, shapes, and combinations. The Creative Will is ever at work in its threefold function of creating, preserv- ing and destroying forms — the change, however, be- ing merely in the shape and form or combination, the real substance remaining unchanged in its inner aspect, notwithstanding the countless apparent changes in its objective forms. Like the great ocean the depths of which remain calm and undisturbed, and the real na- ture of which is unchanged in spite of the waves, and billows of surface manifestation, so does the great ocean of the Universal Life remain unchanged and un- altered in spite of the constant play of the Creative Will upon the surface. In the same lesson we gave you many examples of the Will in action — of its won- drous workings in the various forms of life and activ- ity — all of which went to show you that the One Power was at work everywhere and at all times.