The Creative Process in the Individual - Thomas Troward
On the other hand if we have in this world realized the true principle of
the Worship of the Eternal Source from which all conditioned life flows
out--an inner communing with the Great Reality--we have already passed
beyond that consciousness of life which is limited by Time and Space; and
so when we put off this mortal body we shall find ourselves upon familiar
ground, and therefore not wandering in confusion but quite at home,
dwelling in the same light of the Eternal in which we have been accustomed
to dwell as an atmosphere enveloping the conditioned life of to-day. Then
finding ourselves thus at home on a plane where Time and Space do not exist
there will be no question with us of duration. The consciousness will be
simply that of peaceful, happy being. That a return to more active personal
operation will eventually take place is evidenced by the fact that the
basis of all further evolution is the differentiating of the
Undifferentiated Life of the Spirit into specific channels of work, through
the intermediary of individual personality without which the infinite
potentialities of the Creative Law cannot be brought to light. Therefore,
however various our opinions as to its precise form, Resurrection as a
principle is a necessity of the creative process. But such a return to more
active life will not mean a return to limitations, but the opening of a new
life in which we shall transcend them all, because we have passed beyond
the misconception that Time and Space are of the Essence of Life. When the
misconception regarding Time and Space is entirely eradicated all other
limitations must disappear because they have their root in this primary
one--they are only particular forms of the general proposition. Therefore
though Form with its accompanying relations of Time and Space is necessary
for manifestation, these things will be found not to have any force in
themselves thus creating limitation, but to be the reflection of the mode
of thought which projects them as the expression of itself.
Nor is there any inherent reason why this process should be delayed till
some far-off future. There is no reason why we should not commence at once.
No doubt our inherited and personally engendered modes of thought make this
difficult, and by the nature of the process it will be only when _all_ our
thoughts are conformed to this principle that the complete victory will be
won. But there must be a commencement to everything, and the more we
habituate ourselves to live in that Center of the Innermost where
conditions do not exist, the more we shall find ourselves gaining control
over outward conditions, because the stream of conditioned life flows out
from the Center of Unconditioned Life, and therefore this intrinsic
principle of Worship has in it the promise both of the life that now is and
of that which is to come. Only we must remember that the really availing
worship is that of the Undifferentiated Source _because It is the Source,_
and not as a backhanded way of diverting the stream into some petty channel
of conditions, for that would only be to get back to the old circle of
limitation from which we are seeking to escape.
But if we realize these things we have already laid hold of the Principle
of Resurrection, and in point of principle we are already living the
resurrection life. What progress we may make in it depends on our practical
application of the principle; but simply as principle there is nothing in
the principle itself to prevent its complete working at any moment. This is
why Jesus did not refer resurrection to some remote point of time but said,
"I am the resurrection and the life." No principle can carry in itself an
opposite and limiting principle contradictory of its own nature, and this
is as true of the Principle of Life as of any other principle. It is we who
by our thought introduce an opposite and limiting principle and so hinder
the working of the principle we are seeking to bring into operation; but so
far as the Principle of Life itself is concerned there is _in it_ no reason
why it should not come into perfect manifestation here and now.
This, then, is the true purpose of worship. It is to bring us into
conscious and loving intercourse with the Supreme Source of our own being,
and seeing this we shall not neglect the outward forms of worship. From
what we now know they should mean more to us than to others and not less;
and in especial if we realize the manifestation of the Divine Personality
in Jesus Christ and its reproduction in Man, we shall not neglect His last
command to partake of that sacred memorial to His flesh and blood which He
bequeathed to His followers with the words "This do in remembrance of Me."
This holy rite is no superstitious human invention. There are many theories
about it, and I do not wish to combat any of them, for in the end they all
seem to me to bring us to the same point, that being cleansed from sin by
the Divine Love we are now no longer separate from God but become
"partakers of the Divine-Nature" (II Peter I: 4). This partaking of the
Divine Nature could not be more accurately represented than by our
partaking of bread and wine as symbols of the Divine Substance and the
Divine Life, thus made emblematic of the whole Creative Process from its
beginning in the Divine Thought to its completion in the manifestation of
that Thought as Perfected Man; and so it brings vividly before us the
remembrance of the Personality of God taking form as the Son of Man. We are
all familiar with the saying that thoughts become things; and if we affirm
the creative power of our own thought as reproducing itself in outward
form, how much more must we affirm the same of that Divine Thought which
brings the whole universe into existence; so that in accordance with our
own principles the Divine Idea of Man was logically bound to show itself in
the world of time and space as the Son of God and the Son of man, not two
differing natures but one complete whole, thus summing up the foundation
principle of all creation in one Undivided Consciousness of Personality.
Thus "the Word" or Divine Thought of Man "became flesh," and our partaking
of the symbolic elements keeps in our remembrance the supreme truth that
this same "Word" or Thought of God in like manner takes form in ourselves
as we open our own thought to receive it. And further, if we realize that
throughout the universe there is only ONE Originating Life, sending forth
only ONE Original Substance as the vehicle for its expression, then it
logically follows that _in essence_ the bread is a portion of the eternal
Substance of God, and the wine a portion of the eternal Life of God. For
though the wine is of course also a part of the Universal Substance, we
must remember that the Universal Substance is itself a manifestation of the
Life of the All-Creating Spirit, and therefore this fluid form of the
primary substance has been selected as representing the eternal flowing of
the Life of the Spirit into all creation, culminating in its supreme
expression in the consciousness of those who, in the recognition of these
truths, seek to bring their heart into union with the Divine Spirit. From
such considerations as these it will be seen how vast a field of thought is
covered by Christ's words "Do this in remembrance of Me."
In conclusion, therefore, do not let yourselves be led astray by any
philosophy that denies the Personality of God. In the end it will be found
to be a foolish philosophy. No other starting-point of creation is
conceivable than the Self-Contemplation of the Divine Spirit, and the
logical sequence from this brings us to the ultimate result of the Creative
Process in the statement that "if any man be in Christ he is a New
creature," or as the margin has it "a new creation" (II Cor. v: 17). Such
vain philosophies have only one logical result which is to put _yourself_
in the place of God, and then what have you to lean upon in the hour of
trial? It is like trying to climb up a ladder that is resting against
nothing. Therefore, says the Apostle Paul, "Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of man, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Col. II: 8.) The teaching
of the Bible is sound philosophy, sound reasoning, and sound science
because it starts with the sound premises that all Creation proceeds out of
God, and that Man is made in the image and likeness of his Creator. It
nowhere departs from the Law of Cause and Effect, and by the orderly
sequence of this law it brings us at last to the New Creation both in
ourselves and in our environment, so that we find the completion of the
Creative Process in the declaration "the tabernacle of God is with men"
(Rev. xxi: 3), and in the promise "This is the Covenant that I will make
with them after those days (i.e., the days of our imperfect apprehension of
these things) saith the Lord, I will dwell _in them_, and walk _in them_,
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people, and I will put my
laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb. x: 16. II Cor. vi:
16. Jeremiah xxxi: 33).
Truly does Bacon say, "A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to
atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."
--Bacon, Essay, xvi.
FOOTNOTES
Footnote 1: See my Dore Lectures, 1909.
Footnote 2: See my Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science.
Footnote 3: See my Dore Lectures, 1909.
Footnote 4: For the relation between conscious and sub-conscious mind see
my "Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science."
Footnote 5: See "Self-Synthesis" by Dr. Cornwall Round.
Footnote 6: For the relation between subjective and objective mind see my
"Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science."
Footnote 7: This view, it may be remarked, is not necessarily
incompatible with the conception of reincarnation, on which theory the
final resurrection or transmutation of the body would terminate the series
of successive lives and deaths, thus bringing the individual out of the
circle of generation, which is the circle of Karma. I may, perhaps, have
the opportunity of considering this subject on some future occasion.
Footnote 8: See my "Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning."
Footnote 9: See "Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning" by the present author.