In Search of the Miraculous

This Whole, or One, or All, which may be called the 'Absolute,' or the 'Independent'

because, including everything within itself, it is not dependent upon anything, is

'world' for 'all worlds.' Logically it is quite possible to think of a state of things where All forms one single Whole. Such a whole will certainly be the Absolute, which

means the Independent, because it, that is, the All, is infinite and indivisible.

"The Absolute, that is, the state of things when the All constitutes one Whole, is, as it were, the primordial state of things, out of which, by division and differentiation,

arises the diversity of the phenomena observed by us.

"Man lives in all these worlds but in different ways.

"This means that he is first of all influenced by the nearest world, the one immediate to him, of which he forms a part. Worlds further away also influence man,

directly as well as through other intermediate worlds, but their action is diminished in

proportion to their remoteness or to the increase in the difference between them and

man. As will be seen later, the direct influence of the Absolute does not reach man.

But the influence of the next world and the influence of the star world are already

perfectly clear in the life of man, although they are certainly unknown to science."

With this G. ended the lecture.

On the next occasion we had very many questions chiefly about the influences of

the various worlds and why the influence of the Absolute does not reach us.

"Before examining these influences," began G., "and the laws of transformation of Unity into Plurality, we must examine the fundamental law that creates all phenomena in all the diversity or unity of all universes.

"This is the 'Law of Three' or the law of the three principles or the three forces. It consists of the fact that every phenomenon, on whatever scale and in whatever world

it may take place, from molecular to cosmic phenomena, is the result of the

combination or the meeting of three different and opposing forces. Contemporary

thought realizes the existence of two forces and the necessity of these two forces for

the production of a phenomenon: force and resistance, positive and negative

magnetism, positive and negative electricity, male and female cells, and so on. But it

does not observe even these two forces always and everywhere. No question has ever

been raised as to the third, or if it has been raised it has scarcely been heard.

"According to real, exact knowledge, one force, or two forces, can never produce a

phenomenon. The presence of a third force is necessary, for it is only with the help of

a third force that the first two can produce what may be called a phenomenon, no

matter in what sphere.

"The teaching of the three forces is at the root of all ancient systems. The first force may be called active or positive; the second, passive or negative; the third,

neutralizing. But these are merely names, for in reality all three forces are equally active and appear as active, passive, and neutralizing, only at their meeting points, that is to say, only in relation to one another at a given moment. The first two forces are more or less comprehensible to man and the third may sometimes be discovered either

at the point of application of the forces, or in the 'medium,' or in the 'result.' But,

speaking in general, the third force is not easily accessible to direct observation and

understanding. The reason for this is to be found in the functional limitations of man's

ordinary psychological activity and in the fundamental categories of our perception of

the phenomenal world, that is, in our sensation of space and time resulting from these

limitations. People cannot perceive and observe the third force directly any more than

they can spatially perceive the 'fourth dimension.'

"But by studying himself, the manifestations of his thought, consciousness,

activity—his habits, his desires, and so on—man may learn to observe and to see in

himself the action of the three forces. Let us suppose, for instance, that a man wants to work on himself in order to change

certain of his characteristics, to attain a higher level of being. His desire, his initiative, is the active force. The inertia of all his habitual psychological life which shows

opposition to his initiative will be the passive or the negative force. The two forces

will either counterbalance one another, or one will completely conquer the other, but,

at the same time, it will become too weak for any further action. Thus the two forces

will, as it were, revolve one around the other, one absorbing the other and producing

no result whatever. This may continue for a lifetime. A man may feel desire and

initiative. But all this initiative may be absorbed in overcoming the habitual inertia of life, leaving nothing for the purpose towards which the initiative ought to be directed.