The spiritual life

(Martin Jones) #1

230 The Spiritual Life.


unitythandoestheexistenceofmenasseparate


intelligences. Polytheismaddstothephilosophy


of Pantheism the religious element needed for


spiritual evolution,but Gods and men,aswell


asallotherpartsoftheuniverse,liveand move


and have their being in the One. That is


theOnev^ithoutasecond,incognisable,mfinite,


the causeless Cause of Being. "It isbeyond


therangeand reach of thought-inthewords


ofthe Mandukya,'unthinkable and unspeak-


able.'" C^he Secret Doctrine, i. 42.) As


saltinwater,asbutterinmilk,theOne Lifeis


in all, invisible to eye, but immanent in all.


ThesymbolofThattoourconditionedintelli-


gence is the supernalTrinity,Brahman in His


threefold aspect, God in manifestation, the


highest point to which our thought can soar.


He isthe OneSelf,andveils himselfininnu-


merableforms, amidwhichthe"SevenSpirits"


take the loftiest place,and belowThemmany


divine Beings, grouped in threes and sevens,


accordingtotheirfunctionsin anygivendepart-


mentof the kosmos,andin manyothergroup-


ings,familiar in world-scriptures,and reducible


to the same fundamental complex units.^ A


*Thusinaseventheoneisplacedinthecentreandsixare
roundit; thisdoubled,thecentrescoinciding,givestwelveround
theone;henceallmultiplesoftwelve. Again,thethreetakenas
acentrewiththe sevenroundityieldtheten,thedecade(our

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