THE CREATION OF A UNIVERSE And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. WE have now, you will perceive, traced two sets of phases of evolution—the Cosmic phases, and the more rapid recapitu- lation of the phases in the development of a Great Entity. And we have studied that Great Entity in its relation to the Cosmos which is its environment, and to the Central Stillness which is the compensation of all the forces of the Cosmos, which is its God. We will now consider the life of a Great Entity in relation to the universe of which it is itself the God—the Creator—the Conditioner —and the Sustainer. You will perceive that a Great Entity comes out from the Central Stillness and takes its place upon its appointed circuit, and constructs its organism under the influence of the negative or destructive phase of the Cosmos. This may seem strange to you, that creation should take place under the influence of a destructive force of the Cosmos, or of any other organisation which, by over- balancing the synthesis of forces achieved in a phase of evolution, causes them to embark upon a fresh phase of development in order to re-establish their harmony. And as they commence this phase with the experience of the preceding phase implicit in their nature, they commence where the last phase ended; they climb upon its shoulders, and thereby evolution rises to a greater complexity, for it has now become an organisation of organisms. You will see this principle prevailing throughout all things, great and little, above and below ; it is one of the Cosmic principles, and one little known, if known at all. Likewise, the phases of development during which a Great Entity organises itself are internal and therefore subjective. They are not carried out under the stimulus of sensations derived from external conditions, but under the stimulus of feelings arising from internal conditions and the phases corresponding to the phases of existence which a human soul passes through between death and birth. These phases having been completed, a Great Entity has arrived at the greatest degree of organisation of which it is capable with the conditions at its disposal and can go no further. It being organised throughout, each part is affected by and responds to changes in any other part. It is therefore fully conscious, for consciousness is but awareness, and awareness is but reaction to a stimulus. The conditions of its nature, being habitual in their sequence, no longer give rise to conscious stimuli. The Great Entity has, therefore, a consciousness, but nothing of which it can be conscious except itself. The Cosmos, be it noted, being entirely habitual to this Entity, forms the conditioning background of its consciousness, which is comparable to the human subconsciousness of the automatic level. It has, then, by the sensations of its own nature, a concept of itself, of which it is aware. Here, then, is a novel sensation, and it dwells upon it. This is the self-consciousness of a Great Entity. This is creation— And God made man in His own image and likeness. A universe is a concept in the mind of a Great Entity. It is created by the self-contemplation of a Great Entity. The consciousness of the Great Entity, being aware of this image of itself as a whole, next becomes aware of the changes in the proportions of the forces of its own nature caused by the Cosmic influences through which it has passed, thus giving rise to fresh concepts concerning itself, and these concepts are added to the existing concepts, conditioning it historically. These are different outflowings of creative force concerning which you have heard. This teaching concerning the subjective and objective aspects of a Great Entity is the key to the doctrine of pantheism, which as generally understood is a half-truth. For a Great Organism holds in its memory the Cosmic conditions, although it, itself, does not contain the Cosmos, of which it is a part. Likewise, the mental picture of itself projected by a Great Entity reflects that Great Entity in its entirety, being the product of perfected consciousness, but it is not that Entity of which it is the emanation, though it is entirely conditioned by the nature and experiences of that Entity, having no other origin, and being exposed to no other influences whatsoever, for it has no other existence save in the consciousness of the Entity conceiving it, therefore it is not directly affected by Cosmic conditions, being of another order of creation than the Great Entities which are the fellows of its creator, and each of which, in course of time, projects its concept of itself. It is, however, indirectly affected by the Cosmic phases, because the Great Entity which is the basis of its existence is affected by them. It is this fact that secures a universe from disturbance and permits of no intervening influence intruding in the relations between it and its Creator and Sustainer—its God.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:59:03 +0000
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