PERSONAL POWER (Complete 12 Volume Edition). William Walker AtkinsonЧитать онлайн книгу.
behind.” Gautama, the Buddha, warned his followers against striving to “measure with words the Immeasurable,” or to engage in the futile task of “sinking the string of thought into the Fathomless.” The Ultimate Mystery, however, lies still deeper than the inability of the human mind to fathom it, which inability results from the finite nature of the human mind. As a few of the keenest thinkers have pointed out to us, the very attempt to “ree the riddle” arises from an erroneous and fallacious fundamental mistake. This fundamental mistake consists in the illogical attempt to find an explanation, i. e., a “cause” for that Something or Somewhat which by its very nature is and must be “without cause,” having no “because” attached to it. The human mind is so accustomed to seek and to find “causes” in, of, and for things, that it falls into the childlike error of trying to find “causes” for the Causeless.
The very conception of Ultimate Principle carries with it the positive, fundamental and essential implication that such a Something or Somewhat must necessarily be Ultimate, Causeless, Absolute, and Eternal. That which is Ultimate cannot have had a Cause. That which is Absolute cannot have had a Cause. Such a Something or Somewhat must have always existed, without a Cause—such is the inevitable, invariable and infallible report of Reason extended to the full limits of its powers.
This, when rightly understood, does not really contradict experience, reason, or logic—though at first it may seem to do so. All that our experience, reason or logic insists upon is that: “Everything that comes into existence must be the effect of a preceding Cause, for Something cannot proceed from Nothing.” Reason, reporting that there must be conceded to be an Ultimate Principle of Being, is not postulating that Ultimate Being as ever having “come into existence”—indeed, it positively reports that such an idea is absurd and unthinkable. Therefore, there is no real demand for a Cause for Ultimate Principle, inasmuch as it is not in the class of “things which have come into existence.”
Here, then, we see that there is no explanation required for Being or Existence in its state of Ultimate Principle; as an eminent thinker has said: “It is unexplainable simply because there is nothing in it to explain.” The same thinker points out to us that even if the Ultimate Principle be conceived as being or having an Omniscient Mind, even then it could not explain its own Causeless Being, for there would be nothing to explain— even such an Omniscient Mind could only assert “I AM THAT I AM.” Again, this great thinker has told us that: “To ask ‘Why is Existence?’ is equivalent to asking ‘Why is the Possible possible?’”
Therefore, in the present instruction we shall make no attempt to explain the Ultimate Mystery of Being or Existence. We shall content ourselves with indicating the necessity of the conception of an Ultimate Principle of PresencePower—this we call “POWER”—and to pointing out the ways in which it manifests and expresses itself in the activities of the Cosmos, and, particularly, to its manifestation as Personal Power in the individual—in YOU!
We may not be able to pierce the Veils of Nature, but we may at least report what has been learned concerning the appearance of that Something or Somewhat which not only conceals itself behind the Veil, but which also reveals and discloses its presence there by pressing up against the Veil, and by causing forms and movements in and of the substance of that Veil. As the Sufis say: “The Veils not only conceal the ONE—they also serve to reveal and disclose His presence and movements.”
We ask you to pause here for a moment, in order to fix upon your mind and memory a mental picture—a symbol by the means of which you may think of the Cosmic Manifestation of POWER, the Ultimate Principle of Power. Form a picture of the Cosmic Manifestation as a great Ocean of Power, in constant motion and activity, expressing on its surface many phases, forms, and aspects of its Power; and indicating below its surface many other forms, phases, and aspects of Power: but there abiding in its utmost depths a Something or Somewhat remaining Unmanifest, calm, peaceful, undisturbed, in Infinite and Eternal Presence, Being, and Power.
In this great Ocean of Cosmic Manifestation is contained all the Power manifested and expressed in Nature—even in yourself. YOU are a focalized centre of activity on the surface of that Ocean, yet with vibrating and whirling filaments extending far down beneath that surface, until finally they touch the Uncreate Depths of POWER. Verily, it has well been said that the Cosmos, and all contained therein, is bathed in a great Ocean of Power, in which, as the Greek poet, Aratus, quoted by Saint Paul, said: “we live, and move, and have our being”; the ultimate POWER of which, as Paul himself said, “is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
From POWER, all Power comes—including Personal Power. There is no other source or origin for Personal Power—YOUR Personal Power—than that of POWER, the Ultimate Principle of Power. All Power flows, directly or indirectly, from POWER, the Universal Source of Power, the Fount of Power, the Storehouse of Cosmic Power. All Power is in POWER—and he who would attain Personal Power must seek and obtain it from and through POWER. Let there be no mistake about this. There is no other source of Personal Power than POWER—there is nothing else competent to serve as the source of Personal Power. The heedless and ignorant are satisfied with Personal Power indirectly supplied them, after flowing through many winding channels. The wise seek to make a direct channel leading to POWER itself. There are “short cuts” to Personal Power, made by securing direct connection with POWER.
In the light of the above statements and teaching, reread our second basic postulate, viz., “The Master Self, Ego, ‘I’, or ‘I AM I,’ is a focalized centre of Being and Power manifested and expressed by Ultimate POWER in its manifestations and expressions in the Cosmos.” Remembering that YOU are this “focalized centre”, you may begin to see the tremendous significance of that statement.
VI
THE TWIN-MANIFESTATION
IN THE preceding section of this book, we have shown you that it is impossible for the human mind to understand just what the Ultimate Principle of Power—POWER in itself—is in its essential nature and being. Likewise, we have shown you “just how” it is possible for us to know that there is such POWER at all. Just as you have seen that, when you consider the “I AM I” centre of being within yourself, you must rest content with the inevitable, invariable, and infallible report of Self-Consciousness that “I AM I”, so you find you must rest content with the inevitable, invariable, and infallible report of your reason that POWER, the Ultimate Principle of All-Power, IS and must be present and in being. In both cases you are confronted with a Final Mystery—not two final mysteries, however, but the two aspects of the one Final Mystery.
But, likewise, just as you find it possible to discover “just how” the “I AM I” manifests and expresses itself in your personal activities, so may you discover “just how” POWER manifests and expresses itself in the activities of the Cosmos; and “just how” you may draw upon POWER for Personal Power to be manifested and expressed in your personal activities: and, after all, that is the main point of practical instruction designed to aid and assist you in your lifeactivities in this very practical world of very practical things.
The Pragmatic Philosophy needed by you in your practical life, here and now, in this very practical world, properly concerns itself with the “just how” questions, and leaves the “just why” insoluble problems for those who enjoy the Sisyphean task of striving like “the blind man in the dark room, seeking to find the black cat—which isn’t there.” Sisyphus, you may remember, was that unfortunate character of ancient mythology who was subjected to eternal punishment in Tartarus; his task consisting of the eternal rolling of a huge stone to the top of a high mountain, the stone constantly recoiling, and thus rendering his task incessant, unceasing and unending—without possible accomplishment.
In considering what observation, experiment, and reason teach us concerning “just how” POWER proceeds to manifest its strength and energy in the activities of the Cosmos, let us begin by quoting to you an ancient Oriental fable, devised by the earliest teachers to illustrate the Cosmic Activities, as well as the human activities along the lines of