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1If we possess half of anything, we know by the laws of common sense and logical reasoning that there is another half somewhere. No subtle twist of metaphysical sophistry can cheat us into the belief that we possess the whole when we know and see that we have just exactly half and no more. Further, when we look at any known thing we know that to possess the attributes of a thing it must possess three dimensions, viz.; length, breadth and thickness. This being so, we also know that it has (broadly speaking) two sides, an outside and an inside. The outside is not the inside any more than the boiler is the steam which drives the engine. This logical process of reasoning is the only chart that has so far been prepared for the Occult explorer. It is vague and probably very unsatisfactory, so far as details are concerned, but when used in conjunction with his conscious intuition — the only true compass man THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL — INTRODUCTION 3 has by which to guide himself in his winding, uneven path upon the shores of the Infinite — he never need fear being lost or failing in his endeavors to know the truth.
2In order to carry out the same line of reasoning a little further, let us take a type of architecture, say the Gothic, and mentally examine some well known handsome specimen of this structural conception. The worlds thought will say, “what a beautiful building; how im¬ posing and grand; what a triumph of man’s mechanical skill!” So it appears to the world, and upon the plain of appearances, so it really is.
3Consequently, it is a truth for the time being. But when examined by the light of Occult science, we find this truth is relative only, that it is only true upon the external, transitory plane of material phe¬ nomena. We see that, in addition to being the result of man’s trained mechanical ability, it is also the external form of his mental ideal. It is, in fact, the phenomenal outcome of his creative attributes. When we look at the solid building, from the earth’s plane, we see only the outside of a thing having length, breadth and thickness. Now since we know that there must be an inside, we must enter the interior plane before we can see it, and therein we shall find that it exists within the subjective world of its architect. The solid stone edifice will, in time, crumble to decay, fall, and finally not one material atom will remain to indicate the place whereon it stood. Hence it is not permanently real, it is only a passing appearance assumed by matter under the moulding forces of man’s mechanical ability. As soon as the forces which gave it form become polarized by the restless oceans of planetary magnetism, it will dissolve and finally vanish “like the baseless fabric of a dream.” But though the external structure of stone and mortar is lost within the soil of the earth, the idea which created it is eternal, because it was a spiritual reality. Therefore, we see that the absolute truth (the eternal reality) appears to be the non-reality, upon the plane of matter, while the material structure appears to be the only thing which is real. It is these delusive appearances that have created the almost hopeless confusion regarding the exact meaning of the terms “Spirit” and “Matter.” Science refers all she cannot grapple with to some of the undiscovered forces of “Matter,” while theology refers all that she cannot explain to the unknowable workings of the “Spirit.” Both are right, and both are wrong. And as we shall have to explore the territory belonging to both of these terms during the progress of
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1If we possess half of anything, we know by the laws of common sense and logical reasoning that there is another half somewhere. No subtle twist of metaphysical sophistry can cheat us into the belief that we possess the whole when we know and see that we have just exactly half and no more. Further, when we look at any known thing we know that to possess the attributes of a thing it must possess three dimensions, viz.; length, breadth and thickness. This being so, we also know that it has (broadly speaking) two sides, an outside and an inside. The outside is not the inside any more than the boiler is the steam which drives the engine. This logical process of reasoning is the only chart that has so far been prepared for the Occult explorer. It is vague and probably very unsatisfactory, so far as details are concerned, but when used in conjunction with his conscious intuition — the only true compass man THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL — INTRODUCTION 3 has by which to guide himself in his winding, uneven path upon the shores of the Infinite — he never need fear being lost or failing in his endeavors to know the truth.
2In order to carry out the same line of reasoning a little further, let us take a type of architecture, say the Gothic, and mentally examine some well known handsome specimen of this structural conception. The worlds thought will say, “what a beautiful building; how im¬ posing and grand; what a triumph of man’s mechanical skill!” So it appears to the world, and upon the plain of appearances, so it really is.
3Consequently, it is a truth for the time being. But when examined by the light of Occult science, we find this truth is relative only, that it is only true upon the external, transitory plane of material phe¬ nomena. We see that, in addition to being the result of man’s trained mechanical ability, it is also the external form of his mental ideal. It is, in fact, the phenomenal outcome of his creative attributes. When we look at the solid building, from the earth’s plane, we see only the outside of a thing having length, breadth and thickness. Now since we know that there must be an inside, we must enter the interior plane before we can see it, and therein we shall find that it exists within the subjective world of its architect. The solid stone edifice will, in time, crumble to decay, fall, and finally not one material atom will remain to indicate the place whereon it stood. Hence it is not permanently real, it is only a passing appearance assumed by matter under the moulding forces of man’s mechanical ability. As soon as the forces which gave it form become polarized by the restless oceans of planetary magnetism, it will dissolve and finally vanish “like the baseless fabric of a dream.” But though the external structure of stone and mortar is lost within the soil of the earth, the idea which created it is eternal, because it was a spiritual reality. Therefore, we see that the absolute truth (the eternal reality) appears to be the non-reality, upon the plane of matter, while the material structure appears to be the only thing which is real. It is these delusive appearances that have created the almost hopeless confusion regarding the exact meaning of the terms “Spirit” and “Matter.” Science refers all she cannot grapple with to some of the undiscovered forces of “Matter,” while theology refers all that she cannot explain to the unknowable workings of the “Spirit.” Both are right, and both are wrong. And as we shall have to explore the territory belonging to both of these terms during the progress of
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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