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1In attempting to elucidate the problems of “Mortality and Im¬ mortality,” death and life, it must be understood that we are dealing with questions that depend, in a very great measure, upon the con¬ struction which is placed on the terms used. It is not our province to enter into the scientific minutia of these problems, nor to present the student with an abstract of learned nonsense concerning the various derivations from which the words are supposed to have reached us. Equally unimportant to our purpose is the sense in which our hoary ancestors may have used them, seeing that such questions must ever remain purely matters of speculation and opinion, and “when doctors disagree, who shall decide?” At present we are concerned with the Occult side of the prob¬ lems, and with laws which are so far removed from the realms of mere opinion as to constitute eternal realities; the manifestations of which can be realized and verified by each individual soul for itself.
2Simply and briefly stated, immortality means life, continued life; mortality means death or the extinction of life, and therefore stands as the antithesis of life and immortality. At least, such is the generally accepted sense in which the words are now used. Mortality and im¬ mortality in their external relation towards each other stand as polar opposites, and as such they are the alpha and omega of cyclic exist¬ ence. They represent “the evening and the morning” of every phase of God’s infinite creation, upon the outer planes of manifested being, i.e., cosmic evolution. Life and death, then, form the grand spiral axis of time, and its resultants to the human mind are seen in the world of phenomena. For the sake of convenience we will consider each problem by it¬ self, and then, as a stimulant towards mental reflection, leave their relationship to each other, to be thought out by each reader, separately, for himself. Mortality, as previously stated, means death and extinction upon the material plane. But when viewed from the higher and more inibyOooqle O 146 THE LIGHT OF EGYPT
3terior standpoint, death simply means change of form and function. There can be no absolute extinction in the strict sense of the term. Atoms are immortal, eternal and indestructible; but a universe or an organism which is composed of an infinite number of atoms, may be dissolved, destroyed and forever lost, i.e., lost as an organic whole, but not lost as regards its separate atomic parts. The mental being which bound these atoms together loses its force during the process of change or death, consequently death is simply change of polarity. In order to see this, it must be understood that the moons, planets, suns and systems have their own special individuality, exactly like animals and men. On the contrary, an atom has no individuality, so far as its external form is concerned, but it possesses a cosmic individuality, an attraction and repulsion specially its own, by virtue of its differentia¬ tion from the universal One. It is the complex expression of the myriad atoms which compose the organism or the universe that con¬ stitutes its individuality. This individuality gives expression to a form suitable to its nature, and constitutes the personal or external appear¬ ance. These facts must be borne in mind, or the real meaning of this chapter will be misunderstood.
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.
1In attempting to elucidate the problems of “Mortality and Im¬ mortality,” death and life, it must be understood that we are dealing with questions that depend, in a very great measure, upon the con¬ struction which is placed on the terms used. It is not our province to enter into the scientific minutia of these problems, nor to present the student with an abstract of learned nonsense concerning the various derivations from which the words are supposed to have reached us. Equally unimportant to our purpose is the sense in which our hoary ancestors may have used them, seeing that such questions must ever remain purely matters of speculation and opinion, and “when doctors disagree, who shall decide?” At present we are concerned with the Occult side of the prob¬ lems, and with laws which are so far removed from the realms of mere opinion as to constitute eternal realities; the manifestations of which can be realized and verified by each individual soul for itself.
2Simply and briefly stated, immortality means life, continued life; mortality means death or the extinction of life, and therefore stands as the antithesis of life and immortality. At least, such is the generally accepted sense in which the words are now used. Mortality and im¬ mortality in their external relation towards each other stand as polar opposites, and as such they are the alpha and omega of cyclic exist¬ ence. They represent “the evening and the morning” of every phase of God’s infinite creation, upon the outer planes of manifested being, i.e., cosmic evolution. Life and death, then, form the grand spiral axis of time, and its resultants to the human mind are seen in the world of phenomena. For the sake of convenience we will consider each problem by it¬ self, and then, as a stimulant towards mental reflection, leave their relationship to each other, to be thought out by each reader, separately, for himself. Mortality, as previously stated, means death and extinction upon the material plane. But when viewed from the higher and more inibyOooqle O 146 THE LIGHT OF EGYPT
3terior standpoint, death simply means change of form and function. There can be no absolute extinction in the strict sense of the term. Atoms are immortal, eternal and indestructible; but a universe or an organism which is composed of an infinite number of atoms, may be dissolved, destroyed and forever lost, i.e., lost as an organic whole, but not lost as regards its separate atomic parts. The mental being which bound these atoms together loses its force during the process of change or death, consequently death is simply change of polarity. In order to see this, it must be understood that the moons, planets, suns and systems have their own special individuality, exactly like animals and men. On the contrary, an atom has no individuality, so far as its external form is concerned, but it possesses a cosmic individuality, an attraction and repulsion specially its own, by virtue of its differentia¬ tion from the universal One. It is the complex expression of the myriad atoms which compose the organism or the universe that con¬ stitutes its individuality. This individuality gives expression to a form suitable to its nature, and constitutes the personal or external appear¬ ance. These facts must be borne in mind, or the real meaning of this chapter will be misunderstood.
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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