{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_76483/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_76483","id":"gutenberg_76483","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76483","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Essays","New Thought","Philosophy"],"text":"What Is Truth?\n\n                        By Wallace D. Wattles\n\n                             The Nautilus\n                        Holyoke, Massachusetts\n                           Vol. XI Nos. 6-11\n                         April-September, 1909\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  I.\n\n                                 TIME.\n\n  A BALLOON GOES UP; A STONE FALLS TO EARTH; WHY? ONE FORCE IN\n  NATURE--G R A V I T Y.\n\nThe science of theology and medicine are necessarily very closely\nallied, both having to do with the saving of men from the consequences\nof wrong living; and it follows that in religion and medicine we\nare always seeking for realities; searching the truth; seeking the\nultimate, spiritual and physical facts upon which to base our theories,\nand from which to proceed in making our demonstrations of health and\nwholeness. And since our demonstrations must and will be complete or\nincomplete just in proportion to the completeness of our grasp of the\nrealities, the importance of the search for truth becomes apparent;\nthe very first thing we have to do is to penetrate through all the\nappearances of life, and ascertain the differences between what is\nreally true and what is only apparently true; for there is often a vast\ndifference between the appearance and the reality. The sun appears to\nrise and set, and to go around the earth; but it does not. A balloon\ngoes up; and a stone falls to the earth; in appearance there are two\nforces at work, but in reality there is only one--gravity. The reality\nbehind the going up of the balloon and the coming down of the stone\nis the same. And to seek for the realities behind the appearances of\nlife; behind its goings up and comings down, its goings out and comings\nin,--that is science, and that is what we are going to try to do.\n\nThe first of the realities with which we will deal is Time. It is the\nfashion with some metaphysical writers to assert that there is no time;\nbut the arguments advanced in support of this claim are superficial.\nTime is not an entity having substance, but it is an existing reality,\nnevertheless. Time is not an idea; a fiction by which we measure and\nrecord the motions of the heavenly bodies; time would go on just\nthe same and at exactly the same rate if the heavenly bodies were\nmotionless. Do not misunderstand me in my use of the word \u201ctime.\u201d Many\npeople suppose that time began when man began, and must end when man\nends as a mortal and physical being, and that the periods before and\nafter the earth life of the human race are to be called eternities;\nin other words that there can be no time except so long as there is a\nmortal man to measure it; but this is erroneous. Days, weeks, months\nand years must have gone on before man came on earth, just as they\ndo now; and if man disappeared from the earth, they would still go\non. If the earth ceased to revolve around the sun, and to turn on its\naxis, the succession of the seasons and of day and night would cease;\nday would be continuous on one side of the earth, and night upon the\nother, but hours and minutes would go on just the same, and if the sun,\nmoon, planets, stars and all else were to disappear and be succeeded by\nblack, silent, formless chaos, hours and minutes would go on forever.\nClocks do not make time; an hour would have the same duration if there\nwere no clocks. In eternity there must still be time; time is duration\nin eternity. Eternity is endless time.\n\nTime can never end. If you try to think of a point at which time should\nend, you can only think of it as a point beyond which there must be\nstill more time. Also, then, time can never have had a beginning; for\nif you try to think of a point at which time began, you can only think\nof it as a point beyond which there must have been still more time. Do\nnot say that endless time is unthinkable; you can very easily think\nendless time, if you do not try to think of the end of it. You cannot\n_comprehend_ endless time, for that means to contain it in your mind,\nor to go around it; but you can know what it is, and you can know that\nit is.\n\nTime is; and we must use it, whether we will or no. And the use we make\nof present time decides the use we shall be able to make of future\ntime; just as the use we made of past time has fixed our place in\npresent time. The use we make of today decides the use we shall be able\nto make of tomorrow. To be strong and wise is to be able to use time\nwell; and to use time well is to become continually stronger and wiser.\nSuccess, growth and development are only attained by the right use of\ntime; and we are failures today in exact proportion as we have erred\nin our use of time past To know the right use of the present moment\nis therefore of immense importance; and to have the will to make the\nright use of it is more important still. If man can--and will--make the\nright use of every moment of time, he must certainly become a being of\nmarvellous power and wholeness. Oh, the wasted time! The misspent time!\nThe lost time!\n\nWe close this chapter, then, by claiming the demonstration of our first\nfact; that time is a reality.\n\n\n\n\n                                  II.\n\n                                SPACE.\n\n  CAN SPACE HAVE BOUNDARIES?\n\nBear in mind that in the first chapter we prove that time is an\nexistent reality; in this chapter we shall try to prove that space also\nexists. Space is the place where a thing is; and it is also the place\nwhere no thing is. Space is the place where the earth is; the earth\u2019s\ndiameter being about 7,925 miles, it fills so much space; if the earth\nwere to disappear, the 7,925 miles of space would still exist, but it\nwould then be empty space whereas now it is filled space. The sun,\nalso, fills space, and the distance between the earth and the sun is\nspace; beyond the sun is more space, and beyond the earth still more;\nand so on. It does not matter whether space is occupied or unoccupied;\nempty or filled; it is space, all the same. Space is a reality.\nDistance is a portion of space between two given points. Endless\ndistance would comprise all of space in one direction.\n\nSpace has three dimensions: Length, breadth and thickness. It could\nnever have a beginning, and can never have an ending. If all created\nthings, and all substance should disappear, space would still exist; it\nwould be merely blank, empty space, where now is filled space. Also,\nspace can have no boundaries. If you try to think of a boundary to\nspace, what will you think of as lying beyond the boundary? Something\nsolid? Then that something solid must itself occupy space, while if\nthere is nothing there, that nothing must be unfilled space. So, beyond\nany boundary that you can set for space, there must be still more\nspace. Space is a reality; beginningless, endless, boundless. Time is a\nreality; and yet, neither time nor space are substantial things. They\npossess no power. They do not act, neither can they be acted upon. Time\ncan be used, and space can be occupied; and that is what we do with\nthem; we occupy space and make use of time.\n\nSpace is the field in which we must operate, and contain the raw\nmaterials which we must use. The claim has been made that space is\nnon-existent to mind or spirit, because it does not require appreciable\ntime for the transference of thought; but the validity of this\ndeduction has not been proved. The distances with which we are able\nto deal are very limited; it might require a measurable time to send\nthought to the sun, or to the planet Mars, or for a spirit to travel\nthose distances. Again, the argument is advanced that the moon \u201cacts\u201d\non the earth; and that, as a thing cannot act where it is not, there\nis no space between the moon and the earth; but this is puerile. The\nmoon does not, and cannot act on the earth, because it does not touch\nthe earth; if it affects the earth at all, it must act on something\nwhich is between them, and which in turn acts on the earth. And this\nsomething which is between the earth and the moon occupies space.\n\nI have spoken of filled space and empty space. I do not know whether\nempty space exists or not, but it is quite thinkable that it should\nexist. There may be portions of empty space, surrounded by filled\nspace; or there may be endless extensions of empty space, side by side\nwith endless extensions of filled space; I do not know. I know that\nthere is filled space, and that there may be empty space. But, if there\nis filled space, what fills it? The answer to this must be in one\nword--Substance. That which is not substance is not anything, and that\nwhich is not anything cannot fill space. Space is filled by substance,\nand cannot be filled by anything else; but what is substance, and how\ndo we know that it exists? That we leave for the next chapter, closing\nthis with the claim that we have demonstrated that we live in space,\nand that life consists in making use of time.\n\n\n\n\n                                 III.\n\n                              Substance.\n\n  REAL NATURE OF SUBSTANCE--A CURIOUS FACT CONCERNING THE GROWTH OF\n  VEGETABLES--DOES SUBSTANCE OCCUPY ALL OF SPACE?--THE THREE GREAT\n  REALITIES.\n\nSubstance is that which occupies space. In its more compact and rigid\nforms substance is perceptible by the senses, and is then called\nmatter; but in its finer and more ethereal forms, when it cannot be\nperceived by the senses, substance is still matter, and is essentially\nthe same. The apparently many substances of nature are in reality only\nvarying forms of one Substance; the differences between them are due\nto varying degrees of pressure, and to the form and rate of vibration\nof the atoms which compose them. Ice is a solid substance; water a\npartially fluid substance; the vapor arising from water verges on the\ngaseous state; and oxygen and hydrogen are gases. But a piece of ice\nmay be brought back through all these stages, and converted into oxygen\nand hydrogen, and no change is made in it except that in the fluid\nstate the atoms are less firmly pressed together than in the solid\nstate; and in the gaseous state the bond of cohesion is still weaker,\nand the atoms circulate or roll around each other more freely than in\nthe fluid state. It is now a well-known fact that nearly all the growth\nof the vegetable kingdom comes from the atmosphere; trees, plants and\nflowers are solidified air. The furniture in our homes, and the walls\nof the houses in which we live are merely solidified gases; burn them,\nand they return to their original state, leaving only a handful of\nashes as \u201cmaterial\u201d evidence of their existence, and if we learn to\ntreat these ashes with the right agencies, they, too, will vanish into\nthe ethereal realm. The earth itself, so firm and solid under our feet,\nwas indisputably once a ball of flaming gases and vapors, and in the\nstage before that, must it not have been still more ethereal? It is all\nsolidified atmosphere. Our own bodies are compounds of gases; in the\ncrematory the human form vanishes. All things came out from the ether,\nand all things are ether, _changed_ to more or less solid forms by\ndifferences in atomic pressure and cohesion.\n\nAll this brings us to the conclusion that the many seemingly different\nsubstances--iron, wood, coal, lime, water, etc., are merely different\nforms of one thing; that there is only one elemental substance, from\nwhich all created things are shaped. As we find that solid things are\nthe gaseous atmosphere, solidified by an increased atomic pressure, so\nwe shall no doubt find that the gases are produced from one ether,\nbeing brought to the semi fluid state by increased pressure, and at\nlast we must conclude that there is one perfectly fluid substance, of\nwhich are made all the things which do appear. This One Substance is\nthe stupendous reality behind all the appearances of the material world.\n\nWe will now take up the study of this substance. First, we must get rid\nof the idea that there is anything else. Substance is all there is. We\nlive, and move, and have our being in substance; we, ourselves, are\nsubstance. We must conclude that substance cannot have been created,\nfor that it should have been formed out of nothing is unthinkable.\nSubstance always was; forms have been created, and are being\ncontinually created, changed, and modified; but the substance of which\nthose forms are made is the same, yesterday and today and forever.\nWhen I speak of forms, I mean the so-called \u201cmaterial\u201d universe; suns,\nstars, planets, seas, continents, trees, plants, gases, and the bodies\nof animals and men; all these are varying forms of the One Changeless\nSubstance, which is all, and in all. And as this substance has existed\nthrough all of time past, so it will exist through all of time future,\nfor it is indestructible; we may change its forms, but not one particle\nof it can we destroy.\n\nDoes this substance occupy all of space? Evidently not, for the more\nnearly we carry its forms to their original state the more fluid they\nbecome; we go from solids back to gases, and from gases to ether, and\nso on; and we conclude that the one substance must be perfectly fluid,\nand if that be so, its particles cannot be solidly pressed together;\nthere must be space between them, as in all fluids. Furthermore, if\nsubstance filled _all_ space motion would be impossible; for substance\ncan only move when there is unoccupied space to move into. And as\nwe know that there is motion, so we know that there must be empty\nspace. This is a matter of some importance when we come to the study\nof consciousness; for if one substance completely filled all space,\nit must be absolutely solid, with its atoms pressed rigidly against\neach other; and not only could there be no motion in any part, but\nthere could be no separate consciousness in any part; if consciousness\nwere possible at all in a perfectly solid substance, it could only\nbe the consciousness of the whole. But if there is empty space,\nthere is not only room for motion, but there is room for separate\nportions of substance, which may be conscious within themselves. If\nthere is empty space, there is room for man, as a separate portion of\noriginal substance to move about and to have a consciousness of his\nown. There may be more than one conscious intelligence, though there\nis only one substance. We close this chapter with the claim that we\nhave demonstrated the existence of three realities: time, space and a\nsubstance which moves in space. The next chapter will be devoted to the\nconsideration of consciousness.\n\n\n\n\n                                  IV.\n\n                            CONSCIOUSNESS.\n\n\n  EXPLANATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS.--MOTION A KIND OF ACTION.--WHAT\n  EFFECT IT HAS ON CONSCIOUSNESS--BRAIN AND CONSCIOUSNESS. WHICH\n  THE PRODUCT OF THE OTHER?--CONSCIOUSNESS IN VEGETABLE AND MINERAL\n  KINGDOMS LIMITED WHILE IN MAN ALMOST COMPLETE\n\nThat consciousness exists does not need proof; we know, and we know\nthat we know. We are conscious of consciousness; and now we have to\nconsider the source of consciousness. Turning back to the realities\nwe have considered, we find that time cannot be the source of\nconsciousness; we cannot think of time as being conscious, and the\nsame is true of space. We cannot conceive of consciousness as existing\nin empty space, for there would be nothing there to be conscious; and\nso we see that only substance can be conscious. Where there is no\nsubstance there is nothing, and there can be no consciousness. This is\na proposition which you should consider well, until you have mastered\nit in all its bearings; that there can be no consciousness apart from\nsubstance; that empty space cannot be conscious. If consciousness\nexists--and it does--there is a Conscious Substance.\n\nThis point we need to develop very fully, for it is vital. If it\nis not substance which is conscious, then consciousness must exist\nin the interstices between the particles of substance, or in empty\nspace; and it is empty space which is conscious, which is unthinkable.\nBut if consciousness exists in substance, then it is the substance\nitself which is conscious; for there can be nothing in substance but\nsubstance. It becomes clear, too, that consciousness cannot be the\nresult of functional action within an organism. Functional action is\nmerely motion, and motion is a shifting of substance from one place to\nanother. If consciousness were produced by motion, would it not still\nbe the substance which was conscious? Try to reason out how a substance\ncould be made conscious by shifting it from one place to another. If\nconsciousness was produced by the motion, then the substance could not\nhave been conscious before it moved, nor could it remain conscious\nafter it ceased to move. Try to think of a substance as becoming\nconscious, and endowed with reason, memory and love while making a\ncertain motion, and as losing all these when ceasing to move; try to\nreason out how motion could come first as a cause, and consciousness\nfollow as a result. Try to conceive of the Original Fluid Substance as\nbeginning, unconsciously, to move; and as producing, unconsciously,\nall the orderly sequences of forms which appear in nature; and at\nlast, and only at last, becoming fully conscious of it all through the\nunconscious beginning of a certain motion in the brain of man. Try to\nthink of full consciousness as having been lacking in the universe\nuntil certain vibrations were started in the brain of man; you will\nfind all this unthinkable. Consciousness is not the result of motion,\nbut the first cause of motion. It is not motion which is conscious, but\nsubstance. The human ego is Conscious Substance.\n\nThe next question is whether consciousness is an attribute of substance\nonly in certain forms, or whether it inheres in original fluid\nsubstance; and to that we now turn our attention. Is it the brain which\nis conscious? Those who have kept abreast of the revelations of modern\npsychology as set forth by William Hanna Thompson and others, know that\nit is not. The substance of the brain is not conscious; or at least,\nthe substance of the brain is not _the_ conscious, thinking, reasoning\nhuman ego. We have learned that the brain is the product, rather than\nthe producer of consciousness; and that the intelligent direction of\nconsciousness in the work of brain-building may produce almost any\ndesired change in the structure and capacity of the brain. Furthermore,\nthere are many evidences which go to show that consciousness is not\nlocalized in, or confined to the brain, but extends throughout the\nbody; and that we are conscious, not with our brains alone, but with\nour entire beings. If this should be proved true, and it is likely\nto be, we will have to conclude that the \u201cphysical\u201d body of man is\npermeated and pervaded by a conscious substance which is co-extensive\nwith it in every part, and which is the real man. And we must also\nconclude that this conscious substance is Original Substance, and in\na condition approaching its primal state; for it becomes apparent\nas we go on that complete consciousness can only exist in Original\nSubstance in its primal state. Changes in state and form appear to\nlimit consciousness. The consciousness of the animal creation is\nlimited by their forms, and is little, if any, more than sufficient\nfor the reproduction of those forms; the consciousness of the tree and\nplant is still more limited, but scientists now generally admit that\nthere is consciousness in the vegetable kingdom; and in the mineral\nworld, consciousness appears as directivity of atoms, and chemical\naffinity. When we come to man, however, we find a capacity for growth\nin consciousness which seems to be unlimited; hence we argue that man\nis Original Substance in its primal state, or at least, that he may\nattain to the primal state.\n\nTime is; space is. Space is occupied by conscious substance; and\nthere is but one substance, from which are made all the forms of the\nvisible creation. The physical body of man is a form of substance as\nprepared through the processes of the visible creation; man, himself,\nis original substance or spirit, inhabiting this physical body. \u201cIn the\nimage of God created He them.\u201d\n\nIt will be seen that while all is God, it is also true that man is man,\nan independent entity, having a consciousness of his own, and that,\nwhile all is spirit, matter exists, being spirit on a varying plane\nof atomic pressure; and that while it is true that mind is in all and\nthrough all, perfect consciousness exists only in original substance,\nin pure spirit, or in God; and that the nearest approach to complete\nconsciousness is in man, whose unlimited capacity for growth proves him\nto be at least, a near approach to original substance; a son of God. We\nclose this chapter with the assertion that time is; that space is, and\nthat space is occupied by a conscious substance which moves. We will\nnext consider the fourth reality: Motion.\n\n\n\n\n                                  V.\n\n                                MOTION.\n\n  MOTION DEFINED--DO TIME AND SPACE MOVE?--TIME, SPACE, FORCE AND\n  ATTRACTION COMPARED.--A LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF \u201cATTRACTION\u201d BY USING\n  EMPTY SPACE AS A BASIS.\n\nI presume no one will deny that motion is a reality; we know that we\nmove, and we know that motion is going on all around us. The immensity\nof motion is staggering when we come to consider it; the motions of\nstars, suns, planets and satellites; of rivers, lakes and seas; of wind\nand clouds; of the circulation of sap and blood; of atomic vibration,\nand so on. Motion is the cause of light and heat; of sound, tone,\ncolor, electricity, magnetism. Differences in the shape and motion of\natoms make bodies solid or gaseous, and differentiate the so-called\n\u201csubstances\u201d from each other. It may be seen then that motion plays an\nall-important part in the work of creation; that motion is the work of\ncreation in progress; and so the study of motion becomes very important\nindeed. What is motion?\n\nThat which moves is neither time nor space; it is not conceivable\nthat either time or space should move. That which moves is substance.\nMotion, then, is a shifting of substance from place to place; or from\none part of space to another part of space. And are there different\nkinds of motion? In a way, there are; and the difference depends upon\nthe time used in making the motion, and upon the direction in which\nthe motion is made. That is, there are fast and slow motions; circular\nand linear motions; and those metaphysicians who contend that time and\nspace do not exist should consider that if there is no time there\nis no such thing as fast and slow motion; and if there is no space\nthere is no motion at all, for there is no place to move to. No more\npreposterous absurdity has appeared in modern thought than the denial\nof the existence of time and space. Motion, then, is the shifting of\nsubstance in space and time. And what causes motion?\n\nTo this you will be ready to answer \u201cforces\u201d; and after a little\nconsideration you will see that that is no answer at all unless you\ntell what force is. What is force, and how does it cause substance to\nmove? Force is not time; we cannot think of time as causing motion.\nForce is not space; we cannot think of space as causing motion. If\nforce is substance and causes motion, then substance moves itself; and\nif force is not substance, then it is nothing, or empty space, and\nempty space cannot act on substance so as to cause it to move. It is\nall very well for scientists to write of atoms as being \u201celectrons\u201d\nor ultimate units of force; but these electrons are either substance\nor they are not; and if they are not substance they are nothing but\nempty space, and in that case there is no substance, no existence,\nno consciousness, no anything. Either force is substance, or it is\nsomething in substance; and if it is something in substance which is\nnot substance, what is it? And how can that which has no substance act\non substance so as to cause motion? Force is not motion, for it is the\ncause of motion and the effect cannot be its own cause. Let me now try\nto give you a definition of force.\n\nForce is pressure of substance against substance. Try to exert force\nupon anything in any other way than by pressing substance against it;\ncan you do it? Try to cause a body to move in any other way than by\npressing something against it; can you do it? Try to conceive of force\nas being exerted upon any body without pressing anything against it;\ntry to conceive of force as crossing a complete vacuum where is no\nsubstance of any kind. Force is pressure of substance; that it can be\nanything else is not thinkable. And this brings us to the consideration\nof what is loosely spoken of as \u201cattraction.\u201d It is stated that all\nsolid bodies \u201cattract\u201d each other, and that every body in the universe\nattracts every other body; but those who make these assertions do not\ntell us how the attraction is accomplished. If bodies \u201cattract\u201d each\nother, then they exert force upon each other; and if they exert force\nupon each other they must cause pressure upon each other; for how\ncan a body exert force upon another except by causing pressure upon\nit? If \u201cattraction\u201d is an unsubstantial thing, then it cannot affect\nsubstance, or cause motion; if it is an unsubstantial thing, then it is\nempty space; for where there is no substance there is only empty space.\nCan you think of an \u201cattraction\u201d crossing an empty space? What would it\nbe like, and how would it get across? Can you think of a \u201cvibration\u201d\nas crossing an empty space? How would it be transmitted where there\nwas nothing to vibrate? Can you think of a force as crossing an empty\nspace? What would be the shape, size and general appearance of a force\napart from substance? By considering all these points we see that what\nwe know as force is simply pressure of substance; or, one portion of\nsubstance pressing against another portion of substance; and that force\ncan be nothing else than this. And we see that pressure causes motion,\nand that motion, in turn, causes pressure; so that force and motion are\nmutually convertible, each into the other. Also, we see that there is\nonly one force, the pressure of substance; and that all the so-called\n\u201cforces\u201d of nature are merely different rates and modes of motion, and\nhave their origin in the One Force--pressure of substance. Furthermore,\nwe see that there is no such thing as a universal attraction which\nbodies exert upon each other, but that there is a universal pressure,\nimpelling all bodies toward each other in a definite and orderly\nway; and to the study of this universal pressure we will next turn\nour attention. Time, space, substance and motion exist. Substance is\nconscious. Motion is caused by pressure of substance against substance,\nand the varying forms of substance in the visible creation are caused\nby differences in motion.\n\n\n\n\n                                  VI.\n\n                       THE BEGINNING OF MOTION.\n\n  ORIGIN OF MOTION--AN EXPOSITION OF FORCE AND MOTION FOUNDED ON THE\n  THEORY OF SPACE BEING OCCUPIED BY A FLUID CONSCIOUS SUBSTANCE--HAS\n  MOTION EVER A BEGINNING?--WILL AND WILL-PRESSURE ON MOTION--WILL OF\n  GOD THE ONE COMPELLING POWER\n\nTo understand force and motion, we must go back to a supposititious\ncreation. Conceive, first, of space as being occupied by completely\nconscious substance in a perfectly fluid state; conscious throughout,\nalike throughout, and without motion. Now, can you conceive of motion\nas beginning in any part of this substance without an act of will? Can\nyou think of your conscious self as beginning to act, and as continuing\nto act in an orderly and consecutive series of motions without an\neffort of will? If, as we have seen, original substance is completely\nconscious, then its every motion must be a conscious motion; and we\ncannot think of conscious motion without will. You are aware that you\ncan consciously originate motion yourself; but you cannot do it without\nwill. You are conscious substance; you can be nothing else as we have\nseen, and you can move or cease to move by an exertion of your will,\nand in moving or ceasing to move you cause the body you inhabit to\nmove or cease to move. We see motion beginning and ceasing all around\nus; and we conclude that every motion had a beginning; and that the\nbeginning of the series of creative motions which have resulted in the\npresent universe of forms could only have been in an action of the will\nof Original Conscious Substance.\n\nIn the beginning, then, by an act of will, parts of substance were\nmade to press against each other; and this pressure must pack the\nsubstance together, making it more dense, more rigid, and less fluid.\nThis pressure, also, must originate the motions we know as light, heat,\nelectricity and magnetism; and this will-pressure, drawing substance\ntogether and holding it in coherent masses, is what we call gravity.\nIt is this will-pressure which brings an apple to the earth, and\nwhich holds the earth itself in its orbit; which tends to bring all\nthe heavenly bodies together, and which yet holds them apart forever,\nkeeping each in its own place. There is no accounting for \u201cattraction\u201d\non other grounds than that it is the Creative Will of Original\nSubstance, pressing itself together into forms. Every phenomenon of\nforce or motion, from the circling sweep of a planet to the vibration\nof an atom, has its origin in the will of the great Intelligent\nSubstance to which, or to whom, men have given the name of God. The\nearth is held together solely by the pressure of the will which\npermeates it; were that will relaxed, the earth would return instantly\nto its original fluid condition. Try to think of substance as being\nheld together by something else than will; try to think of substance,\noriginally fluid, as being pressed into solid shapes and held in solid\nshapes, and going on in orderly and consecutive motions without will;\nand you will find it unthinkable. The earth is a part of Conscious\nBeing, holding itself in form by the exercise of the will which is in\nall substance; gravity is the will exerted by substance in pressing\nitself into form; so also is chemical affinity, or the directivity of\natoms. All motion originates in will-pressure. Trace back the motion\nof the wheels to the engine and thence to the coal; and you say that\nthe latent heat-energy of the coal is causing motion. But what lodged\nthe heat-energy in the coal? Was it the will-pressure of gravity, in\nthe distant ages? There is only one force, and that is the will of the\nGreat Intelligence; the eternal creative pressure, moving substance\ninto the various forms in which it appears to us.\n\nIn the beginning was God, Spirit, Conscious Substance, occupying the\ncalm deeps of space. An act of will, and there was sufficient pressure\nto produce the particles of the luminiferous ether, whose vibrations\nproduce light; and there was light. A further act of will, increasing\npressing of substance together, and nebulous clouds appear; and by the\nGreat Will these were pressed into spheres with all the accompanying\nphenomena of the motions of heat and electricity; and so the creation\nof forms went, on until the visible universe appeared as it is; formed\nof one substance, by the Will of God, and maintained and held together\nby the continued exercise of that Great Will.\n\nThe question of motive comes in just here. We cannot conceive of\ncontinuous, orderly and systematic action without a motive; and the\nquestion must come to our minds, what is the motive of the Great One\nin His work? With a little reflection, the answer must present itself.\nHe is seeking happiness. We cannot conceive of a conscious being as\ncontinuously seeking pain, inharmony or misery. Conscious action can\nhave but one motive, and that motive is ultimate harmony or happiness.\nThe purpose of God in the creation can be nothing else than His own\nhappiness, and since he is All and in All. His happiness can only be\nattained in the happiness of all. Remember that the purpose of the\ncreation is the happiness of all, including yourself, and that to be\nunhappy is to oppose the will of the Great Intelligence.\n\nLook now upon the immensity of the visible universe, and contemplate\nthe power of the Creator; see that in all and through all, from the\nrolling on a planetary system to the rising of the sap in a blade of\ngrass, the one impelling power is the Will of God. And this Great\nIntelligence is seeking pleasure and happiness in us, and through us.\nShall we doubt, then, that He can and will heal our diseases, give us\nevery good thing that we need, and guide us into all truth? In the next\nchapter, we shall consider man\u2019s relation to this Great Intelligence.\n\n\n\n\n                                 VII.\n\n                          MAN AND HIS POWERS.\n\n  WHAT MAKES YOU MAN--THE CONSCIENCE OF THE ALL-WISE--HEALTH THE\n  HIGHEST GOOD--ABUNDANCE SECONDARY-LIVE IN CONSTANT AND CONSCIOUS\n  CONTACT WITH THE GREAT INDEPENDENT SUBSTANCE AND BE IDEAL!\n\nThe universe is a Great Being, who is seeking happiness in and through\nthe forms which he creates from his own substance; and of all these\nforms, man alone has power to enter into intelligent relations with the\nCreator. To state it in other words, the great intelligence is seeking\nhappiness in you, and you have power to co-operate intelligently with\nhim in the search. That is what makes you man; the power to work with\nGod in the search for happiness. And if this Great One seeks your\nhappiness, it must be your most permanent and perfect happiness; that\nis, your highest good; for being conscious of all that there is to be\nconscious of, and knowing all that there is to know, he is all-wise;\nand we cannot think of the all-wise as seeking anything less than the\nhighest good, or as being satisfied with anything less than the highest\ngood.\n\nAs far as your physical body is concerned, the highest good that can\ncome to you is unquestionably perfect health. The notion that there are\ncircumstances under which pain and sickness are better for man than\nperfect health must take its place among those superstitious beliefs\nwhich have been exploded and discredited. Pain and sickness may be good\nfor man if he takes them rightly, but perfect health is always far\nbetter if he takes that rightly; and it is a self-evident proposition\nthat God can find complete delight in man only as man is completely\nwhole. The Great Intelligence, then, seeks perfect health and wholeness\nin you; and the substance of the Living One, filled with life and\npower, presses upon you on every side, seeking to impart life and power\nto you, but you being a portion of that great intelligence, are supreme\nwithin your own personality, and so you will have health or not as you\nreceive and recognize this health of God, If you fail to recognize and\nreceive the All-health, and if you recognize disease within yourself,\nyou prevent God from reaching you; and you form within yourself that\nwhich you recognize as existing. If you continuously recognize the\nperfect health of the Intelligent Substance, in which you live and move\nand are, and of which you are a part, you cannot be otherwise than well.\n\nIt is another self-evident truth that man\u2019s highest good demands that\nhe should have the use of all the things he is capable of using in\norder to live all the life he is capable of living. Man\u2019s highest good,\nand his real happiness can be attained only when he has abundance for\nevery physical and mental need. Just as it is true that God cannot\nfully delight in you if you are physically sick, so it is true that he\ncannot find happiness through you if you are mentally or physically\nstarved, or lacking the essentials for life, growth and enjoyment.\nHappiness consists in living fully; and God can live fully in you only\nwhen you have everything to live with. So, the desire of the Great One\nfor you must be that you shall have abundance.\n\nBut here again you are supreme within yourself. What if God presses\nabundance upon you, and you persist in recognizing only privation and\npoverty? If that be the case, you will remain poor in the midst of\nabundance, as millions of people are doing; and to be poor, or in want\nis to oppose the will of God, who seeks happiness in all, and for all.\nWe are parts of himself, and what can he do when his will is opposed\nand his bounty rejected by a part of himself?\n\nThe solution of man\u2019s problems of health, wealth, and growth can be\nreached when man unifies himself with God, the Great Intelligent\nSpirit, Substance, who seeks life and happiness in man; and man\ncan unify himself with God only by constantly recognizing God; by\nconsidering and acknowledging God, and by looking to God in prayer.\nThe prayer of faith is really an affirmation; and an affirmation is\nthe recognition of an existing fact. When you live in constant and\nconscious contact with the great intelligent substance you can have no\nsickness; and his desire for happiness in you will cause the exertion\nof that mighty will-pressure to bring to you all the things that make\nfor your highest good. The man who can completely unify himself with\nthe divine substance becomes a center toward which the divine will\nimpels every desirable thing; and that man will not, and cannot, lack\nfor anything.\n\nThe universe is a Great Being; an intelligent substance, occupying\nspace and using time. His desire leads Him to create forms from His own\nsubstance, and in these forms He seeks happiness. Man has but to unify\nhimself with this Great Being to secure the supply of every need, and\nthe gratification of every desire. Man only needs to learn how to pray\nand how to work.\n\n\n\n\n                          =Transcriber\u2019s Notes=\n\n Perceived typographical errors have been silently corrected.\n\n New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the\n public domain.","title":"What is truth?","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":6591}