The Builder And The Plan E-Book

Ursula N. Gestefeld

• Herausgeber: Jazzybee Verlag
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 304

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

For many years the author of this work has been prominently identified with the New Thought movement as writer, teacher, and practitioner. Her clientele has steadily grown, owing largely to her success as a healer. In the present work Mrs. Gestefeld has in the course of forty-four chapters sought to present a comprehensive outline of what to her is the truth touching the philosophy of life, or being. The author became a student of Mrs. Mary B. G. Eddy about eighteen years ago. She states that she found in these teachings much that was bread to her hungry soul; and yet, while gratefully acknowledging the benefit of the instruction received from the author of "Science and Health," she did not find in the philosophy enunciated a full measure of satisfaction. Mrs. Gestefeld and Helen Wilmans are the most radical thinkers among the leaders of the modern Mental Science movement. Both were at one time students of Christian Science, and each found its philosophy incomplete. Their views are divergent, but each has been remarkably successful as a healer, and their work appeals especially to those who are strongly individualistic and who have broken away from the Christian Church, or over whom the teachings of Christianity, as such, have ceased to exert a binding influence.

Leseprobe

The Builder And The Plan

A Text-Book Of The Science Of Being

Ursula N. Gestefeld

Contents:

The Builder And The Plan

Preface.

Another Foreword.

Chapter I -  The Builder and the Plan.

Chapter II - The Steadfastness of Nature.

Chapter III -  The Nature of Principle.

Chapter IV – Creator and Creation

Chapter V – Factors in the Eternal Order

Chapter VI - Illustration

Chapter VII – The Onlooker and the Possible Discoverer

Chapter VIII – Genus and Species

Chapter IX - Creation is Logical Necessity.

Chapter X - Expression.

Chapter XI – Active and Passive Aspects of First Cause.

Chapter XII – Further Consequence of Primal Motion

Chapter XIII – Consequence of Derived Motion

Chapter XIV -  The Nature of the Compound Factor.

Chapter XV - Variety in Unity.

Chapter XVI -  Distinct but not Separate.

Chapter XVII - he Forming Power

Chapter XVIII - Recapitulation

Chapter XIX - The Onlooker in Nature.

Chapter XX - Existence

Chapter XXI -  The Composition of a Man.

Chapter XXII - Body.

Chapter XXIII - Environment.

Chapter XXIV - The Influence of Environment.

Chapter XXV – Susceptibility to Impression

Chapter XXVI - The Composite Nature of Derived Being.

Chapter XXVII – Mortal Sense

Chapter XXVIII -  Mortality And Immortality

Chapter XXIX - The Initial Impulse And Its Persistence

Chapter XXX – The End from the Beginning

Chapter XXXI – Individuality and Personality

Chapter XXXII – Fundamental Rules

Chapter XXXIII - The Major and Minor Purpose.

Chapter XXXIV - Natural Tendency

Chapter XXXV -  Original Sin.

Chapter XXXVI - The Self-Idea

Chapter XXXVII – To Create and to Form

Chapter XXXVIII - The Immaculate Conception

Chapter XXXIX – The Origin of Evil

Chapter XL - Choice.

Chapter XLI - The Personal Order

Chapter XLII - The Soul Stages ob States of Existence

Chapter XLIII – Duration of the Human Person

Chapter XLIV – The Relation of Person to Embodiment

Chapter XLV - Integration and Disintegration

Chapter XLVI – Indestructibility of Matter

Chapter XLVII – Sin, Sickness and Death

Chapter XLVIII - Therapeutics

Chapter XLIX – Curing and Healing

Chapter L - Use of Auto-Suggestion for Healing.

Chapter LI - The Limitations of Hypnotic Suggestion

Chapter LII - Experience

Chapter LIII - The Common Mental Atmosphere

Chapter LIV - Heredity

Chapter LV -  Locality

Chapter LVI - The Lost Word.

Chapter LVII - The Responsibility of a Healer

Chapter LVIII – The Use of Material Remedies

Chapter LIX - Freedom and Licence

Chapter LX - Science and Religion

Chapter LXI - From Dust to Divinity

Chapter LXII - The Relation of the Bible to the Science of Being

The Builder And The Plan , U. Gestefeld

Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck

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The Builder And The Plan

Preface.

In presenting the system of thought named „ The Science of Being " I ask that it be considered an argument only, by those to whom it is not a revelation. To be sound as an argument it must be a logically consistent whole. To have practical value it must afford room for known facts. As an argument the vulnerability of its conclusions to criticism must depend upon true logical relation or lack of it to the premise from which they are drawn. The results of its use as a guide to daily living can be known only by the recipient, will be valued according to the measure of benefit received.

Used as a working hypothesis by one who seeks knowledge, it may lead to more satisfying views of life and its meanings, or it may not. Decision rests with the seeker, with the student rather than the reader.

Let those who cavil or protest do what is pointed out as to be done, and then say whether or no the declared results are possible. It is easy to criticise, to deny, to look for vulnerable places; it is not so easy to follow directions implicitlv before rendering judgment, but it is the only fair method of .procedure, more than that, it is the only method of more than intellectual proof.

It were idle to expect or desire that this teaching will cause, in any case, immediate abandonment of denominational doctrines, but proof abounds that it will accelerate inevitable growth beyond their limitations. All real reform is the result of growth, not belief. Growth is the attainment of an ideal. Change in an ideal is the result of experience. Though experience is the destroying angel in human life it is also the angel of revelation. In both cases the angel's office is ministration.

If this book stimulates willing readers to become seekers inspires them with confidence that they may know " the mysteries of the kingdom," places before their willing vision the ideal of God and Man that draws them steadily from materiality to spirituality, impels them to do their own part toward the coming of the kingdom of God, it will fulfill its mission though no new sect with an array of costly temples challenge the wonder of the world.

Only a small portion of what is included in the Science of Being is given here. I have aimed at broad outlines, rather than at multiplicity of detail, wearying and confusing till the order and intent of the outlines are grasped. As a building is according to plan and the plan is evidenced in the foundation, the succeeding stories, vary from each other as they may, must conform to the plan and rest secure on the foundation.

So far as my present perception extends, the vital questions affecting hum existence and experience have their answers in this foundation and plan. To the workman are these answers given, and the measure of his ability to see and hear them, of his willingness to use and prove them, will determine the quality of his work. Building and builder ascend together. If the plan and foundation be eternal, the building stands for always, and the workman is inseparable from his work.

The old question still unanswered by Theology, for which Science unwittingly seeks an answer — How is the Son of God begotten in the Son of Man? — is answered by a life that is this begetting, by the building reared on this foundation. Law, not miracle, governs from beginning to end. Greater than any man-made miracle imposed as law upon the unthinking, is the Infinite Naturalness that transforms Humanity into Divinity. .

Another Foreword.

Some of the fundamental propositions of " The Science of Being " are not original with myself. I first read of them in 1884 in the book " Science and Health/' The following month I entered one of Mrs. Eddy's classes and received her personal instruction. I make glad and grateful acknowledgment to her for the teaching that was then bread to my hungry soul, that has proved itself spiritual food for many hungry souls since that time, that will continue to feed multitudes in the future.

Whatever the mistakes or shortcomings of " Christian Science" or "Christian Scientists,“ or even of Mrs. Eddy herself, this teaching has wrought a mighty work in the world that can neither be ignored, nor sneered nor legislated out of existence. It came as supply to a demand created by soul-famine, a demand which no human opposition ever has or ever will destroy. All honor to " Christian Science " for the good it has done, all charity for the mistakes that have attended the doing.

While a member of the class instructed by Mrs. Eddy, notwithstanding the benefit received and the gratitude felt, I saw the lack in her teaching. Though " a light shining in the darkness" it removed but a measure of the darkness. Earnest and honest questioning legitimate to the declarations made failed to elicit answers that reconciled contradictories.

This failure to present a science while using that term for the teaching compelled further seeking on the part of one who would know rather than believe. For seventeen years I have prosecuted the search for what was lacking, impelled by the sentiment " Truth for authority, not authority for truth,'' with results that have made me doubly thankful it was my privilege to have been taught by Mrs. Eddy as a preparation for the exploration of a previously unknown country.

This exploration has led to the formulated system of thought named " The Science of Being " that is legitimate and necessary successor to " Christian Science "; for the fundamental propositions of that teaching lead directly to what is herein set forth and the conclusions are positively essential to the integrity of the propositions. If they do not appeal necessary to Christian Scientists it must be because they fail to see either logical continuity, or the need for it in order to establish a science.

The sometimes unsparing criticism that Christian Scieiice and its text book have met has been due, largely, to the lack of logic and submergence of cause and effect. This hiatus between fundamentals and ultimates has been bridged by the chain of " direct revelation '' from God to the author of the book as His specially chosen instrument; a momentous fact that renders so small a thing as logical coherence unnecessary. But when the fanatical fervor due to this claim begins to abate, and the still unmet needs of the reasoning soul are released from ,the stupor in which they are rigidly kept through desire and effort to be faithful to both revelation and revelator, the feeling of need for such coherence will become strong enough to overcome the fear that now prevents most Christian Scientists from admitting this hiatus. Then they will be ready for the normal and natural bridge that belongs to both fundamentals and ultimates, welcoming it in place of the abnormal and unnatural claim that is directly contrary to the basic proposition of Christian Science — God is Principle.

This being the admitted basic truth of Christian Science, how can Principle choose? How can God as Principle choose the author of " Science and Health " or any one member of the human race above all others as the one and only medium of revelation of truth to mankind? Is not choice on the part of the seeker, rather? He who seeks may find.

I found Mrs. Eddy's basic proposition " God is Principle " to be logically sound and capable of logical proof. Seeing the necessity of working out, by adherence to logic, the conclusions compelled by this premise, rather than believing any personal opinions contrary to it, even though these opinions were incorporated as part of the teaching, I followed it as a clue to explanations not given in " Christian Science." Finding these conclusions to be in logical agreement with the basic proposition, and, therefore, satisfactory, believing then, in my simplicity, that many who accepted " Christian Science " in the main would be glad to know of and welcome them, I tried to impart them only to be met with stern rebuke for my " presumption and blasphemy."

Realizing at last, though with a shock, that such effort could not be understood, that if my utterances as a teacher did not accord with the views of " Christian Scientists," or meet the approval of Mrs. Eddy, even though they were in full accord with the principles that are the real strength of " Christian Science," strict justice required I should use another name. After a few years of work under that head, during which I published " A Statement of Christian Science " calling it " An Explanation of Science and Health," I dropped the term and substituted instead " The Science of Being." With this designation for my work I have been teaching for many years with both tongue and pen the views herein set forth. As a public work I have presented them to thousands; as a more responsible private work I have instructed but few who can justly claim to speak of my teaching with authority.

This work of seeking and teaching has been carried on under the greatest possible difficulties imposed by fanatical, therefore ignorant, efforts to destroy and prevent it. If I refer to these now it is because of a desire to enlighten, not to condemn any one. The true seeker for wisdom, the faithful helper of his fellow-men, must give himself to his work and prosecute it for the work's sake, regardless of either approbation or condemnation. Only by the earnestness due to his deep conviction and abiding faith that truth must triumph at last no matter what the immediate obstacles in the way, can he calmly continue his efforts in the face of all threatenings and denunciation, feeling not resentment and desire for retaliation, but " Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

The efforts, open and concealed, made by leading Christian Scientists to nullify teachings, to break down and destroy teachers of which and of whom they do not approve, is due, mainly, to their honest belief that all such teaching is error which it is their bounden duty to destroy if possible. This effort is also the accompaniment of the belief that Mrs. Eddy is the Christ, is a higher manifestation of God than was Jesus of Nazareth.

To honestly believe this is to pursue relentlessly, as a divinely imposed necessity, anything and any one that contradicts it. As in past ages so to-day ignorance is the persecutor and enlightenment the savior, while mistaken self-interest prompts the answer to the question " Whom will ye that I release unto you " ? And it is too often the robber that is set free while the savior is held in bonds.

History repeats itself. The burning of books required of those who shall be admitted into fellowship with Christian Scientists, because there is and can be but one that teaches truth, is but repetition in the present day of the acts of past ages and is prompted by the same spirit. It is an effort to destroy error, to save the people from being inoculated by it, but the past has proved that the light of the conflagration has revealed truth instead, and been the means of spreading it throughout the world.

The Christian Science body is one of the most powerful batteries in the world to-day, with, consequently, a mighty influence for good so far as its teachings are sound and true, but also with, unfortunately, a corresponding influence for blinding and holding in bonds those who do not think far enough to discriminate between principles and opinions. Wisely directed, this influence tends to uplift and save; misdirected it enslaves. It enslaves those, who from present incapacity, or from motives of policy and expediency, can not, or will not think for themselves; it opens a door to the glories of the inflnite for those who can stand as individuals claiming and using their God-given birthright.

Nothing is so subtle as self-deception. The more one really knows the less his inclination and effort to destroy anything, for he sees that error in inevitably self -destroyed, carries in it the seeds of its own death, and he had best devote all his thought and work to the upbuilding that is sure to stand if it rests upon a rock foundation.

To all such workers I would say, " Keep a stout heart though you stand alone, for the force of the Infinite is with you to sustain you. Be content with doing what you can, do it faithfully, earnestly, persistently, leave the results to the Most High, they are not your concern. Do not pattern your life and effort on what is demanded of you by men, but on what your discernment compels. Be true to the truth unveiled to you though all men call you a liar and blasphemer. So shall you follow the Great Example and, though it be long years after you have joined the unseen, your message shall win the world."

The right to a teaching, the claim that may be made, seems for many a vexed question that may be best answered, perhaps, by illustration. No one can claim proprietary right to truth. It is a common inheritance for all men, but a means by which they are brought face to face with it and helped to take possession of it may originate with one man. When a company of people go to" a new country to populate it their needs demand water. It is a common need to be met by a common supply. The water is there, was there before their arrival, but it is deep under ground.

How are the need and the supply to be brought together? Some one of the number digs a well, a way to the water is found, the water fills the well, the needs of the people are met. The water is for all alike, the well as a means for obtaining water is for all alike, but as the work of the workman it is his alone. All may drink from the well, but all did not dig the well.

The well and the water are found together by those who have need. Seeing only that this is the common need, the supply the common supply, they may overlook what stood between the need and the supply. The digger of the well worked hard and long before the water filled it, and it is possible his efforts may have been spurred by his knowledge of the needs of others. How could he fail to know their need by his own? The enlightened worker will never claim the water of truth as his own. Truth is never created by man, never bought or sold. It is uncovered by understanding.

In his thankfulness that he has been able to minister to the needs of others the workman may not even claim the well, may yield his own work as freely as the waiting water is yielded. Those who drink from the well may never ask for the workman, may not even recognize that a work has been done for them without which they could not at that time have had water. In his joy at giving, this, too, will not matter.

If some there be who, besides drinking the water, claim also the well as their own work, he may not contend with them because he knows that soon or late they, not he, must experience the consequence of their own injustice. They have not yet drank of the deep water, they are intoxicated with the joy of a supply for the common thirst, the privilege of handing it from the well. They forget the slow laying of one stone on another, the days and nights of toil and sweat, the bent back and bleeding hands, the loneliness and pain in which the way has been opened for them; but the Eternal never forgets and the regenerated human forgives.

Ursula N. Gestefeld

Chapter I -  The Builder and the Plan.

All accomplishment is preceded by a plan. An enduring work one that can withstand the shocks of time depends upon completeness of plan its adaptation to needs, and strict conformity to plan in all efforts to bring it to actualization. The importance of the plan can not be overestimated, conformity in effort should not be underestimated.

If this is true in human affairs should it not be true in the Original Affairs that antedate time and human effort? And if true of Original Affairs, faithful conformity to the Plan is the only way by which the Plan can be actualized.

This compels a Science of Being and Existence, the abstract truth that is without human origin, which, when found, permits a human formulation that presents the abstract truth to those who can receive it.

On coming into existence we are confronted by a world in which is found order and relatedness. What is the nature and origin of this world, and what am I, the Onlooker?

This is the question of past, present and future days, the riddle to be solved by whatever is capable of reaching such solution. The human being is the questioner. Is he also the reader of the riddle?

As the questioner he is the seeker who gains knowledge along two lines — Science and Religion. As the seeker he is also the verifier of the knowledge gained on either or both lines. This knowledge is verified as experience. The experience that unites the knowledge gained from Science with the knowledge gained from Religion, verifying both as two faces of one Truth, enables the seeker to say " I have found. For me, the questions are answered, the riddle solved.'

He who feels that he has found becomes the helper of those who are still seeking, the mediator between the unknown and the known, the revelator, for those who are groping without finding, who must point to the Flan underlying Nature and awaiting discovery. The Plan discerned, building according to it follows. If the revelator be building for himself, his example and work become the accompanying verification of his words, and the helpful stimulus for others in their attempts at conformity to Plan.

We are told that Jesus of Nazareth was the son of a carpenter. A carpenter is a builder, and his work of building must be according to prior plan. The Son of the carpenter was the builder of the divine character, hence the helper, mediator, revelator, and example for others; a needed stimulus in their efforts to conform to the Original Design, unfolded to their vision by both his precept and his example. That Original Design is, and must be, to-day what it was in the days of the Nazarene, changeless throughout all future days.

Every child born into the world is the Onlooker that is the possible discoverer of the Plan, the Original Design antedating all he sees. He is to be a builder, carrying out that Design in his own person. He is to build character till the Original Design is incarnated in him as the Living Plan. This destiny awaits each new member of the human race. It follows, then, that discovery of the Original Design is the first step toward the fulfillment of that destiny.

Chapter II - The Steadfastness of Nature.

We say that Nature is steadfast Her processes can be anticipated because she is steadfast. Sunset is followed by sunrise, summer succeeds spring and is followed by autumn and winter. This steadfast order can be counted upon, and the harvest confidently expected after seed-sowing.

There can be no Science of Being and Existence except there be a compelling Principle. The steadfastness of Nature must be due to a compelling Principle. No one, past or present, makes an apple-tree grow from apple-seed though such growth can be confidently relied upon. This reliance would be misplaced did any one possessing the power of choice cause a seed to produce after its own kind; for then it could be made to produce after another kind.

Because principle and not choice determines result, the result can be anticipated, known before its arrival. For one who can choose there is more than one way in which to act. For principle there is only one way. How principle will act, therefore, can be accurately determined. How the possessor of the power of choice will act is always open to conjecture, and certainty is impossible.

It is the difference between the personal and the impersonal Nature is impersonal, her governing Principle is impersonal, and the personal delver into her mysteries must find the impersonal if he would be successful. The variety in Nature must be the relativity of parts in a continuous whole.

Where there is relativity there is order; where there is order there is design; where there is design there is that which compels it. To follow the order and understand the design it is necessary to trace it from the basis of governing principle, working deductively. The proposition, then, upon which the formulation in statement of the Science of Being and Existence is based, is — The origin of creation is without power of choice; hence is impersonal.

Chapter III -  The Nature of Principle.

Principle. — Beginning; commencement. Cause in the widest sense ; that by which anything is in any way ultimately regulated or determined.— (Dictionary. )

It is said that God is the author of Creation, hence the question " What is God " becomes of first interest. For the stability of Creation, the Creator must be without power of choice as to what it shall be, must be stable in nature and action, while of infinite resource.

If God is one who chooses to create, then before that intention was formed there could have been no Creation. Moreover, the Creation resulting from such intention would be entirely dependent upon the next intention of the Creator for its continuance, for it could be perpetuated or annihilated according to choice.

Such a Creation could not be stable, governed by law, presenting a steadfast continuity. There would be no law, only the wish of the Creator. This wish, intention, choice, would be either the sustenance or destruction of Creation, and therefore Creation would be capable of change.

Again, if the Creator produced Creation from choice, this human nature of the Creator would compel a substance other than that Creator, out of which to make the Creation. But if the Creator be Principle, out of Principle itself must come its consequence; must, because Principle does not possess and exercise the human power of choice.

Principle is that which stands forever beyond the limitations of desire or intention. Its product is that which is compelled by the nature of Principle. Its product would be, therefore, the creation of which it was the creator, and this product would be steadfast and changeless because the nature of Principle, not any desire, wish, or intention, compelled.

Try to put from you for the moment, so that you may be able to reason clearly, your inherited view of God. Do not, first, make effort to reconcile this inherited view with the statement " God is Principle.“ In order to understand what this premise involves and compels, it is necessary to concentrate the attention upon it. Do not divide the attention with previous opinions in the effort to make the premise confirm your opinion.

Truth, rather than such confirmation, should be the desire. Give yourself wholly to the consideration of what this statement means and compels. As the order unfolds to you a reconciliation may be found that is not seen at first. Shut out all traditional teaching for the moment and endeavor to answer these questions from the basis of logic.

The only standard of comparison for you, if you as a student seek to understand the statements of the Science of Being, is the premise from which they are deduced as conclusions. Observe carefully and see if they are in logical agreement with the premise, following carefully step by step as they are reached one after another, taking care not to jump forward in your own thought beyond the stage of the argument that is for immediate consideration.

Discipline your attention and mental activity, postponing final judgment till the argument is concluded.

QUESTIONS.

Has Principle lengthy breadth and thickness?

Can we define Principle in terms of matter?

Does Principle occupy space?

Has Principle an origin in time?

Does Principle hear or speak as we hear and speak?

Can Principle plan from intention to plan?

Can any one create Principle?

Can any one or any thing be pre-existent to Principle?

Can Principle be seen as an object in space?

If not, how is it seen?

Can Principle change its own nature?

Can Principle act contrary to its nature?

Can Principle choose to act or to refrain from action?

Can Principle punish because of intent to punish?

Can Principle love because of intent to love?

Can time change Principle?

Chapter IV – Creator and Creation

Fundamental — Pertaining to the foundation ; serving as a foundation or basis, essential ; original ; elementary. — (Dictionary.)

 The law of nature is the only law of laws truly and properly to all mankind fundamental" — Milton, Free Commonwealth,

Because the Creator, or the source of Creation, is Principle, and not a being exercising the power of choice, the pronoun " He " applied to the Creator is not adequately descriptive of the nature of the Creator. " He " can choose between two courses of action, Principle can not choose.

Creation is the orderly sequence from the Creator which is its governing Principle that is compelled by what the Principle is, in itself and in its operation.

This order or design must be fundamental, and therefore eternal because no choice can change it.

Creation is natural, and in Nature there is eternal design. Creation, as this sequential order, is finished and complete. If there be in Creation an onlooker, this onlooker must be the discoverer of that which is eternally natural; and the discovery must be according to the ability to find and follow the fundamental order. Whatever the theories of Being and Creation, there must be the Science of Being this order compels.

REMARKS.

Try to see what is imperative, the must that compels. Where there is choice there is no " must." There is a " may be," a " perhaps " instead. There can be stability only with the imperative.

Do not fear that if you forsake your old view of Creator and Creation you will get into a wilderness which has no outlet, where you will be lost. You are. only laying it aside for a time in order to consider another proposition. You can always go back to it if you find nothing better.

Look for what is compelled rather than for what is optional with the Creator, and do not make the mistake of thinking that this compelling limits God.

QUESTIONS.

If the Creator is Principle does the personal pronoun " He " describe the nature of the Creator?

Is there other beginning for Creation than the Creator?

Is Creation according to chance or law?

If according to law what is the lawgiver?

Is Creation. compelled or permitted?

Is Creation eternal or temporal?

Is Creation according to the nature of the Creator, or contrary to it?

Can the nature of Creation be changed by the Creator?

What do you understand by " fundamental " ?

Chapter V – Factors in the Eternal Order

A sequential order compels factors having an undeviating relation to each other. Nature's factors must have each its own place, and be incapable of transposition or change.

Each fundamental factor must be a supreme genus, under which may belong its variety or species, over which can be no higher genus in its own domain.

These factors, each, in its domain, a supreme genus, may be considered, first, as three in number, viz., Expression, Representation and Manifestation.

To express — To put forth.

To represent — To put forth anew, or a second time. To manifest — To make plain, clear, visible, obvious to understanding.— (Dictionary.)

Expression is what is first put forth. Representation is what is subsequently put forth. Manifestation is the visibility of that which precedes it. To be full and complete, Manifestation must include the visibility of Representation, Expression and the governing Principle that puts forth.

The enumeration compelled by the nature of causative Principle, is, first, the Expression of the Principle, then Re-presentation, and last the Manifestation of all.

Creation, considered as the unity of these fundamental

factors, is a trinity in unity, eternal and unvarying, each factor equally eternal and unvarying in nature and order. Creation must be, therefore, stable, its governing Principle always the same.

REMARKS.

Study carefully the meaning of the terms used in this chapter, as it is given in the Dictionary. This meaning will be adhered to throughout the argument, will be carried along as the argument develops, and you will see more and more its application at subsequent stages.

Never confound one of these factors with another. Never think it does not matter if you use either of the three terms indiscriminately. Loose thinking leads to inaccurate speech. With inaccurate speech there can be no statement of a science. Never say " manifestation " when you mean " expression " or " representation.' Think clearly, grasping the meaning of each term, and seeing the difference, yet relatedness, between the three factors. Insecurity in a foundation leads to the insecurity of what is built upon it.

QUESTIONS.

What do you understand by " undeviating ' !

What do you understand by " order " ?

What is the order that constitutes Creation?

Why are the factors enumerated placed in such order?

Can the nature of one, or all, of them be changed?

Can their relation to each other be changed?

What compels that they are as they are?

Why is this order eternal?

Why can not God change it?

Chapter VI - Illustration

The nature of the unit is the governing principle of the Science of Numbers. Without this principle there would be no such science; with it, this science is the result that is compelled, not by choice, but by logical necessity.

The nature of the unit cannot change, for the unit can not exercise the power of choice. It is impersonal in nature and is therefore always to be depended upon. Hence the Science of Numbers is exact science, positive truth. The unit always has been, and always will be, the sum of its parts. No one ever made it so, no one will ever unmake it. The unit is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.

The nature of the unit is the governing principle that holds together the whole Science of Numbers, and affords the differing fundamentals, with their relativity and order, that are therein contained. This order is constant because of its changeless governing principle; and the discovery of this priciple is necessary to the making of a mathematician.

In connection with the Science of Numbers we may find Expression, Representation and Manifestation. Abstract Number is the expression of the unit; objective Figure is the representation of the expression — of Number; and the nature of Number, its manifold possibilities, its relation to its governing principle, made visible, become obvious, is the manifestation.

The Science of Numbers is a parallel to the Science of Being. As abstract truth it is dead, so far as practical value is concerned. Only a discoverer can bring it to light, resurrecting it from the dead. By means of discovery and application the nature and possibilities of Number have a practical value not before existent.

The discoverer, therefore, stands between Representation and Manifestation. Without a recognizer there can be no recognition, no obviousness. An onlooker is a logical necessity. To the onlooker manifestation is made.

The beginner in the study of mathematics is the possible discoverer of all pertaining to mathematics, the possible master of all mathematical problems. Only as discoverer of that which persistently, therefore eternally, is, can he become master of what is presented to him by that order. He changes, can change, nothing that is fundamental; but all that is fundamental he can find and follow into and through all possible combinations.

This possibility is latent in him as the beginner. Its development is his growth from beginner to expert mathematician. This growth is the bringing forth of what is inherent. All change is to him.

The unit and what it compels is unchanged through all. The fundamental order, each factor in that order, the principle that compels and governs it, are the same, whether he be beginner or expert; therefore, given inherent capacity, it is possible for him to become the expert, as would not be the case were that order capable of change; were its factors susceptible of alteration.

Chapter VII – The Onlooker and the Possible Discoverer

If there be a questioner there must be an onlooker for Creation who sees something that stimulates questioning.

I am, I see what I call the world, what to me is Nature. What is it and what am I?

Here is the onlooker, the questioner, the seeker, the beginner. All is resolved into "I" and the "not-I"; the looker-on and that which is seen.

Following the parallelism of the Science of Numbers, this beginner stands before Representation awaiting Manifestation. He looks upon Figure and awaits the manifestation of Number and its governing Principle.

As beginner the capacity to become an expert is latent in him. This capacity is to develop, and the development will constitute his growth. This growth will be change to him, but not change in the fundamental order and its factors that constitutes Creation.