CHAPTER II 



THE REALISATION OF SOVEREIGN CONSCIOUSNESS 



That which is * essential ' in the universe is eternal and 

 indestructible', -permanent through all the transitory appear- 

 ances of things. 



That which is essential in the universe passes, by 

 evolution, from the unconscious to the conscious. 



Individual consciousness is an integral part of that 

 which is essential in the universe, and itself indestructible 

 and eternal, it evolves from unconsciousness to consciousness. 



THE first of these three primordial data of our philosophy 

 is unanimously admitted. At all events it is the founda- 

 tion of all the great philosophical systems belonging to 

 all ages of the world. 



To deny it would imply the absolute bankruptcy of 

 the philosophical mind; it would be to deny philosophy 

 itself. This premise, moreover, is no longer an a priori, 

 a postulate by the mind of genius : it rests, as we have 

 demonstrated, on a solid and positive basis. 



Intuition, reason, and facts, show us with one accord 

 under innumerable formal representations which are 

 temporal and spatial and therefore (like Time and Space) 

 illusory, a dynamo-psychism which alone is endowed 

 with unity and permanence; that is to say, which alone 

 is real. 



The second idea, though more open to question, 

 is really forced upon us by all considerations relating 

 to evolution. The transition from unconsciousness to 

 consciousness is the one thing which is most striking 

 and undeniable in evolution. The procession of forms 

 of life admits of gropings, mistakes, arrest, and even 



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