APPENDIX 289 



Creation 



The unmanifested Absolute cannot be conceived other- 

 wise than as a mathematical point, without any magnitude, 

 and such a point in becoming manifest in all directions 

 would necessarily become a sphere. If we imagine such 

 a mathematical point as being self-conscious, thinking, 

 and capable to act, and desirous to manifest itself, the 

 only thinkable mode in which it could possibly accom- 

 plish this would be by radiating its own substance and 

 consciousness from the centre towards the periphery. 

 The centre is the Father, the eternal source of all 

 (John i. 4) ; the radius is the Son (the Logos), who was 

 contained in the Father from eternity (John L i); the 

 power of the father revealed in the light of the son from 

 the incomprehensible centre to the unlimited periphery is 

 the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth, which is manifested 

 externally and revealed in visible Nature (John xv. 26). 

 We cannot conceive of a body without length, breadth, 

 and thickness ; a circle or a sphere always consists of a 

 centre, radius, and periphery. They are three, yet they 

 are one, and neither of them can exist without the other 

 two.^ God sends out His thought by the power of His 



of Nature ; comprehension of truths independent of the opinions of others. 

 It is the beginning of wisdom (Sirach i. i6). 3. Wisdom, or the knowledge 

 of the Supreme Cause of all effects obtained by knowledge of self (Book of 

 Wisdom, vii. 17-27). This is the wisdom of Solomon. 



There are three kinds of knowers : — I. The theorists, who deal with 

 opinions and with illusory appearances ; the opinionated and dogmatists* 

 sceptics, materialists, &c., who continually quarrel about their different 

 opinions. 2. Those who are able to recognise interior truths objectively 

 by the power of their interior perception. 3. The Adepts, who are united 

 with God, and know everything because they know themselves, by the 

 power of the Holy Ghost being manifest in themselves (Prov. ix. 7). 



^ The doctrine of the Trinity is found in all the principal religious 

 systems : in the Christian religion as Father, Son, and Spirit ; among 

 the Hindus as Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva ; the Buddhists call it Atma, 

 Buddhi, and Manas ; the Persians teach that Ormuzd produced light out 

 of himself by the power of his word. The Egyptians called the First Cause 

 Ammon, out of which all things were created by the power of its own will. 

 In Chinese, Kwau-shai-gin is the universally manifested Word, coming 



T 



