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III

MIND AS A MOTIVE AND MORAL POWER¹

Man is the masterpiece of creation, lord of the kingdoms of life and activity, an epitome of all forms and structures, a microcosm of all Nature in its broadest sense.² He is the focal concentration and sublimated condensation of all powers and principles in the organism of the objective world. It is therefore true that, in his physical and mental constitution, he is the source of great motive power and supremacy. Standing upon the topmost round of the visible creation, a connecting link between the material and spiritual, mind is the master of all below and a prophecy of much that is above. He is destined to put under his feet all enemies—understood as barriers to human progress and happiness. Science is replete with evidence of the superiority of human mind over the gross materials of Nature. Man is governor, director and lord of all subordinate creations, because he is the most perfect combination of all essences in lower departments and kingdoms. He has the power

¹ The Great Harmonia, Vol. Ill, p. 13 et seq.
² Compare The Principles of Nature, p. 593:—Man considered materially—meaning as lord and master of the planet on which he dwells—is the wisdom, head and king of all animated forms, the perfection of matter. So also ibid., p. 596: The lower forms are developed and perfected in man, for in him are (a) the spiritual, (b) the perfect spiritual, and (c) the celestial forms of the particles of matter. An explanation is given (p. 595) of the term celestial forms, being those parts or atoms which contain perfected in themselves every species of form in the subordinate kingdoms and which become receptacles of spiritual life.

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to ascend higher and higher in the scale of knowledge, for he possesses the concentrated qualities and properties of motion, life, sensation and intelligence. When mental cultivation and intellectual philosophy become universal, it will be discovered that there is a very intimate and sympathetic connection between the sciences of mind and its moral altitudes. Man's external and internal conditions are so inseparably connected that by improving the one he improves also the other, and that knowledge which gives him almost unlimited control over the elements of Nature will yet inform him concerning his more interior and moral powers, thus leading him directly to true theology and religion.

When mind is exercised upon superior planes of thought, all material forms are invested with deep and sacred meaning. He who feels within himself the workings of an immortal spirit can in some measure comprehend the kindred intelligence and love emanating from the material forms which people the world of effects. The ideal begets the actual; the principles of mind incarnate themselves in physical structures. But before it can display creative and disposing powers in higher regions of thought¹ the mind must have a broad substratum of scientific knowledge, as a basis of more exalted structures. Hence the mission of mind as a motive power should be comprehended before considering its mission as a moral power. When viewed in the light of Harmonial Philosophy, all true moral growth and wisdom ²

¹ There are three departments of human thought, according to Penetralia, p. 9, or, more correctly, there are three worlds open to the investigations of thought, being (a) the indefinite world, intermediately situated between finite and infinite; (b) the finite world, being that of human sciences; and (c) the infinite, to which we feel that we are instinctively and eternally related. Man himself is the indefinite world, and hence "all our knowledge is ourselves to know," albeit—as we are at present located—there is a limit set to research in this direction.
² It is explained elsewhere in the volume from which this text is drawn that the human mind; when seen interiorly—that is to say, when

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are higher departments of a Divine Temple, resting upon the granite basis of science and extending its turrets into tranquil realms of celestial life. Physical science leads to intellectual and the latter to moral science. Chemical analysis has led to mental analysis, and thence we derive a philosophy of the qualities and powers of man's immortal soul. By this are we directed to universal love and benevolence toward every member of the human family. So also a philosophy of matter supports a philosophy of mind, as a house stands upon its foundation; and a true philosophy of mind enlarges the sympathies and expands the understandings of those who control the undeveloped and unfortunately situated classes. Hereof is the mind's mission as a moral power, and beyond are all its developments as a vast panorama of spiritual realities. There are moments when every soul realises its own attributes and perceives something of that innate force, beauty and grandeur which lie hidden and undeveloped within. No mortal boundaries can limit the sublime flight of mind. It ascends high in the firmaments, contemplates the causes, laws and operations of the universe, displaying everywhere that transcendent power which renders man a little lower than the angels. The principle of reason is its greatest

it is contemplated in a clairvoyant state—presents (1) a fountain of life, (2) a fountain of principles, and (3) a casket of facts. The first is the department of love, the second of wisdom, the third of knowledge—these qualities having express constitutional affinities for life, principles and facts. Love is the parental essence of the two other qualities—or elements, as Davis terms them, speaking of course metaphysically and not chemically. The whole nature of man, physical and mental, is not only based upon but is likewise manufactured through the department of love. Phrenologically it occupies all the back portions of the head and is the largest of the mental organs. The department of knowledge occupies the front portions of the brain and that of wisdom the upper portions. Wisdom is the source of principles, knowledge the treasury of facts, love the fountain of all consciousness and motive power.—The Great Harmonia, Vol. IV, pp. 29-34.

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and highest endowment. This is the indwelling light and this the power of understanding by which man reads in the everlasting volume of Nature. Nature is the universal exponent of God, and reason is the exponent of Nature. Nature and reason constitute the only true standard of judgment upon all subjects.