The Law and the Word by Thomas Troward

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Jesus, indeed, possessed the Word of Power, though not in the way
told in the legend, and he repeatedly proclaimed it in his
teaching:--"According to your Faith be it unto you"--"Verily, I say unto
you, whosoever shall say to this mountain, 'Be thou taken up and cast
into the sea'; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that
what he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith"
(Mark xi, 23). And similarly in the Old Testament we are told that the
Word is nigh to us, even in our hearts and in our mouth (Deut. xxx, 14).
What keeps the Word of Power hidden, is our belief that nothing so
simple could possibly be it.

At the same time, simple though it be, it has Law and Reason at the back
of it, like everything else. The ancient Egyptians seem to have had
clearer ideas on this subject than we have. "The name was to the
Egyptians the _idea_ of the thing, without which it could not exist, and
the knowledge of which therefore gave power over that which answered to
it." "The _idea_ of the thing represented its _soul_."[2] This is the
same conception as the "archetypal ideas" of Plato, only carried
further, so as to apply, not only to classes, but to each individual of
the class, and, as we shall see later, there is a good deal of truth in
it. Put broadly, the conception is this--every external fact must have
a spiritual origin, an internal energizing principle, which causes it to
exist in the particular form in which it does. The outward fact is
called the Phenomenon, and the corresponding inward principle is called
the Noumenon. The dictionary definition of these two words is as
follows: "Phenomenon--the appearance which anything makes to our
consciousness as distinguished from what it is in itself." "Noumenon--an
unknown and unknowable substance or thing as it is in itself--the
opposite to the Phenomenon or form through which it becomes known to the
senses or the understanding" (Chambers' Twentieth Century Dictionary).
Whether the dictionary be right in saying that the "noumena" of things
are entirely unknowable, the reader must decide for himself; but the
present book is an attempt to learn something about the "noumena" of
things in general, and of ourselves in particular, and what I want to
convey is, that the "noumenon" of anything is its essence, _in terms of
the Universal Energy and the Universal Substance, in their relation to
the particular Form in question_. Probably the Latin word "Nomen," a
Name, is derived from this Greek word, and in this sense everything has
its "hidden name"; and the region in which Thought-Power works, is this
region of spiritual beginnings. It deals with "hidden names"--that
inward essence which determines the outward form of things, persons, and
circumstances alike; and it is in order to make this clearer, that I
have commenced by sketching briefly the general principles of Substance
and Energy as now recognized by modern science.

If I have made my meaning clear, you will see that what is wanted is
not the knowledge of particular words, but an understanding of general
principles. At the same time I would not assert that the reciting of
certain forms of words, such as the Indian "mantras" or the word AUM,
to which Oriental teachers attach a mystic significance, is entirely
without power. But the power is not in the words _but in our belief in
their power_. I will give an amusing instance of this. On several
occasions I have been consulted by persons who supposed themselves to
be under the influence of "malicious magnetism," emanating in some
cases from known, and in others from unknown, sources; and the remedy I
have prescribed has been this. Look the adverse power, mentally, full
in the face, and then assuming an attitude of confidence say
"Cock-a-doodle-doo." The enquirers have sometimes smiled at first, but
in every case the result has been successful. Perhaps this is why
AEsculapius is represented as accompanied by a cock. Possibly the
ancient physicians were in the habit of employing the
"Cock-a-doodle-doo" treatment; and I might recommend it to the faculty
to-day as very effective in certain cases. Now I do not think the
reader will attribute any particularly occult significance to
"Cock-a-doodle-doo." The power is in the mental attitude. To
"cock-a-doodle-doo" at any suggestion is to treat it with scorn and
derision, and to assume the very opposite of that receptive attitude
which enables a suggestion to affect us. That is the secret of this
method of treatment, and the principle is the same in all cases.

It matters, then, very little what particular words we use. What does
matter is the intention and faith with which we use them. But perhaps
some reader will here take the role of cross-examining counsel, and say:
"You have just said it is a case of synchronous vibration--then surely
it is the actual sound of the particular syllables that counts--how do
you square this with your present statement?" The answer is that the Law
is always the same, but the mode of response to the Law is always
according to the nature of the medium in which it is operating. On the
plane of physical matter the vibrations are in tune with physical
sounds, as in the experiments with the eidophone; and similarly, on the
plane of ideas or "noumena," the response is in terms of that plane. The
word which creates "noumena," or spiritual centres of action, must
itself belong to the world of "noumena," so that it is not illogical to
say that it is the intention and faith that counts, and not the external
sound. In this is the secret of the Power of Thought. It is the
reproduction, on the miniature scale of the individual, of the same mode
of Power that makes the worlds. It is that Power of Personality, which,
combined with the action of the Law, brings out results which the Law
alone could never do--as the old maxim has it, "Nature unaided fails."

This brings us to another important question--is not the creative power
of the Word limited by the immutability of the Law? If the Law cannot be
altered in the least particular, how can the Word be free to do what it
likes? The answer to this is contained in another maxim: "Every creation
carries its own mathematics along with it." You cannot create anything
without at the same time creating its relation to everything else, just
as in painting a landscape, the contour you give to the trees will
determine that of the sky. Therefore, whenever you create anything, you
thereby start a train of causation, which will work out in strict
accordance with the sort of thought that started it. The stream always
has the quality of its source. Thought which is in line with the Unity
of the Great Whole, will produce correspondingly harmonious results, and
Thought which is disruptive of the great Principle of Unity, will
produce correspondingly disputive results--hence all the trouble and
confusion in the world. Our Thought is perfectly free, and we can use it
either constructively or destructively as we choose; but the immutable
Law of Sequence will not permit us to plant a thought of one kind, and
make it bear fruit of another.

Then the question very naturally suggests itself: Why did not God create
us so that we could not think negative or destructive thoughts? And the
answer is: Because He could not. There are some things which even God
cannot do. He cannot do anything that involves a contradiction in terms.
Even God could not make twice two either more or less than four. Now I
want the student to see clearly why making us incapable of
wrong-thinking would involve a contradiction in terms, and would
therefore be an impossibility. To see this we must realize what is our
place in the Order of the Universe. The name "Man" itself indicates
this. It comes from the Sanscrit root MN, which, in all its derivatives,
conveys the idea of Measurement, as in the word Mind, through the Latin
_mens_, the faculty which compares things and estimates them
accordingly; Moon, the heavenly body whose phases afford the most
obvious standard for the periodical measurement of time; Month, the
period thus measured; "Man," the largest of the Indian weights; and so
on. Man therefore means "The Measurer," and this very aptly describes
our place in the order of evolution, for it indicates the relation
between Personal Volition and Immutable Law.

If we grant the truth of the maxim "Nature unaided fails" the whole
thing becomes clear, and the entire progress of applied science proves
the truth of this maxim. To recur to an illustration I have employed in
my previous books, the old ship-builders thought that ships were bound
to be built of wood and not of iron, because wood floats in water and
iron sinks; but now nearly all ships are made of iron. Yet the specific
gravities of wood and iron have not altered, and a log of wood floats
while a lump of iron sinks, just the same as they did in the days of
Drake and Frobisher. The only difference is, that people thought out the
_underlying principle_ of the law of flotation, and reduced it to the
generalized statement that anything will float, the weight of which is
less than that of the mass displaced by it, whether it be an iron ship
floating in water, or a balloon floating in air. So long as we restrict
ourselves to the mere recollection of observed facts, we shall make no
progress; but by carefully considering _why_ any force acted in the way
it did, under the particular conditions observed, we arrive at a
generalization of principle, showing that the force in question is
capable of hitherto unexpected applications if we provide the necessary
conditions. This is the way in which all advances have been made on the
material side, and on the principle of Continuity we may reasonably
infer that the same applies to the spiritual side also.

We may generalize the whole position thus. When we first observe the
working of the Law under the conditions spontaneously provided by
Nature, it appears to limit us; but by seeking the _reason_ of the
action exhibited under these limited conditions, we discover the
principle, and true nature, of the Law in question, and we then learn
from the Law itself, what conditions to supply in order to give it more
extended scope, and direct its energy to the accomplishment of definite
purposes. The maxim we have to learn is that "Every Law _contains in
itself_ the principle of its own Expansion," which will set us free from
the limitation which that Law at first appeared to impose upon us. The
limitation was never in the Law, but in the conditions under which it
was working, and our power of selection and volition enables us to
provide new conditions, not spontaneously provided by Nature, and thus
to _specialize_ the Law, and disclose immense powers which had always
been latent in it, but which would for ever remain hidden unless brought
to light by the co-operation of the Personal Factor. The Law itself
never changes, but we can _specialize_ it by realizing the principle
involved and providing the conditions thus indicated. This is our place
in the Order of the Universe. We give definite direction to the action
of the Law, and in this way our Personal Factor is always acting upon
the law, whether we know it or not; and the Law, under the influence
thus impressed upon it, is all the time re-acting upon us.

Now we cannot conceive any limit to Evolution. To suppose a point where
it comes to an end is a contradiction in terms. It is to suppose that
the Eternal Life Principle is used up, which is to deny its Eternity;
and, as we have seen, unless we assume its Eternity, it is impossible to
account either for our own existence or that of anything else.
Therefore, to say that a point will ever be reached where it will be
used up, is as absurd as saying that a point will be reached where the
sequence of numbers will be used up. Evolution, the progress from lower
to higher modes of manifestation of the underlying Principle of Life, is
therefore eternal, but, in regard to the human race, this progress
depends entirely on the extent to which we grasp the principles of the
Law of our own Being, and so learn to specialize it in the right
direction. Then if this be our place in the Universal Order, it becomes
clear that we could not occupy this place unless we had a perfectly free
hand to choose the conditions under which the Law is to operate; and
therefore, in order to pass beyond the limits of the mineral, vegetable
and animal kingdoms, and reach the status of being Persons, and not
things, we must have a freedom of selection and volition, which makes it
equally possible for us to select either rightly or wrongly; and the
purpose of sound teaching is to make us see the eternal principles
involved, and thus lead us to impress our Personality upon the Law, in
the way that will bring out the infinite possibilities of good which the
Law, rightly employed, contains. If it were possible to do this by an
automatic Law, doubtless the Creative Wisdom would have made us so. This
is why St. Paul says: "If there had been a law given which could have
given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. iii,
21). Note the words "a law _given_," that is to say, imposed by external
command; but it could not be. The laws of the Universe are Cosmic. In
themselves they are _impersonal_, and the infinite possibilities
contained in them, can only be brought out by the co-operation of the
Personal Factor. It is only as we grasp the true relation between Jachin
and Boaz, that we can enter into the Temple either of our own
Individuality, or of the boundless Universe in which we live. The
reason, therefore, why God did not make us mechanically incapable of
wrong thinking, is simply because the very idea involves a contradiction
in terms, which negatives all possibility of Creation. The conception
lands us in a _reductio ad absurdum_.

Therefore, we are free to use our powers of Personality as we will, only
we must take the consequences. Now one error we are all very apt to fall
into, is the mistaken use of the Will. Its proper function is to keep
our other faculties in line with the Law, and thus enable us to
specialize it; but many people seem to think that by force of will they
can somehow manage to coerce the Law; in other words, that by force of
will they can sow a seed of one kind and make it bear fruit of another.
The Spirit of Life seeks to express itself in our individuality, through
the three avenues of reason, feeling, and will; but as in the Masonic
legend of the murder of Hiram Abif, the architect of Solomon's Temple,
it is beaten back on the side of reasoning, by the plummet of a logic
based on false premises; on the side of feeling, by the level of
conventional ideas; and on the side of will, by the hammer of a
short-sighted self-will, which gives the finishing blow; and it is not
until the true perception of the Principle of Life is resurrected within
us, that the Temple can be completed according to the true plan.

It should be remembered that the will is _not_ the Creative Faculty in
us. It is the faculty of Conception that is the creative agent, and the
business of the Will is to keep that faculty in the right direction,
which will be determined by an enlightened Reason. Conception creates
ideas which are the seed, that, in due time, will produce fruit after
its own kind. In a broad sense we may call it the Imaging Faculty, only
we must not suppose that this necessarily implies the visualizing of
mental images, which is only a subsidiary mode of using this faculty. An
"immaculate conception" is therefore the only means by which the New
Liberated Man can be born in each of us. The sequence is always the
same. The Will holds the Conception together, and the idea thus formed
gives direction to the working of the Law. But this direction may be
either true or inverted; and the impersonal Law will work constructively
or destructively, according to the conception which it embodies. In this
way, then, will-power may be used to hold together an inverted
conception--the conception that our personal force of will is sufficient
to bear down all opposition. But this mental attitude ignores the fact,
that the fundamental principle of creative power is the Wholeness of the
Creation; and that, therefore, the idea of forcing compliance with our
wishes, by the power of our individual will, is an inverted conception,
which, though it may appear to succeed for a time, is bound to fail
eventually, because it antagonizes the very power it is seeking to use.
This inverted use of the Will is the basis of "Black Magic," a term some
readers will perhaps smile at, but which is practised at the present day
to a much greater extent than many of us have any idea of--not always,
indeed, with a full consciousness of its nature, but in many ways which
are the first steps on the Left-hand Path. Its mark is the determination
to act by Self-will, rather than using our will to co-operate with that
continuous forward movement of the Great Whole, which is the Will of
God. This inverted will entirely misses the point regarding the part we
are formed to play in the Creative Order, and so we miss the development
of our own individuality, and retrograde instead of going forward.

But if we work _with_ the Law instead of against it, we shall find that
our word, that is to say our conception, will become more and more the
Word of Power, because it specializes the general Law in some particular
direction. The Law will serve us exactly to the extent to which we first
observe the Law. It is the same in everything. If the electrician tries
to go counter to the fundamental principle, that the electric current
always flows from a higher to a lower potential, he will be able to do
nothing with it; but let him observe this fundamental law and there is
nothing that electricity will not do for him within the field of its own
nature. In this sense, then, of specializing the general Law in a
particular direction, we may lay down the maxim that "The Law flows from
the Word, and not _vice versa_."

When we use our Word in this way, not as expressing a self-will that
seeks to crush all that does not submit to it, but as a portion, however
small, of the Universal Cause, and therefore with the desire of acting
in harmony with that Cause, then our word becomes a constructive,
instead of a destructive power. Its influence may be very small at
first, because there is still a great mass of doubt at the back of our
mind, and every doubt is, in reality, a Negative Word warring against
our Affirmative Word; but, by adhering to our principle, we shall
gradually gain experience in these things, and the creative value of our
word will grow accordingly.

CHAPTER IV

THE LAW OF WHOLENESS

It may seem a truism to say that the whole is made up of its parts, but
all the same we often lose sight of this in our outlook on life.

The reason we do so is because we are apt to take too narrow a view of
the whole; and also because we do not sufficiently consider that it is
not the mere arithmetical sum of the parts that makes the whole, but
also the harmonious agreement of each part with all the other parts. The
extent of the whole and the harmony of the parts is what we have to look
out for, and also its objective; this is a universal rule, whatever the
whole in question may be.

Take, for instance, the case of the artist. He must start by having a
definite objective, what in studio phrase is called a "motif"; something
that has given him a certain impression which he wants to convey to
others, but which cannot be stated as an isolated fact without any
surroundings. Then the surroundings must be painted so as to have a
natural relation to the main motif; they must lead up to it, but at the
same time they must not compete with it. There must be only one definite
interest in the picture, and minor details must not be allowed to
interfere with it. They are there only because of the main motif, to
help to express it. Yet they are not to be treated in a slovenly manner.
As much as is seen of them must be drawn with an accuracy that correctly
suggests their individual character; but they must not be accentuated in
such a way as to emphasize details to the detriment of the breadth of
the picture. This is the artistic principle of unity, and the same
principle applies to everything else.

What, then, is the "Motif" of Life? Surely it must be, to express its
own Livingness. Then in the True Order all modes of life and energy must
converge towards this end, and it is only our short-sightedness that
prevents us from seeing this,--from seeing that the greater the harmony
of the whole Life, the greater will be the inflow of that Life in each
of the parts that are giving it expression. This is what we want to
learn with regard to ourselves, whether as individuals, classes or
nations. We have seen the cosmic workings of the Law of Wholeness in the
discovery of the planet Neptune. Another planet was absolutely necessary
to complete the unity of our solar system, and it was found that there
is such a planet, and similarly in other branches of natural science.
The Law of Unity is the basic law of Life, and it is our ignorant or
wilful infraction of this Law that is the root of all our troubles.

If we take this Law of Unity as the basis of our Thought we shall be
surprised to find how far it will carry us. Each part is a complete
whole in itself. Each inconceivably minute particle revolves round the
centre of the atom in its own orbit. On its own scale it is complete in
itself, and by co-operation with thousands of others forms the atom. The
atom again is a complete whole, but it must combine with other atoms to
form a molecule, and so on. But if the atom be imperfect as an atom, how
could it combine with other atoms?

Thus we see that however infinitesimal any part may be as compared with
the whole, it must also be a complete whole on its own scale, if the
greater whole is to be built up. On the same principle, our recognition
that our personality is an infinitesimal fraction of an inconceivably
greater Life, does not mean that it is at all insignificant in itself,
or that our individuality becomes submerged in an indistinguishable
mass; on the contrary, our own wholeness is an essential factor towards
the building up of the greater whole; so that as long as we keep before
us the building up of the Great Whole as the "main motif," we need never
fear the expansion of our own individuality. The more we expand, the
more effective units we shall become.

We must not, however, suppose that Unity means Uniformity. St. Paul puts
this very clearly when he says, if the whole body be an eye, where would
be the hearing, etc. (1 Cor. xii, 14). How could you paint a picture
without distinction of form, colour, or tone? Diversity in Unity is the
necessity for any sort of expression, and if it be the case in our own
bodies, as St. Paul points out, how much more so in the expressing of
the Eternal Life through endless ages and limitless space! Once we grasp
this idea of the unity and progressiveness of Life going on _ad
infinitum_, what boundless vistas of possibility open before us. It
would be enough to stagger the imagination were it not for our old
friends, the Law and the Word. But these will always accompany us, and
we may rely upon them in all worlds and under all conditions. This Law
of Unity is what in natural science is known as the Law of Continuity,
and the Ancient Wisdom has embodied it in the Hermetic axiom "Sicut
superius, sicut inferius; sicut inferius, sicut superius"--As above, so
below; as below, so above. It leads us on from stage to stage, unfolding
as it goes; and to this unfolding there is no end, for it is the Eternal
Life finding ever fuller expression, as it can find more and more
suitable channels through which to express itself. It can no more come
to an end than numbers can come to an end.

But it _must_ find suitable channels. Let there be no mistake about
this. Perhaps some one may say: Cannot it _make_ suitable channels for
any sort of expression that it needs? The answer is, that it can, and it
does so up to a certain point. As we have seen, the Word, Thought, or
Initial Impulse of the Ever-Living Spirit starts a centre of cosmic
activity in which the mathematical element of Law at once asserts
itself; thenceforward everything goes on according to certain broad
principles of sequence. This is a Generic Creation, creation according
to _genera_ or classes, like the "archetypal ideas" of Plato. This
creation is governed by a Law of Averages, and the legal maxim "De
minimis non curat lex"--the Law cannot trouble about minorities--applies
to it. This generic law keeps the class going, and slowly advancing,
simply as a class, but it can take no notice of individuals as such. As
Tennyson puts it in "In Memoriam," speaking of Nature:

"So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life."

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