The Logical Meaning of God by Attila's Creative Works, LLC

Copyright © 2011 by Attila Juhasz / Attila’s Creative Works LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution are forbidden. No part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

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WHY ARE YOU GIVING AWAY THIS FREE EBOOK? So why am I giving away my book for free as an ebook? I have received moving emails by many who have read my book saying monumental things like "your book changed my life," or "your book couldn't have come into my life at a better time." I have also received emails by people who enjoyed reading the excerpts at Amazon.com or at my site, LogicalMeaning.com but stated that due to their difficult financial circumstances, they just can't afford to buy any books. I know that people benefit from my book, so this is my way of trying to help those that can't buy the paperback (Amazon.com) or other digital releases (Kindle, iPhone, Mobi). Then there are those that do actively buy books, but also love free opportunities. For those of you that do buy books, I hope you enjoy this free eBook edition so much so that you would consider purchasing the paperback for your collection or even for a friend; maybe a friend who can't buy books at the moment or doesn't have a computer or other high tech device. Enjoy the book and please give a LIKE to The Logical Meaning of God FACEBOOK page. Attila J. Juhasz

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

The Logical Meaning of God Attila’s Creative Works LLC Pheonix, AZ www.AttilasCreative.com www.LogicalMeaning.com

The Logical Meaning of God was written by Attila Juhasz. Copyright has been filed with the U.S Copyright Office. All rights reserved. Copyright  2009 by Attila Juhasz www.AttilaJuhasz.com Quotes used in this book are from public domain sources. Original images were created from public domain sources. The Over-Soul Essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson is public domain.

Dedication This book is dedicated to my wife Connie. She is my lighthouse in the treacherous sea voyage known as life. She is the shining sun that warms and comforts my soul after every turbulent storm in what we call human existence. Her unrelenting love, faith and support have given me the self-confidence to pursue my goals in life and the courage to write this book. During bad times as well as wonderful moments, she is there for me and I am always there for her. Connie’s strength, beauty and wisdom humble me. I am blessed. I am forever in love. I love you Connie.

The Logical Meaning of God Contents Introduction

Chapter One - Beginning My Journey

Chapter Two - I Am A Practical Spiritualist

Chapter Three - The Scientific Source of God

Chapter Four - The Common Sense

Chapter Five - Destiny And Free Will

Chapter Six - Is There Life After Death?

About the Author

The Over-Soul Essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Notes

107

INTRODUCTION

hy did I need to write The Logical Meaning of God?

reached a quandary in my life, a state of uncertainty

regarding the existence of God. I needed a vehicle to organize all of my thoughts, understandings and questions about God. Being a third generation writer, following the literary legacy of my family, writing this book was the logical step. As my research turned into notes, and notes turned into pages, I realized that in order to understand the meaning of God, I also needed to understand the meaning of Life. I have concluded that the meaning of life is a never-ending quest to find the purpose and clear understanding of my life and my life alone while coexisting, respecting and tolerating everyone else’s journey through mortal existence. The goal of this book is to logically drive home the point that life is based on a one-to-one relationship with the totality of Existence or God if you prefer. I use my life experiences and my research to emphasize this position. I reference philosophies, theologies, and theories from thousands of years ago to present day. I explore and explain ancient and contemporary spirituality and science. My intent is to summarize a lifetimes worth of experiences and education (to this point) in understanding the meaning of Life and the Logical Meaning of God.

In many ways, you will see that my

definition of God will be a reaffirmation to some, but more so a redefinition and new understanding and appreciation of God to many of you.

“Accordingly that which is everywhere accepted as the supreme manifestation of deity, by whatever name it may be called, I term God.” Edward Herbert, De Veritate (1624) I hope this book encourages you to research the subjects I touch upon and to read the authors I quote, so you can formulate your personalized interpretations. Included at the end of this book is one of those magnificent sources, THE OVER-SOUL essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I cannot explain your purpose of life, but I can share with you everything that I have researched, learned and lived through to help you formulate your own ideas to help you better understand the Logical Meaning of God.

CHAPTER ONE – BEGINNING MY JOURNEY

hen people in their 40’s experience a mid-life crisis, it’s usually about the realization that one’s lifetime is indeed

short. Time seems to be drifting by quickly. Friends and family members age right in front of you. It seems almost daily that the television news reports on a familiar Hollywood icon passing away. Your natural thought process diverts from life benefiting actions to focusing on and fearing death.

The mind fills with haunting

memories of lost opportunities and bad decisions. Positive moments are overshadowed by negative recollections. With every breath taken, time threatens the life measuring ratio between accomplishments and a fulfilled or unfulfilled life. For some, outlets like buying a new sports car or going on a cruise with over-extended credit may temporarily help bandage missed opportunities or callings in life but in the long run make the crisis at hand even worse.

While the reaffirmation of mortality

limiting my race for a fulfilled life triggered my mid-life crisis, fearing death without the assurance of a God is what haunted me most. Is there a purpose to existence? I needed to know if there was a God. I attended a Catholic elementary school, a Catholic high school and even earned my Bachelor’s of Art degree at a Catholic college. I consider myself knowledgeable of Christianity, and had a very strong religious upbringing, yet I still found myself at this crossroad between believing in God and abandoning my belief in God.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

I needed to know the meaning of life. I was lost until I started to trust my instincts. I wrote down my theories and personal beliefs. I then reviewed my beliefs and began a quest to fill the holes by reading everything relevant to my questions that I could possibly get my hands on. Four years later, I can say that I believe in God but in an entirely new light. I have a better understanding to the mystery that is the Divine Providence. I have theories to the Logical Meaning of God. I discovered the meaning of life, the meaning of my life that is. It is to be as happy as I can be, and be as good of a person that I can be. It is to focus on positives and not negatives. It is to live a fulfilled life during this short human existence.

It is to continue to

learn, to grow, to ask questions, find answers and then ask new questions. “The whole purpose of existence is growth. Life is dynamic-not static.” Robert Collier The Secret of the Ages (1926) Life is indeed dynamic. Every moment counts. Every action has a reaction. These are basic philosophical principles that are not regularly taught or understood in today’s society.

The basic

understanding of this wisdom must be acquired by seeking out knowledge and analyzing experiences and that is exactly what I did and share with you in this book.

CHAPTER ONE – BEGINNING MY JOURNEY

The meaning of my life may appear somewhat generic and simple to you now, but as I reveal to you my experiences and research in this book, you will find philosophical, spiritual, historical and scientific theories and evidence to support my logical meaning of God. I have personal criteria that I set and need to be met to achieve true happiness. For example, in order for me to be honestly and truly happy, my wife and children have to be happy first. This is the selfless commitment that I voluntarily made to them and to myself.

Their happiness gives me great joy and a sense of

accomplishment that fuels my Spirit. This is what works for me. I may have different criteria than you or anyone else, and I may have similar ones, but the end goal should be the same – Grow your Mind and Fulfill your Spirit. We grow in this life in order to be happy and to positively impact the lives of others and those that will follow after we are gone. We grow in this life with hopes to transcend to another form of existence – be it with God or in the memories of those we leave behind. What makes YOU truly happy may not make ME happy and vice versa. I hope that my journey of nearly five decades can help you through your journey to find the meaning of Life and the logical meaning of God. I was born in New York in the early 1960s to immigrant parents who were part of a massive Hungarian exodus in 1956, the Russian invasion. My father, a proud man, always taught me to have an open mind, to seek knowledge and to make decisions based on

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

how I feel and not what others expect or dictate. His strong faith in God planted the seed of spirituality in me. His scholarly intellect combined with his appreciation and respect for life prepared me to face life’s challenges and to embrace and enjoy the beauties that come with it. This allowed me to grow and to find myself, here today, in a position to write this book. My Inner Spirit, my little voice, my soul was yearning for more answers. God, the Universe, the omnipotent mystery was too mind-boggling for me grasp that I needed to study outside my inherited dogma. I have seen death and the horrors of life first hand and could never understand why God, if there were a God, would allow this to happen. Why have I seen life taken away from others right in front of me?

Why did I have to go through periods of

financial and emotional stress and pain? Why did Church leaders let me down? Why? Why! WHY! I needed to find my answers and formulate my current spiritual state. To find a blissful path on this journey called life, I realized that my quest begins with education.

I needed to seek

answers to questions I didn’t even know I had at the time. I also realized that this journey never ends but will always continue with education.

CHAPTER ONE – BEGINNING MY JOURNEY

Every time I learn something new, exciting questions arise pointing me towards paths of enlightenment. I was determined to not be another blindly led sheep in a somewhat programmable society. I will get my answers and I will control my destiny. Over the years I have researched the works and teachings of ancient and contemporary philosophers and poets. I read histories interpretations and discoveries of enlightened men and scholars like Leucippus, Jesus, Buddha, Newton, Emerson, Paine, Campbell and countless others. I will forever continue to research and learn, to live a fulfilled life with emotional, spiritual, physical and financial happiness; a well-rounded loving existence. To achieve this, I had to become Conscious of my Conscience. Let’s look at the definition of “Conscious” and the definition of “Conscience.”

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

Conscious Having an awareness of one's environment and one's own existence, sensations, and thoughts.

Conscience The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong.

Growing up in the lower class, tough streets of South Yonkers, NY and hearing the shrieks of murder as a little boy, I quickly learned to be as alert as possible. I learned to be aware of my environment. I learned to be Conscious. lessons that life taught me at an early age.

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This was one of many hard

CHAPTER ONE – BEGINNING MY JOURNEY

My parents raised me to be morally aware of my conduct. They instilled the core basis of my Conscience. I knew, to a certain extent, the difference between right and wrong. They passed onto me one of humanities greatest lessons, the Golden Rule, the ethic of reciprocity, do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” New Testament, Luke 6:31 Being raised in a Catholic family, this lesson made a lot of great sense. However as a child, I was never taught that this basic Universal karmic message was passed down throughout the ages before the time of Christ in the philosophies of ancient India, Greece and China.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

“One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Other behavior is due to selfish desires.” Mahābhārata Sanskrit (ca. 8th c. B.C. India) “Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him.” Pittacus (c. 640-568 BC Greece) “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself” Confucius (c. 551 BC – 479 BC China) While I was only aware of the Christian phrasing found in the book of Luke and paraphrased in Catechism, this lesson was indeed a great starting point for my life. I now realize that Jesus was a man who studied, appreciated, interpreted and taught lessons passed down through the centuries before his time. I find many of the core lessons of Jesus the human being and teacher to be powerful and relevant. Earlier I wrote that for me to be honestly, truly happy, my wife and children have to be happy first and the joy I receive from their happiness plus the love they give me in return is the ultimate reciprocation. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. That is a pretty simple rule. So why doesn’t everyone adhere to these ancient teachings? Sadly, this intricate lesson may never have been taught to many, specifically by example. Most importantly, this lesson was never

CHAPTER ONE – BEGINNING MY JOURNEY

taught to them at a young age. Though I lived in a lower-middle class apartment in a questionable neighborhood, I was fortunate to be raised by two loving parents. For that I am thankful and I realize that I have been blessed, but I easily could have gone over to the wrong side of the tracks with what I have lived through. Instead I became more aware of my consciousness and my conscience got stronger with every experience. “Be thankful for what you have” is something I still practice today, however my teachers and clergy preached shame and guilt if I dared question God’s Will. How dare I ever question outcomes or circumstances? “There’s always someone worse off than you.” Accepting my negative experiences as God’s Will built a wall of discontent instilling a restless longing for better circumstances that seemed out of reach.

A barrier of guilt constrained my self-

confidence. I was mugged, beaten up by a gang, two neighbors committed suicide, a friend of the family committed suicide, a classmate committed suicide, two classmates were murdered, I witnessed two deaths right before my eyes, I lived next door to someone who kept the corpse of his mother in his apartment, my apartment was robbed twice, I was beaten up badly by an unknown assailant for no reason, and I was betrayed by so-called friends and employers. Why did all of these things happen to me?

Why do bad things happen to good

people? My grandfather sheltered a Jewish family in Hungary during World War II. By example he taught my father the beauty of the human spirit. So why did they have to suffer the consequences? Why, when discovered by the SS, did my Father as a young boy have

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

to see his father beaten to death by the Nazis in front of his own eyes? Why are so many people evil?

Why do so many people lack a

conscience? Again, Why? Why! WHY! The problem here is that I have always been concerned about others and asking why? I forgot another lesson I learned at an early age, it is not my place to judge others. How dare I blame God or God’s neglect? How dare I have the audacity to question God’s relationship to others?

It finally dawned on me.

God will not

influence or interact with anyone who does not want God in his or her life. God has created us and left existence up to each individual person and his or her own actions. I will go into greater detail on the subject of God within each of us in Chapter Five “Destiny and Free Will.” The belief that God created all of existence but does not directly interfere is the basis for Deism.

These are concepts that

were taught by a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus (ca. 535– 475 BC), Plato (428/427 BC – 348/347 BC) and other ancient scholars.

Many great men throughout history believed in the

fundamentals of Deism including philosopher Edward Herbert (15831648), poet Thomas Paine (1737-1809), inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931), and countless others.

CHAPTER ONE – BEGINNING MY JOURNEY

I know that the individual must take full responsibility for their lives and actions and not use God or God’s will as a scapegoat. This acceptance has made me stronger and smarter. This revelation has allowed me to stop asking the question of why, Why, WHY and instead focus that energy on Me!

Focus on my Conscious and

Conscience. Focus on my relationship and understanding of God. I needed to ask the right questions and then find the right answers. When I have a better understanding of and established a true relationship with the source behind existence, only then could I find peace. Only then can I be prepared to help others and not judge others. “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Jesus (Luke 17:20-21)

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

That quote is possibly the strongest and most logical and misunderstood statement written in the Bible.

My energy and

concerns have been focused on the negativity created by or caused by others. I acknowledge that there are bad people in this world. I acknowledge that terrible things can happen.

I acknowledge that

these things exist and I am fully aware of them, therefore I no longer need to focus my energy on them nor do I need to think about them. I also accept the responsibility that I can do all that I possibly can do to avoid bad people and bad things. I realized by being in negative surroundings coupled with an obsession of the bad aspects of the world, I invite bad things to happen to me. So for the past few years I have taken a new attitude. Four years ago, I physically moved my wife, children and myself away from my past and negative surroundings. I have focused my energy on the lessons I have learned and written about in this book, and my life has turned around. I now realize that a relationship with God is strictly One-toOne and no two people can possibly have identical experiences. I am unique. You are unique. What we have in common is that we each have 100% potential, 100% of God within ourselves no matter what belief system you follow. God is within me and I will explain that later more logically and scientifically.

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CHAPTER TWO – I AM A PRACTICAL SPIRITUALISTS

am a Practical Spiritualist. So why do I say “Practical? Why not just practicing spiritualist?” It is because I literally mean I lead a

Practical Spiritual life.

My beliefs that I have written in this book

make logical sense. I have done practical research. I make practical use of my spirituality to benefit emotionally, spiritually, physically and financially. First let’s take a look at Spiritualism on its own and see if it means the same to you as it does to me. The common definition of Spiritualism is a philosophy or doctrine emphasizing the spiritual aspect of being.

Everyone has their unique Inner Voice, their own

Subconscious, their Common Sense, their Spirit. With billions of people sharing this characteristic and having an Inner Spirit, it is safe to say we live in a Spiritualistic world, a world that shares a philosophy of the spiritual aspect of being. Throughout this book I will share with you my research. It will help you find your inner spirit and explain how you can harness the power you possess. To recap the definition of Spiritualism is to believe in the spiritual aspect of being. We have all heard and used the word Practical, but have you ever applied it to Spiritualism?

Have you benefited from your

Spiritualism physically, emotionally and financially? Is there really a connection? Are you happy? Do you feel fulfilled in life? Have you made Practical use of your Spiritualism? Let’s take a look at four (4) common definitions for the word Practical.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

1. Of, relating to, governed by, or acquired through practice or action, rather than theory, speculation, or ideals. Applying the definition of Practical to Spiritualism means my Spirit, my Conscious, is governed by my practice or actions.

acquire greater Spirituality through my actions. I practice what I believe in. I take positive action and do not rely on theories or ideals provided by people or institutions with hidden agendas. 2. Manifested in or involving practice. The Atoms at the core of my existence form molecules that manifest into flesh that is the body that houses my spirit.

Spiritualism is manifested through my everyday lifestyle, my actions and daily practices. I know that every single thing I do strengthens or weakens my Energy, my Subconscious, my Spirit and therefore it makes Practical sense to make decisions that will only manifest positive results. “The order, therefore, which I wish the student to observe is, first the Self-contemplation of Spirit producing Polarity, and next Polarity producing Manifestation in Form--and also to realize that it is in this order his own mind operates as a subordinate center of creative energy.” Thomas Troward The Creative Process in the Individual, 1915

CHAPTER TWO – I AM A PRACTICAL SPIRITUALISTS

When I manifest positive energy for my Spirit, it manifests into positive things in my life. At the same time, negative actions will have damaging effects. 3. Capable of or suitable to being used or put into effect I am capable of putting my Spiritualism into effect as my actions create Energy for my Spirit and my Spirit manifests the physical conditions of my life. By consciously being aware of my actions I make decisions suitable for my Spirit. We directly affect our Spirit with every action we take. Just as my positive actions strengthen my Spiritualism and my physical being, negative actions equally weaken both. It is imperative to be aware of the consequences of your deeds and thoughts at work, home, play and meditation. I put into effect, capable, Practical use of what I know about Spiritualism. When you are done reading and re-reading this book, so will you. 4. Levelheaded and efficient When one is in spiritual control, one can make levelheaded decisions. If you are emotionally out of control and make a rash decision fueled by your anger, self-doubt, guilt or fear, chances are the results will have a negative outcome somewhere down the line. Negativity, self-doubt, guilt and fear create emotional waste. An honest, levelheaded approach to life will yield efficient and maximum

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

results in health, wealth, body and soul. Negative emotions, driven by your subconscious can make you sick. How often has guilt or stress upset your stomach or caused you sleeplessness? As you can see, the word “Practical” is indeed an important word in our language. I approach life in a very Practical manner. I make Practical use of my Spiritualism through my day-to-day activities. I make Practical decisions in my life to maximize my potential and enjoyment of life in complete harmony with my Spirit and since my Spirit is one with God and God is in all, my Practical decisions affect my current harmonious existence within the Universe. “I am the spirit of the soul, Harmonic with the Perfect Whole.” Frank Channing Haddock (1853-1915) Mastery of Self How do I do it?

I make Practical decisions based on

knowledge and experience.

I make Practical decisions to maintain

and improve my lifestyle. I make Practical decisions for the love of my wife and my children. I make Practical decisions for my health. I make Practical decisions to build my wealth.

I make Practical

decisions to strengthen my relationship with God. Now don’t think that Practical decisions are restrictive choices that are conservative or without risk.

Every decision I make

impacts my life and the world around me. I must make Practical decisions that have an ultimate positive outcome for my mind, body

CHAPTER TWO – I AM A PRACTICAL SPIRITUALISTS

and spirit. I want everything I do to have a positive impact in my life and those around me. It is a very challenging approach but it works. I am a Practical Spiritualist.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

CHAPTER THREE – THE SCIENTIFIC SOURCE OF GOD

hen attending Most Holy Trinity Elementary School in Yonkers, New York and learning about Christ’s Ascension

into Heaven in second or third grade, an inquisitive spark came to me that took nearly forty years before I could properly address. I raised my hand and asked my teacher, a middle-aged nun, “if Jesus went up to heaven in human form, does that mean that a human being can visit heaven, visit God, maybe like an astronaut?” The class laughed at me and the teacher simply replied, “No!” I continued my inquiry and asked “Why, you said he rose from the dead and he went to heaven body and all?” The class erupted again in laughter upsetting the teacher who felt my curiosity was disturbing the class. She sternly stated, “because it was a miracle and that’s that!” I learned that day that the religion I was in was not open to the concepts or ideas of somehow bridging logic or science with religion. From that point on question after question filled my mind, but I was too afraid to address, too lazy to explore, until now. While I no longer fancy rocket rides to heaven, I do look to science now more than ever to fill holes and questions I have about Spirituality. I also realize that I have been asking the wrong question. I should not be asking who is God, but rather what is God? I have determined that everyone has a unique spirit, but I needed to know what it is and where it came from.

What ties

Spirituality together? Something is the source of all existence and for many this source is God. My question is “can science and logic help me believe in God?”

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form.” Genesis 1 “Earth was without form” from the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis is a relevant phrase worth investigating. What, in scientific terms, is without form? Atoms are formless. Scientifically proven, Atoms are the core of all life, of all matter, of the entire Universe. This is vital to comprehend. The unifying factor for life, from at least a scientific point of view, is the Atom. Recalling my Physics class from over 30 years ago, the Atom is the mysterious element made up of particles called protons, electrons and neutrons. We know that Atoms form molecules into physical matter. If you were to break down a human being to its smallest core, to its origin, you will find the Atom. If you were to do this with any living being or inanimate object, you will have the same unifying result, the Atom. If you were to break down an asteroid you will end up with the same component that makes up you and I, the Atom. Everything is made from the Atom, you, and me, and the Universe. Where did the Atom come from? In 1931, Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, a Belgium Roman Catholic Priest proposed a theory that the origin of the Universe was from the explosion of a Primeval Super Atom. His scientific theory was a union of Creationism and science. His theory later became known as the Big Bang Theory.

CHAPTER THREE – THE SCIENTIFIC SOURCE OF GOD

The Big Bang Theory is the closest scientific theory to the numerous creation beliefs and myths of ancient times.

Many

scientists agree that in the beginning, only this one Atom existed and it always existed. Is Lemaître’s primeval super Atom actually God or God’s vehicle for creation? Whether or not the super Atom is God or God’s creation, spiritualist and atheist alike agree that the Universe, the Earth, you and I all came from this one super Atom. This gives great cause to research the Atom more.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

The concept of Atoms can be traced back to ancient Hindu teachings (ca. 660BCE India). Vaisheshika, one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy, supports atomism and claims that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to atoms. One of the earliest philosophers of atomism was Leucippus or Leukippos (5th century BC) of Greece. Leucippus proposed the idea that everything is composed entirely of elements called atoms.

Leucippus’ student, the Greek philosopher Democritus (ca. 460 BC - ca 370 BC) also believed that all matter is composed of indivisible elements that he called atoma or "indivisible units." Democritus has been referred to as the father of modern science. The hypothesis by these brilliant men, that atoms are indestructible, have always been similar to that of modern science and also similar to theological understanding of God, always has been and always will be.

So asking the question, where did the Atom come

from, is asking for the origin of existence. This is science and it is

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divinity. It is metaphysics and it is theology.

The Atom makes up

everything in existence and is the unifying core of life.

We are made up of Atoms and each individual body houses a unique Spirit.

The Atom, which is Energy, must have an energy

source. Many commonly recognize the Source of this energy and of the human Spirit to be God, the Universe, Divine Providence or Supreme Intelligence. My Spirit is a component of this omnipresent Source, the primeval Super Atom from the Big Bang. I believe, as many philosophers and scholars have thought for thousands of years, that the Atom is the unifying link to God. explanation that bridges Spirituality and Science.

It is the scientific

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“Why do men feel the natural history of man has never been written, but he is always leaving behind what you have said of him, and it becomes old, and books of metaphysics worthless? …Man is a stream whose source is hidden. Our being is descending into us from we know not whence.” Ralph Waldo Emerson from his Over-Soul Essay, 1841 My Energy, my Spirit is one with this Source, one with God, one with the Universe, one with the Divine Providence, one with the Supreme Intelligence. Spiritualism is a philosophy emphasizing the spiritual aspect of being.

I believe and practice this practical,

scientific, spiritualist logic and I benefit daily spiritually, emotionally, physically and financially. “Every atom is a concrete expression of spiritual energy and is endowed with magnetic responsiveness in perfect accord with certain activities which constitute its Divine harmony” Charles F. Haanel A Book About You (1928) When one claims they have “a good feeling” about something or have a sense of “good vibes” or “bad vibes” this is their Spirit communicating in its natural energy form otherwise known as Thought, Imagination and Creativity. The Spirit creates Thought and sends out these energy impulses. My Thoughts fuel my Spirit and directly impacts my life.

CHAPTER THREE – THE SCIENTIFIC SOURCE OF GOD

“Thought is the only power which can produce tangible riches from the formless substance. The stuff from which all things are made is a substance which thinks, and a thought of form in this substance produces the form.” Wallace D. Wattles The Science Of Getting Rich, 1910 Did you ever have the feeling that someone is staring at you from behind and you quickly turn around and see in fact that someone is looking at you from a short distance? Your Energy, your Spirit, picked up the impulses sent from that person. That person behind you was projecting Thoughts about you sending out these Thought Frequencies and it was your Energy that received these relevant Energy waves. "I believe our bodies are composed of myriads and myriads of infinitesimal entities, each in itself a unit of life, which band together to build a man. We have taken for granted that each of us is a unit." Thomas Edison (1921) My unique Spirit is Energy tied together with all Energy thus unifying the original source that is God. Just as many were taught that God is everywhere, so is Energy. Energy is in everyone and everything.

America’s greatest inventor, Thomas Edison created

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many devices around energy, most notably the light bulb, but his fascination with energy was not limited to just inventions. Like the Universe, we are all made up of Energy uniquely identified by our individual Spirits. In 1921, Edison, theorized this energy to be “life units.” He worked on an invention to try to register these “life units” upon the death of a person.

Thomas Edison was a great admirer of the works of Thomas Paine who looked beyond the constraints and restrictions of organized religion and formulated a personal one-to-one relationship with God.

CHAPTER THREE – THE SCIENTIFIC SOURCE OF GOD

“I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.” Thomas Paine The Age of Reason (1794-1807) I have referenced many great men of history in this book. Like them, I researched, read and formulated my own ideas, understanding and interpretations. It comes back to the simple lesson mentioned in Chapter One, do unto others as you would like done unto yourself. This makes even more sense now. Your action, the use of your Energy, clearly generates Karmic or Reciprocal Reaction.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

We are made up of Atoms from the source of creation. We are all comprised of this unifying energy. We are one. When you do anything negative towards someone or something, you are affecting their energy, an energy that you share, thusly, imposing negativity unto yourself.

It is a simple rule to follow. Be good. Do Good.

Your positive actions towards others effect their energy thus effecting the universal energy you share in a positive way.

“When he (God) was framing the universe, he put intelligence in soul, and soul in body, that he might be the creator of a work which was by nature fairest and best. Wherefore, using the language of probability, we may say that the world became a living creature truly endowed with soul and intelligence by the providence of God.” Plato, Timaeus, (ca. 360 BC)

CHAPTER FOUR – THE COMMON SENSE

ommon Sense, a term meaning “sound judgment” is somewhat taken for granted. We all have Common Sense. This is a shared

attribute amongst humanity. We all have this Sense inside us that, like the Atom, makes us Common. “All Men Are Created Equal” is a powerful and hard statement to swallow but you have to take that statement, beyond the physical and environmental limitations, to the core essence of human beings, which is our Spirit, our Subconscious, our One-to-One Relationship with God, our Common Sense. Common Sense is part of our overlooked 6th Sense. The problem the majority of society has with Common Sense is the limited taken-for-granted definition and understanding of it. It is simply considered acquired knowledge.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

Here’s a simple common sense example.

Someone who

installs Satellite dishes on top of city apartments may need to go from one ten-story high rooftop to another rooftop. The installer wouldn’t impulsively jump across 100 feet to get there. Common Sense tells you that you would fall and die. This controlled, decision-making impulse of the mind instantly utilizes lessons learned as well as inherited natural instincts and prevents one from even thinking of a silly idea like jumping from building to building over impossible distances. However, people have occasional split-second, flights-offancy, like attempting ludicrous impossible feats, commonly referred to as fantasizing. This fantasy actually involves the conscious mind, questioning the subconscious and collectively recognizing the moment as only a fantasy and not a Practical, reasonable action to take. Our actions create experiences that the subconscious stores as acquired knowledge. When the mind is confronted or challenged with fantasies, it references your life-existence database that resides in your subconscious, and requires an instantaneous answer in a fraction of a millisecond. That energetic speed of light exchange of conscious and subconscious impulses resulted in the appropriate decision not to jump off the roof.

This is how Common Sense works and we all

have it.

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“And now we might add something concerning a certain most subtle spirit which pervades and lies hid in all gross bodies; by the force and action of which spirit the particles of bodies attract one another at near distances, and cohere, if contiguous; and electric bodies operate to greater distances, as well repelling as attracting the neighbouring corpuscles; and light is emitted, reflected, refracted, inflected, and heats bodies; and all sensation is excited, and the members of animal bodies move at the command of the will, namely, by the vibrations of this spirit, mutually propagated along the solid filaments of the nerves, from the outward organs of sense to the brain, and from the brain into the muscles.”

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

The Common Sense is the unique Spirit found in each person. Since Common Sense is recognized as acquired knowledge, one should strive to consistently acquire more and more knowledge and exercise the mind and soul to strengthen this Common Sense, which is the voice of ones Spirit. Common Sense is graded by society on morals and by levels of intelligence. People have negatively shouted countless times “Have you no Common Sense?” Some judge others unjustly for not having any Common Sense.

Some people have a low tolerance for the

uneducated or those with limited life experiences. The taunting of lack of Common Sense is also applied to the educated and those with abundant life experiences as well. What the accuser may fail to see is that another person’s Common Sense, their Spirit, their Soul, their Subconscious may be clouded, weak, or buried. This is why some educated people who outwardly seem to have a lot of intelligence sometimes make irrational decisions. Their Subconscious, their Common Sense, their Soul is in disarray brought upon by actions that create and regenerate negative energy festering into remorse and fear fueling a guilty conscience. This is disastrous path for the conscious mind and the subconscious. “A man cannot be placed against his will in a situation opposed to his conscience.” Leo Tolstoy Kingdom of God is Within You (1894)

CHAPTER FOUR – THE COMMON SENSE

Common Sense tells you to take actions that bring pure joy, happiness and love to you and all parties involved. One must consciously make decisions that will put you on that path. Do not fall into impulsive traps that will fester into a painful or guilty conscience. You must be conscious of your conscience because your conscience exists in your subconscious which is your Soul, your Spirit, your link to God and the Universe. “Having considered objects of sense, we now pass on to sensation. But we cannot explain sensation without explaining the nature of flesh and of the mortal soul; and as we cannot treat of both together, in order that we may proceed at once to the sensations we must assume the existence of body and soul.” Plato, Timaeus, (ca. 360 BC)

CHAPTER FIVE – DESTINY AND FREE WILL

any cultures teach that the Universe, the Supreme Being, God, has predestined your life.

At the same time, many

cultures offer a somewhat conflicting concept of free will.

You are

bound to and committed to a particular unknown outcome, a life chosen for you and yet you have free will? How can this be? I know the answer and will attempt now to explain it to you. The question has boggled the minds of students and scholars for thousands of years so much so that many abandon the question altogether and accept their lives as they are. They allow fate to choose the outcome of their lives. This is primarily the thinking of the poor and middle classes, of people who have thrown in the towel and accept life of defeatism. It is the fear of questioning inherited religion and learning more than they were taught. It is an attitude taken by people who are not willing to accept responsibility for his or her own life. It is for the frightened and the lazy.

For many, especially the poor, pre-destined existence is accepted, unapproachable and unquestionable. In Christian history,

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this contradictory quandary, amongst other things, contributed to protestant reformation in the 16th Century favoring the doctrine of predestination over that of free will. “I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher origin for events than the will I call mine.” Ralph Waldo Emerson from his Over-Soul Essay, 1841 Many wise teachers and leaders like Buddha, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, and Jesus knew the answer and even tried to teach the world, but for many their primary lessons have been misinterpreted, ignored, clouded, masked, hidden, abridged, rewritten or skewed throughout the ages. “All that we are is the result of what we have thought” Buddha You have Free Will, or consciousness, to control your attitude, behavior and actions. Your attitude, behavior and actions feed and shape your Subconscious.

Your Subconscious is your

Spirit and your one-to-one relationship with God. Your Subconscious controls your Destiny. To Control your Subconscious is to Control your Destiny.

Let me repeat that ever so important sentence. To

Control your Subconscious is to Control your Destiny.

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“Nothing happens at random, but everything from reason and by necessity.” Leucippus (5th Century BC)

You are one with God in your Subconscious and together you map out your destiny by your current attitude, behavior and actions.

“Man possesses, did he but know it, illimitable Power. This Power is of the Spirit, therefore, it is unconquerable. It is not the power of the ordinary life, or finite will, or human mind. It transcends these, because, being spiritual, it is of a higher order than either physical or even mental. This Power lies dormant, and is hidden within man until he is sufficiently evolved and unfolded to be entrusted with its use.” Henry Thomas Hamblin Within You is the Power (circa 1920)

In the early 20th Century writers like Henry Thomas Hamblin, Wallace D. Wattles, Charles F. Haanel and Napolean Hill sparked a New Thought movement that was simply a reintroduction to the core message of these timeless lessons. They all knew that the answer to the mystery of Destiny and Free Will lies within each and every one of us.

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Are you the master of your fate? Are you the captain of your soul? Do you have the faith, knowledge and courage to recognize your Free Will?

Do you have the strength to harness the power of

your Inner Spirit and Subconscious to control your destiny? Joseph Campbell excited the world in the mid 20th Century coining the phrase "Follow Your Bliss." It’s never too late. I am in my late 40s and I am only now capable of understanding the power I have. Only now after years of research and study am I aware of and understand my Free Will. I hope that this book is opening your eyes to your infinite possibilities. Only now do I truly believe in God or whatever you want to call the Omnipresent Creator, this Divine Source. “I am that I am” from the Torah and Old Testament makes so much sense to me now. God is Existence. God is Life and all of life is scientifically and spiritually united. God is everything including You and I. This magnificently mysterious Supreme Intelligence is in

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me, and therefore I can say, that I am that I am. You are that You are. We are what We are and that is One with all of Existence. While I consider myself extremely spiritual and relatively insightful, I do not dare claim I am in a position to know what is God’s ultimate plan. I do know that God has given me the Free Will to control my Destiny and make the most of myself here in this life and God has given you the same opportunity. God’s Will, I will just control My Free Will.

I will never assume

CHAPTER SIX – IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH?

y recognition and acceptance of mortality, which triggered my mid-life crisis, is what led me to the writing of this book.

My biggest fear was obviously death, the ending of my life. Is there life after death or some type of existence after death? No one can answer that question but rather only theorize. My theory is that the sustaining energy that makes up my Spirit will go on. Throughout this book I have written about the Spirit.

emphasized that the Spirit is one with God. I stated that I am trying to live the best life possible in this mortal existence respecting, loving and honoring life, thus respecting, loving and honoring God, the Divine Creator. I believe by doing what I am doing, is the only chance for my Spirit to transcend. Though I am no longer obsessed with the question of life after death I will still attempt to answer that mystery shortly. Instead of “life after death” I am focusing 100% of my attention on “life during life” and being thankful for the wondrous gift that is this life. Through prayer and meditation I thank God for everything I have. I do not beg for things I do not have but instead I thank God for the gifts and blessings I have. This builds my selfconfidence and gives me the strength and inspiration I need to reach goals that I have set to attain things I do not yet have. Love and nurture are the fundamentals of Growth whether it is towards a child or even a plant. I love and nurture life and it allows me to grow which is the core to my definition of the meaning of life. With this focus on life and belief in a Divine creator, I was able to develop some theories that I am comfortable with regarding not “Life After Death,” but rather “Existence After This Life.”

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I believe that there are multiple avenues that the Energy or unique spirit can take. The decision or natural process for taking a specific avenue is obviously unknown to me and to anyone else. That mystery will only be revealed to me when I do pass on.

I can however

theorize. My theories are based on my personal interpretations of ancient philosophies, spiritual teachings and my gut instinct. I have culminated these lessons into six (6) ideas: 1. Transcend and become one with God, the life giving energy source that fuels all of existence, but losing the individualistic identity forged on earth. Becoming one with God I would then share in the joy that comes with being the ultimate Divine creator. Nothing brings me greater joy than being a husband and father on earth so I can only conclude that the pleasure that comes with being the Father of all creation to be even greater beyond comprehension. What about losing the individualistic identity forged on earth?

Imagine God and all of

existence as a giant pool of water. I am just a mere drop of water that is currently residing outside of the master pool. When I am done here, I return to the master pool. I am no longer a tiny individual drop of water but instead part of single large mass that is the master pool. 2. Transcend and co-exist with God in another plain of existence.

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This is what many believe to be Nirvana (Buddhism) or Heaven (Christianity).

This is what many religions teach and what most

people are hoping for. With all the love I have for my family and friends, this is a scenario I would hope for so I may continue loving them forever. However, while I cannot count out this possibility, I find my first theory to be more probable. This is all the more reason to cherish every moment of life here on earth. 3. Temporarily co-exist on this earthly plain, unseen at most times, as an energy imprint of my former self, known by others as an apparition or ghost. Throughout history, religion, myths and legends have referenced spirits. It is a concept engraved in the human psyche. While I have always tried to debunk this theory, I have experienced four (4) supernatural events, three with other people witnessing these events as well, that have finally convinced me that this is a possibility. I share these experiences later in this chapter. I believe there is some truth to energy imprint, apparition or ghost theories. 4. Reincarnate as another person. For thousands of years this is part of the belief system of Hinduism, Jainism and others. It has been philosophized by ancient Greek scholars and believed by Native Americans, Norsemen and multitudes of other cultures throughout the ages. This is an area I

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need more study on, however, I do believe in it. There are many studies that have been done on past lives. Most notably are the works of Ian Stevenson (1918-2007), a Canadian biochemist who investigated 3,000 cases of children with possible past lives. He has written several books on his findings including “Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation” (1987). I believe, like the traditional beliefs of reincarnation that the life we lead depicts on whether or not we reincarnate or transcend. I am living life to the fullest with the hope to transcend. 5. Reincarnate as an animal. I believe that this is the avenue of reincarnation that the unappreciative human will take.

While I have no right to judge

people, it makes sense to me that someone who is ungrateful and wasteful of the wonderful gift that is human life may weaken the spirit they have causing it to digress to a lower form of energy suitable for an animal but not a human. 6. Become recycled into the life sustaining energy source that sustains the planet like plants, air or the magma of the earth. I believe that proponents of evil and atrocities cannot transcend or reincarnate into another person or animal. But since energy is eternal it has to go somewhere. It is possible then that their energy is put to non-invasive productive use for other life.

There is energy in

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everything, even in the magma of the earth. While I do not believe in the medieval depictions of Hell, the theory of becoming the fiery fuel of the earth for all eternity is the most rational theory I can come up with that has any relevance to those myths.

This is a logical

interpretation of an eternal sentence into the fiery rivers of Hell.

Apparition Encounters Some of the most glorified and recognized mysteries are that of apparitions, spirits or ghosts.

Do I believe in them?

I have

experienced what many would consider supernatural encounters, but even I have been critical of these incidents trying my best to debunk them.

I realized that my stubbornness was a denial of these

occurrences.

They did happen.

I accept that now.

I have four

incidents that I would like to share with you.

My First Apparition Encounter My grandmother was in the hospital, dying of cancer. One night while sleeping in bed, I heard my grandmother calling me. I woke up and saw her smiling at me in the corner of my room. She faded away. I looked at my clock and it was 3:15 am. Initially, I figured I was dreaming of her and that I didn’t fully awaken until I looked at the clock. The next morning my mother told me that my

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grandmother had passed away just after 3:00 am that evening. Could this have just been a moment between my dream state and being awake? Possibly. Was I awake and did she visit me to say goodbye? I was alone and do not have any witnesses, but I believe she did. This is my weakest example, but my next three encounters were with witnesses experiencing the same phenomenon.

My Second Apparition Encounter My buddy Al and I became great friends after we met as teenagers. We learned afterwards that we had already met when we were born. Our mothers actually shared the same room in the hospital while they were pregnant with us. They gave birth to us just hours apart. This coincidence just added to our friendship bond. We later shared some bizarre experiences. One evening in the early 1980s, Al and I were throwing a football around in Prescott Park in Yonkers around 10:00pm. Though we were only playing catch, it was considered loitering in the parks after sunset and sure enough the police arrived. We ran towards the woods to avoid the loitering fine.

After jumping the fence and

entering the woods, we continued running full speed. Suddenly out of nowhere a boy materialized, wearing what looked like an all white sweat suit that made him glow in the dark woods. He cut me off stopping me dead in my tracks.

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The boy continued to run in the direction I was going in and mysteriously disappeared. Al was only a few steps behind me and saw the whole thing. We didn’t know who this kid was or how he possibly could have come out of nowhere. We took a few steps further through the trees to where he went to and it ended up being the edge of cliff. Had this mysterious apparition not cut me off, I would have ran right off the cliff to my death.

To verify that this

wasn’t some poor kid who just cut me off and plummeted to his death, we checked. There was no body. No kid to be found. I am so happy that Al was there to witness this phenomenon otherwise I think I would have gone out of mind trying to understand what happened. Did some spirit somehow materialize and intervene to save my life? I believe so.

My Third Apparition Encounter That same summer another mysterious encounter happened with Al. I was driving my old white Mercury Marquis clunker with Al in the passenger seat along a very dark, whining road behind St Mary's Cemetery in Yonkers. Suddenly a person in white appeared in the road. I swerved to avoid him but seemed not swerve enough. Al shouted, “You just ran someone over.” In a panic state I insisted that it wasn’t a person but rather fog that happened to be perfectly shaped like a person, a person staring right at us. Anyway, I went through it like fog. The only problem was that there wasn’t any fog anywhere

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else. There was no sound of impact or any markings on my car that would indicate that I hit anything. There was no body in the road or anywhere in sight. There weren’t markings on my car or any damage to it. Did Al and I experience yet another apparition incident to disparage any disbelief of our previous incident? I believe so.

My Fourth Apparition Encounter My wife, Connie and I rented our first apartment in 1989 in Sleepy Hollow, NY in an old house on the dead end street of Old Broadway. The dead end had a clearing in the woods which was an entrance to the aqueduct that lead to a 17th Century Dutch cemetery. There was a lot of early American history in this town. One morning my wife and I both woke up at the same time and there was a man and woman standing at the foot our bed looking at us.

Connie

screamed and I was jolted. At that instance the two immediately faded away. The entire experience lasted only seconds but shook our souls. We clearly saw the same exact figures, a man approximately six feet tall and woman about five and half feet tall. My wife has claimed seeing the same man several other times later while we lived there. Did my wife and I experience some ghostly encounter? believe we did.

CHAPTER SIX – IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH?

Conclusion Needless to say, I have had four rather intense mysterious experiences and fortunately someone else witnessed three of those four supernatural moments with me. For years afterwards I have been in denial about these experiences, trying to formulate logical alternate explanations.

Only now, after reinforcing my belief in God and

understanding the correlation between energy and existence, am I able to accept the fact that these incidents really happened and the only explanation could be the intervention of some type of Spirit, some type of energy imprint of a past human existence. These experiences prove to me that there is some type of existence after death. As I mentioned in Chapter Three even the great scientific Thomas Edison believed that our energy, our unique Spirit goes somewhere in some form or another. If you have been rattling your brain around the question “is there life after death” take a step back from that query and focus on the meaning of life instead. Focus on the meaning of your life and how you can enjoy and praise the gift of life that has been bestowed upon you. Live life to the fullest and give thanks. I hope my book has opened your eyes to ideas that are new to you or reinstated some core beliefs you already had. I urge you to read more. Look at the people I quoted. Find their works. Most of those wonderful works are public domain and are available free on the Internet or in your library. Read more from them. Formulate your own ideas and opinions.

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I now have a logical understanding of God. I also discovered the meaning of life, the meaning of my life that is. It is to be as happy as I can be, and be as good of a person that I can be, during this short human existence. I wish you the same joy and success.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ttila Juhasz is a third-generation author in the Juhasz family literary legacy.

Both his father and grandfather were

successful writers in Hungary. Born and raised in New York, Attila earned his Bachelor’s of Art degree in English Literature. In the 1990s, he wrote for, edited and published his own music magazine, NEW YORK ONSLAUGHT. He later wrote for entertainment magazines including a regular column for SCI FI TEEN magazine. In the corporate world, he wrote copy for Radio, Print and Television advertising. THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD is Attila’s first nonfiction book on the subjects of spirituality, philosophy and science.

Visit Attila Juhasz’s web sites for more information. www.AttilaJuhasz.com www.AttilasCreative.com www.LogicalMeaning.com

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

THE OVER-SOUL – ESSAY BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON

THE OVER-SOUL. "BUT souls that of his own good life partake, He loves as his own self; dear as his eye They are to Him: He'll never them forsake: When they shall die, then God himself shall die: They live, they live in blest eternity." Henry More. Space is ample, east and west, But two cannot go abreast, Cannot travel in it two: Yonder masterful cuckoo Crowds every egg out of the nest, Quick or dead, except its own; A spell is laid on sod and stone, Night and Day 've been tampered with, Every quality and pith Surcharged and sultry with a power That works its will on age and hour.

THE LOGICAL MEANING OF GOD

THE OVER-SOUL

HERE is a difference between one and another hour of life in their authority and subsequent effect. Our faith comes in

moments; our vice is habitual. Yet there is a depth in those brief moments which constrains us to ascribe more reality to them than to all other experiences. For this reason the argument which is always forthcoming to silence those who conceive extraordinary hopes of man, namely the appeal to experience, is for ever invalid and vain. We give up the past to the objector, and yet we hope. He must explain this hope. We grant that human life is mean, but how did we find out that it was mean? What is the ground of this uneasiness of ours; of this old discontent? What is the universal sense of want and ignorance, but the fine innuendo by which the soul makes its enormous claim? Why do men feel that the natural history of man has never been written, but he is always leaving behind what you have said of him, and it becomes old, and books of metaphysics worthless? The philosophy of six thousand years has not searched the chambers and magazines of the soul. In its experiments there has always remained, in the last analysis, a residuum it could not resolve. Man is a stream whose source is hidden. Our being is descending into us from we know not whence. The most exact calculator has no prescience that somewhat incalculable may not balk the very next moment. I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher origin for events than the will I call mine.

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As with events, so is it with thoughts. When I watch that flowing river, which, out of regions I see not, pours for a season its streams into me, I see that I am a pensioner; not a cause, but a surprised spectator of this ethereal water; that I desire and look up and put myself in the attitude of reception, but from some alien energy the visions come. The Supreme Critic on the errors of the past and the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that Over-soul, within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart of which all sincere conversation is the worship, to which all right action is submission; that overpowering reality which confutes our tricks and talents, and constrains every one to pass for what he is, and to speak from his character and not from his tongue, and which evermore tends to pass into our thought and hand and become wisdom and virtue and power and beauty. We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are the shining parts, is the soul. Only by the vision of

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that Wisdom can the horoscope of the ages be read, and by falling back on our better thoughts, by yielding to the spirit of prophecy which is innate in every man, we can know what it saith. Every man's words who speaks from that life must sound vain to those who do not dwell in the same thought on their own part. I dare not speak for it. My words do not carry its august sense; they fall short and cold. Only itself can inspire whom it will, and behold! their speech shall be lyrical, and sweet, and universal as the rising of the wind. Yet I desire, even by profane words, if I may not use sacred, to indicate the heaven of this deity and to report what hints I have collected of the transcendent simplicity and energy of the Highest Law. If we consider what happens in conversation, in reveries, in remorse, in times of passion, in surprises, in the instructions of dreams, wherein often we see ourselves in masquerade,--the droll disguises only magnifying and enhancing a real element and forcing it on our distinct notice,--we shall catch many hints that will broaden and lighten into knowledge of the secret of nature. All goes to show that the soul in man is not an organ, but animates and exercises all the organs; is not a function, like the power of memory, of calculation, of comparison, but uses these as hands and feet; is not a faculty, but a light; is not the intellect or the will, but the master of the intellect and the will; is the background of our being, in which they lie,--an immensity not possessed and that cannot be possessed. From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all. A man is the facade of a

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temple wherein all wisdom and all good abide. What we commonly call man, the eating, drinking, planting, counting man, does not, as we know him, represent himself, but misrepresents himself. Him we do not respect, but the soul, whose organ he is, would he let it appear through his action, would make our knees bend. When it breathes through his intellect, it is genius; when it breathes through his will, it is virtue; when it flows through his affection, it is love. And the blindness of the intellect begins when it would be something of itself. The weakness of the will begins when the individual would be something of himself. All reform aims in some one particular to let the soul have its way through us; in other words, to engage us to obey. Of this pure nature every man is at some time sensible. Language cannot paint it with his colors. It is too subtile. It is undefinable, unmeasurable; but we know that it pervades and contains us. We know that all spiritual being is in man. A wise old proverb says, "God comes to see us without bell;" that is, as there is no screen or ceiling between our heads and the infinite heavens, so is there no bar or wall in the soul where man, the effect, ceases, and God, the cause, begins. The walls are taken away. We lie open on one side to the deeps of spiritual nature, to the attributes of God. Justice we see and know, Love, Freedom, Power. These natures no man ever got above, but they tower over us, and most in the moment when our interests tempt us to wound them.

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The sovereignty of this nature whereof we speak is made known by its independency of those limitations which circumscribe us on every hand. The soul circumscribes all things. As I have said, it contradicts all experience. In like manner it abolishes time and space. The influence of the senses has in most men overpowered the mind to that degree that the walls of time and space have come to look real and insurmountable; and to speak with levity of these limits is, in the world, the sign of insanity. Yet time and space are but inverse measures of the force of the soul. The spirit sports with time,-"Can crowd eternity into an hour, Or stretch an hour to eternity." We are often made to feel that there is another youth and age than that which is measured from the year of our natural birth. Some thoughts always find us young, and keep us so. Such a thought is the love of the universal and eternal beauty. Every man parts from that contemplation with the feeling that it rather belongs to ages than to mortal life. The least activity of the intellectual powers redeems us in a degree from the conditions of time. In sickness, in languor, give us a strain of poetry or a profound sentence, and we are refreshed; or produce a volume of Plato or Shakspeare, or remind us of their names, and instantly we come into a feeling of longevity. See how the deep divine thought reduces centuries and millenniums and makes itself present through all ages. Is the teaching of Christ less effective now than it was when first his mouth was opened? The emphasis of

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facts and persons in my thought has nothing to do with time. And so always the soul's scale is one, the scale of the senses and the understanding is another. Before the revelations of the soul, Time, Space and Nature shrink away. In common speech we refer all things to time, as we habitually refer the immensely sundered stars to one concave sphere. And so we say that the Judgment is distant or near, that the Millennium approaches, that a day of certain political, moral, social reforms is at hand, and the like, when we mean that in the nature of things one of the facts we contemplate is external and fugitive, and the other is permanent and connate with the soul. The things we now esteem fixed shall, one by one, detach themselves like ripe fruit from our experience, and fall. The wind shall blow them none knows whither. The landscape, the figures, Boston, London, are facts as fugitive as any institution past, or any whiff of mist or smoke, and so is society, and so is the world. The soul looketh steadily forwards, creating a world before her, leaving worlds behind her. She has no dates, nor rites, nor persons, nor specialties nor men. The soul knows only the soul; the web of events is the flowing robe in which she is clothed. After its own law and not by arithmetic is the rate of its progress to be computed. The soul's advances are not made by gradation, such as can be represented by motion in a straight line, but rather by ascension of state, such as can be represented by metamorphosis,--from the egg to the worm, from the worm to the fly. The growths of genius are of a certain total character, that does not advance the elect individual first

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over John, then Adam, then Richard, and give to each the pain of discovered inferiority,--but by every throe of growth the man expands there where he works, passing, at each pulsation, classes, populations, of men. With each divine impulse the mind rends the thin rinds of the visible and finite, and comes out into eternity, and inspires and expires its air. It converses with truths that have always been spoken in the world, and becomes conscious of a closer sympathy with Zeno and Arrian than with persons in the house. This is the law of moral and of mental gain. The simple rise as by specific levity not into a particular virtue, but into the region of all the virtues. They are in the spirit which contains them all. The soul requires purity, but purity is not it; requires justice, but justice is not that; requires beneficence, but is somewhat better; so that there is a kind of descent and accommodation felt when we leave speaking of moral nature to urge a virtue which it enjoins. To the well-born child all the virtues are natural, and not painfully acquired. Speak to his heart, and the man becomes suddenly virtuous. Within the same sentiment is the germ of intellectual growth, which obeys the same law. Those who are capable of humility, of justice, of love, of aspiration, stand already on a platform that commands the sciences and arts, speech and poetry, action and grace. For whoso dwells in this moral beatitude already anticipates those special powers which men prize so highly. The lover has no talent, no skill, which passes for quite nothing with his enamoured maiden, however little she may possess of related faculty; and the heart which abandons

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itself to the Supreme Mind finds itself related to all its works, and will travel a royal road to particular knowledges and powers. In ascending to this primary and aboriginal sentiment we have come from our remote station on the circumference instantaneously to the centre of the world, where, as in the closet of God, we see causes, and anticipate the universe, which is but a slow effect. One mode of the divine teaching is the incarnation of the spirit in a form,--in forms, like my own. I live in society, with persons who answer to thoughts in my own mind, or express a certain obedience to the great instincts to which I live. I see its presence to them. I am certified of a common nature; and these other souls, these separated selves, draw me as nothing else can. They stir in me the new emotions we call passion; of love, hatred, fear, admiration, pity; thence come conversation, competition, persuasion, cities and war. Persons are supplementary to the primary teaching of the soul. In youth we are mad for persons. Childhood and youth see all the world in them. But the larger experience of man discovers the identical nature appearing through them all. Persons themselves acquaint us with the impersonal. In all conversation between two persons tacit reference is made, as to a third party, to a common nature. That third party or common nature is not social; it is impersonal; is God. And so in groups where debate is earnest, and especially on high questions, the company become aware that the thought rises to an equal level in all bosoms, that all have a spiritual property in what was said, as well as the sayer. They all become wiser than they were. It arches over them like a temple,

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this unity of thought in which every heart beats with nobler sense of power and duty, and thinks and acts with unusual solemnity. All are conscious of attaining to a higher self-possession. It shines for all. There is a certain wisdom of humanity which is common to the greatest men with the lowest, and which our ordinary education often labors to silence and obstruct. The mind is one, and the best minds, who love truth for its own sake, think much less of property in truth. They accept it thankfully everywhere, and do not label or stamp it with any man's name, for it is theirs long beforehand, and from eternity. The learned and the studious of thought have no monopoly of wisdom. Their violence of direction in some degree disqualifies them to think truly. We owe many valuable observations to people who are not very acute or profound, and who say the thing without effort which we want and have long been hunting in vain. The action of the soul is oftener in that which is felt and left unsaid than in that which is said in any conversation. It broods over every society, and they unconsciously seek for it in each other. We know better than we do. We do not yet possess ourselves, and we know at the same time that we are much more. I feel the same truth how often in my trivial conversation with my neighbors, that somewhat higher in each of us overlooks this by-play, and Jove nods to Jove from behind each of us. Men descend to meet. In their habitual and mean service to the world, for which they forsake their native nobleness, they resemble those Arabian sheiks who dwell in mean houses and affect an external poverty, to escape the rapacity of the Pacha, and reserve all their display of wealth for their interior and guarded retirements.

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As it is present in all persons, so it is in every period of life. It is adult already in the infant man. In my dealing with my child, my Latin and Greek, my accomplishments and my money stead me nothing; but as much soul as I have avails. If I am wilful, he sets his will against mine, one for one, and leaves me, if I please, the degradation of beating him by my superiority of strength. But if I renounce my will and act for the soul, setting that up as umpire between us two, out of his young eyes looks the same soul; he reveres and loves with me. The soul is the perceiver and revealer of truth. We know truth when we see it, let skeptic and scoffer say what they choose. Foolish people ask you, when you have spoken what they do not wish to hear, 'How do you know it is truth, and not an error of your own?' We know truth when we see it, from opinion, as we know when we are awake that we are awake. It was a grand sentence of Emanuel Swedenborg, which would alone indicate the greatness of that man's perception,-"It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able to confirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false,--this is the mark and character of intelligence." In the book I read, the good thought returns to me, as every truth will, the image of the whole soul. To the bad thought which I find in it, the same soul becomes a discerning, separating sword, and lops it away. We are wiser than we know. If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular thing, and every thing, and

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every man. For the Maker of all things and all persons stands behind us and casts his dread omniscience through us over things. But beyond this recognition of its own in particular passages of the individual's experience, it also reveals truth. And here we should seek to reinforce ourselves by its very presence, and to speak with a worthier, loftier strain of that advent. For the soul's communication of truth is the highest event in nature, since it then does not give somewhat from itself, but it gives itself, or passes into and becomes that man whom it enlightens; or, in proportion to that truth he receives, it takes him to itself. We distinguish the announcements of the soul, its manifestations of its own nature, by the term Revelation. These are always attended by the emotion of the sublime. For this communication is an influx of the Divine mind into our mind. It is an ebb of the individual rivulet before the flowing surges of the sea of life. Every distinct apprehension of this central commandment agitates men with awe and delight. A thrill passes through all men at the reception of new truth, or at the performance of a great action, which comes out of the heart of nature. In these communications the power to see is not separated from the will to do, but the insight proceeds from obedience, and the obedience proceeds from a joyful perception. Every moment when the individual feels himself invaded by it is memorable. By the necessity of our constitution a certain enthusiasm attends the individual's consciousness of that divine presence. The character and

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duration of this enthusiasm varies with the state of the individual, from an ecstasy and trance and prophetic inspiration,--which is its rarer appearance,--to the faintest glow of virtuous emotion, in which form it warms, like our household fires, all the families and associations of men, and makes society possible. A certain tendency to insanity has always attended the opening of the religious sense in men, as if they had been "blasted with excess of light." The trances of Socrates, the "union" of Plotinus, the vision of Porphyry, the conversion of Paul, the aurora of Behmen, the convulsions of George Fox and his Quakers, the illumination of Swedenborg, are of this kind. What was in the case of these remarkable persons a ravishment, has, in innumerable instances in common life, been exhibited in less striking manner. Everywhere the history of religion betrays a tendency to enthusiasm. The rapture of the Moravian and Quietist; the opening of the internal sense of the Word, in the language of the New Jerusalem Church; the revival of the Calvinistic churches; the experiences of the Methodists, are varying forms of that shudder of awe and delight with which the individual soul always mingles with the universal soul. The nature of these revelations is the same; they are perceptions of the absolute law. They are solutions of the soul's own questions. They do not answer the questions which the understanding asks. The soul answers never by words, but by the thing itself that is inquired after. Revelation is the disclosure of the soul. The popular notion of a revelation is that it is a telling of fortunes. In past oracles of the soul

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the understanding seeks to find answers to sensual questions, and undertakes to tell from God how long men shall exist, what their hands shall do and who shall be their company, adding names and dates and places. But we must pick no locks. We must check this low curiosity. An answer in words is delusive; it is really no answer to the questions you ask. Do not require a description of the countries towards which you sail. The description does not describe them to you, and to-morrow you arrive there and know them by inhabiting them. Men ask concerning the immortality of the soul, the employments of heaven, the state of the sinner, and so forth. They even dream that Jesus has left replies to precisely these interrogatories. Never a moment did that sublime spirit speak in their patois. To truth, justice, love, the attributes of the soul, the idea of immutableness is essentially associated. Jesus, living in these moral sentiments, heedless of sensual fortunes, heeding only the manifestations of these, never made the separation of the idea of duration from the essence of these attributes, nor uttered a syllable concerning the duration of the soul. It was left to his disciples to sever duration from the moral elements, and to teach the immortality of the soul as a doctrine, and maintain it by evidences. The moment the doctrine of the immortality is separately taught, man is already fallen. In the flowing of love, in the adoration of humility, there is no question of continuance. No inspired man ever asks this question or condescends to these evidences. For the soul is true to itself, and the man in whom it is shed abroad cannot wander from the present, which is infinite, to a future which would be finite.

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These questions which we lust to ask about the future are a confession of sin. God has no answer for them. No answer in words can reply to a question of things. It is not in an arbitrary "decree of God," but in the nature of man, that a veil shuts down on the facts of to-morrow; for the soul will not have us read any other cipher than that of cause and effect. By this veil which curtains events it instructs the children of men to live in to-day. The only mode of obtaining an answer to these questions of the senses is to forego all low curiosity, and, accepting the tide of being which floats us into the secret of nature, work and live, work and live, and all unawares the advancing soul has built and forged for itself a new condition, and the question and the answer are one. By the same fire, vital, consecrating, celestial, which burns until it shall dissolve all things into the waves and surges of an ocean of light, we see and know each other, and what spirit each is of. Who can tell the grounds of his knowledge of the character of the several individuals in his circle of friends? No man. Yet their acts and words do not disappoint him. In that man, though he knew no ill of him, he put no trust. In that other, though they had seldom met, authentic signs had yet passed, to signify that he might be trusted as one who had an interest in his own character. We know each other very well,-which of us has been just to himself and whether that which we teach or behold is only an aspiration or is our honest effort also.

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We are all discerners of spirits. That diagnosis lies aloft in our life or unconscious power. The intercourse of society, its trade, its religion, its friendships, its quarrels, is one wide, judicial investigation of character. In full court, or in small committee, or confronted face to face, accuser and accused, men offer themselves to be judged. Against their will they exhibit those decisive trifles by which character is read. But who judges? and what? Not our understanding. We do not read them by learning or craft. No; the wisdom of the wise man consists herein, that he does not judge them; he lets them judge themselves and merely reads and records their own verdict. By virtue of this inevitable nature, private will is overpowered, and, maugre our efforts or our imperfections, your genius will speak from you, and mine from me. That which we are, we shall teach, not voluntarily but involuntarily. Thoughts come into our minds by avenues which we never left open, and thoughts go out of our minds through avenues which we never voluntarily opened. Character teaches over our head. The infallible index of true progress is found in the tone the man takes. Neither his age, nor his breeding, nor company, nor books, nor actions, nor talents, nor all together can hinder him from being deferential to a higher spirit than his own. If he have not found his home in God, his manners, his forms of speech, the turn of his sentences, the build, shall I say, of all his opinions will involuntarily confess it, let him brave it out how he will. If he have found his centre, the Deity will shine through him, through all the disguises of ignorance, of ungenial temperament, of unfavorable

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circumstance. The tone of seeking is one, and the tone of having is another. The great distinction between teachers sacred or literary,--between poets like Herbert, and poets like Pope,--between philosophers like Spinoza, Kant and Coleridge, and philosophers like Locke, Paley, Mackintosh and Stewart,--between men of the world who are reckoned accomplished talkers, and here and there a fervent mystic, prophesying half insane under the infinitude of his thought,--is that one class speak from within, or from experience, as parties and possessors of the fact; and the other class from without, as spectators merely, or perhaps as acquainted with the fact on the evidence of third persons. It is of no use to preach to me from without. I can do that too easily myself. Jesus speaks always from within, and in a degree that transcends all others. In that is the miracle. I believe beforehand that it ought so to be. All men stand continually in the expectation of the appearance of such a teacher. But if a man do not speak from within the veil, where the word is one with that it tells of, let him lowly confess it. The same Omniscience flows into the intellect, and makes what we call genius. Much of the wisdom of the world is not wisdom, and the most illuminated class of men are no doubt superior to literary fame, and are not writers. Among the multitude of scholars and authors, we feel no hallowing presence; we are sensible of a knack and skill rather than of inspiration; they have a light and know not whence it comes

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and call it their own; their talent is some exaggerated faculty, some overgrown member, so that their strength is a disease. In these instances the intellectual gifts do not make the impression of virtue, but almost of vice; and we feel that a man's talents stand in the way of his advancement in truth. But genius is religious. It is a larger imbibing of the common heart. It is not anomalous, but more like and not less like other men. There is in all great poets a wisdom of humanity which is superior to any talents they exercise. The author, the wit, the partisan, the fine gentleman, does not take place of the man. Humanity shines in Homer, in Chaucer, in Spenser, in Shakspeare, in Milton. They are content with truth. They use the positive degree. They seem frigid and phlegmatic to those who have been spiced with the frantic passion and violent coloring of inferior but popular writers. For they are poets by the free course which they allow to the informing soul, which through their eyes beholds again and blesses the things which it hath made. The soul is superior to its knowledge, wiser than any of its works. The great poet makes us feel our own wealth, and then we think less of his compositions. His best communication to our mind is to teach us to despise all he has done. Shakspeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then feel that the splendid works which he has created, and which in other hours we extol as a sort of self-existent poetry, take no stronger hold of real nature than the shadow of a passing traveller on the rock. The inspiration which uttered itself in Hamlet and Lear could utter things as good from day to day for ever. Why then should I make account of

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Hamlet and Lear, as if we had not the soul from which they fell as syllables from the tongue? This energy does not descend into individual life on any other condition than entire possession. It comes to the lowly and simple; it comes to whomsoever will put off what is foreign and proud; it comes as insight; it comes as serenity and grandeur. When we see those whom it inhabits, we are apprised of new degrees of greatness. From that inspiration the man comes back with a changed tone. He does not talk with men with an eye to their opinion. He tries them. It requires of us to be plain and true. The vain traveller attempts to embellish his life by quoting my lord and the prince and the countess, who thus said or did to him. The ambitious vulgar show you their spoons and brooches and rings, and preserve their cards and compliments. The more cultivated, in their account of their own experience, cull out the pleasing, poetic circumstance,--the visit to Rome, the man of genius they saw, the brilliant friend They know; still further on perhaps the gorgeous landscape, the mountain lights, the mountain thoughts they enjoyed yesterday,--and so seek to throw a romantic color over their life. But the soul that ascends to worship the great God is plain and true; has no rose-color, no fine friends, no chivalry, no adventures; does not want admiration; dwells in the hour that now is, in the earnest experience of the common day,--by reason of the present moment and the mere trifle having become porous to thought and bibulous of the sea of light.

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Converse with a mind that is grandly simple, and literature looks like word-catching. The simplest utterances are worthiest to be written, yet are they so cheap and so things of course, that in the infinite riches of the soul it is like gathering a few pebbles off the ground, or bottling a little air in a phial, when the whole earth and the whole atmosphere are ours. Nothing can pass there, or make you one of the circle, but the casting aside your trappings, and dealing man to man in naked truth, plain confession, and omniscient affirmation. Souls such as these treat you as gods would, walk as gods in the earth, accepting without any admiration your wit, your bounty, your virtue even,--say rather your act of duty, for your virtue they own as their proper blood, royal as themselves, and over-royal, and the father of the gods. But what rebuke their plain fraternal bearing casts on the mutual flattery with which authors solace each other and wound themselves! These flatter not. I do not wonder that these men go to see Cromwell and Christina and Charles the Second and James the First and the Grand Turk. For they are, in their own elevation, the fellows of kings, and must feel the servile tone of conversation in the world. They must always be a godsend to princes, for they confront them, a king to a king, without ducking or concession, and give a high nature the refreshment and satisfaction of resistance, of plain humanity, of even companionship and of new ideas. They leave them wiser and superior men. Souls like these make us feel that sincerity is more excellent than flattery. Deal so plainly with man and woman as to constrain the utmost sincerity and destroy all hope of trifling with

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you. It is the highest compliment you can pay. Their "highest praising," said Milton, "is not flattery, and their plainest advice is a kind of praising." Ineffable is the union of man and God in every act of the soul. The simplest person who in his integrity worships God, becomes God; yet for ever and ever the influx of this better and universal self is new and unsearchable. It inspires awe and astonishment. How dear, how soothing to man, arises the idea of God, peopling the lonely place, effacing the scars of our mistakes and disappointments! When we have broken our god of tradition and ceased from our god of rhetoric, then may God fire the heart with his presence. It is the doubling of the heart itself, nay, the infinite enlargement of the heart with a power of growth to a new infinity on every side. It inspires in man an infallible trust. He has not the conviction, but the sight, that the best is the true, and may in that thought easily dismiss all particular uncertainties and fears, and adjourn to the sure revelation of time the solution of his private riddles. He is sure that his welfare is dear to the heart of being. In the presence of law to his mind he is overflowed with a reliance so universal that it sweeps away all cherished hopes and the most stable projects of mortal condition in its flood. He believes that he cannot escape from his good. The things that are really for thee gravitate to thee. You are running to seek your friend. Let your feet run, but your mind need not. If you do not find him, will you not acquiesce that it is best you should not find him? for there is a power, which, as it is in you, is in him also, and could therefore very well bring you together,

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if it were for the best. You are preparing with eagerness to go and render a service to which your talent and your taste invite you, the love of men and the hope of fame. Has it not occurred to you that you have no right to go, unless you are equally willing to be prevented from going? O, believe, as thou livest, that every sound that is spoken over the round world, which thou oughtest to hear, will vibrate on thine ear! Every proverb, every book, every byword that belongs to thee for aid or comfort, shall surely come home through open or winding passages. Every friend whom not thy fantastic will but the great and tender heart in thee craveth, shall lock thee in his embrace. And this because the heart in thee is the heart of all; not a valve, not a wall, not an intersection is there anywhere in nature, but one blood rolls uninterruptedly an endless circulation through all men, as the water of the globe is all one sea, and, truly seen, its tide is one. Let man then learn the revelation of all nature and all thought to his heart; this, namely; that the Highest dwells with him; that the sources of nature are in his own mind, if the sentiment of duty is there. But if he would know what the great God speaketh, he must 'go into his closet and shut the door,' as Jesus said. God will not make himself manifest to cowards. He must greatly listen to himself, withdrawing himself from all the accents of other men's devotion. Even their prayers are hurtful to him, until he have made his own. Our religion vulgarly stands on numbers of believers. Whenever the appeal is made,--no matter how indirectly,--to numbers, proclamation is then and there made that religion is not. He that finds God a sweet

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enveloping thought to him never counts his company. When I sit in that presence, who shall dare to come in? When I rest in perfect humility, when I burn with pure love, what can Calvin or Swedenborg say? It makes no difference whether the appeal is to numbers or to one. The faith that stands on authority is not faith. The reliance on authority measures the decline of religion, the withdrawal of the soul. The position men have given to Jesus, now for many centuries of history, is a position of authority. It characterizes themselves. It cannot alter the eternal facts. Great is the soul, and plain. It is no flatterer, it is no follower; it never appeals from itself. It believes in itself. Before the immense possibilities of man all mere experience, all past biography, however spotless and sainted, shrinks away. Before that heaven which our presentiments foreshow us, we cannot easily praise any form of life we have seen or read of. We not only affirm that we have few great men, but, absolutely speaking, that we have none; that we have no history, no record of any character or mode of living that entirely contents us. The saints and demigods whom history worships we are constrained to accept with a grain of allowance. Though in our lonely hours we draw a new strength out of their memory, yet, pressed on our attention, as they are by the thoughtless and customary, they fatigue and invade. The soul gives itself, alone, original and pure, to the Lonely, Original and Pure, who, on that condition, gladly inhabits, leads and speaks through it. Then is it glad, young and nimble. It is not wise, but it sees through all things.

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It is not called religious, but it is innocent. It calls the light its own, and feels that the grass grows and the stone falls by a law inferior to, and dependent on, its nature. Behold, it saith, I am born into the great, the universal mind. I, the imperfect, adore my own Perfect. I am somehow receptive of the great soul, and thereby I do Overlook the sun and the stars and feel them to be the fair accidents and effects which change and pass. More and more the surges of everlasting nature enter into me, and I become public and human in my regards and actions. So come I to live in thoughts and act with energies which are immortal. Thus revering the soul, and learning, as the ancient said, that "its beauty is immense," man will come to see that the world is the perennial miracle which the soul worketh, and be less astonished at particular wonders; he will learn that there is no profane history; that all history is sacred; that the universe is represented in an atom, in a moment of time. He will weave no longer a spotted life of shreds and patches, but he will live with a divine unity. He will cease from what is base and frivolous in his life and be content with all places and with any service he can render. He will calmly front the morrow in the negligency of that trust which carries God with it and so hath already the whole future in the bottom of the heart.

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