, 1903-09-10
The Deity.

tDdt pl the SO calltu pTInou ~ lHlIhS.
The existence Of God is the first and
greatest principle in Theosophv hut
it is necessary TO define the sense in
which we use that august word.
much-abuSad though il is. continual
". The mighty conception given to
the word God bv the founders Of ihe
world religions is the Infinite Exist
ence. The revelation ofthis Supreme
Existence or the manifested God,
evolving and guiding n universe. is
the only Being to which wecan right
fully apply the term ga personal
God" Within Himself God is he
vond the limits Of personality, is "'in
all and through all" and indeed is all:
and'of the Infinite, the Absolute. the
All, we ran only say ole is
For orr limited finite minds, that
glorious manifested Personality is all
that they can grasp. He is a little
nearer to our comprehension and is
the Guiding Force or Deity of our
Solar System. Philosophers in past
ages have called Him the Logos.
All that has ever been ascribed to
God of goodness, power, omnipotence,
omniscience, and love, can be said of
Him. The human vices of anger.
wrath, Indignation, jealousy, that
have been ascribed to God are bias
phemous. But the wisdom. love,
power, patience, compassion that We
have held in reverence, all belong to
the Logos of om system. "Verilv.
in Him we live. and move, and have
our being" not Ms II poetical expires
sion, but (strange as il may SEEM as
a definite scientific fact. There is
nothing of the good usually ascribed
to God that can not equally he said
of the Log0s of our solar system.
Students of Theosophy do not vague,
" hope that God is, but the farther
they penetrate into the studies and
the evidences given them, the more
of assurance comes to them. They
become as sure of the existence Of the
LOgos as they are that thes shines.
His purpose becomes so manifest I'M
der the light of re-incHrnatiou and
Karma that even to the mind Of the
average student the God in whom
we live and move and have our be
ing is IA definite fact.
Mr.. G.. W. Leadbeater says in "An
Outline of Theosophy," That He is
within us as well as without us. or. in
other words, that man is i'll essence
divine, is another great truth which.
though those, who are blind to all
but the outer and lower world, may
still argue about il, is al absolute
certainty to the student of the higher
life and the inherent divinity in
man is n fact and in this fact resides
the assurance of the ultimate return
of every human being to the divine
level. In this fact that God is with
in us as well as without us is found
the basis for the evolution of man.
Man is potentially divine. This idea
of the divinity in MAI has led to
many strange perver-IOns. Men
whose lives are not perfect an whose
spheres of consciousness are limited.
will say Il am God" not realizing
the difference between their present
narrow consciousness and that Of the
con sciousness which pervades the
boundless universe. Man has to he.
come more than man when he finds
ont God That spark of divinity
within man can not always stay
"cribDed and cabined" within the
narrow limits OF human understand
ing. rheosuphy srrs IN that divine
spark the necessity for the ~perfecting
Of the human vehicles, brain, mind
and soforth, SO that through them
this potentially shall he aroused and
developed till, as Jesus said, BE We
therefore perfect eve as my Father
IN Heaven is perfect maj reaches
his divinity in fact. In this is the
reason for our belief in Reincand-
ton. Whether we remember it or
not has nothing to do with the fact Of
our having lived before. Universal
laws do not wait either upon II I'm
derstauding or N remembrance.
They simply are and when We dis
cover them by experience, we govern
ourselves accordingly. There is no
hurry in the universe. Evolution is
a slow process. 1t is a long journey
from the savage to the sage, but the
very length Of it makes the end Of 1t
more certain. There is never a road
that eu, 5 nowhere. Shall we SAY it
is upward to God ur, shall We say
a