2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
It is my desire to make this statement of the Perennial Philosophy as clear and readily comprehensible as possible, and for this reason I shall at every point give broad principles only, referring those who wish for detailed information to larger books, or to monographs upon particular subjects. I hope at the end of each chapter of this little treatise to give a list of such books as should be consulted by those who desire to go more deeply into this most fascinating system.
I shall begin then, by a statement of the most striking of the broad general principles which emerge as a result of this study. There may be those who find here matter which is incredible to them, or matter which runs entirely contrary to their preconceived ideas. If that be so, then I would ask such men to remember that I am not putting this forward as a theory – as a metaphysical speculation or a pious opinion of my own – but as a definite scientific fact proved and examined over and over again, not only by myself, but many others also.
Furthermore, I claim that it is a fact which may be verified at first hand by any person who is willing to devote the time and trouble necessary to fit himself for the investigation. I am not offering to the reader a creed to be swallowed like a pill; I am trying to set before him a system to study, and above all, a life to live. I ask no blind faith from him; I simply suggest to him the consideration of the teaching of the Perennial Philosophy as a hypothesis, though to me it is no hypothesis, but a living fact.
If he finds it more satisfactory than others which have been presented to him, if it seems to him to solve more of the problems of life, to answer a greater number of the questions which inevitably arise for thinking man, then he will pursue its study further, and will find in it, I hope and believe, the same ever-increasing satisfaction and joy that I have myself found.
If on the other hand, he thinks some other system preferable, no harm is done; he has simply learnt something of the tenets of a body of men with whom he is as yet unable to agree. I have sufficient faith in it myself to believe that, sooner or later, a time will come when he will agree with them – when he also will know what we know.
The Three Great Truths
In one of our earliest books it was written that there are three truths which are absolute and cannot be lost, but yet may remain silent for lack of speech. They are as great as life itself, and yet as simple as the simplest mind of man. I can hardly do better than paraphrase these for the greatest of my general principles.
I will then give some corollaries which follow naturally from them, and then, thirdly, some of the more prominent of the advantageous results which necessarily attend this definite knowledge. Having thus outlined the scheme in tabular form, I will take it up point by point, and endeavour to offer such elementary explanations as come within the scope of this little introductory book.
- God exists, and He is good. He is the great life-giver who dwells within us and without us, is undying and eternally beneficent. He is not heard, nor seen, nor touched, yet is perceived by the man who desires perception.
- Man is immortal, and his future is one whose glory and splendour have no limit.
- A Divine law of absolute justice rules the world, so that each man is in truth his own judge, the dispenser of glory or gloom to himself, the decreer of his life, his reward, his punishment.
Corollaries
To each of these great truths are attached certain others, subsidiary and explanatory.
From the first of them it follows: –
That, in spite of appearance, all things are definitely and intelligently moving together for good; that all circumstances, however untoward they may seem, are in reality exactly what are needed; that everything around us tends, not to hinder us, but to help us, if it is only understood.
That since the whole scheme thus tends to man’s benefit, clearly it is his duty to learn to understand it.
That when he thus understands it, it is also his duty intelligently to co-operate in this scheme.
From the second great truth it follows: –
That the true man is a soul, and that this body is only an appanage.
That he must therefore, regard everything from the standpoint of the soul, and that in every case when an internal struggle takes place he must realise his identity with the higher and not with the lower.
That what we commonly call his life is only one day in his true and larger life.
That death is a matter of far less importance than is usually supposed, since it is by no means the end of life, but merely the passage from one stage of it to another.
That man has an immense evolution behind him, the study of which is most fascinating, interesting and instructive.
That he has also a splendid evolution before him, the study of which will be even more fascinating and instructive.
That there is an absolute certainty of final attainment for every human soul, no matter how far he may have seemed to have strayed from the path of evolution.
From the third great truth it follows: –
That every thought, word, or action produces its definite result – not a reward or a punishment imposed from without, but a result inherent in the action itself, definitely connected with it in the relation of cause and effect, these being really but two inseparable parts of one whole.
That it is both the duty and interest of man to study this divine law closely, so that he will be able to adapt himself to it and to use it, as we use other great laws of nature.
That it is necessary for man to attain perfect control over himself, so that he may guide his life intelligently in accordance with this law.
Advantages Gained from this Knowledge
When this knowledge is fully assimilated, it changes the aspect of life so completely that it would be impossible for me to tabulate all the advantages which flow from it. I can only mention a few of the principal lines along which this change is produced, and the reader’s own thought will, no doubt, supply some of the endless ramifications which are their necessary consequence.
But it must be understood that no vague knowledge will be sufficient. Such belief as most men accord to the assertions of their religions will be quite useless, since it produces no practical effect in their lives.
But if we believe in these truths as we do in the other laws of nature – as we believe that fire burns and that water drowns – then the effect that they produce in our lives is enormous. For our belief in the laws of Nature is sufficiently real to induce us to order our lives in accordance with it. Believing that fire burns, we take every precaution to avoid fire; believing that water drowns, we avoid going into water too deep for us unless we can swim.
Now these beliefs are so definite and real to us because they are founded on knowledge and illustrated by daily experience; and the beliefs of the Perennial Philosophy student are equally real and definite to him for exactly the same reason. And that is why we find following from them the results now to be described:
- We gain a rational comprehension of life – we know how we should live and why, and we learn that life is worth living when properly understood.
- We learn how to govern ourselves, and therefore how to develop ourselves.
- We learn how best to help those whom we love, how to make ourselves useful to all with whom we come into contact, and ultimately to the whole human race.
- We learn to view everything from the wider philosophical standpoint – never from the petty and purely personal side.
Consequently:
- The troubles of life are no longer so large for us.
- We have no sense of injustice in connection with our surroundings or our destiny.
- We are altogether freed from the fear of death.
- Our grief in connection with the death of those whom we love is very greatly mitigated.
- We gain a totally different view of life after death, and we understand its place in our evolution.
- We are altogether free from religious fears or worry, either for ourselves or for our friends – fears as to the salvation of the soul, for example.
- We are no longer troubled by uncertainty as to our future fate, but live in perfect serenity and perfect fearlessness.
Now let us take these points in detail, and endeavour briefly to explain them.