The second sphere is a finite one, and depends entirely upon relation for its development, so that you can see at once that man could not love in the second sphere of his being without some object to call that love forth. The relational love, in this respect, is not like the divine love which goes forth independent of any object. The first sphere is objective in self; the second sphere is objective in neighbor; and the third sphere is subjective in God.
The difference between this second sphere or love of the neighbor and the third sphere or the love of the absolute in this: The second sphere of love is objective, is not self-existent and self-sufficient; it depends upon having an object to call it forth. The constitution of mind is such that, in its consciousness, it can not love an object without having perceived it, the perception being either an ideal one or a real one. The love in point of quality depends, for its perfectness, upon the perfectness of the object. Not so with the infinite and divine love which is self-existent and self-sufficient. Wherever it acts, it acts subjectively, not objectively, though it is objective in its manifestation. Said Jesus of Nazareth, who was deeply learned in this love, in speaking to the Jew who was to become his disciple: “Ye have heard it said by those of old time, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he causeth his sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and he sendeth his rain upon the just and unjust.” Notice the figure. The sun shines not objectively. It shines of its own nature. If the earth were to be blotted out of existence, the sun would shine on still; and if every other planet in the solar system should refuse to receive its light, the sun would continue to shine. Its light and heat go forth in their own plenitude. Therefore if you and I wish the sunlight, we have but to stand forth; but the sun does not shine or send forth his heat because we are here. It does not shine objectively but subjectively upon us. The sun, as a type of the divine wisdom, continuously gives forth its light; and as a type of divine love it constantly gives forth heat to build up finite forms.
The Divine Father does not stop to inquire, whether men love him or not. His love is self-existent, self-sufficient, and goes forth of its own divine plenitude, of its own infinite fulness, blessing every being in every plane, according as he comes into the condition to receive that blessing. God’s sun shines upon the field of the wicked man as quick as upon the field of the righteous. This is bestowing blessing upon a common plane. Man loves friend and curses foe, but Christ says you must not make any difference. You must become like your Father. You claim to be his children; therefore love your enemies, seek good for all, whatever may be their affection for you. Christ’s doctrine differed very much from what the world had heard before. It had generally been supposed that God loved objectively. Christ taught that God blessed every man according to the plane he occupied. God of his infinite fulness will pour out all the blessings you are capable of receiving. If you want all the joys of the third heaven, which are inexpressible, bring your mind to love subjectively. Love God, not for his use, not because he is going to bless you, but because there is interior harmony and oneness between your soul and his—because your heart thrills and throbs to his divine heart. Then you will reap the blessings belonging to the divine plane. Man can only love an object by having an object to love; but God is love; it is his nature to love and bless; and whatever comes within the divine influence will be blessed according to its capacity to receive the blessing; and every action, every impulse, and every going forth of the divine in every plane is but a manifestation of that divine love; so that when you and I have perfected ourselves in loving our neighbor, have fulfilled the entire law of charity to all mankind, we are yet to go into a higher and holier love than that. We are to arise above this discrimination—we are to come into a plane where, having received the divine life and love, they shall go forth by their own plentitude to bless all around us, as our Father blesses all. In other words, he is to sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he is to purify us from all this dross, until he sees his own image perfectly reflected in us. When we shall reflect the divine image, there will be an indication that all dross is burned away, and we shall be swallowed up in the divine will, though still retaining our divine personality, our hearts beating with the great heart that beats throughout the universe.
CHAPTER IV.
COMMUNICATION.
Communication proper belongs to the sphere of manifestation, and signifies, as I use the term, the imparting by one, and the receiving by another, of that which is imparted, or that which represents that which is imparted. When we look at man as a finite being, born as he is without conscious knowledge, and without conscious affection, and developed from that negative point by that which flows or enters into his consciousness and daguerreotypes itself there, we readily see that he can only develop by being subject to the principles of communication: that is, he must receive that which is without into his consciousness; therefore it must be communicated to him. Hence it becomes necessary for us to understand somewhat the laws of communication. As communication belongs to the sphere of manifestation, or the sphere of the finite, we must examine and see what are the means by which man as a conscious being is addressed, and the law by which the influence exerted upon him is governed.
The mind when looked at in its simplest nature consists of its perceptions and its affections: that is, its knowledge, if you please, and its love; but in the order of unfolding, perception, as a conscious principle, precedes affection. That is, an individual as a finite being can not love till he perceives an object to call forth that love or affection. Whether it pertain to unconscious or to conscious nature, he must perceive the object before the affection is known to exist in his consciousness. For instance, a husband can know nothing of conjugal love, neither can the wife, until the object calling it forth exists in his or her perceptions. Neither can the mother love her babe until the object exists in her perceptions. Neither can the brother love brother or sister, or the child love its parents, until they perceive the objects of their affection. So you understand what I mean when I say in all finite natures perception precedes affection as a conscious principle; hence the law of communication pertains to perception and affection. As perception precedes affection, it is more external, view it in what sphere you will. I am now using perception in the sense of thought. The individual, by the means of communication, may be addressed externally by first addressing his perceptions, and thence through his perceptions addressing his affections; or he may be addressed by first addressing his affections, and through them his thoughts. I shall use for the purpose of convenience the expression thought and affection.
Then the two methods by which individuals may be addressed are first the external, and second the internal. The external communication flows first into the thought, and the internal first into the affection. The external proceeds from thought to affection, and the internal from affection to thought. The one is by an outward language, by signs, and symbols, and representatives of ideas; the other is without external language, and is what is known as inspiration.
Now, as there are three planes of conscious being, conscious perception, and conscious affection, and as the thought or perception precedes the affection in the first or lowest plane, so it is in the second; and it is the perception and affection in the third that begets the affection in the divine sphere. But as I am speaking of communication I am confining my remarks to the first two spheres—the external physical sphere, and the spiritual or relational sphere; for they are spheres of manifestation and communication, and have reference to these finite spheres. When I complete the consideration of these, I will make some remarks on the divine sphere, to show the difference between it and those spheres below the divine. Take man, then, as a mere animal being, looking at his nature as being nervous, where his perceptions and affections have respect to his physical being. Here the same law of order prevails—perception precedes affection, and perception is external, while affection or love is internal; but taken both together as constituting the animal nature, it becomes external to his spiritual nature; but in his spiritual nature perception precedes affection; hence, if we would communicate with him spiritually, external language communicates first with thought, and thence with the affection; while internal language communicates first with the affection and thence with thought. Then external and internal communication differ in this, that the external is by means of outward language, and the internal is by means of a sort of inspiration. There are inspirations pertaining to each of the three spheres—the nerve-sphere, the spirit-sphere, and the divine-sphere. On coming into rapport with this audience, I through the nerve-medium by external means perceive individuals about me—perceive their forms, their faces, and their relative positions to each other; that is, by an external medium which represents the individual through the nerve-medium to my consciousness. But I may come internally into rapport with these individuals by bringing my nerve-system into harmony with their nerve-system, and becoming negative to them. To explain: when I bring my nerve-system into sympathy with you, I take your sensations upon myself. If you have a pain in your head, I have a pain in my head also, corresponding in location and character to yours; or if you experience a pain in any other part of your body, I feel that pain. Not a word has passed between us concerning it, but nevertheless it comes upon me, and affects me in precisely the same manner that it does you. Now this I consider analogous to the inspiration which belongs to the higher plane. This is the inspiration of the nerve-sympathy. Permit me to explain briefly what I understand by harmony; because the great law of harmony is fundamental to a comprehension of the law of inspiration.
You are aware that if we take two strings of equal length and tension, and vibrate one of them, its vibration communicates its motion to the atmosphere, and through the atmosphere to the adjoining string, so that they at length vibrate together. This experiment may be made by any one; and it will be found that in this manner they can be caused to give forth the same sound, because the length of the vibrations of each will be the same; and when there is a difference in the tone, it will be found that there is a difference in the length of the vibrations. This fact can be demonstrated by varying the vibrations—by tightening or loosening the strings, and thus shortening or lengthening the vibrations, when it will be perceived that the shorter the vibration the higher will be the pitch or tone. The length of vibration, then, determines the question of harmony. Here appears the great law of harmony in musical sound throughout the universe, which is commensurability. In mathematics, things which will mutually measure each other are said to be commensurable. Now these spheres of atmospheric vibration will always produce concord or harmony of sound. The difference between a third and a fifth is in the difference in the tone, and the difference in tone depends, as already said, upon the length of vibration. The sweetest harmony is the apparent discord, where the vibrations do not chord, but where every fifth coincides; and in this way produces the harmony of the third and fifth. The octave produces it by being repeated twice, so that after all the real octave is as the square of the octave; that is, the octave multiplied into itself; and you arrive mathematically at the law of harmony by following out that principle. The point to which I wish to call your attention is, that what constitutes harmony is simply commensurability in the atmospheric undulations.
Now my nerve-fluid moves by pulsatory movements, as move all other media, and these movements sustain to those of your nerve-fluid commensurable or incommensurable relations; and you will find that the law of musical harmony, by which one of two strings having the same tension communicates its motion to the other, is the law which determines the harmony between my nerve-system and yours. I am constituted to speak upon a certain key, like an instrument. My nerve-vibrations undulate to that key, and when I am in perfect health, there is perfect harmony in my system. Your nerve-undulations are perhaps tuned on a different key, and if you are positive to me, my nerve-undulation will not move yours, nor yours mine, but they will resist each other like two strings unequally tuned. So my nerve-vibration will not communicate its undulations to you, nor will yours communicate its undulations to me, unless we happen to be upon the same key, or in harmonic or commensurable relations with one another. But in order to get our nerve-systems to undulate one upon the other, I must either become negative to you or you must become negative to me. If I relax the key of my nerve-vibration, I shall change them until my nerve-system undulates in harmony with your nerve-system; and I being negative and you positive, you undulate to my key, and we get nerve-sensations between us without any sign. The individual in mesmerizing his subject becomes positive, and he will succeed in mesmerizing that subject just as soon as he brings about a harmony of nerve-vibration, so that the nerve-vibrations of both are alike. The condition is that the operator places himself in a positive position, while the subject must become negative, by allowing his nerves to become relaxed; then the operator commences by a strong effort to undulate, so to speak, his nerve-influence or forces upon the medium, until the medium sinking down comes to his key; and then he by his forces insulates the system, and the individual passes rapidly into the condition of mesmerism; but do any thing to disturb that medium, so as to make the points of nerve-tension unyielding, and the operator may work till doomsday in vain. It is not till the points have yielded and the vibrations harmonize with his that he can produce the effect upon the medium. This is on the same principle with the phenomena exhibited in experiments with the string, which is a type of the law of communication in every sphere—the vibration of the string represents the entire law.