CHAPTER 1
LIFE
Life is a Universal Element.
"Life is that Element in Nature which impels
everything—whether organic or inorganic;
physical, spiritual or psychical to
function according to the law of its being."
This definition of The Great School of the
Masters applies equally to Individual organisms
as a whole, and to the various Individual
organs and parts thereof.
There are four distinct and definite Universal
"Life Elements," and each of these
Elements is responsible for the functional
activities of Life within its own kingdom.
Ether, Air and Water are recognized as
"Elements" of Nature. And yet, they are not
subject to the process of evolution. They are
the same today, as far as science knows, as
they were a million years ago ; or as they were
when they first came into existence. They
have not "evolved" as Elements, or otherwise
changed, in any manner.
They are Universal within the environment
of our planet; and Ether, at least, is supposed,
by physical science, to be Universal in time
and space. Air and Water are sufficiently
Universal to be a part of all planetary environment
wherein exist Life and Intelligence.
Undoubtedly, Ether, Air and Water all
exert their influence upon the Individual
Lives and Intelligences that exist within them
and develop through them. But they, themselves,
are fixed and established conditions of
Nature; and, as such, are not in a state of evolution.
They are only parts of Nature's mechanical
device for the evolution of Individual
Intelligence.
We know that Individual Life and Individual
Intelligence do develop within the
waters of the earth. Bear in mind that Water
is one of the "Elements of Nature." We also
know that these Individual Lives and Intelligences
which come into physical existence in
and through the Element of Water do develop,
and do evolve; but, so far as science
knows, the Element of Water itself does not
evolve. It remains the same, yesterday, today
and forever, so far as we know. It is only one
of Nature's instrumentalities for the generation
and evolution of Individual Intelligence.
The parallel with the Life Elements, as
such, is complete. Individual Lives and Individual
Intelligences come into being within
the Life Elements; and we know that these
Individual Lives and Intelligences, having
become Individualized by Nature, proceed to
develop, unfold and evolve; but we do not
know that the Life Elements themselves, as
such, are subject to the process of evolution.
They remain fixed conditions, so far as science
knows.
The Life Elements are not limited to the
physical plane of Life; they exist on all
the planes of Life. There is, however, a difference
in the degree of their refinement and
vibratory activity. The Life Elements upon
the spiritual planes of Life are suited to the
refined requirements of the Individual Life
and Intelligence upon those planes.
But it must not be assumed that this increased
refinement and activity of the Life
Elements upon the spiritual planes are conditions
which have evolved from the Life Elements
upon the physical plane. The Life
Elements upon the spiritual planes are as
truly fixed and established conditions as are
those of the Life Elements upon the physical
plane. They are equally as much a part of
Nature's mechanical device for the evolution
of Individual Intelligence.
It is Nature's plan to Individualize and
evolve Intelligence. The Life Elements are
only parts of her mechanical device by which
she accomplishes that marvelous end. It is
the Individual Intelligence that evolves and
not the Life Elements, as such.
Nature, or the Great Creative Intelligence,
had a very definite purpose in creating and
establishing the Life Elements. Natural
Science finds that the uses to which Nature
puts these Life Elements are:
To generate Individual Life.
To Individualize Intelligence.
To carry forward the evolutionary Unfoldment
and Development of Individual Intelligence.
The Individual Intelligence, after Nature
has evolved it to a point where it becomes
aware of its Moral Accountability and Personal
Responsibility, uses the Life Elements
for its own Self-Unfoldment; thus enabling it
to add the evolutionary impulse of its own
efforts to the effort of Nature, and thus accelerate
the evolutionary process.
The Life Element which belongs exclusively
to the mineral kingdom is the Electro-
Magnetic Life Element. This is a single
Element.
The Electro-Magnetic Life Element combines
with the Vito-Chemical Life Element
to constitute the Life Element of the vegetable
kingdom. This forms a compound of
both the Electro-Magnetic and the Vito-
Chemical Life Elements, to form the Life
Element of the vegetable kingdom. It is
called the Vito-Chemical Life Element, because
it is that particular Element which
dominates the compound.
The Life Element of the next higher kingdom
(the animal kingdom), is a compound
of the two lower Elements with the Spiritual
Life Element, and is called the Spiritual Life
Element because it is the Spiritual Element
that dominates the compound, and because it
is the highest and most potent of the three
Elements which enter into the compound.
It is equally true that the Fourth Life Element,
which belongs to the Human kingdom,
is a compound Element, composed of the
three lower Elements combined with the Soul
Life Element. Thus it will be seen that all
the Life Elements are compound Elements,
except that which vivifies the mineral kingdom
(the Electro-Magnetic).
The name of each Life Element is taken
from the dominant ingredient in each Life
Element; and not from the kingdom in
which it exists.
An Element is an element.
A kingdom is a kingdom.
The Electro-Magnetic Element is solely
a Life Element. "Mineral" is the kingdom
in which it operates.
It would be improper to designate the Vito-
Chemical Life Element as the "Vegetable
Life Element" as "vegetable" applies to a
kingdom which is composed of two Life Elements—
Electro-Magnetic and Vito - Chemical.
It would be just as improper to refer to the
Spiritual Life Element as the "Animal Life
Element" as "animal" applies to a kingdom
which is composed of three Life Elements—
Electro-Magnetic, Vito-Chemical and Spiritual
Life.
In the same manner, the Soul Life Element
refers specifically to a Life Element of Nature.
"Man" has reference to a kingdom—
the kingdom of Man, which is composed of
four Life Elements—Electro-Magnetic, Vito-
Chemical, Spiritual Life and Soul Life Elements.
Each higher kingdom includes its own Life
Element and all the Life Elements of all the
kingdoms below it, with all their energies,
functions and powers. That is, plant life includes
the energies and powers of the Vito-
Chemical Life Element, and also those of the
Electro-Magnetic Life Element of the mineral
kingdom.
Thus, the evolution of Life upon the planet
involves an increasing number of Life Elements—
from one Life Element in the mineral
kingdom to four Life Elements in the
human kingdom—and the highest Life Element
is always the dominant one and controls
the activities, functions and powers of all
those below it.
In the human kingdom the Soul Life Element
is dominant, and it controls the functions
and powers of the three inferior Life Elements
below it in the scale of the evolution of
Life.
In the realms of Nature which lie below
the level of the Individual human life it requires
but the most casual observation of the
Intelligent Individual to realize the Universal
prodigality of Nature in her destructive attitude
toward Individual Life. Everywhere
one may turn he is compelled to note the remarkable
and seemingly inexplicable fact that
the destruction and seeming sacrifice of Individual
Life is an important factor in the great
evolutionary plan of Nature for the Unfoldment
and Development of "Individual Intelligence."
In "The Slaughterhouse of Nature," as the
poets have designated, every species of Individual
animal life (below the level of the
human) is sacrificed as nourishment on which
to feed and develop the physical bodies of the
more aggressive and powerful Individuals of
so-called "higher species" who are waiting to
devour them as rapidly as Nature can produce
them and bring them into her "Slaughterhouse"
for sacrifice.
And yet, this phase of the great problem of
Individual Life, wherein the sacrifice of the
Individual for the perpetuation of species, the
sacrifice of the weaker for the benefit of the
stronger, betrays the wantonness and seeming
cruelty of Nature in that she has made the
deliberate and purposeful destruction of Individual
Life an established institution for the
evolution of Individual Life and Intelligence.
If one could but obtain a clear glimpse of
Nature's process in operation he would see
that everywhere, throughout the entire Universe
of living things, Individual death goes
hand in hand with Individual Life, and is
Nature's commissary department for the supply
of food to sustain the Individual Life of
higher forms.
It must be admitted by every sane and Intelligent
Individual that all the moralizing
possible within the kingdom of Man will
never change the Universal order of Nature
ment is always the dominant one and controls
the activities, functions and powers of all
those below it.
In the human kingdom the Soul Life Element
is dominant, and it controls the functions
and powers of the three inferior Life Elements
below it in the scale of the evolution of
Life.
In the realms of Nature which lie below
the level of the Individual human life it requires
but the most casual observation of the
Intelligent Individual to realize the Universal
prodigality of Nature in her destructive attitude
toward Individual Life. Everywhere
one may turn he is compelled to note the remarkable
and seemingly inexplicable fact that
the destruction and seeming sacrifice of Individual
Life is an important factor in the great
evolutionary plan of Nature for the Unfoldment
and Development of "Individual Intelligence."
In "The Slaughterhouse of Nature," as the
poets have designated, every species of Individual
animal life (below the level of the
human) is sacrificed as nourishment on which
to feed and develop the physical bodies of the
more aggressive and powerful Individuals of
so-called "higher species" who are waiting to
devour them as rapidly as Nature can produce
them and bring them into her "Slaughterhouse"
for sacrifice.
And yet, this phase of the great problem of
Individual Life, wherein the sacrifice of the
Individual for the perpetuation of species, the
sacrifice of the weaker for the benefit of the
stronger, betrays the wantonness and seeming
cruelty of Nature in that she has made the
deliberate and purposeful destruction of Individual
Life an established institution for the
evolution of Individual Life and Intelligence.
If one could but obtain a clear glimpse of
Nature's process in operation he would see
that everywhere, throughout the entire Universe
of living things, Individual death goes
hand in hand with Individual Life, and is
Nature's commissary department for the supply
of food to sustain the Individual Life of
higher forms.
It must be admitted by every sane and Intelligent
Individual that all the moralizing
possible within the kingdom of Man will
never change the Universal order of Nature
for the perpetuation of Individual Life, nor
alleviate one iota of the suffering incident to
the process whereby Nature carries forward
her scheme for the evolution of Individual
Life and the perpetuation of species.
In the kingdom of Man, wherein the Soul
Life Element becomes the dominant factor in
the evolutionary process of Individual Intelligence,
Nature has brought her process to a
development where Man—the product of her
endeavors—has evolved to a point of Intelligence
whence he becomes an active and constructive
co-worker with Nature in the
further evolution of Individual Life and Intelligence.
It is here that the Moral Element enters
into the great Plan. A new order is invoked,
and Individual Life becomes a sacred thing.
Up to this point in the evolutionary plan and
process, it has been inevitable—and therefore
legitimate and proper—that one form of life
should feed upon another, with absolute impunity.
There could be no possible question
as to the right or the wrong of the process;
because it had been planned and inaugurated
by Nature herself. Man had no responsibility
whatever for its existence, and no power
to alter it, even in the slightest degree possible
to conceive. He might, with the utmost dignity,
and in all sincerity, enact all manner of
"laws for the prevention of cruelty to animals"—
and the big fishes would go right on
eating the little fishes, "in the same old way"
—the frog would eat the fly and the snake
would eat the frog and the weasel would eat
the snake and the cat would eat the weasel.
The chicken would eat the worm and the
hawk would eat the chicken. Not one of them
all would suffer so much as a qualm of conscience.
Each would feel that it had done the
natural thing.
There is absolutely no basis or foundation
in Nature to sustain a religion that is founded
upon the doctrine or the dogma of the "Sacredness
of all Individual Life."
The sacredness of Individual Life, however,
should apply, and does apply, to the
human kingdom of Life, in this:
That every Intelligent, normal, mature Individual
human being is bound by the fundamental
principle of Morality, to respect the
right of every other normal human being, to
Life. Our fundamental Law also adds ''Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness."
We are equally bound to respect the right
of every domestic animal (employed in the
service of humanity) to its own Individual
Life, and to such comfort and enjoyment as it
is possible for man to bring to these, his natural
servants and helpers.
By analogy it may likewise be said that
Life, being the unit of value by which
all other values are relatively determinable,
whatever in Nature holds the largest measure
of Life is of greatest value in the economy of
the Universe.
It is by this rule that Man measures up to
the standard of Supreme Value and Importance
in the limitless Universe of Infinite
Nature.
Human life represents "Life Supreme"
upon the material plane of this earthly planet.
Human life, when measured by the true
standard of exact values in Nature, is the most
precious possession possible to any Individual
upon this particular planet of Earth.
In the realm of human life, where the Soul
Life Element enters and becomes the dominant
life influence and power, the value of
Individual human life becomes supreme.
Man knows—because he is a "Responsible
Individual Intelligence," endowed with a
moral sense of Right and Wrong—that it is
morally wrong for him to eat his brothers and
sisters. He knows that Individual human
life is a sacred thing, and that it must be protected.
Recognizing the righteousness of the law,
he proceeds to organize human society upon
it. With his fellows, he forms and enters into
the social compact wherein all are bound to
respect and defend the right of Individual
Life. Upon this principle he learns that
whatever incites hostility, engenders strife,
cultivates enmities, or impels mankind to the
exercise of physical might, encourages a natural
disregard of the value of Individual
human Life, and impels mankind to its ruthless
sacrifice.
In due time, as naturally as the induction
of the Soul Life Element implants in man a
moral nature, the sacredness of Individual
human Life becomes the fundamental principle
upon which alone human society may
perpetuate itself indefinitely.
As we learn the sacredness and the value of
Individual human life, we naturally turn our
attention and our endeavors to the establishment
of those conditions, and those only,
which exercise a constructive and perpetuating
influence upon all Individual human life,
and upon the life of human society itself.
From personal experience every Individual
human being, in course of time, comes to
realize the fact that his Attitude has much
to do in determining his influence upon the
society of which he is an important integral
part. He knows that, by the exercise of his
powers alone, he may become either a constructive
or a destructive influence upon society
and among his fellows. He may become
a constructive and healthy unit in the social
structure; or he may become a destructive
and disintegrating unit, a unit of decay and
death, the antithesis of Life.
If he would become a deadly infection
within the body of society, spreading the
putridity of his poisonous presence broadcast
among the healthy cells of society, making his
pathway a trail of death among his fellows,
let him harbor within himself the passion of
anger, the spirit of envy, jealousy or malice,
the desire to hurt or to injure his associates,
the purpose to spread dissensions, hostility
and personal enmity wherever he goes, the
ambition to rule or to ruin. He need not wait
long to realize the destructive and deadly influence
he has thus set in motion among his
fellows and associates. His putrescent presence
will proclaim him a power for evil and
the potencies of death will follow him wherever
he may go.
Self-Unfoldment: The Practical Application of Moral Principles to the Living of a Life
By J. E. RICHARDSON Author of Vols. II, III, IV, V and Editor of Vol. I
HARMONIC SERIES
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