Page:A Collection of Esoteric Writings.djvu/344

330 God, on the ground that it would be incompatible with freedom of will on the part of man."

I shall examine these reasons seriatim.

I.The first reason for the inference involves a misstatement of the author's view. Mr. Sinnett says that the unmanifested basis of the manifested cosmos is "matter animated by motion, its Parabrahm or spirit" (p. 183). Motion that animates Cosmic matter is not equivalent to motion in general. The motion of a cricket ball, for instance, is not to be considered as motion that animates matter. Molecular motion, in the particles of a decomposing body, is, no doubt, motion, but it is not motion that animates the dead body. The qualifying clause is used by Mr. Sinnett with a definite object. Parabrahma is often spoken of as "the One Life" by the Buddhist philosophers, and is considered as the Mahachaitanyam (an equivalent expression) by the Adwaitees. And even Kabalists have described En-soph as "The life that is no life." The word "animates" is calculated to draw the reader's attention to this aspect of Parabrahma. I fail to see the incongruity really involved in further investing Paramatma with the attributes of motion. When heat, light, and electricity are the manifestations, or effects, of particular kinds of motion, the material plane of action being the same in the opinion of modern science, there is nothing very ridiculous in the assertion that the life existing in Mulaprakriti and manifesting itself in various forms in differentiated and organized Prakriti, is but the effect of a mysterious kind of motion. Perhaps, we shall be informed by Mr. Maitland that the First Cause cannot have the essential attributes of motion, as some pre-existing force or energy is required to produce this motion. But there is no necessity for any such supposition. Every force or energy in nature, when properly examined, will be found to have in itself some kind of motion or other. When correctly stated, the author's assertion amounts to saying that Parabrahma pervades the infinite expanse of cosmic