which supports and holds together the universe of changing things. It is the eternal background upon the surface of which appears the endless procession of changing forms, shapes, states, and conditions of the phenomenal Universe—the Moving-Picture Show of the Cosmos.
MONISM.
Professor Pringle-Patterson says: "Monism is, in strictness, a name applicable to any system of thought which sees in the universe the manifestation or working of a single principle. Such a unity may be said to be at once the tacit presupposition and the goal of all philosophic effort, and in so far as a philosophy fails to harmonize the apparently independent and even conflicting facts of experience, as aspects or elements within a larger whole, it must be held to fall short of the necessary ideal of thought. Dualism, in an ultimate metaphysical reference, is a confession of the failure of philosophy to achieve its proper task; and this is the justification of those who consistently use the word as a term of reproach."
THE REPORT OF INTUITION.
In addition to the report of reason regarding the necessity of an ultimate Principle of REALITY, the intuition of man has ever informed him of the existence and presence of an abiding, unchangeable Something Within—a Something which transcends all intellectual knowledge and reasoning processes, but which is perceived to be ever present at the very heart of one's being, the very soul of one's soul. Intuition informs man that he is resting upon a great sea of REALITY, that there is a Something underneath and back of him which is the supporting REALITY of his being and life. So universal is this perception of intuition that the reason is bound to take it into consideration and to combine and correlate it with its own reports and judgments. Moreover, it remains for the reason to interpret and announce that which the intuition inevitably perceives.
The conception of Deity—God—as immanent in his creation, and indwelling in the hearts of men, is the vague but insistent report of intuition which perceives in the center of the nature and being of the individual the existence and presence of that Something which is the essence, nature, substance, and very being of All-that-is—that which is called REALITY. As an advanced teacher has said: "The being you have heard of as God exists metaphysically but as an idea of your mind, and really is an attempt on the part of your mind to grasp the nature of your own being; and it is the business and duty of every human entity to assume absolute identity with the idea of God. The idea of God is the best description in the universe, in its purity and in its perfection, of what you really are, thrown out, as it were, a thought picture upon the enterprise of the universe." The universal intuitive perception and conception of a God of some kind is the result of this inevitable report of intuition that there is a REALITY in which we live and move and have our being, and which also lives and moves and has its being in ourselves.
Chapter IV.
Axioms of Reality—Continued.
AXIOM OF INCLUSIVENESS.
SECOND AXIOM OF REALITY: REALITY is All that is in actual Being; all that is in actual Being is REALITY.
THIS AXIOM announces the inclusiveness of REALITY. REALITY is perceived to include within its content and being All that actually is in BEING—all that really is. REALITY is perceived actually to BE ALL-there-is. Likewise, it is perceived that all that occurs, appears, or is presented in the form, shape, state, or condition of "Becoming" is not in actual BEING, and therefore is excluded from the content and being of SPIRIT.
ACTUAL BEING.
"Actual BEING" is that which is existent in truth, in verity, and in fact; that which has a fixed, unalterable, eternal existence; that which is the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. Nothing that changes in Time can be said to be in actual BEING, for it does not exist in its original state even for the briefest moment of consideration in thought. Even if we reduce the period of thought-consideration to the infinitesimal point of a second of time, the phenomenal thing under consideration undergoes change during that consideration—this from the fact that Time itself is but a record of change, and the smallest period thereof must be a record of change. A thing which changes even in the infinitesimal moment of time when it is under consideration by the mind cannot be said to have been in actual Being at all. All that has been perceived as in apparent existence is a series of changes of form, shape, state, or condition; a procession of such and no one real, abiding thing; there has been no actual Being at all, merely a series of states of "Becoming." The only actual Being is vested in the essence, nature, substance, and principle of the Thing.
"BECOMING."
"Becoming" is a term used in philosophy to designate the ever-changing state of phenomenal things. The term means "passing from one state to another." Many philosophers, ancient and modern, from Heraclitus the Ephesian (500 b.c.) to Bergson of to-day, have held that to the universe there is no BEING but only an eternal "Becoming." If the universe be conceived of as simply an eternal series of changing things, with no unchanging background or continuous essence, then this theory holds good, for there can be no BEING in a series of infinite changes, for nothing would persist long enough to Be; even at the instant of its birth it would have begun to change into something else. Everything in the phenomenal Universe is undergoing this eternal change. As Bergson says: "Though we may do our best to imitate the mobility of ‘becoming' by an addition that is ever going on, ‘becoming' itself slips through our fingers just when we think we are holding it tight." The idea of "Becoming" is that there are no things, but only actions; no fixed thingness, but only changing events. Bergson compares the universe to a great moving picture which is never in actual BEING for a single moment but which is always "Becoming"— the rapid motion giving to the "Becoming" the appearance of actual BEING. Unless we grant the unchanging Essence or background of REALITY, then, indeed, there is no actual BEING.
This axiom includes in the content and being of REALITY all that is in actual BEING. Likewise, it excludes from the content and being of REALITY all that is merely "Becoming." Thus we see the actual existence of all "Becoming" is denied; the appearance of such must be accounted for in another way.
AXIOM OF INVARIABLE IDENTITY.
THIRD AXIOM OF REALITY: REALITY is always and invariably itself, and never other than itself.
This axiom announces the invariable identity of REALITY. It accords with the Primary Laws of Thought which hold that a thing is always itself, and never other than itself, in spite of the forms, shapes, states, or conditions under which it occurs, presents itself, or appears. REALITY can never, under any circumstances, be other than itself, no matter what disguises it may assume in manifestation in the phenomenal world. Neither can it change itself into something else, or become something else, than itself. Neither can it change the ultimate facts of its essence, nature, substance, and REALITY. Neither can it acquire characteristics, qualities, properties, or attributes not originally and essentially its own. All apparently such must be recognized as merely a part of the phenomenal world of appearances. Nothing can rob BEING of its invariable identity. Neither can it itself divest itself of its invariable identity. REALITY and its invariable identity are inseparably bound together, and are the one and the same thing, forever undivorceable. The reason is unable to think otherwise. So long as the reason functions it must report the truth of the Axiom of Invariable Identity. Nothing can be other than itself. REALITY must ever and invariably remain itself and nothing else.
AXIOM OF THE NEGATION OF NOTHINGNESS.
FOURTH AXIOM OF REALITY: "Nothingness," being the negation of REALITY, does not exist.
This axiom announces the Negation of Nothingness. The conception of Nothingness is the antithesis of the conception
