The Theosophical Seal - Canadian Theosophical Association

The Theosophical Seal by Arthur M. Coon
of manifestation. But it is possible to conceive of spirit and matter as emanating from this Absoluteness,
this Undifferentiated Be-ness.
MATTER AND MOTION
Yet it is not spirit and matter which is the first pair of ultimates but spirit and motion. If we reason for a
moment we shall see that it is motion which is the first creative act. Spirit moved! Motion precedes matter
rather than being the result of matter. Science agrees with the occult teachings that matter, however
dense or solid, may be reduced to motion This reduction of all matter in the universe to motion would
justify the theory held by many that matter is an "illusion" and an "unreality". This line of thought could run
in a vicious cycle, and "reason" the subjective world out of existence. Our sense of reality requires a
radical adjustment.
TIME AND SPACE
Since the very first act of Deity is motion,there comes with that action the concept of space. Action
predicates motion,and motion implies space. Without space the idea of movement is impossible.
Movement must go somewhere. Space brings the idea of extension which is its measure. Again,the idea
of movement in space brings with it the idea of time. However swift the motion, a time element enters;
and with time comes its measure duration. The idea of a divine creation brings into our minds a whole
series of dual concepts: Spirit-Matter or Spirit-Motion, Motion-Space, Space-time, Extension-Duration.
Each would be unthinkable without its twin counterpart.
TIME AND ETERNITY
When we think of reality in relation to time, many problems immediately appear: for instance, past,
present and future. We are living in a time-world which is ceaselessly slipping past us. Actually we live in
a point which we call the present. All that we really have is this "now". Yet the moment we think of it,that
instant of "now" has become the "past" and a million new instants out of the "future" have taken its place,
and as relentlessly have disappeared into the past. This "past" we have only as memory; the future exists
for us only in anticipation. We have been told that only the "now" is real. But does this "now" embrace
past, present and future We are like passengers on a train moving across a vast countryside. Where we
are at any given moment is "now". In this sense, time is an illusion, because our "now" is continually
slipping past us as our train moves swiftly on into the "future" But our reason tells us that the whole
countryside was there before we arrived,and that it remained there after we had gone by. The illusion
was within ourselves.
And though we may recognise this elusiveness for what it is, we never for a moment think of it as an
unreality. We could hardly expect reality to be conditioned by our cognisance of it. Who can say where
reality begins and ends And what is its relation to time and eternity Is there an "eternal" outside of
time Put this question another way. Each of us has at one time asked - do we step out of time into
eternity at the moment of death Or is time but a finite segment of eternity marked off by the movement
of certain heavenly bodies,mush as we see objects from the window of a fast-moving train When did
time begin, and will it ever cease to be What, after all, is eternity Has there always been an eternity
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