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Lesson XI: Matter and Force.455
Haekel in his great work “The Wonders of Life,” lays down the doctrine
of a Monism composed of a “trinity of Substance.” He formulates it in the
following three propositions: “(1) No matter without force and without
sensation; (2) No force without matter and without sensation; (3) No sensation
without matter and without force.” He goes on to say of the above: “These
three fundamental attributes are found inseparably united throughout the
whole universe, in every atom and every molecule.” This is a most wonderful
admission coming from one of the leaders—if not the leader of modern
materialistic thought. Its significance will be appreciated by those of our
students who are familiar with the old materialistic point of view, as contrasted
with that of the Yogi teachings. Haekel in his consideration of the three-fold
aspect of Substance, holds that Matter is an extended substance, occupying
infinite space, and being eternal and unchangeable; that Energy or Force is
also infinite, in eternal motion, and unchangeable in its sum-total, according
to the law of the “conservation of energy”; that sensation being joined to
matter and energy as the third attribute of substance, the universal law of
the permanence of substance must be extended to it, therefore, sensation
must be eternal and unchangeable in its quantity or sum-total. He holds that
the “changes” in sensation, like those in matter and energy, mean only the
conversion of one form of itself into another form of itself. It will be seen that
by “sensation,” Haekel means that which we call Mind, for he explains that
“the whole mental life of humanity…has its roots in the sensations of each
individual,” and he approvingly quotes Nageli’s remark that: “The mind of
man is only the highest development of the spiritual processes that animate
the whole of nature.” Consider this as coming from the centre of advanced
materialistic thought. Is not the trend of events made plain?
The student will note the differences between the Yogi Philosophy and
Scientific Monism as expounded by Haekel and other leading scientists
representing the school of “The New Materialism.” The Yogi Philosophy
teaches the existence and being of the only Reality—the Absolute, which
reality manifests in the shape of Three Great Relativities, Matter or Akasa;