The Dramatic Universe builds an account of the significance and
purpose of man's existence on the earth, revealing a great task that
necessitates a two-way communication with Higher Intelligences. The
four-volume work is a complete journey through JG Bennett's search to
give expression to the systematisation of the whole Universal Drama.

Spanning fifty chapters from 'Points of Departure' to The Next Age of
Mind', the Dramatic Universe provides a total unified picture of Man, the
World, and God by synthesising the three domains of fact, value and
harmony.This is achieved through a framework of determining conditions
postulating Being time as Eternity, and Will time as Hyparxis. Complete
self-development is needed in order to fulfil our destined role in the
spiritualisation of existence and this, in turn, requires fulfilment of our
potential in being and our development of will. Man's 'eternity blindness'
is the cause of our inability to perceive potential and to experience how
to participate fully in the Great Work.

Volume Two examines the properties of multi-termed systems, using Fact-
Value as Dyad, Being as Tetrad and Spirit as Pentad. Spirit is postulated as
the fulfillment of potentialities, thus becoming, of necessity, hazardous.

John G Bennett was a writer, mathematician, scientist, linguist, explorer, mystic,
philosopher, visionary and teacher. For over forty years he wrote and revised the
work which was finally published as The Dramatic Universe. Among the
remarkable people influencing Bennett's life over this span of time were Peter
and Sophia Ouspensky, George Gurdjieff, Muhammed Subuh, the Shiva Puri
Baba, Reverend Father Dalle, Idries Shah and Hasan Shushud.

Making his own synthesis, Bennett was enabled in the last four years of his
life to share his extraordinary wealth of teaching with the many students
attracted to his International Academy for Continuous Education. Talking on
subjects relating to the structure and pattern of The Dramatic Universe, he
gradually led his students to a profound - indeed previously unexplored -
revelation of the future.

Witness, JG Bennett's autobiography, has recently been republished by
Bennett Books, and describes his search in detail.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The Dramatic Universe was first planned as a single volume in two
parts: the first to be an enquiry into Unity in the natural world and the
second a search for Harmony in the world of values. I believed that a
way to harmonize the two great Domains of Fact and Value could be
found by extending the traditional framework of four-dimensional
space-time to include two further dimensions, or degrees of freedom.
Such extension seemed to me inherent in the very nature of our experi-
ence. Without it the age-old conflict of free-will and determinism could
never be resolved, nor confidence in the universal validity of natural
laws reconciled with belief in the reality of the Supernatural.

From these ambitious but circumscribed beginnings, the under-
taking grew into a search for the meaning and purpose of man's life
on the earth. The subject-matter overflowed into that of a book I had
written on Gurdjieff's teaching and method, and I found I could not
separate them. New insights came, and the volume of available material
grew to such proportions that it could no longer be contained in a single
volume.

It was therefore agreed that the Foundations of Natural Philosophy
should be published first. This volume appeared in 1957, and consisted
of two books: the first dealing with the Foundations, and the second with
the Natural Sciences. The main innovations in Book I were the treatment
of the Categories of Fact as a progression from abstract to concrete, and
the replacement of the Cartesian dualism of matter and mind by the
triad, Function, Being, Will, as the basic elements of all experience.
The chief feature of Book II was the systematic development of the
geometry in six dimensions and its application to the phenomena of
dynamics, physics, chemistry and biology. The systematization of the
Natural Sciences was sought in a three-fold division of the material into
the hyponomic or physical, autonomic or vital, and hypernomic or
cosmic worlds.

The study of Values was to be undertaken in Volume II, which should
have appeared in 1958. Various causes, and especially my discovery of
Subud* and the obligation I accepted to help in making it known
throughout the world, delayed the final revision for three years. During
this time, my own understanding of the entire problem was profoundly

• Cf. Concerning Subud, Hodder & Stoughton, 1958 and 1959-

x                                   author's note

changed, partly by my experience of Subud, and partly by the gradual
clarification in my interpretation of multi-term systems.

Once again, the material had grown vastly in length. Seeking to
fortify my conclusions by drawing on the works of others, I had over-
loaded the manuscript with quotations and references—often obscuring
my own thought. I undertook what I fondly believed to be a final re-
vision, eliminating all but the most scanty references to authority, and
seeking to state my own position more simply than I had done in the
first volume.

When the manuscript was set up in print it ran to more than eight
hundred pages—an impossible bulk for one volume. Moreover, the
study of Values leading to an exposition of the Cosmic Drama on the
scale of Universal Existence was evidently a theme sufficient for one
book. This consisted of just half the material.

We therefore agreed, my publishers and I, to divide the work and
publish the Foundations of Moral Philosophy as this second volume. This
involved further revisions.

The third volume is now in preparation and will be published under
the sub-title History and Harmony. In this last book of the Dramatic
Universe, I develop a scheme of values based upon a progression of
twelve categories, making fuller use of the properties of multi-term
systems. The notion of Harmony is put forward as the universal
Quality by which the abstract develops into the concrete, and in which
the meaning and purpose of all existence is contained.

These notions are then applied, first to the study of history—parti-
cularly that of mankind—and then to an examination of human destiny,
both in the individual and in societies. The work ends with an attempt
to forecast the future development of man as a being destined to enter
a condition of Collective Consciousness in which the human race will
acquire Universal Individuality, and become aware that its task goes
beyond the terrestrial scene and that it is destined to take its part in the
Cosmic Drama.

J. G. Bennett.

Coombe Springs,
Kingston-on- Thames,
June, 1961.

PREFACE

In this second volume, we pass from the Domain of Fact, where
everything is knowable, to the Domain of Value, where nothing can be
known and where we must rely upon faculties other than sense-percep-
tion and mental constructs if our explorations are to be fruitful. The
word "ought" does not express an element of knowledge: its meaning is
not given in sense-experience or in any mental construct, and yet the
word and all that it invokes is no less important than the word "know".
Indeed, if we examine the situation carefully, we find that ought comes
first. Does it matter what we know or do not know unless there is some
action that we ought or ought not to take in consequence?

All that is connected with the word "ought" belongs to the field of
moral philosophy, as all that is connected with "know" belongs to natural
philosophy. Moral philosophy differs from morality in that its task is
to place the word ought in the context of a coherent and comprehen-
sive world picture. This is closely related to the aim I set myself, in
writing the Dramatic Universe, of showing that we can hope to construct
for ourselves an ampler and more consistent account of the significance
and purpose of man's existence on the Earth than was possible before
the recent advances in natural science, historical research and human
psychology. One of the conclusions I have reached is that we must
regard the human race as it now exists on the earth as being at an early
stage of development towards a true humanity. It may be that another
ten million years will be needed for mankind to reach maturity. If this
is even approximately true, it follows inevitably that our knowledge of
the universe and of human destiny must still be very childish compared
with what we may ultimately reach. We seem to be moving rapidly,
and there are many bold enough to believe that within a few generations
the major secrets of cosmology will have been unveiled. My own con-
viction is very different—it seems to me more probable that in the next
millennium we shall begin to be aware of the depth of our ignorance
of the universe and its secrets.

A reviewer discussing the first volume wrote that any attempt at an
over-all synthesis of human knowledge must be premature. Such rapid
progress is being made in every branch of learning—except moral
philosophy—that any comprehensive theory is likely to be out-of-date

xii                                                  PREFACE

before it becomes known. All this is true, and yet it seems to me that
we cannot base our attitude towards Fact upon a shifting foundation of
scientific discovery and our attitude towards Value upon no foundation
at all—or at best upon a world picture several thousand years old.

The chief reason why I have been bold enough to attempt the task
of constructing a universal synthesis is that I have become convinced
that a far-reaching simplification and clarification of the material is
obtained by examining the properties of multi-term systems. There
are properties associated with each such system that cannot be found
in systems with fewer terms. When we use words in the context of an
inappropriate system, they lose their meaning.

It seems that the richer and more significant the content of experience,
the greater the number of distinct properties required for its expression.
Metaphysics is for some people a closed book and for others a dubious
and outdated exercise. Most of the difficulties and defects of meta-
physical thinking have come from attempting the impossible: that is,
the reduction of concrete experience to terms that are inadequate for
its expression. For example, a convinced monist is not entitled to
use the word "difference", or to say that the Reality of the One is
to be opposed to the illusoriness of the many. Difference and opposition
have meaning only in two-term systems. No confirmed dualist is entitled
to discuss relations, for relationship has meaning only in a three-term
system. Mathematicians are well aware that the word "order" has
meaning only for a four-term system, and yet they may be satisfied
with philosophical dualism, which strictly speaking should reject "order"
as a meaningless word.

Once we learn to associate the meaning of certain key words—such
as wholeness, difference, relatedness, order, potentiality—with the
right kind of system, metaphysical thinking loses many of its terrors.
Moreover, in doing so we find that the concreteness of our experience
is preserved, and we no longer have the sense of peering into a world
haunted by a spectral woof of impalpable abstractions that no static
Absolute, however richly endowed with appearances, can ever
wholly escape.

These things matter to us, because the pressure of life makes it dan-
gerous to seek refuge in abstractions when the spiritual realities beckon
us on. Abstraction is separateness; concreteness is the only true way to
union. Many believe, as I do firmly, that mankind is passing out of an
Epoch of separateness and entering a period when our chief concern
will be to see how we can live together on this planet as a single human
society. We feel that great changes are coming, but we still lack a co-

PREFACE                                                       xiii

herent world picture which will provide a context for the new "one-
world" morality that will guide us in the future.

The present volume of the Dramatic Universe is the outcome of forty
years of searching, during half of which—that is, since 1939—I have
made many attempts to formulate this picture in words. More than ten
years have passed since a version of the present book was submitted to
my publishers and a contract signed for its publication. Since then, it
has been re-written six or seven times, and I must confess that I am
less satisfied with it than ever. Again and again, I have asked myself if
it were not better to abandon such an absurd undertaking. The absurdity
consists in the requirement I set myself from the outset to fulfil—that is,
to take account, as far as lay in my power, of the totality of human
experience. It has seemed to me that accumulation of knowledge in
all branches of scientific, historical and humanistic research could
never, of itself, lead to the unification of our world picture.

Thought, as we know it, is an instrument of analysis, not of synthesis.
Applied to human problems, it leads to divisions and conflicts rather
than to agreement and understanding. The possibility of a new synthesis
appears to me to be based on a right understanding of multi-term
systems, starting with the triad, but this implies a readiness to forego
logical consistency and to embark upon seas in which many a good
ship has foundered.

The scheme of the present book began to take shape in 1931, but I
soon discovered that I was not then ready to carry through the task.
It was not until 1941, after the beginning of the war, that I seriously
started the project, when I used to meet regularly with a group of fellow-
students and read with them portions of the manuscript and reconsider
and revise it in the light of their comments. This work continued for
several years until we began to be at least a little more skilled in applying
the properties of multi-term systems.

This second volume is devoted to the study of multi-term systems
as far as the pentad. From Will as triad and Being as tetrad, we come
to postulate Spirit, as the source and fulfilment of potentialities and
hence as associated with the pentad. Recognition that the fulfilment of
potentialities is always and necessarily hazardous confronts us with the
Cosmic Drama. In Vol. III we shall enter the Domain of Harmony
and its realization in History. The work ends with the application of the
results obtained to the private and social problems that arise from the
dual nature of man as an actual Self and a potential Individual.

I have already referred to the great help that I have received in writing
this book from the patience of my fellow students at The Institute for

XIV                                                       PREFACE

the Comparative Study of History, Philosophy and the
Sciences. They have not only heard the manuscript read many times
but have also read, studied and commented on the drafts that have
been issued at various stages of revision. I received especial help in the
years 1942-1950 from Miss Cathleen Murphy, Mr. Rowland Kenny
and Miss Hylda Field. Between 1950 and 1956 out of many helpers I
should mention Mr. Christopher Baynes and Mr. Bryan Cooke, the
latter having devoted a year to the critical examination of the manuscript.
At all stages, I have received special help from Mrs. E. and Miss June
Sawrey-Cookson, who have read the manuscript several times. Mr.
Hugh Heckstall-Smith has brought his remarkable critical faculties to
bear on many of the chapters and most unselfishly has devoted much
time to reading and criticizing the manuscript. I have also had help
from others who have kindly read and commented on the manuscript,
particularly the Reverend J. B. Hughes and Mr. Barry Sullivan. If
there is a certain clarity here that is lacking in the first volume, this is
largely due to the criticisms and suggestions I have received from these
friends.

Finally, I wish again to express my gratitude to my publishers and
printers; only those who have attempted to write a systematic treatise
in an unexplored field know how many corrections have to be made in
proof, if any degree of consistency is to be achieved. As I reluctantly
put aside the temptation to start again from the beginning, my dominant
feeling is of wonder that so much should have been revealed to mankind,
and of amazement at the immensity of our own ignorance.

CONTENTS

author's note                                                                                     ix

PREFACE                                                                                                                                          xi

introduction. Multi-term systems                                               3

Systems defined and distinguished from classes—Russell
on Multi-term systems—Dyad and Triad—relatedness
as a quality—order as Tetradic—example of family—
potentiality as five-term—Eddington's five E-numbers—
Hexad and quality of event—higher term systems—
harmony of Being and Will in Dodecad.

THIRD BOOK: THE ELEMENTS OF VALUE
PART TEN: THE DYAD—FACT AND VALUE

Chapter 25. the two domains                                                    15

10.25.1.     The Task Ahead                                                               15

Value an element of all experience—though distinct from
Fact, the two can never be wholly isolated—we must
come in the end to the Domain of Harmony in which
Fact and Value are reconciled.

10.25.2.     The Irreducibility of Value                                               19

Judgments cannot be reduced to states of knowledge—
value experience always involves judgments and not
reducible to phenomenal terms.

10.25.3.    Value Experience                                                        20

Fallacy of Factualization of Values—Values not Platonic
ideas—value experience the recognition of quality as an
element of reality.

10.25.4.     Essence and Existence                .                                      23

Essence the pattern of qualities and Existence the hylic
content—Essence non-material and Existence material—
Value derives from the qualities of Essence—Fact derives
from the properties of Existence.

XVI                                                     CONTENTS

10.25.5.     The Seventh Degree of Freedom                                     30

All facts can be described in the six-fold metrical frame-
work of three kinds of space and three kinds of time—
values cannot be reduced to metrical terms—we can
postulate a non-metrical seventh dimension to permit
value judgments to be combined with statements of fact
—prohibited transformation—the notion of impossibility
of value.

10.25.6.     The Domains                                                                    32

The Domain of Fact comprises all permissible transforma-
tion of hyle—the Domain of Value the content of all
value experiences and judgments.

10.25.7.     The Intermediate Region                                                  3 3

The Domains represented diagrammatically—the corn-
presence of Fact and Value in all experience implies a
transition region in which both share.

10.25.8.     Realization                                                                         36

Value as a quality of Essence must be associated with
Fact in order to become concrete—this is called Realization
—the series of multi-term systems through which Value
is realized briefly described.

Chapter 26. synchronicity                                                         39

10.26.1.     Emergence                                                                         39

Experience has an emergent quality that is timeless—the
region between Fact and Value has a timeless quality—
emergence recognizable in the aesthetic experience—a
Pieta of Michaelangelo as illustration.

10.26.2.     Synchronicity                                                                    42

Fitness as of key to lock illustrates the timeless quality
here called synchronicity—denned and discussed.

10.26.3.    The Laws of Synchronicity                                           45

Timeless facts are determined by space, eternity and
hyparxis—their mutual influence can occur in six com-
binations—hence there should be six Laws of Synchron-
icity.

XV1U                                                   CONTENTS

11.27.2.     The Subjective Experience of Will                                   72

Hartmann and the Unconscious—-Kant's Ethic—Atten-
tion as a power of the Will—Will and Understanding.

11.27.3.     Will as 'Why', 'Thus' and 'How'                                      77

Will and relationship to Laws—illustrated by a river—
Will and the ultimate questions.

11.27.4.     Will and the Triad                                                            80

Relatedness requires three-term systems—Will as the
quality inherent in all three-term systems.

11.27.5.     Some Postulates Concerning Will                                     82

The Cosmic Impulses of Affirmation, Receptivity and
Reconciliation—Definitions and Postulates.

11.27.6.     The First Cosmic Impulse                                                85

Affirmation has many shades of meaning—Whitehead's
Creativity, Aristotle's Prime Mover, Spinoza, the elan
vital, the Chinese Yang, Raja guna—God as Power and
Majesty.

11.27.7.     The Second Cosmic Impulse                                            87

The 'other'—-the denying force—the opponent—also
Aristotle's Privation—as receptivity and the Mother
Principle—Yin and Tamas—Shakti and Shakta—the
second cosmic impulse as Receptivity in every possible
meaning of the term.

11.27.8.     The Third Cosmic Impulse                                          89

The reconciling spirit—Tao and Sattva—the quality of
impersonal Love—Freedom and Order.

11.27.9.     God and the Divine Will                                             90

God not a being—the Divine attributes recognized in all
religions correspond to the characteristics of the Third
Cosmic Impulse.

11.27.10. The Seven Worlds                                                            91

Man related to worlds, immediately, proximately and
remotely—also upwards and downwards—this makes
with man himself a cycle of seven worlds—worlds
recognized by modes of operation of Will—Worlds, Will
and Laws—six Primary Triads—Essential and Existential
Impulses—formal scheme of Laws in seven worlds.

CONTENTS                                                     XIX

11.27.11 The Systematics of the Will                                         97

Differentiations of Will arise from modes of relatedness—
the impulses forming a triad can differ in (a) their source,
and (b) the modes of conjunction—only six basic forms
of the triad are possible.

Chapter 28. the six fundamental laws                                100

11.28.1. Understanding                                                                 100

The triad the simplest multi-term system capable of
supporting qualities of mutuality and significance—
endless variability inherent in the triad—gives rise to
diversity of powers of the Will—understanding a power
of the Will—understanding and common sense—under-
standing derives from the Reconciling Cosmic Impulse.

11.28.2.     The Study of Laws                                                         103

Examples of the study of triads and laws.

11.28.3.     The Law of Expansion                                                    107

Expansion a transmission of affirmation—Expansion the
'how' of differentiation—generation, involution and
growth.

11.28.4.     The Law of Concentration                                              109

Unification initiated by receptivity—return to the Source
—true Evolution—Mother Nature—the purification of
Existence.

11.28.5.     The Law of Identity                                                       113

Static receptivity or Identity—Identity as 'thusness'—
Identity not mere passivity—outcome an affirmation—
quiddity and perseity.

11.28.6.     The Law of Interaction                                                  116

The total activity of the Universe—Natura naturata—
a pseudo-dynamic triad—an illustration of the law—
Interaction does not produce change.

11.28.7.     The Law of Order                                                          120

Receptivity unmixed with affirmation is Order—deter-
mination and consistency of all existence—Kantian
Category of Modality—the Law of Order as the Will of
God—the separation of the possible from the impossible.

XX                                                      CONTENTS

11.28.8. The Law of Freedom                                                      123

Uncommitted affirmation—Freedom and the Will of
God—Freedom an impossible triad—illustrations of
Law of Freedom—Freedom and Divine Compassion.

Chapter 29. individuality                                                         129

11.29.1.     The Individual Will                                                        129

Individuality distinguished from Self-hood—does not
exist and has no functions—discussion of various
doctrines of Individuality—B. Russell—Hegel—
Bosanquet — Kant — Schopenhauer — Vedanta —
Gnosticism — three Individual modes of the Will —
Cosmic — Universal — Complete — the Self-hood —
four modes—True Self—Divided Self—Reactional Self
—Material Self—togetherness of Individuality and Self-
hood constitutes the Soul.

11.29.2.     Essential and Existential Triads                                      132

Definition of essential and existential impulses—triads
of Essence—mixed triads—Existential triads—system-
atics of four Worlds.

11.29.3.     The Laws of World XII                                             135

Exclusion and commitment—Existence in and for itself—
Existence related to Essence—Existence and limitation—
criticism of Fallacy of Misplaced Existentiality.

11.29.4.     The Laws of Expansion 1-2-3 and 1-2-3*                   137

The triad 1-2-3 has direction—but at World XII it
bifurcates—Universal Involution and Individual Genera-
tion—Potentiality and Creativity.

11.29.5.     The Laws of Concentration 2-1-3 and 2-1-3*               140

Concentration is directed towards the source of Being
—Universal Concentration and Individual Evolution.

11.29.6.     The Laws of Identity 2-3-1 and 2-3-1*                        143

Universal Identity as the thusness of all Existence
separates into Individual Identity as "this and not that".

11.29.7.     The Laws of Interaction 1-3-2 and 1-3-2*                    146

The pervasive activity of all Existence separates into the
interactions of all existing wholes.

11.29.8.     The Laws of Order 3-1-2 and 3-1-2*                           148

Transitive and non-transitive Order—how determinative
of Existence.

CONTENTS                                                     XXI

11.29.9.     The Laws of Freedom 3-2-1 and 3-2-1*                       150

Freedom within the commitments of Existence distin-
guished from Freedom from these commitments.

11.29.10.   The Characteristics of Individuality                                152

The individualized Will is not a being—powers are of the
Will but their exercise is in Being—-man is a Self capable
of becoming the vehicle of Individuality.

Chapter 30. will and the self-hood                                     154

11.30.1.     The Nature of Self-hood                                                154

Discussion of various doctrines of Self-hood—Self-hood
is Will committed to Existence—the Self-hood of man
tripartite—the higher and lower parts of the Self are
affirming and denying factors with "I" or Ego as recon-
ciling.

11.30.2.     Expansion in World XXIV                                             157

Creativity and Procreation—Awakening and Mortality.

11.30.3. Concentration in World XXIV                                    159

Self-perfecting — Generation — Responsiveness and
Adjustment.

11.30.4. Identity in World XXIV                                            163

Cosmic Identity — Confrontation — Independence —
Separateness.

11.30.5. Interaction in World XXIV                                        168

Participation—Opposition—Struggle—Unrest.

11.30.6. Order in World XXIV                                                172

Quantitative and qualitative Order—the four forms of
order are value counterparts of the determining
conditions of Eternity, Space, Hyparxis and Time—
Pattern and Order.

.: 30.7. Freedom in World XXIV                                           177

Essential and existential Freedom—Freedom and the
three natures of the Self—Grace—Submission—
Understanding—Choice.

Xxii                                         CONTENTS

Chapter 31. the conditioned will                                      182

11.31.1.    The Worlds of our Common Experience                       182

The Divided Self under the laws of World XLVIII—it
is a two-term system with opposing natures—embodiment
—Reactional Self under the laws of World XCVI—
Material Self subject to physico-chemical laws—the
complete Self-hood of man spans seven worlds ; of
which the three highest correspond to the three modes of
Individual Will.

11.31.2.     The Divided Self                                                        186

Dependent upon existential supports—the seat of motives
—when dual nature of Divided Self is harmonized it
merges into True Self.

11.31.3.     The Lower Selves                                                           187

Reactional Self subject to null triads—hence also called
'Nullity'—cannot transmit more than one impulse of a
triad—is natural instrument for linking self-hood with
external world—Distinction between reaction and be-
haviour—Material Self cannot exercise powers of the
Will—Existence without Essence.

11.31.4.     Expansion in the Lower Worlds                                     191

Eight triads of Expansion—independent and dependent
Involution—causality—negative Law of Imagination.

11.31.5.     Concentration in the Lower Worlds                                194

Concentration can range from true Evolution of entire
Self-hood to acquisition of external property—its negative
manifestation is Narcissism.

11.31.6.     Identity in the Lower Worlds                                         197

The extremes are the Self and the Soma—negative
Identity is Fear.

11.31.7. Interaction in the Lower Worlds                                    201

Participation can degenerate into accidental encounters—
negative Interaction is Waste.

11.31.8. Order in the Lower Worlds                                            204

The four determining-conditions divide into public and
private conditions of existence—private and public space
and time—negative Order is Subjectivism.

CONTENTS                                                  XXiii

11. 31.9. Freedom in the Lower Worlds                                    207

Freedom ranges from Grace to Contingency—its negative
form is Identification.

PART TWELVE: THE TETRAD—BEING

Chapter 32. energies

12.32.1.

.32.2.

12.32.3.

12.32.4.

12.32.5.

12.32.6.

The Energies of Life

Life characterized by self-renewal and sensitivity—the
Tetrad of constructive, vital, automatic and sensitive
energies.

The Cosmic Energies

Consciousness and Transcendence characterize our
notions of the higher levels of existence—the combination
of these elements in a Tetrad supports four qualities of
energy : conscious, creative, unitive and transcendent—
the twelve qualities of energy and their main character-
istics.

215

Being and the Tetrad                                                 215

The transition from abstract relationships to the order of
Existence requires an additional independent term—
the Tetrad or principle of order formed of two dyads—the
Tetrad in ancient traditions—Being as an ordered series.

The Characteristics of Energy                                     216

Energy as vehicle of Will enables the abstract relationship
to become a concrete situation—development of the idea
of energy in modern thought—Aristotle—Young—Carnot
—Joule—Kelvin—three Laws of Thermodynamics re-
stated—energy as instrumental state of hyle—quality as a
third characteristic of energy distinct from quantity and
intensity—energy transformation—apparatus—engines—
generators—five propositions.

The Systematics of Energy                                             220

All forms of energy can be classified in terms of quality—
all are interconvertible by means of appropriate generators
or engines—mechanical, vital and cosmic energies—three
tetrads of energy—the plus-minus procedure.

The Mechanical Energies                                           223

Mechanical processes manifest disruptive and adaptive
tendencies—the Tetrad of mechanical energies : dis-
persed, directed, cohesive and plastic.

227

230

Xxiv                                        CONTENTS

12.32.7.     The Anabolic Transformations of Energy                    233

Anabolic transformations from lower to higher quality by
means of generators—theory of Fantappie—photosyn-
thesis—subjective transformations.                           

12.32.8.     The Instrumental Uses of Energy                                  237

Every function requires specific groups of energies—
mechanical, vital, psychic and cosmic functions.

Chapter 33. materiality, vitality and deity                    243

12.33.1.     The Interpretation of the Tetrad                                    243

Tetrad or principle of order—"between" and "before and
after"—significant order must be linked with both Fact
and Value—interpretation of Tetrad calls for exact
definition of the extreme terms of an ordered whole.

12.33.2.    The Notion of Transfinitude                                       244

Georg Cantor on transfinite numbers—the distinction
between Infinity and Transfinitude—the distinction
between Transfinite Reality and an Unfathomable Source
of which absolutely nothing can be predicated.

12• 33 • 3 • The Tetrad of Deity                                                  247

Deity as mode of Being distinguished from God as Will—
Deity comprises four notions derived from Tetrad—
Unfathomable, Transfinite, Limitless Being and All
Existence—meaning of those terms discussed.

12.33.4.     The Tetrad of Vitality                                                    251

Vitality is the blending of Essence and Existence—the
Tetrad of Vitality : Cosmic Life Principle—Uncondi-
tioned and Conditioned States of Being—Nature.

12.33.5.    The Tetrad of Materiality                                          254

Materiality derives its diversity from the blending of
Uncertainty and Causality—the Tetrad of Materiality :
Elemental, Constructive, Destructive and Inert States of
Existence.

12.33.6.     The Double Cycle                                                           260

The three Tetrads form an ordered sequence of twelve
terms—this can be read in either direction giving two
interpenetrating cycles within which all possible and
impossible modes of Being are comprised.

CONTENTS                                                    XXV

Chapter 34. CREATION                                                                          262

12.34.1.     Creation as Partition                                                      262

All notions of Creation of Being limply partition, with the
acceptance of one part and the rejection of another—this
is true even of Creation ex nihilo—Creation by partition
illustrated by examples.             

12.34.2.     The First Tetrad of Creation                                          265

The predicable and the unpredicable—partition of Being
and non-Being—of possible and impossible as Laws—
Existence and non-Existence.               

12.34.3.     The Second Tetrad of Creation                                  269

Existence of the Universe—whole and part—Universe—
Galaxies—Stars—Planets—solar creativity—planets as
vehicles—Life as independent creation.

12.34.4.     The Solid Earth                                                        275

Earth as Life's Mother and Life's Prison—the cycle of
Creation from Universe to Earth.

12.34.5. The Third Tetrad of Creation                                     277

Personal Devil rejected but denying mode of Existence
necessary for harmony of whole—togetherness and
isolation—purpose and cause—Dependence, Hazard
and Death—the Outer Darkness.

PART THIRTEEN: THE PENTAD—ESSENCE

Chapter 35. the spiritualization of existence               287

13..35.1. The Spirit and the Pentad                                          287

Spirit as the bearer of the value potential of Creation—
Hegel's Geist—the notion of latent significance implies
both inner and outer linkages—hence the Pentad as
bearer of the geistige Inhalt.

13 • 35 • 2 • The Notion of Reflux                                                      289

Essence is not a fact and existence is not a value—the
Spiritualization of Existence and the Realization of
Essence are combined in the Reflux of the Spirit—G.
Vico's scienza nuova—Spiritualization more concrete than
creation.

291

295

XXvi                                             CONTENTS

13 • 35 • 3 • The Reflux-Bond

Gurdjieff 's doctrine of Reciprocal Maintenance:—specific
interdependence as intimate linkage of essence and
existence—transflux equilibria in physics—the spirit is in
transflux equilibrium throughout the creation—the reflux-
bond as the universal dependence upon food—eating and
being eaten.

13.35.4. Essence-Classes

Essence as a pattern of potentialities—essences can be
grouped in classes in terms of salient characteristics—
twelve essence-classes defined and compared with the
levels of existence of Book I—notion of essence-classes
derived from Gurdjieff.

13 • 35•5• Essence Linkage—The Pentad                                    297

The link between food and eater cannot be reduced to a
triad—the Essence Pentad comprises three "inner" and
two "outer" terms—every essential pattern consists of two
opposing natures with a central nucleus—every essence is
food for the next class beyond its own higher nature and
feeds on the next class below its own lower nature—this
is the linkage of the Pentad.

13.35.6.     Bare Existence                                                           299

The lowest essence-class is formless existence—existence
without essence—the dyad existence-essence as the source
of a force that initiates the Reflux of the Spirit.

13.35.7.     The First Pentad—Crystalline Essence                           300

Crystals represent the simplest essence pattern—they are
linked to simple substances and the soil.

13 • 35 • 8. The Second Pentad—Soil Essence                                  302

Soil is the support of life—its essence pattern ranges from
crystals to plants.

13.35.9. The Third Pentad—Plant Essence                               304

Life emerges by way of vegetation—this links the soil with
germinal existence.

13.35.10. The Fourth Pentad—Germinal Essence                       306

Germ includes all forms of life capable of locomotion but
lacking in sentience—germinal existence is the core of the
vitality of the Biosphere—it ranges from plant to animal
nature.

CONTENTS                                            XXvii

13.35. 11. The Fifth Pentad—Animal Essence                             308

Animals as static essences—characteristic experience of
each animal species—animals necessary for man.

13.35.12.   The Sixth Pentad—Human Essence                               311

Man's nature ranges from animal to Demiurge—the
Pentad of Self-hood—man as an essence-class.

13.35.13.   The Seventh Pentad—Demiurgic Essence                      315

A Demiurgic existence postulated deriving from an
essence-class that does not require a physical body—
Demiurges are regulative entities, static in nature, that
maintain the universal order.

13.35.14.   The Eighth Pentad—Cosmic Individuality                     319

The last Pentad of the Reflux of the Spirit is the transition
from the limited to the Transfinite Essence—man is
associated with this pentad as the lowest member; that is,
as food for the Cosmic Individuality—the twin series,
static and dynamic essences—Law, Love and Harmony.

323

Chapter 36. GOD AND THE COSMIC DRAMA

13.36.1.    Divine Omnipotence                                                  323

Most paradoxes of Divine Omnipotence arise because
God is regarded as a Being—omnipotence is characteristic
of God as Third Cosmic Impulse.

13.36.2.     Man the Image of God                                                   326

Man's Self-hood a complete triad—in this sense man is
made in God's image—also freedom of the "I"—but not
man as existing being.

13.36.3.    Pictures of Deity                                                       328

God as being involves contradictions—orthodox theo-
logy or limited and evolving God—neither view satisfying
—Cosmic Will does not participate in Existence—no image
representing God as Will possible.

13.36.4.    The Hazards of Existence                                           329

The omnipotence of God compatible with the reality of
hazard—hazard has maximum intensity in central region
of Existence occupied by Life—man intimately concerned
in the Dramatic Universe.

XXViii                                                 CONTENTS

13 .36.5. The Hazards of Stars and Planets                               331

Solar creativity free both existentially and essentially—
therefore doubly hazardous—planetary existence also
hazardous but mainly in existential sense.

13.36.6. The Hazards of the Galaxies                                       330

Galaxies as independent cosmic units—exceedingly small
probability that any given Galaxy will fulfil cosmic purpose
—Galaxies and Universal Individuality.

13.3.7. The Cosmic Individuality                                               337

Is hazard to be ascribed to all Existence ?—Reconciliation
of Involution and Evolution possible only through Free-
dom—Freedom, Hazard and Sin—Life incomplete in
itself—Spirit Reflux hazardous because of Self-hood—
No power within Existence can remove its hazards—
Cosmic Individuality is beyond Existence and can redeem
all worlds—Cosmic Individuality and the Cosmic Logos
—Christ the Son of God—Incarnation—attributes of
Cosmic Individuality correspond to the Suffering Servant
of Isaiah—we share in the hazard and the sins of all
Existence and we also share in the hopes of the Cosmos.

Glossary                                                                                           341

Index—author and proper names                                                   349

—subject                                                                                           351

INTRODUCTION: MULTI-TERM SYSTEMS

The theme of the present volume is the transition from knowledge
of Fact as a whole to the realization of Value in a Harmony that tran-
scends both. Harmony cannot be simple, nor can it be found in
abstraction. We have to penetrate more and more deeply into the
concreteness of experience and, if we are not to lose our way in the
maze of discordant elements, we must have a principle to guide us.
We shall find this principle in the progressive enrichment of our
understanding as we pass from simple to co|mplex systems. By 'system',
we shall designate a mode of experience that has a characteristic
quality that cannot be reduced to simpler terms. Thus duality has the
quality of difference, that cannot be reduced to unity. We shall start,
in this Introduction, by outlining the qualities associated with the series
of systems that have one, two, three or more independent terms.

A system is to be distinguished from a class. A set of objects or
beings or ideas, taken without reference to any internal connections, is
called a class.* The class-concept is that property by which any given
object can be recognized as being either a member or not a member
of a given class. Thus, all living men who have red beards form a
class. One of the chief properties of a finite class is that its members
can be enumerated. On the earth, at a given moment, there is a definite
ascertainable number of red-bearded men. The same is true of any
other class, except the infinite class, such as the number of points on
a line. When a class is enumerated, the order of counting is indifferent,
for the definition of a class excludes any internal relationships which
might influence the result. A system difiers from a class by the posses-
sion of some inner connectedness or mutual relevance of its members
or terms. Thus, a family is a system, because the concept 'family'
implies mutual relevance. On the other hand, 'members of a family'
is a class, because 'membership' does not imply internal connections.

A class is an externally determined set of members and a system is
an internally connected set of terms. If a system has more than one
term it is called a 'multi-term' system, and the mutual relevance of the
terms gives every system a characteristic property or quality. The study

* This definition is due to Weierstrass and is the foundation of the theory of
numbers.

4                                      THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

of multi-term systems consists in ascertaining and describing the
properties of systems in general, as distinct from those that are in-
teresting by reason of the particular terms of which they are composed.
One and the same set may be treated either as a class or a system.
Thus, the number of terms of a system can be enumerated, and when
the internal connections are disregarded, as in the description 'members
of a family', the system degenerates into a class. There can, for example,
be a class with three members, and such a class has the property of
'three-ness' in common with all other classes of the same kind. This
is called similarity, and a cardinal number is defined as the class of all
classes similar to a given class. In simple language, this means that
every object in a class of ten can be paired off with a corresponding
object in all other classes of ten. Ten fingers, ten days, ten pennies
and any other set of ten can be counted so that one member of each set
corresponds to one of the other. This procedure does not imply any
structure or connectedness within the class, and it gives a 'bare' number
that has no other properties except that of defining the class of ten
members. The theory of cardinal numbers constructed according to
this initial procedure has been shown to be a branch of logic and the
foundation of mathematics. It is also possible to have an 'ordered' class
or series, such as the first ten numbers. This is not a true system, for
it does not take any account of the mutual relevance of the terms
except their order. Nevertheless, since the ordinal numbers are in
certain respects intermediate between classes and systems, we cannot
regard the distinction between class and system as quite free from
ambiguity. The truth is that no actual class is wholly free from inner
connections, so that classes are abstractions whereas systems are con-
crete. We never meet in experience with a 'bare' class; nor can it be
said that we meet with 'perfect' systems. This does not make the study
of systems any less important, for their 'qualities' can be recognized
even if we cannot isolate them as 'ideal elements of experience'. These
qualities form a series which penetrates more and more deeply into
the Domain of Value and by following it we can learn something of
the true nature of the Cosmic Harmony in which human destiny is
fulfilled.

The properties of systems are usually studied in terms of their inner
connectedness, but there is no general doctrine of systems based upon
the properties that are associated with the number of terms by which
they are constituted. This is strange, for philosophers have always
been deeply concerned with the question whether or not there is a
fundamental number system in the basic structure of reality. The

introduction: multi-term systems                  5

question may not be familiar in this form, but it will be recognized
at once in the disputes between monists and dualists, or between
monists and pluralists. These disputes concern the question whether
Reality can be reduced to one term only—the Absolute—or whether
there are two ultimate principles, such as things and minds, spirit
and matter, fields and laws, God and the Universe. The dispute between
those who hold that there is only One Will or Self, and those who
believe in a plurality of wills or selves, is also an argument about the
nature of multi-term systems. Dialectical philosophies, whether idealist
like that of Hegel or materialist like that of Marx, require that there
should be a real independence of the three terms, described as thesis
—antithesis—synthesis. The subject-predicate logic of Western thought
implies the real significance of such two-term systems as substance-
attribute, or qualities-relations. In every case, one system, whether
monistic, dualistic, trialistic or pluralistic, is singled out as primary,
and the remainder are regarded either as derivative or unreal.

Since Parmenides the. Eleatic demonstrated with ruthless logic the
absurd consequences of Absolute Monism, philosophers have been
bound to reckon with multi-term systems. There has been, however,
an extreme reluctance to admit that such systems are the very sub-
stance of the real world. It is said that animals are rarely able to count
beyond two: if this is true it would seem that philosophers have re-
mained until recently upon the animal level of thought.

In this present century, the two-term system of classical logic has
lost the unique place it held for more than two thousand years.
Bertrand Russell once wrote:* "The extension of the subject-predicate
logic is right as far as it goes, but obviously a further extension can be
proved necessary by exactly similar arguments. How far it is necessary
to go up the series of three-term, four-term, five-term relations, I do
not know. But it is certainly necessary to go beyond two-term re-
lations." The present writer well remembers the vivid impression made
upon him when he first read this passage thirty years ago. Comparing
this with J. H. Bradley'sf criticism of relations, he felt that the
solution lay neither in Bradley's Absolute nor in Russell's Atomism.
It did not seem right that the only way out of dualism should be
either to deny the reality of separate terms or to follow an infinite
regress that was equivalent in the long run to thoroughgoing scepticism
as to the value of any metaphysics at all.

The doctrine of logical types indicates that some words do not

• B. Russell, Essay on Logical Atomism in Cont. Brit. Phil. Series I, London, 1938.
J. H. Bradley, Appearance and Reality, 2nd Edn., London, 1897.

d.u. n—2

6                                   THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

refer to terms but to systems. For example, a single term may have
qualities, but it cannot have relationships. Relationship is the property
of a system, and at first-it might seem that any multi-term system
can exemplify relationships. It can readily be seen that a dyad—
that is, a two-term system—cannot carry a relationship. In Plato's
Timaeus* this is taken as self-evident. Nevertheless, the mental habit
induced by the form of the Indo-European languages is so strongly
ingrained that 'relatedness' continues to be regarded as a predicate like
'whiteness' or 'goodness'.

If relatedness is a property or quality that belongs to three-term
systems, the question arises whether there are other properties that
characterize systems with different numbers of terms. One example has
already been mentioned; that is, the property of difference. Difference
is obviously not predicable of a single term; and it is equally obvious
that it characterizes the dyad or two-term system. Moreover, difference
is always dyadic. If there are several terms A, B, C, D, E . . . etc., we
can only say they are all different if every pair is different. A must
be different from each of the terms B, C, D, E etc., and so with the
rest. Thus 'different' is a word that can have meaning as applied to
two-term systems and only to such systems. Moreover, the word
'difference' is akin to several other distinctive words, such as opposition,
contradiction, conflict, force, all of which taken together prescribe the
characteristic quality of a dyad.

Having started in this way, we can ask ourselves if there is any
need to go beyond three-term systems, or if all that we find in our
experience can be expressed in terms of the properties of monads,
dyads and triads. We need, therefore, to examine more closely the
characteristic quality of the triad.

Let us begin with distinguishing between real and fictitious triads:
the latter being properly classes and not three-term systems. The
triad Father-Mother-Child is a true system, because each of the three
terms brings a distinct character to the whole, which would not be
complete if any were omitted or changed. The relationship is that of
parenthood, and it occurs only in three-term systems where the dyad
man-woman has been transformed into the triad father-mother-child.
Any relationship can be expressed as a system of three terms. When
there are many terms all connected in various ways, the quality of
relatedness can never extend to more than three terms, for any fourth
term introduces some quality that goes beyond simple relatedness.

* Timaeus, 3 id. "Two things cannot be related without a third, there must be
some link between them . . . Proportion is the best possible linking",

introduction: multi-term systems                  7

This suggests three rules for distinguishing systems from classes,
namely:

1.  Each term must in some respect be distinct from each of the others.

2.  The terms must be mutually relevant, so that each is needed for
the characteristics of the others to be made manifest.

3.  The number of independent terms is a condition for the manifes-
tation of the characteristic quality of the system.

The third rule may seem to be arbitrary and unnecessary. Indeed,
in the case of relationships, it is usual to speak of three-term, four-
term and up to any number of 'related' terms. It can, however, easily
be shown that just as the property of 'difference' can always be reduced
to dyads, 'relatedness' can always be reduced to triads. Any true four-
term system always has some property that goes beyond relatedness.
For instance, Russell* asserts that the order of points on a line requires
a four-term relation, but here the word 'relation' has changed its
meaning. There is a true relationship of 'before-and-after', which
requires three points A, B and C. If order is to be manifested on a
line, the additional property of 'linearity' is required, and it is this
that calls for the four points A B C D in pairs. Linearity is a property
of projective space, which is a four-term system.

The quality of order is quite different from that of relatedness, and
cannot be reduced to (a) mere identity, one-term, (b) difference, two-
term, or (c) relatedness, three-term. The minimum requirement for
order is two pairs of independent terms. Order is more concrete than
relatedness, as relatedness is also more concrete than difference.
Abstract order is meaningless—that is why, for example, the order of
points is not specified merely by the relationship of 'before-and-after'
but requires also that some concrete locus, such as a line, should also
be specified. The same applies to the order of planes through a point.

More generally, it can be said that there is a property that gives
concreteness to a relationship and that requires four-term systems for
all its manifestations. This property can be called subsistence or
'relationship become concrete'. The distinction can be illustrated by
the transition from 'parenthood' to 'family'. The word 'family' implies
a togetherness of parents and children. Thus we can and do speak of
the break-up of a family, but there can be no break-up of parenthood.
This is not because parenthood is more real than a family, but because
it is no more than the relationship of father-mother-child, which does
not depend upon any term beyond itself and can therefore not be
changed by changes in the environment.

• Principles of Mathematics, Camp, 1903, pp. 364-373. Section on Relationships.
d.u. n—a*

8                                    THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

It might be argued that 'family' is a simple idea and does not need
four terms for its manifestation. But this is precisely an example of
confusing one mode of experience with another. A family is not the
same kind of entity as a man: without parents and children and also
their life in common, a family does not exist. Take away any of the
terms and the family has 'broken up'. Moreover, the family satisfies
the rules for a multi-term system. It is not a class, for its character
depends upon the distinction of the four terms father, mother, children,
life together. The four terms are mutually relevant, all are necessary,
and no more terms can be added without changing the family into
something different.

In general, we shall find that all the properties associated with
being or existence require four terms for their expression. The rela-
tivity of being, with its distinction of more-and-less,* is the fundamental
principle of order by which all existence is stratified. The tetrad has
gradations that cannot be expressed with less than four terms.

Now let us see what happens when a fifth independent term is added.
Let us return to the example of the family and suppose that a suitor
approaches one of the daughters with a view to marriage. This seems
to threaten the break-up of the family, but it also brings new possi-
bilities whereby the family can go beyond its own limitations. The new
fifth element has brought to light some of the potentialities latent in
the system. The point is that potentiality is once again more concrete
than mere order, but it cannot be expressed in fewer than five terms.
In geometry, order can be expressed in four dimensions of space-time,
but potentiality requires a fifth parameter. This was shown by
Eddington and has been discussed in Section 1.2.7. of the present work.
The five terms of a system bearing potentialities that go beyond mere
order or subsistence must be independent and yet mutually relevant.
We have thus to go beyond four-term systems in order to find living
properties that carry the germs of freedom. The pentad is order fertile
with potentialities beyond itself.

The six-term system, or hexad, can be seen as the minimum required
for prescribing the full concreteness of an event. Events are the
elements or ingredients of history, and are to be distinguished from
mere happenings, no one of which can be recognized as more sig-
nificant than another. The transition from the situation teeming with
potentialities, that we represent by the pentad, to the concrete event
is a step that can be recognized. Several conditions must be satisfied

* Cf. Vol. I, pp. 58-60.
t Cf. A. S. Eddington, Relativity Theory of Protons and Electrons, Cambridge, 1938.

introduction: multi-term systems                  9

before an event occurs in the midst of the indeterminate flux of the
universal process. An event implies an environment, the actors and
their relationships, and a specific confrontation of values upon different
levels. Without all these elements, the 'happening' lacks the unique-
ness and significance of an 'historical event'. It is not hard to show
that all the elements of any event can be reduced to six independent
but mutually relevant terms. From this we conclude that history, in
the true sense, requires the hexad.

From events in general to self-sufficing, 'complete' events a further
step is made. This requires the notion of a core or central significant
theme, the conflict of influences from higher and lower levels and a
complete system of inner and outer relationships. This gives seven
terms in all. Thus the heptad becomes the symbol of sufficiency,
the 'event confronting all events', or the event as an independent term
in the total system of existence.* In this sense, the heptad is treated
as comprising a central point and three dyads, each mutually inde-
pendent. There are many ways of approaching the heptad, and we
shall not attempt in the present work even the preliminaries of a
systematic examination. We shall, however, find.it necessary to make
use of the property of sufficiency, that characterizes seven-term systems,
wherever we are confronted with the notion or quality of independent,
self-sufficing wholeness. We shall sometimes meet also with qualities
that require eight-, nine-, ten- and eleven-term systems, all of which
seem to have important characteristics, but are too complex for analysis.

We cannot, however, omit all reference to the dodecad, or twelve-
term system, which seems to have a peculiar importance. It can be
regarded as the combination of three and four terms in such a way
that their mutual relevance is made manifest. Since the triad is asso-
ciated with Will and the tetrad with Being, the dodecad should have
the property of bringing Being and Will into mutual relevance. This
is probably one reason why the dodecad proves to be so important in
the systematization of human experience. The twelve-term system has
the property of Harmony, and therefore is a point of culmination or
rest in the realization of finite values.

The series of multi-term systems has, so far as we can be aware,
no upper limit. The only system beyond the dodecad which will be
considered here is that of an indefinite number of mutually relevant
terms. This is denoted an 'ideal society', to distinguish it from a
pseudo-society, where the terms are neither fully independent nor fully
relevant to one another. The ideal society is that in which each of the

• This is probably the same as Whitehead's 'actual occasion'. Cf. Process and Reality.

10

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

members is distinct and independent and yet is relevant to all the other
members of the system. The mutual relevance must be such that each
of the terms makes a definite contribution to the character of the
society as a whole that is both necessary and different from that of all
the others.

It is an indication of the restricted power that we have to apprehend
reality that we seldom go beyond two-term systems and have only
vague intuitions of the properties of the higher systems. In Book III
of this volume, we shall examine the properties of three-, four- and five-
term systems. In Vol .III we shall touch upon higher systems, particularly
the hexad and the dodecad. The conditions under which mankind
living on the earth may tend towards an ideal society can be studied
with the help of the results gained from an examination of the simpler
multi-term systems. We shall therefore end the enquiry with which
this book is concerned with a brief examination of an ideal human
society based upon the structure of the dodecad; that is, the Harmony
of Being and Will.

THIRD BOOK
THE ELEMENTS OF VALUE

Part Ten: The Dyad—Fact and Value
Part Eleven: The Triad—Will
Part Twelve: The Tetrad—Being
Part Thirteen: The Pentad—Essence

Chapter Twenty-five

THE TWO DOMAINS

10.25.1 The Task Ahead

In Book II, we set ourselves the task of bringing all our knowledge
of Fact within the scope of a few simple generalizations. The wealth of
knowledge accumulated by the natural sciences is beyond computation,
but it is all consistent with the belief that life plays a fundamental role
in the universe and is the link between the world of material processes
and the world of cosmic purposes. Since we men belong to the world
of life, our role too should, within the measure of our puny powers,
be that of reconciling the material and the spiritual realms.

Our experience contains two elements that seem to be irreconcilable
—Fact and Value—and, indeed, their incompatibility is the hall-mark
of their reality. All causes lie in the Domain of Fact and all purposes in
that of Value. Between cause and purpose, there is a gap which cannot
be bridged from either side. This view, which has gained general assent
among philosophers in the present century, is one of the most encourag-
ing signs of the times. But it is not the final view. Those who aspire to
fulfil the purposes of existence must seek for a deeper understanding
in which Fact and Value are harmonized, and through which their own
activity can be directed.

The distinction between "I ought to do this" and "the consequences
of failing to do this will be unpleasant for me" is similar in character
to the difference between value-judgments and propositions about facts.
A philosopher, whose point of departure is the presupposition that every
meaningful statement must refer to facts, might perhaps assert either
that the two sentences have the same meaning or that the first has none
at all. A similar dismissal of values might be applied to the distinction
between "this statue is beautiful" and "I experience pleasure when I
see this statue". In every such case we are faced with the question
whether or not statements that cannot be reduced to propositions about
Fact can be meaningful, and so be either true or false.

The question is one of the most difficult that man has to face, but

16

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

it is one that we must now confront. We need make no mystery either
of the programme of our search or of the outcome, in so far as we can
carry it to a conclusion. Our task is to express, in a form that can be
tested by experience, the conviction that to most people is in any case
obvious and inescapable; namely, that words like 'purpose' and 'aim'
and 'ought' do have a meaning that is not reducible to factual terms,
and that beauty, goodness and love are ultimate elements of experience,
having cosmic significance, and are not merely words that serve only
to describe subjective impulses or psychological states.

The trouble begins when we try to distinguish between 'real' and
'illusory' values, for in order to settle questions that by hypothesis are
not factual we cannot rely upon the tests that apply to facts. As we
cast our eyes back over the past history of mankind, we can see that
misunderstandings about values have been at least as frequent as, and
usually far more disastrous than, disagreements about fact. Moreover,
it is not sufficient that what we affirm about values should gain intellec-
tual—that is, functional—assent only. Unless our sense of value enters
effectually into our being-consciousness and our will-to-action, every
utterance on the subject of value is mere flatus vocis—the meaningless
sounds that logical positivism claims it to be.

To formulate our programme, we shall do well to recapitulate the
steps by which we have reached our present position. We took
experience—in the widest possible sense of the term—as the source
of all valid knowledge. It is given to us as an endless complex array of
elementary events, heterogeneous in their content, in their form, scale,
character and significance. This array not only furnishes us with the
raw material of all our knowledge, but it is also the fountain-head of
all possible understanding and the content of all possible consciousness.

The mind of man is incapable of grasping Experience in its given
totality, and we are therefore compelled to make various simplifying
abstractions such as are involved in the use of language and in all
thought-processes. The abstractive steps are, for the most part, made
automatically and unconsciously, with no understanding of their
significance. The task of metaphysics is to lay bare the nature of these
basic, though unconscious, acts of the mind. We found that Experience
discloses a limited series of basic elements that everyone can recognize,
and the awareness of which all can therefore share. These elements
can provide us with unambiguous terms for the discussion of all
matters of Fact. They form an ordered series that we have called the
'Progression of the Categories'. They are set out below in tabular form
with indications of the nature of the awareness to which each one refers.

THE TWO DOMAINS 17

Category

12     AUTOCRACY

11     DOMINATION

10     CREATIVITY

9     PATTERN

8     INDIVIDUALITY

7     STRUCTURE

6     REPETITION

5     POTENTIALITY

4     SUBSISTENCE

3     RELATEDNESS

2     POLARITY

1     WHOLENESS

Exemplars
The Universe
Galaxies
Suns
Planets
Selves
Organisms
Cells
Viruses
Thinghood
Particles
Corpuscles
Hyle

Fig. 25.1—The Progression of the Factual Categories

The word 'hyle' needs explanation. It is the material content of all
experience, and therefore must be homogeneous and made of 'one
stuff'. Experience is not, however, monomorphous, but discloses three
distinct modes that we termed Function, Being and Will. Function
in all the 'going on' of experience, manifested as the knowable world.
Being is its 'inner togetherness', manifested as order and organization.
Will is 'ableness-to-be', manifested as inner and outer relatedness.
From this primary triad we derive three subjective forms:
(i) Knowledge: the subjective aspect of Function;

(ii) Consciousness: the subjective aspect of Being;

(iii) Understanding: the subjective aspect of Will.

Knowledge is the province of Natural Philosophy, with which Book
II was concerned. It was defined as the ordering of function. We
liven made the distinction between Fact and Value that brings us to
the subject matter of this third book.

Since Fact and Value both derive from the same total Experience,
they cannot be isolated from one another. Indeed, the study of values
without a prior systematic investigation of facts has never proved to be
a feasible undertaking. Thus Aristotle's Physics preceded his Meta-
physics and Ethics. Kant's Critique of Pure Reason came before the
Critiques of Practical Reason and Judgment. The same procedure is
particularly necessary at the present time, when the immense body of
facts established by Natural Science has become a factor of over-
whelming importance in human life.

As a starting point of our enquiry, we shall make the assumption

D.U. II----3

18

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

that Fact and Value are both co-extensive with Experience. Value is
generated in and through Fact, but the two are always distinguishable.
Fact can be reduced to knowledge, whereas all values are apprehended
by a non-cognitive act that we shall call Assent. Experience has a
two-fold dynamism: that of Actualization as Fact, and that of
Realization as Value. The dynamism of actualization will be called
Process, that of realization, History. This means that process only
becomes history when it is understood as the fulfilment of a purpose
—that is, the harmonization of Fact and Value. It follows from this
that Man must be understood as an historical being. The study of
history will therefore be the last stage of our enquiry before we embark
on an attempt to describe the Domain of Harmony in which Fact and
Value are reconciled.

Since the properties of Space and Time are such as to permit only
one kind of dynamism, it becomes necessary to extend the framework
of experience to permit the distinction of Process and History. Our
study of the Natural Order has already shown how this extension should
be made. There are two kinds of determining-conditions—outer and
inner. The outer determining-conditions are those of Space. Space is
of three kinds: locational (velocity), directional (force and acceleration)
and rotational (spin and angular momentum). Everything that exists
has Presence by reason of the various combinations permitted by the
three properties of space. The three inner conditions are Time (actuali-
zation), Eternity (potentiality) and Hyparxis (recurrence). One of the
basic presuppositions of our study of Fact was that all the six deter-
mining-conditions have an equal status. Everything that exists
has its own set of actualizations in time, its own series of hyparchic
recurrences and its own pattern of potentialities in eternity. The virtual
state of hyle, in which the eternal pattern is embedded, exists in no
less degree than the actual state by which it participates in events
and space and time.

We saw, in Book II, that the Determining Conditions apply rigorously
only to unipotent and bipotent entities, whose situations can be reduced
to geometrical terms. As we mount the scale of being, the sharp dis-
tinctions between space and eternity, time and hyparxis, gradually
merge into a more general rule of 'universal permissibility'. Similarly,
the distinction between Fact and Value is rigorous only when we seek
to express ourselves in precise 'factual' terms or look for 'pure' values
untainted by material content. Between the extremes, there must be
an intermediate region where there can be real experience that cannot
be tied down to strict factual expression and yet has only rudimentary

THE TWO DOMAINS

19

value qualities. It is a field where knowledge and assent are equally
involved.

When we come to study this intermediate region, we discover a
varied and interesting group of phenomena that are mainly connected
with the 'invisible' elements in experience—those that are predomi-
nantly subject to the determining-conditions of eternity and hyparxis.
Since these are not actualizations in time, we shall refer to them
collectively as synchronous phenomena, to indicate that time-
changes are irrelevant to their operation.

Assent to Value is an act of Will that can be made only in a state of
consciousness permitting 'true' values to be distinguished from 'false'.
Consequently, the study of values must be preceded by an endeavour
to elucidate the Laws of Will and Being. These laws are not, strictly
speaking, laws of Value, for Value is not concerned with what is,
even in the operations of Consciousness and Will—but with what
ought-to-be. Value is not regulative, but normative. Value does not
act nor induce action. In our apprehension of Value we assent to a
quality, but it does not follow that this assent leads to an act of realiza-
t ion. Since quality does not tell us how it is to be realized, we must look
beyond it to the Domain of Harmony which is the seat of the Real.

Our next step must be to distinguish between Actualization and
Realization. The former is the natural process whereby the universe
exists as a functional mechanism. The latter is the historical fulfilment
of the purpose of existence. Thus, the study of History as the Reali-
zation of Values will help us towards a better understanding of human
destiny. Beyond History there is the Source from which all values
are generated; and the last stage of our enquiry will lead to the study
of the Domain of Harmony, which permits the emergence of Reality
as the Fulfilment throughout the Universe of the Will of God.

10.25.2. The Irreducibility of Value

The twelve categories of Fact have no value content, nor should they
have, for values have no place in natural philosophy. There is no
goodness in nature, no beauty in its laws, and there are no obligations
in its actualizations. The natural order is what it is; and, despite its
stupendous scale of magnitudes and durations and truly awe-inspiring
ordered structure of worlds within worlds, it is a Fact that exists and
can be known, and not a Value that can give meaning and purpose to
our lives.

Had we sufficient intelligence and could we live long enough, we
might perhaps hope to reduce all phenomena that are within range of

2O

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

our perceptions to a coherent system of Fact, and so give an account
of all forms and functions, and of all their interrelations. In spite of
this, we should still have left unsaid all that is most important for us.
Indeed, we should not have given any account of the very impulse that
drives us to search for a meaning and a purpose in Existence, instead
of being content to elucidate its laws. Throughout the first volume of
this study, we had no occasion to use the word 'love' until we reached
the final pages, and yet if this word had no meaning life would not be
worth living. The irreducible element of value in experience bears the
burden of all that matters to us; and so we should, whatever may be the
difficulty, endeavour to construct a System of Values, consistent on
the one hand with the System of Fact, and adequate on the other
to our deep need for guidance in the practical ordering of our life on
earth.

The first requirement is no less imperative than the second. We
should not accept any system of values that is not securely anchored
to the natural order. To do so would be to risk falling into a dualism
of matter and spirit, unacceptable as much by reason of its inconclusive-
ness as by reason of the history of its past failures. Values must emerge
spontaneously out of the natural order—not stand apart from it—if the
two domains are to be harmonized in a Reality that is to be all-inclusive
and completely satisfying.

Facts and values are experiences of different kinds. Neither is given
to us directly, and we reach them by different paths. The paths diverge;
it sometimes appears that there is a conflict between Laws of Fact
and Judgments of Value. As we shall see later, conflict itself is
symptomatic of Value and does not properly belong to the Domain of
Fact. There seem to be conflicts about Fact because we import value-
judgments into the scientific activity of reducing phenomena to facts.
But when it comes to values proper, we must beware of attempting to
'reduce' the irreducible. Experience of Value reduced to 'facts' would
be as the salt that loses its savour and is fit only to be trodden underfoot.
But it is not less true that intuitions of Value, unsystematized and left
in the disorder of our immediate experience, cannot provide us with
the means of putting our own lives in order, or of answering our ultimate
questions.

10.25.3. Value Experience

In the past, philosophers have sought to systematize values almost
exclusively in terms of human experience and within the confines of a
terrestrial framework. If the study of Fact has driven us to admit the

THE TWO DOMAINS

21

homogeneity of our human experience with all other experience, then
we can scarcely hope to give a convincing account of values unless we
can show that they are at least co-extensive with all experience. The
facile, but dangerously megalanthropic, conclusion—reached by nearly
every moralist: Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist—is that man
alone among all finite creatures is capable of value-experience, and must
therefore be uniquely significant in the Universe.* When Kant asserted
that Metaphysics is concerned with God, Freedom and Immortality,
neither he nor his critics doubted that he was referring to human
freedom and to the immortality of the human soul. When Bosanquet
wrote: "The Universe is, from the highest point of view, concerned
with finite beings, a place of soul-making", ** he did not disguise his
conviction that he was referring to the human soul.

Having cast off the fetters of an anthropocentric cosmology, and in
particular having glimpsed the hidden depths of eternity and hyparxis,
we should be able to find a system of ultimate values that emerges
spontaneously. Could we but see how the potential is related to the
actual by way of recurrence, we might expect also to be able to see
what we ought to do in order to realize our potentialities.

Several questions arise here. Are 'values' no more than the pattern
of potentialities, resembling the Platonic Ideas? Are 'facts' merely
the copies of the eternal value-models? Can we hope that the old
scholastic problems of the reality of universals ante res, post res and
in rebus can be resolved in terms of eternity, time and hyparxis?

We must try to answer such questions before we go further. We
must note, first, that all of them refer to knowledge; and second,
that knowledge is not of one kind. The differences are not those that
have been supposed to hold between the rational and the empirical;
between the mundus intelligibilis and the mundus sensibilis. The differences
in our knowledge of Fact arise from the stratification of Existence.
Knowledge of the hyponomic world is different in kind from that of
the autonomic. Knowledge of life is of a different kind from knowledge
of existence beyond life. Each of the twelve categories directs attention
towards a mode of knowing that differs from the others because it
refers to a different level of Existence. The totality of the varieties of
knowledge hypothetically attainable by the detailed study of the twelve
levels of Existence would be all factual truth. But the 'truth' so

* It should be remarked that Angels, Devas and other non-human but limited
spiritual essences are, or were until recently, postulated in all religions but, being
divorced from the objective limitations of Fact, were regarded as not capable of
value-experience in the fullest sense.

** Cf. B. Bosanquet, Value and Destiny of the Individual, London 1920, p. 63.

22                                  THE DRAMA'I'IC UNIVERSE

learned would be neither homogeneous nor exhaustive. Through failure
to allow for the polymorphic character of 'fact' and 'truth', philosophers
have been led to draw too narrowly the boundaries of natural science
and have, in consequence, mistaken matters of Fact for instances of
Value, and vice versa.* One familiar example of what could be called
the Fallacy of the Factualization of Values, or as it is usually
called, the 'naturalistic fallacy', is the supposition that some kind of
factual knowledge—such as 'proof of survival of the human personality
—could reinforce or modify our sense of values, or even influence our
religious beliefs. At best, such 'facts' could provide us with data for a
better understanding of time, eternity and hyparxis. They might, indeed,
show us how to reconcile the apparently contradictory theories—Eastern
and Western—of bodily re-incarnation and bodily resurrection by
showing that neither can be understood without reference to recurrence.
But even if this were achieved, we should be no whit nearer to under-
standing why we ought to live our lives in one way rather than in
another.

An indirect result of the enquiry into the natural order, undertaken
in Book II, was to confirm the supposition that there is no difference
in the existential status of unobserved potentialities, or virtual states
in eternity, and of observed events, or actual states in time. The status
of hyparchic recurrences is more difficult to establish, but from the
factual standpoint it seems that all recurrences are equal. Values can,
therefore, arise only through some mechanism of selection that endows
one element in a total situation with a status that, though indistinguish-
able from the others in fact, is different from them in value. We must,
therefore, search for some property common to all experience that is
compatible with:

(i)  Actualization in time;

(ii)  Potentiality in eternity;

(iii)  Recurrence in hyparxis;

(iv)  Presence in space;

and yet is more than all these, and independent of them. If we are to
situate values in a true perspective, we must first agree to recognize
that in all experience there is a phenomenal element that can always
be reduced to fact. What we know as Fact is the entire process of the
universe governed by law. If we intend to search resolutely for the

• Cf. F. H. Heinemann, Are there only two kinds of Truth ?, Phil. & Phen. Res.
XVI. 1956, p. 367, refers to the "monomorphic fallacy; i.e., the assumption that there
is only one kind of truth, or only one kind of rational knowledge and one kind of
empirical knowledge." (p. 37a.)

THE TWO DOMAINS                                        23

peculiar quality of Value, we must accept fully the factual character
of eternal potentialities—including those of the highest order by which
the universe is impregnated with the pattern of the Autocratic Power.
Even the hyparchic regulation of existence and the reconciling role of
life are not in themselves symptomatic of Value. The tasks of the
conscious individual and the creative activity of the stars are knowable
as facts, but we cannot from knowledge alone decide whether or not
they have any value. The fundamental proposition remains unshaken:
that values are always distinguishable from facts, and can never be
reduced to factual terms. Neither magnitude, nor embracingness, nor
even creative power suffice in themselves to endow experience with the
quality of Value.

Our problem can now be stated in clearer terms. We have to perform,
in the Domain of Values, a task that corresponds to the ordering of
fact within the total givenness of experience. In the immediacy of
givenness there are neither facts nor values. We have a glimpse of the
landless Whole—the full significance of which we can never grasp. We
assent to values by an em-pathetic discrimination that has its own
methodology.*

If values lie neither in what is, nor in what might be, nor even in
the adjustment of the one to the other, they must consist in a quality
that is free from the determining-conditions. It is almost universally
recognized that there is such a quality and, moreover, that it is mani-
fested in a diversity of ways as 'purpose', 'obligation', 'need', 'freedom',
or as 'beauty', 'goodness' and 'truth'. Unfortunately, terms such as
these are commonly used without due attention to the difficulty of
defining them—a difficulty that arises just because they belong to
those regions of experience that can never be reduced to knowledge.

10.25.4. Essence and Existence
We have to make a distinction between all that can be conceived as

*Empathy, is the equivalent of Lipps's Einfuhlung, but with the
meaning given by E. Spranger in Types of Men, Halle 1928, p. 92. "Our soul, in
the aesthetic state apprehends in the object (besides the qualities which can be con-
Mptually determined) psychical accompanying qualities, and when we live in these
Concretely, our soul expands above the real sphere of its struggle with the eternal
World." This suggests that the world of em-pathetic apprehension is less 'real' than
The world of struggle. In our terminology, the former corresponds to Eternity and
the latter to Hyparxis. We might well be inclined to adopt the word intuition in the
sense of what Bergson calls "the kind of intellectual sympathy by which one places
oneself within an object in order to coincide with what is unique in it and consequently
Inexpressible." (H. Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics', p. 6.) Unfortunately, the
word has acquired too many misleading associations to serve our purpose.

24                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

material, and is therefore Fact, and the non-material qualities that are
the sources of Value. We shall call the first Existence and the second
Essence. Existence is the totality of possible states of hyle—the word
'possible' here meaning 'conforming to the determining-conditions of
Time, Space, Eternity and Hyparxis'. Essence is the pattern of all the
qualities which give meaning and purpose to all experience, whether
human, sub-human or superhuman.

More specifically, by Essence we shall designate the property
that resides in every whole, that of being itself and none other than
itself. This property is very much more than the Hegelian 'bare'
being, for it endows the whole or entity with a possible reality, the
fulfilment of which is not guaranteed. By Existence we mean the
property of participation in the world-process. This is also very much
more than 'bare' function, since it places the 'whole' in question upon
a certain level of Being, and endows it with a place in the universal
scheme.

All that exists is Fact, and all that is not Fact does not exist. Value
does not 'exist', but it emerges in and through Existence as a quality
that is itself an integral part of Experience. Moreover, values, insofar
as they do so emerge, become temporal to no less a degree than they
are eternal. They also become associated with space, and they recur
according to hyparxis.

Furthermore, we can learn something of the genesis of values by
considering the proposition—the truth of which is obvious to everyone
and can be established quantitatively by the methods of natural science
—that the potentialities inherent in a pattern always preponderate over
the possibility of their actualization.* This suggests a fundamental
proposition connecting Fact and Value:

Existence is poorer in its content than Essence.

From this disproportionality, there results a disharmony that can be
reconciled only by the recurrent property of hyparxis. This reconcilia-
tion consists in the conservation of the potentialities that are un-
actualized, so that the existential equilibrium of the Universe is
always secure. What exists is always less than what might exist, but
the balance is redressed by the quasi-infinite repetition of existence

* Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa (39-44). Only an endless manifoldness can be
the copy of the Divine perfection, and can actualize the unlimited number of possi-
bilities that exist in matter. The esse and the quod est axe separated in all the existing
worlds.

THE TWO DOMAINS                                        25

that offsets the quasi-infinite content of essence. Nevertheless,
repetition does not in itself permit the emergence of values, since the
latter can never be wholly contained within the limitations of Fact.

Before we attempt to clarify the two extremely difficult notions of
Essence as the 'possibility of being real' and Existence as the 'par-
ticipation in the world process', we should glance quickly at the early
history of philosophy to see how ideas of this kind have been the
source of bewilderment and dispute.

The belief that in order to understand our destiny we must carry
our studies beyond Existence was clearly formulated by Aristotle in the
preliminary chapters of his Metaphysics. He regarded his metaphysics
as the science of 'pure being', which can be rendered;
that which—just by being—is. Collingwood argues that Aristotle was
wrong in assuming that there can be a science of pure being—since
this latter is devoid of attributes and unknowable—but he asserts that
there is a true metaphysical science concerned with the foundations
or presuppositions of natural science.* While accepting Collingwood's
conclusion, we should not agree with the reason he gives. 'Pure being'
Cannot be the object of scientific enquiry; not because it is devoid of
attributes, but because its infinitely varied content can never be reduced
to fact.

Far older than Aristotle's Metaphysics, is the search for the ground
of Being itself. Probably one of the earliest abstractions made by man
was to distinguish between the active and passive forces of nature.
There are in man himself two natures: one static and the other dynamic.
According to their relative predominance, some men have a natural
tendency to interpret all experience in terms of static Being and others
In terms of dynamic Becoming. Notions of the perennial opposition of
rest and motion are expressed in the Creation Hymns of the Sanskrit
Vedas and in the still older Sumerian mythology. They were developed
into a great cosmology in Egypt and Babylon, and reached the early
Greek Philosophers as a problem already age-old. Parmenides con-
ceived the ground of all experience as motionless Being,

which can be translated as 'experience itself is identical
with Being'. This seems to contradict the assertion that experience
discloses not Being only, but Function and Will also, as three indepen-
dent elements. Similarly, the dynamism of Heraclitus :
'All things are Becoming'—seems to contradict the view that Being does
not become.

Plato realized that he could neither accept entirely, nor reject utterly,

*Cf. R. G. Collingwood, An Essay on Metaphysics, Oxford 1940, p. 11.
D.u. n—3*

2O                                   THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

either view, and sought to reconcile them in the doctrine of ideas. It is
a commonplace that no commentator has understood what Plato in-
tended this doctrine to mean; and it is a matter of history that his
own pupils soon abandoned it. It seems at least probable, from the
Parmenides, that Plato regarded the ideas as mediating between the
unity of Being, in its static essence, and the multiplicity and diversity
of particulars in their endless Becoming. In the Timaeus, the
themselves are the universals by which the Creative Intelligence
'thinks' the world into existence—directly in the case of the heavenly
bodies—indirectly in the case of terrestrial entities such as man,
animals and things. The—that is, the essential

ideas—include fire, air, water, earth, the heavenly bodies, man and
the various species of animals and plants. Every particular entity is an
incomplete projection of the eternal idea into the limitations of existence
in space and time.

It might seem, then, that Essence, as we have defined it, is none other
than the Platonic and Existence the plurality of particular living

and non-living things. It was necessary for us to refer explicitly to the
Platonic doctrine of ideas for the very reason that this mistake might
well be made. The difference is subtle, but very important. Later, we
shall find it necessary to develop a hierarchy of Being according to
Essence-Classes. The concept of an Essence-Class has undoubtedly
a connection with theof Plato, especially as the doctrine is de-
veloped by him in the Timaeus. Nevertheless, the essence itself, as
distinguished from existence, is not the same as a genus or class of
which a given individual is an imperfect or incomplete examplar.

The distinction between Essence and Existence becomes clearer
with the scholastic philosophers, and especially with St. Thomas Aquinas.
There is a danger of confusion of language, for Thomas regards
existence as the realization of essence through the act of Will. We take
realization and actualization as completely distinct but complementary
dynamisms. We cannot develop our own views until we shall have
considered the nature of Will and Being and their connection with
relatedness and order. The distinction of Essence and Existence,
though necessary, does not suffice to account for the nature of Self-
hood and Individuality.

The student of philosophy can trace the story of dispute over Essence
and Existence through the scholastics, the sceptics, the idealists
and the pragmatics to its apparent resolution in existentialism in one
direction and monistic idealism in the other. Since neither solution has
proved satisfactory, we are thrown back to our starting-point in ex-

THE TWO DOMAINS                                          27

perience. We must therefore return to the distinction made in Book I
between two pairs of opposites: namely, the Possible and the Impossible
as ultimate, and Actual and Potential as proximate, antitheticals.
Starting from the Ground of Being—necessarily hypothetical; that
is, beyond all experience—we can conceive a separation of the
possible from the impossible through the operation of universal
laws. Within the 'possible' there is a second and proximate dichotomy
of the potential and the actual by way of the determining-conditions.
This gives the scheme of Fig. 25.2.

By laws we understand that which determines Existence itself, and
by conditions, we refer to the modes under which Existence subsists.
According to our definition of Existence, everything that is possible
exists, either as a potential or an actual state of hyle. In Book I we
concluded that Space, Eternity, Time and Hyparxis are determining -
conditions precisely because they separate all possible situations
from those that are impossible. Thus "yesterday's sun will rise to-
morrow" describes an impossible situation, and we recognise it to be
so because of our understanding of the nature of Time. Here we may
recall that the determining-conditions were conceived as self-
limitations of the Will, and not as regularities of Function nor as
discriminations of Being. We may now assume that although the im-
possible does not 'exist' and cannot exist, it is not the same as nothing
at all. On the contrary, we may take the word Being to mean
'all that is not nothing—whether possible or impossible'. This enables
us to make a new division quite different from that which leads to the
Laws of Framework. This is the dichotomy of Being towards Essence
and Existence. The division arises because we can conceive Being

28

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

either as the Source or as the End of the separation of the possible
from the impossible. We can represent this diagrammatically as follows:

Fig. 25.4.—The Cycle of Being

In this diagram we represent the two-fold notion of Involution as
the descent of Essence into Actuality, and of Evolution as the ascent
of Existence" towards Spirituality. The Impossible is that which is
excluded from the cycle of Involution and Evolution—it is beyond

THE TWO DOMAINS                                        29

limitation and therefore beyond knowledge. We can borrow the
scholastic language and say that the impossible is not ultra esse, but that
ultra percipi. It is not mere nothingness, but it is inaccessible to
all forms of experience in any way analogous to those of human senses
and mental processes.

Metaphysics, in the strict sense of the term, is concerned only with
the presuppositions upon which the study of Existence is based. The
study of Essence belongs to the Domain of Values; but values can
be realized only 'by means of' facts.

We shall now find it easier to clarify the definition of 'an essence'
as the power to hold together a particular and unique pattern of possi-
bllities, without the requirement that the possibilities should be
actualized according to time or realized according to hyparxis. Essences
are neither possible nor impossible, and have their place in the limiting
region or boundary where the possible merges into the impossible.

An essence cannot be said either to exist or not to exist. Realization
is the fruit of the mysterious union of the impossible and the possible.
Not only is this union mysterious, but its outcome is hazardous. The
essence that misses the opportunity of realization is deprived of its
possibilities, and in a temporal sense, 'ceases' to exist.

Existence is not subject to the hazard of confronting the impossible.
It cannot attain to the Value that is beyond possibility, but it also
It cannot fall away from Fact. Existence is guaranteed against non-
existence. Whether actualized in time or whether potential in eternity,
Existence is protected by its very limitations from the hazards of the
Essence. Even in its hyparchic aspect, Existence is no more than the
conservation of potentiality by way of recurrence. It can never liberate
itself from the determining-conditions. Hence we have an important
proposition that runs:

Nothing that exists has of itself the power to change or to modify
its own nature*

It does not follow from what has been said that Existence is necessarily
static. There can be a true evolution of Existence, but only under the
impulsion of essence-forces. In one direction Being enters into Existence
in order to acquire the existential vehicle of Reality. In the opposite
direction, Existence rises towards Being in order to acquire the essential
content of Reality. Since man stands in the midst of both streams,
we can see the point of Heidegger's description of man as "a being in

* Cf. the Thomist doctrine that potentiality can never become act unless reduced
to act by that which itself is act.

3°

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

advance of itself, already thrown into the world and abandoned there
for death".* Nevertheless, the phrase 'in advance of itself cannot be
interpreted rightly, save in terms of the essential being threatened with
the impossibility of realization. The man who fixes his attention upon
Fact, being unaware of the hazard, feels secure subjectively and indeed
is so objectively. He has nothing to lose, because he has nothing to
gain. His existence is his guarantee, and since he is unconcerned with
reality, he has no essential fear. The man who is awake to his own
essential nature is also aware of the precariousness of his situation,
because he has, of himself, no power to make even the first step in the
direction that leads from mere Existence to essential Reality.

If we regard Essence as intrinsic possibility, and Existence as
extrinsic limitation, we can illustrate the distinction from our
human experience. The intellectual brain of man is the natural in-
strument for analytical judgments, referring to the extrinsic limitations
of Existence; whereas the feeling brain is more apt to make synthetic
judgments of essential values.

Such psychological interpretations of Essence and Existence are of
considerable help, inasmuch as they provide a means of bringing
within reach of our mental vision some idea of a distinction, the true
meaning of which cannot be reduced to conceptual terms. We must,
however, be careful to regard them as illustrations rather than descrip-
tions. Judgments of value are made by an act of Will and not by an
emotional reaction.

To sum up, we may describe Essence as that which does not exist
but which can assent to Value. Existence is that which, though
separated from Being, is compensated by the assurance of existing as
a Fact. Essence as the bearer of Value needs to be realized as Fact.
Existence as the bearer of Fact needs to be spiritualized as Value.
Their mutual fulfilment is the Universal Harmony which is both in
History and beyond it.

10.25.5. The Seventh Degree of Freedom

Since, by hypothesis, values cannot be represented in the six-
dimensional framework of factual experience, we must seek for them
not only beyond the limitations of space and time, but even beyond
those of eternity and hyparxis. This would be conceivable in one of
two ways: either we could adopt a substantial dualism of fact and
value that would assign them to two mutually closed domains of reality;

* Cf. M. Heidegger, Sein und Zeit, 4th Edn. 1935, p. 47.

THE TWO DOMAINS

31

or we could extend our dimensional scheme by postulating a
seventh degree of freedom to allow for prohibited transformations of
the one substance hyle.* The bifurcation of Reality into Fact and
Value would be even more objectionable than the bifurcation of Nature
into mind and matter, and we need not recapitulate the arguments of
Chapter 3, nor add the further considerations that lead us to reject a
substantial dualism. The very notion of multi-term systems precludes
any ultimate dualism.

A seventh dimension, if continuously connected with the six-
dimensional order of Nature and similar in character to it, would
allow transformations different in kind from those of presence, actuali-
zation, potentiality and recurrence, and yet inter-convertible with them.
This would throw into confusion all the results of our investigation of
the natural order. The geometrical analysis** shows that whereas
identity and diversity can be fully represented in a six-dimensional
framework, the addition of a seventh direction would result in 'over-
specification': e.g. the co-existence of two or more states in identical
conditions. This would amount to a violation of the universal laws of
nature, but there is nothing illogical or absurd about such an extension
of framework.

We shall, therefore, examine the consequences of the hypothesis of
a set of determining-conditions with seven degrees of freedom. These
can be formulated as follows:

(1)  Values are not separated from facts, but they cannot be repre-
sented in the six-dimensional framework of space, time, eternity and
hyparxis.

(2)  Reality has seven degrees of freedom, within which all values
and all facts can be represented.

(3)  Value is non-metrical.

(4)  The seventh degree of freedom is non-metrical, and no trans-
formations from either the space-like or the time-like dimensions of
Fact into the seventh degree of freedom are permissible.

(5)  All possibilities cap. be represented in six dimensions, and there-
fore the seventh degree of freedom is available for the representation
of impossibilities.

(6)  Values are impossible states of hyle.

With these six propositions, we have defined a scheme of represen-
tation that could be called 'quasi-geometrical' insofar as the form

* The term 'prohibited' is used here in a sense that has become conventional in
physical science to denote transitions of an exceedingly low degree of probability.

** Cf. Vol. I, Appendix III, p. 509.

32                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

is that of a geometric manifold, but the content is incompatible with
any geometrical observations.

It would be interesting to develop a mathematical theory of such a
quasi-geometry with seven degrees of freedom, of which six are metrical
and one non-metrical. This would require a special calculus, in which
non-metrical properties would be associated with six-fold arrays of
numbers. Such an undertaking would fall outside the scope of the
present book, and is referred to only in order to emphasize the non-
dualistic character of the scheme of Fact and Value that we shall adopt.*

We shall not make use of the terminology of a seven-dimensional
quasi-geometry, but refer instead to Realization as a non-metrical
property of experience that is associated with the transition from
Essence to Existence. Thus realization is a transformation that cannot
be represented in the six-dimensional framework, but is nevertheless
co-terminous with it.

We might also here seek for a better definition of the term assent,
used to designate the act by which bare awareness of Value is converted
into a positive relationship to it. Owing to lack of sensitivity, and perhaps
even more to our habits of thought that take the place of the direct
interrogation of experience, we fail to see that all values are miraculous
—that is, impossible—for there is nothing in the order of nature which
should endow any one experience with greater significance than any
other. When we are truly conscious of values, we assent to their
reality. When by our actions we create values, we realize Reality.
This is 'translation in the seventh degree of freedom'.

10.25.6. The Domains

We shall adopt the term Domain to designate each of those parts
of Reality between which continuous transformations are excluded.
We can at present distinguish only two such Domains: one of Fact
and the other of Value. The Domain of Fact comprises all transfor-
mations of hyle that are permissible according to the framework-deter-
mining-conditions. The Domain of Values is filled by all experience
that escapes from the determining-conditions without violating the
essential law that no truth can contradict any other truth. Later, we
shall meet with the third Domain of Harmony (Chapter 38), in which
Fact and Value are reconciled. The three Domains taken together
comprise the total experience of the existing universe in its relationship

• It is, however, worth noting that in the quantum physics of nuclear states, several
non-metrical parameters are postulated, such as 'parity', which violate the conser-
vation laws and therefore appear to be 'impossible', which might well be accounted
for on the above lines.

THE TWO DOMAINS                                        33

to the Essence. This total experience can be regarded as Truth, in the
nearest to an absolute sense that we can conceive.

Thus Truth is a notion which we presume to be common to all
domains of Reality—even those of which, by reason of our limited
perceptions, we can have no experience. Hence, it is presumed that an
act of assent to value can have the same kind of "truth-quality" as a
correct statement of fact. This presumption allows an important
simplification of language, since it enables us to dispense with a
special terminology applicable to value statements to enable them to
be distinguished from the language of fact.

We have previously seen, in our study of language,* that statements
about Being and Will require languages differing in kind from that
which serves for statements about Function. ** These languages make
use respectively of multivalent symbols and significant gestures.
Symbolical language can serve for communicating value experiences
that cannot be expressed by single-valued signs. For the expression of
Harmony, gestures or their equivalent are needed. This must be borne
in mind in the course of the ensuing chapters, where we shall find it
necessary often to use multivalent descriptive schemes that are tedious,
repetitive and inconsistent. Repetition and inconsistency are charac-
teristic of most attempts to express the intuitions of value—not because
values themselves can ever be contradictory, but because the limitations
of language bear heavily upon all discussions which relate to the non-
metrical properties of Reality. While the exposition of the theme of
values must pass through a symbolical stage, we shall conduct the
preliminary stages of our enquiry in terms of the twelve main cate-
gories of experience that have their primary reference in the Domain
of Fact.*** At the conclusion of our examination of Will, Being, the
Reflux of the Spirit and the Cosmic Drama, we shall be ready to enter
the Domain of Value, with the aid of an extended scheme in which
the categories will be non-metrical and refer to pure qualities.

We shall thus continue to follow the method of Progressive Approxi-
mation adopted at the outset, recognizing that we cannot hope for more
than a partial clarification of the qualitative principles that govern the
transformations of Value.

10.25.7. The Intermediate Region
Since the Domains of Fact and Value are presumed to be co-

* Cf. Vol. I, Chapter 4, Sections 2.4.7 and 2.4.8.

**Cf. Vol. I, p. 85.

*** Cf. Vol. I, Chapter 2, Sections-1.2.3 to 1-2.14.

When engaged upon the study of Fact, our attention is directed
mainly towards the region surrounding the apex F, where functional
characteristics predominate over the differentiae of Being and Will.
Fact is 'mainly' confined to the lower triangle B—W—F, where the
Transcendental Unity of Being, U, plays no part.**The various levels
of existence postulated in the Natural Sciences extend along the
direction FB. FW indicates the varying incidence of framework-con-
ditions according to form and function.

The point B represents Being as simple existence. The point U
which, seen 'from below'—that is, from the standpoint of Fact—
appears as Transcendental Unity, is, 'from above'—that is, from the
standpoint of Values—the zero point where Essence is devoid of
content. At the point U, Being, Function and Will are unified; but the
values that can be realized from this union are still 'virtual', for they
have only begun to emerge from the six-dimensional framework of
determining-conditions. Hence the line BU can be taken to represent
the path that leads from Existence towards Essence. In order to repre-

* Cf. Vol. I, p. 231. Fig. 13.1. Unity and Multiplicity.

** It is necessary to qualify the limitation by the word 'mainly' because the very
homogeneity of Fact, which is the first pre-supposition of Natural Philosophy, is
derived from the Transcendental Unity in which all Fact is One.

THE TWO DOMAINS

35

sent Realization we should require to extend the tetrahedron according
to Fig. 35.6.

In this diagram, the point U now represents the point of Essential
Nullity which is expressed in the proposition "There is no Value in

Fact". This is the culmination of 'emergence' and the beginning of

true realization. The triangle V1 V2 V3 represents three ultimate values,
the nature of which has not yet become apparent. We can, however,
go so far as to surmise that V1 should be the value aspect of Function,
V1 that of Being, and V3 that of Will.

Returning to the tetrahedron UBWF, and remembering the 'eternity-
blindness' of the human self, we can ascribe all "fully-knowable"
facts to the triangle WBF. Phenomena in general occupy the interior
of the tetrahedron because, being 'real', they must have some par-
ticipation in the Transcendental Unity of Being U. We may then look
upon the region surrounding U as the transition from Fact to Value.
The reduction of phenomenon to fact discussed in Chapter 13* consists
in projecting phenomena on to the region of 'simple existence' WBF.
To illustrate the point, we may take the problem, to be discussed later,
of the relation of 'mind' and 'body'. When reduced to factual terms,

* vide Vol. I, p. 245 for the sequence

Experience ----> Phenomena

Phenomena ----» Fact

Fact              ----> Representation

In the present instance, the 'representation' is not made through the usual manifold
but by means of the tetrahedral model.

34                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

extensive, we should expect to find a region that is common to both—
where facts verge upon the impossible and values approach the in-
significant. Such a region does indeed exist, and in order to study its
properties, we may return to the diagram of Chapter 13*, in which
experience is represented as a four-fold combination of Unity, Being,
Function and Will.

36                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

the relationship is undiscoverable and indeed 'non-existent'. Mind then
becomes, as Ryle puts it, 'the Ghost in the Machine.'*

When our attention is directed to phenomena as they are given in
our immediate experience, we can always discover values in them, and
at the same time recognize our own inadequacy to the task of reconciling
Value with the laws of Fact.

10.25.8. Realization

The task before us is to give an account of Value, on the one hand
consistent with the entire body of factual knowledge, and on the other
comprehensive of all value-experience accessible to our human forms
of consciousness. For this we must take account of a dynamic quality
that is inherent in Value and that is lacking in Fact. This dynamism
is connected with the property of Realization that links Essence with
Existence. Our preliminary survey must therefore include an attempt
to clarify the meaning that we are to ascribe to the words Reality
and Realization, and to the expression the Realization of Values.

The following diagram will serve to suggest the way in which the
different conceptions introduced in this chapter may be related.

Being as Source
Fig. 25.7.—Realization and Harmony

* In general, 'phenomenalistic' analysis consists in the projection of experience on to
the line FW, thus depriving fact of the third degree of freedom required to allow
differentiation of levels of existence.

THE TWO DOMAINS                                    37

At the present stage of our enquiry, we have no means of knowing
whether the directions shown by the arrows in the diagram are indicative
of the true situation or, indeed, whether any reciprocal action between
the different elements can and does arise. We do not even know whether
the various terms used represent the same kinds of objects or belong
to the same realms of discourse. Indeed it is particularly important to
remember that the various 'pairs of opposites' have been approached
in very different ways. We know neither the logical nor the substantial
relationships that may exist between them.

For systematic purposes, it will be convenient to approach the study
of Value by following the progression of the categories. In this sense,
Book II of the first volume can be regarded as the study of values
according to the category of wholeness. Although the subject matter
was confined to the Natural Order, the motive that urged us to under-
take the enquiry was to find an answer to the question "What is the
significance of human existence on the earth?" The value quality is
the total interest that we all have in knowing ourselves and the world
as well as possible.

Our enquiry will be made by investigating successively the properties
of multi-term systems from the dyad to the dodecad. We have, in the
present Chapter, begun to study the Dyad of Value and Fact. We may
surmise that the total and ultimate Value, which gives significance to
all partial values, requires, for its expression, no less than the unlimited
term system of all Existence. So far from being capable of appre-
hending the Infinite Complexity of All Value, we cannot with our limited
human faculties go far beyond three- and four-term systems. There is
even reason for supposing that the twelve-term system—the dodecad—
represents the limit of human ability to apprehend the unity of the
manifold.

The Scheme of our enquiry can be put in the form of a table showing
the series of multi-term systems which will be the signposts on our way:

THE MONADS. The study of Experience as a whole without
distinctions of quality. The Natural Order from the corpuscles to the
galaxies is thus conceived as a self-maintaining cyclic or recurrent
whole, subject to the determining-conditions. At this stage, Value can
be ascribed only to the whole Universe in the sense that we have the
urge to understand and adapt ourselves to it better.

THE DYADS. Experience as two-fold Reality. The two Domains
of Fact and Value. The dyads of Essence and Existence, Emergence
and Fulfilment, Possibility and Impossibility, Quality and Quantity,

38                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Being as Source and Being as End. Values are here seen as qualities
inherent in everything.

THE TRIADS. Experience as a Nexus of three-term Relationships.
The Varieties of Three-term Systems. Will as the Source of Law.
The Inter-related Worlds of the Will. Values are here to be understood
as the qualities attaching to the different modes of willing.

THE TETRADS. Subsistence and Being. Tetrads of Energy.
Creation by Tetrads. The Universal Scale of Being. The Divine
Tetrad.

THE PENTADS. Potentiality and Value. Essence-Pentads. The
Cosmic Drama. Here Value is seen as the significance latent in what is
not, as well as in what is.

THE HEXADS. Recurrence as the Realization of Values. Evolution
and the Historical Hexads. Realization distinguished from Process.
Value is now seen as a growing and developing quality.

THE HEPTADS, OCTADS and ENNEADS. Complete Events
and Modes of Harmony. Value realized in Individuals and Societies.

THE DODECAD. The Symbol of Harmony. The 'Triad of
Tetrads' by which Will and Being are reconciled. The Ideal Society.

SOCIETIES. Multi-term systems with an indefinite number of
members. Here value is realized as unity in diversity.

If we can carry our enquiry so far without losing contact with the
firm ground of experience, we shall have accomplished all that we can
hope for. We can, at best, discover only the projection into realms of
experience accessible to our human faculties of the Great and Universal
Harmony, in which Value and Fact are everlastingly reconciled. There
is, and always must be, an impenetrable Cloud of Unknowing to veil
the Domains of Reality that are beyond the distinction of Fact and
Value: where Source and End and Purpose and Fulfilment are left behind
as imperfect expressions of the Unfathomable and Unconditioned.

Chapter Twenty-six
SYNCHRONICITY

10..26.1. Emergence

The Domain of Values is that part of Reality where quality alone is
significant, in contradistinction to the Domain of Fact which is governed
by quantitative laws, including those of framework. This would require
that 'pure' values should be free from determination by the conditions
of space and time. If values are 'timeless', we are faced with the question
whether there can be 'timeless experience'. We can readily contemplate
suck timeless notions as equality, or such timeless forms as a triangle;
it is less easy to decide whether or not we can experience equality or
triangularity otherwise than as constituents of events that have duration
in time. Alexander is probably right in asserting that even when we
merely contemplate such ideas in our imagination, we invest them with
spatio-temporal form.* He certainly goes too far when he concludes
that all our experience is necessarily spatio-temporal; and indeed this
is an issue upon which we can appeal to experience to decide. We have
seen, in Book II, that Fact itself is not subject to the conditions of
space and time alone. We can with confidence infer from our observa-
tiors in space and time that every living organism is endowed with an
'eternal pattern' that is timeless, though perhaps space-extended. If we
could be directly aware of these eternal patterns, we should have a
timeless experience—but when we set ourselves to find out how this
could be achieved, we find that it is beyond our power. We cannot
exclude the possibility that there may exist beings with functional
organs so different from ours that they would be able to perceive hyle
in its virtual and sensitive states. To such beings, 'eternal patterns'
would be perceptible facts and 'hyparchic recurrences' objects for
observational study. For the experience of such beings, the partition
of the Universal Manifold into the dimensions of Time, Space,
Eternity and Hyparxis would be quite other than ours. The distinction
between us and them, though far more profound, would be analogous
to that of special relativity, according to which two bodies in relative
motion divide space-time differently.

* C.f. S. Alexander, Space, Time and Deity. Vol. I, pp. 94-100, 2nd imp., London,
1934

4°

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

It follows that there can be no theoretical definition of 'timelessness',
and we must therefore appeal directly to the tribunal of experience.
If we set ourselves to examine carefully the manner in which we assent
to values, we find that this this assent is not the result of a
process. We sometimes, though not always, find ourselves saying
"that's right", or "that's beautiful" or "that's a pity", thereby ex-
pressing value judgments, without being aware of a process either of
sense perception or mental association by which the judgment was made.

Owing to the ingrained habit of giving ourselves up to mental
associations whenever our attention is stimulated by some inner or
outer value experience, we tend to mistake the subsequent mental and
feeling associations for the value experience itself. Patient and persistent
self-observation and experimentation are needed to establish beyond
any doubt that the value experience itself is timeless. Since we
are not yet concerned with the realization of values, but with their
bearing upon the sense and aim of human existence, we shall adopt
as a presupposition of our present enquiry that the awareness of time-
less values does occur in human experience. Values 'emerge' in
experience in a manner somewhat like the recognition that some actual
shape we see before us is a triangle.

Emergence seems, at first, to be a relatively simple notion, with
associations that remind us of Lloyd Morgan's 'Emergent Evolution'
and other philosophies of temporal progress from the inanimate to the
animate, or from the unconscious to the conscious. In truth, it is a
subtle and most elusive property of experience that cannot be ex-
pressed nor described in factual terms. That which 'emerges' is not
an improved function nor a higher level of existence, but a more
significant sameness.*

The quality of emergence can perhaps be best recognized in the
appreciation of a work of art. In art, we look for fact and value in
harmonious equilibrium, the one with the other. The factual content
is perceived as the thematic material taking form, whether in the
dynamic incompleteness of dance and music or in the static perfection
of painting and sculpture. We recognize that the very limitations of
each form of art are the condition of their power to evoke the artistic
experience. This becomes evident when an artist, like Wagner, seeks
to overcome the limitations of his art by an attempted syncretism of
the forms of sight, sound, poetry, and architecture. The result is a
magnificent failure. It is not through sense perception that the value

* We shall later, in Chapter 37, allot Emergence to the fourth category of Value
—the highest term of the tetrad of passive or denying values.

SYNCHRONICITY

41

content of a work of art is experienced, but through emergence.
As it emerged timelessly in the inner experience of the artist, so also

must it communicate itself to the spectator as a quality that emerges

timelessly in his own inner experience. Temporal actualization, the
eternal pattern and the hyparchic recurrences all play their part in
the arising of the experience; but it is through them, rather than in
them, that the artistic quality emerges. That which emerges does not
become actual—it does not exist. It is not even the eternal pattern
nor our contemplation of the pattern imperfectly manifested in the
visible work, but a quality that is not determined and can therefore
neither be described nor reduced to fact.

A Pieta of Michelangelo, formerly in the Florentine Bargello, was
first seen by the present writer when a young child and revisited
several times at long intervals over a span of nearly sixty years. In
the whole experience, a timeless quality emerges that was there from
the first, and yet has deepened and been transformed into a fuller
understanding of the value-experience that drew Michelangelo to-
wards religious contemplation in his later years. It contributed to the
formation in early youth of the conviction that there is an invisible
reality that cannot be held within the limits of time and space. The
image, as it is perceived to-day, is not a clear one—it blends into those
of the Captives emerging from their native marble that stand in the
same hall. It is given voice in the words of Michelangelo's sonnet

Non ha Vottimo artista alcun concetto
Ch'un marmo solo in se non circonscriva
Col suo coverchio.

"The best of artists hath no thought to show
Which the rough stone in its superfluous shell
Doth not include."*

The particular experience is, in some significant way, connected with
the image of Donatello's St. George—as if it were necessary to stand
upon the shoulders of one supreme artist in order to view the work
of another—or perhaps as if the Quattrocento is felt as the ferment
from which the art of Michelangelo emerged.

As these lines are being written in a remote Welsh village, the present
moment with its memories is one whole with innumerable impressions
of Florence, recollections of the cadence of Italian poetry, and of a
vivid present feeling for the direct religious insights vouchsafed to the

* Sonnet XV, Rime, p. 173. Trans, by J. A. Symonds, Life of Michelangelo. Vol.
I, p. no.

42                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

greatest artists as their life on earth nears its close. And yet it is not
any nor all of these things. The emergent quality was there for the
child almost too young for speech: it was renewed for the fifteen year
old schoolboy who revisited Florence in 1912: it has become part of
the understanding of the man—it is neither the same nor is it different
from what it first was.

The emergent quality of the artistic experience was strongly felt by
Michelangelo himself. It has been recognized by all who have tried to
understand the significance of art in the life of man, though lack of an
adequate metaphysics has usually prevented its formulation in terms of
Fact and Value. Thus Ogden* writes: "A disposition to feel the com-
pleteness of an experienced event as being right and fit, constitutes
what we have called the aesthetic factor in perception."

Although we have taken the emergence of artistic value to illustrate
our theme, it will be understood that the same arguments apply to all
value experiences. We see 'in a flash' that a step in mathematical
analysis is not only correct, but right and fruitful and therefore signifi-
cant. Our judgments of approval or disapproval, whether moral or
aesthetic, are made timelessly 'without because'. The judgment
'emerges' to meet our awareness of it. If 'we' are not there to meet it,
it passes us by, but it is not 'we' who 'make' the judgments. By pene-
trating more deeply into the significance of timelessness in judgments,
we shall learn about the reality of values, but before this can be under-
taken profitably we must first study timelessness as it affects the region
that lies between the Domains of Fact and Value.

10.26.2. Synchronicity

The notion of 'fitness' refers to an emergent quality that stands
between fact and value. We say that a 'key fits a lock' and the statement
is factual. A statesman proclaims that he wants a 'country fit for heroes
to live in' and the statement refers, or should refer, to non-factual
values in a framework of fact. A priest assures us that a friend died
'in a fit state to meet his Maker' and the reference is to value alone.
Between extremes, the word 'fit' has a range of meanings all of which
have an emergent character.

• Cf. R. M. Ogden, Psychology and Education, New York 1926, pp. 132-3, quoted
by Herbert Read in Education through Art. "In the discernment of a perceived event,
our disposition is a positive factor no less real than the event itself. The feelings
which attach to a dispositional readiness for response—either in a single perception,
or in a series of perceptions, interrupted perchance by pauses of sleep and distrac-
tion—are aesthetic. It is the aesthetic feelings that mark the rhythm of life, and hold
us to our course by a kind of weight and balance."

SYNCHRONICITY

43

The notion of fitness provides an appropriate introduction to our
study of emergence, inasmuch as it does not necessarily imply either
temporal or spatial relatedness. Moreover, although a key fits a lock,
it cannot be said either that the lock causes the key, or that the lock
is the purpose of the key. To see this clearly, we have to distinguish
between the meaning of the sentences: "the key turns the lock" and
"the key fits the lock". The first is a statement of fact alone; the second,
and any similar assertion, such as "the glove fits the hand", refers to a
spatial connection which conveys a rather vague implication that,
because of this connection of 'fitting', some process in time will go
well. The key that fits the lock can be used to open the door. The
glove that fits the hand serves to keep it warm and at the same time
to make it look elegant. These could be called examples of 'static
fitting'. The connection between horse and rider is one of constant
adjustment, and could thus be called one of 'dynamic fitting'. Each
responds to the other as a process in time, and they combine to embody
an harmonious arrangement in space. This, however, is not the true
quality of the relationship, which consists in the manner in which
the rider directs, but does not cause, the movements of the horse. Yet
another example' of 'dynamic fitting' can be found in the connection
between the eternal pattern of a living organism and its physico-
chemical process in time. The one 'fits' the other, but the connection
is dynamic: constantly regulating itself according to the changing
environment and to the needs of the life cycle of the organism. In
each instance, we can separate the process that goes on in space and
time from the timeless structure by which the different cycles and
levels are connected.

We shall use the terms synchronous and synchronicity to
designate similar connectednesses of experience from which temporal
differentiations have been abstracted, disclosing some timeless connec-
tion involving space, eternity or hyparxis.*

Synchronicity is closely related to emergence. If there were no

• The use of the term 'synchronous', to designate a connectedness that has neither
'before and after' nor 'here and there', was suggested by Dr. C. G. Jung in his intro-
duction to Wilhelm's translation of the I Ching. Referring to the belief in divination,
Jung says (cf. trans, by W. Carey Baynes, London 1951, Vol. I, p. 4): "This
assumption involves a certain curious principle that I have termed synchronicity, a
concept that formulates a point of view diametrically opposed to that of causality.
Since the latter is no more than a sort of working hypothesis of how events evolve
one out of another, whereas synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space
and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar inter-
dependence of objective events among themselves, as well as with the subjective
(psychic) state of the observer or observers." •

44

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

synchronous connectedness, there could be no emergence except into
a state of pure consciousness divorced from function. Just as emergence
cannot be reduced to terms of actualizable fact, so also can synchro-
nicity not be brought under the causal laws of the natural order.
Nevertheless, synchronicity is to be regarded rather as a condition of
emergence than as an emergent quality in itself. Pure emergence is
not only not actualized in time, but free also from the conditions of
presence, potentiality and recurrence. It is a moment of conscious
experience 'without because'. Nevertheless, we can learn much about
emergence by examining the various forms of timeless connectedness
that can be discovered in our experience. The study of synchronicity
is rendered difficult by the position it occupies in a kind of no-man's-
land between the fields of Science, Art and Religion. There are,
however, many and very important examples of synchronicity to be
encountered in the Natural Order. Such, for instance, is the connection
between mind and body; but it is precisely such problems that elude
the strictly scientific—that is, observational—approach.

We shall search for synchronous laws, but these laws have
something of the aesthetic quality that leads the architect to accept
the 'golden mean' as a law of proportion. The difficulty of reconciling
the study of synchronous laws with the present day 'orthodox' scientific
attitude is evident in the case of all those forms of experience that are
the subject matter of psychical research and commonly designated as
psi-phenomena. There is little doubt that such phenomena do occur,
and that they are demonstrable by experimental methods—particularly
those of Extra-Sensory Perception.

Most E.S.P. phenomena have two features in common:

(i) They are functional in character and one might therefore
expect them to be reducible to fact,

but (2) They are elusive and generally non-reproducible, nor do
they readily fit into the framework of the natural order.

We shall designate as paraesthetic* those phenomena that are allied to
sensory experience and yet cannot be described in terms of sensation
alone. Paraesthetic phenomena so defined are to include all the eternal
and hyparchic inner relationships of complex entities and the various
kinds of situation that may arise through the reciprocal action of

* The term paraesthesia—derived from the Greek para, alongside of, and aesthesia,
sensation—is used in medicine to designate pathological disorders of the sensorium.
It seems, however, legitimate to use the same word in its etymological meaning as
"that which is on the borderline of sensation."

SYNCHRONICITY

45

different entities without the actualization of hylic exchanges in time.
Paraesthetic phenomena are peculiarly intractable to scientific investi-
gation, and their comparative rarity and unimportance in the Domain
of Fact would perhaps constitute sufficient grounds for ignoring them,
were it not for their close affinity with other phenomena of decisive
importance for any possible interpretation of the natural order, such
as the connection between the eternal pattern and the somatic organism
of living animals.

The exploration of paraesthetic phenomena will help to clarify the
connection between Fact and Value and also to establish the irreduci-
bility of Value itself. This study calls for a new approach to the deter-
mining-conditions. Hitherto we have been led to postulate the six-fold
framework of space, time, eternity and hyparxis in order to give a
consistent account of phenomena accessible to sense observation. We
have now to reverse the process and seek in phenomena observed in
space and time for guidance in establishing the laws that govern the
'unobservable' dimensions of eternity and hyparxis.

The recognition that emergent qualities are undoubtedly constituents
of Reality obliges us to accept the authenticity of qualitative distinctions
and timeless connectednesses that cannot be directly expressed in terms
of sense-impressions. The qualities of 'rightness' and 'fitness' cannot
readily be reduced to spatial congruity or temporal simultaneity; but
such words have meaning when referred to the potentialities and the
recurrences that their connectedness makes possible. We are seeking for
laws that will enable us to generalize our experience and espouse the
uniqueness of Value with the universality of Fact. These Laws of
Synchronicity must take into account the reality of emergence; and,
consequently, they cannot have the quantitative character that we look
for in the laws of natural science. These latter are founded on the
assumption that all phenomena can be reduced to facts, and thus made
wholly knowable and intelligible to the human mind, whereas there is
in synchronous connectedness an aesthetic quality that goes beyond
knowledge and involves the faculty of judgment.

10.26.3. The Laws of Synchronicity

Our geometry as developed in Book II appears to have objective
significance as the framework of physical and even biological events.
The six dimensions are more than a convenient reference system for
purposes of description, for they are taken to express universal laws

48                               THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

leaves us on the horns of the dilemma—the man as a fact is there to
be seen: the man as a value is unknowable. Are these two men the
same or are they different? "Out of the recurrent experience of being
confronted with this mystery, there emerges the awareness of the
common presence that is neither fact nor value, but is the experience
of a synchronous reality—I and Thou.

Common presences are not the result of antecedent causes, nor are
they the fulfilment of an aim or purpose. They may emerge as the
transient togetherness of entities in a limited region of space. This can
be observed in the behaviour of a dense crowd of excited people, where
a bond of common feeling arises without either cause or purpose. In
such a situation, the actions of the people viewed as separate entities
are often inexplicable in terms either of their past history or of their
future purposes. They are wholly subject to the influence of a transient
pattern of behaviour that extends throughout the region of space
occupied by the crowd.

In such examples, sense perceptions evidently play a part in the
transmission of influences—but they will not account for the common
presence that the crowd acquires. This presence is not actualized:
it arises and disappears according to laws that cannot be reduced to
scientific terms, as we indicate in using the phrase "the incalculable
behaviour of a crowd". A similar community of presence is to be seen
in the flight of birds, when a whole flock wheels and dips in flight with
a coherence that is quite transient and yet more perfect than any
mechanism of temporal co-ordination could achieve.

Striking examples of common presence without personal identity are
to be found in the insect world. The termitory is well defined spatially—
it has size, shape, proportion and a very complicated visible structure.
There is an invisible and incomprehensible agency that enables a colony
of termites, that may contain half a million separate insects, to manifest
a pattern of behaviour that has an amazing degree of co-ordination and
unity. This unity is by no means obvious when we stand in front of a
hard white pillar in a South African river valley—nor can we observe
it in the actualized process of life when we break into the interior.
Only long patient study, that is as much a work of art as a science,
permits the common presence of the termitory to make itself felt.*

Some 2,600 species of termite are known, and each of them has its

• The present writer can vouch for the powerful feeling of mystery that is ei-
perienced when standing before a termitory, and in beholding its interior when,
accidentally, the crust has been broken. But to reach a sense of the common presence
one would have to devote years of intimate contact with the life of the termites, such
as is described in E. N. Marais' book, The Soul of the White Ant, London 1944.

SYNCHRONICITY

49

characteristic pattern of existence. The common presence of a termitory
is, however, not to be confused with the pattern of existence common
to all members of the species. We behold it with a sense of real presence
that emerges from the power of recurrence within a confined region
of space.

Common presence manifests as the power to "make one's presence
felt", and it is recognizable as a space-extended property that is not
actualized. We can recognize this qualitative factor as the enrichment
of mere spatial presence by an emergent factor that gives the common
presence a value of its own. We have therefore adopted the term
'common presence' to indicate that something is shared without being
exchanged. This emergent factor can be verified in the psychological
experience of the near physical approach of two people. An awareness
of the other's common presence then occurs which is qualitatively
different from that which is given by sight and sound, and which
changes again when proximity degenerates into mere physical contact
through the senses of touch and smell.

Common presence exists instantaneously. It has no history. It doe3
not actualize. The common presence of a given moment has its own
complexion and this may change slowly or suddenly, continuously or
discontinuously, into another complexion that may have no apparent
affinity with the former. This unpredictability of the common presence
makes it difficult to fit into any working or 'scientific' hypothesis, and
indicates that it belongs to the Paraesthetic region.

10.26.5. The Law of Mutual Adjustment, S-H-E

We must start by distinguishing the synchronous mutual adjust-
ment that emerges in the mutual connectedness of entities from the
temporal effect of interaction between entities. The latter is a common-
place of scientific observation, for it is the result of the tendency of
systems to move towards their most stable state. Inasmuch as the second
law of synchronicity is not quantitative, it is thoroughly 'unscientific'. It
is expressed in innumerable proverbs and sayings of the common and
ancient wisdom of people who were more sensitive than 'educated' and
'civilized' folk to the emergence of timeless qualities in experience. We
commonly find, for example, that there is a strange validity in pro-
verbial sayings such as: "God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb",
or: "Fortune favours the brave". In many such ways we express our
conviction that there is a mutual adjustment of events that cannot be
accounted for by the operation of causal laws.

Many occasions of non-interacting connectedness can be referred to

D.U. II----4

5°

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

the Law of Mutual Adjustment, which asserts that there is a hidden
regulative influence that attenuates the tensions that would otherwise
arise between the incompatible patterns of separately actualizing wholes.
We may picture the operation of the second law of synchronicity
with the aid of the following abstract example. Let there be a very
large number of small flat stones of different colour and shape thrown
at random on a surface, so that each stone comes in contact with, on
the average, five other stones at edges or corners. If the arrangement
is truly random, the probability that definite patches of colour will be
formed is very small. If, now, we were to observe in a certain instance
that such patches occurred far more frequently than statistical calcu-
lations predict, we should presume that some ordering influence was
at work. Effects of this nature do occur in all kinds of situations—
especially those which would otherwise suffer an impoverishment of
potentialities by conflict or even mutual destruction. The effect is all
the more marked when we see it in contrast with temporal actualiza-
tion, within which conflict is an inescapable and necessary element
in the pattern of existence. We see the two situations exemplified in
the mutual support afforded by different species in the Biosphere and
in the struggle for existence by which the unfit are eliminated.

The Law of Mutual Adjustment makes itself felt in many ways:
notably in the observation that experience is more coherent and more
consistent than might be expected from considerations of fact alone.
There is an emergent quality in human experience that escapes
attention until we begin seriously and carefully to observe the incon-
sequence, bordering on recklessness, of much human behaviour, and
its counterpart, the passivity and lack of initiative that play so great
a part in the lives of the majority. When observed as Fact the failure
of all human undertakings would seem inevitable. But, on the whole,
things "go better than might be expected". Fatal accidents are far
less frequent than the errors of judgment that might be expected to
produce them. In many ways, we are led to feel that there must be
some law according to which the regulative property of hyparxis is
brought into operation to produce—without intention or purpose on
the part of those concerned—a common pattern of existence that
depends on location but not upon duration.

A significant manifestation of the second law is the experience of
perception. It would be hard to account for the arising of simple
mental images, together with an immeasurably complex array of
nervous impulses in the retina, otherwise than by the operation of
synchronous laws. The view that all perception is clairvoyant has been

SYNCHRONICITY

51

presented with a wealth of data by M. M. Moncrieff, and it is
unnecessary to elaborate it here.*

10.26.6. The Law of Organization and Disorganization,
E-S-H

Between the visible actualization and the invisible potentiality, there
is a state of strain. This issues according to the condition of time, as
the whole world process actualizing according to the laws of nature.
There is also an unseen emergence of identity that is hyparchic, but
of a qualitative rather than a simply recurrent character. The observed
regularities of nature can be described as order; those that are un-
observed can be called organization. We can observe the orderly
consequences of organization and we can infer its existence, but we
can never observe it through sense perception. Emergent identity is
the reconciliation of order as the denial of freedom and organization
as its affirmation. Our experience in everyday life agrees with this
conclusion. Order is both opposed to freedom and necessary to it.
We are not 'free to do as we like' because we might disturb the order
of our environment, and yet it is this very order that gives us the
possibility of freedom. On the other hand, we recognize that we are
free in so far as we are ourselves—that is, inwardly coherent. This
coherence is not that of an undifferentiated mass, but of an organized
self-hood. Organization is the instrument of freedom and yet it is also
more than a mere instrument. It has a positive affirming quality that
is the reverse of the negative quality of mere order. Organization is
the condition of life, and life is the vehicle of freedom.

Everything that exists is organized to a greater or lesser degree,
dependent upon the level to which it belongs. Every existing thing is
also orderly and, within its own limits, its order can be studied by
observation. Thus, order is 'visible' but organization is 'invisible'.

A classical illustration of the law is given by the structure of the
living animal organism. This is constituted by different layers through
which, in the 'downward' direction, an organizing influence originating
from the eternal pattern of the species is transmitted, that finally
manifests itself in the orderly behaviour pattern of the somatic actual-
ization of the living animal. The organizing influence is at one stage
transmitted 'downwards' through the hyparchic regulator without
exchanges of hyle, and must here be regarded as Paraesthetic in

• Cf. M. M. Moncrieff, The Clairvoyant Theory of Perception, London, 1951, and
also H. H. Price, Perception, Oxford, 1932, have drawn attention to the contradictions
of dualistic theories and showed that notwithstanding its difficulties, only some form
of realism can give a satisfying account of perception.

52                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

character. The disorganizing influence of the environment, acting in
the direction from below 'upwards', originating in the soma, can result
in pathological disturbances. These, if they exceed a certain threshold
of intensity, may disorganize the hyparchic regulator and even result
in the death of the organism.

Such effects illustrate the rule that disorganization acts from a lower
level of existence to disturb the harmony of a higher level; but they do
not tell the whole story. Comparing the behaviour of higher and lower
forms of life, under conditions when the regulating mechanism is
disturbed, we become aware of a quality that can be called the 'will-
to-live'. This quality can be described—up to a certain point—in
terms of hyparchic ableness-to-be; but only up to a certain point, for
there is in it an element of value that has the same taste for us as the
fulfilment of an obligation. We respect the organism that fights for life
because we feel that, through its will-to-live, it participates in the
essential Affirmation that descends from the Prime Source of all Existence.
When we examine the triad E-S-H, we notice that the eternal
pattern, E, occupies the place of the dominant impulse, and that it is
confronted with the subordinate impulse of the environment, repre-
sented by the outer connectedness of space, S. The reconciliation of
these two impulses emerges as the hyparchic quality of ableness-to-be.
We have here used the word 'quality', rather than the neutral term
'property', because what we become aware of in the meeting of organ-
ization and disorganization is something more than indifferent Fact.

To appreciate the full significance of the third law of synchronicity,
we must see how it enables us to account for regions of experience in
which there is a building up of unity of parts into a whole. The
articulated unity of conscious experience is given in our imme-
diate awareness and is at least partly lost when we seek to reduce it
to a system of facts. Organization is a value-quality and yet it is so
intimately connected with our experience of phenomenal order that we
never wholly isolate the one from the other without losing the content
of both. Order that does not derive from organization is sterile.
Organization that does not actualize as order is ineffectual. As we all
somewhat readily sense this intimate connection, we tend to treat
organization as if it were a fact known to us from sense experience.
We suppose that we 'observe' that entities are organized and we then
proceed to invoke organization as a principle of explanation in natural
science. And yet, if we examine the situation closely, we can see that
we never observe organization, nor can we even legitimately infer its
presence from what we do observe.

SYNCHRONICITY

53

This can be illustrated by considering the perennial disputes between
iidvocates of the mechanistic and the animistic interpretations of nature.
There are no facts that justify the choice of one or the other scheme.
Nevertheless, very few biologists, whether specialists in one branch of
their science or philosophers searching for a general principle of
explanation, can preserve an attitude of complete impartiality towards
the question. Even those who approach the problem from outside the
field of biology proper find themselves drawn to take sides in the
dispute. Moreover, the issue is universally felt to be an important one,
and yet there is no obvious reason why a scientific specialist should
become involved—often emotionally and irrationally—in a dispute that
can have little or no bearing upon the ascertainment of facts or upon
their application, either in practical life or in the formulation of general
laws. The truth is that the question is important because it concerns
the emergence of quality. Life would have no special quality if it were
wholly determined by existential laws. It is the feeling for the essential
quality of life that touches us when we contemplate the struggle of
organization and disorganization and its outcome in the will-to-live.*

The universal significance of the Law of Organization and Dis-
organization derives from the part it plays in linking our knowledge of
the Domain of Fact with our intuitions of the Domain of Value. In
the intermediate region between these, emerges—in accordance with
the third law of synchronicity—the precarious identity of the ex-
periencing subject standing poised between Existence as a Fact and
Essence as a Value. This identity is timeless, it neither endures nor
perishes—it may come and go in the consciousness of the subject, but
it does not wax or wane. It is an authentic example of the emergence
of a synchronous quality that is on the threshold of Value.

10.26.7. The Law of Multiple Existence, E-H-S

In the fourth Law of Synchronicity the dominant impulse is eternal,
whereas the subordinate impulse is transmitted through the quality of
hyparchic recurrence. Instead of emerging as identity, recurrence now
breaks down into a multiplicity of co-existing states. We have to try
to represent to ourselves what can be the emergent quality that pervades
the environment—the latter being space as the intermediate impulse—

* Gustav Stromberg in The Soul of the Universe, Philadelphia 1940, shows how he
was led to an animistic interpretation of experience by studying the facts of nature
from the stand-point of emergent quality. His book contains many valuable illus-
trations of the laws of synchronicity. Cf. also Professor R. C. Johnson's The Imprisoned
Splendour, London 1953.

54

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

when the unity of pattern is confronted with the multiplicity of
manifestation.

If we could momentarily arrest the process of actualization and
rotate time into eternity, we should travel along a path in which each
existing whole was in a different state of actualization. Simple entities
such as electrons would appear no different as a result of the cessation
of time, for their potentiality in eternity is exactly the same as their
actualization in time. For such entities, time is not only reversible in
the forward and backward directions, but it is also free to rotate into
any other direction in the internal manifold. Their recurrence is
indistinguishable from their actualization and potentiality.*

With composite entities, the situation would be strikingly different.
The potentialities of all entities above the level of unipotence so far
outnumber their possibilities of actualization that stability of existence
can be achieved only by hyparchic regulation. Simple interchange of
determining-conditions is no longer possible. Nevertheless, the ex-
cursion into eternity can still be visualized, and it would now reveal
all the various potentialities of a single moment in time as an
instantaneous multiplicity of existences. This multiplicity is one
of the points of contact between Fact and Value, for without it there
could be no effectual choice, and hence no true responsibility. The
entity that exists on different levels fulfils its obligations in the natural
order automatically, but its existence does not thereby emerge into the
realm of values. Only when the multiple actualization is impregnated
with the consciousness of responsibility does one line of time acquire
a significance that gives it greater value than the rest.

The Law of Multiple Existence is the emergent counterpart of the
existential Law of the Stratification of Levels in eternity. The latter
is inferred from the facts of observation as they have been reported
by natural scientists. It is a factual law, and it bears no necessary or
obvious relation to any system of values. The Law of Multiple
Existence being an emergent law, we learn from it that the distinction
between possibility and impossibility is not so rigid as might appear
from consideration of framework laws alone. Thus, by studying the
laws of synchronicity, we can become aware that the distinction
between unity and multiplicity when applied to pattern can only be
conventional. Whether our pattern exists, or only appears to exist, as
many lives lived successively or simultaneously, or whether it consists
of only one life with varying potentialities, is largely a matter of how

• Cf. Vol. I, p. 280, for the example of electro-magnetic radiation. The internal
manifold is the three-dimensional continuum of time, eternity and hyparxis.

SYNCHRONICITY

55 .

we interpret the content of the limited range of levels that are accessible
to our ordinary consciousness. Awareness of multiple existence, as an
immediate datum of experience, occurs only in special states of
consciousness.*

In the biological manifestations of the Law of Multiple Existence,
the dominating impulse comes from the unity of the eternal pattern,
and the subordinate impulse from the multiplicity of actual forms.
This can be illustrated by an example that is observable in space and
time; namely, the variability inherent in the pattern of a given species
of plant or animal. All members of the species collectively form an
organism, the unity of which is in no wise impaired by the fact that an
immense potential for variation is concealed in its pattern. The species
is both, uniquely, itself and also, multiply, other than itself. **

We are able to observe this peculiar unity-multiplicity of the species
because of the position we occupy in the autonomic world. The con-
templation of the earthly Biosphere can give us an insight into the law
of multiple existence—but it does not enable us to penetrate to the
emergent significance of the co-existence of many lives in one life.

An approximate representation of multiple existence can be given
by a simple diagram:

• William James in The Varieties of Religious Experience gives a most remarkable
account of his own conviction of the reality of multiple existence. "The whole drift
of my education goes to persuade me that the world of our present consciousness is
only one out of many worlds of consciousness that exist, and that these other worlds
must contain experiences that have a meaning for our life also; and that although in
the main their experiences and those of this world keep discrete, yet the two become
continuous at certain points and higher energies filter in." (p. 519.)

** Cf. Vol. I, Section 8.21.5, pp. 407-11. Many examples can be found in
J. Huxley's Evolution—The Modern Synthesis.

56                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

In this diagram, the letters A, B, C, etc. designate successive
moments of time. The numbers i, 2, 3, etc. designate the different
existences synchronously present at a given moment. The vertical
direction represents the passage of time, the horizontal is a non-
temporal sequence that consists in a combination of space, eternity
and hyparxis. At the first moment there is only one entity A, but that
entity has many existences; A1, A2, A3, etc. A, B, C, etc. are successive
states of one and the same entity.

The circles, placed round the symbols A2, B2, C4, D2, and E1,
indicate the points at which the potentiality and actualization of the
entity are merged. They can be called 'points of reality'. There is only
one point of reality at a given moment of time and the successive
points of reality form a temporal sequence. It is, however, not a line
of actualization. Herein lies the critical importance of multiple existence
for a right understanding of human life. Because of it, there can emerge
for certain entities, such as man, the possibility of liberation from the
consequences of their own past lives. Thus the entity represented in
the diagram is existing for the most part on level 2. At the moment
C it escapes into the 'higher' level 4, and at E it falls to the 'lower'
level 1. Such effects are non-causal and incalculable. They can occur
to one entity without affecting the actualization of other entities
because the place remains filled existentially whether the entity is
'really' there or not. The places such as C2 and E2 that are not 'really'
occupied by the entity qua essence are filled by the entity qua existence.
For other entities, including other human beings who are upon level 2,
there is no observable difference between B2 and C2, or between D2
and E2. Essentially speaking, C2 and E2 are merely 'ghosts'. Existen-
tially speaking, C2 and E2 are fully materialized forms. Although these
descriptions are no more than indications of the reality, they should
be carefully studied, for once they are understood the distinction
between Essence and Existence will perhaps become a little clearer.

In the intermediate region between Fact and Value, Existence and
Essence both can have their place. The six-dimensional framework of
natural philosophy is empirical and existential; but, being derived from
total experience rather than from factual abstractions, it leads
naturally on to the seven-dimensional extension of framework dis-
cussed in the last chapter. We called the intermediate region that of
'virtual displacements towards Reality'. Whereas multiple existence as
such can be represented in six dimensions, the emergent quality can
be thought of only with the aid of the notion of virtual displacements.
We touch here upon the genesis of Essence in the midst of Existence—

SYNCHRONICITY

57

a notion of decisive importance for any philosophy of values. Turning
again to Fig. 26.2, we can regard the circles as symbols of the seventh
dimension of impossibility, because there is no 'possible' reason why
one point should be preferred to another.

We find the need to go beyond the six-dimensional framework
whenever we seek to express the emergent character of the Laws of
Synchronicity as distinct from their factual content. Multiple existence
allows for the emergence of qualities that would find no place in a
single line of time, but these qualities are subtle and pass undetected
so long as we observe experience with a quantitative bias. Psycholo-
gically, multiple existence enters our awareness in the form of the
contrast between the mere facts presented to our sense-experience and
the deeper significance we feel that they could have for us if we were
living our lives differently. The sensitive man is constantly aware that
there are different lives proceeding synchronously in and around him.
Of the insensitive man, the poet wrote

"A primrose by the river's brim

A simple primrose was to him

And it was nothing more."

When experience is reduced to fact and confined within the limits
of the six-dimensional framework, multiple existence loses its subtle
distinctions of quality and appears to be no more than the complex
system of potential-energy-gradients by which the actualization of
Existence is maintained and regulated.

10.26.8. The Law of Connectedness and
Independence, H-S-E

In the Domain of Fact, we look for clarity of concepts, for entities
that are well-defined and for laws that are free from ambiguity. Never-
theless, even here relativity must be taken into account. The distinction
of 'same and other' becomes clearer and more precise as we mount
the scale of existence. It is quite absent in the ground state of hyle.
It does not apply to corpuscles, except indirectly by reference to an
atomic nucleus with which they may happen to be associated. Material
objects possess a greater degree of identity, but only in so far as they
are separated from one another. A mass of rock that forms part of the
invisible interior of a mountain has little or no independent existence,
just because it is so intimately connected with more or less identical
masses that surround it. One of the means whereby we assess the level
of existence of living entities is their degree of independence of their
D. U. II. n 4*

58                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

environment. Even with hypernomic existence, the individuality and
independence of the stars is recognized by their isolation from one
another in the vast regions of interstellar space.

Thus, when Experience is reduced to Fact, connectedness and
independence appear to stand as antithetical properties. When we are
concerned with the emergence of quality, we find that connectedness
and independence are mutually necessary and correlative to one another.
This can be seen by studying the form of the Fifth Law of Synchro-
nicity. Here the hyparchic properties transmit the dominant impulse
and those of space fill the subordinate r61e. The intermediate impulse
that emerges is the eternal identity of the situation. Hyparxis unifies
potentialities, space divides them and eternity preserves them. Thus
the impulses that arise by way of hyparxis and space meet and emerge
as the creation of a new potentiality.

Since we regard hyparxis—of the six determining-conditions—as the
one that is closest in character to the seventh degree of freedom, we
should expect the emergent character to impregnate and dominate
situations that arise according to the fifth law. This is verified when
we take special note of the distinction between quantitative identity
and qualitative identity. In the Domain of Fact, the identity of an
entity, A, is recognized by the enclosure of a definite quantity of hyle
within a boundary that separates A from not-A.

The separateness of identity applies not only to external objects but
to our own inner experience of identity—in so far as it is factual.
We are aware of it as 'I' set up against 'not-I'. So long as we think
and feel in terms of Fact only, the assertion 'I' am what I am' is
practically synonymous with 'I am not what I am not'. In the Domain
of Values the formula is reversed. 'I am' acquires the full quality of
value only when 'I am what I am' is also 'I am what I am not'.

The fifth Law of Synchronicity can help us to see how fact and
value both contribute to emergence. Hyle in the virtual state is not
localized in space and time. The eternal pattern of entities, being
wholly virtual, is not confined within the limits of their physical
presence. Indeed, the potentialities depend for their manifestation
upon the external world. The potentialities of a key cannot be known
except by reference to the locks it can open. Unless a lock existed
as not-key, it could not test the pattern of the key. Potentialities
are invariably linked through hyparxis with the external world of forms
in space and time. Every entity can be studied through its manifesta-
tions, and we can infer from them something at least as to the content
of its eternal pattern. Insofar as potentialities are not distinguished

SYNCHRONICITY                                      59

from one another except by the limiting condition of actualization, we
remain within the Domain of Fact. Thus a particular key has 'key-
like' functions for the very reason that it is different from other keys,
and it has no potentialities that are independent of the lock-pattern
for which it was made. Here connectedness and independence are
mutually exclusive properties, each of which depends for its mani-
festation upon the absence of the other. There is a synchronous
conjunction, but it lacks any emergent quality.

If we turn from such situations, in which connectedness and inde-
pendence are exclusively factual, to look at human relationships, we can
see that a new quality emerges. There are personal relationships in
which people are fearful of losing their own independence through
too close connection with others, or conversely in which independence
is recklessly surrendered in order to achieve connectedness. Such
relationships are almost exclusively factual—they depend upon the
functions and do not imply any awakening of the Being and Will.
There are other relationships in which the properties of independence
and connectedness are both equally seen to be pre-requisites of achieving
a quality of relatedness that is beyond mere fact. The Law of Con-
nectedness and Independence asserts that the greater the true inde-
pendence of an entity, the more intimately connected it is with other

entities.*

The hylic bond produced by the merging of two or more virtual
states of existence can have its own characteristic organization. It
'overflows' the limits of the entity in space and time. The eternal
pattern of the entity is thus not wholly, or even characteristically,
'internal'. It is what it is by reason of its potentiality for being 'external'
for the experience of others. This regard or prehension towards
others is not confined to human selves; it is a property of which every
existing entity has its share. The phenomenal world is a nexus of
inconceivable complexity in which every entity is actualizing, as best
it may, the eternal pattern of its own existence, and must do so having
regard to all the other actualizations in the universe. The 'having
regard to' is a linkage, the strength and efficacy of which depends
upon the degree of independence that each entity can maintain.

The Law of Connectedness and Independence thus has its factual
counterpart in the balance of the constructive and destructive forces
in the Universe. All our observations are derived from our common
experience of the actualizing world which we see poised between order

* For a philosophical approach to a similar conclusion, cf. Whitehead's Theory of
Prehensions, in Process and Reality, Part HI, pp. 309—340.

6o

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

and disorder, ever losing and ever finding again a modus vivendi that
must allow for all modes and gradations of existence. Out of this
phenomenal world there emerges the conception of a higher form of
order consciously achieved by the balance of Existence and Essence.
Between the two Domains, there is a region in which connectedness
and independence have more than a simple factual, and less than a
full value, significance.

The intermediate condition is characteristic of hyparxis. It is
essentially regulative. The twofold descriptive title "Law of Connec-
tedness and Independence" is chosen because of the importance of the
concept of virtuality for understanding the mode of operation of the
regard that one entity can have for another. The hyparchic significance
of the law consists in the unitive property of ableness-to-be. In Vol. I
we treated this property as indicating the degree of reconciliation
achieved between the affirmation of an eternal pattern and the denials
of the temporal actualization. This has an immense range of possible
variations. The ableness-to-be of an ultimate particle, such as a proton,
consists in a quasi-infinite series of identical recurrences.* That of the
living organism lies in the powers of the hyparchic regulator,** Various
grades of manifestation of ableness-to-be are thus to be encountered
throughout the Domain of Fact. There is, however, a deeper, hidden
significance of ableness-to-be by which it acquires the quality of emer-
gence towards the Domain of Value. An entity that is able-to-be itself
can also participate in all other existence. Connectedness and inde-
pendence can thus be manifestations of a state of Being that cannot
be known directly. The essential character of ableness-to-be can never
be wholly reduced to Fact. There is an element that is orientated in
the seventh dimension of impossibility.

Before leaving our discussion of the fifth law of synchronicity, we
should once again emphasize its synchronous character. Connected-
ness is not to be confused with reciprocal action in time. The 'impossible'
or seventh dimensional content of the law is Freedom. The law could
be expressed in the form: The greater the inner freedom with which
an entity is endowed, the more is it able to be itself and at the same
time the more is it able to prehend both the existence and the essence
of all other entities.

10.26.9. The Law of Normality, H-E-S

The sixth Law of synchronicity can be regarded as the qualitative

* Cf. Vol. I, Chapter 16, Section 6.16.4.
** Cf. Vol. I, Chapter 20, Section 8.20.5.

SYNCHRONICITY

61

counterpart of the quantitative Framework Laws of the Domain of
Fact. The latter prescribe the conditions by which the existence of

entities is regulated. The Law of Normality prescribes the manner in

which a quality can emerge.

The norm for an entity can be defined as: the quality that is
attainable in practice under the combined influence of its
eternal pattern and its environment. The dominating impulse is

the complete ableness-to-be, H, of the entity concerned, which seeks
to overcome the limitations of the eternal pattern, E, in order to

achieve a quality of its own. The outcome of this striving is brought
into harmony with the whole cosmic realization by the environmental
conditions of space, S. The norm can thus be simply described as
the practical limit of realization of the eternal pattern.

Since the outcome or intermediate impulse in the Law of Normality
is found in the spatial properties of form, scale and proportions, the
law itself acquires a static character that opposes it to the dynamism
of the fifth law. This can be illustrated by considering the example of
the duration of existence of a living organism. We may suppose that
the eternal pattern of man could ideally permit him to actualize an
existence of three or four centuries. This corresponds, let us assume,
to the time required for exhausting the capacity for experience inherent
in a self-directing being of the human species. There are, however,
many factors that may, in a given Epoch, make it impossible for any
man to live for three or four hundred years. When all these factors
are taken into account, a new maximum is established of, say, one
hundred years. We would then term a century the 'normal duration of
human life'. In practice, only very few in a million are found to attain
this duration but some of these few considerably exceed it. The normal
longevity can thus be called the 'maximum life-span observable under
the best inner and outer conditions that can occur during a given
phase of human history'.

The Law of Normality goes beyond asserting that there is a maximum
possible actualization of the pattern. It takes account also of the limi-
tations of the pattern itself. Thus with the most primitive entities,
such as corpuscles and particles, their norm is the same as their actual
existence. Such entities cannot be other than they are; they are not
even distinguishable from other entities of the same order. As we ascend
the scale of existence, the idea of normality acquires a qualitative
significance that emerges from the Domain of Fact. Ableness-to-be
creates an acute problem that, on the level of imperfect self-hood
such as is occupied by mankind, is insoluble within the six dimensions

62

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

of space, time, eternity and hyparxis. It is only at the level of True
Individuality that true normality could be achieved, but this is a
timeless quality, not a property manifested in actualization.

The connection between ableness-to-be and impossibility makes
itself felt when we seek to understand the Law of Normality. The
determining-condition of hyparxis is inherently emergent. It is through
the recurrence of the experience of the divergence between pattern
and norm that we can acquire the power of being aware of the sensitive
state of hyle which, as we have seen, is characteristic of hyparxis.
Sensitivity is related to the emergence of quality and also to the feeling
that in the realization of values there is always an element of impos-
sibility. Herein consists the difference between the norm and the
pattern. The pattern is an ideal that acts perpetually upon the entity
as the dominating impulse of its existence. There is no obligation to
conform to the pattern; it is what it is and it is indifferent to the out-
come of its action. The norm confronts the entity with an obligation.
It 'ought' to exist according to its norm. Abnormality is a defect for
which the entity is or could be held responsible.

The Law of Normality disturbs the calm indifference of the Domain
of Fact. Success and failure have no meaning where all exists, pre-
exists and post-exists according to its kind. The emergence of norms
deals summary execution to the self-sufficiency of mere existence.

In the transition region, normality plays the role of an inner regulator
that adjusts Existence to Essence. It might perhaps be represented by
a new kind of mixed null-vector with components in the directions of
hyparxis and the seventh dimension of impossibility. Because the
'normality-vector' is null, it can be added to the vectors that represent
the existence of an entity without producing observable changes.
There can thus be assigned to it all the values required to adjust the
pattern of potentialities to the norm of realization. The Law of
Normality gives added significance to the notion of fitness. The
entity has not only to fit into its environment, but also to conform to its
own pattern—and this two-fold fitting is made possible by the addition
of a seventh determining-condition according to which realization can
be distinguished from actualization. The pattern is actualized in the
Domain of Fact, but the norm is realized in the Domain of Value.

10.26.10. Applications of the Laws of Synchronicity

The mind-matter dualism of Descartes is resolved by the Laws of
Synchronicity without resort to idealistic monism or to materialistic
mechanism. The pre-established harmony of Leibnitz was a feeling

SYNCHRONICITY                                      63

out towards the concept of Synchronicity, doomed to failure by the
mental atmosphere of the seventeenth century. Subsequent philoso-
phies reached antinomies that, in the light of the laws of Synchronicity,
prove to be neither so deep nor so intractable as they formerly appeared.
More recently, we have a host of phenomena reported in the field of
extra-sensory perception that belong to the transition region between
Fact and Value. Clairvoyance and telepathy are undoubted facts—but
they are also uncertain and cannot be reproduced experimentally. The
difficulties that they raise for either a strictly material or a strictly
spiritual interpretation disappear when they are seen as operations of
the laws of Synchronicity. As H. H. Price and others have suggested,
perception with all its difficult features cannot be 'explained' satisfac-
torily either by mechanism alone or by psychism alone. It is perhaps
the synchronous phenomenon par excellence of our immediate human
experience. Perception is the gateway to experience. It belongs equally
to Fact and Value. It can only arise in the region that separates and
joins them. We should, therefore, expect that it should be governed by
synchronous laws and that it should be incomprehensible without
reference to them.

An even more thorny question is raised by the belief in divination
that men have held since ancient times and that is still prevalent today.
Divination implies that the pattern observable in some trivial situation
is reproduced in the events of human life. For example, the pattern of
tea-leaves in a cup, of cards drawn at random, of yarrow stalks thrown
on the floor, shown in the entrails of animals, in the flight of birds—
all have been and are still used to divine the outcome of an enterprise
or the course of a man's life. Closely allied to divination is the science
or art of astrology. This is based on the assumption that the essence-
pattern of a man is already present at the moment of conception and
is, at least in part, determined by the configuration of planetary
influences present at that moment.

Divination, astrology and all their ramifications are dangerous sub-
jects, for the very reason that they belong to the transition region
between Fact and Value. No one can deny that they have been the
cause of much misunderstanding and many disasters in human life,
nor that they are open to conscious or unconscious charlatanism.
Notwithstanding all the suspicions that they may arouse, history
teaches us that for thousands of years both the rulers and the ordinary
people of the world have trusted in divination, and this would scarcely
have been possible if it were utterly deceptive and illusory. Innumer-
able instances are cited in books devoted to these subjects to show

64                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

that astonishingly accurate predictions have been made by astrologers,
diviners and seers.

It would seem that when all hocus-pocus is put aside, there remains
some real effect that links the patterns present at a given moment of
time. It seems certain also that the future can sometimes be predicted
with an accuracy of detail that cannot be fortuitous. Premonitions are
very common and serious students have reached the conviction that
they are actualized far more often than would be consistent with mere
guessing or chance. There are, however, in the range of events that
can be predicted, limitations that throw light upon the nature of the
effect. It has been observed that premonitions nearly always concern
personal experience and that they can be falsified by an act of free
choice.

A detailed analysis would go beyond the scope of our present
enquiry. It will, however, be evident to the reader that the six laws
of synchronicity provide a complete basis of explanation of the
phenomena themselves, as well as of their limitations and the uncer-
tainty that surrounds them.

Reference should also be made to the various forms of magic that
have been practised in all periods of human history and by all races.
Magic belongs to the intermediate region between Fact and Value. It
is the use of powers belonging to one level to influence events upon
a lower level. Magic can range from the manipulation of material
influences for the purpose of material gain to the use of conscious
powers for the betterment of people. Magic is possible because there
are synchronous connections between different levels and between
events occurring at different places at the same time. Magic stands on
the threshold of emergence. It has an impossible quality that takes it
out of the Domain of Fact, but its operation is limited and it is very
little understood even by those who practise it. It need not, however,
be mysterious, and a better understanding of the laws of synchronicity
would enable us to relegate all kinds of magical practices to their
rightful place in the intermediate region between Fact and Value.

The Laws of Synchronicity have a special significance at the present
time owing to the progress of research in the field of Paraesthetic
phenomena. The need is felt for a theoretical basis through which
clairvoyance, telepathy, premonition and kinesthetic phenomena can
be related to the natural order. The most serious difficulty in formu-
lating such a theory does not lie in the nature of the observed facts,
most of which could be accounted for in terms of hitherto undiscovered
states of matter and the unexplored regions of the human sub-conscious.

SYNCHRONICITY                                          65

It is rather the elusiveness of the phenomena themselves, their de-
pendence upon the 'mental attitude' of the subject tested and the
difficulty of reproducing them under controlled conditions that pre-
vents most scientific workers from admitting them to the Domain of
Fact.

Paraesthetic researches are interesting and significant not because
they are likely to establish a new 'science', but because they show that
it is possible to explore—through the agency of the power latent in
the human psyche—the region that lies between Fact and Value. By
learning more of the laws of synchronicity we shall be able better to
interpret the interaction between different levels of consciousness. We
shall also be less liable to mistake, for authentic emergence of Value,
phenomena that do not go beyond the limitations of Existence.

Chapter Twenty-seven
WILL AND THE TRIADS

11.27.1. The Cosmic Significance of Will

We have a feeling, which is more or less independent of thought,
that the Universe has meaning and value beyond the simple fact that
it exists. We can express this feeling in a realistic way by saying that
we believe that there must be a Source of Initiative that is beyond
Existence and yet not aloof from it. It must be 'beyond', for otherwise
it would only be a result of the existence of the universe. It must also
not be 'aloof, or it would not bring meaning and value into existence
itself. In more philosophical language, we might say that there must
be an Infinite Will that is both Transcendent and Immanent. By 'In-
finite' here we mean greater than all Existence, however great that may
be. Moreover, the word 'Will' must here convey a power greater than
Will as the active factor in the existential triad Function-Being-Will.

Somehow and somewhere, there must be a Greatness that is infinitely
greater than all Existence from which comes forth an impulse that is
inconceivable and unknowable, because it is neither a fact nor reducible
to Fact. The impulse can perhaps best be described as the separation
of Being and non-Being. With this separation—that we might also call
the Primordial Creative Act—the inconceivable becomes conceivable;
for we men are able to conceive a limitless Creative Will for the very
significant reason that creative power is not alien to our own experience.
Moreover, we can observe the triad Function, Being and Will on
every finite scale, and we can therefore conceive it as going beyond
all finite scales. Thus the notion of limits, that has played so great a
part in the development of the mathematical instrument, can here be
applied to the formulation, though not to the comprehension, of the
distinction between the Transfinite Reality and the Infinite Creative
Will. Human thought can make contact only with the latter, and then
only by way of signs and symbols, the full meaning of which must
always transcend the limit of our power of understanding.

Once the primordial Act of Creation is accomplished, the Will
becomes an independent power. Since this moment is prior to the
separation of Being and non-Being, it cannot be identified with Auto-
cracy—the twelfth category of Fact standing at the summit of the Scale

7O                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

of Existence. Will is not dependent for the determination of its own
characteristics upon Being or Function. Only at subsequent stages,
when the infinity of Being has given place to the finitude of Existence,
do the three components of Reality become mutually involved and
interdependent. We can, therefore, enquire into the significance of
Will as unique and independent, and yet not absolutely free.

To understand this an analogy, unavoidably tainted with anthro-
pomorphism, may serve us. An author may be commissioned to write
a play, with complete and unrestricted freedom as to the subject
matter, the treatment, the time and means of production. He can write
when and how he wishes, and we may suppose that he is so versatile
that all languages, all styles, all themes, come to him with equal facility.
He can do whatever he wishes, provided that he writes a play. He
cannot, for example, plant a garden or build a ship. In spite of his
'complete freedom', the things he may not do are far more numerous
than those that are permitted. So we may conceive that the Infinite
Unique Will issuing from its source is already committed to a creative
scheme that excludes an infinite range of those impossible combi-
nations that we describe collectively by the term non-Being. Thus
non-Being, in our interpretation, is very far from nothing at all.
Indeed, we may say that non-Being, as we have defined it, is infinitely
richer than Being, which is subject to the definite limitation imposed
by the Primary Act of Creation.

If 'Will' is a primary constituent of the Creation, it cannot be sub-
ordinated either to existence or to process. To describe it as an 'urge'
implies just such subordination. It seems, however, that we can con-
ceive Will as the primal source of all relatedness without the implication
that the terms to be related must first 'come into' existence. However,
relatedness, as we saw in the Introduction, requires a three-term
system for its manifestation. Such a system is already given in the three
modes of experience—Function, Being and Will. If we assume that
Will is the principle by which Function and Being are mutually re-
lated, we find a means of expressing the property, that we intuitively
ascribe to the Supreme Will, of Transcendence-Immanence.

As it issues from the Transfinite Reality, Will is One, but as
it is manifested in Creation, Will is Three. As the Principle of Creation
Will is one and indivisible; as the Principle of Relatedness it is three-fold

It may be that this is the last as well as the first limitation of the
Infinite Will. Certainly it is the only one that our intellect can apprehend
There may be, and no doubt are, infinitely varied systems of creation
latent in the Source. It may be that an infinity of such creations is

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                    71

realized on the basis of fundamental laws other than the triad. All
such systems belong-—for us—to the domain of non-Being; for Being
is inconceivable unless related to Function and Will as three indepen-
dent and yet mutually necessary terms of a three-term system. Thus
the Triad, as the fundamental principle of relatedness, is a condition
a priori of such an Universe as ours—but this need not be true of
another kind of Universe.

Having placed ourselves at the point of the Primary Initiative, we
have to face the problem of the externalization of Will. In one sense, we
may suppose that only the First Act of Will is free, and that thereafter
all proceeds according to law. This only begs the question; for it does
not explain how Existence itself can retain significance and value, if all
decisions are already made prior to the moment of its arising. We have
therefore to assume that, in some way, the Will reproduces the act of
the Unfathomable Source by projecting into Existence some measure
of its own freedom, within the limits of the fundamental laws it has
established. This can be formulated in the following Principle of the
Operation of the Will in the Existing Universe:

At all levels of Existence there is the possibility of free initiative,
but only within the limits of superior laws.

As a corollary of this principle, it follows that the freedom of the
Will is greatest in the prior stages of creation, and that progressively
more and more laws enter to determine and confine its operation until
at the final stages the possibility of freedom falls away almost to zero.
It may be necessary to emphasize here that the words 'prior' and 'final'
do not refer to actualization in time, but to the logical sequence. We
cannot think about determination unless we have previously thought
about freedom.

So far, we have given expression to general principles deduced from
common experience of ourselves and the world we live in; from here,
we need to find a way towards expressing the nature of Will as an
element of experience and to see its connection with Value.

Relatedness implies mutual adjustment and hence mutual limitation.
Consequently, if Will is the Principle of Relatedness, it must also be
the source of Law. This is implied in the notion of Creation as the
Decree that brings order out of chaos. Fiat lux is the simplest expression
of the establishment of law. On the view that Being is separated from
non-Being, the laws of Being are the primal act of Will. Will has thus
a two-fold status. It is prior to Being in Creation, but it is also an
element in the triad as relatedness. For the present, it is sufficient

72                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

that we should recognise that if there is a source of universal laws,
then that source can best be defined as the Supreme Will. The laws
may be various in their character, distinctiveness and scope. There
could be, for example, a Law of Caprice, according to which it is
permitted—within the limits fixed by other laws—to act without
reference to any purpose or to the needs and obligations of the universe
or any part of it. There could also be a Law of Rigorous Causality,
according to which one, and only one, situation can arise in a given
set of conditions. Although the definition of Will as the source of laws
may suffice for setting up an abstract scheme, it does not show how
Will enters into our experience of finite self-hood. In Book I, Under-
standing was described as the 'subjective aspect of Will'. We have
still to see how such a notion can arise from the primary conception
of Will as the Principle of Relatedness. As finite beings, we can
have experience of the Cosmic Will only 'from below', and in this
perspective it must always appear to us as the operation of laws.

Since human experience belongs to a subordinate stage of the creative
process, we men must be subject to diverse operations of the Cosmic
Will. Not only do we live under many laws—most of which we do not
at all understand—but these laws act upon different levels. That which
is inescapable necessity upon one level may be open to free choice upon
another level. Consequently, by learning to recognize the Laws of Will
and the levels upon which they operate, we may hope to see better
how we can gain at least a partial liberation from the lower types of
relatedness that at present hold us captive.

ii.27.2. The Subjective Experience of Will

For 'willing', regarded as a faculty of the soul and independent of
thought and feeling, no word existed in ancient times either in Eastern
or Western philosophies. The mediaeval division of men's psychic
natures, into the three faculties of cognition, emotion and conation, is
now seen to be defective psychologically and of little value empirically.
When we say I will', we do not express anything that is not contained
in 'I wish'—or T intend'.* When Plato used the word"            he

never meant more than intention or wish.** It can be readily seen that

* Cf. the criticism of the 'Myth of Volitions' in Gilbert Ryle's The Concept of
Mind (London, 1949), p. 62.

** E.g. in Gorgias 509. "I mean to ask whether a man can avoid injustice if he has
only the will to do so, or must he have provided himself with the power." The whole
argument here is that to wish or to intend is not sufficient to produce a change of
behaviour. The 'Unconscious Wish' is a notion foreign to the ancients.

WILL AND THE TRIADS

73

there is no functional activity that justifies using the verb 'to will'
in the same way as we use 'to wish', 'to desire', 'to intend', or 'to
propose'. We can 'determine', 'decide', and even 'choose', but we
cannot 'will'. It scarcely requires demonstrating that the distinctions
commonly made between 'voluntary' and 'involuntary' actions, and
between 'strong-willed' and 'weak-willed' persons, refer only to
differences in the working of the functions, and especially to the inter-
action of thought, feeling and organic sensation.* Psychological research
has made it clear that we must not expect to discover any volitional
activity that cannot be described in terms of the reactions of the nervous
system. If, however, we were to confine the use of the word 'will' to
reflex activity involving afferent and efferent impulses leading to
bodily movements, we might as well dispense entirely with such words
as 'voluntary' and 'will'.

We must here note that the philosophers of the Unconscious, especi-
ally Hartmann, claimed to use the word 'will' in precisely this sense;
that is, to mean a reflex action and nothing more.** This begs the
question as to whether a meaning can be attached to 'an act of will'.***
Spinoza long since showed the error of confusing will and desire. The
affections are neither acts of will nor manifestations of its power.§ The
Unconscious Wish, which is a useful concept in psychology, has little
connection with the Will or Power of Relating.

If, then, we exclude functional activities, we must seek for the sub-
jective experience of will in a power to induce action, rather than
in action itself. Action here is not to be taken in the restricted sense
of 'overt' action, but to include also modification of subjective states.
This is, for example, the way in which will is treated by Kant, who
defines it as 'power to determine oneself to action in accordance with
certain laws.' Kant's ethic assumes the presence of a 'something'
—the categorical imperative—that makes this transition from reason
to action. It is not easy, in reading Kant's discussion of Will in the

* Cf. Ryle, loc. cit., p. 112. F. V. Smith, in The Explanation of Human Behaviour
(London, 1951), does not even trouble to criticize the concept of will, but he shows
how the various systems of McDougall, Watson, Hull and Tollman enable functional
activities to be described without employing the concept of volition.

** Cf. Hartmann, The Philosophy of the Unconscious, trans. W. C. Coupland (London,
1931), p. 60.

*** Cf. John Ladd, Free Will and Voluntary Action, Phil. & Phen. Res. xii, 1952,

P- 393.

§ Cf. B. de Spinoza, God, Man and his Well-being, trans. A. Wolf (London, 1910),
p. in. "AH these activities can only be subsumed under that inclination which is
called desire, and by no means under the designation of Will, which is altogether
inappropriate."

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Grundlagen and the Critique of Practical Reason, to be satisfied that he
always adheres to the distinction between obligation and the emotional
urge to choose that which the reason affirms as right.* It would seem
that Kant's difficulty arises from the observation that the categorical
imperative plays very little part in the lives of ordinary people.** He
does, however, clearly see and enunciate the connection between Will
and Laws, and recognizes that the operation of will consists in choosing
to submit to law. This view has in recent years taken the peculiar form
of supposing that the act of submission is purely subjective and changes
nothing in the course of events, which are presumed to be wholly
governed by causal laws. In Kant's treatment, the 'person' in whom
will is presumed to be manifested turns out to have no part at all,
except when he fails, and hence, for Kant, freedom is manifested only
in the evil will. In the modern version, even this limited responsibility
is repudiated and will is taken to be nothing more than the illusion of
choice.

To find our way through the bewildering maze of theories of the Will,
we must turn again to the basic connection between Will and Related-
ness. If Will is the source of all relationships within and beyond
Existence, we should be able to discover elements of our experience
that have wholly the character of relatedness. Such elements should
be neither the terms of a relationship nor the events in which rela-
tionships are manifested; but the very relationship itself. We do not
have to seek far, for we find the first such element in the power of
attention. It is easy to see that attention is not the doer of our actions.
We can act without attention and, when we have the sense of making
a voluntary action, we can readily observe that our attention is detached
both from the source of the initiative and from the action itself. More-
over, attention is never an action. There is no function of attention.
Attention cannot be accounted for in terms of nerve-impulses, although
it is undoubtedly a determining factor in deciding how the impulses
shall be transmitted. Going further, we can readily establish that
attention is not the same as Being. Being cannot fluctuate from moment
to moment. It is what it is—the measure of the potentialities latent in
a given whole. Even if we ascribe changes in total state to Being and
regard their character and range of variation as a test of the quality of
Being, we still find that they are not the same as attention. Of all the
elements of our experience, attention is pre-eminently that which is
evidence in favour of the distinction between voluntary and involuntary

• Cf. the criticism in Westermarck's Ethical Relativity (London. 1932), Chapter 9.
**Cf. H. S. Paton, The Categorical Imperative (London, 1947).

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                    75

action. Indeed, there are no means of deciding whether a given action
is voluntary or involuntary except by observing the attention that
precedes and accompanies it. Whatever significance we may attach to
the word 'will', we can scarcely help associating it with the notion of
voluntary as distinct from involuntary actions; and so, here at last, we
have found a strong argument for concluding that through the study
of attention we could learn about the nature of Will.

There arises, however, an obvious question as to the connection
between attention and consciousness. We connect consciousness with
Being, and we might very well argue that attention is no more than the
focussing of consciousness. But focussing a lens is a different act from
the passing of light through it. We can, moreover, readily verify from
observation that the laws that govern attention are quite different from
those that apply to the states of consciousness. For example, attention
relates, but consciousness is what it is, in and for itself. Attention can
be directed, but consciousness has neither direction nor place. Conscious-
ness is never experienced as voluntary or intentional. Consciousness is a
quality of existence. Attention does not exist; it is neither an extensive nor
an intensive magnitude. Moreover, it is not related to sensitivity. In
other words, it is not one of the three states of hyle nor any com-
bination of them.* There is no such thing as 'energy of attention'.
Attention can direct energies, but it is not itself an energy. Conscious-
ness, in all its manifestations, is a form of energy. There are as many
levels of consciousness as there are levels of energy. The liberation of
energy of a given quality is accompanied by a corresponding state of
consciousness, even without the intervention of attention—which often
follows rather than precedes the change of consciousness.

Consciousness fluctuates—sometimes under the direction of atten-
tion, sometimes quite independently of it. On the other hand, attention
does not necessarily depend upon consciousness. We can readily find
examples of unconscious attention—when we perform a series of con-
nected actions that depend upon attention, but where neither the
actions themselves nor the attention directing them are in the sphere
of our consciousness. In short, we may say that attention appears to
be a power that is neither an activity nor an energy. The word
'power' is here to be understood as that which directs energy and
activity, but is different from either. We have to distinguish between
powers that establish relationship—i.e., triads—and forces that pro-
duce action, i.e., dyads. Also a power must be distinguished from a
state of being—tetrad—that carries its own form of order and organi-
• Cf. Vol. I, Chapter 16, Section 6.16.3.

76                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

zation. A power is more abstract than a state of being, but more
concrete than a force. These powers are properties of the Will.

The power of choice and the power of decision are two furth<r
properties of the Will that, although closely connected with attention,
are nevertheless distinct from it. These powers are connected with the
property we have called ableness-to-be, and we might be tempted to
refer all such powers to the hyparchic regulator and, hence, to regard
choice as a functional activity. This would strike at the root of any
doctrine of Value, for evidently choice and decision would be no more
than reflex mechanisms unless they derived from a discrimination of
values. We choose that which at the given moment appears to us to
be the most 'worth while', the most 'interesting', the most 'desirable';
in a word, the most 'valuable' course of action. It is precisely because
choice and decision are properties of the Will that they can relate us
to a system of values. If they were functional only, they could do no more
than bind us to facts. This is the argument of Plato's Gorgias, and it
has not been bettered.

Here it is necessary to observe that the powers of attention, choice
and decision are exercised by men far more rarely than might be sup-
posed from the frequency with which they appear in discussions about
human behaviour. We do attend, choose and decide: but it is very
seldom that our choice and our decision are voluntary. On the con-
trary, we have the paradox—contrary to Kant's supposition—that the
Will in man is scarcely ever free, and that the evil state of man results
not from choice but from failure to choose. Nearly all that man does
is the result of the operation of laws over which he has no control.
This is so mainly because he does not understand them. Only seldom,
and then nearly always in trivial situations, do a man's actions stem
from the exercise of his will-power.

The connection between Will as Power and Will as the Principe
of Relatedness is not hard to establish. Attention is a relationship, and
so are decision and choice. Attention cannot be described as a dyad
of 'observer and observed', for it is an element that is independent
of both and yet relevant to both. The considerations put forward in
the Introduction regarding the nature of relatedness are exemplified
in every manifestation of Will.

It remains to consider the connection, traced in Chapter 4, between
Will and Understanding. First, we may note that understanding
is a relationship, and not an activity nor a state of consciousness.
Secondly, understanding is effectual only through the exercise of the
powers of attention, choice and decision. Unless related by the power of

WILL AND THE TRIADS

77

attention, a man's understanding is useless to him. Unconscious choice
is nothing but a change in the direction of functional activity. A decision
that is not based upon understanding cannot be ascribed to the Will.
These assertions are not self-evident, but they can be verified if we
observe that all activity is the operation of laws. It very seldom happens
that all the forces at work are contained within a given whole or system.
In the case of human activity, a man is acted upon and reacts. Will
is then only the operation of laws external to the man's own conscious-
ness and being. When he understands what is happening in these
regions of his being, he acquires the possibility of voluntary action;
that is, of bringing the operation of the laws, at least in part, within the
sphere of his own will. Thus the powers are present, but the exercise
of the powers is possible only if there is understanding. Hence we may
conclude—and very naturally—that the subjective aspect of Will con-
sists in the exercise of powers, and that their exercise derives from
Understanding.

11.27.3. Will as 'Why', 'Thus' and 'How'

Let us return to Kant's assertion that Will is, in some sense, a
relationship to laws. In order to bring out more clearly the connection
between Will and Law, and the difference between Law and the
regularities of Being and Function, let us consider the existence of a
great river under three different aspects.

First, the river is an activity. It is a cycle of energy transformations,
entering in diverse ways into the functional processes of the Earth's
surface and crust. It carries water and silt to the ocean, it irrigates the
surrounding country, deepens and broadens its own valley. It is part
of the mechanism that links the Earth, the Sun and the Moon through
winds, waves and rocks. It is the support, and sometimes the destroyer,
of life. For man, it is both a highway and a barrier to traffic—it is the
mother of civilizations and the meeting-point of races. So we might
proceed from detail to detail enumerating the functions of the river.

The catalogue we should thus compile would tell us as much as we
please of what the river does, but it could not tell us what a great
river is, nor would it enlighten us as to the 'how' and 'why' of its
arising. In the Realm of Being, the river is a part of the presence of
the Earth. In its essence—that is, its eternal pattern—it is an element
in the pattern of the Earth. We cannot know that river, but we can
be conscious of it as we merge ourselves into the experience of earth-
life—the experience of winds, waves and rocks. In its being, the great
river has its own consciousness, quite different from our human con-

78                                 THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

sciousness; for it can only experience itself as an entity merged into
the Essence of the Earth. The river, ever perishing, ever renewed, is
always itself and always other—never to be confined within any formula
of knowableness.

There remains still to be described the thus, the how and the why
of the river. These are only to be found in the operation of universal
laws. All the Laws of Nature are implicit in the answer as to how the
river is what it is. All the Laws of Existence, from the moment of
creation, must be invoked to answer the question: why is there a river?
It is thus because all Existence is governed by laws that impose such a
thusness upon it. It is embedded in a nexus of relationships by which
it is connected by manifold links, according to Universal Laws, with
the totality of Existence within the vast framework of possibility. It is
under this third aspect of universal relatedness that the 'Will' of the
river is manifested. It is related as 'Why, Thus and How'.

The laws of this actual river are particular, but they are the expression
of laws that are universal. We can only understand the river inasmuch
as we can see the particular within the framework of the universal.
Moreover, if we could understand the river fully, we should fully under-
stand all that exists and beyond.

In every situation there are both the particular thus and the universal
why. Between these two, only the reconciling quality of how can
provide a link, for 'how' is at once particular and universal.

There is only one possible answer to every question, why? All partial
answers of the form 'because of X'—where 'X' is some finite need or
demand—invite the further question, 'then why X?' The regress would
be infinite, if Existence were infinite. Since we postulate a finite exist-
ence, the questions come to an end, or limit, when we ask, 'then why
Existence?' The answer at this point steps out of all possible experience
and all possibility of verification; and points to ALL BEING and
answers, 'because of THAT'. Still there remains a question, 'Why
THAT and not otherwise'. Then we point to the Unfathomable Source
and answer, 'There are no more whys, because what we speak of now
is beyond the infinite and no possible question can have any meaning
here'. When once there are no more questions, all 'whys' collapse like
a house of cards from which the base has been plucked away.

We seem to be no better off than if we had refused from the start
to consider the question 'why?' There is, however, a very real difference;
for we have traced the question to its Source. It must be beyond the
separation of Being and non-Being, and yet it does not escape from
relatedness, since the answer lies precisely in the affirmative impulse

WILL AND THE TRIADS

79

that proceeds from the Unfathomable. The question 'why', in whatever
context it may be asked, always has one answer: 'Because an affirmative
impulse proceeds from the Unfathomable Source, decreeing that what
is to be, is to be thus.' By pursuing the question 'why?' to its only
possible conclusion, we find ourselves in possession of one indispensable
clue to the understanding of Will—namely, the recognition of a Trans-
finite Affirmation that enters Being and is transmitted into all Existence.

If we now set before ourselves the question 'what is Thusness', we
find that we do not need to pursue the enquiry beyond the bounds of
Being. Everything around us is thus and not otherwise. Thusness is
the common property of everything that exists. It is, however, a nega-
tion; for in order to be thus each and everything is deprived of the
infinite wealth of 'not-Thusness' that it might have exemplified. We
find, therefore, in 'Thusness' a second universal property of Will;
namely, that there is an all-pervasive denial, so that all that exists can
be thus and not otherwise. Moreover, this denial does not originate
within Existence, for it already implies the partition of Being by the
exclusion of non-Being. This ultimate exclusion is the pledge, given
and taken, that the Transfinite Impulse shall have a field within which
its demand can be fulfilled.

There at once arises the question 'How?' With this question, and its
answer in the Cosmic Reconciliation, the problem of Will is resolved
in so far as the human intellect can apprehend it. There is nothing new
in this conclusion; for it is common to such diverse philosophies as
Chinese Taoism, Hindu Sankhya and Western neo-Platonism. The
only difference is that we are now able to transfer it from the Earth
to the Universe and place it in a perspective commensurate with the
immensity of the notion of an Unfathomable Source.

The Unity of the Will is Transcendental—that is, beyond the separa-
tion of Being and non-Being or, what is equivalent, before the Primary
Act of Creation ex nihilo. Every manifestation of Will is in the form of
relatedness, and therefore of the triad. A dualistic conception of will
would be without any integrative principle. In Schopenhauer's system
Will is set in dualistic opposition to the Idea. For him, Will "considered
purely in itself is without knowledge and is merely a blind incessant
impulse". For Hartmann, also, Will is "the endeavour to procure
Reality, or the endeavour to pass from the state represented by the
prime into that represented by the later idea". Leaving aside the objec-
tion that they make Will subordinate to time, such formulae are silent
on the question 'How?' In the end, everything remains as mysterious
as at the beginning. Nevertheless, Schopenhauer saw more clearly than

8o

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

most philosophers that Will is the power by which all Existence, both
universal and individual, is able to be what it is. "The essential and
peculiar in what I have always willed, I must still continue to will; for
I myself am this Will, which lies outside time and change." This
passage is interesting in that here Schopenhauer seems to recognize
that Will must be prior to the determining-conditions.

ii.27.4. Will and the Triad

We can conceive that in the Source any law might be or have been
decreed as the source of a new creation. Within the existing universe,
to which all our experience is confined, it is literally impossible to
conceive the character of any creation that is not based upon the
relationship of the triad. An incomprehensible logic could indeed be
constructed upon the supposition that mutual completion required
four independent terms. Within the Unfathomable there could be
fashioned a Reality utterly different from any experience possible
within the Universe we know, for it would be subject to such a four-
fold will. There might indeed be systems requiring five, six, or even
an infinite number of completely autonomous terms. But the point is
that, for us, all these would belong to the realm of non-Being, since
they would require properties utterly inconceivable to us to ensure
their coherence. The cosmic significance of the triadic relationship can,
at best, be but dimly grasped by the human intelligence; but the more
we contemplate the Universe to which we belong, the more convinced
do we feel that it comes into being by a triadic impulse which decides
its Why, Thus and How; and therefore the triad is for us the primal law.

Looking back into the past, we can see how persistent and widespread
has been the conviction that the Triad is the principle of all relatedness.
This conviction is independent of religious faith. It is the foundation
of the Marxist dialectic as it is of the Geistige or spiritual Hegelian
Progression of the Notion. The triads Sattvas—Rajas—Tamas of the
Sankhya philosophy, and the Yang—Yin—Tao of China, are both
formulated without any reference to the Being of God. The same
applies to the still only partially understood symbolism of ancient
Egypt and Sumer.

Religious interpretations of the triad—and particularly the Christian
doctrine of the Blessed Trinity—have always tended to evoke the
notion of a Triple Being, which is almost inevitable when two members
of the triad are personified as God the Father and God the Son. To
the essential mystery of the Blessed Trinity we tend to add the obscurity
of our own defective representation. The entry into Christian thought

WILL AND THE TRIADS

8.

of the doctrine is one of the enigmas of the history of the Church.
Only by a forced and artificial interpretation can the doctrine be found
in any of the canonical scriptures, even those manifestly written after
the Fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. It appears to have arisen late in the
second century in Alexandria, and yet it cannot be attributed to the
Gnostic heresiarchs, who, though they identified Jesus with the Logos,
did not teach the doctrine of the Trinity. Trinitarianism was certainly
taught in the Catechetical School of Alexandria, whose almost legendary
founder, Pantaenus, is reputed to have studied with the Egyptian
priests and to have travelled in Persia and India before settling in
Alexandria in about a.d. 150. In the fragments of his teaching pre-
served by Maximus the Confessor, there is some evidence that Pan-
taenus taught that the Trinity is the manifestation in this world of the
Triadic Nature of the One Supreme Will that is beyond all Existence.
The doctrine of the Trinity, though it commands our acceptance as
an almost self-evident truth, has remained incomprehensible to Christian
thought. In consequence, the Church, while professing the doctrine
of the Trinity, has retained in its imagery the dualism of God as
Father and God as Son. Referring to the dualism of Church Theology,
Pringle-Pattison, in his Gifford lectures, remarked that "few things
are more disheartening to the philosophical student of religion than
the way in which the implications of the doctrine of the Incarnation
are evaded in popular theology, by dividing the functions of deity
between the Father and the Son, conceived practically as two distinct
personalities or centres of consciousness; the Father perpetuating the
old monarchial ideal and the incarnation of the Son being limited to
a single historical individual".

So long as we continue to picture God as Being, we cannot wholly
divest ourselves of anthropomorphism without falling into pantheism.
If God is 'a' Being, He is in some way like us. If He is All-Being—
Deus est omne quod est—then we are also God and the notion of Divine
Transcendence is lost. When we recognize God as Will, untainted by
Being, we find both Transcendence and Immanence. God is 'beyond
the highest' and also eternally present in every manifestation of Will as
the Reconciling Power in every triad. The objection that seems to
arise, that Will must be manifested in a Self, is due to the confusion
of Self-hood and Individuality discussed in Chapter 29.*

• Cf. B. Bosanquet, Value and Destiny of the Individual, p. 136. "It is a contra-
diction to say that God, being a person separate from man, wills that man should
have a will; but that man can use the will as he pleases. To will a will is to will its
detail." D.U. II-5

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

By separating the 'what' and the 'how' of the conception of Deity,
we prepare the way for a fundamental reconciliation of the religious
and scientific modes of thought. Science is primarily concerned with
Function, and religion with Being. Both have an equal concern with
the question 'how'? There is no one human discipline that has a
greater need or right to study the Will than any other. It is the meeting-
point of the philosophical and the practical, of the religious and the
scientific, of materiality and spirituality, of theism and atheism.

ii.27.5. Some Postulates Concerning Will

Practical experience teaches us that the good administrator does not
attempt to do everything himself, but delegates, wherever possible, his
responsibilities to others—even when he is well aware that they may
be less competent to fulfill them than he is himself. He sees, moreover,
that his role should be chiefly that of a mediator in the conflicts created
by his policy of decentralization, rather than that of an autocrat dic-
tating the programme to be followed. The more initiative he can evoke
in his subordinates without destroying the main plan of his work, the
better will his work succeed. It is easy to see that a complete autocracy
could, for a time, produce a smoothly running machine; but also that
it must, sooner or later, break down for lack of a living power.

The principles that underlie these practical life-observations are
universal and cosmic in their significance. We have seen that the im-
pulses from the Unfathomable Source, which initiate the process of
creation, must, to enable the Transfinite Power to be realized, evoke
an equal and opposite resistance. There must be, at the same moment,
an independent force, equal in intensity to the other two, that can
reconcile the Transfinite Affirmation and the Transfinite Receptivity
by an equal power of 'howness'. The meeting of opposites that we
encounter everywhere in our common experience of life on earth is
the projection, upon the minute scale of human concerns, of the
greatest event that the intellect can conceive—the Creation of Ultimate
Being.

We must examine carefully the mutual relevance of the understanding
derived from our immediate experience and the insight of the specula-
tive intellect into the origin of Existence. We could trust neither the
one nor the other if they failed to validate and confirm the conclusion
to which each leads.

In every situation—whether seen as temporal actualization or as
eternal pattern—we can find three independent components, related to
one another as affirming, denying and reconciling forces. We need not

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                    83

return over the ground already studied in the domain of Fact. We
should, however, note that the concept of Value would have no meaning
in the absence of an independent third element that reconciles conflicts
and resolves oppositions—that is, Harmony.

We can therefore proceed with confidence to formulate as the
fundamental law of Will:

Every manifestation of Will on every scale consists in the mutual
adjustment of the three Cosmic Impulses of Affirmation, Receptivity
and Reconciliation.

The term Cosmic Impulse here introduced is to be understood
without reference to the determining-conditions. The Impulses them-
selves have their root or their source beyond Existence, and even
beyond Being. There can be temporal impulses and there can be
impulses that are non-temporal. There can be impulses that are in
themselves complete triads when viewed in one perspective and un-
differentiated elements in a greater impulse when viewed from another.
Moreover, the impulses can manifest in a variety of forms and
conjunctions.

Before we proceed to study each of the Cosmic Impulses separately,
it will be useful to set down a few postulates concerning the nature of
Will.

Postulate 1. The realization of the Transfinite Will is accomplished
by way of the arising of the three Cosmic Impulses, each independent
and equal in status; namely, Affirmation, Receptivity and Recon-
ciliation.

Postulate 2. There is one, and only one, all-embracing Ultimate
Triad, wherein the three Cosmic Impulses are perfectly harmonized
without residuum. This, being beyond the limitations of all Existence,
is called the Transfinite Triad.

Postulate 3. In every triad, except the Transfinite, the harmony
of the Cosmic Impulses is imperfect.

Postulate 4. Every finite triad is itself an element, transmitting one
of the Cosmic Impulses, in an unlimited nexus of superordinate
triads.

Postulate'5. Except at the final stage of creation, every triad is
itself a nexus of subordinate triads.
To these notions, it is necessary to add a few additional conceptions.

Definition: The Sources of the Cosmic Impulses in any particular
triad are the levels of Being in which they originate.

84                                THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Definition: The Status of a triad is the level of Being upon which
it is manifested.

Definition: A World is the totality of situations governed by
triads having the same status.

Definition: The fundamental forms of the triad governing a given
world are called the Laws of that world.

Using these definitions, we can set down four more postulates that
describe the manner in which the operation of the Will is influenced
by the level of Being with which it is associated.

Postulate 6. The character of every triad is determined by the
sources of the Cosmic Impulses that form it and the manner in which
they are related.

Postulate 7. The Will is transmitted from higher World to lower
World by a process of self-limitation consisting in the mutual ex-
clusion of incompatible triads.

Postulate 8. Every World is characterized by a set of mutual ex-
clusions that are a consequence of the level of Being of the entities
comprising the World.

Postulate 9. Every World is complete in itself; every form of Will
is manifested in every World, but each World has its own characteristic
limitations.

The significance of these nine postulates will emerge in the course of
our more detailed studies. A few explanations may help in clarifying
their meaning, without necessarily indicating their operation.

The first postulate affirms that the triad is real transcendentally.
The transmission of the undivided Transfinite Impulse into Being takes
place through the already accomplished and irrevocable separation into
three independent Cosmic Impulses. In Being as a whole, as well as
in all its subordinate parts, we can never find a single undivided Will,
but always a combination of the three Cosmic Impulses.

The second postulate underlines the decisive step that is made when
Will emerges from the Transfinite Reality, where alone the perfect con-
junction of the Cosmic Impulses is possible. Even in Ultimate Being
there are no completely harmonized triads.

Postulates 3 to 5, and 7 to 9, all concern the notion of levels and
will become clear when we embark on the study of Worlds.

We are left with the sixth postulate that deals with the 'how' of the
operations of the Will in all Worlds. It is not to be found explicitly
in any known system of cosmology, ancient or modern, although it is

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                 85

referred to indirectly in the Sankhya system as it is developed in the
Sixth Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata. There it is explained that all
the varieties of existing forms arise through the combination of the
three gunas—Sattvas, Rajas and Tamas—in different orders and in
different proportions. The postulate is of decisive importance for any
study of the Will in human experience, since it enables us to classify
all forms of Will and to indicate where the possibilities of choice and
decision arise.

11.27.6. The First Cosmic Impulse

Since we are exposed to the relationships of Will in many Worlds, and
experience them also in ourselves at different levels of our own being,
we are bound to discover many shades of meaning in the Cosmic
Impulses. Moreover, we are ex hypothesi debarred from any possi-
bility of understanding the impulses in their completely independent
purity as they are present in their Source. We can have no con-
ception of a pure affirmation that does not depend upon a denial.
Neither can we conceive a receptive impulse that could sustain its own
character except in opposition to an affirmation. Nor can we visualize
a reconciling impulse that does not need the presence of opposing
forces to elicit its quality.

Although it might appear that we are capable of entertaining the
notions of affirmation, receptivity and reconciliation independently, a
careful examination of our own mental processes must convince us
that we can never do so except as bare verbal formulae. In any
authentic human experience, each of the Cosmic Impulses requires
and implies the other two. Nevertheless, we can, by collecting and
comparing a large variety of instances, hope to establish the characters
that distinguish each of the three.

To form any adequate conception of the First Cosmic Impulse, we
must picture it joined in a triad with the other two. Even so, we cannot
hope to comprehend it except as a synthesis of partial insights. For
example, we may picture affirmation transitively, as an action of one
entity upon others. Or we may picture it intransitively, in the sense
that we should say, 'This is affirmed to be true'. Both senses must be
understood as applying to the positive affirmation of Being that is both
a self-affirming impulse and also the demand that Being makes upon
Existence. We may thus say that there is an essential non-transitive
affirmation and an existential transitive affirmation. The first is reflective
and directed inwardly; the second is active and directed outwardly.
But we must also remember that the two appear to us to be distinct

86

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

only because we cannot put ourselves in the place of Ultimate Being,
for which the distinction of 'outer' and 'inner' has no meaning. Where
there is no impossibility—as ex hypothesi in the Transfinite Reality—all
affirmation must be self-affirmation. But when Being submits to the
distinction of possibility and impossibility, then this very submission
is also an affirmation that Being is thus and not otherwise.

This brings us to the connection between the First Cosmic Impulse
and the quality of creativity. The notion of creativity has taken many
and diverse forms in men's minds. There is the theocratic creation ex
nihilo; there is also creation in the sense of the book of Genesis—that
is, the evocation of order out of chaos—and again, there is creativity
in the sense of Schopenhauer's Will as the urge towards realization of
the Idea. All dynamic philosophies invoke, under one or another form,
the power of affirmation as the source of Universal Dynamism. In
Whitehead's Philosophy of Process, creativity is the power by which the
Eternal Ideas are driven to realize themselves in actual occasions. The
prime mover of Aristotle, the causa sui of Spinoza, the elan vital of
Bergson, the idee directrice of Claude Bernard, are all attempts at ex-
pressing the intuition—common to every attempt to understand the
universe—that there must be some universal power that drives Existence
to seek its own fulfilment. There is not the slightest need to conceive
this power as a being or an intelligence. The most uncompromising
materialism—and even the behaviourism that refuses all significance
to the very notions of Consciousness, Being and Deity—is compelled
to invoke some universal principle, if only that of rigorous causality.
Materialistic causality is evidently a manner of describing the First
Cosmic Impulse that is also valid and important within the limits of
its applicability.

The observation that it is possible to think about the First Cosmic
Impulse under any conceivable category of thought, and with any kind
of attitude towards the concept of Deity or towards the presence or
the absence of a Purpose and Divine Guidance in the Universe, shows
that we are reaching out towards a truth that is beyond the limits of
the human intellect and even beyond Existence itself.

We must remember that it is hard to conceive creativity otherwise
than in time. To create seems inevitably to mean the bringing into
existence or order of that which was previously non-existent or chaotic.
Affirmation includes such creativity, but much more beside. We can
readily see affirmation in a pattern or in potentiality in general. We
can conceive a timeless activity latent in the essence of all beings and
all things. The affirmation of potentiality is purer—that is, less mixed

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                    87

vith negation—than the activity of actualization. There is an affirmation
in the mountain torrent, rushing down the gorge; but it is spending
itself and dies away when the river flows into the ocean. The affirmation
in the quiet reservoir of water high up in the mountain has an eternal
quality. Time does not destroy its potency. In general, we can see that
the affirmation does not consist in the activity but in that which, itself
non-active, makes the activity possible. The vital urge is not vitality.
Creativity is not creation.

A conception of the affirming impulse that is shared by all emana-
tionist philosophers, regards it as the power by which the Many
proceeds from the One. In monistic and pantheistic philosophies, such
us that of Spinoza, it is the Divine Will that, proceeding from Natura
Naturans—the world as Essence—produces Natura Naturata—the

world as Existence.

From the most ancient times, men have pictured the First Cosmic

Impulse as a male power. Sexual symbolism, Sun worship, the idea of

the Father-God, all are expressions of the same intuition. In Chinese

philosophy, the male power, Yang, is expressly taught as the Cosmic

Affirmation. In the Sankhya philosophy of India, Rajaguna, or the

quality of forcefulness, is the affirming force seen as destructive. So

also is its personification in the Hindu Trinity as Shiva. All conceptions

of God as Power and Fatherhood and Majesty are derived from a

symbolical personification of the First Cosmic Impulse. It cannot be

too strongly emphasized that the Cosmic Impulses are not Being, nor

even attributes of Being. They are omnipresent and pervasive, and all

Being is subject to the relationships of Will; but this is very far from

justifying the view that the impulses themselves are Beings or Persons.

Will is prior to Existence, and, in the strictest sense, Will does not exist.

11.27.7. The Second Cosmic Impulse

The Second Cosmic Impulse is passive, conservative and receptive,
It is also the impulse of resistance, inertia and denial. Again, it is the
impulse of the supporting, enduring and patient creation.

I n the Category of Wholeness, the Second Cosmic Impulse appears
as the the conservative character of all Being—that is, the power to be
what one is. In this sense it is all-pervasive and also independent.
In the plenitude of Being the Second Cosmic Impulse does not depend
upon nor does it imply the First. It is also the supreme source of all
lawfulness and limitation, the arbiter of possibility in all Existence.

Under the category of polarity, the Second Cosmic Impulse is seen
in the denial that makes affirmation possible. It is the 'other' which

88

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

determines the 'same' in the Timaeus of Plato. It is also the support
without which affirmation would be lost in emptiness. It is the power
that enables finite Existence to confront infinite Being. In theological
dualism, the Second Cosmic Impulse appears as the devil, the opponent
of God, the Prince of Darkness. In such dualism, no relationship between
the positive and negative powers can be found except the ultimate
subjection of the one to the other. Evidently, therefore, any view of
the Second Cosmic Impulse which sees it as 'mere' denial, though
valid for the category of polarity, is inadequate as a cosmic principle.
In the triad, the Second Cosmic Impulse is the denial that elicits
reconciliation. It is the privation,, by which Aristotle completes

his scheme of nature. It can be interpreted as need, which stands
between the powers of affirmation and reconciliation to make them
mutually significant. Need is both transitive and intransitive. Every-
thing that has a need is also needed, though not necessarily in the
same way or to the same degree. Need is a bond that operates through
the triad.

We can continue the categorical analysis and see how receptivity
is another appropriate term for the Second Cosmic Impulse, by which
it is experienced as the female principle—the ewig weibliche of Goethe's
Faust.

We must seek for the meaning common to all interpretations of the
Second Cosmic Impulse. For this, we should specially note the ancient
and universal tradition of the Mother Principle that has conveyed the
notion of a cosmic power that gives birth to everything and supports
it. In the most ancient myths it is a Mother Goddess whose frag-
mentation gives rise to the multiplicity of beings. Such was the goddess
Tiamat of the Sumerians.

In Taoist writings, Yin is represented as the Mother Principle, the
universal receptivity—complementary rather than opposed to the male
Yang. In Sankhya, Tamas—usually interpreted as inertia or passivity—
is regarded in the later texts as a principle of evil; but originally the
three gunas were treated as equal in status and all as arising in the
first moment of creation.

We must here note that, as in the study of the First Cosmic Impulse,
we find two aspects, one of which applies to Being and the other to
Existence. In the former aspect, the Second Cosmic Impulse appears
as receptivity, the Eternal Mother. In the Gnostic terminology it is
Sophia, that is both the Wisdom and the Daughter of the Creative
Power. In the second aspect, that of Existence, we find denial, resistance
and passivity. In some situations the Second Cosmic Impulse can

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                    89

appear to be a masculine power, as in the Gnostic Logos, which is the
second hypostasis. In the Hindu Tantra, Shiva is both Shakta, the male
destroying force, and also Shakti, the eternal mother.

We shall have to make important applications of the distinctions
between the two aspects of each cosmic impulse. We shall adopt the
terminology already introduced and refer to essential impulses and
existential impulses. This can be illustrated by examining the problem
of unity and multiplicity. The essential impulse of conservation seeks
to preserve the unity of everything. The existential impulse of denial
tends towards multiplicity and separateness.

Notwithstanding these apparently opposing characters, it is not hard
to see that the Fundamental Cosmic Impulse is in both cases one and
the same. The difference in its manifestation is due to the contrast
between the two sources—Essence and Existence.

11.27.8. The Third Cosmic Impulse

In the Hegelian or Marxist triad of the dialectic, the third impulse
of synthesis appears as the outcome of the irreconcilable opposition of
thesis and antithesis. A factual, materialistic philosophy can thus be
consistent with belief that reconciliation is a factor that enters into all
situations. At the other extreme, we can see, in the Christian doctrine
of the Blessed Trinity, the belief that the Paraclete Spirit is the ever-
present reconciling influence that can save sinners through the redeem-
ing sacrifice of the Son. The terminologies are different, but the in-
tuitions that they seek to express are the same.

When we turn to Indian philosophies, we can see how the early
doctrine of three equal gunas as the three fundamental cosmic influences,
or qualities, also degenerated into subordinationism—but here it was
the third force, Sattvas, that came to be regarded as the first and best.
In the Hindu pantheon the Third Cosmic Impulse is represented by
Vishnu, whose Incarnations have been regarded pre-eminently as
mediator between the feebleness of man and the inexorable demands
of the Creative Power. So Krishna, as an Avatar of Vishnu, seems to
represent the force of love and compassion standing between a cosmic
affirmation and a cosmic denial.

In Far Eastern thought, we meet in the doctrine of Tao a most pro-
found and fertile expression of the autonomy of the third impulse. Tao
is here conceived as beyond the opposition of Yang and Yin. By later
writers, Tao was identified with the primum mobile—that which does
nothing and yet causes everything to be done. Here we have a reflection
of the intuition that, after all, the Third Cosmic Impulse must be present

D.U. II----5*

92                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

we belong, or should belong. The same tradition persisted in Europe
until the Renaissance and was revived in the nineteenth century under
the impact of fresh contact with Eastern religions. It is so ancient that
its origin is lost in the period prior to B.C. 3500, when writing had not
yet been transferred to permanent stone or brick. We have no means of
recovering the verbal interpretations by which this tradition was first
made comprehensible to those who had access to direct sources of
wisdom.

We can place little reliance on the largely fanciful reconstructions
that have been made by Western exponents of Eastern thought, and
must therefore begin from the beginning and discover for ourselves
what can be the meaning of a Hierarchy of Worlds. The Postulates
of Will suggest the manner in which each 'world' is determined by a
form of law. Laws in turn are distinguished by the source of the Cosmic
Impulses and their order of action. We can illustrate the first of these
by the distinction, brought out in our study of the impulses, between
essential and existential forms. Of these two, the essential can be
present in the Ultimate Being, whereas the existential forms cannot be
found beyond Existence itself. Hence we can regard the essential forms
as prior to the other, and of a 'higher' order—where 'higher' means
'nearer the Source'. This distinction enables us to define four Worlds,
symbolized by the number of the Laws that govern them.

(i) World I. The Transfinite Will prior to the separation of the
Cosmic Impulses. This World is wholly incomprehensible for
any finite understanding. Nevertheless, all the relationships
comprised in it are subject to the Unique Law that divides
Being from that which is other than Being.

(ii) World III. The Infinite Will in which the three Cosmic Im-
pulses are present in their pure essence. In this World there
are only three laws: namely Pure Affirmation, Pure Receptivity
and Pure Compassion.

(iii) World VI. The Universal Will limited by the separation of
possible from impossible situations. In it there are six laws,
because now the three Cosmic Impulses are no longer entitely
independent of one another.

(iv) World XII. The Will further limited by the distinction of the
Universal Existence and the Individual Essence. Essential and
existential impulses now act separately, and produce twelve
different kinds of triads.

WILL AND THE TRIADS

93

We can go no further without taking account of the second half of
the sixth postulate, which states that the character of a triad depends
upon the manner in which the impulses, are related. To elucidate this,
we may consider the twin processes of evolution and involution. In
the former, a passive state moves towards a greater potency. In the
latter, potentiality is actualized and the whole moves towards passivity.
In both cases the reconciling impulse is seen as the outcome of an
action. The first is passive-active, and the second active-passive. If
now we use the figures 1, 2 and 3 as symbols of the first, second and
third Cosmic Impulses, we can write down the form of each of the two
laws as follows:

Evolution 2—1—3
Involution 1—2—3

Inspection of the arrangement suggests that there should be six
different forms, corresponding to each of the six ways in which the
three symbols can be arranged. This gives a scheme of six primary
triads.

Making use of this simple scheme, we shall find the key to unravelling
most of the complexities of Will and relating them to the data of
experience. With its help, we are able to explore regions of experience
that have hitherto been very largely disregarded by philosophers of all
schools and periods. It enables us to discover the inadequacies of the
various metaphysical and cosmological systems and to show how
different theories—even apparently quite contradictory—find their
place in a complete and consistent theory of the Will and the laws of
its operation.

Before undertaking a detailed study of these laws, we may show
how the scheme of triads can be completed by taking account of the
distinction between essential and existential forms. We shall first
extend our symbolism by using an asterisk to distinguish the existential

94                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

manifestations of a Cosmic Impulse from the essential prototype. We

then have:

1      The Essential Affirmation

2      The Essential Receptivity

3      The Essential Reconciliation

1* The Existential Affirming Power
2* The Existential Denying Power
3* The Existential Neutralizing Power

Fig. 27.2.—The Essential and Existential Impulses

The simplest and least committal change in the triads is obtained
when the first two components are essential while the third is equally
divided between essence and existence. This corresponds to the des-
cription given above of World XII, as balanced between universal and
individual manifestations of the Will. Here there will be, for example,
universal involution with the symbol 1—2—-3, and individual involu-
tion with the symbol 1—2—3*. The whole scheme of laws is given by:

When interpreted, these symbols give the form of the triad, thus:
2—3—1* is 'the law whereby an essential denial combines with
an essential reconciliation to give an affirmation in existence'.
Each of the twelve laws gives rise to a specific operation of the Will.
Taken together, they comprise all operations of the Will possible in a
world where the distinction between universal and individual existence
has been established. It should also be noted that World XII is 'inside'
World VI in the sense that all the triads of World XII are possible in
World VI. The difference is that in World VI they are not mutually
exclusive, whereas in World XII a triad must be either essential or
existential in its outcome and not both.

What has just been stated is of general application. Each world is
complete, in that all possible combinations of the Cosmic Impulses of

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                    95

Will are manifested in it. The difference between one world and another
consists in the degree of mutual exclusion of the combinations. In
World I nothing is excluded; every possible act is realized and no act
is incompatible with, or contradictory to, any other. In World III, the
three Cosmic Impulses are distinct and therefore every act of Will is
a triad. But here every triad concerns the Whole and there are no ex-
chsions or contradictions. In World VI, there are six different laws,
and a given act exemplifies one of the six and not the others. The
sane applies to World XII, and so on, with more and more exclusions
and contradictions at every stage. The exclusions and contradictions
an consequences of the descent of Being through the successive stages
of Creation.* The Will remains always the same, complete with all its
possible manifestations.

(v) World XXIV. The step made in passing to World XXIV con-
cerns the distinction of inner and outer that arises when there
are individualized beings. The element of the triad that occupies
the inner position may now be essential or existential.
In order to grasp the special property that makes its appearance in
World XXIV, we can compare the triads 2—3—1 and 2—3*—1 . The
first of these is the law of Essential Individuality. The second is the law
of Self-hood. The two are the same in respect of the order of the Cosmic
Impulses and also in their external relationships, but they differ in
their inner, hidden, character. The mutual exclusion of these two laws
in World XXIV explains the difficulty for the human Self to grasp the
rue nature of Individuality.
The full scheme of laws that govern the permissible manifestations

of Will in World XXIV is given by:

(vi) World XLVIII. When the initiating factor in a triad is one of
the existential forms, the whole character of the triad is changed.
• The Systematics of Being will be discussed in Chapters 32-35.

96                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Its action is no longer independent of other triads, but depends
always upon being combined with others to acquire the requisite
power.

Half the laws of World XLVIII are of this kind, and this makes it
a world of uncertainty and hazard. This does not mean that in the
higher worlds uncertainties do not arise, but that they are the con-
sequences of the finitude of Existence confronted with the infinity of
Being, rather than weaknesses inherent in the very nature of self-hood.
We shall refer to triads that are initiated by an existential impulse as
dependent triads to mark the fact that they cannot be completed
without the help of others.

The complete scheme of World XLVIII is given below:

(vii) World XCVI. The laws of World XLVIII exhaust the possi-
bilities that can arise by combining the different shades of
meaning acquired by the Cosmic Impulses through the separa-
tion of Being and Existence. At this point also we reach the
lowest level upon which beings can have a free existence.
Nothing that exists below this level can rise independently to
a higher level. So far as values are concerned, World XCVI is
a null-world, analogous to the physical null-worlds of corpuscles
and particles. We may say that values have an independent
status only as far as World XLVIII.

WILL AND THE TRIADS                                    97

Null-operations are defined as self-cancelling, when seen as a whole,
but 'apparently significant when projected into any partial framework.
The world of conditioned existence is characterized in just this way,
in that it has only pseudo-values that, when placed in the perspective
of essential Being, are found to be null. Null-triads are neither possible
nor impossible. A null-situation as a whole vanishes, but it may be
resolved into two components—one subjective and the other objective
—in such a way that the subjective component is impossible and the
objective component compensates for this by an equal and opposite
impossibility. For example, a man may imagine that he is making a
certain action that will produce a value. In reality he is doing something
quite different. What he imagines is really impossible and yet in fact
he does imagine and sincerely believe in its reality. Whatever he does
in this way will be nullified by objective results that he does not notice,
and he will be left objectively the poorer as a price of having enjoyed
a subjective satisfaction that was impossible. Many such null-situations
occur in the life of man, and they are characteristic of half the laws
that govern conditioned existence in World XCVI.

It is necessary here to introduce some new symbols to represent
null-triads. We shall write ±(1—2—3) for the null-triad made by com-
bining a negative triad—(1—2—3) with its complementary positive
triad+(i—2—3). The laws of World XCVI will then be composed of
forty-eight positive triads similar to those of World XLVIII and forty-
eigit negative triads complementary to them. It is unnecessary to set
out the entire scheme in a diagram.

We can conceive Existence beyond World XCVI as the Domain of
Fact, where all is governed by causal laws. This can be called the
World of Materiality. It is not, strictly speaking, one of the series of
Worlds of the will, for there are no complete triads. Nevertheless, as
we shall see in our study of human self-hood, there is an element in
human experience that is governed by material laws and is therefore
termed the Material Self. This, the lowest form of self-hood, completes
a cycle, which has its origin in the Transfinite Will of World I.

11.27.11. The Systematics of the Will

The systematics of Will turn upon the two independent factors of
Source and Order of the Cosmic Impulses. In the primary classifi-
cation, it is sufficient to consider only the distinction between Essence
and Existence. This leads to the dichotomies of laws from World VI
to World XXIV. A far greater variety of triads would arise if we were
to take account of impulses arising upon all the twelve levels of Exist-

98                                  THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

ence. We should then have many distinct triads, each of which would
have universal significance. This suffices to indicate the bearing of the
study of Will upon one great problem of our common experience—
namely, the extraordinary variety of patterns of behaviour that we
observe in the world around us. The gulf between the simplicity of
laws and the complexity of phenomena demands a bridge. This is to
be found in the variety of will-patterns.

Important though the influence of the sources is for deter-
mining the character of a triad, its fundamental significance depends
not on the source of the Cosmic Impulses but upon the order of
their conjunction. The brief reference in section 11.27.3 is not
sufficient to convey the full implications of this notion, and we should
therefore not leave the subject without further elucidation.

We have taken Will to be the 'why, how and thus' of the Universe.
These can be regarded as situating every triad in a three-fold perspec-
tive. 'Why' places it in relationship with the Transfinite Reality—it
points beyond the Universe and even beyond Ultimate Being. 'How'
tells us about the triad as it is—it reveals its intimate nature. 'Thus'
places it in its proximate environment—it tells us its place in relation
to other acts of will. We adopt the convention that in the triadic symbol
the first number indicates the why of the action, the second its how
and the third its thus.

A simpler, though less precise, way of interpreting the symbolism
might be to regard the triad as an act in time. Then we say that the
first position refers to the initiation of the action, the second to its
process and the third to its result. Some triads can obviously be
described in this way. For example, in the building of a house, the
initiative comes from the affirmation 'I' wish to have a house'. The
process of building is one of reconciling the resistance of site, materials,
labour, weather and conflicting requirements of the various parties
concerned, with the ideal plan from which the affirmation proceeds.
The outcome, expressed in 'here is the house', is the passive element
in the triad. We can therefore represent the process by the symbol
1—3—2. Here the architect is the reconciling term.

There are six, and only six, possible forms of the triad. Two of these
forms are initiated or dominated by the affirmative impulse—these are
the triads 1—2—3 and 1—3—2. The first we have already recognized
as the triad of involution. The second governs all the interactions of
the existing world, where the initiative comes from the active principle.
Two other triads are initiated by the denying impulse—these are the
triads 2—1—3 and 2—3—1. The first is the triad of evolution or con-

WILL AND THE TRIADS

99

centration. The second governs all situations in which the dominating
influence is conservation or passivity. There remain the two triads
initiated by the reconciling principle: 3—1—2 and 3—2—1. These
comprise all those factors in existence that originate outside Existence
itself or, in the case of the lower worlds, also those factors that originate
outside the world in which the triad is formed.

Each of these pairs has a fundamentally different 'why'. All the
triads initiated by the first impulse concern the working out of the
consequences of the creative act. All triads initiated by the second
impulse concern the independence of Existence as against Being; by
reason of these triads, Existence is not maya—illusion—nor the mere
'appearance' of idealist philosophy. The triads initiated by the denying
impulse are the guarantee of the objectivity of the Universe. The triads
initiated by the reconciling impulse are the sole means whereby what
is beyond Existence can enter Existence. They redeem the universe
from the inevitability of the operation of laws, and are the manifes-
tations of Divine Omnipotence and Divine Love.

Chapter Twenty-eight
THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

ii.28.1. Understanding

The triad is the simplest multi-term system in which mutuality and
relatedness begin to show their deep significance for understanding
ourselves and the world in which we live. It is the molecular or basic
element of all real experience, and as such it deserves and must receive
a more detailed study than the incomplete system of the dyad.
Experience teaches us that relationships are infinitely complex and
varied. We shall find that the property of an endless variability is
inherent in the triad and in no other system. This is due to its special
position in the series, where it stands between the polarized fixity of
the dyad and the concreteness of the tetrad. The detailed analysis of
the triad that we shall undertake in this and the succeeding chapters
will appear tedious and repetitive to most readers—chiefly because
space does not permit each variant of the relationship of Will to be
illustrated by examples. Examples will readily occur to the reader when
he has familiarized himself with the notion of a relational quality.
This is distinct from a fact or item of knowledge, since it is rather a
judgment or experience of value. The ability to recognize relational
qualities is nearly the same as understanding.

Understanding has been defined, in Book I, as the subjective aspect
of Will. Whereas knowledge can be described by the two-term system
of 'knower and known', understanding is a relationship that involves
the exercise of a power that is distinct from the functional order.*
Understanding is thus a three-term property, recognizable in such a
system as "self—situation—decision", where the three terms are inde-
pendent in nature and in origin. Understanding is manifested in such
powers as attention, choice and decision. We should now enquire into
the experience of understanding itself. We know that knowledge is
a condition of the functions. Neither knowledge nor function are
mysterious; for their operation is always before us to be inspected.
Being is mysterious because it is always out of sight, always unknown.

* Knowledge as "ordering of function" is discussed in Vol. I, pp. 97 and 176.
No act of will is necessary for knowing, since we can learn unconsciously and even
unwillingly. Knowledge, thus denned, appears to be a property inherent in all
Existence—indeed, it is the "result of existence."

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

101

It is experienced in such a manner that its intensity or strength can
be recognized, but not its nature.

Understanding is neither mysterious nor knowable. It is more akin
to a taste, that can be recognized but not explained or communicated.
We understand through the perception of modality. 'Modality' here
means the shades of significance attaching to the different triads of Will.

If we turn back to the study of the Cosmic Impulses, we find a
recognizable connection between understanding and mode. A definition
expressible in functional terms would inevitably limit the meaning of
the impulses and elicit a misleading opinion of their powers. Each of
the three Cosmic Impulses reaches us through innumerable refracting
prisms, all of which reflect or absorb some of the wave-lengths, so that
what reaches us is a whole spectrum of colours derived from the
primordial white light of World III. For example, the manifestations
of the Affirming Impulse range from pure creativity to destruction and
chaos. There is an infinite variety of 'modes' of affirmation and the
human mind is utterly incapable of combining these to reproduce the
Pure Idea. At best, our capacity for understanding allows us, to some
degree, to assemble the dispersed elements of a complex will-situation
in such a way that we experience the whole as a form or a modality.

Understanding is a power; like those of attention and choice, but far
more comprehensive than these in its range of application. Every self
has a power of understanding that, in the truest sense, determines who
and what he is. Our understanding does not fluctuate like our states
of consciousness. Our powers are the measure of our will, and our
will is the ability possessed by each one of us to participate in the
Will that is our Source.

In the ordinary life of man, many fragments of understanding are
acquired through the multiple relationships of human existence on
earth. Together they build up the sensus communis that all people can
share. This 'common sense' has great practical importance for meeting
the needs of our earthly existence, but it does not help us to see
beyond the level of ordinary human affairs. Common sense can give
effectual guidance in our life insofar as we recognize its limitations
and do not attempt a premature synthesis of the fragments. When,
however, we are confronted with questions that can only be studied
from a fuller understanding, common sense proves inadequate. Thus
a man can live a more or less normal life, guided by common sense,
and yet remain quite unaware that there are serious contradictions in
his world-outlook.

One practical advantage to be gained from the study of Will and

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Laws is to open our eyes to the conditions of our present existence.
A man who lacks understanding cannot experience voluntarily more
than one of the forces acting on him at a given moment. Confronted
with a given situation, he may experience the impulse of affirmation
from which he sees only the rosy, hopeful aspect. He then identifies
himself with what he wishes to happen and may plunge into action
without counting the cost. A man in such a state is bereft of under-
standing. He is not only blind to the reconciling impulse, but he fails
even to reckon with the denying factors that lie plainly before him.
The pessimist or defeatist, who sees only the difficulties of the situation
and cannot find his own power of affirmation, is in no better case. The
dawning of the possibility of acquiring understanding comes to the man
who can open himself to the action of both the affirming and denying
forces that are present in every situation. He who can persist in this
practice soon begins to acquire sensitivity to the action of the third
force and ultimately to foresee its entry, and hence to 'know the future.'

We, as human selves, can exercise the powers latent in us for the
development of understanding and, by doing so, learn that they an
the powers of Will. We can observe and verify that so long as the]
remain isolated from one another, we remain blind to the true character
of the Will and are liable to mistake the automatic reactions of 'our'
functions for acts of 'our' will. Man can have no will of his own until
through understanding, he has brought his powers into an inner
relationship that can respond to the various manifestations of the Triad

The three Cosmic Impulses enter into every situation, but man, by
reason of the dualistic tendencies of his functions, never perceives the
triad as a whole; therefore an unpredictable element enters into every-
thing that happens to him. Persevering search for the Cosmic Impulses
purifies the intellect and prepares the way for the growth of under-
standing. It must, however, be emphasized that the unaided intellect
cannot attain understanding any more than a prism can reproduce
white light unless the colours of the spectrum are correctly focused
through it. It is by the variety and the balance of his experiences that
a man acquires the material out of which the elements of understanding
are forged. Nevertheless, in principle, it is neither by desire nor
aversion, neither by hope nor fear, that a man acquires understanding
but by the action of the Reconciling Power that is the Will of God.
This power alone can effect the separation of the affirming and denying
powers in man to make him aware of his true nature; that is, to "under-
stand himself"; yv&9i aa.vr6v is a gift of God who ordains it.

Our present task of intellectual analysis cannot take the place of tie

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

IO3

experience that only the endless variety of situations in life can bring
us. Although understanding requires the perception of triadic relation-
ships, it must not be assumed that such perception can be recognized
by the mind. The mental associative apparatus, commonly referred to
as the 'mind of man', has not the power of apprehending triads. Never-
theless, such apprehension may be present in some higher part of the
self, without mental awareness either of its presence or its nature.
Hence it can occur that a man who has never heard of triads, but
who has attentively contemplated the variety of situations created by
life, can acquire understanding, and with it the power to choose and
decide his actions, while a trained thinker may be unable to pass from
knowing to understanding. Understanding can grow spontaneously by
sensitivity to the presence in all situations of the Reconciling Impulse.
Nevertheless, a theoretical study of triads can be an aid to the right
interpretation of their operation as we meet it in our direct experience.

11.28.2. The Study of Laws

The first step in the study of laws is to recognize the difference
between those triads that are initiated by the affirming impulse and
those initiated by the denying impulse. The conception and birth of a
child is an example of a creative triad. At the moment of conception,
the father is active. In gestation, the mother transforms the active
impulse. At birth, the child, with its first breath, is both the result of
and the reconciling impulse in the triad. The order is unmistakably
1-2-3, and the triad has the property of self-renewal, for the moment
of birth is the affirmation of life. The search for, the eating and the
digestion of food give an equally clear example of a triad that, in this
case, is initiated by the denying impulse. Hunger—that is, privation—
is a negative state: it is the experience of need. It engenders a move-
ment of search and leads to the act of eating. The outcome of these
active impulses is the reconciling power in the assimilation of fV>od
that pacifies hunger. Here the order of the impulses is unmistakably
2-1-3, and once again the triad has the possibility of self-renewal; for
the food, as it is taken into the mouth, is in a passive state and submits
to the action of the digestive system.

The building of a house was earlier referred to as an example of
the triad 1-3-2. Here the initiating factor is an impulse of expansion—
the owner wishes to 'improve' his estate. His affirmation 'I want a
house' may seem to have the same character as the father's 'I' want a
son'; and, indeed, viewed as isolated impulses of affirmation, they are
alike. But the triad is intrinsically different in the two cases. The

104

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

father acts directly upon the only possible receptive power—that is,
the potency for motherhood in his wife. There has to be an exact
matching of the male and female chromosomes in order to set in motion
the formation of the child. In the case of house-building, the inner
arrangement of forces is quite different. The owner—as distinct from
the architect or builder, even if they are all one and the same person—
does not act directly upon the material. There has to be an external
reconciliation of his wishes and plans with the passive materials. It is
this passive material that will become a house. The house is 'made,
not born'. The triad here unmistakably has the form 1-3-2. The
reconciling power is 'used up', as it were, in the design and construc-
tion of the house, and the result is a passive entity differing only from
the raw materials—timber, bricks, mortar—in having gained a higher
functional order. It is not an active self-affirming entity like a new-born
child.

The fourth triad is that which has the form 2-3-1. It is exemplified
in the simple existence of inanimate objects. Things are passive, and
they cannot transform into a more active condition unless acted upon
by an external power. Insofar as a thing is what it is, it depends upon
cohesive forces to hold it together and maintain its existence. There is
nothing left over which would permit any selective response to external
influences. A table presents always the same face to the world. It is
passive in its nature, yet it is able to participate in the world-process by
conserving its identity. It has one, and only one, affirmation, that we
might express in the words 'I' am a table—take me for what I am or
leave me alone'. The existence of a table is a perpetual reconciliation
of its inherent passivity with the active part it has to play in the life
of man. Such a situation is represented by the triad 2-3-1, where the
terminal affirmation can be called a 'sub-human' force that is never-
theless able to influence man. Thus men and women who themselves
are in a passive state can be dominated by the infuences that emanate
from material objects.

For the present we shall not attempt to interpret the two triads
initiated by the third power, since they can only be understood after a
detailed study of the first four laws.

Our next step in the study of Laws will be to examine the significance
of a Cosmic Impulse placed in the central or inner position in the
triad. This position determines the inner nature of the triad. It shows
us what manifestation of the Will is here at work. Thus motherhood
is the determining characteristic of the triad of child-bearing—the
father and the child are accessory. The property of thinghood deter-

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

IO5

mines the existence of the table—its inner and outer conditions are
accessory. It is digestion that gives significance to eating—the initial
and final states of the food are accessory. So that in every triad there
is one determining Cosmic Impulse that stamps its character on the
event. It is here that we can discern the defect of the dialectic as the
application of the triadic principle. The strength and the weakness of
the dialectic, as applied by Hegel, Marx, Engels and others, can readily
be discerned. On the one hand it is true that the triad thesis-antithesis-
synthesis has universal significance; there is a cosmic law according
to which the reconciliation of contradictories is a dynamic process
leading always to new forms. On the other hand, it is false to assert
that this is the only law by which the universal process is governed.
It is one of six laws, all equal in status and significance, and for this
reason any attempts to interpret history as if the dialectic triad alone
were operative can only lead to conclusions that are inconsistent with
experience and often even absurd.

There are two triads in which the reconciling impulse occupies the
middle place. Both of these are constructive in character. They are
the warp and weft by which the whole tapestry of existence is woven,
but they do not tell us where the yarn was spun nor to what use the
tapestry will be put. They are the source of the internal coherence
and external consistency of the universe as it exists. They could be
called the twin principles of change and conservation, or the laws of
'Otherness' and 'Sameness'. Their common feature is the quality of
connectedness, expressed by the reconciling power in the middle
position.

The two triads 2-1-3 and 3-1-2, that have the affirming impulse in
the middle position, have a common characteristic that can best be
described as 'integration', or the affirmation of the reality of Essence.

The first is the triad of Evolution, by which life penetrates from
below upwards. The second is the triad of Order, or cosmic regularity,
by which all Existence is preserved from impossibility. Order contains
and holds everything in its own place, thus allowing all life to be in
harmony with all other life. Order separates Existence from Being,
whereas Evolution permits Existence to be reunited with Being. This
two-fold action is the inner affirmation of the reality of Existence.

The two triads 1-2-3 and 3-2-1 are characterized by inner recep-
tiveness. The first is receptivity towards the creative impulse coming
from beyond Existence and is the triad of Involution. The second is
receptivity towards the immanent reconciling impulse. It is the working
of the Spirit, or Power of God, in and through all that exists. Through

106

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

this triad, Existence is endowed with value and significance; that is,
with Love and Freedom.

In each of the six laws, we can see that the impulse which occupies
the middle position prescribes the inner character of the triad, but gives
no indication of the mode of operation of the triad as a whole. Each
pair—though alike in the central impulse—are quite different in the
manifestations of the Will that they bring forth.

The study of Laws requires further that we should examine the
significance of each Cosmic Impulse when in the third position. When
the triad consists in a simple actualization in time, the three positions
are occupied successively and the impulse in the third place then
represents the outcome or result of the triad. When a triad is non-
temporal, then the third impulse can often be recognized as the
external form that is presented to observation. For example, the triad
that constitutes the existence of a table is of the form 2-3-1. Here
the final affirmation is simply that the table 'really' is what it appears
to be—a material object existing thus and so. There are, however
triads to which neither a temporal nor a spatial interpretation car
readily be given. The Law of Order, given by the triad 3-1-2, ends
in the denying impulse. This can be understood in this context as
universal receptivity, and hence leads to the concept of framework
that we developed in our study of Fact. The denying impulse in the
third position is usually not a negation, but rather an accomplished
state of affairs. The triad 3-1-2 expresses the reality of the separatior
of possibility and impossibility. It is the condition of Existence rather
than Existence itself. Its character is beautifully expressed in the first
chapter of. Genesis, where Elohim—the Reconciling Cosmic Impulse—
moves on the face of the waters and divides the light from the darkness
and brings order into the world, thus creating the conditions for the
Existence that is to come. Here the spirit, the light and the darkness
can evidently be taken as the triad 3-1-2; that is, the Law of Order

The general character common to all instances of the third position
lies in determining the significance of the triad as a complete whole
The influence of the two preceding positions and the impulses that
occupy them enter into, and give a characteristic modality to, the whole
triad, which transforms the third impulse into a concrete manifestation
of Will.

There remains the most difficult problem of taking account of the
sources from which the impulses proceed. Returning to the distinction
between Essence and Existence, we could adopt the terminology of
the scholastics, who referred to the essential nature as the quiddity

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

107

of an entity and to its existential peculiarities as its perseity.* This
distinction, however, does not apply to the six fundamental laws, but
only to their derivatives in the worlds of individualized existence. We
shall therefore return to them after examining in detail what experience
can show us of the laws of World VI.

11.28.3. The Law of Expansion

The symbol 1-2-3, when expressed in verbal form, can be read:
'Affirmation, meeting with Receptivity and blending with it, issues as a
Reconciling Impulse'. Further development of the symbol suggests
that, since the reconciling impulse appears as the outcome of the
process, there should be a continuous transfer of impulses through a
chain of similar triads. It is also to be expected that in each succeeding
triad the power of affirmation diminishes somewhat by the action of
the denying impulse. The diminution of the affirmation is equivalent
to its division or splitting, so that from a single primary triad there
will ensue a cascade of secondary, tertiary, quaternary triads, and so
on. This could be represented diagrammatically thus:

Fig. 28.1.—The Law of Expansion

* Cf. Duns Scotus, Opus Oxoniensis, II, Cap. 3, qu. 6, and Reportata Parisiana,
II, Cap. 3, qu. I. These references are taken from Erdmann's History of Philosophy,
Eng. trans., 4th Edn., 1910, Vol. I, Section 214. Cf. also F. Coplestone's History of
Philosophy, Vol. II, p. 339.

108

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

IO9

Here the symbols +, — and = represent respectively affirmation,
receptivity and reconciliation. The dotted circles drawn round the
points of transfer from the reconciling impulse of the preceding triad to
the point of affirmation of the succeeding one indicate that a different law
operates at that point. We shall denote the triad 1-2-3 as the Law
of Expansion. Through its operation, the quasi-infinite potentialities
of Being are transmitted through all levels of Existence. The exfoliation
continues until the power of affirmation is so far attenuated that no
more triads of the same kind can be formed. This occurs at the level
of unipotence, where Existence returns into the zero-potent hyle-field.
The Law of Expansion in this essential form is the universal trans-
mitter of the creative process. It passes through every existing entity,
whether potential or actual. The operation of the law transcends the
determining-conditions. It applies not only to actualization in time,
but also to the transmission of the timeless plan and the eternal pattern
from which all forms of existence are derived.

The law of expansion can be regarded as that which answers the
question 'How does the universe come into existence?' It tells us that
the limitless potential that issues as the primal affirmation from the
Transfinite Reality is transmitted through the medium of all the denials
that collectively make Existence possible. The universe is thus im-
pregnated through and through with the law of its own coming-to-be.

We may further note that in the triad 1-2-3 the flow of significance
is towards the third Cosmic Impulse. The Law of Expansion, in this
essential form, has universal meaning, because of the Immanent Deity
that pervades it. Multiplicity has significance because it is the self-
realization of unity. In multiplicity alone can all the possibilities of
Existence work themselves out.

Having constructed an abstract scheme of relationships based upon
the triad 1-2-3, we must now put it to the test of our experience. We
have seen an example of the triad in the relationship of father—mother—
child. We can extend this to include all the processes of generation,
where an active principle fertilizes a responsive matrix to produce a
result capable of transmitting its potentialities into further generations.
This example shows us the specificity of the Triad of Expansion. The
active principle can have a fertile union with the receptive only within
the limits of a specific pattern. Not every receptive principle can provide
the required field of action. Here we have one of the principal criteria
for distinguishing, in doubtful cases, between the Law of Expansion
and the Law of Interaction. For the reason that the contact of active
and receptive principles is direct—that is, without the mediation of a

reconciling factor—it is necessary that they should be closely matched.
Here the word 'closely' should be understood to mean 'within a narrow
range of variation corresponding to the scale of the triad itself. An
example of such 'matching' can be seen in the power of a key to open
a lock. Here the whole point of the relationship is that the key must
fit the lock.

The special character of the Law of Expansion, derived from the
need that the affirming and receptive impulses should correspond, is of
great importance for understanding the process of creation. It is
possible to think of creation as the separation of order from disorder.*
This implies that order and disorder are matched in such a way that,
when re-combined, Being would return free equally from order and
from disorder. The Cosmic Affirmation can bring the universe into
complete existence only through a Cosmic Receptivity equal in in-
tensity and corresponding in its potentialities. Hence in the Law of
Expansion there is implied the presence of a plan or pattern. It is
not a formless explosion, scattering fragments of the primaeval unity
at random through space and time, but rather the exfoliation of a
pattern that is already contained in the germ. Thus the growth of a
tree, directed by its epigenetic pattern, is a good example of the Law
of Expansion. The process depends at every stage upon a correspon-
dence between the demands of the growing tree and the response of
the environment.

Creation, involution, growth, exfoliation, generation are all terms
that supplement the notion of expansion. The first law comprises all
self-continuing processes in which the affirming impulse requires the
co-operation of the denying impulse that constitutes the medium of
its activity. These are the cosmic roles of the male and female principles
in the Endless Generation of all that exists.

11.28.4. The Law of Concentration

Triads initiated in the passive or receptive impulse may, at first,
appear to us strange and unnatural. They appear to go 'against time',
in the sense that their direction is not towards actualization but from
actual to potential. If we were to interpret the symbol 2-1-3 in ordinary
language, we should say: 'Receptivity, meeting Affirmation and blending
with it, issues as a Reconciling Impulse'. Here again, the position of
the Reconciling Impulse suggests the transmission of impulses through
a chain of triads. It is not, however, an affirmation that can spread

• CJ. Vol. I,

. 47. "A creative activity that is not only the source of order, but
also the vehicle of disorder."

Here the dotted

lines represent

other converging

triads

In this diagram, we indicate by the solid line from A to C the three
stages of transformation. The initiating source is an existing element A

"HE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

III

that meets with a second element having a higher essential character.
These are then orientated as A — and A +, and from their union
emerges a reconciling element A =. This, in its turn, has possibilities
of purification from its existential limitations provided that it can meet
with an appropriate essential impulse. Here an 'exchange' occurs that
requires the operation of a different law. Part of A is discarded as
'refuse' R, and a new element enters to produce a 'seed' B —. This,
meeting with B +,gives rise to B =. Here again there is a discarding
of refuse at S and the entry of a new material so that the combined
element C — undergoes another purification. The 'fine is separated
from the coarse' and rises step by step towards unity.

The significance of the triad 2-1-3 is that it symbolizes a movement
which goes 'against the stream'. It is the means whereby that which
flows out from the Source can return to the Source again. Not all can
thus return; for the nature of this triad is such that the increase of
potentiality in one part must be compensated by diminution in another.
Hence the discarding of R and S before there can be a blending of
new possibilities.

When we transfer these abstract notions to the scheme of existence,
we can see first of ;11 that, on the limitless cosmic scale of World III,
the second Cosmic Impulse is the response of Being to the Creative
Affirmation: it is vhat it is without admixture or diminution—the
Cosmic Receptive Principle. In World VI, the triad 2-1-3 is the ful-
filment of the purpose for which the hazards of creation are undertaken.
When we seek for the working of the law in the world of our common
experience, we can see, as an example, that the concentration of a new
potential is required whenever a seed is produced. The germ-cell is
formed by a process of elimination and concentration that takes its
toll of the energies of the whole organism and eliminates great quantities
of tissue that serve the germ without participating in its potentialities
for growth. Comparing the triads of expansion and concentration, we
can see how there i a concentration of potentialities up to the moment
when the germ-cells mature. The moment of fertilization is neither
concentration nor expansion, but as soon as fertilization has occurred
the process of growth begins and follows the law of expansion. Thus,
in the cycle of life, the twin movements of concentration and expansion
are constantly being exemplified.

The triad 2-1-3 has sometimes been described as the 'Law of
Evolution'. It is, however, necessary to distinguish between two quite
opposite meanings commonly associated with the same word. The
word 'evolution' should be taken in its original etymological sense as

110                                THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

and multiply, but a receptivity that must constantly be transformed by
the action of the affirming impulse. The transformation consists in con-
verting the receptive element into a more active state. Thus the triad
can renew itself only at a potential higher than that of its own starting-
point. The movement of the triad raises the potential level and it
cannot proceed automatically like the triad of expansion.

The character of the triad 2-1-3 is unification; its trend is from
multiplicity towards unity and we shall therefore describe it as the
Law of Concentration. We saw in the triad 1-2-3 that multiplicity
was produced by a partition of the reconciling element into two or more
affirmations. Unification could not be achieved through the fusion of
two reconciling elements to make a double denial. The action of the
triad 2—1—3 therefore consists in the separation of the reconciling
element into a receptivity and a denial, of which the first can, and the
second cannot, respond to the affirmation they meet. The process can
be represented schematically thus:

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

the emergence from a sheath or envelope. The passive or receptive
principle is involved in multiplicity. The active principle bursts the
sheath and the new life begins. True evolution of this kind does occur
in nature, but only under conscious guidance or selection. The breeding
of selected races of animals and plants gives an increased potentiality
for the manifestations of one or another characteristic, but at the
expense of others that remain latent. When the same has occurred in
past geological time, we are entitled to surmise that an analogous
conscious influence—an Affirming Impulse—has been at work. We
shall thus see later that the appearance on the earth of new genera,
including man, must be ascribed to a process of true evolution.* There
are, however, various pseudo-evolutions which, when closely examined,
prove to be either involution or interaction. The first can be observed
in the general exfoliation of organic species from generic types that
are analogous to the germ-cells of the individual organism. Such types
have great potentialities and, by a succession of involutionary triads,
can produce the phylogenetic sequences of specific forms. The effect
of random crossings, of environment and of local climatic changes are,
for the most part, neither evolutionary nor involutionary, insofar as
they neither raise nor lower the potential of the Biosphere, but are
examples of the Law of Interaction.

Evolution and involution, concentration and expansion, have in
common the property that they require an exact adjustment of the
affirming and receptive impulses. The reconciling impulse is not avail-
able to bring about the union of the opposing principles—it is directed
towards the task of assuring the renewal and continuation of the
process. It is therefore necessary that the receptive impulse should
encounter the particular affirmation to which it is able to respond.
Evolution is a striving, but not all striving is evolutionary. There must
be 'right effort', and the rightness consists precisely in the recognition
of the affirmation to which one could submit. Again, we may say that
concentration is the submission of the passive to the active. But not
all submission leads to concentration. On the contrary, the correspon-
dance must be exactly right if the passive is not to be destroyed or
the active swallowed up.

Affirmation, as we have seen in the study of Synchronicity,** can be
looked upon as an organizing pressure. The affirming impulse makes
a demand that in its turn can serve as a vivifying or spiritualizing
factor for the receptive impulse with which it is confronted. It is by

• Cf. Chapter 38. The History of the Earth.
** See Chapter 26, section 10.26.6, The Law of Organization and Disorganization.

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS                               113

meeting and responding to the demand that the movement of evolution
is maintained.

The Law of Concentration is the generatrix of the realized Essence.
We speak figuratively of Mother Nature, and probably mean by this
the power that engenders all the potentialities of our existence. The
newly arisen potentialities generated by the Law of Concentration meet
and blend with the potentialities transmitted by way of expansion from
the Transfinite Reality. The point of this blending is one of the nodal
points of all Existence. We men, three-natured selves living upon a
planet, are situated at one of the points where the streams of involution
and evolution meet; herein lies the cosmic significance of human life.

Yet another and, from the standpoint of our human experience, most
important aspect of the triad 2-1-3 is that of Purification. The
separation of the fine from the coarse is liberation from impurities.
When we, as human beings, submit ourselves to the Law of Concen-
tration, we surrender our outer existential denial to our inner essential
affirmation, thereby purifying our own existence. The outcome of the
process is union with the Reconciling Impulse, described by Meister
Eckhart as the "Everlasting Birth of Christ in the human soul".
However varied may be such interpretations of the Law of Concen-
tration, they all have the common quality of the transformation of the
inner nature of man—his 'own' affirmation symbolised by the first
impulse in the middle position—from a state of passivity and negation
into one that is free to receive and unite with the action of the Divine
Will and thereby enter into further and higher transformations.

When the two laws of Expansion and Concentration, 1-2-3 and
2-1-3, are combined, we can see how they exemplify the saying, 'That
which arises from a source must return to its source', or 'That which
comes from the Creator, must return to its Creator'.

God, as the Third Cosmic Impulse, leads Being and Existence, by
way of expansion or involution, out of their Source in the Unfathom-
able and leads them back again by way of concentration or evolution.
'I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.'

11.28.5. The Law of Identity

We may start by expanding the symbol 2-3-1 to read 'The Receptive
Impulse meets with the Reconciling Impulse and is linked thereby to
an Affirmation that issues as manifestation.' The receptive impulse
cannot realize itself except through the medium of an affirmation; but
it cannot blend with it without the help of a reconciling force. Where
there is no immediate contact between the affirming and the receptive

D.U. II----6

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

impulses—as there is in the triads 1-2-3 and 2-1-3—the affirmation
does not act upon or change the receptive element, but rather enables
it to be what it is.

When interpreted upon the scale of universal existence, the triad
2-3-1 enables every entity to fulfil its cosmic r61e. This applies in all
realms—non-living, living and beyond life—and allows all that exists
to preserve and manifest its own character. It could not do so in the
presence of the demands and needs of all other entities unless there
were an inner principle of conservation that could withstand the dis-
ruptive opposition of affirmation and denial. To express this character,
we designate the triad 2-3-1 as the Law of Identity.

Identity is the 'thusness' of all that exists. Since identity is made
possible and sustained by the reconciling power that occupies the
central position in the triad 2-3-1, the question 'How can this be what
it is?' is always to be answered: 'By the Will of God that creates and
sustains its existence'. The third Law of World VI thus proclaims God
as the Power that preserves and reconciles everything that is, and
enables it to occupy its place in the Universal Scheme. Nevertheless,
by reason of its entry into Existence, every entity is lacking in the
fullness of Being; it is more passive or less passive according to the
level it occupies in the scale of existence. Its passivity expresses its
essential character and is, therefore, the initiating factor for being what
it is in the cosmic order. However, it cannot manifest its existence by
way of passivity; it must 'assert itself. The passivity must therefore
be linked to an affirmation.

The affirmation is, moreover, not truly 'its own'. It must borrow
an affirmation from what is 'not its own'. Hence identity can also be
described as 'being in one's own place'. A thing is 'thus' in a context,
and from that context it derives the power to assert itself. Deprived
of its context, it would be mere passivity—a condition of unrelieved
negation.

A table is a table only in the context of human society. Out of that
context, it is a 'mere' piece of wood. We took the existence of a table
as exemplifying the triad 2-3-1. Now we can see that the affirmation
'I am a table' is not the table's own affirmation. It is put figuratively
into the mouth of the table by the human environment that recognizes
it as such. Inwardly the table holds together by virtue of its 'tableness',
that reconciles the mere piece of wood to the complex forces that act
upon it in its material and human environment.

When we bring our experience into contact with our intuition of
Identity, we discover that there are several distinct forms of the triad.

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

'"5

In one sense, we find our own identity as one particle of an Essential
Reality in which all our possibilities are latent. In another sense, we
are what we are, by virtue of our own affirmation of existence. The
distinction here is between the essential and the existential forms of
the same triad. We are what we are, by reason of the place we occupy
in the universal affirmation of Being. We also are what we are by
reason of our power to affirm our own independence. Herein lies the
difference between quiddity and perseity. We are 'that' in relation
to Essence and we are 'this' in relation to Existence. Essence is always
'beyond', and no finite entity can ever achieve an essential affirmation
that is entirely its own. The affirmation of our own existence isolates
us from other entities, unless it is compensated by the self-denial
that enables us to merge with the universal affirmation through which
we can participate in true Being.

The Law of Identity is illustrated in the existential postulates of
Natural Philosophy. A simple example is the postulate of composite
wholeness applied to the existence of the neutral hydrogen atom. This
is manifested as an active constituent of a great variety of dynamical,
electrical and chemical situations. The atom is what it is. Its inner
bond, which is the hyparchic coupling-energy, is the reconciling force
between the positive and negative charges of the proton and the
electron. Electron and proton constitute the passive existence of the
atom, but they do not manifest as an atom—it is in the composite
whole in an environment of an electro-static field that we meet the self-
affirmation of the atom.

From the standpoint of epistemology, the Law of Identity can be
seen as the condition of knowableness. Knowledge is a link or bridge
between sameness and difference. 'In a perfectly homogeneous situation
there would be nothing to know; while confronted with complete
heterogeneity, knowledge would be impossible'.* Here we can recog-
nize the triad 2—3-1. The inner significance of knowledge as the
ordering of function is represented by the reconciling impulse in the
middle position. The undiscriminated phenomenon is the denying
factor which, without changing its nature, comes by the act of knowing
to be distinguished as a fact. By its derivation from the Law of Identity
knowledge can be established as a cosmic reality. What we perceive is
really there because of its own identity, and we are really linked
with it because there is a common identity in the percipient experience.

Finally, we have to note that the Law of Identity does not 'get
anywhere'. It is not a dynamic law in the sense that the term can

• Cf. Vol. 1, P. 93.

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

obviously be applied to expansion and concentration. It is a static law
by reason of the position of the affirming impulse, which does not
enter the triad but emerges from it. It is necessary for the harmony
and completeness of creation that everything should be what it is.
Identity is a prior condition of existence. It is, however, only one
condition. One must first be what one is and then one can begin to
transform into something different. This is no less a psychological
principle than a cosmic one.

ii.28.6. The Law of Interaction

Once again, we can expand the symbol 1-3-2 to read: 'Affirmation
reconciled with Receptivity issues as manifestation'. Here, as in the Law
of Identity, there is no direct action of the affirming impulse to change
the character of the receptivity. By analogy with a familiar theorem in
statics, we can say that two independent impulses acting at a point
produce a single impulse that is their resultant. Here the action of the
reconciling impulse is simply to make possible the combined action.

If natura naturans, the world as Becoming, is represented by the
triad 1-2—3, then natura naturata, the world as Process, is 1-3-2. It is
the endless flux of inter-locking events by which Existence is 'natured'.
Though the flux neither leads from God nor back to God, the Divine
Will is nevertheless present in it as the Third Cosmic Impulse in the
central position. Though neither the affirming nor the denying im-
pulses 'know' God, yet the power of God is present in all their
interactions. Thus: "Not a sparrow falleth to the ground but your
Heavenly Father knoweth it." Herein lies the solution of the paradox
"God does not will evil and yet nothing can happen but by the Will
of God."

There is indeed no other solution of the paradox of evil that does not
either deny the reality of evil or the omnipotence of God, except to
recognize that omnipotence is not the same as autocracy. The omni-
potence of God consists in the omnipresence of the Reconciling Power,
which enters into every triad. Within the natural order, the reconciling
impulse neither dominates the triads nor is it manifested by them. It
is the inner bond by which everything is what it is—Identity, 2-3-1—
and the outer link by which everything is connected with everything
else—Interaction, 1-3-2. Thus the Power of God is in everything and
does everything, and yet does not disturb the order of nature nor
overcome its laws.

We can call the triad 1-3-2 pseudo-dynamic to indicate that it is
initiated by the active force, but does not produce a true change. The

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117

position of the denying impulse is at the point of issue and, therefore,
the triad is predominantly active. It could be called the process of
the universe, for it is the inherent activity by which Existence is
pervaded.

By reason of the position of the reconciling impulse, the triad has
by its inner nature the property of connectedness. It is expressed in
Whitehead's notion of 'prehension'—"every actual entity prehends
every other". This notion is useful inasmuch as it is free from the
defect of suggesting that activity is only a temporal process. Good too is
the saying of Anaxagoras—"There is a part of everything in everything."

With the help of the two laws of Expansion and Interaction, we can
clarify the distinction between the creation of the universe and the
life of the universe. Both are activities, and both must be understood
in a wider significance than as processes in time. On the level of our
human experience, the two are so closely interwoven that it is seldom
possible to find examples of the one that do not contain elements of
the other. Nevertheless, the distinction is a real one, and very important
for understanding our experience. In the triad of expansion, there is a
direct action of the affirming impulse which endows all entities with
a pattern of possibilities. The passive ground of existence is fertilized
and brought to life by the penetration of the cosmic affirmation through
everything. We have likened expansion to the growth of a tree, branching
and branching again until the force of life is exhausted. We could now
add to the simile the property whereby all the branches, twigs and
leaves are related to one another. This can be suggested in a diagram:

Here the full lines represent the flow of the creative power and the
broken lines the interactions of all the separate forms of existence and

n8

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

entities. Through all these secondary channels there is a flow of mutual
influences. Through the totality of the resulting interaction, Existence
fulfils its role as the denying factor, sustaining the affirmation of Being.
This exemplifies, in the largest cosmic sense, the significance of the
denying impulse in the third position of the triad. By reason of its
inherent activity, that flows neither away from nor towards the source,
the Universe would seem to expend its energies fruitlessly, giving birth
to nothing. Yet this very fruitlessness is the condition that endows
Existence with the quality of a limitless Cosmic Receptivity.

When we turn from the cosmic role of Existence to survey it in and
for itself, we see in the Law of Interaction how the universe is pervaded
by a nexus of relatedness through which each entity exists for every
other entity. This is Whitehead's 'prehension' and Sartre's 'regard'.
Whitehead distinguishes creativity and process, but it is characteristic
of the existentialist philosophies that they recognize only the third and
fourth laws, for both are inherently Laws of Existence.

In order to bring these abstract considerations into connection with
our concrete experience, let us start with a trivial example. I am
sitting in my study on a cold winter evening and do not notice that
the fire has burnt low until my body experiences a sensation of cold.
My attention being thus drawn to the fire, I get up, take a poker and
poke the fire. When I see that it is burning up, I return to my chair
and continue reading.

The whole event is a cycle of interactions, beginning and ending
with the bodily sensations of cold and heat. It can be broken down
into a series of triads, starting with my reaction to the sensation of
cold. Here the physical sensation links the fall of temperature with my
getting up and taking the poker. The environment is active and my
body is passive; sensation is the reconciling impulse. When I get up
and poke the fire, my body is active, the fire is passive and the poker
transmits the reconciling impulse. When I begin to feel warm again,
the fire is active, my body is passive and the radiation of the fire and
and the warm air of the room transmit the reconciling impulse. The
roles of the different objects—air, body, poker, fire—change from one
triad to the next. There is neither expansion nor concentration but a
change in the distribution of energy. The event can be thus analysed
in greater or less detail, but it will always prove to consist of a nexus
of triads in which one entity is acting on another through the medium
of a third. The affirmation never comes into direct contact with the
denial and, therefore, nothing new is born of all the activity. There is
indeed a hidden process of involution insofar as the potentialities of

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

the situation as a whole diminish with time, according to the second law
of thermo-dynamics; but the series of actions in themselves stand apart
from this. They have no 'direction', in the sense that the operation of the
first two laws is 'outward' and 'inward', or 'downward' and 'upward.'

The Law of Interaction may operate in us consciously or uncon-
sciously—with intention or without it. We can readily find examples
that illustrate the wide range of variation compatible with the triad
1-3-2. This depends upon the degree of consciousness associated with
the affirming and reconciling impulses. The denying impulse here
cannot be intentional, as it is not concerned with the formation of the
triad. We have already looked at the example of building a house.
This is governed primarily by the Law of Interaction, 1-3-2. The
affirmation is more or less conscious and intentional. The owner wishes
for a house to satisfy such and such an urge. The architect and builder,
who transmit the reconciling force through a series of interlocking
triads, may do so without any movement of expansion or concentration.
We write here 'may' do so, for there is an artistic quality which can
be brought into the execution whereby the process can pass over into
one of true concentration by producing a new and higher potential
than was in the original conception. Many examples can be found of
such intentional interaction. They are characterized subjectively by the
sense of effort or striving. The reconciling impulse, becoming conscious,
strives to bring about a more intimate mutual adjustment of the affirming
and receptive impulses. Hence the principle that whereas effort may
precede and prepare the way for concentration, it is not by effort alone
that a change of level can be achieved.

From such examples, we may see that the Law of Interaction is not
excluded from the Domain of Value. There are interactions that raise,
and others that lower, the levels of existence. Building a house is
evidently an upgrading of the bricks and mortar. Effort can certainly
give positive results. Conversely, there are harmful and even destruc-
tive interactions. These differences turn upon the degree of correspon-
dence between the affirming and the receptive impulses. An obvious
example is to be found in marriage. The relationships between a man
and his wife, apart from the generation of children which is their
common participation in the universal movement of involution, are
governed by the laws of identity and interaction. By the first, each is
enabled to be himself or herself in front of the other. By the second,
proceed all the events of their common existence.

Many and various though the manifestations of the Law of Inter-
action prove to be, as we examine their place in the working of the

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

universe, they do not bring about changes of essential being. Both
identity and interaction are primarily laws of Existence. This can be
understood if we reflect that only the reconciling impulse can connect
one level to another, and in these two triads its action is absorbed in
holding the triad itself together.

ii.28.7. The Law of Order

When we expand the symbol 3-1-2, it leads; 'A triad, initiated by
the Reconciling Impulse and therefore independent of external action,
in which the third force meets with the Affirmation and leaves it un-
changed so that the outcome is a pure Receptivity.' The position of
the affirming impulse in this triad prevents it from having any external
action, and it should therefore act upon and modify the initiating
factor, which is the reconciling impulse. This is also what occurs in the
corresponding triad of concentration, 2-1-3. The reconciling impulse,
however, can adapt itself to any situation, and therefore the action
does not use up or diminish the potential of the affirming impulse.
Hence this law can be regarded as that which maintains throughout
all Existence—with undiminished power—the affirmation that separates
the possible from the impossible. The affirmation 'does' nothing, nor
is it changed by any of the processes of existence. It is, as it were,
'protected' by the position of the reconciling impulse, that absorbs any
influences that otherwise might mix with and alter it. The triad issues
in pure receptivity, from which the quality of denial is eliminated by
the absence of an opposition with the affirming impulse. We can thus
say that in its outcome the triad 3-1-2 reproduces the ultimate
character of the second Cosmic Impulse as the limitless Receptivity of
World III.

Interpreting this analysis in terms of Law, we find that the triad
maintains the Universal Order. It is the condition of all possibilities.
In so far as all Existence is subject to the triad 3-1—2, no impossible
events can occur. The law could be called Determination or
Consistency but, on the whole, the best designation would appear to
be the Law of Order.

Looking back over the first four laws, we can see how concentration
and expansion are opposing trends that might be expected to produce
contradictory and impossible situations. Similarly identity and inter-
action make opposing demands upon existence. To hold all these
actions together in harmony, without mutual interference, there must
be some independent factor—playing the part of umpire in the
Universal Game to see that all the players abide by the rules. The

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

121

inner affirmation and the outer denial are precisely adapted to the
fulfilment of this task of the establishment of the Universal Order.

A very ancient myth expresses the conception of Order as the
Universal Mother in which everything has its being. In Plato's
Timaeus, the Pythagorean spokesman says: "It is the universal nature
which receives all bodies—that must always be called the same; for
while receiving all things, she never departs from her own nature, and
never in any way or at any time assumes any form like that of the things
which enter into her—being, in fact, the natural recipient of all im-
pressions moved and fashioned by them." An alternative symbol is
the Intelligible World of Plotinus, every point of which is both the
centre and the periphery of all that exists. In such myths and symbols,
we can recognize intuitions of a cosmic determination by which every-
thing that exists is assured of its place and its meaning.

When we seek to bring the notion of Universal Order into relation-
ship with factual experience, we find it in the framework—determining-
conditions. Space and time, with the hidden dimensions of eternity
and hyparxis, are the conditions of order in the world of our sense-
experience. The transformation from the single Law of Order to the
four-fold determining-conditions corresponds with the self-limitation
of Will that occurs in three stages in passing from World VI to World
XXIV. In World VI, order does not imply the distinctions of time,
space, eternity and hyparxis; it is a single law of universal self-con-
sistency, by which Existence is kept 'within the bounds of possibility'.

In the Kantian categories, the triad 3-1-2 can be discerned in the
Category of Modality with its three pairs of predicaments: existence—
non-existence, necessity—contingency, possibility—impossibility. This
may serve to remind us that order is not the same as determinism.
Within the framework of the universal receptivity, there is room for
free movements of the Will; and these are possible, without violating
the natural order, just because there is no unyielding relationship
between the affirming and receptive impulses.

In our experience we observe that we may change and yet remain
the same. The contradiction is a real one, and yet we have no difficulty
in accepting it; for we have our own understanding of the meaning
of 'change' and 'the same'. We can go further, and recognize that to
change and to be the same is possible for nearly every kind of entity
we know; and so we can come to the general conclusion that there
must be some law which permits the co-existence of contradictories,
but only within well-defined limits, of meaning. We see both the
validity and the limitations of deductive logic, and we realize that

D.U. II----6*

122

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

123

there must be a more general order within which both validity and
invalidity are contained and harmonized. Within limits, we can say
'When it rains, the pavements are wet', and we can put such a statement
in the form of a syllogism. We can recognize obvious limitations, such
as that the pavements must be exposed to the sky and that the rain
should be more than a few drops. We can also bring to light obscurer
limitations connected with the meaning of time and place—but, on
the whole, we all realize that any statement of fact can be only 'more
or less' true, and that there is some ultimate test, applicable to all such
statements, that entitles us to make judgments of this kind. The Law
of Order is the source of all possible judgments regarding the truth
or falsity of propositions. Moreover, this law requires that every such
judgment should be relative, because Order refers to the unknowable
totality of all Existence, whereas our judgments refer only to a limited
group of phenomena. The proposition: 'To every question concerning
Existence a reply can be given, but such reply can never be more than
relatively true', is a corollary of the Law of Order. It must be noted
that statements about Being may concern the Ultimate Being of World
III that is prior to the Law of Order, and the proposition does not
apply to them.

Transference of any kind is possible only by the triad 3-1-2. If, for
example, we consider how a pattern can be transferred from the
organic species to the individual, we cannot find any causal sequence,
as in the exchange of matter and energy. The pattern enters the scene
as virtual, and it is transferred first to the epigenetic factor and, sub-
sequently, to the soma. There is no interaction, nor can the Law of
Identity be invoked. There is neither expansion nor concentration.
The pattern is somehow 'protected' from all these influences and yet
it can appear and reappear and attach itself to different states of
existence. It is an inner affirmation that is manifested as the form or
receptacle into which the somatic growth can flow. Such effects are
possible by reason of the cosmic relationship expressed in the Law of
Order, 3-1-2.

Not only the determining-conditions, but logic, number, truth-
judgments, and all aspects of the universal harmony are derived from
the Law of Order by various combinations of Essence and Existence.
We shall meet with many examples in subsequent chapters.

Finally, we can also interpret the dominant position of the Third
Cosmic Impulse as the Will of God. The Law of Order is the Divine
Decree. It is the expression of the Power of God that holds all Existence
within the framework of Law. Since here the Reconciling Will is the

initiating factor, we can also regard the triad 3-1-2 as Creative Activity
in a sense that is free from 'emanationism'. The rejection of Neo-
I'latonism by theologians is, at least in part, due to the intuition that
to identify God with the One, or Prime Cause, is to place the Creator
forever beyond reach.* The feeling that creation must be incessant,
here, now and everywhere, is satisfied when we see it in the omni-
present Order that pervades all Existence by the immediate presence
in everything of the Will of God.

11.28.8. The Law of Freedom

The symbol 3-2-1 can be expanded to read: 'The Reconciling
Impulse is the initiating factor and, meeting the Receptive Impulse,
protects it from extraneous influences so that as Pure Receptivity it
can support a Pure Affirmation.' This sixth triad is the only one which
allows the affirming impulse of World III to penetrate into the entire
existing universe. It can therefore be regarded as the triad of Free-
Will, since its very core is occupied by the receptive impulse. This
enables us to formulate the fundamental proposition regarding the
freedom of the will: Freedom of affirmation can only proceed
from an inner state of pure receptivity. This proposition gives
a basis for a consistent doctrine of cosmic harmony, so we must carefully
examine its meaning.

We should start with a further consideration of the significance of
the reconciling impulse as the initiating factor in a triad. Accustomed
as we are to the triad of the dialectic, in which the synthesis appears
as the outcome of the contradiction between the thesis and the anti-
thesis, it is hard for us to picture a synthesis that is prior to the terms
that it is to reconcile. We are now rather to have the picture of an impulse
of opening, that makes room for a possibility that otherwise could not
exist. To help us visualize what could be meant by 'opening', let us
represent the Ultimate Being as a plenum in which all possible and
all impossible situations are interwoven. The plenum is infinitely dense,
so that at no point is there room for any further Being to enter. The
primary act of creation consists in the partition of this plenum into
two manifolds-—one containing all possibilities, and the other all im-
possibilities. The first manifold we call 'Existence'. The result of
removing all impossibilities is to leave 'holes' in Existence. It is still
a plenum, but it is diminished in its content—since an infinite array
of impossibilities has been removed.

All possible manifestations of Will are represented by the totality

* No doubt, the main objection is the weakening of Trinitarianism in any doctrine
that asserts a Godhead beyond the Trinity. (C/. Goplestone, loc. cit., p. 96.)

124                                THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

of situations that together make up the whole of Existence. These are
all given by the four laws of Expansion, Concentration, Identity and
Interaction. The fifth law of Order is neither more nor less than the
result of the separation of the possible from the impossible—it is the
'thus' and the 'how' of Existence. Within the Universe so constructed
there is no escape from laws—no freedom. If freedom were literally to
mean the liberation of the will from the restraint of laws, then it must
be impossible, for it would violate the cosmic order. And this would
be as true for the smallest operation of a free-will as for the greatest.

The dilemma of free-will and necessity can now be formulated in
terms of the cosmic picture we have just drawn. The nexus of triads
that constitutes all Existence does not provide any means whereby an
entity can choose to be under the action of one law rather than another.
There is, for example, no indication of the means whereby a triad of
concentration can be initiated; for the receptive force cannot 'choose'
the appropriate affirmation. The probabilities of a favourable con-
junction occurring spontaneously are so small that there could be no
evolution, and the whole universe would be bound to move by expan-
sion to a final state in which the impulse of affirmation had exhausted
its potentialities and only the laws of Identity and Interaction remained
in operation. Such a conclusion is akin to the view that the universe
must ultimately 'run down' through the conversion of all energy into
inert masses and low-grade heat.

To escape from this situation, something impossible must happen.
Now, we have seen that there is room for impossibilities, since the
plenum of Existence has 'holes' left by the partition of Being. It is
therefore possible to visualize a sixth law that allows impossible or
'forbidden' transitions from a triad of one kind to a triad of another
kind. Neither affirmation nor denial can enter the 'forbidden' region
without disturbing the universal order. The task must therefore fall
to the reconciling impulse, and we can visualize triads initiated from
the 'forbidden' region, provided that there is an uncommitted recep-
tivity at their core. Such triads cannot produce any direct results in
the plenum of Existence or, once again, the Universal Order would
be disturbed; but they can change the relationship of existing entities
to the laws by which they are governed.

We thus reach the conclusion that authentic freedom cannot arise
in the existing world, but can enter it from the 'forbidden' region of
impossibilities by which all Existence is secretly pervaded. We can
reason further that freedom for an entity is possible only when it is
in a state of pure receptivity. When in a state of emptiness, the self is

The symbols are the same as in Fig. 28.2. The triangle represents a
triad of the form 3-2-1 that transcends the determining-conditions.
* Cf. Figs. 28.1 and 28.2 above.

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS                           125

uncommitted and can choose to submit itself to the action of a
'higher' law. When the law is that of pure response to the Supreme
Will, the self is in a state of perfect freedom. This is realized in the
saying of Beatrice (Dante, Paradiso XXXIII 88-90) "In Sua voluntate
e nostra pace"—in His Will is our peace.

If now we turn to the triad of Concentration, we remember that it
is completed by the reconciling impulse which it combines with new
material to produce a new source of receptivity. We then noted* that
the step by which successive triads are linked together cannot occur
automatically, and that the operation of another law was needed here.
We can now connect this with what we have found concerning the
Law of Freedom. The moment of freedom can be regarded as the
fusion of the 'possible' and the 'impossible' impulses of reconciliation,
to give birth to the fruitful receptivity that can pass through a further
stage of evolution.

It may help us to visualize the manner in which the triad of freedom
impinges on that of concentration if we represent it diagramatically:

126

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

The 'forbidden region' is indicated by the curvilinear figure that
encloses the triangle and also A=, which, without changing its nature,
becomes the initiating factor for a new triad and is therefore shown
as B— in the same place.

A concrete instance of the operation of the Law of Freedom can be
found in the effect of attention upon the assimilation of sense-impres-
sions in man. Impressions are a form of energy belonging to the
automatic group in the scale of energies.* They enter the organism
by way of the afferent nerves of the organs of sense—sight, hearing,
etc.—and in the ordinary way produce efferent impulses leading to
reactions according to the Law of Interaction, 1-3-2. There is, how-
ever, sensitive energy present in man that could act as the affirming
impulse on the impressions and transform them into conscious energy
by the Law of Concentration, 2-1-3. This requires the exercise of the
power of attention latent in man. Attention is one of the powers of
the Will. A most remarkable property of attention is that it can arise
in man spontaneously without assignable cause. We can, therefore,
plausibly associate the power of attention with the Triad of Freedom.
If this is correct it can be the means of producing the 'forbidden'
transition from automatic to conscious energy. The transformation
itself takes place by the 'lawful' triad of Concentration, but since this
triad cannot be self-initiating, it requires to be re-inforced by the
parallel 'impossible' triad of Free Attention. This can be represented
diagrammatically thus:

A = G Conscious
Energy

Impressions
wasted in
Interaction
• The terminology here employed is explained and developed later in Chapter 34.

THE SIX FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

127

The state within the 'prohibited region' can be described as one of
'double sensitivity', by which is meant the state of divided attention in
which we are simultaneously aware both of our own existence and of
the incoming impressions. The arrow, pointing to the right and
labelled 'impressions wasted in interaction', indicates that a partition
has taken place—of the kind always required in the working of the
Law of Concentration—consisting in the separation of the fine from
the coarse.

It must further be noted that within the prohibited region, enclosed
by the curvi-linear figure, the process escapes from the determining-
conditions. This requires an inner state of pure receptivity in the self
c«ncerned. If there is any inward reaction to the impressions whereby
the self becomes engaged or affected, the freedom triad withdraws and
nothing remains but the usual interactions and bodily reflexes.

Neither abstract analysis nor the study of concrete examples will
bring us to the heart of the mystery of freedom. Since we cannot
know the impossible, we cannot follow the act of Will by which it
enters Existence, which is the realm of the possible. Nor can we form
any idea of the way that mere Existence can be transformed into
Being. Freedom differs from uncertainty, just in so much as it is
miraculous. Those who deny the miraculous are compelled to treat
freedom as an illusion. Those who do not see that freedom is im-
possible within the laws of Existence are liable to take it too easily
tor granted and overlook its supreme significance for understanding
low the Will of God enters into the world. Freedom is the door that
God has left open, through which His mercy can enter and work
within the existing world.

Through freedom, we can come nearer to understanding the Third
Cosmic Impulse as God. The Freedom bestowed upon Existence is
;he manifestation and proof of the Love of God. It is also the founda-
:ion of Justice, for the price of freedom is hazard and it is just that
the exercise of freedom should carry with it a responsibility that
cannot be cast back upon the Creator. In a fully determined world
there could be neither good nor evil nor any value. Evil is existentially
impossible. It is the price that must be paid so that the door may be
opened by which Existence can be transformed into Being. But evil
could not exist if God were all. The triad 3-2-1 separates affirmation
from denial, and our intuition of Deity rejects both affirmation and
denial as attributes of the Divine Will, except as transfinite powers
beyond Existence. This approach is valid inasmuch as we need to
accept, in our approach to the notion of Deity, the utter impossibility

128

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

for the human mind to penetrate to the mystery of the Will in
World I. It is the via negativa, the way of negation, that prepares us
for the act of surrender that opens the via positiva that is the direct
experience of Individuality. The God of our worship is the Omni-
potent, Omnipresent, Loving and Compassionate Will that harmonizes
the conflict of affirmation and denial, and that opens the way for
Existence to return to its Source. That way is Freedom, the most
precious and the most hazardous of all the powers of the Will.

Chapter Twenty-nine
INDIVIDUALITY

ii.29.1. The Individual Will

Individuality is to be distinguished from Self-hood. It is a simple
manifestation of will that requires neither being nor function. Self-hood
is a complex of the three terms of the triad Function-Being-Will. The
notion that Individuality does not exist and has no functions
may give rise to some difficulties. It is, however, supremely important
for understanding the nature and destiny of man, and we must devote
a little space to its clarification. We may start by considering some
common errors regarding the individual will.

(a)  Will is regarded as a property of Function. The words 'I will'
are taken to belong to the same logical class as 'I think', 'I feel', 'I
desire', etc. It seems possible to avoid this mistake by reducing state-
ments about will to statements about function. This reduction is
generally held to be possible. Of many statements of the functional
theory of will, we may take Bertrand Russell's: "sensations and images,
with their relations and causal laws, yield all that seems to be wanted
for the analysis of the will, together with the fact that kinaesthetic
images tend to cause the movement with which they are connected".
When taken to its logical conclusion, any such view must lead to
mechanism—that is, the denial that there is any agent other than the
laws of nature. If our intuition of the reality of values and of the
possibility of bringing values into existence is well founded, there must
be some fallacy in the assumption that will is functional.

(b)  Will is regarded as a property of Being. The typical position is
that of Hegel: if by Geist we understand Being with its inherent rela-
tivity. In his Phenomenology of Mind, Hegel scarcely mentions Will
until Geist acquires the practical reason that completes the notion.
In the Logic, Will is accorded a more independent status (section 235).
The connection between Will and self-hood is discussed in sections
53, 54, where the phrase "a man must make the Good the content of
his will" suggests that will is inherent in Geist from the beginning,
as the power of self-determination. Hegel succeeds in distinguishing
Will from Function; but as in all philosophies which make Being the
Ultimate Reality, the individual will is a very shadowy substance. The
logical outcome is monism and the view expressed in Bosanquet's The

130

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Principle of Individuality and Value that there is only one Individual;
that is, the Philosophical Absolute. In whatever form Will is subordinate
to Being, monism or pantheism are avoidable only at the price of
stopping short and admitting a plurality of selves with no integrating
principle beyond them.

(c) The reverse of the preceding view is to take Being as a property
of Will. This is probably the outcome of Kant's three Critiques taken
together. It was made explicit by Schopenhauer in the phrase "I myself
am this Will. Will is the primary substance: the innermost essence,
the kernel of every individual thing and equally so in the totality of
existence. It manifests itself also in the deliberate actions of man".*
Schopenhauer tried very hard to separate Will from Function—realizing
that the outcome of their identification must be the denial of freedom.
By subordinating Being to Will, Schopenhauer loses the reconciling
element that consists in the independent reality of values, and so falls
into the pessimism for which his system has become noted. It is in-
evitable that when Will is regarded as the master principle, all existence
must appear as a restless striving that can never find fulfilment. Har-
mony is an impossible goal if Being is not by its most intimate nature
independent of the Will that pervades it.

Pure Individuality is no more than the positive outcome or realization
of the separation of possibility and impossibility. When this separation
is made the possible confronts the impossible on one hand and the
actual on the other. The power or ability to fulfil such a role is unique
and universal, for it is the effectual link between the possible and the
impossible, and therefore also between Existence and Being. There
can be, in this sense, only one Cosmic Individuality.

The Cosmic Individuality is associated with World III, which is
prior to the transition from Being to Existence. By definition, the
Cosmic Individuality is the unique Vehicle of the Will beyond all
limitations of Existence. It is altogether Supernatural and incompre-
hensible, for all that is natural is contained within Existence. It is true
that we have concluded that 'existence' cannot in any case be attributed
to the Will, but there is a distinction which can and must be made
between the operations of the Will in and beyond Existence. By the
Cosmic Individuality, we understand the theological distinction ex-
pressed in the words 'begotten not made'. The supra-existential status
of the Cosmic Individuality is expressed in 'begotten before all worlds'.
These are theological mysteries to be approached only through faith

* Arthur Schopenhauer, World as Will and Representation (Frauenstadt Edn.), Vol.
I, p. 131.

INDIVIDUALITY                                     131

and we shall not dwell upon them. World VI is the manifestation
of Will in the existing universe and we should postulate here a mode
of Individuality that is natural; i.e., subject to the limitations of possi-
bility. This is the Universal Individuality that pervades all worlds
and is the source and origin of all finite Self-hood. The fundamental
difference between the two modes of Individuality is that the first is
supernatural—that is, unconditioned by the laws of existence—whereas
the latter is natural—that is subject to the condition of possibility.
The Universal Individuality, being "pure Will", is not tied to any
particular being or function; nor even to the entire universe as a level
of Being, or as the total functional system of Existence. When the
Universal Individuality is associated with any entity upon any scale,
that entity is brought into perfect harmony with the whole scheme of
existence. Thus the Universal Individuality is not unlike theof

the Neo-Platonists—except for the strict requirement that it is a mani-
festation of Will and Will alone. It is a mode of Individual Will that
is confined to the existing world and yet omnipresent.

World XII is subject to the separation of same and other, and we
arrive at a third Individuality that is no longer universal but mani-
fold. This could be called 'Monadic Individuality'; but, to avoid
unfamiliar terms, we shall adopt the description Complete In-
dividuality. In World XII, all triads have essential impulses at their
core—that is, in the central position. The Complete Individuality is
essential and does not depend upon any particular existence.

In World XXIV, there is an existential counterpart of true or essential
Individuality that is necessarily associated with an existing whole which
is the seat of its consciousness and functions. It is the central point of
every entity capable of responsible, independent action, and will be
called the True Self. This self requires the inner support of an asso-
ciated existence, but it does not depend upon external supports. The
existing entity is the instrument of the Will of the True Self, which
needs it for its own fulfilment.

The projection of Individuality into World XLVIII is mixed. It
arises partly from within the True Self and partly from the action of
external triads. We shall call this mode of individualized Will the
Divided Self. It is dependent upon external supports and cannot
have true responsibility.

In World XCVI, there are null-triads, and the Individuality is
balanced between positive and negative forces. It is subject to passions
and has no power of choice. All its activity is reaction to external
stimulations. This is the passionate or Reactional Self.

132

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Beyond World XCVI, the triads are locked in the meshes of Exist-
ence. The forces are those of the hyponomic or material world, on the
level of thinghood. The seventh and lowest form of Individuality will
be called the Material Self. Its activity in man is the automatic
working of the somatic organism. It is the self of sense-perception and
external manifestations through the reflex mechanisms of the nervous
system. This has no power of independent action, and therefore the
seventh Individuality is on the same level as material objects, which
only move under the action of external forces.

The seven modes of Individuality are differently associated according
to the intensity of inner togetherness, or level of Being, of an entity.
The "togetherness" of the various Individualities and Selves will be
called the Soul. The word 'soul', therefore, does not designate a
being, but a togetherness of wills. The Platonic 'harmony' is the in-
tuition of this togetherness.

11.29.2. Essential and Existential Triads

We define as essential those impulses that have their source directly
in World III. They penetrate into all worlds, so that there can be
essential triads at all levels. The existential impulses have their origin
in World VI, where the separation of essence and existence has already
taken place. The distinction is crucial for the interpretation of laws.
The essential impulses do not depend upon one another for their
action. Pure affirmation is not to be understood as opposition to denial,
but rather as a cosmic power without beginning or end and needing
no field for its action. Cosmic receptivity likewise is an essential con-
dition that exists in the unlimited and undefined power to receive and
to respond. Not being committed to any fixation, it is independent of
affirmation or of any other power.

The Third Cosmic Impulse, in its pure Essence of World III, is the
source of our direct intuitions of Deity. The One God, the Almighty,
Whose Love and Power bring harmony into all the worlds, is free
from the antithesis of affirmation and receptivity. Pure love needs
neither subject nor object; it has neither source nor end. Such is the
pure Essence of Deity, which can be encountered only by a purified
consciousness that can be aware of the reality of World III.

When we pass through the universal laws of World VI to meet
with Individuality and its power and limitations, we meet with impulses
that originate in the existing world; that is, impulses limited by possi-
bility. We shall designate any of the Cosmic Impulses acting under
this limitation an 'existential impulse'. Thus an 'existential affirma-

1ND1VIDUALITY                                               133

tion' means an impulse of affirmation that can be recognized as a fact.

Each such existential Cosmic Impulse can manifest only through
the other components of the triad. In the existing universe, there can
be no affirmation except in opposition to denial, and both must some-
how be fitted into the cosmic scheme by a reconciliation that, if not
internal, must come from the environment. Since it is not possible for
any finite triad to be independent or complete in itself, there is in every
existential impulse some element of unbalance. Though existential
affirmation needs denial, it can never be exactly matched. There is
always an unabsorbed residue, so that impulses of the existential kind
form a network of interlocking triads, no one of which can be com-
pletely dissociated from the remainder and experienced as a perfectly
independent act of will.

In World VI—which Plotinus referred to as the 'Intelligible World',
where "all is all and each is all and all is each and there is no separate-
ness"—there is a complete interpenetration of universal existence that
does not imply confusion of laws. Each of the six fundamental laws in
this world is distinct and pure in its operation, whereas in the 'lower'
worlds limitations of Existence must always be taken into account. As
a whole, the universe expands; as a whole also, it concentrates, and the
two—expansion and concentration—are fully harmonized and yet
distinct from one another. As a whole, it is what it is and there is no
other like it; and, as a whole, it vibrates with an activity in which every
component partakes equally. Its order is one perfect, complete and self-
connected plenum of possibilities—each in its own place and each an
expression of its wholeness. So also is its freedom an universal freedom
that reconciles the possible with the impossible in all worlds.

When the Universal Will descends from World VI, it gives birth to
a multiplicity of worlds. World XII is not an unity, but a plurality of
worlds within each of which resides the Individual Will, turning inward
towards Essence and outwards towards Existence, searching in both
directions for the unity and fullness of World VI. Henceforward, the
Will descends into incomplete triads and each subsequent world is
characterized by the degree of incompleteness that it has to support.

Four different kinds of triad can be constructed on the basis of the
distinction of essential and existential impulses:

1    Triads of Essence. All the cosmic impulses in these triads
originate in the Will of World III, and are unlimited by existential
conditions.

2    Essence-Dominated Mixed Triads. Two of the three im-
pulses in each triad originate in World III.

INDIVIDUALITY                                                    135

The laws of each World descend upon it, as it were, from Above.
The laws of World VI originate in World III. Their source is in the
Cosmic Individuality, but their manifestation and operation are in
Existence. The laws of World XII originate in World VI; their source
is Universal Individuality, but their manifestation or operation is
among separate Selves. The laws of World XXIV originate in World
XII. Their source is the Complete Individuality but their manifestation
or operation is in the World of Self-hood.

11.29.3. The Laws of World XII

The laws of World XII arise through the separation of existential
and essential impulses. There is no change in the intrinsic character
of the impulses, which in all worlds remains the same as it is in World
III. There is, however, a crucial change in the mode of operation of
the Will when it passes over the threshold that divides the unconditioned
from the possible, whereby each Cosmic Impulse, though unchanged
in its nature, becomes involved in the exclusions of Existence. Pure
affirmation becomes affirmation as distinct from denial or recon-
ciliation. 'This is this' begins to mean also 'This is not that'. The
universal relationship gives place to the particular relationship. The
self-realization of Being-in-Existence divides into two streams, one of
which is the self-realization of Existence-in-and-for-itself. The un-
qualified Freedom of Being passes into freedom in the form of the
sixth law of the existing world. Existence is committed to certain forms
and cannot escape from them except by way of non-existence or
annihilation.*

All these commitments are the consequences, both abstract and
concrete, of the exclusion of impossibilities. We may take two instances
of the Triad of Expansion to illustrate the difference between essential
and existential laws. The first is found in the growth of a seed into a
plant. When the ovum is fertilized, the affirmation is at its greatest
intensity. All the potentialities are concentrated in the fertile cell.
Here the affirmation is essential, but the denying impulse derives from
the existing ambient conditions. The seed enters fertile ground and
embarks upon its destiny of development, growth and reproduction.
As we have seen in our study of Sexipotence,** an epigenetic factor
controls and regulates growth, adapting the affirmation that is trans-

• The debt to Hegel's Logic scarcely needs mentioning here: but it is necessary also
to make it clear that, for Hegel, Geist is Being comprising Will, whereas here we are
concerned with Will conditioned by Being.

** Cf. Vol. I, Chapter 20, Section 8.20.5.

136                                THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

mitted by the pattern of the species to the exigencies of the environment.
So long as this relationship of affirming, denying and reconciling im-
pulses is maintained, the plant lives and grows. Its growth contains
the possibilities of renewal in the formation of new seeds. This instance
is typical of many natural processes; and, when divested of its par-
ticular commitment to an existing form, can be regarded as illustrating
the essential creative process.

The second instance is the act of an incendiary setting fire to a house.
This, like the first, is a self-renewing process, and likewise depends
upon the impact of an active force—the match-flame or lighted torch
—upon a passive condition—that of the inflammable material of the
house. There is an initial moment when the process is set in motion
by an act analogous to the fertilization of the germ cell. The fire then
takes hold and maintains itself at the expense of the material existing
in its environment. It spreads by the Triad of Expansion and so long
as the inflammable material is abundant, the expansion continues at an
accelerated pace. When all material is exhausted, the fire dies down and
all is dispersed in smoke and ashes. There is no renewal—no essence
pattern left—and only time can reconcile the ruins with the environ-
ment. Such a triad is wholly existential—in its inception, in its nature
and in its outcome. We represent it by the symbol 1*—2*-3*, and we
note that here each of the cosmic impulses can produce only limited
results that carry no power of self-renewal. The triad belongs to the
Material World.

Referring to Fig. 29.2., we have now to distinguish between the six
essential and the six mixed laws. The former are the same as the six funda-
mental laws of World VI, except that they are manifested not in universal,
but individual forms. The latter can be defined by adopting a rule of
existential exclusion, according to which two existential triads of
different kinds cannot apply to the same situation in one and the same
world. The rule of existential exclusion expresses the simple truth that
existence is limitation. The exclusion that characterizes World XII
is the separation of the particular and the universal. In World VI
there can be no such exclusion; for everything is both universal and
also particular and without separation.

As applied to notions, World XII exemplifies two kinds that can be
called respectively essential and existential notions. An essential notion
has unlimited applicability, whereas existential notions refer only to
limited existing wholes. Examples of the first kind are the notions
given by the categories. These are compatible with the universality of
World VI and they never fail of exemplification. The notion of growth

INDIVIDUALITY                                     137

or expansion is essential, whereas the derived notions of exhaustion
and destruction are existential because they can be applied only to the
Domain of Fact. The notions of unity and multiplicity are existential.
They cannot be ascribed to the Domain of Values. Many errors can
be traced to the fallacy of supposing that existential notions are applic-
able to Being. Monistic doctrines are liable to this fallacy, that can
be called that of misplaced existentiality. They suppose that the
One must somehow be prior to and more 'real' than the Many.
Such reasoning overlooks the self-evident truth that we cannot think
either of unity or of multiplicity except in terms of existence. If we
assume that 'tree-ness' is an abstract notion that conveys to us the
essential quality that is common to all trees, we cannot then say that
'tree-ness' is either singular or plural. Nor could it be said that the
'unity' of all trees is somehow prior to their 'multiplicity' and more
essential. The example is not wholly satisfactory, since our knowledge
of trees as existing is in fact prior to our notion of 'tree-ness'. The
notions of expansion and concentration are reached in a different way;
by contemplation of the universal qualities of Existence. Unfortunately,
our language is permeated with usages that are infected with the fallacy
of misplaced existentiality. A thoroughgoing revision of language would
be required in order to ensure that essence-notions and existence-
notions were always rightly distinguished.

We can now proceed to examine each of the six fundamental laws
and see how they are modified by the exclusions of Individuality to
produce twelve distinct modes of the Will; that is, the Laws of World
XII.

11.29.4. The Laws of Expansion 1-2-3 AND 1-2-3*

The triad 1-2-3 has direction. This is due to the position of the
reconciling impulse, which links together each series of expansive
triads. The direction is also well defined—it is in the direction of
maximum realization of possibilities. In terms of the physical world,
it can be expressed as that of the maximum potential gradient or
maximum entropy increase. The direction of expansion is uniquely
fixed only at the extreme ends of the scale—at the highest the transition
from Being to Existence is governed by the single condition of
possibility, at the lowest the disappearance of Existence into non-
Existence is governed by the single condition of probability. Between
these two, expansion bifurcates on account of the disturbing influence

138

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

of existing beings. We can picture the expansion of Existence as the
concentration of water vapour which, pouring on to the earth as rain,
is divided into innumerable rivulets and streams. These jostle their
way past obstacles—mountains, hills, rocks and stones—until all are
joined in a great river that returns to the ocean that is its source.
The unity of potentiality is broken up in the process of actualization,
which returns to the unity of the undifferentiated ground.

Existence, by reason of its limitations, is uncertain and hazardous.
It is impossible to predict what will be the separate fate of any one of
the streams or eddies. Individuality is altogether involved in this un-
certainty. At each point of individualization there is a deflection of the
stream, and each such deflection itself undergoes expansion so long as
there is room for it to do so. There is no longer one unique direction,
but one main direction and many subordinate ones; the former corre-
sponding to the unique triad 1-2-3 and the latter to the multiple

triads 1-2-3*.

Every independent affirmation can be the initiating factor for a
triad of generation. We can regard such an affirmation as a limited
male principle. Wherever there is the possibility of true generation—
that is, the initiation of a process of self-renewing growth—the male
principle is essential in character. If generation is not realized in a
female principle that is also essential in character, the triad does not
belong to World XII. Complete Individuality generates creatively by
the union of a male and a female principle that are both essential and

therefore not separate.

The creative activity of the Complete Individual is essential in its
character, but produces its results in the already existing world. Such
an action can have the character of authentic creativity because of the
'emptiness' of Existence. Not only are there 'holes' left by the
renunciation of impossibilities, but there is also an existential void
due to the separation of the actual and the potential. This separation
does not arise in World XII, but in World XXIV, so that Complete
Individuality is not subject to actualization as we understand it. When
Individuality is conscious, it can survey existence in the worlds below
and is able to initiate a process that will start a new line of actualization
in a direction that would otherwise have remained potential only. In
this way, the creativity of the Complete Individual is not at the expense
of anything actually existing, but is an authentic addition to the actual

world.

The Law of Expansion produces results at a level lower than their
source. This is inherent in the form of the triad 1-2-3. The Universal

INDIVIDUALITY

139

Individuality cannot add to the reality of World VI, but does so in
World XII, where essence and existence are separated. The Complete
Individual of World XII cannot create anything in his own world,
but he can do so in World XXIV, where potential and actual are

separated.

The female principle of World XII is potentiality. The 'mother'
concept separates from that of pure receptivity. Although the
relationship of affirming and denying impulses is exactly the same in
World XII as in World VI—both being essential—there is a com-
mitment to Existence, due to the action of all the other laws of World
VI, which enters into every situation in World XII. It may help us to
grasp this if we take as further illustration the birth of a child into a
given family. The act of generation between father and mother is not
different in nature from other conjunctions of affirming and denying
impulses from World VI downwards; but it takes place in an environ-
ment of commitments. These include the hereditary qualities of the
parents, the social, historical and physical environment, and the general
synchronous pattern of external influences at the moment of conception
—all of which commit the result of the generative act to a narrow
range of possible actualizations. The act itself is free from the commit-
ments and is essential in character, but the result can enter existence
only according to the pattern of potentialities open to it. This illustrates

the triad 1-2-3*.

The Creative Power enters World XII through the Universal In-
dividuality by the triad 1-2-3. It is transmitted by every separate
individual throughout the universe, but only to the exent that he is
free, in his essential nature, from existential commitments. Then only
can his individual creative triad have the form 1-2-3*. Failing such
inner purity, his activity must descend into World XXIV as the triad

I-2*-3*.

We can surmise in the solar system an example of the triad of
Individual Creation, in the relationship of the sun and the Biosphere.
The sun transmits the essence-male affirmation, and the earth the
essence-female receptivity, that creates in the Biosphere a reconciling
power: or, in plain language, life on earth, engendered by the power
of the sun, is a healing and reconciling force. The first two principles
are transmitted by sun and earth in their 'unmanifested' nature; that
is, by their participation in the nature of pure Being. The triad is that
of the form 1-2-3*. At the sun, the great stream of involution that
originates in the affirming impulse of World III bifurcates. One branch
continues the direction of cosmic creation and the other turns towards

140                                THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

the subordinate creation of living beings. This can be represented by
a diagram:

Individual creativity is not confined to the suns. It can be initiated
wherever in the universe there arises a Complete Individual, provided
that he is able to encounter an essential receptivity within which a new
line of creation can be generated. Such moments can occur in the
history of mankind, and they have been responsible for every movement
of expansion that is essential in its inner nature and therefore can
create without destroying. The great Revelations of Divine Power in
the life of man have entered human experience by way of the creative
triad 1-2-3*. *

11.29.5. The Laws of Concentration 2-1-3 and 2-1-3*

The Triad of Concentration, 2-1-3, is directed towards the Source of

Being. Like expansion, concentration can be recognized in its pure

form—free from all derived manifestations—only at the two extremities

* This will be considered in more detail in the study of history in Part 14.

INDIVIDUALITY                                          141

of the scale of Existence. At the lower extremity, it is the emergence,
from the formless ground, of hyle in the form of the bipotent particles
out of which all the masses of the universe are constructed.* At the
highest point, concentration is the response of all Existence to the
Transfinite Will. Between these two extremes, every kind of mixed
triad can produce diverse modes of concentration, the direction of
which may coincide with or may deviate from that of the main stream.

The 'cosmic striving' of the universe to fulfill the purpose of its
creation pervades all worlds. Everything that exists experiences,
whether consciously or unconsciously, the tension set up by this
striving. In the essential nature of all beings there is an action of the
cosmic affirmation that is so well described by St. Augustine as the
'divine unrest'. Very few beings are able to respond consciously to
this tension, because they lack purity of essence and so cannot be in
a state of true receptivity. Concentration is the overcoming of separate-
ness, and must inevitably pass through a stage in which the separate
elements experience a condition of tension before proximity can be
transformed into participation.

The return of Existence towards Being is a process of 'filling up'.
The 'holes' left by each stage of separation result finally in a state of
Existence showing the extreme attenuation that is so remarkable a
feature of the hyponomic world. Corpuscles and particles—-on their
own level of existence—exist in less than one million, million, million,
millionth part of the volume of space-time—the rest is void. Material
objects—including the suns and the planets—occupy perhaps one
thousand million millionth of the available volume. This means that
the existence of material objects is a thousand million times more
compact than that of particles, but it is still almost inconceivably
tenuous. We cannot carry the calculations any further because measure-
ments apply only to the material existence; but it can serve to illustrate
the thesis that the compactness of existence increases as we ascend
the scale. For an entity whose natural state is World XLVIII, the
compactness of World XXIV is almost unbearable. From contact with
this world, it experiences a state of strain that is relieved only when
the entity itself can adapt to a more essential state of Being.

These considerations are brought forward here to lend point to the
distinction between the two laws of concentration in World XII.

• Cf. Vol. I, Chapter 24. The emergence seems to proceed in the order 2-1-3;
that is, Hyle—Corpuscle—Particle, as this law would predict. It is noteworthy that
recent observations of astro-physics suggest that a stream of protons is constantly
flowing out from the centre of the Galaxy. -

142

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

This distinction is unique and does not arise in any of the other five
fundamental laws. The point is that concentration is a movement from
Existence towards Essence, and it is therefore disconcerting to find
that a triad of concentration should issue in an existential impulse.
This can only be interpreted if we admit that the farthest limit attain-
able by any individual striving is that of union with the Universal
Individuality of World VI. We could not conceive a finite individual
passing as such into the world of pure Being. It is therefore quite
natural that the triad of individual concentration should have the form
2-1-3*. This appears to contradict the mystical experience of the
'annihilation of the individual in the universal as a drop is annihilated
in the ocean'. It must be understood that such experiences are only
figures of speech, for those who use them—even on the basis of an
authentic experience of a higher world—have returned to report and
therefore could not have been 'annihilated'. The expression refers to
the overwhelming sense of nothingness that Self-hood experiences
when it finds itself confronted with the Universal Individuality and
realizes that it is nevertheless possible to be merged in it and even
united with it. The culminating experience is the realization that the
individual will is not lost but found in the moment of contact with the
essential Individuality that is Universal in World VI. Purifying his
own essence until it appears to vanish from existence altogether, the
True Self discovers that he exists fully, only not in himself, but in
the Universal Individuality. The Cosmic Individuality is beyond
Existence and so beyond the reach of any finite Self.

We may call the triad 2-1-3* the Law of Individual Evolution, to
indicate that it refers to a power within existence rather than to that
universal concentration by which Existence is to be reunited with Being.
It must be understood that Evolution applies not only to separate beings
such as men and women, but to every mode of individualized striving.
It is observable in the great movements directed towards the spirituali-
zation of mankind, many of which in their inceptions were transmitted
through the essential affirmation of a Superhuman Individual, and
responded to by a small nucleus of truly receptive men and women.
In each case, however, the movement of true evolution was from the
start mixed with other movements of existential striving. Since these
can be mixed with expansive trends, they ultimately grow and over-
whelm the true evolutionary trend, which disappears from view and
allies itself to the invisible triad of concentration that is not subject
to the conditions of time and place. We have therefore almost no data
of observation that might enable us to verify for ourselves the character

INDIVIDUALITY                                     143

of true evolution. World XII cannot be understood except by the
Complete Individual, associated with a form of consciousness able to
sustain the conditions of extreme tension that are produced by the
task that he has to fulfill.

The essential triad 2-1-3, when manifested in World XII, is the
unification of essences. The separateness of the individual wills applies
only to their existential nature—in essence all Individual Wills are
united in the Universal Individuality. We may, therefore, refer to
concentration in World XII as the Law of Cosmic Unification. The
two forms are shown symbolically in the diagram of Fig. 29.4.

11.29.6. The Laws of Identity, 2-3-1 and 2-3-1*

Identity in World VI is the supreme assertion of existence as a self-
contained reality. The whole universe, actual and potential, realized
and unrealized, is pervaded with the Cosmic I AM THAT I AM.
All things in existence—down to the corpuscles and atoms—are held
in the one cosmic embrace and can be what they are because the

144

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

universe is what it is. Cosmic identity repeats itself in all worlds. It
is symbolized in the agonized defiance of Prometheus, faced with the
sentence of Zeus binding him to the rock. It is also symbolized in
the serpent holding its tail in its mouth, that encircles the world in an
eternal embrace. As a circle has no direction and no end, so has identity
neither cause nor purpose. Merely to be what one is leads nowhere,
and yet it is the condition of every possible transformation.

Identity in Existence is such that to be what one is implies also a
denial of what one is not. Moreover, identity is a commitment. It is
not being simpliciter, but being thus and so. Every entity is self-identical
and, as such, affirms itself in the face of all Existence. It cannot affirm
itself before Ultimate Being, in face of which it is nothing at all. In
this lies the distinction between the triads 2-3-1 and 2-3—1*. The
unconditional identity needs no 'other' and there is no 'other' com-
parable to the whole of Existence. But all conditioned existence is
held in the separation of 'same' and 'other'. It is the 'same' because
it is not 'other'.

Herein lies the clear distinction between the Universal Individuality
and any existing entity, however perfect may be its essential nature.
For the Universal Individuality there is no 'like' and no 'unlike'. In
That, the Transfinite Will manifests as Individual Will, and there can
be no other like That. The Complete Individuality of World XII is
subject to no existential limitations, but its manifestations are those
of existence. This results in a state of tension that is only relieved
when, by purification of the reconciling impulse through non-
attachment to any existing thing, great or small, the Complete Individual
can become united with the Universal Individuality. To understand
this, we must return to the problem of interpreting the reconciling
impulse in the middle place. It is the special property of the reconciling
impulse that it can adapt itself to every situation. The triad 2-3-1*
is committed to its existential outcome and the reconciling impulse is
compromised by this commitment. In this sense the impulse, though
essential in nature, is nevertheless 'impure'. When the individual is
able to reach, and make, the supreme decision that renounces separate
existence, then only is his identity liberated from the state of tension,
and able to merge with the essential reality without being destroyed.
There are therefore many degrees of perfection possible within the
level of Complete Individuality determined by the laws of World XII.
Here again we can see a decisive difference between this and the
Universal Individuality, to whom degrees of perfection cannot be
imputed. Very much in all this is beyond our comprehension; but many

INDIVIDUALITY

unnecessary obscurities and confusions are removed when we recognize
the distinction between the laws of identity as they apply in World VI
and in World XII. They can be represented diagrammatically thus:

Although the separation of the triads appears as a limitation of
individuality, it must be remembered that it is also the condition of
its arising. There can be an individual will only when existence is
separated from essence. It must also be noted that identity in World
XII is truly independent. The Complete Individual, subject only to
the laws 2-3-1 and 2-3-1*, can exist anywhere and under all con-
ditions. He is immortal and yet can either enter into a succession of
incarnated existences or, remaining in the state of pure essence, par-
ticipate in the universal activity of the Universal Individual. The
Complete Individual remains in all circumstances free from the vicissi-
tudes of Existence in space and time; for his Will as such is not subject
to the determining-conditions. Even when involved in Existence and

D.U. II----7

146                             THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

associated with lower forms of the triad of identity, the Individuality
remains aloof. Only, under such conditions, the lower forms—which
we shall study in the next chapter—are unconscious of the true Indi-
viduality that is present in them. They then lose contact with the
real significance of their own existence, which is to achieve union with
the Universal Individuality.

11.29.7. The Laws of Interaction, 1-3-2 and 1-3-2*

Life is more compact than materiality; universal existence is more
compact than life. The interaction of World VI is complete within
the framework of possibilities. Everything that exists participates in
the universal exchange of energies. By the resulting transformations,
all possibilities are realized. Insofar as the transformations are governed
by the laws of expansion and concentration, they have a direction. If
they are subject to the Law of Interaction, they have no direction
towards or away from the essence, but this does not mean that they are
without significance. The universe may be looked upon as a gigantic
mirror that reflects back to the Unfathomable the limitless variety of
existential influences that would otherwise have no means of return to
their source. This suggests an interpretation of the 'Denying Impulse'
that we have, so far, not fully considered; namely, that it is that which
separates from the Source in order to make possible a reverse move-
ment that would otherwise be lost. Some traditional beliefs regarding
the role of Satan in Christian and Moslem theology suggest that the
denying impulse is not only necessary to test and prove the value of
faith in the world, but is actually the very means whereby the souls
of the righteous can return to God. Without temptation, as Hegel
appears to have held, there could be no purification of the original sin
that is latent in every man. Such notions have a sound basis in the laws
of identity and interaction. Triads with the reconciling impulse in the
middle position must be affected by the nature of the impulse occupying
the third place in the triad. The twin triads of identity and interaction
jointly determine the 'thusness' of all existence. By these two triads the
Divine Compassion enters into Existence and becomes involved in its
'being and becoming'. The 'face of existence', as it were, that it turns
towards the source, is the conflict of affirmation and denial as they
emerge from the two triads 2—3-1 and 1-3—2. Since this conflict cannot
be resolved in the absence of the reconciling impulse, 'vibrations'
proceeding from Existence towards Being serve to 'reflect' the vibrations
of Being that would otherwise have no means of return.

INDIVIDUALITY

147

The essential triad 1-3-2 can be described as the pervasive activity
of all existence—an activity as much non-temporal as temporal, for it
is determined only by the condition of possibility. In passing to World
XII there is a commitment. The essential activity 1-3-2 is now wholly
'internal' to the universe—it is the cosmic exchange and interaction.
The existential triad 1-3-2* is the law that governs all the relationships
between existing entities. For every individual there are always two
sources of initiative—one that proceeds from the universal affirmation
and the other that arises in his own presence. In the perfected Complete
Individual of World XII, these two are perfectly harmonized; his own
affirmation never diverges from the Universal Affirmation. He has
therefore no 'inner' activity. Within his own presence he is at peace,
unmoved by any power in the existing world. Outside of his presence
he comes under the action of every kind of force, according to the level
of Existence with which he may be associated. For example, Complete
Individuality in human form experiences the forces of Self-hood.

The laws of interaction can be represented diagrammatically thus:

148                          the dramatic universe

11.29.8. The Laws of Order, 3-1-2 and 3-1-2*

The fifth law is the assurance that Existence shall not lapse into
chaos. When looked at from the perspective of World III, the triad
3-1-2 presents one of the two aspects of denial. It can be regarded
as the rejection of capricious and arbitrary impulses, of which Existence
could not support the action without falling into irremediable disorder.
It can also be looked upon as the power that enables Existence—
holding together by its own identity and its own interaction—to con-
front Essence. When Being is limited by Existence, the Law of Order
takes its place as the custodian of possibility. As Existence takes
individual form in World XII, two distinct forms of order make their
appearance. One is Essential Order and the other is Existential Order.
These can be said to separate what might be from what is. The essential
order, determined by the triad 3-1-2, can be said to open possibilities,
and the existential order 3-1-2* to close them.

These considerations suggest the distinction of transitive and non-
transitive order, in the sense in which the terms are used in the universal
geometry. Non-transitive order would be represented by time and
hyparxis with their beta- and delta-pencils. We shall accordingly
adopt the terms transitive order and non -transitive order to
distinguish between the two laws of World XII*.

The Complete Individual is not subject to the distinction of time and
hyparxis. His existence is total and his relation to the higher world
is analogous to that of the totality of recurrences of an electron in the
world of material objects. The characteristic of non-transitive order is
that it is a closing of possibilities. This is, of course, familiar to us
in the experience of temporal succession. Each fleeting moment closes
possibilities by actualizing one from among the potential situations,
leaving the remainder in a virtual state. The non-transitive order of
World XII cannot have so narrowly restricted a character; for that
would be incompatible with freedom. We must rather envisage the
totality of Existence, in which all potentialities are actualizable, as con-
stituting the 'existence' of the Individual. Similarly, the transitive order
is not confined to the private pattern of potentialities in eternity asso-
ciated with a single order. It includes all the possible experiences in
the whole of the existing universe—timeless-space. It is the 'Eternal
now', not, as sometimes pictured, a moment frozen out of time, but

* Cf. Section 15.46.2 for a very instructive example of the primary separation of
the determining-conditions into transitive and non-transitive order.

INDIVIDUALITY

149

rather the freedom of consciousness to penetrate the vast spaces of
the universe.

Transitive order is the commitment of essence that places an entity
in a pattern of possibilities that embrace all Existence. Non-transitive
order is the condition of realization of possibilities in the 'three-fold
time' that includes all hyparchic recurrence.

The order of World XII is at once more 'orderly' and also 'freer'
than the order that obtains in the lower worlds. It is more orderly in
the sense that the uncertainties of place and time are balanced in the
compensating dimensions of eternity and hyparxis. This very com-
pensation permits the individual to achieve a complete balance of
Essence and Existence that is not possible in any lower world. Hence
the Complete Individual can be free to a degree that is unattainable
by the Self-hood.

The order of World XII is committed to existence. Individuality
separates the transitive and the non-transitive laws. In World VI, there
is no such commitment. This allows the Universal Individuality com-
plete freedom of participation in all manifestations of individuality on
all levels. The Cosmic Individuality of World III, being unconditioned
by the need for possibility, can penetrate everywhere, but individual
entities can only reach the Universal Individuality, where the transitive
and non-transitive triads are perfectly balanced. This can be expressed
in more familiar terms by saying that the ordinary man sees himself
bound by the limitations of space and time. The Complete Individual
sees that Existence is incomparably richer than his own momentary
'here and now'. He sees himself in the perspective of all the possibilities
of all Existence; but also sees that he must submit to the process of
selection that will make him a finite, and indeed a minute, element of
the Great Whole. So long as these two aspects of his existence appear
to differ, the Self remains in a state of tension. When he can surrender
entirely his own concern in the outcome of his actualizations—for they
comprise many recurrent existences—he can then come to a full har-
mony of the potential and the actual. When this harmony is attained,
he can come under the laws of World VI and thereby bring his own
will into harmony with that of the Universal Individuality.

The Laws of Order represent a cosmic manifestation of the Trans-
cendent Will. Their validity is not confined to the transformations of
human beings or similar beings on other planets, but extends to the
greater existence of the sun and the stars and the galaxies. The sun is
under two sets of determining-conditions. The first governs stellar
existence in all galaxies—they are -laws of eternity and space. They

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

prescribe the limitations of the solar creative power. The second set of
determining-conditions governs the life of the solar system itself. These
are the laws of energy transformation that can be referred to time and
hyparxis.

The Laws of Order can be set out in diagrammatic form, thus:

ii.29.9. The Laws of Freedom 3-2-1 and 3-2-1*

We can distinguish between freedom to act and freedom from the
need to act. Existence is involved in being and becoming—it cannot
act freely, without compulsion. Essence is not involved in the world
process and it can therefore be free from any need, except that of
being what it is. We thus find two triads of freedom, one of which
is freedom within the commitments of Existence and the other freedom
from the commitments of Existence.

We have noted before that although the pairs of laws in World XII
differ ostensibly only in the source of the impulses in the third position,
there is a reflection back upon the middle impulse that decides the
nature of the triad itself. This is of special importance for our under-
standing of freedom. The essential freedom, 3-2-1, does not depend
upon the individual himself. It is the action upon his essence of the

INDIVIDUALITY                                    151

Transcendent Reconciling Impulse; that is, the Power of God. Such
a freedom is recognized in every religion as Divine Grace, which can
penetrate into every world.

We have to exercise great caution in seeking to relate the notion of
freedom to our own experience. The Law of Freedom is pre-eminently
the triad of the mysterious and miraculous, and it cannot be approached
through the mind as the other five laws can be approached. It is a
power of the Will that passes all understanding. Thus the freedom of
World VI consists in the action of 'impossible' triads that belong to
World III—such as, for example, a pure affirmation that does not
depend upon a denying force. Similarly the freedom of World XII is
the operation of the universal laws of World VI that are not 'lawful'
to operate for individuals. That is why, for example, the triad of
freedom can open the way for the finite individual to become united
with the Universal Individuality of World VI. In whatever world
freedom may arise, it has always the effect of opening the situation
in which it arises to the action of the laws of a higher world. For this
reason the Law of Freedom is sometimes also called the Law of the
Miraculous, and miracles are defined as the action in one world of the
laws of a higher world.

These considerations have to be taken into account in our inter-
pretation of the two laws of Freedom of World XII. They may be
called—with due reservations as to the meaning of the words—the
Freedom of Grace, 3-2-1, and the Freedom of Works, 3-2-1*. The
first acts on the individual independently of his merits, whereas the
second requires on his part a work of purification of his nature.

As with all the laws of World XII, there is an inherent imbalance
between the two laws. The very existence of the individual robs the
impulses that enter him of their essential purity. The freedom that he
can achieve by his works can never match and balance the freedom
that is bestowed upon him from World VI. Nevertheless, because in
both triads the denying impulse standing in the centre is essential in
character, the action of the two freedoms can be harmonized. This
requires the 'purification of the essence' and it permits the attainment
of Complete Individuality, which is itself a Grace.

Through the triad of freedom, the Complete Individual is able to
participate in three worlds—the World XXIV below no less than the
World VI above. The way to this is opened by the 'emptiness' of
Existence already referred to. The Complete Individual can enter the
world below by way of the 'holes' in its existence, and so intervene in
its situations. This is the secret of help, sometimes called redemption.

152                             THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

The freedom thus exercised in the direction of a lower level of existence
is the means for the purification of the 'essence-denial' of the individual
himself. The Laws of Freedom can be represented diagrammatically
as follows:

11.29.10. The Characteristics of Individuality

The individualized Will is not a being. The present writer is well
aware of the difficulty of this notion and the clarification which ensued
upon the direct realization he once experienced that his own indivi-
duality did not exist and yet was real. Even after the direct experience,
it remains hard to grasp that the individual will is not an entity. We
are accustomed to associate powers with entities. The powers of the
Will are exercised by entities, but the powers themselves are not
entities and they do not reside in entities. Individuality is a power
with well-defined characteristics, but it is a power that is effective
only when it is exercised. The power depends upon the separation of
essence and existence. Individuality is thus both the transmitter and
the initiator of movements of expansion and concentration. Its identity
and interaction are both two-fold. The individual order is transitive in
its essence and non-transitive in its existence. There is in the Complete

INDIVIDUALITY

153

Individual the possibility of freedom by which he can participate in
three worlds. He can attain to union with the Universal Individuality
and he can also intervene as a source of freedom in the worlds of Self-
hood. Individuality has its roots in the limitless freedom of World III
and it enters Existence, pervading the three elements of Function,
Being and Will as they are projected from the Source of All. In-
dividuality does not exist, in the sense that it is not composed of hyle
in some state of aggregation; it is not an energy or combination of
energies. One consequence of this is that Complete Individuality can
never be known, for it has no functions.* It can be apprehended only
through the understanding. Complete Individuality can never be
understood so long as it is conceived as an entity. It is, above all,
necessary for as to realize that Complete Individuality is not a Power
innate in man. Man is a Self, and he can by his own strivings attain
only to the realization of a perfected Self-hood. Then he can become
the vehicle or instrument of the Complete Individuality that descends
into him from World XII. The four worlds of Self-hood are the realms
of all human experience and we must set ourselves to study them in
some detail if we are to understand something of human destiny and
the possibility of passing beyond our human limitations.

• It may be necessary to remind the reader here that in Vol. I knowledge is defined
as the ordering of function. One of the hardest tasks of the mystic is to convey to
others that what he has experienced is not knowledge and cannot be expressed in
functional terms.

D.u. 11-7*

\

Chapter Thirty
WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD

ii.30.1. The Nature of Self-hood

By Self-hood, we mean a complex entity in which Will, Being and
Function are related in various ways. The Self exists, and as such it
must be material; that is, composed of hyle, though not in a state of
actuality. It must have functions like any other existing entity, only
it occupies a special position among existing entities by reason of its
association with an individual will. We commonly make a verbal dis-
tinction between three parts of man—body, soul and spirit—but it is
hard to discover a clear meaning in the writings of theologians and
philosophers. Soul—psyche in Greek and nephesh or nefes in the Semitic
languages—is understood as the life principle "in plant and animal and
of the universal life which 'rolls through all things', no less than of
the intellectual and moral life of human beings".* Souls are of many
kinds: "We see that soul is emphatically a thing or power or quality
of which there can be more and less in every conceivable degree, and
the more and less vary with the complication of the material system
in connection with which it is observed".** "Man is not only soul, as
unity of the body, but spirit, as capacity to transcend both the body
and the soul."*** And as regards the connection between spirit and
individuality, Niebuhr writes: "Nature supplies particularity, but the
freedom of the spirit is the cause of real individuality".*** It is un-
necessaty to add to the list, for the confusion, which has persisted
from Plato and Aristotle to the present time, can only be removed if
we make the prior distinction between function, being and will. When
it is clear that the will should not be regarded as a quality or power
inherent in being, we are able to distinguish Individuality and Self-hood
and may, if we please, equate the former with 'spirit' and the latter
with 'soul'. It will be advantageous, however, to reserve the word
'Spirit' to express a larger meaning that is beyond the relationship of
the triad and beyond also the relativity of Being. *****

We shall therefore regard Self-hood as the quality whereby an

* C. S. Webb, God and Personality, London, 1919, p. 171.

**B. Bosanquet, The Principle of Individuality and Value, London, 1912, p. 189.
*** R. Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, Vol. I, p. 32.

**** ibid, p. 58.

***** Cf. Chapter 35 where the word 'Spirit' is used to designate that which bears all
the potentialities of Existence whereby it fulfils the Purpose of Creation.

WILL AND THE SELFHOOD                              155

existing entity can become the vehicle and the instrument of an In-
dividual Will. Self-hood is susceptible of many gradations and as such
is able to bring Individuality into the realm of existence. It is an
expression or manifestation of Individuality but, whereas Individuality
belongs properly to the Essence, Self-hood has its place in the worlds
that are dominated by existential triads. Self-hood is subject to the
limitations of Existence. Nevertheless, since its origin and Source—
that is, Individuality—is essential, it bears also the seeds of its own
liberation from these limitations. In order to achieve liberation it
requires the support of Existence in the form of an entity through
which it can experience states of consciousness and exercise a variety
of functions.

The Will becomes involved in Existence by reason of the triads of the
form 2-3*-1. These are characteristic of World XXIV, and have no
separate status in World XII because Individuality has no intrinsic
attachment to Existence. It can adapt itself to many existences and can
manifest in many forms. Self-hood comprises those forms of will which,
by their own inner nature, are dependent upon association with some
particular entity. There can be self-hood in any form of existence,
including the vegetable and animal genera of the Biosphere, and even
in material objects.

The decisive difference between Individuality and Self-hood consists
in their relationship to Existence. Individuality is Will alone, whereas
Self-hood is a combination of Will with Being and Function. To
understand the distinction, we have to remember that Individuality does
not exist. Self-hood is the association in an entity of Will and Existence.
It is characterized by the level of Being of the entity. The self-will
cannot be separated from the particular combination of energies by
which the Self-hood is formed. The Self-hood is not a power, but it has
the exercise of powers ; that is, of forms of Will.

By the exercise of the powers of the Will, the Self-hood is able to
develop and attain completion through the transformation of energies.
The development of Being is initiated by the exercise of the Will, but
the exercise itself needs the support of Existence.

Self-hood being the Will committed to Existence, the manifes-
tations of self-will depend upon the level of the entity. For example, the
Self may be wholly existential and have lost touch with the Essence.
For such a Self, three-quarters of the triads of World XXIV—that is,
the pure and the essence-dominated mixed triads—are excluded. He
can have no contact with the Individuality latent in him, because the
man and the Individuality have no triads in common. This complete

156                             THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

divorce of the Self and the Individuality is sometimes called, 'the Sleep
of the Self.' In this state man can only dream, and all his actions are
performed by the Automatic Self, under the laws of World XCVI. The
'Awakening of the Self occurs when, by exercise of the powers that are
present in the Divided Self, a contact is made with the Essence, and
mixed triads dominated by Essence begin to form. This is also called
'the division of the Self-hood into higher and lower parts.' To under-
stand this, we can set out the triads of Self-hood :

(a)    Six Essential triads ; the Higher Self.

(b)   Twelve Essence-dominated mixed triads ; the 'I'.

(c)    Six Existence-dominated mixed triads ; the Lower Self.

Fig. 30.1.—The Three Parts of the True Self

The three parts of the True Self are equally necessary for the ful-
filment of human destiny. They can approximately be related to Will,
Being and Function. The 'I' is the consciousness of self, or the ego
that, as the True Self awakens, becomes aware of itself. It then assumes
the role of the reconciling principle between the higher and the lower
parts of the Self. When the 'I' thus becomes conscious of its place
and its role, it can bring the Self-hood into relationship with the
Individuality and so eventually become the instrument of the Indi-
viduality in its own task of essential purification.

Thus the Self reproduces, within the limits of World XXIV, the tri-
partite constitution of the Being as a whole. The Higher Part of the
Self corresponds to the Complete Individuality, the Lower Part to the
Divided Self and the Ego corresponds to the True Self. Herein lies a
source of possible confusion in the study of a being such as man ; for
the Higher Part of the Self, being committed to Existence, is not the
same as Complete Individuality, nor is the Lower Part of the True Self
identical with the Divided Self, for it is not wholly existential. To make
the distinction clear, we can refer it to the three worlds according to the
following diagram:

Sincethe triads of World XXIV comprise eighteen mixed and only
six pure forms, the True Self, subject to all twenty-four laws, is differ-
ently involved in Existence than the Complete Individuality. True Self-

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD

157

hood is the property whereby a given entity can be the seat of triads of
Will or, as it may be expressed more simply but less accurately, 'A True
Self is an entity that can exercise its own Will.' The True Self is so
constructed that three independent parts of the same entity can each
transmit one of the three Cosmic Impulses. Under such conditions, Will
can 'enter' the entity. Without three such independent parts, the Will
must—at least partly—manifest through external actions. Such condi-
tions do not affect the Complete Individual Will, because none of its
triads are dominated by Existence.

The development of the Self-hood has been expressed in terms of
human experience. It will be understood that the cosmic status of Self-
hood implies a situation that can arise throughout all Existence. Where-
ever the Will manifests according to the laws of World XXIV, the
relationship of Will to Existence is fundamentally the same as that which
we find in human Self-hood.

It will be convenient to study these laws in detail before we follow the
descent of the Will into the next stage of commitment.

11.30.2. Expansion in World XXIV

The four triads of Expansion are given in the following diagrammatic
scheme:

158                                THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

It will first be noted that all four triads are initiated by an essential
affirmation. Hence the Self-hood is sometimes also called the Essence
of Man. It is the repository of his potentialities. As compared with the
Self-hood, the Complete Individuality is 'superhuman', so that the
proper world of man as a finite Self is World XXIV. It is here that is
enacted the drama of his own particular existence, the outcome of which
decides whether he will rise in the scale of Existence or fall away from
humanity into some lower form of life.

This quality is reflected in each of the six fundamental laws as they
are divided in reaching World XII. The wholly essential law, 1-2-3,
is that by which the Cosmic Affirmation is transmitted through all
Worlds. It reaches the Self as the affirmation of Individuality.
The Self, as such, can experience no higher affirmation. When the Self
finds that it is under the action of a creative power, the purity of which
transcends its own understanding, it is awakened to the true significance
of its existence. The Cosmic Involution proceeds visibly in time and
space and invisibly in the hidden dimensions of eternity and hyparxis.
Every entity participates in this process, but few can be aware of it.
In moments of awareness, the True Self realizes that the process con-
cerns its own existence and that it can come under the action of a Divine
Affirmation that could transform its own nature. Through its ability to
participate in this triad, that has its origin in World XII, the Self has a
creative power of its own. This is the triad of Creativity.

The second triad, i-2*-3, is that of Procreation. Through this triad
the 'I' comes to birth in the essence. Here, the heart of the triad is in
Existence, but it stands between two essential impulses. It can therefore
be regarded as the power of the Essence directed upon Existence.
Through this triad, there arises in World XXIV a division of the sexes
that has no place in the Complete Individuality. The Triad of Procrea-
tion is the action of the male principle in Existence. It is the secret of
homo faber. Through it, man is aroused to a creative activity which is
the expression of his own existence ; that is, his own T. This is why
the inventive power has always predominated in the male sex and why
human artifacts are usually of male origin. Such artifacts reflect the
existential character of the triad from which they originate. They are
held together by the bond of a passive existence—symbolized by 2 in
the middle place—and they have not the same creative power as, for
instance, works of art which typify the third triad, 1-2-3*.

The third triad, 1-2-3*, is the action of the Individuality upon the
Self-hood. It is the Awakening of the True Self that results from the
affirmation of Complete Individuality. The Individuality itself is the

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD

159

seat of Conscience.* The triad 1-2-3* is the voice that awakens the 'I'
in the essence of man: even so, it must reach his existing Self in order to
influence his understanding. This triad thus produces results outside
the True Self. It finds expression in works of true or objective art; it
is conveyed through all ideas and teachings that show man that he is
destined to participate in the Cosmic Drama. This form of Expansion
is manifested through the Self-hood but issues in works that can them-
selves have a creative quality. Among organic species we can recognize
the operation of the law 1-2-3* in the extraordinary beauty and fitness
of form and function that makes of animals and plants symbols of
creative achievement.

Awakening and Procreation are the two forces of growth in the Ego.
Man stands between these forces, and his purification consists in arriving
at a harmony between them.

Finally, we reach the Existence-dominated triad, 1-2*-3*. Here the
power of growth penetrates into Existence and wears itself out. The Self
is mortal. The lower nature is subject to the laws of actualization in
time. Here the determining-conditions are separated, and time takes its
inevitable toll of Existence. Through this triad of passive expansion,
the Self can remain bound to Existence. Its creative power is directed
to the satisfaction of its own existential impulses.

The four forms of the Law of Expansion in World XXIV must be
understood in their cosmic no less than their human significance.
Through the division of Essence and Existence in the very heart of the
Triad of Expansion, the universe becomes committed to its own fini-
tude. Planetary existence everywhere is the scene of the operation of the
four laws. The Creative Power, as it penetrates into Existence, bi-
furcates into matter and consciousness and leads to its own exhaustion
in both directions. It goes out into matter by way of the satellites and
the dispersed energies of interplanetary space. It goes into conscious-
ness by way of Self-hood and loses itself in the existential nature of
beings.

We may look upon World XXIV as the testing-ground of possiblities.
Planets are the scene of the balancing of essential and existential forces,
and they are the focus of manifestation of the Solar Creative Power.

11.30.3. Concentration in World XXIV
The tension produced by the separation of possibilities from im-

* Differently stated, this view is an important element in Hegel's Phenomenology.
The notion of Conscience developed by Gurdjieff in All and Everything should also
be considered in this context.

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

possibilities reaches its maximum force in World XXIV, standing at
the mid-point between World VI and World XCVI. Self-hood is pre-
eminently a condition of tension between higher and lower worlds and
between its own higher and lower natures. For the same reason, it is the
point of maximum intensity of the evolutionary striving of Existence in
its return towards Being. These are the primary characteristics of the
Planetary World, which occupies the corresponding place in the Scale

of Being.

The four forms of Concentration in World XXIV are shown diagram-

matically below:

In World XXIV, the essential passive principle initiates and domi-
nates all the triads of Concentration. The feminine qualities of receptivity
and responsiveness are directed towards the affirmation that occupies
the middle position in the triad. Each of the four triads contributes its
quota to the transformation of the active principle by way of reconcilia-
tion with a higher world. Here the feminine generative principle draws

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD                              101

the male principle out of its self-affirmation towards submission to a
Higher Will.

Through the triads of Concentration, the Self acquires the power to
unite with the Complete Individuality, of which it then becomes at once
the embodiment and the instrument. Herein lies one great secret of
Self-hood. It is committed by its nature to Existence and cannot be
liberated from the commitment as long as it remains aloof from the
Complete Individuality. When, by way of evolution, it generates a
reconciling power that is uncommitted, then it can serve the Higher
Power and in turn be saved by union with it.

In our study of Individual Concentration, we found that tension and
suffering are inseparable from its realization. Since the Complete
Individuality does not exist, it cannot suffer the pangs of a new birth.
It is unborn and it is undying. The suffering of rebirth belongs to the
Self. By incarnation in the Self-hood, the Complete Individuality takes
upon itself the experience of existential suffering, and by this means can
purify its own essential nature. The need for purification comes from
the separation of Existence and Essence; that is, from the very property
that makes Creation fertile.

In its pure form, 2-1-3, the Triad of Concentration is the participa-
tion of Self-hood in the universal striving of Existence towards Being.
It is experienced as a demand that is made upon the Self to enter the
way of evolution. This demand produces the tension which is an
inalienable characteristic of Existence. It is experienced by the Self-hood
as the yearning for self-perfecting. Man has the impulse to assert
and also to deny himself. Between these two impulses the Self is unable
to rest, and must either succumb to inertia and disintegrate, or go on,
by way of self-perfecting, to achieve unity with the Individuality.
Clearly both impulses are needed for unification to occur. Here we
should note the lamentable misunderstanding of the cosmic situation
which has led to these impulses being associated with the notions of
'good' and 'evil', It is supposed that 'Conscience', which acts from
'above', is good, whereas the 'Striving towards Being', which rises from
'below', is evil. The true situation is that the fundamental law of Con-
centration, 2-1-3, is the striving for that perfection that is beyond
Existence itself.

The second form of the law, given by the triad 2-1 *-3, is manifested
in the generative action of the essential, or cosmic, feminine principle
upon the male impulse associated with Existence. Through this action
the means are provided for the transformation of the 'I'. Here the 'I',
as male power, is brought under the combined influences of the Cosmic

162

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Impulses of Receptivity and Reconciliation and is thereby regenerated.
The affirmation, which by its nature tends to produce a triad of expan-
sion, finds itself constrained to submit to the manifold commitments of
Existence. In our human experience we can observe the contrasting
development of men with great affirmative power. Such men may
initiate movements of existential expansion and, in doing so, be them-
selves destroyed ; or else they may submit to the discipline of essential
constraint, when they are themselves transformed into saints or sages,
and can transmit a higher influence without being destroyed. The almost
invariably observed relationship of mutual need between women and
men in creative activity can be referred to an existential form of the
same triad; that is, the form 2-1 *-3, the Triad of Generation. Never-
theless, the way of celibacy and chastity belongs to the same triad.

In every case the resulting reconciling impulse produces some new
potentialities within the existing Self and its environment. The action
is typical of planetary existence and may be described as the movement
of true evolution, whereby higher forms of existence are produced from
lower forms by an action that is itself initiated 'from below'. The sub-
creative activity of the planets, by which the Complete Individual
Affirmation is realized by way of the patterns of life in the Biosphere,
works by way of the triad 2— 1*—3. The significant characteristic of this
triad is its issue as an essential impulse of reconciliation. Biological
evolution is a struggle for adaptation and renewal, but it is a directed
struggle. It tends towards a higher state of Existence, which the Uni-
versal Individuality will ultimately be able to enter and rule; but,
since other laws are involved, the outcome remains uncertain.

The third form of the triad, 2-1-3*, is the same as in World XII, but
in the world of Selves it takes the form of responsiveness to the demand
for the perfection or completion of the existing entity. There is no
guarantee that the direction taken will be that of the Cosmic Concen-
tration. It may even lead the Self on the path of isolation from the Essence
and to imprisonment in the bonds of Existence. The hazards of Exis-
tence are nowhere so plain as in the uncertainty that surrounds the
struggle for self-perfection. The essential impulses of denial and
affirmation are too subtle for the limited understanding of the Divided
Self. Unable to recognize their true relationship, the Self is always in
danger of losing its direction. Consequently, the triad 2-1-3*, that may
be called the Law of Responsiveness, can work rightly in man only
when it is related to the action of the Complete Individuality, by way
of the triad 1-2-3. The two triads, working harmoniously together, can
establish a direction that will coincide with that of the Cosmic Evolution.

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD                              163

It must, however, be recognized that there is an eternal as well as a
temporal significance in the relationship of the impulses. Therefore the
Law of Responsiveness must not be understood only as a temporal
process of actualization. It is the condition of the sensitivity of Existence
to the Plan of Creation. This sensitivity gives the responsiveness that is
needed to enable Individuality to make its appearance in the Self.
Whereas the Law of Order can maintain the general relationship of co-
existence of all entities, it does not provide for the adjustment of the
lower to the higher that could be called 'sensitivity in the upward
direction'. The triad 2-1-3* can be looked upon as the projection of
receptivity, but it has a general integrative influence that could be
expressed in the phrase, 'everything seeks its own place.'

The second and third forms of the triad enter human experience as
the striving of the 'I' to find its right place between the higher and the
lower parts of the Self. They can be called the male and female aspects
of self-perfecting. Both are necessary, and from their joint action the
'I' awakens from its sleep and begins to seek for its true master, the
Individuality.

The fourth triad, 2-1*—3*, has a two-fold commitment to Existence.
The action has no longer a determinate direction. It is the desire of
the lower nature to achieve its own well-being. Desire is not a property
of the True Self, but only enters into its lower nature. Although the
triad is essential in its origin, the power of self-assertion turns it into an
egocentric striving that looks for its results in Existence. The lower
nature finds itself in a state of tension and disharmony, because it
cannot be complete except by union with the higher nature with which
it has lost contact. It seeks to liberate itself from suffering that is not of
its own choice. Not placing its aim above and beyond itself, it seeks
to achieve a harmony that is impossible. The inevitable outcome is a
restless activity that leads outward into Existence.

Nevertheless, the desires of the lower nature are necessary for the
evolution of the Self as a whole. It is the task of the awakening 'I' to
give a direction to the striving that cannot direct itself, but can only
yearn blindly for what it cannot understand.

11.30.4. Identity in World XXIV

Existence in World XXIV is subject to the distinction of higher and
lower. This is a further commitment as compared with the distinction of
A and not-A of World XII. In World XXIV, Existence is inwardly
divided from itself as well as outwardly from the other. This results in

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

164

four distinct forms of the Triad of Identity, 2-3-1. We can indicate in a
diagram the relationships of the triads and the Worlds :

The division of the Self into higher and lower parts enables it to
constitute triads that link Existence with Essence. This is the supremely
important and characteristic task of the Will in World XXIV. In the
higher worlds, Will is power. In the lower worlds, Will is exercise.
The power is in Essence; it is exercised in Existence.

These distinctions can be illustrated by comparing the nature of
Self-hood with that of Individuality. Individuality is homogeneous and
complete. It does not exist and, therefore, can have no parts. Individu-
ality is a cosmic identity that divides the Universe into the identical
'A' and the non-identical 'not-A'. There is no other division. Self-hood
on the contrary, is composite; having parts, it is inwardly divided. The
Self is committed to a pattern of potentialities which is eternal and
indestructible. This pattern is the higher nature of the Self ; and its
realization, by way of actualization and recurrence, is hazardous and

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD                              165

unpredictable. The 'exercise' of the powers of the Will is possible just
because of the uncertainty of Existence. Thus power and its exercise
are complementary and necessary to one another. The Self can exercise
the powers of the Will because of its peculiar tripartite nature.

The triad 2-3-1 in World XXIV can be called the Triad of the
Cosmic Identity of the True Self. It places the True Self in the
context of the universal pattern of Existence. To be in World XXIV
means to be 'something'. The Cosmic Identity of the True Self is
derived from the higher part of the Self. It can also be called 'the em-
bodiment of Individuality'. This phrase conceals a mystery; for Indivi-
duality does not exist and its embodiment seems to be an impossibility.
The laws of World VI are in general projected into the lower worlds
as the condition of their participation in the cosmic scheme. In the
case of Identity, the law must by its very nature operate within entities;
it is the essential Being that lies at the heart of their existence. All
planetary existence has its own place in the identity of the whole, but
its own identity is also the entry of the whole into the part. For this
reason, the mystical experience of Universal Identity overwhelms the
True Self with the two-fold realization of its own nothingness and it
own infinity.

In the second triad of identity, 2-3*-1, we see the 'I" turned away
from the Complete Individuality and facing the lower nature. It is the
existential aspect of Ego-ity. Because it is formed by the conjunction of
two opposing triads, 2-3-1 and 2-3*—I, the 'I' is in a state of perpetual
tension. It is not free—either outwardly or inwardly. In one direction it
is dependent upon the Higher Self for its power. In the other direction,
it needs the body and its functions for the exercise of its powers. Its
task is to reconcile the conflicting factors, and for this it must submit
to the mutual action of the higher and the lower nature within the
Self-hood.

The triad 2-3*-1 shows how the identity of the Self confronts the 'I'
with a problem that it cannot solve. It must exist, and yet its identity
depends upon essential -forces over which it has no power. In human
experience, we discover this situation in our effort to reconcile our
divided nature with the inner demand for unity and submission to a
Higher Will. It always seems as if we must either submit to the Higher
Will and deny our own nature, or surrender to our lower nature and
turn away from the higher. Morality and most religious dogmas seem
to accept the inevitability of the choice, and teach denial of our lower
nature as the way of salvation for the T. It is seldom realized that this
is no solution of the problem, and that it is necessary first of all for the

166

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

'I' to become what it essentially is, by realizing its own essence-pattern.
This it cannot do by turning away from its own nature, but by fulfilling
it—the means of which is the realization of the essential pattern. In
order to fulfil, the 'I' must submit itself, only not to any part of its own
Self-hood but rather to the power of the Individuality. The 'I', being
of the Self-hood, belongs to Existence, whereas the Individuality is of
the Essence. When the 'I' is surrendered to the Individuality, Existence
can be harmonized with Essence. This is the fulfilment of man's
earthly destiny.*

When we survey the planetary world, we can dimly recognize that
each planet must be the scene of a conflict that is cosmic in its character.
The planet is plunged into Existence, and yet it is the generatrix of
essences. It must form the patterns of Existence by which a cosmic de-
mand is satisfied namely, the demand for the arising of purified
essences able to serve as instruments for the Universal Individuality.
Each planet is subject to tension. It is the home of autonomic existence
and is entirely involved in the problems of the existence it bears ; but
it stands also before the Solar Affirmation, whose creative power is
producing a new world of Life and Self-hood ; and it can never be
assured that the tension to which it is thus subjected will be resolved
in such a way that the 'wolf will not go hungry and yet the sheep not
be eaten'.

The characteristic that is common to planetary existence and the
human 'I; can be expressed as the Law of Tension, 2-3*-1. The 'I'
suffers because it can never find within its own Self-hood the solution
of its essential problem. Tension differs from force inasmuch as it
is triadic—a relationship—and not a dyad. The 'I' experiences tension
because it is between two opposing forces; it experiences force when
it is itself identified with one of two forces.

The third triad of Identity, 2-3-1 *, is the power that resides in the
Self-hood to unite with the Individuality. It can be called the Law of
Independence. By the presence of an essential reconciling impulse
within the triad, the 'I' has in posse the powers that the Individuality
has in esse. The powers are not hi the Self-hood ready-made, as it
were, but require to be born and developed. This can be inferred
from the form of the triad, in which the affirming impulse is in the
existential mode and, therefore, dependent upon the status of the 'I'
in time and eternity.

We should here consider further the nature of the T. Since, by

* These notions, fundamental for understanding the destiny of man, will be
discussed further in Chapter 47.

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD                              167

hypothesis, we are dealing with a situation not solely human but of
common cosmic significance, we should regard the 'I' from the stand-
point of planetary existence in general. By its position at the centre of
the Self-hood, the 'I' occupies the mid-point in a series of seven
worlds in which the Drama of its own existence is enacted. The 'I' can
be looked upon as the identity of all Existence reflected at the centre of
every Self. In every entity capable of becoming an instrument of the
Universal or the Cosmic Will, there is a central point which can regard
the Universe and see itself mirrored. What the Universe is in essence,
the 'I' is in potency. It is capable of everything, but it can do nothing;
for it has no 'will of its own'. The 'I' can have unlimited potency because
it is the germ of conscious Individuality. When the germ begins to
develop, its potency is sacrificed and it enters upon a hazardous path;
for it has no fixed direction. When we say "I have no will of my own",
we mean that 'I' have no power to choose between the triads of invo-
lution and evolution. 'I' may rise in the scale of Existence, or 'I' may
fall. This 'I' can do nothing, because it can have no inner triad; and
yet, being involved in Existence, 'I' cannot adapt itself to any other
interaction than its own. Consequently, the 'I' depends for its possi-
bilities upon the mutual action of the higher and lower parts of the Self.
This is the general situation. In the hypernomic world we can see
how the planets could not develop their potentialities if they were
isolated from the Sun and from the rest of the solar system—including
their own satellites. Each planet has its own 'I' by which it is a reflection
of the Universal Reconciling Impulse, as each sun has its own Complete
Individuality and is thereby a reflection of the Universal Affirming
Impulse. The 'I' of the planet is the bearer of its potentialities and also
the vehicle of its self-realization. The 'I' is subject to the separation of
the determining-conditions, herein differing from the Complete
Individuality. It would therefore seem that planets have no independent
creative power and no complete individuality. The 'I' can be regarded
as the reconciling power of the Self, or as the inner vessel within
which the Individuality is to be born. Thus the 'I' can be defined as the
reconciling power of the Self turned towards Existence. This is a
direct interpretation of the triad 2-3*-1. It is through the 'I' of their
True Selves that the planets occupy their special position in the cosmic
scheme. Each of the Selves created within the sphere of a planetary 'I'
reflects its properties. Here, in parenthesis, we may trace the source of
the astrological theory that the conjunction of the planets at the moment
of conception determines the fate of a child. Each 'I' is a pattern of Will
—that is, a type—and type determines fate. Hence comes the general

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THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

linking between planets and the species of animals, plants and minerals,
as well as with the 'I's of separate entities.

The fourth form of the Triad of Identity determines the lower nature
of the Self. Nothing essential remains except the denying or passive
character of Self-hood. The triad explains the isolation of the lower
nature. It is unable to enter into the experience of the Essence. It can
only know Existence and yet its own origin is essential. For this reason
the triad 2-3*-1* may be referred to as the Law of Separateness.
The identity of the Separated Self consists in its own existence and it is
seized with anxiety, which is the simultaneous experience of hope as
well as fear. Not seeing beyond Existence, the Separated Self is fearful
of perishing but, since it is linked with the Higher Self through the 'I',
it is also aware of hope. It is caught into temporal actualization. For
this reason, the Will subject to the triad 2-3 *-1* is also sometimes
called 'the denying part of the Self.'

In the Biosphere the triad 2-3 *-1* is manifested in the organic
instincts—the struggle for survival. The identity of the species depends
upon its resisting the encroachment of other species. The universal
pattern of organic life can be called the Higher Nature of the Biosphere.
It is the manifestation in life of the power of the Universal Individuality.

If we now seek to put together all the various deductions and con-
clusions regarding the triads of identity in World XXIV, we find, firstly,
that we are now before a composite identity. The planetary world
is a composite world and the Self-hood in man is a composite entity.
Secondly, we observe that all entities whose identity derives from World
XXIV have a distinction of 'higher' and 'lower' parts that is absent in
World XII. Moreover, they are tripartite ; but the central part—called
the 'I'—is indeterminate. Being the resultant of the mutual action of
two triads, the 'I' has no fixed nature, but it may be identified with
either the higher or the lower nature according to whether it succeeds
in realizing or fails to realize its own essential nature. Such 'I-hood'
or Ego-ity is not characteristic of man alone, but of all selves that exist
according to the laws of World XXIV.

11.30.5. Interaction in World XXIV

Interaction in the composite Self is more complicated than in the
higher worlds. Self-hood has its problems of inner as well as outer inter-
action. As with other laws, the four forms can be represented by a
diagram :

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD                              169

Each of the four triads of Interaction determines one of the basic
relationships that can arise in a world in which Essence and Existence
are divided both inwardly and outwardly.

In this world, the triad 1-3-2 admits the True Self into the universal
process of transformation. It can be called the Law of Participation.
Being altogether essential in its character, it allows Selves to share in a
common will. The Triad of Participation is not committed to any one
particular existence, and herein lies its significance for the Self-hood.
World XXIV is such that Selves are generally committed to a particu-
lar form of existence, but the compositeness of planetary existence
allows the commitment to affect only part of the Self. The higher part
remains uncommitted and can either retain its essential character or
ally itself to existing forms.

The second form of the triad, 1-3*-2, can be called the Law of
Opposition. Here the 'I' lacks its essential reconciling power and the
two parts of the Self turn outwards. As a planetary law, the Triad of
Opposition is responsible for the characteristic dualism of the Biosphere,
including the division of the sexes. No earthly entity can be complete in
itself, but must depend always upon some external factor to enable it to
respond to the higher affirmation. We can recognize here the significance

170

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

of the ancient saying that man and woman can never be complete alone
—it is only by their combination that a complete Self is produced. The
reconciling impulse in the centre of the triad 1-3*-2 can manifest only
half of what is required to balance the essential affirmation and denial.
The triad can thus be regarded as an expression of the incompleteness
of planetary existence. A very important consequence of this law as
it affects the life of man is that the 'I' can do nothing from its
own independent initiative. The 'I' is an incomplete entity because
it is lacking in the essential quality that enables it to pass from one level
of Existence to another. Herein lies another crucial distinction between
Self-hood and Individuality. Because Individuality is essential and does
not 'exist', it is not tied to any one level. The Self-hood is tied to Exist-
ence, and there is at its core an incompleteness that it can never over-
come by its own powers.

It must not be concluded from the above that the 'I' is not capable of
existing alone. It can exist alone, but its outward action always requires
the co-operation of a factor external to itself. When this factor corres-
ponds to its own nature, the 'I' becomes powerful and can have the
attributes of a fully independent entity. We can observe this in the lives
of so-called 'men of destiny', who appear to have the support of some
cosmic power that, for a period, makes their external activity effective
and even 'unerring'. When the assisting factor ceases to act—which
happens usually through the Self falling into the delusion of infalli-
bility—the power of the 'I' evaporates and it becomes even more
helpless than the Reactional Selves of ordinary men.

Since the external factor has to supply what is lacking in the 'I', its
action must be fixed within fairly narrow limits. The adjustment may
occur through the operation of a triad other than that of Interaction ;
and it may occur only infrequently. Unless there is such a 'guiding
influence', the action is very unlikely to correspond to the need, and
from this arises the special kind of uncertainty that surrounds Existence
in World XXIV. This uncertainty of occurrence, or accidentalness, is a
result of incompleteness, which in turn is the inevitable consequence
of the separation of Existence from Essence. Throughout the whole
Universe there is a weak link in the chain that connects the Cosmic
Affirmation with the Cosmic Denial. This link is the planets, where
these Cosmic Impulses, arriving from the upper and lower limits of
Existence, are most attenuated or diluted in their effect. The uncertainty
of all Existence stems from this point; and yet it is also here alone
that the Reconciling Impulse can reach its maximum intensity of
manifestation.

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD

171

What is true for the whole Universe is true also for a single human
being. At the core of the True Self—in the 'I'—the whole uncertainty
of human destiny is situated. Placed where it is, under the action of
forces both too strong for it to withstand and too subtle for it to com-
prehend, the 'I' is called upon to accomplish the work of transformation,
while remaining subject always to the triad 1-3*—2, with its properties
of separation, incompleteness and contingency.

All planetary existence is committed to the universal exchange of
substances, but the highest part of the Self need not be involved in the
existential form of the exchange. The Law of Participation does not
require commitment of the Essence, but Existence must pay the price
of its own arising before it can be brought into the participation which
joins the Higher Self to the Complete Individuality. The third form of
Interaction is the confrontation of essential affirmation with existential
denial. It can be called the motive power of the planetary world, or the
'pressure of Essence upon Existence'.

The establishment of the triad 1-3-2* in the heart of human Self-
hood is accomplished through the unceasing struggle of affirmation and
negation between the higher and lower natures. Hence we may describe
the triad as the" Law of Struggle. This may be regarded as the
search of the Self for its own fulfilment. It is a search that does not
yet look beyond Existence, for it is not the 'I' that struggles ; the 'I'
bears the reconciling impulse. The entire situation represented by the
triad is one of self-affirmation, wherein the 'I' learns how to maintain
itself between the higher and lower natures of the Self. For the achieve-
ment of the aim of union with the Complete Individuality, there must
be 'right effort'; that is, a struggle that will harmonize Essence with
Existence.

When interpreted in planetary terms, the triad 1-3-2* is manifested
in all the transformations that result from the creative impulse initiated
in the Sun. Throughout the solar system there is an interaction that
elicits for the Sun itself its own receptive force. Interaction and identity
in the planetary world combine to give a source of the 'lower-grade
vibrations' required for the equilibrium of solar existence. The planets
can be compared to a farm upon which the farmer raises and feeds the
plants and animals required for the fulfilment of his own plan. Upon
our own planet the higher and lower natures divide and there are two
activities of the Biosphere, with its species of plants and animals. The
one is the involution of the solar pattern and the other is the complex
system of interactions taking place on the planet itself.

The fourth triad,1-3*-2*, produces undirected activity of every kind.

172

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

It is the aimless but inevitable interaction of all existing things, by which
the stream of Existence is kept in motion. When placed in opposition
to the essential Law of Participation, 1-3-2, the fourth triad can be seen
as the source of disturbances in all the manifestations of World XXIV
—the planetary, the biospheric and the human. We shall refer to it as
the Law of Unrest. The restlessness and disharmony that characterize
these manifestations are the result of undirected activity; but conflict
is the consequence of the more fundamental division of Existence and
Essence. Unrest is inherent in all Existence. It has, by its cosmic
origin, the possibility of acquiring direction and so of being harmonized.
It is a condition of one of the fundamental realities—the entry into
Existence of the Transcendental Reconciling Impulse. If Existence
could be at peace with itself, it would lack the urge to seek reunion
with the Essential Reality of Being.

Unrest arises in the planetary world by reason of the inadequacy of
Existence to support the demands made upon it by the essential pattern.
Every organic species has potentialities for growth that cannot be
realized. Existence is too poor in its content to allow for the realization of
all possibilities, and in the planetary world this limitation is most acutely
felt. The triad of growth must give way to the triad of interaction and,
with that, unrest enters. This is the situation of every form of existence
that is subject to the laws of World XXIV. Nevertheless, the unrest is
not inevitably destructive. On the contrary, it is also the pre-requisite
for the transformation by which Essence and Existence are to be
harmonized. With unrest, comes also the power of participation, and
between these two forces, struggle and opposition combine to make the
planetary world the meeting-place where Essence and Existence can
be reconciled.

11.30.6. Order in World XXIV

Order is common to Essence and Existence. In the existing world we
discover order in the form of universal laws. These, in turn, prove to be
reducible to the properties of the four determining-conditions of space,
time, eternity and hyparxis. When we seek for an expression of order
that is completely quantitative, we find that it is reduced to the
world-geometry of six dimensions, studied in Chapter 14. This is
bare factual order and, therefore, completely knowable. As soon as
value considerations are taken into account, order begins to acquire a
qualitative character. This character can be discovered—within the
limitations of three-term systems—by examining the combinations of
triads that can arise from the three Cosmic Impulses and from the dyads

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD

173

that ensue from the partition of Essence and Existence.* The laws of
nature and the laws of Will should meet at that point where human
Self-hood encounters the natural order. This is World XXIV. In this
world we encounter events. There are no 'events' in the higher worlds,
for there is no distinction between space and eternity nor between time
and hyparxis. In World XXIV, the laws of order can be studied 'objec-
tively'. They have an integral quality that is lost when human experience
loses its independence and requires the support of an 'external world'.
The distinction of 'public' or general time and 'private' or subjective
time belongs to World XLVIII, and the same is true for the other
determining-conditions. In World XXIV, the inner and outer rhythms
of Existence are harmonized and the conflicts arising from the separa-
tion of objective and subjective determination are not felt.
The four forms of order in World XXIV are not identical with the

* It is probable that the Pythagoreans used this sesquialteral construction, which
appears in a vague and inconclusive form in the Timaeus of Plato. Flowing through
this channel, the notion of combining dyads and triads has pervaded first the Neo-
platonic and, later, the Rosicrucian cosmologies. As, for example, in the Monochorda
Mundi of Dr. Fludd, an Elizabethan Rosicrucian.

174                             THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

four determining-conditions of eternity, space, time and hyparxis,
because they are more than factual. They can most conveniently be
regarded as Acts of Will by which Existence is regulated in the absence
of the direct guidance of the Individuality—that is, in the absence

of Freedom.

The triad 3-1-2 determines the primary condition of all Existence—
that is, the separation of possible and impossible. Since the triad is
composed entirely of essential impulses, it is not involved in Existence.
We need not hesitate to assign the name Eternity to this first form, which
exactly fits the description 'storehouse of possibilities'*

Eternity is the simple condition of receptivity in which the actual and
the non-actual can both find a place. Nevertheless, since World XXIV is
committed to Existence, the separation of the transitive conditions into
eternity and space results in a separation of levels that is absent in
World XII. Whereas the laws of Individuality are applicable to every
form of Finite—that is, non-universal—Existence, the laws of Self-hood
are limited in their scope to the particular form of existence in which
there is a separation of higher and lower natures. The possibilities of the
Complete Individual are not limited by space and time. This is allowed
by the determining-condition 3-1-2. When the condition is divided,
there remains the non-fixation in time, but there is localization in space.
Thus, 3-1-2 becomes 3-1-2 as distinguished from 3-1*-2. We thus
have the proposition: 'Space stands to Eternity as Existence to Essence.'
They both share the quality of an essential receptivity, but space is
existentially determined by its existential nature, whereas eternity is
determined as to Essence alone; that is, the co-existence within one
entity of multiple potentialities.

Eternity is the condition that characterizes the higher nature of the
Self, whereas space is the field of action of the 'I'. This can be expressed
in the formula: 'Eternity is inner receptivity by which the Individuality
can act upon the Self. Space is outer receptivity by which the Self is
exposed to the action of external influences.'

As all potentialities are held in order by the conditions of eternity
and space, so are their actualizations held in order by hyparxis and time.
Here we meet with a distinction that is most significant, both philo-
sophically and psychologically. The 'I' is subject to hyparxis and the
lower part of the Self is subject to time. The 'I' is not by nature a
temporal entity, subject to actualization. This agrees with the conclusion
reached in the last section that the 'I' does nothing. Actualization in time,
and hence 'doing', is characteristic of the lower parts of the Self. Here

• Qf. Vol. I, p. 157.

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD                              175

we should also recall that the three parts of the Self can be assigned to
the three components of the triad Will-Being-Function. We can now
establish a general scheme of correspondence which exhibits the connec-
tion between Self-hood and the determining-conditions.

To understand this scheme we must realize that it is only the 'I' that
is capable of experiencing recurrence. The lower part of the Self reacts
automatically to the existing environment and can be aware of a single
line of actualization only. In other words, hyparxis-blindness is charac-
teristic of the lower part of the Self. So long as the 'I' is asleep, it is not
aware of recurrence. In the ordinary, or subjective, condition of human
experience, there is no direct perception of the relation between inner
and outer events—all is merged in the kind of dream-state that is
characteristic of the Automatic Self. Only when there is mutual action
between different levels, that brings the higher and lower parts of the
Self into contact, does the 'I' awaken. Then, and then only, can any
direct experience of the determining-conditions begin. One feature of
this experience is the recognition of a special quality in space and
hyparxis that the Reactional Self cannot perceive. Becoming aware of
the repetition of events, the 'I' begins to understand their meaning
and to see the significance of its own position. Hyparchic sensitivity is
centred in the 'I', or rather in its existential basis, the epigenetic factor.*
A special property of the 'I', acquired through its two-fold relationship

• Cf. Vol I, P. 387.

176

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD

177

to space and hyparxis, is that it can exercise the power of directed
attention. Through this power, the 'I' can overcome the limitation of
the Lower Self that consists in being tied to a single actualization in
time. In this respect, the Lower Self is effectively subordinated to the
laws of World XLVIII and can escape their action only through the
transformation of the 'I'.

As a help in placing the laws of World XXIV in a true perspective,
we can examine them in relation to three of its manifestations; namely,
(a) the planet Earth, (b) its Biosphere and (c) man as a three-natured
being. These taken together may be regarded as a three-fold world in
which there are six existence-dominated mixed triads. Time is an exist-
ence-dominated triad of Order. According to this analysis, time, as we
know it, does not apply to the higher levels of Existence that are alt
essence-dominated. This does not mean that Complete Individuality
such as we ascribe to the stars, is non-temporal in all respects, but that
actualization is not a primary characteristic of its existence. This can
be expressed in the proposition : Complete Individuality is non-
historical in its essential nature

The concept of pattern has been taken as characteristic of novem-
potence in the planetary world.* Pattern can be understood in terms of
the properties of eternity, whereas the notion of existential creativity
cannot be fitted into the determining-conditions taken separately, but
it can be expressed as the joint action of transitive and non-transitive
triads. We can therefore, on factual grounds alone, find good reason for
assigning the separation of the determining-conditions to the level of
planetary existence. Planets are pattern carriers, actualizers, space-
distributed and recurrent entities. We cannot describe suns in the

same way.

Again, the Biosphere can be regarded both as historical in time, and
also as the bearer of an eternal pattern. It has a space-distributed
organization and it is recurrent and sensitive.

Man, as a three-natured being, can be described in the same terms, **
We arrive thus at the picture of the Will committed to forms of existence
in which all the four determining-conditions produce complementary,
although independent, limitations. This results in a very great
diminution of possibilities. For example, it is no longer possible for
one entity to be in two places at the same moment of time, nor to be

* Cf. Vol. I, pp. 217, 453-

** It must be understood that we speak here of man as True Self and not of nan
as animal. Two-natured man, as he exists in World XLVIII, is under the same laws
as animals, although his potentialities are different.

aware of two different moments of time concurrently. Again, there is
the separation of the potential and the actual, and there is also a limited
possibility of reconciliation of the resulting tension through hyparchic
recurrence.

11.30.7. Freedom in World XXIV

Freedom is, in all worlds, both a mystery and a reality. All Existence
is pervaded with Freedom by the Universal Triad 3-2-1, that allows
Involution to transform into Evolution so that all that proceeds from
the Source may return to the Source.

Freedom is a mystery because it is impossible and yet real. It is the
reverse of Order, which is possible and yet unreal. Freedom is real
because it harmonizes Fact and Value. Order is unreal because it
separates Fact and Value. Thus, universal Cosmic Order and omni-
present Cosmic Freedom seem to be incompatible. And yet the very
meaning of Existence lies in the reconciliation of the possible with the
impossible: of Fact with Value. Therefore, Freedom is the supreme
law, which yet is not a law—for it is not a limitation.

Freedom is in all essences and order is in all existences; but, since
Essence and Existence are not separate in Reality, Freedom and Order
must be compatible. This is not hard to accept as it applies to the higher
worlds, where Essence and Existence are blended in a harmony to which
thought cannot penetrate. It is harder to believe that the impossible
Freedom of Individuality can enter the conditioned existence of the Self.

For the human Self, this riddle contains the secret of the chief
problem of Existence. For the present author it was the starting-point,
in the year 1920, of a search which lasted for thirty-seven years, until the
effective reconciliation of Order and Freedom in human life began to
appear in an immediate reality. Not to face this question in its profundity
is to accept the illusions of the lower worlds. It is not enough to face
it in the abstract, for it is above all the moral problem of problems.
It concerns the responsibility of man and the Omnipotence of God.
It concerns equally the belief in universal law and the intuition of free-
dom beyond law.

The mystery is neither less nor more than that of the Third Recon-
ciling Cosmic Impulse, whose Nature can never be expressed in any
formula. Every formula is either too personal—as in Western theology
—or too impersonal—as in Tao or Zen. Suffice it that we recognize
that although the problem of Freedom can be experienced in many
forms, it is never truly faced unless we recognize the antithesis of

D.U. II----8

178                                THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

Freedom and Order, and understand that there is no solution in
attempting to subordinate either to the other.

The problem is most acute for the True Self; for this is poised
between Essence and Existence, between Fact and Value, as are no
other parts of the human entity as a whole. The three-fold nature of
the Self permits it to form the complete triad of Freedom. Hence,
these questions are truly human, since they do not arise for the sub-
human selves in man. They meet us in our study of Self-hood, for
they present themselves as a living reality only when we enter the
experience of World XXIV, where the Will stands poised between
Existence and Essence.

The modes of freedom are related to the Self-hood more or less
according to the following scheme:

THE HIGHER PART OF THE SELF receives from the Individuality
a freedom that is incompatible with its own existential nature. When
the Self ceases to act, it can receive Inspiration from beyond Existence.
This freedom is won by the submission of the Selfhood to the
Individuality.

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD

179

THE 'I' or EGO is the centre of the Self-hood. In its essential nature,
it is receptive—hence it is related to the triad 3-2-1*, where the
characterizing second impulse is essential in origin. When the Ego is
awakened, it is able to 'see'. From seeing, it understands and from
understanding, it can enter into Existence as an affirming power.
THE LOWER PART OF THE SELF has a freedom that is exercised
within the limitations of Existence. Only the Reconciling Impulse is
essential in origin (3—2*—1*). This triad indicates that, even within
Existence, freedom can be exercised. It is manifested in the powers
of the Self. We take the power of choice as characteristic, for this
power places the lower part of the True Self in a position of responsi-
bility for its own actions.

The first and greatest freedom is that which proceeds from the
Divine Immanence, and is recognized in religion as the working of
the Holy Spirit in the soul of man. The freedom of Grace is ineffable,
for it is beyond the Self-hood and therefore cannot be spoken of in
functional terms. Being without existential limitations, the first freedom
is the instrument of Divine Omnipotence. We can interpret the saying,
'With men it is indeed impossible, but with God all things are possible',
to mean 'The three freedoms inherent in Self-hood are all limited by
existence, but the freedom of Individuality—that is, Grace—has no
limitations.'

The second freedom, 3-2*-1, is that which arises within the Self
by its contact with the essential Reconciling Impulse, and issues as
an essential affirmation. This freedom is very similar in its manifes-
tations to the freedom of Grace, and is often mistaken for it. We call
it inspiration, or enthusiasm, to indicate that it is the entry into the
Self of the essential quality of the Individuality. In the perfected Self,
this freedoms always present. It then operates as Submission to
the Divine Will. The Self in whom the second freedom is permanently
established is a saint.

The third freedom, 3-2-1*, is that which comes from the awakening
of the 'I' in the Self. It is the essential freedom with which human
nature is endowed. Through this freedom, the Self is enabled to be a
creative power in the existing world. The triad 3-2-1* leads from
Essence into Existence, from Value into Fact. Man is able to exercise
this freedom of Understanding when the 'I' is established as the
'master of the Self. Through understanding, the Self can submit to
the Individuality and through understanding also the 'I' becomes the
ruler of the lower selves and a responsible agent in the external world.

The fourth freedom is inherent in the Lower Self of man. It is the

3

180

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

gift of the Spirit to the existing Self. By this freedom, the Self has the
Power of Choice. If the 'I' is not awakened, the Self is not aware
of the higher freedoms and its choosing is directed outwardly. But
the Lower Self can also receive guidance and direction, so that its power
of choice can be directed towards the attainment of Individuality. Then
the power of choice can bring about the reversal of triads; that is to say,
the transition from involution to evolution. By this reversal, what is
impossible for the Lower Self—that is, contact with the Essence—
becomes possible and the way is open to accept the action of the Law
of Concentration (2-1-3). In our human experience this action is
often associated with the subjective state of revolt. The existential
denial at the heart of the Self-hood is faced with an impossible situation
that is experienced in the triad of mortality—that is 1-2*-3*. If it
succumbs to this degenerative action it is lost in the destructive con-
sequences that are governed by the laws of World XLVIII. But if, at
the moment of explosion, the 'I' awakens and sees the absurdity of
the destructive impulse, the triad can reverse in the sequence as
shown below.

Choice

This reversal is a well-marked characteristic of the freedom of choice.
In the diagram, it is shown as leading to a triad of concentration. At
the point marked with a downward arrow there is the action of choice.
At that moment the Self can put itself under the Law of Concentration
and, instead of seeking to act, can allow itself to be acted upon. Many
such examples could be found and they illustrate the value, for the
understanding of human destiny, of studying the conditions under
which freedom is possible.

In the saying of Christ, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the
same shall save it", we find an example of the choice between the
Triad of Identity, 2-3-1*, and the Triad of Concentration, 2-1 *-3,
the point where the affirmation either goes outwards or remains inside.
In the first case it loses itself and in the second it saves itself. There
can be a similar choice between interaction, 1-3-2*, and involution,
l-2*-3; that is, between the external action and the inner response

WILL AND THE SELF-HOOD                              181

to the voice of conscience. When the moment of freedom comes, the
'I' is able to see and to choose the law to which it will submit.

This liberation of the Self means the transformation of Existence
whereby the 'I' ceases to be under the influence of the laws of World
XLVIII and can then become united with the Complete Individuality.
This is 'death and resurrection', for the 'I' must abandon its hold
upon the existence of the Self and plunge into the essential state in
which it can find none of the supports that are offered by the existential
forms of the lower worlds. All four freedoms must be exercised if
human destiny is to achieve fulfilment. They are the redemptive
influences within the planetary world.

In all its three domains, planetary existence is in need of help. The
Law of Freedom is an impossible triad, not subject to the determining-
conditions. Freedom is a manifestation of Essence rather than of
Existence, but it can enter into Existence by the special property of
the Reconciling Impulse of the Holy Spirit. Freedom is both a Grace
and a Power. It is also a risk and a responsibility. Freedom alone changes
nothing. It is only by the manner in which the powers of the Will are
exercised that anything can be changed.

Man is both essentially and existentially free; but his freedom cannot
be exercised unless and until the 'I' at the core of his Self-hood awakens
and recognizes its true destiny. Before the 'I' can awaken, a preliminary
transformation must be accomplished in World XLVIII, the laws of
which we shall study in the next chapter.

Chapter Thirty-one
THE CONDITIONED WILL

11.31. The WOrlds of our Common Experience

Man can be regarded as a set of multi-term systems. As an organisation,
he is a society of many members. As a being, he is a system of four
terms—the material, reactional, divided and true selves. As an essence-
class, he is a five-term system linking Self-hood with Individuality.
As a complete harmony, he is a seven-term system connected with the
seven worlds, from World III to the Material World. There are count-
less other ways in which man can be studied; and we are engaged upon
one of these only—that is, the study of man as a vehicle of the Will.

In the preceding chapter, we have explored, with the instrument of
the triadic analysis, worlds inaccessible to the every-day experience of
man. Even World XXIV, the habitat of the True Self of man, is
beyond sense-experience and incomprehensible to our usual ways of
thinking. The True Self contains its own triads, and so has cosmic sig-
nificance, because it can reproduce all the cosmic laws within its own
three-fold nature. The lower selves are different in kind from the
True Self, for they are all more or less dependent upon external sup-
ports and existential impulses. We have now to undertake the study
of these selves and the laws that govern them.

The world of the Divided Self is World XLVIII. This is the 'middle
world', where Existence and Essence
are evenly balanced. Here each of the
six fundamental laws take eight
distinct forms, of
which half are dom-
inated by Essence and
half by Existence.
This we can recognize
if any one of the six
is set out in complete
form. As an illustra-
tion, we can set down
the eight laws of
Expansion in World
XLVIII in symmetri-
cal form, as follows: Fig. 31.1.—The Symmetry of Laws in World XLVIII

THE CONDITIONED WILL                             183

Each of the essence-dominated triads on the left-hand side of the
diagram is matched by an existence-dominated triad on the right-hand
side. It is reasonable to conclude that this world should be that of the
maximum separation of Essence and Existence, combined with the
possibility of interpenetration and mutual completion.

The Divided Self is a dyad—that is, a two-term system in which
the two terms are distinct and yet mutually relevant. This self comes
into existence after the moment of conception, whereas the True Self
is formed with its three parts at the moment of union of the male and
female principles in the fertilized ovum. The True Self is distinctively
human and can arise only in beings capable of becoming vehicles of
Complete Individuality. The Divided Self formed not only in man,
but also in sentient animals capable of experiencing feeling and instinct
as different impulses. The Divided Self results from the mutual action
of two factors: the first is the essential pattern that is eternal and
constant and the other is the influence of the environment that is always
changing. The two are adjusted in the organism by the hyparchic
regulator, but this cannot unify the Will. Hence the Will remains
divided and acts as a force or driving power in the Self-hood. We have
already seen that every true dyad gives rise to a force. The force which
manifests in the Divided Self is called by such names as the libido,
the urge of the subconscious, the hidden motives, the animal passions.
This force is necessary for the life of the body and also for external
manifestations of the self. The state of Divided Self-hood can be called
Embodiment. The Divided Self, with its two-fold content and the
force that it generates, is a necessary instrument of the True Self. Its
weakness consists in the absence of an inner reconciling principle such
as exists in the True Self. It cannot manifest without an existential
support and it is therefore through and through subject to change, decay
and death. It is the 'carnal man', incapable of achieving immortality.
Nevertheless, without this self, the True Self could have no contact with
the material world; no sense perceptions, no thoughts and no desires.

The Self-hood of World XCVI is characterized by the presence of
negative triads, and therefore of null-events. Its laws are balanced
between positive and negative manifestations of the Will. In this world,
three-quarters of the triads are either negative or dominated by existen-
tial impulses. The Self-hood here is incapable of true manifestations
of the Will, for the only part that can respond to essential impulses is
out of contact with the external world—including other selves. For
this reason, we have designated it the Reactional Self. It does not
'act', but only 'reacts'.

I

184                             THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

The Reactional Self, being the product of the sensitivity associated
with life, is common to all living things. The form of will is always
the same; that is, the simple tropism of attraction and aversion. When
associated with a human organism, the Reactional Self has the sense-
perceptions, feelings, thoughts and other functional activities of a
man: but not a true 'human' will. The content of the Reactional Self
begins to form even before birth, through the agency of sensation and
reflex action. It can be regarded as the sum of the conditioned reflexes
or habits formed in the organism, associated with a form of will in which
only one of the three cosmic impulses is present at any given moment.
The two other impulses are always external to the Reactional Self.
This is the reason why its responses always take the form of affirmation,
negation or acquiescence. In such a self-hood there can be no inde-
pendent or 'free' will—it is controlled by its own content and the
changing influences of the environment.

It does not follow that the Reactional Self is a useless burden upon
the True Self. On the contrary, the power of reaction is necessary.
The Reactional Self provides man with a vehicle of sensitivity without
which the physical organism would be unable to live. Its right function
in relation to the whole nature of man is to be an instrument for the
transformation of energy and for maintaining the vegetative life of the
organism.

Where, however, the Reactional Self loses contact with the higher
selves, it usurps their functions. Since it is sensitive, it picks up from
the external world an artificial content of experiences, memories,
habits—in a word, of reactions—that produces an 'Imaginary I' or
false personality. Being dominated by existential and negative triads,
it tends to believe in the reality of Existence only and to regard negative
reactions as normal and even legitimate. In this way, the Reactional
Self falls into sin and, from being cut off from Individuality, comes
finally to repudiate the essential worlds and to deny their existence.
The servant becomes the master, the instrument comes to behave as
if it were the owner of the instrument. Under these conditions, man
falls into delusion and comes under the sway of the material forces
of the lowest world. The isolated Reactional Self can therefore also
be called the 'Deluded Self.

The Material Self differs from the Reactional Self chiefly by its
lack of sensitivity. It exists on the level of thinghood and is subject
to its laws. It has no degrees of freedom, because the Material Self
cannot transmit more than one impulse of the triad. Its true function
is to be a completely passive instrument for the external manifestations

THE CONDITIONED WILL                             185

of the True Self. Being an exceedingly complicated and versatile
instrument, it can do whatever is required for the external exchanges
between man and his environment. But when the Reactional Self
usurps the functions of the True Self, then the Material Self can no
longer be used rightly. When not controlled and directed by a higher
will, the Material Self manifests automatically. Incapable of true choice
or decision, it nevertheless appears from its external behaviour to be
a human self. There are times when the power of reaction itself is
withdrawn and the Material Self becomes the effective source of the
behaviour of the organism. This is the lowest level to which the in-
dividual will can descend.

To understand better the working of the three lower selves, or
'souls', in man, we shall have to study the laws of Worlds XLVIII
and XCVI and the conditions of the Material World. The systematics
of human nature are summarized in the following diagram:

of human nature are summarized in the following diagram:

_______________________________________:

Material World, whereas in Chapter 27 we developed a scheme of
seven worlds from World I to World XCVI. We can regard a seven-
term system as composed of three pairs of opposites grouped about a
central point. There is a general symmetry of 'three up and three
down'. When we were concerned to work out the structure of Will, as
it can be understood by man, the central point was the Individ-
uality as the key to the essential nature of man. This gives three
worlds above the Individuality and three below it—that is, the span
from World I to World XCVI. When, however, we are concerned to
understand the manifestation of will .in human nature, the True Self
d.u. 11—8*

1

186

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

is the central point and the cycle is from World III to the Material
World. Had we been studying the Will from the Cosmic standpoint,
then World VI would be the central point and there would be three
worlds above and three below. If we look in the opposite direction,
and wish to study Will on the earth, we should find that World VI
would be the summit of the structure and the Material World would
be separated into a higher and a lower part, the latter being devoid
of the experience of Self-hood.

The use of the seven-term system as an instrument of analysis
proves exceedingly fruitful. Any account of human experience that
disregards the different levels of Self-hood is bound to be contradictory.
Moreover, it is not sufficient to speak of a 'conscious' and 'uncon-
scious' self, because the distinction does not refer to consciousness—
that is, Being—but to different degrees of limitation of the Will.

We men and women certainly feel that we are more than material
objects. We can often distinguish 'ourselves' from our reactions. But
when we try to fix the meaning of the word 'ourselves' we find that
it constantly eludes us. When we recognize the character of the different
selves, we come to the realization that the greater part of our experiences
is confined to our Reactional Self and that we are but seldom aware
of the deeper responses of our Self-hood. The four selves of man are,
in varying degrees, involved in Existence and cannot escape from
existential influences. The Law of Synchronicity here applies, according
to which 'the higher organizes, the lower disorganizes'. The lower
selves tend always to contaminate the higher, whereas the higher cannot
harmonize the lower until it is itself awakened. It is through study of
the three lower selves that we can connect the analysis of Will with
the everyday problems of human life on the earth.

11.31.2. The Divided Self

There is a great difference between the three-fold True Self and
the two-fold Divided Self, inasmuch as the former can be aware of
its own higher and lower nature, whereas the latter does not experience
its own division. There can be authentic self-consciousness in the
True Self because it is the seat of the T. The Divided Self can only be
aware of 'other', and so remains outside its own experience. This is due
to the very nature of the laws that condition the Will in World XLVIII.

The Divided Self is subject to a hazard that is not encountered in
the higher worlds. This is due to its belonging to World XLVIII,
where half the laws start with an existential impulse. The operation
of such laws produces a state of dependence in which the Self cannot

THE CONDITIONED WILL                             187

sustain its existence without the support of the external world. The
True Self, being constituted in the form of a triad, can within its own
vessel constitute complete triads. For example, the higher nature can
affirm, the lower nature deny, and the 'I' can reconcile. The Divided
Self has no such vessel. It is a dyad and can never complete a triad
without external help or support. One of the three impulses must
always come from outside its own presence. Various situations arise,
especially when

(a)  The third impulse comes from above; that is, from the True
Self.

(b)  The third impulse comes from below; that is, from the Reac-
tional Self or the Material Self.

(c)  The third impulse comes from contact with other selves.

(d)  The third impulse comes from the external world.

The Divided Self is a dyad, and it is therefore rather the generator
of forces than the bearer of relationships. The psychological implications
of the presence in man of an incomplete will that is dependent upon an
external stimulus will be discussed later. We have only to note that
this dependence also concerns the manifestations of the Divided Self.
These are produced through the Reactional and Material Selves by
means of the psycho-physiological mechanisms associated with the
body. The Divided Self is the source of the inner forces that act upon
the automaton. These are the primal urges of the natural man that
drive him through all the processes of life. Thus the Divided Self is
dependent upon the forces generated by its own dualism. If a com-
plete equilibrium between the dual natures could be established, these
forces would vanish and the Divided Self would then merge into the
True Self and, ceasing to be a separate form of Will, would become
an integral part of the united Self-hood. This is the ideal state that is
seldom to be found among human beings now living on the earth.

11.31.3. The Lower

The Reactional Self is dominated by external forces that have a
dualistic character by reason of the two kinds of laws, positive and
negative, that determine the state of the Will in World XCVI. It is,
however, not a true dyad, for it can transmit only one Cosmic Impulse
at a time. This is the chief characteristic of the Reactional Self, and it
accounts for the role it plays in the economy of the total Self-hood.
It is the source of the basic dualism of human reactions, with their
dyads of pleasure-pain, like-dislike, activity and repose, affirmation and
negation, attraction and repulsion. All these reactions are automatic—

188

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

that is, null operations of the Will. For this reason, the Reactional Self
could also be called the 'Nullity in Man'.

The Reactional Self can experience the action of only one Cosmic
Impulse at any one given time. When it experiences the affirming
impulse, it is unaware of the denying force that opposes it. This pro-
duces a positive reaction that is manifested through the automatism of
the Material Self. Likewise, a denying impulse produces a negative
manifestation. In these reactions, there is no choice, and no decision.
There is a polarity, but only one pole is situated within the Self.

The Reactional Self being only a channel through which one or
another impulse can flow, there can be situations in which it responds
to, or acquiesces in, the action of the Reconciling Impulse. In other
words, the Reactional Self can respond to Divine Mercy. By its ac-
quiescence it is linked with the higher parts of the self. Usually, the
Reactional Self, on account of the habits deeply engrained in the
sensitive matter of the hyparchic regulator, is unable to respond to
the subtle influences originating in the True Self. Nevertheless, even
when 'poisoned' in this way it is a necessary instrument, for it acts
at all times as a sensitive medium linking the material and the spiritual
realms. In living organisms it is associated with the working of the
hyparchic regulator which stands between the eternal pattern and the
electro-chemical mechanisms of the body. The Reactional Self is, by
reason of its one-foldness, the seat of the blindness of man to eternity
and hyparxis. Its true role as a link is always liable to be distorted into
the opposite role of a barrier or screen which cuts off the 'outer' portions
of the Self-hood from the 'inner'. What should be transparent becomes
opaque; what should obey usurps the place of the ruler. The Reactional
Self, which should be an ideal instrument for transmitting the impulses
of Individuality into the Material World, becomes an instrument for
reflecting material influences back into the Material World, by the
crude processes of like and dislike, affirmation and negation, and the
whole gamut of reactions that determines the ordinary behaviour
pattern of man.

All these are the consequences of existing in a world characterised
by negative triads; that is, a world of null-processes. The Reactional
Self does nothing, creates nothing, comes from nowhere and goes
nowhere. And yet, being endowed with sensitivity and the power of
reaction, it can usurp the place and imitate the acts of will that belong
to the True Self.

Isolated, the Reactional Self is a nullity. When it is in the state of
delusion, it is unaware of its inability to perform any true act of will

THE CONDITIONED WILL                             189

and, therefore, 'believes' in its own world. From this delusion it becomes
subject to pleasure and pain as actual facts—being unable to see the
compensation that reduces them to null-situations. The idea of nullity
in polarity is illustrated in the electrical neutrality of large bodies;
however intense may be the local electrostatic fields surrounding the
atoms, there is a space-distributed compensation that makes the whole
body almost perfectly neutral. The situation in World XCVI is
analogous to this. When unrelated to the higher worlds, the Will in
World XCVI is isolated and takes no part in the transformation of
entities, except in the form of universal laws.

To understand how there can be a Material Self, we must distinguish
between reaction and behaviour. The Reactional Self is a sensitive
complex which is probably associated with the regulative mechanism
of the living body.* The physico-chemical complex, actualizing in
time, which is the vehicle of interaction between the sensitive regulator
and the external world, is not sensitive. It is a 'thing' in a world of
things. This does not preclude the operation of will in the mechanism
—for Will is assumed to be omnipresent in all that exists. We have
hitherto considered only those triads in which the impulses originate
either in World III (essential) or World VI (existential). There can
be impulses—and these constitute the main content of the Material
World—which are two or more stages removed from the essential
source. These can be called 'material influences', for they are trans-
mitted through a mechanism in the actual state of hyle.** When the will
is associated with the actual mechanism of the body, as distinct from
the sensitive regulator, we refer to it as the Material Self. This may
seem to be a self-contradictory expression as applied to a mode of
Will, and indeed it is so, for since Will does not exist, it can never be
material. Nevertheless, human behaviour demonstrates that man can
be in a condition of insensitiveness in which he has no contact with
other selves. Men in whom such a condition is chronic can be said
to be 'dominated by the Material Self. The condition is one where
the existence of the self does not differ from that of a material object:
it is cut off from the human essence that remains dormant in the
higher regions of the self-hood.

By 'Existence without Essence' we should understand the fate of a
dependent part isolated from its essential whole. The nullity is the
'dead point' of the system to which the Reactional Self falls as soon
as the Law of Freedom ceases to intervene. The different levels of Will

* Cf. Vol. I Section 8.20.5.
** Ibid., p. 388.

190

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

in man are 'practically' isolated from one another, but there are channels
through which higher influences can flow towards the lower worlds.

We should thus look upon World XCVI—though almost entirely
cut off from any essence, impulses—as being a world in which a residue
of true freedom remains. It is a null-world, but only relatively so. The
complete nullity of energy transformations is reached only in the
Atomic World, where bipotent particles emerge via the unipotent
corpuscles from the zero-potent or undifferentiated ground-state of
hyle. When we compare each of the worlds with the next lower in the
descending series, we can see the sharply increased limitations to which
entities are subject. Compared with the 'normal' World XLVIII of
our human experience, World XCVI appears to be one where 'ab-
surdity' reaches its limit. This is quite true if we assess it in terms of
man as a free individual; but viewed in the perspective of the slow
emergence of entities capable of self-consciousness, World XCVI is
the point of contact between mechanicity and consciousness. World
XCVI is the scene of much suffering that makes possible the mani-
festation of the Reconciling Impulse in the earth-bound self.

Suffering, regarded as a form of evil, arises through the mutual
isolation of the two non-vanishing components of the dyad 'pleasure-
pain'. When present, pain is assessed without reference to the corre-
lative pleasure that may be isolated in some remote region of space
and time; it appears as a state of unredeemed negativity. Similarly,
evil is the consequence of the separation of the real and imaginary
activity; every imaginary 'good' action must produce a correlative
action which is experienced as 'bad'. Although the 'good' action is an
imaginary triad, the correlative 'bad' action has real consequences.
In this way, 'objective evil' is possible, even though there is no evil
in the higher worlds.

We thus have the paradoxical situation that pleasure and pain both
belong to the null-World XCVI. The Reactional Self is always null,
and yet both pleasure and pain can be experienced separately, and the
experience is no mere illusion but a phenomenon like any other. The
'evil' manifestations of Will are those in which we experience a sense
of waste and frustration. We would fain believe that somewhere and
somehow the uselessness of so much earthly suffering is to be compen-
sated by the production of some positive values. Simple illustrations
show how such compensations can occur in a null-world. A man with
no money is given a hundred pounds as a loan. He enjoys himself—
but afterwards he must repay and for this he will have to suffer. In
the end he is again penniless. The wheel has gone full turn—zero has

THE CONDITIONED WILL                            191

returned to zero—but the experiences lived through in the process do
not vanish. They leave their mark on the physical organism, which has
'died a little'. They also have left a trace on the memory—that is, in
the 'I'—and so may increase its chances of awakening. The nullity of
the situation arises from the presence within the Self-hood of two
opposing Wills—that of the Divided Self in World XLVIII and that
of the Material Self in the Material World. When these are brought
together they produce the conditions of nullity of World XCVI. The
Reactional Self as nullity is an unnatural situation that results from
the delusion that negative triads can exist without compensation. The
effect of this delusion is to deprive the Reactional Self of the power to
distinguish between existential and essential impulses. Cut off thereby
from the higher portions of the Self-hood, the Reactional Self becomes
a nullity. If the contact is re-established, the Reactional Self returns
to its proper role of being a sensitive instrument, serving the Will of the
True Self.

11.31.4. Expansion in the Lower Worlds

(i) Independent and Dependent Involution in World XLVIII

The chief characteristic of the mutual exclusion of dependence and
independence is that the triads of World XXIV split into two sets:
one has general cosmic significance, and the other is applicable only
to particular situations. There can be no 'Cosmic Dependence', so that
all the incomplete triads initiated in existence must refer to separate
selves. There are the four triads of expansion that can be transferred
from the True Self-hood into the Divided Self. Each of these pro-
duces an independent and a dependent form, according to Fig. 31.3.

In this diagram and the succeeding ones, no attempt is made to
designate the precise significance of each triad, but rather to indicate the
trend from essential to existential forms. The essential Law of Expansion,
1-2-3, is designated Creativity while the existential law, 1*-2*-3*,
is called Causation. When the distinction between essence and existence
is ignored, creation and causation appear as identical processes.

It is unnecessary to pursue the same detailed analysis as we made
for the triads of World XXIV. The key to the interpretation is the
dualism of the Divided Self. One example will suffice to illustrate the
method. Let us compare the triads 1-2-3* and 1-2~3*. The first is
that which organizes form and function in all individualized existence
—it is the pattern-bearing power that acts both inside and outside of
all embodied selves. The triad 1-2-3* emerges by way of Existence
and must be distinguished from the Tower of God' manifested in the

192

THE DRAMATIC UNIVERSE

essential triad, 1-2-3. The second triad of the pair is the specific action
of cause and effect. Its action is upon the soma, which preserves
the essential pattern of its origin, as is indicated by the essential
character of the receptive impulse in the triad. In place of 'learning
from conscience', we have 'learning from experience'. Through the
triad of cause and effect, the Self-hood is compelled to adapt itself
to the conditions of its existence.

As a further illustration, we can see how the two triads 1-2-3* and
1*-2-3* reconcile the theories of ad hoc creation and natural selection.
No two views could seem to be more irreconcilably opposed than
'Fundamentalist' and 'Darwinian' beliefs as to the origin of organic
species. Yet when we observe the points of likeness and difference in
the two triads, we can see that both effects are necessary—one initiated
in Essence and the other in Existence. It is by their joint action that
our familiar world of life on the earth has come into being.

A similar analysis of the triads1-2*-3 and 1*-2*-3 would be found
to reconcile the two opposing attitudes towards the creative action of
the sexual power in man. Essential sex and existential sex both have
to play their part in the life of the Divided Self. The first leads to the
awakening of the True Self, whereas the second is the chain that binds
it to earthly existence.

(ii) The Negative Law of Imagination —(1—2—3)
There are eight negative laws of expansion in World XCVI. To study
them all, even in their application to man only, would take us through