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THE HOLY TRINITY.
655
To continue with the explanation of the worldprocess, in the state of pralaya, when Life may be said to be pulsating unconsciously, thought becomes merged in Intellect, which, in its turn, disappears within the eternal Consciousness. This is the condition in which there is a 'consciousness of 'am' or 'being' only without any idea or notion of 'I'; in other words, when the Absolute consciousness is only aware of existence as the antithesis of nothing, that is, of the totality of the Not-Self without the names and forms. The Bible thus describes this state of pre-creation’existence :
"And the earth was without form, and void : and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
The Upanishad, also, teaches :"Water was at first this."—(Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad, V. 5. 1).
When the pendulum of rhythm swings back again, in due course of time, the dawn of a new world-morning Such is the case for the cinematographical view of the world. We cannot, however, suppose that these mental pictures in all respects resemble the films of the cinematograph. The most important difference between the living beings in the universe and the moving images on the cinematographical screen lies in respect of selfconsciousness. In the cinematograph the spectators form no part of the spectacle ; but in the world the spectacle is only constituted by the spectators. Moreover, in taking the cinematographical view of the universe, we necessarily lose sight of the material necessary for making the films, and of the principle of change, that is, Time.
Thus, making due allowance for the action of force, we must hold that leach present picture itself becomes changed into the one which will be perceived the very next moment. Hence, even if we ignore the element of the human will as a condition of events. within certain limits, the factor of time is there to show that the cinematographical view of the universe, however fascinating it may appear on account of its boldness, or brevity, is devoid of philosophical merit.
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