Harvey Hardman
Making Your Self the Master
© Harvey Hardman
Denver, Colorado, 1935.
The shackles of dogma and superstition are broken. The doors of the prisonhouse of blind belief are opened. We walk forth into a new world. The musty air of temples built with hands is behind us. The sweet air of the star-studded and sun-illumined Temple of God thrills us with its Life-giving power. The Truth has made us free; the Truth revealed by our Saviour, Science, the Divine Science of Mind.
The fabulous stories of Creation and Revelation nurtured through the ages by selfishness and greed, fear and ignorance, no longer have the power to enslave the minds of the Sons and Daughters of God. The Truth has made us free. Man, Son of the Living God, looks with fearless eyes into the face of Life and, in this glorious freedom, walks the Earth with the foot-fall of power.
[65] “Without me ye can do nothing.” –John 15:15.
“Thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” –John 10:33.
The most important knowledge available to man is knowledge of the Son of God. If we know the Son, we shall know the Father also. If we see the Son, we shall see the Father also. If we love the Son, we shall love the Father also. Indeed, knowledge of the Son includes knowledge of the Universal Father and Mother. It is not possible to glorify the Son without also glorifying the Father-Mother, God. But these sweeping assertions require elucidation.
Our understanding of the truth depends upon our knowledge of the terms that define truth. We cannot think without images or forms of thought. We can feel that a certain conception is true, but in order to think, we must use words, and attach to the words the meanings which usage has given to them. If, in our search for truth, we discover, or become conscious of a new conception, and there is no [66] term in our language to convey its meaning, we invent such a term, and it comes to stand in our minds for that thing. Thus we invented “radio” and “aeroplane” and a multitude of other words.
What do we mean by the term “The Universal Son”? The word universal excludes the idea of a person, yet Son conveys the idea of a male offspring. The two words, used together, would thus appear to be in direct contradiction, or opposition to each other. Does the word Christ more accurately define what we mean by the Universal Son of God? No, because it is associated in our minds with the personality of Jesus, and its Greek root carries the meaning of “anointed one,” or to anoint.
The equivalent term used by the Jews is Messiah, and has reference to an expected Redeemer of Israel, foretold by prophecy. Both refer to a man with super-human powers. In Christian theology Jesus is regarded as the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Since Jesus was a man, this term excludes the idea of universality. The Jews deny that Jesus was the Messiah, and still look for their Redeemer.
In the two previous lessons we have shown that the Universal Father is the attribute of Absolute Being which acts as Will, Choice, and is the positive, deciding factor in the creative [67] process. It corresponds to the masculine element in humanity. We define the Universal Mother as the Principle of Receptivity, the Subjective Principle in the universal creative process. It corresponds to the female element in humanity, and may be symbolized by the soil of the earth, which receives the seed and brings it forth, giving to it a body to conform to the idea of form contained within the seed. We find this principle omnipresent in nature.
What we must seek for, in this lesson on the Universal Son, is the third attribute of the Absolute, which is manifest in creation as idea, form, word, individuality. To be universal, it must include all things; hence, the esoteric teaching of the Bible, referring to the Universal Son, says that “All things were made by him and for him; visible and invisible; and without him was not anything made that was made.” Obviously, this could not be true of any human, however exalted, nor of any individual being, even though of archangelic power and authority. It must proceed from an inherent attribute of the Universal One. John defines this attribute as the Logos, or Word, which means the idea or thought action of God.
We thus arrive at the conclusion that the trinity of attributes, which we call Universal Father-Mother-Son, inheres in the One Absolute Cause, and is not three Persons, but one [68] Principle acting as three phases of creative power. And the proof of this we find in nature, from the infinitesimal atom to solar systems; from the microscopic amoeba to man.
Each unit in the creation contains within itself the Principle of its being in its structure–the idea or word which gives it special form; the life or energy which sustains it; and the body by which the subjective principle is made manifest.
In man we name these attributes spirit, the conscious mind; soul, the creative mind; body, the instrument or manifestation of mind. Since the object of this lesson is to show how this principle, when understood, gives to man a new vision of his own being in relation to the Universal Son, we shall direct our analysis to the study of self-consciousness, which is the Son manifest as God individualized, as personal being conscious of himself.
Jesus explained this conception under the phrase “The Father that dwelleth in me.” We may add to this the further explanation that “The Mother dwelleth in me,” also. In short, I have within me the attributes of the Absolute, and I am, microcosmically, the Father-Mother-Son. What I see the Universal Father do in the creative process, I do. What I see the Universal Mother do in the creative process, I [69] do. What I see the Universal Son do in the creative process, I do. In this vision of my identity as an individual, with the Universal Father-Mother-Son, I do indeed make myself God, for I am the Son of God.
The Universal Son is Principle, an attribute of God. In me this Principle of Sonship has become manifest as personal being, for I am that I Am (the One Principle), individualized. I can do nothing without this Principle of my being, no not so much as lift a finger. But, knowing this Universal Son within me, and abiding in the consciousness of my unity with Him, I ask what I will and it is done unto me. For this is my freedom from bondage of fear, lack, doubt; that I know Him as the responsive Intelligence and Power within me.
My Saviour is thus an ever-present Indwelling One. It is not my belief in any historic personality that saves me from ignorance and trouble and fear. It is my understanding, by which I know my inseparable unity with God in my own soul. I know Him within, whom to know aright is life eternal. I do not have to wonder whether he hears me. He heareth me always. I do not have to question whether he will answer me. He answers me always, in exact accord with my thought, doing for me what I ask, yes, even what I think and desire. And the reason for this perfect [70] responsiveness is that Principle of my being has not ceased to be Principle–the Universal Son–because it is incarnate within me.
But if I think of this Inner Presence only as Impersonal Principle, I deny the nature of my Elder Brother as personal Companion and Friend. I want love and fellowship as the essence of my religious faith. I want to know God as my immediate, my constant Companion. Since I can only know the Infinite One as Principle, Law, Cause, in the external universe, then I must seek for Him as Person in my own soul.
As my consciousness of the Indwelling Presence deepens, the Light dawns, and I see that my desire is fulfilled, for I am complete in Him and He in me. I have found the Fountain of Life in the only place it can be found–within myself. In this knowledge I am not blaspheming, but deeply reverent, when I say, my Father and I are one. I am the veritable Son of God. I make myself, or conceive of myself as God because I could do nothing without God. Therefore, it is my Father that doeth the works. Or, since the Father-Mother-Son are one in Principle, I can say that it is the Son that doeth the works, or the Mother, for the All is One.
In my practical use of this Law, a working basis, a scientific method is essential. Hence I [71] conceive of the Creative Mind in me as being always in a state of subjectivity. I am the Father, or Spirit, the conscious power of will, choice, decision, purpose. I am also the Mother, represented in me by the soul or principle of subjectivity, receptive and responsive to my conscious thought. What I think into soul comes forth as experience. I reap what I sow. If I do not like the experiences resulting from my mental sowing, I can change them to other experiences by changing my conscious mind action, by developing a new type or manner of thinking. Thus I can re-create my life to conform to the new ideal–I can choose wealth instead of poverty; health instead of sickness; joy instead of sorrow; peace instead of discord and irritation. But it is I who must decide. In doing this I place myself in harmony with the Principle of creation, which is good, and constructive, and works through Law to bring forth beauty, life, and abundance.
If you translate this instruction into terms of vital understanding by putting it into practice, you will find your life improving from day to day, and you will come to feel the reality of the Inner Presence as the responsive and intelligent power that maketh all things new.
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