harmonicsofevolu01huntuoft

8/22/2019 harmonicsofevolu01huntuoft

1/487

THE PHILOSOPHY OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE


2/487

PRESENTEDTHE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO


3/487

I wI

,

n,

I a*ft


4/487


5/487


6/487


7/487

Addressedto

The Progressive Intelligence of the Age

HARMONICS OP EVOLUTION


8/487


9/487


10/487


11/487

HARMONICS OF EVOLUTIONThe Philosophy d kdividual Life, Based Upo?

Natural Science, as Taught by ModernMasters of the Law

HOITUJOVH EOIHOMflAHotlO .L \d .lailai z&d s ",noitulov3 lo aoinomifiH" arfTsri) lo Jnamqolsvab Isilnoupoz sdJ lo \ioJe srit ai .lasiswrtoSfans irigiaw beab arit riguoirifcjfa-uswqu gnil^guiJa ,Iuoz nsmurfnaDhw aiari at )I .aziyymyjguaJftm-arilJtQ. azgm svitomtedo-ii/Joiq s ni JosiyiiCwiPBSwTOV^WTfcrqTrrSa ariT .asnoid ni-bnaosus adt lo SAHUO 3/fcBithof. >a4inm oiriqsig bnssno ni zaii/gft >n9*TPKif)Etotnfea^l*8fclafn ' .Jnamqolsvabfinil arft ot amqS>.^m^mQai \HnBmuri lo nijsrtoeaiuvl aril ,noiti3


12/487

HARMONICS OF EVOLUTIONThe "Harmonics of Evolution," a bas relief, by J. Otto

Schweizer, is the story of the sequential development of thehuman soul, struggling upward through the dead weight andobstructive mass of the material universe. It is here writtenin bronze. The sculptor has viewed his subject in a pictur-esque and graphic manner. The curve of the ascend-ing development, interlocked and dependent, figures in onelong chain of humanity from the depths to the final stellartriumph, gives grace to the composition, the figures havingbeen purposely left in rough finish to make more notable thefinal two, man and woman, who are modeled in full relief, asthough emerging from all limitation and soaring unfetteredinto the empyrean.

EXTRACT FROM THE CRITICISM OF AN EXHIBITION AT THE ACADEMY OFTHE FINE ARTS, PHILADELPHIA FEB. 1MB


13/487

HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION-00-

The Philosophy of Individual Life, Based UponNatural Science, as Taught by Modern

Masters of the Law

ByFLORENCE HUNTLEYAuthor of

The Dream Quid"Editor of"The Great Psychological Grim*'5

Harmonic SeriesVol. I.

Eighth Edition

ChicagoINDO-AMERICAN BOOK CO.1906


14/487

Entered according to Act of Congress byFLORENCE HUNTLEY,In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C,

1897.


15/487

HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION


16/487


17/487

HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION."Fools deride. Philosophers investigate."CHAPTER I.

THERE is NO DEATH.LlFE AFTER PHYSICAL DEATH IS A FACT SCIENTIFICALLY DEMON-

STRABLE.LlFE HERE AND HEREAFTER HAS A COMMON DEVELOPMENT AND

A COMMON PURPOSE.These propositions are laid down with due appreciation of

their importance. They are presented as facts of Nature clearlydemonstrable by scientific methods.The writer is aware that these statements directly challengeboth dogmatic theology and scientific skepticism. It is possiblethat they may provoke the hostility of the one and the ridiculeof the other. If, however, such hostility and ridicule finallypave the way to honest investigation, the object of the writerwill have been accomplished.

These positive initial declarations, be it understood, fore-shadow the positive character of the philosophy to be presented.The authority to state these truths in unconditional terms isderived from a school of science which transcends in scope andinvestigation that school commonly known as the school ofmodern physical science. This authority is reinforced by directteaching and a personal experience covering a period of morethan ten years.

Having made this statement, any further discussion as tothe relation of the writer to her authority is obviously out ofplace.

S


18/487

6 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.Natural Science, which is the basis of this philosophy, is an

exact science and not a theory. This means that its propositionsare based upon the theorem of any one of our exact physicalsciences, viz., the study of natural phenomena and the classifi-cation of facts in Nature, together with experiment along thelines of natural law and the demonstration of the principlesinvolved.

The propositions of Natural Science are susceptible of dem-onstration with the same certainty as are those of physical sci-ence.

It will be observed that this is an unqualified statement. Posi-tive assertion invariably accompanies either deliberate falsehood,profound ignorance, or a personal and definite knowledge asto the question involved.

In this, as in any other science, the investigator or would-bestudent is confronted with certain definite propositions and isgiven a working formula for their solution. In this, as inany other science, successful solution depends chiefly upon theindividual ability, capacity and character of the student.Over ten years of personal inquiry, instruction, experimentand experience constitute the substantial basis upon which thiswork rests. It is true that many of the declarations made bymore advanced authorities transcend the writer's personal knowl-edge. Personal demonstration has, however, been carried farenough to logically bear out their broader declaration concern-ing the operations of natural law. It is also true that withinthe limitations of their opportunities, these years of personalinquiry have verified those fundamental propositions upon whichthis philosophy rests. These verifications constitute a reasonablebasis of faith in other propositions which, as yet, transcend thewriter's personal demonstrations.

In this particular instance the slow but complete transforma-tion of an avowed skeptic was not accomplished without proof.The writer's "conversion," if such it may be called, has not beena blind process. It is not a mere matter of faith. It is not merely


19/487

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 7an intellectual opinion based upon argument or theory. Theproof in question rests upon that identical character of evidencewhich is accepted by science as well as by the courts of law, viz.

:

(1) Direct evidence, or the unqualified statements of thosewho claim to know, such persons being of lawful age, soundmind and irreproachable character.

(2) The direct evidences which flow from a course of per-sonal self-development. This is a character of evidence whichneither hostility, incredulity nor ridicule can affect. This is trueby reason of the fact that these are evidences which flow from apersonal, practical, rational and scientific inquiry and experi-ment. These are evidences which obtain in every department oflife, physical, spiritual, intellectual and moral.

(3) The internal evidences of intelligence, consistency andtruth which the philosophy itself presents to the student.

(4) The corroborative evidences conveyed to the mind ofthe student by exhibitions of the spiritual powers of a teacher.

(5) The corroborative evidences of the moral philosophyas illustrated in the daily life and practice of a teacher.There are grave and serious difficulties in the path of any

student who would transmit his slowly acquired knowledge tothe world. Indeed, the presentation of all the proofs is not pos-sible. The best that may be done in dealing with the facts ofNatural Science by publication, is to present certain funda-mental, spiritual principles in Nature and show their relation tothe already proved and accepted facts of modern physical science.The writer does not claim that her instructors are infallibleauthority, nor that these pages contain a faultless presentationof the teachings received. To claim for any instructor an infalli-ble teaching of natural laws would be to push him beyond thelimitations of finite intelligence and power. To claim that anystudent can transmit either his instruction or his knowledge with-out shade or shadow of inaccuracy, would be a character of pre-sumption that no sane person entertains of his own ability.The foremost claim made for this philosophy is its conserva-


20/487

8 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.tion of natural law. Its chief claim, therefore, upon rationalintelligence, lies in the fact that it distinctly recognizes the limita-tions of finite intelligence and of finite endeavor.

It is claimed, however, that this entire work is the result of adefinite, scientific instruction, investigation and demonstration.It is also declared that the writer will present the results of herinstruction and investigations as accurately, as clearly, and ashonestly as her limitations will permit.

There are other requirements which enter into a proper under-standing of this philosophy than the truth of the philosophyitself or the wisdom of a teacher or the accuracy of a writer.Those other requirements rest with the reader, and comprise, infact, a degree and quality of intelligence on the part of thereader which are commensurate with the science and philosophypresented.

It will be observed that the term "Natural Science" is usedto designate the science upon which this philosophy is based.It will help the reader very materially if he understands the fullsignificance of the term thus employed.

(1) Physical Science is universally understood to mean thatscience which has to do with physical matter only. It is, there-fore, limited in its scope to the substance, functions and phe-nomena of physical matter.

(2) Spiritual Science, (as commonly understood), is thatscience which has to do with only things spiritual. It is, there-fore, also limited in its scope to a distinct and separate field ofcausation.

(3) Mental Science, (as commonly understood), in like man-ner, is limited to a knowledge of the mind with its functions andphenomena.

Thus, it appears that each of these sciences is limited toknowledge of only a part of the facts of Nature. But what termshall be employed to properly designate that science which in-cludes knowledge of the facts of physical science, spiritualscience and mental science combined? What term is broad


21/487

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 9enough to cover the facts of all the departments of Nature?

Evidently no better term could be found than "Natural Sci-ence." Since this philosophy is based upon facts in all the de-partments of Nature, the term "Natural Science" properly desig-nates the science upon which this work is founded. Whenever,therefore, the term "Natural Science" is used in this work it mustbe understood in that broad sense which includes all other sci-ences and departments of science.

In projecting this work another line of criticism is antici-pated than that of theology or physical science. That criticism,if made, will probably be based upon the assertion that the phi-losophy here presented is not an exposition of Oriental philos-ophy. This may be anticipated from the fact that we have amongus today representatives of certain sects of Oriental religions.These scholars are teaching their several doctrines which upontheir face may appear at variance with the deductions laid downin this work.

In a certain sense such criticism would not be without justi-fication.

The teachings of our eastern friends are based upon theVedas and kindred and contemporaneous philosophies writtenor promulgated thousands of years ago. It is admitted that thephilosophy here presented is not the philosophy of ancient India.That is to say, while the facts of Nature and the principles oftruth are changeless, both knowledge and the comprehensivepowers of man have been continually increasing.There are facts concerning the school of Natural Sciencewhich are not taken into account by our Oriental visitors. In-deed, they are facts wholly unknown even to the great body ofOriental teachers and priests. The Vedas were written agesago, but in the interval between that time and the present theschool of Natural Science has gone steadily forward in its re-search, experiment and demonstration, as to Nature's finer forces.


22/487

10 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.It has also advanced in its methods of teaching as well as in itsmethods of obtaining knowledge.

In other words, the school here represented is the progressiveschool which has kept abreast of the most advanced scientificthought of the age. It is that body of scholars which recognizesthe fact that the scope and methods of the ancient school do notmeet the demands of this age and this people.

Natural Science approaches the world at this the close of thenineteenth century, having but one object in view, viz., thetransmission of some portion of its accumulated knowledge tothe best intelligence of the age.

This present work is the initial volume of the first expositionof an entire system of philosophy based upon Natural Science.It is a radical but necessary step in advance of the philosophiesheretofore presented. It therefore constitutes a proper and nat-ural link in the chain of evolutionary progress. For this rea-son, not only this work, but those to follow, must appear asdepartures from previous methods of dealing with the spiritualside of Nature.

This departure represents the attempt to bridge the gulfbetween ancient Oriental mysticism and modern westernscience. It represents the effort of modern intelligence to con-nect the scientific knowledge of the spiritual schools with thedemonstrated facts of physical science.

It is believed by representative intelligence of both systemsthat the time has arrived when it is possible to rationally explainthe actual existence and correlation of forces in two worldsof matter, of life and intelligent activity. To this end the ModernMasters of the law have combined the knowledge of the ancientspiritual schools with the knowledge and methods of the modernphysical school. By such combination they rationally establishthat correlation of life and principle in two worlds which has beenso bitterly denied by physical science and so long deemed a non-essential by the ancient schools.

This present writing, therefore, marks out a new path in the


23/487

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. IItreatment of the so-called "occult" in Nature. It representsthe attempt to explain rather than to mystify. It undertakes,not merely to declare, but to elucidate and illustrate the corre-lation of spiritual and physical forces in Nature.

It represents, in brief, a philosophy of life deduced by modernauthorities from the demonstrated facts of both the physical andspiritual worlds; which worlds* constitute the natural home ofman here and hereafter.


24/487

CHAPTER II.THERE Is No DEATH.

By death is here meant the extinction of the individuaself-consciousness, personal identity and intelligent activity oa man when his physical body ceases its functions and activities

If life after physical death were not a fact demonstrable an

Documents

harmonicsofevolu01huntuoft