Course XXXII - Teaching 9: Being and Non-Being

The limited human mind just can imagine Non-Being as the Absolute One, “Being and Non-Being”; while Being is everything existent, the entire wonderful variability and continuous transformation of the Great Work.
But human minds cannot get a clear concept about what is Conditioned and Unconditioned. You go from one end to another of the abyss, remaining enmeshed in pessimistic negation or in materialistic affirmation. Some say all is illusion and life is purposeless; while others are always around two parallel principles that never meet, and fall in dualism and in materialism.
Just a harmonious union of these two great philosophical ideals can bring the harmony of a clear understanding and spiritual vision of the Absolute One, and of the Universal Creation.
The Absolute One, which cannot have attributes or definitions a se, settles in everything that exists and is intuited behind any transformation of live.
The worship of the Eternal One and the worship of the Divine Mother, surrounded by thousands of gods, are one: Being and Non-Being.
But when and where is the great change produced and effected?
When does Non-Being turn into Being?
Perchance is the Spirit, or spiritual world, the state of Non-Being? No.
When the Spirit reaches Him, It cannot be Spirit.
Then, Non-Being is void and the nothing? No.
If there is breath in the Eternity, all things remain in Him, in darkness, “astringent and comprehensive power” in Fabre d’Olivet’s words.
Plotinus says: “Let us take everything from Him, let us not state anything about Him, let us not lie by saying there is something in Him, and let us Him simply Be”.
Afterwards, in his writings, also he names the unconditioned state “Non-Being, darkness and silence”. But, who can describe how and when this deep and astringent darkness open its essence to manifestation with numbers, measures and details?
Ancient philosophical systems provided calculations about the Universe. Are they accurate, or do not? These questions should be solved yet, for human mind mixes reality and unreality, and mistakes symbolism for reality.
The Hindu say: “So as after the day, the veil of the night darkens and covers all things, and the cycle of times slowly ends up and manifests itself as seven Eternities, so vastness rests for seven Eternities. Now from Manifestation you have passed to Non-Manifestation”.
After every immense cycle, what existed in the dark bosom of the Eternal One, wakes up again and manifests itself visibly to life on other seven immense cycles.
The new Manifestation looms on the new cosmic day after a dawn, which awakens and re-establishes life as a soft veil produced by the Eternal Breath.
Then does the Unconditioned One stop being? No.
He Is always. He Was always. He Will Be always.
These periodical changes of cosmic activities and rest are no more than figures produced by human mind to know something about the Eternal Secret.
The Unconditioned One does not exist without condition because then it would be just the nothing.
The trutis (twinklings) of universal rest is a moment when the unknown one recognizes itself.
The cosmic sleep is not the nothing, but the Eternal One absorbing all His Powers in Himself in order to expand them later through space in a new Creational era.
This is a vast and grand concept that is incomprehensible to man, and even the purest man just can intuit it, because it is beyond all that Is.
God is Being and Non-Being, Manifestation and Non-Manifestation, personality and impersonality, essence in the dream of Eternity and substance in the day of life.
Some day, all that Is, all planetary systems, after some quite long night preceded by a weird sunset, will return to the Divine Mother’s womb that saw them to emerge from Herself, like vapor under Solar rays, to come back to the bosom of the Eternity.
But, oh Eternal Miracle that is so difficult to understand!, never something stopped existing or being.