Center of the universe

“ For you have known that the universe is called a sphere by several astrologers, its center the center of the earth, and its radius equal to a line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the earth. ”

“ We must premise that, according to this school, God employed all existing matter in the formation of the universe—so that it comprehends all things, and all is in it. "It is a unique, perfect, and spherical production, since the sphere is the most perfect of figures; animated and endowed with reason, since that which is animated and endowed with reason is better than that which is not." ”

“ Heaven and earth are simply contained in the great whole of the infinite Universe. How, he asks, can we know that there is not a larger Cosmos, over and above the manifestation of Cosmos that we can see? ”

“ It is a swift and continuous band, an endless chain, a mighty ligament of light and life and power constantly passing between heaven and earth, and earth and heaven, between sun and planet and planet and sun. These are the countless pathways between suns and stars, the mighty and everlasting highways of eternity which God hath built to span the silent ether of space between suns and worlds, and bind the universe in one harmonious whole. ”

“ The starry heavens do not exist merely for us or for our earth. Among the splendid orbs which roll in space, earth is but one, and it shines with pale and borrowed light. [Pg 2] Unnumbered systems moved upon their courses before our globe was lighted by the sun. But, for us who live upon the earth the history of the Universe opens with this small planet, a part of which we see and know. ”

“ In this distant system of our universe I saw that the same plan of creation obtained. Around a majority of the stars a group of various sized worlds revolves. On many of these worlds human life abounds in endless degrees of development and in a countless variety of manifestations. I marveled anew as I saw the endlessness of the Infinite Mind, supporting not only the conscious life of this whole constellation, but also of all the constellations of our universe, and of all the universes scattered at large throughout the unending depths of space. ”

“ You must realize that instead of being a separate atom of Reality, isolated and fixed in a narrow space, you are a Centre of Consciousness in the Whole of Reality, and that the Universe of Universes is your home—that your Centre of Consciousness might be moved on to a point trillions of miles from the Earth (which distance would be as nothing in Space) and still you—the awakened soul—would be just as much at home there as here—that even while you are here, your influence extends far out into space. ”

“ And now, at length and in the last place, it is time to turn our contemplations from this single globe on which we dwell, to the great universe around us—from objects indefinitely minute to those indefinitely vast,—from the wonders of the microscopic, to those of the telescopic, creation. ”

“ But God has computed the mutual perturbations of millions of suns, and planets, and comets, and worlds, without number, through the ages that are passed, and throughout the ages which are yet to come, not approximately, but with perfect and absolute precision.
8. The universe is in motion,—system rising above system, cluster above cluster, nebula above nebula,—all majestically sweeping around under the providence of God, who alone knows the end from the beginning, and before whose glory and power all intelligent beings, whether in heaven or on earth, should bow with humility and awe. ”

“ The core of the universe consists not only of this central globe with everything in or upon it, but also of the atmosphere or, more correctly, of all which extends between the surface of the globe and the nearest of the distant revolving hollow spheres of heaven, in some of which spheres are set the heavenly bodies. ”

“ There was but one earth upon whose form, and tides, and movements, the philosopher could exercise his genius,—one moon whose perturbations and inequalities and actions he could study,—one sun whose controlling force and apparent motions he could calculate and determine,—one system of planets whose mutual disturbances could tax his highest reason,—one system of comets whose eccentric paths he could explore and rectify,—and one universe of stars to whose binary and multiple combinations he could extend the law of terrestrial gravity. ”

“ For its outline being spherical, it is necessary, they say, since there are the same distances of the parts, that the earth should be the centre of the universe, around which, as being older, the heaven is whirling. ”

“ Light is a result, and an expression, of the energy of cosmical life. The universe lives while light exists. But when the throbbing energies of all the suns are exhausted, and space is filled with universal gloom, the light of intelligence must vanish too. ”

“ It now remains for us to show, in this last chapter, how, underlying all the physical structure of the Universe, there is one fundamental and primordial medium, in which all the forms of matter and motion find their ultimate unity.
The Universe literally means one ultimate whole, though that whole may be compounded of many parts, the very essence of the term embodying the idea of a complete unity which runs throughout its whole physical structure. ”

“ These have emanated, like immense waves of light, from the divine centre, and, as ten consecutive zones of Sephiroth, form the universe. The farther away from the centre, the more the primitive light wanes, until the periphery ends in those mere negations, darkness and evil, which are the essence of matter. ”

“ Is there a centre within us through which all the threads of the universe are drawn, a spiritual atom which mirrors the spiritual infinitudes even as the eye is a mirror of the external heavens? There is not a pin point in visible space which does not contain a microcosm of heaven and earth. We know that, for nowhere do we move where the eye does not receive its vision of infinity. ”

“ But I would ask, where do we get this experience of heavy and light bodies? and how is our knowledge on these subjects extended so far that we can reason with certainty concerning the centre of the whole universe? Is not the only residence and home of all the things which are heavy and light to us, the earth and the air which surrounds it? and what is the earth and the ambient air, with respect to the immensity of the universe? ”

“ By the acknowledgment that the whole contents of the heavens performed these movements, an important step in comprehending the constitution of the universe had been decidedly taken. It was clear that the earth could not be a plane extending to an indefinitely great distance. It was also obvious that there must be a finite depth to the earth below our feet. Nay, more, it became certain that whatever the shape of the earth might be, it was at all events something detached from all other bodies, and poised without visible support in space. ”

“ With powers commensurate with the photographic powers of light, a human soul could stand upon a distant star and follow this wonderful vision and gaze on a succession of events from the beginning of time to the present moment, and read the history of every sun and planet in the rays of light from its own atmosphere. And with poised wing in limitless space or on some far-off sun, read the mighty events transpiring on this little earth in the distant rays of light from its own atmosphere. ”

“ When belief in the earth’s central and supreme place in the universe was surrendered at the bidding of astronomy, there was compensation in the revelation of a universe to which thought can fix no limits. ”

“ And this is only natural, for the trend of recent research has made clear the fact that one of the three greatest problems of modern astronomy and astrophysics, ranking with the structure of the universe and the evolution of celestial bodies, is the constitution of matter. ”

“ You might start a doubt, indeed, since the centre of the Universe coincides with the centre of the Earth, to which of the two it is that the current of heavy bodies naturally tends: whether they tend thereto because it is the centre of the Universe, or because it is the centre of the Earth. ”

“ All intuitive cognition depends on the pure forms of the mind, space, time, substance, causality, etc., by means of which the material offered by the senses is combined into a unity. Our intuitions of space and time discover a marked advance. Our conception of the universe has been enlarged so as to embrace the notion of an infinite number of solar systems. ”

“ So long as men thought of our earth as the centre of the universe, it was not difficult to believe that its inhabitants were the peculiar care of their Creator. But astronomy has changed all that; and what once we thought so great, we know now to be but a speck amid infinite systems of worlds. ”

“ But I believe that the intricacy of the structure of the atoms, the law and order that is enthroned in the heavens above from farthest star across the milky way to farthest star are silent but patent witnesses to the fact that a Universal Mind is back of and behind and manifests Himself in the universe. ”

“ But how if I attempt to think of such a series as antecedent to all actions throughout the universe—to the motions of the multitudinous stars throughout space, to the revolutions of all their planets round them, to the gyrations of all these planets on their axes, to the infinitely multiplied physical processes going on in each of these suns and planets? I cannot think of a single series of states of consciousness as causing even the relatively small groups of actions going on over the earth's surface. ”

“ If we take the whole range of created objects in our own system, from the sun down to the smallest animalcule, and suppose such a system, or something in some way analogous to it, to be repeated for each of the millions of stars thus revealed to us, we have a representation of the material part of the universe, according to a view which many minds receive as a probable one ”

“ Yet have we every reason which analogy can afford to believe that even the development of a whole universe such as ours should be regarded as but a minute local phenomenon of a universe infinitely higher in order, that universe in turn but a single member of a system of such universes, and so on, even ad infinitum. ”

“ One can not read the wonderful messages of light—one can not study the sun, the moon, and the stars in any manner—without perceiving that the physical universe is enormously greater than he had thought, and that the creation, of which the Earth is an infinitesimal part, is almost infinitely more magnificent in actual magnitude than the imaginary domain which men of old times pictured as the dwelling-place of the all-controlling gods ”

“ If I were called upon to convey, within the compass of a single sentence, an idea of the trend of recent astronomical and physical science, I should say that it was in the direction of showing the universe to be a connected whole. The farther we advance in knowledge, the clearer it becomes that the bodies which are scattered through the celestial spaces are not completely independent existences, but have, with all their infinite diversity, many attributes in common. ”

“ For, whatever may be the condition of other worlds or other regions of space, the phenomena of our world and our portion of space belong to the ascending series; and whatever may be the final doom of our planet and our universe, both are now in a state of progress, and are still rejoicing in the morning of creation. ”

“ He made of the universe a closed sphere, in the centre of which he fixed the earth, proving from general principles, to his own satisfaction and that of the world for nearly 2,000 years, that no other universe was possible. ”

“ But what this central Body really is, I shall not here presume to say, yet I can't help observing it must of Necessity, if the Creation is real and not merely Ideal, be either a Globe of Fire superior to the Sun, or otherwise a vast terraqueous or terrestrial Sphere, surrounded with an Æther like our Earth, but more refined, transparent and serene. ”

“ It is infinitely more so in regard to the many suns and planets that compose the universe. I had read of the distances of space and of the number of celestial bodies that are scattered throughout these measureless expanses, and I was profoundly impressed with the vastness of created things and the eternal revolutions of the countless spheres. ”

“ However, if you have properly understood the fact that our dimension exists at the place of Location itself, you will see at once that our only possible point of contact with your universe is at the central, non-moving point. ”

“ But they passed beyond that system, and beyond system after system, and infinity after infinity, until the human heart sank, and the man cried out: 'End is there none of the universe of God?' The angel strengthened the man by words of counsel and courage, and they flew on again until worlds left behind them were out of sight, and specks of light in advance were transformed, as they approached them, into rushing systems ”

“ It is now considered by astronomers, as highly probable, if not certain, from late observations, from the nature of gravitation, and other circumstances, that all the systems of the universe revolve round one common centre,—and that this centre may bear as great a proportion, in point of magnitude, to the universal assemblage of systems, as the sun does to his surrounding planets. ”

“ It is evident, from what we already know of the reflection of light, that very slight modifications of certain physical principles, and very slight additions to the arrangements of our terrestrial system, might produce scenes of beauty, magnificence and splendour of which, at present, we can form no conception. And, it is not unlikely that by such diversities of arrangement, in other worlds, an infinite variety of natural scenery is produced throughout the universe. ”