The Arcane Teaching · 11 of 21

Lesson XI. Law, Order, and Sequence

We live in a Cosmos governed by Laws existent by reason of the very being of the Cosmos and the existence of The Law. There is no blind Chance, nor Arbitrary Decree in the Cosmos. There is no place or room for these for Law fills the whole field of Cosmic Activity. There is no Disorder, or Inharmony. Everything is in Balance. Chaos does not exist. From The Law proceeds the Seven Cosmic Laws, which in turn are subdivided into seven; and these into seven; and so on, the septenary division and sub‑division extending into the Infinitessimal. But in large and in small—and both are alike—there is ever Law and Order, Continuity and Sequence, Manifesting and in full operation.

And, over all is The Law of Laws—Absolute—Alone!

As the mists of the morning disappear before the rays of the rising sun, so will the superstitions, fables, and dogmas be dissipated by the knowledge of universal natural law and order. In a universe governed by eternal laws and Cosmic order there is no place for the Fates; the Destinies; the Arbitrary Decrees; of the fables, folk‑lore and legends, even though they be covered by the robes of philosophy or theology. Before the light of Reason, these things must melt away, when the Truth is seen, the half‑truths disappear. Fate, Predestination, and Chance—Threefold Error—flee before the conception of Law and Order in the Cosmos. Listen to the Aphorism: Aphorism xvii. Know ye that, under The Law, the Cosmos is governed by Law. Each and every thing, and all things, proceed in Orderly Trend. In the Cosmos there is no Chance; no Disorder; no Inharmony. The Three Principles—Substance, Motion, and Consciousness‑are equally under Law. Those who teach otherwise, err.

This statement agrees with the report of the reason of the most advanced minds of the race, past and present. Every intelligent conception of the Cosmos must of necessity include the conception of Law. Without this inherent indwelling Law, the Cosmos could not exist—the Cosmos would be Chaos. The very origin of the term “Cosmos” shows the underlying thought in the minds of the ancient Greek philosophers who first used it. The word itself is derived from the archaic Greek word komeo, “to take care of,” and the early Greek philosophers used it first in the sense of “order,” and later in the broader sense of “the world or universe, from its perfect order and arrangement, as opposed to Chaos.” Its use as “the World‑Soul” came later, and included the earlier conceptions. Its antithesis the word “Chaos”—has two meanings, viz.: (1) “A yawning empty space”; and (2) “Confusion; or, a mass of matter in confusion without order or laws; a confused mixed, mass, without order or regularity.” In both of these usages, Chaos is absolutely opposite in meaning to Cosmos. When we postulate a Cosmos without Law and Order, we are simply applying the term to what is really Chaos— either a Nothing, or else an Orderless Universe. Order always implies the existence of Law—the two are inseparable. There can be no such thing as an universe half Cosmos and half Chaos. Order and Chaos are antithetical. Law and Chance are antithetical. One annuls the other—they cannot exist at the same time. The three Primary Axioms of Logic show us this fact. Let us consider them for a moment: I. The Axiom of Identity: “The same quality or thing is always the same quality or thing, no matter how different the conditions in which it occurs.”

II. The Axiom of Contradiction: “No thing can at the same time and place both be and not be.”

III. The Axiom of Excluded Middle: “Everything must either be or not be; there is no other alternative or middle course.”

These are established axioms of Logic. A leading authority, Prof. Jevons, says of them: “Students are seldom able to see at first their full meaning and importance. All arguments may be explained when these self‑evident laws are granted; and it is not too much to say that the whole of Logic will be plain to those who will constantly use these laws as the key.”

Therefore we must either hold that the Cosmos is under Law and Order, or else that it is not. And if it is not, then Chance or Arbitrary Decree rule the universe—and the Cosmos is but Chaos. There is no alternative—there can be no half‑and‑half about the matter. Which is it? We need scarcely to assure the student that the highest modern scientific thought agrees perfectly with the teachings of the ancient occultists, to the effect that the Cosmos is governed by Law in every detail, and as a whole; and that there is universal order, balance, and harmony manifested through it. Not only is this so, but the ordinary human mind is able to discover the existence of Law in the universe, in its every phase of manifestation. The rising of the sun; the flow of the tides; the law of gravitation; the mechanical laws; and Natural Law in all of its phases; show the existence of Law in the Cosmos. Science shows us that the entire universe is held together by the operation of Law— that if the tiniest atom were released from the operation of Law, the entire universe would be resolved into Chaos, so interdependent are its parts, and so incompatible with Universal Law would be the slightest exception thereto. The Laws of the Universe can never be “broken”—if we come in contact with them and refuse to govern ourselves accordingly, we suffer— but the Law remains intact. We do not “break” the Law of Gravitation when we step over a precipice—we only prove its existence. If we could “break” the tiniest Law of the Cosmos, the Cosmos would be Chaos.

And these Cosmic Laws are not the result of the arbitrary fiat or dictum of some Being. They are inherent in the very nature of the Cosmos. There never has been a moment in the existence of the Cosmos in which twice two did not make four; never a moment in which a straight line was not the shortest distance between two given points; never a moment in which the laws of mathematics, geometry, and logic were not as true as they are today. Cosmic Laws were not made—they are inherent in the Cosmos, and inseparable from it. These Cosmic Laws arise from the reflected power of The Law itself—they are superimposed upon the Cosmos in the very nature of the Cosmos.

The Aphorism continues: “Each and every thing, and all things, proceed in Orderly Trend.” This is a statement of the Law of Orderly Trend, one of the Seven Cosmic Laws. “Orderly” means: “In order; arranged or disposed in order; observant of order or method; not disorderly; keeping order; well regulated; free from disorder or confusion; characterized by good order; according to established order or method; according to due order or method; duly; regularly; etc.” “Trend” is a word derived from an old root meaning “a circle; a ring; round; etc.” and its present accepted meaning is: “to move around or about; to extend or lie in a particular direction; to run; to stretch; inclination in a particular direction,” or strictly: “to proceed in a particular direction.” Its use in the Arcane Teaching implies a “proceeding or moving forward,” and also (in the esoteric sense) cyclic progression. Thus the Cosmos is held to “trend” in an “orderly, regular, established” manner, according to Cosmic Laws, and under The Law. Evolution is a manifestation of Orderly Trend and Sequence.

The Aphorism continues: “In the Cosmos there is no Chance; no Disorder; no Inharmony.” We have seen that where Law and Order govern and rule there can be no Disorder nor Inharmony. Harmony and Balance maintain where Law and Order govern and control. We wish to add a few words regarding the subject of Chance, owing to the popular misconception of the nature and meaning of this much used word. “Chance” is generally held to be: “an accident; something happening without a cause; a supposed agent or mode of activity other than a force, law, or purpose.” The word was derived from the Latin word cadentia, meaning “the falling of the dice.” An “accident” is “something that happens suddenly or unexpectedly,” but the word is generally used in the sense of “something happening without due cause, and out of the established order.” The strict meaning of “Chance” is “without cause,” and it is generally so used. But with the advancing knowledge of the universal prevalence of causality, Chance in the original sense of the term is no longer regarded as existent, possible, or reasonable. The word is now employed in the scientific sense of: “The unknown, or unforeseen cause or causes of an event.” As Benley says: “Chance is but a mere name, and really nothing in itself; a conception of our minds, and only a compendious way of speaking, whereby we would express, that such effects as are commonly attributed to chance, were verily produced by their true and proper causes.” The highest modern philosophical thought agrees with the Arcane Teaching that: “In the Cosmos there is no Chance.” Where Law and Order reign, there can be no Chance; no “accidents” no “happenings,” in the sense of “without cause.” Even the cast of the dice is now seen to be as much the result of Law and Order and Sequence as is the motion of the sun, planets and tides. Casualty has been superseded by Causality in philosophical thought.

Aphorism xviii. Know ye that each and every event, and all events, proceed in Orderly and Logical Sequence. There is always a Something Before and a Something After, which men mistakenly call Cause and Effect, but which, in truth, are but relative stages of the Cosmic Sequence.

Aphorism xviii informs us regarding the Law of Sequence, another one of Seven Cosmic Laws. It informs us that “each and every event, and all events proceed in orderly and logical sequence.” This Aphorism declares the principle of what modern philosophical thought has called the Law of Continuity, by which is meant that universal principle or law, by virtue of which there is ever maintained a relationship of precedent and subsequent— cause and effect—between all events; the idea being diametrically opposed to that which holds that events are independent and not related to other events. In the Aphorism the word “orderly” is used in the sense defined a little further back. The word “logical” is used in its general sense of “agreeing with the natural reason”; and therefore, is employed in the Aphorism, in the sense of “in a manner which accepted by the human reason as natural, orderly, according to law, and reasonable—and which therefore might be reasonably expected were the preceding events known.” The word “Sequence” is used in the sense of: “A succession, or following after, in orderly arrangement and uniformity; a series of things following in a certain order of succession.” The word itself springs from the Latin word, sequens, meaning “to follow,” and the idea of following in regular order or procession constitutes the essential meaning of the term.

The Law of Sequence causes all things to proceed in a continuous stream or procession of events. “Continuous” means “unbroken; uninterrupted; connected; with no intervening space.” An “Event” is a “happening; something that occurs; the consequent or result of any action.” Therefore the Law of Sequence causes all happenings, occurrences, or events to flow, proceed, and evolve from previous events, happenings or occurrences; and likewise to result in subsequent events, happenings or occurrences, which flow, proceed, and evolve from them. There is always a “something before” and a “something after” every event, happening, or occurrence. Every event has reasons, and is in itself one of the reasons for that which must follow after. Just as no link in a continuous chain can escape having a preceding and succeeding link, so no event can fail to have precedent and subsequent events connected with and related to it. No event can be isolated from the Cosmic Chain of Sequence, or the Cosmic Stream of Events. No event, and no thing, can stand alone in the Cosmos. Every thing and every event is interdependent, from the very nature of the Cosmos itself. Thus we see that there can be no such thing as “Chance” or “accidents” in the Cosmos. Nothing ever “merely happens,” in the usual sense of the phrase. Everything, every event, every happening, has its preceding causes, and from it will emerge the succeeding effects—all being links in the continuous chain of Sequence.

We recognize these things, dimly, in everyday life, and call them the workings of Cause and Effect. But the Aphorism makes a distinction here and informs us that that which men mistakenly call Cause and Effect, “in truth, are but relative stages of the Cosmic Sequence. Let us proceed to a consideration of this truth. The statement of this Aphorism apparently conflicts with the accepted philosophical and scientific conception of the Law of Causation, but the difference is largely a matter of expression, and the Arcane Teaching is in full harmony with the advanced conceptions of Causation, as interpreted by the highest authorities. The Law of Causation, as advanced by modern scientific thought, may be stated generally as the conception that every thing is an effect of precedent Causes and, at the same time, the Cause of the effects which arise from it—thus each thing is a link in an endless chain of Cause and Effect. Another way of stating this conception is that every event in time, or thing in space, has Causes; and at the same time is the Cause of succeeding effects in the shape of events in time, or things in space. This conception of the Beginningless and Endless Chain of Cause and Effect is seen to be very similar to the Chain of Sequence of the Arcane Teaching. But here is the difference. The Arcane Teaching does not hold that the Chain of Sequence is Beginningless and Endless. On the contrary, it holds that the Cosmos emerged from the Infinity of Nothingness at the Dawn of the Cosmic Day—therefore, this particular Cosmos had an actual beginning in time; and likewise, it will have an ending in time, when it again is resolved into the Infinity of Nothingness. The Law is held to be the only Eternal, using the term in its absolute sense. The Cosmic Activities proceed according to Law, Order and Sequence. What you are today—what happens this moment—is the logical result of all that has gone before in the Chain of Sequence. What is, is not because of Chance—but in accordance with Law, Order and Sequence. What will be tomorrow—a year hence—a million years hence—will be the logical result of all the things and events that are manifesting this moment. There is no break in the Chain. Everything, and every event, proceeds from what has gone before. And from every thing, and every event, develop the seeds of future events and things. Every thing, and every event, is a blossom—and contains within itself the seeds of future blossoms. Every event is but a stage in the Whole Event of the Cosmos. Every thing is but a part of the Whole Thing of the Cosmos. The Cosmos is the Whole Thing, striving, moving, thinking, and doing, in myriads of forms and shapes and manifestations— acting in the countless series of events which together constitute the Whole Event.

At any particular moment in the Cosmic Day—at this very moment that you read these lines—certain things are at certain places, under certain conditions, acting in a certain manner—certain events are occurring under certain conditions. All this is the result of Cosmic Causes operating since the first glimmer of the Cosmic Dawn. And, likewise, at any imagined moment of the future—a year hence—a century hence—a million years hence—at any given moment there will be certain things in certain places, under certain conditions, acting in a certain manner—certain events will be occurring under certain conditions. And this too will be the result of the Cosmic Causes, operating from the beginning—operating and in existence in some stage of Sequence, today—this moment. All that is proceeds from all that has gone before. And from all that is will flow, proceed and evolve all that shall be even unto the very ending.

And these things and events are “certain,” not because of Fate, Destiny or Arbitrary Decree, but because of the operation of fixed and certain natural laws, constant, invariable and immutable. There is no Fate, no Chance, no Accidents. Cause produces Effect. Everything has its precedent, and will have its subsequent. The seeds of the future exist in the present. The seeds of the present existed in the past. No thing or event is arbitrary, separate, disconnected, independent. We are all parts of a Cosmic Whole, taking part in one Cosmic Event. Can you imagine a single thing or event without precedent causes? Can you imagine a Cosmic Law being broken? The parts are conditioned by the Whole. This is not Fate, but Law, Order, and Sequence.