74 § The Mustard Seed
I N connection with the symbolism of the Hebrew letter yod inside the heart, [2] we mentiofied that in the radiating heart of the marble astronimal piece at St Denis d'Orques, [3] the wound is in the form of a yod, and this resemblance is too striking and too significant not to be intentional. On the other hand, in a print drawn and engraved by Callot for a thesis defended in 1625 , the heart of Christ contains three yod. This letter, the first of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, is always essentially the image of the Principle, whether it stands alone to represent the Divine Unity, [4] or whether it is repeated three times with a 'trinitarian' signification; [5] and it is this letter from which all the others in
the Hebrew alphabet are formed. The yod in the heart is therefore the Principle residing at the centre, be it from the macrocosmic point of view, at the 'Centre of the World' which is the 'Holy Palace' of the Kabbala, [6] or from the microcosmic point of view in every being, virtually at least, at his centre, which is always symbolised by the heart in the different traditional doctrines, [7] and which is man's innermost point, the point of contact with the Divine. According to the Kabbala, the Shekinah or the Divine Presence, which is identified with the 'Light of the Messiah', [8] dwells (shakan) simultaneously in the Tabernacle, for this reason called mishkan, and in the heart of the faithful; [9] and there is a very close relationship between this doctrine and the meaning of the name Emmanuel, applied to the Messiah and interpreted as 'God in us'. But there are many other considerations to develop in this respect, especially in starting from the fact that the yod, while having the meaning of 'principle', also has that of 'seed'. The yod in the heart is in a way, therefore, the seed enclosed in the fruit; there is the indication here of an identity, at least in a certain respect, between the symbolism of the heart and that of the 'World Egg', and it can also be understood thereby why the name of seed is applied to the Messiah in different passages of the Bible. [10] It is the idea of the seed in the heart which above all must hold our attention in the present context; and it deserves to do so all the more in that it relates directly to the profound meaning of one of the best known parables of the Gospel, that of the mustard seed.
In order to understand this relation, it is first of all necessary to refer to the Hindu doctrine which gives to the heart, as centre of the being, the name of 'Divine City' (Brahmapura) and which, quite remarkably, applies to this 'Divine City' expressions identical to some of those used in the Apocalypse to describe the 'celestial Jerusalem'. [11] The divine Principle, insofar as it is resident at the centre of the being, is often symbolically designated as 'the Ether in the heart', the primordial element from which all the others proceed being naturally taken to represent the Principle. This ether (Akāsha) is the same as the Hebrew Avir, from the mystery of which gushes forth the light (Aor), which realises all extent by its outward radiation, [12] 'making aught from the void (thohū) and from that which was not that which is', [13] while by a concentration
correlative to this luminous expansion, there remains within the heart the yod, that is, 'the hidden point become manifest', one in three and three in one. [14] But we will now leave to one side this cosmogonic point of view in order to give our attention by preference to the point of view which concerns a particular being such as the human being, while taking care to insist that between these two points of view, macrocosmic and microcosmic, there is an analogical correspondence in virtue of which a transposition from one to the other is always possible.
In the sacred texts of India we read: 'This Ātmā (the divine Spirit), which resides in the heart, is smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a grain of mustard, smaller than the kernel in a grain of millet; this Ātmā, which resides in the heart, is also larger than the earth, larger than the atmosphere, larger than the heavens, larger than all the worlds together'. [15] It is impossible not to be struck by the similarity of the terms of this passage with those of the Gospel parable to which we have just now alluded: 'The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come, and dwell in the branches thereof'. [16]
To this comparison, which seems to impose itself, a single objection can be made: is it really possible to assimilate to 'the Ātmā which resides in the heart' what the Gospel designates as the 'Kingdom of Heaven' or the 'Kingdom of God'? The Gospel itself provides the response to this question, and this response is plainly affirmative. In fact, to the Pharisees who asked when the 'Kingdom of God' would come, understanding it in an outward and temporal sense, Christ replied in these words: 'The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there. For lo, the Kingdom of God is within you, Regnum Dei intra vos est'. [17] The divine action is always exerted from within, [18] and this is why it does not at all strike one's attention, which is necessarily turned towards outward things. This is also why the Hindu doctrine gives to the Principle the epithet of 'internal co-ordinator' (antar-yāmi), [19] its operation being accomplished from within outwards, from the centre to the circumference, from the unmanifest to manifestation, so that its starting point escapes all the faculties which belong
to the sensible order or which proceed from it more or less directly. [20] The 'Kingdom of God', just as the 'house of God' (Beth-El) [21] is naturally identified with the centre, that is, with what is most inward, either in relation to the collectivity of all beings, or in relation to each in particular.
It follows clearly from this that the antithesis contained in the Gospel text-the figure of the mustard seed which is 'the smallest of all seeds', but which becomes 'the largest of all plants'-corresponds exactly to the double gradation, descending and ascending, which in the Hindu text express the idea of extreme smallness and that of extreme largeness. There are in the Gospel, moreover, other passages where the mustard seed is taken to represent what is smallest: 'If ye had faith like to a grain of mustard seed ...'; [22] nor is this unconnected with our last paragraph, for faith, by which things of the suprasensible order are grasped, is commonly referred to the heart. [23] But what does this opposition mean, according to which the 'Kingdom of Heaven' or 'the Ātmā that dwells in the heart' is both what is smallest and what is greatest? Clearly this is to be understood in two different relationships; but, again, what are these two relationships? To understand this, we need only know that when passage is made analogically from the lower to the higher, from the outward to the inward, from the material to the spiritual, such an analogy must be taken in an inverse sense. Thus, just as the image of an object in a mirror is inverted in relation to the object itself, that which is first or greatest in the principial domain is, at least in appearance, the last or smallest in the domain of manifestation. [24] Generally, this application of the inverse sense is also indicated by other Gospel sayings, at least in one of their meanings: 'So shall the last be first, and the first last', [25] ' .... everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted'; [26] 'Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven'; [27] 'If any man desire to be first, he shall be the last of all, and the minister of all'; [28] 'He that is the least among you all, he is the greatest'. [29] To limit ourselves to the case that especially concerns us here, and to make it more readily understandable, we can take terms of comparison from the mathematical order, using both geometrical and arithmetical symbolisms, between which there is perfect concordance in this respect. Thus, the geometrical point
is quantitatively null [30] and occupies no space whatsoever, even though it is the principle by which space in its entirety is produced; for space is only the development of the virtualities of the point, these being 'effectuated' by its radiation in the 'six directions'. [31] Similarly, arithmetical unity is the smallest of numbers if it is conceived as situated within their multiplicity; but it is the greatest in principle for it contains all of them virtually and produces all their series by nothing more than the indefinite repetition of itself. Likewise again, to return to the symbolism that was discussed at the outset, the yod is the smallest of all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but from it, nevertheless, are derived the forms of all the other letters. [32] Moreover, the double hieroglyphic sense of the yod as principle and as seed is linked to this double relationship: in the lower world, it is the seed which is contained in all things. This is the point of view of transcendence and that of immanence, reconciled in the single synthesis of total harmony. [33] The point is simultaneously principle and seed of the dimensions; unity is both principle and seed of numbers; similarly, the Divine Word, depending on whether it is considered as subsisting eternally in itself or as making itself the 'centre of the world', [34] is at once Principle and seed of all beings. [35]
The Divine Principle which resides at the centre of the being is represented in the Hindu doctrine as a grain or seed (dhātu), as a germ (bija), [36] because in a way it is in this being only virtually so long as 'Union' has not actually been realised. [37] On the other hand, this same being, and manifestation in its totality to which it pertains, exist only by the Principle and have no positive reality except by participation in its essence, and insofar as they participate therein. The Divine Spirit (Ātmā), being the one and only Principle of all things,
immensely surpasses all existence; [38] this is why it is said to be greater than each of the 'three worlds', terrestrial, intermediary and celestial (the three terms of the Tribhuvana) which are the different modes of universal manifestation. Ātmā is also greater than the totality of the three worlds all taken together, since it is beyond all manifestation, being the immutable, eternal, absolute and unconditioned Principle. [39]
There is still one point in the parable of the mustard seed which demands an explanation in relation to what has already been mentioned. [40] It is said that the seed, in its development, becomes a tree; now in all traditions, the tree is one of the chief symbols of the World Axis. [41] This meaning is entirely relevant here: the seed is the centre; the tree which comes from it is the axis directly issuing from this centre, and through all the worlds it extends its branches upon which the 'birds of heaven' come and repose, birds that represent, as in certain Hindu texts, the higher states of the being. This invariable axis is in fact the 'divine support' of all existence; and it is, as the Far Eastern doctrines teach, the direction according to which the 'Activity of Heaven' is exerted, the place of manifestation of the 'Will of Heaven'. [42] Is this not one of the reasons why in the Paternoster, immediately after the petition, 'Thy Kingdom come' (of course, it is the Kingdom of God that is in question here), comes 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven', which is an expression of the axial union of all the worlds with each other and with the divine Principle, of the full realisation of the total harmony to which we have alluded and which cannot be accomplished unless all beings combine their aspirations in a single direction, that of the axis itself? [43] 'That they may all be one', said Christ, 'even as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us ... that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one ... [44] It is this perfect union which is the true advent of the 'Kingdom of Heaven', coming from within and burgeoning outwards in the plenitude of universal order, the consummation of all manifestation and
the restoration of the integrity of the primordial state. This is the advent of the 'celestial Jerusalem' at the end of time: [45] 'Behold, the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people; and God himself with them shall be their God. [46] And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more ... [47] ' And there shall be no curse anymore, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. [48] And night [49] shall be no more and they shall not need the light of the lamp, nor of the sun, because the Lord God shall enlighten them, and they shall reign forever and ever'. [50]