CHAPTER XXIII Significance of the Vertical Axis : Influence of the Will of Heaven
It follows from what has gone before that the pitch of the helix-the element by which the extremities of any individual cycle elude the proper domain of the individuality-is the measure of the "attractive force of the Divinity"[1]. The influence of the "Will of Heaven" on the being's development is therefore measured parallel to the vertical axis; this clearly implies the simultaneous consideration of a plurality of states, forming so many integral cycles of existence (horizontal spirals) since this transcendent influence does not make itself felt within a single state taken in isolation.
The vertical axis thus represents the metaphysical locus of the manifestation of the "Will of Heaven", and passes through each horizontal plane at its centre, that is, at the point where the equilibrium which that manifestation implies is achieved; in other words, the point of complete harmonization of all the elements that go to make up that particular state of the being. This, as was shown earlier, is what must be understood by the "Invariable Middle" (Ching-yung), and can be considered as a reflection, in each state of the being (through the equilibrium which is a sort of image of the principial Unity in the manifested order), of the "Activity of Heaven", which in itself is non-acting and unmanifested, though it must be conceived as capable of action and manifestation (yet without being thereby affected or modified in any way whatever), and indeed as capable of all action and all manifestation, precisely because it is beyond all particular actions and particular manifestations. Consequently, it is possible to say that in the representation of a being, the vertical
axis is the symbol of the "personal way"[2] which leads to Perfection, and which is a specification of the "universal way" represented previously by an indefinite, non-closed spheroidal figure. This specification is obtained, as has been indicated, by the determination of one particular direction in space, namely that of the vertical axis. [3]
Mention has just been made of Perfection, and on this subject a short explanation is necessary. When the term is employed thus, it must be taken in its absolute and total sense. However, in order to be able to think about it in our present condition (as beings pertaining to the individual human state), this conception has to be rendered intelligible in distinctive mode. This intelligible conception is "active perfection" (Ch'ien), the possibility of the will in Perfection, and naturally of omnipotence, which is identical with what is termed the "Activity of Heaven". But, in order to be able to speak about it, the intelligible conception has further to be rendered sensible (because language, like every other outward expression, is necessarily of the sensible order) ; and it is then "passive perfection" (Ch'uan), the possibility of action as motive and goal. Ch'ien is the will capable of manifesting itself, and Ch'uan is the object of this manifestation; but, in addition, as soon as one says "active perfection" or "passive perfection", one no longer says Perfection in the absolute sense, since there is already a distinction and a determination, and accordingly a limitation. Again, if desired, Ch'ien can be called the acting faculty (it would be more correct to say "influencing"), corresponding to "Heaven" (T'ien), and Ch'uan the plastic faculty, corresponding to "Earth" (Ti); here, in Perfection, we find the analogues, though still more universal, of what have been distinguished, in Being, as "essence" and "substance"[4]. In any event, whatever the
principle by which Ch'ien and Ch'uan are determined, it must be realized that metaphysically they exist only from our viewpoint as manifested beings, just as Being is not polarized and specified into "essence" and "substance" in itself, but only in relation to us, and in so far as we envisage it from the standpoint of universal manifestation, of which it is the principle and to which we belong.
Returning to the geometrical representation, we see that the vertical axis is determined as the expression of the "Will of Heaven" in the being's development, and this fact at the same time determines both the direction of the horizontal planes, representing the different states, and these states' horizontal and vertical correspondence, thus establishing their hierarchical arrangement. As a result of this correspondence, the limiting points of these states are determined as extremities of particular modalities; the vertical plane which contains them is one of the planes of co-ordinates, as is the one perpendicular to it along the axis; in each horizontal plane these two vertical planes trace a two-dimensional cross, whose centre is at the "Invariable Middle". Thus there remains only one undetermined element, namely the position of the particular horizontal plane that will be the third plane of co-ordinates; to this plane there corresponds, in the total being, a certain state, the determination of which will make it possible to trace the symbolic three-dimensional cross, in other words to achieve the actual totalization of the being.
One further point, which it is important to note before going further, is that the vertical distance between the extremities of any evolutive cycle is constant. From this it would seem that whatever the cycle envisaged, the "attractive force of the Divinity" always acts with the same intensity. This is in fact so in regard to the Infinite, and is expressed by the law of universal harmony, which demands the quasi-mathematical proportion of all variations. It is true, however, that to all appearance it might no longer be the same if one adopted a specialized viewpoint, and had regard only to the course of one given cycle which it was desired to compare with the others in the respect in question. In that case, it would be necessary
to find out the value of the pitch of the helix for the exact case in which one had placed oneself (admitting that it would be possible to place oneself there in fact, which is in any event outside the viewpoint of pure metaphysic) ; but "we do not know the essential value of this geometrical element, because we are at present unaware of the cyclic states through which we have passed, and we cannot therefore measure the metaphysical altitude that to-day separates us from the one we have emerged from"[5]. We have thus no direct means of appraising the measure of action of the 'Will of Heaven'; "We should know it only by analogy (by virtue of the law of harmony), if in our present state, being aware of our preceding one, we were able to assess the metaphysical quantity acquired [6], and hence to measure the upward force. The thing is not said to be impossible, for it is readily comprehensible; but it is not within the faculties of the present humanity"[7]. We would also observe in passing, and simply in order to point out (as we do whenever the opportunity arises) the concordance between all traditions, that what has just been said about the significance of the vertical axis provides a metaphysical interpretation of the well-known Gospel saying to the effect that the Word (or "Will of Heaven" in action) is (in respect of us) "the Way, the Truth and the Life"[8]. If we go back for a moment to the original "microcosmic" representation and consider its three axes of coordinates, then the "Way" (specified in regard to the being
envisaged) will be represented, as here, by the vertical axis; of the two horizontal axes, one will then represent the "Truth" and the other the "Life". Whereas the "Way" is related to "Universal Man", with whom the "Self" is identified, the "Truth" is there related to intellectual man, and the "Life" to corporeal man (though this last term is also capable of a certain transposition) [9]; of the last two, which both belong to one and the same particular state, in other words to one and the same degree of universal Existence, the former must here be assimilated to the integral individuality, of which the latter is only a modality. The "Life" will then be represented by the axis parallel to the direction in which each modality develops, and the "Truth" by the axis which connects all the modalities together by running through them at right angles to that direction (this axis, though likewise horizontal, may be regarded as relatively vertical in respect of the other, in accordance with what was said earlier.) This, moreover, supposes that the tracing of the three-dimensional cross is related to the earthly human individuality, for it is only in relation to this that we have been considering the "Life" and even the "Truth"; this tracing depicts the action of the Word in the realization of the total being and its identification with "Universal Man ".