But such an eventual
chance does by no means confer upon it the attribute of
indestructibility; for we need only leave the dead animal or plant
containing the protoplasm alone, and it will rot and decay--organs,
tissues, and protoplasm altogether.
To our further perplexity the Esoteric Doctrine tells us that the vital
principle is not only indestructible, but it is a form of force, which,
when disconnected with one set of atoms, becomes attracted immediately
by others. The vital principle to the Esoteric Doctrine would then
appear to be a sort of abstract force, not a force inherent in the
living protoplasm--this is the scientific conception--but a force per
se, independent altogether of the material with which it is connected.
Now I must confess this is a doctrine which puzzles one greatly,
although one may have no difficulty in accepting the spirit of man as an
entity, for the phenomena of ratiocination are altogether so widely
different from all physical phenomena that they can hardly be explained
by any of the physical forces known to us.
Pages:
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690