The work of Walter Russell is about reality. Absolute reality. Truth.
Logon places articles in different categories like ‘Spirit & Soul’, ‘Modern times’, ‘Science’ and ‘Art’. But where should we place Walter Russell? He spans all categories. Art? For he was a painter and sculptor. Spirit & Soul? After his profound illumination experience in 1921 he claimed to access ‘the source of all knowledge’. Modern times? Nikola Tesla told Walter Russel concerning his manuscript ‘The Universal One’: “Lock it in a vault for a thousand years. The world is not ready for it.” Science? On the title page of ‘The Universal One’ we read: “An exact science of the One visible and invisible universe of Mind (…)”.
There is one category which encloses all others. It is called ‘Reality’.
The work of Walter Russell is about reality. Absolute reality. Truth.
Here you can read a good and accessible introduction to the work of Walter Russell.
Truth and invitation
Truth always approaches us with an open invitation: enter the realm of Truth and know! Yet few can accept the invitation. The open door is blocked by our convictions, our perceptions, our past. Truth knows this and comes to our aid: it sends a messenger with the purpose of helping us to clear and open the inner door. When we approach the work of Walter Russell, an open heart and mind are of crucial importance. Give the unexpected a chance to enter! We don’t say: accept it as the truth. We say: investigate it, consider it with an open mind, without prejudice, without comparison. Let his work unfold itself within us as a beautiful flower, stretching its petals towards the sun.
Elevated American dream
Looking at the life of Walter Russell we see that from an early age he applied the principles of ‘alignment with the universe’ and ‘fundamental balance’. He said: “God works with you, but not for you.” It means an active, dynamic approach to life, but based on alignment with the universe and cosmic laws. With a smile we say that it is the ‘American dream’ in a spiritual and elevated sense. It is the belief that every man can do great and mighty things as long as he works with God. However, working with the universe is not an easy thing, for it requires absolute balance and righteousness. We cannot breathe in, if we do not breathe out. We cannot receive, if we do not give. If we want to work with the universe, we have to give it our attention, our head; we have to give it our desire, our heart; we have to give it the dynamic energy of our will, our hands.
Walter Russell had interesting ideas about success. They have little to do with the usual opinion that success is the accumulation of material wealth. He believed that every person can awaken his dormant ‘inner genius’ by practicing inner silence and tapping into the source of all knowledge and creativity. Key principles for achieving success are to concentrate our energy and focus our thinking on our goals. Don’t waste energy and thoughts on all kinds of distractions. But the most important principles are ‘alignment with the universe’ and ‘fundamental balance’. We would like to illustrate these with two quotations from Jan van Rijckenborgh:
If your longing, your desire-nature, is completely in harmony with the fundamental desire of nature, you will experience and possess the power to attain what you desire.[1]
He who learns to control fire, who does not indulge in what is explosive, will also gain control over the opposite force. Equilibrium between the centrifugal and the centripetal, between heat and cold, the twin forces of nature, results in true harmony and transfiguration – the ideal metabolism.[2]
Science
The teachings of Walter Russell are spiritual teachings, but they have a unique scientific side to them. When ‘The Universal One’ was first published, his ideas could not find fertile ground in a society dominated by materialistic thinking. A hundred years have passed; we now see that humanity is in the grips of the Age of Aquarius. The fire of renewal affects our consciousness and breaks down old structures. A new dawn is on the horizon. Theoretical physics has evolved: relativity theory, particle physics, cosmic rays and quantum mechanics are part of the scientific paradigm. In this new light the ideas of Walter Russell are not so strange anymore. We believe that his work can now take its rightful place.
It is interesting that his work evolved on American soil. Some see the United States as a symbol of a new dawn, a new day, new possibilities; a place where a person can start a new life in freedom. We can envisage this in a spiritual way: the path to the rebirth of the human soul. There is only one Universal Teaching, but it reveals itself in different garments. It adopts a garment suitable to a given time and place, for those it is intended. Walter Russell gave mankind a new garment of the Universal Teaching; a form in which spirituality and science go hand in hand. We sincerely hope that his work will trigger a spiritual gold rush: that all men shall discover their inner treasure, the spiritual wealth hidden in the center of our being.
To acquaint ourselves with the more spiritual side of Walter Russell’s work, we present a number of quotations from his book ‘The Universal One’[3] accompanied by some comments. We hope that you will join us on this spiritual journey and that together we will experience the atmosphere of truth, breathe in the fresh air of a new reality, and breathe out the beauty of a new life.
The Universal One
With the below passage Walter Russell concludes the prelude of this book “The Universal One”:
This message is for all mankind and not for the few, for it is placing within his hands a power which could either glorify or frightfully enslave him in accord with the usage of that power.
Either way it matters not, for in the end truth will survive, and man will complete his destiny.
Truth lives. There is naught but truth and that which appears to be otherwise has no existence and therefore is not, nor ever will be.
The unity of life
The entire “created” universe of all that is, ever has been, or ever will be, is but the One substance in motion, light.
God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (John, 1:5)
Matter is light.
God and matter are One.
Spirit and matter are the same substance.
That substance is light. (…)
The whole of the universe is but One living, breathing, pulsing Being.[4]
One substance
In the cosmology of Walter Russell the universe is made of one substance: light. This light can be in two states: there is light in stillness and light in motion. Light in motion can be perceived with spiritual or material senses, because it has discernible characteristics which Walter Russell calls dimensions. He distinguishes 18 such dimensions[5].
The entire “created” universe of all that is, ever has been, or ever will be, is but the One substance in motion, light.
When light is put in motion it reveals itself in certain states or ‘potentials’. These potentials follow a periodical cycle according to the cosmic clock:
Thinking Mind has devised these orderly progressions as its method of evolving the idea of universal thinking into the appearance of form, and devolving it in the disappearance of form.[6]
What is then the ‘not created’ universe? It is light in stillness. We think that ‘light in stillness’ refers to what Jacob Boehme called the ‘Ungrund’. It is the primordial Abyss in which the One substance exists in an undifferentiated state. It is the source of all creation; pure potential. Because it is all and nothing, it is without dimensions: it cannot be perceived in any way. This light in stillness contains will and desire to become. The circle of eternity, the Ungrund, multiplies itself and forms the two absolute pillars of all creation: the Male and Female aspects of the godhead.
According to Walter Russell there are only two forces in the created universe: gravitation and radiation. These two forces are an expression of the male and female archetypes which form the basis of the created universe: they put light into motion. The male aspect, gravitation, works towards the center of all things; it is a centripetal force. The female archetype, radiation, is centrifugal, it is the force which is directed away from the center. These two forces are in perfect balance and maintain the divine rhythm of the created universe. “The whole of the universe is but One living, breathing, pulsing Being.”
The law
In the chapter “Universal One-ness” we read:
Now must the simplest but the greatest of all laws of the universe be written down.
Everything that is, is of everything else that is. Nothing is of itself alone. All created things are indissolubly united.
This is the law of the entire substance of divine Mind.
This is the law of the souls of things.
This is the law of love.
It is the law of the one-ness of the universe.
All that is, is One.
Thinking in light
Walter Russell points out that we must learn to think in light, if we are to experience universal one-ness.
Man must think in light for true comprehension of Mind.
All men may think in the higher octaves of light when they but comprehend, for with comprehension comes power. (…)
Man’s inner Mind is light of high octaves of inspirational, ecstatic thinking. To man’s inner vision light is always light. It never disappears. (…)
The inner mind of man knows no darkness.[7]
We add some comments from the perspective of the School of the Golden Rosycross to clarify the meaning of ‘inner mind’ and ‘thinking in light’.
All people born in nature have a three-dimensional consciousness based on their senses. We think in terms of time and space. The ‘outer mind’ looks upon the outside of things; we feel separated from the universe and from other people. It is the normal state of the I-central consciousness. But that which we call ‘normal’ is not normal for the universe, because the law states: Everything that is, is of everything else that is. Nothing is of itself alone. All created things are indissolubly united. (WR)
The I-consciousness is clearly not in harmony with the universe and that leads to suffering. I feel disconnected from the whole and follow my own desires. I don’t understand the consequences of my actions. Because of my blindness I hurt and damage other people, the animals, the earth. But… All created things are indissolubly united (WR), and hence I hurt myself. Now I feel sorry for myself and ask ‘why has God created an evil world full of suffering?’ What a fool I am for I created it myself! Unfortunately I am a slow learner and have to pass through many earthly lives to reach some understanding of the law of cause and effect. I start living in a more responsible way; I want to do good. But what is good? If the outer mind sees only separated objects, how can I do good to all that is?
I become silent, silent because of my incapability, my loneliness, my longing for unity and love. The proud man who wanted to conquer the earth is gone now. When the silence of the inevitable, the emptiness of all material things, falls upon me, I ask myself ‘Who am I?’
And the Voice answered, “Thou Art I. I the universal One, am thou who thou art creating in my image.[8]
Where does this mysterious voice come from? It is the voice of the center, the center of our own being. Rosicrucians call it the Rose. It is the divine idea of who we are, our true Self. Why didn’t I hear this voice before? Because my ears were full with earthly noise, my eyes were filled with illusionary images. When I turn my attention, my desire, to my own center, I open the door to a new world, a universe of light. Now that I opened the gate of my heart, these light forces can enter my bloodstream, my nerve system, and increase the vibration of all the cells in my body. Spiritual light is power, intelligence and love; it executes a divine building plan. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”[9]
The light forces flow upwards in our body and after the heart, the head is then renewed. Man’s inner Mind is light of high octaves of inspirational, ecstatic thinking. (WR) The inner mind is the spiritual center revealing itself in our head. It is the ‘heavenly heart’. It is the unity between heart and head; now we experience what it is to think in light.
To illustrate that ‘the inner mind of man knows no darkness’ (WR), we present the following quotation:
Furthermore, and this is important, a fiery sign appears, corresponding with the forehead and the crown of the head; it is the third eye. This fiery sign, this flame, covers the cranium from the forehead to the crown. It is the sign of the Son of man of which Revelations 7 speaks. It is not a mystic indication, but a scientific fact. It is the sign of the new-born soul. When a pupil opens his heart to the Gnosis, when the Prana of life enters and mixes with the life fluids, penetrates the head sanctuary and the pupil perseveres and places a guard on his thoughts, this flame begins to manifest itself: the sign of the Son of man, the golden wonder flower (…).
(…) when the third eye — the golden rose — develops, he is able to see in the soul world; so for the awakened soul, darkness needs no longer exist. This seeing is called gnostic intuition. It is the seeing of the soul and the beginning of the new consciousness connected with it, because the center of the third eye is associated with the pineal gland.[10]
We are aware that even after the passing of a hundred years, the writings of Walter Russell are not easily accessible. We hope that this article is a first little step to unlocking the potential of his work. We believe that his work fits the age of Aquarius in which we are all invited to learn how to think in light.
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[1] The Egyptian Arch Gnosis 3, XVIII Seek First the Kingdom and Its Righteousness
[2] The Egyptian Arch Gnosis 2, XLI The restoration of perfect equilibrium
[3] [PDF] [EPUB] The Universal One Download
[4] The Universal One; Book I – Chapter I – Creation
[5] Here you can watch an introduction to the more scientific side of Walter Russell’s cosmology.
[6] The Universal One; Book I – Chapter XV – The Formula of the Locked Potentials
[7] The Universal One; Book I – Chapter VIII – A Dimensionless Universe
[8] The Universal One; Book I – Chapter XIX – Omniscience
[9] John 2:19
[10] The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis I, chapter ‘The Sign of the Son of Man’
