Matter
Matter we know to be eternal, i.e. having had no beginning (a) because matter is Nature herself (b) because that which cannot annihilate itself and is indestructible exists necessarily—and therefore it could not begin to be, nor can it cease to be (c) because the accumulated experience of countless ages, and that of exact science show to us matter (or nature) acting by her own peculiar energy, of which not an atom is ever in absolute state of rest, and therefore it must have always existed, i.e., its materials ever changing form, combinations and properties, but its principles or elements being absolutely indestructible.
(ML, 55)
We believe in Matter alone, in matter as visible nature and matter in its invisibility as the invisible omnipresent omnipotent Proteus with its unceasing motion which is its great life, and which nature draws from herself since she is the great whole outside of which nothing can exist. (ML, p 56)
The combination of a correct appreciation of the beauty of matter with a readiness to fathom the attainments of the spirit, brings the achievement to maturity. The turmoil of life no longer attracts, and of course there comes the realization that it can proceed no further in the same way.
And so, the most difficult thing is to encompass both the rapture of matter and the manifestation of spirit. And how many wondrous quests have been delayed by a regret concerning matter, or by spiritual insulation. Sometimes the affinity of the spirit with matter is easily achieved; then one should look for the cause in the past chosen lives.
The most extreme ascetic, who curses the beauty of the world, closes the Gates before himself. Likewise, the scientist who forgets about the Source deprives himself of flights into the domain of higher conquests. (LMG II, p 88)
You are indignant at this aggrandizement of matter. But do you not know that in esotericism matter and spirit are one—that matter is just the differentiation of spirit? Do you not know that matter is indeed energy, as one cannot exist without the other? Therefore, matter isolated from spirit is regarded as illusion. Do you not know that all comes from the One Element, and that this Element is considered as the Divine Principle, triune in its manifestation? Do you not know that spirit divorced from matter is deprived of expression, in other words, of existence? Indeed we cannot separate ourselves from matter, neither in action nor in thinking. We deal either with the subtle or with the denser aspects of that same matter. (LHR I, p 305)
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