What incomprehensible force keeps the stars in their courses, and the atoms in theirs? It is awesome to contemplate that everything known and unknown in the heavens and on earth follows a cosmic harmony, its forces holding and guiding their natural paths while sustaining the dynamic evolving universe.
Is it so simple to explain away all this as resulting only from physical laws and causes? Does nature operate solely by chance? Life is far deeper and more profound when we recognize the existence of consciousness as a universal constant. All nature manifests infinite variations of the marvelous qualities of consciousness -- of will, desire, intelligence, love, and many others. The universe is alive, full of design and purpose, and outer phenomena are produced by inner causes of being. Everything, even space surrounding universes, is alive! The mystery of the essence and origin of life emanates from the divine.
Look at all the inherent qualities of consciousness in the kingdoms of nature which are in accord with their natural environments. Within its realm, the atom sings vibratory notes of attraction and repulsion. There is a similar music among the spheres and galaxies and beyond. Birds sing melodic notes in response to life. All beings learn and evolve, creating their own harmonies which come from spirit. Can we easily deny the existence of soul and spirit in the innocent eyes of a child? Why not see the same in the gleam of a crocodile's eye or the fire in a tiger's? The intelligent bee knows how to find the best blossoms. Plants, too, respond by flowering with great beauty and producing fruits, while rocks possess a very subtle awareness. Nature is filled with divine lives reflecting the mystery of the one cosmic life in a multitude of forms. There is also the spiritual capacity of human consciousness to realize its divine oneness with all beings, resulting in a deep abiding love and compassion.
(From Sunrise magazine, April/May 2002; copyright © 2002 Theosophical University Press)