2+2=Reality

Excerpt from Two Plus Two Equals Reality by William Samuel

Please enjoy this excerpt from this booklet Two Plus Two Equals Reality--First written in 1958 and remains absolutely clear and enlightening today.

This excerpt begins on page 29 -

THE ARITHMETIC ILLUSTRATION

There is a remarkable and magnificent similarity between what is termed God (Fact, Reality, Truth) and the principle of mathematics. Entire philosophic systems have been built around this likeness. Nearly 2,600 years ago the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras said that no concept more nearly approached Divinity then the principle of arithmetic. He pointed out that early every quality attributed to God was clearly expressed for all to see and understand in the simplest fact of arithmetic. Indeed, there is inherent in nature a revealed as well as a hidden harmony that reflects itself under the image of simple mathematical laws.

This similarity aids in understanding more clearly who and what God actually is. It paints a picture considerably more accurate than humanity's anthropomorphic concept. Reader, the arithmetic illustration will help you understand Absolute Reality in such a manner as to free you from all your troubles which are the seeming consequence of ignorance concerning Reality, God.

Examine these parallels. God is spiritual and not material. The principle of arithmetic is not material either. It cannot be seen or weighed on a scale. It cannot be felt or picked up by the hand.

God is omnipresent. You can understand the all-presence of God by contemplating the omnipresence of arithmetic. The principle of arithmetic is everywhere, isn't it? Two plus two is four right where you are this minute. So is everything concerning the principle of arithmetic. It is all at the top of Mount Everest and under the waters of the sea. If one were on the moon or at the bottom of a well, the principle of arithmetic would be there too. There is no place in the universe one can go to escape the principle. It is everywhere, every bit, perfectly present; nowhere is it the least bit absent.

I am sure you cannot imagine a place where addition is present but subtraction is absent or where everything is present except the number five or where two plus two is four and a half. Just as one can easily understand that the entire principle of arithmetic is perfectly present everywhere, so can one comprehend the omnipresent perfection of God.

Can you imagine a personal situation so frustrating that two plus two is four would not be present there? God, Reality, Fact, Principle is present too, no matter where you are nor how terrible the seeming situation.

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or wither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalms 139:7-10).

The arithmetic illustration is a means by which one is able to comprehend the continuing PRSENCE OF PERFECTION everywhere.

Consider a few more interesting parallels. Two plus two is four; this is a simple fact of arithmetic. Two plus two is four—not five, not three, not four and one-tenth, not three and ninety-nine one-hundredths. Two plus two is four and nothing else. The perfect fact exists. The principle proclaims only the correct statement that two plus two equals four. Any other answer, no matter how close, is not the correct answer nor is it contained within the principle and has no existence at all so far as this perfect principle is concerned.

Now can anyone doubt the accuracy of the principle? The schoolboy who finds a mistake on his school paper knows the mistake is not in the principle itself. He does not blame arithmetic for the error. The error exists outside the principle; yet the principle, when understood as it is, serves to correct the mis-worked problem. It is because principle exists as an immutably perfect fact that one is able to enjoy the facts it embodies.

Exactly so, Reality is what Reality is, absolute Truth. It is perfect, harmonious Fact in which there is nothing “that worketh or maketh a lie.” The schoolboy does not blame arithmetic for the errors on his paper, nor does the pianist blame Beethoven if she errs at the piano. So why blame God, the perfect Principle of Being, for the untoward events of life?

Consider Eternity in the light of arithmetic. When did the principle of arithmetic begin? Ponder this a moment and you will see clearly that it had no beginning at all. It has always existed as itself. It is as eternal as existence. And when will it end? What can happen to alter or destroy the principle of arithmetic? Does it get sick? Can it be maimed or crippled? Can it be killed in a war? Can an atom bomb destroy it? If this entire planet were blown to dust by hydrogen weapons, would the principle of arithmetic be affected at all? No. It would still exist untouched and perfect as ever. Two plus two would still be four. It would not be bent in the least.

In exactly this way the Principle of all existence (called God) is eternal, without beginning and without end, indestructible and continuous in being, no matter what the tortured meanderings of human activity. And since the principle continues, so continues all that principle is. As long as there is a principle of arithmetic, addition, subtraction and everything else arithmetic is, continues.

Well, God (Divine Principle, Reality) continues also; hence, all that God is continues. God, the substance and essence of all that is, remains perfect, unabated and untouched—everywhere present, nowhere absent.

Arithmetic is perfect, single, completeness. It is shown forth, made tangible or apparent, by the various signs and symbols of arithmetic.

Consider numbers for a minute. They exist because the principle of arithmetic exists. If there were no principle there would be no numbers. Because the principle is infinite, there is an infinity of numbers. We might say that numbers “live and move and have their being” in the principle of arithmetic because the principle is. The numbers are as eternal and immaterial, as indestructible and perfect as the principle. They are because principle is and for no other reason. So long as there is a principle, there will be the perfect signs and symbols that manifest it.

Even though there is an infinity of numbers, each of them is separate and distinct from the others. 3 is 3 and not 4. 4 is 4, distinctly individual and separate from 5. Yet the numbers in and of themselves are nothing. The value is the principle itself. The importance is principle itself. The primordial substance is principle, and the numbers are principle manifest as numbers. In or of themselves, numbers are just numbers being principle's self-evidence.

No number can exist outside the perfect principle. No number has a mind or will of its own to do what it chooses. No single number or group of them can be anything other than exactly what they are, which is Principle manifest as that particular aspect of principle. There is no life, truth, intelligence and substance in the numeral itself. The principle is all the life, truth, intelligence and substance there is. The numerals are what they are already, without having to do anything to get that way... without having to worry about sustenance and supply, food or money to stay that way. There is no separation at all between principle and numbers. It is all principle being itself.

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If you would like further guidance in understanding any of William Samuel's work and Self discovery - you are welcome to contact me, Sandy Jones -- samuelandfriends@gmail.com -- - Ojai, California -