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Works: essence
quinta-feira 1º de fevereiro de 2024
Substance / Essence: The terms substance and essence which rightly or wrongly are taken in practice to be more or less synonymous, differ in that substance refers to the underlying, immanent, permanent nature of a basic reality, whereas essence refers to the reality as such, that is as being and, in a secondary sense, as the absolutely fundamental nature of a thing. The notion of essence denotes an excellence which is, so to say, discontinuous in respect to accidents, whereas the notion of substance implies on the contrary a kind of continuity, and this is why we employ it when speaking of Atma in connection with Maya. [GTUFS: FormSR, Atma-Maya]
Substance may be compared to the center of a spiral, and Essence to the center of a system of concentric circles; one may also say that the notion of Substance is nearer to that of the Infinite and the notion of Essence nearer to that of the Absolute; again, there is in Substance an aspect of femininity and in Essence an aspect of masculinity. [GTUFS: LogicT, The Argument Founded on Substance]
However, the terms substance and essence are synonymous inasmuch as they simply designate the archetypal content of a phenomenon. [GTUFS: PlayMasks, The Liberating Passage]
In fact, the terms substance and essence are often synonymous, but strictly speaking, the first term suggests a continuity, and the second, a discontinuity; the first refers more to immanence, and the second, to transcendence. On the one hand, one distinguishes between the substance, which is permanent, and the accidents, which change; on the other hand, one makes a distinction between the essence, which is the fundamental nature whether it is a question of the Principle or of manifestation and the form, which is its reflection or mode of expression. [GTUFS: SurveyME, Creation as a Divine Quality]