DP 5, 6 - The First Substance

 DP 5 [1]

Divine love and wisdom,
which in the Lord are united,
and which emanate from Him as one,
are present in some image of them
in every created thing . . .
the Divine exists in every created thing,
because God the Creator -
who is the Lord from eternity -
produced from Himself
the sun of the spiritual world,
and by means of that sun
all the constituents of the universe.
Consequently that sun
which originates from the Lord
and in which the Lord is,
is not only the first substance,
but also the one and only substance
from which springs everything else.
Moreover, because it is the one and only substance,
it follows that it exists in all created things,
but with infinite variety
in accordance with the uses they serve.

DP 6 [1]

Many people acknowledge
that there is a single substance which is also the first,
from which all else originates.
But they do not know the nature of that substance.
They believe it to be so simple
that there is nothing simpler,
that it can be likened to a point having no dimension,
and that from an infinite number of such points
have sprung forms having dimension.
This is, however, a misconception,
arising from a spatial concept.
For from the perspective of this concept
there appears to be such a least entity.
But yet the truth is
that the simpler and purer a thing is,
the greater and more replete it is.
That is the reason
that the more interiorly any object is viewed,
the more marvelous, perfect and beautiful
are the elements seen in it.
And consequently that in the first substance
are the most marvelous, perfect and beautiful of all.

This is the case because the first substance
arises from the spiritual sun,
which, as we said, originates from the Lord
and within which is the Lord.
Thus that sun is itself the one and only substance,
and because it does not exist in space,
it is the all in all things,
and exists in the greatest and least elements
of the created universe.