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They trust in the Wisdom and Love of the Absolute Being, and manifest a perfect Confidence, Trust and Peaceful Patience in the Ulti- mate Justice, and Final Victory of the Divine Plan. No doubt disturbs this idea — it pays no attention to the apparent contradictions in the finite phenomenal world, , but sees that all things are proceeding toward some far-away goal, and that "All is Well with the Uni- verse." But they do not think for a moment, or teach in the slightest degree, that all this Unfoldment, and Plan of the Universe, has for its object any advantage, benefit or gain to the Absolute — such a thought would be THE ONE AND THE MANY. 121 folly, for the Absolute is already Perfect, and Its Per- fection cannot be added to, or taken away from. But they do positively teach that there is a great beneficial purpose in all the Plan, accruing in the end to the de- veloped souls that have evolved through the workings of the plan. These souls do not possess the qualities of the Infinite — they are Finite, and thus are capable of receiving benefits; of growing, developing, unfold- ing, attaining. And, therefore, the Yogis teach that this building up of Great Souls seems to be the idea of the Infinite, so far as may be gained from an ob- servation of the Workings of the Plan. The Absolute cannot need these Great Souls for Its own pleasure, and therefore their building-up must be for their own advantage, happiness and benefit. The Yogis teach, on this subject, that there can be only ONE Real Perfect Being — Perfect without ex- perience — Perfect from the Beginning — but only ONE! In other words, they teach that there can be no such thing as Absolute Perfection, outside of the Absolute Itself — and that not even the Absolute Be- ing can create another Absolute Being, for in that case there would be no Absolute Being at all, but only two Relative Beings. Think over this for a moment, and you will see its truth. The ABSOLUTE must always be "the One without a Second," as the Yogis express it — there can- not be two Perfect ones. And so, all Finite Beings, being Finite, must work their way up toward the plane of Perfection by The Path of Life, with all of 122 GNANI YOGA. its lessons, tasks, cares, pains, and strivings. This is the only way open to thern — and even the Absolute cannot have it otherwise, and still be the Absolute. There is a fine point here — the Absolute is All-Pow- erful, but even that All-Power is not sufficient to en- able It to destroy Its Absolute Being. And so, you who have wondered, perhaps you may now under- stand our words in the First Lesson of this series, in which we said that the message of the Absolute to some of the Illumined has been : "All is being done in the best and only possible way — I am doing the best I can — all is well — and in the end will so appear." And, as we also said in that First Lesson : "The Ab- solute, instead of being an indifferent and unmoved spectator to its own creation, is a striving, longing, active, suffering, rejoicing, feeling Spirit, partaking of the feelings of Its manifestations, rather than cal- lously witnessing them. It lives in us — with us — through us. Back of all the pain in the world, may be found a great feeling and suffering love." And in this thought there is comfort to the doubting soul — peace to the troubled mind. In the Sixth Lesson, we shall proceed to deliver to you the further Message of Truth, concerning "how" the One Absolute manifests Its Mental Images as Uni- verse; Universal Life; and Forms and Shapes; and Individualities, and Personalities. We had hoped to include the whole Message in this Fifth Lesson, but now find that we have merely laid the steps by which the student may reach the Essential Truth. THE ONE AND THE MANY. 123 But, lest the student may be left in an uncertain state of mind, awaiting the conclusion of the consid- eration of the subject — and lest he may think that we intend teaching him that the Universe, and all in it, including himself are "Dreams," because we have said that All Things are Thought-Forms in the Mind of the Absolute — lest this misunderstanding may arise, we wish to add a few parting words to what we have said. We wish to impress upon the mind of the student that though all Things are but Thought-Forms in the Mind of the Absolute Being, and that while it is true that the entire Universe of Universes is simply a Thought-Form held in the Mind of the Absolute — still this fact does not mean that all Things are "illu- sions" or "dreams." Remember this, now and for- ever, O Student — that that which is held in the Ab- solute Mind as a Thought-Form IS, and is all there IS, outside of the Absolute Itself. When the Abso- lute forms a Thought-Form, It forms it out of Its own mental substance — when the Absolute "holds any- thing in Its Mind," It holds it in Itself— for the Abso- lute is ALL-MIND. The Absolute is not a material Being, from which Material Beings are created. It is a Spiritual Being — a Being whose Substance is akin to that which we call "Mind," only raised to Infinity and Absolute Per- fection and Power. And this is the only way it can "create" — by creating a Thought-Form in Its Mental, or Spiritual Substance. The faintest "Thought" of 124 GNANI YOGA. the Absolute is more real and durable than anything that man can create — in fact, man can "create" noth- ing, for all the hard and real material he uses in his "creations," such as steel, diamonds, granite, are but some of the minor Forms, "thought" into being by the Absolute. And also remember this, that the Absolute cannot "think" of anything, without putting Itself in that thing, as its Essence. Just as a man's Mental Images are not only in his mind, but his mind is in them, also. Why, you doubting and timorous ones, does not even the finite "thinking" of Man manifest itself in physical and material changes of form and shape? — does not a man's every thought actually "create" phys- ical forms and shapes, in his brain-cells and physical tissue ? You who are reading these words — yea, while you are reading these words — are "creating" changes of form and shape in your brain-cells, and physical organism. Your mind is constantly at work, also, in building up your physical body, along the lines of the Instinctive Mind (see previous series of lessons) — you are mentally creating in a miniature universe, every moment of your life. And yet, the idea of the Absolute "creating" a Universe by pure Thought, in Its own Mind, and thereafter causing the work of the Universe to proceed according to Law, by simply "Willing" it so, causes you to wonder, and perhaps to doubt. O, ye of little faith, you would deny to the Abso- lute even the power you possess yourself. You plan THE ONE AND THE MANY. 125 things in your mind every day, and then proceed to cause them to appear in material manifestation, and yet you doubt the ability of the Absolute to do like- wise. Why even the poets, or writers of fiction, cre- ate characters in their minds — and these seem so real, that even you imagine them to be actual entities, and you weep over their pains, and smile at their joys — and yet all this is on the finite plane. Why, even the "imaginations" of your petty finite, undeveloped minds, have sufficient power to make your physical bodies sick, or well, or even to cause you to "die," from some imagined ailment. And yet you doubt the power of the Absolute, to "think" things into being ! You tiny students in the great Kindergarten of Life — you must learn better lessons from your little blocks and games. And you will — this is the Law. And you who are filled with the sense of your small- ness, and "unreality" — know you that so long as you are "held in the Mind of God," then so long are you "remembered" by Him. And so long as you are re- membered by Him, no real harm can befall you, and your Reality is second only to His own. Even though you pass out of your mortal frame — doth he remem- ber you in His Mind, and keeping you there, he holds you safe and unharmed. The greatest satisfaction that can come to one, is to be able to fully realize that he, or she, is held firmly IN THE MIND OF THE INFINITE BEING. To such comes the knowledge that in THAT LIFE there can be NO DEATH. Peace be with you in this Realization. May you make it your own! THE SIXTH LESSON Within the Mind of The One. In our last lesson we gave you the Inner Teachings of the Yogi Philosophy, relating to the real nature of the Universe, and all that is therein contained. We trust that you have pondered well and carefully the statements contained in that lesson, for in them is to be found the essence of the highest Yogi teachings. While we have endeavored to present these high truths to you in the simplest possible form, yet unless your minds have been trained to grasp the thought, you may have trouble in fully assimilating the essence of the teachings. But, be not discouraged, for your mind will gradually unfold like the flower, and the Sun of Truth will reach into its inmost recesses. Do not be troubled if your comprehension seems dull, or your progress slow, for all things will come to you in time. You cannot escape the Truth, nor can the Truth escape you. And it will not come to you one moment sooner than you are ready to receive it, nor will it be delayed one moment in its coming, when you are ready for it. Such is the Law, and none can escape it, nor alter it, nor modify it. All is Well, and All is Under the Law — nothing ever "happens." To many, the thought that the Universe and all that is therein contained, are simply "Thought Forms" in the Infinite Mind — Mental Creations of the Absolute, may seem startling, and a sense of unreality may per- vade one.