SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

OR REGENERATION
R.C.DOUGLASS

s^™^*
Class _

Book-.

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT,
SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION
OR

REGENERATION
 ;

" SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

OR

REGENERATION
The Law and Process of the Unfoldment

of the Christ in Consciousness

BY

R. C. DOUGLASS

Profounder, profounder
Man's spirit must dive
His aye-rolling orbit
At no goal will arrive ;
The heavens that now draw him
With sweetness untold,
Once found, —
for new heavens
He spurneth the old.
Emerson

Correct the portrait by the living face,

Man's God by God's God.
Browning

BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD
1903
 J)(o'7>3
the library OF
congress
Two Copies Received

MAR 6 1903
Copvrignt Entry

CLASS (\_ XXc. No

COPY B.

Copyright, 1903, by R. C. Douglass.

Published, February, 1903.

All rights reserved.

Spiritual Evolution or Regeneration.

BOSTON
 PREFACE
THESE Private Lessons in Practical Christian

Metaphysics are offered to the public in response

to many requests from our students, some of whom
came into the Spiritual Consciousness through
them. They are offered in the same spirit of
assurance in which they have always been given
in class work.
Their didactic form comes from this first use
of them as the necessity of class teaching. And
we have allowed this form to remain, because we
conceive it quite possible, that this may prove the
more effective way to impart the basic principles

of Truth to any reader, who will consider himself

a student while reading them. We have made
certain portions of the Bible the basis of our
reasoning; because those portions contain the
essential and fundamental principles of the phil-
osophy of the eternal order of all Evolution,
whether Cosmical or Spiritual. This has involved
an incidental Spiritual interpretation ; showing the
5
 PREFACE

Scriptures to have be^n written solely for the

purpose of teaching Truth ; that there is a scien-

tific law running through them as accurate as the

law of the more physical sciences ; and that
the highest philosophy is couched under all its

histories, prophecies, and figures.

If we have made clear something of the pro-

found Spiritual philosophy of Christianity, suffi-

ciently to lead some struggling souls — who

perhaps had stumbled at the " letter of the Word,"

or at certain dogmatic teachings concerning it —
into the Light, and into a deeper and broader
Christian experience — into the realization of the

Christ in Consciousness — until they have made

the demonstration, that Righteousness in Con-
sciousness is Health of both Soul and Body, —
then we shall be satisfied that we have not labored
in vain.

For some of the conceptions of the Genesis

Allegory we are indebted to our first teacher
in Christian Metaphysics, Rev. G. D. Robinson,
who clearly saw the symbolic aspect of the

Creation story, and showed us the perfection of

the correspondence; and worked it out in a
similar way.
6
 PREFACE

We send this message forth on its mission, with

more than a wish — with the prayer of faith, that

some Spiritual Seed-thought may find a receptive

matrix in the heart of each reader, where it shall

do its regenerative work, and bring forth fruit in a

Regenerated Life.

R. C. Douglass.
Boston, Mass., February, 1903.
 CONTENTS
PART I.
Chapter Page
Introduction to the Genesis Symbology. i 3

I. The Awakening . 21

II. Denial — Discrimination ...... 47

III. Affirmation — Concentration .... 72
IV. The "Two Great Lights" 97
V. Thought and Expression 119
VI. The Man that God Made 144

PART II.

Introduction to the Christ Symbology. 171

VII. The Immaculate Conception and New

Birth 179
VIII. Unfoldment in Wisdom unto Manhood . 206
IX., Overcoming — "The Wilderness" . . 230
X. The Demonstrations of the Adept . . 250
XL "Gethsemane" — Self- Renunciation . .
275
XII. "The Crucifixion"- — Elimination of the

Self 298
XIII. " Resurrection " — " The Sabbath " —
The Christ-Consciousness . . . . 321
Conclusion 344
9
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

REGENERATION

PART I

FOLLOWING THE "SIX DAYS" OF THE

GENESIS SYMBOLOGY
 INTRODUCTION

PART I

THE GENESIS SYMBOLOGY

The object of these pages is not Theological

controversy, nor the exploiting of the " higher

criticism," since the author lays no claim to theo-

logical training. Nevertheless, all study of Truth
in the nature of the case involves controversy, and
touches elbows with Theology. In the nature of
man's being, as a Spiritual Son of a Spiritual
Father, any man may be taught of God, inde-
pendent of the schools, who will discipline him-

self properly in meditation. Because by thus

" entering into his closet," he may come en
rapport with Omniscience, and be instructed like
the prophets of old.
The one thing all the world is seeking is Truth.
This is the " Pearl of Great Price," which we are
13
 INTRODUCTION

exhorted to "seek" — tc "search for as for hid

treasures ;
" and which when found satisfies the
hunger of the soul. Truth is eternal, unchange-
able, Spiritual Principle, — like the " seamless

robe," symmetrical and unrendable, rather than a

debatable, uncertain, intellectual conception. Lu-

cretia Mott said : "Truth for authority, not author-

ity for Truth." Because Truth is eternal Principle,

the great Teacher of Truth said :

" I Am Truth."
By identifying himself with the Christ, the Princi-

ple of Truth, He " spake as one having authority."

Truth, therefore, is Divine and of priceless value.

Pilate's query is the question of the ages, never

solved, as long as men search only through intel-

lect, objectively. As our life is first developed
along lines of objectivity, we naturally first seek
for Truth intellectually, as though it were an
objective something, which the mind can handle
and analyze. It is because of this established

habit of objective living and thinking that we con-

tinue this blind search in the darkness.

But Spiritual Truth is not found that way;

because primarily it is not a thing of Intellect.
For since all Truth is Spiritual, it can only be
" Spiritually discerned." Then after having once
14
 INTRODUCTION

conceived the Spiritual Idea, we may proceed to

clothe it in intellectual formula ; that by means

of the symbolism of words we may convey to

another our conception.

This is the way all the Prophets wrote, the way
all Truth is found. The reason the "Word of the
Lord" spoken by Prophets had so great power is

because they received it direct from the great

Fountain of Infinite Wisdom ; which enabled
them to speak from the standpoint of Truth, —
with authority.
Christ is called " The Word " - — the Logos, pro-
ceeding from the Father. This was the concep-
tion of the Greeks five hundred years before
Christ. This was the conception of St. John and
Philo, and according to the Kabbalists, who were
profound metaphysicians, this was the conception
of the Hebrews. For Josephus in his treatise on
" Hades " addressed to the Greeks, said :
" What
you Greeks call Logos, we Jews call Christ." The
Hebrew, Chokmah (Wisdom), is their term for

this Wisdom-Word or principle, which is the

second Sephira, and which, like the Logos ,
pro-
ceeds from the Father (Ketker, the first Sephira).
Thus Chokmah is the Son ; and yet he is called
.15
 INTRODUCTION

" the active and evident Father ;

" to whom the
Mother is united — Binah (the Understanding),
the third Sephira. From the union of the mascu-
line Chokmah and the feminine Binah proceed all

Creations. This is why Christ is called " The

Everlasting Father " in Is. 9 : 6. The other
names ascribed to Chokmah are Yah, Yahveh
(I Am).
It is evident that all these terms refer to a

great Spiritual Principle within us, establishing

the fact that Christ is the great Principle of

Divinity in Man. And so the Father is forever
honoring and working through the Son. For the
Son is the Eternal Word {Logos), by which the
worlds were made; "and without the Word was
not anything made that was made."
Thus Christ is the Impersonal Word — the In-

finite Word — the Logos — the Truth — the Divine

Idea proceeding from Infinite Mind ; which goes
forth clothed with authority and power to express

itself, on all planes of expression.

This Son of God in every man is the " Essential

Christ" — the universal Savior. The personal

Jesus ever recognized and identified himself with
this Essential Christ, and constantly lived and
16
 INTRODUCTION

spoke from this Central principle ; until he

earned the distinguished compound name, " Jesus-
Christ; " which represents Humanity Regenerated
— Humanity and Divinity united, making the
Divine-Human.
Thus Christ is "The Word of God; " which is

"The sword of the Spirit," — "sharper than any

two-edged sword," — " dividing asunder Soul and
Spirit." Let us see what is the force of these

terms.
As God is a Trinity, — Father, Mother, Son —
so Man is a trinity, — Spirit, Soul, and Body. In
both cases the three are one. Of the Human
trinity the " Spirit " is the Divine part of man ; the
" Soul " is the Human Consciousness, needing
salvation by instruction in Wisdom ; and the
" Body " is the outward expression of the Soul,
which is as far from perfection as is the Soul, —
and the Salvation of which is wrought through
the Soul's redemption.

With this analysis of man's nature we may

understand how the " Sword of the Spirit " can
" divide asunder Soul and Spirit."

Man has lived so fully in the mere animal con-

sciousness that he cannot distinguish between
17
 INTRODUCTION

" soul" and " spirit." But the revelation of man's

Spiritual nature is made by the Spirit only — by
the " piercing even to the dividing asunder — "

showing the distinction between the sin-stained

" Soul" and the incorruptible "Spirit," between
the Human and the Divine elements of his

nature, in other words.

Man cannot possibly aspire to a higher unfold-

ment, until the Logos-Sword has " divided asunder
Soul and Spirit," enabling him to distinguish be-
tween the True and the False, that he may identify

himself with the Christ-Spirit, — Divinity within,

and thus unfold his highest potentialities. Every-

thing depends on a wise choice. With this revel-

ation of the Spirit, he may intelligently " choose

that better part," and identify himself with the
Divine part of his nature, and thus ultimately be-
come Divine in Consciousness.
Truth is something for the individual, and is dis-

coverable by prayerful meditation. Another may

direct your feet in the way of its discovery ; but
you must by desire and receptivity find it for

yourself. Books and teachers are aids ; but only

aids. They are as often hindrances ; because they
are on the external plane — objective. There is a
18
 :

INTRODUCTION

Wisdom higher than the wisdom of the world —

a Wisdom not contained in books, nor taught by
man, to be found only within.

Some twenty-five years ago Joseph Cook said

"The Heathen, who have never heard of the
Historical Christ, may know the Essential Christ,

and so find Salvation." We have called such great

philosophers as Socrates and Plato " heathen,"
"
because they did not know the " Historical Christ ;

for which they were not responsible. But who

shall say they did not know the "Essential
Christ " ? Certainly they were devout searchers
for Truth. And Christ is Truth. A larger

charity and truer Christianity will recognize the

Christian in every genuine lover of Truth for its

own sake, though he may not know the " Histori-

cal Christ, " nor accept the conventional formulae of

what is called theology. The broader Christianity

will recognize the Christ in the exact philosophic
statement of Truth.
Plato did not live in vain ; nor was he here by
accident. He left for the world a rich legacy of
Truth in intellectual form ; which the broader and
fuller Christianity must in the coming time utilize

in a broader and fuller Theology.

19
 INTRODUCTION

The time is come when Religion must be scien-

tific, and Science must be religious. The time

has come when Theology must be philosophic,
and Philosophy must be theologic. For whatever
is true belongs to Christ; because Christ is Truth.
In this work we have endeavored to search out

the Spiritual meaning of that ancient mystic

Story of Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis
which, while seeming to be statements of fact, in

the objective world, is in the real intent and pur-

pose of the allegory a sort of compendium of the
high esoteric teaching and metaphysical philoso-
phy known to the ancients, — in the hope of being
able to show thereby the deeper and more vital

principles of the " Essential Christ " in the indi-

vidual Consciousness. We have emphasized the

Spiritual Idea, because we conceive this to be the
essential thing of the Scriptures, to which its

histories are subservient, and for which its alle-

gories are given.

20
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

THE " FIRST DAY : —THE AWAKENING

"And God said, 'Let there be Light': and there was

Light." — Gen. 1:3.

" Man is Man's ABC. There is none that can

Read God aright, until he first spell MAN." — Quarles.
POPE said :
" The proper study of mankind is

Man."
If this be our " proper study," it is of highest
importance to the correct understanding of Man
that our viewpoint be correct, in order that we
may see him truly — as he is, in truth. If our
viewpoint be human and earthly, we shall see
him human and "of the earth earthy," manifest-
ing all the baser qualities of humanity. But if

our point of view can be changed from the earthly

conception to the heavenly, — then with
-
divinely
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

perfect vision we shall see, as it were, through the

eyes of Divinity, beholding him as God sees him,

His own perfect Son, " made in His Image, after

His Likeness." This is the True Man, truly seen.

Therefore in the highest sense being God-derived,
and not earth-born, he is not, in truth y
what he
appears to be from the earth viewpoint. Heaven-
born, he is naturally a worshipping being. This
has been his record in all history; which is at

least suggestive of his high origin. But by reason

of the dark obscurity of his earthly history it is

not surprising that in all the historical ages gross

superstitions have characterized all forms of relig-

ion. Even at the present day superstition is a

large element in religion. No form or system is

entirely free from it. So much of the effete past

clings to us. There is nothing so persistent as

superstition. Naturally we see not our own super-
stitions; but we want others to lay aside theirs
and conform to ours. Therefore, from our point
of view, they are "heathen." From their point

of view we are heathen. We think them supersti-

tious. Are we entirely free from it? These things
are our inheritance from the rude ages and ruder

races of the long, dark past.

22
 THE "FIRST DAY"

We are now in the Twentieth Century, which is

to evolve a purer, though not less Christian,

system of religious thought, free from the swad-

dling clothes of superstition, — a system that shall

be in keeping with the higher intelligence of this

progressive age. The superior intelligence of the

present day demands that we bring our religious

ideas into the Areopagus of sound reason, and

prove our theorems by the keenest tests of reason
and philosophy. Applying the test of philosophy
and reason Swedenborg called religion " an exact
science." So great is the demand and tendency
of the times in this direction that we have in

" Christian Science," " Divine Science," " Mental

Science," etc., so many efforts to prove the princi-

ples underlying the teachings of Jesus to be true

because scientific, and scientific because demon-

strable.

In this treatise on the practical Metaphysics of

the Scriptures we shall endeavor to reason logi-
cally, philosophically, and scientifically concerning
God, Man, and the Universe, to show that Chris-
tianity is both scientific and demonstrable, and
therefore worthy the consideration of the brightest

minds.
23
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

All true sciences are demonstrable. Theology,

the greatest of sciences, ought to be as demon-
strable as chemistry or geometry ; and will be
when the scientific thought is given full play,

when its doctrines are deductions drawn from un-

assailable premises of Absolute Truth. But if the

superstitious element, which tradition has handed
down, is a large factor in its formulated state-

ments, it will not only fail of demonstration, but

its doctrinal statements will degenerate into dogma,
instead of being scientific theorems.

Well do thinking men question a theology that

offers no higher authority for its statements than
bald dogmatic assertion. Men of reason require
demonstration, justly repudiating the undemon-
strable as a false claimant. No wonder thinking
men have fled from dogmatism to agnosticisms.
The old, so-called, science of Astronomy, which
rested on sense evidence alone, assuming the
earth to be flat, with all the sidereal host revolving

around it, could not be demonstrated, on account

of its false premises. Therefore it had to yield to

a better system, founded on eternal principles of

truth, a system which could be demonstrated,
before it could justly be called a science.
24
 THE "FIRST DAY"

Just so the old medieval system of dogmatic

theology, founded on the letter of external evi-
dences and traditional superstitions, must in this
day of scientific thought yield to a better the-
ology, resting on a scientific and demonstrable
basis.

Why should not Spiritual as well as material

things be scientific? Indeed, since the Spiritual

underlies the material, the Spiritual sciences

should claim our attention first, as fundamental to

the material.
For there is always an exact correspondence
between the material and the Spiritual. Where-
fore, if one factor in the correspondence be scien-
tific, the other must be.
The great teacher of Galilee was a profound
philosopher. Wherefore, all his statements rested

on a scientific basis ; without which they could

not have stood the test of the ages. A system of
ethics without a scientific basis would be quite
unthinkable to the scientific mind. Every great
system has had its philosophy ; and the more pro-
found that philosophy, the more enduring its

power.
Perhaps the greatest reason that Christianity is so
25
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

enduring and appeals so strongly to the human

heart is its profound Spiritual philosophy. But
dogmatism, which ignores philosophy, has shorn
it of this greatest element of power.
If a philosophic and scientific Christianity, in-

stead of dogmatic Church-ianity, can be taught

the people, we shall have a religious system most
enduring, because founded on the strongest ele-

ments of human nature, the religious and the

scientific combined.
The materialistic thought of Western civiliza-

tion has materialized and occidentalizcd Christi-

anity, so that it has lost the beautiful Spiritual
philosophy, originally its basis, which it inherited

from the most ancient civilization of which we

have any accurate knowledge, that of its ancestors,

the Aryans, whose schools of Spiritual philosophy

have with wonderful persistency continued all the
way down to the Christian era, appearing in modi-
fied form in Egypt, Chaldea, and Greece, and in

the schools of the prophets among the Hebrews.

Rabold points out a long line of these Divinity

Schools, where devout students assembled to study

the philosophy of God and man thousands of years
before our era. The first thing required of these
26
 ;

THE "FIRST DAY"

students was to lay aside all prejudices, that, un-

trammelled by preconceived opinions, they might

be open and receptive to Truth.
The starting point of their reasoning was the
postulation of God as " First Cause." Thus they
reasoned from Cause to Effect, recognizing Mind
as the great Creative Causation. In this way they
learned to develop the creative power of their

own minds, and became Mystics or miracle-work-

ers ; and their success in thus handling the higher

Spiritual forces successfully depended on their

living clean, Spiritual lives, above the plane of the

ordinary human. The feats of magic performed
to-day by the Brahman mystics and self-denying
Gnanis are so wonderful that their narration
would scarcely be believed. Yet they seem well
authenticated. By the development of the higher
Spiritual powers the genuine mystic was able to
overcome the lower natural laws, as the overcom-
ing of gravitation by levitation, enabling him to

walk on the water, etc- In course of time others

outside the Secret Brotherhood began to imitate
and thus the fakir and the charlatan appeared,
causing the genuine to be discredited.
The Hebrew Prophets were students of the
27
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

" Ancient Mysteries," and therefore understood

the secret of Spiritual power.
Elijah was a true mystic, and so well understood

the creative power of thought that he was able

to sustain himself and the poor widow of Zare-
phath a whole year on " a handful of meal and a
cruse of oil."

Doubtless all the Prophets were mystics, who

learned and taught this " Secret Wisdom " in the

" Schools of the Prophets."

Jesus of Nazareth was a prince among mystics

and by using the Spiritual powers inherent in

himself he was able to overcome physical laws by

understanding and employing the higher Spiritual
laws.

By the creative power of thought he was able

"
to multiply the " five loaves and two small fishes

sufficiently to feed " five thousand men, beside

women and children," if this story is to be taken

literally. There is no miracle wrought without

law ; and he who knows the law, and lives up to

its requirements, may do the works.

What is to-day called " mysticism," " occultism,"
etc., is a modified relic of a very ancient and pure
Spiritual religious teaching —a religious system
28
 THE "FIRST DAY"

of prehistoric origin found in its purest form

among the Himalayan Hindus, and which is the
parent of all succeeding systems, including the
Hebrew system. For we read that "Abraham
came out from Ur of the Chaldees," where this

mystic religion was still taught; and he stamped

the spirit of the " secret mysteries " upon the
succeeding Jewish system. Next came Moses,
" learned in all the wisdom of Egypt ;
" and the
"wisdom of Egypt" was the "ancient mysteries"
or " Wisdom Religion " of their ancient Aryan
ancestors, modified or intellectualized by the pecul-
iarity of Egyptian thought. He was, then, a real
mystic ; and the principle of his ethical system
was oriental mysticism, full of symbols and sym-
bolic rites, to portray to the mind certain Spiritual

experiences of the heart.

Freemasonry is now believed to have had a

much greater antiquity and nobler origin than its

devotees even dared to suspect; being a relic of

this ancient system, which its allegories veil and

its symbols conceal, — retaining but the hollow
shell of ceremony as earmarks to indicate its high
origin and great antiquity. This is clearly shown

29
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

by J. D. Buck in his wonderful work, " Mystic

Masonry."
Those familiar with the Kabbala of the ancient
Hebrews see that all the Prophets were the high-
est order of mystics, that they had in the " Schools
of the Prophets " the secrets of the highest Wis-
dom of antiquity.
Thus all the earliest schools were religious

schools, in which the " Heavenly Mysteries," the

highest wisdom, was taught. Then the mystic was
the wise man, the Prophet of the Lord. Now, as

then, the Spiritual is mystical, occult (hidden), to

unregenerate intellect. In the nature of the case

the Spiritual is hidden from men not on the
Spiritual plane.

Since Jesus was a prince among mystics, in

order to understand the secret wisdom of his high

teaching it will be necessary to be, as it were, " in-
itiated into the mysteries " of the kingdom of
Heaven; understanding which, the things long
hidden become revealed.
The practical purpose of this course of lessons

in Christian Metaphysics is the training of the

mind in Spiritual thought ; so that we may be-
come " Initiates " into these mysteries. " To you
30
 :

THE "FIRST DAY"

it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom

of heaven," said Jesus.
The whole Bible is a book of " Concealed Mys-
teries," written by mystics in the language of
mystics, — in symbol, metaphor, allegory, and
allegoric history. Therefore he who would dis-

cover its hidden arcana must possess the key to its

Spiritual interpretation. For Spiritual Truth is

inexpressible, except in a symbolic way.

Of course we understand the story of Creation

as given in Genesis is one of the most ancient of

allegories, and not original with Moses.
That wonderful allegory has a vastly broader

meaning than the materialist conceives. It opens

with the fundamental assumption

" In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

In searching for the hidden or Spiritual mean-

ing of the Scriptures the first thing necessary to
do is to eliminate Time and Space from our
thought ; that the Spiritual sense may be realized
as Now and Here. Time and Space are things of
the world of sense. God and all things Spiritual
must be considered apart from Time and Space.

3i
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Eternity is the unfathomable r.nd immeasurable

Now.
" Now is the accepted time, and behold ! Now is the day

of Salvation."

The fuller expression of this Genesis statement

may therefore be

In the Eternal NOW God is forever Creating.

The real vital and living value of the WORD is in

its Now-ness and Here-ness, — within — without

Where or When. The Spiritual or essential prin-

ciple is never in the historical.

" It is nigh thee, and in thy heart and in thy mouth, the
Word of Truth."

This Genesis story is an allegorical portrayal of

the Cosmic order, primarily designed to show the
process for the unfoldment of the Spiritual Con-
sciousness in the individual. In other words, it is

the story of Regeneration, — the great theme of

all Scriptures.

But considering it as a statement in logical

reasoning, this was Moses' first or basic proposi-

tion, his " Datum " of reasoning, — his first postu-

late, — his beginning — not God's ; for God never.

32
 THE "FIRST DAY"

began, either to be or to create. There could no

more be a beginning of Creation than of God.
But considering it as referring both to the cosmi-
cal and Spiritual processes, which follow the same
law, it is not a declaration of what God once did a

few thousand years ago, and only once. It is

rather what he is forever doing, world without end.

For what was once true of God is forever true.

"lam the Lord : I change not."

And so this shall be our Datum, our " begin-

ning," our first proposition or assumption in de-
ductive reasoning concerning God, the Universe
and Man. We first assume or postulate God.
Afterward we will endeavor to prove God.
We start, then, with God postulated as the
Absolute or underived First CAUSE ; and from
this axiomatic datum we are to make our deduc-
tions of Truth. If our premises are true, the con-
clusion must be true ; and we shall be always within
the sphere of Truth.
There was never a time when Infinite Mind was
not; when it was less than infinite ; when it began
to think or express itself.

That is, — since Thought is creative, there was

33
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

never a time when God began to create. For

without Thought Mind would not be Mind. Thus
Creation is a necessity of Mind, and must have

always been.
A beginning of Creation is as unthinkable as a

beginning of God.
In this discussion it is not our purpose to follow
the Cosmical process in the material world ; but
rather to follow the same process in the Spiritual

world. For the Spiritual world within is the exact

correspondent of the world without. The unfold-

ment of the Spiritual Consciousness is cosmical

and not arbitrary, orderly and not fortuitous,

exactly as with the world without.

We have a world within, a Spiritual world to be
created or unfolded. In the process of Regenera-
tion the individual starts with his " world without

form and void." Everything is at first chaotic to

the mind, as it begins to think : there is " dark-

ness upon the face of the deep," — the darkness

of ignorance, — until dispelled by the Light of
Truth through sound reasoning. This orderly
process continues through alternate " evenings

and " mornings," until the unfolding soul finds its

fruition in the " Sabbath," the nightless Day of

34
 THE "FIRST DAY"

Spiritual Realization ; which is the Kingdom of

Heaven come — Salvation realized — Regenera-
tion accomplished.

There can be no Spiritual unfoldment without

the Divine Spirit. There can be no Spiritual Con-
ception without the " Brooding Spirit."

" The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of

the Highest overshadow thee,"

before thy heart can conceive the Spiritual Christ,

that the Christ may be born in thee, — before
there can be any unfoldment of Divinity in Con-
sciousness. There is no Spiritual Light amid the
native darkness of " mortal mind," until " the
"
Spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters
of the mind.
" Let there be Light," is the inevitable result,
— the Christ conceived, — and Christ
is is Light,
— "the Light that lighteth every man that cometh
into the world." After the New Conception there
follows the New Birth.

This is The Awakening, — the dawn of a

brighter hope, — the beginning of a New Life, —

the First Step in Regeneration, — the " First Day"
of the New Creation. We must remember that
35
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

what is true of the world without is true of the

world within, by correspondence.

The New Birth makes you an " Initiate " into

the order of the " Brotherhood of the Sons of

God." By the true " Immaculate Conception
the Christ is born to consciousness. You have
entered the " Path " of Regeneration. Hence-
forth all your steps and experiences must be in

and under the illuminating Light of Christ, the

Living Truth.
In this " First Day" of our " Initiation" let us
see what new revelations this New Light will

reveal. For we are now in the " School of the

Prophets," studying Divine Philosophy.
In beginning our reasoning according to Divine
Wisdom, the most fundamental statement we can
make is our First Postulate, namely : GOB IS.
Then, answering the natural inquiry, What is God,
we affirm God is BEING. But how can we know
what Being is? The only way is to begin with
yourself, by first recognizing your own existence
which is not difficult; because no one can deny
his own existence. You cannot possibly think of
yourself as non-existent. Through recognizing
your existence you may recognize your Being, from
36
 THE "FIRST DAY"

which you exist. As you contemplate Being —

your own Being — your thought will expand, until

you begin to get a conception of Infinite Being, —

BEING Eternal, Omnipresent, and Omniscient. In

this conception of the Infinite we may understand

that in the limitless abyss there is no place nor
point in space where Being is not.

A distinction must be made, however, between

Being and Existence ; which is the distinction be-
tween the Unmanifest and the Manifest.
Ex-istence implies something back of itself,

from which it ex-ists. Therefore it is not strictly

proper to say that God exists. For this were to
suppose something back of Him, from which he
exists. God is Eternal Being Uncreate. Only
that ex-ists, as the Manifest, which stands out
from (ex, out from) the Unmanifest, — that which
appeal's by reason of that which is. God is Esse
(to be) — BEING. Man is Ex-istere (to stand out
from) — Creation. •
God, Eternal, Primordial BE-
ING, IS. Man, whose Being is in God, ex-ists from
God.
Now, because Man's Being is God, he may in

consciousness recognize God as the Being of his

being.

37
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

BEING or Esse is the original, underived Es-

sence or Divine Substance. Existere is that which
is derived from Esse, on which its existence de-
pends. Existere cannot be without Esse. But
Esse depends on nothing. It IS. Yet there is a
sense in which Esse depends on Existere. For as

Mind cannot be Mind without Thought, so God

cannot be God without Man, who is the Thought
of Infinite Mind. Mind implies Thought; Father

implies Son ; God implies Man. Each is the

other's necessity. Then while Esse is the neces-
sity of Existere, Existere becomes the necessity of
Esse. This is essentially Swedenborg's reasoning
in his " Divine Love and Wisdom."
Thus it appears that while God is Man's neces-
sity, Man is God's necessity. Since this has been
always true, it follows that Man has always existed.
For what is once true of God has always been
true. God was never alone in his universe.

Father and Son are both eternal.

Now, corroborative of our basic statement,
" Being Is," there is in every man's consciousness
the unimpeachable witness declaring,I Am. Here
every man may find God for himself, and here
only can he know him. For "I Am " is "Jeho-
38
 THE "FIRST DAY"

vali," the "Lord; and 1

the "Lord God" of the
Hebrews.
" I Am," then, is a statement of Being; and
God is BEING. Therefore in the utterance of " I

Am " you speak the Hebrew name — the greatest

Name of God ; and in that utterance you may at

once recognize your own Being and the Divine

BEING, — and discover the inseparable unity of
the two, and joyfully exclaim, " I and the Father
are One." Your own Being and the Divine Being
coalesce. The Microcosm and the Macrocosm
blend. God is inseparable from Man. God in
Man is The Lord "
" " Jehovah " —
The Christ. —
We may never know what God is in himself,
what Being is in its essence. Yet it is every man's
duty and privilege to form the highest possible
conception of him ; and by means of his largest

possible definition be able to convey to others that

high conception. In the nature of the case The

Infinite is indefinable ; because definition is itself

limitation. The Illimitable cannot be limited.

The best the finite being can do is to express its

highest conception by its largest definition. Yet

God's Name is forever unutterable in intellectual

39
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

terms. Any definition conveys but imperfectly

the individual's conception.

Definition of God : (My Conception.)

f Being, ("Life, f Principle,

GOD is<; Mind, J Truth, j Substance,

[^
Spirit, ^ Love, [
Will, —
— Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent ; —a
Trinity of Trinities in Unity; the All-embracing
INFINITE ONE; — The BEING of all beings,
the LIFE of all lives, the SUBSTANCE of all

substances; the Universal, Unchangeable GOOD;

— the ALL-FA THER-MOTHER-SON. — For

MAN is a SON of GOD, with all that this

implies.

Reading across the Trinities, we see that Life is

the Principle of Being; Truth is the Substance

of Mind ; and Love is the Will of the Spirit.
The terms " Spirit," " Substance," " Principle,"

" Truth," in their last analysis, are one and the

same thing; and therefore in their highest use
have a kindred signification — all referring to the

same Divine, Primordial Essence.

40
 THE "FIRST DAY"

Aristotle taught the Spiritual nature of Sub-

stance. He said that " A Spiritual Substance is

the cause of the Universe." Therefore we may

with exact propriety say : Of the invisible Sub-
stance of Spirit all visible things were made or
brought into visible expression. We no longer
think that an absent God created the Universe out
of nothing, nor out of pre-existent Matter. But
rather, that the One Imminent, Omnipresent In-
telligence evolved the Kosmos out of his own
Infinite Spiritual Substance. So that all things —
even Matter itself — are God in manifest expres-
sion. As Paul said :
" The things that are seen

were not made of things which do appear." That

is, Visible things were evolved out of the Invisible.

Modern physicists recognize a universal Sub-

stance, which they call Ether, invisible, intangible,
and so very energetic as to be practically omnipo-
tent. This exceedingly subtle Substance is a fit-

ting symbol of what we call God. Yet it is not

God. It is still too material ; for Ether is regarded
as Matter in its most attenuated form.
The Brahman philosophers say that there are

five ethers, one interior, as it were, to another, —

each finer and more potent than that exterior to
4i
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

itself; and that the Inmost of all is pure Divine

Spirit, the Original Essence, from which all the
more exterior ethers are evolved, until Matter, the

outermost expression, appears. And thus the In-

visible becomes manifest in forms, — the Unmani-
fest becomes Manifest, — God becomes revealed
to himself, — which is the object of Creation.
Hence the Divine One says :
" I Am God ; be-
side Me there is None Else " — naught else — He
is All.
We have thought that Matter is solid substance;

but it is not the real Substance. Only this most

interior Essence is the Real, Primal SUBSTANCE.
Spirit is the only Substance, — the Substance of
all substances. Strictly speaking, to admit another
Substance called Matter were to deny God's One-
ness and All-ness, — making him but One of Two,
or less than Infinite — hence Finite.

When we understand that matter is but a

" mode of Spirit," then nothing but Spirit will

remain in consciousness ; and we shall be getting

away from the illusions of the phenomenal, and
finding the Real in the Invisible. We are awaken-
ing to the Spiritual Consciousness.
The other factors of the Divine Name, " Mind,"

42
 THE "FIRST DAY"
" Life," " Love," and " Will " will receive further

discussion in a later chapter.

The Command, " Thou shalt not make unto

thyself a graven image " — to worship — must in-

clude a mental image as well as a physical one.

For we must not picture to ourselves a God in

human form, with human limitations and frailties.

Such a " graven image " of the mind is too narrow

and restricting for soul growth. The more truly

we can realize God as Spirit, the more nearly we

can comprenend Infinity by such a conception of
God, the more we are expanding in consciousness.

We are elevated or debased according to our con-

ception of God. Hence the sin of having a low

conception of God. This is idolatry.

David said of such heathen gods :

" They that

make them are like unto them." That is to say,

men are according to their idea of God ; and their

Gods are like themselves. Therefore a loving

man has a God of Love. So the " beloved dis-

ciple" John said: " God is Love; he that dwelleth

in Love dwelleth in God and God in him." A
revengeful man has a " God of vengeance," and
an intolerant man has an intolerant God. And so
John Calvin, revengeful and intolerant, ordered his

43
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

theological opponent, Servetus, burned at the stake.

We need have no surprise that John Calvin gave

the world a corresponding theology. And thus
the doctrine of eternal torments originated in the

wicked heart of men — never in the heart of In-

finite Love, whose " sun shines upon the evil and
the good, and who sendeth his rain on the just
and the unjust " alike. John's conception is higher
than Calvin's. The highest is none too good for

us ; since the highest conception carries us the

highest, and contains the highest worship. " God
is Good, and his Mercy endureth forever."

We must not limit the Infinite in any way, not

even to one sex. He is both masculine and femi-
nine, that Man may be his perfect expression.
When we read, " In the beginning Elohim created
the heaven and the earth," we find a name for God
which is both masculine and feminine. For the
singular form, Eloh, is feminine, and the plural,

Elohim, is masculine. Besides, the plural form

is used significantly with a singular verb. And

resultant from that biological duality there is the

Son, completing the Trinity — Father, MOTHER,

and Son.
All creating on every plane is accomplished by
44
 THE "FIRST DAY"

the union of these biological principles ; which in

the Divine nature are called the Will and the

Understanding, or their equivalents, Love and
Wisdom.
From the Divine Being in the heaven of heavens
all the way down through every manifestation of

life to the microscopic cell, the biological principle

obtains as the key to the continuity of life. It is

God everywhere working.

Material philosophers have been working from
a wrong basis to find God. Starting with the false
assumption that matter is real, they fail to find

God, the essence of all Reality. Hence they con-

clude that He is the " Unknowable." And every
one who is tinctured with the material idea has a

personal, semi-material, anthropomorphic God.

Their premises being material, their conclusions

must be materialistic to some degree. The induc-
tive reasoner, starting with matter postulated as
real, will never be able to find God, who is Spirit.
But if we reverse this order of reasoning, adopt-

ing the deductive method, we shall be able to

account for all things visible and invisible in the
universe. First we must ascend into the lofty

mount of Spiritual thought; where like Moses we

45
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

" meet God face to face," as it were, in contem-

plating and communing with our Ideal. This
Spiritual Ideal, which the Spirit reveals only " in

the mount," is God, who cannot be found u by-

searching," but only by the Spirit's revealing.

Then, starting with our IDEAL, the command is

" See thou fashion all things after the pattern

shown in the mount." For the " pattern " of our
Spiritual Temple must be " shown in the mount " —
" In the mount of God it shall be seen." It must
be revealed from above, before we can begin our
system of deductive reasoning. Then will all

things have a Divine significance and value, which

will be Spiritual to our consciousness. Then we

shall know ourselves to be Spiritual beings, living
in a Spiritual world, under a Spiritual God, who
evolved all things out of his Spiritual Substance,
because all things have a Spiritual basis and
reality.

If hitherto our ideals have been too low to

afford us complete satisfaction, we must form
higher ideals, dwelling long in their contemplation,
until " Beholding as in a glass the Glory of the
Lord, we are transformed into the same image
from Glory to Glory."

46
 "

II

THE "SECOND DAY" — DENIAL :

— DISCRIMINATION
"And God said, ' Let there be a Firmament in the midst

of the Waters, and let it divide the Waters from the Waters.'
— Gen. i:6.

THE " Second Day" of this symbology is the

Second Step in Regeneration or Spiritual Evolu-
tion. It is said that every great unfoldment has
its " six periods," and that the " seventh " is the
perfected attainment. Then what is true of the

Cosmical evolution must be true of Spiritual evo-

lution. It is the same law operating on two
planes. The process is Cosmical in both cases,
dealing with matter in the one case and mind in
the other. The Allegory always has a double

meaning, because it deals with Law operating on

two planes, showing the correspondential relation
of the two. The one can no more be denied than
the other. Both are equally true, according to
Swedenborg's great Law of Correspondences.
47
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

If this great Allegory refers primarily to the

order of the evolution of the Kosmos, and second-
arily to the evolution of the Spiritual Conscious-
ness," then its " six days " must in either case be
" periods " rather than "days." For we read:
" One day is with the Lord as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day," Then, accord-
ing to the symbology of numbers (1,000 being a
cube of io, and " 10" denoting in symbolic lan-
guage, fullness or All), the number 1,000 must
stand for an unmeasured, indefinite period, suffi-

cient to accomplish its end, as the formula io X

io X io would indicate.
It will be borne in mind, that while Time is a

necessary factor in things of the natural world, it

does not obtain on the Spiritual plane.

So while " io " and its multiples symbolizes an
unmeasured period, sufficient for the natural evo-

lution, — on the Spiritual plane, where Time does

not obtain, it stands for a full and completed ex-
perience, sufficient for the Spiritual unfoldment,

without regard to time.

Unfoldment is the order of Life ;
progression is

the Law of the universe. Everything is tending

48
 THE "SECOND TAY"

toward perfection. All Creation is moving toward

its Divine source.
In this allegory it will be noted that it is always
" the evening and the morning " that constitute

the " day," never the converse; because that would

be advancing downward. There is always an
" evening " of darkness to be dispelled by the ad-
vancing Light of " the morning," at every step of
our progress, — the darkness of ignorance over-
come by the Light of Truth. Every new day
attained has its comparative darkness, the over-
coming of which brings a greater light to the

mind. And thus we are progressing toward our

final " Seventh day " of Spiritual Illumination.

We will not lose sight of our definition of God ;

since all Spiritual reasonings depend on our con-

ception of God. Yet The INFINITE cannot be
limited or circumscribed by definition ; because it

is the function of definition to define or make

definite.

If The Infinite could be defined, there would then

be no Infinite. Definition makes definite or finite.

All that definition accomplishes is the formulation

of our conception of The Infinite; and every
human conception is necessarily finite,

49
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Definition of God — our Conception

(Being, (Life, (Principle,

God is < Mind, / Truth, Substance,

——
<J

I Spirit, (
Love,( Will ,

Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent; a Trinity

of Trinities in Unity ; the All-embracing, Infinite

ONE; the Being of all beings, the Life of all lives,

the Substance of all substances ; the Universal,

Unchangeable GOOD ;
— the All-Father-Mother-
Son. For Man is a Son of God, with all that

this implies.

Being, then, Sons of God in our Real Being, we

must be of the same Spiritual Substance and have
the same attributes as our Divine Father. " Like

Father, like Son," is a universal truism, — true on

the animal plane — on all planes— because true

on the Spiritual.
Of Jesus Christ Paul said: " In him dwelleth all

the fulness of the Godhead bodily; " — that is, in

bodily expression. What is true of the repre-

sentative man is potentially true of every man ;

—
only every man has not yet unfolded his poten-
tialities.

To unfold the potentialities of the Christ in Con-

sciousness, and consequently in bodily expression,
50
 THE "SECOND DAY"

is the great object and end of Regeneration. As

we have said, Whatever God, the Father, is, that

Man, the Son, must be potentially and those qual- ;

ities and attributes he is to unfold and bring into

bodily expression. Great as this task may seem,

and really is, it is the high privilege of man to un-
fold all the potentialities of the Godhead.
Therefore, since God is Life, Man must mani-
fest life ; and this he does to the degree of his
understanding of Life. Seeing it uncertain and
perishable, his experiences are uncertain, and he

perishes accordingly; seeing it harmonious, Om-

nipotent, God-Principled, his experiences will be

harmonious, life will be a joy, and he will be in the

way of demonstrating his highest potentialities.

Since God is Truth, his offspring should mani-

fest Truth in true conditions ; and this he does to
the degree of his understanding of what Truth is.

Since God is Power, his offspring should manifest

power, and does to the degree of his understand-
ing of what power is, its source and nature. The
secret of being able to realize Life, Truth, and
Power consists in knowing God and man's relation

to him.

If man fully knew that he is a Son of God, and

5i
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

what this means, he would awake and arise in his

might, a victor over " the world, the flesh, and the
devil." Immediately on that realization he would
begin to manifest his Divine powers, and enter
upon a great Spiritual evolution.

We are taking our Second Step out of the dark-

ness of the animal-human consciousness with its

inherent race beliefs, in search of the Light of

Truth, — truth, which, because of its unchanging
right-ness, will heal us of the wounds which error

has inflicted. And in this Second Degree of our

" initiation " we must freely use the eraser of
Denial. For if there have been errors in our past
lifework, it is quite necessary now that we erase

them, that we may be able to build our Spiritual

Temple free from the rubbish of the old thought.
Rejection of error, and denial of its reality and
power, is essential to its elimination. To this end
we must establish a " Firmament in the midst of
the Waters, to divide the Waters from the Waters."
The separation of " Waters from waters " in the

metaphysical sense is discrimination between

classes of thoughts — the true from the false, etc.

For in this symbology the " Great Deep " is the

52
 THE "SECOND DAY"

whole human mind; and the "Waters" are the

free flowing thoughts.

In all Scripture interpretation all " waters " re-

fer to things of the mind, either Spiritual or natu-

ral, according to whether the waters mentioned
are of Israel or outside of Israel.

In order to make any attainment in any depart-

ment in life it is necessary to have a high purpose
and a firm resolve. Then in discriminating between
" waters and waters " we must use great firmness
and wisdom. We are to reject from the mind all

that cannot be measured by the perfect plumb-line

of Truth, all that does not accord with our State-

ment of Being. We must in the true Christian

life learn to " walk by the plumb." " I will set a

plumb-line in the midst of my people, Israel." —

Amos 7 : 8. If we are to make Spiritual progress,

we must, when once we have discovered an error,

cut it off at all hazards ; otherwise the error re-

tained will trail our Spirituality in the dust, and

defeat us. By vigorous denial and repudiation we

erase our errors. Then we may proceed with the
solution of our problem. The mind must be
emptied of its errors and falsities before it can be
receptive to Truth. Only falsities can be destroyed,
53
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

however: Realities are eternal and indestructible.

Falsities are worse than useless : we must be rid

of them. But to us things are real or unreal

according to our consciousness of them.

By means of the imaging faculty of the mind
falsities may be pictured as realities through our
belief in them as such ; and we suffer accordingly.

Therefore what our higher intelligence finds to be

unreal it is a matter of sound wisdom to cast out
and erase from the tablets of consciousness.

Again, the mind is the " Garden of Eden; " and

the task given to every man is " to dress and keep
it." Our past experiences in the old conscious-
ness (the animal-human) have filled it full of the
weeds of error and falsity ; which must be rooted
up before we can plant the fruitful seed of Truth.
For " every plant which my Father hath not
planted shall be rooted up," said the great meta-
physical teacher.
In our effort to evolve from the animal-human
i
to the Divine-human in consciousness, we shall

find many erroneous beliefs which are common

to that race consciousness, and which must, as far

as possible, be eliminated from conscious thought;

because in the higher consciousness, to which we
54
 THE "SECOND DAY"

are aspiring, only Truth will be of use to us. In

our mind-garden we have full power and dominion,
and may mold and shape conditions to suit our-

selves. We need simply to draw on the Infinite

Intelligence within in all Spiritual work.

There is no Spiritual progress without the Light

from above. And so " The Spirit of God moves
upon the face of the waters " of mind, as the sine
qua non of this evolution.
Two Great Fundamental Errors are the source
of all error and sin.

The First Great Error we have to cope with is,

That there is another Reality and Power besides

the Good, called Evil.

If, as we have declared, God is Good, and Good

is All, then certainly there can be nothing but
Good in the universe — in the sense of Reality.
We do not deny, that in the human consciousness
there are manifestations of evil on every hand.
But those manifestations are due to the human be-
lief in them as reality. Once get rid of the idea
that it has reality, and it is immediately relegated
to the misty realm of falsity ; — and what is falsity

but a shadowy no-thing? This is the vaporous

stuff that Lies are made of— No-thing claiming
55
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

to be Some-thing. Evil, then, is " A liar and the

father of lies," as He said who solved this prob-
lem truly.

A Lie never had reality; its nothingness is

clearly seen the moment Truth is spoken, It be-

comes invisible, and vanishes like a bubble, when
once its emptiness is shown. There would be no
Spiritual darkness, if Evil were eliminated from con-

sciousness. The darkness of Egypt — " darkness

that may be felt " — comes from the consciousness
of Evil. " The Children of Israel have Light in

their dwellings ;
" because they are in the Spirit-

ual Consciousness, where there is no evil. If, as

we have said, God is the soul and substance of all

Reality, he cannot be the soul and substance of a

Lie, which has no soul or substance. To concede

Substance and Reality to Evil, gives it standing
and power — making it a God, with power over
us commensurate with our concession. We can-
not afford to have two Gods, one Good with power
to bless, and the other Evil with power to curse

us. As sure as we have we shall be in danger of

getting our gods confused (since both are in

mind) ; accusing our Good God of sending forth

his wrath to curse his children.

56
 THE "SECOND DAY"

We must be consistent concerning our idea of

God. God is GOOD; and GOOD only is Reality
Omnipresent and Omnipotent. There is no place
or power for evil, except by our concession and
recognition.

Evil is an illusion of the mortal consciousness, a

sort of phantasm of this undeveloped earthly life.

But there is a sense in which evil may be called

undeveloped Good. For if bitter consequences
follow our mistake, the consequence — the legiti-

mate fruit of the error — comes to show us the

mistake, that we may learn its lesson, and thereby
be led in Wisdom's way. So if we learn the
lesson of every experience, each experience will

have served a good purpose, and will have been

Good, and not Evil.

By using all experiences wisely, while unfolding

the higher Consciousness, and by discriminating
between Truth and Falsity, Reality and Unreality,
all the phantasmagoria of mortal sense will disap-
pear, in the ushering in of a New Day, where these
illusions do not obtain. Oh, that men might awake
and arise to the realization that God reigns — even
Now, — that " The earth is the Lord's and the full-

ness thereof" !

57
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

When you have carried the denial and renunci-

ation of evil so far that you lose the consciousness

of it, you will not see it in your brother ;

you will

have no fear of it ;
you will not see sin, nor desire
to sin ;
you will be consciously Holy. The only
hindrance to conscious holiness now is the belief
in evil. When you are in what we may call the
Good-Consciousness, only Good will come into

your life, since only Good is in Consciousness.

The Second Great Error of the race is, That
there are Two opposing Substances. Spirit and
Matter.
In our definition of God we have used the word
" Substance," affirming that Spirit is the only
Substance, and that Matter in its last analysis is

Spirit; so that fundamentally Spirit is all, or God

is All.

The Reality of Matter does not consist in its

phenomenal aspect but in the underlying Spiritual

substratum or Substantial Essence, on which the
phenomenal depends for its " appearance." The
Visible is the projection outwardly of the Divine
Invisible, which only is Real. When we say that
matter is unreal or " there is no matter," we always
have reference to the phenomenal aspect of matter,
58
 THE "SECOND DAY"

and not to its Invisible Substratum. For the In-

visible is the Real.

We shall now be understood, when we say,

" There is no matter : All is Spirit."

The intelligent use of these denials will aid us

in the comprehension of our own True Being; en-

abling us to see ourselves as Spiritual, instead of

material ; that we are even now Spiritual Beings

living Spiritual lives in a Spiritual world ; that

Holiness is everywhere, because God is every-

where, and because everything seen is the expres-
sion of God. " There is None beside Me."
It is the human, even the animal-human con-
sciousness— the Divine-Human not being yet
unfolded,— that sees things crudely material all

and imperfect, — man a creature, and fallen sinful

depraved, — God in human form, with human

faults, loving and hating alternately like itself. In
this crude, primitive state our world is " without

form and void, with darkness upon the face of the

deep."
But out of this material consciousness we are to

advance by the " Spirit of God moving upon the

face of the waters " of thought, from which plant-
ing of the Divine Seed-germ of Spiritual Life from
59
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

the " Brooding Spirit," we shall awake and arise,

unfolding the .Spiritual Consciousness day by day,

until we shall ultimately attain to the Spiritual
Consciousness, — the estate of the Divine-Human,
which is the end of Regeneration.

In order the better to unfold the Spiritual

Consciousness we must get rid of the Material

Consciousness ; and this can be done only by the
denial of that which is the basis of it. If there is

a Spiritual aspect of matter and of our bodies, we

must dwell on this Spiritual aspect of things, in

order to cultivate the Spiritual. For as long as

we make emphatic the material idea we are hold-

ing ourselves to the material and the material

consciousness.
Materiality and Evil regarded as real are two

anchors by which we are bound to earth and earth

conditions. By cutting these old cables we may
gain release from material conditions, and find rest
in the high altitudes of Spiritual understanding.
When the basic errors, hindrances to conscious
Spirituality and holiness, are removed, then will

the " most great peace " ensue, wherein " every
man shall sit under his own vine and fig-tree with

none to molest or make afraid."

60
 THE "SECOND DAY"

Our old Jerusalem (possession in peace) must

be so fully destroyed that " there shall not be left

one stone upon another that shall not be thrown

down," before we can come into our New Jerusa-
lem — the Spiritual Consciousness.

The old Jerusalem was crude, primitive, materi-

alistic. It was our then " possession in peace,"

our secure abode. It was all right in its day. We

had to come that way. But that does not signify

that we are to always stay there and become crys-

tallized in material thought, ossified and fossilized

thereby. If the soul does not grow it must crys-

tallize, so that the higher faculties cease to unfold.

Alas, what a vast army of the sons of earth pre-

fer to hug to their bosom the material idea, shut-
ting themselves up in their cocoons of material
thought until they return to dust again ! Such a

soul, leaving its " clay tenement," still retains its

material consciousness. Death does not change

the consciousness. What experiences it will pass
through, what possible re-births, what effort it will

make or not make, who can tell? How long it

will take it in its new situation (or whether it will

desire to change) to evolve the Spiritual Con-

sciousness, who can tell? Happy is he who,
61
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

while in the full possession of his faculties, shall

" choose that better part" and apply himself to

the unfoldment of his Spiritual nature and become

worthy of eternal joys !

If we would advance in unfoldment we have

got work to do. It appeals to our own better

judgment as a matter of Wisdom, that we leave

old, unsatisfying conditions, and strive for things

higher — " leaving the things that are behind (the

material idea), we press forward to the mark for

the prize of our high calling of God in Christ

Jesus," — unto the full attainment of our Divinity,

in Consciousness.
From Divinity we came forth ; Divinity was first

z/2-folded ; so that it becomes our problem to un-

fold in consciousness the within potentiality of

Divinity. Why should we hesitate a single mo-
ment to enter the path that leads to Life — the
conscious attainment of a Divine estate?
In this Second Degree of our unfoldment of this
Divine Estate we have established a "Firmament"
of discriminating Reason to separate "waters from
waters" — thoughts from thoughts. And in this

firmamental separation we place among the

" waters under the firmament " the crude mate-
62
 THE "SECOND DAY"

rialistic ideas and all thoughts of sin, bondage, and

limitation ; and among the " waters above the
firmament " the pure, elevating, Spiritual thoughts
and beautiful ideals, which carry us away from the
gloomy records of past distresses and material
limitations into the very atmosphere of heaven.
Discriminating Reason, enlightened by the
" Spirit of God moving upon the face of the
Waters" of the mind, has enabled us to renounce
and separate from the mind the Two great Funda-
mental Errors, which, if retained, will weigh us
down so seriously as to ultimately cheat us out
of the Spiritual Consciousness — the " Kingdom
of Heaven."
The First Great Error is Evil's Reality;

The Second Great Error is Matter's Reality.

From the standpoint of the Animal-Human
these seem very real ; but from the standpoint of
the Divine-Human they are unreal.

These errors, which have been in our heavens,

we now cast to the earth. " I beheld Satan as
lightning fall from heaven."
With this "satan," "the accuser of my brethren,
cast down," there will be no hindrance to our
rapid advancement in Spiritual unfoldment.
63
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

These two fundamental beliefs of a primitive

consciousness will in our final triumph over the
carnal nature be found to be the " Two Thieves"
which must be crucified with that old conscious-
ness. For these " thieves " or " robbers " of the
mind would, if allowed to remain, steal away our
Spiritual realization, and thus defeat us in our
effort to reach the Resurrection-Consciousness.
Only by the renunciation of the material idea
can we realize that this is a Spiritual world instead
of a material one; that all things are now Spir-
itual, and always have been. Only by the renun-
ciation of the " Good-and-Evil" idea can we realize

that this is God's World, and not the Devil's ; that

all things are even now " Very Good," as at first

pronounced. When this change of Consciousness

is attained, Health will be natural, Holiness will

be natural, Spirituality will be natural, the God-

Consciousness will be natural.
This radical denial of things of the old con-
sciousness, which are so real to it, this severe
iconoclasm, may at first bring a sense of distress
almost. But our old Jerusalem cannot be de-
stroyed without a struggle; still for our Christ-
unfoldment it has to go.
64
 THE "SECOND DAY"

Every old dispensation (consciousness), having

served its day, must be overthrown, before the
ushering in of a New Dispensation (or Conscious-
ness), which involves struggle. There must be
great tribulations " before that great and terrible

day of the Lord come." For our old racial be-

liefs are exceedingly tenacious ; they are a part

of us; built into us, as a part of our conscious-
ness, and can no more be eliminated without a
struggle, than a limb can be hewn from the body
without pain. Then we will not be disturbed by
the radical work of this Degree, preparatory to the
revealing of the Heavenly Man.
To the conscious mind freed from its life-long

and race-long errors there will come a wonderful

revealing of Spiritual Realities, our awakened

finer perceptions shall behold a New World of
transcendent beauty. The old heavens shall pass
away and a transformed world of heavenly mold
will appear to our transformed thought. Regen-
eration is the only reform. The very foundations
of the old life must be torn up ; the old conscious-
ness must be supplanted by a higher conscious-

ness. For as long as the old remains, the crim-

inal will be criminal still. Prisons will never
65
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

reform him. But only let the grovelling sensualist

come into this higher consciousness, — that he is

a Spiritual Being with Spiritual faculties and

powers, and he will hasten to renounce his false
pleasures and turn from them with loathing; his

false appetites will disappear, and the animal will

no longer be in dominion.
In like manner pain will disappear as soon as
you give up the idea of Evil and Matter as real.

This may be readily verified in simple acute pain

like toothache.

In my travels in the West I casually met in a

store a stranger groaning with a severe tooth-

ache, and the following dialogue ensued

Q. What's the matter with you?

A. I've got the worst toothache I ever had.

Q. Do you enjoy it?

A. I should say not; I've had it two days.

Said I : You must like it pretty well to keep it

two days ; fifteen minutes is long enough for me

to keep a toothache.
Said he : What do you put into a tooth to stop
toothache so quick?
A. I put nothing into it.

Q. What do you do for it?

66
 THE "SECOND DAY"

A. I order it off the premises.

Said he : You couldn't order it off my premises.

Said I : No, you like it too well ;
you are fast

friends, you hold right to it and are not going to

let it go ;
you believe in it as Reality, have kept
it two days, and are still holding to it.

Said he : Do you mean to say that I can get

rid of toothache at will ?

A. Certainly, when you know how.

Q. Tell me how.
A. That's different; I've studied this for

years and have scarcely learned how; I can't

tell you in a minute ; my train goes in twenty

minutes.
Said he : You interest me. If there is a way
to be rid of toothache at will I'd like you to give

me a pointer.

I determined then to stop his toothache, and

said : I will, if you will answer three questions
correctly. To this he consented.
Q. Is the physical body before me the Real
Man?
A. No, sir.

Q. Do you understand your Real Self to be

a Spiritual Being?
67
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Do you believe for one moment that this

Spiritual Being, your True Self, the Son of God,
ever had or could have a toothache?
A. No, sir (very firmly).
Said I very deliberately and firmly : Then you
have no toothache and you know it.

I saw by his glance (which I held for ten sec-

onds) that he fully saw my meaning, and that he
got a view of the Spiritual Self; and in that con-
ception the material idea was eliminated.
Well, said he, I haven't any; it is gone, and
all soreness is gone, too.
Said I : Your one glimpse of the Spiritual Man
has healed you, and this is the natural remedy for

all human ills.

It was not my thought which healed him;

it was his own. He had practically denied
matter and affirmed Spirit, as I " showed him
how," which was all I promised to do, and all

I did.

This little incident shows the basis of all Spir-

itual healing to be the abandonment of these two

racial errors, and the realization of the Spiritual
and the Good universal as the only Real.
68
 THE "SECOND DAY"

But a day is to dawn upon the world, as it may

to any individual, when all these illusions shall
cease, when " Satan shall be bound a thousand
years, and shall deceive the Nations no more."
This last clause shows that the " nations " are

under an illusion — are " deceived."

In the Spiritual interpretation the " nations"

are within ; the whole world is within ; the illu-

sion is within, and the binding of the illusionist

is to be accomplished within. By whom? By
yourself, the only demonstrator of Divine princi-

ples. The individual is always the actor clothed

with omnipotent powers, when he knows who
he is. You are King in your kingdom, the
ruler of your world, the destroyer of every
satanic illusion that has deceived you, if only
you will recognize your power and assert your
authority.

And it is through overcoming that you shall be

able to come into the realization of your power
and dominion.
" He that overcometh shall inherit all things."
" He that overcometh shall sit with Me in My
throne, even as I overcame, and am set down
with my Father in His throne." — - Rev. 3:21.
69
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Hitherto we have lived in the consciousness of

Good-and-Evil, both believed to be Real; and we

have suffered accordingly. Shall we always re-

main there, and be swallowed up in its vortex of

woe?
There is a way of escape, which we are endeav-

oring to point out. Only by overcoming is power

developed ; and " underneath are the Everlasting
Arms."
The whole power of evil comes from its long
ascribed reality, through functioning in the sin-
consciousness. But once destroy this giant Lie

with the " five smooth stones " of Truth (the

five Spiritual senses), and there will be nothing

to fear, — no evil, no sin, no sickness, no
death. The Giant Illusion, Evil, will be as

impotent as the dead Goliath, which in figure

he represents.
See yourself a Divinely perfect Spiritual Being,
a very Son of God, with Spiritual senses only, —
be a Son of God ! — and you will wield the same
Spiritual weapons that David did. You will be
David, and will scatter the Philistian hosts within
(evil thoughts), having slain their champion —
Belief in Evil.
70
 THE "SECOND DAY"

With the elimination of Evil and Matter, as

realities, from conscious thought, the long, dark

night full of terrors will have passed, and a brighter
Day will dawn.
" The Evening and the Morning were the
Second Day."

71
 Ill

THE "THIRD DAY " : — AFFIRMATION — CONCEN-

TRATION

" And God said, ' Let the Waters under the Heavens be
gathered together into one place, and let the dry land ap-

pear.
1'
— Gen. 1:9.

Among the ancient Brahmans Religion was the

greatest and most profound of sciences ; and the
student of the " Ancient Mysteries," as he entered
upon the task of mastering them, was called an
" Initiate." Before any " Initiate " could be passed

to his " Second Degree," he must have thoroughly

mastered the First, and have appropriated all its

truths and principles. There was no superficial

work, no skimming over by mere memorizing.

All had to be understood, digested, appropriated,
assimilated, and made a part of the individual con-
sciousness, before the aspiring Neophyte was
considered worthy of advancement to his Second
Degree. Only in this way can Religion exert its

72
 THE "THIRD DAY"

proper function, — that of transforming the con-

sciousness — unfolding the Divinest in man. Only
by such a radical transformation is there any Re-

generation. This these ancient Wise Men well

understood. What was true of man then is always

true of him.

This order of Mystics was called " The Ancient

Brotherhood." They were very exclusive in the
nature of the case; because only in this way could
the purity of the Order be maintained and the
highest Spiritual evolution in consciousness be ac-
complished. Their modern Oriental adherents
claim that from this ancient Brotherhood there
exists in the Spiritual world what they call " The
White Brotherhood," who have this planet in

charge, and are planning for its regeneration

during this Century.
If the two first Steps of our Initiation into the
Brotherhood of the Sons of God have been well
taken, and ail its truths appropriated, we are pre-

pared to advance another step in the Way of Re-

generation. It is not sufficient to accept the
intellectual formula of Truth. It is quite a differ-

ent thing to Spiritually apprehend Spiritual Truth,

which we must assimilate and make our own.
73
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Only by this thorough appropriation and assimila-

tion is it of any real value to us. But when thus
appropriated it will exert a wonderful transforming
power over us.

The " natural— the Animal-Human-

man " in

Consciousness — does not know Truth — does not

know Spiritual things at all. He functions only in
the Intellectual and Sensuous Realms. His king-
dom is of this world. His Spiritual perceptions have
not yet been awakened. He has not yet been " born

of the Spirit." In this consciousness at best we see

but dimly, as it were through materialistic specta-
cles. The material consciousness is so darkened that
we scarcely see. Paul said :
" Now we see through a
glass darkly." Isaiah said :
" This people's heart

is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing

and their eyes have they closed, lest at any time
they should see with their eyes and hear with their
ears, and should be converted and I should heal
them." Here the Prophet refers to the Spiritual

senses. " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

In the nature of the case it is not expected that we
should open up fully developed Spiritual senses
all at once. For our higher faculties must first

be awakened before we can use them. As the

74
 -

THE "THIRD DAY"

child must learn to walk, so our first steps must be

taken in meekness and childlike simplicity. In
fact, we cannot know the secret mysteries of Spirit-

ual things, only as fast as, and to the degree that

we unfold our own Spirituality. For this high

order of Wisdom comes not through intellect ; but
" Spiritual things are Spiritually discerned;" and
that just to the degree of our Spiritual unfoldment.

The unfathomable depths of Infinite Wisdom un-

fold to us with our unfoldment. Unless we Spirit-
ually apprehend the Spiritual Truth, which the
intellectual formula is given to express, we are not

making progress in our evolution. Each step

well taken will prepare the way for the next

higher, until the great consummation, the illumi-

nated Seventh, is realized.

A statement of Truth may not at first be ac-

cepted by the intellect ; it may even have a dis-

turbing effect in the mind. But never mind, you

have only to sow the seed ;
you cannot make it

grow. Clean-cut statements of Truth will some-

how cling to the mind with a singular tenacity,

even though not fully received by intellect; till in

the fulness of time the fruiting will appear, —

" first the blade; then the ear; after that the full

75
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

corn in the ear." Therefore, continue to " sow be-

side all waters" (all mentalities) ; and the growth
and fruit will often be seen where least expected.

Have no fear for the success of your word of

Truth ; don't worry about it ; the sowing is your
part. You have not got to stand for the defence
of Truth. It is its own defence; it will take care

of itself; it only needs to be spoken ; its power is

omnipotent.
If only you have the spirit of meekness and
obedience, Infinite Wisdom will give you its own
" sure Word of prophecy." You will not be a
" barren tree;" since the Infinite Fountain is

within. Wisdom does not enter the mind from

without. As Browning says:
" Truth is within ourselves ; it takes no rise

From outward things, whate'er we may believe.

There is an inmost centre within us all,

Where Truth abides in fulness

and to know
Rather consists in opening out a way,
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,

Than in effecting entry for a light,

Supposed to be without. Watch narrowly

The demonstration of a truth, its birth ;

And you trace back the influence to its spring

76
 THE "THIRD DAY"

And source within us, where broods a radiance vast,

To be elicited ray by ray, as chance shall favor."

When the waters of thought are " gathered to-

gether " they form a compound of Character, which

is the " Dry Land " that always " appears." The
" waters under our Firmament " are the thoughts

we make practical in life ; and these are what de-

termine Character.
In the Second Lesson we were shown the true

and righteous discrimination we should make

among our thoughts. In this lesson we are to

note the results of proper and improper discrimi-

nation in its effect on Character. For thoughts,
when " gathered together," become "Dry Land"
— fixed or established character.

We establish a good or bad character accord-

ing to whether we use our powers of discrimina-
tion wisely or unwisely — according to the quality

or character of thoughts we " gather together."

For it is a universal law, that as we sow, so shall

we reap ; that as we " gather," so shall we establish

character. The " dry land " is sure to " appear."

With a perverse Will we may choose to function

in sensuality and carnality never so secretly, and

fancy that, because we maintain the outward ap-

77
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

pearance of uprightness and gentility, we are known

as perfect gentlemen. But be not deceived. Char-
acter cannot be concealed ; because it is what we
are. " The dry land appears," whether we realize
it or not. Character is the synthetic compound of
our thoughts. What we think determines what we
are. And though the waters of thought appear to
pass silently beyond the recognition of others, still

they become concreted in our consciousness and

body, and leave the " mark of the beast in our
foreheads." " We are known and read of all."

" The dry land" is sure to " appear." "That

which is whispered in the ear in closets shall be
proclaimed upon the housetop." Character can-
not be concealed.
Discrimination was the theme of the last chapter.

Affirmation of Truth will be the subject of this,

that we may plant the fruitful seed of Truth in our

well-prepared garden.
Truth, as we have said, is omnipresent; yet it

has little effect on us, until we handle it with the

conscious mind, and accept and make it our own.
It is always within, waiting our recognition, that we
may be unfolded and uplifted by its quickening
power. Through our acceptance and realization
78
 :

THE "THIRD DAY"

of it, it will externalize itself in true conditions of

concrete bodily expression, affording health and
happiness.
But the effect of Truth on us will depend on our
conception of it, on the clearness and vividness of
our realization of it as an eternal principle, clothed
with Divine power ; or whether we Spiritually ap-

prehend it or only intellectually. But what is the

distinction between the two conceptions?
Jeremiah said :
" A man's word is his only
Burden."
Jesus, who spoke from the Christ within, said
" My Words are Spirit, and they are Life."

Here the two concepts, " man's word," and

Christ's Word, are contrasted. The one is man's
concept of Truth ; the other is the Christ Idea, or
Truth itself. Man's word is opinion, —-a thing of
Intellect; not the genuine article. For the human
concept is, as we have said, a mis-conception;
which brings its long train of " burdens," like any-
thing counterfeit. But the Christ Conception,
which is Truth Absolute, is never a matter of
opinion or controversy.
Man speaks his word from the human standpoint
(really a false standpoint) ; Jesus speaks from the
79
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Christ standpoint — Truth's own standpoint. Such

Words are fraught with Power, since Truth is God.
The power of the Spoken Word is enough to

raise the dead ; when spoken with the realization

of its Divine Omnipotence, — that Christ is the
"
very Word of that word. Can there be " burdens

to such Words? On the contrary, " My yoke is

easy, and My burden is light."

To bear the yoke of Christ is to escape " bur-

dens." To bear the yoke of Christ is to bear no
yoke. He is called the great " Burden bearer."
" My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." In
the service of Truth there is freedom — not " bur-

dens." The Sons of God are free.

It is the human concept which brings burdens

— the false concept of things.
All the burdens of earth, all sorrows, discords,
sufferings, and calamities are the natural result of

our own misconceptions of Truth — our Words.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox says of the importance of
the right use of words

'
' Words are great forces in the realm of life ;

Be careful of their use. Who talks of Hate,

Of Poverty, of Sickness, but sets rife

Those very elements to mar his fate.

80
 ;

THE "THIRD DAY"

"When Love, Health, Happiness and Plenty hear

Their names repeated day by day,
They wing their way like answering fairies near
Then nestle down within our homes to stay.

' « Who talks of Evil conjures into shape

That formless thing, and gives it life and scope.
This is the law. Then let no word escape,
That does not breathe of everlasting hope."

We are searching for the unalloyed TRUTH, —

the Christ-WORD, — something above opinion,
whose undeviating right-ness we may safely anchor

to, and feel that we are firmly planted on the

eternal Rock, against which the turbulent waves
of human opinion may dash, and only be them-

selves broken.

We are tired of words, tired of burdens, tired of

opinions, — though men call them Truth. We

want the authority of Truth itself. Nothing short
of this will satisfy our insatiable hunger and lift

the burdens under which we groan.

How does one's thought become a burden and
affect his health ?

Through the imaging faculty — the imagination

— the mind has the power to make pictures. This
is the only way the mind has of making a thought
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

continuous, so as to produce a result which will

always be according to the character of the pic-
tures made.

For the mind is a delicately constructed camera

in which all our thoughts are pictured, before they
can be brought into expression. First the picture

on the sensitive plate ; then the development or

expression of it in outward conditions of body or
environment.
Said Ezekiel, " Son of man, hast thou seen what
the Elders of Israel do in the dark, every one in
his chambers of imagery?"
The misuse of this imaging faculty is what the
prophet is speaking of. By this faculty we make
pictures in the " dark chambers " of the mind con-
tinually; which in due time are expressed in con-
ditions of body. This wonderful faculty was
intended for our advancement in Spiritual unfold-

ment by its proper use in picturing our highest

ideals, in order that better and still better condi-

tions should be realized in experience. By the

use of this faculty we may debase or even destroy

our bodies, or we may purify and rejuvenate them,

according to the character of the pictures we

make.
82
 THE "THIRD DAY"

The cause of the late Charles Dickens' death

was a mental picture made several years before,
which was repeated with depressing effect, every
time the revolving year brought to his mind the
memory of the railroad wreck with all its horrors.

The recurring date gave occasion for calling up

the terrible picture, each time with greater vivid-

ness and depression, as the physical body became

weaker, — that picture seeming real to his deli-

cately sensitive nerves, so that his friends said he

was wandering in mind, — until the frail body sank

beneath the heavy " burden " which human thought
had imposed, on a 9th of June, the anniversary of

the railroad wreck.

Affirmations of Truth fill the mind's gallery with
beautiful pictures, awakening joy, harmony, and
health. By the affirmation of Truth we present
these pictures to the mind, and emblazon them on
its walls. Our ideals are our greatest, most useful
and helpful pictures. Our highest ideal is our
conception of God ; which is always the most im-
portant and potent of our image creations, and
the one most essential to a sound mind and a
healthy body.
Our First Affirmation, then, must be the state-

83
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ment of our conception of God, so far as it is pos-

sible to formulate it — as the expression of our

highest ideal. But the word-expression is not the

real picture, the picture which expresses itself out-

wardly in the body. The real picture is the Ideal

in the mind's gallery, which never can be fully
expressed in intellectual words. This is the pic-
ture which means everything to the individual;
which controls his life and affects his body.
Could men but realize that all discord and dis-

tress, all sin and suffering, failures and calamities,

are directly due to a false conception of God, they

would begin to search for the true God. But who

can give us the perfect picture? No one; it is

not in another's power to communicate his ideal.

Your ideal is exclusively your own, and you can-
not give it to another. The best you can do is to

roughly sketch it in intellectual terms, and in that

imperfect state present it to the mind of another.

Yet this sketch of a high ideal is only an imitation
of the real picture ; which cannot, therefore, im-
press the mind of the second party with the same
force as the original idea impressed the original

thinker, who was its creator and exclusive owner.

But the intellectual word-picture may aid another

84
 — :

THE "THIRD DAY"

in forming his ideal, which is exclusively his own.

This word-picture is the best you can give. For
only Divinity can reveal Divinity in the true Ideal,

and only to the Divine Self can the Divine reveal

himself. Only by such original pictures may we
know God, " whom to know aright, is Life

eternal."

Since eternal Life depends on knowing God

aright — on having a true concept of God —
then " let the waters " of thought " be gathered
together in one place " — in concentration on this

one ideal — and " let the dry land appear." Thus
may we perfect our Ideal.

When we had in our First Chapter formed our

Ideal picture, we expressed that picture in our

definition of God. This was our word-picture of

our Ideal-picture, which we now offer to another

f Being, f Life, f Principle,

God is <[ Mind, <J
Truth, <j Substance,

[ Spirit, [ Love, [ Will,

Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent; a Trinity

of Trinities, in Unity ; the All-embracing, Infinite
One; the Being of all beings, the Life of all lives,

the Substance of all substances ; the Universal,

Unchangeable Good ; the All-Father-Mother-Son.
85
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

For Man is a Son of God, with all that this

implies.

This is our First Affirmation — our greatest

picture.

Our Second Affirmation will be : Whatever God

is, that I am.

For as I am His Child, I must be like Him —

of the same Substance.
Our Third Affirmation will be : Since I am a
Son of God I am Holy, like Him, — not a sinner.

Our Fourth Affirmation will be God' s Will is :

my Will. This by reason of my Son-ship and

likeness to Him. Realizing this, I cannot trans-
gress his Will.

These Four Affirmations resolve themselves into

one great picture, which fill the whole mind with

an illumination, when seen in all their perfection.

This is using the imaging faculty for its highest

use, which carries us to the realization of our
highest.

Let us examine these Affirmations separately.

First : God is.

Analyzing our definition of God, that the First

Affirmation may the more clearly reveal him, we
first note that every affirmation of Truth implies
86
 THE "THIRD DAY"

the denial of its logical Opposite or Contradictory.

For we have seen that a contradictory of Truth is

not a Reality. It is only its logical opposite— a

mere figmental necessity of reason. For Reason is

the process of Comparison. Hence Phrenology

names that faculty " Comparison." Opposites are
the necessity of reason. These Reason handles for

the purpose of solving problems, determining the

reality and rejecting the unreality ; for this is its

problem.
To determine Truth is the high function of
Reason. And this necessarily implies the rejection

of the false ; because the reasoner is in search of

Truth only. Therefore when we consider " Good/'
" Life," " Truth," " Substance," etc., reason pro-

ceeds to contrast these with their figmental oppo-

sites, for the purpose of finding the thing of worth.

And having thereby determined the eternal, inde-

structible realities, places them where all realities

belong, in the realm of Divinity; — accepting

Good, and rejecting Evil ; accepting Life, and re-
jecting Death ; accepting Truth, and rejecting
Falsity; accepting Substance, and rejecting Ap-
pearance.
Not only is the finding of Truth the function of
87
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Reason, but the denial or rejection of its Contra-

dictory is equally its function. Rejection of un-
realities are the Corollaries of her Affirmations.
For the Corollary is as inevitable as the Conclu-

sion.

The honest searcher for Truth will through

reason find it; and finding, will accept it. The
finding of Truth uncovers and exposes the falsity

of error, which the honest searcher now rejects.

Thus our reasoning exposes the false claims of

evil, death, etc., and relegates them to the dark-

some realm of unreality, nothingness, illusion.

"The accuser of my brethren is cast down."

Error is always the "accuser" of Truth; evil is

always the "accuser" of Good.

"
This is the " Satan that deceiveth the nations ;

and which must be ultimately destroyed by the

irresistible power of true reasoning. The triumph
of Truth over error is the triumph of Christ over
Satan.
The speaking of Truth is always God speaking.
If you would heal your neighbor in body, mind,
or environment, speak Truth to him.
When, returning from the Captivity, Zerubabel,
both King and Priest, undertook to rebuild the
 THE "THIRD DAY"

temple, this was his watchword among his work-

men: " Speak ye every man Truth to his
neighbor."
You are King in your kingdom. You are

Zerubabel, both High Priest and King. If you

have been in Babylonian Captivity, your body-
temple has gotten out of repair. Your task is to

rebuild it pure and holy, making it a fit temple

for the Holy One. Only by speaking Truth can
God's Temple be rebuilt. You must speak Truth
concerning it; you must speak Truth to your
neighbor.
From the high standpoint of Truth you cannot
say, "I Am sick," or "You are sick;" " I Am
weak," or " You are weak ;" because the Son of God
is You cannot heal your
never sick or weak. neigh-
bor by seeing him sick. See God in him ;
— see
the Son of God —
his true Self.

Thus you " speak Truth " to him ; and " the
Truth shall make him free."

If he is suffering in invalidism he is in his Baby-

lonian Captivity, bound with the brazen fetters of

error, which only Truth has power to break. To

this end your spoken word of Truth is Omnipotent,
when you realize that Truth spoken is God speak-
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ing. The individual should always be able to say,

" It is not I that speak, but the Father who dwelleth
in me." Let God speak his Word through your
lips.

If my pneumonia or congestion is the outpict-

uring of my fear or inordinate passion, or if my
constipation is the result of my selfishness, how
absurd to seek relief in drugs ! Would you dose
a man for fear? Would you give cathartics for
selfishness? The simple remedy is, the conscious-
ness of Truth. Therefore " Speak ye every man
Truth to his neighbor."

Second : I Am what God is,

Since I am what God is, the Substance of my

Being is God-substance.
Therefore I am perfect. I am the perfect Idea,
created in, and sent forth from Divine Mind.
There is Divine perfection in my essential Being.

This is what I am. How can I be or manifest

otherwise than what I am? Can the Idea change

from the high standard of Divine perfection? Then

as an emanation of Divine Mind, the offspring of
Divine Being, I am perfect, because God, my
Father, is perfect. Then how comes it that I

seem to be manifesting otherwise than perfection?

90
 THE "THIRD DAY"

It is because I am an individual, an Idea, of Infi-

nite Mind individuated. As an individual I have

free choice and free will. Otherwise I am not an
individual. And thus it naturally transpires that

in the free use of my individual powers I make

mistakes, the consequences of which I must
stand.

Nevertheless I am an individuation of the Infi-

nite, and must therefore possess in potentiality

every Divine attribute in perfection. Then it is

the peculiar privilege of every individual to un-

fold in- consciousness the fulness of that potenti-
ality; until perfection in consciousness is attained,
— until the estate of God is reached.
This is the climax of all unfoldment, the end
and object of creation. For God is continually
rejoicing in beholding in his creation the unfold-

ment of himself in the consciousness of his myriads

of individuations.
The object of Creation was, that God might
reveal himself to himself by a universal unfold-

ment in all these individuations.

As we have said, mistakes are inevitable in the

nature of objective reason and investigation. Yet
they are inevitable only because man has sepa-
91
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

rated himself in consciousness from the inexhaus-

tible fountain of Infinite Wisdom. And all this

seems natural in the nature of individual existence.

After all, this separation from the Divine in con-
sciousness is only an illusion ; for " in Him we
live and move and have our Being," whether or
not we are conscious of it. The fact remains.
And our problem seems to be, to gain the con-
sciousness of what we are.

When we have learned well the lesson of listening

to the Voice of Wisdom within, we shall cease to

make mistakes, and shall be " led into all truth."

We shall unfold our Divinity, as we listen to and

obey this heavenly monitor.
Now, since in my True Being I am the Image
and Likeness of the Divine Idea, just so in my
manifest expression I am the image and likeness

of my own idea. The Divine Idea, in the Divine

Consciousness, was brought forth in its Image and

Likeness, as the Divine Man of the First Chapter
of Genesis ; and the human idea, in the Adam-
Consciousness, was brought forth after its image
and likeness, as the Adam Man of the Second
Chapter, obedient to the same universal law of
expression. The one is expression on the Spirit-
92
 THE "THIRD DAY"

ual plane ; the other is expression on the natural

plane, by the same law.

Therefore God is not responsible for my imper-

fect bodily expression. It is after my own like-

ness. I am the expression of my own idea of

myself. am just as Spiritual or just as material
I

as I think myself to be. " As a man thinketh in

his heart, so is he." — - Prov. 23:3.

Third : I Am Holy, because a Son of God.
Whatever we predicate of God we may predicate
of every Son of God, according to the foregoing
reasoning. Of Divine origin we should reflect all

Divine qualities and attributes — Holiness, Wis-

dom, Love, Life, Strength, etc. For as the moon
reflects the light of the sun, so the True man
reflects the Divine Light of Wisdom, and the false

man (Carnal Mind) reflects the inferior light of

human thought.
When we are still in thought, they say, we are

reflecting. Reflecting what? Reflecting thoughts

which come to the mind in that stillness. For the
atmosphere is full of thoughts. Yet you are not
at the mercy of these drift thoughts, if we may call

them so. You have power to shut your door

against all undesirable thoughts and admit only
93
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

the class you choose. Like Daniel you may close

your door to the street and continually have your

" windows open towards Jerusalem." You may
close your door to every debasing thought which
would tend to wreck your life, and be open and
receptive to the Royal heritage of the Sons of
God. This is the " door " which you " shut and
no man openeth," or you open and no man shut-
teth.

Knowing your power to choose and act, you may

compel Carnal Mind to be still — to stand aside as

it were, and let the Heavenly Man have full sway.

Then will you be a Divine reflector of Divine

Principles.

Fourth: God's Willis my Will.

Of course you make this Affirmation when real-

izing your True Self. And here you can say,

" God works through me to will and to do what-
ever I ought to do." It is impossible to conceive
the vast power of the will, when we realize the

Divine Will working with our will.

God's Will is forever operating, whether we

think so or not. As Matthew Arnold said
" There is a power not ourselves that forever

94
 THE "THIRD DAY"

makes for righteousness ;

" — and whether we are
in obedience or not.
When you have conquered self so fully that you
can say: "Not my will, but Thy Will," and at

the same time have the realizing sense of the Om-

nipotent W ILL working
7
in you, — then are you in

a position to begin to know your Omnipotent

Powers. For the greatest power and freedom for

the individual do not consist in carrying out his

own sweet will, but in making the Divine his own

sweet Will.
To unfold your Divine Consciousness and Power
is the goal of all your struggles. To this end
these Affirmations may be helpful.
First: You must know God in — Consciousness.
This necessitates a true conception of him. This
is your greatest picture in your gallery for fre-

quent meditation on and communion with.

Second : You must know yourself a Son of
God, perfect and complete.
Third : You must know your own Holiness as a
Son of God.
Fourth : Your will must be swallowed up in the
Divine Will.
Having " gathered together the waters " of the

95
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

mind in this " one place " — the place ot Divinity

— so as to form the highest possible conception of
God by means of this beautiful imagery, " the

Dry Land appears," —

the most substantial basis

of a great character is formed.

96
 IV

THE " FOURTH DAY " : — THE " TWO GREAT

"
LIGHTS

" And God made Two Great Lights, the Greater Light to
rule the Day and the Lesser Light to rule the Night."-—

Gen. i : 16.

WHETHER advancing in the Divine Way of evolu-

tion from the Human to the Divine Consciousness,

or plodding along in the old path of the old Con-

sciousness, — there are " Two Great Lights " by
one or the other of which every man is guided, —
the one having power to reveal God and unfold
the God-Consciousness in man, the other affording

light of a different and inferior order, quite insuffi-

cient and incompetent to reveal or point the way

to God. To the Children of the Regeneration
both these lights are in evidence and daily use,

but to those on the plane of Generation without

Regeneration only the " Lesser Light " is known.
They are in Spiritual darkness.

97
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

The Sun is the symbol of the " Greater Light,"

which " rules the Day " of Spiritual Understand-
ing. The " Greater Light " is Spiritual Wisdom.
The Moon is the symbol of the " Lesser Light,"
which " rules the Night " of unregenerate Carnal
Mind. The " Lesser Light " is Intellect.

" The Two Great Lights " by which we are

guided are Spiritual Wisdom and Intellectual

Wisdom, or for the sake of a distinction we may

designate them as WISDOM and KNOWLEDGE.
There is a greater light than Intellect ; for this

is a mere reflection. The " Greater Light " is

Christ, the " Light of the world." And the Christ

we may identify with Truth or Wisdom. John

said of the coming One :
" That was the True
Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into

the world." This Light Paul called, " The Wis-

dom of God."
Spiritual Wisdom, then, is the " Light of the

World," the Christ, which finds its reflection in

Intellect.

Unregenerate man knows and acknowledges no

other light than Intellect. Yet he knows not his

ignorance. For intellect is " wise in its own

conceit."
98
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

The wide difference between original and re-

flected light is due to the imperfect reflector. In-

tellect neither reflects the full intensity nor the full

quality of the True Light.

If the moon in the heavens were a perfect re-

flector, the sun's and the moon's rays would be

exactly alike, both in intensity and quality. So
by correspondence, if Man were a perfect reflector,

he would reflect through intellect Heavenly Wis-

dom ; and then there would be no difference be-
tween Divine and Human Wisdom. Man cannot
be a perfect reflector until he arrives at the Divine
Consciousness, where he has continuous illumina-
tion. Then he dwells in the Light, and is the
Light. This is the Theosophist's " Nirvana."
But reflected light is always modified by the re-
flector, on whatever plane, whether natural or
Spiritual.

The Masculine and Feminine principle is uni-

versal throughout nature on every plane. It is

the principle, " whereby everything hangeth in the

equilibrium of balance," as the Caballists say.
From the Divine Being in the heaven of heavens
all the way down to the humblest monad in the

Kosmgs, through every manifestation of life, this

99
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

biological principle obtains, as the basis of all ex-

istence, as the guarantee for the perpetuity of all

things, as the basis for the continued Being of both

God and man.
Therefore, as the sun shines upon the earth
with its masculine and feminine rays of Heat and
Light, making the earth teem with living forms

through the generating power of these equili-

brated creative rays, — just so the " Greater Light,"

— the Divine " Sun of Righteousness" — shines
upon the human consciousness with its masculine
and feminine rays of Love and Wisdom, with a
corresponding generating power; which on the
Spiritual plane we call by the higher name, Regen-
eration. This is what Isaiah means, when he says :

" Upon you that fear my Name shall the Sun of

Righteousness arise with healing in his wings."
Christ is the omnipresent " Sun of Righteous-
ness," and thus the " Light of the world." Not
only are the double rays of the Sun, heat and
light, a wedded pair, but the double rays of the
" Sun of Righteousness," " Love and Wisdom," are

also a wedded pair. Neither can they in either

case be divorced, without forfeiting the law of
Life, the generating principle. These biological
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

rays of the Sun falling upon the moon become

vitally changed by the moon absorbing the Heat
rays, so that it can reflect to us only the Light
"
rays. Consequently we have the words " lunacy
and " moon-struck," to indicate the death-dealing

effect of Light divorced from Heat. In like

manner, and by the exact Law of Correspondences,

mortal man being an imperfect reflector, the Light

of Intellect has lost its quickening Life-begetting
element of Love, and is therefore in the " moon-
struck" consciousness of mortality. The Con-
sciousness of Life can be gained only by the
restoration of the full True Light of the " Sun of
Righteousness," equipped with its biological rays

and regenerating power.

GOD is the Great Original Light — " The Sun
of Righteousness," Omnipotent with generating
and regenerating power (for this creative power is

always God-power, wherever you find it) ; and

Christ is the Illuminating Ray — the Divine " Efful-

gence " — the " Only Begotten," proceeding from

the Father. " I Am the Light of the world," —
the Shining Light — " The Effulgence of the
Father's Glory" (Heb. 1:3). That is: God is

the Sun of Righteousness ; and Christ is the

 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Shining Light, proceeding from — sent forth from

— the Father. And this Christ or Divine " Efful-
gence" is "The Wisdom of God." " Christ the
Power of God and the Wisdom of God." This
interior Wisdom, which illuminates the mind, is

the wonderful Effulgence of the " Greater Light."

Consequently the True Man is conscious of the
Light, and walks in the Light. But the unawak-
ened, the unregenerate, continue in the dream life

of material conceptions. Being children of the

Night instead of the Day, they are incapable of
perceiving the Greater Light of Spiritual Wisdom,
notwithstanding its omnipresence ; because it is

Light of a different kind, on a different plane, and

must therefore require a higher order of percep-
tives to cognize it.

But in the sense consciousness they know noth-

ing better than the Lesser Light. Hence mortal
man does not know Truth. His conceptions are
misconceptions. He deals in things of the Night.

Through the benighting effect of the Sin-Con-

sciousness many men see very dimly, even on the

plane of intellect. Their light is themoon in her

quarter. And the "dark of the moon" is none

1 02
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

too severe a term to represent the deep darkness

of some beclouded intellects.

But in order that Intellect may be fully illumi-

nated with its " full-moon " glory, and realize its

transcendent powers, there must be a New Birth,

an awakening to a New Consciousness. There

must be a New Creation. Then through the
regenerating power of the Christ within there will
be a regenerated intellect, an illuminated mind.
Spiritual Perception sees clearly in the efful-

gence of Divine Wisdom, — like the " X-Ray,"

penetrating deeper than the external appearance,
which only sense perception beholds, into the
very substance of things, — finding beneath the
phenomenal the eternal Spiritual Reality.
" When He the Spirit of Truth is come, He
shall guide you into all Truth." That is, when
the Greater Light of the Christ Illumination shines
upon your soul, — when your Spiritual sight is

opened, — then all the illusions of the "moon-

struck " Sin-Consciousness will be swallowed up
in the Spiritual Light of the Christ-Consciousness,
as the moon disappears in the sun's greater light.

This is Salvation, — sense lost in Spirit — Illusion

swallowed up in Reality. This is your " First

103
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Resurrection," where corruption and death disap-

pear from your consciousness ; because " this cor-

ruptible shall put on incorruption," and " death

shall be swallowed up in life."

For the end and purpose of this Spiritual evo-

lution is the transformation of the consciousness,

through material conceptions yielding to Spiritual
Understanding; until the higher plane of the
Spiritual Consciousness is reached, and the body
consequently undergoes a corresponding trans-
formation.
We shall receive much or little from reading
our Bible, according to whether we see it in the
Greater or the Lesser Light. For in the one case

the mind will receive a wonderful Spiritual insight,

and the soul will be fed with the manna of heaven,
and in the other case it will receive only the intel-

lectual ideas involved.

The " letter of the Word " is strictly intellectual

and it is so human to see only intellectually ! Yet

there is a wonderful mine of Spiritual wealth hid-
den beneath the letter, if only men would study
to understand. Few see beyond " the letter that

killeth."

All the bitter controversies which divide Christ-

104
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

endom into sects, arise from the different con-

structions put on the letter, to carry out intellect's

plan or conception, — quite overlooking the Spirit-

ual idea, for the sake of which the symbolic letter

was written.

When we learn to see in the radiance of the

Greater Light, we shall read an entirely different
story. We shall behold Spiritual things, which
afford us food and transforming Light. We shall

see that the stories, incidents, characters, and

histories of the Bible are symbolic of correspond-

ential experiences in the many-sided kaleidoscope

of human life. In that wonderful light Time and
Space are eliminated ; so that everything is Now
and Here ; and the Word is a living Word — in

the "Living Present" — always active and alive.

" If any man walk in the Day he stumbleth not,

because the (Greater) Light is in him " (John
ii :g). But they who walk in the Night (of the
Lesser Light) stumble at the contradictions of the
letter, which are irreconcilable from the letter's

standpoint.
Theologians will never succeed in harmonizing
their differences, until they open their eyes to the

Spiritual meaning of the Word, when they will

105
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

see that Truth is One and indivisible, symmetrical

and unrendable, — the " seamless robe" of Christ.
Spiritual sight will not only transform our The-
ology, but will transform our world ; because be-
ing ourselves transformed, we shall see through

new eyes. A man of purely material thought

sees all things crudely material ; one in the con-
sciousness of sin sees the sinner everywhere ; while
the Spiritually awakened man — in the Spiritual

Consciousness — sees divinely, as through God's

eyes, the Divine in everything. He has a " New
Heaven and a New Earth."
People without Spiritual vision always read
scripture literally, expecting the world to be de-

stroyed by and by, and a new world created out

of the wreck of the old ; but they who see Spirit-

ually see the Spiritual everywhere, having trans-

formed their world through the transformation of

their minds, — thus fulfilling the scripture.
Emerson said :
" It animates me to create my
own world through the purification of my soul."

Paul expresses the same idea thus :

" Be ye trans-

formed by the renewing of your mind " (Rom.

12 :2).

We always see from our own standpoint —

1 06
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

through our own thought-spectacles. The man

of material thought sees materially; and the man
of Spiritual thought sees Spiritually. We see
according to what we are ; and we are according
to our seeing. And so Carlyle said :
" What thou
seest, that thou beest."
Thus the world you see is exactly according to
the pattern of your own thought. Therefore if it

displeases you, you may go to work and change

it. When you have transformed yourself, your
world will be transformed. Therefore it is not the
outer world that is to be destroyed. The old
world to be burned up and destroyed is the miser-
able world of your old miserable conceptions.
The entire work of destruction and conflagration
is to be accomplished within by the " Consuming
Fire " of God in the soul. The purifying fire will

so transform you that you will see a " New Heaven

and a New Earth." For what you see in others is

only what is in yourself; else you could not see it

in others. This is what Jesus meant when he said,

" Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy

brother's eye, and considerest not the beam that

is in thine own eye?" (Lu. 6:41.) The color of

your own thought-spectacles colors everything

107
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

you look upon. You are always looking through

the mist of your own thought. And thus Jesus
said :
" With what judgment ye judge ye shall be
judged" (Mat. 7: 1). Then the adverse judgment
you render of another condemns you of the same
thing; because you cannot see what is not in
yourself. Then if you would see your brother
reformed, your first duty is to reform yourself.

This is the great amalgam that will bring out the

Gold of Goodness in yonr brother. This is the

secret of all true reform. Repression and prisons
do not reform ; they only make emphatic the evil.

Make emphatic the Good in your brother by rec-

ognizing it there, if you would bring out the Good
that is in him. " Thou hypocrite ! first cast the

beam out of thine own eye ; then shalt thou see

clearly to cast out the mote from thy brother's
eye " (Lu. 6:42).
This is the scientific way; but it reveals the un-

welcome fact that the fault is in yourself. The

critic may always be criticised. " The fault is in

the finder." " The pure in heart see God " — not
evil. When you recognize the Son of God both
in yourself and your brother you will see only per-
fection ;
you will see as God sees. In fact, your
108
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

seeing will be God's seeing. Then if you think

your brother needs reforming, study to see him a
Son of God ; refuse to see the appearance of sin

in him ; steadfastly and persistently declare his

perfection, until the false appearance disappears

from his life and he manifests according to your

reformed thought. Perverted humanity is ever
solicitous for and condemnatory of the other, sel-

dom seeing his own faults.

The thoughts you send out into the world will

surely be heard from again ; and they will return

to you with their legitimate fruit.

Your thought of cruel hostility to your neigh-

bor will some time come down upon your own

head in neuralgiac or other torturing experience,

according to natural law. If you send out the

seed thought of theft by coveting your neighbor's
beautiful goods, jewels, apparel, house, equipage,

or good looks, even — you need not think it a

strange or unjust experience if a veritable thief

breaks into your house and steals your purse.

Covetousness was the thief-thought you sent out
and it brought you the thief. You are simply
reaping what you have been sowing — drawing to

yourself your own.

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Jesus said :
" He that is angry with his brother

is a murderer" (Mat. 5:21, 22). If, then, you

have had bitter anger and cruel hatred against
your brother you need not think it a matter of
strange injustice or cruel fate if some dark night
a veritable murderer should spring upon you from
some dark alley. In your anger you sent out the
murder-thought and it brought you the murderer.
Not only do " curses like chickens come home to

roost," but every thought brings its legitimate

returns. Therefore when you curse your neighbor

you but curse yourself. Your curse can never
reach him if he stands firmly and securely in

Truth, conscious of his protection. It must by

natural law rebound to you. " His mischief shall

return upon his own head, and his violent dealing

shall come down upon his own pate" (Ps. 7: 16).

" With what measure ye mete it shall be measured
to you again" (Mat. 7:2). may well ex- Then I

pect that my stingy thought may bring me short

weight from the grocer. I am always getting
what belongs to me. Shall I infer that law is not
good because it brings me evil for my evil? It
will just as faithfully bring me good for my good.
Law is impartial and always just. If I throw a
no
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

muddy ball into the air it soon returns to soil my

hands and clothes ; but if I throw a clean ball the

same clean ball returns to me. I am always re-

ceiving my own. My pure thoughts return to
bless me and my evil thoughts return to curse me.
I am receiving just what I give and therefore have

no ground of complaint.
If, then, I am suffering from painful conditions
I must look for the cause within myself; and
knowing the cause I may find the remedy. This
is the mission of pain. Therefore it is good —-not
evil. The cause and cure are both to be found

within. By purifying my thought I shall purify

my body ; by correcting my thought I shall cor-

rect the bodily expression ; and this is my

healing. For my body always represents me
faithfully.

Regeneration reconstructs the body by first

reconstructing the soul. For body is the soul's

expression. Then if by a lifetime of erroneous

thinking my body has developed inharmonious

conditions, its regeneration and purification must
require time also. Neither the correction and
restoration of mind or body can be accomplished
in a day. Both require time. That is to say:
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Regeneration is a process — an unfoldment —

not an instantaneous experience. Yet the Spirit's

time and man's time are vastly different. For we

read that, " One day with the Lord is as a thou-

sand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2

Pet. 3:8). In other words, with God there is no
time. Therefore regeneration would require no
time, if we had not the human mind to deal with,

which is slow to grasp things of Infinity.

It has been built up in time, and can unfold only
as fast as it can comprehend and accept. Regen-
eration is not merely the correction of present

thoughts ; but the whole subconscious mind con-

taining all the stored up thoughts of the past has
got to be purified and redeemed ; which is a vast

undertaking, from the human point of view.

Nevertheless as we proceed we shall find that in

this work of the Spirit we are handling forces

which are very potent.

Words which stand as a symbol and expression
of Truth, when spoken with the realization of

their meaning and omnipotence, will be found to

possess a certain positive, dynamic power to de-

stroy undesirable conditions by the intensity of

their vibrations ; so that we have not to wait the

 THE "FOURTH DAY"

slower process of law on the human plane, for the

undoing of the past, preparatory to rebuilding.

God's time is Now. " For the Word of God is

quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged

sword" (Heb. 4:12), when it is spoken in the

Greater Light of Spiritual Understanding. The

reason our words are often barren of results is,

that we have spoken them only intellectually — in

the Lesser Light; the soul has not spoken. But

in the natural order of things — " first that which
is natural ; afterward that which is Spiritual " —
we first comprehend the natural meaning and pur-
port, before we can receive the Spiritual revela-

tion. We must bring our words into the inner

chamber of the soul, and baptize them with the

effulgence of the Greater Light, before they are

clothed with omnipotent power.

Then we can send them forth with their dynamic
power to accomplish results. Only with words
thus prepared and empowered can you speak " as

one having authority." They are words of Truth.

Such words " shall not return to you void, but

shall accomplish that which you please." They
are the w ords of
7
Christ, understandingly spoken.
" It is not I that speak, but the Father within."
113
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

All power comes from the Father-fountain within,

— the Wisdom-fountain.
Said an Indian Sage :
" No man ever knew any-
thing by seeking Wisdom without: he must know
how to interrogate himself, and how to answer
himself, before the outer universe will disclose to

him its hidden arcana." This was the great lesson

Moses had to learn at the " Burning Bush," as he
communed with his Higher Self, whose name is

" / Am " — Jehovah — Christ — The Lord ;

—
whose word is authority. There is a Higher Self,

which knows all Wisdom and Truth. " Commune

with your own heart, and be still."

" As I walked with myself,

I talked with myself:

Myself said this unto me :

Make friends with thyself;

Be true to thyself;

Thyself thy good angel shall be."

The " Greater Light " is WISDOM ; the " Lesser

Light" is Knowledge. The one is Divine; the

other is human. One is of Eternity; the other
of Time. Knowledge may be found without; but
Wisdom can be found only within. For human
wisdom (so called) man looks without, looks to
114
 :

THE "FOURTH DAY"

teachers ; consults — external authority.

books,
What he finds is Knowledge — not Wisdom opin- ;

ion — not Truth. Our religious teachers have

looked without for Wisdom, studied church au-
thorities, — the " traditions of the Fathers," like

Pharisees of old. What they found and gave was

Knowledge — not Wisdom; because they were
guided by the Lesser Light. As far as they were
able to listen to the Inner Voice they received the
illumination of the Inner Light of Wisdom.
The Greater Light never conceals itself. God
never hides his face. What the Bible says about
God hiding his face on account of man's sin is

metaphor, written to show the darkening effect of

sin on the mind. But God is " the same yester-

day, to-day, and forever," unchanging in his

steady shining Light. Man does all the " hiding,"

"concealing," and " darkening."

By correspondence Wisdom is the Silver of the

Kingdom of Heaven, and stands for Riches in
general, —
Spiritual Riches. Therefore, when we
have the Spiritual illumination, we have the con-
sciousness of Spiritual opulence.
Paul was speaking of this opulence in conscious-
ness when he said
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

" All things are yours, for ye are Christ's.

This was Emerson's realization when he said

"lam owner of the sphere,

Of the Seven Stars and the Solar Year
Of Caesar's hand and Plato's brain,

Of Lord Christ's heart and Shakespeare's strain."

Of the false Riches of error, the requirement is,

" Sell that thou hast."

Read the story of the " Rich Young Man " in

Matt. 19, and learn a beautiful lesson in meta-

physics. The young man asks
" Good Master, what shall I do to inherit Eter-

nal Life?"

Hear the metaphysical answer of the Great

Metaphysician
" Sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven." This is

purely a metaphysical lesson.

For we are not allowed to apply it to any one
materially, because the command is, " Judge not,

that ye be not judged." But as a metaphysical

statement it applies to all. For there is Spiritual

buying and selling, and we are engaged in both,

and must be.

116
 THE "FOURTH DAY"

Solomon said, " Buy the Truth and sell it not."

Of course this is strictly metaphysics and noth-

ing else. So with the parable.
Truth is the True Riches — the true Coin of the
Realm.
Error is the false Riches of the realm of Illusion.
The price we pay for Truth is Experience —
thought-experience.
Experience is the price paid for :>ur present
state of mind or consciousness — for any state of

consciousness. And we hold to or value our

acquisitions, whether material, intellectual, or
Spiritual, in proportion to the greatness of the
price paid.

For our present consciousness of error and sin

we have paid a great price — a whole life-time of

false thought, buying false riches. This is why

we cling to it so tenaciously, and refuse to part

with it by repentance — refuse to "sell what we

have," as we are required to do. We cannot enter
the Kingdom of Heaven until we have " sold

out" this entire false consciousness, — and this is

repentance. Thus we become " the poor in spirit,"

who are " Blessed," because only by becoming
" poor" as to the false riches can we fully desire,

117
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

or be receptive to, the True Riches. This experi-

ence of poverty and the consequent new opulence
places us in position to " give to the poor " — to

give of the New Riches to those who have become

" the Lord's poor" — " poor in spirit," whose is

"the kingdom of heaven."

Have you found the " Greater Light " of Spirit-
ual Truth, which is the Silver of the Kingdom —
the " True Coin of the Realm " ? If not, " sell that

thou hast" of the accumulations of falsity — then

" Buy the Truth, and sell it not."

" I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the

fire, that thou mayst be rich, and white raiment,

that thou mayst be clothed, that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes
with eye salve, that thou mayest see." — Rev. 3 :

18
THE " FIFTH DAY. — THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION

" And God said, '

Let the Waters bring forth abundantly

the moving Creature that hath Life, and Fowl that may fly

above the Earth in the open firmament of heaven.' " — Gen.

This Chapter treats of the Creative Power of

Thought.
According to this Allegory the origin, source,

and beginning of all action and manifestation is

the Divine THOUGHT with purpose, expressed by,

" GOD SAID," — put in execution by the Divine
Will, expressed by, " Let it be done."

Mind is the Creator of the Idea, and Will is the

executive Power, which executes the Divine Pur-
pose ; that the Divine Thought may be visibly ex-

pressed. This is the universal order of mental

action, as tersely pictured in this unique allegory.
"
Infinite Mind is thus the Great " First Cause
and Origin of all things. Whence it follows, that
119
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

all causation is primarily mental. For back of all

existences is the Eternal Logos ; and back of the

Logos is Infinite Mind, the Great First Cause.
Indeed, back of all forces of every description is

the Divine Consciousness, infinite in thought

power; co-existent and co-infinite with the Eternal

Will. From this Wisdom-Will proceeds the

Logos-Thought clothed with infinite possibilities,

because backed up by the Infinite Personality, —

Consciousness-WlLL.
Now, since Man is a Son of God, the Human
Mind follows the Divine order, though finite in

its conceptions and power, — yet having infinite

possibilities before it, by reason of its Divine

origin.

The unfoldment of the Human Mind and Con-

sciousness is the great theme of this Genesis Sym-
bology; in which the "Great Deep" represents
Formless Mind (necessarily the human mind),
and its " waters " represent Thoughts. Bearing
this in mind, namely, that throughout the Word,
Seas, waters, rivers, clouds, etc., all represent some
phase or principle of mind, we shall have one
point clear for arriving at the symbology under
which Spiritual Truth is expressed.
 :

THE "FIFTH DAY"

Form is an inherent attribute of thought.

Thought, being definite, is a thing of form. It is a

definite thing, created out of the Infinite Formless

— or Unmanifest. For in the (suppositional)
" beginning " there is no form ; everything is

" without form and void ;

" until from the Divine
Consciousness the Eternal Will decrees, " Let
there be Light." The consequent result follows
" There was Light."
The Infinite Will and Consciousness constitute
the Divine Personality, or Individuality, in which
all Attributes are contained.
God is personal in the sense of individual Con-
sciousness and Will ; but impersonal in the sense

of bodily form — unless forsooth all forms in the

universe are his infinite personality.

Strictly speaking, the word " person " comes
from persona, a mask, — primarily referring to the

mask worn by actors, to make them represent

what they were not. The " persona " hid the real

man ; and the " mask " represented the false man.
Therefore what we call the person is not the Real
Man, but only the mask-man, or false man, whom
the human, undeveloped man calls real; because

121
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

there is " darkness on the face of the Deep," not

yet overcome.
When we say that thought is a thing of form,

we do not necessarily mean shape, but mode or

state of being primarily ; which eventually becomes
manifest in ultimate expression in shape.
Therefore Thought, sent forth by the Eternal
Energy of the Wisdom-Will is formative and crea-
tive. " Through faith we understand the Worlds
were framed by the Word of God." — Heb. 11:3.
In the Creative process the Divine Idea is the
Spiritual Germ, the living " Monad " of Leibnitz

and Plato, the creative " Logos " of Philo and St.
John, — the biological Entity forever seeking its

etheric protoplasm, where it may find expression

in visible form after its own likeness. The biolog-

ical nature and creative power is not only charac-

teristic of God's thought, but of all thought.
Because they are "living Creatures " of the mind,
they have existence, and therefore continue to
live. Biology is the universal Creative Way.
Thought derives its energy and creative vibra-
tion from the conscious Will, which sends it forth.

This vibrative Energy molds the Protoplasmic

Ether-Substance ; and visible form is the conse-
 THE "FIFTH DAY"

quent Creation. For Idea expresses itself in form,

the material expression of which it derives from

the etheric matrix in which it is conceived.

The True Self is Divine — a Son or " Spark of
Divinity " — possessing infinite potentialities, which
the individual is to bring forth into expression.
For man is a threefold being — Spirit, Soul, and
Body ; and these three are one — a trinity in

unity.

Body has form of material visible to the phys-

ical sight ; Soul has form of finer material, invisible
to the physical sight but visible to the psychic
sight; Spirit is the Divine Entity, whose form is,

not shape, but " state of being," invisible either to

physical or psychic sight, and visible only to God
and every Son of God. Only Spirit can cognize

Spirit.

This is the Spiritual Man, the True Self, the

Ego ; — the Man of Divine lineaments — the " Like-

ness of God," — whom he pronounced " Very

Good." This True Self is the " Son in the bosom
of the Father," who is always in harmony with,

and always "working together with God." What

the aspiring human being must do, in order to

unfold his potentialities, is to recognize and be-

123
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

come conscious of this Higher Self. In this way-

may the Soul unfold Divinity in Consciousness.
This isthe way to form our high Ideals. This
is the "mount" where the heavenly vision is
given, where the " pattern " for all our creations is

" shown." And here we hear the command :

" See

thou make all things according to the pattern

shown in the mount."
Our work in Spiritual unfoldment is, to become
consciously what we are potentially, — to express

in externals what we are in our Inmost Being —

the True Self.
Man is finite in consciousness, because he has
not unfolded his infinite possibilities. As the
" Great Deep " is an infinite expanse, so mind is a
free expanse omnipresent :
— not like the body
limited to the dimensions of the physical form, —
but really, though not consciously, omnipresent,
and making the body the centre of its operations.

Wherever your thought is, there in the boundless

expanse you are functioning, whether in your

chamber or in distant countries. You belong to

the universe, and the universe belongs to you.

You are here to unfold the consciousness of your
infinity. For what you are conscious of, that you
124
 :

THE "FIFTH DAY"

become. We speak of " Infinite possibilities " for

man. This implies that it is possible for you to

become conscious of your omnipresence, omni-

science, and omnipotence.

Prophets and Seers are men who have made

somewhat of these attainments. They have con-
sciously gone to distant countries and seen and
reported what was actually taking place there,
while sitting in their chambers. Swedenborg had
many such experiences. He even went into the
highest heavens, and held converse with the angels.
St. Paul was " caught up into the Third Heaven,
and heard unutterable things." So real was the
experience that he said of it, " whether in the

body or out of the body I cannot tell; God

knoweth."
Of this universal mind-expanse Emerson said
"There is One Mind common to all men; and
each man is an inlet to the same and to all the

same."
When we come to know the Higher Self — that
we are indeed Sons of God — we shall begin to un-

derstand that we " live and move and have our

Being in God," who is Omnipresent Spirit; that

living in the Omnipresence, we draw on the whole

125
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

fountain for all our needs ; because Sons of Omni-

presence we are " an inlet to the same and to all

the same."
" Son thou art ever with Me, and All that I

have is thine." Lu. 15 : 31. There is absolutely

no limit to the possibilities of realization, except
what we have prescribed for ourselves. God has
not circumscribed his Son with limits. Walt Whit-
man, seeing this, exclaimed :
" From this hour I

decree myself loosed of limits and imaginary lines,

my own master, total and absolute."

" Let the Waters bring forth the moving Creature
that hath Life."

This expresses the law of action for Creative

Mind. Since all causation is primarily in mind,

active, living, creative mind has power to generate

active, living thoughts, Wherefore Thoughts are

active, living entities, — not dead things, — "Crea-
tures that have Life." Thoughts do not perish.

Living Mind's creations are not still-born. Dead

things are not born of the living.

Since, then, thoughts do not perish, but live in

the ether about us, there must be a World-Con-

sciousness, corresponding to the individual Con-

126
 THE "FIFTH DAY"

sciousness, yet larger and all-comprehensive of

human thought.
This is the world to be redeemed through indi-
viduals coming into the Christ-Consciousness, that

they may become Light-bearers to the World-

Consciousness. " I Am the Light of the World"
(World-Consciousness)." The "Christ must be
lifted up " in this World-Consciousness for its re-

demption, — lifted up by every individual who

receives the Christ illumination.

This World-Consciousness is a World-Phono-

graph, from which the rank and file of humanity
draw their inspiration, and into which they are
pouring their thoughts. And it is quite possible

that a " sensitive " may from this World-phono-

graph reproduce the speech of an Ingersoll, a
Beecher, or a Brooks, marked with all the charac-
teristics of those personages ; while they them-
selves may be far beyond the reach and plane of
those who think they are receiving a communica-
tion from them. This is the psychic plane.
If Infinite Mind i.s the great Creative power and
source of all power, what part does the human
mind play? It is like the local dynamo, which
receives its electric power from the Central Dy-
127
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

namo, without which it is entirely powerless. Yet

a wheel in the local factory cannot move without
the local dynamo. Each is dependent on the
other. To the creations of the factory it is as if

the local dynamo were the only power. Yet its

efficiency depends absolutely on its continuous

and perfect connection with the great Central.
What is eternally created in Infinite Mind must
be, as it were, recreated by the human mind, act-
ing in free deliberation as though everything de-
pended on itself. Yet when the human maintains
its conscious connection with the Infinite, its ac-

tion and power will be in perfect accord with the

Infinite ; and its creations will be the more perfect

and God-like; because only thus can the finite

realize that " it is God that worketh in me to will

and to do."
Man is the containment or compendium of the
whole Creation. He is the Microcosm; and re-

creates what God has Spiritually created ; thus

making his world within as perfect as the Macro-

cosm without.
For in him all has been zVz-folded — all Divine
ideas, the whole creation — all potentialities. Oth-
erwise he would have no power of development;
128
 THE "FIFTH DAY"

he could unfold nothing. " Thou couldest have

no power . . . except it were given thee from

above," the source of all power. The local

dynamo can do nothing, except it be given it

from above, — except there be a power back of

itself.

Man is the local dynamo, un-fold'mg what has

already been /^-folded. He is always " working
together with God." He is working; yet it is

God working ; He is creating ideas ;

yet all ideas

have been eternally created, — they are eternal.

''There is nothing new under the sun." Then

whatever appears in manifestation eternally was,
or more properly, eternally is. Then we must
conclude that creation has always been, and that
Man has always been ; because God has always
been.
God and his creation — Mind and Idea — are
co-eternal. Each imolies the other, and is the
necessity of the other. Therefore Creation, in-

cluding Man, is God's necessity. Without thought

Mind would not be mind. So without Man
(Mind's Idea) God could not be.
It is equally true of finite mind that it must ex-
press its idea. For thought ever seeks its expres-
129
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

sion ; which may appear in (symbolic) words or in

bodily conditions. In my microcosmic world all

my thoughts are manifested or expressed in my

body; so that my body represents me. am I

expressed in my body. " In Thy Book (my

body) all my members are written" — all my
thoughts are expressed.
It is universally true that " without the word
was not anything made ;
" because Thought is the
only creative power. Consequently in my little

world my " word is made flesh" —my thought

becomes concrete in flesh — is expressed in body,
where every thought brings forth " after its kind."
" Every idle word that men shall speak, they
shall give account thereof in the day of judg-
ment." Every word, whether good or bad, is

faithfully recorded in the register of the body;

and you are receiving exact justice in correspond-
ing judgment, according to the law of cause and
effect.

For " the judgment is (always) set, and the

books are opened, and every man is judged out
of the Book of (his) life." Every thought you
send forth goes on its mission of blessing or curs-
ing according to its quality, the good word to
130
 —

THE "FIFTH DAY"

bless and the " idle word " to curse — whom but
yourself ? Your neighbor it cannot harm, unless
he open his door to the evil thought. Fear or
passion will open any door to let every enemy in.

But he who stands firmly in Truth has no fear or

danger. " He is safe from the strife of tongues."
" By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy
words shalt thou be condemned." Righteousness
(or Christ) is both judge and jury, and your
words (thoughts) are witnesses against you in this

court; and Impartial Law executes the righteous

judgment of the court, Righteous Judgment
has been going on all our lives; and we have been
reaping the bitter fruit of our " idle words " until
" the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint,"

and weary with the burdens we have imposed upon

ourselves, we seek relief from sin and surcease
from sorrow. So bitter is the fruit, we are tired

and sick of sin. In hope of restoration, harmony,

and peace, we turn from these illusions in search

of Truth as the remedy for error's sad outpictur-

kig. Yet notwithstanding the inevitableness of the
law in the expression of thought in the body,
these sad effects may be entirely obliterated by
the corrective power of Truth, which has in itself

131
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

omnipotent power, by reason of its Divine Prin-

ciple. Error in itself has no power; it does not
even exist in the realm of Reality ; it is illusion.

How then can it become manifest in the body?

That power of expression, instead of being in

the error, is wholly due to the creative power of

mind. If the individual mind is so perverted that
it believes error to be truth, its creations will be

of a corresponding order, so that its manifesta-

tions will be perverted accordingly. Indeed, the
entire consciousness is perverted, and has become
a sin-consciousness. What surprise, that diseases

appear in expression
When you stand with the whole mind invigo-
rated with the realization of Truth, you can send
forth your Word of Truth with great dynamic
power; which is due to a power intrinsic in Truth
itself, yet dependent on the mind's realization
of Truth's omnipotence. For the mind is that

local dynamo, on which Truth itself depends for

its power to become manifest in externals.

Therefore, your " Spoken Word " has very great

power; — it is enough to raise the dead. Error
is a coward in Truth's presence, and must flee be-
fore it, because of its very falsity. Therefore, you
132
 THE "FIFTH DAY"

may speak your word of Truth with the greatest

assurance of its success. " So shall My Word be,

that goeth forth out of My mouth ; it shall ac-

complish that which I please, and prosper in the

thing whereunto I send it" (Is. 55:11). This is

true of your word ; because the speaker is the " I

Am" — the "I," the Divine One within, who

always speaks from the standpoint of Truth.
Truth is God's Word, whoever utters it ; and its

power will be commensurate with your realization

of it as the Omnipotent " Word of the Lord."
Our difficulty has been, that we have not half

known the immeasurable power of the Word of

Truth, when backed up and sent forth by a mind
strong in Faith and Realization. For man wields
omnipotent power, when he knows it, — when
Faith gives him the consciousness of it. With
this great Faith, which is " the Substance of
things " — Faith that knows — your word becomes
a decree, " Thou shalt decree a thing, and it

shall be established unto thee "(Job 22:38).

The ancients understood the power of words.
They said, " If you desire agreeable experiences,

you have only to put a good word into the ether,

and it will take care of itself, and bring you com-

133
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

fort by and by with something agreeable coming

to pass." So in silence they diligently sought the
right word; which when found they spoke with
the vehemence of faith.

Are your circumstances uncomfortable ? Is your

environment intolerable? That is a good sign.

Though it is what you have made it, its intoler-

ableness indicates that you are outgrowing it, and

are about to change it, which you have power to

do. When you fully deserve a better environ-

ment, your changed consciousness will express
itself in a better one. Learn a lesson of the Dragon-
fly. Up to a certain time he is content to crawl,
an uncouth grub, on the bottom of the pond, in

harmony with his watery environment. But after

a time he tires of his limitations and intolerable

bondage, and begins to aspire to higher things

and a freer environment. In his aspiration he

climbs a reed; and the sun splits open his en-

vironing shell, and he leaps forth free — the gor-

geously attired Dragon-fly, happy in his better

environment.
" Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall

find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

What you fully and truly desire, you can have,
i34
 ;

THE " FIFTH DAY"

if you know your power, and are not disturbed by

fear and doubt, which are your greatest foes. No
matter if the whole world seems against you, and

the whole trend of human thought seems to oppose

your law, — your triumph over the intolerable
conditions will not come by regarding the laws

of carnal mind, but by disregarding and annulling

them. Then if you steadfastly adhere to the
higher law of the Spirit, holding to the Principle
of Omnipotent Truth, as Jacob wrestled with his
adversary — in due time it will transpire, that
" while they are yet speaking I will hear " — while
steadfastly claiming your heart's desire with the
persistency of a genuine faith, the transformation
will come. You bring it to pass.

" For though wrong grind thee small,

And all depart

Yet shall thy world grow polar to thee,

Slowly taught,
And crystal out a New World
Like thy thought."

By training the mind to a habit of fixed and

steadfast purpose, and with fidelity to principle,

you have power to bring into manifestation in

your life the beautiful and desirable things, which

*35
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

though not yet apparent to the senses are never-

theless yours already in the invisible omnipres-

ence, only awaiting your proper mental attitude

and consciousness to find expression in tangible

realization.

" Let the Waters bring forth the moving Creature that hath

life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firma-
ment of heaven."

It will be noted that it is " the waters " that

bring forth both " the moving creature " and the
" fowl." This is the language of both the Author-

ized and the Douay Versions, and it is doubtless

the correct rendering, since this whole allegory
refers to thoughts and creations of the mind. For
Thought creates everything. Indeed, if the Dar-

winian theory be correct (and it is only a theory),

that the fowl is a differentiation of the fish, then

this Genesis statement is all right, even in its lit-

eral sense, and the revisers had no need to change

it. It does not say that " the waters " brought
forth only fishes, but all " moving creatures." In
our mental world " the waters " of mind create

everything, as the story graphically shows.

In studying the correspondences of this allegory
136
 "

THE "FIFTH DAY"

we note that the " beast and creeping things

represent the passions, sensations, and feelings of
the flesh ; and " fowl that fly above the earth " are

things of the mind —thoughts that soar above the

plane of sense, in the free expanse of the mind, —

the greatest of which are high aspirations and

ideals which may correspond to eagles, as they

have power to fly higher than any other fowl.
Aspirations and Ideals carry us into the Spiritual
altitudes where we meet God face to face.

The value of high ideals is shown in the experi-

ence of Moses as given in Exodus, 3d chapter,

which is a picture of the individual in the silence

of meditation. He was " forty years " in the wil-

derness tending sheep ; there he " led them to the

backside of the desert," where he found himself

" in the mount of God." Here God revealed him-
self by his great name, " I Am."
This is the experience of every man who enters

the path of Regeneration. For if you will engage

in true meditation in the " desert" of silence, and
there care for and meditate on your pure, innocent
Spiritual thoughts ("tend and feed your sheep") ;

if you will go into the ultimate extent of silence

("the backside of the desert") with your flocks,

i37
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

and stay there through a perfected experience, in-

dicated by the symbology of " forty years," — you

will suddenly find yourself in a very exalted state
("the mount of God").
The symbology of numbers becomes easy of
solution when we consider them without regard to

time or space. Thus in the number " 40 " we have

a multiple of 10 (4 x 10) ; 4, the number of the
square, denotes perfection, and 10 denotes All;
then 4x10 denotes a full and perfected experi-
ence. Having remained in meditative silence

through a full and perfected experience (4 X 10),

the Christ reveals himself to you as your Higher
Self, whose name is " I Am." In Hebrew this name
is written, " JHVH" (pronounced, Yahveh or
Jehovah). Translated it means, "I Am; " which
is the name of my — Divinity within
Inmost Self,
— the Son of God — Immanuel. And this is

" The Lord of my world — the Christ who may

" ;

be found within only, — " Lo am with you ! I

always."
When Moses received his illumination (" Burn-
ing Bush ") and the revelation of God as " I Am,"
at once he was clothed with a wonderful power,
sufficient to defy the power of Egypt, and deliver
138
 THE "FIFTH DAY"

a vast army of Israelitish slaves from severest

bondage, and restore them to their " promised
land."

Though history, this must be treated as alle-

gory, in looking for its Spiritual meaning.

Accordingly from time immemorial our Spiritual

Thoughts (Children of Israel) have been under the
domination of Carnal Mind (Egyptian bondage).
That bondage has been so galling that we " cry to

God by reason of the taskmasters."

When through Spiritual perception (Moses) we
discern God within ("I Am"), we shall awake
and arise in our Divine might, — conscious of our
Divinity, — and shake off these shackles, and find

the freedom of the Sons of God. It is always the

" Son of God " who makes us free. Only within
can you find him — and his name is " I Am."
Our God must be through our
recognition of
Consciousness. For God is Consciousness, or rather,
God-Consciousness. In order to fully know God
Ave must become God-Conscious. Therefore the
" Memorial Name" is " I Am."
Elijah's power, well-nigh omnipotent, in the an-

nihilation of the four hundred and fifty prophets of

Baal and the four hundred prophets of Astarte by
139
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

one herculean effort, symbolically portrays my own

power to destroy sensuality from my heart. For
Baal and Astarte are the Sex Gods, whose prophets
are legion.

That which receives your heart's best love and

devotion is your God. When the heart's love is

bestowed upon sex-sensuality, you are a worship-

per of Baal and Astarte, and have departed from
the true God.
Such a case is well-nigh hopeless, until Elijah

arises in the mind. For Elijah i^Elijahu) means,

My God is I Am. When, therefore, I awake to

the consciousness that I Am is my God, then I am

Elijah, and can manifest the power of Elijah to

righteously determine who has the supreme rights

and authority, these Gods of sense or the Divine
ONE within. With this high consciousness at-
tained by communion, I may demonstrate this

power, and by one fell swoop clean out these

Augean impurities, and rid my heart of sensuality

through the realization that — shall I say it ? —" I-

Am-God " — " My God is I Am." O if we could

only get rid of that old primitive, childish concep-
tion of a personal God (in the human sense), and

find the Omnipotent One always with us, in-

140
 THE "FIFTH DAY"

separable from us, we would have little trouble in

demonstrating holiness and health. Developing

our omnipotence through knowing God, we be-
come Elijah, and can thwart the base designs of
"Jezebel, that wicked woman" — the Carnal Con-
sciousness. I am always the King of Israel, ruling
righteously or unrighteously, and always receiving
the consequences.
In saying that God is within, we are not saying

that the whole of God is within ; but that our con-

ception is there — in consciousness. For back of
my own "I Am "-Consciousness (the Son) is

the great, Eternal, Universal " I Am-that-I Am "-

Consciousness (the Father).

This conception of God within gives us a higher
conception of our bodies, which thus become God's
Holy Temple.
"Jesus spake of the Temple of his body."
Thus your body is God's body. Can you defile

it with impure thoughts? Your hand is God's

hand. Will you say God's hand is infirm? Your
eyes are God's eyes. Will you say God's eyes are
dim? Your ears are God's ears. Will you say
God cannot hear?
"
"He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?
141
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

"
" He that formed the eye, shall he not see?

Who formed the ear? Who formed the eye?

Who but the Divine " I Am" within? Who hears?
Who sees? Who but the same perfect One?
Who can obstruct his hearing or seeing? — " Shall
he not see ? " — " Shall he not hear ?
"

Then the way to overcome imperfections of

vision or of hearing is to recognize your own
Divinity. Indeed, the way to overcome every
imperfection is to recognize who you are.

Carefully examining the Name of God given in

Ex. 3 : 14, we find two Hebrew words used, both

parts of the verb Hajah (to be), viz.: For the
Name, " I Am " ( Yahveh — Jehovah), the present
tense Jhvh
is used, — I Am. For the Name, " I

Am-that-I Am," the future, Ahjh, is used, thus

" Ahjh ashr Ahjh!' The former is a simple
statement of Existence, or Being —- " I Am." The
latter means more on account of its future aspect
—" I Am He who is and is to be," — not like

the former, limited to the present, but reaching to

the Infinite Future — I Am He who is, the Com-
ing, Unfolding, Manifesting One — Eternal Being.
The one represents the Individual Conscious-

142
 THE "FIFTH DAY"

ness ; the other the Universal Consciousness. The

one is the Son ; the other the Father.
The Am my own — " My God ;" the "
" I " is I

Am-that-I Am " the Universal Father.

is All " I

Am exist in and by reason of the " Am-that-

" 's I

I Am." Only through the Son (" I Am") can I

know the Father ("I Am-that-I Am"). There-

fore, " He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father
also." The way to the Father is always through
the Son, the Mediator. The great lesson to be
learned by the " Burning Bush " and " Elijah " al-

legories is man's actual omnipotence, when think-

ing from the consciousness of " I Am."

*43
 VI

THE "SIXTH DAY": THE MAN THAT GOD —

MADE
" And Elohim said, « Let us make Man in Our Image,
after Our Likeness ; and let them have dominion over the
Fish of the sea, and over the Fowl of the air, and over the
Cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every Creeping Thing
that creepeth upon the Earth.' And God made Man in his

own Image : in the Image of God created he him : Male and

Female created he them." — Gen. 1:26, 27.

This Chapter treats of the Crowning Work of

Creation, — God imaging himself in Man. In
fact, everything in the universe images God in a

certain degree ; but Man is the highest expression,

His Crowning Work. In the two first Chapters

Moses gives us a double symbolic picture to repre-

sent Man in his dual nature.

Apparently there are two separate accounts
alternating throughout the first eleven Chapters,

the one representing the Spiritual or Real Man,

and the other the Natural or Unreal. The two
144
 THE "SIXTH DAY"

are as unlike as the two natures are ;

yet they be-
long together, as the two natures do, and are quite
inseparable. But we may separate them, for the
purpose of contemplating either, as we may con-
template either nature separately.
The key by which the two may be distinguished
and separated is the word employed as the Name
of God. In the First Account it is Alhim
(Elohim) — "God;" the Second in Jhvh it is

{Jehovah) — " Lord," or Jhvh Alhim {Jehovah

Elohini) — "
Lord God." Hence students the call

former the " Elohistic " account, and the latter the
" Jehovistic"

These are sometimes printed in different type

on the same page, also in parallel columns, so that

they may be readily separated.

The two are very unlike ; so that if we confine
ourselves to one account by reading heavy-faced
type only, we shall get an entirely different con-
ception of God's Creation, than if we read only
the light-faced type, and vice versa.
The " Elohistic" account is an Ideal Picture to
represent a purely Spiritual Creation, — its Man
a Son of God, whose Likeness he bears, and whose
Image he is. No materiality, earthiness, inhar-

H5
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

mony, sin, curse, or death are mentioned or even

hinted at to mar this Ideal Picture. It is the per-
fect handiwork of the Perfect Creator, whose ap-
proval it receives.

The " Jehovistic " account is a picture of the

Human conception of Man and Creation which ;

also involves the Human conception of God, —

containing all the blemishes, crudities, inharmonies,
sin, and death.
The exact origin of these two accounts is un-
known but that they antedate Moses
; is universally

conceded. No doubt they are a part of the her-

itage of the Hebrews from their ancient Aryan
ancestors, — the former coming from Chaldea
through tradition, and the latter from Egypt, —
the one being the purer presentation of the orig-
inal Aryan story, the other the same story colored
and corrupted by the peculiarity of Egyptian
thought.
The one represents Man as seen from the stand-
point of Divinity; the other as seen from the
standpoint of Humanity. The two allegoric stories

picture to us the Divine Idea and the Human Idea

in contrast and juxtaposition.
The Elohistic account occupies the first Chapter
146
 THE "SIXTH DAY"

and four verses of the second ; where the Jehovistic

begins, telling the same story in formula very
materialistic, continuing to the fifth Chapter.

Here the Elohistic again resumes the narrative

through the fifth Chapter. These alternations
continue through eleven Chapters; after which
they become so blended that they cannot be dis-
tinguished only as occasionally a great Elohistic
Prophet arises to arouse in the minds of the Jeho-
vistic people the higher standards which they have
forsaken.

As Moses did not discard either account we

will try to learn the lesson both have for us.

Allegory, metaphor, parable, etc., are material-

istic expressions given to picture to the receptive

mind Spiritual Ideas. For this is the only way
Spiritual Ideas can be expressed. Intellect can
perceive the shadow of Spiritual Truth by means
of such cabalistic formulae ; and then with a due
receptivity may be led into the higher Spiritual

Understanding.
Looking, then, behind the letter of the figure,
we may see a Spiritual World of transcendent
beauty and Divine perfection -
— everything in it

being Spiritual, including Man, its king and lord

i47
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

in full dominion. This is the teaching of the Elo-

histic story.

For the Spiritual is God's Real Creation; and

Spiritual Man is the Real Man. In the Ideal

World there is no sin; and there is no sinning in

the Ideal Man. Therefore sin does not appear in

the Elohistic story. It only appears in the Jeho-

vistic, which is a perversion, corruption, or coun-

terfeit of the Divine Idea, as shown by the Elo-

histic. The descent of the pure Soul from the
Elohim into Matter for the purpose of developing
a strong individuality and personality through
experience, which necessarily involves mistakes
(which themselves have lessons for us), seems to
be what is pictured by the Jehovistic story. For
the pure Soul from the Elohim has no character
or worth of its own until it has worked it out by
experience. These mistakes involve all that is

called sin, and the Egyptian bondage, its necessary

consequence — from which we are now seeking
deliverance through the experiences of regenera-
tion, that we may be restored in consciousness to

our pristine estate.

The Jehovistic story is unregenerate man's mis-

conception of himself, as seen from the standpoint
i
48
 THE " SIXTH DAY"

of the Carnal (Egypt) nature. This " dust-of-the-

ground " man, this " good-and-evil " man, this

sinning, dying man is not the Divine Idea or God's

True Creation. It is rather the human misconcep-
tion of that Idea. Wherefore these two concepts
are as far apart as Truth and Falsity, Spirit and

Matter, Reality and Unreality, with both of which

man has to do. They represent the Divine and
Human Ideas, each brought into expression by
the same " Law of the Lord."
It appears that the writer of the Pentateuch has
given us a double allegoric picture of man to show
the apparent duality of his nature, — wherein
appears the upright perfection of the Higher Self,

and the frail, material, sinning "worm of dust" of

the Lower Self — the man of misconceptions.
The higher conception appeals to his higher
nature, and the lower conception to his lower

nature, because of the duality in consciousness

which this dual story presents.

There is a perpetual paradox in our reasoning

concerning man growing out of this duality in

consciousness.
Of this duality in consciousness Emerson says :

" Underneath the inharmonious and trivial partic-

i
49
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ulars there lies a musical perfection, the Ideal

journeying always with us — the heaven without

rent or seam."

Having the right and power of free choice, our

reason may lead us to follow our Ideal and to

keep the Higher Self constantly in view ; so that

we may advance toward Divinity by a conscious

evolution — - or we may choose to follow our mis-

conceptions, attaching ourselves to the earth

where we hear the Law declaring :
" Dust thou
art, and unto dust thou shalt return."

All the troubles of earth arise from this miscon-

ception of things. As philosophers and scientific
thinkers, we are seeking to form the true concept

of ourselves, in the hope that by adhering to

eternal principles of Truth we may find deliverance

from the distresses which misconception has in-

volved us in, and attain to the Divine Conscious-

ness; where, consciously Sons of God, we shall

be untouched and uncontaminated by sin, corrup-

tion, or death.

The true Conception is Man as God sees him

from the standpoint of Truth. The false Concep-
tion is man as seen from the standpoint of the

senses.
150
 "

THE " SIXTH DAY"

It is the prerogative of Truth to lift man out of

the slums, into which misconception has cast him,
with all the concomitants of sin, sickness, acci-

dents, and death ; and through the transforming

power of Spiritual Ideals lead him into an illumi-

nated consciousness where only harmony and

health are found.
When we contemplate the great book of Nature
we are impressed with the idea of a wonderful
order and plan. And yet the word " plan

seems hardly the proper word for Infinite Wisdom.

We speak of God's " plan" or God's " scheme of
salvation," as though the Infinite had to study

and "scheme "and "

plan" to accomplish a diffi-
cult task. Omniscience having to " study " and
" scheme " and "plan"! Only the finite needs
to " plan," because not perfected in Wisdom.
Therefore what is called " God's plan of Salva-
tion " is simply men's plan, — their idea of God's

way of doing things. We have so many conflict-

ing plans, all called God's ! Omniscience is

universal law. Does Law plan? Law is the har-

monious working of Omniscience. It is not a
thing made and adjusted to the universe. It is

rather God in his universe living it. It is not a

151
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

plan : It is God, manifesting himself as Wisdom,

Love, and Truth, in harmonious activity.

When we read in Gen. 2:7: " And the Lord

God formed man out of the dust of the ground,"
it is equivalent to saying, The " Law of the
Lord " brought into material expression man's
material Idea of himself.

The Elohistic story shows the harmonious ex-

pression of the perfect Idea; and the Jehovistic

the inharmonious expression of the perverted
Idea, by the faithful operation of the same right-

eous " Law of the Lord/' It is the perfect Law

of expression we are dealing with, which is just

as faithful to bring into expression every Idea,

whether true or false.

If your idea is perfect and true — the True

Conception — its expression will be as perfect

and true as is the Idea. But if your idea is im-

perfect and false — a misconception — the expres-
sion must be as far from perfection as is the Idea.

By the same impartial Law the " Good Tree

brings forth Good fruit, and the Evil Tree Evil
fruit." God is powerless to prevent the " evil

fruit " on the " evil tree." For he is Principle

and Law.
152
 THE "SIXTH DAY"

Thus the " Law of the Lord " with exactness of

operation and impartiality forms man's material

Body out of his material conceptions (" dust of

the ground "). Not that God did this once, ages

ago, but that it is constantly being done every-

where. It is the Law.
But after all, whether we call this a Spiritual or
material world ; whether we call man a Spiritual

or material Being, depends on our conception of

things. For from the Elohistic standpoint what
Carnal mind calls the material world is really the

Spiritual world in visible expression, — misnamed

material, through human misconception.
Human misconception is forever mistaking the
" appearance " for the Reality. But Realities are
always Spiritual and eternal; " appearances " are

transitory and temporal.

By reason of his Divine origin Man is, according

to this Elohistic story, in his intrinsic substance,

a perfect Spiritual Being; and his great problem

is, through the recognition of the Spiritual Self to
bring into outward expression all the qualities of
the Heavenly Man, — to bring into concrete ex-

pression what is potentially true in his Inmost

Being, until the two are one.
153
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

The " problem of Life " is not fully solved

until Regeneration is finished. And this is the
demonstration of yourself to yourself — your
Higher Self to your Lower Self; whereby the
lower becomes " transformed into the image of
the heavenly."
In the Sixth Day of Creation God completed
the revelation of himself to himself in the produc-
tion of his perfect Son — his imaged representa-
tive. When, after all the Aeons of evolutionary
unfoldment, the earth became ready for man, the
crowning work and highest expression of God, —
Man appeared. Then was God able to behold
himself, as in a mirror, in his Creation. His per-
fect Image appeared ; which he saw, and pro-
nounced, " Very Good."
Everything in the universe is contained in man;
therefore, when the Creation was " finished," Man
had to appear, that the Father might behold
himself in the Son.
Through correspondence I see, that I am creat-

ing my world. This Genesis story is the story of

my own unfoldment. My world is at first " without

form and void ;
" and would ever remain so, but
for " the Spirit of God moving upon the face of
i54
 THE " SIXTH DAY"

the waters." Through this Cosmic process my

unfoldment continues, until at last I behold
myself in my perfected Consciousness, — the
Heavenly Man, the True Creation of God.
The end and object of my Regeneration is to

bring into consciousness the full glory of my Son-

of-God Self; that I may see in this perfect mirror
f hat which exactly meets my approval, and which
I therefore pronounce, " Very Good."
This is a demonstration of the highest Truth of

Being. For if your highest Ideal is the Real, —

that you are a Son of God, with every Divine
attribute and perfection, —- then you ought to be
able to realize — make real to consciousness —
that Ideal; and so Be CONSCIOUSLY THE God-
Ideal. What at first is a distant Ideal, becomes
in time consciously Real — Real-ized.
This is a demonstration yourself — not to to an-

other. Another has no part in it. All experiences

in evolution are strictly your own.
The Gethsemanes and Crucifixions are great
experiences for your own unfoldment. Peter,

James, and John slept while the Master wrestled

in Gethsemane.
Thus in the Microcosm the forming of the Son
i55
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

of God in you is the Crowning work of your crea-

tion, and that toward which all previous efforts

have pointed.
In the correspondence of the natural with the
Spiritual we see the beauty and profundity of
Divine Wisdom, the marvellous Wisdom of the
Divine Order. Besides, it enables us to recognize
the Divine Self, which is always in touch with
God; so that we may "ask," knowing that we
" shall receive " freely of the Wisdom, Truth,
Strength, and Virtue of God. The whole fountain
of Wisdom is continually offering God is
itself;

continually bestowing himself. Every Good thing

we can ask for, or think of, is eternally given.

Man has but to receive.

The fact of the matter is, Infinite Goodness has
expressed itself in man, making him Good ; In-

finite Wisdom has made him Wise ; Infinite Life

has made him Living; Infinite Love has made him

Loving; and who shall limit the Infinite bestow-

ing? God-like-ness is the meaning of " In-our-

Image-after-our- Likeness."
The Man, whom Elohim, the Father, made and
pronounced " Very Good," is the Man of God-
like-ness ; who eternally abides in the bosom of the
156
 THE "SIXTH DAY"

Father. If God once pronounced Man " Good,"

the Unchanging One must forever see him Good.

The Uncorruptible Father forever sees the Son
uncorruptible.
It is because the Spiritual Man is the Real, the
Man of unchanging perfection, that makes him
instinctively rebel at bondage, sickness, and death ;

because these things are not his, and never be-

longed to this man of Divine lineage. They have
been foisted upon him by the misconceptions of
the race, until he groans by reason of the cruel
bondage. This instinctive rebellion at bondage
and oppression is the Voice of the Divine Self
asserting himself.

Shall we constantly keep the false man in view,

and be reconciled to Pharaoh's oppression? Shall

we " take the Name of God in vain " by saying,

"It is God's Will," or by calling Carnal Mind's

verdict, God's decree? It is Pharaoh's decree, not
Elohim's. Let him exercise his authority upon
Egyptians ; but we are not Egyptians, that we
should submit to this cruel king, " Mortal Mind."
We are of a Diviner race — Sons of God — Children
of Israel — a Spiritual race.

Yet we have, like the historical Israel, been sold

i57
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

into slavery, —- as Paul says, " sold under sin," —

we have sold ourselves. " Ye have sold yourselves

for naught; but ye shall be redeemed without

money and without price." (Is. 52: 3). But out
of this carnal-mind bondage our cry for deliver-
ance is heard in the innermost of the soul, where
God is still speaking and still hears.

Through the long centuries, in ignorance of his

Divine estate, and under the illusions of the mortal

consciousness, man has been blindly groping his
way, seeking in materiality for what he is conscious
of having lost, — Perpetual Youth. He is con-
stantly seeking in objectivity for what cannot be
found there. The " elixir of life " and the " foun-
tain of perpetual youth " men are ever seeking

and never finding in the objective world. In every

century some Ponce de Leon or Pasteur appears in
"
this vain search. Yet there is a true " elixir of life

and a true " fountain of perpetual youth" all suffi-

cient; otherwise men would not be searching for it.

Instinctively man knows that perfect life, health,
and freedom belong to him. Therefore he believes
in remedies instinctively for the recovery of his
lost estate ; and he flies to matter for what does
not exist there. He is thirsting for the " Water
158
 ; ;

THE "SIXTH DAY"

of Life; " but seeks it in " mineral springs," or in

the concoctions of the apothecary. This Living
Fountain is not to be found in matter; for it is

matter (the material consciousness) that has de-

frauded him of the fulness of the Consciousness
of Life. He has sought wrongly, because he has
sought objectively, — without, for what can be
found only within. If only man would step and
listen, — learn to hear and obey the Inner Voice

of Wisdom, he would soon find the " elixir of life,"

and be able to drink of its perennial fountain.

Christ is that all-sufficient Fountain. " The Water

that I will give him shall be in him a well of Water
springing up into Everlasting Life." Finding the
Christ within, you drink of the Fountain of perpet-
ual youth. But man — " fool man" — has lost

the Spiritual Consciousness, having buried it be-

neath the rubbish of materiality. As Young says :

11
Yet man, fool man ! here buries all his thoughts

Inters Celestial hopes without one sigh

Prisoner of earth, and pent beneath the moon,

Here centres all his wishes ; winged by heaven

To fly at Infinite, and reach it there, —
Where seraphs gather Immortality on Life's fair Tree,

Fast by the Throne of God. 1 '

*59
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

To have the realization of your Divine estate,

to know that it is even now your very own, will

bring you better health and a higher conscious-

ness. For that realization will be a Higher Con-
sciousness. The glimpses you receive of your
Higher Self are foreshadowings of the Higher
Consciousness, soon to be revealed. John was in

the Spiritual Consciousness, we may infer from

his statements of realization. " Beloved, Now are
we the Sons of God ; and it is not yet manifest
what we shall be ; but we know that when He
shall be manifested, we shall be like Him ; for we
shall see Him as He is."

According to this man in the Cosmic Con-

sciousness, even " Now we are Sons of God,"

— though we may not fully realize all this means,

nor manifest (because not realizing) all it implies.

But the possibilities of " what we shall be" can

hardly be imagined; because of the limitations
of our faith. " But we know, that when He shall

be manifested (to consciousness) we shall be like

Him." That is : When we are in the Spiritual

Consciousness we shall comprehend and under-

stand all things Spiritual, and manifest accord-
ingly.
1 60
 THE "SIXTH DAY"

The high standard is within; the perfect pat-

tern is there.

It is the Divine Self — the Immaculate Christ.

All longing for higher things, all soul hunger,

is the True Self seeking recognition and outward
expression.
If man were the " worm of the dust " they have
called him ; if he were " totally depraved," as his
well-intentioned calumniators have declared, he
could have no aspiration for higher things ; the
Spiritual would forever remain meaningless to
him. There could be no evolution toward Di-
vinity, unless Divinity had been first //evolved.
But Divinity always within is constantly seeking
recognition and outward expression. No man
ever attained a high consciousness by a constant

recognition of his low estate of sinfulness ; nor by

putting off the day in thinking he will sometime
become holy, can he arrive at conscious Holiness.

The consciousness of Holiness, and its expression

as wholeness can come only through the recog-
nition of it as a present reality. For you are not
sometime to become a Son of God; — you are
Now a Son of God, as perfect as Christ.

Your Son-ship is not a thing to be unfolded,

161
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

but a thing to be recognized. The only trouble

in the matter is, you are not conscious of what
you are, What is to be unfolded is not your
Divinity, but your consciousness of it. Divinity
was always there, but the consciousness of it is to

be gained. The Divine Consciousness is the great

object of all unfoldment.
Jesus is called Jesus Christ, because he ever
lived and spoke from the Christ-Centre of con-
sciousness. Divinity within being constantly rec-
ognized, was constantly gaining a fuller expression ;

until men, recognizing the expression, called him

Jesus Christ.
You will never be able to express the higher
powers of the soul until you look beyond the
human Self you are so familiar with, and become
better acquainted with the Higher Self, — until

you recognize this Heavenly Man already there

in his full Divinity.

Unfoldment is upward, from the lower to the

higher. Therefore Paul said, " The First Man
(recognized) is of the earth earthy: the Second
Man (recognized) is the Lord from heaven."
This is the Divine order for every man's pro-
gression.
162
 THE "SIXTH DAY"

The u First Man" has been long in manifesta-

tion through constant recognition. Now our
problem is, through a proper Spiritual recogni-
tion, to bring into manifestation the Heavenly
Man — the " Second Man" — in all his perfec-

tion. This is a matter of demonstration.

Every problem requires demonstration.
You have lived so long in the Human Con-
sciousness, that the True Self is unknown to you,

until in the silence you discover him.

This is your Ideal, very beautiful, but at first

far away. But by persistently dwelling on this

Ideal you bring it near, until you make it real to

consciousness. You realize your ideal.

As we have said, the man that God made is the

Spiritual Man, only whom Elohim, his maker,
knows, and pronounces, " Very Good."
"And God saw everything he had made, and
behold ! it was very Good."
Only the perfect meets the Divine recognition
and approval ; only the perfect has he made.
Not only is this God's verdict concerning His
Creation, but it is also the verdict of the true Ego,
the Son of God, who sees as God sees, from the
standpoint of perfection.
163
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

But the Human Ego, seeing from the standpoint

of the senses, reverses for himself in consciousness
the correct verdict of the Spiritual Ego, and re-
ceives himself the self-inflicted penalty, the con-

sequence of his perverted conception of Truth.

For in reality Truth can never be perverted or
shaded a hair from its high standard of perfection.
The only thing that is changeable is our concep-
tion of it. The effect of that false conception is

what we call evil.

When we realize that in the realm of Being and

Reality there is nothing but God and his Creation

(which is his expression), then there is but a

single step to the more comprehensive statement,
" There is nothing but God." Thus Mrs. Wilcox
puts it

11
God and I in space alone, and nobody else in view
And where are the people, O Lord, I said,

The earth below and the sky o'erhead ;

And the dead whom once I knew?

" That were a dream, God smiled and said,

A dream that seemed to be true.

There are no people, living or dead,

No earth below or sky o'erhead

There is only Myself and You.

164
 ; ; ;

THE "SIXTH DAY"

" Why do I feel no fear, I asked,

Meeting you here this way

For I have sinned, I know full well

And is there Heaven, and is there Hell,

And is this the Judgment Day?

" Nay, those were but dreams, the great God said,

Dreams that seemed to be.

There is no such thing as Fear of Sin ;

There is no You ;
you never have been
There is nothing at all but Me."

Making use of Emma Curtis Hopkins' formula,

with slight modification, we may say:

" The Divine One looking outward, as it were,
forever beholds himself. There is nothing else for
him to behold. He sees himself everywhere re-

flected in the perfect mirror of nature. He sees

himself in everything he beholds. The Divine
One is all there is either to be or to be seen. So
every way the Divine One turns he sees himself.
He gives his own quality and characteristics to

everything he sees. He is continually environed

by himself. Conscious only of Goodness, he pro-
"
nounces everything he sees, '
Very Good.'
In like manner the True Ego, looking outward,
165
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

only beholds himself. He sees himself every way

he turns. Consciously Good himself, he sees only

Goodness every way he looks. He gives his own

quality and characteristics to everything he sees.

With no " mote " in his eye he sees only perfec-

tion every way he turns. He sees himself in a

mirror, and is reflected, himself to himself, on

every hand. He is continually environed by him-
self. This is the Man that God made — his per-
fect expression ; who sees as through the eyes of

Divinity, and like God pronounces everything he

sees, " Very Good."
Then we find that the False Self, the Human
Ego, being but the perverted concept of the True
Self or Ego, sees only himself every way he turns.

He gives his own quality and characteristics to

everything he beholds. He sees everybody and

everything after his own pattern and pronounces
judgment accordingly. With a beam in his eye
he sees motes in his brother's eye continually.

He sees everybody through his own thought-

spectacles, which color everything he sees. Con-
scious of sin himself, he sees the sinner every-

where he looks. He is continually environed by

himself.
166
 THE "SIXTH DAY"

Like the Divine One the True Ego sees only

what he approves and loves because of his own

conscious Goodness. But the Human Ego sees

much that displeases him because he is in a false

consciousness — the consciousness of Good-and-

Evil. Yet he has one sure remedy for his offend-

ing world : When he has redeemed himself he

will find his world redeemed ; since the world he

sees is his own reflection.

167
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

REGENERATION

PART II

FOLLOWING THE "SIX DAYS" OF THE

CHRIST SYMBOLOGY
 INTRODUCTION
TO

PART II

THE CHRIST SYMBOLOGY

THROUGHOUT the Scriptures there is One Great

Theme running, — One Great Burden which its

symbology bears, — One Great Transformation,

which its allegories picture, and its histories both

conceal and reveal. It is the Great Theme of the
Prophets and Mystics of the Ages in all Religious
Systems, — the greatest that can engage the hu-

man mind ; because it contains the secret arcana,

and reveals the way for man's unfoldment into his
Divine estate in consciousness. That One Great
theme is Regeneration.
That is the Great Evolution revealed in the
story of Creation, as we have seen. That is the
Evolution pictured by the deliverance of the
" Children of Israel" from the bondage of Egypt,
171
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

and their final arrival, after the purifying " Wilder-

ness " experiences, into their "Promised Land."

That is the Evolution pictured in the dark and
mystical Book of " Job," as we shall see, when
once we have learned to look beyond persons and
things, and see our own experiences.
In these and many other cases human unfold-
ment through experience is what is represented
under the symbology of history and allegory.
It is soul unfoldment, — Spiritual Evolution, —
the growth and passage from the material or
Adam-Consciousness to the Spiritual or Christ-
Consciousness. In either of these mystical alle-
gories the ultimate goal is the same. The allegory
of Creation ultimates in the " Sabbath of Rest,"
— the Attainment realized — Regeneration accom-
plished, where all struggle ends, all labor ceases.
The allegory of the " Children of Israel " ultimates

in their safe arrival in their Ideal Home. The

great epic of Job ultimates in the soul's perfect
restoration through a true understanding of God,

whereby we become transformed in soul, body, and

estate, and receive full satisfaction in the elder
brother's double portion.

We now turn to the New Testament to contem-

172
 THE CHRIST SYMBOLOGY

plate the greatest symbology written in any age.

Every character of the sacred page signifies far

more than the mere historical life of that char-

acter.

The greatest character of history is Jesus of

Nazareth. As an individual his life was an ideal

one, — or rather an Ideal carried into practice —

realized. That man may have an ideal, which
he may pursue, until he realizes his ideal, was
demonstrated by him; that the way to unfold the
highest potentialities of one's Being, the way to

bring out Divine qualities and characteristics is

by pursuing one's Ideal, until it is realized ;

—
thus demonstrating that the Ideal is the Real.

The Ideal is the perfect Spiritual " Pattern shown

in the mount," which we should seek to make our
own in practical experience. Living the Ideal

Life is the way to realize our Ideal.

Jesus was the Man of prophecy, the One Man

foreseen and pointed to by all the Prophets and
Seers of old, — the Pattern-Man, the Ideal-Man,
whom they saw afar off, and who in the fulness

of time was expressed in visible form, — the Ideal

realized; — and he is still the Ideal Man — our

Ideal, our Pattern ; whose life is the Ideal " Way"

i73
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

for the unfoldment of the highest potentialities of

one's Being, for the demonstration of Divinity in

Consciousness.
Therefore the meaning of his life is more than
that of an historical personage. All the histories
of the Word are more to us than histories. There
is always an allegorical application of such histo-
ries to human life : so that that history is not a
thing of the dead past, but a living thing of the
living present, a reality in the individual conscious-

ness. Of all the allegoric (historical) characters

of sacred history the greatest and crown jewel of
them all is Jesus Christ. That he lived and walked
the earth there is abundant evidence; though the
accuracy of the allegoric application of his life to

human experience in the process of regeneration

is so marked as to lead some to think that he was
not an historical personage ; but that the writers
of the Gospels — whoever they were — wrote under
Divine inspiration, using the form of history to
represent the true course of Ideal Way for the

unfoldment of the Christ in Consciousness; that

"Jesus " represents the typical Man going through

all the experiences of that unfoldment ; that those

allegoric experiences, as in a human objective life,

r
74
 ;

THE CHRIST SYMBOLOGY

represent the esoteric experiences of every man in

the Way of regeneration, wherein he may be said

to pass from the estate of the animal-human to

that of the Divine-human, in consciousness. In
such a view the "Christ" is the true Ego — the
Son of God, which the " Jesus " — the human — is

seeking to manifest in consciousness, that he may

be conscious of his Divine estate or Christ-hood.
This reveals " The Way" to the Christ life in its

fulness.

All this may be strictly true without denying the

historic Christ. But admitting its historicity and
the allegory within it, that history at once assumes

a wonderful importance, — there is a Divine plan

in it; God is in it, working along with man in

both the objective and subjective experiences

which reveals a sacred value to both factors of a
correspondence. And this must be true of all

Bible histories and prophecies. God is in every

stage of human evolution from the lowest to the
highest.

Every great unfoldment proceeds according to

the Cosmic order, having " six periods," " six

steps," or " six days " in its evolution ; the seventh

representing finished work — the Ideal realized.
i75
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Hence in the Spiritual interpretation of Scripture

the number seven always means completion —
the attainment. For there is a Spiritual sense of
numbers, as well as histories and allegories, to

be understood. This being true, we may expect

to find in the story of the life of Jesus something
to show that its mystical writers followed the
mystic order, — that this mystical life had its " six

days " also.

The story of the " Transfiguration," in Mat. 17

and Mark 9, is a unique symbolic vision, pregnant
with Spiritual meaning, like the visions of John in
the Apocalypse ; and the same John was one of
the three who had this vision, in which the Christ
is the centra] figure, — fulfilling the law (Moses)

and the Prophets (Elijah), — as the Christ is the

essential Principle of both the Law and the Proph-
ets, — in both factors of the correspondence.
Every item and incident of this vision has a
mystical meaning.

"After six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John,

his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain
apart, and was transfigured before them : and his face did
"
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light

(Mat. 17 : 1, 2).
176
 —

THE CHRIST SYMBOLOGY

The first thing that catches our attention is the

" Six Days " in the beginning of the narrative.

The allegoric nature of the record of the life of

Jesus is one of the chief reasons Bible students
find so much difficulty in determining the chrono-
logical order of events in that mystical life. If we
spend our time hunting for the chronology, we
shall miss the great lesson of the life. In fact, we
must eliminate Time and Space from the account,
so that the experience may be Now and Here,
" nigh thee and in thy heart."
With Time eliminated the chronology ceases to

have any value. The Spiritual is Now and HERE

always.

The " Six Days" of the Mosaic symbology are

the " six periods" or " Six degrees of Initia-

tion," for the Neophyte, before he arrives at the

perfect state of Illumination, symbolized by the

" Sabbath."

What that symbo.logy pictures to the mind is

more graphically pictured by the higher symbol-

ogy of the greater allegory of the life of the

greatest man of history ; which has the same " Six

Days " to represent the same " Six Steps " or " Six

Degrees of Initiation " in the unfoldment of the

 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Christ in Consciousness ;
" until we arrive at the

fulness of Christ."

This is the interpretation of the first point in the

great allegoric vision of the Transfiguration. For
our present purpose this point is all we need to

mention; though it might be profitable to trace

the symbolism of the whole vision.
In the six Chapters following we shall endeavor
to show the " Six Steps " in the Christ-Way of
Regeneration, — " I Am the Way."
We hope to be able to make that wonderful
Way so clear in its every " step," that others may
be able to follow " The Way," finding the Master's
" Steps," and walking in them.
Said Victor Hugo :
" Religion is a translation

of God proportioned to the amount of soul that is

within you." Therefore the unfoldment of Religion

in the Soul works the unfoldment of the soul by a
larger " translation of God " to the human Con-
sciousness.

178
 VII

THE FIRST STEP : — THE IMMACULATE

CONCEPTION AND BIRTH

" Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the

Kingdom of God." — John 3:3.
THE great problem for every man's solution is

"the Problem of Life " the great Object of search

;

is Satisfaction ; the great Attainment to make is

the Divine Consciousness, — which is the " Chief

End of Man." Happy is he who wisely enters
early upon this solution, who early begins this

search, and studiously strives to gain this high

attainment, — an attainment which in the Eternity
of Eternities each one will sometime work out for
himself. It is every one's own problem, which
another cannot solve for him.
" Work out your own salvation with fear and

trembling" (Phil. 2: 12).

It shall be the burden of the Six Chapters fol-

lowing to make clear the Christ-Way for the

179
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

solution of the Great Life Problem, for the finding

of Satisfaction, and the attainment of the Divine

Consciousness, according to the greater Light of
the New Testament as it is revealed by the won-
derful symbolic life of Jesus of Nazareth, by Six
well-defined Steps, shown in that striking symbolic
picture, called " The Transfiguration" (Mat. 17) ;

whose " Six Days " are the Six Steps in the evo-
lution of the Christ in Consciousness. For Jesus
is the Representative Man of the Ages, the Great
Type-Man for all time, our Living Parable and
Allegory of — our Way
Life, to the highest Con-
sciousness — "I Am the Way."
The meaning and purpose of that Great Mysti-

cal Life is, to show by the demonstration of expe-

rience the Way for the unfoldment of the CHRIST
in Consciousness.
Therefore " The Way " of his earthly life stands
to us as an objective picture to indicate our Spir-
itual Way to that Great Unfoldment, the highest

experience for men, — Spiritual Illumination,-—

a transformed Consciousness, — the Resurrected
Life, — the Christ-Consciousness; — and by the
necessity of natural law, a transformed body.

This "Way" is the evolutionary process, called

180
 —

THE FIRST STEP

Regeneration, — available to every man who will

seek it.

But what is Regeneration? It is the Conception,

Birth, and Unfoldment of the Divine IDEA or
CHRIST-Principle in the Consciousness of Man,
until it has wrought the purification and transfor-
mation of the whole man, soul and bod) r
, making
him in consciousness a " New Creation in Christ
Jesus."
In the Six First Chapters we followed the same
Six Steps to the same end under the symbolism
of the Story of Creation, which had its culmina-
tion or completion in the " Seventh Day," " the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God," representing an
Illuminated Consciousness in Realization, or per-
fect Salvation in the attainment of the Spiritual
Consciousness.
Every man is seeking Satisfaction, whether he
follow the quest of wealth, honor, or fame ; whether
he plunge into dissipation, sensuality, or crime.
He is always after the sweet boon of Satisfaction.
Though in numerous ways men seek and never
find it, still there is one sure way to satisfaction,

the Christ-Way, — u I Am the Way."

Only Christ brings to the heart perfect satisfac-
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

tion. Christ is the all-satisfying Good all men are

seeking, though they know it not.

Christ is the Way to the Regenerated Life, —

" the way (Name) given under heaven
only
among men, whereby we must be saved." There
is no other way. " He that entereth not by the
Door into the Sheepfold, but climbeth up some
other Way, the same is a thief and a robber."
"I Am the Door;" " I Am the Way." Thus the
Course, the Path, the " Door," the " Way " to

Regenerated or Divine Manhood is the Christ-

Way. " I Am the Way;'
" And God spake unto Moses and said / Am the

I Am (the Lord) : I appeared unto Abraham, unto

Isaac and unto Jacob by the name, God Almighty ;
but by my name, / Am (Jehovah) > was I not
known unto them," The name, "God Almighty,"
is a purely intellectual conception of God, —a
mere theoretical or theological concept, which can
never be verified in consciousness, God you —a
never can know, because God cannot be known
through intellect. Still our first conception is the
intellectual. But this is the " Unknown God " —
theorized about, but not known. Our first per-

ceptions are through intellect, which, when quick-

182
 THE FIRST STEP

ened, is the " John-the-Baptist" of the mind, able

to perceive afar off, but unable to know in con-
sciousness. What intellect perceives, the Spirit-

ual Man knows — is conscious of. Nevertheless

intellect " prepares the way of the Lord."
In searching for the God you can know your
starting point must be yourself, always the " known

quantity" and God the "unknown quantity" in

your Divine equation. You are the key to the
whole problem.
Looking beyond the physical body, and dis-

cerning your eternal Being within, you have the

key which unlocks the very Holy of Holies, and
brings you into the Divine presence, where you
meet God face to face, and know that you know
him. The recognition of Being within is the first

step in Spiritual knowledge. It is the Christ Im-

maculately Conceived within. Then after the full

period of gestation (meditation)— indicated by

the mystical number nine (nine months) — with-
out regard time — the Christ
to be born will to
consciousness,- — The Divine Idea will be fully
formed in consciousness.

You start with the " known quantity " — Being,

within, your " I-Am," — to find the value of " X,"
183
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

the " Unknown Quantity." For God will remain

the " unknown" to you till you find him through
the Divinity within you. The Way of the " I Am " is
" The WA Y." In simple meditation on " I Am "
the soul perceives, and then becomes conscious of
the Divine Christ. And through this Mediator
between the Human and the Divine, you are to

gain the larger conception of Infinite Being — the

" I Am-that-I Am." For only through the Son
can you know the Father. Through the Indi-

vidual Consciousness you may know the Cosmic

Consciousness.
"No man knoweth the Father save the Son."
When the devout Hebrew reads his Scriptures,
and comes to the word, Jhvh (Jehovah — Yahveh—
I Am), the greatest name of God — the " Unutter-
able Name," he either passes over it in silence or

substitutes Adoni (Lord), lest the accidental cor-

rect pronunciation of this " Great and Terrible
Name " should " shake heaven and earth." For
though there are many pronunciations, the true
pronunciation is unknown. The frequent appear-
ance of the word " Lord " in the Old Testament
bears unmistakable testimony to that substitution,
 THE FIRST STEP

as well as to the great veneration and fear in which

they held this name.
"
Thus it is evident that the names, " Jehovah
and " Lord " always refer to the Christ, as this

meaning is inherent in the name itself. Immanuel

Swedenborg saw this, and correctly affirmed that
Christ is God, and Jehovah is Christ. He is to be
found only within ; and his Great Name is, " I

Am." Therefore his throne is the heart.

John came as the forerunner of the Christ. He

stands for Intellect, which looks without to find
the Christ. Wherefore John said :
" I am not
He;" " There cometh a mightier than I." Yet
through abiding in the silence ("desert") Intel-
lect's finer perceptions are quickened ; and with
the cleansing power of the "Baptism of Repent-
ance " becomes capable of cognizing the Christ,
and says, " Behold the Lamb of God !
" Yet this

Intellect never could do, were there no kinship

between the Human and the Divine. (John and
Jesus were Cousins.)
Without this kinship Intellect never could be
quickened. But John's negative statement cost
him his head. Negative statements will always
defeat you. Therefore be careful never to place
185
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

negative words after " I Am," Because, while " I

Am " is the name of the Lord thy God, you are

thus " taking the name of the Lord thy God in

vain." " And the Lord will not hold him guilt-

less, that taketh his name in vain." The effect

must follow the cause.

Jesus ever recognized the Christ within himself.
Hence his positiveness and power in the use of " I

Am." He spoke understanding^ from the con-

"I Am He," "I
sciousness of the Christ, saying,
Am the Life," " Am the Way," " Am the Good
I I

Shepherd," "I Am the Light of the world," " I

am the Son of God," — in no case using a nega-
tive with " I Am." He proved his Divinity by
recognizing his Divinity.
For the place to find God is always within.

" I searched for God with heart-throbs of despair,

'Neath ocean's bed, above the vaulted sky

And then I searched myself, my inmost I,-—

And found him there."

When at the " Burning Bush " Moses found

God within, as he meditated upon " I Am," and
identified himself with the Divine, he became
clothed with omnipotent power to accomplish
186
 THE FIRST STEP

what the Divine One required of him. The secret

of power lies in one's ability to recognize and

identify himself with Divinity within. Thus find-

ing your Divine Self, a Divine estate is yours.

" All that I have is thine," the Bountiful Father

says to you. " Nothing shall be impossible to you."

We have not been conscious of our Divinity,
because we have been in the hypnotic " deep
sleep " of the Adam Consciousness, from which
we must be awakened to discover the Higher Self,

the Son of God, — the " Eve " — who becomes

" Mary."

When once awakened to the Spiritual Con-

sciousness, you will find yourself in an entirely
new kingdom, the Spiritual Realm, quite unknown
to you before, — the Kingdom of Heaven.
For in all the universe God is manifest in vary-
ing degrees on various planes of consciousness —
in the various kingdoms of nature. Each of these
kingdoms is perfect in itself. Yet in it the func-
tioning entity is powerless to explore or know
any kingdom above its own to which it has not
attained.

The mineral is the lowest kingdom man has

recognized. This was until within a few years
187
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

regarded as a dead kingdom ; but modern re-

search has found that there is nothing dead in

the universe, that omnipresent Life is in every-

thing, and that consciousness is everywhere, be-
cause God is everywhere. Wherever there is Life
there must be Consciousness, commensurate with
the degree of Life. All Nature is alive with
Divine Life, and conscious in a corresponding
degree. Every kingdom has its own conscious-
ness. But this is not saying that the lower forms
have reason, by any means. For reason is the
function of the brain. But Reason is not con-
sciousness, any more than digestion. Yet there
may be consciousness in both. The Mineral can
function only in its own kingdom. Things of
higher kingdoms are quite unknown and unknow-
able to it of necessity.

Above the Mineral higher in the scale of being

and consciousness is the Vegetable kingdom, with
full power to explore and feed upon the mineral
below it; yet quite powerless to know or explore

any kingdom above itself.

The next higher kingdom in the scale of being

and consciousness is the Animal kingdom ; which,
while utilizing for itself both the mineral and
 — ;

THE FIRST STEP

vegetable, has the same limitations on the upward

side.

For in order to know things of a higher king-

dom, it is necessary to be in that higher con-
sciousness.

Next comes the kingdom of Intellect, still

higher in the scale of being and consciousness

consequently having higher powers to explore,
classify, arrange, and utilize all things of all king-
doms below itself; yet quite incompetent of itself

to comprehend Spiritual things ; for the simple

reason that they are of a higher kingdom, — the

Kingdom of Heaven, where there is a higher, a

Spiritual Consciousness.

This reasoning of Professor Drummond's (with

slight modifications) discloses a universal law,

governing every kingdom in which the conscious

entity is functioning. Swedenborg's rule is : Once
find a law governing the manifestation of life on
any plane, and you have a universal law, govern-
ing all forms of life on all planes. On all planes
of Consciousness God is universal Principle and

Law.
Now, then, as in the Animal kingdom Birth is

the initial step into conscious existence there,

189
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

just so in the Vegetable kingdom below, and the

Spiritual kingdom above, must Birth be the nec-
essary experience to Consciousness there, accord-
ing to this universal law. What we have called

the New Birth is, then, a higher generation — the

-

generation of a higher type or Consciousness —

the Christ-Consciousness — the Kingdom of
Heaven.
The principle of Parthenogenesis is not confined
to a few of the lower orders of animals, as some
rotifers and hymenopters ; but is a universal

principle, having a sphere of operation in the

Vegetable, Animal, and Spiritual kingdoms. Par-
thenogenesis seems to be the basis of the law of
all differentiation, being the production of a higher
type from the virgin matrix of a lower type, inde-
pendent of the male ; in which case the seed-germ
is a Spiritual Idea or principle.

The first appearance of vegetation on the earth

must have been by a parthenogenous birth from
the matrix of the mineral, the kingdom next be-
low the vegetable ; where the Germ of the future
plant is Spiritual, existing as an Idea in Infinite

Mind ; which is forever seeking expression in

190
 THE FIRST STEP

form ; since it is the nature and destiny of thought

to express itself.

Only the strict materialist will insist that plants

can grow only from seeds. They first grew with-

out. For as all Life is Spiritual, every visible ex-

pression of life must have proceeded from the

Spiritual by a parthenogenous birth, whenever
and wherever the duly adapted matrix was found
empty and receptive to it.

There is a great universal law of expression

back of seeds, given in Gen. 2 :
5, — " He made
every plant of the field before it was in the earth,

and every herb of the field before it grew."

This is a statement of the universal law of ex-

pression, governing the manifestation of every

form of life on every plane, from the Vegetable
all the way up to the CHRIST in Consciousness.
And without such a law we could not see a reason
for believing in the New Birth. This " plant of
the field " was eternally " made " long " before it

was in the earth; " it was made and formed, as a

definite Idea in Infinite Mind — a Spiritual Germ

—a living entity, having within itself full power
to express itself — and ever seeking its natural

matrix for expression as Plant. And this Divine

191
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Idea or Logos-Germ will find visible expression just

as soon as the perfectly adapted matrix is found
empty and receptive to it. The spontaneous gener-
ation of plants is a birth by a parthenogenous con-

ception of the vegetable in the mineral kingdom.

Are we bold in claiming this as a universal law?
We have but to open our eyes to read it in the

book of nature all about us.

Most people are aware, and every farmer knows,

that when a growth of timber has been removed,

and the ground left uncultivated, there is sure to
spring up what is known as a " second growth " of
timber, entirely different from the first growth.
Ask the farmer why and whence this change, and
his invariable answer is :
" This is Second Growth,
this comes in !
" He sees the fact, yet he knows
not why.
Evelyn, a Sixteenth Century writer on timber
culture, narrates :
" When my grandmother's woods,
consisting entirely of oaks, were cut down, there

sprang up again, not oaks, but beeches ; and when

these in turn felt the axe, there arose again spon-
taneously, not oaks nor beeches, but birches!'
To believe with our materialistic philosophers,
who seem to labor hard to avoid the recognition
192
 THE FIRST STEP

of the Spiritual Principle, that seeds had been

lying in the moist soil a Century without either
sprouting or rotting (which is inevitable), and
without their being able to discover these seeds —
would require far greater credulity than to sup-
pose that Nature fell back on the law of its ex-
istence — as the Courts fall back on Common
Law, when they find no statute to fit the case —
and that they were produced in Nature's original

way — without seeds.

In Wisconsin (and this is true in all timbered

countries) vast areas of pine have been removed
by the ruthless lumbermen; and the dry tree-

tops covering the ground have furnished fuel for

forest fires, which have swept over thousands of
acres, burning the very soil beyond the germinat-
ing depth for seeds, thus destroying possibility of
germinating seeds in the soil. And yet in a year
or two a new growth of deciduous trees begins to

grow, without seeds ; so that these extensive empty

wastes are soon covered with a new " second
growth " of — not pines — but maple, birch, cherry,

hickory, etc.
If the birth of Jesus, or of Buddha (or others
claiming the same origin), was out of the usual
i93
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

order by a virginal conception, such a birth, how-

ever unusual, could not have occurred without
law, nor in contravention of law, however little we
may understand the law.
May not this be the key to all differentiations

in nature? —a law undiscovered (or at least un-

acknowledged) by the Darwinian school, whereby
the race has advanced from very low types by
many parthenogenous conceptions, -—until the
great Messianic type, the " desired of all nations,"

at last in due time appeared by a Virginal Birth?

Again, if it can be proved beyond question that
plants ever make their appearance without seeds
this would be a parthenogenous conception in the

Vegetable kingdom, in obedience to the same uni-

versal law governing every form of life on the
earth, on every plane throughout the universe, not
excepting the so-called miraculous birth of the
Messiah. And by the same law, and only thus,
may the Christ be conceived and born in the
human Consciousness.
This Spiritual Conception is the True " Immacu-
late Conception," — of which the physical is its

symbolic material correspondent, — each factor

of that correspondence existing by reason of

194
 THE FIRST STEP

the other, and each being corroborative of the

other.

After these forest fires, and after the Winter

snows have dissolved in the warm Spring sun's

rays, this whole vast expanse becomes an empty,

receptive Womb, waiting and yearning for the
Spiritual Germ of the exactly adapted plant, ever
present in the Omnipresent " Brooding Spirit" of
Universal Mind as an Idea, which is ever seeking
its proper matrix, which in turn is ever seeking
its proper Germ, that the plant-Idea may find

expression as Plant.
The Voice, which Mary heard announcing her
Immaculate Conception, is the same Voice Nature
hears in every Immaculate Conception, on every
plane of manifestation :
" The Holy Ghost shall

come upon thee and the Power of the Highest

shall overshadow thee ; and that Holy Thing that
shall be born of thee, shall be called the SON of
GOD."
In the same way, and on a higher plane, the
human heart, made empty by repentance, becomes
a receptive Matrix for the Immaculate Conception
of the Divine Idea of Man -
— the Christ-Germ,
which is ever seeking its adapted matrix, from the
i9S
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

" overshadowing Spirit." There must be a mutual

yearning for each other in all of Nature's pro-
cesses of Birth. You must yearn for the Christ,

because the Christ is yearning for you.

" Ye must be born again, or ye cannot see the

kingdom of God," said Jesus.

" Except the Christ be born in you, ye are none
of his," said Paul.

" Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born,

Unless He 1
s born in thee, thy soul is all forlorn,"

said Schoeffler, the mystic monk of the Seven-

teenth Century.
As the Spiritual Logos-plant-germ is always
present in Omnipresent Mind, so the Spiritual
Logos-Christ-germ is always present in Omni-
present Spirit, though unrecognized by Intellect,

— ready and waiting for the receptivity which

shall insure the expression of the Christ in Con-
sciousness. The soul is Human; the Christ is

Divine. When the Christ becomes incarnated in

the Human, the Human thereby becomes " trans-

formed into the image of the Heavenly," thus
working a Spiritual evolution.
The Soul in this high function is " Mary," and
196
 THE FIRST STEP

is capable of conceiving the Christ, that the Christ

may become a matter of Consciousness.

How beautiful and inspiring to contemplate God,

unfolding himself everywhere, by One Law,
throughout all Nature the same.

11
One God, One Law, One Element,
And One far-off Divine Event,
Toward which the whole Creation moves."

It will be borne in mind that we are not speak-

ing of the law of reproduction, usual and continu-

ous ; but of the unusual and occasional, — the law
of Differentiation, whereby a higher manifestation
of God — a Higher Type — is brought into expres-
sion ; and wherein the Lower becomes the Matrix
for the Conception of the Higher.
This Universal Law of Differentiation by Immac-
ulate Conceptions in the process of Evolution is

very important to the scientific mind ; inasmuch

as it affords a scientific basis for the doctrine of

Regeneration as a practical experience under nat-

ural Law, in the higher evolution of man.
It must now be clear why the New Birth is a
necessity of the True Christian Life ; and that its

modus operandi is according to the Divine order

197
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

of Universal Law. Under this great Law the Holy

Ghost is the Begetter; the Soul is the Mother;
and CHRIST is the "Only Begotten Son," who
thus becomes your Life, your Saviour, your Re-
deemer, your Salvation.
Thus there is One Universal Law of evolution
for plant-Life, for Animal-Life, and for the Christ-

Life ; since they are all the evolution of the One

Life, which is God, in various manifestations, on
different planes of expressions and consciousness.
If, now, we have discovered the great Law
whereby the Christ is born in consciousness, may
we not go to work deliberately and understand-

ingly to bring about that much-desired experience?

If we understand the law of the Christ-Conception,

and are willing to conform to it, we shall certainly

be in position to do our part in the matter, and

thus put ourselves in the necessary attitude for

the Spirit's " overshadowing," in order to the

Divine Conception.
We certainly have a part to perform, and we
can the better perform it for this better under-

standing of it.

By " working together with God," — as we must

in all possible progress, — performing our neces-
198
 THE FIRST STEP

sary part under this Law, we may have the

wonderful experience of Passing a Great Evolu-
tionary Boundary, in our march from the Human
to the Divine, from the Animal-human to the

Divine-human, in Consciousness. And what we

are in consciousness, that we are ! We are to

become in Consciousness Sons of God.

If, now, you will carefully follow us in thought,
we will outline the course of thought action neces-
sary to bring us the experience of the Immacu-
late Conception of the Christ in Consciousness.
To this end we will put ourselves in the condi-
tion of passive receptivity, silencing all desires,

eliminating from consciousness all things of Carnal

Mind, even rejecting the Carnal self. Then let us

hunger and thirst for Divine things ; let us yearn

for the perfect Christ in Consciousness — the
Kingdom of Heaven.
We will follow a line of Spiritual reasoning
calculated to bring about the much desired
transformation.

To the honest searcher for the highest Spiritual

experience the following formula of words will be
found helpful in leading the aspiring soul into the

correct attitude for the Great Conception.

199
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Directions: Repeat the following Statements,

at intervals often seconds of silence, in which you
make each statement your very own, baptizing it

with the heart's holiest Love, in the Holy of

Holies of your heart. " John " appears in the
two first statements of negation, thus to " prepare
the Way of the Lord " by his " Baptism of Re-
pentance " — rejecting and casting out old erro-

neous conceptions:

A Meditation for the Immaculate Conception

of the Christ in Consciousness:

I am not a Material Being — a "Worm of

the Dust."
I am not a " Fallen Being" " Totally De-
praved." But
am a Spiritual Being
I a Son of God. —
I " Call no man upon earth my Father :

One is my Father, even God."

Therefore,
i am wholly spiritual — now.
i "live, move, and have my being in
Spirit."
I AM ENFOLDED IN SPIRIT OMNIPRESENT.
I AM STRONG WITH TRUTH'S OMNIPOTENCE.
 THE FIRST STEP

I AM FILLED AND THRILLED WITH OMNIPOTENT

Life.
i am enfolded in infinite love.
i am bathed in the cleansing fountain of
Love.
i am purified by the " consuming flre " of
Love.
i am thirsting for the fulness of love.
i am yearning for the " llfe more abund-
ANT."
am discerning the spiritual substance
i

of my Being.
i am resting in the consciousness of the

ENFOLDING PRESENCE.
"The Holy Ghost now comes upon me,
and the Power of the Highest over-
shadows me."
i am receiving the living christ-truth.

I am Conceiving the Living CHRIST.

I AM DISCERNING THE CHRIST LIVING WITH-

IN.

I AM FEELING THE " QUICKENING SPIRIT."

I AM CONSCIOUS OF THE QUICKENING CHRIST-
LlFE.
I AM CONSCIOUSLY A SON OF GOD.
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

I AM FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF PEACE,

"Peace on earth: Good Will to Men."
i am now identified with christ.

" In the City of LOVE (David) CHRIST

is born to-day: glory to god in the

Highest."
i am awakening to a new consciousness.
i am unfolding the christ-conscious-
NESS.
i am now governed by the new-found
Christ-Principle.
" I live ; yet not I : CHRIST liveth in
me."
CHRIST is my Life, unceasing and unob-
structed.
CHRIST is my Health, unfailing and un-
impaired.
i am in at-one-ment with christ.
A New Life-Blood now circulates in
MY VEINS.
It is the CHRIST-LIFE living me. And
thus
"The Blood of CHRIST cleanseth me
from all Sin."

202
 THE FIRST STEP

I am Every Whit Whole — through

Christ.
Now the Christ molds me
indwelling
into his Likeness, and fills me with inef-
fable Peace Amen,
(Repeat these Statements in Meditation daily,
until the Christ is awakened in Consciousness.)

Presuming that you have so sincerely and

faithfully performed this exercise as to have a
conscious " quickening," then you have experi-
enced the New Conception. The New Birth fol-
lows in its own time ; which is the First Step in
Regeneration, making you a " New Creature in
Christ Jesus," where " old things have passed
away, and behold ! all things have become New."
But you are not yet fully regenerated. You have
but just entered the " Way." Five other Steps
remain to be taken, before you are fully Christ-ed

— Regenerated.
11
And the Lord said unto Rebecca, « Two Nations are in
thy womb two manner of people "
;
.'
— Gen. 25:23.
203
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

These dissimilar Twin Brothers, Jacob and Esau,

are the Two Natures which are struggling within
you. They are the Spiritual and the Natural, the
Real and the Unreal, the Ideal and the Apparent,
the True and the False, the Divine and the Hu-
man. Hitherto the Human (Esau) has ruled you :

henceforth the Divine (Jacob) is in dominion.

For like Abraham you are called to leave the

old life, and to form for yourself a New World of

higher aims and higher experiences.
You have thus entered the Way of Regenera-
tion, being born of the Spirit — " not of corrupti-

ble seed, but of incorruptible."

In your New Consciousness you are a New Man,

with New Faculties and powers. For you are
consciously a Son of God ; and have New Senses,
— a New Sight, unknown to the old man, which

reveals to you a world of heavenly beauty. You

have a New Hearing, before unknown, which en-
ables you to hear the " Voice of the Lord."

" He that hath ears to hear, let him hear,"

You breathe a New Breath — the " Breath of

Life" — Divine Inspiration. Instead of the con-
204
 THE FIRST STEP

sciousness of mere air-breathing, you are conscious

of Life-breathing.
You are using the faculties and powers of the

Spiritual Man.
Henceforth understanding your New Nature
with its New Faculties and Powers, realizing your
Spiritual Manhood, you will no longer complain
of bad health or bad blood or sluggish circulation;
because the very "Ichor of the Gods" — the
"Blood of Christ" (the Life of Christ) courses in

your veins, quickening into perfect Health.

For in your new Manhood the Omnipotent
Christ lives you.

" I live; yet not I ; Christ, liveth (in) me."

205
 VIII

THE SECOND STEP UNFOLDMENT : — IN WISDOM

UNTO MANHOOD

"And the Child grew and waxed strong, filled with

Wisdom and the Grace of God was upon him."
;

And when he was Twelve Years Old they went up

1 '
to

Jerusalem after the custom of the feast."

" After Three Days they found him in the Temple, sitting

in the midst of the Doctors." — Luke 2: 40, 42, 46.

" This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

— Luke 3: 22.

As under the Mosaic symbology we traced the

orderly unfoldment of the Spiritual Consciousness
through its successive Six Steps unto its fully illu-

minated manifestation, — so now under the more

forceful symbology of the life of Jesus the Christ,

as a Living Allegory, we advance in the Spiritual

or Christ-Consciousness from its Initial Step of

Conception and Birth to the Second Step, the

WISDOM Period of that Evolution,— "unto the

206
 a

THE SECOND STEP

measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ"

(Eph. 4: 14).
When through Wisdom the Christ-Stature is at-

tained, then and not till then may you receive the

Spirit's Baptism, in which you will receive the

revelation of Son-ship. You cannot receive this

by going in your own way; but only after a

suitable unfoldment through Spiritual Wisdom.
Our First Step in this evolution was the spring-
ing up in Consciousness of a New Principle —
Divine Idea, before unknown (because of a higher
plane), which filled the whole Consciousness with

a supreme delight, a joyous satisfaction.

This new-born Infant Idea, Spiritually conceived
and born to Consciousness, so pure and delightful
in its appearing in the mind, you will lovingly
cherish and tenderly care for during its incipient

stage of manifestation in Consciousness ; and be-

cause it is so pleasing to your quickened Spiritual

sense, you will carefully guard it against every

danger from your own unregenerate thoughts,
until it shall unfold the WISDOM of God in Con-
sciousness, — even unto the " Stature of Christ."

Do not for a moment imagine your supreme at-

tainment is reached because you have the joyful

207
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

experience of the New Birth. Through unwise

teachers many have made this mistake, and thus
dwarfed their unfoldment. In your joy do not
think you have nothing more to do because the
Christ is born. You have but entered the "Way"
of a course of unfoldment, whose purpose and
ultimate end is the Spiritualization and regener-
ation of both soul and body.

This wonderful Child is committed to your care,

and now becomes your charge ; and your Spiritual

unfoldment will depend on your fidelity to this

charge. But with a fixed purpose to be true to

the monitions of the Spirit, you may rejoice at

the glorious prospect of this unfolding unfold-

ment, with great expectations from the opening
vistas before you.

But Intellect does not readily receive the Christ.

It is so completely occupied with things of this

objective life that " there is no room for him in

the Inn." Yet in the stillness of the night — when

Intellect is quiescent — in the subconscious mind
-
— close to the instinct nature, where innocence is

found, — among the beasts — there is the Christ

brought forth to Consciousness.

Here in the Inner Love Centre, where Mother-
208
 THE SECOND STEP

hood dwells, he is joyfully received and tenderly

cared for. Yet there are whole realms of the

mind still unawakened, in utter darkness as to this
New Light now dawning. In this region of unre-

generate thought Herod is King; and here he

rules with a rod of iron.

At your " Judah " Centre you are now enlight-

ened, and your better nature is sure to triumph.

It is no longer the Carnal Will by which you are

to be governed, but the Spiritual Will. Because
the Christ is begotten of Love, and Love is wedded
to Wisdom.
Your tender motherly Understanding (Mary)
and your fatherly Will (Joseph) are called upon
to give their sincere devotion and faithful protec-

tion during the earlier period of this beautiful

Christ Life. For in your heart of hearts you are
really in love with Truth. For there is always
something intrinsic in it which commends itself.

Somehow you know it instinctively. Therefore

you will surely shield it from Herod's cruel hand.
By the New Conception and New Birth you
enter upon a New Life for the unfoldment of a

New Manhood, — Manhood of a higher type —

Christ-Manhood — Regenerate Manhood.
209
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION
i

In this Second Degree, the Youth Period of

your Christ Manhood, you are to develop Wisdom
and Understanding in order to receive the " in-
crease in Stature " of that Manhood. Therefore
to seek and appropriate Wisdom is the first duty
of every Christian, since there is no soul growth
possible without it.

" There came Wise Men from the East to wor-

ship Him."
From the mysterious " East," the source of
Light — from the Spiritual and not from Intellect,

will come to the renewed Consciousness a greater

Light and higher Wisdom than Intellect knows
anything about.
It is Spiritual Wisdom — true Wisdom — Divine
Wisdom — Wisdom not contained in books nor
taught by man, — beyond the wisdom of the
world. For " the wisdom of the world is foolish-

ness with God." Genuine Wisdom brings to the

mind illumination — like the ushering in of a new

Day, its wonderful Light dispelling the deep dark-
ness of unregenerate Carnal Mind. Therefore the
coming of the " Wise Man " represents the coming
of the Light of Truth to the mind, — bearing its

rich " gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh,"

2IO
 ;

THE SECOND STEP

representing Love, Joy, and Peace. For Love is

the " Gold," Joy the fragrant " Frankincense," and

Peace the soothing " Myrrh " of the Christ-Con-

sciousness.

The right of Circumcision administered to the

holy Child symbolizes your own act of consecra-

tion of this beautiful Christ-Principle as your own
highest Good — your own Salvation. For Truth
is the principle of Salvation ; and Christ is Truth
its name is " Jesus," which means Saviour.
The murderous Herod's hostility shows the re-

bellion of Carnal Will, king in the realm of Carnal

Mind, at the suggestion that a greater King has

appeared in the Conscious Mind. He! will not

readily concede the supreme authority of the

Spiritual over the Intellectual ; he will not recog-
nize this rising King of the Jews. He trembles at
the thought, that Carnal Will must lose its king-
dom, and submit to the reign of the Christ. For
Carnal Mind is always afraid and envious of the
Spiritual, because it stands condemned before it.

" This is condemnation, that Light has come into

the world."
Carnal Will, if it were allowed its way, would
exterminate the Christ from Consciousness. This
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

is the " chemicalization " which takes place, when

the condemning Light of Truth shines upon the
guilty conscience. " Herod seeks the young
Child to destroy it." How bitterly men some-
times fight against the Spirit's working in their
hearts ! But the Infant Christ, being safely en-

shrined in your Love Centre, and consecrated as

your own Salvation, you will surely shield from
Herod. For this purpose you " go down into
Egypt." That is, you begin to use your Reason
in defence of the Christ. For the wisdom of Intel-

lect is the " Wisdom of Egypt;" and Spiritual

Wisdom is not yet unfolded ; it is but in its Infant

stage. Every new convert is very enthusiastic in

the use of Intellect in defence of the Christ,

which is very proper. It is the natural order.

But Intellect is to be ultimately redeemed by

the Christ-ing of the mind, after you have " gone
into all the world, and preached the Gospel to
every creature " of subconscious mind. For all

things are occurring in your own Microcosmic

world within.
When Herod dies — when this chemicalization

subsides — you " arise, and go into Israel." For

true Spiritual development you are called out of
212
 THE SECOND STEP

Egypt, ~ to increase in Spiritual thought — de-

livered from the domination of Intellect. By med-
itation on the Christ you shall know True Wis-
dom. Through meditation you begin to live from
the Spiritual; so that the Spiritual becomes
natural to you. This is your higher natural,

where for Spiritual Realization you do not need to

cast your thought in the mold of intellectual

formula — " Out of Egypt have I called my Son."

You are now advancing in the Christ Life in
the true way, — that of meditation, — and you there-
fore " wax strong in Spirit, filled with Wisdom."
Through meditation you reach a new state of
Consciousness, unfolding Wisdom beyond the
conception of Intellect. Having established the
meditative habit — dwelling in contemplation of
the Christ within —-the " Wisdom of Egypt" no
longer dominates you. Intellect is held in

abeyance, that you may continually hear the

voice of the Spirit and be led in Wisdom's way.
This is your call out of Egypt.
Having been well fed and nourished on the
Spiritual pabulum or " sincere milk of the Word,"
you are advancing beyond the Infant stage of the
Christ-Consciousness to the Youth Period. The
213
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

fulness and completeness of this Wisdom unfold-

ment is indicated by the mystic expression,
" Twelve Years Old."
In the Scriptures " Twelve " is a great mystical

number, always referring to Spiritual things, as

"ten" refers to human or natural things. On the

Spiritual plane it must never be taken literally or

numerically. It is the number of fulness or com-

pleteness, and denotes All — the fulness of some
principle named in the text. As the principle
named is " Wisdom," it signifies that in this stage

of progress all things of Wisdom are open to you

to be manifested to your understanding through
the demonstrations of experience. In all this you
are most truly " about your Father's business."
In the interpretation of all inspired writings the

Spiritual sense requires the elimination of Time

and Space from thought, that the full Spiritual

experience may be Now and Here, having neither

to be waited for nor journeyed to. For the King-
dom of Heaven is neither past nor future, near

nor far. It is Now and Here — " nigh thee, and

in thy heart and in thy mouth."
Now, as the Youth period extends to Manhood,
and is the time for gaining Wisdom on both the
214
 THE SECOND STEP

planes of Intellect and Spirit, so in this Conscious-

ness all things of Wisdom (" 12") are unfolding

you to your Christ-manhood, or the " Stature of

Christ," which is " Thirty Years Old!' The Soul
after being fed on all things of Wisdom (" 12 ")
unfolds to the "Stature of that manhood " (" 30").

By means of the fulness of Wisdom (" 12 ")

you arrive at the fulness of Manhood (" 30 "). In

the language of symbolism there is no chasm or
hiatus between the mystic "12" and the mystic
" 30." This is the reason the allegory of history
is silent concerning the interval of time between
twelve and thirty years. For symbolically speak-
ing there is nothing to be stated, for the " 12" of
Wisdom carries you to the " 30 " of manhood.
Or " 12" extends to "30" in the language of
symbolism. Time is not to be considered.
There is also a very sufficient reason why " 12 "

is used in the one case and a multiple of " 10" in

the other. For what ten signifies on the natural

plane, twelve signifies on the Spiritual plane.
Always "10" and its multiples refer to things
human, while " 12 " and its multiples refer to
things Spiritual. Also the half of "10" (5)

«5
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

stands for the sense man; and the half of " 12"

(6) for the Spiritual Man (of six senses).

We may now construct a numerical formula or
equation to symbolically represent the Atonement
— the reconciliation of the Human with the
Divine: 3X10=6 + 2X12. Here by means
of the divinizing power of the Trinity number (3)
the human (" 10") receives a transmutation, so to

speak, by multiplication; so that thereby the

human ("10") becomes the equivalent of the

Divine ("12"). For " 10," through multiplica-

tion by the Divine number " 3," the number of
the Trinity (3 X 10), receives a Divine value
through the divinizing power of the number " 3 ;

and 6+2 X 12 stands for the " Stature of Christ,"

its Spiritual equivalent. This is saying that the

human, when spiritually transformed, becomes
Divine. To explain further:
The Divine Self (the Christ within) is the
"Elder Brother" of the Human Self; and the
" Elder Brother " always receives a " double por-

tion " (2 X 12) of Divine things. Hence we

may say: The Divinized Human (3 X 10) equals
the Spiritual Man (" 6 ") with his " double por-

tion " (6 +2 X 12). Therefore the equation

216
 THE SECOND 3TEP

3 io = 6 + 2Xi 2 represents man's at-one-

ment with the Divine through unfoldment in

Wisdom, giving him the " Stature of Christ,"

— the Divine Humanity.
When this " Stature " in consciousness is

reached, then and not till then will follow the

Spirit's Baptismal enduement and illumination,

with the consciousness of the Divine approval

and the revelation of Son-ship :
" This is My
Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This
is the climax of the Second Step in Regenera-
tion, — the Human arriving at the consciousness

of its Divinity, and receiving thereby a great illu-

mination through that revelation.

"
The " 144,000 " who stand with the " Lamb
on Mount Zion, having the Divine Name in their

foreheads, singing the song none else could learn,

who are " Virgins without blemish," mentioned in

Rev. 14th, is another illustration of numerical

symbology for picturing the redemption of the
" 10" in the " 12," in their multiples, to portray
the perfect Salvation of the individual, rather than

so many persons saved. Here the cube of " 10"

(1,000) is multiplied into the square of "12"
(144), making 144,000, thereby uniting and
217
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

blending the Human (" 10") with the Divine

(" 12 "), symbolizing the union and absorption
of the Human in the Divine. For Salvation is

the Redemption of the Human (

" 10") by the
evolution of the Christ (" 12 ") in Consciousness.
Numbers are a part of the great symbolic
system of the Scriptures, since every Hebrew
word has a numerical value. It was the idea of
Pythagoras, that there is mathematics in every-
thing; that everything is capable of being ex-
pressed in mathematical formula.
Therefore it is reasonable that there should be
a Spiritual significance to the numbers of the

Bible, since they are a part of the great symbolic

system to represent spiritual things.

Further, to show that " Twelve Years Old
refers to unfoldment in Wisdom, it will be noted
that the Youth, Jesus, was found " sitting in the
midst of the Doctors, both hearing and asking
them questions." Not that he is dispensing
profoundest intellectual Wisdom, as some would
have us think, but " hearing them!' — listening to

their Wisdom, — and " asking them questions;"

like any inquiring mind searching for Truths For
this is the Human Jesus unfolding the Divine
218
 THE SECOND STEP

Christ within himself. Only in the light of the

unfolding Christ can we properly question the

formulae of Intellect; because her statements
are never exact and Absolute Truth. They are

simply human opinion.

In Metaphysics this is all an inward experience.
The learned intellectual " Doctors " are there,

proud of their boasted wisdom; and the unfolding

Christ is there in his meekness. Thus the individ-

ual is getting glimpses of that transcendent Wis-

dom, of which the world knows nothing. These

glimpses " astonish the doctors."
Every one who is unfolding the Christ " sits

among the doctors," searching for the CHRIST-

WISDOM in the Youth of his unfoldment. Truth is

what he is seeking ; and Christ is Truth.

" Wisdom is the principal thing : therefore get
Wisdom; and with all thy getting get Understand-
ing ; exalt her, and she shall promote thee ; she
shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace
her; she shall bring to thy head an ornament of
grace, and a crown of glory shall she deliver unto

thee " (Prov. 4: 7-9).

This lesson treats of Wisdom. It is the Wis-
dom Degree of our evolution. In this Degree we
219
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

apply ourselves to the study of the Ideal and the

Absolute, the Spiritual and Metaphysical; that we
may " increase in Wisdom," and attain to the
" Stature of Christ."

Unfolding Divine Wisdom, we must become the

teachers of the " Doctors " of the mind. For In-

tellect is in darkness respecting Spiritual things,

and must be enlightened by Christ, the great
Light-bearer, that its redemption may be accom-
plished by the Christ.

Wherefore we shall attempt to express our

Spiritual Ideas in intellectual terms, to intellect-

ualize our Spiritual Conceptions, — and thus to

spiritualize Intellect.

The learned " Doctors " must now listen to the

Christ.

Deductive reasoning is the only form suited to

this work. For as our highest Ideal is God, the

Absolute of Being, we will make this our starting
point in deductive reasoning. Then we will pro-

ceed to carry this principle of absolute knowledge

into the intellectual formula of the syllogism, thus

intellectualizing our Spiritual Idea, whereby the

Christ — the Spiritual Ego — becomes the teacher
of the " Doctors" of the mind.
 THE SECOND STEP

In our search for highest Truth we have, in our

Mosaic Course, declared that God is the One
Great, Underived Original Principle or First

Cause, — the Supreme Reality of things all visible

and the universe, — the One and Only

invisible in

— the ALL.
To this Original Being, Omnipresent, Omniscient,
and Omnipotent, we gave other names, to express
some quality or attribute of the Absolute, such as

"Good," "Love," " Truth," "Life," etc.

Now, in forming our Syllogism for deductive

reasoning we lay down

our Major Premise, . . "God is Good," and

"
our Minor Premise, . .
"God is Omnipresent;
whence follows the in-

evitable Conclusion, . Good is Omnipresent;

and the equally nec-
essary Corollary, . . Evil is nowhere present.

Indeed, if God is Good, and the Good is every-

where in the Omnipresence, where in all the uni-

verse can we find a point in space for Evil to be?

If the Omnipresence is Good, then the Good is

All; and there is nothing but Good, as our syl-

logism has demonstrated.

221
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Good is the eternal, positive, indestructible Real-

ity. Evil is the temporal manifestation of the
Negative, suppositional Contradictory of Reality,
— the
-
illusory Unreality, which like every Lie
vanishes with the realization of its falsity.

It is one of the basic rules of logic, that of two

Contradictories but one can be affirmed. The
other must of necessity be denied and rejected.

Therefore the Contradictories, Good and Evil, can-

not both be Realities. If we affirm one, we must

deny the other.

Again we lay down

our Major Premise, . .

" God is Love," and
"
our Minor Premise, . .
" God is Omnipresent;
whence follows the un-
avoidable Conclusion, Love is Omnipresent,
and the equally nec-
essary Corollary, . . Hate is nowhere present.

In the realm of unchanging and eternal Reality

Hate is another false claimant, an " appearance,"
which appears, but is not ; because in the realm of

Reality it does not even appear.

Again we lay down
 THE SECOND STEP

our Major Premise, . .

" God is Life," and
our Minor Premise, . . "God is Omnipresent;"
whence follows the un-
avoidable Conclusion, Life is Omnipresent;
and the equally nec-
essary Corollary, . . Death is nowhere present.

Indeed, if Life is* God, the only presence and

"
Reality, then Death, although an " appearance

in consciousness, has no real Entity and therefore ',

does not exist. For in the Divine Consciousness

it is not. Having only the characteristics of a
false claimant, it is the Giant Falsity, the stupen-
dous Lie of the Human Consciousness, which
through the unfoldment of the Christ in Regen-
eration must disappear, first from Conscious-
ness, then ultimately from manifestation.
This is the Great Victory, which shall be ulti-

mately achieved. " The last Enemy that shall be

destroyed is Death."
Everything Real Is by reason of God, its soul

and basic Substance. Therefore the hypothetical

negatives, Evil, Hate, Death, etc., not having
Being in God, must be unreal, transitory, and
illusory. They are real only to a consciousness
223
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

which is itself unreal. It is because men are in

this false Consciousness that they have a distorted,
astigmatic vision of things, and regard these
negative unrealities with great seriousness, and
fear them, and suffer accordingly. But Realities
are never to be feared. There is nothing in them
of the nature to awaken fear, which only springs
up in the darksome realm of illusion, — never in

the realm of Truth.

Men will not say that " Life is not worth the
living" when they recognize Divinity within them-
selves, and understand that Life is God. That
very recognition and understanding is the first

step out of the darkness into the clear sunlight,

where shadows do not obtain. In the realm of
Reality all things subsist in God, the unchanging

Good — the very Substance of Reality.

" I am God ; beside Me there is none else."

That other God, which has been worshipped by

Carnal Mind, called "Evil" and "Devil," men
have fallen down before in abject fear of its sup-
posed malific power. Yet, like all false Gods, it

has no existence, Reality, or power, except what

Carnal mind has attributed to it. Indeed, we seem
224
 ;

THE SECOND STEP

to have had two Gods, a good God and a bad God.

In this we have been continually breaking the
First Commandment. Idolatry is the acknowl-
edgment of another power beside the GOOD.
To exalt Evil to the dignity of Reality is to make
it a God. Like all the false gods of the so-called
heathen^ this Evil-God, or Devil-God, is an arti-

ficial creation of Carnal Mind. " God is One,"

is the fundamental conception of the Hebrews.
We will here repeat our definition of God, as
given in the Mosaic Course, which, it must be
remembered, is but our conception.

/"Being, (Life, (Principle,

God is I Mind, < Truth, < Substance,

( Spirit, (—— Love, ' Will ,

Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent; — a Trin-

ity of Trinities in Unity ; the All-embracing, IN-
FINITE One; the Being of all beings, the Life

of all lives ; the Substance of all substances

the Universal, Unchangeable Good ; the All-
Father-Mother-Son. And Man is a Son of
God with all that this implies.
"The All-embracing Infinite One " is necessa-
rily all there is.

225
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Hence there is no Life, Being, Mind, or Sub-

stance but God.
We must realize the one-ness of Life, Being,
Mind, and Substance, if we would evolve out of
our unsatisfactory situation into the serenity of the
Divine Consciousness.
It is not strange that we have had discord and
confusion all the way along, with two opposing

and contending forces besetting our path. We

have had two opposing Beings, two opposing
Lives, two opposing Substances, two opposing
Minds, two opposing Principles. Oneness with
God in Spirit, Being, Life, and Substance must be
realized.

We must know how to say, " I and the Father

are One " scientifically, if we would know "the
height and depth and length and breadth " of the
Christ-Consciousness.
When we are able to realize that in God's true

Creation there is nothing opposing or to be op-

posed, there will come to the mind " The Most
Great Peace " — " the Peace of God, that passeth
understanding." God's Peace is the peace of the

Great At-one-ment.
The Great Atonement is accomplished by the
226
 THE SECOND STEP

recognition of the Christ within, as the " Media-

tor between the Two," whereby the Two become
One, making the at-one-ment.
Through the Mediator within (the "I-Am")
you may know the great " I-Am-that-I-Am," and
find the two are One. The realization of perfec-

tion, which comes through conscious one-ness with

God, is Salvation. Your problem is one of realiza-

tion. It is not to strive to be, but to be ; not to

strive to be Good, but to recognize your own

Goodness ; not to strive to be holy, but to recog-
nize your own holiness ; not to strive to be healthy,
but to recognize your own health. For in Being
and Essence you are already what God is.

Thus in the Wisdom stage of our evolution all

things of Wisdom are unfolding to our unfolding

minds ; whereby we find ourselves consciously en-

larged in Spiritual " stature;" until we find our-

selves in the state represented by another mystic

number — " 30 " — " thirty years old," — the
" Stature of Christ."

In the fulness of the Christ Life new possibili-

ties are opening before us; greater and still greater

things are awaiting us ; a still more glorious life

227
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

opens to our consciousness, as we press forward

in the Divine Way.
The unfolding Christ has brought us to the very

portal of the Kingdom, the beautiful glimpses and

foretastes of which lead us to repentance. Out of
the silence of the soul the voice of the mystical

"John" is heard saying: "Repent, for the King-

dom of Heaven is at hand."
This outcasting of every thought inimical to the
Christ " prepares the way of the Lord." The
Baptism of repentance is the peculiar work of
" John " in every heart intent on making the great
demonstration. This is the voluntary rejection

of sins of thought, word, or deed, that nothing

but Righteousness in consciousness may remain.
" Every one that hath this hope purifieth himself,

even as he is pure."

When in this Wisdom Degree you have rejected

every old false race idea, and have washed the

mind of its impurities in the " Jordan " of Spiritual

thought, then will the Spirit of Truth bring its

message of peace, and fill you with the glory of

the revelation of your True Self. " This is My
Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This
is the Spirit's revelation to your soul.
 THE SECOND STEP

But while this fact you had before accepted in

an intellectual Way, it could not be Spiritually

understood, without the Spirit's revealing.

You now stand on the high eminence of Spirit-
ual illumination, with your True Self revealed to

yourself. But you are not to stop here ; for the

goal of Spiritual evolution is not yet reached.

You must descend from this high eminence of
illumination to the plane of practical life, there to
demonstrate in practical experience all that the

Spirit has revealed in the mount of Spiritual exal-

tation, before it can be a matter of your own Con-

sciousness, before it has value in your own un-
foldment — before it can be your Wisdom.
Therefore you are to prove that you are a Son
of God, in the arena of life. You must be tried

and proved in the next lesson.

" Search me, O God, and know my heart; try

me and know my thoughts, and see if there be

any wicked way in me and ; lead me in the way

everlasting."

The student who desires this unfoldment of the

Christ in Consciousness will find it helpful to re-

peat the meditation of the last lesson at the close

of this and the lessons following.
229
 IX

THE THIRD STEP : — OVERCOMING — " THE

"
WILDERNESS

" Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness
to be tempted of the Devil. And when he had fasted Forty
Days he was afterward an hungered." — Matt. 4 : 1, 2.

In the First Step was shown the law whereby the

Divine Thought or Idea is brought into expression
(or rather is born into material manifestation) to
be the one universal law governing every form or
manifestation of life, whether Vegetable, Animal, or
Spiritual, — One Law universal and indispensable,

operating without exception on every plane of

God's world of manifest expressions.
"
In the story of the " Immaculate Conception
and Birth of the Type-Man, Jesus is represented
in objective symbol the esoteric experience of the

individual as he begins the unfoldment of the

Christ in Consciousness. For all things in the ob-

jective world have their correspondence in the sub-

jective experience. Thus we have the process of

230
 THE THIRD STEP

the Conception, Birth, and Unfoldment of the Spir-

itual Idea in the individual Consciousness, with the
various stages of development of a Higher Con-
sciousness.

The Higher Consciousness sought we call by

such names as, the Christ Consciousness, the
Spiritual Consciousness, the God Consciousness,
the Cosmic Consciousness. Different writers use

these various terms for the same thing. This Con-

ception is a definite, Divine Idea conceived in the

matrix of the Human Consciousness, which when

unfolded to maturity becomes that Diviner Con-
sciousness which makes you a " New Creation in
Christ Jesus."
Theology has accepted this one case of a birth
out of the usual order, because it affords a corre-

spondent symbol of the True Immaculate Con-

ception of the Christ in Consciousness.
But if we grant the existence of the one case,

by the same law we may expect to find it con-

firmed in other cases. Accordingly we have the
birth of John the Baptist told in very much the
same terms, the birth of Isaac, " when Abraham
was an hundred years old !
" and " Sarah past
age !
" and the birth of Samuel, as well as the
231
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

birth of the Shunamite woman's son. In each case

there is mentioned an insurmountable impediment;
and we are not told that the impediment was re-

moved ; but rather that the impossible took place,

notwithstanding the insurmountable impediment.
And how? By the coming in of a Higher Law to

beget and bring forth a higher type, — a law which

must have been operative from the beginning of
Creation (if creation ever had a beginning), —a
law making Differentiation possible for the evolu-
tion of the species, — a process in which Divinity
is always the prime factor, and without which
there could be no evolution by differentiation.
Wherefore a Higher Type is the inevitable result.
And thus we One Universal Law, whereby
see the

Man has evolved from lowest types by many Im-

maculate Conceptions, which our retrospective

glance may recognize in the different races.

We have now found the Great Law for the Birth

of a Higher Consciousness when the mind becomes

a receptive and adapted matrix for the Spiritual
Germ or Divine Idea. Regeneration is thus seen
to be scientific in principle, because we understand
the Law of its operation. There is nothing un-
natural or miraculous when we know the Law.
232
 THE THIRD STEP

Having received the Spiritual Conception, in

our hearts we cherished this beautiful Christ-Idea,

or Spiritual Germ, until we felt the " Quickening

Spirit," the first sure sign of a New Life within.

Then abiding in the secret place of the Spirit, we

were able to sing Mary's Song — for the Soul is

Mary :
— " My spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour." " While shepherd-like we watched our
flocks" (pure, innocent thoughts) " by night"
(darkness of unregenerate mind) the joyful An-
nunciation reverberated in consciousness: " In

the City of Love (David) CHRIST is born to-

day ; Glory to God in the Highest."
We studiously nurtured and guarded this Royal
Child of Consciousness, until we consecrated it

as our own Highest Good and choicest Spiritual

treasure. This Consecration corresponds to the
rite of Circumcision.
Then in our Second Step we advanced through
the Wisdom Stage of our Christ-unfoldment —
the " Twelve Years Old " period, where we " in-

creased in Wisdom and Stature," until Wisdom

had ripened us into the fully matured Christ-Con-
sciousness. Discerning then the beauty, loveli-
ness, and desirableness of the dawning Kingdom of
233
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Heaven, we heard the voice of " John " within

calling to us, and bidding us cast out all things of
thought inimical to the Christ, who comes with
his " fan in his hand," to blow away the chaff of
error, and to " gather the wheat (of ripened
Truth) into his garner."
John is the highest faculty of the Natural Man,
— the moral sense which, if heeded, always calls

to repentance, which thus " prepares the Way of

the Lord."
To our hearts thus purified and prepared, the

Spirit revealed to us the highest fact of Being,

namely, that we are God's " Well Beloved Son."
This is the Spirit's revelation of yourself to yourself
— of the Higher Self to the lower Self — the Son of
God within made manifest to Consciousness. What
had been before dimly perceived by Intellect, and
not understood, is now clearly revealed — Spiritu-
ally known. " The Spirit itself beareth witness

with our spirits, that we are Sons of God" (Rom.

8 : 16). Only by a revelation can this high Truth

be known. Intellect cannot reveal Spiritual

Truth, neither can it know it from itself.

This inner knowledge, the first step in Spiritual

234
 THE THIRD STEP

Wisdom, must come by a revelation, and in no

other way. Yet this is not a demonstration.
The revelation is the Spirit's work ; the demon-
stration is yours. " If thou be the Son of God,
thou must prove it by every overcoming," must
have been the way the Master reasoned as each
temptation was encountered ; or else the wily
tempter would not have made use of this formula,

as if to take him on his own ground, and lead him

into the sin of presumption. This is not saying
that the tempter was a personage. No, the tempter
and the temptation are both within. For the lower
nature is always the tempter. There is a duality

in consciousness until the completion of Regener-

ation, which restores the lower nature to the pris-

tine purity of the higher nature.

Every one must prove his Son-ship by over-
coming like a Son, silencing the clamoring of the
lower nature. For what the Spirit has revealed to

you, you must demonstrate to yourself, before

you can be enriched with Wisdom from that ex-

perience. Overcoming is the work of this degree.

There is no growth or unfoldment without it. With-
out temptation there is no virtue even.
The first active movement of the conscious mind
235
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

is to choose or determine. The next is to put

that decision into execution by means of the Will.

And this action of Will implies and requires force;

and force implies something to overcome, — oppo-
sition, hindrance, resistance, — something to be
mastered or achieved. Every victory, achieve-
ment, or attainment is won at the price of effort or

struggle.

Either you must be a conqueror or be con-

quered. There is no neutral ground. Your own
growth and unfoldment require a victory. You
are a king, and must conquer. Otherwise you
lose you kingdom.
There can be no moral virtue without a victory
over temptation. There can be no moral quality
or character without the " Wilderness" experi-

ences. You must either win or lose in this battle

Royal. The " appearance of evil" must be over-

come by Good, before the Good has any quality

of Goodness for you. The overcoming of the

Contradictory of the Good reveals the quality of

Goodness in the Good.

Otherwise the Contradictory not overcome

would appear to be the abiding Reality, the thing

236
 THE THIRD STEP

of virtue. Yet its quality and real character must

afterwards be re-determined by its fruits.

Therefore Temptation is Good — not evil. If

properly handled, it must not be treated as reality

or even as an evil. For if you see in it Reality, a

foe " worthy of your steel," you will be in great

danger of falling under it; you will be engaged in

uncertain warfare. In its proper use it is a means

for unfolding your powers, for proving what kind
of stuff you are made of, of demonstrating your
worth, your virtue, your Sonship, your Divinity.
For without testing, without overcoming, without
demonstration, there is no conscious power, virtue,

or dominion. All possible things are waiting for

the victor. " He that overcometh shall inherit all

things." All true greatness comes through win-

ning victories over self.

Do not in extenuation of your failure complain

that your temptation was too great, greater than

others have to meet. You have nothing to do

with another, nor he with you. You stand alone
in every temptation ; and your loving Father
" will not suffer you to be tempted beyond what
ye are able to bear; but will with the temptation
also provide a way of escape." Therefore remem-
237
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ber this : The measure of the temptation is the

measure of your pozver to overcome. In God's

world all things are evenly balanced. Wherefore
" All things work together for Good " — to those

who see the Good in all things. You are always

equal to the emergency, and always have free

choice.

Temptation is a means to a great end — that of

bringing out your greater faculties and powers.
With a fixed purpose you will win. You may
" rejoice and be exceeding glad " as you see your

opportunity to become strong by overcoming the

present stress, — knowing that your Heavenly
Father careth for you all the while, and has given
you strength equal to your day; and knowing,
moreover, that the measure of the emergency is

the measure of your powers — then why should

you falter? Why not rather rejoice at the pros-
pect? Listen to James :
" Blessed is the man that

endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he

shall receive the crown of Life."

Thus temptation is beneficent, opening to the

wise man the way to the highest things. Holland

says:

238
 THE THIRD STEP

" We rise by what we have put under feet,

By what we have mastered of greed and gain,

By the pride deposed and the passions slain,

And the vanquished ills we hourly meet. 1'

You cannot be overcome against your will.

Your will is supreme. You are always the King
in your kingdom. If, then, you fall under temp-
tation, it is because you have so deliberately
chosen. In your kingly manhood or queenly
womanhood you wield supreme powers, omnipo-
tent within the sphere of your activity. But once
having yielded your will, once having discounted
your omnipotence, you have weakened yourself
in your kingdom. But by every success gained,
by every victory achieved, you strengthen your-
self in your kingdom.
The fact is, we do not know the majesty and
power of our Divine manhood until we have dem-
onstrated it to ourselves by overcoming. Om-
nipotent powers lie dormant in us, only awaiting
our demonstration.
We do not know Virtue until we have made
the demonstration. For in simple innocence there
is no virtue. To meet temptation and conquer it

brings out your virtue, which is always waiting to

239
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

be demonstrated. It had been slumbering within

among the possibilities of your being, waiting
your demonstration, before it could be yours con-
sciously. Do not undertake to overcome by quar-
relling with yourself, by fighting or resisting any
department of your nature. That is the human
way. But Jesus has shown us a more excellent
way — the way of non-resistance — " that ye resist

not evil." By non-resistance the Lie disappears.

Again James says: " Count it all joy, when ye

fall into diverse temptations." Why? Because
" the trial of your faith worketh patience" —
worketh virtue.

Every force in the universe is God-force. Then

you may thank God for your passions ; they are
Divine forces. Their highest use is found in

their conservation. Here they give great power

either in the direction of physical, intellectual, or

Spiritual activities. They are the stored-up en-

ergy, which will not desert you in emergencies.

When we recognize God in them, there will be no
evil to resist. God is Good in all his manifold

manifestations.

When you recognize God in everything, then

everything will have a blessing for you. Every-
240
 THE THIRD STEP

thing is transformed to us when we change our

thought toward it. Evil disappears with non-re-

sistance. Evil left to itself destroys itself.

Why ! the Good itself must be worked out

in demonstration before it is proven Good, before
it is our Good. In this unfoldment we are to

grow out of the consciousness of Good and Evil

into the Consciousness of Good, — the Evil having
disappeared through the recognition of Good in

everything.
To the victorious there is no' evil. Everything
he encounters contributes to his advancement, and
thus proves itself Good to him.

But he who falls under temptation has plenty

of evil ; because he believes in the Reality and
Power of Evil.

While solving these problems the Master Meta-

physician and Master Demonstrator " fasted forty
days" in the Wilderness. The " Wilderness" of

the mind is the " desert place " (the silence). All
true fasting is in silence.

By fasting, the greatest victories are won in the

silence. Fasting from food is a means for puri-

fying the flesh, and is usually found profitable

in purifying the blood and lymphatics, and clear-

241
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ing the brain, — thus giving better health, keener

senses, brighter intellect, and keener Spiritual per-

ceptions.

Spiritual fastings are means for purifying the

consciousness. Abstaining from food is the ex-

ternal correspondent of true fasting. True fasting

is abstaining from feeding the soul on impure, car-

nal-mind thoughts ; while all the powers are con-

centrated on eternal principles of truth and

righteousness. In other words, it is persistently

excluding from the mind the " mortal-mind " idea

of things, and as persistently adhering to the Spirit-

ual idea.

Fastings of this kind continued an hour, or sev-

eral hours, carry one into the higher altitudes,

where the mind receives an illumination with Spirit-

ual realization. When all the confusions of the

mind are dissipated, the inharmonies of the body

begin to disappear. For in the realization of pure

Spirit there is no inharmony. Not only for the

purifying of the consciousness is fasting necessary,

but in the healing of the sick it will often be found

that " this kind goeth not out save by prayer and
fasting," as Jesus said. There must be a persist-

242
 THE THIRD STEP

ent fasting — abiding in the secret place, " until

the shadows be overpast."

Regarding the " forty days," there is a mystical

meaning to " 40." Its factors are 4 and 10 —

4X 10; and 10 is the number that denotes All;

because all significant numbers (1 to 9) are con-

tained in it. When multiplied by 4, the number

of the square, it signifies all in completeness; be-
cause the square is a perfect figure with 4 equal
sides and 4 equal angles. The number " 40,"

then, denotes a completed and perfected experi-

ence, without regard to time. Therefore in order

to a perfect unfoldment it is necessary to have a
full and complete " Wilderness " experience be-
fore we are capable of the full realization of the

Christ in Consciousness.
To be " tempted of the devil." The " devil"

is not an external foe. It is the Carnal nature —

the unregenerate Carnal Self, always the enemy of
the Spiritual Self — the " satan " you must over-
come and cast into the " bottomless pit " of un-

reality — nothingness. "Every man is tempted

when he is drawn aside by his own lusts and en-
ticed," James tells us.

To unfold the Heavenly Man the allurements,

243
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

temptations, and illusions of the Carnal Self must

be overcome. This is the work in the " Wilder-
ness." For the mind is a " Wilderness ;
" because
unknown, unproved, and undeveloped. But when
this work is finished, the " Wilderness " disap-
pears. This Spiritual discipline makes it " blos-

som as the rose."

The great host of carnal-mind thoughts, enemies

of the Spiritual, are in the Old Testament repre-
sented by the " Philistine host; " and "Goliath"
is the personification of the whole. The slaying of
Goliath by the demonstrator, " David," represents
the vanquishing of all our evil thoughts, by dis-

posing of the fictitious " devil " of Carnal Mind's

creation. When this is accomplished there is no

enemy; for " the Philistines fled."

It was the same terrorizing, braggart Giant

Jesus met in the Wilderness, — both Wilderness
and Giant being within his own breast. The one
is symbolic of the other; and both are symbolic
of our own experiences. It is your own wilder-
ness, your own devil, your own victory.
In the two allegories there is a striking parallel-

ism. The one defied "David," a type of Christ;

the other defied Jesus, the demonstrator of the

244
 THE THIRD STEP

Christ. Each antagonist presented himself " forty

days." In both cases the victory was absolute,

and there remained no enemy.
In our " Wilderness " mind what is this terrible

" Philistine " Giant Idea or false belief of carnal

mind, embodying the whole host of our evil

thoughts as a champion? It is manifestly the idea

of Reality in Evil. For when we have slain this

" false accuser," when we have ruled out the idea
of Reality from Evil, it will have no Substance, and
must disappear, with the whole host of falsities.

There is an eternal and indestructible Substance

to all Reality, because it is Divine. But Evil,

having no Substance of Reality, must vanish from

consciousness the moment we discover that it is

but an empty illusion of the Carnal Consciousness.

If you would be free from the power of evil, you
must know its unreality— nothingness
its ; that it

is simply a false claimant, — a from " liar the be-

ginning, who stood not in the truth." Then if

Evil has no standing in the realm of Truth

(Reality), then it belongs in the phantasmal realm
of falsity. It has no standing. It is wholly an
Illusion and a snare.
Every man has his " wilderness," which involves
H5
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

more than what is called temptation. It covers

the whole realm of misconceptions and illusions,
in which lurks the "Lie" of the mortal conscious-
ness, — the " satan that deceiveth the nations."
By fidelity to Christ, the Principle of Reality and
Truth, we shall be able to work our way out of this
Wilderness of undetermined values into the clear
light of understanding, where misconceptions and
illusions do not obtain.
According to Plato's allegory, all mankind are

chained in a rocky cavern with their faces to its

mirror-like wall and their backs to the cavern's

mouth ; so that they never saw objects, but only

their reflections. And they could only be freed

from this imprisonment by their own exertions,
arousing their will sufficiently to break their chains
and then, by turning around to the light, for the first

time behold real objects instead of their reflections.

Plato's cave is the sense consciousness, where

we are bound by the beliefs of the race, — forever

mistaking illusion for Reality, shadow for sub-
stance. We have depended on the eye, which has
never seen Realities, because they transcend the
plane of the senses, which therefore cannot cognize
them. Realities belong to a plane higher than the
246
 THE THIRD STEP

senses, where the Spiritual faculties have full play.

This has ever been the teaching of the Philoso-

phers and wise men. This emancipation does not
come without an effort. " Who would be free, him-
self must strike the blow." Whatever you would
acquire you must pay the price of. Things with-
out price are worth nothing.
Truth is never to be found at the " bargain

counter;" "its price is above rubies," said the

Wise man. It is a thing of eternal duration and
priceless value ; and the full price must always be
paid. Sometimes it costs us very bitter experiences,

a great price. When you have found Truth, you

have found Christ, the Saviour of the world. Only
the Spiritual man can know the Spiritual Christ;
and only the Spiritual man knows Truth. The
man of five senses takes cognizance of " appear-
ances," which he calls realities. But Realities are
never seen with the physical eye. To understand
the eternal verities of Being, the eternal Realities,

we will not consult the senses ; because Realities

transcend the sphere of the senses. Only Spiritual

senses are capable of cognizing Spiritual things.

The whole " Wilderness " story is a wonderful
allegory, and never could have had a literal enact-
247
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ment in all details. For we read :

" Again the devil

taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and

showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the
glory of them in a moment of time." Now, as

there is no "exceeding high mountain" in Pales-

tine, and as " all the kingdoms of the world

could not be seen from any mountain, ever so
high, only the Spiritual sense can satisfy the
story. The " exceeding high mountain " is a high
altitude of thought. We must not think that only
the depraved have temptations. There are planes
of temptation corresponding to planes of develop-
ment. The higher the development the higher the
class of temptations. And so in " the exceeding

high mountain" of Consciousness the overmaster-

ing temptation of an insatiable ambition may seize

the mind, and give the character its severest test.

To carry out the purposes of an unscrupulous

ambition men silence the voice of conscience, and
refuse to listen to the voice of the Spirit. They
" fall down and worship " the prince of this world,
— the spirit of worldly power;
Temptations all come from the carnal nature.

But through Regeneration that whole realm of

carnal mind is to be redeemed ultimately, until

248
 THE THIRD STEP

"the kingdoms of this world shall become the

Kingdom of our Lord and his Christ." The " king-

doms " within are to be all restored to the one

Kingdom of the Christ. The confusions and con-

flicts, tumults and wars raging among the discordant
forces within shall through the regenerating power
of Truth be brought into subjection to the Christ;
so that in the final consummation " all shall know
him from the least to the greatest." This will be the
perfect at-one-ment, the ultimate end of Regenera-

tion, which has been attained through overcoming.

Thus your Son-ship, so clearly revealed in the

last lesson, you have now clearly demonstrated to

yourself by mastering and overcoming " the world,

the flesh, and the devil."
You have unfolded the Christ within, until you
have the Consciousness of the Christ, where you
are consciously one with the Father. Christ is

now a matter of Consciousness to you.

In the previous lesson you attained to " the

measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ,"
and received the Spirit's witness and approval.
Now you have demonstrated in experience all that

the Spirit there revealed. Your Christ-hood now

stands demonstrated to yourself.
249
 X
THE FOURTH STEP : — THE
DEMONSTRATIONS OF
THE ADEPT

" The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he

hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor
" He hath sent me to Heal the broken-hearted
" To preach deliverance to the Captive
'
« And recovering of Sight to the Blind ;

" To set at liberty them that are bruised

" To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

" This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." — Lu.
4:18, 19, 21.

Every prophecy has two fulfilments. The first

is exoteric, the second esoteric. This prophecy

of Isaiah was primarily fulfilled in Jesus ; and its

secondary fulfilment is in the Consciousness.

Accordingly "This — the day or
Day" state

of your present unfoldment — having taken the

Three First Steps perfectly, and having demon-
strated your Son-ship — you are to make the

further and higher demonstration of the Spirit in

250
 THE FOURTH STEP

becoming the messenger of the Spirit in " preach-

ing the Gospel to the poor," and Healing the

Sick, — doing the " mighty works " in demonstra-
tion of your proficiency as an Adept of the Order
of Christ — the Brotherhood of the Sons of God.
In the Path of the Adept, or the Christ Way,
you have taken the Three Initiatory Steps in Re-
generation, initiating you into the Christ-Con-
ciousness.

The " First Step " was the Conception and

Birth of the CHRIST in Consciousness ; so that a
" New Creation" in consciousness is begun.
You have begun the creation of your " New
Heavens and New Earth ;
" which signifies that a

New Consciousness is opening to you. The

''Second Step" was the Youth Period, — the
period of Growth in and through Wisdom. So
you '•
increased in Wisdom and Stature," until

you unfolded full Christ-Manhood — " the Stature

of Christ;" in the conscious realization of

which you received the Spirit's enduement or
Baptism, where your True Self was revealed to

you, after the renunciation of the Carnal Self

(which is repentance).
Then the welcome plaudit, "This is My Be-
25 J
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

loved Son," reverberated in Consciousness. This

was your initiatory entrance into the Christ-Con-

sciousness.

The " Third Step " was the period of Testing

and Proving. And it was here that, what the
Spirit had revealed, you had to demonstrate to
yourself in practical life by overcoming all things
of the carnal nature in the realm of subconscious
mind.
This was both an intellectual and Spiritual

process, where you used Reason, Will, and Spir-

itual Insight to make the wise distinction between
Truth and Falsity, Reality and Illusion. You
found that temptations lose their power when
you realize that both the tempter and the temp-
tation are illusions of the Mortal Consciousness,

having no real existence in the realm of true

Being.
But notwithstanding the wonderful experiences
of Baptism and the Wilderness, you are not yet
perfected. You have still higher demonstrations
to make before you realize the full glories of the

Kingdom of Heaven, the principles of which

shall govern your whole life.

The " Fourth Step " is where we take up the

252
 THE FOURTH STEP

subject of Preaching the Gospel of Salvation and

Health.
Salvation is the perfect Restoration of the whole
Man, Soul and Body.
We must do the " mighty works " in demonstra-
tion of our Adept-ship, — our proficiency in Spir-

itual Understanding.
Regeneration does not come from an intellectual
assent to the doctrines of Christ; but from the

practical application of those doctrines and prin-

ciples to heart and life, — from living the life. The
important question is not, how much of the intel-

lectual formulae of Truth we know, but how much

we have appropriated and demonstrated. Thus
the demonstration of Truth becomes a matter of
great importance, as it is the index of our unfold-

ment. Every statement of Truth is demonstrable ;

else we have no guarantee of its genuineness.

Hence we call every case of healing and every
case of reform, through Spiritual means, a demon-
stration ; because there is a principle demonstrated

thereby. When you have healed a case of dyspep-

sia, what is the principle demonstrated ? It is

always the Principle of CHRIST in man. For ac-

cording to this teaching you have claimed for your

253
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

patient that, because he is a Son of God, in the

very nature of the Divinity in him he cannot be

sick ; that this dyspepsia is a false idea, a mere
" belief" or illusion of the mortal consciousness,

entirely foreign to the True Man, the Son of

God.
If by awakening in him the consciousness of his
Divine perfection you overcome this false claim of
dyspepsia, then you have demonstrated your prop-
osition that he is Divine. Dyspepsia was a false

"belief" of a false consciousness, — and Truth

recognized set him free. This was the demonstra-
tion of the principle of Truth. Ye Jesus said, "
shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make
;

you free." How can Truth set you free? By

the thorough appropriation of it, until you " know
it." You have the demonstration of Truth by
and through knowing it.

Before entering upon our work of preaching the

Gospel of Righteousness and Health, we have im-
portant preliminary work to do. The preliminary
work our Representative performed, before enter-

ing upon his mission, was the calling of his Twelve

Apostles, saying to them :
" Follow Me."

It is fundamental to the understanding of the

254
 THE FOURTH STEP

full value to us of the significance of the life of

Jesus the Christ to know that his life was a typi-

cal or parabolic life — in all details a symbolic life,

given to picture our Spiritual Course in Regenera-

tion — the unfoldment of the Christ in Conscious-
ness. This seems to have been what he had
reference to, when he said : " I Am the Way."
Since, then, the Christ is within, all experiences

of the allegoric Christ, as manifest in Jesus, must

have their Spiritual correspondence within, — all

things of the Christ are to be found within, be-

cause " the kingdom of Heaven is within you."

We shall find the " Twelve Apostles" there.
The Metaphysical " Twelve Apostles " of the mind
are its Twelve Great Powers.
Before we undertake to advance further in the

Christ Work, preaching the Gospel of Salvation

and Health, we must call these Twelve Great Pow-
ers to " follow the Me" — the Christ within. Not
until then are we following Christ with all our
powers.
What are the Twelve Great Powers of the Mind?
In Matthew's order, " The Names of the Twelve
"
Apostles are these :

I., — SIMON (one who hears) — represents a

255
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

listening, receptive faculty; which when yielding

its receptivity to the Christ brings the CHRIST into

Consciousness. That most receptive faculty is

Faith. It hears ; it knows. For " Faith is the

Substance (foundation basis) of things hoped for."

It being the foundation of all our hopes, Jesus sur-

named him Peter (Rock), and said :
" On this

Rock will I build my Church, and the gates of

Hell shall not prevail against it." Thus Faith is

the Rock-foundation of a Christian Character —

" the Church within thy house" (breast). Call

Faith into this high calling— " Follow Me."

II., — ANDREW — stands for Confidence or
Trustfulness, as the narrative will show this to be
characteristic of him. He is that faculty that never

doubts, but readily believes without questioning.

Confidence is first in order of action, while Faith
is first in importance. Therefore Andrew " first

finds Jesus," as he hears John say, " Behold the

Larrub of God," and accepts him. Then he brings

his brother Simon, who readily accepts. Now,

Trust is very much like Faith ;
yet it is not the
same; it is a kindred faculty. And so Andrew
and Simon are Brothers.

256
 THE FOURTH STEP

III., — JAMES — denotes Hope: \ These Two

> are Brothers

IV., — JOHN — denotes Love : * — " Sons of

Zebedee ;
" and " Zebedee " signifies, Given of Jeho-
vah ; which affords a hint of the Divine source and
importance of these two faculties. These Jesus
surnamed " Boanerges " (sons of thunder), be-
cause they were down Fire from
" able to bring

heaven." Hope and Love, work-

This shows that
ing together, have power to bring down from
heaven the "Consuming Fire" of the Holy Ghost.
Therefore bring these potent faculties into your
Christian work ; say to them : " Follow Me."
V., — PHILIP — denotes the Understanding or
Sound Judgment; because "Philip" means a

lover of horses; and the "horse" in mystical

language refers to the Understanding (Sweden-
borg).
Call your Sound Judgment or Good Common
Sense into your Christian work. For this is one
of the Twelve Great Powers.
VI., — NATHANIEL or ^ — denotes the power
\ of Investigation,

Bartholomew ^ whose initial step

is Criticism. (" Can any good thing come out of
257
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Nazareth ? ") He went, and saw — investigated —

believed — accepted — then followed. By Investi-
gation we find Truth ; the honest investigator ac-
cepts it, when found ; because Truth is what he is

searching for. Jesus " found him under the fig-

" "
tree ; and the " fig-tree " refers to " natural good
(Swedenborg). He said of him: "Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Investi-

gation is, like all faculties, an inherent " natural

good," of Spiritual origin, worthy to be called to
"Follow Me."
VII., —THOMAS — denotes Reason, the initial
step of which is Doubt. Hence Thomas is the
Doubter — "I will not believe, except I seethe
print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side,"

illustrates Reason's universal demand for proof.

But when the doubt is resolved by demonstration,

the doubter exclaims, " My Lord and my God."
A doubter is always a man of Reason ; and Reason
must be convinced.
Bring your reasoning power into the service of
the Christ. Say to it: "Follow Me."
VIII., — MATTHEW — denotes Acquisitiveness
— the Tax-gatherer of the mind, which makes
every experience and observation — whether called
258
 THE FOURTH STEP

good or bad — pay a Tax in Wisdom (the corre-

spondent of Silver). As the Romans made every
man, every house, tree, horse, or other thing pay a
tax in Silver, so must we make every experience
and observation pay a Tax in Wisdom, the Silver of

the Kingdom — " the true Coin of the Realm."

"Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get

Wisdom; and with all thy getting (accumulating)
get Understanding." — " Follow Me."
IX., — JAMES the son of Alphens — otherwise
called James the Just — denotes the principle of

Justice. And since this James was a kindred of

Jesus, it follows that Justice is kindred to Right-
eousness. And so Jeremiah says, " The Lord
(Christ) our Righteousness." Then since Justice

is kindred to Christ, exact justice will characterize

all the acts of the Christian. — "Follow Me."
X., — THADDEUS, -\ — denotes Courage; in-

Lebbeus, > asmuch as both

or Jude, ' " Thaddeus " and
" Lebbeus " mean Courageous, or Man of Heart.
It requires the same Courage to maintain a Chris-

tian character as to face the serried hosts of the

battle-field. Say to Courage, " Follow Me."

XL, — SIMON the Canaanite (Heb. Canaa,
259
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

zealous) — " the Zealot " — " Zelotes," denotes

Zeal y Enthusiasm, Eloquence, —a faculty quite

essential to success, on any plane. Therefore

Call it into the service of Christ.

XII., — JUDAS — denotes the Business Faculty

— because Judas was the business man of the
Company. On the Spiritual plane "Judas"
means, praise of God, the bestower of Blessings.
He it was who received all moneys, and it was he
who bestowed all blessings upon the poor, —a
praiseworthy work. When Mary broke the " ala-
baster box of ointment" it was Judas who saw
the un-business feature of the act, and said :
" This

ointment might have been sold for more than

three hundred pence, and been given to the
poor." He loved to give to the poor, as his name
implies, — notwithstanding the parenthetical in-

terpolation to the contrary. Doubtless Judas was

a worthy disciple, until " satan entered into him,"
— or until temptation got the better of him.
So if through handling money this noble faculty
becomes perverted, so that Avarice is developed,
— it becomes the "thief" that will "betray the

Son of Man into the hands of sinners," — separating

the Son of Man from the Son of God, as we shall
260
 THE FOURTH STEP

see in the Chapter on the " Crucifixion." This

betrayal works consternation and discomfiture
among the other eleven powers, — " They all for-

sook him and fled." But the discomfiture, in-

tensified by remorse, causes the death of Avarice,

— Judas hangs himself.
But this is not the loss of the Business Faculty.
Only its perversion has perished. For Error left

to itself (the others having fled) destroys itself.

In the Consciousness of the Resurrection this

faculty reappears in its purity as "Matthias" which

means, the Gift of God.

When you become a renewed and resurrected
man, Avarice will have fallen out of your Con-
sciousness and you will recognize your Business
Faculty as " the Gift of God." For you are an
entirely " New Man in Christ Jesus."

These " Twelve Apostles " of the mind are each

and every one essential to success on every plane

of activity. When they are called to follow

Christ, they insure success in every department of

life.

Among them the First Four are the Chief

Powers. They are Faith, Confidence, Hope, and
Love. These are the "Fishers" of the mind; be-
261
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

cause like fishermen they have power to draw to

you whatever you desire. They bring to pass

they bring success. Their greater importance is

seen in the fact that they were the first called.

In all Christian work they will be required in all

undertakings.
Faith you must have in God, faith in yourself,
faith in the working of the Law of the Lord.
Confidence you must have in yourself and in
others, Confidence in your undertakings.
In Hope you must be strong and buoyant. For
" Hope is like an anchor to the soul."
" In Love be rooted and grounded." For Love
is the strongest power in the universe. Being
yourself centred in Love, you will radiate Love
with its wonderful .transforming power. Trust
expectantly to the working of the Law. This
expectancy will set it working. Doubt will defeat

you everywhere ; Faith will make you a conqueror

everywhere. Without the constant use of these

Chief powers you cannot succeed.
For " without Faith it is impossible to pleaje
God."
Without Confidence you cannot have Faith.
Without Hope you are in Despair.
262
 THE FOURTH STEP

Without Love you are separated from your

work.
Doubt will render Faith void.
Fear will destroy Confidence.
Discouragement will defeat Hope. .

Disinterestedness will disintegrate the bond of

Love.
The more Love you put into your work, the
greater will be your power. In the Spiritual

world Love answers to gravitation. For it draws

all things unto itself. It is a great conqueror.

We have shown that disease is the out-pictur-

ing of error. Then should not the cleansing of
the mind of its errors tend to remove the error
expression? Certainly, and by natural law. The
same law which brought error into manifestation

in the form of dis-ease may be employed to bring

Truth into expression in the form of Health. If

by functioning in error and sin I am reaping the

bitter fruit of my unwise sowing, by reform and a
persistent functioning in Truth and purity of
thought shall I not root up the noxious weeds?
Do not think for a moment that revelling in sin-

ful thought is a harmless amusement as long as

your external deportment is correct. For Thought

263
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

is the only maker of bodily conditions, and your

body must correctly represent you, as you are in

mind — not as you seem.

Now that we have disposed of the Devil, there
is no excuse for sin, because we have no Devil to
fall back on. We are directly responsible our-

selves to ourselves for every thought and act.

Neither can we be concealed from ourselves nor

from the world. Our secret life, though artfully

concealed, is sure to disclose our real character

openly sooner or later. " Whatsoever ye have
spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light

and that which ye have whispered in the ear in

closets shall be proclaimed on the housetops."

We have arrived at a time when we must be
ashamed to be sick. As the red nose is the sign
the toper hangs out, so our diseases are the sign

we constantly hang out, " proclaiming on the

housetop " the inward character. " Ye are epistles

known and read of all men." Therefore the wise

practitioner of " mental science " will study to
diagnose the case from the standpoint of mental
causation, according to the principles of the new
psychology.
When the New Psychology is written and
264
 THE FOURTH STEP

taught in our schools, so that the rising genera-

tion shall understand that they cannot escape
from the effects of their thoughts, and that they
shall be constantly on exhibition, there will be
less incentive to a life of sin, because all will

understand that it is to every one's self-interest to

be virtuous and pure. We are coming nearer and

nearer to the day when a new reform, based on
wise instruction, shall be instituted.
The world has been materialistic in thought;

so have the schools. We have studied matter

from the standpoint of matter, and we have
studied the body from the same standpoint; with
the result that our educated physicians have been
treating effects instead of looking for mental
causes.

If hard feelings and bitterness toward my neigh-

bor is the cause of my rheumatism, — where the
acidity of thought has produced the acid condi-

tions, — why not go at once to the source of the

difficulty, and teach me how to eradicate the fault

from my heart and life, — by putting the sweet-

ness of Love into my life, as the universal antacid,
instead of dosing my innocent stomach with the
concoctions of the apothecary? Can you physic
265
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Hate and Bitterness out of a man? If the melan-

choly habit is the cause of my torpid liver, why
not go at once to the mental cause and help me
out of my mental rut, instead of dosing my inno-
cent stomach and my already over-burdened liver
with jalap and calomel? Wise instruction and
reform is what I am suffering for. I need to be
taught the art of true living ; that is all.

The physician of the future must be the man of

Wisdom and Virtue. Spiritual enlightenment is to

be the medicine of the Twentieth Century. Drugs

will have their place in themuseum beside the
fossils of a rude age. When men know God more
fully, and live in Him consciously, and have a su-

preme faith in Him — instead of in drugs — they

will find him to be indeed " The Great Physician,
who forgiveth all thy sins and healeth all thy
diseases."

In tracing diseases to their real causes in mind

we shall find the remedy in the removal of the
mental state, which has borne the bitter fruit. In

the mental spring of all our experiences the " belief

in evil" has tinctured all our thoughts and poi-
soned the lymphatics and blood ; until " the whole
head is sick, and the whole heart faint;" and what
266
 "

THE FOURTH STEP

marvel that the despairing cry is heard, " Is there

no Balm in Gilead, is there no physician there?"

Yes, Christ, the " Great Physician," is within, and

may at all times be appealed to, — Christ, the

Principle of Divinity, the Principle of Truth, the

Quickening Life-essence may be found available

in every time of need.
Like Elisha we must throw the purifying " salt

of Truth into the "spring" source of experiences,

if the waters of life are bitter.

Truth is the healing principle — the " salt,"

which will correct the " bitter waters " of life. Then
Truth is what we want. We want to realize the

Truth of what we are — the Truth of our Being,

namely, that we are even now perfect Sons of

God. The realization of this has power to set us

free, whatever the senses say to the contrary. To

follow the testimony of the senses is to remain
in bondage. Deliverance from the bondages, in
which the error consciousness has involved us, must
come from a source higher than the senses.

Since the higher kingdom has full power over

the lower, you must take your stand in the higher
— in the Spiritual, ignoring for the time the
senses ; and through the realization of the Spirit-
267
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ual you may dominate and rule the physical king-

dom which lies below it.

The power of Spirit over matter is absolute,

when you realize and know it, — knowing your-
self to be a Spiritual Being with full powers.
You will not do good work while recognizing
the phenomenal as the real, nor by seeing your-
self both Spiritual and material, — assuming for

yourself Spirituality, yet recognizing yourself as

material, in continuing to live carnally — assum-
ing the highest, yet not living there — still cher-
ishing the passions, resentments, and secret sins

of the old life. It is not easy to obliterate every

vestige of these illusions ;
yet purity of heart and
Spirituality of thought are the key to power in the

Spirit's work. You cannot handle Divine things

with unwashed hands. You cannot lead a double
life and be the servant of the Spirit, a prophet of
the Lord. Perfect work is done by being in the

Spiritual Consciousness, which involves cutting

off things of the lower plane. Because the Prophet

is always the " Man of God " — God's Man, who
has no fellowship with works of darkness ; and
healing is preeminently the work of the man of

God.
268
 :

THE FOURTH STEP

No one has a corner on Truth ; though occa-

sionally the " mortal mind " reveals itself in some
one claiming to be the only ordained channel.
God has no favorites. You are as truly a Son of
God as any other, having the same infinite possi-

bilities and the same Spiritual powers ; and you

are just as capable of making high demonstra-
tions. To every one who lives in the conscious-
ness of his oneness with God, the Father says
" Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is

thine," — all the riches of his Grace, the fulness

of his Love, the perfection of his Being and right-

eousness. In order to reach the realization of all

this, it is necessary to live in the contemplation of

yourself as a Spiritual Being, — as such possess-
ing all these perfections.
This meditation will after a time bring a change
in consciousness in the direction of the Spiritual.
The regenerating process is going on ; and will in

due time work a corresponding bodily change.

Great changes in the physical realm must follow
this mental regeneration as a natural result of the
renewal of the mind. For the greatest essential

to good work is a purified and regenerated soul.

There is a legend that the Prophet of Galilee

269
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

being asked when the kingdom of heaven would

come, replied :
" When Two shall become One
when the Without shall become as the Within."

"The Within" is the True Self — your True

Being — the Divine Son; "the Without" is the
False Self, the unregenerate Son of Man with his
bodily expression. The " Two become One,"
when through regeneration the Human Self has
become " transformed into the image of the
heavenly; " so that the consciousness of duality
disappears.
There is always the appearance of duality in
"
consciousness. We speak of the " Natural man
and the " Spiritual man" as if we were two.
There is a consciousness of the Human and a
semi-consciousness of the Divine always with us —
the Divine being usually somewhat in the back-
ground. It is our problem and demonstration to
bring forward into the foreground of consciousness
the Divine element, until it becomes the dominant
element — the dominant Consciousness.
ThisSalvation — God
is Consciousness. This in

isRegeneration — man becoming Consciousness in

Divine, — the Human element being transformed

and Redeemed.
270
 THE FOURTH STEP

The Kingdom of Israel was originally One

united kingdom of " Twelve Tribes," — all faithful

and true. But through Idolatry the kingdom

became divided, Ten Tribes revolting, and the
Tribe of Benjamin disappearing by absorption, —
with the result of Two kingdoms, the " Kingdom
ofjudah," and the " Kingdom of Israel, " — the
former of One Tribe — Judah, still faithful and
true ; and the latter of Ten Tribes — still claiming
the worship of Jehovah, though having the image
of the Egyptian Calf set up in its Temple, to sym-
bolize the intellectual Creed, through which the
individual worships Jehovah (the Calf is a symbol
of Intellect).
Under this beautiful historical allegory is repre-
sented our experience in consciousness, in de-
scending from the high plane of the Spiritual,
where the number " Twelve " stands for the
Spiritual Consciousness in its completeness — to

the plane of the Human, where the number

"Ten " stands for the Human Consciousness. For
both these numbers denote All, each on its plane.

Thus through the heart's Idolatry my kingdom

has become divided. The whole mind ("Ten")
seems given over to falsities (false Gods).
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Yet notwithstanding this seemingly entire defec-

tion in consciousness, there still remains a Divine
Centre, at the very heart of man, which he will not
violate. This is "Judah, ever faithful and true."
Of these Two Kingdoms or Consciousnesses

Hosea says :
" Ephraim compasseth Me about
with Lies, and the House of Israel with deceit;

but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with

the Holy One." Thus, while the whole Conscious-

ness ("Ten") is in falsities, there is always in
every man a " One "-Centre (Judah) that he
will not violate. To violate this Divine Centre to —
wilfully violate your Divine nature, your "Judah"
Consciousness, were to " sin against the Holy
Ghost." This is the sin of sins, which " hath
never forgiveness," because it strikes so vital a

point that its effect is not easily obliterated (" for-

given "). It must spend its force, and work itself

out in suffering instead, until the expiation is

finished.

This is your " Babylonial Captivity," whose

7 X io years is a full and completed experience —
without regard to time. This sin against Divinity
in Consciousness may be the key to certain persist-
ent incurables.
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 THE FOURTH STEP

However, when the expiation is finished, there

comes an end of the 7 X 10 of this experience;

when all things conspire for your restoration, and
the rebuilding of your temple. But by the elimi-

nation of time in consciousness you may terminate

your Babylon Captivity.
This " Judah " Centre is the inner region, where
the Christ may be born. Then from this Centre
must proceed the regeneration of the whole man.
In the One-Tribed kingdom dwells the True Ego —
the Christ; in the Ten-Tribed kingdom are the
forces of Carnal Mind. Each is a kingdom within
itself, the " Outer " ever hostile to the " Inner."

With your Judah Centre illuminated by the

Christ, you send forth your " Twelve Apostles " to

the " Lost Sheep of the House of Israel," that

this outer man may be regenerated so that the

" Two may become One." In Oneness in con-
sciousness Duality ceases. — The Kingdom of
Heaven is come.
It is no longer a question whether healing is

accomplished by the metaphysical method. Cases

in proof may be found in almost every hamlet.
So many chronic invalids and so-called incurables
have been restored to health, that Judge Hanna
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

once said, "We do not get our members from the

churches; we get them from the graveyards."
They are snatched from the grave. Nearly every
form of disease has yielded to the metaphysical

treatment. Fevers, tumors, cancers, rheumatism,

paralysis, consumption, insanity, have all been
healed in manner remarkable. But this is not
saying that we heal every case. For the patient's

cooperation and receptivity, and sometimes other

factors of the case, have a part to play.

At all events, a better way has been found for

healing the sick than the old drug way, or the

cruel and uncertain knife way. It is the natural
way — the Divine Way — the Christ Way; "IAm
the Way."
The history of the Church abounds in healers in

every Century, who healed by their understanding

of the Christ Way. But we live in an age of very
materialistic thought, unused to Spiritual reason-

ings.

To heal by the power of thought, it is necessary

to have clear Spiritual perception, which sees
beyond the phenomenal ; to have, in short, a Spir-

itual Consciousness, which transforms all things

into Spiritual beauty.

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 :

XI

THE FIFTH STEP : — " GETHSEMANE " —

SELF-RENUNCIATION
4 '
Not as I will ; but as Thou wilt :
"

» Not My Will ; but Thy Will :

"

" If this Cup may not pass from me, Thy Will be done."
" Thy Will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven."

In the "Way" of Regeneration you have now

advanced by Four Great Steps, viz.

1st, Spiritual Conception and Birth.

2d, Spiritual Unfoldment in Wisdom unto
Manhood.
3d, Spiritual Discrimination — the "Wilder-
ness."

4th, Spiritual Demonstration — in Healing.

In the First Step there sprang up in Conscious-

ness a New Life as the beginning of a New Man-

hood, with a New Principle governing Conduct
and a New Conception of the meaning of Life.
This New Principle of Manhood with its New
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Conceptions is the Christ, conceived and brought

forth within ; so that you begin to live a New Life,

with New Motives and Aspirations.

In the Second Step you Increased in Wisdom and
Stature, and through Wisdom unfolded the Con-
sciousness of your Spiritual Manhood, when you
received the Baptism of the Spirit; in the blazing
light of which the Inner Voice revealed to your
enlightened Consciousness that you are God's
well-Beloved Son.
In the Third Step — in the mind's " Wilderness
"

of unknown, unproved, undetermined qualities and

powers, you were called upon to demonstrate your
Son-ship by overcoming like a Son the temptations
of the unregenerate Self. Here also you learned
to make a wise discrimination between Truth and
Falsity, Reality and Unreality, Substance and
Shadow.
In the Fourth Step you demonstrated your un-
derstanding of the principles of the Christ Life by
"doing the mighty works" — healing the sick,

casting out devils, and " opening prison doors to

them that are bound " by the chains of habit,

appetite, and passion.

This Fourth Degree of your Initiation is where
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 THE FIFTH STEP

all the beautiful work and labor of Love for the

amelioration of human suffering is done. It is

the stage of consecrated, ripe Manhood and con-

sequent usefulness — the active stage of Practical

Christianity.

In this field of the practical application of the

principles of Christ you may well desire to long

remain : for here the world needs you, and has a

right to demand of you what you have to give.
For " no man liveth unto himself; " but each is a
sustaining and dependent part of the great whole.
If you have received the Spirit's illumination, then
you are here to " let your light shine before men,"
and not to " hide it under a bushel."
Nevertheless there are higher experiences for
you, higher attainments for you to make; that
thereby your power for blessing the world may
be enlarged. There are higher and yet higher
degrees of unfoldment, with continually enlarging
spheres of usefulness for every one who lives up
to his highest light. We must be continually
advancing toward Infinity, demonstrating every
step of the way.

Your possibilities both for achievement and

demonstration are unlimited.
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

If, then, a greater unfoldment, even to the illu-

minated Christ-Consciousness, awaits you, why

should you falter at any experience, however
severe? Why, indeed, when those very experi-
ences shall be stepping-stones to those great and
high possibilities?
" Talent," said Goethe, " thrives in solitude ; but
character grows in the stream of the world."
The Neophyte's advancement is by alternate

periods of silence and activity. In silence you

form your high Ideals; but their demonstration

is " in the stream of the world," in contact with

human conditions. In silence you lay the foun-

dations deep and broad ; but in practical demon-
stration you " build according to the pattern shown
in the mount." Well-observed silence is where
the degrees are conferred ; but " in the stream of
the world " you prove the degrees.
The First Step in Regeneration is taken in the
stillness of silence. This is the " secret place" of

all conception, whether in generation or regener-

ation. The Christ is conceived in the passive

stillness of silence, in the receptive emptiness of

your soul.

The Second Step is taken " in the midst of the

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 THE FIFTH STEP

Doctors" (teachers), "in the stream" of mental

activity, in touch with other minds.
The Third Step is taken in the silence of medi-
tation, in the " Wilderness " of the mind, where
you work out great and vital problems, and over-
come like Sons of God.
The Fourth Step is taken in the active " stream
of the world " again, in demonstration of all you
have learned in the mount of silent meditation.

Every victory won in the silence must be re-

won in the arena of life in demonstration of the
principles involved.

The Fifth Step we are now to take in the soli-

tude of the soul, where single-handed and alone

we wrestle with a persistent foe, as Jacob wrestled

with the angel "until the break of day" — and

prevailed, having conquered his lower Self; so
that he is no longer " Jacob" (the supplanter),
but " Israel " ( who rules with God) . Just so — by
our " brook Jabbok " — in our " Gethsemane," we
wrestle with a persistent foe in the darkness of un-

realized good — "until the break of day." For

after every dark night of struggle there is sure to
come a "day-break " of hope.
That persistent foe is Self- Will. " Not my
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Will, but Thy Will," affords us the key to the

nature of the work and victory in " Gethsemane."
If you are solving all problems involved in all

experiences, so that you wisely use everything

you encounter, you will some time meet the prob-
lem involved in the experience of the present hour
— the question of My Will and Thy Will —
what shall be done with My Will, when the higher
rights of Thy Will are presented. And this prob-
lem you must solve in the right way — by re-

nouncing the human, carnal Self-Will, recognizing

and affirming the supreme and sovereign rights of
the Divine Will, — submitting and subjecting your
Will to God's Will, that you may evolve out of
human conditions into the freedom of the Sons of

God. Self-renunciation is the work in Gethsemane.

" He that exalteth Self shall be abased ; but he
that humbleth Self shall be exalted."
Self must be humbled that Self may be ex-
alted. Self must be denied that SELF may be
emancipated. The Carnal Self must be humbled
that the Christ-SELF may be enthroned. God's
Will must be your Will. If you make God's Will
your law, you become subject to law, the bondage
of law ; but if you make God's Will your Will, you
280
 THE FIFTH STEP

have the freedom of the Sons of God. In the

unity of purpose and Will there is no bondage,
but freedom and harmony.
Then the important question is, Self-will or Thy
Will, which? Self-will is separation and tends to
death; but harmony of Will, — My unwise, un-
righteous Will, submerged in the One unerring,

Righteous Will, is harmony, health, prosperity, and

Life. When the Divine Will has its free way in

you so fully that it is your Will, then " God is

working in you, to will and to do of his own good

pleasure," to manifest himself in you. For only
Divinity can unfold your Divinity, so that you be-
come conscious of it.

Are you desirous of making the highest possible

attainment — even to God-Consciousness — which

Jesus reached? Then your high desire or rather

aspiration is the prophecy of that very thing

awaiting you as a possible attainment; and the
Master is calling to you, saying: "Follow Me;"
follow Me in the work of Self-renunciation ; follow

Me through Gethsemane ; — "I Am the Way/'

The Way to Spiritual Greatness runs through
Gethsemane, — the Way to God-Consciousness.
Therefore you cannot afford to quail at the strug-
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

gle though to lay down your own Self-will for the

;

One Will should wring the " bloody sweat" from

your brow, calling out all the heroism of your
soul.

True Greatness depends on the strength and

righteousness of your purpose. The steadfast

purpose to follow your high Ideal, though the

cross be in your path, will win for you the laurels

of greatest victories.
The greatest factor of strong manhood is a
righteous purpose, the practice of which you
must cultivate studiously, alone in meditation.

For character is your own. It is what you are.

You are the maker of your own character. You

may make it what you will.
The man who ponders deeply, looks within for
Wisdom, and decides all questions for himself, by
the Inner Light, which is always available, is

already great. What a contrast between the man

who is poised in the consciousness of Divine
Wisdom, and the man who knows no better than

to look without for the solution of every question !

The man who has a righteous purpose is a con-

queror without a battle, after his purposes have
shaped his course. He is like the Hercules of
 THE FIFTH STEP

old, of whom it is said, "He did not wait for a

battle : he conquered, whether he stood or walked,

or whatever thing he did." He was always a
conqueror everywhere. You could see the Con-
queror in him.
On the contrary, he who fears or quakes at op-
position will be defeated everywhere. The differ-

ence between the fearless and the fearful is the

difference between the conqueror and the con-
quered.
Emerson said :
" If I fear, I will readily find

terrors." There are no terrors to the fearless.

They are conquerors always.

Again Emerson says: " Rectitude is a perpetual

victory."

Therefore he who stands in the integrity of his

manhood is consciously a victor, because he has
reached that consciousness through winning vic-
tories over Self. Here the conqueror is made.
Gethsemane is the place of greatest decisions.
In the Wilderness the work of that degree was
accomplished in silence, where alone with God
you wrestled and prevailed. Here also — as in

all soul-struggles—- you are quite alone; here

you must wrestle and prevail, like Jacob.
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

No one can share with you this work or this

struggle; nor can another share in the fruits of

your victory. It is your " Cup," your struggle,
your victory, your evolution. You cannot afford

to "let this cup pass." Not to drink it were to

miss the greatest of demonstrations for human un-
foldment, —a demonstration which shall enable
you to say with the Master :
" All power is given
unto me in Heaven and Earth." You may yearn
for sympathy, and implore the aid of friends. But
their eyes will be heavy with sleep. They cannot
enter into your heart's struggle. It is exclusively
your cup.
All decisions which unfold character rest on
you alone.

It is always your problem, your battle, your

Gethsemane, your victory, your Christ-unfold-

ment.
In order to be always victorious, it will be
necessary to cultivate decision of character.

Choose the course which appeals to you as the

Right Course, and allow no one to swerve you

from it.

When you stand at the " parting of the ways,"

seeking to know the right way, the Inner Voice
284
 THE FIFTH STEP

of Wisdom — even the Great Omniscience — may

always be depended on to point the way. You
need not be long in doubt.
You may have to make many self-denials before

the old self is fully overcome. Therefore be

heroic in purpose, that you may win in every
conflict.

With a fixed and unswerving purpose your suc-

cess is assured at the start. The battle is already

decided in your favor. Your name is success.

This name is written in your forehead. When you

look into the face of a man of purpose, you read
success there.
Therefore study to cultivate this principle ; de-
termine to be somebody, and have all your pur-
poses based on Rectitude; because " rectitude is

a pepetual victory." If you desire to unfold true

greatness through the eternities, have in this life

high purposes based on rectitude. This quality

is eternal and all-conquering.

But, on the contrary, what is the chance and

prospect of " the fearful and unbelieving"? As
we might expect, " The fearful and unbelieving
shall have their part in the lake that burneth with
fire and brimstone," — only defeat, failure, and
285
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

remorse. Will it not pay, think you, to cultivate

courage and purpose and rectitude?
Each one will some time find his Gethsemane,
where he will either stand or fall, according to the
strength and righteousness of his purpose. These
severe passages in life are the golden opportu-
nities for every unfolding soul. They are turning

points, opening up new eras in life. To the

strong hearted and courageous they mean do-
minion, power, and unfoldment.
This purposeful, courageous mental habit will

tell in everything you do, — even in your healing

work, as you encounter the almost irresistible

claims of Carnal Mind. Victories here are the

victories of Faith, Here you must be a conqueror,

as well as in other departments of life, since this

is the work to which you are called.

Therefore, while giving treatment, take your

stand strongly in the Spiritual, and stand bravely
by your argument, with a strong faith founded on
understanding, no matter what " appearances"
may say to the contrary. For these " appear-

ances " are the very things you are to overcome

by your heroic faith and strong realization.

Tell the man who calls himself helpless, as with

286
 THE FIFTH STEP

Spiritual understanding you see the perfect Son of

God in him, — tell him silently or audibly, as you
are led, — tell him with firmness and confidence,
that he is a Son of God and cannot therefore be
weak or helpless ; that the all-sufficient energy

of Omnipotent Life permeates every fibre of his

body. Hold him evenly, steadily, and in unshaken
confidence in the sure working of the Law,
and Truth Omnipotent shall set him free. If you
are unshaken in purpose, unwavering in faith, you
will soon see the reward of your persistent faith

and loyalty to Truth, in your patient beginning to

improve.
This Gethsemane quality of sturdy, persistent
faith will win.

In every age of history there have been persons

who healed the sick by the utterance of certain
words.
In the Middle Ages these miracle workers, as
they were called, looked upon the morbid " ap-
pearance," and said to it: " God looks you quite
away; " and forthwith the symptoms began to
change.
What was it that gave these strange words their

strange potency? Words, as such, have in them-

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

selves no power. The power is in the mind

which sends them forth, — in its high realization
of the Truth, which the formula of words embody
and represent to him.
The formula, " God looks you quite away," is a

strong denial of the reality of the " appearance."

The appeal to God indicates that the demonstrator

takes his stand in his highest, and speaks from

his Divine nature, — seeing, as it were, through
the eyes of God. For God can see only Truth or
true conditions. True seeing dissipates the false

appearance, and brings forward the Real in con-

sciousness.

You are recognizing God within, as looking

through your eyes, as it were, and seeing as a

God, — seeing truly, — seeing only the eternally
True. For to see only Truth and perfection, in

spite of the saddening appearance, is to see as God

sees. In fact, it is God seeing. For there is only
God to see or to be seen, speaking from the plane
of the Absolute. In the realm of Absolute Truth
disease does not exist. Therefore the Absolute
cannot see deformity. Only the human sees de-

formity ; only the sinner sees sin. Therefore when

you recognize the Perfect One as looking through
288
 THE FIFTH STEP

your eyes with rectifying sight, deformity must

disappear. Deformity cannot stand the " Con-
suming Fire" of the Divine looking. In such a

realization you can say, " God looks you quite

away." For there is no deformity in God's per-
fect Son, whom only he sees.
Spiritual Understanding, or knowing Divinely,
is true Sight. Hence it follows that all defects in

vision are but indications of errors in understand-

ing. Blurred understanding culminates in blurred

vision. Spiritual Sight being defective, the eye-

sight expresses the same defect. Sin dims the

Spiritual perceptions ; and what marvel that dim-
ness of vision is so universal? " Therefore speak

I to them in parables : because they seeing, see

not; and hearing, hear not, neither do they under-
stand." . . .
" But blessed are your eyes, for

they see, and your ears, for they hear." Give

your eyes and ears this Christ benediction, if these

senses are not manifesting perfectly.

"He that formed the eye, shall he not see?"
— shall he not see through his own eyes? For
your eyes are the Lord's eyes.
" He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? "
— shall he not use his own perfect instrument?
289
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

For your ears are the Lord's ears. Your hand is

the Lord's hand. Recognize God in all that you

do. Your Word is the " Word of the Lord," when
you speak from your Inmost Consciousness. When
so spoken, it is winged with power. " So shall

My Word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth

it shall not return unto me void, but shall accom-
plish that which I please." This is true of your
word ; because all Truth spoken is the speaking
of the One Voice of Truth. It is God speaking.
Therefore speak your word of Truth in healing
with authority, — with the authority of Truth, —
which is the authority of God. It will go forth
winged with power, when you realize its divineness.

Paul, understanding fully the power and value of

words, gave this instruction to Timothy :
" Hold
fast the form of Sound Words." Every statement
of Truth should be expressed in concise formula,
in order that its most dynamic power may be real-

ized. The more logically and geometrically ex-

act the formula, the greater its power. Put your
thought into the most concentrated form possible.

Yet your silent word may have the same power

as if spoken audibly. Indeed, in some cases it

may have greater power; because it does not en-

290
 THE FIFTH STEP

counter the doubt of your uninstructed and uncom-

prehending patient.
The place of power is the still centre of the

mind, where all the confusions of mortal thought

are hushed; where you, as it were, step aside,
and let God speak. In the silence you listen.

And when you receive the Spirit's Word, you

may speak it with vehemence — with the author-
ity of Truth. Isaiah said: "Their strength is to

sit still." In silence we " wait on the Lord."

" My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they
that watch for the morning." " They that wait on
the Lord shall renew their strength."
You will often find the most potent treatment is

to get perfectly still, having the mind perfectly

empty of thought, " waiting on the Lord," as it

were, in trustful expectancy.

The value of a " form of words " is in its effect

on yourself, rather than on your patient, as it

holds your own thought steady to lines of Truth.

Its mission is to straighten you out, and bring

you out of your rut into clear Spiritual understand-

ing. Then the work is done. For when you

have removed the beam from your own eye, there
is no mote in your brother's eye. When you
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

have purified your own atmosphere, your patient

stands in the atmosphere of heaven.
At best the " form of words " is but the ladder
by which you climbed to a higher realization, in

which you could do the Spirit's work. When you

have reached that altitude, you can dispense with
the ladder.

A noted healer tells of a patient " whose feeble-

ness and emaciation made her heart sink at first

sight, so that she had to handle the arguments

sometime before the shuddering appearance could
be put out of mind." Then came her realization

of the patient's completeness in being, and she

was healed. Going thence to her own room with
her mind illuminated, " a waiting patient was in-

stantly healed without words or arguments." Liv-

ing on the plane of the Spiritual, you will be a

healing presence.
" Not my will, but Thy Will." Only when you
have learned the secret art of self-renunciation
will you have power with God, — will God be with

you in power.
When the will of self is swallowed up in the

Will of God, — when self-consciousness gives

place to the Divine Consciousness, — then may

292
 THE FIFTH STEP

God " work through you to will and to do." In

this realization you will have so great power that
" nothing shall be impossible to you." You will

be so conscious of power that your word will be

like a decree. " If thou return to the Almighty,
thou shalt be built up . . . thou shalt decree
a thing, and it shall be established unto thee." In
the establishment of God's Will in you, the Law
has its fulfilment, where " Thy Will is done on
Earth."
We will now offer a " form of sound words " as
a sort of general formula which, or parts of
which, may be used in most cases ; though the
experienced practitioner will be guided by the
peculiarity of each individual case, finding in every

case its adequate formula.

The best formula springs from a spontaneity of
thought, in response to the patient's need.
General Formula: From the viewpoint of
the Spiritual speaking,
You are a Child of God — as perfect as your
Father.
As a Spiritual Being, you are not under the law

of sin and death.

You are not under the law of Carnal Mind.
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

You are not under the law of Heredity.

You are not in bondage to the claims of the

flesh.

You are under the Great Divine Law of Love.

Your Heredity is from God ; whose perfections
you inherit.

"You are complete in Him."

God is your Life, your Strength, your Health.
" In the m
Lord Jehovah is everlasting Strength.

You are strong with the Strength of Omnipo-

tence,

The vigor of health is your inheritance.

Omnipotent God-Life lives you.
Omnipotent God-Truth sustains you.

Omnipotent God-Love protects you.

You are free and joyous and well.
" Whom the Son makes free is free indeed."

The mind is controlled by the Will, the

Carnal Mind by Carnal Will, — this is Herod;
the Spiritual Mind by the Divine Will, — this is

Christ. You will not be entirely free from the

dominion of Herod until you have gone through
Gethsemane, where you renounce the Carnal
Herod-Will — the will of the flesh — and learn to

vibrate with the Divine Will. Even this perfect

294
 THE FIFTH STEP

freedom and immunity is not found, until after the

Crucifixion is accomplished.
You are now approaching the greatest of human
experiences, which shall bring to you the highest
Consciousness for men on earth. But it is not
found in Gethsemane. It lies beyond. To reach
it you must go through Gethsemane. It cannot
be obtained by going around Gethsemane. For
you cannot carry the will of the flesh into the

heavenly altitudes, where the Christ is manifested

in resurrection power.
But you have so long loved and pampered this

dear self with its self-will, you have so long obeyed

its voice, have been so long wedded to it, that

to yield it up as a sacrifice is like wringing the

bloody sweat from your brow.
But you have conquered Self, and have chosen
the Divine Will as your will, that you may at-

tain to this Spiritual eminence — the Resurrection

Consciousness ; an experience prepared for and
awaiting you, and to be fully realized by you, after
the heroic work of the next lesson shall have fully

prepared you for it.

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

"The higher Alchemy!' — From "The Perfect

Way?
" The Will of God is the Alchemic Crucible
and the Dross which is cast therein is Matter."
" And the Dross shall become pure Gold seven
times refined, even perfect Spirit."
"It shall leave it nothing; but it shall be trans-
formed into the Divine Image."
" For it is not a New Substance ; but its Al-
chemic polarity is changed, and it is converted."
" But except it were Gold in its true nature it

could not be resumed into the aspect of Gold."

"*And except Matter were Spirit, it could not
revert to Spirit."
" To make Gold, the Alchemist must have
Gold."
" But he knows that to be Gold which others
take to be Dross."
" Cast thyself into the Will of God and thou
shalt become as God."
" For thou art God, if thy Will be the Divine
Will."
" This is the Great Secret. It is the Mystery of
Redemption."

296
 ; ;;

THE FIFTH STEP

THE ETERNAL WILL.

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
There is no thing we cannot overcome.
Say not thy evil is inherited ;

Or that some taint inborn makes thy whole life forlorn,

And calls down punishment that is not merited.

Back of thy parents and grandparents lies

The Great Eternal Will. That, too, is thine

Inheritance, strong, beautiful, Divine ;

—
Sure lever of success to him who tries.

Pry up thy fault with this great lever, Will;

However bedded in propensity

However firmly set, I tell thee firmer yet

Is that vast power that comes from Truth's immensity.

Thou art a part of that strange world, I say

Its forces lie within thee, stronger far

Than all thy mortal sins and frailties are.

Believe thyself Divine, and watch and pray.

There is no height thou canst not climb ;

All triumphs may be thine in time's futurity

If, whatsoe'er thy fault, thou dost not faint nor halt,

But lean upon the staff of God's security.

Earth has no claim the soul cannot contest.

Know thyself part of the Supernal Source ;

And naught can stand before thy spirit's force. —

The soul's Divine Inheritance is best.

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 XII

THE SIXTH STEP: — " CRUCIFIXION — ELIMINA-

"

TION OF THE SELF

1 '
They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its

passions and lusts." — Gal. 5: 24.

"lam crucified with Christ, nevertneless I live ;

yet not I

Christ liveth in me." — Gal. 2: 20.

In reading the record of the Life of Jesus the

Christ, especially of the Crucifixion, if we would
learn its vital lesson, it is important to bear in
mind the distinction which must be made between
some of the terms employed, which are not syn-

onymous, as some suppose, but of widely different

esoteric meaning, as the names Jesus and Christ

and the terms Son of Man and Son of God. Jesus
himself did not use these terms carelessly or at
random, as though they were equivalents, but
always wisely using the one where the other would
have been improper. Whenever he spoke of
himself as the "Son of Man," he referred to his
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 THE SIXTH STEP

Humanity; when as the " Son of God," he re-

ferred to his Divinity.

" Jesus " is the name of the corporeal " Son of
Man"; " Christ" is the name of the incorporeal
" Son of God " ;
" Jesus Christ ", the union of the
two, stands for Humanity regenerated, — the " Son
of Man " Christ-ed — the Divine Humanity, — the
" Son of Man " transformed into the " Son of
God," — which is the ultimate of Regeneration.
Only the corporeal " Son of Man" could die —
or did die. CHRIST, the incorporeal " Son of
God," was not subject to death. The Christ

could not be crucified, — could not even be

" brought before Pilate," nor suffer indignity at

the hands of the profane. The record does not

say that Christ died. For Divinity could not die
or suffer. We use terms carelessly. But what
saith the record?
" They delivered Jesus to be crucified." They
could do no more. It is the universal experience,

that Carnal Mind is ever hostile to the Christ,

ever seeks to destroy the Christ from Conscious-

ness. " Carnal mind is enmity against God, is

not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can

be" (Rom. 8:7). The Christ is " the Lamb

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

slain from the foundation of the world ;

" slain

in the animus of Carnal Mind, yet never slain.

For the Christ is forever the untouchable One.

Only the Carnal receives the blow aimed at the

Christ. Invariably " The reproaches of them that

reproached Thee are fallen upon me " (Ps. 60: 9).

In esoteric experience this is what the " Jesus " is

saying to the " Christ ;

" the blow aimed at the " Son
of God " falls upon the " Son of Man," if we are

seeking to manifest the "Son of God." For the

" Son of Man " must die for the sins of the world.

My whole world within — my consciousness — is

a sin-world, a Sin-Consciousness. And this " Son

of Man" must die to end that Consciousness and
redeem that world. We must Crucify the Carnal
Self— the Son-of-Man-Self.
For Jesus was the Representative Man of the
Ages, whose objective life represents Spiritual ex-

perience — your Spiritual experience in "The

Way " of Regeneration. He lived for us, and he
died for us — not as our " substitute," crucified in
our stead — but as our Archetype, our Pattern,
our "Way." Therefore "The Way" of his ex-

ternal experience corresponds to our "way" in

Spiritual experience in the Path of Regeneration.

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 THE SIXTH STEP

As the corporeal " Son of Man " was crucified,

that the incorporeal*" Son of God " might through

that death bring forth the " Son of Man " by a

glorious Resurrection from the dead, so must we

crucify the Carnal Mind, that the Christ may have
a Resurrection in Consciousness, that we may
receive the wonderful illumination of the Christ-

Consciousness, and that the body and soul may

find Redemption through Regeneration.
In " The Way " of Regeneration we have now
taken Five Steps.
We have found that each step has been essential
as a preparation for the next. Only perfect work
in each degree insures successful advancement in

the Christ-Life, — the Christ-Way.

Having taken five steps, we stand at the portal
of the Sixth Great Step, which is to open to us the

full realization of the transcendent glories of the

Resurrection Consciousness.
This Greatest of all and final Step is " Cruci-

fixion."

In Gethsemane we have been especially prepared

for what is before us. In Gethsemane we have

made Crucifixion a possible experience. For had
we been unwilling to take that step, — had we fal-

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

tcred in Gethsemane, still clinging to the old

Carnal Self, — then Carnal Mind would be still

dominating us, hedging up our progress, and mak-

ing impossible the glorious experience of the
" First Resurrection."

But having renounced the old Carnal Self and

the old Carnal Will, we are free from the dominion
of that old earthly Sinner-Self, and find our per-
fect freedom in obedience to the Divine Will.
Having made the Divine Will our own, we can
now do what the Spirit shall direct, that we may
advance into the Heavenly altitudes.

Therefore in calm assurance and fearlessness we

advance to the most radical work of Crucifixion,
saying with our Representative :
" Arise, let us be

going." Going whither? Cheerfully going to

Crucifixion.

When we are duly prepared for any experience,

however severe, — and knowing that all experi-

ences are good, even though severe, — we can meet

them joyfully, knowing that in the current of the
Divine Will a higher unfoldment follows. " For

our light affliction, which is but for the moment,

worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal

weight of Glory "

(2 Cor. 4: 17).
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 THE SIXTH STEP

We conquer by obedience. The struggle is

over. Nothing can hinder the great demonstra-

tion. This is the closing act in the demonstration
of Divinity, which shall bring us into the Con-
sciousness of our Divinity.
For the Carnal must die, — must be eliminated
from consciousness, in order to the realization of

the Christ-Resurrection.
It is all an evolution in Consciousness, — pass-
ing an Evolutionary Boundary, — passing out of
the Human-Consciousness into the Divine-Con-
sciousness. This is progression according to Di-
vine order. For we are evolving from, and leaving
the old Animal-Human Consciousness, — and now
a door swings open to us, and we are ushered into

a higher Consciousness — the Divine-Human Con-

sciousness. This is Regeneration. This is Re-
demption. We have come by the " King's High-
way " — the " Christ- Way." The New Testament
name for this high Consciousness is, " The First

Resurrection."
Through Regeneration you have by an evolu-
tion risen to a higher plane consciously, where you
live more Divinely, — no longer the mere Animal-
intellectual life, but the Life of a God. Faculties
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

and powers before unrecognized you are now un-

folding. The Spiritual Man, the " Son-of-God-

Man," is coming into his kingdom.

It is the " Kingdom of Heaven," where Christ
is King. In our past experience this king seems
to have, as it were, " journeyed to a far country,"
— because he has not been in consciousness, — as

in the parable, and now " returns to take his

kingdom," — to reign in Consciousness.

Now that you have come into your kingdom,

you will rule your body in Wisdom and righteous-
ness.

Having in view this perfect dominion, Paul said :

" I keep my body under." In the kingdom of

heaven you will be able to rule your body with all

its faculties and powers — " keeping it under" the

control of the Will.
When we think of man as an intelligent being,

we must not think that this intelligence is con-

fined to the brain. For the entire organism,
every microscopic cell of that organism, is intelli-

gent. This is why your body responds to your

active thought, so that you are able to control it

— "keep it under" full control. Every organ is

your servant, which it is your privilege to control.

3°4
 THE SIXTH STEP

The body contains all the stored-up thoughts of

your past living. By the power of mind you have
instructed every cell according to the plane and

standard of your old life. Therefore if your body

does not toe the mark of your new and higher
standard, it is because you have not fully redeemed
the past. These cells are still in blissful inno-
cence carrying out your former instructions. You
have got to re-instruct them according to the new
light you have received. You must " go into all

the world " of subconscious mind " and preach

the Gospel to every Creature."
The whole realm of subconscious mind has got
to be re-instructed and redeemed. The reason
there is an occasional outburst of some inhar-

monious manifestation is because these cells are

still carrying out your former ideas.

Your body is both intelligent and conscious.
So is every plant of the field ; so is everything in

the universe. Because God is Omnipresent Life,

Intelligence, and Consciousness. All nature vi-

brates with conscious Life and Intelligence — each

individual thing in its own sphere of manifestation.
It is on account of this intelligence in every
cell that you are able to give your body a mental
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

treatment. If no intelligence were there, it could

never respond to our thought, and you could not
control it.

Of course Brain is not mind. Mind is imma-

terial, and uses both Brain and Nerve to carry out
its mandates; and every intelligent cell is atten-

tive to your word of authority from the supreme

ruler.

With a little attention and observation any one

may become conscious of the working of this in-

telligence in the body.

If you will put your whole body in a state of

quiet repose, and then suddenly utter some start-

ling statement, such as, / am filled with Omnipo-

tent Life, you will observe a distinct thrill through-
out the entire body. There is a physiological

reason for it.

These intelligent cells are suddenly aroused by

the new thought you have given them ; and they
suddenly turn their attention, that they may
receive that thought. For they are your obedient
servants, ready to hear, and obey.
As when a military officer says :
" Attention,

Company!" every eye is turned toward him

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 THE SIXTH STEP

so every cell in your body is ready to hear your

word, when you speak with authority.
If man had been always righteous in every
thought, the body would manifest the same right-

eousness in every cell ; and there would be noth-

ing but health and harmony. Thus Health is

Righteousness or right-ness. If mind had been

always righteous in every thought, there would be
nothing but righteousness in the great storehouse
of subconscious mind. Health would be universal.
When Paul said, " Whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap," he had reference to sowing
thoughts in the soil of subconscious mind, where
there is sure to be a harvest for our reaping in

corresponding conditions. And when Bacon said,

" My Mind to me a kingdom is," he doubtless had

reference to the whole subconscious mind, with its

miltillions of intelligent, obedient cells, as the

people of that kingdom.
Therefore, with intelligent cells as the people of
your kingdom, if your stomach is not performing
its work of digestion perfectly, you may talk to it,

as to a friend or servant, reminding it of its God-

derived powers, and tell it to perform its function,

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

— and it will obey you. This would be a mental

treatment. Say to it:

You are my willing and obedient servant, and

love to do my will.
You are filled with the power of Omnipotent
Life.

You stand in the Principle of unchanging Truth.

Divine Love is the spring of all your powers.
You are equal to your task; because God is

your Strength :
" Your sufficiency is of God."
In loving recognition of your ability and willing-
ness to obey, I command you to do your work.
You are now in glad obedience performing your
function. — Amen.
Withdrawyour condemnation from your stomach.
Because your condemnation and doubt are the chief
causes of its failure ; and it cannot perform its

function as long as you are condemning it as in-

competent. Every one has observed the helpful

effect of praise and confidence on a servant. It is

no less so with these subconscious servants, who

rejoice in your praise and assurance of power.
Every organ is your servant, glad to" do your
will; and you are the king required to rule in

righteousness. There is no other way to insure

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 THE SIXTH STEP

harmony in your kingdom. For the King who

rules his subjects in love rules a happy and con-
tented people.
This formula for the stomach will apply to any
organ. For each organ represents a province of
your kingdom, which you are to hold in loyalty

and truth, knowing your power and authority as

king.

We are not saying that there is anything like

reason in the cells. Reason is not the only evi-
dence of intelligence. Intelligence is everywhere,
because God is everywhere. When you reason
with your stomach, it hears — not the words, but
the thoughts you give it.

For in the body there is a great telephonic sys-

tem. From the Brain, the Central Station, you

send your thought along the nerve-wires ; and the
numerous ganglia are the local stations, where
your messages are received. Your passion-
thoughts, whether of love, hate, avarice, or sensu-

ality, are all innocently heard at these stations, and

unsuspectingly received by the organs, which be-
come modified accordingly. Is it any wonder an
organ becomes debilitated, when we think how
much of error, sin, and passion we have merciless-
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

\y poured upon it? Knowing now that we have

power by our thoughts to bless, curse, or even kill

our bodies, we will no longer accuse our Heavenly

Father of sending affliction and death.
By the power of regenerated thought we are to
redeem and regenerate our bodies, until " the

without becomes as the within," — until " the

kingdoms (or provinces) of this world (within)

become the Kingdom of our Lord and his Christ."

This means the redemption of subconscious mind.

The mind regenerated and the body thereby re-

deemed are the consummation of our work on

earth. Then will we be prepared for graduation

to a higher school, this lower one having sub-

served its purpose.
Returning to the thread of our subject: The
Great Teacher was using the term " Son of Man"
with exact propriety, when he said

The Son of Man goeth as it is written of him.

For if the " Son of Man " idea, or human con-

cept of Man, is not the True Idea — then it must
"Go" — must be ruled out of mind and conscious-
ness; order that the True Idea — the concep-
in
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 THE SIXTH STEP

tion of Man as the " Son of God " —r- may prevail

and transform the consciousness.

Here is the whole problem of Salvation con-
tained in the meaning of the act and process of
Crucifixion, namely : Rejection and Crucifixion of
the " Son of Man," and the Resurrection in Con-
sciousness of the " Son of God."
" For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder-
ness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
By recognizing the " Son of God " in the " Son of
Man " — the " Son of Man " " is lifted up " to the
estate of the " Son of God." This must all take
place in Consciousness. This is Regeneration.
For when the " Son of Man " becomes in con-
sciousness the " Son of God," that moment has
Salvation come to him, because his Consciousness
has been changed from the Human to the Divine.

Before you can come into the Resurrection Con-

sciousness, " the Son of Man must be rejected
and set at naught." That old concept must " Go,"
and in its place must be " lifted up " the True
Concept — " the Son of God." You must even
" Crucify the Son of Man ;" in order that the " Son
ofGod " may shine forth in resurrection Glory.

The true consciousness of Life is attained through

3"
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

death— the death of Self— the " Son of Man."

High ideals cannot fill the mind until it has sacri-
ficed its low ideals. The low ideals must be cast

out and "set at naught" (made nothing), "de-

nied before Pilate," and crucified outside the
Temple and City, — entirely put out of conscious-

ness, — that you may be able to attain to the

consciousness of the " Son of God," in a glorified

and resurrected body, " without spot or wrinkle or

any such thing."
Thus the way to the Christ-Consciousness is the
" Christ-Way." In the completely transformed
Consciousness is perfect health. And this carried

to its ultimate conclusion implies Eternal Life.

To be consciously a Son of God is to be in the

God-Consciousness ; where a transformed life ulti-

mates in a transformed body.

When this is realized in experience, there will

be no further incarnations for such an individual.

For he has reached the highest unfoldment earth
can give.
In the old life you built your body after the

pattern of false ideas ; now in the Christ Life you

are rebuilding " after the pattern shown in the

mount," —the pattern of Christ.

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THE SIXTH STEP

Regeneration is the rebuilding process of

thought action. Its Sixth Step you have nearly
completed. If you have carefully appropriated,

assimilated, and carried into practice all the prin-

ciples of these Six Steps you are nearing the goal

of the Resurrected Life. But the old life with its

life-long habits and its race-long beliefs is so ex-

ceedingly tenacious, that in seeking deliverance
from this bondage what marvel that so extreme
a measure as crucifixion of the Carnal Self is nec-
essary for that emancipation.
When we say the Christ was never crucified —
only the fleshly " Son of Man," there ought to be
somewhere in the symbolic record some symbolic
incident or parabolic picture to make clear that

fact, that we may see the perfect correspondence

of the Outer and the Inner.

Such an allegoric incident or picture is found in

Mark 14: 51-2

" And a certain young man followed with him,
having a linen cloth cast about him over his naked
body ; and they lay hold on him ; and he left the
linen cloth and fled naked."
As a mere historical incident (without figurative

meaning) this has no value or significance what-

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ever. But admitting the allegory it is very signifi-

cant. Indeed, if we are to regard the whole life

of Jesus as a wonderful allegoric history — or

even as pure allegory — then this incident is an
inseparable part of that symbology. It is a pic-
ture given to show that the Christ escaped Cru-
cifixion, arraignment, and even mockery. It

shows the point of separation of the " Son of

God " from the " Son of Man," — leaving the
"
" Son of Man " to " tread the winepress alone ;

— in order that the Master's experience may per-

fectly represent our Spiritual experience in cruci-

fying the " Son of Man " within ourselves, that we

may attain to the " Resurrection from the dead."

The "linen cloth " stands for the human language

or terminology with which the human mind
clothes its conception of the Christ — its Creed.
But as the Eternal Word cannot be spoken — as

the Real Christ cannot be cumbered by human

ideas or limited to human definitions, or repre-

sented by human words even — so this allegoric

" young man left the linen cloth and fled naked."

Christ, the Divine Son, is ever " young," clean,

" naked," as to human terms and ideas. Human
terms and Creeds are nothing to him. They are

3H
 :

THE SIXTH STEP

purely human. Words and creeds are wholly in-

competent to represent the Christ. When you
reach the glorious Resurrected Life, Creeds will
appear as the swaddling clothes of your infancy,
now wholly worthless to you.
The Name of God is unutterable and always
transcends human conceptions and terms.
The " Son of God " has disappeared from the
scene, that the " Son of Man " may be "three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth."
There were " three days and three nights " from
Thursday morning, when the arrest took place,

and the "young man" disappeared, — marking

the time that the " Son of Man " enters into the

heart of human conditions ("the heart of the

earth ") — to " Very early in the morning " (Sun-
day), when Mary sees again the "young man,"
who has now taken again his redeemed and trans-
formed body, leaving the tomb empty.
In our work of crucifying the Carnal Self there
are "Two (metaphysical) Thieves," which must
also be crucified and eliminated from conscious-
ness, in order to a successful demonstration. These
" Two Thieves," which rob you of the full realiza-

tion of your Divine Inheritance are

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

The Idea of Matter's Reality, and

The Idea of Evil's Reality; —
the former " on the Right Hand " (the place of
favor) ; and the latter " on the Left Hand " (the

place of rejection).
As long as these " robber" Ideas are allowed a
place in the mind, you will be robbed of the true
conception of Realities, and of the full realization

of yourself as a Spiritual Being; — you cannot

have the heavenly realizations in the present tense;

and will hope to find them in a future state of

existence. For as long as you believe in two

Realities — one Spiritual and the other Material,
you will have a divided mind, and cannot fully

know God as Spirit.

As long as you believe yourself both Spiritual

and Material, you will be in bondage to material

conditions.

You must crucify (cross out) the " robber" of

materiality.

Then again as long as you believe in Two Re-

alities — one Good and the other Evil — you can-
not fully know the Good, nor God, the Eternal
Good. Because being in the consciousness of

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 THE SIXTH STEP

Good-and-Evil, you have a divided mind. As

long as you believe in Two Principles governing

you —a principle of Good and a principle of

Evil, you cannot know the freedom of the Sons
of God, nor attain to the freedom of the Resur-
rection. For conscious of two opposing principles
governing you, you will be in constant warfare, —
" a house divided against itself." You must cross

out this " robber."

It is worthy of note that there is a salvable
element in the Right Hand Robber (else he would
not be on the right hand). Therefore he is both
crucified and saved at the same time. In our
efforts to overcome the material consciousness,
for the sake of strengthening the Spiritual con-

sciousness, we shall not succeed, until we make

the distinction between the Real and the Ap-
parent — the Spiritual and the Phenomenal as-
pects of matter. For the visible, phenomenal,
apparent aspect is not the Reality. But back of
and underlying the phenomenal is the eternally
abiding Spiritual Essence, which is the Substance
of Reality. Thus Matter is Real in its invisible

Spiritual Substance ; but unreal in its phenomenal

aspect.
3i7
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

This Robber repented, and entered into para-

dise with the eternally abiding Christ. — " To-day
shalt thou be with me in paradise," — which signi-

fies, that when we give up (repent of) sense evi-

dence, as the test of Reality, and recognize the

Spiritual as the Real, then our material concep-

tions will change to Spiritual conceptions ; and

the material body will appear as a Spiritual body,
in consciousness, according to the degree of reali-
zation. We have renounced the " robber" of
materiality, and have found its Spiritual Essence,

or true Substance. The " robber" element disap-

pears, and salvable Substance remains.

But in the Left Hand robber there is no salv-

able element or redeeming principle whatever.
For Evil is a falsity, unreality, a delusion and a

snare, and must " Go " with the Carnal Conscious-

ness, before the Spiritual Resurrection can be
realized in Consciousness.

In the realm of Reality Matter exists as Spirit-

ual Substance ; but Evil having no Substance of
Reality is a stupendous Lie, and can have no
place in the Christ-Consciousness, toward which
we are hastening.

We have been doing some pretty thorough work

318
 THE SIXTH STEP

with Carnal Mind, in destroying its supports ; so

that the old Sin-Consciousness has nothing left

to support it. This causes a sense of vacuity

and darkness, — " there was darkness over all the
earth until the ninth hour." There is always
darkness before the dawning light ; and the deeper
the darkness, the greater the light to follow.
"My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken
Me," is the last despairing cry of the old expiring
Consciousness of Sin-and-Death.
This wail of despair shows conclusively that
the '"
Son of Man " suffered alone without the
" Son of God's" presence. For the expression,
" My God," means the Christ, and not the
Father. "Jehovah," " Lord," " Lord God," and
" My God " are terms for the Christ.

This Great Allegoric Tragedy was enacted and

written to show us that we must crucify the old

Self — the Carnal-Mind-Consciousness, in order

that the Christ in us may come forth into Con-
sciousness by a great Resurrection from the dead
— the Consciousness of Life from the Conscious-

ness of Death.
Carnal Mind must die ;
— the Carnal Conscious-
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

ness must go out in darkness — entirely abandoned

by the Christ.
"It Is Finished."

The old Sin-Consciousness goes out in darkness.

That Consciousness is forever ended. — It is

dead.
" There is no longer any Consciousness of Sin,"
said Paul.

Without the consciousness of sin, there is no

sin.

What is not in consciousness Is NOT — to you.

You have passed through the greatest of human

experiences, and have accomplished the greatest
work for men on earth. You have not merely
destroyed a "false belief"; — but you have de-
stroyed a whole False Consciousness /

You have passed the greatest Evolutionary

Boundary for unfolding Man. You have " died

unto sin," — unto the Sin-Consciousness.

It is forever ended.

This is the "First Death;" — after which fol-

lows the " First Resurrection."

" Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the

First Resurrection. On such the Second Death

hath no power."
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 XIII

THE SEVENTH STEP :

-

SABBATH"— THE CHRIST-CONSCIOUSNESS

" I Am the Resurrection and the Life : he that believeth
on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." — Jno.
ii: 25.

In tracing out the regenerative process of Spirit-

ual Evolution, — in the more rudimentary Mosaic

Course we recognized in the symbolism of the
great Allegory of the story of Creation the Law
of the Soul's unfoldment through Divine order;
beginning with its chaotic " earth-without-form-
and-void state of mind," where " darkness was
upon the face of the deep" — the darkness of
ignorance; — then following on in orderly pro-
"
gression through the alternation of " evenings

and " mornings " — ignorance yielding to enlight-

enment — through the " Six Days" or Degrees
necessary to every great Unfoldment — Six
Periods of working experience, — the Soul
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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

reached the great ultimate of its struggles in

Spiritual Realization — its " Sabbath of Rest,"

— the nightless Day of Spiritual Illumination,
or Understanding. Here the Soul rests ; as there

is no more work to be done. Because in Realiza-

tion all labor ceases, all striving ends, — " And

God rested on the Sabbath Day from all his work,
which He had made."
" There is no power but of God." Therefore
in all your working God working, and when
it is

labor is finished it is God resting. You are "work-

ing together with God" in all your evolution and ;

God is working with you for the unfoldment into

manifestation of himself.
When you are in the Realization of your Ideal

you have reached your " Sabbath."

Realization is the Day without a Night; no

"evening" or "morning" is mentioned; there is

only Day. — " There shall be no Night there."

Then in the " Six Days " or " Steps " of our

Christ Course we have outlined the same process

of Regeneration, as allegorically set forth in the
unique, picturesque life of Jesus of Nazareth, the
Representative Man of the Ages, the Archetypal
Man, whose life mission was the burden of all the
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 —

THE SEVENTH STEP

prophets, and whose life course was the prophecy

of the experience of every individual evolving the
Christ-Consciousness. His career pictures or por-
trays our career in the way to the Regenerate
Life. —" I Am the Way."
Like the other symbology, this also has its " Six

Days," Degrees or Steps to the same end, namely,

a regenerated and illuminated mind, with its coun-
terpart, a redeemed and regenerated body,
which is represented by the Resurrection of the
body of Jesus.

The " Sabbath " of the Mosaic record is sym-

bolic of the Soul's rest in the completion of its

evolution from the Adam-Consciousness to the

Christ-Consciousness. And this also is symbolized
by the Resurrection. Both represent the Spiritual

Consciousness attained.
The First Great Step in this Way of Spiritual
unfoldment is the Immaculate Conception and
New Birth, — the Conception of the Divine Idea
or Living Germ-Principle in Consciousness. This
Infant Conception is to be unfolded, until it

becomes a Consciousness. The New Birth is the

Initial Step for every Initiate in the Way of the
True Christian Life, — the Higher Christianity.

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

The Second Great Step is the Soul's unfold-

ment in Wisdom, which is indicated by the mysti-
cal expression " Twelve Years Old."
This unfoldment continues until the fulness of
Wisdom is attained.

Wisdom is the Spiritual Nutrition of the Soul,

which sustains and builds it up in strength and
power, unfolding its manhood to the " Stature of

Christ." It is by the appropriation and assimila-

tion of Truth that the Soul " grows up into Christ

its living head." Attaining which, it receives its

baptismal enduement, and the revelation :

" This

is my Beloved Son." This is the climax and end

of the Second Degree in Regeneration.
The Third Great Step, is Overcoming and Dis-
crimination.

Here you wrestled with temptation and prevailed,

like a Son of God. Here you solved the great

problem of Good and Evil, and thus demonstrated
your Son-ship. For the things which are revealed
by the Spirit must be demonstrated by the unfold-
ing Neophyte in the wilderness of practical life,

before it is his own Good.

Here all things of temptation (4 X 10) must be
met, and all things of overcoming must be accom-
324
 THE SEVENTH STEP

plished. In the victorious issue of this demonstra-

tion you " return in the power of the Spirit."

Thus your Sonship, which was so clearly re-

vealed by the Spirit, you have demonstrated to

yourself by overcoming like a Son.

The Fourth Great Step, is Demonstration — in

words and works, — healing the sick and reforming

the sinner in demonstration of your understanding
and appropriation of the principles of the Kingdom
of Heaven.
The Fifth Great Step, is " Gethsemane " or Self-

renunciation, — a most heart-searching experience.

Not until we have learned this lesson and put it in

practice can we know and conform to the Divine

Will.
" Not as I will, but as Thou wilt," must be the
language of the Soul, even to utter self-renuncia-
tion, before you can advance to Calvary, and
attain through experience to that sublime Con-
sciousness — the Resurrection. Many have taken
the First Four Steps successfully ; while few have
had the courage and strength of purpose to pass

the severe ordeal of Gethsemane. And therefore

many fail of the highest Spiritual attainment in

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 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Consciousness. Yet Gethsemane is the key to the

Resurrected Life.
The Sixth Great Step, is Crucifixion — another
deep experience of the heart — the one necessarily
preceding and making possible the transcendent
glories of the Resurrection of Christ in Conscious-

ness.

We must Crucify (cross out) the Carnal Self

the " Son of Man," before the True Self, the " Son
of God " can be realized in Consciousness.
In order to have the full realization of Divinity

in Consciousness the Sixth Step must be taken,

even to the sealing of the tomb of the Carnal Con-
sciousness — if we would have the Christ come
forth bursting the bars of death, triumphant over

the " last enemy."

Thus only by going all the Christ-Way may
you be able to gain the CHRIST-CONSCIOUSNESS.
There is no other Way — "I Am the Way."
In the Crucifixion we read, that the soldiers

divided his outer garments freely among them-

selves ; while his Inner Garment, the " Seamless
Robe," they gambled for, to determine " whose it

shall be." Esoterically the garments of Christ

are the covering or clothing of Truth — the lan-

326
 ;

THE SEVENTH STEP

guage in which we clothe it; or the doctrines we

formulate from it.

The " outer garments " are the literal expres-

sions of the teachings of Christ, — the "letter of

the Word; " to which every one may freely help

himself, choosing such parts as suit his purpose, in

formulating his theological doctrines, to express

his intellectual conception of the Truth of Christ,
— Truth which is Christ.

The " Inner Garment " or " Seamless Robe " is

the Interior Sense or Spiritual Meaning, which is

one and indivisible, symmetrical and unrendable.

Therefore the Soldiers say :
" Let us not rend it,

but cast lots, whose it shall be."

The symmetrical beauty of a statement of Truth

always commends itself to the accurate logician
though he may not see beyond the intellectual ex-

pression of it, — which is but a symbolic formula,

that is never quite capable of revealing the Spirit-
ual Idea.
"
The gambling for the " seamless robe of Christ
indicates the universal claim for its possession on
the part of the "soldiers of the Cross," — the de-
fenders of the faith. But as in gambling there is

always doubt " whose it shall be," until the die is

327
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

cast, — so in every Creed or statement of Truth

there always exists a lingering doubt, whether
Creed is Absolute Truth — whether this or that

Creed. Nevertheless each is persistent in his

claim.

This is just what is going on between the various

churches in the advocacy of their Creeds. Yet
Creed is not Truth Absolute. For that cannot be
put into any intellectual formula. It is greater
than words. But if Creed is the perfect formula,
— if Dogma is Truth, why this everlasting argu-

ment to prove it?

TRUTH does not hang on argument, nor does

it need to be intellectually proved. It is self-evi-

dent, and " commends itself to every man's con-

science," — commends itself to the Inner Man,
who always knows.
But after all this debating (gambling), Dogma
is not the genuine article. It is merely human
Opinion, which therefore needs to be sustained by
argument. It belongs to the Realm of Intellect
while Truth is of the Spiritual Realm. He who
rests in Creed dwells in the realm of illusions,
which blind the eyes to Spiritual Truth.

The reason men have doubts concerning Dogma

328
 ;

THE SEVENTH STEP

is because the Spiritual Self, the Son of God

within, which has been kept under by boastful In-

tellect, and which always knows Truth, is letting

its voice be heard through the mists of Carnal

Mind, and would fain lead into all Truth, if only
they would listen to its unerring Voice.
When you have made the sublime demonstra-
tion of the Resurrection Consciousness, through
triumphing over the Carnal Self, with its arrogant
Intellect, thus bringing into consciousness the
Heavenly Man, — then Dogma will be outgrown.
It will have served its day; but now will be as use-
less as the empty shell of the lazy grub that once
crawled on the bottom of the pond, — after it has
released the gorgeous dragonfly. It had a use on
"
the lower plane of the merely " Natural Man ;

but on the plane of the " Son of God," the plane

of Spiritual Realization, it will have no place. He
who is in Spiritual Realization will not care about
Catechisms. For he dwells in the bosom of the
Father, having the full fruition of all that Creed
designs to teach.
Having taken the Six Steps in Regeneration
having destroyed the Sin-Consciousness ; having
" died unto sin," — so that " there remains no
329
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

more consciousness of sins," — you stand at the

threshold of the Resurrection of Life, the tri-

umphant Consciousness of Holiness. — " Enter

thou into the joy of thy Lord."

This is the " New Jerusalem," the Beautiful City
of God with its streets of Gold and its Gates of
Pearl.
" If we have been in the likeness (figure) of his

death, we shall be also in the likeness (figure) of

his resurrection ; knowing this, that the old man is

crucified with him, that the body of sin might be

"
destroyed ; for he that is dead is freed from sin

(Rom. 6:5-7).
This means, that the Carnal Consciousness is

dead through Crucifixion ; because we have been

united with him " in the likeness of his death."

And by reason of the death of the sin-conscious-

ness/we shall have the consciousness of his Resur-
rection, — His Likeness.
It is ours by right of inheritance, and becomes
ours consciously, when we have solved our prob-
lem, in the allegory of his death and resurrection.
Therefore in the Consciousness of the Resurrec-

tion " sin shall not have dominion over you ; for

330
 THE SEVENTH STEP

ye are not under Law, but under Grace " (Rom.

6:14).
He who has passed the Crucifixion stage of de-
velopment does not sin, because he is freed from

the consciousness of sin, and is under Grace.

What is not in consciousness is not> to that one.

In the Crucifixion, while the body was slain it

was not destroyed. It was rather redeemed and

Spiritualized through death. For while the body
of mortality and matter went into the tomb, in the
Resurrection the same body came forth from the
tomb transformed into a glorious Spiritual body,

forever freed from all that had made it mortal or

material. So in the esoteric correspondence of
this allegoric death, in crucifying Carnal Mind, we
are not destroying the mind. For while the body
was slain, it was thereby redeemed and made
glorious. So while the mortal Soul is slain, only
its carnality has perished — the Sinner-Conscious-
ness, — and redemption and a transformed Con-
sciousness is the result.
Then with the consciousness transformed, puri-
fied, regenerated, and illuminated, will inevitably
result a corresponding transformation in the body,
— making it " like His most glorious body."
331
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Through the crucifixion of the Sinner-Seif you

have lost the old Sinner-Consciousness ; and from
out of that death you must arise purified and glo-
rious in the Resurrection-Consciousness, forever
free from the " curse of the Law." The Law was
made for the Sin-Consciousness; therefore in the

Resurrection-Consciousness you are above Law.

" There is therefore now no condemnation to them
that are in Christ-Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh but after the Spirit."
The transformation that took place in the body
of Jesus was accomplished through the Spiritual-
ization of his mind ; which wrought the Spiritual-

ization of his body; until only Spiritual properties

remained. Through the Spiritualizing process of

Regeneration the body ceased to be longer ma-

terial, having been transformed thereby " into the
image of the heavenly."
The same purifying thought power had trans-
formed Elijah's body into a Spiritual body; so
that he escaped death by translation. Both Jesus
and Elijah triumphed over death by Spiritual

evolution. Both attained to the Spiritual Con-

sciousness, which wrought the redemption of their

bodies, — the one being resurrected and the other

332
 THE SEVENTH STEP

translated, — Elijah being a type for one age,

Jesus for another.
If a material consciousness has given our bodies
their material appearance and properties, then a
transformed consciousness must culminate in a

transformed body by natural law. This is the

secret and mystery of Redemption. The mystery

disappears, when the secret is found. When we
understand all mysteries, we shall be at one with
Omniscience and have all Wisdom.
John said, " The Son of God was manifested,
that he might destroy the works of the devil."

Wherever, whenever, and by whomsoever the " Son

of God is manifested " in consciousness, — the
devil-consciousness must disappear ; — the devil in

consciousness must be destroyed by the Christ

in consciousness. Thus the Christ destroys the
works of the devil from consciousness.
Death, the greatest work of the devil, had to be

destroyed, — its King, personified Evil, had to be

met and vanquished on his own ground — in his

own stronghold, the Tomb. This herculean task

Jesus undertook and triumphantly accomplished.
" He descended into Hell (the tomb), that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of
333
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

death, and deliver them who through fear of death

were all their lifetime subject to bondage " (Heb.

2:14-15).
Thus a transformed mind carries with it its cor-
responding expression, a transformed body. This
is the body of health — even, in its ultimate, per-

petual youth.
Because we have put especial emphasis on the
Spiritual, we have not decried or underrated the
body. On the other hand, it is Divinely perfect
in form and function, its perfect health being essen-

tial to highest Spiritual development. Only in the

old thought had we underrated it. Calling it earthy,

it was earthy, and tended to earth. " Dust to

dust " was its law. But in the higher understand-

ing we have learned that all things are Spiritual

in origin and essence ; and that the body is a

Spiritual temple, holy and Divine.

Therefore in the ultimate of Regeneration we
may look for the demonstration of its Spirituality,

in its conformity to the Divine pattern of perfec-

tion.

Speaking of Spiritual perception as a faculty of

the Spiritual Man, we are not considering the

Spiritual Man as a being without a body. For

334
 ;

THE SEVENTH STEP

Man is never without a body. He is a three-fold

being, at once Body, Soul, and Spirit. Spiritual

perception is Man
a faculty of — three-fold Man, —
that faculty by which he may cognize God, and
know God within himself. This is his highest
faculty. Even Spiritual perception has relation to
body and brain ; which is true of all Spiritual fac-

ulties.

For on the under side of the brain, at the junc-

tion of its hemispheres, just at the junction of the

branches of the optic nerves, and in the field of
all the perceptives — indicating a relation to per-
ception — is located a small round process or uvula-

shaped protuberance, called the " pineal gland " or

conarium ;
— an organ, whose function has to

Occidental physiologists always been a mystery

but to which Oriental physiologists and philoso-
phers ascribe the function of Spiritual perception.
They have observed, that in persons of large
Spirituality it is large and full ; while in those defi-
cient in Spirituality it is shrunken or nearly obliter-
;"
ated. Des Cartes called it, the " seat of the scul
the Brahmans call it, " The Eye of Siva, " or the

Spiritual eye. This is its most probable function.

This being a projection from the brain, it indi-

335
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

cates that in Spiritual perception we make use of

the brain ; for whether we perform our functions
on the animal or Spiritual planes, we use the brain,

in either case.

The conarium, then, is the physical organ of

Spiritual Sight — the Eye of the Soul, the "All-

seeing Eye " of Masonry, or the " single eye " of

Jesus, which " fills the whole body full of light."
Spiritual illumination must come through this or-

gan, which always looks within, beholding the

Spiritual world, which also is within. Every man
who walks the earth has not only external percep-
tives, but internal as well; which serve him ac-
cording to his use of them. External perceptives
behold external phenomena; Internal perceptives
behold Spiritual things. They who recognize only
the physical man use only external perceptives,
and generally disbelieve in Spiritual things ; while
the man of large Spirituality lives in the Spiritual,
sees the Spiritual everywhere, sees God in every-

thing. The one looks upon phenomena, and calls

them Realities ; the other sees the Spiritual in the

phenomenal. For only the Spiritual is Real.

The one sees things temporal ; the other things

eternal. The one is agnostic ; the other gnostic.

336
 THE SEVENTH STEP

Trusting only to the outward-looking eye, man

sees a world apart from himself, which he there-

fore seeks to possess. Trusting to the inward-

looking eye — the ''single Eye" — he beholds a
world within, already his ; — he cannot seek to
possess what he has in realization.
The Spiritualization of mind and body is ac-

complished by the constant use of the Spiritual

faculties of the Soul. The " Children of the Res-
urrection " are proficient in the use of these
higher faculties.
Evolution is the order of life. At first our con-
ceptions are very material, and we use chiefly the
external senses. At length, as we begin the higher
unfoldment, the finer and more interior faculties
begin to come into use, becoming the more keenly
active the more they are used. " Howbeit that is

not first which is Spiritual, but that which is natu-

ral."

The Christ-Way has brought us up from the

Natural to the Spiritual, — out of the darkness of
Egypt into the " Promised Land."

We have come by the "King's Highway" —

" the Way that is cast up for the Ransomed of the
Lord: the unclean shall not pass over it; but the
337
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION.

Redeemed shall walk there ; and the Ransomed of

the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy upon their heads" (Is. 35:
8-1 1).
The time is near at hand when death will not be
necessary as the closing act in the drama of life.

Because man will have solved the problem of Life,

and have attained Immortality in Consciousness.

When there is no death in Consciousness, there
will be none in experience. Therefore there must
be a crucifixion and destruction of death from
consciousness. For just what the Crucifixion and
death of the " Son of Man " is designed to teach
is, that there must be an utter destruction and
elimination from Consciousness of Evil — Devil
— Carnal Mind — Sin and Death. Then with this

sweeping purification of Consciousness there will

follow the Resurrection of the CHRIST in Con-

sciousness.

To realize the Christ in Consciousness is to

realize Immortality.
" I Am the RESURRECTION and the LIFE." —
" Christ hath abolished Death."

In the realization of Christ you are realizing

Life, — not Death. Christ and Death are antithet-

338
 THE SEVENTH STEP

ical: they are incompatibles, and cannot co-exist

in Consciousness. When the Christ is fully in

Consciousness, Death is lost. What you have in

Consciousness, you have indeed ; what is not in

Consciousness IS NOT — to you.

There is no Salvation except in Consciousness;

neither any Resurrection except in Consciousness.

Therefore the Consciousness of being Risen with

Christ is the Great Salvation.
Through Regeneration you are accomplishing a

Great Evolution, — passing a great Evolutionary

Boundary — out of the Consciousness of Sin-and-
Death, into the Consciousness of Life and Immor-
tality, Holiness and Health perennial. This great
change in Consciousness is called, " The First

Resurrection; " —a change impossible without a

Death — " the First Death ;
" — that you may have
a Resurrection from the Dead. This is the " vic-
tory over Death."

" I Am the Resurrection and the Life."

" I Am " is the name of the Christ — the Great-

est Name — the Name, " before which every knee
shall bow, and every tongue confess."
But in order correctly to utter this " Unutterable
339
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Name," you must know the Christ within. In other

words, if you would know the meaning and power
of " I Am," you must stand in the Christ-Con-
sciousness. But the " Children of the Resurrec-
tion" know and understand.
No doubt few attain to this Consciousness of
Highest Things. Nevertheless it is attainable
because He who has become our Pattern has trav-
elled this way himself, thereby demonstrating its

possibility of attainment.

The Church visible is not in this wonderful Con-

sciousness. It is an experience for the individual,
who is willing to " lose his life, that he may find

it." These few are ^the " Children of the Resur-

rection " — the " Church Triumphant," — whether
they are in the visible Church or not. They find

the Church within their own breasts, and walk the

streets of the New Jerusalem, conscious of their
Christ-Righteousness. "These are they, who have
come up out of great tribulation, and have washed

their robes and made them white in the blood of

the Lamb." They have destroyed the Sin-and-
death-Consciousness (died unto sin) — have passed
through the " First Death ;
" so that Death is elim-

inated from consciousness, and therefore cannot

340
 THE SEVENTH STEP

come into experience. To these there can be no

"second death," since they are in the conscious-

ness of Life.
The Heavenly Man — the Christ-Self — is on
his throne — in Consciousness.
You are conscious of the Christ living and
reigning in you.
A few Spiritually illuminated Theologians are
perceiving that it is the spirit and genius of the
New Testament to reveal to men, that death is not
a necessity ; but rather that Immortality belongs to
man by an inherent law of his Being, and is attain-

able through the law of unfoldment, as set forth and

demonstrated by the meek and lowly Nazarene.

Rev. A. C. Dickinson, D.D., says: "When the
whole race is born of the Spirit and lives in the

Spirit, it is quite possible that their translation

into the resurrection state will be as far from what

we call dissolution and corruption, as was that of
Enoch and Elijah."
Then it follows, that what is possible for the

whole race under a favoring environment is pos-

sible for the individual who is able to demonstrate

over an adverse environment, as is shown by the

examples of Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus.
34i
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Again the Doctor says :

" If a man would live,

and live forever, he must know Christ and the

power of his resurrection. The Spirit, which con-
trols the life cells of his being, which keeps him
alive from day to day, by building up and renew-
ing his physical body, and which is at the same
time working on the invisible Spiritual body, must
be in vital touch with the spirit of Christ, '
whom/
in this sense, '
to know aright is Life Eternal,'

. the renewed life batteries shall send

their pulsations through every channel of your
being; the old man shall be put off, and the new
man shall be put on ;
your face shall change ; it

shall lose its look of worry and care, and make

smiles of its wrinkles."

After the Resurrection Jesus was invisible to

mortals, except as occasionally some of his Spirit-

ually unfolded followers got glimpses of him, and

held converse with him on those favoring occa-

sions.

In human experience all these things have their

correspondential application or fulfilment. And

thus under this symbology the world, even the
Church, sees not the Spiritual life of the man who
has attained the Christ-Consciousness. He walks
342
 THE SEVENTH STEP

the earth and appears like other men. The inner

life of the God-Consciousness is never seen. Only

occasionally the most Spiritually developed get

glimpses of Christ in his life. Yet while he walks

the earth, a man among men, he lives among the

stars ; he breathes the ether of heaven ; his food is

the ambrosia of the gods; the very " Ichor of the

gods " circulates in his veins; he walks with God.
And the possible ultimate experience must event-
ually be like that of Enoch, who " walked with
God, and was not, for God had translated him."

As the Ascension of the Resurrected Body of

Jesus took place at the end of " forty days" after
the Resurrection, so we must have a full and per-
fected experience (4X10) in the Resurrected
Consciousness, while in the body, before we can
be translated to the invisible altitudes, where in

the fruition of Divinity in Consciousness all that

was earthly will have forever passed away. What

further possibilities of unfolding greatness await
the translated soul, only the Eternities can reveal.
" Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First

Resurrection. On such, the Second Death shall

have no power; but they shall live and reign with

Christ a thousand years."

343
 Conclusion

Christendom has scarcely awakened to the

deeper meaning of Christianity, and the vast pos-
sibilities of unfoldment and realization, which are
the privilege of any one who will studiously apply
himself to the unfoldment of the Christ within.
We have scarcely touched the hem of the gar-
ment of the Living Christ; and consequently have
not perceived or even conceived the glories ready
to be revealed through the fuller realization of the
Living Christ in Consciousness.
Our difficulty has been that we have had a far-

away God and a far-away Christ which has made

these high realizations impossible in the present
tense. Consequently we have referred them to a
future state of existence, where we have hoped to

realize them.
This, when we carefully examine it, is a sort of

indefinite postponement. Like Moses we have

" seen them afar off; " and so they have always
been " afar off" from realization. We have had a
344
 CONCLUSION

far-away heaven because we had forgotten the

plain words of the Master. " Lo ! theKingdom
of Heaven is within you." The " delectable moun-
tains " are always in the far distance. They are a
far-away Ideal, which we have a right to have in

realization. We must learn to realize our Ideal;

and thus take possession of our own Divine In-

heritance, — which is already ours, only awaiting
our acceptance and demonstration, to become ours
in Consciousness.
A wonderful transformation is coming to men
when they stop singing " In the Sweet By and
By," and believe in the Now-ness of the Kingdom
of Heaven, and the Now-ness of the glories of the
Celestial City, the Now-ness of the " New Jerusa-
lem," with all its picturesque beauty. For only
by the realization of Divinity within — Christ
within — the Kingdom of Heaven within, can we
have the full revelation in this life of the transcen-
dent glories soon to be revealed — ready to be

revealed to him who is ready for the revelation.

The First Resurrection is not a thing for a future
world or a future state. It is rather something to

be experienced in this life and state of existence,

— something for the individual, who lives the

345
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Christ Life, — something for you — not somebody

else. " There are more things in heaven and earth,

Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

There are deeper and more glorious experiences
awaiting us in this life than are dreamed of or even
conceived by man. " Eye hath not seen, nor ear

heard, neither have entered into the heart of man

the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him," — right where you are — in this life.

Why should we put it off, and so make the dem-

onstration impossible? Why should we say, " In
the great beyond" — " somewhere, sometime,"
and so put the highest unfoldment in conscious-

ness beyond the possibility of realization, and thus

defraud ourselves of the wonderful things already
" prepared " for us, for realization, just as soon as

we are prepared for them?

We have relegated holiness to a far distant, un-
known life and state, — thus making it impossible
by such an indefinite postponement, excusing our-
selves from becoming consciously what we are
eternally and potentially.

We have forgotten that " Now is the accepted

time, and behold ! Now is the day of Salvation."

Strictly speaking, all that we can ask for is in the

346
 CONCLUSION

Now. Holiness is always Now — not a something

to be made " or established." " Men go about to
establish their own Righteousness, and have not
submitted themselves unto the Righteousness of
God," said Paul. We have not recognized " the
Righteousness that is by Faith " — not that will be
— but that IS.

The way to have Righteousness in Conscious-

ness is through the recognition of it as already ex-

istent and eternally made and " established." Men

and institutions are forever trying to make some-
thing they call righteousness, as though an eternal
principle could be made. What they make is only
an imitation, a counterfeit — not the genuine arti-
cle. For the genuine article is an Eternal and un-
changing Principle, eternally " established." The
everlasting Principle of Truth cannot be made.
It is all about and within us, ever awaiting our
recognition. Eternal Righteousness and unchange-
able Holiness is the Omnipresent Christ, the Prin-
ciple of Truth, which is forever " established," and

shall forever remain.

Therefore if we would have Righteousness in

Consciousness, we must recognize "the Righteous-

ness that Is," — the Christ within — the Divine
347
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

Self- — the Son of God. For if we would know

God, we must recognize God ; if we would be

conscious of Holiness, we must recognize Holiness

within —-the Holiness of the Christ, which eter-
nally is.

The key to holiness is Holiness ; the key to

Divinity is Divinity. You are never to say, " Lo !

here !
" or " Lo ! there !
" All is within.

All that you desire to be, the highest to which

you aspire, already is, and lies waiting for your
recognition, before it can be manifest to conscious-
ness — before it can be your own conscious Good.
When Christ is fully manifest to Consciousness,
then you have attained to the Consciousness of the
Christ, — the Christ-Consciousness.
The Uluminati are they who realize what they
are.

The Resurrection-Consciousness is attained

through the realization of God. For by the rec-

ognition and realization of God we become God to

a degree, — we become conscious of God God- —
Conscious.
What we love most we become to a degree.

Through loving God we become God to the degree

of our Love and realization.

348
 :

CONCLUSION
" Whate'er thou lovest most,

That to become thou must —

God, if thou lovest God —
Dust, if thou lovest Dust."

Therefore by persistently recognizing the Christ

within — the great Fountain of Love and Wisdom
— - we gradually unfold the Consciousness of Love
and Wisdom — the Consciousness of God.
In the very near future man is to have a fuller

realization of Divinity in Consciousness. He must

become God-Conscious.
This will be our Resurrection.
Do men ever have such experiences? Do men
have anything like the Resurrection-Conscious-
ness?
Listen to the statement of one, whose Resur-
rected life was a continual demonstration of Di-
vinity.

The late George Muller was once asked what

was the secret of his wonderful service and phe-
nomenal successes, and he replied
" There was a day when I utterly died — utterly

died (and as he spoke these words, he bent for-

ward lower and lower until his head almost touched

the floor) — died to George Muller, his opinions,

349
 SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

preferences, tastes, and will ; died to the world, its

approval and censure ; died to the blame or ap-

proval of brothers and friends ;
— and since then I

have studied only to show myself approved of

God."

35o
MAR 6 1903

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