The Mental Universe

THE ALL is SPIRIT! But what is Spirit?

THE ALL cannot be explained or defined. Spirit is simply a name that men give to the highest conception of Infinite Living Mind. It means:

• “the Real Essence”
• Living Mind, much superior to Life and Mind as we know them, just as the latter are superior to mechanical Energy and Matter.

Spirit transcends our understanding. We use the term “Spirit” so we can think of THE ALL.

We think of Spirit as Infinite Living Mind to be able to think of It, at the same time acknowledging that we cannot fully understand it. We must either do this or stop thinking of the matter at all.

What is the Universe?

Nothing can be outside of THE ALL. Then is the Universe THE ALL?

No, because the Universe:

• seems to be made up of MANY
• is constantly changing
• does not measure up to the ideas that match THE ALL

If the Universe is not THE ALL, then it must be Nothing. But this is incorrect since we are sensible of the existence of the Universe.

If the Universe is neither THE ALL, nor Nothing, what Can it be?

If the Universe is a creation of THE ALL. But something can never come from nothing, from what could THE ALL have created it?

Some philosophers say that THE ALL created the Universe from ITSELF*. But this will not do, because:

• THE ALL cannot be subtracted from, nor divided
• each particle in the Universe would be aware of its being THE ALL since THE ALL could not lose its knowledge of itself, nor actually BECOME an atom, or blind force, or lowly living thing.

Some people realize this and shout “I AM GOD,” to the amusement of sages. It would be similar to an object saying: “I am Man!”

So what is the Universe?

The “Principle of Correspondence” which says “As above so below” will answer this.

1. On his own plane of being, Man creates by making something out of outside materials.

But this will not do, for there are no materials outside of THE ALL.

2. Man reproduces his kind by the process of begetting.

This is self-multiplication accomplished by transferring a portion of his substance to his offspring. But this will not do, because THE ALL cannot transfer or subtract a portion of itself, nor can it reproduce or multiply itself.

In the first place there would be a taking away, and in the second case a multiplication or addition to THE ALL, both thoughts being an absurdity.

The correct answer is that Man creates MENTALLY! He uses no outside materials, nor does he reproduce himself, and yet his Spirit pervades the Mental Creation*.

Following the Principle of Correspondence, THE ALL creates the Universe MENTALLY just as how Man creates Mental Images.

THE ALL can create in no other way except mentally, without either using material (and there is none to use), or else reproducing itself (which is also impossible).

There is no escape from this conclusion of the Reason, which, as we have said, agrees with the highest teachings of the Illumined. Just as you, student, may create a Universe of your own in your mentality, so does THE ALL create Universes in its own Mentality.

But your Universe is the mental creation of a Finite Mind, whereas that of THE ALL is the creation of an Infinite. The two are similar in kind, but infinitely different in degree. We shall examine more closely into the process of creation and manifestation as we proceed.

THE UNIVERSE, AND ALL IT CONTAINS, IS A MENTAL CREATION OF THE ALL. Verily indeed, ALL IS MIND!

The Principle of Gender* is manifested on all planes of life, material mental and spiritual. But, as we have said before, “Gender” does not mean “Sex” sex is merely a material manifestation of gender. “Gender” means “relating to generation or creation”.

Whenever anything is generated or created, on any plane, the Principle of Gender must be manifested. And this is true even in the creation of Universes.

This does not mean that there is a male and female God or Creator. THE ALL is above Gender, as it is above every other Law, including those of Time and Space.

But when THE ALL manifests on the plane of generation or creation, then it acts according to Law and Principle, for it is moving on a lower plane of Being. Consequently it manifests the Principle of Gender, in its Masculine and Feminine aspects, on the Mental Plane.

People speak of:

• the Fatherhood of God, the Divine Father
• the Motherhood of Nature

The Masculine Principle is separate from the actual mental creation of the Universe.

• It projects its Will toward the Feminine Principle (called “Nature”)
• The Feminine Principle does the actual work of the evolution of the Universe

If you prefer the old figures of thought, you may think of the

• The Masculine Principle can be thought of as GOD, the Father
• The Feminine Principle is NATURE, the Universal Mother, from whose womb all things have been born.

I Versus Me

You can apply the Law of Correspondence to yourself. The part of You which you call “I,” stands apart and witnesses the creation of mental Images in your own mind.

The part of your mind in which the mental generation is accomplished may be called the “Me” in distinction from the “I” which stands apart and witnesses and examines the thoughts, ideas and images of the “Me.”

We feel that instinctive reverence, as “religion”, for THE ALL. Religion is really a reverence for THE FATHER MIND?

There are millions upon millions of worlds and such Universes within the Infinite Mind of THE ALL.

Death is not real, even in the Relative sense. It is but Birth to a new life. You shall go on and on to higher and still higher planes of life, for aeons of time.

At the end of the Grand Cycle of Aeons, when THE ALL shall draw back into itself all of its creations.