Perfect Being

The Yogis teach, on this subject, that there can be only ONE Real Perfect Being--Perfect without experience--Perfect from the Beginning--but only ONE! In other words, they teach that there can be no such thing as Absolute Perfection, outside of the Absolute Itself--and that not even the Absolute Being can create another Absolute Being, for in that case there would be no Absolute Being at all, but only _two Relative Beings_.

Think over this for a moment, and you will see its truth. The ABSOLUTE must always be "the One without a Second", as the Yogis express it--there cannot be _two_ Perfect ones. And so, all Finite Beings, being Finite, must work their way up toward the plane of Perfection by The Path of Life, with all of its lessons, tasks, cares, pains, and strivings.

This is the only way open to them--and even the Absolute cannot have it otherwise, and still be the Absolute. There is a fine point here--the Absolute is All-Powerful, but even that All-Power is not sufficient to enable It to destroy Its Absolute Being. And so, you who have wondered, perhaps you may now understand our words in the First Lesson of this series, in which we said that the message of the Absolute to some of the Illumined has been: "All is being done in the best and only possible way--I am doing the best I can--all is well--and in the end will so appear."

And, as we also said in that First Lesson: "The Absolute, instead of being an indifferent and unmoved spectator to its own creation, is a striving, longing, active, suffering, rejoicing, feeling Spirit, partaking of the feelings of Its manifestations, rather than callously witnessing them. It lives in us--with us--through us. Back of all the pain in the world, may be found a great feeling and suffering love." And in this thought there is comfort to the doubting soul--peace to the troubled mind.

In the Sixth Lesson, we shall proceed to deliver to you the further Message of Truth, concerning "how" the One Absolute manifests Its Mental Images as Universe; Universal Life; and Forms and Shapes; and Individualities, and Personalities. We had hoped to include the whole Message in this Fifth Lesson, but now find that we have merely laid the steps by which the student may reach the Essential Truth.

But, lest the student may be left in an uncertain state of mind, awaiting the conclusion of the consideration of the subject--and lest he may think that we intend teaching him that the Universe, and all in it, including himself are "Dreams," because we have said that All Things are Thought-Forms in the Mind of the Absolute--lest this misunderstanding may arise, we wish to add a few parting words to what we have said.

We wish to impress upon the mind of the student that though all Things are but Thought-Forms in the Mind of the Absolute Being, and that while it is true that the entire Universe of Universes is simply a Thought-Form held in the Mind of the Absolute--still this fact does not mean that all Things are "illusions" or "dreams." Remember this, now and forever, O Student--that that which is held in the Absolute Mind as a Thought-Form IS, and is all there IS, outside of the Absolute Itself. When the Absolute forms a Thought-Form, It forms it out of Its own mental substance--when the Absolute "holds anything in Its Mind," It holds it in Itself--for the Absolute is ALL-MIND.