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The Second Lesson: The Inner Teachings.1141
supposed to be understood—in this case implying no qualities, attribute
or name. And the Sanscrit word, Tat, and its English equivalent, “that,” is
still used even unto to-day to designate or point out (but not to describe)
the Hindu idea of the Ultimate Reality behind the Phenomenal Universe—
and in these lessons we shall so use the term, or its more popular Hindu
equivalent “Brahman,” or “The Absolute,” our own favourite term.
The next step in the chain of reasoning was that, applying the fundamental
Hindu axiom: “Something never can be caused by, or proceed from, Nothing,”
and as there was nothing other than that in Real Existence, or which could
have caused it, and as Reality even could not have been Self-created from
nothing, it must follow that that must always have existed, and must be
Eternal. And, also, applying the Hindu axiom that “Something cannot be
dissolved into Nothing,” that cannot cease to be, and must be Everlasting.
Therefore, that is to be considered as Eternal.
The next step was that, inasmuch as there was nothing outside of that
with which, or by which, it could be defined, bounded, determined,
affected, caused, or influenced, it must be held that that is Infinite. It was
also held that as there was nothing else that could act as a Cause of the
Phenomenal Universe, that must be its only efficient and sufficient Cause.
But in this connection the subtle mind of the Hindu Sages escaped the
placing of that in the category of other Causes, as some of the Western
philosophers have done when they call it “the First Cause.” Instead, they
held that it is the Causeless Cause—the Only Real Cause—and that other
than that there can be no Real Cause. Following this line of reasoning they
discovered that all that we call Cause and Effect in the Phenomenal World is
but a series or sequence of Consecutive Effects, that is, a series or sequence
of objects or events following in an orderly train; successive; uninterrupted;
continuous and constant, and all proceeding from the One Cause—that. In
the Phenomenal World each object or event is both a Cause and an Effect
(relatively speaking)—that is, an Effect of the preceding object or event,
and the Cause (relative) of the succeeding object or event—the Effect