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Lesson XI: Matter and Force.445
does not imply that they had a “beginning”—a time when the manifestation
began. And whether this conclusion might not lead to another that there are
a series of great Cosmic Cycles, and so on until the mind can think no further.
To this expected question we would say that there are Cosmic processes
so stupendous and magnificent that even souls so far advanced that they
may be considered archangels and gods are unable to grasp the thought
of them. The highest teachers have handed down to us this word, but as
they do so they confess to having had glimpses of things so far transcending
even their capacity for understanding and comprehension, that their godlike
minds reeled and swam. This being the case, we may be justified in not
asking the student to consider anything higher than a World Cycle, of which
we may speak in a future lesson, or a future series of lessons. But remember
this, brothers on the Path, that though this contemplation of the workings
of the Divine Cosmos and its parts may seem to carry God afar off from
this earth—from us—the Truth is that notwithstanding these stupendous
operations and workings God—the Absolute—is here with you always;
here around you; here in you. Closer than a brother is He—closer than a
mother to her babe—closer than a lover to the loved one—nearer to You
than is your heart; your blood; your brain. The Spirit is always with you—do
not lose courage. And this is true of the humblest; the lowliest; the vilest—as
truly as of the most exalted; the highest; the purest. The difference is only in
the degree of recognition of the Spirit on the part of the man.
Let not these scientific statements and teachings distress you, if you fail to
understand them, or have no taste for them. It is not necessary for you even
to believe them, much less understand them, much less like the study. This
is all that is necessary: Learn to know that God is within you and all others—
that you are as necessary to Him as he is to you, for you are a part of His
plan—learn to realize the One Life in All—and open yourself to the inflow
of the Divine Love and Wisdom, and be willing to grow, develop and unfold.
In your studies you will find that the same law applies to the great things
and the small, in this world of forms. The same law governs the evolution