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The Third Lesson: The Expansion of the Self.531
of the presence of the Absolute just at the edge of the boundary line. But
the highest region of the Spiritual Mind, when explored by the advanced
souls who are well along the Path, reports that it sees beyond the apparent
separation of Spirit from Spirit, and realizes that there is but one Reality
of Spirit, and that all the “I”’s are really but different views of that One—
Centres of Consciousness upon the surface of the One Great “I,” the Centre
of which is the Absolute Itself. This certainly penetrates the whole region of
the Spiritual Mind, and gives us all the message of Oneness of the Spirit, just
as the Intellect satisfies us with its message of the Oneness of Matter, Energy,
and Mind. The idea of Oneness permeates all planes of Life.
The sense of Reality of the “I” that is apparent to You in the moments of
your clearest mental vision, is really the reflection of the sense of Reality
underlying the Whole—it is the consciousness of the Whole, manifesting
through your point or Centre of Consciousness. The advanced student or
Initiate finds his consciousness gradually enlarging until it realizes its identity
with the Whole. He realizes that under all the forms and names of the
visible world, there is to be found One Life—One Force—One Substance—
One Existence—One Reality—One. And, instead of his experiencing any
sense of the loss of identity or individuality, he becomes conscious of
an enlargement of an expansion of individuality or identity—instead of
feeling himself absorbed in the Whole, he feels that he is spreading out
and embracing the Whole. This is most hard to express in words, for there
are no words to fit the conception, and all that we can hope to do is to
start into motion, by means of our words, the vibrations that will find a
response in the minds of those who read the words, to the end that they
will experience the consciousness which will bring its own understanding.
This consciousness cannot be transmitted by words proceeding from the
Intellect, but vibrations may be set up that will prepare the mind to receive
the message from its own higher planes.
Even in the early stages of this dawning consciousness, one is enabled to
identify the real part of himself with the real part of all the other forms of life