of a firing-squad—­and then the man awoke.  Now in this last mentioned case, not only has the dreamer experienced events covering a long time, all in the space of a second of time; but, also, the very sound which terminated the dream, also induced it from the very beginning—­the last thing caused the first things to appear and proceed in sequence to the last!  Persons under the influence of chloroform, or “laughing gas,” have similar experiences—­often the first sound heard at the moment of recovering consciousness seems to be the last thing in a long dream which preceded it, though the long dream was really caused by the final sound.  Now, remember, that here not only did past, present and future exist at the same moment of time; but, also, the future caused the past and present to come into being.

On the physical plane, we have analogies illustrating this fact.  It is said that in every acorn rests and exists, in miniature, the form of the future oak.  And, some go so far as to say that the oak is the “ultimate cause” of the acorn—­that the idea of the oak caused the acorn to be at all.  In the same way, the “idea” of the man must be in the infant boy, from the moment of birth, and even from the moment of conception.  But, let us pass on to the bold conception of the most advanced metaphysicians—­they have a still more dazzling explanation, let us listen to it.

These occultists and metaphysicians who have thought long and deeply upon the ultimate facts and nature of the universe, have dared to think that there must exist some absolute consciousness—­some absolute mind—­which must perceive the past, present and future of the universe as one happening; as simultaneously and actively present at one moment of absolute time.  They reason that just as man may see as one happening of a moment of his time some particular event which might appear as a year to some minute form of life and mind—­the microscopic creatures in a drop of water, for instance; so that which seems as a year, or a hundred years, to the mind of man may appear as the happening of a single moment of a higher scale of time to some exalted Being or form of consciousness on a higher plane.  You remember that it is said that “a thousand years is but as a day to the Lord;” and the Hindu Vedas tell us that “the creation, duration, and destruction of the universe, is as but the time of the twinkling of an eye to Brahman.”  I shall not proceed further along this line—­I have given you a very strong hint here; you must work it out for yourself, if you feel so disposed.  But there are certain consequences arising from this ultimate universal fact, which I must mention before passing on.

The high occult teachings hold that there is a plane of the higher astral world which may be said to carry a reflection of the Universal Mind—­just as a lake contains a reflection of the distant mountain.  Well, then, the clairvoyant vision at times is able to penetrate to the realm of that astral reflecting medium, and see somewhat dimly what is pictured there.  As the future may be discerned in this reflected picture, by the clairvoyant mind, we see how future-seeing, prevision, and second-sight may be explained scientifically.