It is beyond Matter, Force, or Mind as we know it, and yet these things emanate from it, and must be within its nature.  For what is in the manifested must be in the manifestor—­no stream can rise higher than its source—­the effect cannot be greater than the cause—­you cannot get something out of nothing.

But it is hard for the human mind to take hold of That which is beyond its experience—­many philosophers consider it impossible—­and so we must think of the Absolute in the concepts and terms of its highest manifestation.  We find Mind higher in the scale than Matter or Energy, and so we are justified in using the terms of Mind in speaking of the Absolute, rather than the terms of Matter or Energy—­so let us try to think of an Infinite Mind, whose powers and capacities are raised to an infinite degree—­a Mind of which Herbert Spencer said that it was “a mode of being as much transcending intelligence and will, as these transcend mere mechanical motion.”

While it is true (as all occultists know) that the best information regarding the Absolute come from regions of the Self higher than Intellect, yet we are in duty bound to examine the reports of the Intellect concerning its information regarding the One.  The Intellect has been developed in us for use—­for the purpose of examining, considering, thinking—­and it behooves us to employ it.  By turning it to this purpose, we not only strengthen and unfold it, but we also get certain information that can reach us by no other channel.  And moreover, by such use of the Intellect we are able to discover many fallacies and errors that have crept into our minds from the opinions and dogmas of others—­as Kant said:  “The chief, and perhaps the only, use of a philosophy of pure reason is a negative one.  It is not an organon for extending, but a discipline for limiting!  Instead of discovering truth, its modest function is to guard against error.”  Let us then listen to the report of the Intellect, as well as of the higher fields of mentation.

One of the first reports of the Intellect, concerning the Absolute, is that it must have existed forever, and must continue to exist forever.  There is no escape from this conclusion, whether one view the matter from the viewpoint of the materialist, philosopher, occultist, or theologian.  The Absolute could not have sprung from Nothing, and there was no other cause outside of itself from which it could have emanated.  And there can be no cause outside of itself which can terminate its being.  And we cannot conceive of Infinite Life, or Absolute Life, dying.  So the Absolute must be Eternal—­such is the report of the Intellect.

This idea of the Eternal is practically unthinkable to the human mind, although it is forced to believe that it must be a quality of the Absolute.  The trouble arises from the fact that the Intellect is compelled to see everything through the veil of Time, and Cause and Effect.  Now, Cause and Effect, and Time, are merely phenomena or appearances of the relative world, and have no place in the Absolute and Real.  Let us see if we can understand this.