Then how can this work of Creation be accomplished, in view of these difficulties which are apparent even to our finite minds?  You may thresh this question over and over again in your minds—­men have done so in all times—­and you will not find the answer except in the fundamental Idea of the Yogi Teachings.  And this Fundamental Idea is that the creation is purely a Mental Creation, and the Universe is the Mental Image, or Thought-Form, in the Mind of the Absolute—­in the Infinite Mind, itself.  No other “creation” is possible.  And so this, say the Yogi Masters, this is the Secret of Universal Creation.  The Universe is of, and in, the Infinite Mind, and this is the only way it could be so.  So, fix in your mind this second step in our conception.

But then, you ask us, from whence comes Force, Matter, and Finite Mind?  Well asked, good student—­your answer shall be forthcoming.  Here it is.

Finite Mind; Force or Energy; and Matter; in themselves have no existence.  They are merely Mental Images, or Thought-Forms in the Infinite Mind of the Absolute.  Their whole existence and appearance depends upon their Mental Conception and Retention in the Infinite Mind.  In It they have their birth, rise, growth, decline and death.

Then what is Real about ME, you may ask—­surely I have a vivid consciousness of Reality—­is this merely an illusion, or shadow?  No, not so! that sense of Reality which you possess and which every creature or thing possesses—­that sense of “I Am”—­is the perception by the Mental Image of the Reality of its Essence—­and that Essence is the Spirit.  And that Spirit is the SUBSTANCE OF THE ABSOLUTE embodied in Its conception, the Mental Image.  It is the perception by the Finite, of its Infinite Essence.  Or, the perception by the Relative of its Absolute Essence.  Or, the perception by You, or I, or any other man or woman, of the Real Self, which underlies all the sham self or Personality.  It is the reflection of the Sun, in the dew-drop, and thousands of dew-drops—­seemingly thousands of Suns, and yet but One.  And yet, that reflection of the Sun in the dewdrop is more than a “reflection,” for it is the substance of the Sun itself—­and yet the Sun shines on high, one and undivided, yet manifesting in millions of dew-drops.  It is only by figures of speech that we can speak of the Unspeakable Reality.

To make it perhaps plainer to some of you, let us remind you that even in your finite Mental Images there is evident many forms of life.  You may think of a moving army of thousands of men.  And yet the only “I” in these men is your own “I.”  These characters in your mind move and live and have their being, and yet there is nothing in them except “You!” The characters of Shakespeare, Dickens, Thackeray, Balzac, and the rest, were such strong Mental Images that not only their creators were carried away by their power, and apparent ability, but even you who read of them, many years after, perhaps, feel the apparent reality, and weep, or smile, or grow angry over their actions.  And, yet there was no Hamlet, outside of Shakespeare’s mind; no Micawber outside of Dickens; no Pere Goriot outside of Balzac.