But remember this, that all of this Evolutionary Process is but a Returning Home.  It is the Ascent after the Descent.  It is not a Creation but an Unfoldment.  The Descent was made by principles as principles—­the Ascent is being made by Individualized Centres evolved from the principles.  Matter manifests finer and finer forms, and exhibits a greater and greater subservience to Energy or Force.  And Energy or Force shows a greater and greater degree of “mind” in it.  But, remember this, that there is Mind in even the grossest form of Matter.  This must be so, for what springs from a thing must contain the elements of its cause.

And the Cosmic Evolution continues, and must continue for aeons of time.  Higher and higher forms of Mind are being manifested, and still higher and higher forms will appear in the scale, as the process continues.  The evolution is not only along material lines, but has passed on to the mental planes, and is now operating along the spiritual lines as well.  And the end, and aim seems to be that each Ego, after the experiences of many lives, may unfold and develop to a point where it may become conscious of its Real Self, and realize its identity with the One Life, and the Spirit.

At this point we may be confronted with the objection of the student of material science, who will ask why we begin our consideration of Cosmic Evolution at a point in which matter has reached the limit of its lowest vibrations, manifesting in the grossest possible form of matter.  These students may point to the fact that Science begins its consideration of evolution with the nebulae, or faint cloudlike, vaporous matter, from which the planets were formed.  But there is only an apparent contradiction here.  The nebulae were part of the Process of Involution, and Science is right when it holds that the gross forms were produced from the finer.  But the process of change from finer to grosser was Involution, not Evolution.  Do you see the difference?  Evolution begins at the point when the stage of Unfoldment commenced.  When the gross forms begin to yield to the new upward urge, and unfold into finer forms—­then begins Evolution.

We shall pass over the period of Evolution in which Matter was evolving into finer and still finer forms, until at last it reached a degree of vibration capable of supporting that which we call “life.”  Of course there is “life” in all matter—­even in the atom, as we have shown in previous lessons.  But when we speak of “life,” as we now do, we mean what are generally called “living forms.”  The Yogi Teachings inform us that the lowest forms of what we call “life” were evolved from forms of high crystal life, which indeed they very much resemble.  We have spoken of this resemblance, in the previous lessons of this series.  And, so we shall begin at the point where “living forms” began.