The keynote of this lesson will be “The Oneness of All,” and all of its teachings will be directed to awakening a realization in consciousness of that great truth.  But we wish to impress upon the mind of the Candidate that we are not teaching him that he is the Absolute.  We are not teaching the “I Am God” belief, which we consider to be erroneous and misleading, and a perversion of the original Yogi teachings.  This false teaching has taken possession of many of the Hindu teachers and people, and with its accompanying teaching of “Maya” or the complete illusion or non-existence of the Universe, has reduced millions of people to a passive, negative mental condition which undoubtedly is retarding their progress.  Not only in India is this true, but the same facts may be observed among the pupils of the Western teachers who have embraced this negative side of the Oriental Philosophy.  Such people confound the “Absolute” and “Relative” aspects of the One, and, being unable to reconcile the facts of Life and the Universe with their theories of “I Am God,” they are driven to the desperate expedient of boldly denying the Universe, and declaring it to be all “an illusion” or “Maya.”

You will have no trouble in distinguishing the pupils of the teachers holding this view.  They will be found to exhibit the most negative mental condition—­a natural result of absorbing the constant suggestion of “nothingness”—­the gospel of negation.  In marked contrast to the mental condition of the students, however, will be observed the mental attitude of the teachers, who are almost uniformly examples of vital, positive, mental force, capable of hurling their teaching into the minds of the pupils—­of driving in their statements by the force of an awakened Will.  The teacher, as a rule, has awakened to a sense of the “I” consciousness, and really develops the same by his “I Am God” attitude, because by holding this mental attitude he is enabled to throw off the influence of the sheaths of the lower mental principles, and the light of the Self shows forth fiercely and strongly, sometimes to such an extent that it fairly scorches the mentality of the less advanced pupil.  But, notwithstanding this awakened “I” consciousness, the teacher is handicapped by his intellectual misconception and befogging metaphysics, and is unable to impart the “I” consciousness to his pupils, and, instead of raising them up to shine with equal splendor with himself, he really forces them into a shadow by reason of his teachings.

Our students, of course, will understand that the above is not written in the spirit of carping criticism or fault-finding.  We hold no such mental attitude, and indeed could not if we remain true to our conception of Truth.  We are mentioning these matters simply that the student may avoid this “I Am God” pitfall which awaits the Candidate just as he has well started on the Path.  It would not be such a serious matter if it were merely a question of faulty metaphysics,