 FROM "THE ONE" BY LILLIAN DEWATERS Chapter VIII and IX CHAPTER VIII. SCIENCE AND WEALTH “How are we to find happiness in this world ? How can we have the things that we would love to have?" These are the questions that are continually being asked. Well, if one can see how the dreamer can have things in his night dream by turning to this world, by remembering what he has in his waking experience, he will also be able to see how it is that one can have such things as he desires in this world by turning his mind to what he actually has in heaven. For example: A man is dreaming that he is very poor, so poor that he hasn't a penny to keep him from starvation, so weary that he sits in poverty and despair. Suddenly, in the dream, he remembers this world and his daily experience; he recollects going to the bank and cashing a check for fifty dollars. Then, in great joy, in his dream, he puts his hand to his hip-pocket, draws out his wallet and there is the fifty-dollar bill to meet all his needs! Now, bear in mind that the fifty-dollar bill all this time remains in the wallet which is resting under his pillow. He really does not touch this bill at all but what he is using in his dream, spending for clothes and food is picture money, -a dream substance, a symbol of that fifty-dollar bill that rests under his pillow. But all the same sufficient to satisfy his dream! Again, we will assume that one is dreaming that he intends to start on a long journey. His bags are packed and waiting on the porch. He dreads this long journey which he is going to take on foot and expects that he will be weary and tired and that the bags will be very heavy. Suppose that in his hour of need he recollects this world and his experience in this world. Then, he exclaims, "Since I have a car in the garage, why should I undertake this journey by foot?" Then, in his dream, he hurries to the garage, takes a key from his pocket and unlocks the car. He starts the motor running, tucks in the bags and off he goes traveling in peace and comfort. If one can perceive the value of remembering the waking state while in the night dream, surely one is then in a position to perceive the mystic value of Jesus' words, “Believe that ye have (in heaven) and ye shall receive (on earth)." When the man in the night dream remembered that in his waking state he had a fifty-dollar bill, he then received the fifty-dollar bill in his dream state, did he not ? Therefore, if man in this world, in what is called the state of human experience, will turn to heaven, will remember, will believe, what is actually his in heaven, he will then receive in this world. We have been told that we already have every wish fulfilled in the spiritual world, but what one wishes to know is how to have the things that we desire in this world, and it is by understanding the dream and other illustrations that this question of our relation to this world can be understood and abundance and success demonstrated. In the night dream the man did not actually take his car from the garage but all the time lay quietly on the bed, yet as long as he used the car in his dream, this was all that was necessary at this time. Is this not so? Nor did he actually take the money from his wallet, but he took the symbol of it, the picture of it, which was enough. Now in the very same way we do not receive houses and jewels, food and clothes, money and lands by taking them actually out of the spiritual world and bringing them into this world. It isn't necessary. We can have them in a way that will be the same to us for a world of birth and change is not an actual world but is a picture world, a symbolic world, a dream-substance world. Because of the perfection of the spiritual world in which we actually live, it is possible for us to govern our earthly experience, harmoniously. When you wish to place a flower in the mirror, how do you bring this about ? How do you get a reflection of a rose ? By placing the flower or rose before the mirror. We have then the trinity - the rose outside, the mirror, and the reflection. In order to have the reflection of the rose, an actual rose is placed before the mirror, is turned to the mirror; likewise, in order that we have the reflection of wholeness, which reflection is health, we look into the heavenly world, we turn our attention, our vision to Reality, heaven, and according to our vision so is the reflection. Why is this? Because we turn our mind (mirror) to Truth, and then it must of necessity reflect Truth. For example, if man finds himself in pain in this world, let him turn away entirely from this world and look into heaven, remembering what he actually is in heaven, the same as the dreamer remembered his car and his fifty-dollar bill, so this man in pain in the waking state remembers that man in heaven is perfect, that man in heaven has no pain, that there is no pain in the perfect world; then the pain is gone and he moves again in peace and harmony. Believe that ye have in the heavenly world, the World of Reality, and you will receive in this world, the mental and physical world of nothingness. Do we have to leave this world in order to enter heaven? It is not necessary for us to be taken out of a world of sin and evil, for we are not in it. This simplifies the problem indeed, does it not? The man asleep and dreaming has his mind occupied with false pictures and the man in this world who sees sickness, sin and evil has his mind occupied with false pictures also. One is never to treat a dream world for it is useless and one should never treat dream pictures. Simply announce, acknowledge, recognize the nothingness of a dream and the allness and presence of Truth, the spiritual world, and the darkness disappears in the presence of light so the dark dream called evil that seems to be in this world disappears in the consciousness of Truth. The problem of supply is one of the easiest to handle and demonstrate, yet one of the most difficult and delicate of explanation. For this reason it is seldom expounded in books based on the Absolute teaching, aIthough it can be clearly explained in private instruction. As many students are desirous of at least a few helps on this subject we will try to give these, and those who have the insight, not only to read the lines but also to read "between the lines," that is, to glean the meaning, will find tremendous help from the Absolute teaching on this subject. The question is asked, How can I demonstrate money, a home, an automobile? Now, you do not believe there are brick houses and hundred-dollar bills and Pierce-Arrow cars in heaven, do you? Can you see that they belong to this world only, that they belong to the world of creation? They are called creation for they have a beginning and end. Now, although creation is transitory and unreal, still it is right to have these things, for did not Jesus say, "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things"? What things? Food and clothing and the things that make a harmonious experience. But the joy and pleasure of these things consist in understanding their nothingness. As previously expressed, if one in his dream at night realizes he is but dreaming, that he is not in any actual experience, but he is only dealing with nothing, he may then have his dream the way he pleases. Inasmuch as this waking experience, that of being born and laboring for means to live upon this earth is similar to a dream experience, then the consciousness of this fact will enable one to have his dream the way he pleases. If one desires houses, land, money, with the idea that they are something, then he is handicapped from the start, for to deal with nothing (the dream) and think of it as something (reality) is to walk in the dark, to live in ignorance, while to deal with nothing as though it were nothing is to experience freedom, joy, and the satisfaction of desire. Since creation springs from nothing, then such nothing is infinite, and one has only to understand why he can have his wish granted and the demonstration becomes simple. A demonstration is hard and retarded when one fixes his wish on a thing as if it were something, but when he fixes his attention or his wish on a thing as though it were nothing, then the demonstration is easy and at hand. You ean see clearly that in the night dream one can have at once everything he wishes if he knows that he is the creator of the dream and that it is a dream, but if he doesn't know this, if he doesn't know in his dream that he is dreaming and that all his experience is being made, woven out of nothing, and since the nothing is infinite he can have it as he pleases, then he is deprived of a pleasant dream through ignorance. This should be very plain to one. A simple illustration or story makes the way of demonstration very clear and simple. A child approaches his mother asking for a story. "Mother, tell me a story, please." The mother, taking the young child upon her lap, after a moment's meditation, begins: " Once upon a time there was a little girl who was very lonesome because she had no pets of any kind to play with. One day there came into her yard one tiny little kitten-" "Oh, Mother, why can't there come more than one little baby kitten?" protests the child. "Why, yes, of course," assents the mother, continuing, "One day there came three little baby kittens into the yard." Now, the question is, Why could the mother so easily change her story? Why could she say three or five killens as weIl as to say one kitten? From what source are these kittens being obtained? From the nothing; in the nothing are an infinite number of kittens, as many as this mother could think or say. Is this not so ? This nothing is like a mirror. A mirror is nothing yet out of a mirror anything can spring. Anything that is before the mirror can be seen also in the mirror as reflection. The great nothing from which the kittens have come is similar to the mirror, and the kittens themselves are the reflection or the image in the nothing. Both the image in the mirror and the mirror are nothing. The great nothing, therefore, from which creation springs has been called the mother of creation, for without a mirror you can have no reflection, and without the great nothing there would be no creation. If one were to draw some pictures on a blackboard, he draws on the nothing. If something were already written on the board, he would not be able to draw or create his pictures. If one wishes to write a book, he writes on blank paper - he writes on the nothing. Then it must be seen that one can have as much of abundance as he pleases because of the infinite Mirror from which it springs. To illustrate how such demonstrations are made practical I will give a few of my own in simple language, for they relate to every-day experiences. Take a shopping trip, for instance. Sometimes one knows just what he wishes to purchase, knows the color, size and cost of the article, yet again one may not be certain or may have no definite idea at all about the thing that he wishes to have. In either case a demonstration is possible and easy to be made. On a shopping trip one day I planned to buy a coat. I did not know this time just what particular kind of a coat I wanted and I visited several shops but did not find a single thing that I liked. As it was about time for my train, I knew that a demonstration would have to be made at once or else I would not make the purchase that day. Seating myself in the shop in which I found myself at this moment and in which the saleslady had shown me everything she had in this line and still nothing that I liked, I closed my eyes for a few moments and it came to me clearly like this: the coat that I want is in the nothing, or is unknown to me. It is so absolutely nothing and so unknown to me this moment that I haven't even the sIightest idea of the color or the style that I would like. Yet, since the nothing holds all creation, it is there, it is here-" The saleslady now touched my elbow. "I have found another," she said, smiling. With the glee of a child I reached for it while the voice sang within me, "This is it." Now, the coat which she brought me was reversible. No wonder I hadn't planned it! I could wear it on either side. It was delightful, fitted me perfectly, and as in a fairy tale, I bought it and reached my train on time. Now, here is another instance of demonstration and this time I knew exactly what I wanted yet still it seemed difficult at the outset to procure. I wanted a country house where I might spend some peaceful summer hours away from city life. I knew exactly to the minutest detail what I desired. It must be a white house with green blinds. It must have a sweeping lawn with plenty of maples for shade, -a cool, quiet, secluded spot. Yes, and I wanted some water, -a lake or a running brook on the place; and this house must be within comfortable motoring distance from my city home. Now one does not sit and wait for his desire to fall from the sky, but he acts out what seems reasonable and at hand. I therefore made my want known to several agents who laughed at me and informed me that what I wanted was impossible. "That is just a pleasant little dream you have," they said. But I knew that such a dream could come true. About a week later one of these men took me to see a place which he thought might suit me but which was nothing at all that I had asked for, yet it was while standing here that suddenly he said to me, "Right around the corner is a beautiful place but the owner prefers to leave it idle rather than rent it. We might look at it." The moment we came within sight of the place, I recognized it. "This is it," sang within me. Here was the white house with green blinds. Here every wish had been granted me as though the house were made to order for me. There were eighteen acres of land to this place, and through this and very close to the house ran the bubbling brook; and I counted twelve stately maples standing in the front yard. Soon I was talking with the owner, explaining to him that I wished to come to this lovely place of peace and seclusion, coolness and fragrance, to write a book. And it is right here in this demonstrated spot that I am writing these very lines! Many students write asking, How can I sell my home ? How can I pay my debts? How can I obtain my desires? We. are to see first of all that we are dealing with nothing, dealing with creation, dealing with magic, with that which is plastic; dealing with dreams that come true on the instant, where one thing good and right to have is always at hand. We are to see that the wish is already fulfilled, for all creation is at hand in the nothing. To grasp this simple yet stupendous idea is to live a life of charm and freedom. It was the wonderful Jesus who uttered the covenant, "All things are possible to him that believeth." When we can believe that all things are possible, then they are possible. And this is easy to believe when we perceive HOW and WHY all things are possible. To even faintly perceive the nothingness of creation hence the possibility of anything, of everything on the instant, is to feel a release, an emancipation not equal to expression. If you have a wish like the selling of a house or owning of a car or whatever the wish might be, know that this wish is fulfilled on the instant, for your wish is like the object (image) that stands in the mirror (mind). When you see an object in a mirror you know very well that there is an original standing before the mirror, do you not? when you have a wish you may be sure the original or the fulfillment of that already exists, else this wish or reflection would not be taking place in your mind (mirror). All things in this world such as cars, houses, money, are but reflections of divine realities, hence they are infinite and unlimited in expression. The man in the night dream as related before, wished money, and he could have it because of the fifty dollars that he had in the day experience. So when we wish cars, homes and money, we can have them because we have abundance and joys and harmonies and satisfaction in heaven. In relating my demonstration of the white house with green shutters, a student asked, “ But how did you know that a house such as you wanted actually existed on this plane? Supposing that what you wanted was the impossible?" My answer was, "Because 1 had a picture of it." Now, if on your mantel there stood a photograph of a country home, anyone would know without questioning you that the original existed, for how could it be possible for you to have a picture unless there were an original of which this was the reflection or likeness? Thus when you have decided desires you may be sure that the fulfillment or the original already exists for you otherwise you would not be in possession of the photograph, the picture in your mind. Many, however, are so prone to change their feelings and desires that demonstration becomes impossible. Today they may want a certain thing and tomorHow the wish is changed for something else, or they are not really certain whether it would be best for them to have such a thing or not. Now when you wish to demonstrate creation you must be certain, you must be strong and unwavering. You take seeds and plant them in the ground, the nothing, and duly they spring forth or are externalized. So also plant your wish in the nothing, in the unknown or mirror and surely it will be reflected or externalized for you. When a demonstration is rightly made every detail is satisfactory, and harmony is demonstrated for everyone concerned. It is not enough for us to declare that we are spiritual beings, not enough for us to assert that we are living in a perfect world, but we must FEEL it. Spiritual Consciousness is not emotion of the mind but is an inner feeling, a full, deep sense of joy, peace, fulfillment. Since man is himself the fact of Life, then the joy, the peace, the ecstasy stands upon nothing external for support but comes from within. The place of understanding is that man has already attained success, even before he attempts to reach it. This is indeed a new evolution. Man is not to ascend, evolve, develop, attain success, but on the contrary it is as though man were wrapped in a veil and he must pierce this covering. lt is as though man were walking through a great wilderness and must find himself. Man must rend the veil. He must strip off the disguise. He must "come to himself." He must "stand still and behold." When man is to demonstrate supply, demonstrate health, demonstrate joy, he is not to be taken off and educated and instructed how to acquire and construct these things that he desires. He is not to seek for health and wealth as though he would add these to himself like a cloak or a garment which he would put on, but the New Day, the Angel of Insight shows man that he is to begin at the end. He is to arrive before he starts. He is to see no distance from man to Truth; no distance from the beginning to the end. I possess it now! Now are we the Sons of Glory, the Sons of Wealth! Now is come the Kingdom of God and the power of His glory! Out of the mirror springs anything that is before the mirror and out of the mirror of clear mind springs the nothingness called material creation, -houses, lands, jewels, business opportunities. My world of fortune is within. It is not dependent upon certain cities, certain beliefs, certain people. The finished attainment, the possession of all fortune is within man. In the midst of our sickness, we are Health. In the midst of our poverty, we are Wealth. In the midst of our sorrow. we are Joy. Let us see and acknowledge ourselves as we ARE. Let us claim our dominion and power and glory from on High. Let us know that we are not to be given a perfect body some time after we depart from this world, we are not to be given power and health and joy some day in some other future world, but NOW are we clothed in the body of shining light. NOW are we crowned with that glory greater than the sun. Now are we the possessors of the wealth of the whole universe. This is not human evolution but this is divine revelation. Let us approach this Instruction, this Truth as though it were true, as though we believed in it with all our hearts and souls. Let us listen to it as though we were listening to the most exquisite of music, as though we were walking through places of indescribable beauty. Let us FEEL this Truth to be true. Let us see that it is not a question of attaining but a question of accepting. There is no long journey before us, no world to be conquered, no fortune to be earned, but we are there before we start and that which is last is also first. Let this Truth come upon man tearing the veil from his eyes, lifting the yoke from his shoulders and the burden from his heart. Such revelation is that blaze of glory which causes man to forget his fears, forget his doubts, forget his worries of the material world for he is looking into the divine Mirror, the Light of Glory beholding himself face to face. A woman sat at the side of a teacher, for the first time listening to the story of perfect man, the revelation of glory and wholeness now and here. This woman had much trouble with her eyesight and had worn glasses for many years not being able to read without them. Upon hearing the Word of Life and Wholeness, swiftly she tore off her glasses. Why, if this were true she did not need glasses! What need the Son of the Almighty for such appendage! Dancing with the delight of a child, she ran to the bookcase, lifting out a dictionary of unusually small type and seating herself again at the side of the teacher, she opened the book reading aloud instantly anywhere, any place where her glance happened to fall. Blessed are they who believe, for they shall receive. Blessed are they who upon hearing the Word act upon it. Blessed are they who understand that the universe of fortune is not external, but is within, that one may have an the reflection he wishes because of its nothingness. We do not say that the world is perfect so that it will thereby become perfect, but because it is prefect we state that it is perfect. If you say to one, "You are wealth," with the belief that your words will make him wealthy, you are in ignorance. You are to state that a person is health, is wealth,because it is so. You are to state your perception, your recognition of the Truth. In this way the ignorance in the mind, the veil that seems to cover one is consumed, is melted away, is returned to nothingness. To understand the nothingness of materiality does not encourage extravagance or wastefulness nor does it create in one the notion of intemperance or the misuse of any thing. Because of the realities in heaven, it is right that we have their symbols on earth; yet such experience on earth but glorifies and exalts one, causing him to rejoice not over possessions or ownership, but to rejoice over the allness, the omnipresence, the joy and the glory of Truth, and the true experience of man in heavenly abundance of all good, now and here. INDIVIDUALITY AND IDENTITY To see that while man is one still man has individuality and identity that is never lost but is eternally preserved is a most important point to grasp and understand spiritually. Probably most of us in the past have believed ourselves to be material beings living in a material world, and after a time many of us believed that we were mental beings in a mental world, but now a fuller vision has come that we are spiritual beings in a spiritual world. Absolute Science presents spiritual man as Individual being whose identity is never lost nor is it absorbed into Deity, but it is perpetual, uninterrupted, eternal. There seem to be many beings, separate beings, whereas there is only one. With our minds we see many but with our insight, with our spiritual Consciousness we see unity, oneness. God is infinite and so includes all in one. It is a great step for us to see and understand this, for how can one demonstrate his spirituality except he recognize and understand it? What we need to spiritualize is not man but our sense of man. From God the Father, infinite Spirit, proceeds all individuality, all being, hence the perfection and infinity of such individuality. There is but one idea of a flower, for instance, but the multiplicity of this idea reveals its infinity. Now material personality is not individual man. As the sense of materiality disappears, the spiritual individuality appears. That which is mortal, that which belongs to a dream world, that which has beginning and end is not man, still what our actual spiritual individuality is we have yet to more clearly perceive. Sin and sickness are no part of man but in belief obscure man. It was Jesus who with pure spiritual insight saw man as he is. The dream can call itself a dreamer but as the dream passes, man is seen as he is, -perfect, individual being. To annihilate through insight the belief in mortal man, the belief in sin, sickness, death; to annihilate the belief of any power, any being other than the One, brings to light perfect man at hand. Man has been called the "idea" of God, or God's perfect idea, and it has been taught that God's infinite ideas are the 'children of God" or sons and daughters. Right here a simple illustration may help explain the relationship of God and man more clearly. If an author writes a book of fiction he has perhaps many characters or ideas in the book and the relationship between God and man is similar to that between an author and his characters. Each character in the book of fiction springs from the mind of the author, each is his idea, and while the author has infinite ideas or characters still every single one is himself. A character in the book could truly state, "of mine own self I can do nothing, for as the author thinketh so I performeth, and when you see me you see the author for there is nothing to be but the author. I live in the author and the author lives in me." It can be seen that there would be no author without the characters in the book and there would be no characters in the book without the author, -symbolizing oneness, unity. The author may have an infinite number of characters, yet each one is the author and is nothing else. Is this not so? Now it is this way with perfect God and perfect man. God is the unseen Author (Father) and man is the seen character. Man is the perfect character written in the Book of Life. He is in one sense the expression or manifestation or idea of God, while in another sense he is God, for God is all there is to him. The fact is that there is nothing besides God ! When God is perceived as a trinity then man can be better understood. This trinity is Father, Son, Holy Ghost, -Self, Man, Revelation, forever a trinity in unity, forever the one Being, inseparable, indivisible, indissoluble. In the Book of Life move the characters called the children of God. They are one being expressed as infinite ideas. The life, substance, intelligence of each character comes from the one Source, hence their oneness. The characters in this Book of Life have individuality and identity which is forever preserved, perfect, eternal, immortal. This was the mission of Jesus Christ - to demonstrate, show forth the ideal man so that man would recognize himself, would acknowledge his Selfhood to be God! So that man would perceive that inasmuch as God is the writer of the Book of Life, the Author of the universe, He writes in it nothing but joy and love and good and harmony. Hence, all trouble comes not from divine Mind but is wholly falsity and man must so recognize and understand. God is one and man is one but it is the same One! God is infinite and man is infinite, but it is the same infinity! In belief we see personality rather than individuality. As the former passes away to sense, the real and eternal becomes known to us. Between man's sense of personality and his individuality there wages that war fare that will end in man's discovery of Himself, -his birthless, deathless and forever harmonious being. Truth will destroy all belief in a selfhood apart from the One. Man, the character in the Book of Life, is a celestial being, eternally harmonious and individual in the spiritual universe, and he must be so recognized and understood. Absolute Science by no means annihilates one's individuality and identity but on the contrary shows the impossibility of its loss or interruption. Man does not lose his identity even in this world as he seemingly passes through the successive bodies from the cradle to the grave, nor will the passing through the experience called death touch in any way his perpetual and changeless identity and individuality. Who can describe the reality of ideal man? "And his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." Spiritual sense belongs to spiritual man and this ideal, spiritual and individual man is perfect in body as well as in spirit. The Father came into this world in the form of the Son, -Jesus Christ. Jesus acknowledged this relationship, this oneness, when he said, "He that seeth me seeth the Father," that is, we are the same being. "God was manifest in the flesh." (I Tim.3;16). "Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal" with God. But he took upon himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men." ( Phil. 2; 6, 7) Ever since the "beginning" it was planned that a Redeemer, a Christ or Saviour would come into this world. He came. He assumed the guise of a human being yet his conception was immaculate. "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Mat.:23). God is a trinity, -a tri-unity. God the Father is infinite Soul, Self, the unseen, invisible Life, Intelligence, Substance, Power, Love. God the Son is perfect man, perfect character, and such expression is infinite because of the infinity of the Father. God the Holy Ghost is the understanding, the revelation, the blazing mirror of illumination, -showing man HIMSELF. There would be no man without God. There would be no God without man. You can never sever into parts or particles that which is ONE and that which is INDIVISIBLE. To understand Jesus Christ is to understand perfect God and perfect man. This is what Jesus came to exemplify. One cannot receive this insight, this understanding of Jesus Christ from another. It must come from WITHIN. It is written on the supernal page- 'No one can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost." It is the Light, the Inspiration, the Glory of God which breathes upon one the marvel that Jesus was Christ and Christ is God. No one can grasp this mystic wonder with his mind or with his senses. It must come to him through divine illumination which is the Holy Ghost." Once one sees the Deity of Jesus Christ, sees the oneness of God and man through divine revelation, he can never be turned aside from this knowledge. It is ever within him like a burning fire. It was Jesus who showed us that heaven is here and it is for us to take the mote from our eyes so that we may behold as Soul beholds, that we may see as God sees. It is asked, are we exactly the same as Jesus or was Jesus different? Why did he say that we could do the same works that he did?" Jesus entered this world with a mission,- "God sent his Son into the world that the world through him might be saved." Jesus came taking the form of man yet consciously knowing the nothingness of a fiction world and the reality and allness of heaven at hand. For the reason that he knew this was he able to deliver this Truth to others. He knew that there is no difference in life, in substance, in being. Now it is as we understand him that we, too, see that his life is actually our life, his being is actually our being, since there is but ONE LIFE AND ONE BEING. lf we have the insight to clearly recognize and understand this, we can then perceive that when Jesus healed the sick, WE healed the sick; when he raised the dead, WE raised the dead. The works that he did, WE did for there is but One, there is no other! In this glorious vision of the One, love pours into our hearts, overflowing with praise and wonder. Losing all sense of possession, of ownership, of egotism, of selfishness and vain-glory, we bask in the joy and in the glory of the one – Lord Jesus Christ, in our midst and in our hearts; as our life and as our being. If still you cannot perceive clearly the oneness of man, the oneness of being, then consider some parables and illustrations. In the night dream in which everything that we make and create seems external to us, it is really not external at all. If I create cities, rivers, streets, people, what are these but myself? I am the only being in the dream. Is this not so? If I dream that I am talking with a stranger, holding conversation with him, since he came from no source other than from me, then he is myself, and in the final analysis there is nothing at all in my dream but myself. Now, the same thing can be said about the author and his book. The characters which he creates have no existence outside himself. He it is who speaks, lives and acts through each of his characters. There would be no characters without the author, hence the nothingness of the characters and the allness of the one being, -the author. The Teachings of Truth tell us that Jesus is the Author and Finisher, the First and the Last; that Jesus is Christ and Christ is God, and that the universe is the Book of Life. We can easily see that as the characters in any fiction book are actually the author, so the characters in the universe (the Book of Life) are expressions of the Author and such expression is called perfect man. Since the Author is perfect and knows nothing but perfection, then his characters would have to be perfect, would they not? Because of the constitution of his nature he could not or would not have any idea of imperfection about himself or about his characters nor see any evil in himself or in his characters. Perfect man, perfect character is none other than the one Being, for the one Being is ALL there is! The One is the Writer of the Book! The One is the characters in the Book! The One is the Book itself! The One is the All-in-all. For ages the task of all religions has been to unite God and man, but how can you unite that which cannot be separated, that which has never been less than one Being? God and man are one being, the same being, as the author and his book characters are the same being. This is why men have been called "the children of God," the "images of God," the "sons and daughters of God." For God is all there is to them. Now, we cannot think of God as expressing anything in His characters other than what He is, can we? Thus, the characters called mankind, show His changelessness, His omnipotence, His wonder and His perfection. How utterly impossible then for this perfect man, the God character, to be sick, to be weak, to be poor, to be deaf, for how could he unless God were causing this ? God does not and cannot look upon evil for the reason that there is none in His Being. And His being is ALL-Being, hence, there is no evil at all. Now, since God is ALL, then the character man must be included in this all, for how can there be ALL and something besides? There cannot. This is a delicate subject to handle, yet can be easily grasped and understood if presented clearly and if one is spiritually minded. One who has this understanding does not voice the statement, "Man is God" nor the statement, "I am God." If one understands the Truth he will know the position of God, man and the universe. Jesus, of course, understood this and sometimes spoke of himself as the "Father" and again as the "Son." We should see this clearly so as to express ourselves in correct language. When we mean the Self, we should not say "man," but we should say "I" or "he." When we are speaking of the individual character meaning Soul and body, we should then say "Man." When we mean merely the body of man then let us say body. Let us remember to speak plainly and clearly, making it easy for others not so advanced as we are to understand. It is wisdom to use simple, easy language when speaking of spiritual things, for this is most easily comprehended. We know of students who object to being called "reflections," and they have a right to do so. We are not reflections nor is the character "man" a reflection. A reflection is that which has no life, substance or power but images it forth, and such reflection is the body of man. The body images forth action, strength, health, beauty and so on. When one is speaking of the "reflection," if he is speaking with understanding, he means the body. As the author of a fiction book is the life of his characters so God is our very life. This God is the Soul or Self. Soul or Self is the I AM, is the one and only Being, is the Writer of the book of Life. It was truly said of the peerless Jesus that he was "God made flesh," and they who saw and understood and loved him, saw not mortal man but saw God manifested in the flesh, even as they proclaimed. They knew that a being of love, of peace, of power, of glory could be none other than the One, the only being, God. Seeing Jesus in this true light, they did not see him in a dream world but they saw him in an actual world, in the true world, in the only world. Did not the understanding Jesus assert,- "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me." This is a glorious confession of unity, of oneness. His life, your life, my life, the life of the greatest and the life of the smallest, all as one Being, the same Being! Let us be ready always to acknowledge and to praise Truth. I love to acknowledge the Truth! I love to acknowledge one Power, one Substance, one Being! I love to acknowledge the goodness, the love, the glory of God, at hand! I love to acknowledge that my heart is fixed on the peace and the power of the One! Come unto Me all ye who are weary and sad, calls the Voice of Truth in this world today. Yet how many think, "Perhaps tomorrow or next week or next year, I will be ready." It is like the one who sits down to read a book of fiction. He makes himself comfortable, opens the book and soon is lost in the story. He no longer hears the tick of the clock on the mantel; the fire in the grate burns itself out; he forgets that it is time to eat, time to retire, for he is lost in the romance, in the fiction that is absorbing his attention. Some one speaks to him, calls his name. He answers, "Do not bother me. Wait a while. Let me alone." And so in this world, there are those lost in the so-calIed pleasures of money, sin, happiness. When they hear the call, "Come unto Me. Come, learn of spiritual things" do they not answer, "Let us alone. We are enjoying this romance. Wait a little longer"? If they but knew it, the romance does not have to be set aside, the fiction does not have to be cut off, the pleasures are not to be thrown away when one accepts the spiritual life. But they are seen and accepted as just what they are, -fiction only, hence harmless. Vision is raised into the perception of higher pleasures and joys of higher order. Many are there who need just a bit of clearer vision, just a little more faith, just a little stronger hold. Well might they sing the hymn;- Almost persuaded now to believe; Almost persuaded Truth to receive. When this notion of another, this notion of a separate selfhood is seen as falsity then Soul worships Soul, Self glimpses Self, Being understands Being, and Thy kingdom is come on earth as it is in heaven. Thus it is that when you read a book or read words of Truth that bring forth in you the spirit of worship and adoration, the spirit of love and devotion, of freedom and unspeakable joy, you should rise in the strength and courage of your vision and you should recognize that it is not another to whom you must give glory and credit. Not another whose light is shining upon you, enlightening you, for there is no other. There is but the One! The books of Truth which you read were written by Soul, Self, the one and only Being, ourself. Throughout the ages Truth has apparently dawned upon the universe gradually, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. The vision that there is One only to whom glory and honor belong does not come to us in our first fresh glimpse of understanding, for then we would not be able to grasp it. Then we blessed others, we praised others, not knowing that all others are Ourself. Then we gave credit to others, we sang their names abroad, we spoke of them as though they were apart from us and were specially spiritually endowed. When we were children in vision, we understood as children, but as our vision enlarges we have a fuller perception of Being. In heaven every knee is bowed to Truth and every heart confesseth the Christ as the Self universal. It is only when we see through a glass darkly in this human dream experience, that we seem to see some beings as true worshippers and others as false worshippers, some as sinners and some as saints. Finally, it will be seen that no matter how many delusions or dream existences one may encounter, it is impossible to deceive or delude the Self and man will see his Reality, his Self as it is. Now that it is presented to us clearly the oneness of life, we understand that as we look into a mirror and see not another but see ourself, so if is that when we look into the great Mirror, the Book of Life, we see not another but we behold Ourself - the one Self. Past visions, devices called unfoldment are then set aside, and we see face to face. Take an example called man, a sinner. We will suppose that he is in prison held by the mental law and sentenced to die because of having taken the life of another man. Suppose that this man, called a murderer, knows nothing of Truth, of God,-how are you to approach him in order to instruct him in Spirit and help him? Do you see that you may of necessity have at first to resort to the device of "line upon line," the device that has been used throughout the ages, imparting Truth to man gradually? Suppose that one should say, "I will not use device, but I will approach him as one who knows, as one who understands." Acting upon this impulsion, he speaks to the prisoner who has never been taught about God, as follows: "You never killed another man for man cannot die. You never saw a man who was born for man was never born. You or anyone else never saw a man sick or in pain or in want for there never has been such a man. Man was never born and man has never died, and no one has ever been known to see a dead man. There are no hospitals, no prisons, no cemeteries and man never saw any. There are no changes such as morning and night, good and bad, right and wrong, happiness and unhappiness. There are no laws and none to enforce a law. There is no such thing as sin, no such thing as punishment, no killing or dying, and you are now a changeless, perfect being in heaven, enjoying eternal bliss and glory." Do you think that the one called prisoner would believe this? And, according to the Authority, Jesus, there would then be no hope for him, no help, for the supernal Word reads: "lf thou cans't believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." Can you see how important then is belief? If the prisoner could not believe, he could not be helped, and he would then have to pay the mental penalty of his sentence. Nevertheless, there is a way called "conversion," and the lillies read- "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Then, if the prisoner is told that God is Love, if he is shown such mercy that reaches and touches his heart, he will be melted; he will repent; he will BELlEVE. Acting then upon his belief, he enters as it were a new country. He becomes vitally interested in spiritual things, and in belief he travels on and on until finally he comes to the vision of the one and only Being, the same in every breast, and the Book of Life written from beginning to end with the joys of perfect, changeless Selfhood. As clearer perception dawns upon us, we lay aside toys and fictions and we see plainly with understanding. We can look back to the time when the general belief on this plane was an after-heaven-and-hell. It was then supposed that after leaving this earth one would at some future period find himself either in the place of eternal rest and peace called heaven, or else in another place of burning and torture called hell. Therefore, many chose to be good, chose not to do evil because they did not like the idea of a later hell. Through the belief of a hell hereafter they gave up the practice of many things which otherwise they would not have given up. Not because of the love of Truth, the love of God, but through fear of evil, through fear of later punishment, men chose to be good, to live better lives. Later, as more insight dawned into the hearts of mankind, the notion of a personal devil and an external hell were laid aside by many and it was presented to the world that all the evil there is exists in one's own mind. It was taught that one can experience hell right here on earth; that one suffers because of ignorance and sin and that this suffering will last as long as the sin continues; thus, it is self-inflicted. Many then chose to be good, chose to think right thoughts for fear of evil results if they continued with evil thinking. We hear even today of the call coming from the pulpit, "Come, lay your sins at Jesus' feet. Come, believing that Jesus will wash away your sins," and marvelous conversions follow. A man, called sinner, steeped in the depths of hell, suddenly reaches out for spiritual help. Turning away from the calls of this world, he reaches the altar. Hearing the sweet words of love and comfort, the heavenly promise that "Though your sins be red like crimson, they shall be as wool," and weeping with mingled joy and sorrow, he rises up a new man. He went to that altar with the belief that he was a sinner, weak, unloved. He rises up with the belief that he left his sins at the altar; that he is now a child of God; that he is strong because he feels the love of God in his heart. And, who shall say that this man has not reason to rejoice? All things are possible, only believe. The sins which he left at the altar were not gathered up in a basket and thrown away. No one saw them. No one picked them up. Yet, it was the same to him as though he actually left them there, for now the burden has been rolled away from his heart, he walks upright, he looks man in the face, he is conscious of new life, new hope, new glory. Then, some day he shall know that man is a changeless being, that sinning in a fiction world is the same as not sinning at all, that man, the glory of God, CANNOT sin for he is like God. "He cannot sin because he is born of God," (lJno 3:9). Then man will no longer turn away from evil because of the belief in its somethingness and his fear of it. He will no longer endeavor to stop thinking wrong thoughts because of his fear of the results, but he will be good because he loves to be good, because he loves Truth. He will stop sinning because he beholds the nothingness of evil ! Let us bring our hearts, our affections to the altar of divine Love. Let us say often,- I love the Truth! I love the fact that life is unchangeable, immutable, everlasting. I love to know that I am a trinity, -Self, Son, Understanding; I love to think of the Self as Mighty, Majestic, Unconquerable. I love to think of man as the Son shining forth the love and joy of Being, I love to think of Understanding as coming to man like blazing light, like shining gold, like fiery flame. I love to think of heaven as here, at hand, a land of beauty, aglow with the divine energy of Life; I love to perceive the nothingness of matter and mind and personality, I love to behold the unity and the allness of the One. Now one might say, "Yes, the life and spirit are the same in us all but surely the forms are different. The form of the child is not the same as the form of the adult." Yes, they are alike; they are the same. To illustrate: One has a pan of dough before him and in baking this he places some of it in the form of biscuits and some in the form of bread. Now, when they are all baked, when they are taken from the oven, the substance of the form called biscuit is the very same, is identical with the substance in the form of the bread, is it not? The salt, sugar, milk, water, yeast are identically the same, whether in biscuit or bread. Now, should the biscuit look at the bread and think, "I am not bread, I am biscuit," you can see the folly of it, can you not? The biscuit is the bread and the bread is the biscuit in substance and in form, and there is no difference whatever. Gold is gold whether it is shaped into a ring or a bracelet. We alone place a difference, assume a different value to one than the other. The paper used in a fifty~dollar bill is exactly the same as that used in a one-dollar bill. But a different value has been placed upon them, has been agreed upon, yet their substance is the same. This will show us clearly that every man is every other man; that one thing is every other thing. The estimate, the value which man places upon the thing, has nothing whatever to do with that which it is. All lives are one Life. All forms are one element. The mind is that instrument which manufactures delusion. It looks at one thing and reports something else. It looks at perfection and reports imperfection. It looks at that which is nothing and calls it something. It looks at unity and sees duality. It looks at oneness and reports separation. The mind trembles without cause, doubts without reason and disbelieves because of its own ignorance. Let us place Ourself in authority over the mind, instructing it to speak Truth, to love good, to see perfection, to reflect Intelligence. Let us teach it to see that underneath all appearances is the reality. Underneath the idea money is abundance; underneath the idea home is protection; underneath the idea work is the unlabored action of the divine Life. And so on. There is no evil world. There is no world of pain and bondage. There is no world of dimension and limitation. The world of glory exists right here, a world in which we are now living and moving, and any mind that perceives illusions, such as pain and evil, is totally without foundation in Truth. The body that we now have is the perfect embodiment of Truth. Not the body that one may think he has, but the body that one actually has. Let us see Reality, Truth, about ourselves and the universe even while we seem to be in a material world, rather than imagine that we must leave this world because of its unreality. There is discernment beyond the insight that all is mental. One first sees the world as material and then he takes it and shifts it into a mental world; but he has still a higher vision to grasp, -he has still to perceive that a mental thing has no more actuality than a material thing and that all that is real and true and lasting is Truth and lts manifestation. There is no need putting off a demonstration. There is no need delaying illumination. No man knoweth the hour when Truth shall break through this earthly dream existence so that all so-called human beings will confess their true being, but this we know, that in heaven there are no unbelievers. In heaven there are none who do not confess the finished Kingdom, at hand! There are none who do not acknowledge the absolute Christ within! There are none who do not demonstrate in His Name! There are none who see other than the One! You can see the contents of The One here: THE ONE BY LILLIAN DEWATERS CONTENTS Chapter 1 - THE NOTHINGNESS OF PERSONALITY Chapter 2 - THE MESSAGE OF TRUTH Chapter 3 - MORTAL MIND AND MATTER EXPLAINED Chapter 4 - REMOVING THE VEIL Chapter 5 - ABSOLUTE SCIENCE Chapter 6 - DEMONSTRATION Chapter 7 - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Chapter 8 - SCIENCE AND WEALTH Chapter 9 - INDIVIDUALITY AND IDENTITY When you buy an ebook at absolute1.net you receive Free ebooks by Joseph Benner, the anonymous author of The Impersonal Life (the little book Elvis loved so much, he gave cases away). These ebooks contain his views on prosperity: - The Way Out - The Way Beyond These downloadable ebooks for transformation "Light of the Eternal" by Lillian Dewaters, "Both Riches and Honor" by Annie Rix Militz, "The Way Out" and "The Way Beyond" by Joseph Benner transform and heal your belief system. 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