The new life you are trying to live is of the Soul, the body being neither more nor less than the medium through with the Soul must function, and, as such, must have equal care with the Soul. When you up the Great Work it was a most momentous step because your efforts became dual, your judgment impartial. You became dual, because you were made conscious of the fact that henceforth you must stand as the impartial director between body and Soul; rendering unto the body (Caesar) that which the body must have to reach its highest development, and the Soul (or God_ the development necessary for its final birth into Consciousness, and bringing about Christification.

The Christisis, you must never permit yourself to forget, is the Son of God, the highest development the Soul can attain on earth. Such a Soul can possess all the powers, energies and capabilities possible to man, both on the material and the spiritual plane. In this search and effort, you have gone far afield into new avenues. These avenues of activities are either all material or make every effort to balance one with the other; to attain equilibrium; and, succeeding in this, you become Christisis; thus is Christification attained.

The Illumination of your Soul brings you into full harmony and complete understanding with the Universal Soul, whether you know this as the Father, the Cosmic Soul, or the Universal Intelligence. Each of these terms is synonymous with the others though they possess a slightly different meaning to those in various stages of development.

When this state of being is attained, you will respond harmoniously to the greater or Cosmic Soul. This will be the finale of your present, or temporary, state of being, and you will proceed into a higher state of consciousness in the Soul Sphere - where your advancement and development will continue until you of your own choice again find it desirable to return to earth for a special purpose..

Considered in this light, the Soul is the real man, the body being no more than the necessary husk, covering or vehicle for its forward advance. The Soul is the actual life in all reasoning creatures. Everything that lives has its being in reason and is dependent upon the Soul for its continuation.

All inanimate living things not in possession of a Soul live in the spirit, and this spirit becomes impersonal at death, or the decay of the object that possessed it. This may even be true of man. If Man's life has been such that he has destroyed the personal ego, there is nothing left wherewith to bring about individualization, as this individualization requires the use of the ego in its efforts to attain consciousness.

The earth life of existence is in effect an experimenting and testing ground. It is here that the mortal vehicle must prove its worth. This being true, God, or the Creator, was most fair in giving the normal human creature everything for his needs. He gave man life, that he might have the vital, or motive power to move about and"have his being" either in God, i.e., constructive activity, or in the devil, i.e., destructive or degrading activity.

He gave man not only a mind, but the supreme reasoning ability so that he would be fully able to think and reason about every thought and desire before taking action.

He gave man full power to judge every thought and desire after reason had analyzed it to decide whether it was good or evil.

He gave man the ability to think for himself, to be his own judge of things, and be neither beholden nor enslaved to any of his fellow creatures.

Finally, in addition, into this triplicate complicated creature was placed the greatest of all things: A spark of the Divine Fire which, if brought into consciousness by living in harmony with the law and making a conscious effort, this spark would be readily capable of becoming God-conscious and one with the creator.

All these things God placed withn the reach of every human creature. In exchange for this he demanded but one thing: the living of a normal, consciously constructive life which would deprive man of no good thing, and warned against the infringement of any one upon the rights, privileges and possessions of his fellow men under penalty of eternal punishment.

The Soul severed its direct contact and connections with its Creator when it became conscious of a desire which did not belong to "heaven," i.e., the desire to leave the Empyrean sphere and come down (fall) to the earth plane and there take upon itself, not a higher or different spiritual state but that of a lowly human; in fact, the purely animal, because before and until the Soul or "a" Soul entered the physical form we know as man, he was purely animal and without sense or reason. As a result of this fall and because of it, the link between the soul and its author was made "null and void." That is, though it cannot be said to have been entirely severed, the relationship is an unconscious one.

The Soul permitted itself to be "tempted" and took leave of the "heavenly" state that it might gain for itself the knowledge of good and evil, and, in that knowledge, become "knowing" or as one of the gods. This Soul, then, having assumed the finite state, must begin its return climb at the very bottom of the ladder, that "Jacob's ladder" which reaches from earth to heaven. This return climb must be and can be made only as the result of an inner recognition that the earth life is not the real life, but only an experimental station.

The inner Soul urge must be an incentive to the heart for disiring something better than the purely mundane. This in turn must awaken the mind to a realization of the dual nature of existence and be the incentive to function on both planes at the same time.

With this metal awakening will begin the struggle of the real, the inner self, to come into consciousness, finally ending in both mental and spiritual consciousness, a Christification of the spiritual in the human, and the elevation or exaltation, by means of the transmutation of the human creature itself.

This process toward a Manistic state is both a training and a development. It is a building. It is a becoming of one with the source of being or existence. It is exaltation of the human creature, so that the Light within may shine through. It is an A-tone-ment that finally ends in At-one-ment. This process of development, this spiritual construction, the building of the "temple no made with hands," or Christification, is to rise from the death, or from the inertia of the flesh (from the tomb) from which the great stone (of the self) must be lifted so that mortality gives way to Immortality.

When the Acolyte has become sufficiently awakened mentally and enlightened spiritually to be perfectly willing, aye, anxious to renounce, i.e., change, not destroy, the things of the world which bring him no real benefit, but all others as well, he has at last awakened from his long sleep of ignorance and in reality begins to live; he is on his way forward; the Soul has commenced his return journey after having gained the desired knowledge of good and evil.

The universal Soul life, that which all men must ultimately seek to enter, is not relative; it is an absolute state. It is the only reality. It never changes, it cannot change, and that is the reason for its absoluteness. To the universal Soul life nothing can be added; not can anything te taken away from it, but all may enter into it and become a part of it.

It is One, invisible, perfect whole, but, like the most intricate machine that man can devise, it has many parts, all perfect; all working in harmony with each other and, though a part of the unit, the individuality of any of its parts is never destroyed.

Life, in fact and in truth, is of the Soul. The body has no life of its own. When the body is born into the world, the breath of life enters and the body becomes animate, but this life is only borrowed, for a day or two, and then taken from it. Its life may be forfeited at any7 moment, and as soon as this borrowed life principal leaves or is recalled, the body is dead.

It is not so with the Soul. Even though the Soul were permitted to remain wholly dormant, nevertheless, the moment the life principal - the spirit - forsakes the body and rigor mortis sets in, the Divine Spark also leaves, but thought it leaves, it is not dead, it cannot die, but itsw individuality can be annulled. It cannot die like the body, even though the spirit of life has forsaken it, because it is a fire, a part from God Himself.

For this reason it is apparent that the body has no life of its own; no life it can call its own. It lives because of that which is loaned to it for the time being, but the Soul is life itself, though until it is brought back into its God-consciousness, this life is impersonal, because it has not been individualized, has not been brought into Christification, the sole purpose of its journey here below.

To know and fully comprehend the power of thought and imagination, the activity of the creative power, the mould of expression by which the Cosmic Soul, by means of the Divine Law, operates in the boundless realm of infinity; to comprehend, i.e., become conscious not alone mentally, but equally as well spiritually, that is, Soulfully, of the relation of man to God and God to man, is the real goal toward which all knowledge tends. Without such knowledge, mind and soul functions in the sleep known as death; a night without morning, because it cannot be penetrated by the Light of divinity, or reality.

For the Absolute there can be nothing but perfection and all that proceeds therefrom is perfect. The absolute is the changeless one, the omnipotent. The Divine Spark, coming from God, was equally perfect, but it choose to leave the perfect state to take up the temporal, the changeable, the mundane, all of which became a part of itself. In these changes, however, are "the resurrection and the life" and because this Divine Spark is now encased in a being possessing free Will, it may and can bring itself into this "resurrection," or rise above its present state, by awakening this free Will into activity toward regaining perfection and carrying with itself the knowledge of "good and evil" as gained in its pilgrimage on earth.

All men, generally speaking and excepting the very few onh the Path, are living in darkness;. I.e., they have no knowledge of the Light. All their thoughts, desires and acts are based on human interests. However, all men with normal minds are blessed with free Will and may, whenever so inclined, change their mode of thinking, their feelings or inclinations, and begin the steep ascent toward the source of the Universal Life.

In this manner they can come into the knowledge and understanding which will enable them to change the human personality into an individualized being. Once having attained that much, they can proceed with the process of bringing into manifestation the spiritual life within and thereby Illumination of the Soul, the Christification that is Immortalization.

There is but one great light in the physical universe or Macrocosm in which man, the Microcosm, moves and has his physical being. This is the sun, and the light of the moon and the stars are a reflection of this one physical light. There si but one Light in the spiritual universe, this is the Holy Light or Holy Ghost of the Father, and all souls, even the Divine Sparks not yet awakened into Consciousness, receive their Light from this one Cosmic Light and express it to the degree of their enlightenment or Consciousness.

The One Soul, the Over-Soul or Cosmic Soul, call it by whatever name you please, the name is immaterial and neither more nor less than a means of comprehension, is boundless. It expresses itself in the consciousness of the mind; the reasoning ability of the mind; in the intellect' in the exalted emotions of the heart and, lastly, the greatest of all expressions, in the Conscious Illuminated Soul, the Christos become the son of God. If the Acolyte is to know the Infinite in all tis parts, he must study the finite, because the finite expresses the Infinite in a modified form. The outer expresses the inner, but our beclouded sigh cannot see the divine expression. To be able to see clearly and not "as through a glass darkly," the Acolyte must be pure in thought; he must illuminate the mind so that its reflection will be light and not darkness. This must be followed by an awakening and development of the Soul by means of which the contact with the Infinite may become possible. It is then that he will really know and no longer be in darkness.

The key that will unlock the door, not only to knowledge, but to all reality, is love. Unless we first love, have a liking, or desire for love, we will neither seek nor accept it. Hate and all its passion-born relatives, effectively closes the door to all life or knowledge. Love which is infused through the entire being is the one means of entering the temple of knowledge and there sup at the fountain of wisdom.

Love has no place in the body and is not a part of the body. The body is controlled by desire and physical desire is in no sense akin to love. Love is from the Soul; it is the Life of the Soul; it is the passion of the Soul. The two are opposites, worlds apart, yet must be balanced and harmonized because the lusts of the physical man transmuted give fire to the Soul. Love existed before man was formed. It was the light that lighted the way for the Soul. Love is within the Soul. It is part of the Soul, and the more love there is in the Soul, the greater will be its Light, i.e., its Illumination and glorification. Love is the essence of the Deity, the "light that lightest every man [Soul] that cometh into the world.

Though God is love, and love is God, it is man's privilege to know and be blessed by love, to be guided by its spirit and ultimately be saved, or Immortalized. Love, the infinite passion, is a mighty power given man so that he may become a co-worker with his Creator and accomplish great things. Love is Infinite Intelligence, because Love is God. It is that which was, is now, and ever shall be.

The Acolyte must recognize his inmost spiritual self as a part of God, and by having more of love, he will be enabled to bring this part of God into expression. It is only in this manner that the Manistic state may be achieved and when it is, Christification is accomplished.

The sense man, merely existing as a human creature, is governed by his passions, is capable of comprehending neither the finite mor the infinite. Man, to him, is actually as great a mystery as is God. The sense man is continually groping in darkness, his senses controlling him.

In this state he comes into contact only with various expressions of life as it exists in the sense plane. He contacts only fleeting pleasures, disappointments, temporary joys that usually end in suffering, degradation and disgust. It is only occasionally that be cause of some deep affection he glimpses the light that radiates from that love which has its being in the spiritual self.

As a result of long suffering and keen disappointment, something may begin to stir within himself, a sensing that all the life he has known is not reality, but an illusion due to sense gratification, and that possibly there is something deeper and more real with which he has not as yet come in conscious contact. This is a mental awakening, the Soul stirring within and making itself manifest. It is a cry for the real life; a demand for bread whereas only stones have been given. It is a demand to be heard.

If this awakening does not "die a-borning" as so frequently happens it will cause the mind to think, to analyze, to "weigh in the balance." The search for truth and reality, not yet recognized as such, will then begin and if this continues, sooner or later the seeker will find some part of truth that will start him on the path to life.

After the first step is taken the way to further knowledge will open to him; he will become conscious that life begins in correct thinking; this being true, the mental atmosphere must be purified; the thoughts exalted, and the desires freed from their carnal bonds.

He will then begin to search within himself rather than feel that reality can be found without. He will analyze his longings and desires so that to him will be revealed what he really seeks to accomplish with himself and for himself. The sense man has now become the seeker or Acolyte.

As the Acolyte proceeds and inner development progresses, he will feel a change taking place; a becoming endowed with a new and different consciousness; a something foreign not before a part of his being. A sense of peace, strength and well-being will take possession of him and replace the old fears and negativity.

He will sense now that he is never alone; that within him there is a great, wonderful, divine something he knows not as yet what, speaking to him as a friend, advising him, guiding him; something voiceless, unseen, as yet unknowable, but protective, inspiring, uplifting, strengthening. There will be temptations, failings, backslidings, many falls, but the inner monitor will constantly urge forward; give renewed strength, encourage, until he again stands upright as a man and presses forward toward the goal of achievement.

During this critical period of his labors it is well to center the mind on some definite thought to keep it free from the destructive elements certain to seek entrance in order to destroy all that has been accomplished. It is the dual nature in mortal combat. It is mammon fighting the spirit of holiness. It is evil (the devil) pitched against good (God). It is a battle that must be won by the Cosmic entity within.

Acolytes may wish to formulate their own Mantram. Those who do not may use as their own one universally successful in helping the seeker over the rough places. Hold in mind the thought and while doing so, feel it:

"God is the only real existence; if God is with me, then there is nothing that can be successfully against me."

This is an absolute truth; and as such it is a firm foundation. At other times, the thought: "God is all that truly is; I am seeking to become like Him, and in spirit I feel his presence." This, also, is the truth and is a firm foundation whereon to build.

How can the Acolyte remain weak, when he becomes conscious that an infinite strength is at his command? This inner strength is like an inexhaustible fountain within himself and may be called upon in time of need when the spirit dictates. True, man is human in body and at times the body becomes strong, and, like Satan with the Nazarene on the mountain, tempts nigh unto destruction.

At such times, breath forth the omnipotent word of power: "I am seeking the Christisis within myself and nothing has the power to lead me astray." When this is done then the Light that has been developed will envolop the entire being and no power on earth can penetrate this mantle of light.

The duties of the material world evolving upon the shoulders of the Acolyte may be arduous and difficult, often discouraging and demanding. Let him not give way to fear or impatience, but use wisely odd moments and become a neutral being, neither caring for nor fearing the things that would retard or mislead him. Let him continue faithfully, cheerfully, despite all opposition; regretting nothing, coveting nothing, and all things will come to him in the attainment of Christification.
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