their presentation of the subject may seem somewhat more startling.
Anything that has a beginning and an ending must be, in a sense, unreal
and untrue, and the Universe comes under the rule, in all schools of
thought. From the Absolute point of view, there is nothing Real except
THE ALL, no matter what terms we may use in thinking of, or discussing
the subject. Whether the Universe be created of Matter, or whether it be
a Mental Creation in the Mind of THE ALL--it is unsubstantial,
non-enduring, a thing of time, space and change. We want you to realize
this fact thoroughly, before you pass judgment on the Hermetic
conception of the Mental nature of the Universe. Think over any and all
of the other conceptions, and see whether this be not true of them.

But the Absolute point of view shows merely one side of the picture--the
other side is the Relative one. Absolute Truth has been defined as
"Things as the mind of God knows them," while Relative Truth is "Things
as the highest reason of Man understands them." And so while to THE ALL
the Universe must be unreal and illusionary, a mere dream or result of
meditation,--nevertheless, to the finite minds forming a part of that
Universe, and viewing it through mortal faculties, the Universe is very
real indeed, and must be so considered. In recognizing the Absolute
view, we must not make the mistake of ignoring or denying the facts and
phenomena of the Universe as they present themselves to our mortal
faculties--we are not THE ALL, remember.

To take familiar illustrations, we all recognize the fact that matter
"exists" to our senses--we will fare badly if we do not. And yet, even
our finite minds understand the scientific dictum that there is no such
thing as Matter from a scientific point of view--that which we call
Matter is held to be merely an aggregation of atoms, which atoms
themselves are merely a grouping of units of force, called electrons or