end of countless cycles of aeons of time, THE ALL withdraws its
Attention--its Contemplation and Meditation--of the Universe, for the
Great Work is finished--and All is withdrawn into THE ALL from which it
emerged. But Mystery of Mysteries--the Spirit of each soul is not
annihilated, but is infinitely expanded--the Created and the Creator are
merged. Such is the report of the Illumined!

The above illustration of the "meditation," and subsequent "awakening
from meditation," of THE ALL, is of course but an attempt of the
teachers to describe the Infinite process by a finite example. And, yet:
"As Below, so Above." The difference is merely in degree. And just as
THE ALL arouses itself from the meditation upon the Universe, so does
Man (in time) cease from manifesting upon the Material Plane, and
withdraws himself more and more into the Indwelling Spirit, which is
indeed "The Divine Ego."

There is one more matter of which we desire to speak in this lesson, and
that comes very near to an invasion of the Metaphysical field of
speculation, although our purpose is merely to show the futility of such
speculation. We allude to the question which inevitably comes to the
mind of all thinkers who have ventured to seek the Truth. The question
is: "WHY does THE ALL create Universes" The question may be asked in
different forms, but the above is the gist of the inquiry.

Men have striven hard to answer this question, but still there is no
answer worthy of the name. Some have imagined that THE ALL had something
to gain by it, but this is absurd, for what could THE ALL gain that it
did not already possess? Others have sought the answer in the idea that
THE ALL "wished something to love" and others that it created for
pleasure, or amusement; or because it "was lonely" or to manifest its