convictions, boldly announces that "You, yourself, are the _totality_ of
being, and with your mind alone create, preserve and destroy the
universe, which is your own mental product." And again the last mentioned
teacher states: "the entire universe is a bagatelle illustration of your
own creative power, which you are now exhibiting for your own
inspection." "By their fruits shall you know them," is a safe rule to
apply to all teachings. The philosophy that teaches that the Universe is
an illusion perpetrated by you (God) to amuse, entertain or fool yourself
(God), can have but one result, and that is the conclusion that
"everything is nothing," and all that is necessary to do is to sit down,
fold your hands and enjoy the Divine exhibition of legerdemain that you
are performing for your own entertainment, and then, when the show is
over, return to your state of conscious Godhood and recall with smiles
the pleasant memories of the "conjure show" that you created to fool
yourself with during several billions of ages. That is what it amounts
to, and the result is that those accepting this philosophy thrust upon
them by forceful teachers, and knowing in their hearts that they are
_not_ God, but absorbing the suggestions of "nothingness," are driven
into a state of mental apathy and negativeness, the soul sinking into a
stupor from which it may not be roused for a long period of time.

We wish you to avoid confounding our teaching with this just mentioned.
We wish to teach you that You are a real Being--_not_ God Himself, but a
manifestation of Him who is the Absolute. You are a Child of the
Absolute, if you prefer the term, possessed of the Divine Heritage, and
whose mission it is to unfold qualities which are your inheritances from
your Parent. Do not make the great mistake of confounding the Relative
with the Absolute. Avoid this pitfall into which so many have fallen. Do
not allow yourself to fall into the "Slough of Despond," and wallow in
the mud of "nothingness," and to see no reality except in the person of