consciousness.

(7) The highest step in this dawning consciousness of the Oneness of All,
is the one in which is realized that there is but One Reality, and at the
same time the sense of consciousness that the "I" is in that Reality. It
is most difficult to express this thought in words for it is something
that must be felt, rather than seen by the Intellect. When the Soul
realizes that the Spirit within it is, at the last, the only _real_ part
of it, and that the Absolute and its manifestation as Spirit is the only
_real_ thing in the Universe, a great step has been taken. But there is
still one higher step to be taken before the full sense of the Oneness
and Reality comes to us. That step is the one in which we realize the
Identity of the "I" with the great "I" of the Universe. The mystery of
the manifestation of the Absolute in the form of the Spirit, is veiled
from us--the mind confesses its inability to penetrate behind the veil
shielding the Absolute from view, although it will give us a report of
its being conscious of the presence of the Absolute just at the edge of
the boundary line. But the highest region of the Spiritual Mind, when
explored by the advanced souls who are well along the Path, reports that
it sees beyond the apparent separation of Spirit from Spirit, and
realizes that there is but one Reality of Spirit, and that all the "I"'s
are really but different views of that One--Centres of Consciousness upon
the surface of the One Great "I," the Centre of which is the Absolute
Itself. This certainly penetrates the whole region of the Spiritual Mind,
and gives us all the message of Oneness of the Spirit, just as the
Intellect satisfies us with its message of the Oneness of Matter, Energy,
and Mind. The idea of Oneness permeates all planes of Life.

The sense of Reality of the "I" that is apparent to You in the moments of
your clearest mental vision, is really the reflection of the sense of