remains unchanged, real and fully existent; that the "I" can set aside
any and all of its mental tools and instruments, as "not I" things, and
still consciously realize that after so setting them aside there remains
something--itself--the "I" which cannot be set aside or taken from; that
the "I" is the master of the mind, and not its slave; (3) that the "I" is
a much greater thing than the little personal "I" we have been
considering it to be; that the "I" is a part of that great One Reality
which pervades all the Universe; that it is connected with all other
forms of life by countless ties, mental and spiritual filaments and
relations; that the "I" is a Centre of Consciousness in that great One
Reality or Spirit, which is behind and back of all Life and Existence,
the Centre of which Reality or Existence, is the Absolute or God; that
the sense of Reality that is inherent in the "I," is really the
reflection of the sense of Reality inherent in the Whole--the Great "I"
of the Universe.

The underlying principle of these three lessons is the Reality of the
"I," in itself, over and above all Matter, Force, or Mind--positive to
all of them, just as they are positive or negative to each other--and
negative only to the Centre of the One--the Absolute itself. And this is
the position for the Candidate or Initiate to take: "I am positive to
Mind, Energy, and Matter, and control them all--I am negative only to the
Absolute, which is the Centre of Being, of which Being I Am. And, as I
assert my mastery over Mind, Energy, and Matter, and exercise my Will
over them, so do I acknowledge my subordination to the Absolute, and
gladly open my soul to the inflow of the Divine Will, and partake of its
Power, Strength, and Wisdom."

In the present lesson, and those immediately following it, we shall
endeavor to assist the Candidate or Initiate in acquiring a mastery of