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“the attainment of the knowledge of REALITY causes one to become the attainer of All Truth, for All Truth is included in the content thereof.  REALITY is the “one thing which, when known, all is known.” It is the primal and elemental Truth-of-All-Truth.”

• Seekers, the path up is difficult; at the top is found “that which, when known, all things are known”; Spirit is the Ultimate Reality

“What am I?” “Whence come I?” “What is the object of my existence?” Hence the eternal “Why?” on the lips of thinkers of the past and present, in every clime, in every civilization, and among every people of the race.

• “REALITY is that which does or may exist by itself and is not considered as forming part of any other thing.”; Anything else is held by philosophy to be non-reality, or mere appearance.

• “There is no scientific problem which we may dare to say the mind of man will never solve; no mystery so deep or profound; no question has or ever will be asked but a mind or brain will be evolved capable of solving and answering.”— Haeckel.

• Man, trusting to his intuition, and combining the perception thereof with the purely intellectual reports, is enabled to reach a higher consciousness of BEING than is possible by purely intellectual processes alone, or by pure intuition alone.

• A “Postulate” is “something asserted, to which assent is challenged or demanded.”
• In the Axioms of REALITY we have the various ledges or planes of the inquiry. Step by step we shall advance on the Path. Each Axiom affords a resting place and a halt.

• There exists an ultimate, infinite, and eternal principle of REALITY which is the essence, nature, substance, and principle of All-that-is.

• REALITY is Absolute Unity.
• It is Independent and Free; Whole, Complete, and Perfect; Original and Causeless; Eternal; Infinite; Ultimate; Absolute; Formless; Indivisible; and Immutable.
• REALITY is Infinite Substance, Infinite Energy, Infinite Life, Infinite Law, and Infinite Mind.

• REALITY is in Eternal Creation.
• It is the support and background for the phenomenal appearance of numberless universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing.
• It is the changeless REALITY manifesting the eternal law of change.
• It is the unconditioned and absolute ground for all that exists conditionally.
• In Itself it is All-That-Is.
• In its Creation it is All-that-Appears; uncreate, it is The-All.
• Its Creation appears as the Cosmos.

• The Universe, with all contained therein, is created in and by REALITY considered as Infinite Mind.
• All Creation exists as Idea in the Infinite Mind of REALITY.
• The Will of REALITY is Universal Energy.
• The Pure Logic of REALITY is Universal Law.
• The Being of REALITY is Universal Life.
• The Substance of REALITY is Universal Substance.
• The Infinite Mind of REALITY, in its Ideative and Volitional activities, is the Creative and Conative Power of the Universe.

• REALITY is immanent in its Creation, and in every part thereof.
• In the characters of its conscious creations it manifests itself as the artist in his work, the poet, playwright, or writer in his characters.
• The created universe is the cosmic dramatization of REALITY, through which it lives and acts, moves and plays its infinitude of parts.
• REALITY, being indivisible and immutable, is immanent in each of its creations in its Totality of Being.
• In and back of each conscious being is the Presence and Power of REALITY.
• REALITY is immanent in You.

• There is one principle of REALITY— the essence, nature, substance, and principle of All-that-is.

• This principle— REALITY— always remains itself, indivisible and immutable, notwithstanding the infinity of apparent differences in manifestation of form, shape, state, or condition under which it occurs, appears, or presents itself in the phenomenal universe.

• You yourself are the Manifestation of that principle— REALITY.

• And, likewise, You are identical with it in the totality of its essence, nature, substance, and REALITY.

• The recognition of this Identity by the Intellect constitutes the perception of Truth; the realization of it by Intuition constitutes Illumination; the manifestation of it by Volition constitutes Mastery.

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• In this book you are invited to pursue the inquiry in detail, both in the examination and investigation of the Axioms of REALITY, the consideration of the Nature of REALITY, the Process of Manifestation, and the Facts of Immanence, Identity, and Mastery.

• Before proceeding to the Axioms of REALITY the student is asked and advised to acquaint himself or herself with the definition of the principal terms employed in our inquiry. It is impossible for one to intelligently study the Axioms unless he or she be fully acquainted with and informed regarding the terms employed. A term is a peg upon which a thought is suspended. The association of each thought with its own particular term is needed in order that one may reason clearly. The clear and correct understanding of terms is the first requisite of logical thought and reasoning. Therefore, we say to the student: Master the definitions before you proceed further, and then as you proceed frequently refer to them.

• ULTIMATE: Extreme, final; incapable of further analysis, division, separation, resolution, refinement, purification, or simplification.

• INFINITE: Without limits, bounds, or measurements; ultimate capacity and possibility of expression and manifestation in time, space, quantity, quality, and variety.

• ETERNAL: Without beginning or ending of existence; always existing; existence without intermission; ceaseless; constant; everlasting; perpetual.

• PRINCIPLE: The source or origin from which anything proceeds; ultimate element or essence; the original inherent essence of a thing, and its final and ultimate essential nature.

• ESSENCE: That which is the very and actual nature of anything.

• NATURE: The inherent and essential “thingness” of the being of anything.

• SUBSTANCE: That which underlies all outward manifestations; that which constitutes anything what it is; real and existing essence, nature, or being; that which constitutes the Thing-in-Itself, as distinguished from its appearances or outward manifestations.

An axiom is a self-evident and necessary truth— a proposition based on reason, which it is necessary to take for granted in subsequent thought; or a proposition which is so evident that when presented to the reasoning mind it requires no further demonstration but commends itself at once to the acceptance of everyone capable of thinking.

First Axiom of REALITY: REALITY is existent in truth, in verity, and in fact as the essence, nature, substance, and principle of All-that-is.

We are constantly aware of the chameleon-like nature and character of what Gautama the Buddha called

“Being’s ceaseless tide, Which, ever-changing, runs, linked like a river By ripples following ripples, fast or slow,— The same, yet not the same,— from far-off fountain To where its waters flow

“Into the seas. These, steaming to the sun, Give the lost wavelets back in cloudy fleece To trickle down the hills and glide again, Having no pause or peace. “This is enough to know, the phantasms are; The Heavens, Earths, Worlds, and changes changing them A mighty whirling wheel of strife and stress Which none can stay or stem.”

“Whose secret presence, throughout creation’s veins Running Quicksilver-like, eludes our pains, Taking all shapes from Mah to Mahi; and They change and perish all, but he remains.”

“We are no other than a moving row Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go Round with the Sun-illumined Lantern held In midnight by the Master of the Show.”

 …the essence or real activity manifesting in and producing the outward appearance. The universe of outward forms, shapes, activities, states, and conditions is designated by the term “phenomenal,” which means “visible; apprehended by observation; apparent; presented to the eye or senses.”

REALITY is conceived of as the ultimate essence, nature, substance, and very being of All-that-is. Philosophers sometimes employ the term “noumenon” to designate REALITY as we use the term.

Inquirers for REALITY, refusing to accept the phenomenal world as ultimate REALITY, truth, or fact, but recognizing the phantasmal nature of the “moving row of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go,” have instituted a further inquiry. They have even denied ultimate REALITY to “the Sun-illumined Lantern held in midnight” and have insisted that naught will suffice them other than the actual discovery of “the Master of the Show” himself, who holds the Lantern.

They know full well the truth that Omar uttered when he said that REALITY ever is but “A moment guessed— then back behind the Fold Immerst of Darkness round the Drama rolled, Which for the pastime of Eternity He doth Himself contrive, enact, behold.”

…evolution is merely a series of changing events and not a series of separate “things.”

Evolution is seen to be merely the change of the apparent form, shape, state, or condition of a certain Something which is the essence, nature, substance, and principle of the entire series of changing and changed “things.”

It is the silken thread upon which is strung the pearls of phenomenal existence.

It is the Unchanging Something which supports and holds together the universe of changing things.

It is the eternal background upon the surface of which appears the endless procession of changing forms, shapes, states, and conditions of the phenomenal Universe— the Moving-Picture Show of the Cosmos.

…applicable to any system of thought which sees in the universe the manifestation or working of a single principle.

Such a unity may be said to be at once the tacit presupposition and the goal of all philosophic effort, and in so far as a philosophy fails to harmonize the apparently independent and even conflicting facts of experience, as aspects or elements within a larger whole, it must be held to fall short of the necessary ideal of thought.

Dualism, in an ultimate metaphysical reference, is a confession of the failure of philosophy to achieve its proper task; and this is the justification of those who consistently use the word as a term of reproach.”

In addition to the report of reason regarding the necessity of an ultimate Principle of REALITY, the intuition of man has ever informed him of the existence and presence of an abiding, unchangeable Something Within— a Something which transcends all intellectual knowledge and reasoning processes, but which is perceived to be ever present at the very heart of one’s being, the very soul of one’s soul. Intuition informs man that he is resting upon a great sea of REALITY, that there is a Something underneath and back of him which is the supporting REALITY of his being and life. So universal is this perception of intuition that the reason is bound to take it into consideration and to combine and correlate it with its own reports and judgments. Moreover, it remains for the reason to interpret and announce that which the intuition inevitably perceives.

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SECOND AXIOM OF REALITY: REALITY is All that is in actual Being; all that is in actual Being is REALITY.

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• Man creates mentally; images, ideas, forms, conceptions, combinations, associations, pictures, figures, shapes, and forms, many of which are afterward reproduced in material form by the work of his hands.
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• All creation is around a mental form; mental form exists first; material form is created around it.

• …even crystals are built around an invariable form existing in the immaterial mental part of the mother liquor.

• …no existence other than in the Universal Mind; Thought is second only to the mind creating it.

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• …the origin of his so-called world of matter is as immaterial as is mind.

• Some see the Universe as a phenomenal manifestation in the Universal Ether, rather than as a phenomenal appearance in Universal Mind…

• there is little difference between a Universal Ether and a Universal Mind

• Concept of Ether; emphasis of the substance and energy of Ultimate reality

• Concept of Mind/Spirit; emphasis of the life and mind of Ultimate reality.

• …reconciliation between Materialism and Idealism?

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• matter cannot be conceived to actually exist, as the only real substance is Universal Mind
• the material and phenomenal universe is nothing but a series of mental appearances and impressions which appear and disappear in accordance with mental laws which are called “The Laws of Nature”…
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• Monistic Idealism, or Idealistic Monism, is the flower of philosophic thought… 

• It forms the highest peak of Western Philosophy… 

• “it is the highest pinnacle of philosophic thought which the human mind can possibly attain.” 

• …Stone follows upon stone, in regular succession, after once the first step has been made, after once it has been clearly seen that in the beginning there can have been but One, as there will be but One in the end.”

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• No other theory or explanation of creation of the Many by the One escapes the violation of these essential facts of Ultimate reality. It is seen to be the only possible logical explanation of creation

Man creates mentally.  

In his mind he creates mental images, ideas, mental forms, conceptions, combinations, associations, pictures, figures, shapes, and forms, many of which are afterward reproduced in material form by the work of his hands.

All creation is around a mental form. The mental form exists first, and then the material form is created around it.

even the crystals are built around an invariable form existing in the immaterial mental part of the mother liquor.

…no existence other than in the Universal Mind

Thought is second only to the mind creating it.

…the origin of his so-called world of matter is as immaterial as is mind.

Some see the Universe as a phenomenal manifestation in the Universal Ether, rather than as a phenomenal appearance in Universal Mind… but, there is really very little difference between a Universal Ether in which Life and Mind are held to abide, and our conception of SPIRIT, which is Pure Substance, Pure Energy, Pure Life, Pure Mind— which is the essence, nature, substance, and principle of All-that-is.

Either; emphasis of the substance and energy of Ultimate reality; while the conception of Spirit is an emphasis of the life and mind of Ultimate reality. There is surely room here for a sane reconciliation between Materialism and Idealism.

matter cannot be conceived to actually exist, as the only real substance is Universal Mind, and that the material and phenomenal universe is nothing but a series of mental appearances and impressions which appear and disappear in accordance with mental laws which are called “The Laws of Nature”…

Monistic Idealism, or Idealistic Monism, is the flower of philosophic thought…

It forms the highest peak of Western Philosophy…

“it is the highest pinnacle of philosophic thought which the human mind can possibly attain.”

…Stone follows upon stone, in regular succession, after once the first step has been made, after once it has been clearly seen that in the beginning there can have been but One, as there will be but One in the end.”

The Idealistic conception of creation is compatible with the following facts of SPIRIT (which is Ultimate reality) as stated in the Basic Postulate and Axioms:

(1) The fact that SPIRIT is the essence, nature, substance, and principle of All-that-is;

(2) the fact that SPIRIT is One, in the sense of Absolute Unity;

(3) the fact that SPIRIT is Absolute, Infinite, Ultimate, Original, Causeless, Unchangeable, Indivisible, Total, Formless, Independent;

(4) the fact that SPIRIT is Infinite Substance, Infinite Energy, Infinite Mind, Infinite Life, Infinite Law.

No other theory or explanation of creation of the Many by the One escapes the violation of these essential facts of Ultimate reality. It is seen to be the only possible logical explanation of creation

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• the secret… man is a miniature edition of Spirit… the microcosm to the macrocosm of Spirit.
• The Law of Spirit is also the law of man’s mentality. What Spirit does on the Infinite scale man may do on the finite scale.
• The activities of Spirit are purely Creative. Spirit is forever creating; destructive activities are creative… rearrangement of old materials in new forms.
• The Law of Change is but an expression of the Creative Law which lies at the heart of the Will and Ideation of Spirit.
• Spirit is ever willing and desirous of expressing itself in creative activity.
• Direct inner activities through Ideative Powers… build up ideals and mental forms in the mind… materialize thoughts into material form. 
• Every man’s world is his individual universe… become a Creative Master of Circumstance  
• Move the chess piece(s), don’t be the chess piece(s)
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• Possibilities of Manifestation are limited to The degree of Recognition & Realization of the Truth; Spirit is in man and he in Spirit
• Identical in the totality of essence, nature, substance, and principle
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• Once recognized/realized, man becomes the Awakened Lion
• doubts dissolved, impossibilities vanish, and circumstances transmuted
• The sword of the Spirit of Truth; ‘the flash of the will that can’
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• Master of his Being, to the degree of Recognition, Realization, and Manifestation of his identity with Spirit
• Allow Spirit to unfold and manifest itself through you; in the directions of Conscious Recognition of the Real Self.
• The experience of Inner Being
• It is as if Spirit had been indulging in a dream, imagining itself to be John Jones or Mary Smith, and then gradually awakens to the realization that these are simply forms of disguise or masks used in the Dramatization of the Universe. 

Man, when he understands his Spiritual nature and possibilities, may direct the inner activities of Spirit along his own lines. He may do this through and by reason of the Ideative Powers of his Mind. Building up ideals and mental forms in his mind, and allowing the Will to flow in and through these, man is able to materialize his ideals and mental pictures in objective and material form. He thus becomes a miniature world builder, for every man’s world is his individual universe. When man understands this, he is no longer the slave of circumstances, but becomes a Creative Master of Circumstance. From being the passive chessman on the board of life, he takes a hand in the game and makes moves on his own account.

…man can manifest only in the degree that he really recognizes and realizes the Truth. More than a mere intellectual acceptance is required. Man must feel in his very heart and soul that Spirit is in him and he in Spirit; that, at the last, Spirit and he are identical in the totality of essence, nature, substance, and principle.

The awakened Spirit is roused to the recognition and realization of itself in man, and, as a great teacher expresses it, “it hews open the path, as the lightning flash splits the darkness,… dissolves doubts, cuts knots of chronic impossibility, melts circumstances, pierces shadows like a flash of glory, dashes through the jungle of appearances like the horn of the unicorn. It is the sword of the Spirit of truth, ‘the flash of the will that can.'”

Man is Master of his Being in the degree of his recognition, realization, and manifestation of his Identity with Spirit. In the degree that he allows Spirit to unfold and manifest itself through him in the directions of Conscious Recognition of the Real Self,— which is Spirit,— so will be the degree of his Mastery.

 In the above few words is to be found the key to the demonstration of those who have awakened to the Something Within,— the experience of Inner Being, which has always been known to the wise of the race.

It is as if Spirit had been indulging in a dream, imagining itself to be John Jones or Mary Smith, and then gradually awakens to the realization that these are simply forms of disguise or masks used in the Dramatization of the Universe.

From simple consciousness it has passed on through many stages into self-consciousness, and is now proceeding to Cosmic Consciousness of its Identity with All.

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