God, as the Creator of the Universe, is not a workman who, having completed His task, set it aside from Himself for idle admiration. This analogy simply will not work for an absolute, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Source. Where could such a Creator obtain the material for Its creation, but from Itself? And, where would It get the energy, except from the same Source? And, where the Life, except from Its own? So, there can be nowhere outside of Its infinite Self for Its creation to exist.

In the end, as in the beginning, there can be but One. Even if we do refer to God and Its universe, there is still only One and not two. The creation must have proceeded from God and can only exist, move, act, and live by virtue of the One permeating it.

So, what is God? I do not know. But, I do know that God is glorious beyond the ability of words to express. And, since I have no words with which to describe my view of God, I will refer to the First Source of All Things simply as the great, mysterious "It" and allow others to debate over the nature of the Creator. The only wrong that can be related to any chosen view of the Absolute is to try to force that particular view upon the minds of other people. Each person must come to know God in his or her own way.

I chose to think of God as being beyond all mortal understanding. Not a person. God is pre-personal. It existed even before the creation of the Infinite Spirit. And, God is far more than an abstract "force" or merely the sum of All Things in the Universe of Universes, since God existed before the appearance of Its physical creation, not afterwards.

No name can be given to the One that will sufficiently describe It or illuminate Its nature. I have chosen to use the term "Absolute" throughout most of this book, although the reader is free to substitute any name that suits him or her. I have tried to avoid the use of the word "God" as much as possible and the term "Father" entirely, not because I object to these in any substantial way, although the latter is a bit sexist, but because they are normally identified with images of a personal deity or with specific theological teachings. Nor does the term "Nature" seem adequate. It orients the mind too much upon the materialistic, although the word is very useful when referring to the outward manifestation of the Absolute. Nor do the words "Source" or "Principle" particularly appeal to me, since they conjure up notions of a cold, unfeeling thing, with no Life of Its own. I perceive the Absolute as a warm, vital, loving, moving, and active Reality.

Most religions, philosophies and sciences see only that which fits nicely into and supports their theories, ignoring the rest. The materialist talks about the infinite and eternal nature of the physical universe, although science itself has shown us that matter fades away into nothingness when examined too closely. The atom, building block of all matter, has been split into its component particles of proton, neutron and electron. These particles were, then, discovered to be nothing more than different polarities of electricity, tied together like a knot in the emptiness of the ethers.

Spinoza once said that "to define God is to deny Him." How true, for to define something is to identify it with something else. And, where is the something else with which we may identify the Infinite? The Absolute cannot be understood in terms of the finite and material, since there is no instrument that can measure the Absolute. It is beyond matter, energy, mind and even spirit as we know them. Yet, these things emanate from It and must, therefore, be part of Its nature.

Although we endeavor to comprehend the existence of the One, we can know practically nothing of the Absolute because It transcends all human experience. It is difficult for the mind, even a fully conscious mind, to take hold of that which is beyond the scope of its experience. In fact, many of the greatest philosophers considered it to be impossible. Yet, intellect has developed in human beings for the purpose of thinking, pondering, examining, and contemplating. Therefore, it would behoove us to employ it as best we can to expand our minds to embrace the Infinite.

By turning the mind inward to the higher, more profound and esoteric questions of Life, we not only strengthen the mind but unfold it to the promptings of the Spirit. The consciousness may, then, open itself up to and receive certain information that can be obtained by not other earthly means.

One of the first conclusions of the focused intellect, contemplating the Absolute, is that It has existed forever. There can be no escaping this realization. The materialist, the philosopher, the scientist, occultist, and theologian must all agree upon the logic of this point. The Absolute could not have simply emerged from nothing, and there can be no other Source from which It could have originated. Likewise, there can be nothing outside of Itself which is capable of terminating Its existence. So, the Absolute must be eternal, never beginning and never ending.

The concept of the eternal is almost as unthinkable to the human mind as the idea of the Infinite. The trouble lies not in the conclusion, but in the frame of reference. The mind is so enmeshed in the world of time and space that it finds it nearly impossible to break free of its own chain of thought. Therefore, the mind can only draw comparisons from the endless manifestations of Cause and Effect that it sees operating in the universe of physical matter. It seems incomprehensible that there can be anything with no cause, or beginning, and no physical end. But, the mind must believe in a single Cause of Everything.