many events and
happenings, terminated in the shot of a firing-squad--and then the man
awoke. Now in this last mentioned case, not only has the dreamer
experienced events covering a long time, all in the space of a second of
time; but, also, the very sound which terminated the dream, also induced
it from the very beginning--the last thing caused the first things to
appear and proceed in sequence to the last! Persons under the influence of
chloroform, or "laughing gas," have similar experiences--often the first
sound heard at the moment of recovering consciousness seems to be the last
thing in a long dream which preceded it, though the long dream was really
caused by the final sound. Now, remember, that here not only did past,
present and future exist at the same moment of time; but, also, the future
caused the past and present to come into being.

On the physical plane, we have analogies illustrating this fact. It is
said that in every acorn rests and exists, in miniature, the form of the
future oak. And, some go so far as to say that the oak is the "ultimate
cause" of the acorn--that the idea of the oak caused the acorn to be at
all. In the same way, the "idea" of the man must be in the infant boy,
from the moment of birth, and even from the moment of conception.
But, let us pass on to the bold conception of the most advanced
metaphysicians--they have a still more dazzling explanation, let us listen
to it.

These occultists and metaphysicians who have thought long and deeply upon
the ultimate facts and nature of the universe, have dared to think that
there must exist some absolute consciousness--some absolute mind--which
must perceive the past, present and future of the universe as one
happening; as simultaneously and actively present at one moment of
absolute time. They reason that just as man may see as one happening of a
moment of his time some particular event which might appear as a year to
some minute form of life and mind--the microscopic creatures in a drop of
water, for instance; so that which seems as a year, or a hundred years, to
the mind of man may appear as the happening of a single moment of a higher
scale of time to some exalted Being or form of consciousness on a higher
plane. You remember that it is said that "a thousand years is but as a day
to the Lord;" and the Hindu Vedas tell us that "the creation, duration,
and destruction of the universe, is as but the time of the twinkling of an
eye to Brahm