in this idea. Heraclitus taught that
the universe manifested itself in cycles, and the Stoics taught that
"the world moves in an endless cycle, through the same stages." The
followers of Pythagoras went even further, and claimed that "the
succeeding worlds resemble each other, down to the minutest detail,"
this latter idea, however--the idea of the "Eternal Recurrence"--while
held by a number of thinkers, is not held by the Yogi teachers, who
teach infinite progression--an Evolution of Evolution, as it were. The
Yogi teachings, in this last mentioned particular, are resembled more
by the line of Lotze's thinking, as expressed in this sentence from his
_Micro-cosmos:_ "The series of Cosmic Periods, ... each link of which
is bound together with every other; ... the successive order of these
sections shall compose the unity of an onward-advancing melody." And,
so through the pages of Heraclitus, the Stoics, the Pythagoreans,
Empedocles, Virgil, down to the present time, in Nietzsche, and his
followers, we find this thought of Universal Rhythm--that fundamental
conception of the ancient Yogi Philosophy.

And, now, returning to the main path of our thought--let us stand here
at the beginning of the dawn of a Day of Brahm. It is verily a
beginning, for there is nothing to be seen--there is nothing but Space.
No trace of Matter, Force or Mind, as we know these terms. In that
portion of Infinite Space--that is, of course, in that "portion" of the
Infinite Mind of the Absolute One, for even Space is a "conception" of
that Mind, there is "Nothing." This is "the darkest moment, just before
the dawn."

Then comes the breaking of the dawn of the Brahmic Day. The Absolute
begins the "creation" of a Universe. And, how does It create? There can
be no creation of something out of nothing. And except the Absolute
Itself there is but Nothing.

Therefore The Absolute must create the Universe out of Its own
"substance," if we can use the word "substance" in this connection.
"Substance" means, literally, "that which stands under," being derived
from the two Latin words, _sub_, meaning "under," and _stare_, meaning
"to stand." The English word "understand" means, literally, "to stand
under"--the two words really meaning the same. This is more than a
coincidence.

So the Absolute must create the Universe from its own substance, we
have seen. Well, what is this "substance" of the Absolute? Is it
Matter? No! for Matter we know to be, in it