The "descent into hell" of the Apostles' Creed of course meant the passing to the place of disembodied souls-the lower Astral Plane. Even the orthodox teachers do not now pretend that the term "hell" meant the place of torture presided over by the Devil, which theology has invented to frighten people into the churches. "The third day he arose from the dead" (and the corresponding passage in the Nicene Creed) refers to the appearance in the Astral Body-the return from the Astral Plane in which He had sojourned for the three days following the crucifixion. "And ascended into heaven"-this passage shows the belief that He returned to the place from which He came, for the Nicene Creed has stated that he "_came down from heaven_ and was incarnate… and was made man."

The passage in both creeds stating that He then took his place "on the right hand of the Father" is intended to show that He took the place of the highest honor in the gift of the Father. The mystic teachings explain this by showing that The Christ is separated from The Father by but the most ethereal intervening of spiritual substance, and that He is a Cosmic Principle second in importance only to the Father. Truly this is the place of honor on "the right hand of the Father."

"He shall come to fudge the quick and the dead."

In this passage we see the intimation that not only with the "quick" or living people is The Christ concerned, but also with the "dead," that is, with those who "passed out" before and after His time and who have passed on to the Astral World, as we have explained in this lesson. Whether or not the framers of the Creed so understood it-whether or not they were deluded by the tradition of the "Day of Judgment"-certainly the Early Christians, or rather, the mystics among them, understood the teachings as we have given them and spoke of Him as "living in the dead as well as in the living," as one of the occult records expresses it.

"The communion of saints" is the spiritual understanding of the Mysteries by the Illumined Ones. "The forgiveness of sins" is the overcoming of the carnal mind and desires. "The resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come" is the promise of life beyond the grave, and not the crude idea of the physical resurrection of the body, which has crept into the Apostles' Creed, evidently having been inserted at a later date in order to bolster up the pet theories of a school of theologians. Note that the Nicene Creed says merely "the dead" and not "the body." The version of the teachings preserved by the Mystics has a corresponding passage, "And we know the _truth_ of the _deathlessness of the soul_." (The italics are ours.)

The consideration of remaining passages in the creeds, relating to the existence of the "Holy Ghost," must be deferred until our next lesson.

THE TENTH LESSON. THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

The concluding statement of the Creeds (brought over from the preceding lesson) refers to the Holy Ghost.

"I believe in the Holy Ghost." (_Apostles' Creed_.)

"And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life." (_Nicene Creed_.)

To the average Christian the nature of the Holy Ghost-one of the beings of the Trinity-is veiled in obscurity, and is generally pronounced "not to be understood." A careful examination of the orthodox Christian writings will show the student that the Church is very much at sea regarding this subject, which should be of the greatest importance to its priests and congregations. Ask the average intelligent churchman regarding the nature of the Holy Ghost, and see for yourself the vague, contradictory and unsatisfactory concepts held by the person questioned. Then turn to the encyclopaedias and other books of reference, and see how little is known or taught regarding this important subject.

It is only when the teachings of Mystic Christianity are consulted that one receives any light on the subject. The Occult Teachings are quite explicit on this subject so fraught with difficulty and lack of comprehension on the part of the orthodox teachers and students.

The teaching of Mystic Christianity, regarding the Holy Ghost, may be summed up by the great general statement that: _The Holy Ghost is the Absolute in its phase of Manifestation, as compared to its phase of Unmanifestation_-_Manifest Being as compared with Unmanifest Being_-_God Create as compared with God Uncreate_-_God acting as the Creative Principle as compared to God as The Absolute Being_.

The student is asked to read over the above general statement a number of times and to concentrate his or her attention carefully upon it, before proceeding further with the lesson.

To understand the above statement it is necessary for the student to remember that the Absolute may be thought of as existing in _two phases. Not as two persons or beings_, remember, but as in _two phases_. There is but One Being-there can be but One-but we may think of that One as existing in two phases. One of these phases is Being Unmanifest; the other, Being Manifest.

_Being Unmanifest_ is the One in its phase of Absolute Being, undifferentiated, unmanifested, uncreated; without attributes, qualities, or natures.

It is impossible for the human mind to grasp the above concept of Being Manifest in the sense of being able to think of it as a "Thing, or Something." This because of the essential being of it. If it were like anything that we can think of, it would not be the Absolute, nor would it be Unmanifest. Everything that we can think of as a "thing" is a relative thing-a manifestation into objective being.

But we are compelled by the very laws of our reason to admit that the Absolute Being Unmanifest exists, for the Manifest and Relative Universe and Life _must have_ proceeded and emanated from a Fundamental Reality, which must be Absolute and Unmanifest. And this Being which our highest reason causes us to assume to exist is Being Unmanifest-God the Father-who cannot be known through the senses-whose existence is made known to us only through Pure Reason, or through the workings of the Spirit within us. In the material sense "God is Unknowable"-but in the higher sense He may be known to the Spirit of Man, and His existence may be _known_ and proven by the exercise of the highest faculties of the reason.

Being Unmanifest is the One in its _actual_ existence and being. If all the world of objective life and manifestation, even to its highest forms, were withdrawn from manifestation, then there would be left-what? Simply and solely, Being Unmanifest-God the Father, alone. Into His Being all else would be withdrawn. Outside of Him there would be _nothing_. He would be Himself-One-existing in the phase of Being Unmanifest.

We are aware that this idea may seem to be "too abstruse" for the minds of some of our students at first reading-it may appear like an assertion of a Being who is Non-Being. But, be not too hasty-take time-and your mind will assimilate the concept, and will find that it has a corresponding Truth imbedded in its inmost recesses, and then it will know this to be the Truth. And then will it recognize the existence of God the Father, as compared with God, the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost, as we have said, is the Absolute in its phase of Manifest Being. That is, it is God as manifest in the Spirit of Life, which is immanent in, and manifest in, all objective life and phenomena in the Cosmos or Universe.

In previous series of lessons in the Yogi Philosophy, we have shown you that there was a Spirit of Life immanent in, and manifesting through, all forms of life. We have also shown you that everything in the Universe is alive-down to even the minerals, and the atoms composing matter. We have shown you that inasmuch as the Spirit of Life is the source of all Manifestations in the universe, and the "God in the machine" of all phenomena of force, matter and life, then it naturally follows that there can be nothing dead in the world-that there is LIFE manifesting in every object, varying only in the degree of manifestation. In our "Advanced Lessons" and in "Gnani Yoga" this subject is considered in detail. Then what is this Spirit of Life? If God is All, then it cannot be Something other than God. But it cannot well be God the Uncreate-the Absolute in its Absolute phase-the Being Unmanifest. Then what can it be?