GLN: 15:43 "The universe came into being and exists because I AM. It is My reflection in matter. As a man remains unaffected by the manifestations of his shadow, so do I remain unaffected by the material creation. As heat comes forth from fire and contains its essence and nature, though it is not fire, neither has it the substance of fire, so does My creation relate to Me. I am as an object reflected in water. The water may not know the reflection or find it within itself, but this inability has no effect on the reality of the object, nor on the fact of its reflection. It is as a man looking into clear water on a calm day sees his reflection therein, but if the wind blows the image becomes distorted, and if the sun hides its face, the image disappears. Yet, none of these effects touches upon the image itself, nor upon that which casts the image. When the wind drops, the cloud vanishes and the sun reappears, both distortion and deception end, and the reality is again reflected. Within My creation is My Spirit, which supports it, and this Spirit is the bond between My creation and Myself. No man acknowledges the air because it is still, but when this same air becomes a whirlwind men give it their whole attention. With Me, all is real, while with man all is illusion; but man may abandon his illusions in seeking Me, and he will thereby discover reality. I am the Reality Behind the Reflection; I am the Uncaused Cause."
GLN: 15:44 "Those who turn away from the glorious jewel within to seek an outside god, a separate, unresponsive being, are looking for a mere trinket, while disregarding the priceless treasure already in their keeping. Men of light worship the vision of light; men of darkness and ignorance worship ghosts and dark spirits, demons of the night. There are men who, moved by dark beliefs or their carnal lusts and perverted passions, perform awful austerities and self-mutilations never ordained by Me. They delight in tormenting the life and spirit within their bodies. They are truly deluded victims of the darkest form of ignorance. Yet, some derive pleasure from their pains and torments, and so continue them, but these may be truly described as mutilated souls. Some men follow gods who punish wickedness and reward good, and therefore tend towards goodness, but is it not folly to follow non-existent gods? All men choose their own spiritual destiny, whether it be done knowingly or not, for under the Law, their future state must rest in their own hands. I am the God Who ordained the Law, and nothing man can do will change it. My love alone mitigates the consequences of man's unredeemed wickedness. I am the Changeless One. Could a God of Love become a God of Vengeance? Revenge is something alien to Me. Therefore, is it reasonable that men should believe I could be one thing today and then, because they fall into error, become something else tomorrow? My nature is not as that of man. IAM as IAM.
GLN: 15:45 "I am not influenced by the mere formal actions of men, or by empty sacrifice. Lighted lamps and candles, days of fasting and self- mortification by man cannot sway Me in his favour. I am not to be bribed, for
I am God. He who handles fire carelessly and gets burnt cannot blame the fire; neither can he who goes into swift waters and drowns blame the waters. There are laws, the violation of which brings retribution in its train. They who by their own deeds bring pain and suffering upon themselves cannot blame Me for what ensues. These are the effects of the lesser laws which are easily understood, but above these is the Great Law, which is not so incomprehensible. Under this, the link between the deed and its effect is not so apparent; men bring down calamity and suffering upon their own heads and blame Me, when the fault lies with them and the cause is their own misconduct or misconception. Men reap as they sow and I am the Fertile Field, which takes no part in the sowing or the reaping Man is his own master and the lord of his own destiny. He cannot expect help from any great power, unless he himself expend effort to contact such power or be deserving of help. Everything a man is or becomes is the result of his own striving and efforts, or his lack of them. I made man to be a man, not a mere puppet or nursling. I am the God of the Law. I am the God of the Stalwart."
GLN: 15:46 "Man is the heir to divinity, and the road to divinity is spirituality. Man cannot become spiritual except through his own efforts and striving. He cannot achieve it by being led by the hand or through fear of punishment, nor by greed through anticipation of a reward. He who enters into his heritage of divinity will be no weakling; he will have trodden a hard and stony path."
GLN: 15:47 "Man has two ways of knowing Me. He can know Me through his own spiritual awakening or through the continued revelation of moral law and divine purpose by My inspired servants. To know Me through a spiritually awakened self is the way of certainty, but few can suffer its austerities and disciplines."
GLN: 15:48 "When the spirit of man is unawakened, he cannot know the great self within him, of which he is apart. Not knowing his true nature and unable to see clearly, he is blinded by material delusions. Would not the creatures of the night, which never see the sun, deem the moon to be the most brilliant light in the sky above? So it is with the man walking in the darkness of spiritual unconsciousness. He says, "I am the body, and the body is my whole being," and in the delusion of that belief he becomes ensnared in an existence bound to matter. Like the creatures bound to an existence in the night, which cannot know the glories of things flourishing in the brilliance of daylight, so it is with men bound to the darkness of spiritual ignorance."
GLN: 15:49 "As a shadow in the night is mistaken for an intruder, or a mirage is mistaken for a pool of clear water, so does the spiritually immature man mistake the material body for the whole living being. As the shimmering heat haze appears like solid water, so does the outer body appear as the whole being to the spiritually unawakened. As, to a man in a moving boat, another boat lying still on the water will often appear to be moving, while he himself seems to remain still, so the unawakened spirit is deluded by appearances, seeing the mortal body as a whole being. When in fact the clouds are flying overhead, it appears as though the moon itself is speeding across the Heavens, it is only the knowledge and experience we have of the skies above, which tell us this cannot be the truth. Thus it is with the spiritually unawakened man who, in his ignorance, thinks the mortal body is the whole being, and, having no knowledge or experience of the spiritual region, is deceived. In fact all the beliefs of man which hold that the mortal body is the whole being are generated in the darkness of ignorance. A man may be wise in the ways of men, but completely ignorant and unaware of the higher, more glorious things, which are revealed in the light of the spirit."
GLN: 15:50 "The man held in bondage to delusion says, "If there be another body, a part of me of which I am unaware, it cannot be real, neither can I know it. My eyes are infallible guides, seeing things just as they are, and any feelings I may experience have their origin within my mortal being. I am the child of my body." This man is deluded, like the creatures of the night, or as the man who sees a mirage. Are the eyes, which see mirages totally reliable? Motes swimming in the sunbeam are unsubstantial things, yet things such as these are the bricks of man's body, the eyes making them appear solid and substantial, the unreal for the real, his mortal body for his whole self. The deluded man ignores the spiritual part of his being and its needs. He cherishes the mortal body, gratifying its desires with earthly pleasures. Like the silkworm, he becomes captive in a cocoon of his own making. The man who lavishes undue care on the mortal body displays his own spiritual ignorance and inadequacy. To be free from existence in the darkness of ignorance, to know the glory of life in the light of spiritual consciousness, a man must first awaken his spirit; in this way alone can he become aware of his true nature."