The advancement and the changes that have been made upon the physical side of life since the scientific method appeared, have been so numerous and so wonderful that we really do not appreciate them all. The reason is we have become so accustomed to miracles in every-day life that we do not stop to consider the principles and laws through which all these things have been accomplished. Those principles and laws, however, are based upon the scientific method; and it is that method that deserves the credit for every comfort and every mode of advancement in life that we enjoy at the present time.

Realizing this great fact, the question is, if we can apply the same method to the spiritual universe. We have searched the mysteries of the physical kingdoms, and we have found thousands of invaluable facts; we are finding more and more every day, and we are working them out in a practical manner for the greatest good of man; but can we understand the mysteries of the spiritual kingdom in the same way? Can we enter the vastness of higher realms, and find greater and greater truth in those realms, through the same method that we have employed in the physical or tangible world? If we can, then the mysteries of the kingdom will not be mysterious much longer; we shall soon learn to understand them all, and gain possession of wisdom such as we have never dreamed.

We are familiar with the physical side of science; and our minds have been so engrossed in this physical side that we have never paused to ask ourselves the question if there might not be another side to science - a side that would relate itself directly to the spiritual realms. For this reason, we have failed to appreciate the power of the scientific method in connection with higher and finer things. But now we know that there is another side to science, and that this other or higher side can be applied as successfully in the spiritual world as the physical side of science has been applied in the tangible world. However, we do not refer to any special kind of science, but refer to the scientific principle itself, without any modifications or specifications whatever; that is, it is the idea involved in the scientific method - the only method known for the finding of truth - with which we are concerned; and we have now come to the conclusion that it is pure science that we must apply, not only to the physical, but to the metaphysical, and also to the spiritual, if we would know all truth and place ourselves in a position where we can constantly rise in the understanding of a greater and greater measure of truth.

Appreciating this fact, the problem will be, how to apply the scientific method in the search of truth in the spiritual world. The Great Master Mind declared, "It is for you to know the mysteries of the kingdom;" but until recently we did not give serious attention to that remarkable statement; and the reason may possibly be found in the fact that our spiritual needs had not become sufficiently strong to arouse our minds in a manner where we really could not tolerate our limitations any longer. In recent times, however, most of us have come to places where we felt that we simply would have to secure new light; and the whole world almost is in that positon at the present time. Nearly everybody feels the need of a new life and a higher state of existence; but the majority do not know how to proceed in the search of what their souls demand. They have a fear of going out upon the seeming void, not realizing that this seeming void is nothing less than a greater world of substantial and finer reality. But there are many who have eliminated that fear, and who have begun to get out upon the seeming void, finding there the solid rock of greater truth, as all will do who take that most important step.

We must remember, that in the search of truth, there is no need of having fear of anything, because while we are in the search of truth, we cannot go astray. If it is the truth that we want, and if we are applying the best methods that we know, we shall gain at least a measure of greater truth; and we will not go astray; we will not be lost even though we leave behind us all the beliefs of the past. We need not think that we will enter the desert of uncertainty simply because we leave the lesser in search of the greater; for the fact is, we cannot go very far in any direction, if we are in search of truth, without finding something that will prove of greater value for the advancement and the enrichment of life than anything we possessed before. Our ruling purpose therefore from this time on should be, to go out more and more into the vastness of the higher and the greater realms of the spiritual world, knowing that the farther we go into that world, the more truth we shall find; and as we grow in the truth, life will become larger, richer, more enjoyable and more beautiful; and in addition, we shall become living examples to the thousands who are in search of those higher things that we have found.

When we consider the mysteries of the kingdom, we must remember that we are dealing purely with the spiritual side of life; and we must realize that the spiritual side, or the seeming unreal, is the most real of all states of existence. There is far greater reality in the life of the spirit than there is in the life of the material; indeed, it is only in the spiritual that we find reality in its true state of being; and when we realize this, then it is that we shall begin to gain, not only a higher understanding of all life, but a greater degree of mastery, both of the mental world and of the material world.

We are subject to physical conditions only so long as we continue to believe that the body is more real than the soul. The very moment, however, that we know absolutely that the soul is more real than the body, then the soul will begin to gain mastery over the body; and when the soul does gain mastery over the body, all imperfect conditions in the physical life must disappear. The principle is the same as that of turning on the light; when the light comes, then darkness must go.