,,cosmic ,,consciousness ,the ,man-,god ,whom ,we ,await by ,,ali ,,nomad #aiae ,,contents ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,new ,,birth2 ,,what ,,it ,,is2 ,,instances ,,described ,the religions and philosophies of the ,orient and the ,occident compared2 their chief difference2 ,the mistaken idea of death4 ,cosmic ,consciousness not common in the ,orient4 ,why8 ,what the earnest disciple strives for4 ,the ,real and the unreal4 ,buddha's agonized yearnings2 why he was moved by them with such irresistible power2 the ultimate victory4 ,the identity of ,the ,absolute2 ,the ,oriental teachings2 ,the ,spiritual ,maxims of ,brother ,lawrence2 ,the seemingly miraculous power of the ,oriental initiate2 does he really talk to birds and animals8 ,how they learn to know and read the heart of the world4 ,the inner temples throughout ,japan4 ,the strange experience of a ,zen 7a ,holy ,order of ,japan71 student-priest in attaining mukti4 ,the key to ,realization4 ,an address by ,manikyavasayar1 one of the great ,tamil saints of ,southern ,india4 ,the ,hindu conception of ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,the ,japanese idea of the state4 ,the ,buddhist ,life-saving monasteries2 how the priests extend their consciousness to immeasurable distances at will4 ,the last incarnation of ,god in ,india4 ,his marvelous insight4 ,the urge of the spiritual yearning for the ,voice of the ,mother4 ,his twelve years of struggle4 ,his final illumination4 ,the unutterable bliss pictured in his own words4 ,what the ,persian mystics allusion to union with the ,beloved signifies2 its exoteric and its esoteric meaning4 ,the ,way of the ,gods4 ,the chief difference between the message of ,jesus and that of other holy men4 ,the famous ,song of ,solomon and the different interpretations2 a new version4 ,a ,french writer's evident glimpses of the new birth4 ,man's relation to the universe4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,man',s ,,relation ,,to ,,god ,,and ,,to ,,his ,,fellow-,,men ,the great riddle and a new solution4 ,the persistence of the ideal of ,perfected ,man2 ,has it any basis in history8 ,the superlative faculty of spiritual sight as depicted by artists1 painters and sculptors4 ,symbols of consciousness4 ,the way in which the higher consciousness expresses itself4 ,certain peculiar traits which distinguish those destined to the influx4 ,the abode of the gods2 ,the conditioned promise of godhood in ,man4 ,what is ,nirvana8 ,the ,vedantan idea4 ,the ,christian idea4 ,did ,jesus teach the kingdom of ,god on earth8 ,is there a basis for belief in physical immortality8 ,a new explanation4 ,the perilous paths4 ,those who will see ,god4 ,evolution of consciousness from prehistoric man to the highest developed beings4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,areas ,,of ,,consciousness ,the ,divine spark4 ,consciousness the essence of everything4 ,axioms of universal ,occultism4 ,the great central light4 ,the teachings of ,oriental seers regarding the ultimate goal4 ,different stages of mankind4 ,births in consciousness4 ,physical consciousness3 its limitations4 ,mental consciousness3 the jungles of the mind4 ,soul consciousness2 whither it leads4 ,the irresistible urge4 ,why we obey it4 ,sayings of ancient manuscripts4 ,perfecting ,light4 ,the disciple's test4 ,awakening of the divine man4 ,is he now on earth8 ,what is meant by the awakening of the inner ,self4 ,is the atman asleep8 ,the doctrine of illusion2 its relation to ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,self-,,ness ,,and ,,selflessness ,the ,dark ,ages4 ,the esoteric meaning of religious practices4 ,the penetrating power of spiritual insight4 ,the mystery of conversion4 ,the paradox of ,self-attainment and the necessity for selflessness4 ,the ,oriental teachings regarding the ,self4 ,the wisdom of the ,illumined ,master4 ,the test of fitness for ,nirvana4 ,what caused ,buddha the greatest anxiety8 ,experiences of ,oriental sages and their testimony4 ,what correlation exists between ,buddha's desire and the attainment of ,cosmic ,consciousness among ,occidental disciples4 ,,chapter ,v ,,instances ,,of ,,illumination ,,and ,,its ,,after ,,effects ,the wonderful brilliancy of ,illumination4 ,dr4 ,bucke's description of the ,cosmic ,light2 his opinion regarding the possibility of becoming more general4 ,peculiar methods of producing spiritual ecstacy1 as described by ,lord ,tennyson and others4 ,the ,power and ,presence of ,god1 as a reality4 ,the dissolution of race barriers4 ,the effacement of the sense of sin among the ,illuminati4 ,what is meant by the phrase naked and unashamed4 ,will such a state ever exist on the earth8 ,efforts of those who have experienced ,cosmic ,consciousness to express the experience2 the strange similarity found in all attempts4 ,is there any evidence that ,cosmic ,consciousness is possible to all8 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,examples ,,of ,,cosmic ,,consciousness1 ,,who ,,have ,,founded ,,new ,,systems ,,of ,,religion ,the simple religion of early ,japan4 ,the inner or secret shrine3 its esoteric and its exoteric office4 ,the ,mystic ,brotherhoods4 ,why the esoteric meanings have always been veiled4 ,the great teachers and the uniformity of their instructions4 ,philosophy as taught by ,vivekananda4 ,the fundamental doctrine of ,buddhism4 ,have the present-day ,buddhists lost the key8 ,is religion necessary to ,illumination8 ,the fruits of ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,moses1 ,,the ,,law-,,giver ,the salient features of the ,law as given by ,moses to his people4 ,had the ancient ,hebrews any knowledge of ,illumination and its results8 ,the symbol of liberation4 ,its esoteric meaning4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,gautama--,,the ,,compassionate ,prenatal conditions influencing ,buddha4 ,his strange temperament4 ,his peculiar trances and their effect upon him4 ,why ,buddha endured such terrible struggles2 is suffering necessary to ,cosmic ,consciousness8 ,from what was ,buddha finally liberated8 ,the simplicity of ,buddha's commandments in the light of ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,the fundamental truths taught by ,buddha and all other sages4 ,buddha's own words regarding death and ,nirvana4 ,last words to his disciples4 ,how the teachings of ,buddha compare with the vision of ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,his method of development of spiritual consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,jesus ,,of ,,nazareth ,the astonishing similarity found in all religious precepts2 the distinguishing feature of the teachings as delivered by ,jesus4 ,his repeated allusion to the light within4 ,the great commandment he gave to his disciples4 ,love the basis of the teachings of all ,illumined minds4 ,the ,second ,coming of ,christ4 ,the signs of the times4 ,,chapter ,x ,,paul ,,of ,,tarsus ,his undoubted experience of illumination and its effects4 ,was ,paul changed by conversion1 or what was the wonderful power that altered his whole life8 ,why ,paul sought seclusion after his illumination4 ,characteristics of all ,illumined ones4 ,the desire for simplicity4 ,paul's incomparable description of the ,love that never faileth4 ,the safe guide to illumination4 ,the first fruits of the spirit1 as prophesied by ,paul4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,mohammed ,mohammed a predestined ,leader4 ,condition of ,arabia at his birth4 ,prophecies of a ,messiah4 ,his peculiar psychic temperament2 his frequent attacks of catalepsy2 his sufferings because of doubt2 his never-ceasing urge toward a final revelation4 ,his changed state after the revelation on ,mt4 ,hara4 ,his unswerving belief in his mission2 his devotion to ,truth2 ,his simplicity and humility4 ,his claim to ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,emanuel ,,swedenborg ,swedenborg's early life4 ,his sudden change from materialism4 ,the difficulty of clear enunciation4 ,his unfailing belief in the divinity of his revelations4 ,how they compare with experiences of others4 ,the frequent reception of the ,light4 ,the blessing of ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,modern ,,examples ,,of ,,intellectual ,,cosmic ,,consciousness3 ,,emerson2 ,,tolstoi2 ,,balzac ,the way to ,illumination through intellectual cultivation2 ,emerson a notable example2 ,the ,cosmic note in his essays and conversations4 ,emerson's religious nature4 ,his familiarity with ,oriental philosophy2 his remarkable discrimination2 the peculiar penetrating quality of his intellect4 ,his never failing assurance of unity with the ,divine4 ,his belief in a spiritual life4 ,did ,emerson predict a ,millenium8 ,his writings as they reflect light upon his attainment of ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,,leo ,,tolstoi--,,russian ,,philosopher ,tolstoi the strangest and most unusual figure of the ,nineteenth ,century2 ,his almost unbearable sufferings2 his avowed materialism2 his horror of death2 ,the prevailing gloom of his writings and to what due4 ,incidents in his life previous to his illumination4 ,the remarkable and radical change made by his experience4 ,to what was due ,tolstoi's great struggle and suffering8 ,why the great philosopher sought to die in a hut4 ,his idea not one of penance4 ,the signal change in his life after illumination4 ,what he says of this4 ,,honore ,,de ,,balzac ,balzac's classification as of the psychic temperament4 ,his amazing power of magnetic attraction4 ,his feminine refinement in dress4 ,his power of inspiration gave him his place in ,french literature4 ,the dominant motive of all his writings4 ,his unshakable conviction of immortality4 ,his power to function on both planes of consciousness4 ,the lesson to be drawn from ,seraphita4 ,balzac's evident intention1 and why veiled4 ,the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from the ,symbolical character4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,illumination ,,as ,,expressed ,,in ,,the ,,poetical ,,temperament ,poetry the language of ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,unconscious instruments of the ,cosmic law4 ,the true poet and the maker of rhymes4 ,the mission and scope of the poetical temperament4 ,how temperament affects expression4 ,no royal road to ,illumination4 ,teaching of ,oriental mysticism4 ,whitman's extraordinary experience4 ,his idea of ,perfections4 ,lord ,tennyson's two distinct states of consciousness2 his early boyhood and strange experiences4 ,facts about his illumination4 ,the after effects4 ,tennyson's vision of the future4 ,wordsworth1 the poet of ,nature4 ,how he attained and lost spiritual illumination4 ,how he again received the great ,light4 ,the evidences of two states of consciousness4 ,outline of his illumination4 ,noguchi--a most remarkable instance of ,illumination in early youth2 ,lines expressive of an exalted state of consciousness2 how it resulted in later life4 ,the strange case of ,william ,sharp and ,fiona ,macleod3 a perfect example of dual consciousness2 the distinguishing features of the self and the ,self2 the fine line of demarcation4 ,how the writer succeeded in living two distinct lives and the result4 ,remarkable contribution to literature4 ,a puzzling instance of phases of consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,methods ,,of ,,attainment3 ,,the ,,way ,,of ,,illumination ,the four ,oriental methods of liberation4 ,the goal of the soul's pilgrimage4 ,strange theory advanced4 ,revolutionary results that follow4 ,how to perceive the actuality of the higher ,self4 ,gaining immortality ,in the flesh2 ,what ,revelation has promised and its substantiation in modern ,science4 ,the prize and the price4 ,some valuable ,yoga exercises to induce spiritual ecstacy4 ,what union with ,god really means4 ,the ,brahmic ,bliss of the ,upanashads4 ,the new race2 its powers and privileges4 ,the man-god whom we await as described by ,emerson4 ,,the ,,self ,,and ,,symbol ,thou most ,divine6 above all women ,above all men in consciousness4 ,thou in thy nearness to me ,hast shown me paths of love4 ,yea2 walks that lead from hell ,to the great light2 where life and love ,do ever reign4 ,thou hast taught to me a patience ,to behold whatever state2 ,however beautiful and joyful2 however ugly and sorrowful4 ,to know that these are--all6--but ,the glimmerings of the greater life-- ,expressions of the infinite4 ,according to the finality of that moment ,now to come2 in the eternal now1 which thou ,sweet ,presence1 hast awakened me to-- ,i see the light--the way4 ,an everlasting illumination ,that takes me to the gate2 the open door ,to the house of ,god4 ,there ,i find most priceless jewels2 ,the key to all the ways1 ,that lead from ,om to thee4 ,a mistake--an off-turn from the apparent road of right ,is but the bruising of thy temple1 ,calling thy ,self--thy soul-- ,the ,god within2 showing thee1 ,the nita of it all2 which is but the half of me4 ,and as thy consciousness of the two ,the nita and the ita1 comes to thee ,a three is formed--the trinity is found4 ,through thee the ,deity hast spoken ,uniting the two in the one2 ,revealing the illusion of mortality ,the message of ,om to the ,illumined4 --,ali ,nomad4 ,,argument ,man is essentially a spiritual being4 ,the source of this spiritual ,omniscience we may not1 in our finite intelligence1 fully cognize1 because full cognition would preclude the possibility of finite expression4 ,the destiny of man is perfection4 ,man perfected becomes a god4 ,only the gods are immortal1 we are told4 ,let us consider what this means1 supposing it to be an axiom of truth4 ,mortality is subject to change and death4 ,mortality is the manifest--the stage upon which man in his life plays many parts4 ,immortality1 is what the word says it is--godhood re-cognized in the mortal4 ,im or1 ,om--the more general term--stands for the ,changeless4 ,birthless4 ,deathless4 ,unnamable ,power that holds the worlds in space1 and puts intelligence into man4 ,biologists1 even though they were to succeed in reproducing life by chemical processes from so-called lifeless 7sterilized7 matter1 making so high a form of manifestation as man himself1 yet could never name the power by which they accomplished it4 ,always there must remain the ,unknownable--the ,absolute4 ,om1 therefore1 is the word we use to express this ,omniscient1 ,omnipotent and ,omnipresent power4 ,the term mortal we have already defined4 ,the compound immortal1 applied to individual man1 stands for one who has made his at-one-ment with ,om1 and who has1 while still in the mortal body1 re-cognized himself as one with ,om4 ,this is what it means to escape the second death1 to which the merely mortal consciousness is subject4 ,this is the goal of every human life2 this is the essence1 the substance of all religious systems and all philosophies4 ,the only chance for disputation among theologians and philosophers1 lies in the way of accomplishing this at-one-ment4 ,there is not the slightest opportunity for a difference of opinion as what they wish to accomplish4 ,admitting then1 that the goal of every soul is the same--immortality--7the mortal consciousness cognizing itself as ,om71 we come to a consideration of the evidence we may find in support of this axiom4 ,this evidence we do not find satisfactory1 in spirit communication2 in psychic experiences2 in hypnotic phenomena2 and astral trips2 important1 and reliable as these many psychic research phenomena are4 ,these are not satisfactory or convincing evidences of our at-one-ment with ,om1 because they do not preclude the probability of the second death2 but on the contrary1 they verify it4 ,however1 aside from all these psychic phenomena1 there is a phase of human experience1 much more rare but becoming somewhat general1 that transcends phenomena of every kind4 ,the western world has given to these experiences the term cosmic consciousness1 which term is self explanatory4 ,the ,orientals have long known of this goal of the soul1 and they have terms to express this1 varying with the many types of the ,oriental mind1 but all meaning the same thing4 ,this meaning1 from our ,occidental viewpoint1 is best translated in the term liberation1 signifying to be set free from the limitations of sense1 and of self-consciousness1 and to have glimpsed the larger area of consciousness1 that takes in the very cosmos4 ,this experience is accompanied by a great light1 whether this light is manifested as spiritual1 or as intellectual power1 determines its expression4 ,the object of this book is to call attention to some of the more pronounced instances of this ,illumination1 and to classify them1 according as they have been expressed through religions enthusiasm2 poetical fervor2 or great intellectual power4 ,but we have also one other argument to make1 and this we present with a conviction of its truth1 while conceding that it must remain a theory1 until proven1 each individual1 man or woman1 for himself and herself4 ,the postulate is this3 immortality 7i4e4 godhood7 is bi-sexual4 ,no male person can by any possibility become an immortal god1 in1 of and by himself2 no female person can be complete without the other half that makes the ,,one4 ,each and every ,,soul1 therefore1 has its spiritual counterpart--its other half1 with which it unites on the spiritual plane1 when the time comes for attainment of immortality4 ,sex is an eternal verity4 ,the entire ,cosmos is bi-sexual4 ,everything in the visible universe2 in the manifest1 is the result of this universal principle4 ,as above so below1 is a safe rule1 as far as the ,,idea goes4 ,this hypothesis does not preclude perfection above1 of that which we find below1 but any radical reversion or repudiation of nature is inconceivable4 ,male and female created he them4 ,this being true1 male and female must they return to the source from which they sprung1 completing the circle1 and gaining what8 ,consciousness of godhood2 of completeness in counterpartal union4 ,not absorption of consciousness1 but union1 which is quite a different idea4 ,out of this counterpartal union a race of gods will be born1 and these supermen1 shall inherit the earth making it a fit dwelling place for the gods4 ,this earth is now being made fit4 ,this fact may seem a far distant hope if we do not judge with the eyes of the seer1 but its proof lies in the emancipation of woman4 ,its evidences are many and varied1 but the awakening of woman is the cause4 ,this awakening of woman constitutes the first rays of the dawn--that long-looked for ,millenium1 which many of us have regarded as a mere figure of speech1 instead of as a literal truth4 ,the argument is not that there has been no individual awakening until the present time2 but that never before in the finite history of the world has there been such a general awakening1 and as it is self evident that conditions will reflect the idea of the majority1 the fact that woman is being given her rightful place in the sense-conscious life1 proves that the earth will be a fit dwelling place for a higher order of beings than have hitherto constituted the majority4 ,the numerous instances of ,illumination1 or cosmic consciousness which are forcing attention at the present time1 prove that there is a race-awakening to a realization of our unity with ,om4 ,another point which we trust these pages will make clear is this3 ,so-called revelation is neither a personal discovery1 nor any special act of a divine power4 ,god spake thus and so to me1 is a phrase which the self-conscious initiate employs1 because he has lost sight of the cosmic light1 or because he finds it expedient to use that phraseology in delivering the message of cosmic consciousness4 ,if we will substitute the term initiation1 for the term revelation1 we will have a clearer idea of the truth4 ,perhaps some of our readers will feel that the terms mean the same1 but for the most part1 those who have employed the word revelation1 have used it as implying that the plan of the cosmos was unfinished1 and that the ,creator1 having found some person suitable to convey the latest decision to mankind1 natural laws had been suspended and the revelation made4 ,it is to correct this view1 that we emphasize the distinction between the two words4 ,the cosmos is complete4 ,as it was in the beginning1 it is now and ever shall be1 worlds without end4 ,a circle is without beginning or end4 ,we1 in our individual consciousness may traverse this circle1 but our failure to realize its completeness does not change the fact that it is finished4 ,we can not add to the universal consciousness2 nor take away therefrom4 ,but we can extend our own area of consciousness from the narrow limits of the personal self1 into the heights and depths of the atman and who shall set limitations to the power of the atman1 the higher ,self1 when it has attained at-one-ment with ,om8 ,it is not the purpose of this book to trace the spiritual ascent of man further than to point out the wide gulf between the degrees of consciousness manifested in the lower animals and that of human consciousness2 again tracing in the human1 the ever-widening area of his cognition of the personal self1 and its needs1 to the awakening of the soul and its needs2 which needs include the welfare of all living things as an absolute necessity to individual happiness4 ,altruism1 therefore1 is not a virtue4 ,it is a means of self-preservation--without this degree of initiation into the boundless area of universal1 or cosmic consciousness1 we may not escape the karmic law4 ,the revelations1 therefore1 upon which are founded the numerous religious systems1 are comparable with the many and various degrees of initiation into ,,that ,,which ,,is4 ,they represent the degree which the initiate has taken in the lodge4 ,it may be argued that this fact of individual initiation into the ever-present truth of ,being1 as into a lodge1 offers no proof that this earth is to ultimately become a heaven4 ,it may be that this planet is the outer-most lodge room and that there will never be a sufficient number of initiates to make the earth a fit dwelling place for a higher order of beings than now inhabit it4 ,this may1 indeed1 be true4 ,but all evidence tends toward the hope that even the planet itself will come under the regenerating power of ,illumination4 ,all prophecies embody this promise2 all that we know of what materialists call evolution and occultists might well name uncovering of consciousness1 points to a time when ,god's will1 shall be done on earth as it is in heaven4 ,all who have attained to cosmic consciousness in whatever degree1 have prophecied a time1 when this blessing would descend upon every one2 but the difficulty in adequately explaining this great gift seems also to have been the burden of their cry4 ,jesus sought repeatedly to describe to his hearers the wonders of the cosmic sense1 but realized that he was too far in advance of the cyclic end2 but even as at that time1 a number of disciples were capable of receiving the ,illumination1 so to-day1 a larger number are capable of attainment4 ,if this number is great enough to bring about the regeneration--the perfecting--of the earth conditions1 then it must be accomplished4 ,we believe that it is4 ,we make the claim that the ,millenium has dawned2 and although it may be many years before the light of the morning breaks into the full light of the day1 yet the rays of the dawn are dispelling the world's long night4 ,in his powerful and prophetic story ,in the ,days of the ,comet1 ,h4,g4 ,wells1 tells of a great change that comes over the world following an atmospheric phenomenon in which a green vapor is generated in the clouds and falls upon the earth with instantaneous effect4 ,as this peculiar vapor descends1 it has the effect of putting every one to sleep2 this sleep continues for three days and when people finally awake1 their interior nature has undergone a complete change4 ,where before they saw dimly1 they now see clearly2 the petty differences and quarrels are perceived in their true perspective4 ,instead of place1 and power1 and influence1 and wealth1 being all-important goals of ambition as before the change1 every one now strives to be of service to the world4 ,love and kindness become greater factors than commercial expediency and business success4 ,in many respects1 ,wells' description of the great change and its effect upon people1 corresponds with the effect of ,illumination4 ,the sense of entering into the very heart of things2 of growing plants2 the birds and the little wood animals2 the intense sympathy and understanding of life described by him1 sounds like the effect of cosmic consciousness1 as related by nearly all who have attained it4 ,how the world's activities are resumed after the change1 and under what vastly different incentives people work1 form a part of the story1 which is written as fiction1 but which contains the seed of a great truth4 ,this truth is expressed in science1 as human achievement1 and in religion as fulfilled prophecy1 but the truth is the same4 ,both religion and science point to a time when this earth will know freedom from strife and suffering4 ,even the elements which have hitherto been regarded as beyond the boundaries of man's will1 may be completely controlled2 not may be1 but will be4 ,manual labor will cease4 ,national ,eugenic societies will put a stop to war1 when they come to the inevitable conclusion1 that no race can by any possibility be improved1 while the most perfect physical species are reserved for armies4 ,awakening woman will refuse--indeed they are now refusing--to bear children to be shot down in warfare1 and crushed under the juggernaut of commercial competition4 ,those who realize the signs of the times1 look for the birth of cosmic consciousness as a race-consciousness1 foreshadowing the new day2 the second coming of ,christ1 not as a personal1 vicarious sacrifice1 but as a factor in human attainment4 ,for ,i am persuaded1 said ,st4 ,paul1 that neither death nor life1 nor angels1 nor principalities1 nor things present1 nor things to come1 nor powers1 nor height1 nor depth1 nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of ,god4 ,if we interpret this in the light of cosmic consciousness1 we realize that we shall know1 and experience that boundless1 deathless1 perfect1 satisfying1 complete and all-embracing love which is the goal of immortality2 which is an attribute 7we may say the one attribute7 of ,god4 ,we are not looking for the birth of a ,christ-child1 but of the ,christ-child2 we are not looking for a second coming of a man who shall be as ,jesus was1 but we are anticipating the coming of the man 7homo71 who shall be cosmically conscious1 even as was ,jesus of ,nazareth2 as was ,guatama1 the ,buddha4 ,that there may be one man and one woman who shall first achieve this consciousness and realization is barely possible1 but the preponderance of evidence is for a more general awakening to the light of ,illumination4 ,we shall not all sleep1 but we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye1 said ,st4 ,paul4 ,the prophecy of the woman clothed with the sun1 and with the moon under her feet1 is not of a woman1 but of ,woman1 in the light of a race of men who have attained cosmic consciousness4 ,nothing more is needed to make a heaven of earth1 than that the great light and love that comes of ,illumination1 shall become dominant4 ,it will solve all problems1 because problems arise only because we are groping in the dark4 ,the elimination of selfishness2 of condemnation2 of fear and anger1 and doubt1 must have far greater power for universal happiness and well-being than all the systems which theology or science or politics could devise4 ,indeed1 all these systems are sporadic and empirical attempts to express the vague dawning of ,illumination4 ,in the fullness of its light1 the need for systems will have passed away4 ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,new ,,birth3 ,,what ,,it ,,is3 ,,instances ,,described ,the chief difference between the religions and the philosophies of the ,orient and those of the ,occident1 lies in the fact that the ,oriental systems1 methods1 and practices1 emphasize the assumption that the goal of these efforts1 is attainable at any moment1 as it were4 ,that is1 ,oriental religion--speaking in the broad sense--teaches that the disciple need not wait for the experience called death to liberate the ,self1 the atman1 from the enchantment or delusion1 the maya1 of the external world4 ,indeed1 the ,oriental devotee well knows that physical death1 mrityu1 is not a guarantee of liberation2 does not necessarily bring with it immortality4 ,he well recognizes that physical death is but a procedure in existence4 ,death does not of itself1 change the condition of maya1 in which the disciple is bound until such a time1 as he has earned liberation--mukti1 which condition may be defined as immunity from further incarnation4 ,immortality is our rightful heritage but it must be claimed1--yea1 it must be earned4 ,it is a mistake to imagine that death makes man immortal4 ,immortality is an attribute of the gods4 ,but since all souls possess a spark of the divine essence of ,brahman 7,the ,absolute71 mukti may be attained by earnest seeking1 and thus immortality be realized4 ,this condition of awakening1 is variously named among ,oriental sages and chelas1 such for instance as glimpsing the ,brahmic splendor2 mutki2 samadhi2 moksha2 entering ,nirvana2 becoming twice-born4 ,in recent years there have come to light in the ,occident a number of instances of the attainment of this state1 and these have been described as cosmic consciousness2 illumination2 liberation2 the baptism of the ,holy ,ghost2 and becoming immersed in the great white light4 ,baptism1 which is a ceremony very generally incorporated into religious systems1 is a symbol of this esoteric truth1 namely the necessity for ,illumination in order that the soul may be saved from further incarnations--from further experience4 ,the term cosmic consciousness as well describes this condition of the disciple1 as any words can1 perhaps1 although the term liberation is more literal1 since the influx of this state of being1 is actually the liberation of the atman1 the eternal ,self1 from the illusion of the external1 or maya4 ,contrary to the general belief1 instances of cosmic consciousness are not extremely rare1 although they are not at all general4 ,particularly is this true in the ,orient1 where the chief concern as it were1 of the people has for centuries been the realization of this state of liberation4 ,the ,oriental initiate in the study of religious practices1 realizes that these devotions are for the sole purpose of attaining mukti1 whereas in the ,occident1 the very general idea held by the religious devotee1 is one of penance2 of propitiation of ,deity4 ,this truth applies essentially to the initiate1 the aspirant for priesthood1 or guru-ship4 ,no qualified priest or guru of the ,orient harbors any doubt regarding the object1 or purpose of religious practices4 ,the attainment of the spiritual experience described in occidental language as cosmic consciousness is the goal4 ,the goal is not a peaceful death2 nor yet an humble entrance into heaven as a place of abode2 nor is it the ultimate satisfying of a ,god of extreme justice2 the eye for an eye ,god of the fear-stricken theologian4 ,one purpose only1 actuates the earnest disciple1 like a glorious star lighting the path of the mariner on life's troublous sea4 ,that goal is the attainment of that beatific state in which is revealed to the soul and the mind1 the real and the unreal2 the eternal substance of truth1 and the shifting kaleidoscope of maya4 ,nor can there be any purpose in the pursuit of either religion or philosophy other than this attainment2 nor does the unceasing practice of rites and ceremonies2 of contemplation2 renunciation2 prayers2 fasting2 penance2 devotion2 service2 adoration2 absteminousness2 or isolation1 insure the attainment of this state of bliss4 ,there is no bartering2 no assurance of reward for good conduct4 ,it is not as though one would say1 ,ah1 my child1 if thou wouldst purchase liberation thou shalt follow this recipe4 ,no golden promises of speedy entrance into ,paradise may be given the disciple4 ,nor any exact rules1 or laws of equation by virtue of which the goal shall be reached4 ,nor yet may any specific time be correctly estimated in which to serve a novitiate1 before final initiation4 ,many indeed1 attain a high degree of spirituality1 and yet not have found the key of perfect liberation1 although the goal may be not far off4 ,many1 very many1 on earth to-day1 are living so close to the borderland of the new birth that they catch fleeting glimpses of the longed-for freedom1 but the full import of its meaning does not dawn4 ,there is yet another veil1 however thin1 between them and the ,light4 ,the ,buddha spent seven years in an intense longing and desire to attain that liberation which brought him consciousness of godhood--deliverance from the sense of sin and sorrow that had oppressed him2 immunity from the necessity for reincarnation4 ,jesus became a ,christ only after passing through the agonies of ,gethsemane4 ,a ,christ is one who has found liberation2 who has been born again in his individual consciousness into the inner areas of consciousness which are of the atman1 and this attainment establishes his identity with ,the ,absolute4 ,all oriental religions and philosophies teach that this state of consciousness1 is possible to all men2 therefore all men are gods in embryo4 ,but no philosophy or religion may promise the devotee the realization of this grace1 nor yet can they deny its possible attainment to any4 ,strangely enough1 if we estimate men by externalities1 we discover that there is no measure by which the supra-conscious man may be measured4 ,the obscure and unlearned have been known to possess this wonderful power which dissolves the seeming1 and leaves only the contemplation of the ,real4 ,so also1 men of great learning have experienced this rebirth2 but it would seem that much cultivation of the intellectual qualities1 unless accompanied by an humble and reverent spirit1 frequently acts as a barrier to the realization of supra-consciousness4 ,in ,texts of ,taoism1 ,kwang-,tse1 one of the ,illuminati1 writes3 ,he whose mind is thus grandly fixed1 emits a heavenly light4 ,in him who emits this heavenly light1 men see the true man 7i4e41 the atman2 the ,self74 ,when a man has cultivated himself to this point1 thenceforth he remains constant in himself4 ,when he is thus constant in himself1 what is merely the human element will leave him1 but ,heaven will help him4 ,those whom ,heaven helps1 we call the sons of ,heaven4 ,those who would1 by learning1 attain to this1 seek for what they can not learn4 ,thus it will be seen1 that according to the reports offered us by this wise man1 that which men call learning guarantees no power regarding that area of consciousness which brings ,illumination--liberation from enchantment1 of the senses--mukti4 ,again1 in the case of ,jacob ,boehme1 the ,german mystic1 although he left tomes of manuscript1 it is asserted authoritatively1 that he possessed no learning as that word is understood to mean accumulated knowledge4 ,in ,the ,spiritual ,maxims of ,brother ,lawrence1 the ,carmelite monk1 we find this3 ,you must realize that you reach ,god through the heart1 and not through the mind4 ,stupidity is closer to deliverance than intellect which innovates1 is a phrase ascribed to a ,mohammedan saint1 and do not modern theologians report with enthusiasm1 the unlettered condition of ,jesus8 ,in the ,orient1 the would-be initiate shuts out the voice of the world1 that he may know the heart of the world4 ,many1 very many1 are the years of isolation and preparation which such an earnest one accepts in order that he may attain to that state of supra-consciousness in which nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed to his clarified vision4 ,in the inner temples throughout ,japan1 for example1 there are persons who have not only attained this state of consciousness1 but who have also retained it1 to such a degree and to such an extent1 that no event of cosmic import may occur in any part of the world1 without these illumined ones instantly becoming aware of its happening1 and indeed1 this knowledge is possessed by them before the event has taken place in the external world1 since their consciousness is not limited to time1 space1 or place 7relative terms only71 but is cosmic1 or universal4 ,this power is not comparable with what ,occidental ,psychism knows as clairvoyance1 or spirit communication4 ,the state of consciousness is wholly unlike anything which modern spiritualism reports in its phenomena4 ,far from being in any degree a suspension of consciousness as is what is known as mediumship1 this power partakes of the quality of omniscience4 ,it harmonizes with and blends into all the various degrees and qualities of consciousness in the cosmos1 and becomes at-one with the universal heart-throb4 ,a ,zen student priest was once discovered lying face downward on the grass of the hill outside the temple2 his limbs were rigid1 and not a pulse throbbed in his tense and immovable form4 ,he was allowed to remain undisturbed as long as he wished4 ,when at length he stood up1 his face wore an expression of terrible anguish4 ,it seemed to have grown old4 ,his guru stood beside him and gently asked3 ,what did you1 my son8 ,o1 my ,master1 cried out the youth1 ,i have heard and felt all the burdens of the world4 ,i know how the mother feels when she looks upon her starving babe4 ,i have heard the cry of the hunted things in the woods2 ,i have felt the horror of fear2 ,i have borne the lashes and the stripes of the convict2 ,i have entered the heart of the outcast and the shame-stricken2 ,i have been old and unloved and ,i have sought refuge in self-destruction2 ,i have lived a thousand lives of sorrow and strife and of fear1 and ,o1 my ,master1 ,i would that ,i could efface this anguish from the heart of the world4 ,the guru looked in wonder upon the young priest and he said1 ,it is well1 my son4 ,soon thou shalt know that the burden is lifted4 ,great compassion1 the attribute of the ,lord ,buddha1 was the key which opened to this young student priest1 the door of mukti1 and although his compassion was not less1 after he had entered into that blissful realization1 yet so filled did he become with a sense of bliss and inexpressible realization of eternal love1 that all consciousness of sorrow was soon wiped out4 ,this condition of effacement of all identity1 as it were1 with sorrow1 sin1 and death1 seems inseparable from the attainment of liberation1 and has been testified to by all who have recorded their emotions in reaching this state of consciousness4 ,in other respects1 the acquisition of this supra-consciousness varies greatly with the initiate4 ,in all instances1 there is also an overwhelming conviction of the transitory character of the external world1 and the emptiness of all man-bestowed honors and riches4 ,a story is told of the ,mohammedan saint ,fudail ,ibn ,tyad1 which well illustrates this4 ,the ,caliph ,harun-al-,rashid1 learning of the extreme simplicity and asceticism of his life exclaimed1 ,o1 ,saint1 how great is thy self-abnegation4 ,to which the saint made answer3 ,thine is greater4 ,thou dost but jest1 said the ,caliph in wonderment4 ,nay1 not so1 great ,caliph1 replied the saint4 ,i do but make abnegation of this world which is transitory1 and thou makest abnegation of the next which will last forever4 ,however1 the phrase1 self-abnegation1 predicates the concept of sacrifice2 the giving up of something much to be desired1 while1 as a matter of truth1 there arises in the consciousness of the ,illumined ,one1 a natural contempt for the baubles of externality2 therefore there is no sacrifice4 ,nothing is given up4 ,on the contrary1 the gain is infinitely great4 ,manikyavasayar1 one of the great ,tamil saints of ,southern ,india1 addressed a gathering of disciples thus3 ,why go about sucking from each flower1 the droplet of honey1 when the heavy mass of pure and sweet honey is available8 ,by which he questioned why they sought with such eagerness the paltry pleasures of this world1 when the state of cosmic consciousness might be attained4 ,the thought of ,india1 is however1 one of ceaseless repudiation of all that is external1 and the ,hindu conception of mukti1 or cosmic consciousness1 differs in many respects from that reported by the ,illumined in other countries1 even while all reports have many emotions in common4 ,again we find that reports of the cosmic influx1 differ with the century in which the ,illumined one lived4 ,this may be accounted for in the fact that an experience so essentially spiritual can not be accurately expressed in terms of sense consciousness4 ,far different from the ,hindu idea1 for example1 is the report of a woman who lived in ,japan in the early part of the nineteenth century4 ,this woman was very poor and obscure1 making her frugal living by braiding mats4 ,so intense was her consciousness of unity with all that is1 that on seeing a flower growing by the wayside1 she would enter into its spirit1 as she said1 with an ecstacy of enjoyment1 that would cause her to become momentarily entranced4 ,she was known to the country people around her as ,sho-,nin1 meaning literally above man in consciousness4 ,it is said that the wild animals of the wood1 were wont to come to her door1 and she talked to them1 as though they were humans4 ,an injured hare came limping to her door in the early morning hours and spoke to her4 ,upon which1 she arose and dressed1 and opened the door of her dwelling with words of greeting1 as she would use to a neighbor4 ,she washed the soil from the injured foot1 and loved it back to wholeness1 so that when the hare departed there was no trace of injury4 ,she declared that she spoke to and was answered by1 the birds and the flowers1 and the animals1 just as she was by persons4 ,indeed1 among the high priests of the ,jains1 and the ,zens 7sects which may be classed as highly developed ,occultists71 entering into animal consciousness1 is a power possessed by all initiates4 ,passing along a highway near a ,zen temple1 the driver of a cart was stopped by a priest1 who gently said3 ,my good man1 with some of the money you have in your purse please buy your faithful horse a bucket of oats4 ,he tells me he has been so long fed on rice straw that he is despondent4 ,to the ,occidental mind this will doubtless appear to be the result of keen observation1 the priest being able to see from the appearance of the animal that he was fed on straw4 ,they will believe1 perhaps1 that the priest expressed his observations in the manner described to more fully impress the driver1 but this conclusion will be erroneous4 ,the priest1 possessing the enlarged or all-inclusive consciousness which in the west is termed cosmic1 actually did speak to the horse4 ,nor is this fact one which the western mind should be unable to follow4 ,science proves the fact of consciousness existing in the atoms composing even what has been termed inanimate objects4 ,how much more comprehensible to our understanding is the consciousness of an animate organism1 even though this organism be not more complex than the horse4 ,there is a ,buddhist monastery built high on the cliff overlooking the ,japan ,inland sea1 which is called a life-saving monastery4 ,the priests who preside over this temple1 possess the power of extending their consciousness over many miles of sea1 and on a vibration attuned to a pitch above the sound of wind and wave1 so that they can hear a call of distress from fishermen who need their help4 ,this fact being admitted1 might be accounted for by the uninitiated1 as a wonderfully trained ear1 which by cultivation and long practice detects sounds at a seemingly miraculous distance4 ,but the priests know how many are in a wrecked boat1 and can describe them1 and converse with them1 although the fishermen are not aware that they have talked to the priest4 ,sri ,ramakrishna ,paramahamsa1 the latest incarnation of ,god in ,india1 and the master to whom the late ,swami ,vivekananda gives such high praise and devotion1 lived almost wholly in that exalted state of consciousness which would appear to be more essentially spiritual1 than cosmic in the strict sense of the latter word1 since cosmic should certainly imply all-inclusiveness1 rather than wholly spiritual 7spiritual being here used as an extremely high vibration of the cosmos74 ,we learn that ,sri ,ramakrishna was a man comparatively unlettered1 and yet his insight was so marvelous1 his consciousness so exalted that the most learned pundits honored and respected him as one who had attained unto the goal of all effort--liberation1 mukti1 while to many persons throughout ,india to-day1 and indeed throughout the whole world1 he is looked upon as an incarnation of ,krishna4 ,it is related of ,sri ,ramakrishna that his yearning for ,truth 7his mother1 he called it71 was so great that he finally became unfit to conduct services in the temple1 and retired to a little wood near by4 ,here he seemed to be lost in concentration upon the one thought1 to such an extent that had it not been for devoted attendants1 who actually put food into his mouth1 the sage would have starved to death4 ,he had so completely lost all thought of himself and his surroundings that he could not tell when the day dawned or when the night fell4 ,so terrible was his yearning for the voice of ,truth that when day after day passed and the light he longed for had not come to him he would weep in agony4 ,nor could any words or argument dissuade him from his purpose4 ,he once said to ,swami ,vivekananda3 ,my son1 suppose there is a bag of gold in yonder room1 and a robber is in the next room4 ,do you think that robber can sleep8 ,he cannot4 ,his mind will be always thinking how he can enter that room and obtain possession of that gold4 ,do you think1 then1 that a man firmly persuaded that there is a reality behind all these appearances1 that there is a ,god1 that there is ,one who never dies1 ,one who is ,infinite ,bliss1 a bliss compared with which these pleasures of the senses are simply playthings1--can rest contented without struggling to attain it8 ,no1 he will become mad with longing4 ,at length1 after almost twelve years unceasing effort1 and undivided purpose ,sri ,ramakrishna was rewarded with what has been described as a torrent of spiritual light1 deluging his mind and giving him peace4 ,this wonderful insight he displayed in all the after years of his earthly mission1 and he not only attained glimpses of the cosmic conscious state1 but he also retained the ,illumination1 and the power to impart to a great degree1 the realization of that state of being which he himself possessed4 ,like the ,lord ,buddha1 this ,indian sage also describes his experience as accompanied by unbounded light4 ,speaking of this strange and overpowering sense of being immersed in light1 ,sri ,ramakrishna described it thus3 ,the living light to which the earnest devotee is drawn doth not burn4 ,it is like the light coming from a gem1 shining yet soft1 cool and soothing4 ,it burneth not4 ,it giveth peace and joy4 ,this effect of great light1 is an almost invariable accompaniment of supra-consciousness1 although there are instances of undoubted cosmic consciousness in which the realization has been a more gradual growth1 rather than a sudden influx1 in which the phenomenon of light is not greatly marked4 ,mohammed is said to have swooned with the intolerable splendor of the flood of white light which broke upon him1 after many days of constant prayer and meditation1 in the solitude of the cavern outside the gates of ,mecca4 ,similar is the description of the attainment of cosmic consciousness1 given by the ,persian mystics1 although it is evident that the ,sufis regarded the result as reunion with the other half of the soul in exile4 ,the burden of their cry is love1 and union with the beloved is the longed-for goal of all earthly strife and experience4 ,whether this reunion be considered from the standpoint of finding the other half of the perfect one1 as exemplified in the present-day search for the soul mate1 or whether it be considered in the light of a spiritual merging into the ,one ,eternal ,absolute is the question of questions4 ,certainly the terms used to express this state of spiritual ecstacy are words which might readily be applied to lovers united in marriage4 ,one thing is certain1 the ,sufis did not personify the ,deity1 except symbolically1 and the beloved one is impartially referred to as masculine or feminine1 even as modern thought has come to realize ,god as ,father-,mother4 ,in all mystical writings1 we find the conclusion that there is no one way in which the seeker may find reunion with ,the ,beloved4 ,the ways of ,god are as the number of the souls of men1 declare the followers of ,islam1 and for the love that thou wouldst find demands the sacrifice of self to the end that the heart may be filled with the passion to stand within the ,holy of ,holies1 in which alone the mysteries of the ,true ,beloved can be revealed unto thee1 is also a ,sufi sentiment1 although it might also be ,christian or ,mohammedan1 or ,vedantan4 ,indeed1 if the student of ,esotericism1 searches deeply enough1 he will find a surprising unity of sentiment1 and even of expression1 in all the variety of religions and philosophies1 including ,christianity4 ,it has been said that the chief difference between the message of ,jesus and those of the holy men of other races1 and times1 lies in the fact that ,jesus1 more than his predecessors1 emphasized the importance of love4 ,but consider the following lines from ,jami1 the ,persian mystic3 ,gaze1 till gazing out of gazing ,grew to ,,being ,,her ,i gazed on1 ,she and ,i no more1 but in one ,undivided ,being blended4 ,all that is not ,one must ever ,suffer with the wound of absence2 ,and whoever in ,love's city ,enters1 finds but room for one ,and but in ,oneness1 union4 ,these lines express that religious ecstacy which results from spiritual aspiration1 or they express the union of the individual soul with its mate according to the viewpoint4 ,in any event1 they are an excellent description of the realization of that much-to-be-desired consciousness which is fittingly described in ,occidental phraseology as cosmic consciousness4 ,whether this realization is the result of union with the soul's other half1 or whether it is an impersonal reunion with the ,causeless ,cause1 ,the ,absolute1 from which we are earth wanderers1 is not the direct purpose of this volume to answer1 although the question will be answered1 and that soon4 ,from whence and by whom we are not prepared to say1 but the signs and portents which precede the solution of this problem have already made their appearance4 ,christian students of the ,persian mystics1 take exception to statements like the above1 and regard them as erotic1 rather than spiritual4 ,mahmud ,shabistari employs the following symbolism1 but unquestionably seeks to express the same emotion3 ,go1 sweep out the chamber of your heart1 ,make it ready to be the dwelling-place of the ,beloved4 ,when you depart out1 he will enter in1 ,in you1 void of yourself1 will he display his beauty4 ,the ,song of ,solomon is in a similar key1 and whether the wise king referred to that state of samadhi which accompanies certain experiences of cosmic consciousness1 or whether he was reciting love-lyrics1 must be a moot question4 ,the personal note in the famous song has been accounted for by many commentators1 on the grounds that ,solomon had only partial glimpses of the supra-conscious state1 and that1 in other words1 he frequently backslid from divine contemplation1 and allowed his yearning for the state of liberation1 to express itself in love of woman4 ,an attribute of the possession of cosmic consciousness is wisdom1 and this ,solomon is said to have possessed far beyond his contemporaries1 and to a degree incompatible with his years4 ,it is said that he built and consecrated a temple for the ,lord1 and that1 as a result of his extreme piety and devotion to ,god1 he was vouchsafed a vision of ,god4 ,as these reports have come to us through many stages of church history and as ,solomon lived many centuries before the birth of ,jesus1 it seems hardly fitting to ascribe the raptures of ,solomon as typifying the love of the ,church 7the bride7 for ,christ 7the bridegroom74 ,rather1 it is easier to believe1 the wisdom of the king argues a degree of consciousness far beyond that of the self-conscious man1 and he rose to the quality of spiritual realization1 expressing itself in a love and longing for that soul communion which may be construed as quite personal1 referring to a personal1 though doubtless non-corporeal union with his spiritual complement4 ,although the pronoun he is used1 signifying that ,solomon's longing was what theology terms spiritual and consequently impersonal1 meaning ,god ,the ,absolute1 yet we suggest that the use of the masculine pronoun may be due entirely to the translators and commentators 7of whom there have been many71 and that1 in their zeal to reconcile the song with the ecclesiastical ideas of spirituality1 the gender of the pronoun has been changed4 ,we submit that the idea is more than possible1 and indeed in view of the avowed predilections of the ancient king and sage1 it is highly probable4 ,he sings3 ,let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth ,for his love is better than wine4 ,again he cries3 ,behold thou art fair my love1 behold thou art fair1 thou hast dove's eyes4 ,the realization of mukti1 i4e41 the power of the atman to transcend the physical1 is thus expressed by ,solomon1 clearly indicating that he had found liberation3 ,my beloved spoke and said unto me1 ',rise up my love my fair one1 and come away4 ,for lo1 the winter is passed1 the rain is over and gone4 ',the flowers appear upon the earth2 the time of singing of birds has come1 and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land4 ',the fig tree putteth forth her green figs1 and the vine with the tender grapes gives a goodly smell4 ,arise my love1 my fair one1 and come away4' ,it is assumed that these lines do not refer to a personal hegira1 but rather to the act of withdrawing the ,self from the things of the outer life1 and fixing it in contemplation upon the larger life1 the supra-conscious life1 but there is no reason to doubt that they may refer to a longing to commune with the beautiful and tender things of nature4 ,another point to be noted is that in the spring and early summer it is with difficulty that the mind can be made to remain fixed upon the petty details of everyday business life4 ,the awakening of the earth from the long cold sleep of winter is typical of the awakening of the mind from its hypnotisms of external consciousness4 ,instinctively1 there arises a realization of the divinity of creative activity1 and the mind soars up to the higher vibrations and awakes to the real purpose of life1 more or less fully1 according to individual development4 ,this has given rise to the assumption1 predicated by some writers on cosmic consciousness1 that this state of consciousness is attained in the early summer months1 and the instances cited would seem to corroborate this assumption4 ,but1 as a poet has sung1 it is always summer in the soul1 so there is no specific time1 nor age1 in which individual cosmic consciousness may be attained4 ,a point which we suggest1 and which is verified by the apparent connection between the spring months1 and the full realization of cosmic consciousness1 is the point that this phenomenon comes through contemplation and desire for love4 ,whether this love be expressed as the awakening of creative life1 as in nature's springtime1 or whether it be expressed as love of the lover for his bride2 the dove for his mate2 the mother for her child1 or as the religious devotee for the ,lord1 the key that unlocks the door to illumination of body1 soul and spirit1 is ,love1 the maker1 the monarch and savior of all1 but whether this love in its fullness of perfection may be found in that perfect spiritual mating1 which we see exemplified in the tender1 but ardent mating of the dove 7the symbol of ,purity and ,peace71 or whether it means spiritual union with the ,absolute is not conclusive4 ,the mystery of ,seraphita1 ,balzac's wonderful creation1 is an evidence that ,balzac had glimpses of that perfect union1 which gives rise to the experience called cosmic consciousness4 ,it is well to remember that in every instance of cosmic consciousness1 the person experiencing this state1 finds it practically impossible to fully describe the state1 or its exact significance4 ,therefore1 when these efforts have been made1 we must expect to find the description colored very materially by the habit of thought1 of the person having the experience4 ,balzac was essentially religious1 but he was also extremely suggestible1 and1 until very recently1 ,theology and ,religion were supposed to be synonymous1 or at least to walk hand in hand4 ,balzac's early training and his environment1 as well as the thought of the times in which he lived1 were calculated to inspire in him the fallacious belief that ,god would have us renounce the love of our fellow beings1 for love of ,him4 ,balzac makes ,louis ,lambert renounce his great passion for ,pauline1 and seems to suggest that this renunciation led to the subsequent realization of cosmic consciousness1 which he unquestionably experienced4 ,nor is it possible to say that it did not1 since renunciation of the lower must inevitably lead to the higher1 and we give up the lesser only that we may enjoy the greater4 ,in ,seraphita ,balzac expressed what may be termed spiritual love and that spiritual union with the ,beloved1 which the ,sufis believed to be the result of a perfect and complete mating1 between the sexes1 on the spiritual plane1 regardless of physical proximity or recognition1 but which is also elsewhere described as the soul's glimpse of its union with the ,absolute or ,god4 ,the former view is individual1 while the latter is impersonal1 and may1 or may not1 involve absorption of individual consciousness4 ,in subsequent chapters we shall again refer to ,balzac's ,illumination as expressed in his writings1 and will now take up the question of man's relation to the universe1 as it appears in the light of cosmic consciousness1 or liberation4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,man',s ,,relation ,,to ,,god ,,and ,,to ,,his ,,fellow-,,men ,the riddle of the ,sphinx is no riddle at all4 ,the strange figure1 the lower part animal2 the upper part human2 and the sprouting wings epitomize the growth and development of man from the animal1 or physical 7carnal71 consciousness to the soul consciousness1 represented by woman's head and breast1 to the supra-conscious1 winged god4 ,no higher conception of life has ever emanated from any source1 than the concept of man developed to a state of perfection represented by wings 7a symbol of freedom74 ,these winged humans are sometimes called angels and sometimes gods1 although the words may not be synonymous4 ,the point is1 that no theory of life and its purposes seems more general or more unescapable than that of man's growth from sin 7limitations7 to god-hood--freedom4 ,whether this consummation is brought about through an unbroken chain of upward tendencies from the lowest forms of life to the highest2 or whether it is symbolized by the old theologic idea of man's fall from godhood to sin1 the fact remains that we know no other ideal than that represented by perfected man2 and we know no lower idea than that of man still in the animal stage of consciousness4 ,artists1 painters1 sculptors1 wishing to depict the beauty of spiritual things1 must still use the human idea for a model--refined1 spiritualized1 supra-human1 but still man4 ,it is a truism that man epitomizes the universe4 ,therefore1 the law of growth1 which science names evolution1 may be studied and applied with equal precision and accuracy to the individual2 to a body of individuals called a nation2 and to worlds1 or planets4 ,the evolution of an individual is accomplished when he has learned through the various avenues of experience1 the fact of his own godhood2 and when he has established his union with that indescribable spiritual essence which is called ,om2 ,god2 ,nirvana2 ,samadhi2 ,brahm2 ,kami2 ,allah2 and the ,absolute4 ,a ,japanese term is ,dai ,zikaku4 ,the ,zen sect of ,japanese ,buddhists say ,daigo ,tettei1 and one who has attained to this superior phase of consciousness is called ,sho-,nin1 meaning literally above man4 ,emerson1 the great ,american seer1 expressed this ,nameless ,one1 as ,the ,oversoul1 and ,herbert ,spencer1 the intellectual giant of ,england1 used the term ,universal ,energy4 ,emerson was a seer2 ,spencer was a scientist1 which word1 until recently1 was a synonym for materialist4 ,but what are words8 ,mere symbols of consciousness1 and subject to change and evolvement1 as man's consciousness evolves4 ,the student of truth will recognize in these different words1 exactly the same meaning4 ,the eternal energy from which all things proceed is a phrase identical with ,the ,oversoul1 or ,the ,absolute1 from which all manifestation comes4 ,man's evolution1 then1 is an evolution in consciousness1 from the subjective awareness of the monad to a realization of the entire cosmos4 ,each phase of life is a specific degree of consciousness and each successive degree brings the individual nearer to the realization of the sum of all degrees of consciousness1 into godhood--the highest degree which we can conceive4 ,such1 briefly1 is a statement of that phenomenon which is attracting the attention of occidental students of psychology1 and which has been fittingly termed the attainment of cosmic consciousness4 ,the phrase expresses a degree of consciousness which includes the entire cosmos--not only this planet called earth1 and everything thereon1 but also the spheres of the ,constellation4 ,not that this degree of consciousness carries with it the power to express in words1 that which it is4 ,in fact1 the one who has had this marvelous awakening1 cannot adequately describe1 or even retain1 a full comprehension of what it signifies4 ,all-inclusive knowledge would indeed1 preclude the possibility of expression4 ,therefore1 even if it were possible to retain in the finite mind1 the full realization of cosmic consciousness1 words could not be found in which to express it to others4 ,thought is the creator of words1 but thought is but the material which the mind employs1 and cosmic consciousness transcends the mind1 engulfs the soul1 and reaches to the trackless areas of ,spirit4 ,it may be doubted if any one may retain a full realization of cosmic consciousness1 and remain in the physical body4 ,great and wonderful as have been the experiences of those who have sought to relate their sensations1 it is probable that these flashes of insight have been in the nature of cosmic perception1 and have lacked full realization4 ,of those who have had glimpses of that larger area of consciousness which includes an awareness of eternal unity with the cosmos1 there are1 we believe1 many more than students of the subject have any idea of4 ,this century marks a distinct epoch in what is called evolution4 ,the end of a kalpa1 or cycle of manifestation1 is symbolized by the presence on a planet of many avatars1 masters1 and angels4 ,by their very presence these enlightened ones arouse in all who are ready for the experience a glimpse of that state of being to which all souls are destined1 and to which all shall ultimately attain4 ,a time when gods shall walk the earth is a prophecy which all nations have heard and looked forward to4 ,that time is now4 ,we see the effect of their presence in ,peace ,conferences2 in abolition of child labor2 in prison reform2 in the amalgamation of the races2 in attempts at social equality2 in ,national ,eugenic ,societies1 and above all1 as we have before stated1 in the ,emancipation of ,woman4 ,in fact1 it is seen in all the various ways in which the higher consciousness finds expression4 ,one of the characteristic signs of this awakening1 the ,millenium ,dawn1 as it has been named1 lies in a very general optimism shining through the mists of doubt and unrest and inexpressible desire1 which accompany the new birth in consciousness4 ,amid the seeming chaos of present day conditions is it not easy to discern the coming of that dawn of which all great ones of earth have foretold--a time when the earth shall be made a fit habitation for the gods8 ,the heavens is a term employed to specify the ,constellation which is composed of planets and stars1 but we use the term ,heaven also to mean a state of happiness and bliss attainable through certain methods1 a consideration of which we will take up later4 ,the immediate point is that this planet is being prepared for a position in the solar system consistent with that which is the abode of the gods--,heaven4 ,this proposition is made in its literal meaning4 ,corroborative of this statement1 which is consistent with all prophecies1 is the information recently given to the world1 by ,camille ,flammarion1 and other great astronomers1 that the earth is changing its position in the heavens at an astonishing rate4 ,the idea that there shall be no night there1 is foreshadowed by the estimate that this change will give to the earth a perpetual and uniform light1 and heat4 ,the ,new ,thought preachment of physical immortality is but a faint and imperfect perception of this time1 when there shall be no death1 because the animal man1 subject to change1 shall give place to the changeless1 deathless1 spiritual man2 not through cataclysms1 and destruction1 but through the natural birth into a higher consciousness4 ,the ,occidental mind is easily affrighted by a name4 ,perhaps we should not specify the ,occidental mind1 but rather the mind of man among all races is easily put to sleep by the hypnotism of a word4 ,the word ,pantheism is a bugaboo to the ,occidentalist4 ,he fears the destruction of the ,monistic faith1 if he admits that man is in essence a god1 and that therefore there are many gods in the one ,god1 even as there are many members to the one physical organism4 ,nevertheless all literature1 whether sacred or profane1 teaches the attainment of godhood by ,man4 ,this can not mean other than the attainment of realization of godhood1 by the individual and the retention of this realization to the end that reincarnation shall cease and identity with the cosmic1 principle1 be established1 beyond further loss1 or doubt1 or strife1 or death4 ,this is what it means to attain to cosmic consciousness4 ,it is inclusive consciousness4 ,it is not absorption into the vast unknown1 in the sense of annihilation of identity4 ,it is consciousness plus1 not minus4 ,an ancient writing says3 ,and thou shalt awake as from a long dream4 ,thou shalt be like the perfume arising from the flower in which it has been so long enclosed4 ,and thou wilt float above the opened flower4 ,and thou wilt say ',there is time before me in eternity4' ,there is nothing in the testimony of those who have described1 as best they could1 their emotions upon attainment of this consciousness1 which would argue the absorption of the individual soul into ,the ,absolute4 ,there is no testimony to argue that the attainment of cosmic consciousness1 carries with it anything approaching annihilation of sentiency4 ,rather it would seem to testify to an acceleration of all the higher faculties4 ,that this would be a more apt interpretation may be seen by comparing the different reports of those experiencing the phenomenon of ,illumination4 ,nevertheless there has been much controversy regarding the meaning of the terms nirvana2 samadhi2 dai zikaku1 etc4--words expressing the condition which we are considering under the phrase cosmic consciousness4 ,,what ,,is ,,nirvana8 ,let us consider briefly1 what is meant by ,nirvana1 and see if it is not highly probable that the word describes the state of consciousness which we are considering1 referring later on to the question1 and its interpretation by the various schools of religion and philosophy4 ,it is apparent that the most learned sages of the ,orient fail to agree as to the exact meaning of ,nirvana4 ,occidental writers and leaders of the ,theosophical philosophy1 differ somewhat as to its import1 but at the same time we find enough unity on this point to make it evident that the state of ,nirvana is a desirable attainment--the goal of the religious enthusiast4 ,going back for a moment1 to a consideration of the earliest recorded religion of ,japan1 we find that ,sintoism means literally the way of the gods1 meaning the way in which men who have become god-like1 found the path that led thereunto1 but as to exactly what conditions are represented by godhood1 how indeed1 is it possible for man to know1 much less to express8 ,since we are conscious of a divine and irresistible urge toward the attainment of this state of being1 it is hardly consistent with what we know of merely human nature1 that the way lies in the direction of loss of identity1 or in other words1 in what is popularly comprehended as absorption4 ,that this idea prevails in many ,oriental sects of ,buddhism and ,vedanta we are aware1 but we are confident that this idea is erroneous1 and comes from the fact that it is impossible to describe the condition of consciousness enjoyed by the initiate into ,nirvana1 which term we believe1 is identical1 or at least comparable with cosmic consciousness4 ,the very fact that external life represents so universal a struggle for attainment of this state of being1 or higher consciousness1 indicates at least1 even if it does not actually guarantee a fuller1 deeper1 more complete state of consciousness than hitherto enjoyed1 rather than an absorption or annihilation of any of that dearly bought consciousness which distinguishes the self from its environment1 and which says with conviction ,i am4 ,it is admitted that those who have experienced liberation1 illumination1 mukti1 have reported their sensations with such relative vagueness and with such apparent variance of conclusion as regards the meaning of the experience that the reader is left to his own interpretation of the character of that state of being1 other than a general uniformity of description4 ,referring to the pleasure which the lower nature feels under certain conditions1 the late ,swami ,vivekananda says3 ,the whole idea of this nature is to make the soul know that it is entirely separate from nature and when the soul knows this1 nature has no more attraction for it4 ,but the whole of nature vanishes only for that man who has become free4 ,there will always remain an infinite number of others for whom nature will go on working4 ,but did ,vivekananda employ the phrase nature has no more attraction for him1 to describe the sensation of unappreciativeness of the wonders of the natural world8 ,we think not4 ,rather the gentle-hearted sage meant to report the fact that the soul is no longer held in bondage to the external world1 when it has once attained supra-consciousness4 ,if this expression referred to the pleasure the true lover of nature feels in the out-of-doors1 he might well say ,i trust that ,i shall never attain to that state of consciousness4 ,or if attainment be compulsory1 then shall ,i prolong the time of accomplishment as long as possible4 ,and who would blame him8 ,why should we strive for the attainment of a state of being described so unattractively as to give us the impression of entire loss of so enjoyable and unselfish a sensation as love of nature8 ,the ,vedantic idea1 according to interpreted translations is that out of ,the ,absolute1 the ,all 7,om71 we come1 and therefore back to it we go1 being now in our present state of consciousness1 en route1 as it were to return4 ,but returning to what8 ,that is the unanswerable problem of all religions2 all philosophies2 all science4 ,if we return to a void1 such as some interpreters of the ,vedas declare1 then surely this urge within mankind toward this annihilatory state would hardly be expected4 ,it would be inconsistent with that instinct of self-preservation which we are told is the first law of nature4 ,compared to this ,vedantic concept of the ,absolute1 the ,christian's simple1 and very empirical ideal of eternal happiness is preferable4 ,to walk streets paved with gold and play a harp incessantly while chanting doleful praises to a ,deity who ought to become wearied of the never-ceasing adulation1 would still be a more desirable goal of our strife1 than that so inaccurately and unattractively described by many students of ,oriental religions and philosophies as the state nirvana1 or samadhi4 ,again quoting from ,vivekananda's ,raja ,yoga3 ,there are not wanting persons who think that this manifest state 7our present existence7 is the highest state of man4 ,thinkers of great caliber are of the opinion that we are manifested specimens of undifferentiated ,being1 and this differentiated state is higher than the ,absolute4 ,although as ,vivekananda says there are thinkers who make this claim1 the idea does not find ready acceptance among theologians1 either ,eastern1 or ,western4 ,neither do philosophers1 as a general thing incline to adopt this view4 ,the reason for this general disinclination is not difficult of discovery4 ,it is due to the present state of man on this planet4 ,if man1 as we see and know mankind1 is the highest state of ,being 7not merely of manifestation1 but of ,being7 then1 they say1 we have nothing to hope for4 ,but have we not8 ,may we not hope that man will manifest1 on this planet a fuller realization1 of that which he is in ,being1 and that1 far from dissolving what consciousness he has1 he will but plus this consciousness by a larger--an all-embracing consciousness that shall make earth a fit habitation for god-like men8 ,in ,vivekananda's ,raja ,yoga we find the following3 ,there was an old solution that man1 after death1 remained the same2 that all his good sides1 minus his evil sides1 remained forever4 ,logically stated1 this means that man's goal is the world2 this world meaning earth carried to a state higher and with elimination of its evils is the state they call heaven4 ,this theory1 on the face of it1 is absurd and puerile because it cannot be4 ,there cannot be good without evil1 or evil without good4 ,to live in a world where there is all good and no evil1 is what ,sanskrit logicians call a 'dream in the air4' ,it is not necessary to argue here that there is no such thing as positive evil4 ,st4 ,paul said3 ,i know and am persuaded that nothing is unclean of itself2 save that to him who accounteth anything to be unclean1 to him it is unclean4 ,and again we are assured that there is nothing good or bad1 but thinking makes it so2 which means that evil has no more foundation in reality than has thought1 and thought is ever-changing2 transitory4 ,evil therefore may be entirely eliminated by thought1 since it is created by thought4 ,that there is a condition of mankind which has been alluded to as evil is self-evident4 ,the term has been employed to describe a condition of either an individual1 or a society1 or a nation or a race1 wherein there is in harmony2 disease2 unhappiness4 ,anything that makes for suffering on any plane of consciousness1 may be termed evil as here used4 ,let us consider for a moment if it be illogical to imagine a world in which this in harmony has been eliminated4 ,imagine a family in which all the members radiate love and unselfish consideration4 ,add to this1 or we may say complementary to this1 we have perfect health and prosperity2 and over and above all we have a conviction of immortality1 eliminating doubt and fear and worry as to future sorrows or partings1 with no knowledge that there are others in the world suffering4 ,do we not find it quite possible1 to say the least1 and even desirable1 to live in such a family1 particularly if we had previously acquired a knowledge of that which is evil and that which is good--merely terms used to describe limited1 or enlarged consciousness4 ,if we admit the desirability of living in such a family1 why not in such a world8 ,logically stated1 says the ,hindu swami1 this means that man's goal is this world 7earth planet72 carried to a state higher and with the elimination of its evils1 this world is the state 7place7 they call heaven4 ,again we must question4 ,why not8 ,this planet we call earth1 is a great and marvelous work1 whether it be the work of an abstract ,god1 or whether it be the work of the god in ,man4 ,and whether this earth be the gift of an abstract ,god1 or whether it be the generating bed of the life now upon it1 the fact remains that we have no business to despise the gift1 or the work of self-generation4 ,our business is to enhance its beauties and eliminate its ugliness4 ,why have we prayed that the will of ,god which is ,love1 be done on earth as it is in the heavens1 if we despise the planet and hope to leave it8 ,although the general impression given in all religious systems is that the perfected soul leaves this earth1 yet there is nothing in any of them to prove that it does so1 or if it has hitherto1 that it shall continue so to do4 ,we have no right to assume that the outer life--the external1 manifested life which we perceive with our physical senses1 is all there is to this earth and that when we leave this outer life1 we go to some other place4 ,the invisible life on this planet is unquestionably far greater than the visible but both visible and invisible doubtless belong to the planet earth4 ,the ,absolute1 presumably occupies all space1 and therefore it may as reasonably be postulated that this state of ,nirvana or ,samadhi1 may be entered within the area of this planet's vibrations1 as in that of the other planets4 ,the finite mind cannot conceive of a state of being apart from motion1 space or time1 even though these concepts are crude in their relation to the state of consciousness to which the sum of all consciousness is tending1 whether the individual would1 or not4 ,we speak of the heavens when we refer to the immeasurable1 and little known region of the solar system1 and we use the same term when we refer to a state of being in which the perfected soul of man will finally enter4 ,and this term implies that when we are thus in heaven1 we are with ,god1 if not absorbed into ,god4 ,jesus1 the master1 taught the coming of the kingdom of ,god on earth and urged mankind to pray for its coming1 asking that the will of ,god 7or gods7 be done on earth as it is in the heavens1 from which it is not illogical to infer that the earth itself1 as a planet1 is not outside the pale of that blissful state which we ascribe to ,god1 and which1 at the same time1 we expect to enter without being swallowed up in the sense that we lose that consciousness which cognizes itself as an eternal verity4 ,if then1 the heavens as applied to the planets revolving above the earth in the solar system1 and ,heaven as a term used to describe a state of happiness1 bliss1 samadhi1 nirvana1 or life with ,god1 be synonymous it may reasonably be inferred that in the solar system are planets upon which live sentient beings1 in a state to which we on earth1 are seeking to attain2 a state wherein so-called evil has been eliminated and the good retained4 ,in fact1 we may see with none too prophetic eyes the elimination of evil right here in the visible4 ,all who have attained a glimpse of ,illumination have reported the loss of the sense of sin and death1 and have retained this feeling of security and all-is-well-ness as long as they have lived thereafter4 ,from the old conception of evil as a positive1 opposing and independent force1 modern thought1 in all its branches1 namely science2 religion2 social evolution1 and philosophy1 has arrived at the conclusion that evil is not a power or force in and of itself1 but that it is evidence of a limited degree of consciousness which sees only one side of a subject--only a limited area of an infinitely wide and varied manifestation of the one supreme consciousness4 ,therefore1 it is1 that evil per se1 does not exist as power1 but that it is the effect of a misapplication of power4 ,the cure then1 for this state of ,relativity1 is found logically enough1 in an extension of individual consciousness4 ,that this idea is logical may be deduced from the fact that as the mind expands1 through the various channels of learning2 observation2 contact with each other1 and by the many roads of ,experience1 altruism becomes more general4 ,almost every one readily admits that the world is growing better1 as they express it4 ,this means that the individual consciousness is becoming broadened1 deepened1 enlarged2 and this enlargement makes it possible to show that the happiness of each one1 means the happiness of all1 and that no one human life can reach the goal of freedom and eternal life 7mukti1 which can mean nothing less than godhood7 unless he does so by some one of the many paths of selflessness4 ,up through the perilous paths and the devious ways of brute consciousness toward a more or less perfect perception of that blissful state which the ,illumined have sought to describe1 each individual has come to his present state2 and it is only by virtue of the ability to look back over the path1 and to look onward a little into relative futurity1 that each may record the fact of his gain in consciousness1 and what this gain means to the future of this earth4 ,but who is there who cannot see that each step in attainment of consciousness brings with it a corresponding freedom from suffering8 ,the planet itself does not make us suffer4 ,the latest discoveries of astronomers indicate that as the standard of morality 7using the term morality in its true sense71 becomes higher1 the position of the earth itself becomes changed1 in its relation to the solar system4 ,in this way1 it is expected that a uniform temperature will prevail all over the earth's surface2 and with the cessation of war1 and of competition 7which is mental warfare7 cataclysms1 storms1 and earthquakes will cease4 ,when we come1 as we will1 in succeeding chapters of this book1 to a review of the experiences of those who have attained cosmic consciousness 7mukti7 we will find that1 in each instance1 there has come a realization of the nothingness of sin and consequent suffering4 ,the trouble then1 is not with the earth as a planet1 but with the lack of consciousness of earth's inhabitants1 which lack makes possible all the suffering which afflicts human life4 ,those who have attained to the state of cosmic consciousness in both ,occidental and ,oriental instances of this perception1 have reported an abiding sense of rest and peace and satisfaction--a condition which we associate with accepted ideals of heaven as taught in ,occidental creeds and among some schools of ,oriental philosophers1 and sects of religious worship4 ,there is a far greater unity of idea between the ,oriental and the ,occidental methods and systems1 as to the goal of ultimate attainment than is generally believed1 or understood4 ,the highest expression of ,japanese ,buddhism differs from ,hindu ,buddhism and from ,vedanta1 and the many other forms of ,hindu philosophy and religion1 in the same way that the ,japanese1 as a nation1 differ from their ,hindu brothers4 ,the ,japanese emphasize1 more than do the ,hindus1 the preservation of the nation1 and to this end1 they are called more practical minded1 but with the ,japanese1 as with all the ,orientals1 we find an intense contempt for any one who would seek to preserve his physical existence1 or hesitate at any personal sacrifice4 ,this unwritten code has its origin1 as have all ,oriental traditions and concepts1 in the teachings of religious systems4 ,according to ,oriental ethics1 the person is very low in the scale of consciousness1 when he considers his physical body as of comparative consequence1 when the question of expediency1 or of the welfare of his country1 is in the balance4 ,nevertheless1 ,japan has offered1 far more than has ,india1 a fertile field for the growth of materialism1 owing to the fact that underlying the apparent observance of and loyalty to1 religious practices1 the ,japanese temperament inclines to a practical application of the wisdom attained through religious instruction4 ,therefore we find among the ,illumined ,ones of ,japanese history1 sages who taught the attainment of liberation through paths which are not generally accepted by interpreters of ,hinduism4 ,for example1 among the orthodox ,sintoists1 7the original religion of the ,japanese1 before the advent of ,buddhism71 we find that cleanliness of mind and body1 was taught as the prime essential to attainment of unity with ,kami1 rather than contemplation1 meditation and isolation1 as with the ,hindus4 ,and in the ,christian world we have a corresponding admonition in the phrase cleanliness is next to godliness4 ,simple as this rule of conduct is1 it nevertheless embodies the key to the situation1 inasmuch as we are assured that blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see ,god4 ,again ,jesus told his hearers that they must become as little children1 evidently meaning that they must possess the clean1 pure1 guileless mind of a little child1 if they would reach the goal of liberation1 from strife2 death 7repeated incarnation72 and all so-called evil4 ,to this end man is striving1 whether by rites and ceremonies of religion2 by worship2 by contemplation2 by effort and struggle2 by invention2 by aspiration2 by sacrifice2 or by whatever path1 or device1 or system4 ,what1 then is the goal1 and how may it be attained8 ,before taking up this question1 let us go back a little over the history of human life and attainment1 and trace1 briefly1 the evolution of consciousness1 from pre-historic man1 to the highest examples of human devotion and wisdom1 of which1 happily1 the world affords not a few instances4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,areas ,,of ,,consciousness ,consciousness may be termed1 simply1 the divine spark1 which enters into every form and phase of manifested life emanating from that one ,eternal ,power which materialists designate as energy and which ,occultists1 both ,oriental and ,occidental1 best define as ,aum1 ,god6 ,the ,absolute--,the ,divine ,mind1 and many other terms4 ,consciousness1 therefore1 enters into everything--is the life essence of everything4 ,the materialistic hypothesis formerly predicated the axiom that there were two distinct phases of manifestation1 namely organic and inorganic4 ,organic life was sentient1 or conscious1 while inorganic life was insensate--a structure acted upon from forces outside itself1 and dependent upon an exterior force for its action4 ,other names for this differentiation1 would be matter and spirit4 ,the point is1 that the old materialistic philosophy failed to recognize the fact that consciousness1 in varying degrees1 characterizes all manifested life4 ,this fact every phase of ,oriental philosophy recognized1 and always has recognized4 ,the assumption of the ,christian ,science devotee1 that there is anything new in the postulate that all is spirit1 is possible only because of his ignorance of ,oriental philosophy1 as will be seen later on in these pages1 when we take up the relative comparison between the ,oriental and the ,occidental systems of salvation4 ,to resume therefore1 we postulate the following recognized axioms of ,universal ,occultism4 ,all life is sentient or conscious4 ,all life is from the one source1 and therefore contains this divine spark4 ,all manifestation expresses degrees or phases of consciousness4 ,the degree of this consciousness fixes the status of the organism1 and determines its classification1 whether it is organic or inorganic2 simple1 or complex4 ,every cell1 each separate cell1 in fact1 has its own consciousness--that is each cell is a center of this power that we term consciousness2 a group of cells with this power focalized to a given point1 or center1 makes an organ of consciousness1 and so on up the scale through many many degrees of complexity of organism1 until we come to man4 ,webster defines consciousness as the ability to know ones mental operations4 ,but1 we do not take this definition in ,occultism1 for the obvious reason1 that it is not possible to state arbitrarily whether or not1 the cell knows its operations1 and since all operations are necessarily mental in the final analysis1 we assume that there is a phase of consciousness below that of cognition of self1 which may be termed the unconscious consciousness1 which again is synonymous with the phrase automatic cerebration4 ,coming up through the various myriad degrees of sub-conscious life 7sub being here used as below self consciousness7 we arrive at the stage of simple consciousness which characterizes the animal kingdom1 remembering that consciousness in the abstract is not a condition1 or state of environment4 ,it is one of the eternal verities4 ,it is just as ,aum is4 ,the attainment of a wider and wider area of consciousness1 is but the uncovering1 or the attracting to a central point or to an individual organism of this that is4 ,thus consciousness1 in the abstract1 may say of itself before creation was1 ,i am4 ,that is what is meant when it is said that ,god is omnipotent1 and omniscient4 ,the difference between mere power1 or energy1 and consciousness1 whether considered from the standpoint of the organic or the inorganic kingdom1 may be likened to the difference between a blind force1 and a power that knows itself4 ,consciousness is practically the great central light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world4 ,without consciousness1 manifestation would be darkness4 ,thus it is said1 the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not4 ,this applies to that tiny spark of divinity in which consciousness exists but where there is not realization of its divinity4 ,this fact is not applicable to the inorganic1 or the animal kingdoms alone4 ,many men are not conscious of the light that shineth within them1 save as there is an aggregate of cell consciousness which recognizes its focalized power as an organism4 ,manifestation then1 is the vehicle 7carrying character7 of universal consciousness1 and we may logically assume that manifestation is due to the necessity of developing individualized entities1 who may1 through successive phases of conscious unfoldment1 or uncovering of areas of ,being1 become gods4 ,the western writers1 and indeed1 many ,oriental seers prefer to put it thus3 become fit to dwell with ,god1 in eternal bliss and power4 ,to dwell with ,god1 must be to become gods4 ,once more1 we must remember that only gods are immortal4 ,souls continue to exist after the physical body has been discarded1 for the reason that no body in these days1 lives as long as its psychic counterpart or dweller4 ,but1 although the soul continues to exist on another plane of note of the scale of vibration1 it does not argue that the identity shall continue eternally1 except in such instances1 as when the soul through numbers of incarnations shall have finally accomplished the purpose of its pilgrimage and attained to mukti 7liberation from the law of change and death74 ,returning to a consideration of what may be said to constitute certain specific phases of consciousness1 we will take into consideration the phase of consciousness1 which we see expressed in the mineral kingdom4 ,that there is a distinct and separate character of consciousness thus expressed is evident from the fact that there is a law of chemical affinity1 i4e4 attraction and repulsion1 which causes different minerals to respond1 or to refuse to respond1 as the case may be1 to certain conditions or chemical processes1 more or less crude in character4 ,from this to the vegetable kingdom we assume a step in advance1 as vegetable life measured by complexity and refinement1 responds with a greater degree of sensitiveness to the laws of evolution1 as expressed in cultivation1 selection and environment4 ,even in this phase of manifestation1 we find the law of ,being1 is measured by the perfection of species4 ,evolution of inorganic life1 is as real1 and as much a part of the plan1 7or whatever name we choose71 as is organic1 and self-conscious life4 ,that which is less perfect1 measured by the law of beauty and usefulness1 we find gradually being exterminated4 ,that the earth1 as a planet1 is obeying this cosmic law of evolution from grossness to refinement2 from crudity to perfection2 from the limited to the all-inclusive1 is indisputable4 ,as the motor power of electricity has become general1 we find that beasts of burden are fast disappearing from the earth1 according to the law of the survival of the fittest1 this law1 always being subject to change4 ,the fittest means that which is best fitted to the conditions of the time4 ,brute force survives among brutes1 in the degree that it is strong or weak2 coming out of that expression of law into the mental areas of consciousness1 we find that the mentally fit survive among those who live only in the areas of the mind2 so on1 into the spiritual1 we will find the survival of the fittest will be those who are best fitted for spiritual eternity--for godhood4 ,coming again1 to our consideration of the term consciousness1 we will take a brief survey of that phase of consciousness which we see manifested in the forms of life that have the power to move from their immediate environment2 such for instance would include the fish in the sea2 insect life2 reptiles2 the birds in the air2 and all forms of animal life4 ,while expressing a very limited degree of consciousness1 yet there is evident a certain degree or aggregate of cell consciousness1 which transcends that of the mineral and vegetable life4 ,this apparently advanced degree of consciousness1 does not1 as we have stated1 presuppose a nearer approach to immortality1 however1 for the reason that we apply the law of the survival of the fittest to all manifestation1 and that which is best fitted for certain stages of the planet's life during the process of evolvement1 may be most unfitted for succeeding stages1 and will1 by the inexorable law of survival1 be discontinued--discarded1 even as the properties and stage-settings of a drama are thrown aside1 when the play has been taken off the boards4 ,it is admitted1 therefore1 that those forms of life having the power of locomotion1 involve a more complex degree of consciousness1 than does that of the mineral or vegetable4 ,in that phase of life that we see possessing the power to move1 to change its immediate environment1 even though not capable of changing its habitat we may perceive the beginning of that consciousness expressed as free-will4 ,here1 we assume1 the organism recognizes its self as distinct from its environment1 and from its counterparts1 etc41 but this recognition has not sufficient consciousness to assert that recognition1 and so we say that there is no self-consciousness4 ,there is what occultists have agreed to call simple consciousness1 but this does not include a realization of identity1 as apart from environment4 ,this may be better understood if we separate these degrees or phases of consciousness into groups1 applicable to the human organism1 leaving1 for a time the consideration of whether or not some human specimens are higher in the scales than are some animals4 ,physical1 or sense consciousness1 is shared alike by man and the animals4 ,beyond this phase of consciousness we may classify the human species in the following terms3 ,physical self-consciousness4 ,mental self-consciousness4 ,soul 7individual7 ,i consciousness4 ,spiritual self-consciousness4 ,physical self-consciousness is that phase of self-recognition which knows itself as a body distinct from its neighbors2 from its natural environment4 ,this awareness of the self it is that actuated pre-historic man when he manifested the blind force that is sometimes called self-preservation1 which force has erroneously been termed the first law of nature4 ,preservation of this physical self is the most primitive law of nature1 but not first in the sense that it is the most important1 or the strongest4 ,the world's long list of heroes refutes this idea4 ,the pre-historic species of human1 then1 in common with his brother1 the animal1 sought to preserve this physical self1 because he felt that this physical self1 his body1 was all there was of him1 and he wished to preserve it1 even as the wise man of to-day1 sacrifices everything to the preservation of the moral and spiritual ,self which he realizes is the real of him4 ,to this end1 he cultivated physical force1 sufficient to overcome his environment2 and as he developed a little of that consciousness which we term mental 7using the term merely as a part of the physical organism called the brain71 he realized that co-operation would greatly enhance his chances for self-preservation1 and therefore1 this mental consciousness impelled him to annex to his forces other physical organisms so that their united strength might preserve each other4 ,this side of the story of man's evolution in consciousness is not however a part of our present work1 and we will therefore leave it1 for a brief consideration of the successive steps in attainment of consciousness1 leading through devious paths1 and through millions of relative time called years1 into the present state of man's consciousness which in so many instances presages the oncoming of that state1 called liberation1 or illumination--mukti4 ,through mental self-consciousness the way has been long and arduous4 ,there are many1 many degrees of this phase of consciousness1 and to this phase we owe what is called our present civilization4 ,the true occultist1 whether viewing manifestation from the standpoint of ,oriental or of ,occidental ideals1 realizes that everything is right which makes for human betterment1 and that dharma 7right-action7 consists in acting in accordance with the highest motive of which one's consciousness is capable4 ,that our present civilization is most uncivilized in many respects1 will be admitted by all whose range of consciousness has touched in any degree1 the infinite areas of wisdom expressed in altruistic action4 ,but1 though the path be long1 and thorny1 the cycle is closing1 and many have reached the goal through its zigzag course4 ,but1 underlying1 as it were1 and upholding and uplifting the expression of sense consciousness in which so many persons seem lost to-day1 there are evidences of a consciousness which observes the effects1 of this tremendous mental activity1 and knows itself as something apart from1 and superior to this manifestation4 ,this1 we define as soul--individualized expression of the spiritual consciousness--the central light1 which as we previously quoted1 lighteth every man that cometh into the world4 ,many there are who merely perceive this4 ,to them there is a vague and indefinable something which seems to realize that the operations of the mind are something phenomenal and apart from the real ,self4 ,psychology1 even so empirical a psychology as is possible of demonstration in western schools and colleges1 evidences the fact that there is a far greater field of mental operation than is covered by the outer1 or mental consciousness4 ,the outer1 or objective action of the mind1 considers but one subject1 one question1 one problem at a time4 ,many varied phases of this problem may present themselves1 but the mental forces are focalized upon one subject at a time4 ,and yet to state that but one idea1 thought-concept1 or desire1 can enter the mind at a time1 is not a safe assumption4 ,after many centuries of material strife1 with the object of satisfying the demands of human life1 the conviction is forcing itself upon people in all walks of life1 that wealth1 ambition1 power and possessions1 do not give us the answer to the eternal unescapable and insistent question of the way to happiness4 ,this means that there is awakening in the human race more generally than at any other time in recorded history1 a realization that the human organism is not merely a physical aggregate of cells1 nor yet that it is mind individualized and in operation for the purpose of exercising new powers4 ,the fact is becoming apparent that all discovery is but an uncovering of those vast areas of consciousness which are limitless2 and which include not only all life on this planet1 but all life in the ,cosmos4 ,in short1 cosmic consciousness is becoming perceived1 by a vast majority1 and is being realized by not a few4 ,but in the immediate future of the race1 we find the next step1 for the majority to be that of soul-consciousness4 ,back of thought1 like a guardian angel stands the desire of the soul1 stimulating and directing2 back of action stands thought1 as the master directs the servant1 or as the captain decides the course of the ship4 ,spiritual evolution may be understood1 or at least perceived1 from a study of physical and mental evolution4 ,from the crude to the perfect is the law2 if this perfection of species1 or of phases1 could be attained without pain1 it were well4 ,pain comes from lack of wisdom to realize that out of the lower the higher inevitably springs1 as the butterfly springs from the cocoon2 as the flower springs from the seed2 as above so below is a translation of an old ,sinto saying1 which also bids us trust in ,kami and keep clean4 ,again it is said to him who overcometh1 will ,i give the inheritance4 ,overcoming may be variously interpreted4 ,in the past1 it has been presented to the initiate1 as sacrifice4 ,if so it be1 then is it because of lack of that wisdom which knows that there is no sacrifice in exchanging the physical for the spiritual--the ephemeral for the abiding4 ,says the ancient manuscripts3 ,the body is purified by water1 the mind by truth1 the soul by knowledge and austerity1 the reason by wisdom4 ,but as the groping1 undeveloped soul struggles for consciousness1 it reaches out for the gratification of mental desires4 ,the soul is moved by desire for perfect happiness4 ,the mind seeks to satisfy this craving for happiness in increased activities2 in accumulation2 in so-called pleasure1 i4e4 always looking outside--thinking outside1 living in the outside--the maya4 ,but the soul has but one answer to this quest for happiness4 ,it is love1 because only love and wisdom give immortality--which is self-preservation in the true sense4 ,it is written in the ,shruti3 ,brahman is wisdom and bliss4 ,no higher text can be given the disciple4 ,wisdom comes from reflection upon the results of ,experience1 in the search for happiness4 ,when the mind has sounded the depths of its resources1 and the urge forward can not be appeased1 when the voice of the inner self--the soul1 cannot be silenced2 the disciple pauses to ask the way4 ,he wants to know what it is all about1 and why it is that all he has so striven and struggled for fails to satisfy4 ,he wants to know how to avoid pain2 and how to find the most direct road to that satisfaction which endures2 and which is not synonymous with the so-called pleasures of the senses4 ,when this stage of development has been reached1 the disciple is ready for another phase of ,experience which shall extend his consciousness into those areas of knowledge1 in which the ,real is distinguishable from the ,illusory4 ,experience will then teach him that only ,love is real4 ,that which is for the permanent good of all1 as opposed to that which is transitory and only seemingly satisfying to the few1 may be said to constitute the perception of the ,real1 and the avoidance of ,illusion4 ,to exchange a present seeming advantage to the physical environment1 for a future and permanent satisfaction of the soul is the prerogative of the wise--the soul that has discovered itself and its mission4 ,in all organisms below the scale of the human1 there is a constant growth in complexity of organism1 with specialization of functions4 ,when we come to this last-mentioned stage of human development1 we find that there is no more specialization in the way of development of the physical functions4 ,instead1 there is a determined effort at perfecting the higher functions1 through the gradations of consciousness1 until the spiritual consciousness of the individual entity has been awakened4 ,then1 indeed1 has been awakened the divine man and the path to immortality is henceforth comparatively short1 although by no means strewn with roses1 judged from the limited standard of ,relativity4 ,a man's karma simply and mathematically1 proves the direction of his former desires4 ,karma does not punish or reward1 as is frequently imagined4 ,the general impression that one is reaping good or bad karma according as his life is one of pleasure or of pain1 is not the solution of the problem of karma1 and has no relation to the law of karmic action4 ,if a soul has in a previous life outgrown or outworn that evolutionary phase of development1 in which the mind seeks temporary pleasures1 and has come to the place where he wants to distinguish the ,real from the ,illusory1 his karma1 in compliance with the law of desire1 will bring him in relation to those conditions which will teach him to know the ,real from the ,illusory1 and in those conditions he will experience pain because he will1 if he remain in the activities of the world1 be acting contrary to the ideas of the average4 ,thus1 to the onlooker1 and in accordance with the general misinterpretation of the law of karma1 he will be thought to have reaped a bad karma1 while as a matter of reality1 he will be making very rapid strides on the path to godhood4 ,said a famous ,japanese high priest3 ,desire is the bird that carries the soul to the object in which his mind is immersed1 and thus his future actions are the result4 ,this means that by the law of desire1 acting in accordance with the evolutionary pilgrimage of the soul1 the karma is produced4 ,the ,american poet1 ,lowell1 says3 ,no man is born into the world whose work is not born with him4 ,however1 whether or not this applies to man in the first stages of his upward climb to the goal of attainment of conscious godhood1 it most assuredly applies to those souls who have become aware of their purpose1 and who have made a conscious choice of their karma4 ,and of this class of souls1 the world to-day has a goodly number4 ,the end of a kalpa finds many avatars1 and angels on earth1 and however obscured the mind of these may become in the fog of ,illusion1 the inner light guides them through its mists to the safe accomplishment of their mission4 ,there is a story of a ,buddhist priest1 who when dying1 was comforted by his loving disciples with the reminder that he was at last entering upon a state of bliss and rest4 ,to which the earnest one replied3 ,never so long as there is misery to be assuaged1 shall ,i enter ,nirvana4 ,i shall be reborn where the need is greatest4 ,i shall wish to be reborn in the nethermost depths of hell1 because that is the place that most needs enlightenment2 that is the place to point out the path to deliverance2 that is the place where the light will shine most brightly4 ,thus it will be seen we may not readily determine what is good and what is bad karma1 by judging from external conditions4 ,as we are told that we may entertain angels unawares1 so we may pass the world's avatars upon the street1 and judging from the external1 the physical environment1 we may not know them from the vampire souls that contact them4 ,the point of our present consideration is that this year of grace1 meaning not the mere twelve months of the calendar year1 but the century1 is the end of the present kalpa 7cycle71 and demonstrates that period of evolution has terminated1 and the era is at hand when spiritual alchemy shall transform the old into the new1 and that the desire1 which has so long ministered to the wants of the physical body1 shall be turned 7converted7 into the channels that lead to spiritual consciousness4 ,the undefined1 instinctive urge that has actuated so many intrepid souls1 is becoming recognized for what it is--the awakening of the inner ,self2 the blind groping in the dark will cease and there shall arise a race of human beings liberated2 free2 aware of their spiritual origin and their inherent divinity4 ,all who have conformed their life activities to the divine law of action1 which may be tersely stated as ,not mine1 but thine1 dear brother1 will have achieved the goal of the soul's purpose--will have found ,nirvana4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,self-,,ness ,,and ,,selflessness ,during what is historically known as the ,dark ,ages1 the esoteric meaning of religious practices became obscured4 ,this is true no less1 and no more1 of ,oriental countries1 than of ,european4 ,the long night through which the earth passed during that time and since1 but foreshadowed a coming dawn4 ,in the still very imperfect light of the dawning day1 truth is seen but dimly1 and its rays appear distorted1 whereas1 when seen with the pure and spotless eye they are straight and clear and simple4 ,indeed1 the very simplicity of ,truth causes her to pass unnoticed4 ,while to the superficial observer2 the student who is mentally eager but who lacks the wonderful penetrating power of spiritual insight1 there seems to be a great complexity in ,oriental philosophy1 the fact is1 that the entire aggregation of systems is simple enough when we have the key4 ,one of the stumbling blocks2 the inexplicable enigma to many ,occidental students1 is the problem of the preservation1 of the ,self1 and the constant admonition to become selfless4 ,the two appear paradoxical4 ,how may the ,self acquire consciousness and yet become selfless8 ,throughout the ,oriental teachings1 no matter which of the many systems we study1 we find the oft-repeated declaration that liberation can never be accomplished and ,nirvana reached1 by him who holds to the idea of self4 ,it is this universally recognized aphorism which has given rise to the erroneous conception of ,nirvana as absorption of all identity4 ,hakuin ,daisi1 the ,st4 ,paul of ,japanese ,buddhism1 cautioned his disciples that they must absorb the self into the whole1 the cosmos1 if they would never die1 and ,jesus assured his hearers that he who loses his life for my sake shall find it4 ,christians have taken this simple statement to mean that he who endured persecution and death because of his espousal of ,christianity1 would be rewarded in the way that a king bestows lands and titles1 for defense of his person and throne4 ,this is the limited viewpoint of the personal self2 it is far from being consistent with the wisdom of the ,illumined ,master4 ,he who has sufficient spiritual consciousness to desire the welfare of all1 even though his own life and his own possessions were the price therefore1 can not lose his life4 ,such a one is fit for immortality and his godhood is claimed by the very act of renunciation--not as a reward bestowed for such renunciation4 ,by the very act of willingness to lose the self we find the ,self4 ,not the self of externality4 ,not the self that says ,i am a white man2 or a black man2 or a yellow man2 or a red man4 ,that says ,i am ,john ,smith--or any other name4 ,the awareness of this kind of selfhood1 this personal self1 is like looking at one's reflection in the mirror and saying1 ,ah1 ,i have on a becoming attire1 or my face looks sickly to-day4 ,it is the same ,i that looked yesterday and found the face looking excellently well1 so that there must have been consciousness behind the observation1 that could take cognizance of the difference in appearance of yesterday's reflection and that which met that cognizing eye to-day4 ,eagerness to retain consciousness of the personal self blocks the way of ,illumination which uncovers the real1 the greater1 the higher ,self--the atman4 ,this constant adjuration to sink the self into ,the ,absolute1 is what has given rise to so much difference of interpretation as to the meaning of mukti1 liberation4 ,it sounds paradoxical to state that it is only by giving up all consciousness of self1 that immortal ,self-hood is gained4 ,thus has arisen all the confusion as to the meaning of absorption into a state of bliss4 ,how may the ,self realize a state of selflessness and yet not be lost in a sea of un consciousness8 ,only one who is capable of self-sacrifice were he called upon1 can correctly answer this question1 and by what may be termed the very law of equation1 the sacrifice becomes impossible4 ,should any one seek to bargain with himself to pay the price of loss of self1 so that he might gain the higher1 fuller life1 his sacrifice would be in vain because it would not be selflessness1 but selfishness--there could be no sacrifice1 were it a bargain4 ,let no one think that this unchanging law of the ,cosmos is in the nature of either reward or punishment1 or that it was devised by the gods1 as a method of initiation--a test of fitness for ,nirvana4 ,even though the test be applied by the gods1 it is not of their planning4 ,it is1 just as the absolute is1 and analysis of the way and wherefrom is not possible of contemplation4 ,if it sometimes appears that ,illumined ,ones have seemed to infer a loss of identity of the ,self1 it should be remembered that not only have these reported instances of liberation 7cosmic consciousness attained71 been vague1 but they have necessarily suffered from the impossibility of describing that which is indescribable4 ,we should also remember that translators employ the words in the ,english language which most nearly express their interpretation of the original meaning4 ,words are at best but clumsy symbols4 ,perfect bliss is voiceless--inexpressible4 ,this does not1 however1 mean that perfect bliss is nothingness4 ,rather is it everything-ness1 in that it is all-embracing in its realization4 ,in complete realization of the ,cosmos nothing is excluded4 ,exclusiveness is a concomitant of the state of consciousness pertinent to the personal self1 which state is not excluded from the consciousness described as cosmic1 nirvana or mukti1 but on the contrary1 is included in it1 even as the simple vibrations of the musical scale are included in the great harmonies of ,wagner's compositions4 ,he who has realized ,brahman becomes silent1 says ,ramakrishna4 ,discussions and argumentations exist so long as the realization of ,the ,absolute does not come4 ,if you melt butter in a pan over a fire1 how long does it make a noise8 ,so long as there is water in it4 ,when the water is evaporated it ceases to make further noise4 ,the soul of the seeker after ,brahman may be compared to fresh butter4 ,discussions and argumentations of a seeker are like the noise caused during the process of purification by the fire of knowledge4 ,as the water of egotism and worldliness is evaporated and the soul becomes purer1 all noise of debates and discussions ceases and absolute silence reigns in the state of samadhi4 ,a better translation of the word noise would be sputtering4 ,sound is not necessarily noise4 ,the idea conveyed is not intended to be a condition in which the soul becomes ansthetized as it were1 but a state of knowing1 and the effort and the sputtering of questioning and searching is passed4 ,the same gospel better expresses the meaning thus3 ,the bee buzzes so long as it is outside the lotus1 and does not settle down in its heart to drink of the honey4 ,as soon as it tastes of the honey all buzzing is at an end4 ,similarly all noise of discussion ceases when the soul of the neophyte begins to drink the nectar of ,divine ,love1 at the lotus feet of the ,blissful ,one4 ,who will not say that the bee is more satisfied when he has found and drank of the honey than when he is buzzingly seeking it8 ,surely it is not necessary to be of one mind1 in order that we may be of one heart4 ,even though we were as like as two peas in a pod1 it is well to note that the two peas are two spheres--nature has made them separate and distinct despite their close resemblance4 ,to unite with the absolute should correspond to this unity of all hearts in the desire for a common effort to establish harmony1 while we permit to each individual the freedom of mind2 of taste2 of choice of pursuits2 of choice of pleasure2 of discrimination2 and preservation of identity4 ,our contention is that mukti1 or liberation 7which we believe to be identical with attainment of cosmic consciousness7 does not mean an absorption into the ,universal1 the ,absolute1 ,brahm1 to the extent of annihilation of identity4 ,and we claim that this view finds corroboration in the best interpretation of ,oriental philosophies and religions1 as well as in the ,christian doctrine4 ,says ,nagasena1 the ,buddhist sage3 ,he who is not free from passion experiences both the taste of food1 and also the passion due to that taste2 while he who is free from passion experiences the taste of food but no passion4 ,hence we discover that the state of ,illumination1 samadhi1 or mukti1 according to the most enlightened and logical interpretation1 means a calm and peaceful consciousness1 undisturbed by passion4 ,but we should not interpret the word passion as here used1 to mean absence of all sensation1 feeling or knowledge4 ,there is absolutely no arbitrary interpretation or translation of the words of ,buddha1 nor can there be4 ,the same is true of ,confucius2 of ,mohammed2 of ,krishna2 of ,laotze2 of ,jesus2 of all the teachers and philosophers of the world4 ,who of you who read these words has not listened to debates and endless discussions as to what even so modern a writer as ,emerson or ,whitman1 or ,nietzche or ,kobo ,daisi1 or some other1 may have meant by certain statements8 ,in the ,samyutta ,nikaya we read3 ,let a man who holds the ,self clear1 keep that ,self free from wickedness4 ,this does not imply annihilation of identity1 absorption of consciousness1 although it has been so interpreted by many students4 ,on the contrary1 instead of losing consciousness of the ,self 7which is not merely the personality71 we find the ,real ,self4 ,as an adult we realize more consciousness than we do as infants4 ,not that we possess more consciousness4 ,we cannot acquire consciousness as we accumulate things4 ,we can not add one iota to the sum of consciousness1 but we can and do uncover portion upon portion of the vast area of consciousness which is4 ,says the ,dhammapada3 ,as kinsmen1 friends and lovers salute a man who has been long away and returns safe from afar2 in like manner his good deeds receive him who has done good1 and who has gone from this world to the other1 as kinsmen receive a friend on his return4 ,if this state of mukti were annihilation of individual consciousness it would hardly be an incentive to do good deeds1 except that good deeds in themselves bring happiness1 but if the bringing of happiness did not also bring with it a larger consciousness1 it would not be true happiness1 but merely a condition1 and conditions are always subject to change4 ,it is not separateness you should hope and long for2 it is union--the sense of oneness with all that is1 that has ever been and that can ever be--the sense that shall enlarge the horizon of your being1 to the limits of the universe2 to the boundaries of time and space2 that shall lift you up into a new plane far beyond1 outside all mean and miserable care for self4 ,why stand shrinking there8 ,give up the fool's paradise of ',this is ,i'2 ',this is mine4' ,it is the great reality you are asked to grasp4 ,leap forward without fear4 ,you shall find yourself in the ambrosial waters of ,nirvana and sport with the ,arhats who have conquered birth and death4 ,this admonition to give up the struggle and strife for separateness is interpreted by many to declare for annihilation of consciousness of identity1 but we contend that union is in no wise akin to annihilation1 and since this assurance of union is further described as an enlargement of the horizon of your being1 it is evident that your being can not be enlarged by becoming annihilated1 or even absorbed into ,the ,absolute1 as in that event it would cease to be your being4 ,moreover1 you are told that you will sport with the ,arhats who have conquered birth and death4 ,arhats are alluded to in the plural1 and not as ,one ,being4 ,to be sure there may be a final state of absorption of consciousness far beyond this state of being which is described as ,nirvana4 ,theosophy lays much stress upon the assumption that the attainment of godhood is possible to every human soul1 but that this godhood must inevitably have an ultimate conclusion4 ,that is1 there is a place or heaven1 which is called the ,devachanic plane1 and this plane1 or place1 is inhabited by gods1 for a definite period1 approximating thousands of years1 but that the final conclusion must be1 absorption of identity into the universal reservoir of mind1 or consciousness4 ,but we may readily see that beyond the ,devachanic plane1 we may not penetrate with the limited consciousness which takes cognizance of external conditions4 ,any attempt1 therefore1 at a description of what occurs to the individual consciousness beyond the areas of ,devachan1 must be futile4 ,the argument that most logically postulates the assumption that all identity1 or differentiation of consciousness1 becomes absorbed into ,the ,absolute1 is based upon the fact that we remember nothing of previous states of consciousness4 ,that is1 the devious pathway by which the advanced and progressive individual has reached his present state or realization of consciousness1 is shrouded in oblivion4 ,from this it is not unnatural to assume that since we have come ,,out ,,of ,,the ,,void1 having apparently no memory or realization of what preceded this coming1 we will return to the same state1 when we shall have completed the round of evolution4 ,this postulate1 is1 however1 merely the result of our limited power of comprehension1 and may or may not be true4 ,the answer is as yet inexplicable to the finite mind1 considered from the standpoint of relative proof4 ,if it were a fact1 that all ,oriental sages experiencing the phenomenon of liberation1 mukti1 had reported what would seem to be annihilation of identity of consciousness1 we still maintain that this fact would not be proof sufficient upon which to postulate this conclusion1 for the very obvious reason that the present era promises what ,occidental theology1 science1 and philosophy unite in designating as a new dispensation1 wherein the old shall pass away1 and a new order shall be established4 ,look how the fine and valuable gold-dust shifts through the screen1 leaving only the useless stones and debris in the catches2 even so that which is infinitely fine substance becomes lost when sifted through the screen of the limited mind of man1 said a wise ,japanese high priest4 ,however1 it is our contention that ,buddhism1 far indeed from postulating the assumption that individual consciousness is swallowed up in ,the ,absolute1 as is frequently understood by ,occidental translators of ,buddhistic writings1 announces a calm and unquestioning conviction in the power of man to attain to immortality1 and consequent godhood1 through contemplation of faith in his own identity with the ,supreme ,one4 ,when we consider that there are in the religion of ,buddhism1 as many as sixty different expositions of the teachings of the ,lord ,buddha1 and that these vary1 even as the ,christian sects vary in their interpretations and presentments of the instructions of the ,master1 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 we begin to have some idea of the difficulties of correct interpretation of the obscure and mystical language in which mukti is ever described4 ,one of the most quoted of the translations of the ,life of ,buddha1 reaches the ,english readers through devious ways1 namely1 from the ,sanskrit into ,chinese1 and from the ,chinese into ,english1 and again edited by an ,english scientist who is also an ,oriental scholar4 ,we must also consider the poverty of the ,english language when used to describe supra-conscious experiences1 or what modern thought terms ,metaphysics4 ,only within very recent times1 approximating twenty-five years1 there have been coined innumerable words in the ,english language4 ,the advances made in mechanical1 scientific1 ethical and philosophical thought1 have made this a necessity1 while1 when it comes to an attempt at clarifying the meaning of mystical terms1 a very wide range of interpretation is imperative4 ,buddha1 addressing his servant1 says3 ,kandaka1 take this gem and going back to where my father is1 lay it reverently before him1 to signify my heart's relation to him4 ,it is related that the gem mentioned was a beryl1 which in the language of gems signifies purity and peace4 ,it must be remembered that all ,oriental languages give power to gems1 perfumes and talismanic symbols4 ,this fact makes direct translation of ,oriental writings a difficult task for the ,occidental scholar1 who1 until recently at least1 gave no power to so-called inanimate things4 ,and then for me request the king to stifle every fickle feeling of affection1 and say that ,i1 to escape from birth and age and death1 have entered the forest of painful discipline4 ,not that ,i may get a heavenly birth1 much less because ,i have no tenderness of heart1 or that ,i cherish any cause of bitterness1 but ,only that ,i may escape this weight of sorrow2 the accumulated long-night weight of covetous desire4 ,i now desire to ease the load1 so that it may be overthrown forever2 therefore ,i seek the way of ultimate escape4 ,if ,i should gain the way of emancipation1 then shall ,i never need to put away my kindred1 to leave my home1 to sever ties of love4 ,o grieve not for your son4 ,the five desires of sense beget the sorrow2 those held by lust themselves induce sorrow2 my very ancestors1 victorious kings1 have handed down to me their kingly wealth2 ,i1 thinking only on eternal bliss1 put it all away4 ,the meaning here conveyed is simple enough to understand4 ,from a long line of ancestors who had ruled with the unquestioned authority of ,oriental monarchs1 the young prince felt that he had inherited much that would retard his soul's freedom4 ,the examples of kings and emperors who have abandoned their possessions have been too few to cause us to believe that they have held these possessions as naught4 ,through rivers of blood2 through ages of despotism1 and self-seeking1 kings and emperors have maintained their vested rights bequeathing to their progeny the same desires2 the same covetousness of worldly power2 the same consideration for the lesser self2 the same hypnotism that takes account of caste4 ,to escape from these fetters of the soul1 into a realization of the ,eternal ,oneness of life1 was no easy task for the inheritor of such desires and beliefs and appetites as an ancestry of rulers imposes4 ,and ,prince ,siddhartha was anxious to escape reincarnation--a theory or conviction inseparable from ,oriental religion4 ,his reference to fickle affection means literally that selfish affection of the parent1 which would retain the fleeting joy of a few short earthly years of companionship1 while the larger and more perfect love would bid the child seek its birthright of godhood4 ,the word fickle here would more properly be translated transitory4 ,buddha's desire to escape from a continuous round of deaths and leave-takings from kindred1 does not necessarily imply an absorption into ,the ,absolute2 it may as logically be interpreted to mean1 that liberation from the hypnotisms of externality 7mukti7 insures the possession and power of the gods--power over physical life and death1 and this power need not mean a cessation from individual consciousness1 but rather1 a full realization of individual unity with the sum of all consciousness4 ,there is another mistaken interpretation of the means of attainment of that state of liberation1 which has been alluded to in so many varied terms4 ,the fact that ,buddha1 like many of the ,oriental ,masters1 sought the seclusion of the forest2 the isolation1 and simplicity of the hermit1--has given rise to the belief1 almost universally held among ,oriental disciples1 that liberation from maya1 the delusions of the world1 can not be attained save by these methods4 ,monasteries are the result of this idea1 and this ,buddhistic practice was adopted by the first ,christian church1 since which time the real purpose and intention of the monastery and the nunnery have become lost in the concept of sacrifice or punishment4 ,the ,christian monk almost invariably retires to a monastery1 not for the purpose of consciously attaining to that enlarged area of consciousness which insures liberation1 mukti1 but as an outward and visible sign that he is willing to undergo the sacrifice of worldly pleasures at the behest of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,thus1 the real object of retirement is lost1 and the sacrifice again becomes in the nature of a bargain4 ,in the ,bhagavad-,gita1 we find these words3 ,renunciation and yoga by action both lead to the highest bliss2 of the two1 yoga by action is verily better than renunciation of action4 ,he who is harmonized by yoga1 the self-purified1 self-ruled1 the senses subdued1 whose self is the self of all beings1 although acting1 yet is such an one not affected4 ,he who acteth1 placing all action in the eternal1 abandoning attachment1 is unaffected by sin as a lotus leaf by the waters4 ,this is interpreted according to the viewpoint of the translator1 even as1 among an audience of ten thousand persons1 we may find almost as many interpretations1 and shades of meaning of a musical composition4 ,true1 the ,oriental meaning seems to be the one that we shall cease to love friends1 relatives1 and lovers1 abandoning them as one would abandon the furniture of one's household when outworn1 and no longer of service4 ,we do not accept this interpretation4 ,to abandon one's friends1 one's loved ones1 yea1 even one's would-be enemies is equivalent to leaving one's companions on a sinking raft and1 without sentiment or remorse1 save one's physical self from destruction4 ,no higher sentiment is known to struggling humanity than love of each other4 ,greater love hath no man than this1 that he lay down his life for a friend4 ,oriental or ,occidental philosophy1 whichever may be presented to the mind1 as an unfailing guide1 should be distrusted1 if that philosophy prescribes the abandonment of lover1 friend1 relative1 neighbor1 brother1 companion4 ,that is1 if we accept the dictionary meaning of the word abandoned as translated into ,english4 ,a western avatar has said3 ,i will not have what my brother can not1 and in this we heartily concur1 not hesitating to say that until all human life shall accept and realize the fullness of this message1 we shall not1 as a race1 have attained to the inheritance that is ours4 ,but shall we then believe1 that the ,oriental doctrine is erroneous8 ,not necessarily4 ,errors of interpretation are not only natural but inevitable1 and this interpretation of abandonment is in line with the idea of sacrifice 7using the word in its old sense of paying a debt71 which prevailed throughout all the centuries just passed--centuries in which the idea of ,god was estimated by the conduct of the kings and monarchs of earth4 ,a later revelation or dispensation has given what the ,illumined ,one said was a new commandment1 and it is one more in accord with our ideals of godhood4 ,a new commandment ,i give unto you1 that ye love one another4 ,but love1 like everything which is1 means much or little1 according as the soul is advanced in knowledge1 or is undeveloped4 ,perfect and complete love is not selfish2 it desires not possession1 but union4 ,there is a world of difference between the two words4 ,the soul enchained is man1 and free from chain is ,god1 said ,sri ,ramakrishna4 ,and the soul is enchained by illusion--by mistaking the effect for the cause1 and by regarding the effect as the real1 instead of realizing the incompleteness2 the limitedness2 the unsatisfying character of the changing--the external4 ,not that the pursuit of the external is sinful1 but it is unsatisfying1 while the soul that has caught a glimpse of that wonderful ecstasy of ,illumination1 has found that which satisfies4 ,upon this point of attainment of complete satisfaction1 and certainty1 all who have experienced the consciousness we are considering seem to agree1 according to the testimony here submitted4 ,,chapter ,v ,,instances ,,of ,,illumination ,,and ,,its ,,effects ,the term ,illumination seems a fitting description of the state of consciousness which is frequently alluded to as cosmic consciousness4 ,without the light of understanding1 which is a spiritual quality1 words themselves are meaningless4 ,when the mind becomes ,illumined the spirit of the word is clear and where before the meaning was clouded1 or perhaps altogether obscured1 there comes to the ,illumined ,one a depth of comprehension undreamed of by the merely sense-conscious person4 ,if we consider the recorded instances of ,illumination found among ,occidentals1 we will find that such extreme intensity of effort as that which is reported of ,sri ,ramakrishna1 and other ,oriental sages1 does not appear4 ,it would seem that the late ,dr4 ,richard ,maurice ,bucke of ,toronto1 ,canada1 was the first in this country to present a specific classification of what he termed the new consciousness1 and to describe in some detail1 he experience of himself and others1 notably ,walt ,whitman4 ,dr4 ,bucke's first public exposition of these experiences was made at a congress of the ,british ,medical ,association in ,montreal1 ,canada1 in ,september of the year #ahig4 ,dr4 ,bucke described this state of consciousness--a subject that seemed to him at that time to be a new one--in the following words3 ,but of infinitely more importance than telepathy1 and so-called spiritualism--no matter what explanation we give of these1 or what their future is destined to be--is the final act here touched upon4 ,this is1 that superimposed upon self-consciousness as is that faculty upon simple consciousness1 a third and higher form of consciousness is at present making its appearance in our race4 ,this higher form of consciousness1 when it appears1 occurs as it must1 at the full maturity of the individual1 at or about the age of thirty-five1 but almost always between the ages of thirty and forty4 ,there have been occasional cases of it for the last two thousand years1 and it is becoming more and more common4 ,in fact1 in all appearances1 as far as observed1 it obeys the laws to which every nascent faculty is subject4 ,many more or less perfect examples of this new faculty exist in the world to-day1 and it has been my privilege to know personally and to have had the opportunity of studying1 several men and women who have possessed it4 ,in the course of a few more milleniums there should be born from the present human race1 a higher type of man1 possessing this higher type of consciousness4 ,this new race1 as it may well be called1 would occupy toward us1 a position such as that occupied by us toward the simple conscious 'alulus homo4' ,the advent of this higher1 better and happier race1 would simply justify the long agony of its birth through countless ages of our past4 ,and it is the first article of my belief1 some of the grounds for which ,i have endeavored to lay before you1 that a new race is in course of evolution4 ,at a subsequent date1 having given the subject further consideration and having collected data corroborative of his former observations1 ,dr4 ,bucke said3 ,i have1 in the last three years1 collected twenty-three cases of this so-called cosmic consciousness4 ,in each case the onset or incoming of the new faculty is always sudden1 instantaneous4 ,among the unusual feelings the mind experiences1 is a sudden sense of being immersed in flame or in a brilliant light4 ,this occurs entirely without worrying or outward cause1 and may happen at noonday or in the middle of the night1 and the person at first feels that he is becoming insane4 ,along with these feelings comes a sense of immortality2 not merely a feeling of certainty that there is a future life1--that would be a small matter--but a pronounced consciousness that the life now being lived is eternal1 death being seen as a trivial incident which does not affect its continuity4 ,further1 there is annihilation of the sense of sin1 and an intellectual competency1 not simply surpassing the old plane1 but on an entirely new and higher plane4 99 99 99 ,the cosmic conscious race will not be the race that exists to-day1 any more than the present is the same race that existed prior to the evolution of self-consciousness4 ,a new race is being born from us1 and this new race will in the near future1 possess the earth4 ,dr4 ,bucke later published an article in a current magazine1 illustrating the illumination of his friend ,walt ,whitman1 and supplemented with an account of his own experience4 ,we quote briefly from ,dr4 ,bucke's account of his own experience3 ,i had spent the evening in a great city with some friends reading and discussing poetry and philosophy4 ,we had occupied ourselves with ,wordsworth1 ,shelley1 ,browning1 and especially ,whitman4 ,we parted at midnight4 ,i had a long drive in a hansom to my lodgings4 ,my mind1 deeply under the influence of the ideas1 images and emotions called up by the reading and talk1 was calm and peaceful4 ,i was in a state of quiet1 almost passive enjoyment1 not actually thinking1 but letting ideas1 images and emotions flow of themselves1 as it were1 through my mind4 ,all at once1 without warning of any kind1 ,i found myself wrapped in a flame-colored cloud4 ,for an instant ,i thought of fire1 an immense conflagration somewhere close by in that great city4 ,the next moment ,i knew that the fire was within myself4 ,while ,dr4 ,bucke is unquestionably right in his estimate of the fact that a new race is being born1 as he expresses it1 there can scarcely be any question of individual age1 in which the new consciousness may be expected4 ,physical maturity can have nothing whatever to do with the matter1 since the acquisition of supra-consciousness is a matter of the maturity of the soul4 ,this completement of the cycle of the soul's pilgrimage and service1 may come at any age1 as far as the physical body is concerned4 ,indeed1 science records no definite age at which even physical maturity is invariably reached1 although there is an approximate age4 ,a case recently widely commented upon was that of a child of six years who showed every symptom of senility or old age1 which could hardly be possible without having passed what we call maturity4 ,again1 we find that some persons retain every indication of youth1 both of mind and body1 long after their contemporaries have reached and passed middle age4 ,it is coming more and more to be admitted that age is relative1 and that what we know as the relative is the effect of mental operations4 ,mental operations are subject to change--to enlargement4 ,the advent of cosmic consciousness is1 therefore1 not subject to what we know as time1 as applied to physical development4 ,nor should we speak of cosmic consciousness as an acquisition1 but rather as a realization1 since the consciousness is1 at all times4 ,it always has been1 it will always be4 ,our relation to it changes1 as we develop from the sense conscious to the self-conscious state and finally to what we term the cosmic conscious state4 ,this latter must of necessity have been as yet only imperfectly realized1 even by those of the ,illuminati1 who are known to the world as avatars and saviours4 ,several instances of the possession of cosmic consciousness by children1 are personally known to the writer4 ,a well-known woman writer in ,america thus describes a succession of experiences in what were evidently conditions of cosmic consciousness1 although as she said1 she did not until many years later realize what had taken place4 ,like ,lord ,alfred ,tennyson1 who tells of inducing in himself a state of spiritual ecstasy or liberation1 by repeatedly intoning his own name1 this lady acquired the habit of repeating in wonder and awe the name by which she was called in the household1 which was an abbreviation of her baptismal name4 ,the effect is best described in her own words3 ,it seems to me that ,i never could quite become accustomed to hear myself addressed by name4 ,when some member of the household would call me from study or play--even at the early age of five or six years--,i would instantly be seized with a feeling of great and almost overwhelming awe and amazement1 at the sound1 which ,i knew was in some way associated with me4 ,i found it extremely difficult to identity myself with that name1 and often when alone would repeat the name over and over1 trying to find a solution of the 'why and wherefore4' ,at length this wonderment grew upon me to such an extent that ,i felt ,i must see this self of me that was called by a name4 ,i acquired the habit of standing on a chair to gaze into the mirror above the chest of drawers in my mother's bed-room1 and putting my face close to the mirror1 ,i would gaze and gaze into the eyes ,i saw there1 and repeat over and over the name which seemed to me not to belong to that 'other self' hidden behind those eyes4 ,on one occasion ,i became quite entranced and fell from the chair1 after which ,i refrained from looking into the mirror1 although ,i did not for many years get over the feeling of wonderment at the sound of my own name1 and many times1 on repeating the name aloud1 ,i would feel myself being lifted up into what seemed to me the clouds above my head1 until ,i felt myself being 'melted1' as ,i termed it1 into the moving cloud of soft transparent light4 ,at this time ,i was between seven and eight years of age1 and although ,i was far beyond children of my age1 in my school studies1 ,i was frequently admonished for being 'stupid1' owing to the fact that ,i could not remember the names of objects1 nor could ,i be trusted on an errand4 ,while walking from our house to the grocer's1 scarcely a block away1 ,i would feel that sudden wonderment and awe of my name steal over me1 and again ,i would be transported to some unknown1 yet immanent region1 utterly losing consciousness of my surroundings4 ,i would sometimes awake to find myself standing before the counter of the grocery store1 struggling to remember who and where ,i was1 and what it was that ,i had been sent to that strange place for4 ,this lady relates that she never dared to tell of her strange experiences1 although she did not outgrow them until early womanhood1 when she dropped the abbreviation of her name1 and assumed her full baptismal name4 ,whether this latter fact had anything to do with the cessation of the experience is doubtful4 ,at the same time1 she declares that she can even now induce the same sensations1 and transport herself into childhood again by repeating her childhood name4 ,the following extract from a paper published in ,london1 ,england1 in #ahij1 gives a description of an experience of a young man who had fallen into a condition which the physicians pronounced catalepsy4 ,this young man was at the time a medical student1 and had always exhibited a tendency to entrancement1 or catalepsy4 ,on recovering from one of these cataleptic attacks1 and being asked to give a description of his sensations or experiences1 the young man said3 ,i felt a kind of soothing slumber stealing over me4 ,i became aware that ,i was floating in a vast ocean of light and joy4 ,i was here1 there1 and everywhere4 ,i was everybody and everybody was ,i4 ,i knew ,i was ,i1 and yet ,i knew that ,i was much more than myself4 ,indeed1 it seemed to me that there was no division4 ,that all the universe was in me and ,i in it1 and yet nothing was lost or swallowed up4 ,everything was alive with a joy that would never diminish4 ,such1 in substance1 was the attempt of this young man to describe what all who have experienced cosmic consciousness unite in saying is indescribable1 for the very obvious reason that there are no words in which to express what is wordless1 and inexpressible4 ,this authentic account of a young man under twenty years of age1 however1 serves to prove that there is no special age of physical maturity in which the attainment of this state of consciousness may be expected4 ,this account was published seven years previous to ,dr4 ,bucke's statement1 and yet1 since it is not quoted in ,dr4 ,bucke's account1 it is most unlikely that he had seen the article4 ,certainly the young man had never heard of the experience which ,dr4 ,bucke later records1 as cosmic consciousness1 and yet the similarity of the experience1 with the many which have been recorded is almost startling4 ,the salient point in this account1 as in most of the others which have found their way into public print1 is the feeling of being in perfect harmony and union with everything in the universe4 ,i was everything and everything was ,i1 said this young man1 and again ,i was here1 there and everywhere at once1 he says in an effort to describe something which in the very nature of it1 must be indescribable in terms of sense consciousness4 ,illustrative of the connection between religious ecstasy and cosmic consciousness1 we find the experience of an illiterate negro woman1 a celebrated religious and anti-slavery worker of the early part of the last century4 ,this woman was known as ,sojourner ,truth and was at least forty years of age in #ahag1 when she was given her freedom under a law which freed all slaves in ,new ,york state1 who had attained the age of forty years4 ,sojourner ,truth never learned to read or write1 and her education consisted almost entirely of that presentation of religious truth which finds its most successful converts in revivalism4 ,with this fact in mind1 nothing less than the attainment of a wonderful degree of spiritual consciousness could account for her marvelous power of description1 and her ready flow of language1 when exhorting4 ,mrs4 ,harriet ,beecher ,stowe wrote of her1 in an article published in the ,atlantic ,monthly1 as early as #ahfc3 ,i do not recollect ever to have been conversant with any one who had more of that silent and subtle power which we call personal presence1 than this woman4 ,in the modern spiritualistic phraseology1 she would be described as having a 'strong sphere4' ,the wonderful mental endowment which seems to follow as a complement to the experience of ,illumination1 when not already present1 as in the case of ,whitman1 for example1 is characteristic of ,sojourner ,truth1 or ,isabella1 as she was baptized4 ,naturally1 this mental power1 seemingly inconsistent with her humble origin1 and her unlettered condition1 is evidenced along those lines which made up the sum and substance of her life4 ,judging her from the broader concept of philosophy1 ,isabella appears somewhat fanatical1 but the influence of her life and work was so great1 that ,wendell ,phillips wrote of her3 ,i once heard her describe the captain of a slave ship going up to judgment1 followed by his victims as they gathered from the depths of the sea1 in a strain that reminded me of ,clarence's dream in ,shakespeare1 and equalled it4 ,the anecdotes of her ready wit and quick striking replies are numberless4 ,but the whole together give little idea of the rich1 quaint1 poetic and often profound speech of a most remarkable person1 who used to say to us3 ',you read books2 ,god ,himself talks to me4' ,isabella's conviction that she had talked to ,god1 was unshakable1 and was1 indeed1 the dynamic force which moved her4 ,she was accustomed to tell of the strange and startling experience in which she met ,god face to face1 and in which she said to ,him3 ,oh1 ,god1 ,i didn't know as you was so big4 ,in the ,new ,england ,magazine for ,march1 #aija1 there was given a full account of the work of this noted negro woman4 ,commenting on her sense of awe of the immensity of ,god when she met him1 the writer says3 ,the consciousness of ,god's presence was like a fire around her and she was afraid1 till she began to feel that somebody stood between her and this brilliant presence2 and after a while she knew that this somebody loved her4 ,at first1 she thought it must be ,cato1 a preacher whom she knew or ,deencia or ,sally--people who had been her friends4 ,we are not told whether these persons were living or dead1 or whether she thought they had come in the flesh1 or in the spirit to her relief4 ,however this may be1 she soon perceived that their images looked vile and black and could not be the beautiful presence that shielded her from the fires of ,god4 ,she began to experiment with her inner vision1 and found that when she said to the presence ',i know you1 ,i know you1' she perceived a light2 but when she said ',i don't know you1' the light went out4 ,at last1 she became aware that it was ,jesus who was shielding her and loving her1 and the world grew bright1 her troubled thoughts were banished1 and her heart was filled with praise and with love for all creatures4 ',lord1 ,lord1' she cried1 ',i can love even de white folks4' ,the question will legitimately arise here1 as to the authenticity of an experience in which ,jesus is said to be personally guiding and shielding her1 but it must be remembered that the mind is the medium through which the spiritual realization must be expressed and1 as has been stated previously1 the description of the phenomenon of ,illumination1 particularly when experienced in a sudden influx must partake of the character of the mind of the illumined one4 ,william ,james1 late professor of ,psychology of ,harvard ,university1 in his exhaustive book ,the ,varieties of ,religious ,experiences1 in the chapter on ,the ,value of ,saintliness1 says3 ,now in the matter of intellectual standards1 we must bear in mind that it is unfair1 where we find narrowness of mind1 always to impute it as a vice to the individual for in religious and theological matters1 he probably absorbs his narrowness from his generation4 ,moreover1 we must not confound the essentials of saintliness with its accidents1 which are the special determination of these passions at any historical moment4 ,in these determinations the saints will usually be loyal to the temporary idols of their tribe4 ,applying this explanation to the case of ,sojourner ,truth1 we may realize that the literal conception of ,jesus as her guide and shield1 was a mental image1 inevitable with her1 as ,jesus was the motive power of her every thought and act4 ,and although at the moment of her ,illumination1 she realized the bigness of ,god1 later1 in arranging and recording the phenomenon1 in her mental note-book1 she tabulated it with all she knew of ,god--the religious enthusiasm of her work of conversion to the religion of ,jesus4 ,says ,james1 commenting upon the question of conversion in human experience3 and this tendency to what seems a narrow and limited viewpoint3 ,if you open the chapter on ',association1' of any treatise on ,psychology1 you will read that a man's ideas1 aims and objects form diverse internal groups1 and systems1 relatively independent of one another4 ,each 'aim' which he follows awakens a certain specific kind of interested excitement1 and gathers a certain group of ideas together in subordination to it as its associates4 ,it is perhaps natural to assume that most instances of the attainment of ,illumination1 have been inseparable from religious devotion1 or at least contemplative mysticism4 ,this view is held almost exclusively by ,orientals1 and seems to have been shared to a great extent by western commentators upon the subject4 ,a notable example among ,occidentals1 bearing the religious aspect1 and one which is important from the fact that the person detailing his experience1 was a man of mental training1 is the case of ,rev4 ,charles ,g4 ,finney1 formerly president of ,oberlin ,college4 ,in his ,memoirs1 ,dr4 ,finney describes what ,orthodox ,christians generally call the baptism of the ,holy ,spirit3 ,i had retired to a back room for prayer1 writes ,dr4 ,finney1 and there was no fire or light in the room2 nevertheless it appeared to me as if it were perfectly light4 ,as ,i went in and shut the door after me1 it seemed as if ,i met the ,lord ,jesus ,christ face to face4 ,it did not occur to me then nor did it for some time afterwards1 that it was wholly a mental state4 ,on the contrary1 it seemed to me a reality1 that he stood before me and ,i fell down at his feet and poured out my soul to him4 ,i wept aloud like a child and made such confessions as ,i could with choked utterance4 ,it seemed to me that ,i bathed his feet with my tears1 and yet ,i had no distinct impression that ,i touched him1 that ,i recollect4 ,as ,i turned and was about to take my seat1 ,i received a mighty baptism of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,without any expectation1 without even having the thought in my mind1 that there was any such thing for me1 without any recollection that ,i had ever heard the thing mentioned1 by any person in the world1 the ,holy ,spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me body and soul4 ,i could feel the impression like the waves of electricity going through me and through me4 ,indeed1 it seemed to come in waves of liquid love4 ,for ,i could not express it in any other way4 ,it seemed like the very breath of ,god4 ,i can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense wings4 ,no words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart4 ,i wept aloud with joy and love4 ,these waves came over me1 and over me1 one after the other1 until ,i recollect that ,i cried out1 ',i shall die if these waves continue to pass over me4' ,i said ',lord1 ,i cannot bear any more4' ,we will note1 that although ,dr4 ,finney says that he could not remember ever having heard the thing mentioned by any person1 yet he felt the baptism of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it is practically impossible that ,dr4 ,finney could have lived in an age and a community which was essentially strict in its ,orthodoxy1 without having heard of the phrase baptism of the ,holy ,spirit1 even though the words had escaped his immediate recollection4 ,however1 the point that characterizes ,dr4 ,finney's experience1 in common with all others1 is that of seeing an intense light1 and of the realization of the overwhelming force of love4 ,the relation of this experience to a creed or system of religion1 is something which1 we believe1 may be accounted for1 as ,professor ,james has said1 on the fact of historical determination4 ,until very recently1 the idea that spirituality was impossible save in connection with religious systems1 and rigid discipline1 has been quite general4 ,in the case of ,dr4 ,finney1 we find that all his life previous to this experience he had been noted for his simplicity and child-like trust4 ,following his ,illumination we learn that he became a man of great influence1 and power1 because of the wonderful humanity which he radiated4 ,similar in experience1 in its effects1 is a case related by ,theodore ,f4 ,seward1 the well-known ,american philanthropist1 ,mr4 ,seward relates the following story3 ,the strange experience which ,i here relate came to a friend whom ,i knew intimately1 and from whose lips ,i received the account4 ,it is a lady in middle life1 who has for years been an earnest seeker for truth and spiritual light4 ,she was alone in her room sewing4 ,thinking1 as was her wont1 of spiritual things and feeling a strong sense of the presence and power of ,god1 she suddenly had a consciousness of being surrounded by a brilliant white light1 which seemed to radiate from her person4 ,the light continued for some minutes1 and at the same time1 she felt a great spiritual uplifting and an enlargement of her mental powers1 as if the limitations of the body were transcended1 and her soul's capacities were in a measure set free for the moment4 ,the experience was unique1 above and beyond the ordinary current of human life1 and while the vision or impression passed away1 a permanent effect was produced upon her mind4 ,she had never heard the term 'cosmic consciousness1' and did not know that the subject it covers is beginning to be discussed4 ,it must be noted that in these experiences1 the idea most strongly felt was the one of the power and presence of ,god1 and we are impressed with the fact that1 no matter how varied may be the creeds of the world1 as founded by saviours and incarnations of ,god1 there is a unity among all races1 as to the fact of a one supreme universal power1 which is ,aum1 the ,absolute1 and which must represent perfect love and perfect peace1 since all who have glimpsed their unity with this power1 testify to a feeling of happiness1 peace and satisfaction1 rare and exalted4 ,by comparing the experience of those who have attained this state of liberation from illusion1 through religious rites and ceremonies1 or sacrifice to ,god1 as it is not infrequently called1 with the experience of those who have recorded the phenomenon1 apparently arriving at the goal through intellectual and moral aspiration1 we will find that the results are almost identical1 and the after-effects similar4 ,it has been said that those who attain liberation have invariably sought to found a new system of worship1 and this fact has given rise to the many paths or methods of attainment which have been taught by various ,illumined ,ones1 both in the ,orient and in the western world1 supplementary as it were to the main great religious systems4 ,we will take a short survey of a few of these systems in ,japan and ,india in comparatively modern times1 or at least during the last two thousand years1 which is modern compared to the history of the ,orient4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,examples ,,of ,,cosmic ,,consciousness1 ,,who ,,have ,,founded ,,new ,,systems ,,of ,,religion ,the early religion of ,japan1 before the advent of ,buddhism1 was extremely simple4 ,it consists of the postulate that there was but one ,god1 ,kami1 from him all things came1 and to him all things shall return4 ,as has been stated previously1 the chief injunction of ,shintoism is3 ,keep your body and your mind clean1 and trust ,kami4 ,shintoism literally translated1 means the way to ,god1 and includes the belief that all persons ultimately reach the place where ,god dwells1 and become one with ,him4 ,in present day interpretations and descriptions of ,shintoism1 we read of the heathen belief that ,kami himself dwells in person1 in the inner temple or sacred place of ,shinto temples4 ,this idea doubtless exists as a reality among the very ignorant superstitious devotees1 much as among the ignorant ,catholics we find the unquestioned belief that the actual body and blood of ,jesus the ,christ is contained in the ,eucharist4 ,the ,shinto temple always contains an inner or sacred shrine1 which is equivalent to the holy of holies1 of the ,mystic ,brotherhoods1 and typifies the fact that within and not without1 will be found the ,god in man1 by finding which1 man reaches liberation1 or cessation from the cycle of births and deaths4 ,a ,shinto funeral is an occasion for rejoicing1 because the departed one may be a step farther on the way to ,god1 and since his ancestors were directly responsible1 as a favor1 for his occasion to become reborn1 thus fulfilling the law of karma1 the ,shintoist pays much respect to his ancestors4 ,the advent of ,buddhism into ,japan was made possible by the simple fact that the people were becoming somewhat disgruntled with ,shintoism1 because of its emphasis upon the never-to-be questioned postulate that the ,mikado and his progeny was the direct gift of ,kami to his people1 to be obeyed without demur1 and to be adored as divine4 ,several generations of ,mikados who did not fulfil the ideal of ,deity--an ideal to which even savages attach the qualities of justice and mercy--left the masses ready and eager to grasp at a religion that gave them some other personified god1 than the ,mikado1 much as a drowning man clutches at a straw4 ,the ,lord ,buddha was a prince1 therefore worship of him would not be an absolutely impossible step--an unforgivable breach of contract with the ,mikado1 and as he exhibited the qualities of humility and mercy and tolerance1 he was welcomed4 ,the religion of ,japan is to-day regarded as ,buddhistic1 although the ,imperial family1 and consequently the army and the navy are to all outward appearance1 ,shintoists4 ,coming1 then1 to a consideration of the varying sects of ,buddhism in ,japan1 and the corresponding sects in ,india1 we find that there have been nine different incarnations of ,god1 and that another1 and1 it is believed the final one1 is expected4 ,the intelligent and open minded seeker after truth of whatever race or color1 will find in the instructions given man by each and every great teacher1 whether we believe in them as especially divine or as mere humans who have attained to the realization of their godhood 7avatars17 a complete unity of purpose1 and if these teachers differ in method of attainment1 it is only because of the immutable fact that there can be no one and only way of attainment4 ,methods and systems are established consistently with the age and character of those whom they are designed to assist in finding the way4 ,and again we must emphasize the fact that by the phrase the way1 we mean the way to a realization of the godhood within the inner temple of man's threefold nature4 ,thus1 the intelligent1 unprejudiced student of the religions and philosophies of all times and all races1 will find that1 while there are many and diverse paths to the goal of salvation1 the goal itself means unity with the ,causeless ,cause1 wherein exists perfection4 ,perhaps it has been left for the expected ,incarnate ,god1 which ,christians speak of as the second coming of ,christ1 to make clear the problem as to whether this attainment or completement means an absorption of individual consciousness1 or whether it will be an adding to the present incarnation1 of the memory of past lives1 in such a manner that no consciousness shall be lost1 but all shall be found4 ,in considering instances of cosmic consciousness1 mukti1 which have been recorded as distinctly religious experiences1 and the effect of this attainment1 the system best known to the ,occident1 is contained in the philosophy of ,vedanta1 expounded and interpreted to western understanding by the late ,swami ,vivekananda4 ,but it should be understood that the philosophy taught by ,vivekananda is not strictly orthodox ,hinduism4 ,it bears the same relation to the old religious systems of ,india that ,unitarianism bears to orthodox ,christianity such as we find in ,catholicism1 and its off-shoots4 ,vivekananda honored and revered and followed1 according to his interpretation of the message1 ,sri ,ramakrishna1 whom an increasing number of ,hindus regard as the latest incarnation of ,aum--the ,absolute4 ,not that the reader is to understand1 that ,sri ,ramakrishna's message contradicted the essential character of the basic principles of orthodox ,hinduism1 as set down in the ,vedas and the ,upanashads4 ,the same difference of emphasis upon certain points1 or interpretations of meaning exists in the ,orient1 as in the western world1 in regard to the possible meaning of the ,scriptures4 ,sri ,ramakrishna1 who passed from this earth life at ,cossipore1 in #ahhf1 was a disciple of the ,vedanta system1 as founded by ,vyasa1 or by ,badarayana1 authorities failing to agree as to which of these traditional sages of ,india founded the ,vedantic system of religion or philosophy4 ,vedanta1 particularly as interpreted by ,sri ,ramakrishna and his successors1 offers a wider field of effort1 and a more intellectual consideration of ,hindu religion than that of the ,yoga system as interpreted from the original ,sankhya system by ,patanjali1 about #cjj ,b4,c4 ,patanjali's sutras are considered the most complete system of ,yoga practice1 for the purpose of mental control1 and psychic development4 ,patanjali's sutras are almost identical with those employed in the ,zen sect of ,buddhist monasteries1 throughout ,japan4 ,these sutras1 together with ,buddhist mantrams will be considered in a subsequent chapter1 devoted to the development of spiritual consciousness as taught by the ,oriental sages and philosophers4 ,one other great teacher of modern times who has left a large following1 was ,lord ,gauranga1 who was born in ,india in the early part of the fifteenth century4 ,gauranga was worshipped as the ,lord ,god1 whether with his consent1 or without1 it is not exactly clear1 even though his biographers are united on the fact of his divine origin4 ,those who have espoused the message of ,gauranga claim that he brought to the world a beautiful religion1 such as had never before been known4 ,but1 as this claim is made for all teachers and founders of religions and philosophies1 we suggest that the reader compare the message of ,lord ,gauranga with those of other avatars and teachers4 ,lord ,gauranga's message is known as ,vaishnavitism1 and we will here consider only those passages of his doctrine which shed light upon his attainment of cosmic consciousness4 ,certainly his breadth of mind1 and his standards of tolerance1 justice and consideration for all other systems of worship1 would indicate his claim to cosmic consciousness4 ,one of the contentions of the ,vaishnavas is that they alone of all religious faiths1 admit the divine birth and mission of the founders of all religions4 ,thus the ,christians have declared that ,jesus was the only ,son of ,god2 the ,buddhists have claimed ,buddha2 the ,hebrews have clung tenaciously to their prophets as the only true messengers from heaven1 and the ,mohammedans have refused1 until the present century1 to even sit at the table with the infidels who would not acknowledge ,mohammed as the only true incarnation of ,allah4 ,it is well to remember that these claims have been made by the blind followers of these great teachers1 and that it is almost certain that not any one of them made such claim for himself4 ,certainly he did not1 if he had attained to spiritual consciousness4 ,one passage from the doctrines of ,gauranga is almost identical with many others who have sought to express the feeling of security1 of deathlessness which comes to the soul which has realized cosmic consciousness4 ,he says3 ,my ,beloved1 whether you clasp me unto your heart1 or you crush me by that embrace1 it is all the same to me4 ,for you are no other than my own1 the sole partner of my soul4 ,the gospel of ,gauranga and his followers is1 indeed1 much more a gospel of love1 than of methods of worship1 or of intellectual research4 ,the realization of our union with ,god1 in deathless love1 is the key-note of the message1 and this great joy or bliss comes to the soul as soon as it has attained ,illumination through love4 ,god is alluded to in ,vaishnavism most frequently as ,anandamaya--meaning all joy4 ,vaishnavism more nearly resembles the gospel of ,jesus1 as taught by orthodoxy1 than it does the ,vedantic systems1 since it does1 not claim that ,god is within each human organism1 as the seed is within the fruit1 but that1 by love1 we may gain heaven or the state or place where ,god dwells4 ,if you would worship ,god1 as the ,giver of ,bounties1 then shall the prayer be answered1 and further connection cut off1 ,god having answered the demand4 ,so if you would worship ,god in simple love1 ,he will send love4 ,the real devotee seeks to establish a relationship with ,god which will endure4 ,he will ask only to worship and love ,god1 and pray that his soul may cling to ,god in divine reverence and love4 ,thus1 say the ,vaishnavas1 ,god serves as he is served1 in absolute justice4 ,another salient point which the followers of ,lord ,gauranga emphasize1 is the ,all-,sweetness of ,god4 ,this idea is impressed1 doubtless that the devotee may not feel an impossible barrier between himself and so great and all-powerful a being1 as ,god1 when ,his ,omnipotence is considered4 ,the idea is similar to that of the ,roman church1 which bids its untutored children to select some patron saint1 or to say prayers to the ,virgin ,mary1 because these characters were once human and seem to be nearer1 and more approachable than the ,great ,god whose ,majesty and ,all-,mightiness have been exploited4 ,be that as it may1 the fact remains1 that ,lord ,gauranga is said to have earned the devotion and love of some of the most learned pundits of ,india and1 according to a recent biographer1 he had all the frailties of a man2 he ate and slept like a man4 ,in short1 he behaved generally like an ordinary human being1 but yet he succeeded in extorting from the foremost sages of ,india1 the worship and reverence due a ,god4 ,the fact that ,lord ,gauranga behaved like a man1 is comforting1 to say the least1 and presages the coming of a day when behaving like a man will not be considered ungodly4 ,when that time shall have arrived1 surely there will be less mysticism of the hysterical variety and probably fewer hypocrites4 ,very unlike ,lord ,gauranga1 is the report of a writer of ,india1 who tells of the effects of cosmic consciousness upon ,tukaram1 considered to be one of the greatest saints and poets of ,ancient ,india4 ,tukaram lived early in the sixteenth century1 some years later than ,lord ,gauranga4 ,this ,maharashtra saint is chiefly remembered for his beautiful description of the effects of ,illumination1 in which he likens the human soul to the bride1 and the bridegroom is ,god4 ,this poem is called ,love's ,lament1 and might have been written by an impassioned lover to his promised bride4 ,the life of ,tukaram1 like that of the late ,sri ,ramakrishna ,paramanansa1 was one long agony of yearning and struggle for that peace of soul which he craved4 ,one of his chroniclers thus describes1 in brief1 the final struggle and the subsequent attainment of ,illumination of this good man3 ,selfless1 he sought to gather no crowds of idle admiring disciples about him1 but followed what his conscience dictated4 ,he listened not to the counsel of his relatives and friends1 who thought he had gone mad2 and he bore in patience the well-meant but harsh rebukes of his second wife4 ,after a long mental struggle1 the agonies of which he has recorded in heart-rending words1 now entreating ,god in the tenderest of terms1 now resigning himself to despair1 now appealing with the petulance of a pet child for what he deemed his birthright1 now apologizing in all humility for thus taking liberties with his ,mother-,god1 he succeeded at last in gaining a restful place of beatitude--a state in which he merged his soul in the universal soul1--that is1 ,illumination1 or cosmic consciousness4 ,sadasiva ,brahman1 one of the great ,siddhas1 and a comparatively modern sage of ,india1 left a ,sanskrit poem called ,atmavidyavilasa1 which gives a comprehensive description of the experience and the effects of ,illumination1 as for example3 ,the sage whose mind by the grace of his blessed ,guru is merged in his own true nature 7,existence1 ,intelligence1 and ,bliss ,absolute71 that great ,illumined one1 wise1 with all egotism suppressed1 and extremely delighted within himself1 sports in joy4 ,he who is himself alone1 who has known the secret of bliss1 who has firmly embraced peace1 who is magnanimous and whose feelings other than those of the atman1 have been allayed1 that person sports on his pleasant couch of self-bliss4 ,the pure moon of the prince of recluses1 who is fit to be worshipped by gods and whose moonlight of intelligence that dispels the darkness of ignorance causes the lily of the earth to blossom1 shines forth in the abode of the all-pervading ,essence of ,light4 ,the above stanzas represent a more impersonal idea of the bliss of attainment than those of many others who have experienced ,illumination1 but they emphasize the same point that we find throughout all writings of the ,illuminati1 namely1 the realization of the kingdom within1 rather than without1 and the necessity of selflessness--meaning the subjugation of the lesser self1 the mental1 to the soul4 ,we come now to a consideration of the life and character of the ,lord ,buddha1 whose influence is still stronger in all parts of the world than that of any other person who has ever taught the precepts of attainment4 ,in ,japan1 for example1 ,buddhism1 in its various branches1 or interpretations1 is the religion of the vast majority and even where ,shintoism is the method of worship1 the influence of ,buddhism may be seen4 ,so too1 we find in ,japan1 a form of ,buddhism1 which shows evidences of the influence of ,shintoism1 but ,i think it may be admitted that ,japan1 above all other countries1 represents to-day1 the religion of ,buddhism4 ,buddhism has been called the religion of enlightenment1 but the term illumination as it is used to describe the attainment of cosmic consciousness1 is what is meant1 rather than the purely intellectual quality which we are accustomed to think of as enlightenment4 ,sakyamuni1 another name for ,buddhism1 means also illumination1 or realization of the saving character of the light within4 ,the lamp is the most important symbol in1 ,buddhism1 as it typifies the divine flame or illumination 7which is cosmic consciousness71 as the goal of the disciple4 ,another interpretation of the symbol of the lamp1 is that of the power of the lamp to shed its rays to light the way of those who are traveling in the gloom1 and by so doing1 it lights the flame of illumination in others1 without diminishing its own power4 ,an article of faith reads3 ,as one holds out a lamp in the darkness that those who have eyes may see the objects1 even so has the doctrine been made clear by the ,lord in manifold exposition4 ,again1 in the ,book of the ,great ,decease1 we learn that ,buddha admonished his disciples to dwell as lamps unto yourselves4 ,another symbol used throughout ,japan as a means of teaching the masses the essential doctrines of ,the ,compassionate ,one1 has become familiar to occidental people as a sort of curio4 ,it is that of the three monkeys carved in wood or ivory4 ,one monkey is covering his eyes with both paws2 another has stopped his ears2 and the third has his paw pressed tightly over his mouth4 ,the lesson briefly told is to see no evil2 hear no evil2 speak no evil1 and the reason that the monkey is employed as the symbol1 is because the monkey1 more than any other animal1 resembles primitive man4 ,if1 then1 we would rise from the monkey1 or animal condition 7the physical or animal part of the human organism71 we must avoid a karma of consciousness of evil4 ,buddhism is full of symbolism1 and these symbols must be interpreted according to the age1 or of the individual consciousness of the interpreter1 or the translator4 ,but the fundamental doctrine of ,buddha is essentially one of renunciation as applied to the things of the world4 ,nevertheless this quality of renunciation has been greatly exaggerated during the centuries1 because of the fact that the ,lord ,buddha had so much to give up1 viewed from the standpoint of worldly ethics4 ,in the following sayings of ,buddha1 we find that the quest of the noble sage was for that supraconsciousness wherein change and decay were not1 rather than that he regarded the things of the senses1 as sinful4 ,for example3 ,it is not that ,i am careless about beauty1 or am ignorant of human joys2 but only that ,i see on all the impress of change2 therefore1 my heart is sad and heavy4 ,or this3 ,a hollow compliance and a protesting heart1 such method is not for me to follow3 ,i now will seek a noble law1 unlike the worldly methods known to men4 ,i will oppose disease1 and change and death1 and strive against the mischief wrought by these1 on men4 ,according to the ,samyutta ,nikaya1 the twelve ,nidanas 7or chain of consequences7 are3 ,on ignorance depends karma2 ,on karma depends consciousness2 ,on consciousness depends name and form2 ,on name and form depends the six organs of sense4 ,on contact depends sensation2 ,on sensation depends desire2 ,on desire depends attachment2 ,on attachment depends existence2 ,on existence depends birth2 ,on birth depend old age and death1 sorrow1 lamentation1 misery1 grief1 and despair4 ,thus does this entire aggregation of misery arise4 ,having arrived at this conclusion1 the problem may be solved by learning how to avoid existence4 ,but1 let us consider what the term existence means4 ,the common acceptance of the word1 as used in the ,english1 seems to include being2 but if we will consider the word in its literal meaning1 when analyzed1 we find that it comes from est 7to be71 and the prefix ex1 meaning actually not-being4 ,the word ,being1 is a synonym for eternal life--for ,deity4 ,it does not savor of anything that has been created1 or that will terminate4 ,being is1 therefore1 to cease to ex-ist1 is to cease to live under the spell of the illusory and changing quality of maya1 or externality4 ,far from meaning to be wiped out1 or absorbed into ,the ,absolute1 in the sense of complete loss of consciousness1 it means the eternal retention of consciousness1 unhampered by the delusion of sense as a reality4 ,to escape from this chain of illusory ideas1 and their consequences1 the obvious necessity is to claim the soul's right to ,being4 ,this is done by dispelling ignorance 7,a-vidya7 by vidya 7knowledge74 ,thus karma ceases3 ,on the cessation of karma ceases consciousness of self2 ,on the cessation of this consciousness of self1 cease name and form2 ,on the cessation of name and form1 cease the organs of sense2 ,on the cessation of sense1 ceases contact2 ,on the cessation of contact1 ceases sensation2 ,on the cessation of sensation1 ceases desire2 ,on the cessation of desire ceases attachment2 ,on the cessation of attachment ceases existence2 ,on the cessation of existence1 ceases birth4 ,on the cessation of birth cease old age1 and death2 sorrow2 lamentation2 misery2 grief and despair4 ,thus does the entire aggregation of misery cease4 ,but1 as to the exact interpretation of all these1 ,buddha himself says3 ,ye must rely upon the truth2 this is your highest1 strongest vantage ground2 the foolish masters practicing superficial wisdom1 grasp not the meaning of the truth2 but to receive the law1 not skillfully to handle words and sentences1 the meaning then is hard to know1 as in the night-time1 if traveling and seeking for a house1 if all be dark within1 how difficult to find4 ,but let it be understood1 that ,buddhism as now taught and practiced is necessarily colored by the effect of the centuries which have elapsed since the ,lord ,buddha lived and taught the precepts of his ,illumination4 ,modern ,buddhism1 as a religious system of worship bears the same relation to ,prince ,siddhartha1 as does modern ,christianity to ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,a short review of the life and character of the personalities around whom the great religious systems of the world have been formed will aid us in perceiving the unity of thought and character of the ,illumined1 and the similarity of reports as to the effect of this realization of cosmic consciousness will be apparent4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,moses1 ,,the ,,law-,,giver ,the salient feature of the law as given by ,moses unto his people1 the ,jews1 is that of strict cleanliness of mind and body4 ,in this we find a similarity to the oft-repeated behest of ,gautama1 the ,buddha1 who constantly admonished his followers to keep their hearts pure and their minds and bodies clean4 ,this spirit of cleanliness finds also a counterpart in the saying ascribed to ,jesus1 blessed are the pure in heart4 ,the cleanliness here referred to is doubtless not so much physical neatness as mental purity of thought--thought free from doubt and calumny and petty deceits and hypocrisy and selfishness and debasing perversions of the life forces2 but during various stages of history we find that all teachings have their esoteric and their exoteric application4 ,the law1 as enunciated by ,moses1 according to the ,jewish reports1 laid much stress upon physical cleanliness1 as an attribute of godhood4 ,but ,moses1 if we may credit reports1 was something far more inspired and illumined than a mere physical culturist--commendable as is personal cleanliness--and his admonitions were the result of that fine sense of discrimination and enlightenment which comes from cosmic perception even if he had not experienced the deeper1 fuller realization of liberation1 of which ,buddha is a shining example4 ,it is evident that the laws laid down by ,moses were taught and practised by the ,egyptians many many years prior to the time in which ,moses lived1 which from the most reliable authorities1 must have been about four to five hundred years before the ,exodus4 ,this does not detract from the evidence that the great ,egyptian-,hebrew1 was a man of wonderful intellectual attainments1 and from what we know of modern examples of ,illumination1 he also possessed a degree of cosmic consciousness4 ,the story of the seemingly miraculous birth of ,moses1 and the mystery with which his ancestry is surrounded1 is also typical of one who has attained to cosmic consciousness4 ,the ,illumined one realizes his birthlessness and his deathlessness1 and expresses it in symbolism1 meaning of course1 the realization that as the spirit is never born and can never die1 the idea of age is an unreality--and should find no place in the consciousness of one who regards himself as an indestructible atom of the ,cosmos4 ,but the evidences regarding the probable ,illumination of ,moses are to be found in the reports of his ascension of ,mt4 ,sinai1 and what occurred there4 ,the phenomenon of the great light which is inseparable from instances of cosmic consciousness1 and which gives to the phenomenon its name ,illumination1 was apparently marked in the case of ,moses4 ,the burning bush1 which he describes is the experience of the mind when the illusion of sense has ceased1 even temporarily1 to obscure the mental vision4 ,and the angel of the ,lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire1 and out of the midst of a bush2 and he looked and behold1 the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed4 ,there is a subtler interpretation to this report than that usually given1 even by those who realize that this expression is an evidence of the sudden influx of supra consciousness which attends the soul's liberation from the limits of sense consciousness4 ,the burning bush is synonymous with the tree of life which is ever alive with the fires of creation4 ,all who realize liberation are endowed with the power to understand this symbol4 ,for those who have not attained to this degree of consciousness1 the esoteric meaning is necessarily hidden4 ,the phenomenon of the strange mystical light which seems to enfold and bathe the ,illumined one1 is concisely expressed in the case of ,moses4 ,and it came to pass1 that when ,moses came down from ,mount ,sinai with the tablets of the testimony in hand1 that ,moses wist not that the skin of his face shone1 or sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with ,him4 ,and when ,aaron and all the children of ,israel saw ,moses behold6 the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come nigh him4 ,again we find in the case of ,moses1 a momentary fear of the phenomenon which he was experiencing1 in the influx of light and the sound of the voice which seems to accompany the light4 ,the interpretation given the words spoken1 and the identity of the voice is ever dependent upon the time and character of the mind experiencing the ,illumination4 ,thus ,moses claims to have heard the voice of the ,god of the ,hebrews1 but the probabilities are1 that the voice is the mental operations of the person experiencing the phenomenon of supra-consciousness1 and this interpretation will vary with what ,professor ,james calls the historical determination1 i4e4 it is dependent upon the age in which the illumined one lived1 and upon the character of the impressions previously absorbed4 ,this apparent difference of report1 as to the identity of the voice1 is of small import4 ,the salient point is that each person relating his experience has heard a voice giving more or less explicit instructions and promises4 ,in each instance it has been characterized as the voice of the ,god of their desire1 and adoration4 ,certainly1 whatever may be our opinions as to whether ,god1 as we understand the term1 talked to ,moses1 giving him such explicit commands as the great leader afterwards laid down to his people accompanied by the insurmountable barrier to dissent or discussion1 thus saith the ,lord1 we can but admit that the prophet was possessed of intellectual power far in advance of his time1 and his laws did indeed1 save his people from self destruction1 through uncleanliness and strife1 and dense ignorance4 ,the ten commandments have been the word of ,god to all men for lo6 these many ages1 and even ,jesus could but add one other commandment to those already in use3 ,another commandment give ,i unto you--that ye love one another4 ,to sum up the evidences of cosmic consciousness1 or ,illumination1 as reported in the case of ,moses1 we find3 ,the experience of great light as seen on ,horeb4 ,the voice which he calls the voice of ,the ,lord4 ,the sudden and momentary fear1 and humility4 ,the shining of his face and form1 as though bathed in light4 ,the subsequent intellectual superiority over those of his time4 ,the perfect assurance and confidence of authority and salvation4 ,the desire for solitude1 which caused him to die alone in the vale of ,moab4 ,the intense desire to uplift his people to a higher consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,gautama--,,the ,,compassionate ,gautama1 prince of the house of ,siddhartha1 of the ,sakya class1 was born in northern ,india in the township of ,kapilavastu1 in the year #eef ,b4,c41 according to the best authorities1 as interpreted and reported by ,max ,muller4 ,the ,japanese tradition agrees with this1 practically1 stating that ,o ,shaka ,sama 7signifying one born of wisdom and love7 was born as a ,kotai ,si1 crown prince of the ,maghada country4 ,we have the assurance that as a youth1 ,gautama1 like ,jesus1 exhibited a serious mindedness and an insight into matters spiritual1 which astonished and dumbfounded his hearers1 and the sages who gave him respectful attention4 ,some accounts even go so far as to state that at the very moment of his birth the young prince was able to speak1 and that his words ascended even to the gods of the uppermost ,brahma-world4 ,divesting the traditions that surround the birth and early life of the world's great masters1 of much that has been interpolated by a designing priesthood1 we may yet conclude that a certain seriousness1 and a deep sympathy with the sorrows of their fellowmen1 would naturally characterize these inspired ones1 even while they were still in their early youth4 ,it is evident that the young ,prince ,siddhartha was subject to meditation and that these meditations led at times to complete trance4 ,it is reported that one day while out riding in all the pomp and accoutrements of the son of a ruling king1 he was visited by an angel 7a messenger from the gods of ,devachan71 and told that if he would lessen the sorrows of the world that he must renounce his right to his father's kingdom and go into the jungle1 becoming a hermit1 and devoting his life to fasting1 prayer and meditation1 in order to fit himself for the work of preaching the way of liberation1 which consisted of1 first of all1 to take no life2 be pure in mind2 be as the humblest1 which latter admonition found little favor with the world of his personal environment where caste was and still is1 a seemingly ineradicable race-thought4 ,the sorrows of humanity weighed heavily upon his heart1 and the superficialities of the wealthy and ostentatious court in which he lived1 irked his outspoken and truth-loving spirit4 ,surrounded1 as he was1 by wealth and ease1 with time for contemplation and a mind given to philosophic speculation1 the young prince found no sense of comfort or permanent satisfaction in his own immunity from want and sorrow4 ,he pondered long upon the way to become freed from the successive round of births and deaths1 and thus pondering1 he sought solitude in which to find his questions answered4 ,fasting and penance have ever been the gist of the instruction given to those who would find the way to ,god1 and so to this end ,gautama fasted and prayed1 and practised self-sacrifice4 ,but the attainment of liberation was not easy1 and ,siddhartha suffered long and practiced self-mortification assiduously1 at length being rewarded2 and there arose within him the eye to perceive the great and noble truths which had been handed down2 the knowledge of their nature2 the understanding of their cause2 the wisdom that lights the true path2 the light that expels darkness4 ,the terrible struggle which characterized the attainment of cosmic consciousness1 by so many of the sages and saviours of history1 is1 we believe1 clue to the fact that no one individual may hope to rise so immeasurably above the plane of the race-consciousness of his day and age1 except through intense and overwhelming desire4 ,gautama abandoned his heritage1 his relatives1 his wife to whom he was devoted1 and his infant son1 as we have previously stated1 not because ,illumination is purchasable at so terrible a price1 but because his desire to know transcended all other desires1 and in order to be free from the demands made upon him1 he must of necessity1 seek solitude4 ,few examples of the attainment of cosmic consciousness are as complete and of such fullness1 as that attained by ,buddha1 and no instance which history affords has left so great an effect upon the world4 ,it is estimated that at least one-third of the human race are ,buddhists4 ,this is not saying that any such number of persons are like unto ,buddha1 nor do we contend that this is any evidence that his message is greater or more fraught with truth than that of other illumined ones4 ,the intelligent student of occultism in all its phases will arrive1 sooner or later1 at the inevitable conclusion that all illumined souls have seen and have taught the same fundamental truth4 ,buddha was convinced that in ,the ,absolute1 or ,first ,cause1 there could be no sin and consequently no sorrow1 and he persistently sought to inaugurate such systems of conduct and such a standard of morals as would lead the disciple back to godhood1 or liberation from the wheel of causation4 ,to keep the mind pure and clean was the burden of his cry1 well knowing that the mind is the fertile field wherein illusions of sense consciousness thrive4 ,he says3 ,mind is the root 7of evil72 actions proceed from the mind4 ,if anyone speak or act from a corrupt mind1 suffering will follow1 as the dust follows the rolling wheel4 ,that we can not expect to escape the result of our thoughts and acts was ever a doctrine of ,buddha1 albeit1 he seems also to have sought to make clear to his disciples1 the ,,unreality of sin as a part of the indestructible ,first ,cause4 ,many ,buddhist sects interpret the doctrines of ,buddha to deny a belief in a future existence1 in at least as far as identity is concerned1 but this conception is not consistent with the most reliable reports1 neither is it in keeping with the extreme peace and satisfaction which all illumined ones experience4 ,if extinction of identity were the goal of ,illumination1 it is inconceivable that the illumined ones should report the attainment of perfect satisfaction and bliss4 ,besides1 it is clearly stated that ,gautama told his disciples that he had already entered ,nirvana1 while yet in the body4 ,my mind is free from passions2 is released from the follies of the world4 ,i have gained the victory1 said ,lord ,buddha to his disciple ,ananda4 ,it is also asserted that ,buddha appeared in his own glorified body to his disciples after his physical dissolution1 plainly indicating that far from being swallowed up in ,the ,absolute1 he had acquired godhood in his present body4 ,detailing the advantages of a pure life1 ,buddha said to his disciples3 ,the virtuous man rejoices in this world1 and he will rejoice in the next2 in both worlds has he joy4 ,he rejoices1 he exults1 seeing the purity of his deed4 ,again1 alluding to a sage 7rahan71 ,buddha is reported to have said3 ,he is indeed blest1 having conquered all his passions1 and attained the state of ,nirvana4 ,this alluded to the acquisition of ,nirvana while still in the physical body4 ,in other words1 as we of this century understand the teaching1 he had experienced cosmic consciousness4 ,the modern version of the commandments of ,buddha are almost identical with those of the ,christian creed1 and these commandments are1 as we have previously observed1 the same that ,moses laid down for the guidance of his people4 ,that they were old before ,moses was born1 is also more than problematical4 ,it is also more than probable that ,buddha did not personally write the ethical code which we now find submitted as the ,commandments of ,buddha1 but that ,buddha merely emphasized them4 ,these commandments are not1 however1 understood1 by the intelligent ,buddhist as sacred1 in the sense that ,god spoke unto ,buddha4 ,moses doubtless assumed to have been divinely instructed in the law1 although that supposition may be erroneous4 ,he may have had in mind the same fundamental idea which all those expressing cosmic consciousness have had1 that of being a mouthpiece of a higher power1 rather than to attract to themselves any adulation or worship1 as being specially divine4 ,the ,commandments1 therefore1 as translated and ascribed to modern ,buddhism1 are an ethical and moral code for the ,,mortal consciousness1 rather than a formula for developing cosmic consciousness4 ,these commandments are3 #a--,thou shalt kill no animal whatever1 from the meanest insect up to man4 #b--,thou shalt not steal4 #c--,thou shalt not violate the wife of another4 #d--,thou shalt speak no word that is false4 #e--,thou shalt not drink wine1 nor anything that may intoxicate4 #f--,thou shalt avoid all anger1 hatred and bitter language4 #g--,thou shalt not indulge in idle and vain talk1 but shall do all for others4 #h--,thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods4 #i--,thou shalt not harbor envy1 nor pride1 nor revenge1 nor malice1 nor the desire of thy neighbor's death or misfortune4 #aj--,thou shalt not follow the doctrines of false gods4 ,and the devotee is assured1 even as in the ,christian creed1 that he who keeps these commandments1 shall enter ,nirvana--the rest of ,buddha4 ,but let it be understood that ,gautama1 the ,lord ,buddha1 did not formulate these commandments4 ,neither are they considered as infallible formul1 by the enlightened ,buddhist4 ,they constitute the ethical and moral code of the undeveloped man in all ages of the world1 and among all peoples4 ,they had become traditional long before ,buddha came to interpret the way of the gods4 ,but ,gautama1 like ,jesus1 was an evolutionist1 and not a revolutionist4 ,he came not to destroy1 but to fulfill1 and so ,buddha paid no attention to the code of morals as it stood1 but merely contented himself with emphasizing the importance of unselfishness--purity of heart and mind1 because he realized that the mental world is the trap of the soul1 even as the elephant is held tethered by a galucchi creeper4 ,buddha taught the way of emancipation of the soul held in bondage by means of the illusions of maya1 even as the elephant is held in captivity by so weak a thing as a galucchi creeper1 which could be broken by a single effort4 ,that many who keep the commandments are yet a long way from cosmic consciousness must be apparent to all4 ,therefore we are justified in assuming that the mere keeping of the commandments will not bring about mukti4 ,many a man follows the letter of the law1 and escapes prison1 but if he does this through fear of punishment1 and not because of a desire to maintain peace that his neighbors may be benefited1 then he is not keeping the spirit of the law at all1 and his reward is a negative one4 ,according to the most reliable authorities1 ,buddha died in his eightieth year1 having spent about fifty years in preaching1 in healing the sick1 in conversing with exalted beings in the heavenly worlds1 and in leaving at will his physical body and visiting other worlds4 ,buddha prophesied his coming dissolution1 and expressed to his disciples1 a hope that they would realize that he still lived1 even when his physical body should have become ashes4 ,as his last hour approached1 ,buddha summoned his disciples1 and after a moment's silent meditation1 he addressed himself to ,ananda1 his relative2 as well as his favorite disciple1 thus3 ,when ,i shall have disappeared from this state of existence1 and be no longer with you1 do not believe that the ,buddha has left you1 and ceased to dwell among you4 ,do not think therefore1 nor believe1 that the ,buddha has disappeared1 and is no more with you4 ,from these words1 it is evident that the state of ,nirvana which ,buddha assured his followers that he had already attained1 did not argue loss of identity1 nor translation to another planet4 ,nor is there anywhere in the sayings of ,buddha1 rightly interpreted1 any suggestion of expecting or desiring personal worship4 ,this1 the great sage particularly avoided1 as indeed have all illumined ones4 ,it is evident that ,gautama the ,buddha had experienced that divine influx of light and wisdom in which he sought for others the happiness he had gained for himself1 and to this end he was eager to leave to his friends and disciples such rules of conduct of life as should aid them in attaining the divine peace that comes from illumination4 ,but that he founded a religious system of worship of himself1 is wholly unbelievable in the light of a study of comparative religions and the wisdom which illumination confers4 ,to realize that one has attained to immortality1 and claimed his birthright of godhood1 is not synonymous with the claim to worship as the one eternal source of life4 ,it is a part of human weakness to insist upon idealizing the personality of a teacher1 and this tendency becomes in time merged into actual worship1 whereas the teacher1 if he or she be truly illumined1 seeks only to inculcate the philosophy which will bring his faithful followers into a realization of cosmic consciousness4 ,the points which characterize the person who has experienced a degree of illumination 7entered into cosmic consciousness71 were particularly evident in the life and character of ,gautama1 the ,buddha4 ,they may be summed up thus3 ,a marked seriousness in youth4 ,a great sympathy and compassion with the sorrows of others4 ,a deep tenderness for all forms of life4 ,a realization of the nothingness of caste and pomp and power4 ,the firm conviction that he was instructed by angels4 ,the wonderful magnetism and illumination of his person4 ,the firm conviction of immortality--released from the wheel of life as he expressed it4 ,the knowledge of when and where he was to pass out from the life of the body4 ,the love of solitude and meditation4 ,the intellectual power maintained even into old age4 ,the unselfish desire to help others4 ,great and never-failing sympathy with suffering1 a divine patience1 and insight into the hearts of all forms of life1 earned for this great soul the name ,buddha--,the ,compassionate4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,jesus ,,of ,,nazareth ,turning now to the next in order of the world's great masters1 or illumined ones1 we come to a consideration of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 in whose name the great moral system of religion1 called ,christianity1 is promulgated4 ,it has been conclusively shown that the essential features of the present-day system of religion1 known as ,christianity1 were instituted by ,paul rather than by ,jesus1 and that the system itself1 like ,buddhism1 is the work of the followers of the great teacher1 rather than that of the ,master4 ,our present concern1 however1 is not with the system or method of the church1 but with those historic facts which bear upon the question of the ,illumination of ,jesus1 classifying ,him1 not as an incarnate son of ,god1 in the accepted theological interpretation1 but in the light of cosmic consciousness4 ,jesus the ,christ was born1 according to the most reliable authorities1 about six hundred years after ,gautama1 the ,buddha4 ,whether or not the ,nazarene was familiar with the ,buddhist doctrines or whether ,he spent the years of ,his life which are shrouded in mystery1 in the inner temples of either ,thibet1 ,india1 ,persia1 ,china1 or other oriental country1 will doubtless always be a disputed point among controversialists4 ,the fact does not matter1 either way4 ,there is an encouraging similarity in the fundamentals of all religious precepts1 arguing that when a teacher is really inspired1 the truth makes friends with him or her4 ,some writers on the subject of ,illumination give exact dates when the flash of cosmic consciousness came to the various teachers of the world1 but these dates are problematical1 and they are also inconsequential4 ,that ,jesus was among those historic characters who had attained cosmic consciousness1 there can be no possible doubt1 even though his exact words will be disputed4 ,enough has come down to us through the ages to prove the fact that ,jesus knew and taught the illusory character of external life 7maya7 and that he was himself absolutely certain of the kingdom within1 which he admonished his hearers to seek1 rather than to live so much in the external4 ,this he did because he well knew that constant dwelling in the external consciousness led not to liberation4 ,the light within1 was the substance of his cry1 and that light1 when perceived1 leads to illumination of everything1 both the within and the without4 ,the transfiguration of ,jesus was undoubtedly the effect of his being in a supra-conscious state1 a state of exaltation1 in which many mystics enter at more or less frequent intervals1 according to their mode of life1 and their objective environment4 ,and he was transfigured before them2 and his garments became exceedingly white1 we are told in the gospels1 and there are many persons in the world to-day possessing the power of the inner or clairvoyant vision 7not identical with cosmic consciousness71 who have witnessed similar phenomena4 ,in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 we find that ,jesus spoke with such certainty and such authority1 as one who had experienced the very essence of the cosmic conscious state1 and was already freed from the illusions of the senses4 ,his words1 like those of all who have sought to give directions and instructions for the attainment of freedom from externality1 are capable of interpretation in various ways1 according to the degree of consciousness of the age in which the interpretations have been made4 ,for example1 we find these words of ,jesus given different meanings1 and in fact1 there have been many and diverse discussions and conclusions as to exactly what the ,master did mean by them3 ,blessed are the poor in spirit1 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven4 ,let us examine the phrase1 and see if it accords with our ideas of cosmic consciousness4 ,to be poor in spirit1 is not consistent with our understanding of the requirements for the expansion of the soul4 ,those who take this phrase literally1 and who are opposed to religious concepts1 as a factor in human betterment1 are fond of using this phrase as an evidence of the fanaticism of ,jesus1 and his concurrence in the worldly habit of exploiting the poor1 and riding the backs of the wage slaves1 as our ,socialist brothers put it4 ,now let us1 for a moment1 consider the phrase as a person who possessed cosmic consciousness would have said it4 ,one possessing the cosmic sense1 viewing the external more as a trap of the senses1 than as realities1 would readily perceive that to amass wealth 7external possessions71 the mind must be in harmony with the methods and the ideals of the world1 rather than that it should be concentrated upon the things of the spirit4 ,this idea is expressed in the phrase1 no man can serve two masters1 and while we are not prepared to say that the possession of worldly goods is absolutely impossible to the attainment of cosmic consciousness--observation1 reflection1 and intuition will unite in the conclusion that they are more or less improbable4 ,if then1 we will interpret these sayings of ,jesus in the light of a broader outlook than was possible to the understanding of his chroniclers1 we will find that what he doubtless said was3 ,blessed in spirit are the poor1 for theirs shall be the kingdom of heaven4 ,and in his vision1 which extended beyond the times in which he lived1 and foresaw that the attainment of cosmic consciousness must involve a degree of physical hardship1 he said3 ,blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake1 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven4 ,a survey of the world's progress will readily prove the fact that those who have bent their talents and their energies toward the uplift of the race1 have done so under great stress1 and in the face of persistent opposition4 ,this opposition is an accompaniment to altruistic effort1 for the very obvious reason that the race-thought of the world is still materialistic4 ,the thoughts that predominate are commercial4 ,this is due to the fact that those who are wealthy have large financial interests to maintain2 business problems to solve2 that take about all their time4 ,the poor find the maintenance of physical existence a task that absorbs the greater part of their mortal mind1 and therefore1 those who are devoting their time and talents to the work of regeneration 7the coming of the cosmic sense71 are necessarily in the minority1 and the majority rules in thought1 as in act4 ,the present metaphysical movement lays great stress upon worldly success and attraction of wealth1 as an evidence of possession of power and truth1 but the law of equation proves that we obtain that which we most desire4 ,a religious system which amasses great wealth in a short time does so1 only because its dominant teaching inspires the desire for worldly advancement1 as the prime requisite4 ,the same is true of an individual1 as of a system4 ,not that the attainment of cosmic consciousness is absolutely impossible to a rich man1 because a man may inherit riches and position and power1 as in the case of ,prince ,siddhartha1 the ,lord ,buddha2 or he may have set in motion certain currents of desire for wealth1 and later in life may change that desire1 when naturally1 the business he has created will follow the law which instigated it1 and increasing wealth will result4 ,but1 let it be known1 that ,buddha renounced all his possessions1 and there are many instances to-day of renunciation of worldly life and wealth1 in order to attain to that supreme consciousness in which the illumined one possesses all that he desires1 even though he have but one coat to his back4 ,let it not be thought that we mean to infer that ,god is partial to poverty1 and that the rich man will be excluded from the attainment of the kingdom1 merely because of his riches2 but if riches be any man's aim1 then assuredly he cannot serve two masters and it will not be possible for him to become illumined while in pursuit of worldly goods4 ,jesus said3 ,it is easier for a camel to go through the needle's eye1 than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven4 ,it is now thoroughly established that the ,needle's ,eye was the name given to a certain narrow and difficult pass through which camels bearing heavy burdens1 could not find room to pass1 and ,jesus sought to convey to his hearers the truth that persons bearing in their mental desires the load of many possessions1 would hardly find room for the one supreme desire which would bring them into the kingdom 7the possession of cosmic consciousness74 ,but the most significant of the utterances of the illumined ,nazarene is the one in which he said3 ,except ye become as little children1 ye can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven4 ,the possession of cosmic consciousness brings with it1 invariably1 the simplicity1 the faith and innocence of a little child4 ,the child is pleased with natural pleasures1 and does not know the worldly standard of valuation4 ,and above all1 the soul1 while still attached to the physical body1 is like a little child4 ,the attainment of cosmic consciousness is possible only to one who has first got acquainted with his soul2 when we are really soul-conscious we possess the innocence 7not ignorance71 of a little child1 and we also possess a child's wisdom4 ,we are1 in other words1 as wise as the serpent and as harmless as the dove4 ,wisdom brings with it harmlessness4 ,the truly wise person would not wilfully harm any living thing2 wisdom knows no revenge2 no eye for an eye philosophy2 makes no demands4 ,and what may be considered the second most significant remark of the ,master is this3 ,the kingdom of ,god cometh not with observation2 neither shall they say ,lo1 here2 or ,lo1 there1 for ,lo1 the kingdom of heaven is within you4 ,jesus1 although forced by the conventions of the time in which he taught to conform to the laws laid down by the scribes and ,pharisees1 influenced by the strict views of the ,israelites1 who honored the law laid down by ,moses and the prophets1 still possessed cosmic consciousness to such an extent that he knew the folly of judging others by outward appearance1 and also of promising them cosmic consciousness in return for obedience to prescribed rules or commandments4 ,when it would seem to his critics that he did not sufficiently emphasize the traditional laws1 that he was seemingly making it too simple and too easy for people to live1 they sought to trap him into a statement that would oppose the accepted commandments4 ,but this ,jesus steadfastly refused to do4 ,i came not to destroy the law1 but to fulfill it1 he said4 ,like all those who have experienced cosmic consciousness1 his policy was one of construction1 and not of destruction4 ,evolution accomplishes peacefully what revolution seeks to do by force4 ,jesus laid little stress upon the commandments as they stood4 ,he neither sought to emphasize them1 nor to criticise them4 ,all that he said was3 ,a new commandment give ,i unto you3 that ye love one another4 ,all truly illumined minds have made love the basis of their teaching1 well knowing that where true love reigns there can be no destruction4 ,love conquers fear--the arch-enemy of mankind4 ,love makes it impossible to harm the thing loved1 and universal love would make it impossible1 for one experiencing it1 to consciously bring the slightest pain to any living thing4 ,therefore ,jesus taught repeatedly the doctrine of love1 and he made no new commandments other than this4 ,it has been said that inasmuch as ,jesus laid greater emphasis upon this one great need than had any previous inspired teacher1 he deserves greater honor4 ,theologians whose purpose it is to promulgate the doctrine of ,christianity as superior to others1 use this argument in support of their contention that ,jesus was the only true son of ,god4 ,but this view will be recognized as prejudiced1 and lacking in the very essentials taught and practiced by the ,christ4 ,in the light of ,illumination1 it will readily be perceived that all persons expressing any considerable degree of cosmic consciousness1 have taught the same fundamental and simple truths1 as witness the following3 ,do as you would be done by4--,persian4 ,do not that to a neighbor which you would take ill from him4--,grecian4 ,what you would not wish done to yourself1 do not unto others4--,chinese4 ,one should seek for others the happiness one desires for oneself4--,buddhist4 ,he sought for others the good he desired for himself4 ,let him pass on4--,egyptian4 ,all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you1 do you even so to them4--,christian4 ,let none of you treat his brother in a way he himself would dislike to be treated4--,mohammedan4 ,the true rule in life is to guard and do by the things of others as they do by their own4--,hindu4 ,the law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves4--,roman4 ,whatsoever you do not wish your neighbor to do to you1 do not unto him4 ,this is the whole law4 ,the rest is a mere exposition of it4--,jewish4 ,while it is probable that ,jesus gave no directions or methods of attainment1 yet the records of his sayings give the clue to the character of his instruction to those of his students who were capable of understanding1 particularly as shown in a recently discovered papyrus1 authentically identified as belonging to the early ,christians4 ,this-papyrus was discovered by ,egyptian explorers in #aijd4 ,although the papyrus was more or less mutilated1 the meaning is sufficiently clear to justify the translators in inserting certain words4 ,however1 we will here quote only such of the sayings as were decipherable1 without having anything supplied by translators4 ,evidently having been asked when his kingdom should be realized on earth he answered3 ,when ye return to the state of innocence which existed before the fall 7i4e41 when manifestation will be perceived in its illusory character1 and the soul freed from the enchantment of the mortal consciousness74 ,i am come to end the sacrifices and if ye cease not from sacrificing1 the wrath shall not cease from you4 ,this evidently corresponds to his saying1 ,they who use the sword1 shall perish by the sword4 ,the conclusion is obvious that hate and destruction beget their kind1 and that love is the only power that can prevent the continuation of destruction4 ,this may with equal logic1 be applied to the sacrifice of animal and bird life for food1 as well as the sacrifices of blood which formed a part of ancient ritual4 ,his disciples said unto him3 ,when will thou be manifest to us1 and when shall we see thee8 ,he saith3 ,when ye shall be stripped and not be ashamed4 ,the time is near at hand1 when the body will not be regarded as something vile and unworthy2 something of which to be ashamed and to keep covered1 as if ,god's handiwork were vile4 ,in fact1 the function of sex1 from the extreme of ancient sex worship to the present extreme of sex degradation1 shall soon be established in its rightful place4 ,it is not the purpose of this book to deal with this important subject1 so we will say no more here4 ,nevertheless1 this saying attributed to ,jesus1 the ,christ1 resurrected as it has been in this century1 is timely4 ,it is almost universally conceded that the time of the ,second ,coming of ,christ is already at hand4 ,just what this second coming means1 is interpreted differently by theologians1 philosophers1 scientists1 poets and prophets1 but there is a unanimous belief that the time is here and now4 ,those who have the comprehension to read the signs of the times1 are cheerfully expectant of radical changes in our attitude toward the function of sex and the divinity of love4 ,when the two shall be one1 and the outside as the inside1 and the male as the female1 neither male nor female--these things if ye do1 the kingdom of ,my ,father shall come4 ,again1 the meaning of these words depends upon the degree of illumination of the person reading them4 ,they mean the present inevitable equality of the sexes1 when each individual will count not as a mere man or a mere woman1 but as an important factor in the world's redemption4 ,or1 it will appeal to a few as the promised time when every soul which has completed the circle1 ended its karma1 and claimed its god-hood1 unites with the soul of its mate1 the two blending into one perfect whole--the ,father-,mother ,god of the ,new ,dispensation4 ,again we find in these newly discovered papyri a phrase bearing upon this subject3 ,to the question of ,salome3 ,how long shall death reign8 ,the ,lord answered3 ,as long as ye women give birth4 ,for ,i am come to make an end to the works of the woman4 ,then ,salome said to him3 ,then have ,i done well that ,i have not given birth8 ,to this the ,lord replied3 ,eat of every herb1 but of the bitter one eat not4 ,when ,salome asked when it shall be known what she asked1 the ,lord said3 ,when you tread under foot the covering of shame1 and when two is made one1 and the male with the female1 neither male nor female4 ,how be it1 he who longs to be rich is like a man who drinketh sea water3 the more he drinketh the more thirsty he becomes1 and never leaves off drinking till he perish4 ,blessed is he who also fasts that he may feed the poor1 for it is more blessed to give than to receive4 ,let thy alms sweat in thy hand until thou knowest to whom thou givest4 ,it is not probable that any one who reads these words will make the mistake of assuming that ,jesus advised us to inquire into the character or the antecedents of the one on whom we are to bestow a gift4 ,neither are we expected to ascertain whether he belongs to our lodge or not4 ,if you give alms as though to an inferior2 if you assume a self-righteous mind2 if you give for hope of reward2 then withhold your gift4 ,in fact1 unless you can realize that you are giving as though to yourself1 keep your gift4 ,it will do neither you nor the one receiving it1 any good whatsoever4 ,good things must come4 ,he is blessed through whom they come4 ,this presages the coming of the kingdom of love on earth1 as a foregone conclusion4 ,yet1 those who lend themselves consciously1 as servants of the cause--helpers in the establishment of the new order--are blessed4 ,love covereth a multitude of sins1 so be not joyful save when you look upon your brother's countenance in love4 ,let not the sun go down upon your wrath1 for the greatest of crimes is this3 if a man shall sadden his brother's spirit4 ,for our possessions are in heaven2 therefore1 sons of men1 purchase unto yourselves by these transitory things which are not yours1 what is yours1 and shall not pass away4 ,for the ,lord has said in a mystery3 ,unless ye make the right as the left2 the left as the right2 the top as the bottom2 and the front as the backward1 ye shall not know the kingdom of ,god4 ,keep the flesh holy and the seal undented1 that ye may receive eternal life4 ,if a man shall sadden his brother's spirit4 ,this indeed is the greatest of all crimes1 because out of man's inhumanity to man springs all the sin and sorrow of the world4 ,unless ye make the right as the left2 the top as the bottom2 the front as the backward4 ,the meaning should be clear enough and the words are worthy of the illumined mind of ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,the great sin is separation2 segregation2 ,my and mine as opposed to ,thee and thine4 ,to the truly illumined one there can be no mine1 as distinct from another's4 ,the sinner is no less my brother than is the saint4 ,the beggar is as dear to me as is the rich man4 ,every man is a king4 ,there are no chosen of ,god to the one who has entered cosmic consciousness4 ,for our possessions are in heaven4 ,use1 therefore1 the things of earth1 while ye are living in the flesh 7sons of men71 in such a way and to such purpose that they will not enchain you in the maze of manifestation1 and thereby require that you postpone your claim to immortality4 ,this statement is distinct enough1 as is also the one3 ,he who longs to be rich is like a man drinking sea water4 ,the more he drinketh1 the more thirsty he becomes and never leaves off drinking until he perisheth4 ,the hypnotism of the external world is too well illustrated to need further comment4 ,the man who enters upon the pursuit of worldly possessions2 temporal power2 personal ambition2 thinking that when he shall have attained all these1 then will he turn to the solution of the mystery of mysteries1 finds himself caught in the trap of his desires1 and he can not escape4 ,he is under the spell of enchantment1 wherein the unreal appears as real1 and the real becomes the illusory4 ,to sum up1 the fragmentary accounts we have of the life and character of the man ,jesus are conclusive proof that he had entered into full realization of cosmic consciousness4 ,like ,lord ,gautama1 he appeared to his disciples after he had left the physical body1 glorified1 as one who had taken on immortality4 ,nor was there ever1 it would appear1 any doubt in the mind of ,jesus1 of his right to godhood1 while retaining1 also1 his self-consciousness4 ,the intellectual superiority4 ,the wonderful spiritual magnetism and attraction of his presence4 ,the absolute1 unwavering conviction of his mission1 and of his immortality4 ,the transfiguration1 after his temptation and his prophetic vision4 ,his great love and compassion for even his enemies4 ,these are what made him indeed a ,christ4 ,the term ,christ and the term ,buddha are synonymous4 ,they both mean one who has entered into his godhood4 ,one who has attained to cosmic consciousness1 leaving forever the limitations of the lower self4 ,,chapter ,x ,,paul ,,of ,,tarsus ,the system of worship known as ,christianity owes its systematic foundation to ,paul of ,tarsus4 ,paul's sudden conversion from zealous persecution of the followers of ,jesus of ,nazareth to an equally zealous propaganda of the gospel of ,light1 offers a perfect example of the peculiar oncoming of cosmic consciousness4 ,paul evidently occupied a position of authority among the ,jews and it is equally probable that he was near the same age as ,jesus1 as he is referred to as a young man named ,saul in ,bible accounts of the persecution of the early ,christians4 ,his illumination occurred shortly after the crucifixion1 probably within two or three years4 ,in ,acts1 chapter #h-i1 we read3 ,and ,saul was consenting unto his death 7,stephen74 ,and at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at ,jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of ,judea1 and ,samaria1 except the apostles4 ,and devout men carried ,stephen to his burial1 and made great lamentation over him4 ,as for ,saul1 he made havoc of the church1 entering into every house1 and hailing men and women1 committed them to prison4 ,and ,saul1 yet breathing out threatenings1 and slaughter against the disciples of the ,lord1 went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to ,damascus to the synagogues1 that if he found any of this way1 whether they were men or women1 he might bring them bound1 unto ,jerusalem4 ,and as he journeyed he came near unto ,damascus1 and suddenly there shone round about him a light from heaven4 ,and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him3 ',saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou me8' ,and he said3 ',who art thou1 ,lord8' ,and the ,lord said3 ',i am ,jesus1 whom thou persecutest2 it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks4' ,and he trembling and astonished1 said3 ',lord1 what wilt thou have me do8' ,and the ,lord said unto him3 ',arise and go into the city1 and it shall be told thee what thou must do4' ,and the men which journeyed with him stood speechless1 hearing a voice but seeing no man4 ,and ,saul arose from the earth1 and when his eyes were opened he saw no man2 but they led him by the hand and brought him into ,damascus4 ,and he was three days without sight and neither did eat nor drink4 ,and there was a certain disciple at ,damascus1 named ,ananias1 and to him said the ,lord in a vision3 ',ananias2' and he said3 ',lord1 behold1 ,i am here4' ,and the ,lord said unto him3 ',arise and go into the street called ,straight1 and enquire in the house of ,judas for one called ,saul of ,tarsus2 for behold1 he prayeth4 ,and hath seen in a vision a man named ,ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight4' ,then ,ananias answered3 ',lord1 ,i have heard by many of this man1 how much evil he hath done by thy saints at ,jerusalem4 ,and here he hath authority from the high priests to bind all that call on thy name4' ,but the ,lord said unto him3 ',go thy way2 for he is a chosen vessel unto me1 to bear my name before the ,gentiles1 and kings1 and children of ,israel4 ,for ,i will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake4' ,and ,ananias went his way1 and entered into the house2 and putting his hands on him1 said3 ',brother ,saul1 the ,lord1 even ,jesus1 that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest1 hath sent me1 that thou mightest receive thy sight1 and be filled with the ,holy ,ghost4' ,and immediately there fell from his eyes1 as it had been scales2 and he received sight forthwith1 and arose and was baptized4 ,like all those who have entered cosmic consciousness1 ,paul sought the blessing of solitude1 that he might readjust himself to his changed viewpoint1 since he now saw things in the light of the larger consciousness4 ,he says3 ,immediately ,i conferred1 not with flesh and blood2 neither went ,i up to ,jerusalem to them which were apostles before me2 but ,i went away into ,arabia2 and again ,i returned unto ,damascus4 ,the irresistible longing to get away from the sights and sounds of the external world1 is one of the most characteristic phases of ,illumination4 ,it is only in order that they may take up the work of bringing to others this great blessing that those who have entered into the larger consciousness1 eventually bring themselves to enter the life of the world4 ,thus1 we find that ,paul's great desire to bring the light to others1 took him again to ,damascus2 and from the records we have of his utterances and his mode of living1 we may gather some idea of the great change which ,illumination made in him4 ,certain statements1 which characterize all who possess cosmic consciousness1 in any degree of fullness1 emanate from the converted ,paul4 ,he says3 ,i must needs glory though it is not expedient1 but ,i will come to visions and revelations of the ,lord--for if ,i should desire to glory ,i shall not be foolish2 for ,i shall speak the truth2 but ,i forbear1 lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me to be1 or heareth from me4 ,and by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations--wherefore that ,i should not be exalted overmuch1 there was given to me a thorn in the flesh1 a messenger of ,satan to buffet me4 ,one of the characteristics of the ,illumined is a deep humility4 ,this is not in any sense an abasement of the self2 not in any sense a feeling that it is necessary to bow down and worship2 nor yet a tinge of that nameless fear1 which the carnal-minded self feels in the presence of exalted beings4 ,it is a humility born of the desire to make every one know and feel a sense of kinship with him2 he hesitates to reveal all that has been revealed to him1 lest those who hear his words may think he is either speaking foolishly1 through egotism1 or else that they may look upon him as a being superior1 more exalted1 than themselves4 ,and a divine compassion and love for his fellow being characterizes the ,illumined4 ,again1 ,paul wishes to make clear the fact that he is still living in the physical body2 living the life of a body1 and until liberated from the conditions that influence the external world1 he is himself subject to the lesser consciousness1 and he does not want them to expect more of the personal self1 than that personal self is capable of1 under the conditions in which he lives4 ,he desires no personal exaltation1 or praise1 therefore he hesitates to speak fully of his own revelations1 but prefers to teach by reference to the experiences of others4 ,nevertheless1 he tries to make clear the fact that he is not merely preaching a belief1 which he has embraced because of doubt or fear1 or because it is a creed4 ,indeed1 he is free from the law and is1 therefore1 not merely following a system1 neither the old one which he has abandoned1 nor a new one which he has accepted4 ,he speaks from the ,lord1 which is no other than the highest authority that man may know--namely1 the authority that comes from the realization of his own imperishable godhood--the effect of cosmic consciousness4 ,he says3 ,for ,i make known to you brethren1 as touching the gospel as preached by me1 that it is not after man4 ,for neither did ,i receive it from man1 nor was ,i taught it1 but it came to me through revelation of ,christ4 ,christ redeemed us from the curse of the law4 ,but before faith came1 we were kept inward under the law1 shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed4 ,for ye are all sons of ,god through faith in ,christ4 ,for with freedom did ,christ set us free4 ,this we take to refer to his former adherence to1 and belief in1 the system of worship taught by the ,jews1 as a necessary and probably the only way of salvation acceptable to ,god4 ,he wishes his hearers to understand that he is not bound by adherence to any creed2 neither the old one1 nor yet the new one1 but that what he preached came from the light of cosmic consciousness1 in which there is no law1 nor sense of law4 ,cosmic consciousness gives to the illumined one a sense of freedom 7,christ means cosmic consciousness1 and not a personality74 ,cosmic consciousness confers1 above all else1 perhaps1 a sense of freedom from every form of bondage4 ,the duty and the obligations that bind the average person1 are impossible to the cosmically conscious one4 ,not that he displays indifference toward the welfare and the rights of others4 ,far from that1 he feels an added sense of responsibility for the irresponsible2 an overwhelming compassion for the unfortunate1 and a relationship greater than ever to mankind4 ,but this sense of freedom causes him to do all in love1 which he hitherto did because it was so laid down in the law4 ,again ,st4 ,paul makes this plain3 ,the fruit of the spirit is love1 joy1 peace1 long suffering1 kindness1 goodness1 faithfulness1 meekness1 temperance2 against such as these there is no law--neither is circumcision anything1 nor uncircumcision1 but a new creature4 ,when we are armored with the fruit of the spirit1 we have no need for rules of conduct2 for methods of salvation2 or for any of the bonds that are necessary to the merely sense-conscious man4 ,plainly1 ,paul recognized the fact that systems of religion1 of philosophy1 of rules and ethics of intercourse1 are necessary only so long as man remains on the sense-conscious plane4 ,when ,illumination comes1 there comes with it absolute freedom4 ,god does not want to be worshipped on bended knee2 by rites and ceremonies2 by obedience to commandments1 but the undisciplined soul acquires power and poise through these exercises1 and in time grows to the full stature of god-consciousness4 ,nor is intellectual greatness to be confounded with the godlike character of the one who has attained to ,illumination4 ,elsewhere in these pages we have made the distinction between knowledge and wisdom4 ,knowledge alone can never bring a soul into the path of ,illumination4 ,wisdom will point the way1 but love is the unerring guide to the very goal4 ,st4 ,paul's expression of this fact is concise1 and to the point4 ,this observation alone1 stamps him as one possessing a very high degree of realization of what cosmic consciousness is4 ,if any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world1 let him become a fool that he may become wise4 ,for the wisdom of this world is foolishness to ,god4 ,the worldly wise man or woman asks how much do ,i get8 ,the truly wise person cares nothing at all for possessions4 ,he only asks how much can ,i give8 ,and although we find in the marts of commercialism a contempt for the gullible1 and the credulous2 the trusting and the confiding1 let it be known that the smart bargainer will indeed smart for his smartness1 for in the light of cosmic consciousness1 this alleged wisdom of men1 appears as utter foolishness2 wasted effort2 a perversion of opportunity4 ,because all these things shall pass away4 ,love alone is imperishable4 ,love alone is the savior of the human race1 and whenever we fail to act from motives of love1 we are disloyal to the light within us4 ,again says ,st4 ,paul3 ,if ,i speak with the tongues of men and of angels1 and have not love1 ,i am as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal4 ,and if ,i have the gift of prophecy1 and know all mysteries and all knowledge2 and if ,i have all faith1 so as to remove mountains1 but have not love1 ,i am nothing4 ,and if ,i bestow all my goods to feed the poor1 and if ,i give my body to be burned1 but have not love1 it profiteth me nothing4 ,,love ,,never ,,faileth4 ,but whether there be prophecies they shall be done away2 whether there be tongues they shall cease2 whether there be knowledge it shall be done away4 ,for we know in part and we prophecy in part1 but when that which is perfect is come1 that which is in part shall be done away4 ,it must be remembered that in the days of ,st4 ,paul the high priests and the prophets were accounted the wisest and most exalted persons in the community4 ,the ability to prophecy presupposed a special favor of the ,god of the ,jews4 ,st4 ,paul's exposition of the changed viewpoint that comes to one who has entered into cosmic consciousness1 was therefore aptly illustrated by his open avowal that there was a far greater power--a more exalted state of consciousness1 than that of the gift of prophecy and of knowing all mysteries2 that state of one in which love was the ruler1 and in order that they might the more fully comprehend the simplicity1 and yet the perfection1 of this state of consciousness1 he made clear the fact that no one truly who became a new creature1 as he characterized this change1 ever exalted himself1 or made high claims2 or became exclusive1 or superior1 or holy1 in the sense the latter word had been used4 ,how1 then1 would they know when they had attained to this state of consciousness1 of which he spoke1 and which they but dimly understood8 ,how might they know when they had found this great love that was to make them a new creature8 ,first of all1 they might know because3 ,,love ,,never ,,faileth4 ,love suffereth long and is kind2 love envieth not2 love vaunteth not itself2 is not puffed up1 does not behave unseemly2 seeketh not its own2 is not provoked2 taketh not account of evil2 rejoiceth not in unrighteousness1 but rejoiceth with the truth2 beareth all things2 believeth all things2 hopeth all things2 endureth all things4 ,in fact1 ,,love ,,never ,,faileth4 ,love is always a safe guide4 ,no matter what may be said to the contrary2 no matter how much suffering it entails2 no matter how seemingly fruitless the sacrifice2 or how ungrateful the results1 love never faileth4 ,how can it fail when we seek not our own1 but only love for love's own sake1 without regard to compensation or gratitude8 ,st4 ,paul1 with all who have expressed in any considerable degree this cosmic realization1 seems to have expected a time1 when cosmic consciousness should become so general1 as to bring the kingdom of love upon earth4 ,this corresponds to the ,millenium1 which has always been prophesied1 and which the present era fulfills1 in all the signs of the times that were to usher in ,the ,dawn4 ,moreover1 the idea that there shall come a time when death shall be overcome1 is a persistent part of every prophecy1 and of every religious cult4 ,in these days we find that science is speculating upon the probability of discovering a specific for senile death1 as well as for the final elimination of death from disease and accidents4 ,whether or not this is to be the manner of overcoming the last enemy1 the fact remains that the almost universally held idea of physical immortality has a basis in fact1 which this postulate of science symbolizes4 ,for this corruptible must put on incorruption1 and this mortality must put on immortality1 but when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption1 and this mortal shall have put on immortality1 then shall come to pass the saying that is written3 ',death is swallowed up in victory4' ,so said ,st4 ,paul1 and his words show clearly that before his time there had been a prophecy and belief in the final triumph of love over death1 not as an article of faith1 but as a common knowledge4 ,st4 ,paul speaks of the time when we shall not all sleep1 but we shall all be changed1 in a moment1 in the twinkling of an eye1 at the last trump4 ,and then come to the end1 when he shall deliver up the kingdom to ,god1 even the ,father2 when he shall have abolished all rule1 all authority1 and all power4 ,unquestionably1 if all men on earth in the flesh and in the astral1 were to come into the light of the cosmic consciousness1 there would be no need for laws1 for authority or power4 ,the kingdom1 which signifies the earth as a planet1 would indeed be delivered to ,god1 which means ,love1 and ,love never faileth4 ,and while we admit that these words of ,st4 ,paul may be applied to individual attainment of cosmic consciousness1 and not refer to an era of earth life1 in which the fruits of this larger consciousness are to be gathered in the physical1 yet we maintain that the argument for such an hypothesis is strong indeed4 ,he says3 ,for the earnest expectation of creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of ,god4 ,for the term sons of ,god interpret those who have attained cosmic consciousness1 and we may readily parallel this with the many allusions to the earth's redemption1 with which history is strewn4 ,to redeem the earth is quite comparable with the idea of redeeming any part of the earth's surface--either as a nation1 or as a tract of land--which is not yielding the best that it is capable of4 ,in the cosmogony of the heavens1 the planet earth may well be likened to a territory that has possibilities1 but which needs cultivation2 encouragement2 work2 to bring out its possibilities and make it a place of comfort and enlightenment4 ,so we have been informed--and an understanding of deeper occultism will bear out the information--that this earth is being made a fit habitation for the gods 7i4e41 cosmically conscious beings1 to whom love is the only authority necessary74 ,paul clearly alludes to the redemption of the body1 as well as the continuance of the life of the soul1 when he says3 ,for the creation was subject to vanity1 not of its own will1 but by reason of him who subjected it1 in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of ,god4 ,for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now4 ,and not only so1 but ourselves also1 ,,which ,,have ,,the ,,first ,,fruits ,,of ,,the ,,spirit1 even we ourselves1 waiting for our adoption1 to wit1 the redemption of the body4 ,st4 ,paul declared that even those who had glimpsed that wonderful ,illumination 7which have the first fruits of the spirit71 are not free from the travail of the sense-conscious world1 until such time as the cycle has been completed1 and those who are already in ,christ1 and then they that are ,christ's at his coming1 shall have made possible the perfected creation1 and brought about the reign of love on earth4 ,so that1 when a sufficient number of souls shall have attained to this ,illumination 7cosmic consciousness71 the last enemy shall be overcome4 ,that this present era gives promise of this hope1 is evident4 ,the attainment of cosmic consciousness brings with it immunity from reincarnation1 as a necessity--as a law1 but it does not provide against the coming of avatars--sons of ,god1 who are to deliver ,creation from the bondage of corruption4 ,this also is clearly stated by ,paul3 ,there is no condemnation to them that are in ,christ4 ,for the law of the spirit of life in ,christ made me free from the law of sin and death4 ,there never is any doubt in the minds of those who have attained cosmic consciousness1 that they are spiritual beings and immortal--free from the law of karma2 neither is there any thought of evil or of condemnation4 ,they know that men are gods in embryo and that until they have been born into the cosmic consciousness--the realization of their reality as spirit1 they must travail2 but this sense-conscious state is not to be condemned any more than the child is to be condemned because it has not yet grown to adultship4 ,the advice of ,st4 ,paul himself was simple enough and straight-forward enough4 ,it was devoid of all subtleties2 free from complexity2 free from fear1 or haste1 or doubt1 or strife1 while confidently awaiting the universal attainment of ,illumination4 ,to the question as to what path to follow2 what should be done to gain this great boon1 if the law of the ancient ,hebrews was not to be followed in its literal significance1 ,paul said3 ,whatsoever things are honest2 whatsoever things are true2 whatsoever things are just2 whatsoever things are pure2 whatsoever things are lovely2 whatsoever things are of good report2 if there be any virtue1 and if there be any praise1 ,,think ,,on ,,these ,,things4 ,which is to say1 do not seek the letter of the way of ,illumination4 ,do not look for forms and ceremonies and rules and systems1 but look for that which is clean and pure and good wherever it may be found4 ,in ,st4 ,paul we have fulfilled all the points that characterize those who have been blessed with the great ,illumination4 ,his broad outlook upon humanity1 which refused to see evil or to condemn where formerly he had been noted for his zeal in bringing to condemnation all whom he believed to be heretics2 his conviction of immortality2 his humility1 as far as personal aggrandizement was concerned2 the great light in which was revealed to him the truth2 the annihilation of the idea of sin and death2 the realization that systems and laws and methods of worship and giving of alms and all the by-paths which formerly he had deemed necessary1 were as naught compared to the great illuminating1 all-embracing power of ,love--the ,savior whose kingdom should sometime be established upon earth--the time being when cosmic consciousness should be general4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,mohammed ,despite the fact that the followers of ,mohammed1 the prophet1 are among the most fanatical and prejudiced of all religious sects1 ,mohammed himself was unquestionably among the ,illumined ,ones of earth1 and had attained and retained a high degree of cosmic consciousness4 ,the wars2 the persecutions2 the horrors that have been committed in the name of ,islam1 are perhaps a little more atrocious than any in history although the unspeakable cruelties of the ,inquisition would seem to have no parallel4 ,the religion of ,persia1 wrongly alluded to as fire-worship1 marks ,zoroaster as among the ,illuminati1 but as the present volume is concerned1 in the religious aspect of it1 only with those cases of ,illumination which we are classifying among the present great religious systems1 we cite the case of ,mohammed1 the ,arab1 as one clearly establishing the characteristic points of ,illumination4 ,when ,mohammed was born1 in the early part of the fifth century1 the condition of his countrymen was primitive in the extreme4 ,the most powerful force among them was tribal or clan loyalty1 and a corresponding hatred of1 and readiness to make war with1 opposing clans4 ,although at the time of ,mohammed's birth1 ,christianity had made great headway in different parts of the old world1 it had made very little impress upon the ,arabs4 ,they worshipped their tribal gods1 and there are traces of a belief in a supreme ,god 7,allah ta-ala71 but they were not as a race inclined to a deeply religious sentiment4 ,one and all1 whether given to superstitions or denying a belief in ,allah1 they dreaded the dark after-life and although the different tribes made their yearly pilgrimages to ,mecca1 and faithfully kissed the stone that had fallen from heaven in the days of ,adam1 the inspiration of their ancient prophets had long since died1 and a new prophet was expected and looked for4 ,the yearly pilgrimage to ,mecca1 which was at once the center of trade and the goal of the religious enthusiast1 was observed by all the tribes of ,arabia1 but it is a question whether the pilgrimage was not more often made in a holiday spirit than in that of the devotee to the ,kaabeh1 the most sacred temple in all ,arabia4 ,indeed1 it is agreed by all commentators1 that the ancient ,arab1 ,in the ,time of ,ignorance1 before the coming of ,mohammed1 knew little and cared less about those spiritual qualities that look beyond the physical2 not questioning1 as did ,mohammed1 what lies beyond this vale of strife1 whose only exit is the dark and inscrutable face of death4 ,besides the tribal gods1 individual households had their special ,penates1 to whom was due the first and the last salam of the returning or out-going host4 ,but in spite of all this superstitious apparatus1 the ,arabs were never a religious people4 ,in the old days1 as now1 they were reckless1 skeptical1 materialistic4 ,they had their gods and their divining arrows1 but they were ready to demolish both if the responses proved contrary to their wishes4 ,a great majority believed in no future life1 nor in a reckoning day of good and evil4 ,such1 then1 was the condition of thought among the various tribes when ,mohammed was born4 ,it was not1 however1 until he was past forty years of age1 that the revelations came to him1 and although it was some time later that these were set down1 together with his admonitions and counsel to his followers1 it is believed that they are for the most part well authenticated1 as the ,koran was compiled during ,mohammed's lifetime1 and thus1 in the original1 doubtless represents an authentic account of ,mohammed's experiences4 ,it is related that ,mohammed's father died before his son's birth and his mother six years later4 ,thus ,mohammed was left to the care of his grandfather1 the virtual chief of ,mecca4 ,the venerable chief lived but two years and ,mohammed1 who was a great favorite with his grandfather1 became the special charge of his uncle1 ,aboo-,talib1 whose devotion never wavered1 even during the trying later years1 when ,mohammed's persecutions caused the uncle untold hardships and trials4 ,at an early age ,mohammed took up the life of a sheep herder1 caring for the herds of his kinsmen4 ,this step became necessary because the once princely fortune of his noble ancestors had dwindled to almost the extreme of poverty1 but although the occupation of sheep herder was despised by the tribes1 it is said that ,mohammed himself in later life often alluded to his early calling as the time when ,god called him4 ,at the age of twenty-five he took up the more desirable post of camel driver1 and was taken into the employ of a wealthy kinswoman1 ,khadeejeh1 whom he afterwards married1 although she was fifteen years his senior--a disparity in age which means far more in the ,east1 where physical charm and beauty are the only requisites for a wife1 than it does in the ,west where men look more to the mental endowments of a wife than to the fleeting charm of youth4 ,it is also to ,mohammed's credit that his devotion to his first wife never wavered to the day of her death and1 indeed1 as long as he himself lived he spoke with reverence and deep affection of ,khadeejeh4 ,we learn that the next fifteen years were lived in the usual manner of a man of his station4 ,khadeejeh brought him wealth and this gave him the necessary time and ease in which to meditate1 and the never-varying devotion and trust of his faithful wife brought him repose and the power to aid his impoverished uncle1 and to be regarded among the tribes as a man of influence4 ,his simple1 unostentatious1 and even ascetic life during these years was noted4 ,he was known as a man of extremely refined tastes and sensitive though not querulous nature4 ,a commentator says of him3 ,his constitution was extremely delicate4 ,he was nervously afraid of bodily pain2 he would sob and roar under it4 ,eminently unpractical in the common things of life1 he was gifted with mighty powers of imagination1 elevation of mind1 delicacy and refinement of feeling4 ,he is more modest than a virgin behind her curtain1 it has been said of him4 ,he was most indulgent to his inferiors and would not allow his awkward little page to be scolded1 whatever he did4 ,he was most affectionate toward his family4 ,he was very fond of children1 and would stop them in the streets and pat their little cheeks4 ,he never struck anyone in his life4 ,the worst expression he ever made use of in conversation was3 ',what has come to him--may his forehead be darkened with mud4' ,when asked to curse some one he replied3 ',i have not been sent to curse1 but to be a mercy to mankind4' ,he visited the sick1 followed any bier he met1 accepted the invitation of a slave to dinner1 mended his own clothes1 milked his goats and waited upon himself4 ,he never withdrew his hand out of another's palm1 and turned not before the other had turned4 ,he was the most faithful protector of those he protected1 the sweetest and most agreeable in conversation2 those who saw him were suddenly filled with reverence2 those who came to him1 loved him4 ,they who described him would say3 ',i have never seen his like1 either before or after4' ,he was1 however1 very nervous and restless withal1 often low-spirited1 downcast as to heart and eyes4 ,yet he would at times suddenly break through these broodings1 become gay1 talkative1 jocular1 chiefly among his own4 ,this picture corresponds with the temperament which is alluded to as the artistic1 or psychic temperament1 and allowing that in these days there is much posing and pretense1 we still must admit that the quality known as temperament is a psychological study suggesting a stage of development hitherto unclassified4 ,it is said also1 that in his youth ,mohammed was subject to attacks of catalepsy1 evidencing an organism peculiarly psychic4 ,it is evident that ,mohammed regarded himself as one having a mission upon earth1 even before he had received the revelations which announced him as a prophet chosen of ,allah1 for he long brooded over the things of the spirit1 and although he had not1 up to his fortieth year1 openly protested against the fetish worship of the ,kureysh1 yet he was regarded as one who had a different idea of worship from that of the men with whom he came in contact4 ,gradually1 he became more and more inclined to solitude1 and made frequent excursions into the hills1 and in his solitary wanderings1 he suffered agonies of doubt and self distrust1 fearing lest he be self-deceived1 and again1 lest he be indeed called to become a prophet of ,god and fail in his mission4 ,here in a cave1 the revelation came4 ,mohammed had spent nights and days in fasting and prayer beseeching ,god for some sign1 some word that would settle his doubts and agonies of distrust and longing for an answer to life's riddle4 ,it is related that suddenly during the watches of the night1 ,mohammed awoke to find his solitary cave filled with a great and wondrous light out of which issued a voice saying3 ,cry1 cry aloud4 ,what shall ,i cry8 he answers1 and the voice answered3 ,cry in the name of thy ,lord who hath created2 ,he hath created man from a clot of blood4 ,cry--and thy ,lord is the most bountiful1 who hath taught by the pen2 ,he hath taught man that which he knew not4 ,it is reported that almost immediately1 ,mohammed felt his intelligence illuminated with the light of spiritual understanding1 and all that had previously vexed his spirit with doubt and non-comprehension1 was clear as crystal to his understanding4 ,nevertheless1 this feeling of assurance did not remain with him at that time1 definitely1 for we are told that ,mohammed arose trembling and went to ,khadeejeh and told her what he had seen and heard2 and she did her woman's part and believed in him and soothed his terror and bade him hope for the future4 ,yet he could not believe in himself4 ,was he not perhaps1 mad8 or possessed by a devil8 ,were these voices of a truth from ,god8 ,and so he went again on the solitary wanderings1 hearing strange sounds1 and thinking them at one time the testimony of heaven and at another the temptings of ,satan1 or the ravings of madness4 ,doubting1 wondering1 hoping1 he had fain put an end to a life which had become intolerable in its changings from the hope of heaven to the hell of despair1 when he again heard the voice3 ',thou art the messenger of ,god and ,i am ,gabriel4' ,conviction at length seized hold upon him2 he was indeed to bring a message of good tidings to the ,arabs1 the message of ,god through ,his angel ,gabriel4 ,he went back to his faithful wife exhausted in mind and body1 but with his doubts laid at rest4 ,with the history of the spread of ,mohammed's message we are not concerned in this volume4 ,the fact that his own nearest of kin1 those of his own household1 believed in his divine mission1 and held to him with unwavering faith during the many years of persecution that followed1 is proof that ,mohammed was indeed a man who had attained ,illumination4 ,if the condition of woman did not rise to the heights which we have a right to expect of the cosmic conscious man of the future1 we must remember that eastern traditions have ever given woman an inferior place1 and for the matter of that1 ,st4 ,paul himself seems to have shared the then general belief in the inferiority of the female4 ,it is undeniable that ,mohammed's domestic relations were of the most agreeable character2 his kindness and consideration were without parallel2 his harem was made up for the most part of women who were refused and scorned by other men2 widows of his friends4 ,and the fact that the prophet was a man of the most abstemious habits argues the claim that compassion and kindness was the motive in most instances where he took to himself another and yet another wife4 ,however1 the points which we are here dealing with1 are those which directly relate to ,mohammed's unquestioned illumination and the spirit of his utterances as contained in the ,ku-ran1 corroborate the experience of ,buddha1 of ,jesus1 and of all whose illumination has resulted in the establishment of a religious system4 ,mohammed taught1 first of all1 the fact of the one ,god4 ,there is no ,god but ,allah1 was his cry1 and1 following the example1 or at least paralleling the example of ,jesus1 he destroyed their idols and substituted the worship of one ,god1 in place of the tribal deities1 which were a constant source of disputation among the clans4 ,compare the following1 which is one of the five daily prayers of the faithful ,muslim1 with the ,lord's prayer as used in ,christian theology4 ,in the name of ,god1 the compassionate--the merciful4 ,praise be to ,god1 the ,lord of the worlds1 ,the compassionate1 the merciful4 ,the king of the day of judgment4 ,thee do we worship and of ,thee do we beg assistance4 ,guide us in the right way1 ,the way of those to whom ,thou hast been gracious1 ,not of those with whom ,thou art wroth1 nor of the erring4 ,mohammed never tired of telling his disciples and followers that ,god was ,the ,very-,forgiving4 ,among the many and sometimes strangely varied attributes of ,god 7,the ,absolute71 we find this characteristic most strongly and persistently dwelt upon--the ever ready forgiveness and mercifulness of ,god4 ,every soorah of the ,kur-an begins with the words3 ,in the name of ,god1 the compassionate1 the merciful1 but1 even as ,jesus laid persistent emphasis upon the love of ,god1 and yet up to very recent times1 ,christianity taught the fear and wrath of ,god1 losing sight of the one great and important fact that ,god is love1 and that love is ,god1 so the ,muslims overlooked the real message1 and the greatness and the power and the fearfulness of ,god1 is the incentive of the followers of the ,illumined ,mohammed4 ,the following extracts from the ,kur-an are almost identical with many passages in the ,holy ,scriptures of the ,christian1 and are comparable with the sayings of the ,lord ,buddha4 ,god4 ,there is no ,god but ,he1 the ever-living1 the ever-subsisting4 ,slumber seizeth ,him not nor sleep4 ,to ,him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth4 ,who is he that shall intercede with ,him1 save by ,his permission8 ,the ,muslim is a fatalist1 but this may be due less to the teachings of the prophet than to the peculiar quality of the ,arab nature1 which makes him stake everything1 even his own liberty upon the cast of a die4 ,the leading doctrine of the all-powerfulness of ,god seems to warrant the belief in fatalism--belief which offers a stumbling block to all theologians1 all philosophers1 all thinkers4 ,if ,god is omnipotent1 omnipresent1 omniscient1 how and where and in what manner can be explained the necessity of individual effort8 ,this problem is not at all clear to the western mind1 and it is equally obscure to that of the ,east4 ,it is said of ,mohammed that when asked concerning the doctrine of fatalism he would show more anger than at any other question that could be put to him4 ,he found it impossible to explain that while all knowledge was ,god's1 yet the individual was responsible for his own salvation1 by virtue of his good deeds and words4 ,nevertheless1 it is not unlikely that ,mohammed possessed the key to this seeming riddle2 but how could it be possible to speak in a language which was totally incomprehensible to them of this knowledge--the language of cosmic consciousness8 ,like ,jesus1 who said3 ,many things ,i have to tell you1 but you can not bear 7understand7 them now1 so1 we may well believe that ,mohammed was hard-pressed to find language comprehensible to his followers1 in which to explain the all-knowingness and all-powerfulness of ,god1 and at the same time1 not have them fall into the error of the fatal doctrine of fatalism4 ,but throughout all his teachings ,mohammed's chief concern seemed to be to draw his people away from their worship of idols1 and to this end he laid constant and repeated emphasis upon the one-ness of ,god2 the all-ness1 the completeness of the one ,god2 always adding the ,compassionate1 the ,loving4 ,this constant allusion to the all-ness of ,god is in line with all who have attained to cosmic consciousness4 ,nothing more impresses the illumined mind1 than the fact that the universe is ,one--uni--7one7--verse--7song7--one glorious harmony when taken in its entirety1 but when broken up and segregated1 and set at variance1 we find discord1 even as the score of a grand operatic composition when played in unison makes perfect harmony but when incomplete1 is nerve-racking4 ,like all inspired teachers1 ,mohammed taught the end of the world of sense1 and the coming of the day of judgment1 and the final reign of peace and love4 ,this may1 of course1 be interpreted literally1 and applied to a life other than that which is to be lived on this planet1 but it may also with equal logic be assumed that ,mohammed foresaw the dawn of cosmic consciousness as a race-endowment1 belonging to the inheritors of this sphere called earth4 ,in either event the ultimate is the same1 whether the one who suffers and attains1 comes into his own in some plane or place in the heavens1 or whether he becomes at-one with ,god1 ,the ,absolute ,love and ,power of the spheres1 and inherits the earth1 in the days of the on-coming higher degree of consciousness1 which we are here considering4 ,that ,mohammed realized the nothingness of form and ritual1 except it be accompanied by sincerity and understanding1 is evident in the following3 ,your turning your faces in prayer1 towards the ,east and the ,west1 is not piety2 but the pious is he who believeth in ,god1 and the last day1 and in the angels and in the ,scripture2 and the prophets1 and who giveth money notwithstanding his love of it to relations and orphans1 and to the needy and the son of the road1 and to the askers for the freeing of slaves2 and who performeth prayer and giveth the alms1 and those who perform their covenant when they covenant2 and the patient in adversity and affliction and the time of violence4 ,these are they who have been true2 and these are they who fear ,god4 ,parallel with the doctrine taught by ,buddha1 and ,jesus1 is the advice to overcome evil with good4 ,in our modern metaphysical language1 we must dissolve the vibrations of hate1 by the power of love1 instead of opposing hate with hate1 war with war1 revenge with revenge4 ,mohammed expressed this doctrine of non-resistance thus3 ,turn away evil by that which is better2 and lo1 he1 between whom and thyself was enmity1 shall become as though he were a warm friend4 ,but none is endowed with this1 except those who have been patient and none is endowed with it1 except he who is greatly favored4 ,mohammed meant by these words he who is greatly favored1 to explain that in order to see the wisdom and the glory of such conduct1 one must have attained to spiritual consciousness4 ,this was especially a new doctrine to the people to whom he was preaching1 because it was considered cowardice to fail to resent a blow4 ,pride of family and birth was the strongest trait in the ,arab nature4 ,in furtherance of this doing good to others1 we find these words3 ,if ye are greeted with a greeting1 then greet ye with a better greeting1 or at least return it2 verily4 ,god taketh count of these things4 ,if there be any under a difficulty wait until it be easy2 but if ye remit it as alms1 it will be better for you4 ,mohammed here referred to debtors and creditors2 as he was talking to traders1 merchants1 men who were constantly buying and selling1 this admonition was in line with his teaching1 which was to do unto others that which you would that they do unto you4 ,in further compliance with his doctrine of doing good for good's sake ,mohammed said3 ,if ye manifest alms1 good will it be2 but if ye conceal them and give them to the poor1 it will be better for you2 and it will expiate some of your sins4 ,alms-giving1 as an ostentatious display among church members1 was here given its rightful place4 ,it is well and good to give openly to organizations1 but it is better to give to individuals who need it1 secretly and quietly to give1 without hope1 or expectation1 or desire for thanks1 or for reward1 to give for the love of giving1 for the sole wish to make others happy4 ,this desire to bestow upon others the happiness which has come to them1 is a characteristic of the cosmic conscious man or woman4 ,it is comforting to know that ,mohammed1 like ,buddha and ,the ,man of ,sorrows2 and like ,sri ,ramakrishna1 the saint of ,india1 at length attained unto that peaceful calm that comes to one who has found the way of ,illumination4 ,it is doubtless impossible for the merely sense-conscious person to form any adequate idea of the inward urge2 the agony of doubts and questionings2 the imperative necessity such a one feels1 to ,,know4 ,the sense-conscious person reads of the lives of these men and wonders why they could not be happy with the things of the world4 ,the temptation that we are told came to ,jesus in the garden1 is typical of the state of transition from sense-consciousness to cosmic consciousness4 ,the sense-conscious person regards the things of the senses as important4 ,he is actuated by ambition or self-seeking or by love of physical comfort or by physical activity1 to obtain the possessions of sense4 ,to such as these1 the agonies of mind2 the physical hardships2 the ever-ready forgiveness and the desire for peace and love of the ,illuminate seem almost weaknesses4 ,therefore1 they can not fully comprehend the satisfaction which comes to the one who has come into a realization of illumination1 through the years of mental tribulation such as that endured by ,mohammed and ,jesus and ,buddha4 ,we are told that the prophet repeatedly refuted the suggestion of his adoring followers that he was ,god himself come to earth4 ,it is wonderful1 says one of his commentators1 with his temptations1 how great a humility was ever is1 how little he assumed of all the godlike attributes men forced upon him4 ,his whole life is one long argument for his loyalty to truth4 ,he had but one answer for his worshippers1 ',i am no more than a man2 ,i am only human4' 99 99 99 ,he was sublimely confident of this single attribute that he was the messenger of the ,lord of the daybreak1 and that the words he spake came verily from him4 ,he was fully persuaded that ,god had sent him to do a great work among his people in ,arabia4 ,nervous to the verge of madness1 subject to hysteria1 given to wild dreaming in solitary places1 his was a temperament that easily lends itself to religious enthusiasm4 ,while it may be argued that ,mohammed did not possess cosmic consciousness in the degree of fullness which we find in the life of ,st4 ,paul1 for example1 we must take into consideration the temperament of the ,arab1 and the conditions under which he labored4 ,but that he had attained a high degree of ,illumination is beyond dispute4 ,this fact is evidenced by the following salient points characteristic of cosmic consciousness3 ,a fine sensitive1 highly-strung organization2 a deep and serious thoughtfulness1 especially regarding the realities of life2 an indifference to the call of personal ambition2 love of solitude and the mental urge that demands to know the answer to life's riddle4 ,following the time of illumination on ,mount ,hara we find ,mohammed possessing a conviction of the truth of immortality and the goodness of ,god2 we find him also with a wonderful power to draw people to him in loving service2 and the irresistible desire to bring to his people the message of immortal life1 and the necessity to look more to spiritual things than to the things of the flesh4 ,added to this1 we find ,mohammed changed from a shrinking1 sensitive youth1 given to much reflection and silent meditation1 into a man with perfect confidence in his own mission and in his ultimate victory4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,emanuel ,,swedenborg ,while the ,swedenborgians1 as a religious sect1 are not numerically sufficient to be reckoned among the world's great religions1 it is yet a fact that the followers of the great ,swedish seer and scientist hold a prominent place among the innumerable sects which the beginning of this century finds flourishing4 ,swedenborg was born in ,stockholm1 in ,january1 #afhh1 and lived to the advanced age of eighty-four years4 ,swedenborg was well born2 he was the son of a bishop of the ,swedish church1 and during his lifetime held many positions of honor4 ,he was a friend and adviser of the king1 and his expert knowledge of mining engineering gave him a place among the scientists of his age4 ,he was a voluminous writer1 his early work being confined to the phases of materialistic science1 notably on mines and metals1 and later upon man1 in his physiological aspect4 ,his ,de ,cerebro and ,psychologia ,rationales1 published in his fifty-seventh year1 showed a different ,swedenborg from the one to whom his colleagues were accustomed to refer with much respect4 ,this book dealt with man1 not as a product of brute creation1 but as an evolutionary creature1 having at least a possibility of divine origin4 ,it is1 however1 his ,arcana ,coelestia upon which ,the ,church of the ,new ,jerusalem is founded2 and it is this work which caused ,swedenborg's friends and colleagues to determine that he had become insane4 ,it is1 in fact1 only within very recent years1 that the so-called scientific world has deigned to regard ,swedenborg's revelations with any degree of serious and respectful attention4 ,swedenborg's ,illumination was not1 like that of so many others1 who have founded a new religion1 a sudden influx of spiritual consciousness1 but rather a gradual leading up to the inevitable goal1 by virtue of serious thought1 deep study1 and a high order of mentality4 ,but that the ,swedish seer received1 in full measure1 the blessing of cosmic consciousness1 is beyond doubt4 ,swedenborg's extremely simple habits of life2 his freedom from any desire for display1 or for those social advantages into which he was born2 his gentleness and unassuming manner1 of which much is written by his followers1 all point to him as one upon whom the blessing might readily descend4 ,swedenborg was a vegetarian1 but this seems not to be a necessary characteristic of those possessing illumination1 although1 when cosmic consciousness shall have become almost general1 vegetarianism must inevitably come with it1 as animal life will disappear from the earth4 ,swedenborg1 like many others who have perceived the cosmic light1 evidently believed that he had been specially selected and consecrated for the work of the new church4 ,that is1 he took his illumination1 not as an initiation into the higher degrees of cosmic truth1 but as a special and personal revelation4 ,this view characterizes those who founded a new1 or a reformed religious system1 while as a matter of truth1 the light that comes is a part of the cosmic plan1 and not1 as ,swedenborg and others imagine1 as a personal revelation4 ,however1 ,swedenborg considered himself a direct instrument in the hands of ,god1 and ,god is alluded to as a personality4 ,he believed that his great mission was to disclose the true nature of the ,bible1 and to prove that it was actually the inspired word of ,god1 having an esoteric meaning1 which has wrongly been interpreted to apply to the creation of a material world1 and to its history and its people1 but that when understood1 it explains clearly1 the nature of ,god1 and the nature of man1 and their relation to each other4 ,it should be remembered that at the time ,swedenborg wrote his theological works1 the church had fallen into rank materialism and superstition4 ,that ,swedenborg should have received his illumination1 or revelation1 direct from the ,lord1 only serves to prove that the mortal consciousness clothes the revelation with whatever personality appeals to it1 as having authority4 ,thus1 the angel ,gabriel was the dictator in the case of ,mohammed1 and the ,blessed ,mother of the ,hindu reveals to them the vision of mukti4 ,swedenborg says of his vision3 ,god appeared to me and said1 ',i am the ,lord ,god1 the ,creator and ,redeemer of the world4 ,i have chosen thee to unfold the spiritual sense of the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,i will myself dictate to thee what thou shalt write4' ,in ,the ,true ,christian ,religion1 published shortly before his death he says3 ,since the ,lord can not manifest ,himself in person as has been shown1 and yet ,he has foretold that ,he would come and establish a new church1 which is the ,new ,jerusalem1 it follows that ,he is to do it1 by means of a man1 who is able not only to receive the doctrines of this church with his understanding1 but also to publish them by the press4 ,that the ,lord has manifested ,himself before me1 ,his servant1 and sent me on this office1 and that1 after this1 ,he opened the sight of my spirit1 and thus let me into the spiritual world1 and gave me to see the heavens and the hells and also to speak with spirits and angels1 and this now continually for many years1 ,i testify in truth2 and also that1 from the first day of that call1 ,i have not received anything that pertains to the doctrines of that church from my angel1 but from the ,lord alone1 while ,i read the ,word4 ,it is stated with great positiveness by ,swedenborg's followers1 and indeed1 apparently by the seer himself1 if we may take as authoritative1 the translations of his works1 that the revelations accorded to him covered a period of many years1 whereas1 we find in most instances of cosmic consciousness1 the illumined ones have alluded to some specific time1 as the great event1 even while claiming that the effect of this illumination remains indefinitely--in fact1 forms a part of a wider area of consciousness which is ever increasing4 ,but when we take the numerous instances of revelations1 in which the devout ones firmly believe that they and they alone have been accorded the vision1 we must realize that this phenomenon is impersonal1 looked at as a favor to any one human being4 ,by that we mean that ,illumination comes to every soul who has earned it1 just as mathematically as the sun seems to set1 after the earth has made its hourly journey4 ,perhaps this comparison is not as clear as to say3 when the normal child has grown to manhood or womanhood1 his consciousness has widened1 beyond that of the infant2 not excluding that of the infant but inclusive of all hitherto acquired knowledge4 ,without in any degree lessening the importance and the verity of ,swedenborg's visions1 it may be assumed that his record of these visions and their meaning has partaken more or less of the limitations of mortal mind4 ,spiritual consciousness can not be set down in terms of sense4 ,the external world symbolizes spiritual truths2 each interpreter must of necessity weave into his interpretation and attempt at finite expression of these truths1 something of his own mortal consciousness2 and this mortal mind consciousness is bound to partake of the time and age1 and conditions of environment of the person who has experienced the revelation4 ,making due allowance1 therefore1 for the impossibility of exact expression of any spiritual illumination1 we find in the revelation of ,swedenborg exactly what we find in all who have attained to cosmic consciousness1 namely1 the absolute1 confidential assurance of immortal life3 the conviction that creation is under divine love and wisdom1 administered by ,cosmic ,law and order1 or ,justice1 and the final redemption 7i4e41 evolution71 of all men4 ,in his ,conjugal ,love1 ,swedenborg touches upon the premise which we declare1 as the foundation of all cosmic consciousness1 namely the attainment of spiritual union with the mate which we believe to be inseparable from all creation2 the reunited principle which we see expressed in the male and female1 whether in plant1 bird1 animal1 man1 or angel2 the twain made one which ,jesus declared would be the sign manual of the coming of his kingdom2 that is1 the coming of cosmic consciousness--the kingdom of pure and perfect love upon earth as it is in the heavens4 ,in ,corinthians 7#aa3 #ab7 we read3 ,for as the woman is of the man so is the man also of the woman2 for the woman is not without the man1 nor the man without the woman in the ,lord4 ,which is to say1 that in the attainment of cosmic consciousness 7in the ,lord71 the twain are made one1 and immortality 7i4e41 immunity from reincarnation7 is gained1 because of this union4 ,god is a bi-sexual ,being4 ,this fact is evidenced throughout all creation4 ,to attain to immortality is to become as ,god4 ,in this day and age of the world we have come into a realization of the ,father-,mother idea of godhood1 clearly and literally signifying the coming consciousness which is bi-sexual2 male and female2 perfect counterparts1 or complements and through which alone1 this earth can be made a fit dwelling place for gods4 ,this1 too1 is the message of the great seer ,swedenborg1 as it relates to love1 as it is1 when rightly understood and interpreted1 of all who have felt the blessing of perfection1 as exemplified in ,illumination4 ,the fundamental points of ,swedenborg's doctrine agree with those of all other ,illumined ones1 who have founded a system of worship2 a ,way of ,illumination it may be called2 or in whose name such systems have been formed4 ,that is1 he testified to3 ,a conviction of immortality2 ,a realization of absolute justice1 whereby all souls shall finally come into cosmic consciousness4 ,an actual time when ,christ 7the cosmic illumination7 shall come to earth4 ,a great and abiding love for and patience with the frailties of his sense-conscious fellow-beings2 ,a transcendent desire to bestow upon all men1 the blessing of cosmic consciousness4 ,few if any1 have ever attained a full and complete realization of cosmic consciousness and remained in the physical body4 ,those who have attained and retained the highest degree of this glimpse of the ,paradise of the gods1 find it practically impossible to describe or explain the sensations experienced1 even though they are more convinced of the truth and the reality of this realm than of anything in the merely sense-conscious life4 ,lastly1 let us not lose sight of the all-important fact that no one system1 creed1 philosophy1 or way of ,illumination will answer for all types and degrees of men4 ,all things work together for good to those who have the keenness of vision which precedes the full attainment of cosmic consciousness1 as well as to those who have grasped its full significance4 ,the characteristic evidence of the potentiality of the present era of the world1 is preeminently that of a desire for unity4 ,this desire is expressed in all the avenues of external life2 its inner meaning is obscured by commercialism and self-interest1 as in trusts and labor unions1 but it is there nevertheless--the symbol of the inner urge toward unity in consciousness4 ,it is found in efforts at ,communism1 and in allied reform movements4 ,it is particularly evident in the breaking down of church prejudices4 ,in these days a ,catholic priest and a ,jewish rabbi find it not only expedient but mutually helpful1 to unite in the work of municipal reform2 in the abolition of child labor2 in all things that will bring a better state of existence into daily human life4 ,the business man uses the phrase let us get together on this without knowing that he is expressing in terms of sense-consciousness1 the urge of his own and his fellow beings' inner mind1 which senses the fact of our unescapable ,brotherhood4 ,all religious systems then1 are good1 as are all systems of philosophy4 ,they are good because they are an attempt at bringing into the perspective of the mortal mind the reality of the soul and the soul life2 the rule of the spiritually conscious ego over the physical body in order that we may now1 in our present incarnation1 claim immortality4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,modern ,,examples ,,of ,,intellectual ,,cosmic ,,consciousness3 ,,emerson2 ,,tolstoi2 ,,balzac ,passing over the ancient philosophers1 ,aristotle1 ,albertus ,magnus1 ,plotinus1 ,marcus ,aurelius1 ,pascal1 ,socrates1 ,plato1 ,aspasia1 and others1 all of whom had glimpsed1 if not fully attained1 cosmic consciousness1 we come to a consideration of those cases in our own day and age1 in which this superior consciousness has found expression through intellectual rather than through religious channels4 ,of these latter1 no more illustrious example can be cited than that of ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson1 the sage of ,concord4 ,emerson's nature was essentially religious1 but his religion was not of the emotional quality so often found among enthusiasts1 and which is almost always openly expressed when this religious enthusiasm is not balanced by intellectuality4 ,analysis is frequently a foe to inspiration1 but there are fare instances where the intellect is of such a penetrating and extraordinary quality that it carries the power of analysis into the unseen2 in fact what we habitually term the unseen is a part of the visible to this type of mind4 ,true intellect is a natural inheritance1 a karmic attribute4 ,the spurious kind is the result of education1 and it invariably has its limitations4 ,it stops short of the finer vibrations of consciousness and denies the reality of the inner life of man--which inner life constitutes the real to the character of intellect that penetrates beyond maya4 ,of such a quality of intellect is that exemplified in ,emerson4 ,no mere tabulator of facts was he1 but a dissector of the causes back of all the manifestation which he observed and studied and classified with the mental power of a god4 ,nor is there lacking ample proof that ,emerson experienced the phenomenon of the suddenness of cosmic consciousness--a degree of which he seems to have possessed from earliest youth4 ,in his essay on ,nature1 we find these words3 ,crossing a bare common in snow puddles at twilight1 under a clouded sky1 without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune1 ,i have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration4 ,i am glad to the brink of fear4 ,emerson here alluded to a feeling of fear1 which seems to have been experienced during a certain stage by many of those who have entered into cosmic consciousness4 ,this fear is doubtless due to the presence in the human organism of what we may term the animal instinct1 which is an inheritance of the physical body4 ,this same peculiar phenomenon oppresses almost everyone when coming into contact with a new and hitherto untried force4 ,a certain lady1 who relates her experience in entering into the cosmic conscious state1 says3 ,a certain part of me was unafraid1 certain1 secure and content1 at the same time my mortal consciousness felt an almost overwhelming sense of fear4 ,continuing1 ,emerson says3 ,all mean egotism vanishes4 ,i become a transparent eyeball2 ,i am nothing2 ,i see all2 the currents of the ,universal ,being circulate through me2 ,i am part or particle of ,god4 ,emerson's powerful intellect would naturally describe such an experience in intellectual terms rather than1 as in the instances heretofore recorded1 in religious phraseology1 but it must not be inferred that ,emerson was less religious1 in the true sense1 than was ,mohammed or ,st4 ,paul4 ,emerson lived in an age when orthodoxy flourished1 and he and his associates of the ,transcendentalist cult1 were regarded as non-religious1 if not actually heretical4 ,therefore1 it is that ,emerson's keen intellect was brought to bear upon everything he encountered1 not only in his own intimate experience but also in all that he read and heard1 lest he be trapped into committing the error which he saw all about him1 namely1 of mistaking an accepted viewpoint as an article of actual faith4 ,his way to the ,great ,light lay through the jungle of the mind1 but he found the path clear and plain and he left a torchlight along the way4 ,emerson fully recognized the illusory character of external life1 and the eternal verity of the soul1 as witness3 ,if the red slayer thinks he slays1 ,or if the slain thinks he is slain1 ,they know not well1 the subtle ways1 ,i keep and pass and turn again4 ,horrible as is war1 because of the spirit of hate and destruction it embodies and keeps alive1 yet the fact remains that man in his soul knows that he can neither slay nor be slain by the mere act of destroying the physical shell called the body4 ,it is inconceivable that human beings would lend themselves to warfare1 if they did not know1 as a part of that area of supra-consciousness1 that there is a something over which bullets have no power4 ,this fact1 regarded as a more or less vague belief to the majority1 becomes incontrovertible fact to the person who has entered cosmic consciousness4 ,his view is reversed1 and where he formerly looked from the sense-conscious plane forward into a possible spiritual plane1 he now gazes back over the path from the spiritual heights and sees the winding road that led upward to the elevation1 much as a traveller on the mountain top looks back and for the first time sees all of the devious trail over which he has1 climbed to his present vantage point4 ,during the journey there had been many times when he could only see the next step ahead1 and nothing but his faith in the assurance of his fellow men who had attained the summit of that mountain1 could ever have sustained him through the perils of the climb1 but once on the heights1 his backward view takes in the details of the journey and sees not through a glass darkly1 but in the clear light of achievement4 ,such is the effect of cosmic consciousness to the one who has seen the light4 ,one of the benefits of a college education1 says ,emerson1 is to show the boy its little avail4 ,does this imply that an unlettered mind is desirable8 ,not necessarily1 but there is a phase of intellectual culture that is detrimental while it lasts4 ,it is as though one were to choke up a perfectly flowing stream which yielded the moisture to fertile lands1 by filling the bed of the stream with rocks and sticks4 ,the flow of the spiritual currents becomes clogged by the activities of the mind in its acquisition of mere knowledge1 and before that knowledge has been turned into wisdom4 ,the same truth is expressed in the aphorism a little knowledge is a dangerous thing4 ,it is dangerous because it chains the mind to the external things of life1 whereas the totally unlettered 7we do not use the term ignorant here7 person will1 if he have his heart filled with love1 perceive the reality of spiritual things that transcend mere knowledge of the physical universe4 ,beyond this plane of mortal mind-consciousness1 which is fitly described as dangerous1 there is the wide open area of cosmic perception1 which may lead ultimately to the limitless areas of cosmic consciousness4 ,if1 therefore1 an education1 whether acquired in or out of college1 so whets the grain of the mind that it becomes keen and fine enough to realize that knowledge is valuable ,,only as it leads to real wisdom1 then indeed it is a benefit2 unless it does this1 it is temporarily an obstruction4 ,out of the lower into the higher vibration2 out of sense-consciousness into cosmic consciousness2 out of organization and limitations into freedom--the freedom of perfection1 is the law and the purpose4 ,this ,emerson with his clearness of spiritual vision1 saw1 and this premise he subjected to the microscopic lens of his penetrating intellect4 ,in his essay on ,fate he says3 ,fate involves amelioration4 ,no statement of the ,universe can have any soundness which does not admit its ascending effort4 ,the direction of the whole and of the parts is toward benefit4 ,behind every individual closes organization2 before him opens liberty4 99 99 99 ,the ,better2 the ,best4 ,the first and worse races are dead4 ,the second and imperfect races are dying out1 or remain for the maturing of higher4 ,in the latest race1 in man1 every generosity1 every new perception1 the love and praise he extorts from his fellows1 are certificates of advance out of fate into freedom4 ,this phrase1 out of fate into freedom1 may be read to mean1 literally1 out of the bondage of the sense-conscious life which entails rebirth and continued experience1 into the light of ,illumination which makes us free4 ,further commenting1 ,emerson says3 ,liberation of the will from the sheaths and clogs of organization which he has outgrown is the end and aim of the world 99 99 99 ,the whole circle of animal life--tooth against tooth1 devouring war1 war for food1 a yelp of pain and a grunt of triumph1 until at last the whole menagerie1 the whole chemical mass1 is mellowed and refined for higher use 99 99 99 ,the sense of unity which is so inseparable from the cosmic conscious state1 was always uppermost in ,emerson's mind4 ,neither did he ever present as unity that state of consciousness that may be termed organization-consciousness--group-consci ousness it is often called4 ,he realized that the person who stands for ,individualism is much more than apt to recognize his indissoluble relationship with the ,cosmos4 ,a perception of unity is a complement of ,individualism4 ,that which1 in modern metaphysical phraseology1 is best termed ,the ,absolute1 was expressed by ,emerson as the ,over-,soul1 and this term meant something much greater1 more unescapable than the anthropomorphic ,god of the church-goers4 ,his assurance of unity with this ,divine ,spiritual ,essence was perfect4 ,it savors more of what is termed the religious view of life than of the philosophic1 but we contend that in the coming era of the cosmic conscious man1 all life will be religious1 in the true sense1 and that there will be no dividing line between philosophy and worship1 because worship will consist of living the life of the spiritual man1 and not in any set forms or rites4 ,bearing upon this we find ,emerson saying3 ,not thanks1 not prayer1 seem quite the highest or truest name for our communion with the infinite--but glad and conspiring reception--reception that becomes giving in its turn as the receiver is only the ,all-,giver in part and in infancy4 ,i cannot--nor can any man--speak precisely of things so sublime1 but it seems to me the wit of man1 his strength1 his grace1 and his tendency1 his art1 is the grace and the presence of ,god4 ,it is beyond explanation4 ,when all is said and done1 the rapt saint is found the only logician4 ,not exhortation nor argument becomes our lips1 but paeans of joy and praise4 ,but not of adulation2 we are too nearly related in the deep of the mind to that we honor4 ,it is ,god in us that checks the language of petition by a grander thought4 ,in the bottom of the heart it is said1 ',i am and by me1 ,o child1 this fair body and world of thine stands and grows2 ,i am1 all things are mine2 and all mine are thine4' ,we could quote passages from the essays ad infinitum1 showing conclusively that the cosmic conscious plane had been attained and retained by this great philosopher--one of the first of the early part of the century1 which has been prophesied as the beginning of the first faint lights of the ,dawn1 but enough has been offered for our present purpose1 that of establishing the salient points of the cosmic conscious man or woman1 which points are the complete assurance of the eternal verity and indestructibility of the soul2 of its ultimate and inevitable victory over maya or the wheel of causation2 and the joyousness and the sense of at-one-ness with the universe1 which comes to the illumined one1 bespeaking an unquenchable optimism and an utter destruction of the sense of sin--points which characterize all who have attained to this supra-conscious state of ,being4 ,these points are all expressed repeatedly in all ,emerson's utterances and mark him as one of the most illumined philosophers1 as he was one of the greatest intellects of the last century1 or of any other century4 ,,leo ,,tolstoi3 ,,russian ,,philosopher ,a strange1 lonely and wonderful figure was ,tolstoi1 novelist1 philosopher1 socialist1 artist and reformer4 ,great souls are always lonely souls1 estimated by sense-conscious humans4 ,in the midst of the so-called pleasures and luxuries of the senses1 a wise soul appears as barren of comfort as is a desert of foliage4 ,without the divine optimism that comes from soul-consciousness1 such a one could not endure the life of the body3 without the absolute assurance that comes with cosmic consciousness1 men like the late ,count ,tolstoi must needs die of soul-loneliness4 ,from early childhood up to the time of his ,illumination ,tolstoi indulged in seriousness of thought4 ,like ,mohammed1 great and overpowering desire to fathom the mystery of death took possession of him4 ,he was ever haunted by an excessive dread of the darkness of the grave1 and in his essay1 ,childhood1 he describes with that wonderful realism1 which characterizes all his works1 the effect on a child's mind of seeing the face of his dead mother4 ,this may be taken in a sense as biographical1 although it is not probable that ,tolstoi here alludes to the death of his own mother as she died when he was too young to have remembered4 ,he describes the scene in the words of ,irteniev3 ,i could not believe that this was her face4 ,i began to look at it more closely1 and gradually discovered in it the familiar and beloved features4 ,i shuddered with fear when ,i became sure that it was indeed she1 but why were the closed eyes so fallen in8 ,why was she so terribly pale1 and why was there a blackish mark under the clear skin on one cheek8 ,a terror of death1 and yet a haunting urge that compelled him to be forever thinking upon the mystery of it1 is the dominant note in every line of ,tolstoi's writings up to the time which he describes as a change that came over him4 ,for example1 when ,count ,leo was in his #cc;d year1 his brother ,nicolai died4 ,leo was present at the bedside and described the scene with the utmost frankness regarding its effect upon his mind2 and again we note that awful fear and hopeless questioning which characterizes the sense-conscious man whose intellect has been cultivated to the very edge of the line which separates the self-conscious life from the cosmic conscious4 ,this questioning1 with the fear and dread and terror of death and of the ceaseless round of births and the cares and sorrows of existence was what drove ,prince ,siddhartha from his father's court and ,mohammed into the mountains to meditate and pray until the answer came in the light of illumination4 ,it came to ,tolstoi through the very intensity of his powers of reason and analysis2 through the sword-like quality of mental urge--a much more sorrowful path than the one through the simple way of love and service and prayer4 ,his comments upon the death of his brother give us a vivid idea of the state of mind of the ,tolstoi of that age3 ,never in my life has anything had such an effect upon me4 ,he was right 7referring to his brother's words7 when he said to me there is nothing worse than death1 and if you remember that death is the inevitable goal of all that lives1 then it must be confessed that there is nothing poorer than life4 ,why should we be so careful when at the end of all things nothing remains of what was once ,nicolai ,tolstoi8 ,suddenly he started up and murmured in alarm3 ',what is this8' ,he saw that he was passing into nothingness4 ,from the above it will be seen that the ,tolstoi of those days was a materialist pure and simple4 ,he saw that he was passing into nothingness1 he said of his brother1 as though there could be no question as to the nothingness of the individual consciousness that he had known as ,nicolai1 his brother4 ,this soul-harrowing materialism haunted ,tolstoi during all the years of his youth and early manhood1 and threw him constantly into fits of melancholy and inner brooding4 ,he could neither dismiss the subject from his mind1 nor could he bring into the area of his mortal consciousness that serene contemplation and optimistic line of reasoning which marks all that ,emerson wrote4 ,tolstoi's morbid horror of decay and death was not in any sense due to a lack of physical courage4 ,it was the inevitable repulsion of a strong and robust animalism of the body1 coupled with a powerful mentality--both of which are barriers to the still small voice of the soul1 through which alone comes the conviction of the nothingness of death4 ,a biographer says of ,tolstoi3 ,the fit of the fear of death which at the end of the seventies brought him to the verge of suicide1 was not the first and apparently not the last and at any rate not the only one4 ,he felt something like it fifteen years before when his brother ,nicolai died4 ,then he fell ill and conjectured the presence of the complaint that killed his brother--consumption4 ,he had constant pain in his chest and side4 ,he had to go and try to cure himself in the ,steppe by a course of koumiss1 and did actually cure himself4 ,formerly these recurrent attacks of spiritual or physical weakness were cured in him1 not by any mental or moral upheavals1 but simply by his vitality1 its exuberance and intoxication4 ,the birth of the new consciousness which came to ,tolstoi a few years later1 was born into existence through these terrible struggles and mental agonies1 inevitable because of the very nature of his heredity and education and environment4 ,although as we know1 he came of gentle-folk1 there was much of the ,russian peasant in ,tolstoi's makeup4 ,his organism1 both as to physical and mental elements1 was like a piece of solid iron1 untempered by the refining processes of an inherent spirituality4 ,his never-ceasing struggle for attainment of the degree of cosmic consciousness which he finally reached was wholly an intellectual struggle4 ,he possessed such a power of analysis1 such a depth of intellectual perception1 that he must needs go on or go mad with the strain of the question unanswered4 ,to such a mind1 the admonition to never mind about those questions2 don't think about them1 fell upon dull ears4 ,he could no more cease thinking upon the mysteries of life and death than he could cease respiration4 ,nor could he blindly trust4 ,he must know4 ,nothing is more unescapable than the soul's urge toward freedom--and freedom can be won only by liberation from the bondage of illusion4 ,tolstoi's friends and biographers agree that along about his forty-fifth year1 a great moral and religious change took place4 ,the whole trend of his thoughts turned from the mortal consciousness to that inner self whence issues the higher qualities of mankind4 ,from a man who1 although he was a great writer and a ,russian nobleman1 was yet a man like others of his kind1 influenced by traditionary ideas of class and outward appearance2 a man of conventional habits and ideas2 ,tolstoi emerged a free soul4 ,he shook off the illusion of historical life and culture1 and stood upon free1 moral ground1 estimating himself and his fellows by means of an insight which ignores the world's conventions and despises the world's standards of success4 ,in short1 ,tolstoi had received ,illumination and henceforth should he reckoned among those of the new birth4 ,in his own words1 written in #ahgi1 this change is described3 ,five years ago a change took place in me4 ,i began to experience at first times of mental vacuity1 of cessation of life1 as if ,i did not know why ,i was to live or what ,i was to do4 ,these suspensions of life always found expression in the same problem1 ',why am ,i here8' and then ',what next8' ,i had lived and lived and gone on and on till ,i had drawn near a precipice2 ,i saw clearly that before me there lay nothing but destruction4 ,with all my might ,i endeavored to escape from this life4 ,and suddenly ,i1 a happy man1 began to hide my bootlaces that ,i might not hang myself between the wardrobes in my room when undressing at night2 and ceased to take a gun with me out shooting1 so as to avoid temptation by these two means of freeing myself from this life4 99 99 99 ,i lived in this way 7that is to say1 in communion with the people7 for two years2 and a change took place in me4 ,what befell me was that the life of our class--the wealthy and cultured--not only became repulsive to me1 but lost all significance4 ,all our actions1 our judgments1 science1 and art itself1 appeared to me in a new light4 ,i realized that it was all self-indulgence1 and that it was useless to look for any meaning in it4 ,i hated myself and acknowledged the truth4 ,now it had all become clear to me4 ,from this time on1 ,tolstoi's life was that of one who had entered into cosmic consciousness1 as we note the effects in others4 ,desire for solitude a taste for the simple1 natural things of life1 possessed him4 ,the primitive peasants and their coarse but wholesome food appealed to him4 ,it was not a penance that ,tolstoi imposed upon himself1 that caused him to abandon the life of a country gentleman for that of a hut in the woods4 ,the penance would come to such a one from enforced living in the glare of the world's artificialities4 ,cosmic consciousness bestows above all things a taste for simplicity2 it restores the normal condition of mankind1 the intimacy with nature and the feeling of kinship with nature-children4 ,it is not our purpose here to enter into any detailed biography of these instances of cosmic consciousness4 ,the point we wish to make is the fact that the birth of this new consciousness frequently comes through much mental travail and agonies of doubt1 speculation and questioning2 but that it is worth the price paid1 however seemingly great1 there can be no possible distrust4 ,,honore ,,de ,,balzac ,balzac should head this chapter1 if we were considering these philosophers in chronological order1 as ,balzac was born in #agii1 preceding ,emerson by a matter of four years4 ,but ,balzac's peculiar temperament1 might almost be classed as a religious rather than strictly intellectual example of cosmic consciousness4 ,of the latter phase or expression of this new sense1 as present-day writers frequently call it1 ,emerson is the most perfect example1 because he was the most balanced2 the most literary1 in the strict interpretation of the word4 ,balzac's place in literature is due far more to his wonderful spiritual insight1 and his powerful imagination1 than to his intellectuality1 or to literary style4 ,but that he was an almost complete case of cosmic consciousness is evident in all he wrote and in all he did4 ,his life was absolutely consistent with the cosmic conscious man1 living in a world where the race consciousness has not yet risen to the heights of the spiritually conscious life4 ,bucke comments upon his decision against the state of matrimony1 because1 as ,balzac himself declared1 it would be an obstacle to the perfectibility of his interior senses1 and to his flight through the spiritual worlds1 and says3 ,when we consider the antagonistic attitude of so many of the great cases toward this relation 7,gautama1 ,jesus1 ,paul1 ,whitman1 etc471 there seems little doubt that anything like general possession of cosmic consciousness must abolish marriage as we know it to-day4 ,balzac explains this seeming aversion to the marriage state as we know it to-day1 in his two books1 written during his early thirties1 namely1 ,louis ,lambert and ,seraphita4 ,louis ,lambert is regarded as in the nature of an autobiography1 since ,balzac1 like his mouthpiece1 ,louis1 viewed everything from an inner sense--from intuition1 or the soul faculties1 rather than from the standard of mere intellectual observation1 analysis and synthesis4 ,this inner sense1 so real and so thoroughly understandable to those possessing it1 is almost1 if not quite1 impossible of description to the complete comprehension of those who have no intimate relationship with this inner vision4 ,to the person who views life from the inner sense1 the soul sense 7which is the approach to1 and is included in1 cosmic consciousness71 the external or physical life is like a mirror reflecting1 more or less inaccurately1 the reality--the soul is the gazer1 and the visible life is what he sees4 ,balzac expresses this view in all he says and does4 ,all we are is in the soul1 he says1 and the perfection or the imperfection of what we externalize1 depends upon the development of the soul4 ,it is this marvelously developed inner vision that makes marriage1 on the sense-conscious plane1 which is the plane upon which we know marriage as it is to-day1 objectionable to ,balzac4 ,his spirit had already united with its spiritual counterpart1 and his soul sought the embodiment of that union in the flesh4 ,this he did not find in the perfection and completeness which from his inner view he knew to exist4 ,barriers of caste1 or class2 of time and space2 of age2 of race and color2 of condition2 may intervene between counterparts on the physical plane2 nay1 one may be manifesting in the physical body and the other have abandoned the body1 but as there is neither time nor space nor condition to the spirit1 this union may have been sought and found1 and reflected to the mortal consciousness1 in which case marriage with anything less than the one true counterpart would be unsatisfactory1 if not altogether objectionable4 ,with this view in mind1 ,seraphita becomes as lucid a bit of reading as anything to be found in literature4 ,seraphita is the perfected being--the god into which man is developing1 or more properly speaking1 unfolding1 since man must unfold into that from which he started1 but with consciousness added4 ,everywhere1 in ancient and modern mysticism1 we find the assumption that ,god is dual--male and female4 ,the old ,hebrew word for ,god is plural--,elohim4 ,humankind invariably and persistently1 even though half-mockingly1 alludes to man and wife as one2 and men and women speak of each other1 when married1 as my other half4 ,that which persists has a basis in fact1 and symbolizes the perfect type4 ,what we know of marriage as it is to-day1 proves to us beyond the shadow of a doubt1 that the man-made institution of marriage does not make man and woman one1 nor insure that two halves of the same whole are united4 ,the highest type of men and women to-day are at best but half-gods1 but these are prophecies of the future race1 the man-god whom we await as ,emerson puts it4 ,but that which we await is the man-woman-god1 the ,perfected ,being1 of whom ,balzac writes in ,seraphita4 ,it has been said that ,madame ,hanska1 whom the author finally married only six months previous to his death1 was the original of ,seraphita1 but it would seem that this great affection1 tender and enduring as it was1 partook far more of a beautiful friendship between two souls who knew and understood each other's needs1 than it did of that blissful and ecstatic union of counterparts1 which everywhere is described by those who have experienced it1 as a sensation of melting or merging into the other's being4 ,seraphita is the embodiment1 in human form1 of the idea expressed in the world-old belief in a perfected being2 whose perfection was complete when the two halves of the one should have found each other4 ,the inference is very generally made that ,balzac believed in and sought to express the idea of a bi-sexual individual--a personality who is complete in himself or herself as a person2 one in which the intuitive1 feminine principle and the reasoning1 masculine principle had become perfectly balanced--in short1 an androgynous human4 ,this idea is apparently further substantiated by the fact that ,seraphita was loved by ,minna1 a beautiful young girl to whom ,seraphita was always ,seraphitus1 an ideal lover2 and by ,wilfrid1 to whom ,seraphita represented his ideal of feminine loveliness1 both in mind and body2 a young girl possessing marvelous1 almost miraculous1 wisdom1 but yet a woman with human passions and human virtues--his ideal of wifehood and motherhood4 ,but whatever the idea that ,balzac intended to convey1 whether1 as is generally believed1 ,seraphita was an androgynous being1 or whether she symbolized the perfection of soul-union1 our contention is that this union is not a creation of the imagination1 but the accomplishment of the plan of creation--the final goal of earthly pilgrimage2 the raison d'etre of love itself4 ,one argument against the idea that ,seraphita was intended to illustrate an androgynous being1 rather than a perfected human1 who had her spiritual mate1 is found in the words in which she refused to marry ,wilfrid1 although ,balzac makes it plainly evident that she was attracted to ,wilfrid with a degree of sense-attraction1 due to the fact that she was still living within the environment of the physical1 and therefore subject to the illusions of the mortal1 even while her spiritual consciousness was so fully developed as to enable her to perceive and realize the difference between an attraction that was based largely upon sense1 and that which was of the soul4 ,wilfrid says to her3 ,have you no soul that you are not seduced by the prospect of consoling a great man1 who will sacrifice all to live with you in a little house by the border of a lake8 ,but1 answers ,seraphita1 ,i am loved with a love without bounds4 ,and when ,wilfrid with insane anger and jealousy asked who it was whom ,seraphita loved and who loved her1 she answered ,god4 ,at another time1 when ,minna1 to whom she had often spoken in veiled terms of a mysterious being who loved her and whom she loved1 asked her who this person was1 she answered3 ,i can love nothing here on earth4 ,what dost thou love then8 asked ,minna4 ,heaven was the reply4 ,this obscurity and uncertainty as to what manner of love it was that absorbed ,seraphita1 and who was the object of it1 could not have been possible had it been the usual devotion of the religeuse4 ,seraphita1 whose consciousness extended far beyond that of the people about her1 could not have explained to her friends that the invisible realms were as real to her as the visible universe was to those with only sense-consciousness4 ,it was impossible to explain to them that she had found and knew her mate1 even though she had not met him in the physical body4 ,to ,wilfrid she said she loved ,god4 ,to ,minna she used the term ,heaven1 and when ,minna questioned3 ,but art thou worthy of heaven when thou despisest the creatures of ,god8 ,seraphita answered3 ,couldst thou love two beings at once8 ,would a lover be a lover if he did not fill the heart8 ,should he not be the first1 the last1 the only one8 ,she who loves will she not quit the world for her lover8 ,her entire family becomes a memory2 she has no longer a relative4 ,the lover6 she has given him her whole soul4 ,if she has kept a fraction of it1 she does not love4 ,to love feebly1 is that to love8 ,the word of the lover makes all her joy1 and quivers in her veins like a purple deeper than blood2 his glance is a light which penetrates her2 she dissolves in him2 there1 where he is1 all is beautiful2 he is warmth to the soul3 he irradiates everything2 near him could one know cold or night8 ,he is never absent2 he is ever within us2 we think in him1 to him1 for him4 ,minna1 that is the-way ,i love4 ,and when ,minna1 like ,wilfrid1 seized by a devouring jealousy1 demanded to know whom8 ,seraphita answered1 ,god4 ,this she did because the one whom she loved became her ,god4 ,we are told that love makes gods of men4 ,perfect love1 the love of those who are spiritual-mates--soul-mates--the man-woman-god whom we await1 becomes an immortal3 and immortals are gods4 ,moreover if ,seraphita had intended to teach the love of the religious devotee to ,the ,absolute instead of a perfected sex-love1 she would not have pointed out to both ,wilfrid and ,minna that which she1 in her superior vision1 her supra-consciousness1 perceived1 namely1 that ,wilfrid and ,minna were really intended for spiritual mates1 and that what they each saw in her was really a prophecy of their own perfected and spiritualized love4 ,the subject is one that is positively incomprehensible and unexplainable to the average mind4 ,all mystic literature1 when read with the eyes of understanding1 exalts and spiritualizes sex4 ,the latter day degeneration of sex is the trail of the serpent1 which ,woman is to crush with her heel4 ,and ,woman is crushing it to-day1 although to the superficial observer1 who sees only surface conditions1 it would appear as though ,woman had fallen from her high estate1 to take her place on a footing with man4 ,this view is the exoteric1 and not the esoteric1 one4 ,they who have ears hear the inner voice1 and they who have eyes see with the inner sight4 ,the mystery of sex is the eternal mystery which each must solve for himself before he can comprehend it1 and when solved eliminates all sense of sin and shame2 brings ,illumination in which everything is made clear and makes man-woman immortal--a god4 ,swedenborg's theory of ,heaven as a never-ending honeymoon in which spiritually-mated humans dwell1 has been denounced by many as shocking to a refined and sensitive mind4 ,but this idea is shocking only because even the most advanced minds are seldom ,illumined1 their advancement being along the lines of intellectual research and acquired knowledge1 which1 as we have previously explained1 is not synonymous with interior wisdom4 ,the illumined mind is bound to find in the eternal and ever-present fact of sex1 the key to the mysteries--the password to immortal godhood4 ,the subject is one that cannot be set forth in printed words2 this fact is1 indeed1 the very ,plan of ,illumination4 ,it cannot be taught4 ,it must be found4 ,only those who have glimpsed its truth can even imperfectly point the way in which it may be discovered4 ,no teacher can guarantee it4 ,it is the most evanescent1 the most delicate1 the most indescribable thing in the ,cosmos4 ,it is therefore the most readily misinterpreted and misunderstood4 ,balzac doubtless understood1 not as a matter of perception of a truth but as an experience1 and this fact1 if no other1 marks him as one having a very high degree of cosmic consciousness4 ,seraphita called herself a ,specialist4 ,when ,minna inquired how it was that ,seraphitus could read the souls of men1 the answer was3 ,i have the gift of ,specialism4 ,specialism is an inward sight that can penetrate all things2 you will understand its full meaning only through comparison4 ,in the great cities of ,europe works are produced by which the human hand seeks to represent the effects of the moral nature as well as those of the physical nature1 as well as those of the ideas in marble4 ,the sculptor acts on the stone2 he fashions it2 he puts a realm of ideas into it4 ,there are statues which the hand of man has endowed with the faculty of representing the whole noble side of humanity1 or the evil side of it2 most men see in such marbles a human figure and nothing more2 a few older men1 a little higher in the scale of being1 perceive a fraction of the thoughts expressed in the statue2 but the ,initiates in the secrets of art are of the same intellect as the sculptor2 they see in his work the whole universe of thought4 ,such persons are in themselves the principles of art2 they bear within them a mirror which reflects nature in her slightest manifestations4 ,well1 so it is with me2 ,i have within me a mirror before which the moral nature1 with its causes and its effects1 appears and is reflected4 ,entering thus into the consciousness of others ,i am able to divine both the future and the past 99 99 99 though what ,i have said does not define the gift of ,specialism1 for to conceive the nature of that gift we must possess it4 ,this describes in terms similar to those employed by others who possess cosmic consciousness1 the results of this inner light1 which ,seraphita calls a mirror4 ,and yet1 with this seemingly exhaustive and lucid exposition of the effects of ,illumination1 ,seraphita declares that to conceive the nature of this gift we must possess it4 ,balzac further comments upon what he terms this gift of ,specialism1 which is cosmic consciousness or illumination1 thus3 ,the specialist is necessarily the loftiest expression of man--the link which connects the visible to the superior worlds4 ,he acts1 he sees1 he feels through his inner being4 ,the abstractive thinks4 ,the instinctive simply acts4 ,hence three degrees for man4 ,as an instinctive he is below the level2 as an abstractive he attains it2 as a specialist he rises above it4 ,specialism opens to man his true career2 the ,infinite dawns upon him--he catches a glimpse of his destiny4 ,the merely sense-conscious man is the man-animal2 the abstractive man is the average man and woman in the world to-day--the human who is evolving out of the mental into the spiritual consciousness4 ,the specialist is the cosmic conscious one1 the one who catches a glimpse of his destiny4 ,balzac1 in company with all who attain cosmic consciousness1 had a great capacity for suffering2 and this soul-loneliness became crystalized into spiritual wisdom1 which he expressed in the words and in the manner most likely to be accepted by the world4 ,how else can that divine union to which we are heirs and for which we are either blindly1 consciously1 or supra-consciously1 striving1 be described and exploited without danger of defilement and degeneracy1 save and except by the phrase unity with ,god8 ,all mystics have found it necessary to veil the secret of secrets1 lest the unworthy 7because unready7 defile it with his gaze1 even as the sinful devotee prostrates himself hiding his face1 while the priest raises the chalice containing the holy eucharist in the ceremony of the mass4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,illumination ,,as ,,expressed ,,in ,,the ,,poetical ,,temperament ,poetry is the natural language of cosmic consciousness4 ,the music of the spheres is a literal expression1 as all who have ever glimpsed the beauties of the spiritual realms will testify4 ,poets are the trumpets which sing to battle4 ,poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world1 said ,shelley4 ,not that all poets are aware1 in their mortal consciousness1 of their divine mission1 or of their spiritual glimpses4 ,the outer mind1 the mortal or carnal mind--that part of our organism whose office it is to take care of the physical body1 for its preservation and its well-being1 may be so dominant as1 to hold in bondage the atman1 but it can not utterly silence its voice4 ,thus the true poet is also a seer2 a prophet2 a spiritually-conscious being1 for such time1 or during such phases of inspiration1 as he becomes imbued with the spirit of poetry4 ,a person who writes rhymes is not necessarily a poet4 ,so1 too1 there are poets who do not express their inspirations according to the rules of metre and syntax4 ,between that which ,balzac tabulated as the abstractive type of human evolvement and that which is fully cosmic in consciousness1 there are many and diverse degrees of the higher faculties2 but the poet always expresses some one of these degrees of the higher consciousness2 indeed some poets are of that versatile nature that they run the entire gamut of the emotional nature1 now descending to the ordinary normal consciousness which takes account only of the personal self2 again ascending to the heights of the impersonal fearlessness and unassailable confidence that is the heritage of those who have reached the full stature of the man-god whom we await--the cosmic conscious race that is to be4 ,all commentators upon modern instances of ,illumination unite in regarding ,walt ,whitman as one of the most1 if not the most1 perfect example of whom we have any record of cosmic consciousness and its sublime effects upon the character and personality of the illumined one4 ,whitman is a sublime type for reasons which are of first importance in their relation to character as viewed from the ideals of the cosmic conscious race-to-be4 ,moralists have criticized ,whitman as immoral2 religionists have deplored his lack of a religious creed2 literary critics have denied his claim to high rank in the world of literature2 but ,walt ,whitman is unquestionably without a peer in the roundness of his genius2 in the simplicity of his soul2 in the catholicity of his sympathy2 in the perfect poise and self-control and imperturbability of his kindness4 ,his biographers agree as to his never-failing good nature4 ,he was without any of those fits of unrest and temperamental eccentricities which are supposed to be the sign manual of the child of the poetic muse4 ,in ,whitman it would seem that all those petty prejudices against any nationality or class of men1 were entirely absent4 ,he exalted the common-place1 not as a pose1 nor because he had given himself to that task1 but because to him there was no common-place4 ,in the cosmic perception of the universe1 everything is exalted to the plane of fitness4 ,as to the pure all things are pure1 so to the one who is steeped in the sublimity of ,divine ,illumination1 there is no high or low1 no good or bad1 no white or black1 or rich or poor2 all--all is a part of the plan1 and1 in its place in cosmic evolution1 it fits4 ,whitman cries3 ,all6 all6 ,let others ignore what they may1 ,i make the poem of evil also1 ,i commemorate that part also2 ,i am myself just as much evil as good1 and my nation is1 and ,i say there1 is in fact no evil4 ,compared to the religious aspect of cosmic consciousness in which1 previous to the time of ,illumination1 the devotee had striven to rise to spiritual heights through disdaining the flesh1 this note of ,whitman's is a new note--the nothingness of evil as such2 the righteousness of the flesh and the holiness of earthly1 or human1 love1 bespeaks the prophet of the ,new ,dispensation2 the time hinted of by ,jesus1 the ,master1 when he said1 when the twain shall be one and the outside as the inside1 as a sign and symbol of the blessed time to come when the kingdom he spoke of 7not his personal kingdom1 but the kingdom which he represented1 the kingdom of ,love71 should come upon earth4 ,whitman's illumination is essentially poetic2 not that it is not also intellectual and moral2 but after his experience--at least an experience more notable than any hitherto recorded by him1 in or about his thirty-fifth year--we find his conversation invariably reflecting the beauty and poetical imagery of his mind4 ,he may be said to have lived and moved and had his being in a state of blissful unconsciousness of anything unclean or impure1 or unnatural4 ,this absence of consciousness of evil is in no wise synonymous with a type of person who exalts his undeveloped animal tendencies under the guise of liberation from a sense of sin4 ,neither is this discrimination easy of attainment to any but those who realize in their own hearts the very distinct difference between the nothingness of sin and the pretended acceptance of perversions as purity4 ,while we are on this point we must again emphasize the truth that cosmic consciousness cannot be gained by prescription2 there is no royal road to mukti4 ,liberation from the lower manas can not be bought or sold1 it can not be explained or comprehended1 save by those to whom the attainment of such a state is at least possible if not probable4 ,illustrative of his sense of unity with all life 7one of the most salient characteristics of the fully cosmic conscious man71 are these lines of ,whitman's3 ,voyaging to every port1 to dicker and adventure2 ,hurrying with the modern crowd1 as eager and fickle as any2 ,hot toward one ,i hate1 ready in my madness to knife him2 ,solitary at midnight in my back yard1 my thoughts gone from me a long while2 ,walking the hills of ,judea1 with the beautiful gentle ,god by my side2 ,speeding through space--speeding through ,heaven and the stars4 ,oriental mysticism tells us that one of the attributes of the liberated one is the power to read the hearts and souls of all men2 to feel what they feel2 and to so unite with them in consciousness that we are for the time being the very person or thing we contemplate4 ,if this be indeed the test of godhood1 ,whitman expresses it in every line3 ,the disdain and calmness of olden martyrs2 ,the mother condemned for a witch1 burnt with dry wood1 her children gazing on2 ,the hounded slave that flags in the race1 leans by the fence1 blowing1 covered with sweat2 ,the twinges that sting like needles his legs and neck--the murderous buckshot and the bullets2 ,all these ,i feel1 or am4 ,seeking to express the sense of knowing and especially of feeling1 and the bigness and broadness of life1 the scorn of petty aims and strife2 in short1 that interior perception which ,illumination brings1 he says3 ,have you reckoned a thousand acres much8 have you reckoned the earth much8 ,have you practised so long to learn to read8 ,have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems8 ,stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems2 ,you shall possess the good of the earth and sun--there are millions of suns left2 ,you shall no longer take things at second or third hand1 nor look through the eyes of the dead1 nor feed on the spectres in books2 ,you shall not look through my eyes either1 nor take things from me2 ,you shall listen to all sides1 and filter them from yourself4 ,i have heard what the talkers were talking1 the talk of the beginning and the end2 ,but ,i do not talk of the beginning nor the end4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there was never any more inception than there is now2 ,nor any more youth or age than there is now2 ,and will never be any more perfection than there is now1 ,nor any more heaven or hell than there is now4 ,a perception of eternity as an ever-present reality is one of the characteristic signs of the inception of the new birth4 ,birth and death become nothing more nor yet less1 than events in the procedure of eternal life2 age becomes merely a graduation garment2 ,god and heaven are not separated from us by any reality2 they become every-day facts4 ,whitman tells of the annihilation of any sense of separateness from his soul side1 in the following words3 ,clear and sweet is my soul1 and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul4 ,he did not confound his mortal consciousness1 the lower manas1 with the higher--the soul2 neither did he recognize an impassable gulf between them4 ,while admittedly ascending to the higher consciousness from the lower1 ,whitman refused to follow the example of the saints and sages of old1 and mortify or despise the lower self--the manifestation4 ,he had indeed struck the balance2 he recognized his dual nature1 each in its rightful place and with its rightful possessions1 and refused to abase either ,i am to the other4 ,he literally rendered unto ,csar the things that are ,csar's1 by claiming for the flesh the purity and the cleanliness of ,god's handiwork4 ,in ,whitman1 too1 we find an almost perfect realization of immortality and of blissfulness of life and the complete harmony and unity of his soul with all there is4 ,following closely upon the experience that seems to have been the most vivid of the many instances of illumination which he enjoyed throughout a long life1 he wrote the following lines1 indicative of the emotions immediately associated with the influx of illumination3 ,swiftly arose and spread around me1 the peace and joy and knowledge that pass all the art and argument of earth2 ,and ,i know that the hand of ,god is the elder hand of my own1 ,and ,i know that the spirit of ,god is the eldest brother of my own1 ,and that all the men ever born are also my brothers1 and the women my sisters and lovers1 ,and that a kelson of creation is love4 ,in lines written in #ahfj1 about seven years after the first vivid instance of the experience of illumination which afterward became oft-recurrent1 ,whitman speaks of what he calls ,perfections1 and from what he writes we may assume that he referred to those possessing cosmic consciousness1 and the practical impossibility of describing this peculiarity and accounting for the alteration it makes in character and outlook4 ,says ,whitman3 ,only themselves understand themselves1 and the like of themselves1 ,as souls only understand souls4 ,it has been pointed out that ,whitman more perfectly illustrates the type of the coming man--the cosmic conscious race1 because ,whitman's illumination seems to have come without the terrible agonies of doubt and prayer and mortification of the flesh1 which characterize so many of those saints and sages of whom we read in sacred literature4 ,but it must not be inferred from this that ,whitman's life was devoid of suffering4 ,a biographer says of him3 ,he has loved the earth1 sun1 animals2 despised riches1 given alms to every one that asked2 stood up for the stupid and crazy2 devoted his income and labor to others2 according to the command of the divine voice2 and was impelled by the divine impulse2 and now for reward he is poor1 despised1 sick1 paralyzed1 neglected1 dying4 ,his message to men1 to the delivery of which he devoted his life1 which has been dearer in his eyes 7for man's sake7 than wife1 children1 life itself1 is unread1 or scoffed and jeered at4 ,what shall he say to ,god8 ,he says that ,god knows him through and through1 and that he is willing to leave himself in ,god's hands4 ,but above and beyond all this1 is the sense of oneness with all who suffer which is ever a heritage of the cosmic conscious one1 even while he is1 at the same time1 the recipient of states of bliss and certainty of immortality1 and melting soul-love1 incomprehensible and indescribable to the non-initiate4 ,whitman's calm and poise was not that of the ice-encrusted egotist4 ,it is the poise of the perfectly balanced man-god equally aware of his human and his divine attributes2 and justly estimating both2 nor drawing too fine a line between4 ,i embody all presence outlawed or suffering2 ,see myself in prison1 shaped like another man1 ,and feel the dull unintermitted pain4 99 99 99 99 99 ,for me the keepers of convicts shoulder their carbines and keep watch2 ,it is ,i left out in the morning1 and barr'd at night4 ,not a mutineer walks handcuffed to jail1 but ,i am handcuffed and walk by his side2 99 99 99 99 99 ,not a youngster is taken for larceny1 but ,i go up too1 and am tried and sentenced4 ,not a cholera patient lies at the last gasp but ,i also lie at the last gasp2 ,my face is ash-colored--my sinews gnarl--away from me people retreat4 99 99 99 99 99 ,askers embody themselves in me1 and ,i am embodied in them2 ,i project my hat1 sit shame-faced and beg4 ,if any one imagines that ,whitman was not a religious man1 let him read the following3 ,i say that no man has ever yet been half devout enough2 ,none has ever yet adored or worshipped half enough2 ,none has begun to think how divine he himself is1 and how certain the future is4 ,there is a sublime confidence and worship in these words which belittles the churchman's hope and prayer that ,god may be good to him and bless him with a future life4 ,whitman's philosophy1 less specific as to method1 is assuredly more certain1 more faithful in effect4 ,whitman had the experience of being immersed in a sea of light and love1 so frequently a phenomenon of ,illumination2 he retained throughout all his life a complete and perfect assurance of immortality4 ,his sense of union with and relationship to all living things was as much a part of him as the color of his eyes and hair2 he did not have to remind himself of it1 as a religious duty4 ,he experienced a keen joy in nature and in the innocent1 childlike pleasures of everyday things1 and at the same time possessed a splendid intellect4 ,all consciousness of sin or evil had been erased from his mind and actually had no place in his life4 ,,alfred1 ,,lord ,,tennyson ,in the case of ,lord ,tennyson1 we have a definite recognition of two distinct states of consciousness1 finally culminating in a clear experience of cosmic consciousness2 this experience was so positive as to leave no doubt or indecision in his mind regarding the reality of the spiritual1 and the illusory character of the external life4 ,in truth ,tennyson had so fixed his consciousness in the spiritual rather than in the external1 that he looked out from that inner self1 as through the windows of a house2 he was prepared1 as he said1 to believe that his body was but an imaginary symbol of himself1 but nothing and no one could persuade him that the real ,tennyson1 the ,i am consciousness of being which was he1 was other than spiritual1 eternal1 undying4 ,like so many others1 notably ,whitman1 who have realized a more or less full degree of cosmic consciousness1 ,tennyson was deeply and reverently religious1 although not partisanly connected with church work4 ,tennyson's early boyhood was marked by experiences which usually befall persons of the psychic temperament4 ,as he himself described these states of consciousness1 they were moments in which the ego transcended the limits of self consciousness and entered the limitless realm of spirit4 ,they do not tabulate with the ordinary trance condition of the spiritualistic medium1 who subjects his own self consciousness to a control1 although ,tennyson always believed that the best of his writings were inspired by1 and written under the direct influence of higher intelligences1 of whose presence he was distinctly conscious4 ,he felt them near him and his mind was impressed by their ideas4 ,the point which we emphasize is that these peculiar states of consciousness are not synonymous with the western idea of trance as seen in mediumship1 although ,tennyson uses the term trance in describing them4 ,he says3 ,a kind of walking trance ,i have frequently had1 quite up from boyhood1 when ,i have been all alone4 ,this has often come upon me through repeating my own name to myself silently until all at once1 as it were1 out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality1 the individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade into boundless being4 ,it is a fact that children of a peculiarly sensitive or psychic temperament seem to have strange ideas regarding the name by which they are called1 and not infrequently become confused and filled with an inexplicable wonderment at the sound of their own name4 ,this phenomenon is much less rare than is generally known4 ,in ,tennyson's ,ancient ,sage this experience of entering into cosmic consciousness is thus described3 ,more than once when ,i ,sat all alone1 revolving in myself1 ,the word that is the symbol of myself1 ,the mortal limit of the ,self was loosed1 ,and passed into the nameless1 as a cloud ,melts into heaven4 ,i touched my limbs2 the limbs ,were strange1 not mine2 and yet no shade of doubt1 ,but utter clearness1 and thro' loss of self ,the gain of such large life as matched with ours ,were sun to spark--unshadowable in words4 ,themselves but shadows of a shadow-world4 ,tennyson's illumination is certain1 clearly defined1 distinct and characteristic1 although his poems are much less cosmic than those of ,whitman and of many others4 ,there is1 however1 in the above1 all that is descriptive of that state of consciousness which accompanies liberation from the illusion--the enchantment of the merely mortal existence4 ,words are1 as ,tennyson fitly says1 but shadows of a shadow-world2 how then may we hope to define in terms comprehensible to sense-consciousness only1 emotions and experiences which involve loss of self1 and at the same time gain of the ,self8 ,tennyson's frequent excursions into the realm of spiritual consciousness while still a child1 bears out our contention that many children not infrequently have this experience1 and either through reserve or from lack of ability to explain it1 keep the matter to themselves2 generally losing or outgrowing the tendency as they enter the activities of school life1 and the mortal mind becomes dominant in them4 ,this is especially true of the rising generation1 and we personally know several clearly defined instances which have been reported to us1 during conversations upon the theme of cosmic consciousness4 ,,yone ,,noguchi ,any one who has ever had the good fortune to read a little book of verse entitled ,from the ,eastern ,seas1 by ,yone ,noguchi1 a young ,japanese1 will at once pronounce them a beautiful and perhaps perfect example of verse that may be correctly labeled cosmic4 ,noguchi was under nineteen years of age when he penned these verses1 but they are thoughts and expressions possible only to one who lives the greater part of his life within the illumination of the cosmic sense4 ,they are so delicate as to have little1 if any1 of the mortal in them4 ,it is also significant that ,noguchi in these later years 7he is now only a little past thirty71 does not reproduce this cosmic atmosphere in his writings to such an extent1 due no doubt to the fact that his daily occupation 7that of ,professor of ,languages in the ,imperial ,college of ,tokio71 compels his outer attention1 excluding the fullness of the inner vision4 ,the following lines1 are perfect as an exposition of spiritual consciousness in which the lesser self has become submerged3 ,underneath the shade of the trees1 myself passed into somewhere as a cloud4 ,i see my soul floating upon the face of the deep1 nay the faceless face of the deepless deep-- ,ah1 the seas of loneliness4 ,the silence-waving waters1 ever shoreless1 bottomless1 colorless1 have no shadow of my passing soul4 ,i1 without wisdom1 without foolishness1 without goodness1 without badness--am like ,god1 a negative god at least4 ,the almost perpetual state of spiritual consciousness in which the young poet lived at this time is apparent in the following lines3 ,when ,i am lost in the deep body of the mist on a hill1 ,the universe seems built with me as its pillar4 ,am ,i the god upon the face of the deep1 nay-- ,the deepless deepness in the beginning8 ,and the following1 possible of comprehension only to one who has glimpsed the eternal verity of man's spiritual reality1 and the shadow-like quality of the external2 could have been written only by one freed from the bonds of illusion3 ,the mystic silence of the moon1 ,gradually revived in me immortality2 ,the sorrow that gently stirred ,was melancholy-sweet2 sorrow is higher ,far than joy1 the sweetest sorrow is supreme ,amid all the passions4 ,i had ,no sorrow of mortal heart3 my sorrow ,was one given before the human sorrows ,were given me4 ,mortal speech died ,from me3 my speech was one spoken before ,god bestowed on me human speech4 ,there is nothing like the moon-night ,when ,i1 parted from the voice of the city1 ,drink deep of ,infinity with peace ,from another1 a stranger sphere4 ,there is nothing ,like the moon-night when the rich1 noble stars ,and maiden roses interchange their long looks of love4 ,when ,i raise my face from the land of loss ,unto the golden air1 and calmly learn ,how perfect it is to grow still as a star4 ,there is nothing like the moon-night ,when ,i walk upon the freshest dews1 ,and amid the warmest breezes1 ,with all the thought of ,god ,and all the bliss of man1 as ,adam ,not yet driven from ,eden1 and to whom ,eve was not yet born4 ,what a bird ,dreams in the moonlight is my dream3 ,what a rose sings is my song4 ,the true poet does not need individual experiences of either sorrow or of joy4 ,his spirit is so attuned to the song of the universe2 so sympathetic with the moans of earthly trials1 that every vibration from the heart of the universe reaches him2 stabs him with its sorrow1 or irradiates his being with joy4 ,jesus is fitly portrayed to us as ,the ,man of ,sorrows2 even while we recognize him as a self-conscious son of ,god--an immortal being fully aware of his escape from enchantment1 and his heirship to ,paradise4 ,cosmic consciousness bestows a bliss that is past all words to describe and it also quickens the sympathies and attunes the soul to the vibrations of the heart-cries of the struggling evolving ones who are still travailing in the pains of the new birth4 ,we must be willing to endure the suffering in order that we may realize the joy2 not because joy is the reward for suffering1 but because it is only by losing sight of the personal self that we become aware of that inner ,self which is immortal and blissful2 and when we become aware of the reality of that inner ,self1 we know that we are united with the all1 and must feel with all4 ,it would be impossible in one volume to enumerate all the poets who have given evidence of supra-consciousness4 ,as has been previously pointed out1 all true poets are at least temporarily aware of their dual nature--rather1 one should say1 the dual phases of their consciousness4 ,many1 perhaps1 do not function beyond the higher planes of the psychic vibrations1 but even these are aware of the reality of the soul1 and the illusion of the sense-conscious1 mortal life4 ,dante2 the ,brownings2 ,shelley2 ,swinbourne2 ,goethe2 ,milton2 ,keats2 ,rosetti2 ,shakespeare2 ,pope2 ,lowell--where should we stop1 did we essay to draw a line8 ,,wordsworth ,wordsworth1 the poet of ,nature has given us in his own words1 so clearly cut an outline of his ,illumination1 that we can not resist recording here the salient points which mark his experience as that of cosmic consciousness1 transcending the more frequent phenomenon of soul-consciousness and its psychic functions4 ,wordsworth's ,ode to immortality epitomizes the lesson of the ,yoga sutras--out of ,the ,absolute we come1 and return to immortal bliss with consciousness added4 ,wordsworth also affords an excellent example of our contention that cosmic consciousness does not come to us at any specific age or time4 ,wordsworth distinctly says that as a child he possessed this faculty1 as for example his oft-repeated words1 both in conversation and in his biography3 ,nothing was more difficult for me in childhood than to admit the notion of death1 as a state applicable to my own being4 ,it was not so much from feelings of animal vivacity that my difficulty came1 as from a sense of the indomitableness of the spirit within me4 ,i used to brood over the stories of ,enoch and ,elijah1 and almost to persuade myself that1 whatever might become of others1 ,i should be translated1 in something of the same way1 to heaven4 ,with a feeling congenial to this1 ,i was often unable to think of external things as having external existence1 and ,i communed with all that ,i saw as something not apart from1 but inherent in1 my own immaterial nature4 ,many times while going to school have ,i grasped at a wall or tree1 to recall myself from this abyss of idealism to the reality4 ,in later life1 ,wordsworth lost the realization of this supra-consciousness1 in what a commentator calls a fever of rationalism2 but the power of that wonderful spiritual vision1 pronounced in his youth1 could not be utterly lost and soon after he reached his thirtieth year1 he again becomes the spiritual poet1 fully conscious of his higher nature--the cosmic conscious self4 ,,william ,,sharp--,,fiona ,,macleod ,a pronounced instance of the two phases of consciousness1 is that of the late ,william ,sharp1 one of the best known writers of the modern ,english school4 ,it was not until after the death of ,william ,sharp1 that the secret of this dual personality was given to the public1 although a few of his most intimates had known it for several years4 ,in the ,memoirs compiled by ,elizabeth ,sharp1 wife of the writer1 we find the following3 ,the life of ,william ,sharp divides itself naturally into two halves3 the first ends with the publication by ,william ,sharp of ',vistas1' and the second begins with ',pharais1' the first book signed ,fiona ,macleod4 ,in these memoirs1 the point is made obvious that ,fiona ,macleod is not merely a nom de plume2 neither is she an obsessing personality2 a guide or control1 as the ,spiritualists know that phenomenon4 ,fiona ,macleod1 always referred to by ,william ,sharp as she1 is his own higher ,self--the cosmic consciousness of the spiritual man which was so nearly balanced in the personality of ,william ,sharp as to appear to the casual observer as another person4 ,it is said that the identity of ,fiona ,macleod1 as expressed in the manuscript put out under that name1 was seldom suspected to be that of ,william ,sharp1 so different was the style and the tone of the work of these two phases of the same personality4 ,in this connection it may be well to quote his wife's opinion regarding the two phases of personality1 answering the belief of ,yeats the ,irish poet that he believed ,william ,sharp to be the most extraordinary psychic he ever encountered and saying that ,fiona ,macleod was evidently a distinct personality4 ,in the ,memoirs1 ,mrs4 ,sharp comments upon this and says3 ,it is true1 as ,i have said1 that ,william ,sharp seemed a different person when the ,fiona mood was on him2 but that he had no recollection of what he said in that mood was not the case--the psychic visionary power belonged exclusively to neither2 it influenced both and was dictated by laws he did not understand4 ,mrs4 ,sharp refers to ,william ,sharp and ,fiona1 as two persons1 saying that it influenced both1 but both sides of his personality rather than both personalities1 is what she claims4 ,in further explanation she writes3 ,i remember from early days how he would speak of the momentary curious 'dazzle in the brain1' which preceded the falling away of all material things and precluded some inner vision of great beauty1 or great presences1 or some symbolic import--that would pass as rapidly as it came4 ,i have been beside him when he has been in trance and ,i have felt the room throb with heightened vibration4 ,one of the dream-visions which ,william ,sharp experienced shortly before his last illness1 is headed ,elemental ,symbolism1 and was recorded by him in these beautiful words3 ,i saw ,self1 or ,life1 symbolized all about me as a limitless1 fathomless and lonely sea4 ,i took a handful and threw it into the grey silence of ocean air1 and it returned at once as a swift and potent flame1 a red fire crested with brown sunrise1 rushing from between the lips of sky and sea to the sound as of innumerable trumpets4 ,in another dream he visited a land where there was no more war1 where all men and women were equal2 where humans1 birds and beasts were no longer at enmity1 or preyed on one another4 ,and he was told that the young men of the land had to serve two years as missionaries to those who lived at the uttermost boundaries4 ',to what end8' he asked4 ',to cast out fear1 our last enemy4' ,in the house of his host he was struck by the beauty of a framed painting that seemed to vibrate with rich colors4 ',who painted that8' he asked4 ,his host smiled1 ',we have long since ceased to use brushes and paints4 ,that is a thought projected from the artist's brain1 and its duration will be proportionate with its truth4' ,in explanation of why he chose to put out so much of the creative work of his brain under the signature of a woman1 and how he happened to use the name ,fiona ,macleod1 ,sharp explained that when he began to realize how strong was the feminine element in the book ,pharais1 he decided to issue the book under a woman's name and ,fiona ,macleod flashed ready-made into his mind4 ,my truest self1 the self who is below all other selves must find expression1 he explained4 ,the ,self that is above the other self is what he should have said4 ,the following extracts are from the ,fiona ,macleod phase of ,william ,sharp and are characteristic of the ,self1 as evidenced in all instances of ,illumination1 particularly as these expressions refer to the nothingness of death1 and the beauty and power of ,love4 ,do not speak of the spiritual life as 'another life'2 there is no 'other life'2 what we mean by that1 is with us now4 ,the great misconception of death is that it is the only door to another world4 ,this testimony corroborates that of ,whitman as well as of ,st4 ,paul1 notwithstanding all the centuries that separate the two4 ,st4 ,paul did not say that man will have a spiritual body1 but that he has a spiritual body as well as a corporeal body4 ,after the experience of his illumination1 ,william ,sharp1 writing as ,fiona ,macleod constantly testified to the ever-present reality of his spiritual life2 a life far more real to him than the sense-conscious life although he alluded to it as his dream4 ,in one place he says3 ,now truly1 is dreamland no longer a phantasy of sleep1 but a loveliness so great that1 like deep music1 there could be no words wherewith to measure it1 but only the breathless unspoken speech of the soul upon whom has fallen the secret dews4 ,of the impossibility of adequately explaining the mystery of ,illumination and the sensations it inspires1 he says1 speaking through the ,self of ,fiona ,macleod3 ,i write1 not because ,i know a mystery1 and would reveal it1 but because ,i have known a mystery and am to-day as a child before it1 and can neither reveal nor interpret it4 ,this is comparable with ,whitman's when ,i try to describe the best1 ,i can not4 ,my tongue is ineffectual on its pivots4 ,another sentence from ,fiona3 ,there is a great serenity in the thought of death1 when it is known to be the gate of ,life4 ,like all who have gained the ,great ,blessing1 the revelation to the mind of that higher ,self1 that we are1 ,william ,sharp suffered keenly4 ,the despair of the world was his1 co-equal with the ,joy of the ,spirit4 ,indeed1 his is at once the gift and the burden of the ,illuminati4 ,mrs4 ,mona ,caird said of him3 ,he was almost encumbered by the infinity of his perceptions2 by the thronging interests1 intuitions1 glimpses of wonders1 beauties1 and mysteries which made life for him a pageant and a splendor such as is only disclosed to the soul that has to bear the torment and revelations of genius4 ,the burden of the world's sorrow2 the longings and aspirations of the soul that has glimpsed1 or that has more fully cognized the realms of the ,spirit which are its rightful home2 are ever a part of the price of liberation4 ,the illumined mind sees and hears and feels the vibrations that emanate from all who are travailing in the meshes of the sense-conscious life2 but through all the sympathetic sorrow1 there runs the thread of a divine assurance and certainty of profound joy--a bliss that passes comprehension or description4 ,mrs4 ,sharp1 in the final conclusion of the ,memoirs says to quote my husband's own words--ever below all the stress and failure1 below all the triumph of his toil1 lay the beauty of his dream4 ,in accordance with an oft-repeated request1 these lines are inscribed on the ,iona cross carved in lava1 which marks the grave wherein is laid to rest the earthly form of ,william ,sharp3 ,farewell to the known and exhausted1 ,welcome the unknown and illimitable4 ,and this3 ,love is more great than we conceive1 and death is the keeper of unknown redemptions4 ,they are from his higher ,self2 from the illumined ,dominion of ,dreams4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,methods ,,of ,,attainment3 ,,the ,,way ,,of ,,illumination ,oriental philosophies recognize four important methods of yoga4 ,yoga is the word which signifies uniting with ,god4 ,from what has gone before in these pages1 the reader will understand that unity with ,god means to us1 the uncovering of the god-nature within or above1 the human personality2 it means the attainment and retainment in fullness of cosmic consciousness4 ,we do not believe that any one retains full and complete realization of cosmic consciousness and remains in the physical body4 ,the numerous instances to which we allude in former chapters1 are at best1 but temporary flights into that state1 which is the goal of the soul's pilgrimage1 and the only means of escape from the ceaseless round of births and deaths which so weighed upon the heart of ,gautama4 ,the paths of yoga then1 are the methods by which the mind1 in the personal self1 is made to perceive the reality of the higher ,self1 and its relation to the ,supreme ,intelligence--,the ,absolute4 ,the various methods or paths are pointed out1 but no one1 nor all of these paths guarantees illumination as a reward for diligence4 ,that which is in the heart of the disciple is the key that unlocks the door4 ,these paths are called3 ,karma ,yoga2 ,raja ,yoga2 ,gnani ,yoga2 ,bhakti ,yoga4 ,karma ,yoga is the path of cheerful submission to the conditions in which the disciple finds himself1 believing that those conditions are his because of his needs1 and in order that he may fulfill that which he has attracted to himself4 ,the admonition whatever thy hand finds to do that doest thou with all thy heart1 sums up the lessons of the path of ,karma ,yoga4 ,the urge to achieve3 to do2 to accomplish2 to strive and attain1 actuates those who have1 whether with conscious intent1 or because of a vague inward urge1 devoted their lives to taking an active part in the material or intellectual achievements of the race4 ,there are those who are blindly following 7as far as their mental operations are concerned71 the path of ,karma ,yoga2 that is1 they work without knowing why they work2 they work because they are compelled to do so1 as slaves of the law2 these will work their way out of that necessity of fulfillment1 in the course of time1 even though they blindly follow the urge2 but1 if they could be made to work as masters of the conditions under which they labor1 instead of as slaves to environment1 they would find themselves at the end of that path4 ,karma ,yoga would have been accomplished4 ,work as those work who are ambitious but be not thou enslaved by the delusion of personal ambition--this is the password to liberation from ,karma ,yoga4 ,raja ,yoga is the way of the strongly individualized will4 ,knowledge is power is the hope which encourages the disciple on the path of ,raja ,yoga4 ,he seeks to master the personal self by meditation1 by concentration of will2 by self discipline and sacrifice4 ,when the ego gains complete control over the mental faculties1 so that the mind may be directed as the individual will suggests1 the student has mastered the path of ,raja ,yoga4 ,if his mastery is complete1 he finds himself regarding his body as the instrument of the ,self1 and the body and its functions are under the guidance of the ego2 the mind is the lever with which this ,self raises the consciousness from the lower to the higher vibrations4 ,the student who has mastered ,raja ,yoga can induce the trance state2 control his dreams as well as his waking thoughts2 he may learn to practice magic in its higher aspects1 but unless he is extremely careful this power will tempt him to use his knowledge for selfish or unworthy purposes4 ,let the student of ,raja ,yoga bear in mind the one great and high purpose of his efforts1 which should be3 the realization of his spiritual nature1 and the development of his individual self1 so that it finally merges into the spiritual ,self1 thus gaining immortality in the flesh4 ,does this flesh mean the physical body8 ,not necessarily1 because this that we see and name the physical body is not the real body1 any more than the clothing that covers it1 is the person1 although frequently we recognize acquaintances by their clothing4 ,immortality in the flesh means cessation from further incarnations1 the last and present personality including all others in consciousness1 until we can say1 ,i1 manifesting in the physical1 as so-and-so1 am now and forever immortal1 remembering other manifestations which were not sufficiently complete1 but which added to the sum of my consciousness until now ,i know myself a deathless being4 ,to those who seek the path of ,raja ,yoga1 we recommend meditation upon ,patanjali's ,yoga ,sutras1 of which there are several translations1 differing slightly as to interpretation4 ,we have selected some of the most important1 from the translations by ,johnston4 ,they are designed to make clear the difference between the self of personality1 and the ,self1 or atman which manifests in personality3 ,the personal self seeks to feast upon life1 through a failure to perceive the distinction between the personal self and the spiritual man4 ,all personal experience really exists for the sake of another3 namely1 the spiritual man4 ,by perfectly concentrated meditation on experience for the sake of the ,self1 comes a knowledge of the spiritual man4 ,the wise person seeks experience in order that he may attain to the standard of the spiritual man2 doing all things for the lessons that they teach2 working as those work who are ambitious1 and yet having no personal ambition4 ,looking on all life1 and at the self of personality and knowing the illusion of the self he is raising the personal self to the spiritual plane2 but always he has the handicap of the desires of the lower self1 the personal1 which seeks to feast on life1 because it is born of the external1 and its inherent appetites are for the satisfaction and pleasures of that physical self4 ,we do not say to look upon the body with its needs and its desires1 as an enemy to be overcome2 or that its allurements are dangerous although pleasurable4 ,no4 ,we say to the student1 control the desires of the body4 ,make them do the bidding of the ,self1 because it is only by so doing that you can gain the immortal heights of god-hood1 looking down upon the fleeting dream of personality1 with its so-called pleasures1 as a bad nightmare compared to the joys that await the immortals4 ,therefore1 concentrate upon experience for the sake of the ,self that you are1 and learn the lesson of your experience1 throwing aside the experience itself1 as you would cast aside the skin of an orange from which the juice had been extracted4 ,don't fill the areas of your mortal mind with rubbish--with memories of benefits forgot2 or loves unrequited2 or friendships broken2 or misspent hours2 or unhallowed words and acts4 ,cull from each day's experience all that helps to develop the spiritual man--all that will stand the test of immortality--kind words and deeds2 principle maintained2 a wrong forgiven2 a service cheerfully extended2 a tolerance and generosity for the mistakes of others as well as for your own4 ,these seem small things to the personal self--the ambitious1 the gloating1 the sense-desiring self of the personality2 we scarcely take them into account1 but to the ,self that is seeking immortality1 these are the grains of wheat from the load of chaff2 the diamond in the carbon2 the wings upon which the spirit soars to realms of bliss4 ,meditate upon this sutra4 ,by perfectly concentrated meditation upon the heart1 the interior being1 comes the knowledge of consciousness4 ,the heart is the guide of the inner nature1 as the head is of the outer4 ,love1 the ,most ,high ,god1 is not born in the head1 but in the heart4 ,the heart travails in pain through sorrow and loss and compassion and pity and loneliness and aspiration and sensitiveness2 and lo6 there is born from this pain1 the spiritual ,self1 which embraces the lesser consciousness1 enfolding all your consciousness in the softness and bliss of pure1 ,seraphic ,love--the heritage of your immortality4 ,meditate long and wisely upon this sutra4 ,through perfectly concentrated meditation on the light in the head1 come the visions of the ,masters who have attained2 or through the divining power of intuition he knows all things4 ,there is a point in the head1 anatomically named the pineal gland2 this is frequently alluded to as the seat of the soul1 but the soul is not confined within the body1 therefore1 it is in the nature of a key between the sense-conscious self and the spiritually conscious ,self2 it is like a central receiving station1 and may be called up1 and aroused to consciousness by meditation4 ,realizing and focusing the light of the spiritual nature upon this part of the head1 opens up those unexplored areas of consciousness in which the masters dwell1 and the student knows by intuition1 which is a higher aspect of reason1 many things which were heretofore incomprehensible to the merely sense-conscious man4 ,the spiritual ,self is not a being unlike and wholly foreign to our concept of the perfect mortal-man2 all the powers of discernment which we find in mortal consciousness are accentuated1 intensified1 refined2 all grossness1 all imperfections and embarrassments removed2 pleasure sensitized to ecstasy2 love glorified to worship4 ,shapeliness1 beauty1 force1 the temper of the diamond2 these are the endowments of that body4 ,the spiritual body is shapely1 strong1 beautiful1 imperishable1 as the diamond1 with all its brilliancy4 ,no vapory1 uncertain1 or unreal being1 but the ,real1 with the husk of sense-consciousness dropped off1 and only the kernels of truth buried in the chaff of ,experience1 retained from the experiences of the personal self4 ,when the spiritual man is perfectly disentangled from the psychic body1 he attains to mastery over all things and to a knowledge of all4 ,the spiritual ,self1 the cosmic conscious ,self1 must not be confounded with the psychic body1 which is formed from the emotions--passions2 fears2 hatreds2 ambitions2 resentments2 envy2 regrets4 ,know thyself as a being superior to all baser emotions1 and the mastery over them is complete4 ,they are not destroyed1 but converted into love--the everlasting ,source of ,life4 ,there should be complete overcoming of allurement or pride in the invitations of the different regions of life1 lest attachment to things evil arise once more4 ,it is said that the disciples1 seeking the paths of ,yoga1 reach three degrees or stages of development2 first1 those who are just entering the path2 second1 those who are in the realm of allurements1 subject to temptations2 third1 those who have won the victory over the senses and the external life--maya2 fourth1 those who are firmly entrenched behind the bulwark of certainty2 the spiritual being realized3 cosmic consciousness attained and retained4 ,by absence of all self indulgence at this point1 also1 the seeds of bondage of sorrow are destroyed1 and pure spiritual being is attained4 ,self-abnegation and self-sacrifice have ever been the way of spiritual development2 but we are prone to misunderstand and mistake the true interpretation of this admonition2 men shut themselves in monasteries and women become nuns and recluses as a penance1 in order to purchase1 as it were1 absolution 7at-one-ness with ,the ,absolute1 which knows not sin72 this is not the point intended here4 ,spiritual consciousness can not be bought2 the desires of the personal self may be sublimated into divine force and power1 through recognizing the desires of the self as baubles which attract and fill the eye1 until we fail to see the glories of that which awaits us4 ,thereafter1 the whole personal being bends toward illumination1 full of the spirit of ,eternal ,life4 ,here again1 we have assurance that the spiritually-conscious man1 the luminous body is not a being apart from the self that we know our inner nature to be1 but rather it is the inner ,self even as we in our ignorance and our lack of initiation1 know it1 raised to a higher realm of consciousness2 our desires refined1 spiritualized1 made pure1 and our faculties strengthened and immortalized4 ,we do not withdraw from experience but we draw from ,experience the lesson--the hidden wisdom of the initiate4 ,meditate upon these sutras4 ,he who1 after he has attained1 is wholly free from self1 is set in a cloud of holiness which is called ,illumination4 ,this is the true spiritual consciousness4 ,this aphorism is self-explanatory4 ,he who attains illumination1 and afterward lives and acts from the inner consciousness--the spiritual man1 is free from the desires of the sense-conscious life1 with its consequent disappointments2 he sees everything from the spiritual1 rather than the mental point of view1 and understands the phrase and behold1 all was good4 ,thereon comes surcease from sorrow and the burden of toil4 ,the one who has attained cosmic consciousness1 acting always from the ,self1 and not from personal desires1 is set free from karma2 he has fulfilled the cycle2 he makes no more bondage for himself2 he is free and is already immortal4 ,when that condition of consciousness is reached1 which is far-reaching1 and not confined to the body1 which is outside the body and not conditioned by it1 then the veil which conceals the light is worn away4 ,the acquisition of spiritual consciousness1 ,illumination1 endows the mortal mind also1 with a degree of power sufficient to penetrate the veil of illusion--the maya2 the disciple then sees for the first time1 all things in their true light4 ,the separation between the personal self1 and the spiritual being that we are1 is so fine as to be like a cob-web veil1 and yet how few penetrate it4 ,the suddenness with which this awakening 7for it is like awakening from a dream of the senses71 comes1 startles and surprises us1 and then we become astonished at the transparency of the bonds that bound us to the limitations of the mortal1 when we might have soared to realms of light4 ,by perfectly concentrated meditation on the correlation of the body with the ether1 and by thinking of it as light as thistle-down1 will come the power to traverse the ether4 ,the ,zens say that the way of the gods is through the air and afterwards in the ether4 ,this means that we must evolve from the physical to the psychic1 and thence to the etheric or spiritual body4 ,this is the way of the many4 ,it is only the few who attain to perfect spiritual consciousness while manifesting in the physical1 but these do not have to undergo the second death which is the dropping off of the psychic body1 and assuming the spiritual body4 ,they attain to immortality in the flesh1 7i4e41 in the present personality74 ,thereupon will come the manifestation of the atomic and other powers1 which are the endowment of the body1 together with its unassailable force4 ,the body here referred to1 it must be borne in mind1 is the etheric or spiritual body1 which possesses the power to disintegrate matter2 the power to annihilate time and space2 so that he may look backward into remote antiquity and forward into boundless futurity2 or as the commentator says1 he can touch the moon with the tip of his finger2 the power of levitation and limitless extension2 the power of command2 the power of creative will4 ,these are the endowments of the spiritual body with which the disciple is seeking to establish his identity--that he may overcome the second death and become immortal in consciousness1 here and now4 ,of this spiritual1 or etheric body it is said1 ,fire burns it not2 water wets it not2 the sword cleaves it not2 dry winds parch it not4 ,it is unassailable4 ,meditate upon this sutra4 ,for him who discerns between the mind and the spiritual man 7the ,self7 there comes perfect fruition of the longing after the real being4 ,when the disciple has once grasped the fact that he is a soul1 and possesses a mind and a physical covering1 he has entered on the way of ,illumination1 and must inevitably reach the goal2 then shall he find perfect fruition of the longing after the perfect ,self1 and its completement in union with the love that he craves4 ,have you1 in lonely darkness longed for companionship and consolation8 ,you shall have angels and archangels for your friends and all the immortal hosts of the ,dawn4 ,such are the ,yoga sutras1 or aphorisms1 as enunciated by ,patanjali4 ,if the aspiring one were to give up a whole lifetime to their practice1 gaining at last the consciousness of immortal life and love1 what a small price to pay4 ,raja ,yoga with its methods and exercises1 is the path of knowledge1 through application2 concentration2 meditation4 ,the practice of ,raja ,yoga will lead the student to the path of ,gnani ,yoga2 and to the realization that ,bhakti ,yoga1 the way of love and service will be included1 not as an arduous task2 not as a study1 or as a means to an end1 but because of the love of it4 ,gnani ,yoga comes as complementary to practice of the sutras because knowledge applied for the purpose of spiritual attainment brings wisdom4 ,gnani ,yoga1 then1 is the path of wisdom4 ,the follower of ,gnani ,yoga seeks the occult or hidden wisdom1 and always has before him the idea of whether this or that be of the ,self1 the atman1 or of the self1 the personal1 gradually eliminating from his desires all that does not answer the test of its reality in spiritual consciousness2 he welcomes experiences of all kinds1 as so many lessons from which he extracts the fine grain of truth1 and throws aside the husks2 he accepts nothing blindly or in faith1 but proves all things holding fast to that which is good2 not that he lacks faith1 but because the very nature of his inquiry is to discover the interior nature and its relation to ,god4 ,there are many in the world of to-day who feel the urge toward the path of ,gnani ,yoga1 because of the conviction that is forcing itself upon every truly enlightened mind1 that civilization with all its wonderful achievements1 does not promise happiness1 or solve the question of the soul's urge4 ,in short1 the educated1 and the well conditioned1 if he be a thinker1 and not submerged in maya1 lost in the personal self1 inevitably finds himself searching for the real in all this labyrinth of mind creations and sea of emotions1 and then as a rule1 he seeks the path of ,gnani ,yoga1 because his intellect must be satisfied1 even though his heart calls4 ,the mystic1 the teacher1 and the philosopher are following the path of ,gnani2 so is the true occultist1 but many who deal in so-called occultism are employing knowledge only1 entirely missing the higher quality--wisdom4 ,bhakti ,yoga1 the path of self-surrender2 the thorny way through the emotions2 the blood of the heart1 is the short cut to ,illumination1 if such a thing could be4 ,but there is no short cut2 nor yet a long road4 ,some one has said there are as many ways to ,god as there are souls4 ,and yet1 all persons who are on the upward climb1 are demonstrating some one of these four paths1 or a combination of the paths4 ,it is1 however1 a significant fact that we do not hear anything of the great intellectual attainments of the three great masters--,krishna1 ,buddha and ,jesus1 but only of their great compassion2 their wonderful love for mankind1 and all living things4 ,st4 ,paul1 who was probably an educated man1 as he held a position of prominence among those in authority1 previous to his conversion1 laid particular stress upon the love-nature as the way of illumination4 ,and ,jesus repeatedly said ,love is the fulfilling of the law4 ,what is the law8 ,the law of evolution and involution2 of generation and regeneration2 when the time should come1 that ,love was to reign on the planet earth as it does in the heavens above the earth1 then should the kingdom of which he foretold be at hand1 and in conclusion of this to-be1 ,jesus promised that the law would be fulfilled when ,love should come4 ,so ,swami ,vivekananda in his exposition of ,vedanta declares3 ,love is higher than work1 than yoga2 than knowledge4 ,day and night think of ,god in the midst of all your activities4 ,the daily necessary thoughts can all be thought through ,god4 ,eat to ,him1 drink to ,him1 sleep to ,him1 see ,him in all4 ,let us open ourselves to the one ,divine ,actor1 and let ,him act and do nothing ourselves4 ,complete self-surrender is the only way4 ,put out self1 lose it2 forget it4 ,let us substitute for the words ,god1 and ,him1 the one word ,love1 and see what it is that we are told to do4 ,love of doing good frees us from work1 even though we labor from early dawn until the night falls2 so1 too1 if we have some loved one for whom we strive1 we can endure every hardship with equanimity1 as far as our own comfort is concerned4 ,few human beings in the world to-day are so enmeshed in the personal self as to work merely for the gratification of selfish instincts4 ,the hard-working man1 whether laborer or banker1 must have some one else for whom he struggles and strives2 otherwise1 he descends to a level below that of the brute4 ,this is the reason for the family2 the lodge2 the community2 the nation2 there must be some motive other than the preservation of the personal self1 in order to develop the higher quality of love which embraces the world1 until the spirit of a ,christ takes possession of the human and he would gladly offer himself a sacrifice to the world1 if by so doing he could eliminate all the pain from the world4 ,how natural it is to feel1 when we see a loved one suffering1 that we would gladly take upon ourselves that pain2 the heart fills with love until it aches with the burden of it2 this love enlarged1 expanded and impersonal in its application is the same love with which we are told to love ,god1 and to do all for ,him4 ,do all for love of all the other hearts in the ,universe that feel as we feel when their loved ones suffer--that is the way to love ,god--it is the only way we know4 ,we only know divine love through human love3 human love is divine when it is unselfish and eternal--not fed upon carnality1 but anchored in spiritual complement4 ,the story of ,abou ,ben ,adhem 7may his tribe increase7 tells us how we may know who loves the ,lord4 ,the angel wrote the names of those who loved the ,lord most faithfully and fully1 and coming to ,abou ,ben ,adhem asked if he should write his name1 and received the reply that he could not say whether he deeply loved the ,lord1 but he was quite certain that the angel could write me as one who loves his fellow-men4 ,and1 lo6 when the list was made and the names of all who loved the ,lord recorded1 ,abou ,ben ,adhem's name headed the list4 ,the ,vedanta philosophy teaches non-attachment and ,vivekananda himself says3 ,to love any one personally is bondage4 ,love all alike then all desires fall off4 ,to love only the personal self of any one binds us to the sorrow of loss and of separation and disappointment2 but to love any one spiritually is to establish a bond which can never be broken2 which insures reunion1 and defies time and space4 ,we can not love all alike1 though we can love all humanity impersonally4 ,all desires that have their root in the sense-conscious plane of expression1 will fall off when the heart is anchored in spiritual love2 but let it be understood that spiritual love is not opposed to human love2 we do not grow into spiritual love by denying the human1 but by plussing the human4 ,spiritual consciousness is all that is good and pure and noble1 and satisfying in the mortal and infinitely more4 ,it is the love of personal self plus the ,self--the atman4 ,love is never unrequited4 ,it is never wasted2 never foolish4 ,love is its own self-justification2 if it be real love1 and not vanity1 or self admiration1 misnamed1 give it freely1 and don't ask for a return2 don't ask whither it leads2 only ask if it is real--if the love you feel is for the object of your love1 or if it is for yourself--for you to possess and to minister to your pleasure2 ask whether it is from the senses or from the heart4 ,the way of the ,bhakti yoga1 is the way of love and service1 because service to our fellow beings1 is the inevitable complement of love4 ,where we truly love1 we gladly serve4 ,it has been said3 ,the chela treads a hair-line4 ,that is to say1 the initiate must be prepared to meet defeat at every turn4 ,not defeat of his object of attainment1 but the personal defeat that so many seek in the delusion that the world's ideal of success is the real success4 ,in conclusion we can only repeat what has been told and retold many times by all inspired ones1 of whatever creed and race2 namely1 think and act always from the inner ,self1 cheerfully taking the consequences of your choice4 ,let not the opinions of the illusory world of the senses balk and thwart you4 ,let not the worldly-wise swerve you from your ideal and your faith in the final goal of your earthly pilgrimage--the attainment of spiritual consciousness in your present personality2 this is the meaning of immortality in the flesh ,doubt not this4 ,make love your ideal2 your guide2 your final goal2 look for the inner ,self of all whom you meet4 ,learn to look into the hearts of men1 says the injunction in ,light on the ,path2 dismiss from your mind all the accumulation of traditional concepts and prejudices that are not grounded in love1 and above all falter not1 nor doubt--no matter what seeming hardships you encounter in your earthly pilgrimage2 they are but the ,indian-clubs of your soul's gymnasium--,experience4 ,meet with ,triumph and ,disaster1 and treat these two impostors just the same4 ,triumph and ,disaster as seen with the eyes of sense-consciousness are both illusions2 but don't for this reason cease your work4 ,the phrase you must work out your own salvation is true4 ,so also1 you must be willing to do your part in working out the salvation of the world2 salvation means simply the realization of the spiritual ,being that you are--the attainment of that state of ,illumination which guarantees immortality4 ,experience teaches one important lesson3 ,our sense-conscious life is filled with symbolic language if we have the inner eye of discernment4 ,an unescapable truth is symbolized in our daily life by the evidence that we get nothing for nothing4 ,everything has its price4 ,immortality godhood1 will not be handed to you on a silver salver2 neither can any one withhold it from you1 if you desire it above all things4 ,and1 altho' it has its price1 yet you can not buy it4 ,a seeming paradox1 but the ,initiate will see it all clearly enough when the time comes4 ,he who would scale the ,heights of ,understanding ,from whence the soul looks out forever free ,must falter not2 nor fail2 all truth demanding ,though he bear the cross and know ,gethsemane4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the discouraged student says to himself3 ,if ,truth demands such sorrow and sacrifice as this1 ,i will not serve her4 ,it is a false god that would so try his devotees4 ,have you not said it8 ,the toll you pay is not to the ,divine ,self within1 but to the keepers of the threshold1 that guard the entrance to the dwelling place of the ,illuminati4 ,earthly lodges and brotherhoods are symbols of the higher initiations4 ,there is a common mistake in the idea that the invisible states of consciousness are chaotic1 or radically different from the visible4 ,as below1 so above1 and as above so below is an aphorism constantly held before the eyes of the would-be initiate4 ,each of whom1 must interpret and know it for himself4 ,if the student finds the ,raja ,yoga sutras difficult of comprehension or of practice let him meditate upon the following mantrams3 ,i know myself to be above the false concepts which assail the personal self that ,i appear to be4 ,i am united with the ,all-seeing ,all-knowing ,consciousness4 ,i abide in the consciousness of the ,indestructibility and ,omniscience of ,being4 ,i rest secure and content in the integrity of ,cosmic ,law which shall lead my soul unto its own1 guaranteeing immortal love4 ,i unite myself with that ,power that makes for righteousness4 ,therefore nothing shall dismay or defeat me1 because ,i am at-one with the limitless areas of spiritual consciousness4 ,my mind is the dynamic center through which my soul manifests the ,love which illumines the world4 ,only good can come to the world through me4 ,much that is called ,mental ,science1 ,new ,thought and ,christian ,science has for its aim and ideal1 avoidance of all that does not make for personal well-being1 and worldly success4 ,avoid this ideal2 distrust this motive4 ,be ever willing to sacrifice the personal self to the ,real ,self1 if need be4 ,if the ideal is truly the desire for illumination1 and not for self-gratification1 the mind will soon learn to distinguish between the lesser and the greater4 ,have you longed for perfect1 satisfying human love8 ,you shall have it plussed a thousand fold in immortal spiritual union with your god4 ,,summary4 ,in the foregoing chapters we have set forth only a few of the facts and instances which the inquirer will find1 if he but seek1 of the reality of a supra-conscious faculty1 no less actual1 than are the faculties of the sense-conscious human1 which type forms the average of the race4 ,this faculty1 or rather we should say these faculties--because they find expression in many ways1 through avenues correlative to the physical senses--prove the existence of a realm of consciousness1 far above the planes of the mortal or sense-conscious man1 and transcending the region known as the astral and psychic areas of consciousness4 ,all who have reported their experiences in contacting this illimitable region unite in the essential points of experience1 namely3 ,the experience is indescribable4 ,it confers an unshakable conviction of immortality4 ,it discloses the fact that we are now living in this supra-conscious realm2 that it is not something which we acquire after death2 it is not to be4 ,this realm is characterized by a beautiful1 wonderful radiant iridescent light4 ,o green fire of life1 pulse of the world1 ,o love4 ,it fills the heart with a great and all-embracing love1 establishing a realization of the silent ,brotherhood of the ,cosmos1 demolishing all barriers of race and color and class and condition4 ,illumination is inclusive4 ,it knows no separation4 ,it announces the fact that every person is right from his point of view4 ,that nothing walks with aimless feet2 that no one life shall be destroyed2 or cast as rubbish on the void2 when ,god hath made the pile complete4 ,that ,life and ,love and ,joy unutterable are the reward of the seeker2 and that there is no one and only path4 ,all systems2 all creeds2 all methods that are formulated and upheld by altruism are righteous1 and that the ,real is the spiritual--the external is a dream from which the world is awakening to the consciousness of the spiritual man--the atman--the ,self that is ageless2 birthless2 deathless--divine4 ,on all sides are evidences that the race is entering upon this new consciousness4 ,so many are weary with the strife and struggle and noise of the sense-conscious life4 ,the illusions of possessions which break in our hands as we grasp them2 of empty titles of so-called honor1 builded upon prowess in war2 the feverish race after wealth--cold as the marble palaces which it builds to shut in its worshippers--all these things are becoming skeleton-like and no longer deceive those who are even remotely discerning the new birth4 ,the new heraldry will have for its badge of royalty ,love and ,service to my ,fellow ,beings1 displacing the ,dieu et mon ,droit of the ancient ideal4 ,the ,dawn is here4 ,are you awake8 --,in the heart of ,to-day is the word of ,to-morrow4 ,the ,builders of ,joy are the ,children of ,sorrow4 ,jesus ,the ,last ,great ,initiate ,by ,,edouard ,,schure ,mr4 ,schure in this volume1 has done much to strengthen the belief that ,jesus was an ,essene1 in whom a ,messianic consciousness was awakened by special initiation4 ,a remarkable full account is given of his experiences among the ,essenes and how his early life1 7about which the ,bible is so reticent7 was spent studying with the advanced ,occult masters4 ,the problem of how ,jesus became the ,messiah1 he holds to be not capable of solution without the aid of intuition and esoteric tradition4 ,the life of the great ,teacher as pictured by the writer is one to be dreamed over and capable of imparting both knowledge and stimulus to that inner life which is in so many undeveloped and even unsuspected4 ,bound ,silk ,cloth4 ,price #j4hj ,postpaid4 99 99 99 99 99 ,krishna and ,orpheus ,the ,great ,initiates of the ,east and ,west ,by ,,edouard ,,schure ,the lives and teachings of these two great ,masters who preceeded ,jesus are very much like the latter's4 ,you cannot help noting the remarkable resemblance they bear to each other4 ,krishna's ,virgin ,birth1 ,his ,youth1 ,initiation1 ,the ,doctrine of the ,initiates1 ,triumph and ,death1 are all told in a fashion that shows that ,mr4 ,schure has devoted much time to thought and research work4 ,the mighty religious of ,india1 ,egypt and ,greece are passed in rapid review and the author declares that while from the outside they present nothing but chaos1 the root idea of their founders and prophets presents a key to them all4 ,bound in ,silk ,cloth4 ,price #j4hj ,postpaid4