A
SERIES OF Lessons
in Gnani Yoga
THE FOURTH
LESSON THE UNITY OF
LIFE
In our First
Lesson of this series we spoke of the
One Reality underlying all Life. This
One Reality was stated to be higher than
mind or matter, the nearest term that
can be applied to it being "Spirit." We
told you that it was impossible to
explain just what "Spirit" is, for we
have nothing else with which to compare
or describe it, and it can be expressed
only in its own terms, and not in the
terms applicable to its emanations or
manifestations. But, as we said in our
First Lesson, we may think of "Spirit"
as meaning the "essence" of Life and
Being--the Reality underlying Universal
Life, and from which the latter
emanates.
In
the Second Lesson we stated that this
"Spirit," which we called "The
Absolute," expressed itself in the
Universal Life, which Universal Life
manifested itself in countless forms
of life and activity. In the same
lesson we showed you that the Universe
is alive--that there is not a single
dead thing in it--that there can be no
such thing as a dead object in the
Universe, else the theory and truth of
the One underlying Life must fall and
be rejected. In that lesson we also
showed you that even in the world of
inorganic things there was ever
manifest life--in every atom and
particle of inorganic matter there is
the universal life energy manifesting
itself, and in constant activity.
In
the Third Lesson, we went still
further into this phase of the general
subject, and showed you that the
Creative Will--that active principle
of the Universal Life--was ever at
work, building up new forms, shapes
and combinations, and then tearing
them down for the purpose of
rebuilding the material into new
forms, shapes, and combinations. The
Creative Will is ever at work in its
threefold function of creating,
preserving and destroying forms--the
change, however, being merely in the
shape and form or combination, the
real
substance remaining unchanged in its
inner aspect, notwithstanding the
countless apparent changes in its
objective forms. Like the great ocean
the depths of which remain calm and
undisturbed, and the real nature of
which is unchanged in spite of the
waves, and billows of surface
manifestation, so does the great ocean
of the Universal Life remain unchanged
and unaltered in spite of the constant
play of the Creative Will upon the
surface. In the same lesson we gave
you many examples of the Will in
action--of its wondrous workings in the
various forms of life and
activity--all of which went to show
you that the One Power was at work
everywhere and at all times.
In
our next lesson--the Fifth Lesson--we
shall endeavor to make plain to you
the highest teachings of the Yogi
Philosophy regarding the One Reality
and the Many Manifestations--the One
and the Many--how the One apparently
becomes Many--that great question and
problem which lies at the bottom of
the well of truth.
In
that lesson we shall present for your
consideration some fundamental and
startling truths, but before we reach
that point in our teachings, we must
fasten upon your mind the basic truth
that all the various manifestations of
Life that we see on all hands in the
Universe are but forms of
manifestation of One Universal Life
which is itself an emanation of the
Absolute.
Speaking generally, we would say to
you that the emanation of the Absolute
is in the form of a grand
manifestation of One Universal Life,
in which the various apparent separate
forms of Life are but centers of
Energy or Consciousness, the
separation being more apparent than
real, there being a bond of unity and
connection underlying all the
apparently separated forms. Unless the
student gets this idea firmly fixed in
his mind and consciousness, he will
find it difficult to grasp the higher
truths of the Yogi Philosophy. That
all
Life is One, at the last,--that all
forms of manifestation of Life are in
harmonious Unity, underlying--is one
of the great basic truths of the Yogi
Teaching, and all the students of that
philosophy must make this basic truth
their own before they may progress
further. This grasping of the truth is
more than a mere matter of
intellectual conception, for the
intellect reports that all forms of
Life are separate and distinct from
each other, and that there can be no
unity amidst such diversity. But from
the higher parts of the mind comes the
message of an underlying Unity, in
spite of all apparent diversity, and
if one will meditate upon this idea he
will soon begin to realize the truth,
and will feel that he, himself, is but
a center of consciousness in a great
ocean of Life--that he and all other
centers are connected by countless
spiritual and mental filaments--and
that all emerge from the One. He will
find that the illusion of separateness
is but "a working fiction of the
Universe," as one writer has so aptly
described it--and that All is One, at
the last, and underlying all is One.
Some of our students may feel that we
are taking too long a path to lead up
to the great basic truths of our
philosophy, but we who have traveled
The Path, and know its rocky places
and its sharp turns, feel justified in
insisting that the student be led to
the truth gradually and surely,
instead of attempting to make short
cuts across dangerous ravines and
canyons. We must insist upon
presenting our teachings in our own
way--for this way has been tested and
found good. We know that every student
will come to realize that our plan is
a wise one, and that he will thank us
for giving him this gradual and easy
approach to the wondrous and awful
truth which is before us. By this
gradual process, the mind becomes
accustomed to the line of thought and
the underlying principles, and also
gradually discards wornout mental
sheaths which have served their
purposes, and which must be discarded
because they begin to weigh heavily
upon the mind as it reaches the higher
altitudes of The Path of Attainment.
Therefore, we must ask you to consider
with us, in this lesson, some further
teachings regarding the Unity of Life.
All the schools of the higher Oriental
thought, as well as many of the great
philosophical minds of the Western
world, have agreed upon the conception
of the Unity of Life--the Oneness of
All Life. The Western thinkers, and
many of the Eastern philosophers
arrived at this conclusion by means of
their Intellectual powers, greatly
heightened and stimulated by
concentration and meditation, which
latter process liberated the faculties
of the Spiritual Mind so that it
passed down knowledge to the
Intellect, which then seized upon the
higher knowledge which it found within
itself, and amplified and theorized
upon the same. But among the Eastern
Masters there are other sources of
information open, and from these
sources come the same report--the
Oneness and Unity of Universal Life.
These higher sources of information to
which we have alluded, consist of the
knowledge coming from those Beings who
have passed on to higher planes of
Life than ours, and whose awakened
spiritual faculties and senses enable
them to see things quite plainly which
are quite dark to us. And from these
sources, also, comes the message of
the Oneness of Life--of the existence
of a wonderful Universal Life
including all forms of life as we know
it, and many forms and phases unknown
to us--many centers in the great Ocean
of Life. No matter how high the source
of inquiry, the answer is the
same--"All Life is One." And this One
Life includes Beings as much higher
than ourselves, as we are higher than
the creatures in the slime of the
ocean-bed. Included in it are beings
who would seem as archangels or gods
to us, and they inform that beyond
them are still higher and more radiant
creatures, and so on to infinity of
infinities. And yet all are but
centers of Being in the One Life--all
but a part of the great Universal
Life, which itself is but an emanation
of The Absolute.
The mind of man shrinks back appalled
from the contemplation of such
wonders, and yet there are men who
dare to attempt to speak
authoritatively of the attributes and
qualities of "God," as if He, the
Absolute, were but a magnified man.
Verily, indeed, "fools rush in where
angels fear to tread," as the poet
hath said.
Those who will read our next lesson
and thus gain an idea of the sublime
conception of the Absolute held by the
Yogi teachers may shudder at the
presumption of those mortals who dare
to think of the Absolute as possessing
"attributes" and "qualities" like unto
the meanest of things in this his
emanated Universe. But even these
spiritual infants are doing well--that
is, they are beginning to _think_, and
when man begins to think and
_question_, he begins to progress. It
is not the fact of these people's
immature ideas that has caused these remarks
on our part, but rather their tendency
to set up their puny conceptions as
the absolute truth, and then insisting
upon forcing these views upon the
outer world of men, whom they consider
"poor ignorant heathen."
Permit each man to think according to
his light--and help him by offering to
share with him the best that you
possess--but do not attempt to force
upon him your own views as absolute
truth to be swallowed by him under
threat of damnation or eternal
punishment. Who are you that dares to
speak of punishment and damnation,
when the smell of the smoke of the
hell of materialism is still upon your
robes. When you realize just what
spiritual infants you still are--the
best of you--you will blush at these
things. Hold fast to the best that you
know--be generous to others who seem
to wish to share your knowledge--but
give without blame or feeling of
superiority--for those whom you teach
today may be your teachers
tomorrow--there are many surprises of
this kind along The Path. Be brave and
confident, but when you begin to feel
puffed up by your acquirement of some
new bit of knowledge, let your
prayer--our prayer, for we too are
infants--be, "Lord, be merciful unto
me, a fool!"
The above words are for us, the
students of the Yogi Philosophy--the
teachers of the same--for human nature
is the same in spite of names, and we
must avoid the "vanity of
vanities"--Spiritual Pride and
Arrogance--that fault which has sent
many a soul tumbling headlong from a
high position on The Path, and
compelled it to again begin the
journey, chastened and bruised. The
fall of Lucifer has many
correspondences upon the occult plane,
and is, indeed, in itself an
allegorical illustration of just this
law. Remember, always, that you are
but a Centre in the Ocean of Life, and
that all others are Centres in the
same ocean, and that underlying both
and all of you is the same calm bed of
Life and Knowledge, the property of
all. The highest and the lowest are
part of the same One Life--each of you
has the same life blood flowing
through your veins--you are connected
with every other form of life, high or
low, with invisible bonds, and none is
separate from another.
We are speaking, of course, to the
personalities of the various students
who are reading these words. The Real
Self of each is above the need of such
advice and caution, and those who are
able to reach the Real Self in
consciousness have no need for these
words, for they have outlived this
stage of error. To many, the
consciousness of the One Life--the
Universal Life--in which all are
centres of consciousness and
being--has come gradually as a final
step of a long series of thought and
reasoning, aided by flashes of truth
from the higher regions of the mind.
To others it has come as a great
illumination, or flash of Truth, in
which all things are seen in their
proper relations and positions to each
other, and all as phases of being in
the One. The term "Cosmic
Consciousness," which has been used in
the previous series of these lessons,
and by other writers, means this
sudden flash of "knowing" in which all
the illusionary dividing lines between
persons and things are broken down and
the Universal Life is seen to be
actually existent as One Life. To
those who have reached this
consciousness by either route just
mentioned--or by other routes--there
is no sense of loss of individuality
or power or strength. On the contrary
there is always a new sense of
increased power and strength and
knowing--instead of losing
Individuality, there is a sense of
having found it. One feels that he has
the whole Universe at his back, or
within him, rather than that he has
lost his identity in the great Ocean
of Life.
While we are speaking of this phase of
the subject, we should like to ask you
if you have ever investigated and
inquired into the real meaning of the
much-used word "Individuality?" Have
you ever looked up its origin and real
meaning, as given by the standard
authorities? We are sure that many of
you have no real idea of the actual
meaning of the term, as strange as
this statement may appear to you at
first glance. Stop now, and define the
word to yourself, as you have been
accustomed to think of it. Ninety-five
people of a hundred will tell you that
it means something like "a strong
personality." Let us see about this.
Webster defines the word "Individual"
as follows: "Not divided, or not to be
divided; existing as one distinct
being or object; single; one." The
same authority informs us that the
word arises from the Latin word
_individuus_, meaning "indivisible;
not divisible." Does not this help you
to gain a clearer idea of the
Individuality that knows itself to be
a Centre of Consciousness in the One
Life, rather than a separate, puny,
insignificant thing apart from all
other centres or forms of Life, or the
source of Life? We think it will help
to clear your mind of some of the fog
that has not as yet lifted itself.
And while we are on the subject of
definitions, let us take a little look
at the word "Personality," that is
generally believed to be a synonym of
"Individuality," and is often so used.
Webster tells us that the word
"Person" originated from the Latin
word _persona_, meaning "a mask used
by actors," which word in turn arose
from two other words, _per_, meaning
"through," and _sonare_, meaning "to
sound," the two combined words meaning
"to sound through." The same authority
informs us that the archaic meaning of
the word was "a
character or part, as in a play; an
assumed character." If you will think
of Personality as "a mask used by
anactor," or as "a part in a play," or
as something used to "sound through"
or to speak through, by the real
Individual behind the mask of
Personality, then perhaps you will see
a little further into the Mystery of
Personality and Individuality.
Oh, dear students, be not deceived by
the mask of Personality which you may
happen to be wearing at this moment,
or by the masks which are worn by
those around you. Realize that back of
your mask is the great Individual--the
Indivisible--the Universal Life, in
which you are a centre of
consciousness and activity. This does
not wipe out your identity--instead it
gives you a greater and grander
identity. Instead of your sinking into
a Nirvana of extinction of
consciousness, your consciousness so
enlarges as you unfold, that you will
in the end feel your identity to be
the identity of the Universe. Instead
of your gaining Nothingness, you gain
Allness. All spiritual growth and
unfoldment gives you a constantly
increasing sense of relationship with,
and agreement with, the All. You grow
into Allness as you unfold. Be not
deceived by this chatter about
Nothingness, and loss of
Individuality, in the Oriental
thought, although some of the
presentations of its teachings may so
seem to mean at first reading.
Remember always that Personality is
the mask, and Individuality the Real
One.
You have often heard persons, claiming
to be acquainted with the teachings of
Theosophy and other expositions of the
Oriental Wisdom Religion (including
our own presentation), asserting that
the Oriental mind was ever bent upon
attaining a final stage of Nothingness
or Extinction in Nirvana. In addition
to what we have said, and to what we
shall say on this subject, let us
quote from the inspired writer of the
"_Secret Doctrine_" (a standard
Theosophical work) when she says, in
that work on page 286, Vol. I: "Is
this annihilation, as some think? ...
To see in Nirvana annihilation,
amounts to saying of a man plunged in
a sound, dreamless sleep--one that
leaves no impression on the physical
memory and brain, because the
sleeper's Higher Self is in its
original state of absolute
consciousness during these hours--that
he too is annihilated.
The latter simile answers only to one
side of the question--the most
material; since reabsorption is by no
means such a dreamless sleep, but, on
the contrary, absolute existence, an
unconditional unity, or a state, to
describe which human language is
absolutely and hopelessly
inadequate... Nor is the
individuality--nor even the essence of
the personality, if any be left
behind--lost because re-absorbed." As
J. Wm. Lloyd says, in connection with
the above quotation, "This seems
conclusive proof that Theosophy does
not regard Nirvana as annihilation,
but as an infinite enlargement of
consciousness." And we would add that
this is true not only as regards the
Nirvana of the Theosophist, but also
of the consciousness of the Unity of
Life--the Universal Life. This too is
not annihilation of individual
consciousness, but an "infinite
enlargement of consciousness" as this
Western writer Lloyd has so well
expressed it.
The very consciousness of Life that
every man feels within him, comes not
from something belonging exclusively
to himself as a separate or personal
thing. On the contrary, it belongs to
his Individuality, not to his
Personality, and is a phase of his
consciousness or "awareness" of his
relation to the One Universal Life
which underlies his existence, and in
which he is a center of consciousness.
Do you grasp this idea? If not,
meditate and concentrate upon it, for
it is important. You must learn to
feel the Life within you, and to know
that it is the Life of the great Ocean
of Universal Life upon the bosom of
which you are borne as a centre of
consciousness and energy. In this
thought there is Power, Strength,
Calm, Peace, and Wisdom. Acquire it,
if you are wise. It is indeed a Gift
from the Gods.
In
this lesson we are not attempting to
build up your idea of the Unity of
Life by a series of arguments taken
from a world of phenomena in which
separateness and non-Unity is
apparent. No such arguments would
suffice, for it would be like trying
to prove the existence and laws of
color to a man born blind, by
arguments taken from his world of
darkness. On the contrary we are
appealing to that region of the mind
in which is stored the capacity for
intuitively apprehending truth. We are
endeavoring to speak in tones which
will awaken a similar vibration in
that part of your mentality, and if
these vibrations be started into
being, then will you be able to feel
and know the truth, and then will your
Intellect eagerly seize upon the new
idea that it finds within itself, and
will proceed to apply the same to the
various problems that have been
bothering you in the past.
This consciousness of Unity must come
from the higher regions of the mind,
for the Intellect alone knows it
not,--it is out of its field. Just as
one may not know that the earth is
round by means of his senses which
report quite the contrary, but may and
does know this truth by abstract
reasoning and higher intellectual
effort; so may one know the truth that
All Life is indeed One, at the last,
and underlying, by the higher
faculties of the mind, although his
senses and ordinary intellectual
processes fail to so inform him. The
senses cannot inform man that the
earth is round, _because they cannot
see it as a whole, but only in
part_--while the higher reasoning
faculties are able to visualize the
earth as a whole, and know it must be
round. And the Intellect, in its
ordinary field can see only
separateness, and cannot report
Oneness, but the Higher Mind sees Life
as a Whole, and knows it to be One.
And it is the Higher Mind that we are
trying to bring into the field of
consciousness in the appeal to you in
this lesson. We trust that we may be
successful--in fact we know that we
shall be so, in many cases, for we
know that the field is ready for the
sowing of the seed--and that the call
has been heard, and the message passed
on to us to answer the call--else
these words would not have been
written.
The consciousness of the Unity of Life
is something that must be experienced
before the truth may be realized. It
is not necessary for one to wait until
he acquire full Cosmic Consciousness
before he may realize, at least
partially, the Oneness of All Life,
for he may unfold gradually into the
Cosmic Knowing, experiencing at each
stage a fuller conception of the
underlying Unity of Life, in which he
is a centre of consciousness and
manifestation. But there must be at
least a partial unfoldment before one
is able to feel the sense of Unity. To
those who have not unfolded
sufficiently to gain at least a
glimmering of the truth, everything
appears separate from every other
thing, and there is no Unity of All.
It is as if every leaf on a mighty
tree were to consider itself a being
separate and distinct from everything
else in the world, failing to perceive
its connection with the branch or
limb, and tree, and its unity in being
with every other leaf on the tree.
After a bit the unfolding
consciousness of the leaf enables it
to perceive the stem that connects it
with the twig. Then it begins to
realize certain relationships, and
feels its vital connection with the
twig and the few other leaves attached
to the same twig. Later on, it unfolds
sufficiently to perceive that certain
other leaf-bearing twigs are connected
with the same branch, and it learns to
feel its relationship with all twigs
and leaves springing from that branch.
Then again, a little later on, it
begins to realize that other branches
spring from the same limb as its
branch, and the sense of relationship
and dawning Unity begins to widen
still further. And so it goes on,
until at last, the tiny leaflet
realizes that the life of the tree is
the life of all of its parts--limbs,
branches, twigs, leaves, blossoms,
fruit, seed, etc., and that it,
itself, is but a centre of expression
in the One Life of the tree. Does the
leaf feel less important and real from
this discovery? We should say
assuredly not, for it must feel that
behind its tiny form and limited
strength is the strength and vitality
of the entire organism of the tree. It
must know that the tree is ever at
work extracting nourishment from the
earth, air, and water, and
transmitting that nourishment to its
every part, including our little
friend the leaflet. It knows that the
sap will rise in the Spring to renew
the manifestations of life, and it
knows that although its leafy form may
wither and die, still the essence of
its life--its real Life--does not die
but remains ever active and strong
awaiting its chance for future
expression and re-embodiment. Of
course this figure of the leaf and the
tree fails us if we attempt to carry
it very far, but it will give us at
least a partial idea of the
relationship between the life of the
person, and the One Life.
Some of the Oriental teachers have
illustrated this idea to their
students by various familiar examples
and figures of speech. Some bid the
student hold up his hand, and then
point out to him that each finger is
apparently separate and distinct if
one does not look down to where it
joins the hand. Each finger, if it had
consciousness, might well argue that
it was a separate individual, having
no relationship with any other finger.
It might prove this to its own
satisfaction, and to that of its
listeners, by showing that it could
move itself without stirring the other
fingers. And so long as its
consciousness was confined to its
upper two joints it would remain under
the illusion of separateness. But when
its consciousness at last permeated
the depths of its being, it would find
that it emerged from the same hand
from which also sprung the other
fingers, and that its real life and
power was vested in the hand rather
than in itself, and that although
apparently separate and independent,
it was really but a part of the hand.
And when its consciousness, through
the consciousness of the hand,
broadened and widened, it would
perceive its relationship with, and
interdependence with, the whole body,
and would also recognize the power of
the brain, and its mighty Will.
Another favorite illustration of the
Eastern teachers is the stream of
water flowing over a rocky bed. They
point to the stream before it comes to
a rocky place, and show the chela
(student) that it is One. Then they
will move a little way down the stream
and show him how the rocks and stones
divide the stream into countless
little streams, each of which might
imagine itself a separate and distinct
stream, until later on it again joins
the main united stream, and finds that
it was but a form of expression of the
One.
Another illustration that is
frequently used by the teachers, is
that which bids the student consider
himself as a minute cell, or
"little-life" as the Hindus call it,
in a body. It may be a cell in the
blood performing the office of a
carrier or messenger, or it may be a
working cell in one of the organs of
the body; or it may be a thinking cell
in the brain. At any rate, the cell
manifests capacity for thought, action
and memory--and a number of secondary
attributes quite wonderful in the way.
(See "_Hatha Yoga_,".) Each cell might
well consider itself as a separate
individual--in a certain sense it
does. It has a certain degree of
something akin to consciousness,
enabling it to perform its work
correctly and properly, and is called
upon at times to manifest something
like judgment. It may well be excused
for thinking of itself as a "person"
having a separate life. The analogy
between its illusions and that of the
man when seen by a Master, is very
close. But we know that the life of
the cell is merely a centre of
expression of the life of the
body--that its consciousness is merely
a part of the consciousness of the
mind animating the body. The cell will
die and apparently perish, but the
essence of it will remain in the life
of the person whose body it occupied,
and nothing really dies or perishes.
Would the cell feel any less real if
it knew that behind its Personality as
a cell, there was the Individuality of
the Man--that its Real Self was the
Man, not the cell? Of course, even
this figure of speech can be carried
only so far, and then must stop, for
the personality of the man, when it is
dissolved, leaves behind it an essence
which is called Character, which
becomes the property of the Ego and
which accompanies it into after life
according to the Law of Karma, of
which we shall speak in future
lessons. But back even of these
attributes of Personality, is the Ego
which exists in spite of Personality,
and lives on and on throughout many
Personalities, and yet learning the
lessons of each, until at last it
rises above Personality and enters
into higher sphere of Knowing and
Being.
Still another favorite illustration of
the Hindu teachers is that of the sun
beating down upon the ocean and
causing a portion of the water to rise
in the form of vapor. This vapor forms
clouds which spread all over the
earth, and which eventually condense
in the form of rain drops, dew, etc.
This rain and dew form streams,
rivers, etc., and sooner or later
every drop finds its way back to
Mother Ocean which is its Real Self.
Separate though the dewdrop be, yet it
is a part of the Ocean, no matter how
far distant it may be, and the
attraction of the
Ocean will surely, and without fail,
draw it back to its bosom. And the
dewdrop, if it could know the truth,
would be so much happier and stronger,
and braver if it could know that it
was superior to accident, time and
space, and that it could not escape
its own good, and that nothing could
prevent its final triumph and victory
when at last "the dewdrop glides into
the shining sea." How cheerfully it
could have met its many changes of
form. and the incidents of its
journey, if it could have gotten rid
of the illusion of separateness, and
knew that instead of being a tiny
insignificant dewdrop it was a part of
the Mighty Ocean--in fact that its
Real Self was that Ocean itself--and
that the Ocean was continually drawing
it toward it, and that the many
changes, up and down, were in response
to that mighty power of attraction
which was slowly but irresistibly
drawing it back Home to Rest, Peace,
and Power.
As
valuable as are all these
illustrations, examples, and figures
of speech, still all must of necessity
fall short of the truth in the case of
the Soul of Man--that wondrous
something which has been built up by
the Absolute after aeons and aeons of
time, and which is destined to play an
important part in the great Cosmic
Drama which it has pleased the
Absolute to think into existence.
Drawing its Life from the Universal
Life, it has the roots of its being
still further back in the Absolute
itself, as we shall see in the next
lesson. Great and wonderful is it all,
and our minds are but illy fitted to
receive the truth, and must be
gradually accustomed to the glare of
the Sun. But it will come to all--none
can escape his glorious destiny.
The Oriental writings are full of
allusions to the underlying Oneness,
in fact the entire Oriental
philosophies rest upon it. You may
find it everywhere if you will but
look for it. The experience of Cosmic
Consciousness, which is naught but a
sudden or gradual "awareness" of the
underlying Unity of Life, is evidenced
everywhere in the _Upanishads_, that
wonderful series of teachings in the
Hindu classics. Every writer in the
collection gives his evidence
regarding this awareness of Unity and
Oneness, and the experiences and
mental characteristics arising from
the same. The following quotations
will give an idea of the prevalence of
this thought:
"He that beholds all beings in the
Self, and the Self in all things, he
never turns away from it."
"When to a man who understands, the
Self has become all things, what
sorrow, what trouble, can there be to
him who once beheld that unity."
The Hindu father explains to his son
that the One Life is in all forms and
shapes, points out object after
object, saying to the boy: "_Tat tuam
asi_, Thou art that; That thou art."
And the Mystics have added their
testimony to that of others who have
experienced this consciousness.
Plotinus said: "Knowledge has three
degrees: opinion, science, and
illumination. The last is absolute
knowledge founded upon the identity of
the knowing mind with the known
object."
And Eckhardt, the German mystic, has
told his pupils that: "God is the soul
of all things. He is the light that
shines in us when the veil is rent."
And Tennyson, in his wonderful verse
describing the temporary lifting of
the veil for him, has described a
phase of Cosmic Consciousness in the
following words:
"For knowledge is the swallow on the
lake That sees and stirs the
surface-shadow there, But never yet
hath dippt into the abysm, The Abysm
of all Abysms, beneath, within The
blue of sky and sea, the green of
earth, And in the million-millionth of
a grain Which cleft and cleft again
for evermore And ever vanishing, never
vanishes. . .
And more, my son, for more than once
when I Sat all alone, revolving in
myself That word which is the symbol
of myself, The mortal symbol of the
Self was loosed, And past into the
Nameless, as a cloud Melts into
Heaven. I touched my limbs, the limbs
Were strange, not mine--and yet no
shadow of doubt, But utter clearness,
and through loss of Self The gain of
such large life as matched with ours
Were Sun to spark, unshadowable in
words, Themselves but shadows of a
shadow-world."
And not only among the mystics and
poets is this universal truth
experienced and expressed, but among
the great philosophers of all ages may
we find this teaching of the Unity of
Life originally voiced in the
Upanishads. The Grecian thinkers have
expressed the thought; the Chinese
philosophers have added their
testimony; the modern philosophers,
Spinoza, Berkeley, Kant, Hegel,
Schopenhauer, Hartman, Ferrier, Royce,
although differing widely in their
theories, all have expressed as a
fundamental truth the Unity of Life--a
One Life underlying. The basic
teachings of the Vedas are receiving
confirmation at the hands of Modern
Science, which while calling itself
Rationalistic and inclining to a
Materialistic conception of the
Universe, still finds itself compelled
to say, "At the last, All is One."
And in nearly every human soul there
is a secret chamber in which the text
of this knowledge lies hidden, and in
the rare moments in which the chamber
door is opened in response to poetry,
music, art, deep religious feeling, or
those unaccountable waves of uplift
that come to all, the truth is
recognized for the moment and the soul
feels at peace and is content in the
feeling that it is at harmony with the
All. The sense of Beauty, however
expressed, when keenly experienced,
has a tendency to lift us out of our
consciousness of separateness into
another plane of mind in which the
keynote is Unity. The higher the human
feeling, the nearer is the conscious
realization of the underlying Unity.
This realization of the Unity of
Life--the Oneness of Life--the Great
Life--even when but faintly
experienced, renders Life quite a
different thing to the person. He
feels no longer that he is a mere
"part" of something that may be
destroyed--or that he is a tiny
personal something, separate from and
opposed to all the rest of the
Universe--but that he is, instead, a
Unit of Expression--a Centre of
Consciousness--in the Great One Life.
He realizes that he has the Power, and
Strength, and Life, and Wisdom of the
Whole back of him,
upon which he may learn to draw as he
unfolds. He realizes that he is at
Home, and that he cannot be thrust
out, for there is no outside of the
All. He feels within himself the
certainty of infinite Life and being,
for his Life is the all Life, and that
cannot die. The petty cares, and
worries, and griefs, and pains of
everyday personal life are seen for
what they are, and they cease to
threaten and dominate him as of old.
He sees the things of personality as
merely the costume and trappings of
the part in the play of life that he
is acting out, and
he knows that when he discards them he
will still be "I."
When one really feels the
consciousness of the One Life
underlying, he acquires a confident
trust and faith, and a new sense of
freedom and strength comes to him, for
is he not indeed delivered from the
bondage of fear that has haunted him
in his world of separateness. He feels
within him the spiritual pulse of the
Universal Life, and at once he thrills
with a sense of new-found power and
being. He becomes reconciled with Life
in all its phases, for he knows these
things as but temporary phases in the
working out of some great Universal plan,
instead of things permanent and fixed
and beyond remedy. He begins to feel
the assurance of Ultimate Justice and
God, and the old ideas of Injustice
and Evil begin to fade from him. He
who enters into the consciousness of
the Universal Life, indeed enters into
a present realization of the Life
Everlasting. All fear of being "lost"
or "eternally damned" fades away, and
one instinctively realizes that he is
"saved" because he is of the One Life
and cannot be lost. All the fear of
being lost arises from the sense of
illusion of separateness or
apartness from the One Life. Once the
consciousness of Unity is gained, fear
drops from the soul like a wornout
garment.
When the idea and consciousness of the
Unity takes possession of one, he
feels a new sense of cheerfulness and
optimism entirely different from any
other feeling that he has ever
experienced. He loses that distrust
and hardness which seems to cling to
so many in this age who have arrived
at the Intellectual stage of
development, and have been unable to
progress further. A new sense of peace
and harmony comes to one, and
illuminates his entire character and
life. The bitterness engendered by the
illusion of separateness is
neutralized by the sweetness of the
sense of Unity. When one enters into
this consciousness he finds that he
has the key to many a riddle of life
that has heretofore perplexed him.
Many dark corners are
illuminated--many hard sayings are
made clear. Paradoxes become
understandable truths, and the pairs
of opposites that dwell in all
advanced intellectual conceptions,
seem to bend around their ends and
form themselves into a circle.
To
the one who understands the Unity, all
Nature seems akin and friendly. There
is no sense of antagonism or
opposition--everything is seen to fit
into its place, and work out its
appointed task in the Universal plan.
All Nature is seen to be friendly,
when properly understood, and Man
regains that sense of harmonious
environment and at-home-ness that he
lost when he entered the stage of
self-consciousness. The lower animal
and the children feel this Unity, in
their poor imperfect way, but Man lost
this Paradise when he
discovered Good and Evil. But Paradise
Lost becomes Paradise Regained when
Man enters into this new stage of
consciousness. But unlike the animal
or child, which instinctively feels
the Unity, the awakened soul of man
possesses the Unity consciousness,
coupled with intelligent
comprehension, and unfolding spiritual
power. He has found that which he
lost, together with the accumulated
interest of the ages. This new kingdom
of Consciousness is before the race.
All must enter into it in time--all
will enter into it--many are entering
into it now, by
gradual stages. This dawning sense of
Unity is that which is causing the
spiritual unrest which is now
agitating the world, and Which in time
will bring the race to a realization
of the Fatherhood of God and the
Brotherhood of Man, and his kinship to
Every Living Thing. We are entering
into this new cycle of human
unfoldment, and the greatest changes
are before the race. Ye who read these
words are in the foremost ranks of the
new dispensation, else you would not
be interested in this subject. You are
the leaven which is designed to
lighten the heavy mass of the
world-mind. Play well your parts. You
are not alone. Mighty forces and great
Intelligences are behind you in the
work. Be worthy of them. Peace be with
you.
Carry with you the Central Thought of
this lesson:
CENTRAL THOUGHT. _There is but One
Life--a Universal Life--in the world.
This One Life is an emanation from the
Absolute. It infills all forms, shapes
and manifestations of Life, and is the
Real Life that each imagines to be his
personal property. There is but
One--and you are centres of
consciousness and expression in that
One. There is a Unity and Harmony
which becomes apparent to those who
enter into the consciousness of the
One Life. There is Peace and Calm in
the thought. There is Strength and
Power in the knowledge. Enter ye into
your Kingdom of Power--possess
yourselves of your Birthright of
Knowledge. In the very center of your
being you will find a holy of holies
in which dwells the Consciousness of
the One Life, underlying. Enter into
the Silence of the Shrine within.
