Psychic Control Through Self- Knowledge E-Book

Walter Winston Kenilworth

• Herausgeber: Walter Winston Kenilworth
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

This is the era of a new revelation. New religions, new systems of thought, new systems of philosophy are turning the tide of spiritual interest from the orthodoxy of past ages. The profound discoveries of modern science are forming into a basis for the authority of spiritual truth. Faith is giving way to knowledge. Faith often sinks into superstition. From being the forerunner of knowledge it is often debased into dangerous and soul suicidal manmade dogmas. Faith should herald the dawn of Truth. When it fails to serve this purpose, it perishes. The scriptures of the world ask us to "see, hear, perceive and know the Truth" ; they say : "ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." It is the direct perception of Truth that the soul demands. Belief has not the motive power for conduct that knowledge The cry of orthodoxy has been, "believe, and ye shall be saved." The new theology says, "by knowledge man is saved, alone by knowledge." The surest method of realizing Truth is to understand ourselves. If a man possesses a soul, he must become conscious of it. Consciousness is most concerned with the body. To center consciousness upon the soul is the aim of religion. By "soul'' is meant the changeless and permanent reality of which the changing and impermanent personality is the fleeting shadow. In this volume the author has endeavored to present a clear and practical conception of the soul. It is understood that by "soul" he means neither mind nor body, but the living essence of which these are the mental and material manifestations. The unity of life presupposes the omnipresence of that unity and its everlastingness. That unity is the One Spiritual Self residing in all. The goal of spiritual effort is the realization of the Spirit within. Psychic or spiritual control is the direct way of reaching the goal. The great principle which has been emphasized is: that morality is the medium through which the deepest psychic and spiritual consciousness is obtained. Morality, together with a consciousness of what, in essence, is the Self of all beings, is the thread connecting the various subjects.
 

Leseprobe

Psychic Control Through Self- Knowledge

WALTER WINSTON KENILWORTH

First digital edition 2016 by Anna Ruggieri

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

CHAPTER I. - STEPS TO SELF-KNOWLEDGE.

CHAPTER II. - SELF AND THE COSMOS.

CHAPTER III. - RELATIVE TRUTHS.

CHAPTER IV. - MAN AND HIS SHADOW.

CHAPTER V. - STAGES OF PSYCHIC PROGRESS.

CHAPTER VI. - PHYSICAL RELATIONS.

CHAPTER VII. - MORAL RELATIONS.

CHAPTER VIII. - THE LAW.

CHAPTER IX. - THE SPIRIT OF CONTROL.

CHAPTER X. - THE BIRTHRIGHT OF THE SOUL.

CHAPTER XI - THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE.

CHAPTER XII. - REALIZATION.

FOREWORD

This is the era of a new revelation. New religions, new systems of thought, new systems of philosophy are turning the tide of spiritual interest from the orthodoxy of past ages. The profound discoveries of modern science are forming into a basis for the authority of spiritual truth. Faith is giving way to knowledge. Faith often sinks into superstition. From being the forerunner of knowledge it is often debased into dangerous and soulsuicidal manmade dogmas. Faith should herald the dawn of Truth. When it fails to serve this purpose, it perishes. The scriptures of the world ask us to "see, hear, perceive and know the Truth" ; they say : "ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." It is the direct perception of Truth that the soul demands. Belief has not the motive power for conduct that knowledge The cry of orthodoxy has been, "believe, and ye shall be saved." The new theology says, "by knowledge man is saved, alone by knowledge." The surest method of realizing Truth is to understand ourselves. If a man possesses a soul, he must become conscious of it. Consciousness is most concerned with the body. To center consciousness upon the soul is the aim of religion. By "soul'' is meant the changeless and permanent reality of which the changing and impermanent personality is the fleeting shadow. In this volume the author has endeavored to present a clear and practical conception of the soul. It is understood that by "soul" he means neither mind nor body, but the living essence of which these are the mental and material manifestations. The unity of life presupposes the omnipresence of that unity and its everlastingness. That unity is the One Spiritual Self residing in all. The goal of spiritual effort is the realization of the Spirit within. Psychic or spiritual control is the direct way of reaching the goal. The great principle which has been emphasized is: that morality is the medium through which the deepest psychic and spiritual consciousness is obtained. Morality, together with a consciousness of what, in essence, is the Self of all beings, is the thread connecting the various subjects.

The Author.

CHAPTER I. STEPS TO SELFKNOWLEDGE.

In presenting a system of thought and a method for the development of spiritual faculties and consciousness the mandate of the Delphic Oracle : "Know Thyself" is of first consideration. A conception of what is meant by Self is of primary importance. The abiding principle, persistence and reality of Self, must be comprehended. What is that Self? Is it the body? Is it the mind? Is it what is understood as soul? Is it a synthesis of these? The mind peers into the world of phenomena weaving the warp and woof of sense experience. Busied with the outward order of things, it fails to realize that it is the manifesting principle of phenomena, for it is through the mind alone that they exist. Thus the mind accustoms itself to accord reality to its experiences. Consciousness deals with symbols, whereas it should seek the meaning of the external in the study and realization of the internal. The mind is generally absorbed in external phenomena, ever in quest of values associated with this external knowledge. It identifies itself with phantasmagoria, and in this identification submerges its own identity. Philosophical reasoning is the process through which the mind reacts upon itself. It leads to selfintrospection, to mysticism and to the comprehension of consciousness. Philosophy reaches to the primitiveness of thought in the attempt to answer the query, what is Self? History is more a veil than a light. It only faintly suggests the tremendous evolution of ideas. It reviews several thousand centuries, but the Aryan race, mother of races, reached high flights of speculative thought before the building of the Pyramids, and long before the reign of those Egyptian and Assyrian kings whose painted mummy cases and sarcophagi intimate high culture and civilization ere the first ray of historic truth illumined the darkness of the past. Dissatisfied with the convictions of logic in the solution of the Eternal Question, the Aryan philosophers developed that psychological system of introspective thought which centers consciousness on the innermost nature of man, wresting from the Unknown the secret of Self, and bringing spiritual knowledge within range of conscious experience. Conscious knowledge is true knowledge. Mysticism is deeper than philosophy. Theories are indefinite. Practical experience is the criterion of truth. Selfknowledge must be established in consciousness. It is vain to thread the labyrinth of argument. Realization is the aim and end. The Vedas teach: "That Self must be seen, heard, perceived and known." The highest truth must become a living fact in conscious perception. Need for a satisfactory solution of the great problem of life is vital. The problem is before each soul. Each has it to solve. That solution involves the entirety of Selfknowledge, the development and perfection of spiritual consciousness. There is an exhaustless reservoir back of manifested nature from which new forms and new creative and vital forces proceed ; a reservoir of latent energy in which all the future manifestation of the cosmos exists. Manifested nature is limited. Its vastness and seeming illimitableness is conditioned, compared with the infinite potentiality of the unmanifested. The unmanifested is infinite in possibilities of expression; infinite in effort to reach higher culminations of natural perfection. Man is a universe in himself. In the abyss of the racial Past slumbers the entire cosmic past, vibrant with the possibilities of the cosmic future. The heart of Man throbs in perfect unison with the pulsations of nature in the great evolutionary urge. Within his racial subconsciousness is the vast stretch of instinct and feeling which conditioned expression from primitive forms to highly evolved existence. He is part and parcel of universal development. His nature is composed of the same soul, mental, physical and life forces animating all beneath or above the rational, all above or below the human. The past of the universe is the past of every individual soul. The sum is no greater than any of its constituent units. Remove a unifying factor and the sum is incomplete. We are the victims of Appearance. We are deceived by the magnitude of the sun. The material superiority of the sun over lesser bodies has source in the misconceptions of sense experience. We conceive distance in the form of a break, when there is no break in the universe. The entire solar system is interrelated and bound to the earth in an infinite ocean of ether. The human body and the sun are only waveforms of that ether, only points of condensation. Both are of the same material substance which composes all forms. The synthesized force which controls the movements of the planetary course is the same that controls the human body. The principle of life and consciousness manifest in Being is the same, the difference of expression one of degree. The principle which threads the evolutionary course throughout time and space is equally inscrutible, equally marvelous — equally spiritual, whether the threading be of the inorganic, of primitive and instinctive, or of hyperphysical and spiritual life. In the fact that all substance, all force and all life is one, Man should see and grow conscious of his greatness in the universe. Once this fact is recognized as a living truth the oneness and sacredness of life and the Brotherhood of Man will be established. The Spirit of the Race will manifest in coherent collectiveness of effort, greater expression of social virtue and greater control over social in harmonies. Man is as necessary a factor in the development of universal order as is the mightiest of the central suns. The allen compassing motive in cosmic evolution is the complete integration of consciousness. Succeeding the first development of conscious life on any plane, the next and continuously next step of nature is to perfect it, to specialize and consolidate it and ever broaden its field of expression. This is what the earth has been doing for millions of years, and the same process is going on in universal evolution. The purpose of this motion and growth of suns from vast spheres of fire into habitable planets is to formulate conditions to render possible the manifestation of consciousness. Consciousness being the goal of all physical motion, its most perfect, active and developed expression is the climax of cosmic perfection. Consciousness is infinite. It does not grow or evolve, nor is it brought about by any physical relation. It is preexistent. It could not develop from nature unless it existed anterior to nature. Life and consciousness cannot proceed from nature unless they potentially exist before nature manifests them. Manifestation is the word. Western thought holds that evolutionary factors developed consciousness, that there was a time when consciousness did not exist. Evolution cannot be denied. The theory was advanced by the sage Kapila thousands of years before the Christian era. Nothing is to be said against the theory of evolution, but a central truth, as yet not well defined in western philosophy, is involution, which evolution necessarily presupposes. All these forms and forces, this life and consciousness, this universe of phenomena, did not come from the nonexistent. There is a theory which relegates all to the iniatory movement of the cosmos, but this infers that the movement must have been eternally possible. Thus it is with consciousness. Manifested or unmanifested, consciousness always is. Existence is man's birth right. It is not a quality of the soul, but its essence. All that nature does is to condition forms and forces for the manifestation of consciousness. From incipient to higher forms, consciousness is specialized. Future humanity is latent in the animal soul. The potential god resides in the human soul, and within the higher consciousness of the god is universal consciousness of infinite existence and realization of Self. This does away with the idea of creation or development from the nonexistent, taking that word in its surface meaning. Infinite is consciousness, because preexistent to any manifestation introduced by nature for the evolution of life. Infinite, because it is eternally existent. It witnessed the dawn of this universe of time, space and causation. It will witness the cosmic disintegration. Being eternally anterior to these conditions, it is eternally free from their limiting tendencies and bondage. That is the great truth, the saving idea and logical outgrowth. It is the saving idea, because it reveals to man the truth that consciousness is before and throughout all time : "Never the spirit was born, the spirit will cease to be never, Never was time it was not, end and beginning are dreams ; Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit forever, Death has not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems." The consciousness of man is an expression of the infinite, supercosmical, everfree, everabsolute and unconditioned consciousness. The term expression must be philosophically understood. It means that finite expression is an emptiness, a shadowy unreality, an illusion. The infinite cannot be partialized, therefore we are infinite; therefore free from bondage; therefore omniscient and omniexistent. Dare to take that position. Then neither fear nor weakness nor ignorance have dominion. These truths reveal the essential nature of man, They assert his power, his inherent divinity, omniscience and bliss. What then causes all this suffering, this selfbelittleing which, to all appearance we are forced to undergo? Why are we burdened with this terrible nightmare of limited consciousness if we are the absolute and allinclusive existence? Why this manifestation, far from divine, far from infinite, far from perfect. For ages upon ages man has been taught to consider himself a worm in the dust, and has done so. An extrapersonal god has been thrust upon him before whom he must cringe. For ages upon ages men have been like whipped dogs, prostrate at the feet of tyrannous divinity. Some have had not only one autocratic god to fear, but an entire polytheistic system. It was hard for man to shoulder spiritual responsibility conducive to moral and intellectual independence. There is no spiritual progress without independence. There is no growth without freedom, and this is especially true in the evolution of the soul. Fear must be eradicated before the soul can truly advance. Political slavery is terrible, but it is not to be compared with religious slavery. Social caste is dreadful, but far more dreadful is religious caste. Absolute tyranny is dangerous, but more dangerous the unscrupulous and grasping spirit of priestcraft. Ancient governmental policies were superimposed upon the ignorance of the masses. It is the same today. Ignorance makes men grovel before thrones of state and thrones of dogma. The absolute despotisms of the Orient furnish example. With knowledge comes power, selfconfidence, assertion and realization of strength, and conquest over tyrannous conditions. Religious reformation is the purging process which removes superstition and ignorance. It does away with soulbinding powers working inestimable havoc in the social body. The Buddhist reformation and that of Protestantism did not harm Brahmanic and Christian truths. It only converted the minds of men to moral and intellectual selfconfidence. Ignorance and fear blind the vision, but men are to blame. They shut their eyes and cry out : "There is no light ; there is no light." They attribute weakness and ignorance to the soul, when it is the essence of light, truth, knowledge and power. Remove the veil which blinds the spiritual vision. Know that you are not bound, and you are not; believe yourself in bondage and you are in bondage. The evolutionary course is infinite in circuitous windings ; the goal far in the cosmic distance. Evolution is the result of desire, and desire is but a dim perception of the desired perfection, a vague, though real knowledge of the power to realize desire. The culmination is realized in the divine event when desire attains its highest ideal, Selfrealization. Desire to be conditions the future. It strikes a deeper and truer chord in the harmonies of progress. High ideals render this exalted service to desire. All systems, having Self as their ideal, that attempt to realize Selfknowledge through enlarging the area of conscious perception apply the primary rule of establishing bodily health. Mind, however, is of more importance, because the mind exercises greater influence and power of control. The essential requirement, therefore, is the perfect appreciation of mental values in their relation to spiritual development. All ideas interfering with perfect selfmastery must be discarded. Better a belief in annihilation than the bondage of superstition. Evolution depends on the summary of thought, and if this consists of vacillating, indefinite and uncertain units, development is re tarded. "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts," says the Buddha. ^ The soul possesses as great a future as there is opportunity to realize evolutionary desire, and evolution is relatively indefinite. Until the soul realizes Self as infinite consciousness there is further progress. The thought of infinite development is a spur to the Ever Onward. We are gods in embyro. We are divinity. Then why the apparently endless and futile struggle? In the absolute this struggle is the lie the soul constantly voices. It is abomination to speak of the soul as progressing, the soul beyond everything, with divinity as birthright. As long as we are involved in the dream of progress, however, evolution continues and there is reality in the phenomenal. This idea of becoming rivets bond after bond in the chain of ignorance. In the highest sense we are. Self is blasphemed in identification with finite conditions. Mental cobwebs should be brushed aside. The soul should assert day and night that it is free, bound by nothing and slave to no condition. The Soul is omnipotent when it has realized that its innermost essence is unconditioned. The Soul is the source of understanding and spiritual unfoldment, and is ever free. A Teacher explains this limitation of soul, and points the way out in a striking illustration : A lion stunned by the falling of a rock was found by hunters. Knowing that the lion could not regain consciousness for some time they built a bullrush cage around him to see if he would imagine himself captive. They then repaired to a safe distance. On awakening, the lion found himself surrounded by bars. He began to roar, thinking himself captive. The suggestion of the hunters had taken root. In his restless pacings the lion stumbled against the bars. They gave way instantly. With a bound, the lion gained freedom. The lion of the soul is caged in ignorance, constantly asserting misery, weakness and slavery to this and that condition. The riddance of this ignorance enables it to express divinity. If sin exist it is only in the form of weakness. Very true, this world is a stage and we are actors. We are acting our parts well or ill, but we are only acting. Just as a man representing an historic character is not that character, so man portrays various parts and characters when Self is the only character. What gives meaning to nature and lends it color and form is the light of the soul. The only power, the only beauty, only adorableness and reality are of the soul. Being possessions of the soul, the soul shining everything else shines. These possessions are not to be found in nature. Confusion lies in the understanding as to what is soul, mind and matter. Omnipotence, the essence of Self, means that aside from it nothing exists. Aside from It there is no power. Omnipresence, the essence of the Self, means that It is the only presence in the universe. Highest moral relations are involved in the individualization of these truths. Their translation into values of character present the only logical reason for utilitarianism. Apart from the perception of the unity and sacredness of life there is little motive for the practice of ethical principles. Why should individual tastes, appetites and instincts be inhibited and control exercised over desire unless there is a spiritual motive? Consistent reason for morality develops when knowledge emerges from narrow into extensive conclusions regarding social relationship. When the attitude of men toward their fellows is governed by the highest understanding of Self, then will they love their neighbor as themselves. The Christ placed the / wholeness of spiritual effort and realization in love. Man's love for his neighbor comes with the recognition of the spiritual unity and identity permeating all life. Men love as they project their ideal. Ideals live in the realm of the soul. Manifestations of ideals are loved because the mind cannot worship ideals in themselves. The imagination depends on symbols. Until we learn to worship ideals as ideals we have to worship the outer manifestation. The human race has been doing this from immemorial time. Externalizing the ideal of Self it has created an extracosmic divinity and credited it with the attributes of Self. Everyone is projecting his highest ideal in varied idealization, and this is Selfworship. Ideals are consciously or unconsciously treasured for the sake of Self, dwelling in the largest and the smallest. This is true of every circumstance, object or personality which awakens love. The wife or husband is loved because both find the expression of their ideals in each other. It is the same with all loves. If they cease to interpret the ideal, they gradually pass from our lives and there remains nothing but the memory of the expression of the ideal. Self is enchanted with Self in all love. Love never really finds itself until the ideal is cherished for its own sake. We are charmed with scenic beauty or the rhapsodies of harmony. We want nothing from the scene, nothing from the music, loving them for their own sake. We revel in the glory of the ideal. Our hearts soar and become one with it. The highest ideal is that of universal oneness. This ideal should be realized, not only in the partial, but in the infinite sense. Man's ideal can be projected upon the universe as a whole. The supreme ideal is not local or temporal, it is universal and eternal. When man realizes that the principle of consciousness is beyond finiteness, he understands the truth that the "I" of every being is the same as his own, for there cannot be two infinite "IV. There is but One. All beauty, royalty and praiseworthiness are His. The causal principle of love is character. It is character that is loved for the sake of character. When a man is spoken of as good, the meaning is that goodness exists in him. Goodness is worshipped in the personalization. Goodness and other lovable qualities are abstract. They live in the ideal. They are superpersonal and thus are inclusive of the personal. All finite ideals merge into the impersonal ideal of oneness. He who has realized Self sees the omnipresent ideal pregnant with manifestation, even in the most abject, and worships it. He sees it in its advanced stages and prostrates himself before it. He sees it in highest manifestation, and its transcendant beauty and glory overwhelm him. This exalted state of the soul has led many of a mystical mind into practical effort and enthusiasm. Every idea is confirmed by an_em.otion. The end of evolution is refinement of sensibilities, and spiritual knowledge specializes highest emotionalism. When we know, we feel. Knowledge and feeling are conterminous and inseparable. Feeling is the heart's approbation of the findings of reason. Truthpenetrating as statements may be, they never have the convinciiig reality of emotions. Realization is not a climax of thought. It is the feeling of oneness and identity with the worm, with the ant, the flowers and trees, the mountains and seas and all universal beauty and revelation. Realization is the divine state of the soul when it is all in all and above all in all. Traherne, the mystic, saw the same life existing in him as in other beings. He saw his soul in the soul of every man and woman, and in the natural entirety. He saw Man as God. He exclaims; "All, all are Deities." Men who feel these thoughts are the true poets of life. In giving up this finite self we realize the One Infinite Self. The highest effort of man is in dispelling ignorance which, like a great pall, darkens spiritual perception. In getting away from ignorance and relating itself to conscious truth, the soul approaches the otherwise unapproachable and unknowable. This involves the great renunciation, when earthly values are lost sight of and everything which might be a drawback to Selfrealization is discarded. Philosophical wrangling over the Eternal Question has little vital bearing. The Buddha benefitted mankind because he taught an ethical system which does for the heart what concentration and introspective philosophy do for the mind. He inculcated a system in which truth has practical application. He silenced the insistent questionings of reason and taught his fol (» lowers that truth is infused into the soul when the \ heart is pure and character blameless. Other teachers pursued the same course. The Christ said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Mere reasoning is circular. It has small part in the transformation of character. It does not eradicate selfishness nor extinguish the fever of passion. The entire message of the Christ found expression in : "Love one another." He who throws himself into the water to rescue his fellowman is a knower of Self. He who raises his hand in protection of the weak is a knower of Self. The poet or the teacher from whose lips flow words of wisdom and spiritual appeal is a knower of Self. Whosoever subordinates personal wishes for the welfare of others is a knower of Self. The true definition of Selfknowledge is distinct from intellectual knowledge. A man may never have acquired academic knowledge, yet, if he is a sage, he has immediate perception of truth. Introspection answers the mental need. Transcendental love is not different from transcendental knowledge. Knowledge leads to love, and love leads to knoweldge. The great Knowers of mankind are inner flames of love ; while the great Lovers of mankind are repositories of greatest wisdom. The Buddha was as great a lover of mankind as a knower, and the Christ as great a knower as a lover. He who initiates himself into universal kindness and brotherly love is on the way to enlightenment. The man who in any way assists his fellowman possesses that quality which, in time, leads him to the feet of Self. The end of all effort is calm ; the end of all struggle is peace. The warfare between the spiritual and the material ends in the victory of the former. Philo sophical and religions enthusiasts, wholesouled in aspiration for Selfrealization, consider nothing too great or precious to sacrifice in the interest of realization, should necessity for sacrifice arise. They know that if a man gain the whole world and miss the Goal, his career is utterly useless. It is not in possessing, but in becoming, that life has value. Seclusion is one of the many methods adopted by those seeking spiritual development. They remove themselves from the disturbing influences of market traffic and market life, which are serious impediments in the way of peace. Retreat into mountain fastnesses, however, is not essential. Great kings have realized Self amid the burdens and duties of royal life, and the world's greatest teachers elevated the ideals of civilization in the midst of worldly activity. The mind can be led into the inner abode of silence, where peace reigns eternal. Real seclu sion is of jjhe mind. It is not physical remoteness from ordinary surroundings of life, but nonattachment to objects and circumstances which causes difficulties in the path of spiritual effort. It is in seclusion of the mind into inner retreats of the soul. Morality has value in this seclusion, for it builds impassible walls rendering the soul free from contaminating influences. As an instance, the practice of kindness forms the habit of kindness, and in the strength of this habit unkindness does not exist. In spiritual development there are often moments of weakness, but they are to be expected. Human nature is liable to lapses, for the bon ds of ig norance and selfishness are many. It is natural that now and then there is a giving way. That is no reason, however, why gloom should cloud the mind. Truth is one and, though her modes of manifestation be many, they all converge to the same center. Every system implies effort. The Vedas command : "Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is reached." Great things are not to be achieved by the weak. Courage, fearlessness, and cheerfulness are characteristic of those who know Self. Patience and perseverance will overcome everything. Selfishness is the cause of this wrong understanding of the real Self. The more this selfishness is expressed, the greater is the bondage of the soul in this world of death and ignorance ; the farther removed it is from the illumination, bliss and omniscience of spirit. This is the logic of utilitarianism. This also is the answer which spiritual philosophy makes with regard to phenomenal reality. If this finite order is an illusion, the soul is free and divine, deathless and eternal. It is only the selfinduced hypnotism of the soul which credits reality to the phenomenal and causes the round of birth and death and the manifestation of manifoldness. This is the position taken by spiritual teachers. He who knows Self and has realized his inner nature, and before whose vision both the phenomenal reality and cosmic illusion have vanished, says: "Of this universe it cannot be said that it exists, neither that it does not exist." The free soul knows Self alone. For him philosophy has vanished, for philosophy implies relative knowledge, something as yet unknown, but he who has realized Self has realized all. He is the essence of that tranl scendant knowledge of which it is said: "It is not \this, it is not that." This knowledge is one with the nature and essence of consciousness. He who has passed into the omnipresence and omniscience of Self is spoken of in negative terms. Likewise must his conception of the universe he considered, for, the state of realization is incomprehensible. It has passed beyond both "yes" and "no." Seated on thrones of porphyry and clad with the radiant splendor of suns, the high gods rule the destinies of the universe. These gods are highly evolved human sages who have not as yet attained the Goal, who must again be incarnated to continue the toilsome ascent on the Path winding from the unknowable Past, and whose end is beyond the understanding of superOlympian thought. Yet are the thrones of these gods built on the sands of Impermanency, for alldevouring Time hastens the moment when the merit of their good deeds and superhuman efforts determines their longabiding bliss. The philosopher who wanders over the face of the earth in the mendicant's garb, who, attaining the highest knowledge, has revealed Self unto Self, has greater majesty than all the gods. Birth continues again and again j until truth is known and realized ; but there is peace those who strive, and peace unto those who love.

CHAPTER II. SELF AND THE COSMOS.

Out of silence came sound ; out of darkness, light, and from formlessness arose the beauty of form. Before the temporal reigned the Eternal ; but the reality of the Eternal is clouded by the illusory qualities of nature, transposing, with the deceptivity of magic, ignorance into seeming intelligence, and darkness into seeming light. The entire universe was primarily obscured, its forms and forces slumbering in the Potential. Flowers and stars, mountains, forests and seas, suns and their light, and breathing creatures were not. The gods were not, nor the heavenly spheres, nor those of the underworld. Differentiation did not exist, for oneness and sameness prevailed throughout. The manifesting principle, from which everything proceeds, selfcontained within its vastness, enwrapt the worlds in infinite brooding darkness, — darkness shrouded in darkness. Yet it was not activeless, but astir with life to be. The Infinite included the Infinite. Finiteness was not, nor its action, nor its law. No light shone forth, no voice, nor intelligence. A Nothingness existed, a vast reservoir of NonBeing wherein all manifestation was included, a NonBeing wherein all was Life harboring the germ of a myriadfold universe. From this condition nature arose by gradual processes, evolving the things we see and the things we know, and much that we neither see nor know ; bringing into expression all forms, and conditioning "lower selves" which view the phenomenal as the real, themselves as possessed of form, limited intelligence and liable to birth and death. Out of the whole came the part, out of the great, the small. Man's relation to the cosmos, and his idea of cosmic evolution, determines his conception of Self. If he believes Self existent through the movements of the cosmic mechanism, a condensation of atomic dust, or an expression of universal intelligence, he is wrong. If he believes Self and the universe existent through the personal will of an extracosmic divinity, he is wrong. The question, "what is the origin of the soul," is selfcontradictory. Origin implies that time was when the soul did not exist, and that, through some unknowable pressure, it was conditioned into relative existence with a fiinite destiny. Origin, too, implies end. Something which has beginning and continues forever cannot be imagined. An infinitely straight line is a mathematical impossibility. The thought that the soul had a beginning has value in relation to morals. Paradoxical as it may seem, religious systems have made men irreligious in teaching dogmas, such as original sin and eternal damnation, causing weakness and selfbelittlement. There is no greater deity than Man. He is the only deity in the universe. Not the personal man, however, but the Impersonal, which is the essence of the personal. In the innermost sanctuary of every life is this Impersonal principle, from which all personality, distinction and separation have come. The Impersonal is the spirit of the unmanifested and the unchangeable. It is the OverSoul, the WorldSoul. The WorldSoul is not different from the individual soul, nor is It greater. Neither the Soul nor Supreme have origin or destiny. Ancient, unborn and everlasting, they cannot be spoken of as finite, as beginning, or as subject to birth and death ; for that would imply imperfection and change. It is the body which is born and dies. It is the mind which fluctuates. Both mind and the body are changeable, imperfect, conditioned and finite. All reasoning is limited. A particle of intelligence implies infinite intelligence, just as a point or form contrasts with unlimited space. This is the basic recognition of the infinite, both in a mental and physical sense. Vision is conditioned by the infinitely nonseeable. Assist sight with the most perfect mechanical instruments and the vision is still limited, for there is ever the nonseeable. This also applies to the conception of life. Manifestations of life we call souls ; infinite life we call God. But the Infinite and the finite cannot coexist. Infiinity alone is, and man's existence must be identified therewith. There cannot be as many infinities as there are individual creatures. There is but One Allinclusive Infinity. That is the Self, and the Vedas say: "Thou are That." This is the synthetic conclusion of philosophy. Be yond it reason cannot go. All other systems are limited and limited ideas lead to limited moral and emotional results. Highest truth leads to highest moral and spiritual education. The monistic conception of the origin of the soul must be entertained. It is the one rational and irrefutable argument supporting spiritual philosophy. If the mind is imperfectly educated, expression of character and emotion is imperfect ; if our thoughts are elevated, our lives will be likewise. Mentapsychical cults are not far from the truth. The mind is the determining factor in sense perception, mental vision, discrimination and, in a relative sense, in spiritual conditions, aspirations and progress. If truth is to be perceived and practically related, a revaluation of much, accepted as truth concerning the origin of the soul, is necessary. The Mosaic record is too primitive to carry conviction in this age of biological and psychological discovery. Vivified by the glory of Its existence and light the Infinite is cognizant of the Infinite, and this is creation. The Infinite, is perceiving the Infinite, and this is creation. Filled with life eternal, the Infinite is manifesting Its infinity, and this is creation. In the beginning It. was One without a second. It is no less so now. Yet in Its inscrutibleness the Infinite, containing all manifoldness, covers Itself with this quality, and this is creation. The Infinite is the Eternal Subject. It knows Self as Self, and this is creation. In Its manifoldness we call It the finite. Never was it, nor can it be the finite. A distinction of finiteness arises through witnessing the One as the witnesser and Self as the witnessed. But it is all a vast dream. The Infinite is asleep, forgetful of divinity, omnipotence, transcendency and infinite qualities. Nature is only manifestation caused by the Selfreflection of the Infinite. The Infinite peered into the crystal depths of Its essence and in this crystal depth It saw Self. The Infinite, being all life, imparted life to Its Image, and in this was the origin of Man and life. All is the image of the Infinite, mirrored in depth of Its own perfection. The image asks : "Who am I?" and in this cry was voiced the destiny of the First Born, the principle of creation, the evolution and the dissolution of form and force. The Infinite calls the image the lower self, and exclaims, "Mine image ! Mine image ! Thou are I and I am Thou !" This is the perpetual relation of the Infinite to Its image, and the image, unmindful of this relation, wanders through cycles of existence, all unconscious of its origin. To appreciate the relation is realization ; it is Nirvana. Infinite in beauty, radiance and glory is the Selfvision of the Infinite. In its cyclings the image comes into relation with these shining qualities. It adores and offers sacrifices to them, and in this worship the image expands, embracing more and more of the essence of the Beflector. In this way the image is reunited to the Infinite, even as lover and beloved are one. Badiant is life by reason of the Infinite One, radiant in possibilities, radiant in unfoldment. Glad is the image of its origin. It peers into the radiance and glory of the Infinite, even as the Infinite Nar cissus peers into the adorable qualities of Its Reflection. The Infinite, pleased with Its image, bestows providential love and tenderness upon it. The idealist is ever aiming at union with the ideal. The Infinite ever reaches to clasp Its Reflection to Its universal heart. What words can describe that state when the image is conscious of the identity of Self and the Infinite. The image realizes that it never knew fear, nor change, nor sorrow, nor the limitations of the finite. The image realizes that it was always the Infinite, and that through the Infinite was life, expression and all and all. Stand up and declare your divinity. Declare that you are the image of the Eternal Spirit. Through this assertion comes realization of the Ideal ; through this realization comes psychic control. When Self is realized, all power and knowledge is not a part of the soul, but its whole nature. A Psychic control and Selfknowledge do not belong in the realm of commercial values. Money has nothing to do with the acquirement of spiritual truths; and the true Teacher does not make traffic of his knowledge. His teachings are not for sale, but for realization and application. Could Selfknowledge and psychic control be purchased with money, it would be a very easy and for many a very comfortable manner of obtaining priceless possessions. The truth is, it requires much vital effort and the upbuilding of high moral and mental standards. It is not but in the effort man becomes a god. Desire to realize is the supreme necessity. When desire is vital, nothing can come between the object and the soul which desires. The desire overcomes all obstruction, and the end is one. Without fixed desire spiritual knowledge cannot be attained. The initial effort must come from the individual soul. Xo other can light the way. When desire for truth becomes a haunting idea, unintermittingly persisting in consciousness, it is sincere and fruitbearing. The drowning man wants to be saved. That is true desire. The hungry and thirsty are truly desirous of food and drink, and, somehow, manage to get it. In relative matters the seeker is only satisfied in accomplishing his purpose. Let him spiritualize desire and exalt it into higher modes of expression, and peace and exaltation will crown his efforts. The joy of succeeding in relative quest is transient compared with the joy of success in spiritual quest. As the hungry find food and the thirsty drink, so the spiritual seeker finds the Teaching and is led into the presence of the Teacher. Where there is a want there is a condition to satisfy that want. This is true of physical and mental desires ; it is particularly true of desires connected with the development of the soul. It is often said that this view of life, of Self and the cosmos, is impractical, bears no relation to the ordinary course of life, and in no way assists the man of the world. This is the accusation brought against every system of thought final in its conclusions, but there is no halfway philosophy. Truth does not con form to any condition of life not in relation to truth, and cannot be lowered to make its teachings comfortable. If there is one direct way for men to travel, it is the only road to take. If there is only one choice to make, men must abide by that choice. The suggestion, that the impractical renders man unfit for social obligations and the condition in which he finds himself, is untrue. Such accusation demands imperative answer. Does an ideal philosophy render its adherents impractical? At present there are numerous sects whose creed is manifestly impractical. Their ideals are at variance with everyday experience, yet they are successful, some of them succeeding enormously. This is because man is always looking forward to the ideal. He cannot live without ideals, and that is why he desperately clings to systems of thought and creed which express the idealistic. He distrusts agnosticism, and attempts to render the ideal in practical terms, and succeeds in so doing. Many a prosperous man owes his wealth through practice of principles of New Thought. In this manner he has aroused that storedup energy behind the human soul, that magazine of omnipotence back of all nature, and brought it to bear upon the practical issues of life. He has, perhaps, unconsciously done so, but the value is equal. The knowledge that he can rely upon infinite strength as a neverfailing source of inspiration is of practical benefit to the believer. Concentration, and the power which it arouses, has value in all concerns of life. In the criticism of idealistic philosophy, the objection may again be met by asking, "What is practical? What is meant?" Practicality, in its commonly accepted meaning, is associated with selfinterest, the pursuit of happiness and selfadvancement. Therein lies the value of being practical in the worldly point of view, but when the soul has realized its existence, what higher practicality can there be than pursuit of its welfare? If you are practical, the sage assures you that he also is practical. You find practicality where he cannot find it. You place emphasis on what he mercilessly discards. He finds value where you see vanity of effort. You set importance where he underestimates. The highest practicality attends to Self, and the highest interest of Self are spiritual. Sincere desire and its practical attitude are often confused. Spasmodic desire manifests in a haphazard and shortlived manner. In illustration, when one is bereft of material advantages, or when the hand of death touches his life, he considers the things of earth unimportant, and turns his attention to religion in the hope of finding consolation. For a time he holds fast to the spiritual ; then temporal joys and cares again absorb the mind and the material attitude prevails. This is not spiritual aspiration. "Conversion" is another mistaken aspiration. True, conversion may occur. The soul, overcome by a ray of light from the divine Self, may be spontaneously illumined. The ray pierces the darkness of ignorance and sense bondage, and the soul ascends to higher planes where the spirit is freer and its progress quickens. But such instances are rare. The average con version is psychological rather than religious. Symbolism, oratory, music and impressive ceremony influence the mind until it reaches a susceptible point and falls in with the idea of conversion. Powerful oratory and transmitted vibratory influences have hypnotic value, many times leading the convert to prostrate himself at the feet of the minister, to declare that he is a "miserable sinner." Neither is this true conversion. It is psychopathic. It may have relative influence in exalting the mind for a time, but this state does not last. From within, alone from within, comes true conversion. It has no relation to externals. It is the conversion of the lower self into higher expression and nobler ambition. It is a conversion of values, a transposition of ethical principles, a conversion of the essential man, not of the outward shadow. True conversion distracts the mind from the momentary and ephemeral. It is the realization of what is true and real ; it is the perception of the soul as the soul. Instead of making love the factor in conversion, the average revivalist makes fear the compelling force; instead of showing the ignorant the way of Self, revivalism frequently casts them into deeper abysses of superstition. Instead of the soul being called by its true name, the name implying the free, the holy and the divine, it is cursed with the epithet of "sinner." Instead of being the conversion it is the perversion of the soul. The inner perception is truthilluminating. The sense and the object come out of a single order. The soul and the cosmos come out of the same order. Being and NonBeing are the same principle dually considered. Life and death are but different names for the same reality ; it is the soul which is the experiencer of life and death. Cause and effect are one ; Self and the cosmos are one. The cause is one; the effect may be [...]