Part 11 of "Light on the Path" opens with the fol-

lowing statement:

Out of the silence that is peace, a Tesonant Toke stiall
arise. And this voice will say: It is not well, then has
reaped, now than mnst sow. And, knowing thia voice to
be the silence itwil, thon wilt ohey.

The resonant voice that prwreeds from "out of the
silence that is peace" is the voice of Spirit forcing its
way into the field of consciousness. The voice is not
as plain as when heard at the moment of illumina-
tion, for the ear is filled with the vibrations of the
lower planes, and cannot sense so clearly the high vi-
brations proceeding from the upper regions of the
mind. But the voice is insistent, and if listened
to will make itself heard. It will not be confused
with the thought-waves with which the ether is filled,
for when one thinks of the spiritual plane he is lifted
upward mentally, and the lower vibrations cannot
reach him so plainly. He soon learns to distinguish
the clear pure voice of Spirit from the grosser thought-
waves that are beating upon him. The voice of
Spirit always has an "upward" tendency, and its in-
fluence is ahvays toward higher things.

"And this voice will say : It is not well ; thou hast
reaped, now thou must sow." This passage pictures
the longing which possesses the true occultist, who
has experienced the higher consciousness, and which

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impels Iitm to carry out in actual life the truth which
he has received—to manifest in action and associa-
tion with the world, the thought which has come to
him in the silence.

The soul may wait in solitude until tlie truth comes
to it— but the truth, when once received and given a
lodgment in the heart, fills the soul with a divine
unrest, and causes it to go forth into the world and
live the life of the Spirit among and with nun. in-
stead of apart and away from them. The man to
whoin spiritual illumination has come — even in its
lightest form — is a changed being. He radiates
thought of a different character from that emanat-
ing from the minds of tliose around him. He has
different ideals and conssequcntly diflferent thoughts.
And his thought-waves have an effect upon the great
body of thought-waves of the world. They leaven
the mass — they are like the .stream of pure water
|X)uring into the nmddy pond, which pure stream
gradually clears the entire pond. His thoughts and
presence »re needwl in the world's work, and so the
Spiritual Mm\ sends him an impiilse to go forth and
live the life— to live it among men and women, and
not apart from them. It .says to him: "Thou hast
reaped, now thou must sow." "And knowing this
voice to be the silence itself," he obeys.

There are three great stages in the spiritual aod
mental life of the race, and as the babe before birth
goes through all the physical changes, shapes and
forms that the race has passed through during long
ages of evolution, so does, the growing man go throu(||h

THE VOICE OF THE STl.ENCE. 87

the stages of the mental and spiritual evolution of the
race. But the tndividtial goes through only such
changes as lead up to the stage of evolution he has
reached at full maturity. He may reach only Stage
I, if he is a Stage I individual. If he is a Stage II
individual he passes through Stage I and then on to
Stage II. If he is a Stage III soul, he passes through
Stage I, and then Stage II (as rapidly as may be) and
then unfolds into the Stage III consciousness. Let
us consider these three stages.

Stage I is that plane of life in which the Instinc*
tive Mind is in control, the Intellect not heing suf-
ficiently developed to assert itself fully and the Spirit-
ual Mind being scarcely recognized. In this stage
live the primitive races — and the young child. Those
dwelling in it have but little concern for aught but
that which pertains to the physical life. Their thoughts
are mainly those relating to food, shelter, and the
gratification of the physical senses. There exists
among these people a certain freedom, democracy, and
a lack of the "I am holier than thou" or "better than
thou" feeling, which renders their life freer and easier,
and happier, than that of those in the next highest
stage. They know little or nothing about "sin," and
generally follow their desires without question. They
have a sort of instinctive belief in a higher power,
but do not trouble themselves much about it, nor do they
imagine that certain ceremonies or observances are
pleasing to Deity, and that failure to perform are apt
to arouse his wrath. They do not worry much atout
A«ir chances of "salvation." and are disposed instinc-

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tH^ly to realize that the Power that takes care of them
Here, will take care of them There.

Stage II commences when the Intellect begins to as-
sume control. Man then begins to awaken to a sense
of "good and evil." He recognizes a mysterious some-
thing coming from a still higher part of his mind,
which makes him feel ashamed of doing certain seifisii
things, and which causes him to experience a feeling
of peace and satisfaction when he has done certain
(comparatively) unselfish things. But the Intellect
does not stop with this. It begins to invent "good"
things, and "bad" things. Priests and prophets arise
who say that certain things (usually the giving of a
part of one's goods to the temple) are "good" and
pleasing to Deity; and that certain other things (for
instance, the refusal to attend the temple, or to con-
tribute to its support) are "bad" and certain to be pun-
ished by I^ity. These priests and prophets invent
heavens suited to the desires of their followers, and
hells filled with the particular things that their people
fear. Things are separated into "good" and "bad."
the "bad" list seeming to be the larger. Most of the
pleasant things of life are placed in the "bad" list for
no other reason than that they are pleasant. In the
same way the "good" list includes the majority of
unpleasant things, the prevailing idea being that
Deity delights in seeing his children doing things un-
pleasant to them, and waxes wroth if they chance to
indulge in a pleasant act. Creeds and sects are de-
vised, and dire punishment is meted to those who do

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 89

not accept the former and join the latter. The idea
seems to be that those who do not agree with one's
particular conception of Deity are "against God," or
"God's enemies," and must and will be punished by
him. People often prefer to relieve God of the task
of punishing these unbelievers, and proceed to do it
themselves.

People in this stage of spiritual development are
usually quite strenuous. They declare certain days
to be "holy" (as if all days were not so) and insist
that certain places are holier than others. They claim
that certain peoples and races are "chosen" and favored,
and that the rest arc hated by Deity. They insist that
only a handful of men are to be "saved," and that
the majority of God's children are destined to ever-
lasting damnation and punishment. Hell is very hot
when seen from the viewpoint of Stage II. Hate,
arising from the feeling of self-righteousness, is a
marked characteristic of this stage — sects are formed,
and hate and jealousy are manifested between them.
Fear reigns, and the Divine Love is almost lost sight
of. The Brotherhood of Man is but a name in this
stage — all the brotherly feeling that is to be seen is
confined to the people belonging to some particular
sect. The outsiders are not "brothers," but "heathen,"
"pagans," "unbelievers," "dissenters," "heretics," etc.
The sense of the Oneness of All, which is instinctively
felt in Stage I (and both seen and felt in Stage III),
is apparently neither seen or felt in Stage II. In this
stage separateness seems to be the keynote. As the
race passes still further along in this stage, and In-

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tellect further unfolds, the reasoning faculties caasc
it to discard many superstitions and foolish notions
that had at one time seemed sacred and the truth itself.
Sheath after sheath is discarded as outworn and no
longer necessary, and usually a period of disbelief and
skepticism sets in. The old things have been thrown
aside, but nothing seems to have come to take their
place. But after this phase, the Spiritual Mind seems
to concentrate its effort to force into the field of con-
sciousness the internal evidence of the truth — of real
religion — of the teachings of Spirit. And Man grad-
ually pas.ses into Stage III.

Stage III people see good in everyone — ^in all things
— in every place. Some things are seen to be more
highly developed than others, but all are seen to form
a part of the great plan. The developed soul parts
with certain things from lack of desire, casting them
off as worn out tools or clothing. But it sees that
to others these same things are the best they have,
and are far better than some other things which these
undeveloped people had parted company with still
farther back. It sees that all of life is on the Path-
some a little farther advanced than others, but all
journeying in the same direction. It sees all learn-
ing their lessons and profiting by their mistakes. It
sees manifestations of both "good" and "bad" (rela-
tive terms) in each man and woman, but prefers to
look for the "good" in the sinner, rather than for
the "bad" in the saint. It sees in "sin" principally
mistakes, misdirected energy, and undeveloped mind.

The Stage III soul sees good in all forms of re-

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 91

Hgions — so much so that it finds it hard to follow the
narrow creeds of any particular one. It sees the
Absolute worshiped and recognized in all the concep-
tions of Deity that have ever originated in the human
mind, from the stone idol to the highest conception
of Deity known to any of "the churches," the differ-
ence being solely in the spiritual growth of the dif-
ferent worshipers. As man grows, his conception of
Deity advances— a man's idea of God is merely him-
self magnified. The God of the advanced man does not
appeal to the savage, any more than does the God of
the savage attract the advanced man. Each is doing
the best he can, and is setting up a conception corre-
sponding to his particular stage of growth. A writer
has aptly expressed this thought in these words: "A
man's god is himself at his best, and his devil is
himself at his worst." But devils pass away from
Man as his conception of Deity enlarges.

But the great distinguishing thought of the Stage
III man is his consciousness of the Oneness of All.
He sees, and feels, that all the world is alive and full
of intelligence in varying degrees of manifestation.
He feels himself a part of that great life. He feels
his identity with all of Life. He feels in touch with
all of nature—in all its forms. In all forms of life
he sees something of himself, and recognizes that
each particular form of life has its correspendence in
something within himself. This does not mean that
he is blood-thirsty like the tiger; vain like the pea-
cock; venomous like the serpent But, still he feels
that all the attributes of these animals are within

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himself — mastered and governed by his higher self—
but still there. And consequently he can feel for
these animals, or for those of his race in which the
animal characteristics are still in evidence. He pities
them, but does not hate his brother however much
that brother's traits may seem undesirable and hurtful
to him. And he feels within himself all the attributes
of the higher life as well as the lower, and he realizes
that he is unfolding and growing into these higher
forms, and that some day he will be like them.

He feels the great throbbing life of which he is a
part — ^and he feels it to be his life. The sense of sep-
arateness is slipping from him. He feels the security
that comes from this consciousness of his identity with
the All Life, and consequently he cannot Fear. He
faces to-day and to-morrow without fear, and marches
forward toward the Divine Adventure with joy in
his heart. He feels at home, for is not the Universe
akin to him — is he not among his own ?

Such a consciousness divests one of Fear, and Hate,
and Condemnation. It teaches one to be kind. It
makes one realize the Fatherhood of God and the
Brotherhood of Man. It substitutes a knowmg for a
blind belief. It makes man over, and starts him on
a new stage of his journey, a changed being.

No wonder that one in this Stage III is misunder-
stood by Stage II people. No wonder thit thev often
consider him to be a Stage I man because he fails
to see "evil" in what seems so to them. No wonder
that they marvel at his seeing "good" in things that
:!o not appear so to them. He is like a stranger in a

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. ^

strange land, and must not complain if he be misjudged
and misunderstood. But there are more and more of
these people every year— they are coming in great
quantities, and when they reach a sufficient number,
this old earth will undergo a peaceful revolution. In
that day man no longer will be content to enjoy lux*
ury while his brother starves — ^he will not be able
to oppress and exploit his own kind — he will not be
able to endure much that to-day is passed over with-
out thought and feeling by the majority of people.
And why will he not be able to do these things ? may
be asked by some. Simply because the man who has
experienced this new consciousness has broken 4ovftt
the old feeling of separateness, and his brother's pain
is felt by him — his brother's joy is experienced by
him — he is in touch with others.

From whence comes this uneasiness that causes men
to erect hospitals, and other charitable institutions—
from whence comes this feeling of discomfort at the
sight of suffering? From the Spiritual Mind that is
causing the feeling of nearness to all of life to awaken
in the mind of man, and thus renders it more and
more painful for them to see and be aware of the
pain of others — because they begin to feel it, and it
renders them uncomfortable, and they make at least
some effort to relieve it. The world is growing kinder
by reason of this dawning consciousness, although it
is still in a barbarous state as compared to its future
condition when Stage III becomes more common. The
race to-day confronts great changes— the thousand
straws floating through the air show from which di-

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rection the wind is coining, and whither it is blowing.
The breeze is just beginning to be felt — soon it will
grow stronger, and then the gale will come which
will sweep before it much that man has thought to be
built for ages. And after the storm man will build
better things— things that will endure. Have you
not noticed the signs — have you not felt the breeze?
But, mark you this— the final change will come not
from Hate, Revenge, or other unworthy motives — it
will come as the result of a great and growing Love
— a feeling that will convince men that they are akin ;
that the hurt of one is the hurt of all ; that the joy of
one is the joy of all— that all are* One. Thus will
come the dawn of the Golden Age.

We may have appeared to have wandered from our
text, but what we have said has a direct bearing upon
the question of sowing after the reaping — cf giving
after the receiving— of working after the acquiring
of new strength. The voice out of the silence will in-
deed say to all of us : Go forth and labor in my vine-
yard—labor not by strenuous effort, or by an attempt
to force the growth of living things — thy work is
best done by /im»^ — you are needed as leaven to
lighten the mass.

Here follows the next command from the little

manual :

ThoQ who are now a disciple, able to stand, able to bear,
able to see, able to apeak; who bast conquered desire, and
attained to self-knowledge; vrbo host seen tby soul in its
bloom, and recognized it, and beard the voice of the silenee
—go thou to the Ilall of Learning, and read what is written
there for thee.

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 95

Let us also read the note following this command;

it is very helpful:

NoCB.— To be able to stand, is to bave confldenee; to be
able to hear, is to have opened the doors of the soul; to
be able to see, is to have obtained perception; to be able to
speak, is to have attained the power of helping others; to
have conquered desire, is to have learned how to use and
control the self; to have attained to selMcnowlcdge, is te
have retreated to the inner fortress from whence the jMrsonal
man can be viewed with impartiality; to have seen thy sonl
in its bloom, is to have obtained a momentary glimpse in
thyself of the transflguration which shall eveotnally make
thee more thon man; to recognise, is to achieve the great
ta^ of gaeing upon the blazing light without dropping the
eyes, and not falling bach in terror as though before some
ghastly phantom. This happens to some; and so, when tbt
victory is all but won, it is lost. To hear the voice of silence^
is to understand that from within comes the only true guid*
ance: to go to the Hall of Learains, is to enter the state in
which learning becomes possible. Then will many words be
written there for thee, and written in fiery letters for thee
easily to read. For, when the disciple is ready, the Bilester
is ready also.

The disciple is spoken of as one able to stand ; able
to hear; able to see; able to speak. The conscious-
ness of the Real Self enables one to stand firmly upon
his feet — causes him to feel the Majesty of Self. It
enables him to hear the truth pouring in to him from
the thousand channels of life, all claiming kinship
with him, and willing and anxious to impart to him
knowledge and truth. It enables him to see life as
it is, in all its varied forms->to see his relation to
the Whole and all of its parts, and to recognize the
truth when it presents itself before him — it gives him
the clear vision of the Spirit. It enables him to speak
so that his words will reach others, even when he is
unconscious of the fact— he is possessed of that peace
which t»sseth understanding, and his inward state

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finds utterance in his everyday speech, and he adds a
little to the spiritual knowledge of the world.

The manual tells the student who has conquered
desire— that is. who has recognized desire for what it
is, who has attained to the knowledge of the Self;
who has seen his soul in its bloom, and recognized it,
and heard the voice of the silence ; to proceed to the
Hall of Learning, and read what is written there for
him. The little note throws additional light on the
passage which it follows. Its description of the sight
of "the soul in its bloom" is particularly interesting in
view of what we have said in our last lesson — it re-
fers to Illumination, or the dawn of spiritual con-
sciousness — the flower that blooms in the silence
that follows the storm. Well does its writer say that
it is "to have obtained a momentary glimpse in thy-
self of the transfiguration which shall eventually
make thee more than man ; to recognize is to achieve
the great task of gazing upon the blazing light with-
out dropping the eyes, and not falling hack in terror
as though before some ghastly phantom." Well has
the writer added that "This happens to some; and
so when the victory is all but won, it is lost." But
she might have added, that it is only temporarily lost,
for the memory will remain, and the soul will never
rest satisfied until it regains that which it lost. Some
who catch glimpses of their souls, shrink back in fright,
and treat the matter as a delusion, or some "wicked
thought." It upsets one's preconceived and conven-
tional notions to such a degree, in some instances,
that those experiencing it liegin to be afraid that they

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 97

are losing their virtue and goodness, because they
cease to condemn and hate "evil" as of yore— th^^
imagine that they are growing "bad/' and retreat
from the consciousness so far as they are able. They
fail to perceive that although one may hate the "bad"
things less, he loves the "good" things more than
ever— that is the things which are known to be good
by the Spiritual Mind, not the manufactured and
artificial "good" things that pass current as the real
article with the majority of people.

The little note also truthfully tells us that "To hear
the voice of the silence is to understand that from
within comes the only true guidance." Remember these
words— they are golden: "Understand that from
within comes the only true guidance" If you can
grasp the meaning of these words — and have the cour-
age to trust and believe them, you are well started
on the Path. If you will always live true to that little
voice within, there will be but little need of teachers
and preachers for you. And if we will but trust that
little voice, its tones will become plainer and stronger,
and we will hear it on many occasions. But if we
turn a deaf ear to it and refuse to heed its wammg
and guidance, it will gradually grow fainter and
fainter, until its voice is no longer distinguishable
amidst the roar and bustle of the material world.

The Hall of Leammg is the state of consciousness
which comes when the Spiritual Mind is allowed to
flow freely into the conscious mind. Little by little
tiie student is unpressed with the truth, so gradually,
often, that he scarcely realizes that it is advancing—*
but he is continually progressing and unfolding.

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The next four precepts are very important. Al-
though intended for quite advanced students, much of
their meaning may be grasped by those who have not
attained so fully. We will try to make a little plainer
these difficult passages.

1. Stand aside in the coming battle; and, tbongli thon

flghtest, be not thon the warrior. r

S. Look for the warrior, and let him flgbt in thee. f

3. Take bis orders for battle, and obey them.

4. Obey him, not as though he were a seneral, but as
though bo were thyself, and nis spoken words were the nt*
terance of thy secret desires: for be is thyself, yet infinitely
wiser and stronger than tnyself. Look for bin, else, in
the fever and hurry of the flgbt, thon mayest pass him;
and be will not know thee nnless thon knowest bin. If thy
ery reach hie listenins ear, then will he fight in thee, and
fill the dull void within. And, if this is so, then canst thon
so through the fight cool and unwearied, standing aside, and
letting him battle for thee. Then it will be impossible for
thee to strike one blow amisa But if thon look not for him,
if thou pass him by, then there is no safeguard for thee.
Thy brain will reel, thy heart grow uncertain, and, in the
dost of the Imttle-field, thy sight and lenses will fall, and
thou wilt not know thy friends from thy enemies.

He is thyself; yet thou are but finite, and liable to error.
He is eternal, and is sure. He is eternal truth. When onee
be has entered thee, and become thy warrior, he will never
utterly desert thee; and, at the day of the great peace, he
will Mcome one with thee.

These four precepts refer to the recognition of the

Real Self — Spirit — ^which is within each soul, and

which is constantly struggling to cast from itself (when

the time is ripe) each encumbering sheath of the lower

self which is hindering and confining it. The precepts

bid the soul to look within for the real source of

strength — to be guided by it — ^to allow it to manifest

freely through oneself— to be led by Spirit. When one

has sufficiently freed oneself from the restrictions and

confining bonds of the lower self, and is able to allow

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 99

Spirit to flow freely and manifest with a minimum
degree of resistance, tlien wilt Spirit act through him
and work for him, and guide him. And even the less
advanced soul may obtain the greatest benefit from
opening up itself to the inflow of the divine principle,
and allowing it to work through it The man who
is led by Spirit— who recognizes the existence of the
Real Self, and trusts it— may live in a great measure
apart from the turmoil and strife of the outer world.
Not that he may withdraw from the world (for that
is often cowardice), but he is able to take his place
in the great game of Life, and to do his work there
and do it well, and yet feel certain that while he is in
it he is not of it. He is able practically to stand aside
and see himself act. Spirit will guide him through
the struggle, and will see that he is nourished and
cared for, and will always act for his ultimate good.
It will lead him to that which is best for him, and will
attract to him that which he needs. Fear and unfaith
are the great obstacles to this free working of Spirit,
and until they are cast aside Spirit is hampered and
hindered .in its work. But when they are thrown
aside Spirit will be free to do its work.

The first precept : "Stand aside in the coming battle ;
and though thou fightest, be thou not the warrior,"
states this truth distinctly. Note that the precept does
not tell you to run away from the battle, or to hide
yourself, or to seek seclusion. On the contrary, it
distinctly assumes that you will fight. But it tells you
to "stand aside" (that is for you, in your present con-
sciousness to stand aside) and let tiie real self fight

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through you and for you. That ts, to allow Spirit to
lead you, and for you to be content with its leading.

The second precept is akin to the first. It tells
you to "Look for the warrior, and let him fight in *

thee." Look for him ; believe in him ; trust in him ;
recognize him—and let him fight the battle for you.

"Take his orders for battle, and obey them," says j

the third precept. If he places you in a certain ex-
posed position, where the enemy's fire is concentrated
upon you, and your retreat seems to be utterly cut
oflF, fear not but obey orders implicitly, for there is
a plan behind the orders, and you will in the end
triumph. Question not the orders, nor their result, for
they are given by a higher form of intelligence than
your present consciousness, and have a distinct (and
good) object in view. Spirit is moving for your ad-
vancement, and though it brings you temporary pain
and suffering, you will be a gainer in the end. And
if you once grasp the meaning of it all, you will not
feel the suffering and the pain as do others, for they
will be seen to be only temporary and fleeting, and
unreal, and you will lose sense of them in your knowl-
edge of the greater thing coming to you through and
by means of them.

The fourth precept tells you further to "Obey him,
not as though he were a general, but as though he
were thyself, and his spoken words were the utter-
ance of thy secret desires ; for he is thyself, yet in-
finitely wiser and stronger than thyself." This ad-
monition serves to warn us of the mistake of con-
sidering Spirit as an outside entity— a thing apart

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. loi

from ourself— and to remind us that it Is our real self
— ourself. Wiser and stronger than our present con-
ception and consciousness of self, is Spirit, and we
may trust it implicitly.

"Look for him, else, in the fever and hurry of tha
fight, thou mayest pass him; and he will not know
thee unless thou knowest him," continues the pre-
cept, and the warning is worthy of note. In the midst
of the fight we arc most apt to forget that the Real
Self is working through us, and, being excited and
inflated by success, we may imagine that zve (the con-
scious self) are doing all the work, and may cease
to look for the Spirit, and thus close the channel of
communication. "And he will not know thee, unless
thou knowest him,'' Unless you recognize Spirit
within, Spirit will not be able to work through you as
freely as would otherwise be the case. Unless you
recognize the existence of Spirit, you cannot expect
it to respond. Spirit's guidance is for those who de-
sire it and look for it.

"If thy cry reach his listening ear, then will he
fight in thee, and fill the dull void within." Note
the promise, and the statement that Spirit is listening
— ever listening— for your call for help. When you
become disheartened and discouraged — ^tired and worn
from the fight — wounded and bleeding from the strug-
gle—then cry to Spirit for help, and the listening ear
will hear thee and will "fight in thee and fill the dull
void within." He who opens himself up to Spirit no
longer is conscious of the "dull void within" which
has oppressed him for so long.

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"And if this is so, then canst thou go through
the fight and unwearied, standing aside, and letting
him battle for thee." You will pin that feeling of
calm content, tcnowing that thy warrior is invincible,
and that the battle must be yours in the end. He
who is conscious of Spirit working through him has
indeed acquired "that peace which passeth understand-
mg.

"Then it will be impossible for thee to strike one
blow amiss." True, indeed, for then eveiy act and
move is the act and movement of Spirit, and cannot
be amiss or wrong. No matter how meaningless or
mistaken the act or move may seem to the conscious
mind, at the time, later on it will be recognized as
having been the very best thing under the circum-
stances.

"But if thou look not for him, if thou pass him by,
then there is no safeguard for thee. Thy brain will
reel, thy heart grow uncertain, and, in the dust of the
battle-field, thy sight and senses will fail, and thou
will not know thy friends from thy enemies." Is not
this the experience of all of us before we rec(^ize
and trust Spirit's guidance? Have we hot gone
through these things, and suffered and grieved be-
cause we could see no light ; no hope? Long have we
cried aloud, demanding to know the reason of it all-
demanding to be told what viras truth ; what was right ;
what was wrong. And no answer has come to us,
until we threw off the confining bonds of the lower
self, and allowed the pure rays of Si^rit to pour into
our souls.

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 103

"He is thyself; yet thou are but finite, and liable
to error. He is eternal, and is sure. He is eternal
truth." The distmction between the lower, tempo-
rary, consciousness of self, and the reality, is liiere
pointed out. The paradox of the self and the Self is
here presented to you. Think well over it, and the
truth will gradually reach you— and having reached
you will never again depart from you, no matter how
dim it may seem at times.

"When once he has entered thee, and become thy
warrior, he will never utterly desert thee." Woh
derful promise. The consciousness of the existence
of the Spirit within you, once obtained, is never en-
tirely lost Though you may learn to doubt it, as not
having come through your ordinary senses, yet will
the memory linger with you — ^and when it is most
needed you will be able to recall the experience and
again open yourself to the inflow of the divine wis-
dom and power.

"And, at the day of the great peace, he will be-
come one with thee." In the time when sheath after
sheath has been cast off and the ilower of Spirit
unfolds in full bloom— when man shall become more
than man— then will the consciousness of the indi-
vidual melt into the "knowing" of Spirit, and the soul
will be at one with its highest principle. This will not
be a surrender of individuality— but, on the contrary
will be such an enlargement of individuality and con-
sciousness as can scarcely be imagined by the greatest
intellect of to-day. Then the great knowing, power,
and joy, of which we have gained a famt glimpse dur-

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104 ADVANCED COURSE.

ing the flash of illumination, will become a perma-
nent consciousness with us. Then will we pass Irom
the realms of the relative into the regions of the ab- i

solute.

We come now to another group of four precepts. s

Let us consider them. !(

8. listeo to the eong of life. i

6. Store io your memory the melody you hear. .

7. Leara from it the lesson of harmony.

8. You can stand upright now, firm as a rock amid tho T
turmoil, obeying the warrior who ja thyself and thy king.
Unconcerned in the battle save to do his l>iddinK, hnviof; uo

longer any care as to the result of the battle— for one thing
only is important, that the warrior shall win; and yon know
he is incapable of defeat—standing thus, cool nnd awnkoned,
use the hearing you have acquired by pain and by tho de
stniction of pain. Only fragments of the great song come
to your ears while yet you are but man. But, if you listen
to it, remember it faithfully, so that none which has reached
you is lost, and endeavor to learn from it the meaning of
tho mystery which surrounds you. In time you will need no
teacher. For as the individual has voice, so has that in wbich
the individual exists. Life itself has speech and is never
silent. And Its utterance is not, as you that are deaf may
suppose, a cry: it is a M>ng. I.iearn from it that you are
a part of the harmony; learn from it to obey the laws of the
harmony.

"Listen to the song of life."

The note that is attached to this precept is so beau*

tiful — so full of truth — so instructive — that we can

find nothing to add to it, and we insert it in this place

as the best possible explanation of the precept to

which it is attached:

NoTA—Look for it, and listen to it, first in your own
heart. At first yon may say it is not there; when I search
I find only discord. Look deeper. Tf again you are dia*
appointed, pause, and look deeper again. There ia a nat-
ural melody, an obscure fount, in every human heart. It
may be hidden over and utterly concealed and ailenced— <
but it is there. At the verv base of your nature, you will

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 105

And faitb, hope and love. He that chooses evil refuses to
look within himself, shots his ears to the melody of Us
hear^ as he blinds hia eyta to the light of bis sonl. He
does this beeaose he finds it easier to live in desires. Bnt
nndemeath all life is the strong eurreot that eannot In ehedced;
the great waters are there in realitjr. Find them, and you will
perceive that none, not the most wretched of creature^ bnt
U a part of it, however he blind himself to the fact, and
boild np for himself a phantasmal outer form of horror. In
that sense it is that I say to you; All those beings among
whom yon straggle on are fragmento of the Divine. And so
deceptive is the illnrion in which you live, that it is hard
to guess where yon will first detect the sweet voice in the
hearts of others. But know that it is certably within your-
self. Look for it there and, once having heard it, you will
more readily recognise it around you.

The sixtli precept : "Store in your memory the mel-
ody you hear," and the seventh precept ; "Learn from
it the lesson of harmony," relate to the fifth precept
and need no special explanation.

The eighth precept is full of information. It start '^
with the assurance that you (now being open to the
guidance of Spirit) can stand upright, firm as a rock
amid the turmoil, obeying the warrior (Spirit), who
is spoken of as being "thyself and thy king" (again
a reference to the relative and the absolute relation).

It speaks of the soul led by Spirit as being uncon-
cerned in the battle, save to do his (Spirit's) bidding.
and "having no longer any care as to the result cf
the battle" (that is, caring nothing about the apparent
result— the temporary defeats, pains, and trying cir-
cumstances)— for only one thing is important and
that is that Spirit should win, and win it must, for it
is invincible, and incapable of defeat. The soul is
spoken of as "standing thus, cool and awakened," and
using the hearing which it has acquired by pain and

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by the destruction of pain. This paradox of "pain
and the destruction of pain" is interesting. One nec-
essarily learns lessons from pain— many lessons may ^
be learned in no other way— and yet after the true
nature of pain is learned and fully impressed upon
the mind, then pain no longer is ^am— pain is de- g
stroyed, and another lesson is learned. And so the <
voice of the Spirit— the song of life— conies to the '
hearing- which has been awakened tjoth by pain and t
by the destruction of pain.

"Only fragments of the great song come to your
ears while you are but man." For when you reach the
stage when you may listen to the grand volume of
the divine song, then you are no longer man, but are
something far higher in the scale of spiritual evolu-
tion and life. But the mere fragments of the song
are so far beyond any other human experience that the
mere echo is worth living a life to hear. We are
further told that "if you listen to it, remember it faith-
fully, so that none which has reached you is lost, and
endeavor to learn from it the meaning of the mystery
which surrounds you," the voice of Spirit will beat
upon your ears, so that, in spite of the material inter*
ferences you will from time to time have borne in upon
your consciousness bits of knowledge which wilt seem
to come from another world. Light will be thrown
gradually upon the great problems of existence, and
veil after veil will be withdrawn.

The precept then gives us the glad tidings that:
"In time you will need no teacher. For as the indi-
vidual has voice, so has that in which the individual

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 107

exists. Life has speech and is never silent. And it
is not, as you that are deaf may suppose, a cry ; it is
a song. Learn from it that you are a part of the har-
mony ; learn from it to obey the laws of the harmony."
In time you will have passed beyond the need of a
human teacher, for the light of Spirit will illuminate
every object upon which you gaze, and the ears opened
by Spirit will hear the lessons coming from every
object in nature. In the stone; in the plant; in the
mountain; in the tempest; in the sunshine; in the
stars; in all things high or low; will you perceive that
great throbbing intelligent Ufe of which you are a part
—and from them will you hear notes of the great
song of life: "All is One; All is One." As the pre-
cept tells us, the sound from nature and nature's
things, is not a cry, as many have supposed, but a
great triumphant song — a song rejoicing in the flow
of life of the singer, and vibrating in unison with the
Absolute. "Learn from the song that you are a part
of the harmony ; learn from it to obey the law of the
harmony."

The next group of four precepts are along the same
lines as those preceding:

9. Begard carnestljr all the Ufe that Bttnonnds 70Q.

10. Learn to look intelligently into the hearts of men.

11. Regard most earnest^ your own heart.

12. For through your own heart eomea the one light
which can illuminate life, and make it clear to your eyee.

Study the hearts of men, that you may know what is
that world in which you live, and of which you will to be
a prt. Begard the constantly changing and moving life
which surrounds you, for it is formed by the hearts of men;
and, as you leans to understand their constitution and mean-
ing, you will Isy degrees be able to read the larger word of
life.

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The ninth precept: "Regard earnestly all the life
that surrounds you," refers to that part of the subject
mentioned by us in the preceding paragraph — the
knowledge that comes to one by viewing nature by the
light of the Spirit,

The tenth precept tells you to "Learn to look intelli-
gently into the hearts of men, that you may under-
stand the world of men, that forms a part of the great
world. By knowing men you will be able to help
them, and will also learn many lessons that will aid
you in your journey along the path. But take no-
tice of what the little accompanying note says regard-
ing this study of men. Here it is:

NoTC—From an atnolutely impersonal point of view, oth-
erwise your eight is colorea. TDerefore impersonality must
first bo understood.

Intelligence is impartial; no man is your enemy, no man
is your friend. All alike are your teachers. Your enemy
becomes a mystery that must be solved, even though it taim
ages; for man must be understood. Your friend beeoraes a
part of yourself, an extension of yourself, a riddle hard to
read. Only one thing is more difficult tn know— your own
heart. Not until the bonds of personnli^y are loosed, can
that profound mysteiy of self begin to be seen. Not until
you stand aside from it, will It in any way reveal Itself to
your understanding. Then, and not till then, can you grasp
and guide it. Then, and not till then, can yon nee »U its
powprs, and devote them to a worthy service.

The eleventh precept tells >ou to "Regard most

earnestly your own heart." And the twelfth precept

goes on to say : "For through your own heart comes

the one light which can illuminate life, and make it

clear to your eyes." In your own nature you will find

all that is in the nature of other men— high and low

—pure and foul— it is all there, the foul outlived, per*

haps— the pure yet to be lived, perhaps— but all there

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. 109

And if you would understand men, and their motives,
and their doings, and their thoughts, look within,
and you will understand other men better. But do
not identify yourself with all the thoughts you may
find in your heart. View them as would an outsider,
look at them as you would upon objects in a case in
a museum — useful to study but not to make a part
of your life. And, remember this, that none of the
things in your heart is good enough to use or master
you — although many of them may be used by you to
advantage, YOU are the master, and not the mas-
tered—that is if you are a delivered soul.

The thirteenth precept says that: "Speech comes
only with knowledge. Attain to knowledge, and you
will attain to speech." The little accompanying note
is explanatory (in part) of this precept. We here-
with print it:

NoTE.~It is impossible to belp others till you have obtained
sonic certainty of your own. When you have learned the
first twenty>one rules, and have entered the Hall of Learning
with your powers developed and sense unchained, then yon
will find there ia a fount within you from which speech
will arise.

Do not be worried if you anticipate being called upon
to impart words of comfort and knowledge to others.
You need not prepare yourself. The person will draw
forth from you (through Spirit's guidance) just what
is best for him or her. Fear not— have faith.

We must come to an end. We have tried to explain,
partially, the wonderful teachings pf this little man-
ual-— "Li'gftf on the Path," so that the beginner, per-
haps, might be able to grasp the loose end of the
teaching, and then gradually unwind the ball at his

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leisure. The task has grown heavier, and the work
less satisfactory, as the precepts passed before us.
Words are finite— truth is infinite—and it is hard to
even attempt to explain infinite truth in finite words.
The thirteenth precept is the last one that we may
consider. The remaining ones must be read alone by
the student, with the light of the Spirit. They are only
for those who have attained spiritual sight, and to such
their meaning will be more or less plain, according to
the degree of unfoldment which has come to the in-
dividual.

We feel that our task has been poorly executed, al-
though many have written us that these lessons have
opened their spiritual eyes, and that many things here-
tofore very dark, are now seen plainly. We trust
that this is indeed so, and that many more may ob-
tain help and comfort from our words, although to
us it seems that we have written nothing. And yet,
we know that if these words had not some task a.*-
signed to them — if they were not intended to form a
part of the great work, they never would have been
written. So wc send them forth to go where they
will, without a full knowledge on our part of their
destination. Perhaps some into whose hands they
may fall may understand better than do we why
they were written and sent forth. They were pro-
duced at the dictates of Spirit — let Spirit attend to
the placing of them where they are called for.

In our following lessons we will take up other
phases of occultism which may be of interest and
profit to our students. But before leaving the beau-
tiful precepts and teachings of "Light on the Poth,"

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. in

let us ni^ upon our students the importance of that
little manual. It contains within its pages the great-
est amount of high spiritual teaching ever combined
into so small a space. Let not the student imagine that
he has mastered it, because he seems to understand its
general teachings. Let him read it again a little later
on, and he will see new beauties in it We have never
met a student— no matter how highly developed — ^who
could not learn something from the little manual. Its
teachings are capable of being interpreted in many
different ways, for it portrays the experiences of the
soul as it journeys along the path. You will remem-
ber that the upward ascent is along the spiral path, and
the soul goes around and around but ever mounting
higher. One may think he grasps the meaning of the
first precepts of the little manual, but as he again
reaches a certain point, just one round higher, he may
again take up the first precepts and find in them new
meaning suitable for his newly discovered needs. And
so on, and so on. Not only is there spiritual progres-
sion along spiral lines extending over ages, but in
each life-time there is a spiral path to be mounted,
as will be apparent to all of us who will stop to consider
the matter. The soul which has not found the en-
trance to the path, seems to go around and around in
a circle, traveling over the same ground, and making
no real progress. But once it discovers the little path
which enters the circle at one of its points, and takes
steps thereon, it finds that while it still goes around
and around, it i« really traveling the spiral, and is
mounting one round higher with each turn. And we
know of no little book so helpful on the journey as
this little manual— "Li^Af on the Path."

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We trust that we may be pardoned for inserting in
this lesson the following words from our introduc-
tion to the little manual in question. They are as ap-
propriate at the close of this lesson as at the ban-
ning* of the little book :

The treatise, "Lioht ok the Path," is a classic among
occultists, and is the best guide known for those who have
taken the first step nn the Path of Attainment. Its writer
bas veiled the meaning of the rules in tlie way always cus-
tomary fo mystitia, so that to the one who has no grasp on
the Truth these pages iviU probably appear to ))c o mass of
pontradictiona and practically devoid of Rcnsc. But to the
one to whom a glimpBc of the inner life hns been given,
these pages will Iw a treaeiiry of the rarest jewels, and each
time he opens it he will wc new gems. To ninny this little
iMJok will bo the first revelation of that which they have
been all their lives blindly scoking. To many it will be the
first bit of spiritual bread given to satisfy the hunger of the
soul. To many it will he the tlrnt cup of water from the
spring of life, given to quench the thirst whi<.-h bns consumed
them. Those for whom this book is intended will reeofinizc
its message, and after rending it they will never be the
same as before it came to tliem. As the poet has said:
"Where I ]>a88 all my children know me," and so will the
Children of the Light recogniee this book as for them. As
for the others, we can only say that they will in time be
ready for this great weaeage. The book is intended to pyro-
itolize the successive steps of the neophyte in occultism as he
progrca(«s in the lodge work. The rules arc prnctjcally
those which were given to the neophytes in the great lodge
of the Brotherhood in ancient Egypt, and which for gesera-
tions have been taught by gum to chela in India. The
peculiarity of the rates herein laid down, is that their inner
meaning unfolds as the student progressea oo The Path.
Some Tvill be able to understand a nnmber of ^ese ralea,
while others will see but dimly even the first steps. The
student, however, will find that when he has flmly planted
his foot on one of these steps, he will find the one jast ahead
bmoming dimly illuminated, en as to give him confldenee to
take the nest step. Let none be discouraged; the fact that
this book attracts yon is the message to you that it is intended
for you, and will in time unfold its meaning. Read it over
and over olteo, and you will find veil after veil lifted, though
veil iipon veil still remains between you and the Absolute.

LESSON V.
Karma Yoga.

The Yogi Philosophy teaches that while there is
but one goal lor true human endeavor— one end to be
sought — still there are different paths to that goal,
each path best suited to the particular temperament
of the individual. Temperament, of course, is not the
result of accident or chance, but is the result of the
[mrticular development of the soul in its evolution,
and represents the particular line of thought (and
resulting action) which has been pursued by the soul
in its development. It is a very real thing at each
stage of unfoldment, and forms the line of least re-
sistance for the individual. And, so, the Yogis teach
that the particular path best adapted to the require-
ments of the temperament and tastes — that is, to the
desires — of each individual soul, is the one for him to
follow. They divide the Path of Attainment into three
sub-paths leading up to the main road. They call the
three paths (i) Raja Yoga, (2) Karma Yoga, (3)
Gnani Yoga; each of these forms of Yoga being a
path leading to the great read, and each fit to be trav-
eled by those who may prefer it— but all leading to
the same place.

Saja Yoga is the path followed by those who fed
inclined to develop the powers latent in Man— the
gaining of the control of the mental faculties by the
Will— the attainment of the mastery of the lower
self— the development of the mind, to the end that

lis

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the soul may be aided In its anfoldment. Karma
Yoga is the Yoga of work — the path of action. Gnani
Yoga is the Yoga of Wisdom. In addition to the
above mentioned three forms of Yoga, there is that
which is known as "Bhakti Yogi," or the Yoga of
devotion— the path of religious feeling. Some writers
treat this path as if it were distinct from the others —
a separate path — but we prefer thinking and teaching
that it is merely an incident of each of the three paths,
as we cannot conceive of any student of Yoga divorc-
ing his work from the love and devotion to the Abso-
lute — to God. We fail to see how one may follow
any of the several Yoga paths without being filled
with love and reverence for the great centre of all
life. In these lessons we will speak of Bhakti Yogi
separately, but we wish to be understood that we do
not consider it a separate thing, but feel that the stu-
dent of any, or all, of the forms of Yogi must com-
bine Bhakti Yogi with his favorite form of study.
In this lesson we will take up the branch of the
subject known as "Karma Yoga"— the Yoga of ac-
tion — of work. But we must explain that although
the necessities and tendencies of the student may
make this path the more attractive to him, still he
may take a keen interest in the other forms of Yogi,
such as Gnani Yoga, Raja Yoga, etc. And the stu-
dents of these other branches must not overlook
Karma Yoga as being ^neath their notice, for it is
a matter which concerns their daily life, and in this
Western world where nearly all men live a life of

KARMA YOGA. 11$

action, the student must combine tiie principles of
Karma Yoga with his other studies.

This lesson will be devoted to Karma Yoga. The
next lesson will take up the subject of Gnani Yoga.
The one following Gnani Yoga will take up that
branch of the subject known as Bhakti Yoga. We
will not touch upon Raja Yoga in these lessons, as
we are now preparing a separate book upon that
branch of Yoga.

Before considering Kamg Yoga it may be well
for us to take a general view of the subject of Yoga.
What is the end and aim of the teachings and the
practices? What does it all mean? What is Man
seeking for in all these endeavors? What does life,
and growth, and development, and evolution mean?
These arc questions that thinking people are con-
stantly asking, and which but few are able to answer
even partially.

The Yogi Philosophy teaches that the end of all
human endeavor and life is to allow the soul to unfold
until it reaches union with Spirit. And as Spirit is
the divine part of man— the bit of God-material in
him— this union eventually will result in what is known
as Union with God — that is the bringing of the indi-
vidual soul into conscious touch and union with the
centre of all life.

Some may think and teach that the end of human
life is happiness, and this is true if they mean the
real happiness of the soul— the only true happiness.
But if they mean the relative and transitory thing
usually called "happiness," they quickly find tiiiat they

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are pursuing a "will-o'«the-wi8p/' that constantly re*
cedes as they approach it True happiness is not to
be found in relative things, for these turn to ashes
like Dead Sea fruit, the moment we reach out to
grasp them. We may find a certain amount of happi-
ness in the pursuit of things, but when we pluck the
fruit it withers. No matter how high may be the
thing pursued in the chase for happiness, the result
is the same. Relative things cannot help being rela-
tive and consequently f«de away. They are crea-
tures of time and space and while they serve their pur-
poses they cannot live beyond their time. They are
mortal, and like all mortal things must die. Only the
absolute thing remains unchanged, and is deathless.
And all this struggle, and pain, and life, and ef-
fort, really is directed toward the unfoldment of the
soul that it may recognize its real self. This is wha*.
it all means. This is why we pursue first this thing
and then that thing, thinking that we need them, only
to find out that we need them not. We feel a hunger
that cannot be appeased — a thirst that will not be
quenched. And we try all the experience of life,
sometimes feverishly and eagerly, sometimes listlessly
and sluggishly, but find them all to be shadows and
unrealities. But the hunger and thirst still remain,
and torment us to further e£Eorts. And tills wiM be
so always, until we learn that the thing we desire
is within us, instead of outside of us— «nd when we
learn this lesson, even faintly, we begin to seek intel-
ligently and are changed bdngs. This is the mean-
ing of life— ^f evoluticni.

KARMA ye®A. 117

The great majority of the race is engaged in this
pursuit of happiness in a blind, unconscious fashion.
They run hither and thither, trj'ing one thing after an-
other hoping to find that intangible something that
they instinctively feel will bring them peace and hap-
piness. And, although meeting wilh repeated disap-
pointments, they keep up the search with unabated
zeal, being impelled thereto by the unfolding soul cry-
ing for that which is necessary to it. As the soul
awakens and unfolds, through experience after ex-
perience, it gradually obtains an intelligent and con-
scious conception of the true nature of that for which
it seeks, and thereafter it follows only the roads which
lead to the thing so long sought after, but so recently
known to be the sought-after thing.

Many Western seekers after truth have complained
that the philosophies of the East were not adapted
to the needs and requirements of the West-
cm student, as the conditions of life were so
different in the two parts of the world. This
objection, if it were sustained, would be positive proof
that the teachings of the East were not sound and
true, for any true and sound teaching and philosophy
must be applicable to all sorts and conditions of men,
irrespective of race, climate, country, occupation, sur-
roundings or environment. If the teachings are not
fitted for the wants of every soul they are unsound,
and must be discarded. Even the lowliest, humblest
and vilest of the race must be taken into consideration,
or the teachings fall short of being the truth. For
even that lowlv individual, as well as the most exalted

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(in the world's estimation) form part of the race,
and are under the law and cannot be left out.

The trouble with these objecting Western students
is that they have considered the Eastern teachings to
be fit only for those who could spend their Hfe in
dreaming, meditating, and in seclusion far away from
the busy world. But this is a great mistake. It is
true that some Eastern students follow (his retired
life, and obtain great results therefrom — this is their
Karma— the result of desire and tendencies acquired
in their past lives. But no true Yc^i would think of
teaching that this plan was the only one— or even the
best one for all students. On the contrary, he recog-
nizes that even in the East a life of activity is right
and proper for those who are thrown into it, and
that to shirk its duties or run away is a violation of the
great law. This being so, it follows that the intense
activity of the Western races (all of which Is in ac-
cordance with well established laws, and a distinct
and well understood stage of evolution) renders seclu-
sion and retirement literally impossible lor thousands
of earnest students, who must follow the path or plan
called for by their Karma. And they gladly point
out to such students the beauties and advantages of
that branch of their philosophy known as "K!anna
Yoga," which we take up in this lesson.

The word "Karma" comes from the Sanscrit word
"Kri," meaning "to do"; "to act." "Karma" is more
frequently used to designate what may be caOed the
"effect of actions." In our "Fourteen Lessons" we
have considered the Eastern teachings of Karma, un>

KARMA YOGA. 119

der the chapter entitled "Spiritual Cause and Effect."
In that chapter we gave you a brief description of
the law of cause and effat in the spiritual world—
how the effects of actions follow actions, just as ac-
tions follow thoughts. The real effect of actions is
really the effect of thoughts, as actions result from
thoughts.

We are what we are today, simply because we
have done, or left undone, certain things in our past
lives. We have had certab desires, and have acted
upon them, and the result is manifested today. We
do not mean that we are literally being "punished"
because we have done certain things in the past —
for punishment (as such) forms no part of the law.
But we have desired to do certain things, and have
done them so far as we were able, and the inevitable
results' came in their train. We put our fingers into
the fire and we are now nursing the bum — ^that's all.
These things that we did in the past were not neces-
sarily "bad" things. We merely may have become un-
duly attached to certain things, and our attachment
and desires have brought upon us certain effects,
which effects, while perhaps more or less unpleasant
and painful, are good because they teach us that we
do not want the thing we had sought, and we will
not make the same mistake again. Moreover, once
we have had our eyes opened so that we understand
the nature of our trouble, the smart of the bums de-
creases and the hurt fades away.

This spiritual law of cause and effect is known in
the East as "Karma." When the Eastern students

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speak of one's "Karma," they mean that which has come
to the person in pursuance of that law, or that which
is attached to him by its operations. Everyone has
generated Karma, the efTects of which are manifest-
ing constantly. There is no reason why we should
feel frightened or disturbed at this knowledge. A
realization of the truth enables us to live out out
Karma with the mininutin degree of jiain and trouble,
and also prevents us from ac«iuiring new undesirable
Karma. Our Karma may be pleasant, or unpleasant,
according to the causes we have set into operation, or
they may be made pleasant or unpleasant by our
mental attitude toward them. The philosopher may
transmute "bad" Karma into "good" by refusing to
see the "bad" in it, and the ignorant person may find
fault with the best of Karma.

Many students of the Eastern philosophies seem to
regard this law of .Spiritual Cause and Effect — Karma
— as a system of punishment decreed, regulated an<l
administered by the spiritual powers that be. This is
erroneous. While Karma often docs act as a pun-
ishment—that is, as an equalizing and deterring factor
— yet there is no element of revenge in it — no plan of
Divine "getting even." It is simply cause and effect.
It is difficult to explain just what we mean, without
giving specific examples, which plan is almost impos-
sible in a work of this kind. We may say, however,
that one who is possessed with a desire for power,
which desire he constantly nourishes and feeds with
.selfish thoughts, is sure to become inwlved in a se-
quence of causes and effects which may cause him

KARMA YOGA. Ml

the greatest pain and suffering, physical or menta].
He may attain his desire, sooner or later, if his desire
be sufficiently strong and persistent, but he is very apt
to suffer from unsatisfied longings which have been
smothered out by the over-ruling passion. He may
gain his prize at the cost of all else dear to him. Or,
his desire not being so strong as a like desire in
some other minds, he may not attain his goal, but will
be ground to pieces in the great mental or psychic
machinery which he has helped to set into motion,
and into which he is irresistibly drawn. When a
man has a keen desire for the fruit of some action, he
is very likely to start into motion (in connection with
others) certain psychic machinery, which either may
work to his advantage, or else may grind him to pieces,
according to the circumstances of the case, his strength
of purpose, or his mental powers. Men are often
blown up by their own tombs, or consumed in Rres of
their own starting. They get "mixed into things" and
often suffer from that course.

Even those who attain that for which they have
been seeking (either in this life or in some future
one) may be greatly disappointed and may find life a
curse. The autocratic ruler may suffer untold mental
agonies, and the multi-millionaire may be more un-
happy than the beggar at his gates. But, not only is
this so, but those who have entered the race, and have
not been able to keep up with the winners, are tosseil
•abotit, pushed, thrown down and trampled upon, and
otherwise hurt, because they have entered the race
They not only suffer from disappointment, but are

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hurt besides. We recall a man who started to hate
certain persons— hated them bitterly — tried to injure
♦hem in every possible way. The result was that he
entangled himself in the psychic machinery of hate <

which is in full operation in the world, and before long
brought upon himself the hatred and enmity of hun- '

dreds of other persons, and was hurt in mind and
purse, and suflfered great agony and mental torture.
Of those whom he had started to hate, he succeeded c

in hurting only one person, and that person was a r

man also living on the "hate plane" of thought, who i

naturally attracted to himself thoughts and actions i

of like nature. But the lesson was a valuable one to
the first mentioned man, for his eyes were opened to
the folly and consequences of hate, and thereafter he
refused to allow himself to become entangled in its
net. Those who play the game of hate must not com*
plain if they are hurt. Those who are entangled in
the machinery of greed must not complain if they suf«
fer from some shrewder person on the same plane.
Those who pin their lives upon some material object^
must not wonder if they suffer pain through the per-
son or thing to whom they attach themselves so closely.
"But," one may say, "how am t to escape these
things if I am in the active world at all? How may
I escape the effects of actions?" The Yogi Philosophy
answers: "By taking part in the great game of life
— by going through its motions— by doing the best
thing possible for you— but all the time rememlKring-
tiiat you do not allow yourself to become attached to
the fruits of the work. Work for work's sake— do

KARMA YOGA. laj

your part in the world gladly, cheerfully, willingly
and heartily, but realize that the fruits are as naught
in the end, and laugh at the thought that these rela-
tive things have any real value to you." To a consid-
eratton of this answer, we will devote tiie remainder
of this lesson. We trust that we shall be able to
show you that this advice, as impracticable and dif-
ficult as it may seem at first sight, is not only prac-
ticable to the most strenuous business worker of the lot'
but is the only true plan of life. This old Eastern
Wisdom seems to be particularly adapted to the re-
qutrentents of the busy Western world at this time,
although, on the surface, it may seem to fly in the
face of modem progress.

But, at this place, we must remind the student that
these teachings will be accepted by only a few of
the race. The great majority of people are too much
infatuated with the present condition of things— the
pulling down, and climbing over the dead bodies of
their brothers— the cannibalism and savagery of mod-
em industrial and commercial life — ^to follow any other
course. This being so, they will continue to eat and
be eaten — ^kill and be killed — crush down and be
crushed down — ^hate and be hated. And those who
deal out these things to others—and who take a de-
light in them— bring themselves under the operation
of the law of cause and effect to such an extent that
they become enmeshed in the machinery, and often get
ground up while expecting to aid in the tearing apart
of others.

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The few who are ready for the teachings, will uu>
derstand what we mean and will be able to stand
aside and see themselves fight and struggle in the
rush, while their soul stands apart from the fray.
They will live the same life and do the same things
as their undeveloped brothers— that is, apparently—
but they will know the truth and keep themselves free
from being drawn into the machinery, or entangled
in the nets.

We are asked frequently, "What would become of
things if every one were to follow your teachings?"
We might answer that the whole structure of modem
life would fall to pieces, to be succeeded by something
infinitely better. But there is no need for this an-
swer, because there is no likelihood of the majority
of the race accepting these teachings in the near fu-
ture. A greater number are accepting them every
day, but at the best, those who accept and live them
will be but a handful in the crowd of those who live
and act. Many years of struggle, and trial— en-
deavor and experiment — ^must come before the race, as
a whole, is ready to take even the first step toward
improvement. We say this, not in sadness, but phil-
osophically, knowing that all the struggle and pain is a
necessary part of the evolution of the race. (When
we speak of "these teachings" we do not refer to the
particular presentation of the truth given through us,
but to the various forms of these teachings which are
behig given through hundreds of teachers of the va«
rious schools at this time.)

KARMA YOGA. las

One of the first things to be learned by' the Karma
Y<^ is that he is a unit in the whole machinery or
plan of life. He has his place and must take his part
in the work. But, no matter how important his po*
sition— -or how responsible a place he is called u^n
to fill->he is but a unit in the plan, and must he
willing to be used in accordance with that plan. And
however lowly or unimportant he may seem to be,
he is still a unit having a pur{K)se and work. Noth<
ing is unimportant, and the most important is still
subject to the law underlying the plan. We must
all play our parts — play them well— not only because
we are working out our o*vn development and evo-
lution, but also because we are being used by the Di-
vine Mind as a pawn, or higher piece, in the great
game of life. Not that we are mere automatons — far
from that — ^but that our interests are bound up with
that of the race, and wc touch all mankind at some
point. Wc must be perfectly willing to be so used,
and we will find that the willingness prevents friction
and pain. It is difficult to express this point as clearly
as we would like to do, but we trust that our meaning
will be made clear as we proceed.

Our lives are not merely for the development of our
individuality, but we ate needed to play upon and be
played upon by other individualities, that the entire
race be assisted in its upward trend. A certain piece
of work may seem to us to be useless as a part of our
own development, but that particular bit of work is
evidently needed in some part of the great plan and
we should perform our part willingly. Every move

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and position has a meaning, just as a move in a game
of chess apparently may be devoid of meaning and
purpose, but, later in the game, it will be seen to have
been the first move in a great plan. And, so the true
Karma Yogi allows himself to be moved by the Spirit
without complaint, knowing that all will be well with
him, and that the move is needed to effect certain
combinations or changes in the great game of life be-
ing played by alt men. Those who do not understand
this secret of the inner workings of the game, generally
rebel and set up resistance to these enforced moves,
and thereby cause themselves great pain and suffering
from the friction — the resistence causes a forcible move
— while the awakened soul, seeing things as they are,
smiles and allows itself to be moved, and consequently
escapes the pain, and generally reaps a positive bene-
fit from the change, although it does not expect such
benefit as a reward. It simply recognizes the Master
Hand making the move, willingly allows itself to
be moved to another square, and used to eflfect a new
combination.

This is not a mere dream of transcendental philoso-
phy. It would surprise many of you to be told that
some of the leading figures in every branch of human
effort recognize this force behind them, and have
learned to trust to it. Let us give you the testimony
of a very prominent man — one whose name is known
all over the world as a great leader and "master of
circumstances." He has no knowledge of the Eastern
teachings (or, had not at the time of the following
statement), but several years ago he confided tiie fol-

KARMA YOGA. 137

lowing information to a friend of his, who repeated
it to us. This "captain of industry" said : "The pub-
h'c give me credit with being a most strenuous char-
acter, and as planning a long way ahead some won-
derful combinations and schemes. They are quite
wrong. I plan very little ahead, in fact, often see
no more than one .step at a time, although the general
plan seems to be stored away somewhere in my mind.
I feel that to a great extent I am merely a pawn in
a great game of chess, and am being used by some
great power as a means of working some great changes
in things and men, although I am ignorant of what
these changes are. I do not feci that I am favored
by Providence for any special good in me, for, with-
out mock modesty, I may truthfully say that I feel
that I do not deserve any special reward, for I am no
better or wiser than my fellows. I cannot help feel-
ing, at times, that the things I do are done for some
other people, possibly the race, although many of my
acts, or rather the results of my acts may seem in
the direction of working injury to the public at large.
I get no special pleasure from my money, although
I feel a keen interest in the game of making it, for
the time being, and when a thing is accomplished
I feel like flinging it away like a wornout toy. I do
not know what it all means, to be sure, but am sure
it means something. Some day, perhaps, I may be
stripped of my possessions, but I feel that even If that
happens I will be given something that will repay
me for my apparent loss. I noticed this thing early
in h"fe, and I .soon learned to be "Jed" or moved by it

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whatever it is. When I resisted, I found that I wee
hurt somehow, but that when I allowed myself to
be moved without resistance, I was successful. Some-
times Z laugh to see how the public regard my "achieve-
ments" when really I have been merely a checker-man
or pawn in some great game, the mover of which I
do not know, and of whom I have no reason to be-
lieve myself a special favorite."

This man, unconsciously, stumbled upon one of the
principles of "Karnm Yoga" — that principle which is
known as "The Secret of Work." He cares little for
results— for the fruits of his work— although he feels
a keen interest in the game while it is being played.
He docs not seem to be "attached" to the fruits of his
work, although this is not apparent to those who view
him from a distance. He feels that he is a cog in
the great machinery, and is willing to play his part.
Many of the things he does, or apparently does (the
doing is really done by many men, whose interests con-
flicting and agreeing, focus upon him) bear hard upon
many of the race, but close observers see that he, and
others of his kind, are unconsciously paving the way
for the great economic changes that are coming to
the race, and which are based upon a dawning con-
sciousness of the Brotherhood of Man. We do not
hold out this man as an illustration of a Karma Yogi
—he is not that, because he lives the life unconsciously
and without understanding, while the Karma Yogi is
fully conscious of what it all means and understands
the causes behind it. We merely cite tMs case as an
illustration of its common occurrence. Manv others

KARMA YOGA. 129

in all walks of life are practicing some of the prin*
ciples of Karnm Yoga more or less unconsciously.
They speak of taking life "philosophically," by which
they mean they are not allowing themselves to become
"attached," or to take too seriously the fruits of
their labors, attained or anticipated. They work, more
or less, from a love of work — "work for work's sake"
—they like to be "doing things," and take a pleasure
in the game of life, that is, in the game itself rather
than in its prizes. They play the game— play it well
—play it with a zest—take an interest in its workings
and details. But as for the trumpery prizes that are
to be awarded to the winners, they want none ot them,
let those who value those things have them, the real
player has outgrown such childishness.

Fame, position, prestige, the world's cheap favors
arc despised by the strong men — they see them as tht-
baubles that they are. They leave such things for the
children. They may allow the prize ribbon to be
pinned to their coats, but in their hearts they smile at
it. The other players in the game may not detect this
inner consciousness, and to all intents and purposes
the awakened player may be like those around him —
but he hmvs, and they know not

"The Secret of Work"— non-attachtnent-HS the key-
note of Karma Yoga. Non-attachment does not mean
that the student of such should repress all enjoyment.
On the contrary, it teaches that this principle, if faith-
fully followed, will cause one to enjoy everytHng.
Instead of taking away his pleasure, it will multiply it
a thousand-fold. The difference lies 111 the fact that

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the attached man believes that his happiness depends
upon certain things or persons, while the freed man
realizes that his happiness comes from within and
not from any outside thing, and he, therefore, is able
to convert into pleasure*producing things, circum«
stances which otherwise would cause dissatisfaction
and even pain. So long as one is tied or attached to
any particular person or thing, so that his happiness
seems dependent thereon, he is a slave of that person ,
or thing. But when he frees himself from the en-
tangling influences, he is his ovm master, and has
within himself an unfailing source of happiness. This
does not mean that we should not love others — on the
contrary we should manifest abundant love, but the
love must not be selfish — ^but we will speak of that
phase of the subject a little later on.

To the man living the attached life, the Karma
Yoga plan may seem foolish, and likely to result in *
failure or half-hearted effort. In this view he is \
wrong. Who is apt to do the best work in a shop, i
office, or workroom— the man who works merely for I
his wage, and who keeps his eye on the clock in order I
that he may not give a minute overtime, or the man
who, while looking to his occupation to furnish him
with a comfortable livelihood, is so interested and in
love with his work that he almost forgets that he is
working for money, and during certain hours, but
is fairly carried away with his task? Many such
workers exist, and they are practicing a form of Karma
Yoga, although they know it not. The test work of
the world Is produced In- men who take an interest

KARMA YOGA. 131

in %tr taskSj and do not go through the motions of
work simply to earn their wage. The instinct that
causes the artist to paint a great picture— the writer
to produce a great book— the musician to compose a
great work— will cause a man to make a success of
any line of work. It is work for work's sake— work
for the joy of the worker. All great work is produced
in this way.

To many the mystic is regarded as a visionary per-
son, unfit for the work of the world — a mere dreamer
— ^a weaver of idle speculations. But those who have
looked beneath the surface, realize that the "practical
mystic" is a man to be reckoned with in any branch
of human endeavor. His very non-attachment gives
him a strength that the attached man lacks. The mys-
tic is not afraid — he is daring — ^he knows that his
happiness and success depends upon no particular com-
bination, and that he will emerge safe and sound from
the most impromising combination of circumstances.
He feels that he is standing on solid rock— that he
has the power of the Universe back of him. This
gives him a strength and courage unknown to the
man who stakes his entire happiness upon the suc-
cess of some particular thing, and who feels that he is
doomed to despair if that thing does not succeed.
The unattached man allows the stream of life to play
upon him, and through him, and takes a fierce joy in
being a part of it all. He goes out into a crowded
thoroughfare, and sees the movement of the people,
and feels it all to be a part of himself— lie feels him-
self as a part of it all. He is conscious of the activity,

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growtfa and motion of the mass of people, and eojoya
it all. He is not afraid, for he knows what it all
means. He is moved from one sphere of activity to
another, and knows it to be the work of the forces
behind him, which are friendly to him. He works
away, from the very joy of it, and takes the keenest
interest in the masterful performance of his task.
And, because of this he does the best of work. But
for the results of the work — that is, for the reward
and praise — ^he cares nothing. He can turn to an-
other task with equal pleasure, and forget all about
the one just completed. He is not attached to it — it
lias not entangled him in its meshes.

Such a man is sure to draw a proper support from
his work — it comes to him as his right. Those who
have mastered Karma Yoga, while not caring for the
vanities and show of life, nevertheless find themselves
supplied with a recompense sufficient to supply their
wants and to render them comfortable. Of course
their wants are comparatively few — their tastes are
always simple, and manifest in the desire for fewer
things but better ones — but they draw their means
of support to them as the tree or plant draws nourish-
ment from the soil, water and air. They do not pur*
sue wealth any more than they pursue happiness, and
yet happiness comes to them unasked, and the means
of support are found at their hand. The man who
has freed himself from the entanglements of the ma*
terial life, finds a keen joy in the mere living;, that
the attached man never finds even in his most suc-
cessful moments.

KARMA YOGA. 133

Anything. If sought as the expected source of hap-
piness, when finally found is seen to carry in its bosom
the sting of pain. But if one ceases to look upon the
thing as the source of happiness, and regards it as
simply one of the incidents and accompaniments of
life, then the poison is neutralized and the sting is
blunted. If one looks to Fame as the thing that will
bring the long sought for happiness, he will find when
he hecomes famous that his success has brought with
it many painful things that will kill the joy of his at-
tainment. But to the one who is freed and who works
for the love of work without allowing himself to
be attached, Fame may come as an incident and its
pain will not be in evidence.

Many things to which men devote their entire lives
bring more pain than happiness. And thi» simply
because men look to the thing for liappiness instead of
to themselves. The moment one pins his chance of
happiness to an outside thing or person, he opens the
door to pain and unhappiness. For no outside person
or thing can satisfy the longings of the soul, and the
disappointment which will come — and which must
come, of necessity— from such dependence upon person
or thing, causes pain and sorrow instead of the ex-
pected happiness.

Even Love, that noble emotion, is the source of pain
to the attached person. The Yogi Philosophy preaches
the doctrine of Love — more Love — still more Love.
And yet it also teaches that when Love is selfish it
brings pain in its train. When we say we love a
person, we ttsuaHy mean that tec rash that person to

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tove us, and are unhappy il that Love is denied. True
fove is not like this. Unselfish love flows out toward
the loved one, and asks nothing in return. Its joy ^^

lies in the happiness of the loved one, rather than in
the selfish demand for a return of the love. True
love is constantly saying to itself, "Give, give, give," t

while the selfish, material love is continually demand- e

ing of the other person "Give, give, give to me." True i

love radiates like the sunlight, while selfish love would si

draw to itself like the whirlpool. r

If one loves another in such a way that if the oth- '1

cr's love be withdrawn all happiness will fade out of "

life, then that first person is the slave of circumstances
— slave of the other's emotions or passions. He is at-
tached in such a way that he must sufifer the pain
of disappointment, neglect or change. And he usually
has such pain come to him, for such a love, being mor-
tal, must die, and its death will bring great pain and
suflFering to the one who relies upon it for happiness.
The love of the freed and unattached person is dif- l

fcrcnt. It is not a lesser lover — it is the greater of I

the two — ^but it is not attached to the personality of |

the other, nor is it dependent upon the manifestation
of aflfection on the part of the other. It is Love— ^ure
Love, and not the passionate, selfish thing that passes
current as the real thing, of which it is merely a base
counterfeit,
Edward Carpoiter says of Love:
"Who loves the mortal creature, ending there, is no
more free— he has given himself away to Death.

KARMA YOGA'. ms

"For him the slimy black Form lies in wait at every
turn, tiefouling the universe;

"Yet he who loves must love the mortal, and he
who would love perfectly must be free :

("Love-^Iorious though it be— is a disease as long
as it destroys or even impairs the freedom of the
soul.)

"Therefore if thou wouldst love, withdraw thyself
from love —

"Make it thy stave, and all the miracles of nature
shall lie in the palm of thy hand."

And again;

"Seek not the end of love in this act or in that
act — ^lest indeed it become the end;

"But seek this act and that act and thousands of
acts whose end is love —

"So shalt thou at last create that which thou now
deairest ;

"And when these are all past and gone there shall
remain to thee a great and immortal possession, which
no man can take away."

In Lesson I of this course we refer to the first pre-
cept of the first part of the manual : "Kill out ambi-
tion." And to the fourth precept of the same part:
"Work as those work who are ambitious." This
apparently paradoxical statement of truth, gives the
keynote of work without attachment. In the lesson
named we have endeavored to give the student a view
of the two sides of the shield, and to show him how

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136 ADVANCED COURSE.

one may kill out ambition and yet work as those work
who are ambitious. We advise the student to re*read
that part of the lesson, when he finishes the presoit
one.

The fundamental idea of non-attachment— the se-
cret of work — is to avoid becoming entangled in the
unreal things of life — the delusions which fool so
many people. Men are so apt to tic themselves to the
things they create, or to the things for which they are
working. They make themselves slaves instead of
masters. They attach themselves to certain desires,
and the desires lead them this way and that way,
through swamp and over rocky roads, only to leave
them worn and weary at the end. These desires come
from the undeveloped part of the mind, and while they
are perfectly right in their place, they belong to the
past of the developed man who has otttlivod them. He
does not fear them, for he sees them as part of him-
self — he knows their origin and history and recog-
nizes the part they have played in his development,
and the development of the race, but he has outgrown
them, and allows them to hind him no longer. He
refuses to be entangled with them. As Carpenter
says :

"Slowly and resolutely — as a fly cleans its legs of
the honey in which it has been caught —

"So remove thou, if it only be for a time, ex-ery
particle which sullies the brightness of thy mind ;

"Return into thyself— content to give, hut asking
no one, asking nothing;

KARMA .YOGA. 137

"In the calm light of His splendor who iiUs all the
tintverse— the imperishable indestructible of ages—

"Dwell thou—as thou canst dwell—contented."

The same poet says of desire:

"When thy body— as needs must happen at times-
is carried along on the wind of passion, say not thou,
'I desire this or that';

"For the T neither desires nor fears anything, but
is free and in everlasting glory, dwelling in heaven
and pouring out joy like the sun on all sides.
•• "Let not that precious thing by any confusion be
drawn down and entangled in the world of opposites,
and of Death and suiifering.

"For as a light-house beam sweeps with incredible
speed over sea and land, yet the lamp moves not at all.

"So while thy body of desire is (and must be by
the law of its nature) incessantly in motion in the
worid of suffering, the T high up above is fixed in
heaven.

"Therefore I say let no confusion cloud thy mind
about this matter;

"But ever when desire knocks at thy door,

"Though thou grant it admission and entreat it
hospitably— as in duty bound —

"Fence it yet gently off from thy true self,

"Lest it should tear and rend thee."

The Karma Yogi recognizes work and life as what
they are, and is not deluded by the popular misconcep-
tions of these subjects. He sees the fallacy of the
popular idea that work is a curse placed upon man-
kind. He sees it, histead as one of the great blessings

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and privileges of the race. He realizes the ben^ts
and happiness that spring from work, when performed
free from attachment, and he accordingly makes use
of it. When perplexed or disturbed from any cause
he finds relief in his work. He finds it a great help
in overcoming the temptations of the lower part of
his nature, and a wonderful aid in helping him to
meet the new problems that are constantly presenting
themselves to hitn.

It is natural to man to work. It is a manifestation
of the divine creative power manifesting through him.
It is the desire for expression and unfoldment.

If thy soul recoil from the sight of the vanities of
the world — from its hollow ideals and aims — from its
cruelty — from its injustice — from its blindness — from
the puppet-show play manifest on all sides to one who
.•sees and thinks — rest thyself for a moment, retiring
into the silence of the inner chambers of thyself. Do
not be discouraged — do not feci like withdrawing from
it all — do not cry out in anguish and sorrow. You
have a work to do, and no one can do it so well as
you. Your life has a meaning — a purpose. So go
back again into the midst of the fray. Play well thy
part — do the tasks set before you to-day — do the "du-
ties" that seem proper for your doing. It is all a part
of your soul development, and the development of the
race. Let not the hollowness and worthlessness of it
all dishearten and disgust you. It all means some-
tiling. But beware of becoming entangled in the
fruits of your action — ^in the desire for reward. Keep
your eyes clear and your mind unclouded.

KARMA YOGA. 139

Do not think that you may keep out of the fight,
but, as the "Light on the Path" says; "And though
ttou ^ghtest, be not thou the warrior."

If thy Karma has set thee in the midst of action-
act! It is thy only chance of working out of the con-
ditions that fret and disturb thee.

You cannot run away from your Karma— you must
exhaust it — work it out. You will be repaid in the
end.

This question is beautifully treated upon in the
great Sanscrit poem, "The Bhogavad-Gita." The
Prince Arjuna, complains of being forced in the bat-
tle of life, and beseeches Krishna to relieve him of
the duty. Krishna tells him his duty, and urges him
to perform it. Edwin Arnold has translated this poem
into that beautiful English poem "The Song CelesHai."
Arnold's poem makes Krishna say to Arjuna :
"No man shall escape from act,
By shunning action ; nay, and none shall come
By mere renouncements unto perfectness.
Nay, and no jot of time, at any time,
Rests any actionless; his nature's law
Compels him, even unwilling, into act.
(For thought is act in fancy). He who sits
Suppressing all the instruments of flesh,
Yet in his idle heart thinking on them,
Plays the inept and guilty hypocrite:
But he who, with strong body serving mind,
Gives up his mortal powers to worthy work-
Not seeking gain, Arjuna 1 such an one
Is honorable. Db thine allotted taskf

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Work is more excellent than idleness ;
The body's life proceeds not, lacking work.
There is a task of holiness to tlo,
Unlike world«binding toil, whidi bindeth not
The faitiiful soul; such earthly duty do
Free from desire, and thou shalt well perfom
Thy heavenly purpose."

We know of no better words with which to close
our lesson than those of Edwin Arnold, in the poem
above mentioned. We consider these lines among the
most beautiful ever written in the English language.
You will do well to commit them to memory:
"Never the spirit was bom; the spirit shall cease to
be never;
Netvr was time it xvas not; End and Beginning are
dreams t
Birthless md deathless and changeless remaineth the
spirit for ever;
Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the

house of it seeins!"
If you can but grasp the true spirit of these words
of Arnold's, and make them a part of your conscious-
ness, you will need no further instruction in Karma
Yoga — ^you will lead the life instinctively, and will be
able to see things as they are, and not as they seem
to be when seen through the veil of delusion. Such
knowledge will lead you to a realization of the Real
Self, and, that once attained, the rest will be made
plain.
May these vrorii, and the thought, bring you Peace t

LESSON VI.

Gkani Yoca.

Gnani Y<^ is known as the "Yoga of Wisdom."
The word, "Gnant," is derived from the Sanscrit
root-word "Gna," meaning "to know." We prefer
the word "Gnani," although the words, "Jnana,"
"Gnyana," etc., are often used, and have the same
meaning.

Gnani Yoga is the path to which student, philos-
ophers — men and women of the intellectual tempera-
ment are attracted. Those who are attracted by met-
aphysical reasoning and speculation, subtle intellect-
ual research, philosophy, science, and similar lines
of mental effort, turn naturally to "Gnani Yoga" as
it holds out to them a pleasant and agreeable path to
that which is dear to their hearts.

But one does not have to be a skilled metaphysi-
cian, or a deep student, to avail himself of the les-
sons of this branch of the Yogi Philosophy. It is
open to all of those who wish to know the why and
wherefore of life — ^who are not satisfied with the
commonplace and childish explanations of the great
problems of existence that are offered to them by
the ordinary teachings and creeds — ^to those who re-
gard the exoteric side of the subject as all very well
in its way, but whose natures call out for the hidden
knowledge, the esoteric phase of the truth.

The Karma Yogi is continually asking "How?" or
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"What?" The Gnatii Yogi's eternal question is
"Why?" And this "Why?" is beginning: to unfold
in the minds of more people every day. The thirst
for real spiritual knowledge is rendering many un-
comfortable, and causing them to seek that with
which to quench the thirst— the spiritual hunger is
demanding nourishing food for the soul.

People are beginning to see the unreality of the
material things around them, great as these material
things may seem to be. They see tltat civilization
follows civilization — races ris<', flourish and fall —
people rise from .savagery up and on to the heights
of material achievement, and then begin to decay.
In the ruins found buried bcjicatb the earth's surface
may be found traces of former great civilizations, of
which history has no record. And one is awed by
the thought that the people of those civilizations
must have thought themselves at the apex of human
achievement and that there was but little left for the
generations to come. And yet, they have faded
away, leaving not even a trace on the pages of his-
tory. The great warriors, statesmen, philosophers
and teachers of these civilization.s are unknown, and
the people themselves arc without a name to us.
nothing is left to tell the tale, but a broken column
here, or a mutilated statue there. And the thinker
sees that this fate must meet all races — all civiliza-
tions—even our own. VVe must pass away— our
work will be forgotten — future races, building a civ-
ilieatbn upon the ruins of that which is our provd-
cst boast, will wontier who and what we were,

ft!9AVI YOGA. 143

Religions have risen, flourished, dominated mil-
lions, and have faded away, borne down by the
weight of the superstition and outward forms which
man persists in building around the bit of truth which
originally caused the religion to spring into existence.
It has ever been so, and must be so in the future.
We may doubt this fact (so, doubtless, did the peo-
ple of the vanished civilizations), but it must come.
It is mortal— man's work — and the mortal ever must
perish and pass away.

Men look around them, and, becoming conscious of
the unreality of all that goes to make up mortal life,
begin to ponder over the meaning of it all. They
ask "Whence come we — whither go we — what is the
object of our existence?" They try to solve the rid-
dle of life by countless theories. They discard the
dogmas that arc handed down to them, only to create
fresh dogmas equally unsatisfying. They travel
around like a squirrel in a cage, and exhaust them-
selves on the wheel — but they stop just where they
began. They arc like a caged bird, that beats itself
to death apinst the confining bars of its prison.
They go around and around the circle of intellectual
reasoning, only to find themselves travelling over
and over the same ground, and making no real prog-
ress. They try to explain things, but succeed merely
in giving things new names. They climb the moun-
tain of knowledge, and when they reach the top they
look around them and see that they merely have
reached the top of a small foot-hill, while, far above
them, towering higher and higher, rise range after

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range of the real mountains, the highest peaks of
which are hidden among the clouds.

The mistake of the searchers is that they are con> i

tinually seeking the truth from outside— it is not to
be found there, for it is within. It is true that with «

the inner light every outside thing may be studied a

to advantage, and bits of truth gathered therefrom.
But without this inner light the outer objects will t

give no real answer, and one may shout aloud to t

nature and hear only the echo of liis own cry. The
seekers on the relative plane find only that for which
they look. They find that which they expect, for
there is more or less truth in the theories favored by
them, and accordingly they must find something that
will corresjKmd with that bit of truth. But the man
who looks for the thing exactly opposed to that
.sought for by these seekers also will find that for
which he looks, for he, likewise, has a bit of the
truth, and must find that which corresponds to it.
Each realizing that he has found a bit of the truth,
but each making the mistake of supposing it to be all
of the truth, disputes the claims of the other, and
various schools form. Then the schools quarrel over
details, and split into Mtb-schools, and so it goes, and
the inquiring student is perplexed more than ever to
know just what is the truth.

Let not our students suppose that we are speaking
alone of the Western schools of religion and philos*
ophy—the Eastern world is just as bad. In India
there are countless sects, schools and cults. Each
.started with a hit of the truth, but thcv have added

GNANI YOGA. 145

much nonsense to that sacred thing, until tiie real
truth has been lost sight of by the Mowers, and
superstition and idle theories have taken the place of
the calm, clear reasoning of the founders. The East
and the West stand alike in this respect— hut while
this is so, there is a small number of men in all
parts of the world, who keep alive the lamp of truth
—who keep the flame burning by watchful care, and
unceasing devotion. These men refuse to allow any
theories of their own, or others, to be mixed up with
the truth. They sayt "Let us speculate if we see
fit— let us listen to the speculations of others— but let
us not confittiiH it with the bit of Divine Truth that
has been handed down to us. Let us mix no alloy
with the pure metal." It is true that India always
has been the source and center of great spiritual
truths. All great religions have had their real birth
in the East. And in India to-day the conditions are
more favorable for deep thought and study than is
the case in the hustling West. But this does not
mean that the masses of the Hindu people are highly
developed spiritually. On the contrary, there is no
land where the weed of superstition grows more
rankly. And the reason of this may be understood,
readily, when we consider that the same ccmditions
which are conducive to high metaphysical and spiritual
research and study, likewise furnish the best soil in
which the weeds of superstition may grow. In the
soil of California, fruits and flowers grow in a way
unknown to the rest of the United States, but the
same soil will grow a rank- vegetation of weeds if

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untcnded and neglected. In India, i£ » fanning set-
tlement be neglected, in a year or so the jungle has
again claimed its former home, and rank vegetation
flourishes where the field of the farmer formerly
stood.

In the East, the false gods of superstition are found
in great number, while in the West the new god
(equally false) of Material Wealth occupies the place
in the temple. Between Mammon and the false gods
of India there is a strong family resemblance.

The Gnani Yogi sees truth in all forms of relig-
ion, and in all schools of philosophy, but he recog-
nizes that this truth is but a small part of tiie great
truth. He finds no fault with any religion or school
of philosophy — he has no argument with them — the
only point he raises is "this is not the Whole Truth."
He has no special school or creed, for he recofmizcs
as brothers all thinkers and professors of relitrion,
everywhere, of all shades of opinion. His belief is
large enough to take them all in — ^but he refuses to
be bound by the limitations of any of •them. The
trouble with the conflicting schools and .creeds is that
they wish to limit God, and to exclude some men.
The Gnani Yogi can see no limit to God, and can
conceive of no exclusion of any of God's children or
creatures.

In this lesson, we will try to give our students a
plain idea of tlie fundamental ideas and teachinp of
the Gnani Yogis, divested of the conflicting theories
of their sevetal schools of followers, each of whom
accept the main premise, and then build up certain

GNANI YOGA. 147

arguments and conclusions from tiie same. These
fundamental truths are to be iound in the esoteric
teachings o{ all religions, among all races, and have
been imparted to these religions by the original
founders (who obtained them through their Spiritual
Minds), through their favored disciples. These teach-
ings become impaired with each generation of fol-
lowers, until the original truths are almost entirely
lost sight of. As an illustration of this fact, read the
"Sermon on the Mount," the teachings of which arc
understood and venerated by occultists and mystics
of all schools and countries. Then .see how His fol-
lowers maintain the outward form while stating
boldly and unblushingly that Qirist's teachings are
"not practicable." Unbelievers may deny the truth of
Christ's teachings, but it remains for professing
Giristians to pronounce them "foolish" and not fitted
for the use of mankind. And so it is with the masi
of the followers of all religions — ^they maintain the
name and outward form, but accept only such ol'
the teachings as fit in with their lives. Instead of
making their Jives conform to the teachings, they
make the teachings conform to their lives. We men-
tion these things, not in the spirit of harsh criticism,
but merely as an example of the difference between
the esoteric and the exoteric teachings of all religions.
In these fundamental teachings of the Gnani Yogis,
there is nothing to conflict with the real teachings
—the esoteric teachings— of any religion, and one may
retain his connection with any form oC religion while
accepting these fundamental truths. In fact, such

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knowledge will enahlt anyone to see the esoteric side
of his OAvn religion, and appreciate the beauties
hereof, while his fellow worshippers tie themselves
to forms and words. And, likewise, those having no
special form of religion will find that these teachings
afford to them the spiritual comfort that Uiey have
liot been able to find elsewhere, and that, when the
Idea is fully grasped, these teachings are found to be in
full accord with reason. And the unbeliever, at;d ma-
terialist, may find in these teachings the spirit of the
thing to which he has held. He has been talking
about "Nature"— let him consider that to the Gnanis
the words "God" and "Nature" have the same sense,
and the scales will drop from his eyes.

In this lesson, we will state fundamentals only, and
shall not attempt to build up any special theories or
philosophy. The material furnished should give one
the key to all philosophies, and each student may
build up a Uttle philosophy to suit himself, remember-
ing, always, that all such theories are to be used
merely as working hypotheses, and not as fundamen-
tal truth. With this understanding, we will pro-
ceed with our work.

In the consideration of tne Riddle of the Universe
we of necessity must go back to first principles— to
that which underlies everything evident to the senses.
The average man dismisses this thought with the
remark that "God is back of everything, and we can*
not understand God," which is very true. But ask
him for his conception of God, and you will find that
it varies with each individual,. Each has his own

GNANI YOGA. 149

i4ear-<>r lack of idea— but nearly all will tell you that
God is a thing or being outside of Nature, who has
somehow started things going, and then left them to
run themselves in some mysterious manner. The
average man considers the answer "God did it" as a
sufficient explanation of everything, notwithstanding
the fact that such a man's idea of "God" is but very
little advanced above the idea of Deity entertained
by the savage. Unless we understand something about
the nature of God, we can not understand anything
about the nature of the Universe or of Life. Of
course, the finite mind can grasp but little of the
Infinite, but still it may grasp a little, through the
channel of the Spiritual Mind, and that "little" is
what the Gnanis state to be the "truth"— not in the
sense that it is "true" simply because it is their be-
lief, but that it is "true" because the knowledge of
it may be obtained by any man who will allow the
Spiritual Mind to impart its knowledge. The mere
presentation of the truth often intuitively carries the
evidence of its truth to the minds of those who are
ready for it. It may transcend Intellect, but Intellect
does not refuse it when the mind has been cleared of
the rubbish that has been piled into it.

To the student of Gnani Yoga, the teacher always
advises that he go through a course of mental train-
ing, discipline and self-examination, with the intent
and idea that he shall "lay aside" former prejudices,
preconceived opinions, dogmatic teachings, inherited
tendencies, unreasoned suggestions poured into his
mind in' childhood, and similar furniture of the mind.

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Remember, we say "lay aside," not "discard"— «ere-
ly "lay aside" to be taken up again and used if need
lM;~but surely laid aside in order that the mind may
grasp the new and full presentation of the truth,
without interference and obstacle, and without dan-
ger of having the truth mixed up with old theories,
limitations and misrepresentations. The Gnanis claim
that a mind ready for the truth, if cleared in this
way, will intuitively recc^ize the truth when it is
presented to them, and will know the true metal from
the base, without trouble.

Wc do not insist upon our students going through
this course of preparation, at this time, but mei<tly
ask that they "lay aside" prejudice for the moment,
and give this presentation a "fair field" for thought
If it does not appeal to you, lay it aside for some
future consideration — ^there is no harm done, and
you are not ready for it. If it does appeal to you— •
if it seems to fill your soul as it never has been
filled before — ^then you are ready for it — the Truth is
yours.

The Gnani Yogi's conception of Deity is likened by
many to a form of Pantheism, but it is much more
than Pantheism. Pantheism teaches that God is the
sum of all things, seen, felt, heard, tasted, or smelled—
in fact, that the Universe as we know it is God. The
Gnani Yoga teaching is that this is only a half*truth.
It holds that all of the things of which we may be-
come aware are only a infinitesimal part of tiie real
Universe, and that to say that this is God would be
like saying that the paring of a finger-nail was The

GNANIYOGA. 151

Man. Gnant Y<^ teaches not that The Universe is
God, iMt that God is manifest in all that comprises our
Universe, and in a million times more. It claims that
die true idea of God is beyond human conception,
jmd that even beings as mudi more highly advanced
than man in the scale of life, as man is higher than
the beetle, can form merely a faint idea of his nature
But they claim that man may grow to know, actually,
that God is in all Life. The teaching may be summed
up, roughly, by the statement that God is present in
all Life, manifest or unmanifest, created or not-cre-
ated, seen or not seen, known or not known. This
idea, you will see, is far different from the one that
God is merely the sum of things known and seen,
and, likewise, is different from the idea that He is a
thing apart from his creations. The Gnanis speak
not of "creations," for their idea is that all things are
"manifestaUons" of God.

The student, who is accustomed to the ordinary
use of the word "God," may have a difficulty in form-
ing a mental conception of the Gnani idea of Deity.
He will be apt to carry in his mind the anthropomor-
phic conception of God— that is, the conception of
God as a man, or. at least, as having the form, pas-
sions, habits and characteristics of man. This idea
of God belongs to the infant stages of the race, and
the great thinkers of all religions have long since
outgrown this childish idea. Although Deity must
possess alt the higher attributes generally ascribed to
the perscmal idea of God, yet He must so transcend
any such iNsrMnd idea that no thinking man, having

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the proper respect for the Source of Beinjf. can \ m-
tinue to maintain the anthropomorphic conception, no
matter what his religious belief may be.

And, in view of the conception and mental image
ordinarily called forth by the word "God," and the
possibility of misunderstanding of our meaning, we
think it better to use the term "THE ABSOLUTE"
in speaking of God in this lesson. This course ia
rendered particularly desirable in view of tlic fact
that Gnani Yoga is more of a philosophy than a re-
ligion — more of a study for the higher powers of the
mind, than an emotional subject, or one inculcating
devotion. When we conic to the subject of "Bhakti
Yoga," which deals with the worship of God— the
religious phase of the Yoga Philosophy, we may ap-
propriately resume the use of the word "God" as ap-
plied to Deity, without danger of a misapprehension.
So when, in this lesson, we speak of 'The Absolute,"
we are not attempting to set up a new God, but
merely are using a general term for the Source of
Being, which is sufficiently broad to fit in with the
conceptions of Deity held by any and all students, ir-
respective of their creed, belief, or training-— and
with the conceptions of the philosophers who prefer
to think of a "principle" rather than of Deity. We
ask the student to re-read this paragraph, in order
that he may clearly understand the reason of the
use of the term, in this lesson.

The Gnani Yoga Philosophy starts with the state-
ment: "The Absolute IS." It does not pretend to be
able to explain tt> (he human intellect, the how, where-

GNANI YOGA. t53

fore, and why, of the Absolute. It merely states that
it "IS." In answer to the question, "How can Aere
be a thing without a cause?" it replies that this un-
derstanding of cause and effect belongs to the rela*
dve plane of causation, and the Absolute is above
the relative plane, as a nutter of course. We see
that everything around us has a cause, and is itself a
cause of succeeding effects. Everything that we see,
feel, or hear is a part of the chain of cause and effect.
That is, it has a chain of preceding causes running
back to— where? and it luus a chain of succeeding
effects that extends away into the future, ending —
where? In each case the answer is "The Absolute."
We may trace the causes of a thing so far back that
the reason refuses to act, and we may unagine a
train of effects from a cause extending so far into
the future that even the imagination refuses to carry
the matter along further. The secret Is that every-
thing begins and ends in The Absolute. The human
intellect is utterly unable to form a clear conception
of a thing without a cause, because the Intellect is on
the relative plane, and in this world of relativity
everything has its cause, and we cannot imagine a
thing entirely transcending our sense experience, and,
therefore, can conceive of no thing without a cause.
The philosophers who claim that everything must
have a cause, are met with two propositions, one of
which they must accept, and either of whi^ destroys
thdrown theory. They must accept die proposition
(I) that there is a first cause, in which case they
simply remove fhe pr6bl«n buk a few st^s, and

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must admit that the First Cause has no cause; or
they must admit (2) that the chain of cause and
effect is infinite, in which case they are confronted
with the difficulty that a beginningless tiling can have
no cause— that a thing that has no beginning can
hare no cause— in which case the law of cause and
effect is incomplete. In short, the human intellect is
utterly incapable of solving the question, and the
more it attempts it the more does it become mud-
dled. It is the oW question 0/ the child, "Who made
the Universe?" the answer being "God." The child
then asks, "Then who made God?" You see, it is
merely moving the question back another stage. Even
the materialist who says he docs not believe in God
at all, has to assert that Matter has existed forever,
and cannot explain why Matter should have no cause,
when all manifestations of it show a chain of cause
and effect. (The materialist is merely setting up a
conception of one of the manifestations of The Absolute
and calls it Matter, while he refuses to accept another
manifestation of The Absolute, which men usually call
Mind, or Intelligence.)

And, so at the end, the Intellect is forced to admit
that there is some thing that has no cause. In other
words, it must admit itself beaten, and beaten it must
be because it belongs to the relative plane, and can-
not conceive of The Absolute.

The Gnanis call The Absolute "The Causeless
Cause," and merely assert that it IS. The student
must grasp this idea of the reality of The Absi^ute
before he proceeds. He need not give it any attri-

GNANI YOGA. 155

butes, or pretend to understand it— he may not even
give it a name. But he must admit that there is aa
absolute Something, be it called God, Mind, Matter,
Force. Life, or what not He must admit and conceive
of the absolute Thing, from which all the rest proceeds
—or which is manifested in all the rest.

The next step for the student is the assimilation of
the fact that all there if, seen or unseen, must be a
manifestation or emanation of that Absolute Thing.
For there can be nothing outside of The Absolute,
or which has not emanated from it. There is no out-
side. There is nothing outside. Everything must
have come from the one source. If The Absolute
were to make a thing, it must make it out of itself,
at least so far as our Intellect can conceive of the
matter. There cannot be two Absolutes— there is
room only for One.

We think it well to insert in this place a little
poem, the name of the writer of which is unknown to
us. It states a great truth in the simplest language.

"Thou great eternal Infinite, the great unbounded Whole, "K
Thy body is the Universe—thy spirit is the soul
If thou dost fill imfflensity; if thou art ail :n all;
If thou wert here before I was, I am not here at all.
How could I live outside of thee? Dost thou fill earth and

air?
There surely is no place for me outside of everywhere.
If thou art God, and thou dost ftU immensity of space,
Then I'm of God, think as you will, or else I have no place.
And if I have no place at all, or if t am not here,
'Banished' I surely cannot be, for then I'd be somewhere.
Then I must be a part of God, no matter if I'm small ;
And if I'm not a part of Him ; there's no such God at all."

The tiiird step for the student is the mastery of
the mental conception that The Absolute must be pos>

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sessed of the three attributes, (i) Omnipotence; (2)
Omniscience ; (3) Omnipresence. The student is not
asked to accept this statement blindly Let him exam-
ine it

(1) Omnipotent means all-mighty, all-powerfuL
Hot that The Absolute is mightier than something
else, or all the rest put together, but ^at it is al-
mighty— <i//-powerful. That it is possessed of all the
power there is, and, consequently, that all the power
of which we are conscious is a manifestation of The
Absolute. There is no room for any other power,
and all the power that is manifested, of all kinds and
descriptions, must be manifestations of The Absolute.
Do not try to evade this question and answer — it
must be met. Many persons speak of God being
Omnipotent — of an Almighty, all-powerful God, but
they have merely the faintest conception of what the
word means. And they will "dodge" the truth inevi-
tably springing from the statement of All-power,
namely, that all power must be of God. They would
attribute to God all the manifestations of power that
are pleasing to them, or which are conducive to their
welfare, but when it comes to a manifestation of
power that hurts them, or seems cruel, they are
afraid to attribute it to God, and either ignore the
question, or else attribute the undesirable thing to
some other power, the "Devil," for instance, failing
to see that if God is W/A-powerfuI, there can be no
other power in the Universe, and thnt all manifesta-
tions of {K)wer, good or bad (relative terms), as they
may seem to be, must be from the same source. The

GNANI YOGA. 157

trouble with man is that he calls all the things that
Inure to his material comfort and welfare, "good,"
and all that interfere with it, "bad." ("Good" weath-
er is weather that is pleasant to man—and "bad"
weather is that which is unpleasant to him. If be
were out of the body, he would see them both as
equally good, for neither would affect him.)

(2) Omnipresent means all-present— everywhere
present at the same time. It means The Absolute is
present in all space as we know it, and everywhere
else without regard to our relative idea of space. It
is Everywhere — space has no existence to it — it is In-
finite. Here is another thing that the unaided Intel-
lect is unable to grasp — Space. The Intellect cannot
conceive of endless space any more than it can of a
causeless cause. And yet (poor Intellect) it cannot
imagine anything beyond space, or of the end of
space. It cannot conceive of a space with an end, or
without an end — of time with an end, or without an
end. But to get back to our subject. If The Abso-
lute is Omnipresent (and we cannot conceive of it
not being), it must pe present in all places at all
times, in all persons, in all atoms, in matter, mind,
and spirit. If it is absent from a single point of
space, or without space, then it is not Omnipresent,
and the whole statement is false. And if it is present
everywhere, there is room for nothing else to be pres-
ent at any place. And if this be so, everything must
be a part of The Absolute, or an emanation of it.
Everything must be a part of a Mighty Whole. Many
people speak quite glibly of "God being everywhere"

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— every child is taught thi» in Christian countries.
But how few stop to think of what Uie vfordi mean
— ^they do not know that they are saying that God is
in the low places as well as in the high places>-4n the
"bad" places as well as in the "good" places. They
do not know that tiiey are saying that God, being
everywhere, everything must contain God — must, in-
deed, be a part of His manifestation. The words
which they use so lightly carry an awful meaning.
The student is not asked to accept this statement of
Omnipresence without examination. We have no
space here to go into the matter in detail, but modem
science is filled with theories of there being but one
substance, and that substance pervading all space.
Just as science holds that there is but one Force,
manifesting in different ways, so does it hold that
there is but one Substance, appearing in different
forms. It is true that science arrives at this conclu-
sion through materialistic reasoning, but the conclu-
sions are practically identical with those of the Gnani
Yogis, held by them for many centuries, and obtained
by them from teachers still farther back in the world's
history. And orthodox religions affirm the same
thing with their statements of Omnipotence, and Chn*
nipresence— though they know it not.

(3) Omniscient means all-knowing, all wise. It
means that The Absolute is possessed of all knowl-
edge; that it knows everything; that titere is nothing
that it does not know ; that it is the sum total of all
the knowledge there is, ever has been or ever will be.
If we admit that there is the slightest thing that is

GNANI YOGA. 159

not known, or cannot be known, to The Absolute,
then we admit that the word is meaningless. And if
Hie Absolute is possessed of aU the knowledge there
is, then it can make no mistakes ; does not find it nee*
essary to change its mind *, cannot think or act except
wisely, and therefore, justly. And yet people seem
to think that God makes mistakes, or does not know
all about things, and they frequently feel called upon
to call his attention to matters that He has over-
looked, or mistakes he has made, and request him to
do better by them in the future. They seem to have
an idea that they can flatter God, or fool him. Poor
little children I The student may realize the truth of
this statement of Omniscience, if he but looks around
him and thinks a little. If The Absolute is not pos'
sessed of all-knowledge, from whence do we gain
knowledge? Surely not from outside of The Abso-
lute. Is it not more likely that the knowledge is
always there, and that our acquiring of knowledge is
merely the unfolding of our minds sufficiently to ab-
sorb it, or to let the Divine Knowledge play upon
our minds. At any rate it would seem hopeless to
expect knowledge from any other source than from
The Absolute, for there is tiothmg else.

The Gnanis teach that The Absolute is All-power-
ful ; is All-wise ; is Evenvhere. That it possesses all
the power that there is— all the knowledge that there
is— and occupies all space, or alt that takes the place
of space, if such there be, and is in 'everything, every-
where, at the same time, and in all time.

They teach that The Absolute in its sense of pure-

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htiag is incapaUe of being undentood by the hunum
Intellect, at the present time, but that it manifests in
three forms, which forms of manifestation may
be sensed, studied, and partially understock by the '
Intellect, even of the man of to-day.

These three forms of manifestation of The Abso- ,
lute are known as (i) Substance, or Matter; (2) En- ^
crgy, or Force; (3) Intelligence, or Mind. That
which occultists know as Spirit is a transcendent ^
manifestation, and is not included in the three mani-
festations above mentioned. Scuiie writers treat of
Spirit as a highly developed state of Mind, but it is
more — it is a portion of The Absolute not manifest
to our senses. So for the purpose of this lesson we
will consider the three manifestations to be as above
stated.

The student's attention is called to the correspond-
ence between the three mentioned manifestations of
The Absolute, and the three attributes, mentioned a
few pages further back. Tims (i) the attribute of '

Omnipresence is manifested in Substance, or Matter;
(2) the attribute of Omnipotence is manifested in
Energy, or Force; (3) the attribute of Omniscience is
manifested in Mind, or Intelligence. That is, the
manifestations mentioned are a part of the manifes-
tations of the attributes mentioned— a very small
manifestation as compared with others cm higher
planes, but still manifestations for all that. .

Do not understand us as saying that this three-fold I
manifestation of The Absolute is The Absolute itself |
—they are merely manifestations, or emanations, fit

GNANI YOGA. i6i

18 difficult to select the proper English word, for the
best of them is inadequate to express the thought.)
The Absolute itself cannot be seen, or thought of
clearly by man, and the mind must lay hold of the
idea of one or more of the manifestations in order to
carry the thought. When we think of The Absolute
as Intelligence, we merely think of the manifestation
of that name. When we think of it as Force or
Energy, or of it as doing something, we merely think
of the manifestation of Energy. When we think of
it as filling space, we can merely think of Matter in
some of its forms, very ethereal forms perhaps, but
still the manifestation of Substance or Matter.

The ordinary religious man may find it difficult to
conceive of God as manifesting in Substance or Mat-
ter; in Force or Energy. He thinks of Him as mak-
ing, of using, these things, but is not accustomed to
regarding Htm as in them. The Gnani Yoga will help
him to see God on all sides, and in all things. "Lift
the stone and thou shalt find me; cleave the wood,
and there am I."

And, on the other hand, the materialist will not
find it easy to accept these two forms of manifesta-
tions as expressions of The Absolute, for that would
seem to imply that The Absolute is something akin to
the religious man's God, which the materialist has
been denying. But Gnani Yoga brings these two
brothers together in tfie truth, and tells them that
they have been looking at the same thing from differ-
ent view-points. The scientist may deny that the
manifestation of Mind or Intelligence is a separate

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manifestation, but that it is merely an incident of
matter. The Gnani Yogi sees Intelligence in every,
thing, from the mineral to man— in varying degrees.
He realizes that the tiniest cell is possessed of a sub*
conscious intelligence that allows it to perform work
that is beyond the intellect of man. The smallest
growing thing shows a great intelligence working in
and through it, and man will never be able to dupli-
cate its work, notwithstanding his giant intellect In
the growing of the blade of grass, God, or The Ab-
solute, manifests in three forms, i. e., in Substance,
or Matter; in Force, or Energy; in Intelligence, or
Mind. The scientist may take the elements of the
seed from the matter around him, may form it into
a seed — may surround it with the proper soil and
conditions — ^make apply to it all the forms of energy
or force known to him — but the plant will not grow.
It needs the third manifestation — Intelligence, or
Mind, and that is beyond the power of man to be-
stow. Each little cell contains intelligence, or mind,
which works along unconscious lines, and builds up
the plant. Our bodies are built up in the same way.
There is Intelligence in everything— and it all ema-
nates from The Absolute.

Does man think that his intellect exhibits the high-
est form of intelligence manifested in the universe?
Nonsense! He has but to look around him and see the
adaptation of means to ends, in order to see how na-
ture dovetails one thing into anotha*. He cannot do
these things with his intellect, and yet they were being
dwie ages before he appeared, A greater Intelligence

GNANI YOGA. J63

than man's is at work, and the carelol student may
see signs of it on every hand. The study of the
grain of wheat, the examination of the rabbit's eye,
will show wonderful design and intelligence. Let the
doubter care for a hive of bees, and he will feel as did
an acquaintance of ours who was a doubter until he
began bee-culture, when his eyes were opened to the
wonderful work of "Nature." He said that his
thought when gazing at the workings of the hive
was : "Nearer, my God, to Thee."

Man is not developing Intelligence— he is merely
developing the power to receive and absorb Intelli-
gence and Knowledge from the fountain head. He re-
ceives only as much as he is able to hold — God does
not try to put a quart of Intelligence in a pint meas-
ure. A No. 3 man does not receive a No. 7 amount
of knowledge.

And note this coincidence. As the soul develops
and unfolds it begins to partake of more of each of
the three attributes of The Absolute. It begins to
know more — ^to have more power — ^to be able to mas-
ter space and matter. And as the soul unfolds and
grows it will continue to partake in an increasing
ratio of the three attributes of The Absolute— Omni-
science, Omnipotence and Omnipresence.

We will not speak of our attitude toward The
Absolute— our duty toward God — in this lesson. This
properly comes under the head of "Bhakti Yoga" in
our next lesson, and will be touched upon there. In
this lesson we have spoken only of the philosophiral
side of the knowing of God — Gnani Yoga.

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Now. right here, we must warn our students against
a common mistake of students of the Eastern Philos-
ophies—a mistake not alone common among; students,
but which also is apparent among some teachers. We
allude to the proper conception (or the lack of it) of
the relation of the Centre to the Emanation. While
Man is of God, he is not God — while he is a mani-
festation of The Absolute, he is not The Absolute
itself. He is but the Finite expression of the Infinite.
We hear Hindus, and Western students of the teach-
ings of the East, running about crying aloud, "I am
God." They are so overpowered with the sense of
the Oneness of All that has burst upon them — ^are so
carried away with the consciousness of their relation-
ship to Tlie Absolute, that they tliink that they arc
equal with God, or arc God himself. No wonder that
the stranger to the teachings is shocked by the appar-
ent impiety, and both his reason and his emotions
cause him to recoil from the statement. This is a
most subtle, insidious and dangerous perversion of the
true teaching, and we warn ami caution all students
against the same, no matter from how high or appar-
ently authoritative source this false teaching may
come. The advanced Hindu teachers do not make
this mistake in thought, but some of their followers
fall into the error. Some very good Oriental teach-
ers have endeavored to express the Hindu thought in
English terms, the result being that the English words
not being fitted to express the fine shades of thought
possible to the Sanscrit scholar, an entirely wrong
idea has been promulgated. Many of tiie new cults
in America and England have fallen into the same

GNANI YOGA. 165

error, and their followers horrify and disgust thdr
fellows by their assertions that verily they are God
himself. If we are able to set this matter straight,
we will feel that these lessons have had a purpose.

The real basis of the Gnani Yoga Philosophy of
Life is this :

All existence, conscious or unconscious, is an EMA-
NATION of one Being.

Note the word "Emanation"—it gives the key to
the problem. Webster defines the word as follows:
"Emanate.— To issue forth from a source; to flow out
from." The word "Emanation," then, is a thing that
"issues forth from a source ;" that "flows forth from."
Its root is the Latin word Manare, meaning "to flow."
And this word gives us as near a correct idea of the
thought of the Gnanis as it is possible for us to ob>
tain. Let us take a favorite Gnani illustration — ^the
Sun. The Sun is the Sun itself — the centre — ^the
source of the vibrations that proceed from it, and
which vibrations, under certain conditions, manifest
in the form of light and heat. Strictly speaking, noth-
ing outside of the Sun is the Sun, and yet each bit of
vibration is an emanation from the Sun— a part of
the Sun, as it were. And each ray of light or heat
which we perceive through our senses is really "Sun,"
in a way, and yet it is not the source. The ray is the
Sun, in this sense, and yet the Sun is not the ray. Do
you perceive our idea? In one sense man may be
God (as a ray or emanation), but most assuredly God
is not man. Man, and all of existence, is OF God,
but is not God Himself. We trust that the student
will go over and over these words, until he gets the

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thought dearly, as otherwise he wiH be landed in a
morass of error from which he will have much trouble
to extract himself later. Many are floundering in this
swamp now, and are tired and weary of the struggle.

Some writers have attempted to convey this thought
by the illustration of the physical body of Man. They
compare each bit of life to a cell of the body, which
possesses a certain intelligence, and often independent
action. These cells form into cell-groups (See "Hatha
Yoga," Chapter xviii., The Little Lives of the Body),
having certain centres of energy, but all are depend*
cnt upcm the brain— the Master. The Central Mind
of the man regulates all. These writers have spoken
of The Absolute— of God — as corresponding to the
Central Mind, controlling and directing and Master-
ing the individual cells. The illustration, although of
necessity more or less imperfect, corresponds suffi-
ciently well with the Gnani idea to mention it here.
It may be a help to some student to get the profwr
mental conception of the idea.

Swedenborg speaks of the individual, or thing, as
but a form through which the Universe flows like a
stream— this is another expression of the same
thought.

J. William Lloyd, in his excellent botrfc, "Dawn
Thought" (The Lloyd Group. Westfield, N. J., U. S.
A.), says: "When we touch a man's finger-nail we
touch him. But it is not the sane as touching a
nerve. And it is not the same to touch the nerve as
to touch the brain. According to the form, the in-
dwelling life and divinity are more or less apparent
and revealed. While life and a sort of intelligence

GNANI YOGA. 167

are everywhere, they are not the same in d^ree or
expression. They differ in consciousness. Just as in
nan» while he is one, there is a part where conscious-
ness, intelligence, and volition are especially located,
and the other parts differ in their greater or lesser
distance from that — in their greater or less resem-
blance to it— ^0 is the Universal One, there probably,
somewhere, is a part which is "God" (better Father,
Mother, or Parent) in the peculiar sense— conscious-
ness, life, intelligence, force, in the pure or essence —
and other parts may be classified by their greater or
less distance from this Center — their greater or less
resemblance to it."

We mention these illustrations and views tiiat the
student may have different presentations of the same
thought, colored by the mentality of their writers.
Some will grasp the truth better from one presenta-
tion, and others from another. Personally, we favor
the illustration of the "Sun"— its centre and its ema-
nations and rays — for we believe that it conveys a
closer analogy to the real idea of the Gnanis than
does any other. But any illustration that will lielp the
student best is the best one for him. A Hindu teacher
once showed his students a fragrant flower, calling
their attention to the fact that the flower was throw-
ing off particles of itself constantly, which, when per-
ceived by the sense of smell, caused the sensation of
fragrance— and yet while the fragrance was of the
rose, a part of itself, the fragrance was not tht rose.
Of it, but not it.

We find that we have touched merely upon one phase
of Gnaoi Yoga. We will take up some of its other

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features in subsequent lessons. Our next lesson will
be upon Bhakti Yoga— the Yoga of the Love of Ciod
—a subject which naturally follows that part of Gnani
Yoga which we have touched upoa It will tell of
man's real relation to God — will remind that in God
doeth man indeed live and move and have his being.
The lesson will not be like a conventional sermon,
although Bhakti Yoga addresses itself to tlic heart
instead of the intellect. But it is in accord with rea-
son, instead of contrary to it. In the lessons follow-
ing the next one we will take up the other parts of
Gnani Yogi, under appropriate headings. The Yogi
Philosophy is suited to all the needs of man — some
parts will appeal to each more than certain other
parts — but all parts arc good and necessary. So, dn
not neglect any part, simply becatjsc some other part
appeals to you more. You will get something from
each.

In conclusion, we call your attention to the fact
that it is a truth that the Universe is not a dead thing
— it is alive, pulsating with life, energy and intelli-
gence. It is a living thing, and YOU are part of it
all. You are not The Absolute, but you are an atom
comprising one of its rays — its life force is playing
through you. You arc in touch with the Centre, and
the Centre is conscious of YOU and of its relation to
you. While but an atom, you are necessary to the
Whole. You are part of if. Nothing can hurt you
nor destroy you. And you are growing to a con-
seiausness of your union with God — not a mere intel-
lectual understanding, but a real, actual, Hviof
KNOWLEPGE. Peace be with thee I

LESSON VU.

Bbakti Yoqa.

As we have stated in previous lessons, the Yogi Phi*
losc^hy is divided into several branches or forms, each
specially adapted to the requirements of certain classes
of students. And yet, each path leads to the same end
—unfoldment, development, and growth. The man
who wishes to grow by force of will, or by the steady
pressure of the mind upon the sheaths enfolding the
Higher Self, will be attracted to Raja Yoga. Another
who wishes to grow by knowing — by studying the Rid-
dle of the Universe, and by an intellectual comprehen-
sion of the principles underlying Life, naturally is at-
tracted toward Gnani Yoga. A third whose "religious
nature" is largely developed, prefers to grow into
an understanding and union with the Absolute, by the
power of Love — by the inspiration that comes from
the love of some conception of God, and some form
of worship that may accompany that conception of
Deity. Such an one is a follower of Bhakti Yoga.

Of course one may be an ardent Raja Yogi, or a
learned Gnani Yogi, and at the same time be filled with
such a reverence and love of the Absolute that he is
an advanced Bhakti Yogi. In fact, we fail to see how
one may avoid being a Bhakti Yogi, if he studies any
branch of Yoga. To know God is to love Him, and
the more we know of Him, the more we must love
Him. And, likewise, to know ourselves is to love Qoi,

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for we perceive our relationship with Him. And the
more we develop ourselvcss, the more we find ourselves
filled with a love of the Absolute.

Bhaktt Yoga supplies the craving of the human heart /
for the love for, and of, the Absolute, which craving
manifests itself m what we call the "religious instinct"
— the instinct of worship. All men have this instinct, ?
manifested in various forms. Even those who style 1
themselves "free-thinkers," "agnostics," as well as
those who deny the existence of God at all, and who *
accept the intellectual conceptions of the materialists,
feel this instinctive urge, and manifest it in the love
of "Nature," or Art, or Music, little dreaming that in
so doing they are still loving and practically worship-
ing some of the manifestations of the God they deny.

But when we say that Bhakti Yoga ir the science of ]
the Love of God, we do not mean tliat it is a science
which separates those who love and worship some cer-
tain conceptions of Deity, from others who may love
and worship certain other conceptions of Deity.
On the contrarj*. the true Bhakti Yogi recog-
nizes that the love and worship of auy con-
ception of Deity is a form of Bliakti Yoga. To the
Bhakti Yogi all men are worshipers of the Absolute
— ^he Center of Life — Spirit — God. Notwithstanding
the crude and barbarous conception of Deity the igno-
rant savage may have, the Bhakti Yogi sees that that
man is worshiping and loving the highest conception
of Deity possible to him in his undeveloped state, and
that he is doing the best he can. And consequently he
6ee.s in the savage a brother Bhakti Yog^, in the ele-

BHAKTI YOGA. 171

inentary stages of knowledge. And he feels a sym-
pathy with and an understanding of that savage mind,
and bis love goes out toward that humble brother (dO'
ing the best he knows how) and instead of denouncing
him as a heathen and an unbeliever, he calls him
"brother," and understands him. You may see, read-
ily, that there are no closely drawn lines among the
Bhakti Yogis — ^no feeling of sectarianism — for they
feel that the whole race may be included in thctr body,
and they are ready to extend the right hand of fellow-
ship to all.

The Absolute is unchangeable — the same yesterday,
to-day, and to-morrow — but Man's conception of the
Absolute is constantly changing as the race makes evo-
lutionary progress. A man's God is always jttst a lit-
tle in advance of the man — some have said, that a
man's God is the man at his best, and in so saying they
have expressed the idea cleverly. The God of the Old
Testament is a different being from the God of the
New Testament. And the God of the Christian Church
of to-day, is far different from the God of the Church
of fifty years ago. And yet, God is the same — no
change-~thc difference comes from the growth and
development of the minds of the men and women com-
posing the Church. As Man advances he sees higher
attributes in God, and as he always loves and worships
the highest and best in his conception of Deity, he
transfers his idea from the lower idea of yesterday to
the higher idea of to-day. And, to-morrow, still
higher ideas wilt be grasped, and the God of to-morrow
will be a still higher conception of Deity than the God

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of to-day. And yet, God has not changed, and will
not change the slightest, but Man has and will change
his conception of Him.

The ignorant savage believes in a God that seems
to us like a Devil— but it is a God something like him-
self— om/)» a little bit better. And he carves some hid-
eous image to represent that God, and he falls down
and worships it-^)erliap8 offers sacrifices to it— per-
haps sprinkles human blood upon its altar, imagining
that, like himself, God loves to see the blood of his
enemies. The savage's enemies are always his God's
enemies— ond this idea follows man for a long time,
as we may see by looking around us a little in our own
countries to-day. After a while the savage, or rather
his descendants, increase in knowledge and under-
standing, and they cast down the God of their fathers,
and erect one more in keeping with the higher concep-
tion of Deity that has come with knowledge and
unfoldmcnt. The improvement may be but slight,
but still it is a move in the right direction and the
new God is just a little bit better — just a little bit kinder
— just a little bit more loving — than the one that went
Irefore. And, so on, step by step the race rises to
higher and greater conceptions of God — each step
marking a throwing down of old ideals and a building
up of new and better ones. And yet God remains the
same— although higher conceptions of Him come into
the minds of Man.

The less developed races cannot form the concept
of One God — they can see Him only as many Gods,
fach portraying and exhibiting some particular at«

BHAKTT YOGA. 173

tribute of the One— some phase of Life — some form
of human feeling, passion, or thought. They have
their gods of war — of peace— of love— of agriculture
—of trade— and what not. And they worship and try
to propitiate these various gods, not realizing that
underneath it all they arc obeying the relipous in-
stinct that will in time lead the race to a worship of
the One — ^the Absolute. They clothe their gods with
human attributes (even after they have evolved from
the worship of many gods into the worship of some
one particular conception). They imagine that God
divides men into two classes, friends and enemies, and
rewards His friends and punishes His enemies. They
make tlicir God do just what they would do if they
had the power to reward and punish. They imagine
that they arc the chosen people and special favorites
of God, and that He goes witli them to battle and will
help them to triumph over their enemies. They imag-
ine that God delights in human blood, and that he
commands them to put their enemies to the sword,
even to th.e extent of killing the women and little
children, yea, even to the ripping open of pregpnant
women, and the putting their unborn bates to the
sword. Their God is a bloody and savage God — ^be-
cause they arc bloody and savage themselves. And
yet the Absolute — God — moves on unchanged, and
these people are worshiping and loving him the best
they know how, calling him this name and that name,
according to race and time. And the enemies of these
people are likewise worshiping their own conception
of God, calling Him by some name of their own, and

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imagining that He is helping them to fight their ene-
mies and their false C>od. And yet these two Gods are
both products of the minds of the two warring tribes,
both being created in obedience to the unfolding "re-
ligious instinct."

We may shudder at these tales and thoughts, but
arc we so very much in advance of this idea of the sav-
age? In moflern w.itrs we finrl the two peoples pray-
ing to their God for success over their enemies, each
imagining that God is on their side. In the great war
now being waged between Japan and Russia each na-
tion is praying to its particular conception of God,
beseeching that He march with them to battle against
His enemies. They do not realize that they are both
worshiping the same God, under diflfercnt names, and
that this real God loves them both equally wdl. In
the late Civil War in the United States, each side
prayed for victory, and believed that God must be
with them. Churches were rent in twain by the war,
and there was thought to be a God of the North and
a God of the South — the one hating slavery and wish-
ing to kill those who favored it — the other believing
slavery to be a Divine Right and privilege, and wlsh-
tng to defeat those who would abolish it. And ,vet,
each side was merely seeing God through their own
spectacles, and seeing him as themselves, somewhat
magnified. And now both sides again agree upon cer-
tain conceptions of God, and see slavery as something
that had its rise, progress, and fall, in the evolutionary
progress of Man. .\nd yet, God has not changed— birt
Man's conception of Him has.

BHAKTI YOGA. 175

Men have persecuted others because they had a
different conception of God from the persecutors. And
the persecuted, in turn, when they gained power, per-
secuted weaker men who held to a third conception of
the same God. And each thought he was doing his
God's will in persecuting, and the persecuted thought
that they were being persecuted in their God's cause.
The Puritans were driven out of their native land be-
cause of their peculiar conceptions of Deity, and when
they had established themselves in a new land, they
proceeded to punish the peaceful Quaker Friend whose
conception of Deity offended them. And each thought
he was pleasing God by punishing those who did not
agree with him in his conception of Him. How
childish it all seems to those who have attained the
broader view, and are able to see all men as children
of God, each doing the best he can, and worshiping
the highest conception of Deity possible to them. And
yet none are to be blamed for this narrowness and
blindness — they, too, are doing the best they can. And
all are worshiping God — ^the one God — the true God —
the only God possible — ^the Absolute. And all are do-
ing this because of the urge of the religious instinct
pressing forward for unfoldment and growth. All
these people are followers of Bhakti Yogi (in its ele-
mentary forms) although thpy know it not. They
think they are worshiping different conceptions of
Deity— different Gods — ^but they arc not— -they are all
loving and worshiping the One— the Absolute — the
Reality. Seen through the different spectacles of the
mind, the Absolute presents different and often gro*

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tesque forms to the viewers, but all the while the Real*
ity remains unchanged— The One— The Eternal One
—The Absolute.

And however crude and barbaric be the form of wor-
ship, it all ascends to the One. Whether the visible
object be stick, stone, image, tree, snake, or some other
form of man's desire for an outward form for his in-
ward belief, the real thing worshiped is the One — un-
changeable — eternal — omniiratent — omniscient — om-
nipresent. And the man who worships his highest
conception of Deity does well. He does the best he
knows how, and is as worthy of respect as his more en-
lightened brother who also worships his highest con-
ception of Deity. And the conceptions of both the
savage and the advanced man, will grow higher and
better, year by year, and the mind of each unfolds so
as to allow the spiritual knowledge to flow into it. Let
us lead our humbler brethren to better things, if wc
may and if they arc capable of receiving such instruc-
tion. But let us condenm them not, for they are our
brothers — children of God — all on the Path, and also
are we. We are but children in various stages of
growth — each doing that which his age impels him to
do— each having the understanding that belongs to
his age— each doing the best he knows how. Let us
not sneer, nor condemn, nor hate— but let our love flow
out toward all our brothers, though they may be but
infants unborn in spiritual knowledge. This is Bhakti
Yoga in one of its phases.

Bhakti Yoga is divided into two great branches or
stages. The first is known as Garni Bhakti, and the

BHAKTI YOGA. 177.

second, and higher, is called Para Bhakti. The first,
Gauni Bhakti, is the prelinttinary stage, and consists of
the science of the love and worship of God by means
of the mental conception of God as a personal being
—a "personal God." The second, or higher stage,
Para Bhakti, consists of the worship and love of an
impersonal God— 4he Absolute. Of course the same
(lod is loved and worshiped in both cases, but the men-
tal development of the follower of Gauni Bhakti does
not admit of his forming a mental concept of an im*
personal God, and he, doing the best he can, forms
a mental image of a personal God. There are many
sub-stages to both of these main stages, the conception
of God defending upon the mental and spiritual de-
velopment of the man. We will go over the question
briefly in order that the student may distinguish the
great difference between the two great stages of Bhakti
Yoga, and at the same time may recognize that both
ideas arc of the same stock, the difference being a mat-
ter of mental and spiritual growth.

Primitive man feeling the urge of the religious in-
stinct, but being unable to think clearly on the sub-
ject, vents his instinctive worship upon crude symbols.
He worships sticks and stones— thunder and lightning
— ^the sun, moon and stars— the winds— and other nat-
ural objects. A little later on the race begins to feel
that God is some sort of person — some great big man,
living somewhere in space— unseen but seeing. The
mind of the savage conceives the idea of a God pos-
sessing the same characteristics as himself— only much
bigger and stronger. The savage being cruel and

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bloodthirsty can imagine only a cruel and bloodthirsty
God. If he is a black man his God likewise is black.
If he is a Mongolian, his God has slanting eyes, and
perhaps wears a queue. If he is an Indian, his God
is red, with painted face and feathers, and carries a
how and arrows. If he is an uneducated Hindu, his
God may ride a bull or an elephant, and be nearly
naked. And so on, the God of every people bearing
the characteristics of that people. Each nation, feel-
ing the religious instinct, creates a conception of a
personal God — and each conception of a personal God
resembles those who create him. Each of these created
Gods loves and hates the persons and things loved or
hated by his creators. Each of these Gods is an ar-
dent patriot of the country to which he belongs, and
hates and despises all other countries and peoples.

These created Gods often arc given grotesque forms
and shapes. Some have a dozen arms — some have sev-
eral heads. They arc armed with the weapons of the
times to which they belong. Some hunt and chase-
others indulge in warfare. They are supposed to grow
angry, jealous, and to manifest hate, envy, and often
change their minds. They are revengeful and, in short,
are given all the attributes of a man of low develop-
ment. And why not? The people who form these
mental concepts cannot imagine a God very much in
advance of them. These Gods generally demand flattery
and sacrifices, and have a large following of priests
and attendants to sing their praises, and to render hom-
age. The priests are supported by the people, under
supposed Di\*inc orders, and claim to have the ear of

BHAKTI YOGA. 179

the Deity, and to dispense favors. They all seem to
think it a part of their duty, to chant the praises of
their Deity and to boast about his power, and claim
that he can overcome the Gods of other peoples. These
Gods seem to like to have men grovel in the dust be-
fore them, and loudly proclaim their slavery — follow-
ing the desires and examples of the kings and chiefs
of the time. They can be flattered and bribed into
giving favors, and if the sacrifices and offerings are
not sufficient, they visit some terrible affliction upon
the people, in order to make them pay their thhes or
to furnish a sufficient number of objects for sacrifice.
These Gods delight in the smell of burning flesh, and
the aroma of the burnt ox or sheep is a delight to
them. They also favor incense and perfumes. Once
in a while they demand that blood — human blood, often
— ^bc sprinkled upon their altars. They give revela-
tions through their high priests, and woe unto him
who doubts them. Many of the priests are sincere and
honest, but many more are not, and use the supersti-
tious people as a milch cow, to support them in com-
fort. Heavens and hells have been invented— the
first to bribe the people to follow the laws of the
church of priests, and the second to frighten them if
the bribe failed. Temples are erected, and certain
places are supposed to be "holier" than others, and
especially favored by God. Non-attendance at the
temple is a serious offense, and God is particular to
punish the stay-at-homes. Devils have been invented,
as a means of frightening people, and to account for

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"evil," although, in some of the creeds, the devils are
not much worse than is the conception of Deity.

Nearly all people have made images of their Gods,
and the less learned of the people, could see but little
difference between the image and the personal God ^
somewhere afar off. The image was right before j

them, and partook of reality, while the Deity itself was j

a poorly understood being. ,

We are not mentioning these things in the spirit of
unkindly criticism, or of ridicule. Not a particle of
such feelings animate us in this writing. We merely
mention the facts in order to show the student the
rough places traveled over by Man in his search for
God. No matter how crude the conception of Deity
— no matter how cruel and barbarous the form of wor-
ship — no matter how buried in superstition are these
forms of religion — each is a step in the progress of |

man to Union with God, and must be recognized as {

such. Man has discarded sheath after sheath of re- *

ligious ignorance, each sheath revealing a better form
than itself. And this process is still going on, and will
go on. We are growing out of old forms into better
ones. This is a part of the evolutionary process.

The materialist points out these same facts, and ar-
gues that all religions are false because the history of
the past shows the falsity of the old conceptions of
age after age. But he does not see that his own con- i

ceptions of matter and Nature are likewise steps in I

the evolutionary process, and that his present position |

is merely a step on the ladder, just as wire the forms

BHAKTI YOGA. i8i

and conceptions at which he sneers. He like the sav-
age and his successors, is seeking God, but he does
not realize it.

The student of religions will notice that Man's con-
peption of God is growing greater, broader, grander
and kinder each year. Even in our own times is this
so. The last twenty years has .wrought a mighty
change in this respect. We no longer hear of God
burning infants a span long in eternal flames. We
hear very little of hell, in these days. We hear more
and more of the Loving God, and less and less of the
God of Hate and Anger. The people are being taught
to love God instead of to fear Him. The change is
going on rapidly. And better things are ahead of us.
But we must not forget that each form of religious
teaching — each creed — each church— no matter how
crude may seem their teachings and forms — ^fills a
needed place in the religious evolution of the race,
liach suits the requirements of those following them,
and each shouhl be respected, accordingly. When the
|)ews outgrow certain forms and conceptions, the pul-
pits drop the objectionable teachings and modify and
alter matters so as to fall into line. The preachers,
as a rule, sec quite a way ahead of their flocks, but
know that the time is not yet ripe for the change. The
change comes gradually. The teachings of the
fchurches to-day — even the most orthodox — ^would
seem like heresy and even blasphemy to our forefath-
ers. Outgrown creeds fall aside, and new ones take
their place, and yet the church organizations remain
under the same old names. It is like the storv of the

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t)oy who had a knife which had b«en repeatedly re-
paired. It had had four new handles and six new blades,
and yet it was still the same old knife. Many of us,
when we outgrow certain old conceptions, display an
impatience and even contempt for those remaining in
the fold from which we have strayed. This is all '
wrong. Those who remain are just where they be-
long — it is the best place for them for the time being. ,
When they outgrow their creed, they will drop it from
them like a worn-out garment. Intolerance on our
part would be just as absurd as the intolerance shown
by these people. The true student of Bhakti Yoga
will feel the keenest sympathy and the greatest tol-
erance for all who are seeking God, no matter by what
road they are journeying, or what may be the methods
of their search. The undeveloped men try to prove
their love of God. by starting in to hate all men who ^
differ from them in their conception of Deity. They |
seem to feel that such non-belief, or difference of be- j
lief, is a direct affront to God, and that they as loyal
servants of God must resent same. They seem to
think that God needs their help against His "enemies."
This is a most childlike attitude, and is entirely un-
worthy of those who are reaching the age of spiritual
maturity. The developed man, on the contrary, recog-
nizes the relationship of all lovers of God— r^ardless
of their conceptions— and sees them as fellow travelers
on the same road. The way to love God is to Love
Him instead of hating some fellow man.

The worship of a personal God. whether such wor-
ship be of a God of the savage, or the personal God of

BHAKTI YOGA. 1S3

the educated man, is all a form of Gaunt Bhakti. It
is only when man drops off the "personal" idea of God
that he passes into the stage of Para Bhakti, and has
an understancUng of God in His higher sense. Not
that God is devoid of personality—He goes beyond
personality, not contrary to it. The Absolute may be
loved as one loves a father or mother— as one loves a
child— as one loves a friend — ^as one loves a lover. He
includes in His being all the attributes calling for such
forms of love, and responds to each demand. In fact
no demand for a return of love is necessary between
Man and God. Just as man steps out into the sunshine
and opens himself to its rays, so does the man who
loves God step out in the rays of the Divine Love and
receive its benefit. The very act of loving God opens
up one to the Divine Love. If one feels the need of
the protecting love of the Father, all he need do is to
open himself to such love. If one needs the tender
and sympathetic love of a mother, such love comes to
him if he but opens himself to its inflow. If one would
love God as one does a child, such love is open to him
in the same way, and many who have felt the need of
such a bestowal of love, but who have feared the ap-
parent sacrilege of thinking of God as one does of a
loved child, may find that such a giving of love wilt
ease many a heartache and pain, and will bring to them
the comforting response that comes from the answer-
ing pressure of the loved child. The Western religions
take no account of this last form of love, but the re-
ligious Oriental knows it, and it is no uncommon thing
to hear a Hindu woman (using the poetical language

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of her race) speaking of herself as a "Mother of God."
Startling as this may seem to the Western mind, it is
but a recognition on the part of these women of the
fact that God supplies cverj- need of the human heart
in its desire for Love. And one may love God as a
friend and brother and companion. And one may feel
toward God the burning love of a lover. All these
forms of love of God are known to the Bliakti Yogi.
Our Western conceptions of God have allowed us only
to feel for Him the love of a child for a Father —
while every human heart, at times, feels the need of a
Mother-love from Ciod. God is not a male being — nor
is he a female. Itoth of these forms are but partial
manifestations of Him, and he includes all forms within
Himself — and many unknown to us to-day.

The Bhakti Yogi knows that by this constant love of
God he will grow nearer to Him, and will in the end
come to a conscioiisness and "knowing" of the true
relationship between them The lover of God who
has not advanced beyond the Gaunt lihakti stage,
knows nothing of the wealth of love and nearness ex-
perienced by the one in the Para Hhakli stage. The
one may be compared to the little child who is fond
of its playmate, and thinks he knows what love is —
the other is like the same child, grown to maturity,
who feels the sweep of deep, pure and noble love for
his true mate. 1 he one touches God at but one point,
at the best, while *he other finds that God responds to
ever}' human ncc<l, and may be touched at a thousand
points — He is always there, just as is the sun, and all
that one needs is to step out into the sunshine. Noth*

BHAKTI YOGA. 185

ing is asked by the sun, but the stepping out, and noth-
ing is asked by God but the same thing— -the need of
Him.

The Western student must not suppose that this
Bhakti Yoga love of God is akin to the hysterisal, emo-
tional thing he sees in his own countries among the
followers of certain sects of church-people. On the
contrary the followers of this form of Yoga are gen-
erally men of dignified bearing, and deep knowledge.
They do not roll around shouting "Glory, glory," and
working themselves up into a frenzy of emotional ex-
citement. Instead, they go through life--doing their
work, and living their lives — ^but filled with a deep and
abiding sense of the love of God, coming from their
consciousness of their relationship to, and nearness to
Him, and from the consciousness of His accessibility.
They realize that in Him, indeed, do they live and move
and have their being, and that He is not a being afar
off, but is right here, all the time, nearer than one's
very body. They are not "goody-goody" people, but
men and women who see God everywhere, in every-
thing, and who feel that they are worshiping Him in
every act. They seek diligently the Kingdom of
Heaven, but they realize that the Kingdom of Heaven
is within themselves, and also all around them. They
feel in Heaven every moment of their lives. They
worship God, all the time, everywhere ; in every act—
they know that every act is a service to Him, and that
every place is His Temple. They feel constantly filled
with the Power of God—constantly within his sight
and knowledge— constantly in His Presence. And

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they fear not— Love fills them so completely that there
is no room for anything else. Love casts out all Fear,
for them. Every day is Sunday to such people— every
hill, plain, field, and house is the Temple. To them
every man is His priest— every woman His priestess —
every child an attendant at His altar. They are able
to pierce the disguise of man, woman and child, and
to see the soul underneath the often hideous fleshly
covering.

The Bhaktt Yogi does not feel that God demands
Man's love, or that He holds favors and benefits as a
reward for those who Jove Him, or reserves punish*
ments and penalties for those who do not manifest
such love. On the contrary, his idea of God would
cause him to regard such an idea as unworthy of a
true lover of God. He knows that God is above such
primitive feelings and characteristics. He knows that
the love of God extends to all of his children, without
regard to whether or not they love Him or worship
Him. They know that God does not demand ^rvices
or duty ; worship, or even reverence. They compare
God to the sun which is no respecter of persons or
motives, and which shines on the just and unjust alike
— ^his rays being open even to those who deny his ex-
istence. But the Bhakti Yogi also knows that there t;
a reward and benefit awaiting those who open them-
selves to God's love— not as an act depending upon
God's favor, but as an effect resulting from the act
of Man. Just as the man who steps out into the warm
rays of the sun is relieved of cold, and is thus rewarded
for his act. so is the man rewarded who steps out in

BHAKTI YOGA. 187

the suQShine o£ God's love which is there awaiting his
coming, and i$ thus relieved of the cold resultii^; from
a Mure to take advantage of the warmth of such
love. It is not to be wondered that throughout many
Oriental writings the Sun is used as a symbol of the
Absolute. We find this symbol used in nearly all sa-
cred writings, even in the Bible, which, of course, is
of Oriental origin.

Some of these ideas about God may seem strange
to the Western student, but if he will take the trouble
to look into the matter he will find that this idea runs
along through the Giristian teachings like a golden
thread upon which the bea ]s of the teaching is strung.
Christ's teachings are full of this truth, which, how-
ever, has been lost sight of during the centuries. The
early Christians saw these truths plainly, as may be
seen by a reading of the works of some of the early
fathers of the church, but the theologians have built
much rubbish around the early teachings so that un-
less one looks under the surface the central truths are
not seen.

The Bhakti Yogi prays to God. In the elementary
stages of Gautti Bhakti he may word his prayers so
that they seem to be asking God for favors— this, later,
is discarded. The man of crude spiritual discernment
may come to God as a b^^r, asking for this thing
and that (usually material benefit). A little later on,
Man sees that this is not the way to approach God, and
he asks to be given strength and courage and to be
helped in spirittia! unfoldment. In this stage the man
thinks that God rewards the prayer by bestowing

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strength and courage and the rest, just as a king may
bestow gifts to those asking for them. But the Yogi
who follows the road of Para-Bhakti does not expect
rewards of this kind, and yet he obtains the richest
rewards. He knows that prayer does not help Gkxl,
nor does God delight in being besought and praised in
prayer. And yet prayer is of tfie greatest benefit to
Man, for, by means of it, he brings himself in tune
with the Infinite, and opens himself to the strength,
courage, and wisdom that comes from the nearness to
God — the nearness to the Centre of Power and Wis-
dom. This is the secret of prayer. The man who prays
earnestly— from the heart — brings himself into a closer
touch with the Absolute. No word may be uttered, but
the mental condition of prayer brings man into a form
of union with God, and allows the strength and wis-
dom of the Infinite to flow freely to him. And yet
the most of us prefer to use words, and find them a
great help in producing the proper condition of mind.
But the words are merely helps to that end. God
does not need to be spoken to in words — when the
finite mind calls to the Infinite Mind its message is
heard and understood.

Prayer to be efficacious must not be mere lip-service
—mere parrot-like repetition of words, for such per-
formances do not tend to open up the mind to the in-*
iflow of the Divine Strength and Wisdom. One must
have a heart-to-heart talk with God. Not that God
needs to be told what we want— He knows far better
than we do— but by a heartfelt confession and talk we
open up our mind properly— we uncover the empty

BHAKTI YOGA. 189

vessels needing filling, and the Divine pours into the
void. The Divine Power and Wisdom is ours, if we
but open ourselves to it. That is all there is to it It
is as free as the air and sunshine, but we must remove
the haniers that we have erected. We have imagined
God to be afar off from us, and we roust cultivate the
consciousness that he is right Here — Now. Talk to
God as j'oti would to your Father, or Mother, or loved
Child, or Friend, or Husband or Wife, or Lover. He
is all this and more, and whatever form represents to
you the closest relationship, that is the form to use.
Realize the sense of the nearness of God, and He will
lie near. Fine words are not necessary — ^use the same
words that you would in addressing the person dearest
to you and who loves you the best. God does not sit
as a king on his throne, expecting you to prostrate
yourself at his feet and stammer out your message. He
bids you seat yourself beside Him, and He places His
arm around you— makes you feel at home — and you
forget your fear and bashfulness and tell him your
story in your own words.

Do not imagine that God needs your advice or sug-
gestions. You must have the utmost confidence in
Him, and know that He will abide with you, and guide
your steps- Your mind will be filled with the knowl-
edge that will enable you to know how to act-— you
will then be given the strength to act. If the mind
does not seem able to grasp the situation — if no way
opens out before you — open yourself to the inflow of
the Divine, and you will be led by the Spirit to see
the firat step to be taken—th«n take that first step in

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confidence. This is not mere "churchy" talk, such as
has been poured into your ears from every pulpit as a
matter ol form. It is a great reality, and thousands
live in this way. You gradually will gain courage and
confidence in leading this life, and will b^n to realize
what a great field has been opened to your view.

The main idea in considering one's relation to God,
is the fact that God is the great Centre of Life. He
is the centre, and we arc like atoms in the rays emanat-
ing from that centre. We are not apart from Him,
although we are not the centre itself. We arc con-
nected with Him, as the rays are connected with the
sun. The power and wisdom flowing out along the
rays are ours, if we but elect to use them, and allow
them to use us. The little wheel in the centre of the
symbol used by the publishers of these lessons (found
on the front of the cover of all their books)— the lit-
tle wheel within the triangle — represents this truth.
The symbol is imperfect, for it shows tliat the rays
terminate, while the rays of the Absolute never ter-
minate— they are infinite. But infinity cannot be rep-
resented by finite symbols, and so a circle must be
drawn around the rays, which circle represents the
finite understanding of Man. If you will but fix this
idea of God and His emanations in your mind, you will
find yourself gradually growing into a better realiza-
tion of the matter. The Centre is pure Spirit— God—
and as we unfold spiritually we draw nearer and nearer
to that centre. Those in whom the Spirit has not man-
ifested so freely as in us are farther removed from the
centre than are we. And those who are further ad-

BHAKTI YOGA. 191

vanced spiritually are still nearer it tiiati are we. The
further from the centre, the nvore material is the atom.
The nearer the centre, the more spiritual does it be-
come. There are far off from this planet, atoms of a
still greater degree of materiality than we can dream
of. And closer in to the centre are beings so far ad-
vanced beyond Man in the spiritual scale as to be im-
possible of comprehension to his intellect. Man, as we
know him, is only midway between the two extremes,
of conscious life. There arc intelligent beings as far
above us in the scale as wc are above the jelly-fish.
And yet even the jelly-fish, and still lower forms, are
within the circle of the Divine Love. Then why should
we fear — ^why should we lose courage? We cannot
die — ^we cannot be wiped out of existence — ^we are
parts of a mighty Whole, ever advancing toward the
centre — ever unfolding and growing. The why and
wherefore of it all is wrapped within the Centra! In-
telligence, although as Man advances spiritually he be-
gins to grasp fragments of the truth. As he advances
toward the Centre he grows in Power and Wisdom —
both Divine attributes. All Power and Wisdom em-
anate from the Centre, and the nearer we approach the
Centre the more powerful are the rays that beat upon
us. The Divine Attributes — Omnipotence, Omnis-
cience, Omnipresence—are partaken of by us in an
increasing ratio as we approach the Centre. This is a
hint of a mighty truth— are you prepared to receive It?
Do not for a moment imagine that the lover of God
need assume an unnatural mode of life in order to
please Deity. Let him lead a perfectly natural life.

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entering into all the ocotpations, reero^tions and pleafr-

ures that he may see fit. Be free to choose, Mdneitii^

force yourself into things, nor away from them. Do

not imagine that a stem, serious expression is more

pl^ising to God than a smiling, cheerful face. Just

be natural->that's all. The man or woman who feels

the love of God flowing through him, is apt to be of a

happy, cheerful disposition — radiating sunshine everj'-

wherc. He need not be afraid to laugh, and sing, and

dance, if he feels like it, for these things are ail good

if we use them and do not let them use us. Let us

enjoy the sun, the rain, the heat, the cold. Let us

delight in the plain, the mountain, the sunrise, the sun*

set. Let us enjoy to the full the things of Nature. The

closer we get to God, the closer do wc enjoy the things

of Nature. Let us lead the natural, simple life. Let

us make the best of everything, and turn everything

to good account. Ixt us be sunny— let us be sweet.

Let the keynote of our life be "J^yi J**/- J^y !"

Edward Carpenter, in one of his poems, voices this

sense of joy that comes to him who feels the great love

nf God surging through him, and who recognizes the

nature of this God, and who feels his relationship to

Him. He says:

"I arise out of the dewy ulght and sbake say wiogs. Tears
and lameotatiotiB are so more. Life and death lie Btietehed
before mo. I breathe the sweet aether blowinsr of the breath
of Ood.

"Deep u the onlveree is mv Ufe-^ad I know it; nothing
ean dislodge the knowledge of it; nothing oan destroy, noth-
ing can harm me.

"Joy, joy arisoB^I arise. The sua darts overpowering
piercing rays of Joy tbrotub me, the night radiates it from
inp. I take wiDgfi tbrongb the night nnil pass tbrough all

BHAKTI YOGA. 193

th« wildernewes oi the worlds and tbe old dark holds of
tears and death— and return wiUi laughter, laughter, laughter.
Sailing through the starlit spaces on outspread wings, we
two — laugbterl laughter! laughter!"

The true lover of God is an optimist He looks lof
— 'and finds— the bright side of things. He is able to
extract sunshine from the darkest comer. He walks
through life with a smile, a cheerful song, an abiding
faith in the Absolute. He loves all of Life, and car-
ries a message of hope, and cours^e, and a helpful sug-
gestion to all. He is broad and tolerant— merciful and
forgiving— devoid of hate, envy, and malice— free from
fear and worry. He minds his own business, and
grants all the same privilege. He is full of Love, and
radiates it to all the world. He goes through life in
his own sunny way, joyfully meeting things that drive
others to despair and misery— he passes over the stony
road unharmed. His peace comes from within — ^and
all who meet him feel his presence. He does not seek
after friends or love— these things come to him as his
right, for he attracts them. He is as much at home in
the tenement of the laborer as in the palace of the
wealthy— both places seem as home to him, and their
occupants on a level. Brother to both saint and sinner
is he, and he loves them both — ^f or he feels that each
is domg his best. He looks for good in the sinner,
rather than for sin in the saint He knows that he
himself is not without sin, so he casts not the stone.
The Outcast recognizes in him a brother— the woman
who has passed through the fiery furnace trusts him
and is not afraid, for she knows that he understands.
H*. being near the sun, knows that it shines on saint

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and sinner-^'he feels that when God withholds his sun'
bttems from his most disobedient child, then may man
withhold his love from his most degraded sister or
brother. He does not condemn— he does not attempt
to usurp God's prerogative. He works and worics
well. He finds joy in his work. He likes to create
things — and he is proud of that desire for he feels that
it is an inheritance from his father. He does not hurry,
nor is he rushed. He has plenty of time— all the time
there is— for eternity lasts a long time, and he is in it
now. He has an abiding faith in the Absolute. He
iMlieves in Infinite Justice and Ultimate Good. He
knows that the Father is near him, for he has felt the
pressure of the Unseen Hand. In the darkness of the
night he has felt his Father's presence — by the glare
of the flash of illumination he has seen His form for
a moment, and that memory is burned into his mind.
He is simple, loving, kind. He is a prophecy of the
future. If you would be like him — if you feel the call
— ^o not resist, but answer cheerfully, "I hear; I obey ;
I come." When you feel the impulse, do not resist —
open yourself to the .Sun— receive its rays— and all will
be well. Be not afraid— have within you the love that
casteth out fear— ^place your hand in tfiat of the Abso-
lute, and say : "Lead Thou me on." After long ages
of wandering, you are coming home.

Perhaps you think that you do love God— do know
how to love Him. Listen to this Hindu feble, and then
see if you do. The fable runs thusly:

Once upon a time a chela (student) came to a Yi^i
guru (teacher) and asked to be taught the higher

BHAKTI YOGA. S95

stages of Para-Bhakti. He said that he did not need the
preliminary stages, as he already knew how to love
God. The Yogi merely smiled at the youth. He came
again and again, making the same demand, and receiv*
ing the same answer. At last he became very impa-
tient, and insisted upon an explanation of the Yogi's
conduct.

Then the Yogi took the youth to a great river, and
leading him out into it, he plunged him beneath the
water, and firmly held him there. The young man
fought and struggled, but could not raise his head
above the surface. At last the Yogi raised him out
of the water, and asked him: "Son, what did'st thou
desire most when under the water?" "A breath of
air," replied the youth, gaspingly. "Yea, verily," said
the Yogi, "when thou desirest God as much as thou
didst desire the breath of air, then wilt thou be ready
for the higher stzgt of Bhakti— then indeed wilt thou
love God."

Peace be to thee I

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LESSON VIIL
Dharma.

"Dharma" is a Sanscrit word which is translated into
English as "Virtue"; "Duty"; "Law"; "Righteous-
ness"; etc. None of these English words convey just
the exact meaning of Dharma. We cannot improve
one tliese definitions, but we may adopt one whidi fits
closer into our particular conception of the truth of
Dhanna, so we will consider that, for the purposes of
this lesson, "Dharma" means "Right-Action." To be
more definite, we might say that Dharma is the rule of
action and life best adapted to the requirements of the
individual soul, and best calculated to aid that particu-
lar soul in the next highest step in its development.
When we speak of a man's Dharma we mean the high-
est course of action for him, considering his develop-
ment and the immediate needs of his soul.

We think that this lesson will be timely and will an-
swer the demands of many of our students, We hear,
on all sides, the old question, "What is right?" People
are not satisfied with the old answers, which seem to
belong to the past, and which make certain forms, cere-
monies and observances equally as important, if not
more so, that right-action and right-thinking. The
advanced student sees the absurdity of the old divisions
of "right and wrong," and knows that many things
which have been condemned as "wrong" are "wrong"
only because certain men arbitrarily have called thetn

m

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so— and that many things that have been odled "rt^t"
are "right" only from the same reason. He looks
around him and sees that right and wrong seem to iif"
fer with latitude and longitude, and that the concep-
tions of right and wrong vary with the ages and con-
stantly are changing; being modified, improved upon,
or rejected. This being the case, the student is apt to be
puzzled regarding a code of ethics— he has lost his old
landmarks and standards, and finds himself puzzled to
determine with what to measure right and wrong. On
one side he hears the old doctrines of this or that mere
matter of form of observance, dogmatic and unreason-
able, which his soul rejects as outgrown and inade-
quate for its present needs. On the other hand, he
hears the new doctrine of "All is Good" being preached
vigorously, often by those who have not the slightest
conception of the real meaning of the words— and this
new doctrine is not satisfactory to the average student,
for his conscience tells him that certain courses of con-
duct are "right" and others "wrong" (although often
he is not able to tell just why he so considers them).
And so the student is apt to become quite puzzled.

To add to his confusion, he recognizes the fact that
what may seem "right" to him, is utteriy incompre-
hensible to some men of his acquaintance who are not
so far advanced spiritually — ^they are not able to grasp
his high standard and ideals. He also notices that some
of the things that, even to him, seem the natural and
rig^t things for these undeveloped men to do (diat is,
seem better than other things they have been doing)
would he "wrong" for him, the advanced man. to do.

DHARMA. 199

because they would mean going backward. Among
other things, he sees these undeveloped men being in-
fluenced to "right" doing, and deterred from "wrong"
doing, by promises of reward and threats of puni^-
ment, which appear most unworthy and selfish to those
who believe in doing right lor right's sake. And yet, he
is forced to see that these people apparently need some
such artificial stimulus and deterrent, for they are in-
capable of grasping the higher ideals of ethics.

These, and countless other questions, arise to per-
plex the student, and to make him feel that the old
foundations have slipped from under his feet, and no
other safe foothold has presented itself to view. We
think that this little lesson on that phase of the Yogi
Philosophy which is called "Dharma," will help him
to find his way — ^will aid in pointing out the path that
he has lost sight of, momentarily, by reason of the thick
growth of underbru^ which covers the particular spot
now being traveled by him. The subject is too large
to cover in the space before us, but we hope to be able
to point out a few general principles, which may be
taken up by the student, and followed out to their log-
ical conclusion.

Let us take a brief view^ of the general question of
Ethics, and some of the theories regarding the same.
Ethics is defined as "The Science of Conduct," and
it treats of the desire to render harmonious the rela*
tionship of a man and his fellows. There are three
theories of Ethics among Western people, known as
follows: (1) The theory of Revelation; (2) The The*
ory of Intuition ; and, (3) The theory of Utility. As

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a rule, the advocate of any one of these three systems
claims his particular system to be the only true one, and
the other two to be errors. The Yogi Philosophy recog-
nizes truth in each and ail of the three systems, and
lives each its place in what it calls "Dharnia." In
order to get a clearer idea of Dharma, we must take
a brief look at each of these three systems, taken sep-
arately.

The system of Ethics based upon the Theory of Rev-
elation, holds that the only basis for morality and right-
conduct is Divine Revelation, coming Ihrough prophets,
priests and teachers, called by many names. The laws
given out by these men, as having been received by
them from (Jod. have been accepted, more or less sub-
missively, by all races in certain stages of their develop-
ment, although their conception of the God, who had
given out these laws, differed very materially. These
laws, so far as their great underlying principles were
concerned, resembled each other very much, although
they differed widely in detail, and minor laws and pre-
cepts. The great religious books of all races contain
a more or less complete code of ethics, which the peo-
ple are enjoined to obey implicitly witlwiit regard to
reason or their own opinions, these codes, however,
being subject to the interpretation of the highest re-
ligious authorities of the race. Each race regards the
precepts of its religious books, as interpreted by its
priests, as supreme authority, and. of course, view the
similar claims of other races as spurious. The majority
oi these religions have split up into sects and denomi-
nations, each having its favored interpretation of the

DHARMA. aoi

sacred teachings, but all rely on the origioftl revela-
tion as the only truth concerning ethics. And then,
again, each race has modified its original conc^tion of
the revealed teachings, fitting their ideas to the con-
stantly changing requirements of the i^. As a race
evolves its wants «md needs change, and its sacred
teachings are twisted and tent to fit the changed condi-
tions. The priests, in such <»8es, say that God un-
doubtedly meant "this and that," ins^ul of "thus and
so" as their fathers had supposed. So that after a time
the authority of the code of ethics rests largely upon the
interpretation of priests and teachers, rather than upon
the words of the supposed Divine revelation itself. The
followers of the other two schools of ethics object that
if Deity had intended to promulgate a code of ethics—
a rule of conduct—- applicable to all men in all time. He
would have worded it so clearly that it could not be
misunderstood even by the most ignorant, and His
wisdom would have enabled Him to have foreseen the
growing needs of the people, and, consequently, He
would have provided for such needs, either in the origi-
nal revelation itself, or in "supplements" thereto. We
will consider the advantages and disadvantages of this
theory later on in this lesson.

The second system of ethics advances the theory that
Man knows right and wrong intuitively— that Deity
imparts to each man, through his eon%ienee, an instinc-
tive knowledge of good and evil, that he may govern
himself accordingly. This school urges that men must
refer the details of his conduct to his own ocm%tence.
It overlooks the fact that the conscioices of no two peo-

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pie are exactly alike> and that such a theor,. Ji^1!«s
that there may be as many different standards of mor-
ality and conduct as there are people, and that the
statement "My confidence approves of it" would pre-
elude any argument as to ethics. As to what con
science is, the writers differ. Some say that it is tht
higher portion of the mind speaking to man. Some say
that it is merely the sub-conscious mind repeating what
has been suggested into it, and that consciences grow
with experience and change with environment. Some
claim that it is the voice of God speaking to the soul.
Others have still other explanations and theories. We
shall consider this theory at greater length a little
further on in this lesson.

The third system of ethics rests upon the theory of
utility, or what is known as utilitarianism, which latter
word is defined as "the doctrine that virtue is founded
on utility," or "the doctrine that the greatest happiness
of the greatest number should be the aim of all social
and political institutions." — (Webster.) This is the
theory upon which human law is supposed to be based.
Blackstone. the great expounder of the English Law,
states that human laws are based upon "the taw of na-
ture," which law of nature he tells us arc based upon
the la«vs of God — eternal immutable laws of good and
evil — which the Creator causes to become evident to
Man by means of human reason. Blackstone goes on to
say that "This law of natiire, being coeval with man-
kind, and dictated by God himself, is of course superior
in obligation to any other; no human laws are of my
validity if contrary to this; and such of them as are

DHAHMA. ao3

valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mc-
diatel>- or immediately, from this original," All this
sotmds beautifully sunple, and one is led to wonder how
it is that civiUzed life is not heaven on earth, until he
remembers the state of modem law-making and Iaw«
administering, whidj, however, is an improvement on
that of former days. It seems so easy to speak of the
"law of nature," but so diffiailt to apply that law to de-
tails of life, and to administer it. Blackstone, himself,
recognizes this fact, and says : "If our reason were al-
ways clear and perfect, the task would be pleasant and
easy; we should need no other guide but this: But
every man now finds the contrary in his own experi-
ence; that his reason is corrupt, and his undcr.stand-
ing full of ignorance and error." The man who has
had much experience in courts and the processes of
"justice" will be apt to agree with the great English
lawyer, in his last quoted remarks. While it is true
that the laws of a nation represent the average of its
best conceptions of ethics, still the conceptions change
more rapidly than the law, and the latter is always a lit-
tle "behind the times" as compared with public opinion
and conception of right and wrong. And many are the
loop-holes of man-made law, and the shrewd law-
breaker may safely commit almost any of the great of-
fenses against the current conceptions of morality, pro-
viding he does it cleverly enough. Some men have
a code of ethics of their own, which holds that no
"wrong" is committed providing no law is technically
broken, and so they scheme and plan, aided by "able
counsel," to attain their ends without violating the let-

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ter of the law. This danger being avoided, their eon-
sciences are easy. This is a very easy and ^ple theory
of conduct, for those who can live under it Justinian,
the great Roman law-giver, reduced the whole doctrine
of human law to three general precepts, as follows:
"Uve honestly ; Hurt nobody ; and Render to every one
his due." This is a simple and beautiful code, and its
honest adoption by mankind would make the world
over in a day, but nearly every man is inclined to place
his own interpretation upon each of the three precepts,
and, consciously or unconsciously, stretches them in his
own favor and against his fellows. It is very difficult
for one, in the present state of the world to tell just
what it is to "be honest" ; to live so that he will "hurt
nobody"; or to "render unto everyone his due"— or
even to tell just what everyone's due really is. How*
ever, as an example of the reason's conception of prqier
conduct, Justinian's precept is well worth remembering,
with the purpose of following it as closely as may be.
It will appeal to those who instinctively wish to give
all "a square deal," so far as may be, but who are un-
able to grasp the still higher teachings. But even those
who can manage to live up to Justinian's precepts, will
fall far short of satisfying their neighbors, who will
insist upon the observance of certain other things—-
many of them most ridiculous things— that have grown
to be the custom, or which are insisted upon by certain
so^alled religious ''authorities," not to speak of the
civil ones.

The followers of the Utilitarian school of ethi» dif>
fer one from the other in their explanations of the cause

DHARMA. 205

and history of ethics and rules of human conduct, sonic
thinking that it arose fron^ God speaking through man's
reason, and others taking the more material view that
ethics, laws, morals, and rules of conduct are the prod*
uct of the evolution of the rac6~the result of accumu-
lated experiences, the trying of this and of that until a
fair average has been obtained. Of course to the latter
class, morals and rules of conduct are purely matters
of the reason of Man, having nothing to do with Divine
Law, or Spiritual Knowledge. Herbert Spencer, the
great English scientist, is perhaps the best exponent of
this last named school, his work, "The Data of Ethics,"
being a masterpiece of reasoning along these lines.

Dharma takes cognizance of each and all of these
three schools of ethics, seeing that each has a bit of
truth in it, and that all, combined, and welded with the
cement of the occult teachings, make a mighty whole.
We will show how these apparently conflicting sys-
tems may be reconciled. But before doing so it may
be better to take another look at the three systems
above mentioned, making an analysis of the objections
to each as a complete theory, so that we may see the
weakness of any one theory taken by itself as well as the
strength of the three when combined and joined to-
gether with the teachings of Dharma. Let us take them
up in the order given above.

(I.) The Theory of Revelation. The principal
objection urged against this theory, by the advocates of
the other theories, is that there is not sufficient proof of
the truth of tlic revelation. Priests always have claimed
to be the mouthpieces of the Almighty, and the reve-

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lations have come through these priests in aii ages.
The advocates of the utilitariatt theory of ethics claim
that these so-called revelations (when the rule of con-
duct given out was really for the good of the people,
rather than for the benefit of the priests) were really
the result of the superior reasoning of the prophet, who,
being head and shoulders above his people, could see
what was best for their needs, and accordingly com-
piled such rules of conduct into more or less complete
codes, stating that they had been given direct by God
through the prophet, the priest placing the authorship
upon God rather than upon himself, knowing that the
people would be more apt to resi^ct and obey a Divine
command than one emanating from a mere man. The
advocates of the intuitional theory hold that the so-
called "revelations'* really arose from the conscience
and intuition of the prophet, who being a more ad-
vanced man than his people would be apt to sense more
clearly the voice of the spirit, but who would attribute
the voice of conscience to God, and who, accordingly
would so give out the message. The intuition of tlie
people would enable them to sec the "rightness" of the
so-called Divine message, and they would accept same
with the approval of their consciences. Another ob-
jection raised against the Theorj* of Revelation is that
there are many so-called revelations, differing materially
in detail— each religion having its own set of revela-
tions, through its own prophets and teachers. It is
held that if God wished to reveal a code of morals to
His people, his revelations would agree, and would be
given in such a way that there could be no mistaking

DHARMA. 307

them. It is also held that it is impossible Ut regard any
one of these numerous revelations as authoritative, ow-
ing to the impossibility of selecting any one from the
great number, as each prophet made equally strong
claims that he received the revelation direct from God,
and there is no Supreme Court to pass finally upon
the matter. It is also objected to that many of the
things claimed to have been directed by God have no
real connection with morality, but deal with the details
of the life of the people, such as the mode of slaugh-
tering animals ; the selection of kinds of food ; various
religious ceremonials, etc., which are as strictly en-
joined as arc the rules of conduct, and are equally en-
titled to be regarded as examples of "right and wrong."'
Then, again, there arc many things Banctioned in these
so-called revelations that are contrary to our modem
conceptions of morality. Divine commands were given
to kill enemies in a most barbarous fashion, which the
law of nations now prohibits, and only savage nations
now follow. In such a case it would seem that the in-
tuition or reason of man has raised a higher ideal than
did God. The same is true of polygamy and slaverj-,
which are not prohibited by the so-called Divine reve-
lations, but which are sanctioned and allowed. A num-
ber of similar objections are urged against the theory
of the divine revelation of ethics, but the mam objection
seems to be that there is not sufficient proof of the truth
of the revelation, and that reason teaches that the so-
called revelations were simply the result of the human
reason of the prophets, and were promulgated either
with the idea of keeping the people orderly and pros-

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perous, or else, to keep the priesthood in power and
authority, or both reasons. The Yogi IJiilosophy of
Dharma recognizes these objections, but answers them
in its system, as we shall see later on.

(2) The Theory of Intuition, The objection
to this theory, most frequently advanced, is that the
conscience is merely the result of one's teachings ; en-
vironment; race; temperament; age; etc, — that the
conscience of one man may make it seem wrong to kill
a fly, while that of another may make it seem right to
kill an enemy — that the conscience of one may make
it seem wrong not to share one's all with a stray comer,
or to hold any property as one's own, while the con-
ffcience of another (a Whitechapcl pickpocket, for in-
stance), may cause him to perfectly justify himself in
."tcaling whatever he may lay his hands upon. an<l even
reprove him for not taking advantage of an opportunity
lo do so. The conscience of certain of the criminal
classes is akin to that of the cat which sees no liarm
in stealing the cream or bit of tneat, and is only deterred
by fear of punishment. The student of human na-
ture, people and history, knows that conscience is
largely a matter of race, time, environment and tem-
perament, and he would hesitate at accepting the voice
of the conscience of any particular man as a fit source
or authority for a code of morals for all people, at all
times. He sees that the rules of conduct emanating
from the conscience of an undeveloped man would be
far below the standard of the average man of our own
times, while that given forth by the conscience of a
highly developed man would be impossible of compli

DHARMA. 309

ance with on the paat oi the average o{ our race today,
by reason of its high precepts and fine distinctions of
thought and conduct. And dien "conscience" has made
people do some things which our own "conscience" of
today tells us is "wrong." People have been burned
at the stake~-have had holes bored in their tongues-
have been tortured physically and mentally at the die*
tates of the consciences of the persecutors, who were
just as sincere as thoae whom Uiey persecuted.

If the principle of "conscience" wsre implicitly fol-
lowed, the "conscience" of the majority might make
things very unpleasant for the minority, as it has hap-
pened many times in the past. So, you see, the theory
that "conscience" as an infallible guide may be attacked
severely by its opponents. And yet, the Yogi Philoso-
phy of Dharma, while recognizing these objections,
also sees much truth in the theory of intuition or "con-
science," and welds it into place in its system, as we
shall see later on in this lesson.

(3) The Theorv of Utility. This theory often
is attacked severely on the ground that it is a purely
selfish idea— -that the basis of morality offered is "hap-
piness"~-the happiness of the individual modified by
the happiness of those around him— "the greatest hap-
piness to the greatest number," in short— and that sudi
a basis fails to recognize the higher destiny of man, be-
ing based entirely upon his earthly and material exist-
ent. To this tile utilitarian very naturally answers
that any code of conduct has a more or less selfish
basis, inasmuch as a man doing certain things, and re-
fraining from doing certain other things, by reason of

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hope of Divine approval and reward, or fear of Divine
displeasure and punishment, is as selfish as one who is
actuated by the idea of material happiness or unhappi-
ness. Another objection urged is that acting under it
the average man would be impelled to get as much hap-
piness for himself as possible, and to bestow as little
happiness upon others as he could help, as there would
be no reason why he should act otherwise — in fact, that
he would obey the letter of the human law, and not go
one inch further. Theoretically this objection might be
correct, but, in spite of cold theory, man is open to
higher impulses and motives coming from regions of
his soul that the utilitarian philosophy, as well as its
opponents, fail to recognize. A form of this same objec-
tion is found in the idea that the utilitarian philosophy
appeals only to the developed intelligence (that is, ac-
cording to the view of the Yogi Philosophy, to the
highly evolved soul) and that the ordinary man would
not be influenced by it to high action, but, if he grasped
it at all, would «.>;e it as an excuse for his own selfish-
ness, caring nothing for the welfare of his fellow men,
or for the benefit of the generations to come. The ob-
jectors hold that according to this theory a man
working for the good of his kind is the great-
est kind of a fool, for he is throwing away
his happiness and material gain for a senti-
ment. (This objection loses sight of the fact that
the advanced man finds much of his greatest happiness
in making others happy. ) A further objection is urged
against this theory of ethics to the effect that the hap-
piness (if tl'c iMJdiiiy is ;iii imworthy limitation, inns-

DHARMA. 211

much that even though the majority b« happy the mi-
nority may not be so, and, in fact, a certain number of
them must be very unhappy and miserable. This ob-
jection finds a response from those of spiritual advance-
mcnt, for sach people know that no one can be thor-
oughly happy unless all are happy, and that there can be
no ideal happiness if even one of the race is crowded
out of it by any set code or rule. The followers of the
theory that all morality is derived from Divine revela-
tion, and there is no morality to be found outside of it,
object to the utilitarian view because they say "it leaves
out God and His wishes." Those favoring the Intu-
itional Theory object to the Utilitarian Theory because
it refuses to recognize the existence of the "conscience"
or higher reason in man, and instead, places the basis
and foundation of all morality and rules of conduct
upon the cold human reason, and that, consequently,
there can be no "good" or "bad" except as measurefl
by the intellectual standard, which standard could be
altered, changed, improved upon, or abolished by Man's
reason. These objections are recognized, and answered
in the Hindu Philosophy of Dharma, which, while rec-
ognizing the weakness of the theory when considered
as the "whole truth," still finds much truth in it and
places it as one of the pillars of Dharma, the other
two theories forming the other two supports of the
structure.

Dharma claims to set in order this apparent confu*
sion. It recognizes each view as a partially correct one
—parts of the whole truth— but too weak and incom-
plete when standing alone. It reconciles the conflicting

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sdiools by taking the materials that are louad in each,
and using them to build a complete system. Or, rather,
it finds a complete structure erected, in the order of the
Universe, and sees that each school of thinkers is look-
ing at but one of its pillars, mistaking its favored pillar
for the sole support of the structure, the other two be-
ing hidden from sight by reason of the particular point
of view of the observer. And this teaching of Dharma
is much needed at this time by the Western people who
are in a state of great mental and spiritual confusion
on the subject of morality and conduct. They are di-
vided between ( i ) those who rely on revelation, and
who disregard it in practice because it is not "practi-
cal" — these people really advocate revelation as modi-
fied by experience and custom; (2), Those who claim
to rely on intuition and conscience, but who feel that
they are resting on an insecure foundation, and who
really live on custom and "the law of the land," modified
by their "feelings"; and, (3) those who rely on pure
reason, modified by the existing laws, and influenced
greatly by the impulses which come to them from the
higher regions of the mind, notwithstanding that they
deny these same higher states of mentality. Let us
hope that a study of Dharma wUl help to straighten out
matters for some of us. Of course, this little lesson is
merely a hint of the truths of Dharma. but we trust
that it may help some to adjust the matter in their
minds, and make it easier for them to get their moral
bearings, and to take advantage of the truths that are
pouring in on them from the three sides of life. Let
us ncm see what Dharma has to offer.

DHARMA. ai3

In our brief consideration of the subject, we must
ask the student to give us the "Open Mind." That is,
be willing to lay aside, for the moment, his preconceived
ideas and theories, and to listen to our teachings with-
out prejudice, as far as possible, without being unduly
influenced by his previously entertained theories. We
tlo not ask him to accept our teachings unless they ap-
peal to his reason and intuition, but we do ask him to
give us a fair hearing— that is, the hearing of an un-
prejudiced judge instead of that of a paid advocate
ready to pick flaws and make objections before we state
our case. That is all we ask, and it is no more than
any fair-minded student should be willing to grant.
We arc not attempting to tell you how to act, but wish
merely to present the general principles of Dharma for
your consideration.

Perhaps thet better way to begin our consideration of
the philosophy of Dharma would be to give you an idea
of how that philosophy views the three above men-
tioned theories of tiie basis of morality and rule of
conduct. We shall take up each theory in turn. But
before doing so we must ask you to bear in mind the
fundamental theory of the Yogi Philosophy that all
souls are growing souls — souls in different stages of
growth and advancement along The Path. Spiritual
evolution is in full force, and each soul builds upon its
yesterdays, and, at the same time, is laying a founda-
tion for its tomorrows. Its yesterdays extend back over
its present earthly life away back into its past exist*
ences. And its tomorrows reach far ahead of the re-
maining days of its present earthly life into its future

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^14 ADVANCED COLTISE.

embodiments or incarnations. Life is not a mere mat-
ter of a few years in the flesh— the soul has countless
yesterdays of existence, and has the whole of eternity
before it, in a constantly progressing scale, plane after
plane of existence being before it, in an ever ascending
spiral. We do not purpose dwelling upon tliis fact,
but mention it that you may be reminded that the em-
bodied souls we see around us in the shape uf men and
women represent diflfercnt scales of ascent, develop-
ment, and unfoldment, and that of necessity there must
he widely differing needs and requirements of the soul.
The advancing ideals of morals, conduct and ethics arc
seen by the Yogis as indications that the idea and de-
lusion of separatcness is falling away from the race,
and that the consciousness of Oneness is dawning in the
minds of men. This dawning consciousness is causing
the race to «<ee "wrong" in many things that were for-
merly considered "right" — it is causing men to feel the
pains and sorrows of others, and to enjoy the happiness
and pleasure of those around them — it is making «>;
kinder and more considerate of others, because it make»
lis more and more conscious of our relationship with
each other. This is the cause of the increasing feelinj:*
of brotherhood that is possessing the race, although
those who feel it may not realize the real cause.

The evolution and unfoldment of the soul results in
higher ideals of thought and conduct for the race, and
accounts for the changing concq>tion8 of morality
which 19 apparent to anyone who studies history, and
who notices the signs of the times. An understanding
of thiR theor\ of Dharma, enables us to understand

DHARMA. 215

comparative morality, and prevents us from condemn-
ing our less developed brethren who have cruder ideaU
of conduct than ourselves. The higher the degree of
unfoldment, the higher the ideal of conduct and moral-
ity, although the unfoldment causes the soul to cast oft'
many old forms and ideals which seemed the best for it
in the past. Bearing these facts in mind, let us con-
sider the three sources of authority.

The Yogi Philosophy recognizes the theory of Reve-
lation as one of the pillars supporting the edifice of
Dharma. It holds that at different times in the his-
tory of the race the Absolute has inspired certain ad-
vanced souls to give forth the teachings needed by the
race at that particular time in its histor>'. These in-
spired men were souls that had voluntarily returned
from higher stages of development in order to render
service to their less developed brethren. They lived the
life of the people around them, and took the part of
prophets, priests, seers, etc. Accounts of these people
come down to us from the ages, distorted, magnified
and elaborated by legends, superstition, and myths of
the people among whom they lived. They seldom
wrote, but their teachings often written down by others,
(often after long years had past), and, although colored
by the views of the compilers, these writings still give a
fair idea of the trachings of the particular prophet or
teacher. These prophets were of varying degrees of
advancement, some coming from great heights of at-
tainment, and others from comparatively lower planes,
but eadi carried a message to his people, suited to their
needs at that particular time. These messages were

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8« SAaas 01 3uui| }o opoiu uoijj siq uBip i3ij3jq ajwii e
jsnf Smiijauios uijq 3ai3 oj— uoijnioAa sjq u{ 3uoiB usui
diai{ o} 8BM sSumoea; ds3t{) }o ijb }o pafqo aijx 'awfJ

}Et{4 18 t|S3D 9m U; einOS dutA{0A9 AlMOfS 9l{) }0 piB 3l{)

joj papu9)ut 9J9M puB 'dsodind simyap b peq qaBd sSui
-i{3B3j asaijj 'ja-i puy ••tcpoj jo S|B3pt aqj o» 3uijiOA3i
ajB ipmA\ JO XuBui 'DiinBU siiojBqjBq puB aSe.vBs ji^m
o) juiod puB 'sasojx Atj uAvop piBi sopu aqj jo Xueui

l()IA\ ;|n£J pUi; UOl^BldAdJ }0 AJOdl|t 9l|) JO gJlljJd XUBI\[

•luani aAjasqo oj spuajaid auo ou puB UA\ojia}no uaaq
aABif aidoad t{d}A\af ai|) joj UA\op piB[ pnpuoa jo sapu
jouiiu aq; )nq 'aajoj {[nj ui uiB^qo i|i)s sasoiv; ^q UAiop
piBf sa(d{auud (eiuauiepunj aqj *asjno3 jq "ABpoj ajq
jno OJ paiiddB ji aq ppioAv uiaq; jo aubui pjnsqB Avoq
pA puB 'siuaiuajinbai jiaq) oiui pauy Aaq) |iaA\ A\oq
no.{ ;a.< pue 's^uautaiinbai Jiaqj ouq pa>}^ Xaq) {jaAV A\oq
puB 'ami) sti{ JO aidoad oq) joj papuajui ajOM sSuiqasa)
6tq JO si!B)dp ail) ^^*^4 <*''^ P"^ 'aiduiBxa ioj saso}^
3>lBi 'B-'*P! siqi JO A*|[oj aq) Avoqs \\m )q3noii) H,)uaiuoui
V 'sauii) iiB }c 'ajdoad hb aoj A'tqBJoui jo spjBpuB)s
puB )onpuo3 JO sajtu sb papuo)Ui ajaAV Xai|) )Bq) ppq
II) puB 'sliiuupea) asaq) jo .CiqiqiUBjui aq) uodti \SKm
i») )dB DJB sjaas snoiSipj aq^ 'Isbi o) i)apua)uc a4aA\
qaiqw sauo iBiuauiepunj A\aj b jo uot)daaxa aq) q)!A\
••:)daaaid aiaq) jo we Xiaeau pjBasip o) paiqsua 3tz Xep
>o) puB 'sSutqaed) Jtaq) jo Xueiu puoA'aq jbj paaueApe
aABq 3AV )Bq) .<«>> o) 'uoi)6uuo}ui itaqi paAtaaai Xaq)
qaiqM aioj| aainos aq) o) io 's}aqdojd asaq) o) tipai?
•stp ou SI ii 'uodn pimq o) 8U0!)ejaua9 ajn)nj ioj uoi)
•epuaoj B Xbi o) padpq puB 'utaq) ui aJ3ueqa c pa^JOAx
/Sunpua) aq) pu« 'aidoad aq) .\q 'ssdj jo ajoiu 'paidaa.'>K

DHARMA. 217

an ideal of conduct. Som& of these teachings which
seem so barbarous to us today, if examined closely in
the light of the condition of tfie race at that time, will
be seen to be just a few sUps in advance of the customs
of the race at the dme the teachings were given. To us
on the higher rounds of the ladder, these teachings are
seen to be on a lower plane than ourselves, but if we
were to stand on the round occupied by the race at that
time, we would see that the teadiings were a round or
two higher still. It is unreasonable to insist that the
highest conceivable ideals should have been given the
race in its infancy— just imagine the highest ideals of
Christ submitted to the semi-barbarous tribes of Israel.
But here let us call your attention to a remarkable fact,
namely, that in the majority of these crude ancient
teachings may be found an esoteric or secret teachings
intended for the few advanced souls of that generation,
and those to follow->just enough to show that the
teachers understood the higher teachings. These eso-
teric teaching are found embedded in the exoteric
teachings intended for the multitude. It has ever been
so. The teachings of Christ are not underst<K)d by
the masses of today, not to speak of yesterday. Look
at the history of Christianity and see how the so-called
followers of the Christ misunderstood his teachings-
see how barbarous and savage have been their concep-
ti<ms, and are even to this day. And yet, the advanced
soul in every generation for the last nineteen hundred
yean has been able to read the esoteric teachings be-
tween the lines of the imperfectly reported, and often
distorted accounts of the sayings of Jesus. And yet,

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ChrUt't teachings have done wonderful work, in spite of
the lack of understanding. The ethics of the Sermon
on the Mount are not in force today—the race has not
grown up to them--4)Ut future generations will live by
their light and guidance.

At this point, let us call your attention to a fact. Ths
teachings of all the prophets were intended to help man
in casting off the old sheaths of the lower planes of the
mind, and to help him to work his way to a higher stage
of growth. The evolution of the soul was the end
aimed at, and all observances were intended for that
purpose, One stop at a time was, and is, the rule. The
word spoken was not the final word, but was intended
to lit in a certain place. This is the key to much that
has perplexed you in the past. Another important point
to remember, is that all tlic teachings were intended
to raise man up and all were for his own benefit. They
were not intended to make man perform certain duties
toward God, as we have been taught to believe. God
was not worrying about man's lack of consideration to-
ward him. He was not vain-glorious, and demanding
worship and burnt-offerings to tickle his nostrils. Such
ideas belong to the infancy of the race. God gets along
very well without man's worship and praise. Man alone
is the gainer by the love of God— the Absolute is not
injured or benefited by man's actions. If the teachers
and the prophets commanded that man worship God, it
was solely for the purpose of bringing man's attention
to the fact that there was a Power above, the fact of the
attention being so directed causing man to obtain the
advantage of the upward attraction of the Absolute in

UHAkMA. 219

his unfoldment. Get out of your mind the idea that
God needs your praise and worship in order to satisfy
His love of approval and your statements of His ex-
alted position. All the benefit of prayer, worship and
love of God is on the side of Man— it is all one-
sided.

To understand the teachings of the prophets of all
religions, we must put ourselves in the place of the
prophet and see the kind of people he had to deal with.
Then will we understand that the crude commands were
calculated to bring them up just one step in the scale —
and they did. But because the teachings were so in-
tended, and accomplished their purpose, we must not
allow ourselves to be bound by the letter of them at this
time. If we grow to an understanding of the matter,
along the lines pointed out, we will be able to discard
the chaff of the teachings (which was the wheat in the
past) and to seize upon the scattered grains of wheat
still to be found in the measure. Let us make use of all
the good in the old teachings for there is still much
good to be found in them — they have not as yet out-
lived their usefulness. But let us not bind ourselves
with the worn-out teachings of the past — let us not for-
get the spirit of all teachings and tie ourselves to the
dead letter of the old law. Let us not commit the folly
of claiming that because a teaching was inspired, that it
is an infallible rule of conduct for all time, and all peo-
ple—let us remember the other two pillars of Dharma,
intuition and reason. But, at the same time, let us not
sneer at the old teachings, and deny their inspiration,
simply because they belong to a long past age and time.

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220 ADVAxci-n conisiv

Let us recognize the thing for what it is, and govern
ourselves accordingly. And let us not suppose that the
day of revelation and inspiration has passed. There is
as much inspiration in Emerson as there was in the He*
brew prophets — each was ahead of the times, and the
message of each is but imperfectly understood by the
multitude— each struck a higher note in the scale. We
select Emerson merely as an instance — there are many
others in our own times. But there is this difference
between the prophet of old and the modem seer and
teacher. The ancient prophet had a following that
were compelled to accept the teaching in blind faith,
illuminated with but a faint degree of spiritual insight,
while the people of today are able to measure the
value of the teachings by the light of their souls, and
the aid of the reason— that is, some of the modem peo*
pie may do this, the others must be content with the old
teachings, for they belong to a past age of development,
and not having kept pace with their brothers must re-
main content with the tales of the spiritual childhood.
And even this is good.

The Yogi Philosophy recognizes the Theory of In-
tuition or Conscience as the second pillar supporting
the edifice of Dharma. As we have already said in the
consideration of this particular theory, many persons
who have devoted thought to the question of ethics are
repelled by the difficulties surrounding the theory a"
Revelation (considered by itself) and not being willing
to accept as authoritative, infallible, and final, the so-
called revelations given to primitive peoples in the past
ages, they deny the inspiration of these revelations and

DHARMA. 321

look around them for sonift other theory and rule of
conduct. Many of such people accept the Utilitarian
Theory, as appealing to their reason, although it does
not seem to fill the needs of their souls so fully asj
might be desired. Others being repelled by the cold-
ness and selfishness of the last mentioned theory, and
yet not being willing to go back to the old Theory of
Revelation, adopt the Theory of Intuition or Con-
science, and accept the idea that "conscience" or "intui-
tion" is the direct and sole arbiter of morality and con-
duct, and believe that the human laws are really based
upon the same. Some take the radical position that the
voice of "conscience" or "intuition" is really the voice
of God speaking to Man, and should he obeyed implic-
itly — that God lunkcs his revelations to each man. As
we have stated hcforc, this position has been severely
attacked tipon the ground that the conscience of no two
people agree, and that it is dependent upon environ-
ment, age, race, public opinion, education, etc., and that
therefore it cannot be an infallible guide nor one safe to
follow, as every man would have his own laws which no
other man would be bound to take into consideration,
etc., etc. Dharma reconciles these two apparently con-
flicting opinions. Let us see what it has to say about
Intuition or Conscience.

We had hoped to take up the question of the Theory
of Conscience or Intuition, and also the Theory of
Utility, in this lesson, reserving the next lesson for an
elaboration of Dharma, but we find that we have ex«
ceeded our space. Therefore, we will be compelled to
postpone the consideration of Conscience and Utility

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222 ADVANCKD COURSE.

until our next lesson, in whicii these features will be
combined with the remarks upon the practical phases of
Dhartna. We trust that our students will not pass over
these two lessons as too "dry" for careful study. They
arc most important, and are needed by every student
who is endeavoring to "get his bearings"— who wishes
to lead the life that brings happiness— who desires to
proceed along the Path of Attainment. The subject of
Conscience or Intuition is particularly interesting, and
we expect to bring out some important points on this
subject in our next lesson.

We beg that you give us attention and patience — you
will be rewarded for so doing. Peace he with you.

LESSON IX.

MORE ABOUT OBASMA.

Our last lesson closed just as we were &t>out to
consider and examine into the Theory of Intuition
or Conscience — the second pillar supporting the
edifice of Dharma. We will now take up the sub-
ject at that point.

Every man is more or less conscious of an inner
voice — ^a "knowing" apparently independent of hia
Intellect. This voice speaks to hini either in an
authoritative or a coaxing tone — either commands
him to do so and so, or to refrain from doing some*
thing. Sometimes it impels him to higher action,
and sometimes it seems to tempt him to perform an
unworthy act. In its higher phases, we call this
voice "conscience." In its lower phases, we are
apt to regard it -as "temptation," The old tales
held that each man had a good angel on one side of
him, and a bad one on the other, one whispering
into his ear telling him to do the "right" thing, and
the other urging him to do the "wrong" one. The
old tales symbolize the truth, as we shall see as
we proceed with our consideration of the matter.

In addition to the "voice of conscience," or the
"urging of the tempter," we find that there is a
"leading" in matters of ordinary action and con*
duct in which the question of "good" and "bad"
does not arise — the decision upon some of the af-

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834 ADVANCED COURSE.

fairs of ordinary life, work, business, etc. This
third manifestation we are apt to call "intuition."
Many people use the three terms and have a clear
understanding of the difference between each form
of manifestation, but are unable to explain just
what these promptings arc, or from whence they
come. The Yogi Philosophy offers an explanation,
and Dharma depends to some extent upon that ex-
planation, as it rests partially upon the pillar of
Conscience or Intuition — the second pillar — the
first pillar being Revelation ; the third being Utility.
These three pillars represent, respectively, the voice
of The Lord ; the voice of man's intuitive faculties ;
and the voice of man's reason. Let us now sec
what the Yogi Philosophy has to say regarding this
question of Intuition, and the nature of the message
coming from that part of the soul.

In order to understand the nature of Conscience,
Intuition, Temptation and other feelings coming in-
to the field of consciousness from the sub-conscious
regions of the mind, we must turn back a few pages
in our lessons. In the first series of The Yogi
Lessons (generally known as "The Fourteen Les-
sons"), in The Second and Third Lessons, we told
you something about the different "minds" in man
— ^the different planes along which the mind of man
functions. You will remember what we said about
the Instinctive Mind, the Intellect, and the Spiritual
MHnd. We have spoken of them repeatedly in the
several lessons comprising the first course, and the

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 225

present course, of lessons, and vre trust that you
have a fair understanding of the nature of each.

"Temptations," or the impulse to do "evil" or
"wrong" things, come from the lower regions of
the mind — that part of the Instinctive Mind that
has to do with the animal passions, tendencies, emo-
ticms, etc. These passions, emotions, tendencies,
etc., are our inheritance from the past. They are
not "bad" in themselves, except that they belong
to a part of our soul history which we have left be*
hind us, or out of which we are now emerging.
These things may have been the highest "good"
possible to our mental conception at some time in
the history of our evolution — may have been neces-
.sary for our well-being at that time — may have been
much better than other states of feeling and acting
which we passed, and accordingly may have seemed
to our minds at that time as the voice of the higher
self beating down upon the lower consciousness.
These things are comparative, you must remember.
But, now that we have passed beyond the stage in
which these things were the highest good, and have
unfolded sufficiently to take advantage of higher
conceptions of truth, these old things seem quite
"bad" and "wrong" to us, and when they come into
the field of consciousness from these lower regions
of the mind, we shudder at the thought that we
have so much of the brute still in us. But there is
no need to feel that we are "wicked" because the.w
thonjfhts and imptilsps arise within «js. They are

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226 ADVANCED COURSE.

our inheritance from the past, and are reminiscences
of the "brute" stage of our unfoldment They are
voices from the past If you feel the struggles of
the brute within you to be unleashed, do not be dis-
turbed. The fact that you can see him now as
something different from your normal self, is en- i
couragang. Formerly you were the brute — ^now i
you see him as only a part of you — a little later on, i
you will cast him off altogether. Read what we
have said on the subject on page 26 ( Lesson I)
of the present series of lessons. In other pages of
the present lesson we will take up the subject of
the comparative nature of "right" and "wrong," so
that you may see how it is that a thing that was
once "right" may now be "wrong" — how what
seems to be very "good" and "right" just now will
appear "bad" and "wrong" later on in our unfold-
ment (that is speaking relatively, for when we un- ,
fold we begin to see that that "right" and "wrong" j
and "good" and "bad" are relative terms, and that
there is no such thing as "bad" viewed from the
Absolute. And yet, as we progress, the things we
outgrow are "bad," and those into which we arc
growing seem "good" until they too are discarded).
All that we wish to do now is to point out to you
that "temptation" is merely the urge of some past
experience for repetition, because the tendency is
not entirely dead. It raises its head because of the
flickering of expiring life, or because the dying thing
has been arottsed by some outside suggestion or cir-

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 227

cumstance. Let the beasts die, and do not become
alarmed at their struggles.

Intuition may come either from the impulses of
Spiritual Mind projecting itself into the field of
consciousness, or from the sub-conscious region of
the Intellect. In the latter case, the Intellect has
been working out some problems without bother-
ing the consciousness, and having worked the mat-
ter into shape, presents it to the consciousness at
the needed time, carrying with it an air of author-
ity that causes it to be accepted. But many intui-
tions come to us from the Spiritual Mind, which
does not "think" but "knows." The Spiritual Mind
gives us, always, the best that we are able to accept
from it, according to our stage of unfoldment. It
is anxious for our real welfare, and is ready and
willing to aid and guide us, if we will allow it. We
cannot go into the subject now, and merely men-
tion it to show the shades of diilereiice between In-
tuition and Conscience. Conscience deals with
questions of "right" and "wrong" in our minds, but
Intuition deals with questions of proper action in
our lives, without regard to ethics or morals, al-
though not contrary to the best we know of those
things. Conscience informs us as to whether or
not a thing conforms to the highest ethical stand-
ards possible to us in our present unfoldment— In-
tuition tells us whether a certain step or course is
wise for our best good. Do you see the difference?
Conscience is the light of the Spiritual Mind,

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ptaaing through the screen ot the eafoiding sheaths
of our soul. This is a clumsy detinition, which
we must endeavor to make clearer. The light of
the Spiritual Mind is constantly endeavoring to
work its way to the lower mental planes, and some
of its light reaches even the lowest regions, but
the light is seen but dimly at such times, owing to
the confining sheaths of the lower nature which
prevent the light from working through. As sheath
after sheath is cast off, tlie light is seen more clearly,
not that it moves toward the soul, but because the
centre of consciousness is moving toward the Spirit.
It is like a flower that is casting off its outer petals,
and dropping them to the ground as they unfold.
In the center of the flower let us suppose there is
something possessing light, which light is endeavor-
ing to force its way through to the extreme rim or
row of petals, and beyond. As the successive
layers, or petal.s, fall off, the light is enabled to
reach the remaining ones — and at the end all is
light. This is a forced figure of speech but we are
compelled to use such. Let us take another, equally
clumsy, but which may be plainer to you. Imagine
a tiny, but strong, electric light bulb confined in
many wrappings of cloth. The light is the Spirit—
the glass bulb the Spiritual Mind, through which the
Spirit shines with a minimum of resistance and ob-
struction. The outer layers of cloth are very thick,
but each layer is thinner than the one next further
away from the light — the laj-ers nearest the light

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. a^

are quite thin, until they grow almost transparent.
Try to fix this figure in your mind. Now, very
little light reaches the outside layer of cloth, but
still that which does reach it is the best light it is
capable of receiving or conceiving. We remove the
first layer of cloth. The second layer is found to
receive and show forth more light than the one just
cast aside. We remove the second one, and wc find
the third one still brighter, and able to radiate con-
siderably more light. And so on, and on, each layer
when removed bringing to view more light and
brighter light, imlil at last all the layers are removed
and the light of the Spirit is seen shining brightly
through the glass bulb of the Spiritual Mind. If
the layers of clotli had been able to think, they
would have thought of the whole bundle of cloth
(with the lamp in the center) as "I." And each
layer would have seen that "closer in" was some-
thing a little lighter than is ordinary self, which
light would stand for the highest conception of light
possible to the outer cloth — its "conscience," in fact.
Each layer of cloth would be conscious of the next
inner layer being brighter than itself. The second
layer would appear very "good" to the first one, but
to the fourth or fifth the second would be darkness
itself (by comparison), quite "bad" in fact. And
yet each would have been "good" because it carried
tight to the layer still more in the dark. Conscience
is the light of the Spirit, but we see it more or less
dimly because of the layers surrounding it — we sec

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only as much as filters through the cloth. And «o
we call the next inner layer "conscience"— dnd so it
is, relatively. Do you understand the matter any
clearer, now? Can you see why the "consciences"
of different people differ? Does the fiact that the
different layers of cloth manifest varying degrees of
light, make you doubt the brightness and reliability
of the light itself? Think over this clumsy illustra*
lion for a while, and see whether your mind does
not open to a clearer idea of the value of Conscience.
Do not despise Conscience or its voice, just be-
cause you see that the Conscience of the lowly and
undeveloped man allows him to do certain things
that you consider "bad." That "bad" is "good"
when compared to the next lowest stage of unfold-
ment. And do not feel self-righteous because your
Conscience holds you to a very hi^ code of ethics
— there arc beings today, in the flesh, that view your
code of ethics as you do those of the Bushman.
You doubt this! Let us give you an illustration.
You call yourself "honest" and "truthful." Can
you truthfully say that you have ever lived a month
without telling an untruth? Come now, honor
bright--"wliite lies" and an evasion of "the whole
truth" count as well as the big lies — ^have you ever
been absolutely truthful and honest for a whole
month? Trade lies — ^professional "necessities"—
"business talk"— "politene8s"-~and all the rest
count against you in this test. Oh, no, we do not
condemn you — in fact, we cannot see how you could

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 231

be much better in the present stage of the unfold-
ment of the race—you are doing the best you know
how— to be able to see that you are not strictly hon-
est and truthful is a mighty advance. And this test
is only a trifling one— 4he race is committing much
greater crimes, when viewed from a few steps up
the mountain side. Are any people suffering from
want in the world? Are any of your brothers not
receiving their share of the benefits that have come
to the race? Are things fully as "good" as they
should be? Can you not suggest a single improve-
ment in the state of affairs? Oh, yes, we know
that you alone are not able to remedy things— but
you are a part of the race and are enjoying the priv-
ileges that come to the race — you are one of the
crowd in the car that is rolling over the victims of
the present state of affairs. But, as you say, you
cannot help it— the race must grow into better things
—must work itself out of the slough. And the
pain of it all will cause it to work out — ^it is begin-
ning to feel that pain now, and is getting very un-
easy about it. All that you can do is to see the
thing, and be willing for the change to come when it
does. God has the loose end of the ball, and is un-
winding and unwinding. You must have faith, and
be willing for the unwinding, bring it to you what it
will, for the seeing and the willingness will save you
from much of the pain that must come to those who
wilt not see and who are not willing— but even this
pain will be good, for it is part of the unfoldment.

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Well, to g«t back to our subject, do you feci so very
superior and "good" now? Well, the lesson is:
"Condemn not"— "Let him that is without sin cast
the first stone." None of us is so very "good."
And yet, all are on the upward path.

Let us live friends, one day at a time ; doing the
best we know how ; sowing a word here and a deed
there; let us not be self-righteous; let us not con-
demn; let us do our best, bttt give to every otber
man the same privilege ; let us "mind our own busi-
ness;" let us cease to persecute; let us be filled with
love, tolerance and compassion; let us see all as
part of the All ; let us see that each is doing the best
he knows how, considering the stage of bis unfold-
ment ; let us sec the Divine in the humblest, vilest,
and most ignorant person — it is there, it is there,
hidden but pressing' forward toward unfoldmenl;
and, finally, "let tis be kind— let us be kind."

This is the lesson of the electric light within the
bulb, covered with layer after layer of the cloth.
Take it with you — make it a part of yourself. And
Peace will be yours !

A consideration of the above illustration will show
you that Conscience is the voice of the Spirit a-.
beard through the confining walls of the lower prin-
ciples of Man's nature. Or, to state in another way :
Conscience is the result of man's past experience,
growth and unfoldment, plus such light of the Spirit
as IS possible for him to perceive. Man in bis tin-
loldment has profited by past experiences — ^hai

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 253

formed new ideals~has recognized certain needs of
the growing soul-~has felt new impulses arising
within him, leadhig him to higher things>-has recog*
nized his relationship with other men and to the
Whole. These things have accompanied the
growth of the soul. And each stage of the soul's
growth has given Man a higher conception of what
is "right"— has exacted a higher ideal on his part.
And this highest ideal is what he feels to be "right,"
even though he does not always live up to it. The
light of the Spirit illuminates this highest peak of
ideality possible to him, and makes it stand out
clearly to the soul as a point to be aimed at — ^to be
climbed toward. This highest peak, thus illumined,
is as a goal for him to march toward. It is the
highest thing that he is able to perceive. It is true
that as he advances, the light mounts higher and
shows him still higher peaks, the existence of which
has not been suspected by him. When he attains
to what now seems to be the highest possible point,
he will sec that he has merely gained the top of a
foot-hill, while far above him, lowering higher and
higher, rise the peaks of the real mountains, the top-
most point being brightly illumined by the light of
the sun of the Spirit. There are other intelligences
whose task it is to surmount heights unseen by us —
the goal of those far behind us (that is the highest
peak seen by them) seems far beneath us, for we
have left it behind long since. So we must understand
these things—this state of affairs, if we would form

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234 ADVAKCEri:* COURSE.

a clear idea of tlic acts, ideals, and "coui>ciencc" of
others. We must cease to condemn— our duty to-
ward others is not to blame them for not having
reached the heights that we have attained, but to
send them a cheering message of hope and joy, and
to help to point out the way. That ts what the
Elder Brothers are doing for us— let us do the same
for those behind us on Tlic Path.

In conclusion, we call your attention to the fact
that Conscience is but one of the pillars supporting
the edifice of Oharnia. It is an important pillar, but
not the only one. It is to be taken into most serious
consideration, but it is not an infallible guide. It
points out the highest we have grown to see, but
the point seen by us is not necessarily the highest,
nor must we rest content with what we see. That
which is behind Conscience is Infallible and Abso*
lute, but Conscience itself is Relative and Fallible,
because of our lack of growth — because of the con-
fining sheaths which prevent the light of the Spirit
from shining upon our souls. But, nevertheless, let
us look toward that light, and follow It Let m
say in the words of the old familiar hymn of our
childhood :
"Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom

Lead thou me on.
The night is dark, and I am far from home;

Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
the distant scene ; one step enough for me.
Lead thou me on."

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 235

The third pillar of Dhartna is the theory of Utility,
of which we have told you in our last lesson. Dhar-
ma acknowledges the value of Utility as a pillar,
while seeing its weakness as a sole support for
ethics. Human law, as set forth in statutes, laws,
etc., rests almost entirely upon the basis of Utility,
although some of the writers try to make it appear
that it rests upon Divine command. The law is the
result of man's endeavors to frame a code of con-
duct to fit the requirements of the race. Human
law is a matter of evolution — it has grown, changed
and unfolded from the beginning, and always will
do so, for it is fallible and not absolute. Just as
Conscience is always a little ahead of man's growth,
so is human law always a little behind. Conscience
points out a step higher, while laws are framed to
fit some need that has arisen, and arc never enacted
until the need of them is clearly seen. And laws
generally are allowed to remain in force for some
time (often a long time) after their need has disap-
peared. Human laws are the result of the average
intelligence of a people, influenced by the average
"conscience" of that people. The intelligence sees
that certain wants have arisen and it attempts to
frame laws to cure the "wrong," or possible
"wrong." The conscience of the race may cause it
to see that certain laws that have been in force are
unjust, unreasonable, and burdensome, and when
this is clearly seen an attempt is made to have such
laws repealed, altered, improved upon, or superseded

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by others better adapted to the new wants of th«
race. Corrupt laws are sometimes introduced by
designing and unscrupulous persons, aided by im<
moral legislators—corrupt and ignorant judges often
misinterpret the laws — mistakes are often made in
making, interpreting and enforcing the laws. This
because men and the human law is fallible, and not
absolute. Rut lake the general average, the law^
of a people, both in their making, interpretation,
and administration, represent the highest average of
which that people is capable. When the people,
or the average of them, outgrow a law, they do
away with it — when the average of the race demand
a new law, they get it, sooner or later. Reforms
in law move slowly, but they come at last, and they
are not so very much behind the average intelli-
gences of the people. Of course, such part of the
people as have risen above the average, see tho
human law as very faulty, and often very unjust,
from their point of view, just as do those below the
average, from an entirely different reason — to the
first the law at any stage of the race is imperfect
because it is behind the requirements of justice and
the needs of the race, while to the second class it is
imperfect because it is in advance of their ethical
conception. But, on the whole, the laws of a people
fairly represent the needs, ideas, and intelligence of
the average man composing that race. When that
average man grows, the laws are changed to fit liim
— that is, he causes the laws to be changed, for he

MIORF. AROrX DHARMA. 23;

recognizes their imperfection. Some thinkers have
thought that the ideal condition of affairs would be
'"an absolute monarchy, with an angel upon the
throne;" while another set of thinkers picture a
community so highly advanced in intelligence and
spirituality that human laws would be thrown aside
as an impertinence, because such a people would
need no laws, for every man would be a law unto
himself, and being ideal individuals, ideal justice
would reign. Both conditions above mentioned pre-
suppose "perfection," either upon the part of the
ruler or the people. The laws of a country are
really desired or permitted by the average opinion of
the people of that country — ^this is true of autocratic
Russia as well as of so-called democratic countries,
for the real will of the people makes itself heard,
sooner or later. No people have a yoke imposed
upon them, unless their necks are bent to receive the
yoke — ^when they outgrow the yoke, it is thrown off.
Wc are speaking of the average of the people, re-
member, not of individuals. So you see, the laws of
a country generally represent the needs of the aver-
age citizen of that country, and are the best of which
he is capable, and consequently, those which he needs
at the present moment — tomorrow he may be
worthy of and need better forms. The law is falli-
ble and imperfect, but is necessary as a supporting
pillar to the temple of ethics. It is the average con-
ception of ethics, crystallized into a temporary
shape, for the guidance of the people making the

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shape. Every law is a comprotnise and bears more
or less upon some one. The iheory is "the greatest
good to the greatest number."

The advocates of the Utilitarian school of ethics
point out that man calls a thing "wrong" because
it gives him pain or discomfort to have that thing
(lone to him. For instance, a man doesn't like to be
murdered or robbed, and consequently gains the idea
that it is a crime for any one to kill or rob, and
gradually enacts laws to prevent and punish the
same, he agreeing to refrain from robbing and kill-
ing in return for the immunity from such things
granted him by the general acceptance of the con-
ception of the thing as "wrong," and the enacting of
laws prohibiting the same. In the same way he sees
that the conununity is harmed by the neglect of a
man to support his children, and so he grows to call
that thing "wrong," and moral sentiment causes
laws to be passed to punish and prevent this offense.
And so on — this is the reasoning of the Utilitarian,
and his reasoning is all right so far as it goes, for
indeed this is the history of laws and lawmaking,
as well as one side of the growing conceptions of
right and wrong. But there h something more to it
than this selfish idea (which though selfish is ri^t
in its time and place, as, indeed all selfish things are
or have been). The Utilitarian overlooks the fact
that the unfoldment of the race soul causes it to
feel the pain of others, more and more, and when
that pain of others grows intolerable, then new iisaa

MOR£ ABOUT DHARAIA. ag^

of right and wrong present themselve8<»new laws
are passed to meet the conditions. As the soul un-
folds it feels its nearness to other souls— it is grow*
ing toward the conception of the Oneness of tilings
— and while the feeling and action may be selfish, it
is the act and feeling of an enlarged self. Man's
sense of Justice grows not alone because his intelli-
gence causes htm to form a higher conception of ab-
stract Justice, but also because his unfolding soul
causes him to feel the relationship of others and to
be made uncomfortable at their distress and wrongs.
His conscience is enlarging, and his love and under-
standing is spreading out. At first man cares only
for himself, all others being "outsiders." Then in.-
feels a certain "oneness" with his wife and children
and parents. Then to his whole family connections.
Then to his tribe. Then to the confederation of
tribes. Then to his nation. Then to other nations
speaking the same language, or having the same re-
ligion. Then to all of his own color. Then to the
whole human family. Then to all living thing.<«.
Then to all things animate and inanimate. As
man's sense of "oneness" enlarges and unfolds, he
experiences growing conceptions of "justice" and
right. It is not all a matter of the Intellect— the
Spiritual Mind rays are becoming brighter and
brighter, and the Intellect becomes more and more
illumined. And as the illumination increases, man's
sense of justice grows and broadens out, and new
ideas of "right" and "wrong" present themselves.

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So you see the Utilitarian idea is correct so far as
it goes, but to understand it intelligently one must
taJfc into consideration the higher principles of the
mind, as well as the Intellect. Man finds that it is
not only "the happiness of the majority," but the
happiness of all that is the ideal. He htiAs that
until all arc happy he cannot be perfectly happ> .
He realizes that until all get justice, none get it.
And .so he goes on, doing the best he can— blunder-
ing, stumbling, committing follies, impelled always
by that growing thing- in his mind, that he under-
stands not (until his eyes are opened) but which
makes him mighty uncomfortable and restless — that
makes him press forward in search of he knows not
what. Now that you, friends, begin to see what is
the matter, you will feci less of the pain — the under-
standing is healing, and yoti will be able to stand a
little aside and watch the trouble of tlic race in this
matter of "right" and "wrong," and how ihcy arc
suffering from the itch of ignorance. But. beware
how you attempt to set them straight before
they are ready for it— they will turn upon
you and rend you, calling you "immoral," "athe-
istic," "anarchistic," and what not Let them
alone with the "infallible" codes of laws, morals,
and ethics (which are changing over night) —
let them go on making and unmaking their laws,
for that is a good thing for them, and they
need to do it to bring them out of their trouble. Let
them tic themselves up with red-tape and chains, if
they like it, and let them condemn their brother be-

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 241

cause he does not see things as they do-<4hat is their
nature and a part of their evolution. But do not tet
these things affect you — you know that all this con-
stantly changing system o{ laws, ethics and morals
is a part of the great plan of unfoldment, and that
each is a step upward, and that no one step is ab-
solute or infallible. You know that short of the full
realization of the Fatherhood of God and the Broth-
erhood of Man — ^the conception and realization of
the Oneness of All — there can be no real peace or
rest. Stand aside and let the children play.

The evolving life of the soul — the unfoldment—
gives you the key to all this system of change and
unrest — this endeavor to square human needs with
human laws — this endeavor to establish an absolute
standard of right and wrong in the shape of human,
relative, yard-stick and scales. The race is doing
the best it can — each individual is doing the best he
can— led ever upward by the light of the Spirit.
Hold fast to the best you see, knowing that even
that best is but a step toward the real best— and do
not condemn him whose best is almost as your
worst. Do not sneer at human law, even thou$rh
you see its imperfection— it is a needed and impor-
tant step in the evolution of the race. Finite, sd-
ative and Imperfect as it may be, it is the best of
which the race (the average) is capable and des'^nr-
!ng of today. Remember, there is nothing Infin*tc,
Absolute and Perfect, but the Whole— The One—
The Absolute. Remember, also, that the race i«

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242 ADVANCED COURSE.

slowly unfolding in an understanding of; a com
sciousness of ; an identity with That One. And you,
who are growing into that understanding, con-
sciousness and perception — you who arc beginning
to feel the meaning of the I Am — ^be you as the rod;
against which dashes and beats the waves of the
sea. Let the relative things dash themselves upon c

you, but be undisturbed, for they cannot harm you. l

They can but refresh and cleanse you, and as they
roll back into the sea you will still stand there strong •

and undisturbed. Or, as one gazing from his win-
dow upon the groups of little children playing, quar-
reling, disputing, "making up," playing their games,
making rules, imposing forfeits, awarding prizes — ^so
view the world of men and women around you who
are taking it all so much in earnest. And in both
cases, send them forth your Love and Understand-
ing, though they know not what you mean — though
they cannot understand your view-point.

We trust that wc have made plain to you that the
three generally recognized theories of ethics — reve-
lation, conscience or intuition, and utility, are not an- fj
tagonislic, but are complementary. Each presents
its own phase of the truth — each teaches its own les-
son. And the three pillars support Dharma. Let
us now consider Dharma as a whole.

As we stated in our last lesson, Dharma may be
defined as "Right Action" or, to be more definite,
we might say that "Dharma is the rule of action and
[,ife best adapted to the requirements of the indl-

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 243

vidual sottl, and best calculated to aid that particular
aoul in its next highest step of development" And,
as we said in the same lesson : "When we speak of a
man's 'Dharma/ we mean the highest course of ac-
tion for him, considering his development and the
immediate needs of his soul."

The student will have gathered, by this time, the
idea that the philosophy of Dharma holds that
"right" and "wrong" are relative terms, and that the
only absolute "right" there is must rest in the Abso-
lute itself. And that there is no such thing as abso-
lute "wrong," the relative wrong that we see when
we use the term, being merely an action rcsultinR
from either a low conception of "right," or else an
action falling short of complying with the highest
conception of "right" on the part of the actor. In
short no action is absolutely "wrong" or "bad" in
itself, and is only "wrong" or "bad" inasmuch as
fails to come up to the highest conception of "right"
on the part of the actor or observer. This may
seem like dangerous doctrine, but let us consider it
a moment.

You will notice by studying history and the story
of the evolution of Man, that man's highest ideals
in his savage state were but little removed above
those of the lower animals. It was not thought
wrong to kill, steal, or lie; in fact, some races es<
teemed a man if he did these things, providing he
confined his operations to those outside of his im-
rKfliato familv or trihc. in fnot the principal objec-

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tton to his killing his fellow tribesman seems to have
arisen from a recognition of the fact that this course
weaicened the fighting and resisting power of the
tribe, and the idea gradually obtained force that
killing was "wrong" if the murdered man was a
member of the tribe, but right and even commend-
able if he be of an outside tribe. (This seems very '

barbarous to us now, but the traces of it are seen ^
even to this day when so-called "civilized people" '
still consider it right to kill men of another nation or ^
people, and to "capture" their goods, providing
"war" has been declared. The savage carried the
matter to its logical conclusion, and did not wait for
a declaration of war, that is the principal difference.)
We find primitive man committing all the things we
now call crimes, without being blamed for them, and,
providing the crime were committed upon a person
sufficiently removed from the tribesman, according
to the customs and ethics of the time, the greater
the crime the greater the "good" or "right" was it
considered.

As the race evolved many of these "right" things "

began to be considered "wrong" and "bad," accord-
ing to the "revelations" made by the priests and
prophets ; according to the awakening "conscience"
in the people arising from an unconsciousness recog-
nition of their relationship to one another: and ac-
cording to the working of the idea of "utility" and
"public policy" in the developing intellect of the
race, AnA as the race pvolvrd nnd unfolded, the

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. MS

ideals enlarged and grew higher. Things that were
considered perfectly "right" and justifiable a few
hundred years ago, even to the "best people" of the
limes, are now regarded as very "wrong" and base.
And many of the things that seem perfectly right to
us today, will be regarded by our descendants as
barbarous, "wrong" and almost incredible. Read i.
chapter of life in the Middle Ages, for instance, and
sec how ideals and ethics have changed. Then
come near home, and sec how differently slavery is
regarded now than fifty years ago, not to speak of
one hundred years. Then read Bellamy's "Looking
Hackward" for instance, and see how it may be pos-
sible for public opinion to radically change. (We
mention this book merely as an illustration — we do
not claim that just those changes arc to come to
pass, although wc know that changes just as marked
and radical arc before the race.)

And even in our own time wc can see that differ-
ent ideals arc held by men and women in different
stages of unfoldment, and that there is no fixed and
arbitrary standard of "right" and "wrong" accepted
by all. We may agree on the main points of ethics,
but we, as people, differ materially upon the minor
points. The average intelligence and "conscience"
of the people are represented by their laws and
"public opinion," although, as we have said, the laws
are just a little behind even the average ideal, just
as the average "conscience" is just a little ahead of
the average rule of conduct. Tlic average man is

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246 ADVANCED COURSE.

fairly well satisfied with the laws as they are at any
particular lime, although some of those upon whom
the laws bear heavily consider them too strict and
based upon a visionary idea of "good," while to men
above the average the prevailing laws often seem
based upon too low and undeveloped an ideal, and
arc often considered absurd, inadequate, more or
less unjust, and not based upon an advanced ideal
of ethics.

Not only do "good" tilings grow "bad" as time
rolls on, but many "bad" things gradually lose their
"badness" and arc seen as perfectly good and proper
when viewed from the point of advanced knowledge.
Many things have been pronounced "taboo" or
"bad" because they did not fit in with the fashion-
able religion, or social views of the times, and when
custom changes, and religious ideas grow, the
"taboo" is lifted. Many of these "tabooed" things
were made "bad" by the priests of different times,
for reasons satisfactory to themselves, their power
often being increased in this way.

You will notice that as time passes, the average
intelligence, and the average conscience, taking
form in "public opinion" and law, demands of man
a greater consideration for his fellows — insists that
he "be kind" to a greater degree. This because of
the dawning consciousness of the relationship of
one man to another— the growing knowledge of the
Onene.ss of All (often unconscious knowledge).
-\hd vo« also will notice this fact, that while a

MORE ABOUT DHARMIA. 247

higher standard of "right" and "good" is required in
the above stated matter, the "taboo" is gradually
being lifted from man's action as regards his
thoughts, life and actions affecting only himself.
While man is expected to "be kind" to a greater de-
gree each year, he is being accorded more freedom,
and is being given a better opportunity to "obtain a
place, a free field, a harmonious expansion for his
activities, his tastes, his feelings, his personality, his
self," as Edward Carpenter has expressed it. The
blockade is being raised — ^the "taboo" is being taken
off and man is to be given an opportunity to "fear-
lessly and gladly live his own life," provided only
that he observe the highest degree of "being kind"
to his brothers and sisters.

Now this idea of Dharma — this knowledge that
"right" and "wrong" are relative and changeable, in-
stead of absolute and Axed, does not give anyone an
excuse for doing anything "bad" or "wrong" that he
would not have done under the old idea. On the
contrary, Dharma holds one up to his highest concep-
tion of "right," and expects him to do what seems
"right" for right's sake, and not because the law
compels him to do so— it expects right-action from
him, even though the law has not as yet reached so
high a stage. It teaches him that, if he sees a thing
to be "wrong," it is wrong for him even though tiie
law and public opinion have not yet reached so high
a standard of ethics. The advanced man will al-
ways be a little ahead of the average conception—
nwrw behind it

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And Dharma does not teach that because an un-
developed and ignorant man may think it "right" to
commit crimes against his neighbors, that he should be
allowed to do so without hindrance or restraint.
While no- one would call a cat "bad" who would
steal, or a fox "bad" who would kill chickens, still
one is perfectly justified in restraining these animals
from pursuing their natural instincts to the injury
of man. And likewise with the '"criminals" of so-
ciety, while recognizing that their actions arc thf
result of undeveloped minds and souls; ignorance,
failure to live up to even the elementary ideals of
ethics possible to them; we arc justified in restrain-
ing them from preying upon us. IJut the idea
should not be "punishment," hnt restraint and re-
form. Criminals are practically savages and bar-
barians, and their acts while entirely "wrong" when
seen from our present viewpoint, were seen as
"right" from the viewpoint of the savage. And
these criminals should be treated as younger breth-
ren of the racL — undeveloped — ignorant — but still
brothers.

The rule of IJharma is for irach man to live up to
the best in him — no matter whether that "best" has
been impressed upon his soul by revelation, intuition
or conscience, or by his intelligence in accordance
with "utility." In fact all three of these influences
have impressed him somewhat, and his "best" is a
composite of the three influences. When in doubt,
open yourself to the light of the Spirit, and your

MORE ABOl'T DHARMA. au)

"best" will stand out clearly under the illuminating
influence. That best will be your Dbamia.

And another rule of Dharma is to refrain from
criticising or condemning the Dharma of another
man less developed than yourself. He is not look-
ing through your eyes — ^he is not standing in your
shoes. He may be living nearer to his highest ideal
than you are to yours — ^how dare you judge him?
Are you so near perfect that you set your standard
up as the absolute? Will your highest ideal — and
your best action — ^measure up creditably when laid
next to the yard stick of the Absolute? Did you
ever stop to consider that if you were in exactly the
condition of that lowly brother or sister you would
do exactly as does he or she. You cannot imagine
yourself in exactly their condition, for you can think
only of yourself as you are, and when you try to put
yourself in their place you are able only to think of
yourself (with all your past experiences and present
attainments) clothed in the flesh and garments of
the other. It is not the same at all — to be exactly
like them you would have to cast aside all your past
experiences and present attainments, and take the
experience and attainment of the other instead.
And, in that case, would you not be the other instead
of yourself, and could you then (being that other)
act differently from him?

The student who has followed us in our considera*
tion of the schools of ethic»— 4he three pillars of
Dharma — very naturally asks us what crowns the

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strueture-~what ideal of conduct Dharma h<A6& out
to those who are ready to perceive it. When one
has mounted into the temple supported by the three
pillars, what does he find there? Let us see what
answer Dhartna gives to these questions.

The main point to remember in the consideration
of "Right Action" as seen from the point of view of
Dharma, is that the soul of Man is in a state of
evolution or unfoldmcnt. It is moving, stage by
stage, from the lowest to the highest — from the idea
of separation to the knowledge of Oneness. This
unfoldmcnt is the aim of life — ^the Divine plan.
This being the case, can you not see that anything
in the line of that unfoldment that aids it and tends
to forward the work is "Good" or "Right?" And
then, equally true must be the statement that any-
thing that retards that unfoldmcnt or tends to delay
or frustrate it must be "Bad" or "Wrong," when
measured by the same standard. It is true that you
may say "Not-Good." or "Not-Right," instead of
"Bad" and "Wrong," or you may .say "Less-Good,"
or "Lcs.s- Right," if you prefer the term.s — but the
meaning is the .same, no matter what words are used.
The "Right" or "Good" falls in with the plan of un-
foldment, while the "Wrong" or "Bad" tends to re-
tard it, or to frustrate its work. It is "right" for the
tiger to be blood-thirsty and revengful, for that is
not contrary to his stage of development, but for a
developed man to revert to that stage, or stages cor-
responding to it is "Wrong," because it is a going

MORE ABOUT DHARMA. 351

back, or retrogression. For an advanced soul to
harbor feelings of hate, revenge, jealousy and the
like, would be "wrong" for it would be a going back
to stages bng since past, and would be contrary to
the knowledge and intuition of that man. In climb-
ing the steps of the temple of Dharma one man may
be on the third step, and a second man on the fifth.
Now if the man on the fifth step descends to the
fourth one it is a going back for him, which is
"wrong;" while if the man on the third step ad-
vance to the fourth one it is a going ahead for him,
which, consequently is "right" and desirable for him,
for he is advancing. The law'of evolution and un-
foldment leads upward. Whatever falls in with
that law is desirable and right — ^whatever goes con-
trary is undesirable and wrong. If a teacher has a
dull or wilful scholar, and after working hard with
him she finds that he is doing "just a little better," she
praises him for the improvement and is greatly
pleased. But that same teacher would be greatly
distressed if one of her brightest and best behaved
pupils would do just the same thing for which she
had just praised the poor scholar! And yet both
acts would be the same, when seen from one point of
view, and yet how diflfcrcnt from the broader out-
look. Do you see what we mean?

Go on, dear friends and scholars, living up to your
best Read what we have written in Lesson I., of
this series (pages 93, 04, ag, a6) and learn to "seek
in the heart the sotirce of evil and expunge It." Be

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252 ADVANCED COURSE.

a tamer of the wild beasts within you. Learn to
cast out these relics of the past. Learn to keep in
leash the lower animal parts of your nature— drive
the beast to his comer of the cage, in spite of his
teeth and claws. Learn to grow and develop and
unfold until you are able to reach that step of the
ladder of Attainment when you may look upon the
past and realize that Dharma has become a part of
the past with you, for then you will have entered
into that consciousness of the Real Self, and will be
able to see things as they are. Then will you re<
ceive the light of the Spirit without the dimness
caused by the sheaths. Remember the words of
"Light on the Path." "Make the profound obeisance
of the soul to the dim star that burns within — stead-
ily as you watch and worship, its light will grow
stronger. Then you miy know that you have found
the beginning of the way — and when you have found
the end, its light will suddenly become the infinite
light."
Peace be to thee.

LESSON X.

The Riddle of the Universe.

In Lesson VI, of the present series, entitled "Gnani
Yoga," we reminded the student that we had touched
merely upon one phase of that branch of the Yogi
Philosophy, and that wc would take up some of its
other features ifi subsequent lessons. The subject of
(inani Yoga is so large that many volumes could be
written upon it, in fact, very many have been written
in past ages, and thousands of volumes have been
inspired by its teachings. In this lesson we shall touch
upon some of the more important phases, and endeavor
to present them in a plain simple style that the under-
lying principles may be grasped, at least partially, by
many who have found other presentations of the sub-
ject too abstruse and technical. As we stated in
I-csson VI :

All existence, conscious or unconscious, is an EMA-
NA TION of one Being.

This underlying "Being" has been called by many
names by philosophers, the terms best adapted to it
being "Spirit" or "The Absolute." The word "Abso-
lute" is used in the sense "Unconditioned; Free from
limitation; Complete in itself; Depending upon noth'
ing else ; Actual ; Real." In other words, it is "The
Real Thing." We wish you to understand how we use

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titc word, as much tnisunderstandtng: arises from a eon-
ludon of terms, and their meanings.

In our consideration of the subject we shall use the
word "Relative" quite frequently. This word is op-
posed in meaning to "Absolute," to the extent that it
implies that it arises from the Absolute — it is incom-
plete; conditioned; limited; depending upon some-
thing else; partial (not in the sense of a separate part,
but in the sense of an incomplete view or conception.)
In our consideration of "Things as They Are" we may
cast aside one after another relative feature or quality
— that which remains at the last, incapable of further
analysis, exclusion, or division, is "the thing in itself;"
the "absolute" thing. The Yogis often speak of the
Absolute as "the Thing as it Is"— -the Relative being
"The Thing as it Seems." A simple plan of keeping
the idea clearly before the mind, is to think of the Ab-
solute as "The Whole Thing, as it is," and of the Rela-
tive as "An incomplete and imperfect view of one
phase, aspect or quality of tin- Whole Thing." It i.s
quite difficult to give an intelligent idea of the exact
meaning of the two tcnns, for the reason that if wc
could understand the exact meaning of the word "Ab-
solute," we would un<U>rstnnd the .\bsolutc itself. The
word is the feeble effort of man's mind to express an
inexpressible idea. Man's mind, in its present state of
unfoldment, is "relative," and therefore is unable to
grasp within itself the full meaning of the term "Abso-
lute." So all it can do is to form an idea of its own
limitations and boundaries, and then, realizing the rela-

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 255

tiv«flefts o{ it» own conceptions, it calls that which is
without the boundary "Absolute." Man's mind
cannot grasp the full sense of Absolute Space
(Infinity) ; Absolute Time (Eternity) ; Absolute
Intelligence; although it may be able to under-
stand the general meanings of the terms by reason of
its understanding of the relative phases of the things.
For instance, man is able to draw a circle on a piece
of paper, the circle enclosing a measure of Space — ^by
thus expressing Relative Space he forms a conception
of Absolute Space (Infinity), as "all the space lying
outside of the circle, in all directions, to infinity." In
the same way he knows Time — he measures off a sec-
ond, a minute, an hour, or a year — all relative terms.
Having done this, he is able to think and say that all
that lies on either side of the measured time — back of
it, or ahead of it — is Absolute Time, Infinite Time, or
Eternity. In the above illustrations, the Absolute
Time, and Absolute Space, of course include the rela-
tive thing that man has measured off or set aside, the
separation or setting aside existing wholly within the
mental conception of the man, and having no actuality
or reality in truth. One may form a mental concep-
tion of a "part" of the Absolute, in the sense that his
attention is limited to that particular presentation of the
thing apparent to his immediate consciousness, just as
one may see a "part" of the ocean, by looking through
a telescope pointed at it, but that "part" is not a part
in the sense of a "separate" or "divided" thing-Uhe
"scparatencss" or "division" being wholly a matter of

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256 AD\'ANCED COURSE.

his consciousness, due to his inability to see the whole.
Likewise, one cannot separate a portion of Space or
Time from the whole— all that he can do is to form a
relative conception of Time or Space and give it a
name— he cannot detach cither from the whole, in
reality. In fact, both Time and Space are purely rela-
tive tenns, used by man to help him to form a finite
idea of Eternity and Infinity. Doth wards presuppose,
of necessity, a measuring, or setting apart, while In-
finity and Eternity having no limits, cannot be meas-
ured at cither end, and are Absolute temis.

This Being — Reality— Spirit — Absolute — the Thing
that IS— The Real Thing— the Whole Thing— of
course is inconceivable to the finite human intellect.
Man's higher states of consciousness, as they unfold,
help him to understand the matter more fully, but none
may understand the Absolute fully, unless he be the
.Absolute himself. The Final Secret is insoluble to
our ordinary con.sciousness, or any conscioijsness out-
side of the Absolute Consciousness. But as our con-
sciousness unfolds, wc may obtain (and do obtain),
further and fuller knowledge — as sheath after sheath
is thrown off. and the rays of the Spiritual Mind beat
upon our consciousness, we are able to knotc many
things formerly thought to bo unknow.ible. .^nd, we
may make good use of the intellect in this matter. We
have been told, so often, that we nmst take certain
tilings "on faith," and that it was "no use bothering our
minds concerning them," but this is only a partial state-
ment of truth, for the Intellect does give us a reliable

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 257

report concerning the real nature of things, and which
reports, although only partial and incomplete, are
worthy of respect. This is particularly true when the
Intellect has received the beneficent light from the Spir-
itual Mind resulting from the recognition of the higher
principle and the willingness to accept light from it.
Although our first realization of God does come in the
way of a blind faith, caused by a feeble ray of the
Spirit breaking through even the dense material
sheaths of the soul, and although much of the follow-
ing "knowledge" of the Supreme Something that is
back of and under it all is "intuitive" and "not from
the Intellect," still the Intellect is able to give us valu-
able information, and is a proper instrument for such
inquiry into truth. The higher teaching — ^the Spirit-
ual Knowing — is not contrary to Intellect, but simply
goes further along the line — it does not contradict In-
tellect, but simply transcends it. And Intellect will
bear it out from its own store of knowledge, if pro-
perly asked. The Intellect is not a mocker — a liar —
although many metaphysicians would have us to so
consider it. It gives us accurate reports of matters
coming before it, although often our undeveloped
powers of judgment and discrimination cause us to
misinterpret its message. When the Intellect is held to
a clear answer, it will show us that it is forced to ad-
mit certain things from certain premises — that it is
unable to conceive the opposite conclusion. Let us not
fear the conclusions of the Intellect— let us not fear to
apply its tests to our Faith. The Intellect has its limi-

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tations, but it is true so far as it goes, although our im-
perfect and mistaken judgment of its messages often
leads us astray. In our search for knowledge we must
call on all planes of the mind. Let us not, with many
denominational teachers, consider the Intellect foreign
and antagonistic to religious knowledge. Let us not,
with many of the material teachers, consider Intellect
everything and the higher states of consciousness mere
illusions, and false witnesses. Each phase of the mind
has its province — they arc sisters — let them walk hand
in hand, helping, explaining, agreeing—instead of de-
claring themselves sworn enemies. Let us sec what the
relative Intellect can tell us regarding the Absolute —
what the finite Intellect can inform us regarding the
Infinite. It is true that we cannot see "the Thing in
Itself" by the Intellect, but inasmuch as the Intellect is
a partial manifestation of that "Thing," and, inasmuch
as unless we use the Intellect, we, in our present state
of unfoldment, cannot think of the "Thing" at all, we
may feel fully justified in asking the Intellect the
question: "VVhat can you tell us concerning this
tljing?" And in the following pages we will endeavor
to tell what is the answer of the Iptellect. Later on,
we will offer the evidence of the higher plane of the
mind — the message of the Spiritual Mind, so far as it
has been shown us.

The mind of Man when it unfolds sufficiently to
reason at all about the Universe—Life— Existence ;
when it forms even the elementary idea of Cause and
Effect — ^whcn it reaches the stage of consciousness

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 259

known as Self'Consciousness, that is, the stage at
which it forms an idea of the "I" and the "Not I"— in-
variably conceives the idea of "something back of it
all." The man's first ideas are crude, but he grows in
understanding and constantly improves upon his idea
of the underlying cause of Life and the Universe. In
addition to his intellectual conception, he is impressed
by a "feeling" of a Higher Power, which feeling he
afterward called "faith," and the manifestation of it
"religion." He evolves fanciful theories, according to
the direction of his religious thought and teaching, and
invents gods without number (not to speak of devils),
to explain that which the mind and "feeling" insisted
upon.

After a bit the thought on the subject split into two
forms — the thought of the priests, and the thought of
the philosophers. The priests contented themselves with
assertions that their particular god or gods "created"
everything, and invented fanciful tales to illustrate the
same, as time went along. The philosophers generally
discarded the theory of the priests, and attempted to
explain the thing by theories of their own, although as
a matter of safety and prudence, they generally took
care to fall in with the prevailing religious ideas, at
least so far as words were concerned. After a time,
the priests, inoculated with the reasoning of the phil-
osophers, invented "Theology," a system of philosophy
attempting to explain "why" and "how" a precon-
ceived personal god did certain things, and what was
the logfical conclusion of certain theories starting from

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a certain premise. Then metaphysics sprang into exist*
ence in response to the needs of men's minds. Meta-
physics is the name given to the science of the inquiiy
into the "reality" of things— the reality as compared
with the "seeming" — ^the seen, as compared with tl)e
unseen — the subjective as distinguished from the ob-
jective—an inquiry into the Absolute, in fact Meta-
physics tried to find "the thing in itself," while Theol-
ogy contented itself with assuming a Deity (usually a
personal God), and attempting to reason out the at-
tributes, nature, etc., of that Deity, and the relation of
the Universe to that Deity, who was assumed to be its
Creator. Later on, came the material or physical scien-
tists, who attempted to explain the Riddle of the Uni-
verse upon a purely physical or material basis. The
theologians , metaphysicians, and physical scientists of
the Western world have fought each other's theories
vigorously, and for a time were very far from each
other. The Oriental thinkers, however, saw in theol-
ogy, metaphysics, and science only varying phases of
the same subject, and so the friction was avoided. In
passing, however, let us say that the advanced theolo-
gians are fast coming to an understanding with the ad-
vanced metaphysicians, and the advaticed scientists are
meeting the other two on many points. They eventu-
ally will agree in the main, the principal points of
difference now being mere words — they are searchhig
after the same Thing, and must eventually meet.

The theologian ; the metaphysician ; the philosopher ;
the scientist ; each assumed the necessity of there being

RIDDLE t)F THE UNIVERSE. 261

"something underneath" Life and the Universe. Their
minds could not get away from that idea — ^they found
it a logical necessity — something forced upon them by
their Intellect. Some thought that this "something"
was an extra-universal thing — a something outside of
Life and the Universe, and which "created" it. Others
thought that the "something" was the "Reality" of
Life and the Universe, as distinguished from the ap-
pearance or partial-reality, but which was not apart
from the Universe, but the soul or moving spirit within
and of it. Tlie theologians called it God; the meta-
physicians called it Min<!, Reality, Actuality, Truth,
and similar names; the scientists called it Matter, or
I^'orce, or even Force-Matter ; the philosophers called
it Substance, Life. etc. But by each name, these think-
ers meant "The Thing in Itself" — the Thing after all
its "appearances" had been drawn into it — The Ulti-
mate — ^The .Absolute.

We do not think it necessary to devote more space
to the statement that the human mind is compelled to
think of an "underlying something" — the "Thing in It-
self." All thinkers (no matter what their schools or
theories) admit this conclusion, and every man will
surely find this conclusion in his own mind, if he will
search for it. Therefore we may assume as an axiom.
{"a self-evident and necessary truth; a proposition
which it is necessary to take for granted" — Webster),
the following statement :

First— The A bsolutc JS^

We are then led to a consideration of what our Intel-

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lect informs us regarding this thing that IS—we must
see whether the mind contains any more "self-evident
truths;" "propositions necessary to take for granted;"
things which the mind cannot help believing.

The conception of the fact that the Absolute "is,"
carries with it the corollarj', or consequent conviction,
that:
Second — Whatever really "is' must be the Absolute,
There cannot be two or more Absolute Beings or
Final Things. There can be only One Absolute or
Final Thing. All else that "appears" to be must be rel-
ative—things relating to, or arising in connection with
the Absolute — "of" it. The Absolute is what really
IS; and everything that really IS must be the Abso-
lute. The two statements of truth are necessary to
each other, and cannot be divorced. When we say
"IS" we of course mean really is, in its entirety and
completeness — ^not that which is incomplete and unable
to .stand by itself — ^not "appearances" of reality. Or,
perhaps this may appear plainer to you : There cannot
he two Whole Things, or two Totalities, or two Alls.
One Whole Thing; Totality; All; is the necessity of
the Intellect. These terms, of necessity, all are more
or less imperfect, and fail to carry the full meaning.
Some words will mean more to one student— others
more to other students — ^therefore we have used sev-
eral. The one term, in place of "The Absolute," that
seems to be more readily grasped by beginners, is the
one used in the first part of this lesson, i. e., "The
Whole Thing, as it Is." This second statement leads
us to a third, which is akin to it, namely :

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 2(^3

Third—The Absolute comprises ALL that then-
realty ii; all that ever really has been: nU that really
ever can be.

The All must comprise ALL. And it must always
have comprised All. And it must always comprise All.
This from the very nature of things, as conceived by
the Intellect. All must always be ALL. There can be
nothing outside of the All. And whatever IS must be
in the All. There is no outside of the All— nothing can
exist outside of it. To say that a thing exists outside
of the All, is to state an absurdity. The Absolute never
had a beginning, therefore there could have been noth-
ing before it. And there can be nothing come from
anything but it. And as it has no ending there can be
nothing to come after it. So it must comprise all there
is, has been, or will be. With this idea in mind, let us
consider the fourth statement :

Fourth — The Absolute is Omnipresent — present
everyivhere at the same tipte. This statement is self-
evident. There can be no place outside of the All.
There can be no existence or presence except in the
All. The An must be Everywhere. There cannot be
a place with nothing in it. The Intellect is unable to
grasp a conception of Nothing as an actuality ; a real-
ity ; an absolute fact. An absolute Nothing is unthink-
able, for an absolute thing is something, and "some-
thmg" is opposed to "nothing." "Nothing" is a nega-
tive term, and is used to denote the absence, or appar-
ent absence, or of some relative thing. The Absolute
being All, it must include everything (see Statement

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III). That which we call space ; time ; matter ; miad ;
energy; etc., are but relative manifestations of the Ab-
solute. Therefore it must be present everj*where, at
the same time. Any other idea is unthinkable.

Fji^ The Absolute is Omnipotent — AlUpowerful 'i
— Possessing Unlimited Power — Possessing All the i
Power there is. This statement must be self-evident, >

if we admit the statements that the Absolute is All ; is n

everywhere ; is universal, and providing that we admit
that there is such a thing as Power or Strength. Of
course, it may be argued that Power and Strength are
relative terms, being things relative to or incidental to
the Absolute, rather than ab.solute things in them-
selves. This reasoning is correct, at the last, but we
are conscious of sotnething that we call Power or
Strengtli, which we arc justified in considering a rela-
tive manifestation of the Absolute. If there is Power
(even relalive) it must be "of" the Absolute. There
can be no other Power. The Absolute must be given
credit for All Power — not partial Power — not simply
more Power than something else possesses — but ALI-
Power; All the Power there is — Unlimited Power —
Power enough to accomplish anything. I^tcr on, we
shall speak of Power as an Appearance or Manifesta-
tion of the Absolute, and as relative in that sense. This
axiom conveys the self-evident truth that all of that
which we call Power, is a manifestation of the Abso-
lute, and that there is itp Power pqssjble from an>
otiher sour«, for there is no other source from which
it can come. Some metaphysicians taake the state-

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 265

ment: "The Absolute is All-Power— Cod is Power,"
but we regard Power as a relative manifestation of
God or the Absolute, instead of a name for "the Thing
in Itself." We regard Matter and Mind in the same
way, as shall more fully and at large appear, in tiiis
and following lessons.

Sixth. The Absolute is Ommscienf---AU'Wise —
All-knowing — Possessing All Knowledge — Kwmng
Everything — Having Infinite Knowledge, This means
that there is nothing not known by the Absolute;
nothing not absolutely understood. If there is a single
thing that is not fully known by, and understood by,
the Absolute then the words "Absolute" and "Omnis'
cient" are meaningless and absurd. This, of course,
applies to all knowledge appertaining to and concern-
ing the past ; present ; and future, if we may be per-
mitted to use tliesc relative terms. The Knowing must
be complete to be Omniscience — complete down to the
smallest detail — to the final point. The Being pos-
sessing Omniscience cannot make mistakes ; change its
mind by reason of improved knowledge ; cannot err in
judgment, discrimination, or any process of what wc
call "mind." Such Knowledge and Wisdom must in-
deed be absolute, to fit the term. When the Absolute
knows everything, it si mpl y knows itself, for it is ev-
erything in everything. We must admit the existence
of "Knowledge," lor we know it, relatively, in an in-
complete and unfolding degree in ourselves. We not
only "know," but "know that we know." And ad-
mitting the existence of "knowledge" or "intelli-

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2f)6 ADVANCED COURSE.

genoe," we q£ necessity must admit that such "knowl'
edge" or "intelligence" must pertain to the Absolute,
and be possessed by it or within it, or at least be "of*
it. Whatever Is must be of the Absolute. And the
Absolute must possess ALL that there IS of anything,
or everything. In our consideration of that manifes-
tation of the Absolute which is called "Mind," we shall
.speak of the universality of intelligence.

Seventh. The Absolute is Infinite, This statement
is almost superfluous, as the term"XS^lute" carries the
term "Infinite" with it, and yet there is a shade of
difference between the two, and so, "Infinity" may be
spoken of as a quality of the Absolute. Infinity
means: "Unlimited or boundless, in time or space;
without limit in power, capacity, intensity or excel-
lence; perfect; boundless; immeasurable; illimitable;
interminable; limitless; unlimited; unbounded." —
Webster. "Without Limit" gives the idea. The Abso-
lute is without limit or bounds, because it is every-
where in space and time (if we must use the words) ;
because there is nothing with which to limit or bound
it, and a thing cannot limit or bound itself; because
there is nothing outside of ; beyond ; or back of it ; be-
cause there IS nothing else but itself. Infinity is an ab-
solute term, and the mind cannot f^Uy conji^e ,it, al-
though it intoitiiyely perceives it

Eighth, The Absolute is Etcrpf^. Webster defines
the word "Eternal" as: "Without beginning or end
of existence; always existing; underived and inde-
structible ; everlasting ; endless ; infinite ; ceaseless ; per-
petual; interminable." We cannot conceive of the

RIDDLE OK THE UNIVKKSE. ^67

Absolate as having had a beginning, neither can we
conceive it as ever having an ending. If we try to
think of it as having had a beginning, we must think
of it as proceeding from something else, and in thus
thinking we make the Absolute a relative, and set up
a new Absolute a little farther back, and so on ad
infinitum. The mind is unable to think of the Absolute
as having a beginning, for a beginning presupposes a
cause, and that cause another cause, and so on. The
mind cannot admit such an idea, and so must be forced
to admit that back of all the effects arising from causes
there must BE a something without a cause — a sonic-
thing that always existed — a "Causeless Cause" — The
Absolute. It is true that in the world of relativity we
have never seen a thing without a cause, because the
law of cause and effect is in operation in that relative
world, but all these so-called cauggs and effects arc
withitt and "of" the Absolute. There is no cause out-
side of the Absolute to affect it — there is nothing out-
side — there is no outside. This is hard for the un-
trained mind to grasp, but every mind must be forced
to this conclusion, for there is no escape for it — the
mind cannot help itself, and must admit the truth, al-
though not able to understand it. The Intellect likes
to cling to the idea of Cause and Effect, and is loath to
part with it, even in considering the Absolute. But
abandon it it must, for it is compelled to admit an
exception, and a single exception breaks the law, and
shows its relativity. For instance, if one admits that
there is a "First Cause," the chain of cause and effect

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2f.8 AOVANCED COURSE.

is i>r<^en, for Uicn the "First Cause" is somethiag
without a cause, and therefore the law cannot be an
absolute one — the exception breaks it. Or, on the
other hand, if one claims that the law of cause and
eff^t is infinite, the answer comes that an infinite
thing can have no beginning; and a thing without a
beginning — a beginningless thing— can have no cause.
And so in this case, also, the chain is broken, and the
mind must admit that there must be somethmg wjtii-
QVi a cause. In the last case, the Intellect in using
an absolute term, "Infinite," which it cannot under-
stand, has knocked the bottom out of its own argu-
ment, and is forced to assume that there is a "Causeless
Quse," although it is unable to illustrj^te that thing
by anything in its own experience. It does the best it
can, and so, at least, is frank to admit the existence of
something which it cannot understand — in fact, it is
compelled to do so if it is honest with itself. Cause
and effect are relative things, not a necessity to the
Absolute. Eternity is an ab.solute term, and the In-
tellect cannot fully conceive it, although the mind in-
tuitively perceives it. "Time" is a relative term used
by man t)ecausc of his inability to grasp the absolute
truth. Man is never able to grasp a moment of time,
for before the mind can fasten upon it it has passed into
the past. Time is relative and the greatest period of time
that the human mind is capable of imagining or think-
ing about, when compared to Eternity or Absolute
Time, is but as a strand of spider-web when
stretched before the lens of a telescope the field of

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE, afif)

which embraces Infinite Space—in fact the spider-web
would have to be reduced an infinity of infinity of de>
grees, bef'<re it would begin to answer for the purp(»e
of comparison. An aeon of countless millions of
years, when compared with Eternity, or Absolute
Time, comes so near being absolutely (?) nothing,
that only the Absolute Mind could distinguish it.
Advanced minds in their teachings inform us that they
often lose their sense of relative time entirely, in their
consideration of Eternity or Absolute Time, and a
million years seem as but a moment, in the thought.
The same thing happens when the advanced mind ex-
plores the mental regions pertaining to Space — the rel-
ative is lost in the Absolute, and relative Space melts
into Infinity. T ime and Space are relative terms, be-
longing to the finite mind of Man of today— wA^m the
Absolute thinks, it thinks in terms of InHnity and
Eternity — its own terms. From the Absolute (even
our puny intellect can grasp this) everywhere is Here
— every time is Now,

A^iM//i. The Absolute is indizisible. The Absolute
is the All — the Whole Thing. It cannot be divided into
parts, because there is nothing to divide it— nothing to
divide it with — and nothing to "fill in the cracks."
There can be no real partition, division, or separation
of the Absolute. It always has been the Whole —
always will be the WTwle— is the VVhple now. It is an
Ultimate"thing — not capable of being separated, di-
vided, or parted. The mind is incapable of conceiv-
ing of the Absolute as being broken into bits; sep-

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270 ADKANCKD CUUUSE.

anted ; divided, etc., for the reasons given above, The
tnind refuses to form the picture, and is forced to ac-
knowledge the truth of the above statement It is true
that in our finite conception of things we may use the
relative terms: "part of," or "portion of" the Whole
Thing, or Absolute, meaning the particular presenta-
tion of the Whole coming within tho field of our con-
sciousness. W<i arc unable to sec the thing in its en-
tirety, and consequently speak of that which we see
as "a part," or "a iiortion" of the Absolute or Whole.
But the limitation is^ within ourselves, and our mind
makes the relative distinction bccau.se its field is too
limited to take in a view of the whole. The mind
breaks up the Whole into these limited and partial
views, and calls each "a part," although in the abso-
lute and true sense there is no partition, division or sep-
aration of these so-called "parts," and, in reality and
truth the Whole remains unchanged and unscparated,
although the little finite, relative, field of consciousness
breaks it into imaginary "parts" for its own conve-
nience and accommodation. The matter may be illus-
trated, crudely, by the following examj^lc. From the
window„by the side of which this lesson is written,
there may be seen a great moimtain range. As far as
the eye reaches, it extends. Our eye takes it in as a
whole, or rather recognizes it as a whole as it sweeps
along its stretch, notwithstanding that at no time does
the field of vision cover the whole range. Still the
sense of continuity or wholeness is there, and if the
eye were to be placed at a sufficient distance, it would

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 2;i

take in the whole picture as one. But suppose that we
wished to photograph this range, from tiiis window.
We would be compelled to first point the camera at one
"part," and then after snapping it, point it at another
"part," and so on until we had secured pictures of the
whole. The several pictures would show no connec-
tion with each other, and the whole range would ap-
pear as if broken up or separated into "parts" or "por-
tions," and yet in reality there has been no partition,
separation or division in the mountain itself. The
mountain itself remains unchanged — whole, and un-
divided. Distribute the pictures, and each person look-
ing at his particular one would see only a "part." each
looking different, and having no connection with any
other, unless the two be placed together. One wish-
ing to get a correct view of the range, would have to
piece together the "parts," before he could see a rep-
resentation of the whole without division or separate-
ncss. And yet. whether the pictures be viewed sep-
arately or together, the mountain itself remains the
same, undisturbed and unaffected by the "appearances"
of the pictures. The illustration is quite crude and im-
perfect, but may help to show you how. even on the
physical plane, a partial view may give one the impres-
sion of "parts" and "separateness," which impression
has no basis in reality or truth. Every so-called "part'
of the Absplutfi is in tough with every other "part'
amd the Whole-— ell is One, undivided, indivisible, in-
capable of partition or separation. Remember this,
students, you will need this truth to solve problems as
wc proceed.

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af« ADVANCED COURSE.

TeHth. The Absolute is unchangeable, censtani, and
permanent. Intellect is compelled to admit this state*
ment as self-evident. The Absolute cannot change,
because there is nothing into which it can change with- ^

t)Ut losing itself, and it is inconceivable that the Abso-
lute could lose itself or its identity. All outside of the **
Absolute — the All — is "nothing," and something can- '
not be nothing, much less can the "Whole Thing" be- '
come "No-Thing." The Absolute, of necessity, must "
be the same thing always, ycst^iJay, to-day, and to-
morrow. It is perfect, therefore cannot be improved
upon. It is all wise, therefore cannot commit the folly
of making mistakes i)r of losing its Perfectncss. It is
all Powerful, therefore it cannot lose or suffer to be
taken away from it anything that it has, even if tliere
were anything outside of itself to take it away. There
is nothing outside — ^there is n« cjutside — there is noth-
ing that can aflfcct it in any way. Being Evcrj-thing
that really IS there caimot be anytliing into which it
can change. There is an tmvarying stability and con-
stancy about the .\bsolute. There can be no cvolu; I
tjpo, development, or growth on its part for it is al- I
ready Perfect, and there is no field for growth. These '
things being the case, we must realize that all that wc
call change ; growth ; improvement ; progression ; retro-
gression; life and death (as commonly understood)
are relative terms, and are but incomplete appearances
of the Absolute, and are not absolute facts. They
are only "appearances" of Reality, the trouble being
with oTtr finite minds which see onlv a small and often

RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 273

distorted part of the Whole, and, not understanding,
mistake that imperfect part for the Whole—mistake
the appearance for the reality. We turn our telescope
on the star, and when, shortly after, it passes out of
the field of vision, we say : "it is gone," when, in real-
ity, the star is still in its place, but we have moved and
see it not. The shifting and changing that we think are
real, are but the waves, foam and bubbles on the bosom
of the onan, mere surface appearances — ^the oc^n is
unchanged. The Absolute is outside of the law of
cause and effect. Cause and effect cannot touch it,
because they are but relative things, dealing with other
relative things, and touching not the Reality or Abso-
lute at all. The Absolute has no beginning, can have
no ending; has no cause, and is not the effect of any-
thing. From the position of the Absolute, there is no
such thing as the law of cause and effect, such law be-
ing a relative thing having only the world of relativity
for its field of operation. Cause and effect are relative
appearances within the Absolute, and having no con-
trol over it— they are creations, mere instruments or
tools of the Absolute, serving some Divine purpose of
the moment, but possessing no reality to the Absolute.
The Absolute is Free.

^MiSSSSilh ^^ which is not Absolute must be Rel-
ative to the Absolute, or else Nothing at all. That
which if not the Absolute Being ("the Thing in It-
self") must be "of it. or else must be nothing at alt.
This statement is a corollary of Statements I, II, and