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; remaining itself unique and unaffected. (The A'tman cannot be assumed to be the object of any further perception ; for such a theory would involve us in confusion ad- infimtum. Nor is the absurdity that the A'tman itself is both the subject and object of perception at all tenable. The Atman therefore shines by its own lustre and illumines all other objects of perception.) n <\ n The (A'tman) never appears or disappears, never waxes or wanes. It shines by its own light and enlightens the whole without any (exterior) help. The substance implied is this : that, which does not shine by its own light, is subject to transformation, as Ahank&ra (egoism). Again, A'iman enlightens the whole as ^r^T-^SF and is therefore not subject to change ; for that, which does not shine independently ol visible matter- (Sf?), is not free ( 71 ) from change ( faf^NjIT ) as egoism, etc. Thus Atman, being be yond all change (PTT^NJIT) and shining by its own lustre ( ^re^T3I ), ever remains the subject (5"2F) of all knowledge. and can never be object of any ultimate perception. This subjective A'tman is thus proved to be Paramatman. It is the one implied by c^ in the Sruti fli3*?l% ; and is one with the <iK^J implied by rTcT in the same. Though in this manner A'tman and Paramdtman are one and the same, it is necessary to dispel the ignorance which interferes with the realisation of their unity. The Linga Deha. n ^ n A reflection of the A'tman in Buddhi enkindles it (makes the substantially material Buddhi believe itself to be entire spirit). This Buddhi is of two sorts : Ahankdra and Antas- karana. (The doer the subject of all action is Ahankdra ; and the Antaskarana or Manas is its instrument.)* t^FT n ^ n The unity of Ahankdra with the reflection of A'tman is as inseparable as that of a heated ball of iron with the fire that heats it. Ahankdra identifies itself with the external physical body also, which thereupon becomes spiritualized: believes itself to be all spirit. f * Compare. q: n n t n \9 n t Compare. T& f^rtw: ^TJi*rnft%3 ^ n ^ in ^ ( 72 ) frfrr s&iftTq; n t n The indentification of Ahankdra with the reflection of A'tman, with the physical external shell, and with the subject of all knowledge — A'tman, — is respectively inherent (is from the beginning of Ahankdra) through actions (i.e., ^>H, as those per formed during the waking state), and through ignorance R r%t Of these three, the inherent identification of Ahankdra with the reflection of A'tmdn is never destroyed • whereas ; that with the other two is destroyed by the exhaustion of wy and by knowledge respectively. When Ahankdra merges into original ignorance, sleep ig induced, and the physical body (^pfiff), which appeared with spirit by its identification with Ahankdra in the waking state, becomes as it were lifeless. Ahankdra is half awake, the state produced in the astral body (jc^l. ) is the one called dream ; and when it is wide awake, the state produced is sleeplessness or waking. (Thus all W is dependent on Ahankdra which when quite absent as in sleep, gives rise to none.)* * " The Vedantic philosophy teaches as much as Occult philosophy that cur Monad, during its life on earth as a triad (7th, 6th, and 5th principles), has, besides the condition of pure intelligence, three conditions ; viz., waking, dreaming and sushupti—a, state of dreamless sleep— from the stand-point of terrestrial conception ; of real actual soul-life from the occult stand-point. While man is either dreamlessly profoundly asleep or in a trance-state, the triad (spirit soul and the mind) enters into perfect union with the paramtaman —the Supreme universal soul" -.—Editor's Note Theosophist, Vol. IV., No. 11 j p. 267. u ^ u 3.6 ir ( 73 ) The Antaskarana, identifying itself with the reflection of Atman, creates, in dream, the impressions (^FWi) necessary for the action of such WM as aifect the astral body ( fr$T?"£ ) and, in the waking state, the objective realities (our interest in those realities) necessary for the enjoyment of such 3$ as affect the physical form ( ^J3^f ). The astral body (Linga deha), which is made up of Manas and Ahankd/ra, is essentially material in its nature. It experi ences the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, as undergoes also the transformations of death and birth.* Maya and its powers. ft Having described how fel^f is the basis of all our ordinary intercourse, it is proposed to examine the genesis of this ^Q from Maya or illusion. Maya has two powers. Vikshepa and Avarana, of which Vikshepa or extension evolves the whole world, beginning from the felf f to the all-embracing universe, from Brahma. This evolution may be described as the attributing name and form to that Brahma which is all existence, all knowledge, and j°y — like the attributing of name and form as <??T (foam) (waves), 5| T (bubbles), &c., to the waters of the ocean. * Compare. ( 74 ) \\\\\\ That is another power of Mdya-Avarana or immersion— which, as the cause of this world, throws, as it were, the veil of reality over the unreal internal distinction between the ob ject and the subject of knowledge, as also over the external one between Brahma and creation. That fe^i^U?:, which shines by the reflection of the immov able Atman, the witness of all phenomena and noumena, and which is, as it were, one with the ^J<3$fftr, the external shell, "becomes (by the force of Avarana Sakti) *ffa in our ordinary life i. e.t is for our ordinary intercourse termed sfte or soul. 3 By the force of the same Avarana, the witness of all the ^jZW^I also shines as if it were ^tT. The aTr^T being des troyed by ( ?ffi ), this illusion melts away. Similarly Erahma appears manipulated into many forms by the force of that power (Avarana) which covers the distinc tion (unreal distinction) between creation and Brahma. Here also, by the destruction of Avarana, the distinction between Brahma and creation becomes so far clear, as fc> enable us to attribute all change ( fiRHT ), viz., name and form, to the latter and not to the former. 75 0 All intercourse implies five attributes and no more : exis tence (ScT); intelligence ( fa<T ); love (311^); form (W); and name ( STW ). The first three of these represent the all- pervading Brahma, and the last two the unreal Jagat (world creation). \fr\\\ In the elements, Akdsa, Vdyu, Tcjas, Apas, and Prithvi', as also in the different degrees of creation, gods, birds, animals and men ; — the Sat, Chit and Ananda, are ever one and uni form — that which differs is simply the form and the name. The course of realising Brahma Tatva (Samdd/ii or concentration.) Neglecting therefore the unreal creation consisting of mere name and form (abstracting all one's interest from the objects of this world), one (desirous of final absolution) should meditate ou the Satchidanand Brahma, and should ever practise mental as well as physical concentration. Mental concentration is of two kinds : — Savikalpaka and Nirvikalpaka ; the former again is of two kinds : Drishyanu- viddha and Shabdanuvitfdha. ( 76 ) The SW^^Sr^ra^flirrfa is the meditation upon the subjec tive Atman, as the witness of the mental world — the passions^ desires, &c., arising in the Manas. \\v\\\ The ^ijf^flfa^eramfais the fixing one's mind on " I am (that) Brahma" which is (described in the Vedas) as self-existent eternal all-intelligence and love, self-illumined and unique in itself That is Nirvikalpa Samadhi in which, through the ecstacy. of the pleasure consequent upon the knowledge of one's self the mental (%W) as well as the nominal (K*%) are both over looked ; and (the mind) stands like the jet of a lamp burning in a place protected from the slightest breeze.* The separation in any external object of sight, of name and form, from its original substratum, sat is external, phenomenal ( ^ffjf^ ) concentration (like the internal mental one des cribed before). The meditation on the one, unique, and Satchiddnanda Brahma (described in the S'ruties), as the only reality in this universe is external, nominal ( ST^Tjfa^ ) concentration. * Compare. ( 77 ) The third (Nirvikalpa Sam&dhi) concentration is like the one described before, cessation of all thought except the enjoy ment of the one eternal pleasure arising from the experience of the universal Paramdtman (which thus proves to be one with the subjective Atman shown as the subject of internal Nirvi- Jcalpa Samddhi).