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" And Tennyson, in his wonderful verse describing the temporary lifting of the veil for him, has de- scribed a phase of Cosmic Consciousness in the fol- lowing words: "For knowledge is the swallow on the lake That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there, But never yet hath dippt into the abysm, The Abysm of all Abysms, beneath, within The blue of sky and sea, the green of earth, And in the million-millionth of a grain Which cleft and cleft again for evermore And ever vanishing, never vanishes. . . And more, my son, for more than once when I Sat all alone, revolving in myself That word which is the symbol of myself, The mortal symbol of the Self was loosed, And past into the Nameless, as a cloud Melts into Heaven. I touched my limbs, the limbs Were strange, not mine — and yet no shadow of doubt, But utter clearness, and through loss of Self The gain of such large life as matched with ours Were Sun to spark, unshadowable in words, Themselves but shadows of a shadow-world." 96 GNANI YOGA. And not only among the mystics and poets is this universal truth experienced and expressed, but among the great philosophers of all ages may we find this teaching of the Unity of Life originally voiced in the Upanishads. The Grecian thinkers have expressed the thought; the Chinese philosophers have added their testimony; the modern philosophers, Spinoza, Berke- ley, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Hartman, Ferrier, Royce, although differing widely in their theories, all have expressed as a fundamental truth the Unity of Life — a One Life underlying. The basic teachings of the Vedas are receiving confirmation at the hands of Modern Science, which while calling itself Ra- tionalistic and inclining to a Materialistic conception of the Universe, still finds itself compelled to say, "At the last, All is One." And in nearly every human soul there is a secret chamber in which the text of this knowledge lies hid- den, and in the rare moments in which the chamber door is opened in response to poetry, music, art, deep religious feeling, or those unaccountable waves of uplift that come to all, the truth is recognized for the moment and the soul feels at peace and is content in the feeling that it is at harmony with the All. The sense of Beauty, however expressed, when keenly ex- perienced, has a tendency to lift us out of our con- sciousness of separateness into another plane of mind in which the keynote is Unity. The higher the human feeling, the nearer is the conscious realization of the underlying Unity. THE UNITY OF LIFE. 97 This realization of the Unity of Life — the Oneness of Life — the Great Life — even when but faintly ex- perienced, renders Life quite a different thing to the person. He feels no longer that he is a mere "part" of something that may be destroyed — or that he is a tiny personal something, separate from and opposed to all the rest of the Universe — but that he is, instead, a Unit of Expression — a Centre of Consciousness — in the Great One Life. He realizes that he has the Power, and Strength, and Life, and Wisdom of the Whole back of him, upon which he may learn to draw as he unfolds. He realizes that he is at Home, and that he cannot be thrust out, for there is no outside of the All. He feels within himself the certainty of infinite Life and being, for his Life is the all Life, and that cannot die. The petty cares, and worries, and griefs, and pains of everyday personal life are seen for what they are, and they cease to threaten and dominate him as of old. He sees the things of personality as merely the costume and trappings of the part in the play of life that he is acting out, and he knows that when he discards them he will still be "I." When one really feels the consciousness of the One Life underlying, he acquires a confident trust and faith, and a new sense of freedom and strength comes to him, for is he not indeed delivered from the bond- age of fear that has haunted him in his world of sep- arateness. He feels within him the spiritual pulse of the Universal Life, and at once he thrills with a sense of new-found power and being. He becomes recon- 98 GNANI YOGA. ciled with Life in all its phases, for he knows these things as but temporary phases in the working out of some great Universal plan, instead of things perma- nent and fixed and beyond remedy. He begins to feel the assurance of Ultimate Justice and God, and the old ideas of Injustice and Evil begin to fade from him. He who enters into the consciousness of the Universal Life, indeed enters into a present realiza- tion of the Life Everlasting. All fear of being "lost" or "eternally damned" fades away, and one in- stinctively realizes that he is "saved" because he is of the One Life and cannot be lost. All the fear of be- ing lost arises from the sense of illusion of separate- ness or apartness from the One Life. Once the con- sciousness of Unity is gained, fear drops from the soul like a wornout garment. When the idea and consciousness of the Unity takes possession of one, he feels a new sense of cheerfulness and optimism entirely different from any other feeling that he has ever experienced. He loses that distrust and hardness which seems to cling to so many in this age who have arrived at the Intellectual stage of de- velopment, and have been unable to progress further. A new sense of peace and harmony comes to one, and illuminates his entire character and life. The bitter- ness engendered by the illusion of separateness is neu- tralized by the sweetness of the sense of Unity. When one enters into this consciousness he finds that he has the key to many a riddle of life that has heretofore perplexed him. Many dark corners are illuminated THE UNITY OF LIFE. 99. — many hard sayings are made clear. Paradoxes be- come understandable truths, and the pairs of oppo- sites that dwell in all advanced intellectual concep- tions, seem to bend around their ends and form them- selves into a circle. 1 To the one who understands the Unity, all Nature seems akin and friendly. There is no sense of an- tagonism or opposition — everything is seen to fit into its place, and work out its appointed task in the Uni- versal plan. All Nature is seen to be friendly, when properly understood, and Man regains that sense of harmonious environment and at-home-ness that he lost when he entered the stage of self-consciousness. The lower animal and the children feel this Unity, in their poor imperfect way, but Man lost this Paradise when he discovered Good and Evil. But Paradise Lost becomes Paradise Regained when Man enters into this new stage of con- sciousness. But unlike the animal or child, which instinctively feels the Unity, the awakened soul of man possesses the Unity consciousness, coupled with intelligent comprehension, and unfolding spirit- ual power. He has found that which he lost, together with the accumulated interest of the ages. This new kingdom of Consciousness is before the race. All must enter into it in time — all will enter into it — many are entering into it now, by gradual stages. This dawning sense of Unity is that which is causing the spiritual unrest which is now agitating the world, and which in time will bring the race to a realization of ioo GNANI YOGA. the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, and his kinship to Every Living Thing. We are entering into this new cycle of human unfoldment, and the greatest changes are before the race. Ye who read these words are in the foremost ranks of the new dispensation, else you would not be interested in this subject. You are the leaven which is designed to lighten the heavy mass of the world-mind. Play well your parts. You are not alone. Mighty forces and great Intelligences are behind you in the work. Be worthy of them. Peace be with you. Carry with you the Central Thought of this lesson : CENTRAL THOUGHT. There is but One Life — a Universal Life — in the world. This One Life is an emanation from the Absolute. It infills all forms, shapes and manifestations of Life, and is the Real Life that each imagines to be his personal property. There is but One — and you are centres of conscious- ness and expression in that One. There is a Unity and Harmony which becomes apparent to those ivho enter into the consciousness of the One Life. There is Peace and Calm in the thought. There is Strength and Power in the knowledge. Enter ye into your King- dom of Power — possess yourselves of your Birthright of Knowledge. In the very center of your being you will find a holy of holies in which dwells the Con- sciousness of the One Life, underlying. Enter into the Silence of the Shrine within. THE FIFTH LESSON The One and the Many. As we have stated in previous Lessons, all philoso- phies which thinkers have considered worthy of re- spect, find their final expression of Truth in the funda- mental thought that there is but One Reality, under- lying all the manifold manifestations of shape and form. It is true that the philosophers have differed widely in their conception of that One, but, neverthe- less, they have all agreed upon the logical necessity of the fundamental conception that there is, at least, but One Reality, underlying All. Even the Materialists have conceded this conclu- sion, and they speak and think of a something called "Matter," as the One — holding that, inherent in Mat- ter, is the potentiality of all Life. The school of Ener- gists, holding that Matter in itself is non-existent, and that it is merely a mode of manifestation of a some- thing called "Energy," asserts that this something called Energy is One, fundamental, real, and self-suf- ficient.