English
It does not know what this Reality is, but it knows that it is Real, and something different from anything in the world of name, form, number, time, space, cause and effect—something Transcendental and surpassing all human experience. And knowing this, it knows that it cannot be destroyed or hurt; cannot die, but is immortal; and that there is Something which is the very essence of Good behind of, underneath, and even in itself. And in this certainty and consciousness is there Peace, Under¬ standing and Power. When it fully bursts upon one. Doubt, Fear, Unrest and Dissatisfaction drop from him like worn-out garments, and he finds himself clothed in UNFOLDMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS foitn that Knows, Fearlessness, Restfulness, SalasR*^ Then he is able to say understanding^ and with leaning, “ I AM.” This Ego Consciousness is coming to many as a dawn¬ ing knowledge—the light is just rising from behind the hills. To others it has come gradually and slowly, but ully, and they now live in the full light of the conscious¬ ness. Others it has burst upon like a flash, or vision—like a light falling from the clear sky, almost blinding them at first, but leaving them changed men and women, pos¬ sessed of that something that cannot be understood by or described to those who have not experienced it. This last stage is called “ Illumination ” in one of its forms. The man. of the Ego Consciousness may not under¬ stand the Riddle of the Universe or be able to give an answer to the great Questions of Life—but he has ceased to worry about them—they now disturb him not. He may use his intellect upon them as before, but never with the feeling that in their intellectual solution rests his happiness or peace of mind. He knows that he stands on solid rock, and though the storms of the world of matter and force may beat upon him, he will not be hurt. This and other things he knows. He cannot prove these things to others, for they are not demonstrable by argu¬ ment—he himself did not get them in that way. And so he says but little about it—but lives his life as if he knew them not, so far as outward appearances go. But inwardly he is a changed man—his life is different from that oi his brothers, for while their souls are wrapped in slumber or are tossing in troubled dreams His Soul has awakened and is gazing upon the world with bright and fearless eyes. There are, of course, different stages or degrees of this Consciousness, just as there are in the owcr planes of consciousness. Some have it to a slight c.egree, while others have it fully. Perhaps this lesson Ml NiSfty RAJA YOGA Jlysome of its readers just what is the thing tha' ned ” to them and which they.hesitate to sp their closest friend or life companion. To others it may open the way to a fuller realization. We sincerely trust so, for one does not begin to Live until he knows the “ I ” as Reality. There is a stage still higher than this last mentioned, but it has come to but very few of the race. Reports of it come from all times, races, countries. It has been called “ Cosmic Consciousness,” and is described as an aware¬ ness of the Oneness of Life—that is, a consciousness that the Universe is filled with One Life—an actual percep¬ tion and “ awareness ” that the Universe is full of Life, Motion and Mind, and that there is no such thing as Blind Force, or Dead Matter, but that All is alive, vibrat¬ ing and intelligent. That is, of course, that the Real Universe, which is the Essence or background of the Universe of Matter, Energy and Mind, is as they describe. In fact, the description of those who have had glimpses of this state would indicate that they see the Universe as All Mind—that All is Mind at the last. This form of consciousness has been experienced by men here and there—only a few—in moments of “ Illumination,” the period lasting but a very short space of time, then fading away, leaving but a memory. In the moment of the “ Illumination ” there came to those experiencing it a sense of “ in-touch-ness ” with Universal Knowledge and Life, impossible to describe, accompanied by a Joy beyond understanding. Regarding this last, “Cosmic Consciousness,” we would state that it means more than an intellectual conviction, belief or realization of the facts as stated, for an actual vision and consciousness of these things came in the moment of Illumination. Some others report that they have a deep abiding sense of the reality of the facts UNFOLDMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS ibed by the report of the Illumined, but havlTMt •erienced the “ vision ” or ecstasy referred to. These ast people seem to have with them always the same mental state as that possessed by those who had the vision ” and passed out of it, carrying with them the remembrance and feeling, but not the actual conscious¬ ness attained at the moment. They agree upon the essential particulars of the reports. Dr. Maurice Bucke, now passed out of this plane of life, wrote a book entitled “ Cosmic Consciousness,” in which he describes a num¬ ber of these cases, including his own, Walt Whitman’s and others, and in which he holds that this stage of con¬ sciousness is before the race and will gradually come to it in the future. He holds that the manifestation of it which has come to some few of the race, as above stated, is but the first beams of the sun which are flashing upon us and which are but prophecies of the appearance of the great body of light itself. We shall not here consider at length the reports of certain great religious personages of the past, who have left records that in moments of great spiritual exaltation they became conscious of “ being in the presence of the' Absolute,” or perhaps within the radius of “the light of Its countenance.” We have great respect for these reports, and have every reason for believing many of them authentic, notwithstanding the conflicting reports that have been handed down to us by those experiencing them. These reports are conflicting because of the fact that the minds of those who had these glimpses of con¬ sciousness were not prepared or trained to understand fully the nature of the phenomena. They found them¬ selves in the spiritual presence of Something of awful grandeur and spiritual rank, and were completely dazed and bewildered at the sight. They did not understand the nature of the Absolute, and when they had sufficiently WNlSTfiy RAJA YOGA jlg^ct^ared they reported that they had been in the^ ence of God”—the word “God” meaning their particular -Conception of Deity—that is, the one appearing as Deity in their own particular religious creed or school. They saw nothing to cause them to identify this Something with their particular conception of Deity, except that they thought that “ it must be God,” and, knowing no other God except their own particular conception, they naturally identified the Something with “ God ” as they conceived Him to be. And their reports naturally were along these lines. Thus the reports of all religions are filled with accounts of the so-called miraculous occurrences. The Catholic saint ^reports that he “saw of light of God’s counten¬ ance,” and the non-Catholic reports likewise regarding God as he knows Him. The Mohammedan reports that he caught a glimpse of the face of Allah, and the Bud¬ dhist tells us that he saw Buddha under the tree. The Brahman has seen the face oi Brahma, and the various Hindu sects have men who give similar reports regarding their own particular deities. The Persians have given similar reports, and even the ancient Egyptians have left records of similar occurrences. These conflicting reports have led to the belief, on the part of those who did not understand the nature of the phenomena, that these things were “ all imagination ” and fancy, if indeed not rank falsehood and imposture. But the Yogis know better than this. They know that underneath all these varying reports there is a common ground of truth, which will be apparent to anyone investigating the matter. They know that all of these reports (except a few based upon fraudulent imitation of the real phenomenon) are based upon truth, and are but the bewildered reports of the various observers. They know that these people were temporarily lifted above the unfoldment of consciousness (gf ['ary plane of consciousness and were made awai?<JM existence of a Being or Beings higher than mortal. It does not follow that they saw “ God ” or the Absolute, or there are many Beings of high spiritual growth and evelopment that would appear to the ordinary mortal as a very God. The Catholic doctrine of Angels and Archangels is corroborated by those among the Yogis vvlio have been behind the Veil,” and they give us reports of the Devas ” and other advanced Beings. So the Yogi accepts these reports of the various mystics, saints and inspired ones, and accounts for them all by laws perfectly natural to the students of the Yogi Philo¬ sophy, but which appear as supernatural to those who have not studied along these lines. But we cannot speak further of this phase of the sub¬ ject in this lesson, for a full discussion of it would lead us far away from the phase of the general subject before us. But we wish to be understood as saying that there are certain centres in the mental being of Man from which may come light regarding the existence of the Absolute and higher order of Beings. In fact, from these centres come to man that part of his mental “ feelings ” that he calls “ the religious instinct or intuition.” Man does not arrive at that underlying consciousness of “ Something Beyond ” by means of his Intellect — it is the glimmer of light coming from the higher centres of the Self.