Lesson VI Gnani Yoga

Gnani Yoga is known as the “Yoga of wisdom.” The word, “Gnani,” is derived from the Sanskrit 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, philosophers – men and women of the intellectual temperament are attracted. Those who are attracted by metaphysical reasoning and speculation, subtle intellectual 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 metaphysician, or a deep student, to avail himself of the lessons 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 commonplace and childish explanations of the great problems of existence that are offered to them by the ordinary teachings and creeds – to those who regard 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 "What?" The Gnani 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 uncomfortable, 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 that civilization follows civilization – races rise, 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 beneath 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 history. The great warriors, statesmen, philosophers and teachers of these civilizations are unknown, and the people themselves are without a name to us, no clothing 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 civilizations

– even our own. We must pass away – our work will be forgotten – future races, building a civilization upon the ruins of that which is our proudest boast, will wonder who and what we were.

Religions have risen, flourished, dominated millions, 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 people 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 riddle of life by countless theories. They discard the dogmas that are handed down to them, only to create fresh dogmas equally unsatisfying. They travel around like a squirrel in a cage, and exhaust themselves on the wheel – but they stop just where they began. They are like a caged bird, that beats itself to death against the confining bars of its prison. They go around and around the circle of intellectual reasoning, only to find themselves traveling over and over the same ground, and making no real progress. They try to explain things, but succeed merely in giving things new names. They climb the mountain 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 range of the real mountains, the highest peaks of which are hidden among the clouds.

The mistake of the searchers is that they are continually 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 to advantage, and bits of truth gathered therefrom. But without this inner light the outer objects will give no real answer, and one may shout aloud to nature and hear only the echo of his 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 correspond with that bit of truth. But the man 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 sub-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 philosophy – the Eastern world is just as bad. In India there are countless sects, schools and cults. Each started with a bit of the truth, but they have added much nonsense to that sacred thing, until the real truth has been lost sight of by the followers, 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 – but 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 he mixed up with the truth. They say: “Let us speculate if we see fit – let us listen to the speculations of others – but let us not confound 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 today the conditions are more favorable for deep thought and study than is the case in the bustling 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 conditions 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 untended and neglected. In India, if a farming settlement be neglected, in a year or so the jungle has again claimed its former home, and rank vegetation nourishes 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 religion, and in all schools of philosophy, but he recognizes that this truth is but a small part of the 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 recognizes as brothers all thinkers and professors of religion, 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 the fundamental ideas and teachings of the Gnani Yogis, divested of the conflicting theories of their several schools of followers, each of whom accept the main premise, and then build up certain arguments and conclusions from the same. These fundamental truths are to be found in the esoteric teachings of 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 teachings become impaired with each generation of followers, 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 are understood and venerated by occultists and mystics of all schools and countries. Then see how His followers maintain the outward form while stating boldly and unblushingly that Christ’s teachings are "not practicable.” Unbelievers may deny the truth of Christ's teachings, but it remains for professing Christians to pronounce them "foolish" and not fitted for the use of mankind. And so it is with the mass of the followers of all religions – they maintain the name and outward form, but accept only such the teachings as fit in with their lives. Instead of making their lives conform to the teachings, they make the teachings conform to their lives. We mention 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 of religion while accepting these fundamental truths. In fact, such knowledge will enable anyone to see the esoteric side of his own religion, and appreciate the beauties thereof, while his fellow worshippers tie themselves to forms and words, And, likewise, those having no special form of religion will find that these teachings accord to them the spiritual comfort that they have not 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, and materialist. 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 to all philosophies, and each student may build up a little philosophy to suit himself, remembering always, that all such theories are to be used merely as working hypotheses, and not as fundamental truth. With this understanding, we will proceed with our work.

In the consideration of our 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 cannot 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 idea – or 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 belief, 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 training discipline and self-examination, with the intent and idea that he shall “lay aside” former prejudices, preconceived opinions, dogmatic teachings, tendencies, unreasoned suggestions poured into his mind in childhood, and similar furniture of the mind.

Remember, we say "lay aside,” not “discard” – merely “lay aside" to be taken up again and used if need be – 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 danger 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 will intuitively recognize the truth when it is presented to them, and will know the true metal from the base, without trouble.

We do not insist upon our students going through this course of preparation, at this time, but merely 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 –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 become aware are only a infinitesimal part of the real Universe, and that to say that this is God would be like saying that the paring of a finger-nail was The Man. Gnani Yoga teaches not that The Universe is God, but that God is manifest in all that comprises our Universe, and in a million times more. It claims that the true idea of God is beyond human conception, and that even beings as much 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-created, 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 “manifestations” of God.

The student, who is accustomed to the ordinary use of the word “God,” may have a difficulty in forming a mental conception of the Gnani idea of Deity. He will be apt to carry in his mind the anthropomorphic conception of God – that is, the conception of God as a man, or, at least, as having the form, passions, 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 all the higher attributes generally ascribed to the personal idea of God, yet He must so transcend any such personal idea that no thinking man, having the proper respect for the Source of Being, can continue 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” speaking of God in this lesson. This course is rendered particularly desirable in view of the fact that Gnani Yoga is more of a philosophy than a religion – more of a study for the higher powers of the mind, than an emotional subject, or one inculcating devotion. When we come to the subject of "Bhakti Yoga,” which deals with the worship of God – the religious phase of the Yoga Philosophy, we may appropriately resume the use of the word “God” as applied to Deity, without danger of a misapprehension. So when, in this lesson, we speak of "The Absolute,” not attempting to set up a new God, 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, irrespective 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 statement: “The Absolute IS.” It does not pretend to be able to explain to the human intellect, the how, wherefore, and why, of the Absolute. It merely states that it “IS.” In answer to the question, “How can there be a thing without a cause?" it replies that this understanding of cause and effect belongs to the relative plane of causation, and the Absolute is above the relative plane, as a matter 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 charm of cause and effect. That is, it has a chain of preceding causes running back to – where? and it has 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 imagine 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 everything 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 use, 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 which destroys their own theory. They must accept the proposition (1) that there is a first cause, in which case they simply remove the problem back a few steps, and 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 thing can have no cause – that a thing that has no beginning can have 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 muddled. It is the old question of 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 does 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 cannot 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 Absolute before he proceeds. He need not give it any attributes, or pretend to understand it – he may not even give it a name. But he must admit that there is an 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 is, 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 outside. 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,

Thy body is the Universe – thy spirit is the soul

If thou dost fill immensity; if thou art all in 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 fill 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 I 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 third step for the student is the mastery of the mental conception that The Absolute must be possessed of the three attributes, (1) Omnipotence; (2) Omniscience; (3) Omnipresence. The student is not asked to accept this statement blindly. Let him examine it.

(1) Omnipotent means all-mighty, all-powerful. Not that The Absolute is mightier than something else, or all the rest put together, but that it is all-mighty – all-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 inevitably 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 All-powerful, there can be no other power in the Universe, and that all manifestations of power, good or bad (relative terms), as they may seem to be, must be from he same source. The 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” weather is weather that is pleasant to man – and “bad” weather is that which is unpleasant to him. If he 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 Infinite. Here is another thing that the unaided Intellect 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 Absolute is Omnipresent (and we cannot conceive of it not being), it must be 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 present 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” – every child is taught this in Christian countries. But how few stop to think of what the words mean – they do not know that they are saying that God is in the low places as well as in the high places – in the “bad” places as well as in the “good” places. They do not know that they are saying that God, being everywhere, everything must contain God – must, indeed, 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 do not have space here to go into the matter in detail, but modern 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 conclusion through materialistic reasoning, but the conclusions 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 Omnipresence – though they know it not.

(3) Omniscient means all-knowing, all wise. It means that The Absolute is possessed of all knowledge; that it knows everything; that there 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 not known, or cannot be known, to The Absolute, then we admit that the word is meaningless. And if The Absolute is possessed of all the knowledge there is, then it can make no mistakes; does not find it necessary 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 overlooked, 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! 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 possessed of all-knowledge, from whence do we gain knowledge? Surely not from outside of The Absolute. 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 absorb 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 nothing else.

The Gnanis teach that The Absolute is All-powerful, is All-wise; is Everywhere, That it possesses all the power that there is – all the knowledge that there is – and occupies all space, or all that takes the place of space, if such there be, and is in everything, everywhere, at the same time, and in all time.

They teach that The Absolute in its sense of pure being is incapable of being understood by the human Intellect, at the present time, but that it manifests in three forms, which forms of manifestation may sensed, studied, and partially understood by the Intellect, even of the man of to-day.

These three forms of manifestation of The Absolute are known as (1) Substance, or Matter; (2) Energy, or Force; (3) Intelligence, or Mind. That which occultists know as Spirit is a transcendent manifestation, and is not included in the three manifestations above mentioned. Some 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 correspondence between the three mentioned manifestations of The Absolute, and the three attributes, mentioned a few pages further back. Thus (1) 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, manifestations mentioned are a part of the manifestations of the attributes mentioned – a very small manifestation as compared with others on higher planes, but still manifestations for all that.

Do not understand us as saying that this three-fold manifestation of The Absolute is The Absolute itself – they are merely manifestations, or emanations. (It is 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 Matter, in Force or Energy. He thinks of Him as making, of using these things, but is not accustomed to regarding Him 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 manifestations 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 the truth, and tells them that they have been looking at the same thing from different view-points. The scientist may deny that the manifestation of Mind or Intelligence is a separate manifestation, but that it is merely an incident of matter. The Gnani Yogi sees Intelligence in everything, from the mineral to man – in varying degrees. He realizes that the tiniest cell is possessed of a subconscious 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 duplicate its work, notwithstanding his intellect. In the growing of the blade of grass, God, or The Absolute, 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 bestow. 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 emanates from The Absolute.

Does man think that his intellect exhibits the highest 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 nature dovetails one thing into another. He cannot do these things with his intellect, and yet they were being done ages before he appeared. A greater Intelligence than man’s is at work, and the careful 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 Intelligence and Knowledge from the fountain head. He receives only as much as he is able to hold – God does not try to put a quart of Intelligence in a pint measure. 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 master 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 – Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence.

We will not speak of our attitude toward 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 philosophical side of the knowing of God – Gnani Yoga.

Now, right here, we must warn our students against a common mistake of students of the Eastern Philosophies – 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 manifestation 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 teachings 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 relationship to The Absolute, that they think that they are equal with God, or are God himself. We wonder that the stranger to the teachings is shocked by the apparent impiety, and both his reason and his emotion – cause him to recoil from the statement. This is most subtle, insidious and dangerous perversion of the true teaching, and we warn and caution all students against the same, no matter from how high or apparently authoritative source this false teaching comes. The advanced Hindu teachers do not make this mistake in thought, but some of their followers fall into the error. Some very good Oriental teachers 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 Sanskrit scholar, an entirely wrong idea has been promulgated. Many of the new cults in America and England have fallen into the same error, and their followers horrify and disgust their 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 EMANATION 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 Row.” And this word gives us as near a correct idea of the thought of the Gnanis as it is possible for us to obtain. 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, nothing 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 be gets the thought clearly, as otherwise 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 dependent upon the brain – the Master, The Central Mind of the man regulates all. These writers have spoken of The Absolute – of God – as corresponding of the Central Mind, controlling and directing and Mastering the individual cells. The illustration, although of necessity more or less imperfect, corresponds sufficiently well with the Gnani idea to mention it here. It may be a help to some student to get the proper mental conception of the idea. Swedenborg speaks of the individual, or thing, as but a form through which the Universe Rows like a stream – this is another expression of the same thought.

J. William Lloyd, in his excellent book, “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 same 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 are everywhere, they are not the same in degree or expression. They differ in consciousness. Just as in man, while he is one, there is a part where consciousness, intelligence and volition are especially located, and the other parts differ in their greater or lesser distance from that – in their greater or less resemblance to it – so is the Universal One, there probably, somewhere, is a part which is “God” (better Father, Mother, or Parent) in the peculiar sense – consciousness, 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 that 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 presentation and others from another. Personally, we favor the illustration of the “Sun” – its centre and its emanations 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 help 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 throwing all particles of itself constantly, which, when perceived 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 the rose. Of it, but not it.

We find that we have touched merely upon one phase of Gnani Yoga. We will take on some of its other features in subsequent lessons. Our next lesson will be upon Bhakti Yoga – the Yoga of the Love of God – a subject which naturally follows that part of Gnani Yoga which we have touched upon. 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 the heart instead of the intellect. But it is in accord with reason, instead of contrary to it. In the lessons following 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 are good and necessary. So do not neglect any part, simply because the 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 intelligence. It is a living thing, and YOU are part of it. You are not The Absolute, but you are an atom comprising one of its rays – its life force is playing through you. You are 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 IT. Nothing can hurt you or destroy you. And you are growing to a consciousness of your union with God – not a mere intellectual understanding, but a real, actual, living KNOWLEDGE. Peace be with thee!

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