A Series of Lessons in Gnani Yoga: The Yoga of WisdomAtkinson, William Walker
Religion
A Series of Lessons in Gnani Yoga: The Yoga of Wisdom
Atkinson, William Walker
Yoga, Jñana
This consciousness of Unity must come from the higher regions of the
mind, for the Intellect alone knows it not,--it is out of its field.
Just as one may not know that the earth is round by means of his senses
which report quite the contrary, but may and does know this truth by
abstract reasoning and higher intellectual effort; so may one know the
truth that All Life is indeed One, at the last, and underlying, by the
higher faculties of the mind, although his senses and ordinary
intellectual processes fail to so inform him. The senses cannot inform
man that the earth is round, _because they cannot see it as a whole,
but only in part_--while the higher reasoning faculties are able to
visualize the earth as a whole, and know it must be round. And the
Intellect, in its ordinary field can see only separateness, and cannot
report Oneness, but the Higher Mind sees Life as a Whole, and knows it
to be One. And it is the Higher Mind that we are trying to bring into
the field of consciousness in the appeal to you in this lesson. We
trust that we may be successful--in fact we _know_ that we shall be so,
in many cases, for we know that the field is ready for the sowing of
the seed--and that the call has been heard, and the message passed on
to us to answer the call--else these words would not have been written.
The consciousness of the Unity of Life is something that must be
experienced before the truth may be realized. It is not necessary for
one to wait until he acquire full Cosmic Consciousness before he may
realize, at least partially, the Oneness of All Life, for he may unfold
gradually into the Cosmic Knowing, experiencing at each stage a fuller
conception of the underlying Unity of Life, in which he is a centre of
consciousness and manifestation. But there must be at least a partial
unfoldment before one is able to _feel_ the sense of Unity. To those
who have not unfolded sufficiently to gain at least a glimmering of the
truth, everything appears separate from every other thing, and there is
no Unity of All. It is as if every leaf on a mighty tree were to
consider itself a being separate and distinct from everything else in
the world, failing to perceive its connection with the branch or limb,
and tree, and its unity in being with every other leaf on the tree.
After a bit the unfolding consciousness of the leaf enables it to
perceive the stem that connects it with the twig. Then it begins to
realize certain relationships, and feels its vital connection with the
twig and the few other leaves attached to the same twig. Later on, it
unfolds sufficiently to perceive that certain other leaf-bearing twigs
are connected with the same branch, and it learns to feel its
relationship with all twigs and leaves springing from that branch. Then
again, a little later on, it begins to realize that other branches
spring from the same limb as its branch, and the sense of relationship
and dawning Unity begins to widen still further. And so it goes on,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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