The Complete Works of Yogy Ramacharaka. William Walker Atkinson
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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 knowiedge. 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 fingernail was The Man. Gnani Yaga 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 diferent 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 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 reread 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 cham 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 (I) 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, arid 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