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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
all the same, and in all its fulness in the humblest of living beings. It is a necessity with Life that it should be present as a whole in each and every soul; no one has yet seen being appear in fragments and parts.
Consciousness is both infinite and simple and we have to recognise it as a whole, wherever and in whatever form it be found; and the conclusion to be drawn from its infinite nature is as astounding as it is true: it. means that we are the infinite ourselves; it means that the real nature of all living beings in the universe is unconditionally divine; it means that the soul is its own God. If we put this thought in mystic garb, it would read that the Absolute, i.e., the Reality, is present, in all its fulness, in each and every manifestation of life, though standing behind the veil of illusion,' that is, names and forms. And, the cause of error is the form of illusion, the physical body, which constitutes the apparent man, the real one being none other than Brahman itself, to use the terminology of Vedanta. It is the body which prevents one from looking within, by keeping the attention fixed all the time on the apparent, outward form. When man comes round to realize the nature of his delusion, he will find himself none other than God whose nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda, that is, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, which are also the attributes of the unemancipated soul, though not manifested, in its case, in fulness and perfection. Hence, the difference between God and man amounts to no more than what distinguishes a full-blown flower from a mere bud. And, as the full height of perfection is attainable by the renunciation of desire, as has been
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