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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
spoken of above, shall lose it, but he who sacrifices the lower ahankara, that is, the sense of "I-ness" or egotism, for the sake of the higher, or the Christ principle, would find Nirvana (in himself).
It is the sacrifice of the lower which brings the higher Self into manifestation. While it is true that religion offers all desirable good, including peace, immortality and bliss, to its followers, it is equally true that its boons are to be had only on payment of a price. The price to be paid is not money, or its equivalent, neither false praise, nor pretended devotion, but nothing other than an annihilation of the lower personality, that is, the total destruction of the false, personal self which sets itself up in place of the real Man and holds Him in tight bondage. Thus, it is the sacrifice of one's own lower nature, not that of another's life, which can be the means of liberation.
It is worth any amount of trouble to understand the true sense of sacrifice. We find in all religions, excepting Jainism, the injunction to offer sacrifices to the Lord God. Even the Vedas have become, in the hands of an ignorant and greedy priesthood, the source of bloodshed and slaughter of dumb and defenceless animals. The Holy Bible, too, is not unsullied in this respect. The question is, do these Scriptures really enjoin the shedding of the blood of innocent animals for the glorification and redemption of the human race ?
We venture to think not. It would be unnecessary to critically examine all the Scriptures extant on the point. We think that an examination of the teachings of the Holy Bible itself would suffice to show that the
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