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CONFLUENCE OF OPPOSITES
361
man is the son of a particular person; but from the point of view of the soul, he is the child of Life itself. Hence, the mystifying speech of a Self-conscious Soul, who is now described as a man and now as a Son of God. The mystery of the co-existence of the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity also finds an easy solution now. In so far as the Perfected Soul is the manifestation of the divinity of Life, he is the Son of Life; but in so far as He is the very soul-substance itself that existed in the condition of impurity previously, and in fact eternally, he is co-eval with Life itself, hence contemporaneous with the Father'!
To revert to the heifer-myth, the desert in which the heifer wanders during the infancy of the 'son' is the dreary realm of transmigration where the heifer of nafs may be said to wander about unchecked, till manhood be reached. This refers to the advantage of the human birth which is generally the starting point for the journey to nirvana. Here an opportunity is offered for the subjugation of the wandering heifer with knowledge and tapas. The term desert is to be compared with the Garden of Eden where man was placed before the fall.
The orphanage of the son is indicative of the nature of life, which has no outside patron or protector. It is taught in the book of Psalms (Ps. xlix. 7):
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him."
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