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1086
THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
and neither the Son nor the servant, is alone entitled to be heard. Bewildered by the confusing statements of the exponents of three of the leading religions of the world, the despairing soul is ill able to determine for itself which of them it should believe. In this state of mind it is that it comes across Buddhism, the socalled religion of light, which forth with assures it: 'Believing is the source of weakness; believing is the source of pain; believing is the source of misery; therefore, avoid believing. What kind of consolation does the soul derive from this argument is beyond conception, since that would be a believing too. Imagining it, however, to be foolish enough to believe that it derives little or no satisfaction from this kind of argument, we now introduce it to Vedanta which promptly whispers in its ear the vivifying formula, the That Thou art, Beloved.' The soul now leaps up with joy, but only to fall back into the trough of despond the next moment. 'If I am That,' it thinks to itself, “surely the That can mean nothing more than a despairing soul, since I, the despairing soul, am That.' Forlorn, troubled and disappointed, it is now more than ever in need of a Teacher and Guide to lead it to Life and Light. This guide it discovers in its own Intellect, in the first instance, since without its aid discrimination between a false and a true Teacher is out of the question.
Therefore, taking intellect as our sole guide, we set out on an enquiry into the nature of bappiness which is the motor-spring of human activity. Investigation reveals the fact that pure joy does not exist outside the seeker thereof. None of the objects from which we may
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