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RIŞABHA DEVA
Teachings,' to realize this great truth for himself.
But the most remarkable case of this doctrinal identity is furnished by the Christian Apocalypse, where the scene and the surroundings are purely Jainist. An initiation scene is. laid in allegorical style. In the centre of a huge hall is placed a throne on which is placed Life (Jiva) that is Divine; round about the Throne are four and twenty seats on which sit four and twenty Elders, robed in white and wearing crowns of gold. In this Assembly is introduced the Lamb (the symbol of the soul characterized with supreme humility) that is to be initiated. In front of the Throne are four remarkable beasts : one of them is like a lion, another resembles an eagle, the third has the appearance of a calf, and the fourth has the face of a man. These beasts have six wings each, and are full of eyes all over; and they rest not night and day, but keep on blessing the one on the Throne.
Such is the scenic imagery of the hall of initiation. A detailed elucidation of it is to be found in the tenth chapter of 'The Key of Knowledge and the seventh and the ninth lectures of the ' Confluence of Opposites '; but a brief explanation may be attempted here. The beasts represent the different kinds of souls that are em
