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A Series of Lessons on the Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India1260
isolation, and yearns to return to its original state of Oneness. And the selfish
life, aims, thoughts and actions engendered by this illusion of Separateness
brings into existence Evil, with its multitudinous train of manifestations and
consequences. Each Desire brings forth a brood of new Desires, and the
soul is bound fast in the entanglements of Karmic Cause and Effect. The
only escape is by first learning the Cause of Evil, and then proceeding to
eradicate it, working from the manifestations back to the cause, and then
back until Freedom is obtained. Thus by killing out all Desire, one strips the
Lust-of-Life of its power, and renders it easy to be overcome. The Lust-of-
Life once overcome, the “soul” realizes that it is not a personality or separate
entity, but that it is Being itself—that is that in the state of creative activity.
Thus the “soul” as a personality disappears, for when the soul perceives that
it is the Universal Being, then all sense of separateness is dissolved—“the
dewdrop slips into the shining sea”—the “character” dissolves and the Spirit
alone remains. And then still there is another stage, when finally the liberated
soul, surrendering all—even its Cosmic Consciousness or Being—retires
into the very heart of that—into Para-Brahm—the Abysmal Abyss—or
Non-Being-and attains Para-Nirvana, the Bliss Absolute. Such is the Essence
of Buddhism.
Gautama taught the Four Truths of Salvation, which must be grasped by
all Seekers of Escape: (1) The Truth of Suffering, or the realization that Life
is indeed Suffering; (2) The Truth of the Cause of Suffering, or the Lustof-Life
fed by Desire; (3) The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, or the
knowledge that in the overcoming of the Lust-of-Life lies the cessation of
Samsara; (4) The Truth of The Path that leads to the Cessation of Suffering,
or the methods of killing out Desire, whereby the Lust-of-Life is overcome
and Freedom gained.
Gautama taught that if the Desires were killed out, then the “character” or
“personality,” which is composed of the qualities and attributes engendered
by Desire, must dissolve, leaving the Spirit intact and unclouded, no longer
deluded by the sense of Separateness, and realizing its identity with The