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Lesson VI: Gnani Yoga.343
must so transcend any such personal idea that no thinking man, having
the proper respect for the Source of Being, can continue to maintain the
anthropomorphic conception, no matter what his religious belief may be.
And, in view of the conception and mental image ordinarily called forth
by the word “God,” and the possibility of misunderstanding of our meaning,
we think it better to use the term “The Absolute” in speaking of God in
this lesson. This course is rendered particularly desirable in view of the
fact that Gnani Yoga is more of a philosophy than a religion—more of a
study for the higher powers of the mind, than an emotional subject, or one
inculcating devotion. When we come to the subject of “Bhakti Yoga,” which
deals with the worship of God—the religious phase of the Yoga Philosophy,
we may appropriately resume the use of the word “God” as applied to
Deity, without danger of a misapprehension. So when, in this lesson, we
speak of “The Absolute,” we are not attempting to set up a new God, but
merely are using a general term for the Source of Being, which is sufficiently
broad to fit in with the conceptions of Deity held by any and all students,
irrespective of their creed, belief, or training—and with the conceptions of
the philosophers who prefer to think of a “principle” rather than of Deity.
We ask the student to re-read this paragraph, in order that he may clearly
understand the reason of the use of the term, in this lesson.
The Gnani Yoga Philosophy starts with the statement: “The Absolute is.”
It does not pretend to be able to explain to the human intellect, the how,
wherefore, and why, of the Absolute. It merely states that it “is.” In answer to
the question, “How can there be a thing without a cause?” it replies that this
understanding of cause and effect belongs to the relative plane of causation,
and the Absolute is above the relative plane, as a matter of course. We see
that everything around us has a cause, and is itself a cause of succeeding
effects. Everything that we see, feel, or hear is a part of the chain of cause and
effect. That is, it has a chain of preceding causes running back to—where?
and it has a chain of succeeding effects that extends away into the future,
ending—where? In each case the answer is “The Absolute.” We may trace