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Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism470
which has been asked by the souls of all ages when they reached this stage
of their unfoldment, or investigation. The question may be expressed in this
way: “Why did the Absolute separate itself, or a portion of itself, into parts;
or apparent parts; or apparently so separate itself—what was the use—
what does it all mean—what was the sense of it? There could have been no
necessity for it, for the Absolute is beyond necessity—there could have
been no object, for the Absolute possesses all there is, and is perfect—it
could not have been the result of any desire, for the Absolute must be
desireless. Therefore why did it emanate into the Universe at all; and why
did it cause that which we call ‘souls’ to exist; and why did it place a portion
(or apparent portion) of itself within each soul? As everything must have
emanated from the Absolute, and as everything must return to it, what is
the use of it all, what does it all mean?”
We have expressed this question as clearly as we can conceive it, and we
cheerfully admit that we are unable to answer it, and have seen no answer
or explanation worthy of serious consideration. The answer is locked up in
the Absolute, and Mind, being a manifestation, cannot grasp that which is
beyond the plane of manifestation.
Many thinkers have attempted to answer this question, and the schools
of thought of the East and West have indulged in various speculations
regarding it. Some say that the separation has not even a shadow of truth in
reality, and that Maya, or ignorance and illusion, causes us to see the One as
Many. But this does not answer the question—it merely puts it back another
stage—for whence comes the illusion, and how could the Absolute be made
a subject of illusion? And if we, the projection of the Absolute, fail to see our
identity or relationship, then the Absolute must be the cause of the nonseeing.
Some would say that we are self-hypnotized into seeing ourselves
as separated, but this is no real answer, for if we are hypnotized then the
Absolute must be the cause of it, unless we assume that the Absolute is selfhypnotized,
which thought is ridiculous. Similar to this is the explanation that
this world—the Universe—is but the “dream” of the Absolute. How could