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Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism472
about the “How” side of things, but is absolutely silent regarding the “Why”
of it. The “How” belongs to the plane of manifestation, and the Universal
Mind finds that plane within its jurisdiction. But the “Why” plane belongs to
the Absolute itself, and the doors are closed to the Mind. We may actually
know—and many of us do—that the Absolute is. Not only because our
Intellect makes necessary the acceptance of the fact, but because the higher
regions of the mind give us a positive knowledge of His presence. The soul,
when sufficiently unfolded, finds within itself that wonderful something,
the Spirit, and knows it to be higher than any phase of Mind. And the
Universal Mind (which may be explored by the Adept or Master) finds itself
confronted with the Absolute, and cannot doubt its existence. But the soul
may not understand the “whyness” of the Spirit, nor the Universal Mind the
“Whyness” of the Absolute.
Minds in all ages have endeavored to solve this Mystery of the Absolute
and its Manifestations. And equally futile have been their attempts to find
the answer. Plotinus, the Greek philosopher, thought that the One could
not dwell alone, but must forever bring forth souls from himself. Some of
the Hindu writers have thought that love or even desire were the moving
reasons for the manifestations; the longing to go out from self; the desire
for companionship; the craving for something to love; these and similar
reasons were given. Some have even spoken of the Absolute “sacrificing”
itself in becoming “many” instead of one. One Hindu writer assumes that
the Absolute “causes his life to be divided, not content to be alone.” But, in
closing this consideration of the “Why,” we must remind the student that
each of these “explanations” is based upon a mental conception that the
Absolute is like a Man, and acts from similar motives, and through a similar
mind. It seems that anthropomorphism (the representation of Deity with
human attributes) dies hard, and raises its head even in philosophies which
claim to have long since performed funeral services over it. The student is
cautioned against falling into any of these pitfalls of thought, his safety lying
in the recollection that all these so-called “causes” and “explanations” and