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The Fifth Lesson: The One and the Many.777
speak the Truth plainly, and without fear—for such is the Message which has
been given us to deliver to our students—and we will perform the Right action,
leaving the Result, or Fruits of the Action, where it belongs, according to the
higher teachings found in the “Bhagavad Gita,” and in the Higher Teachings
of the Yogi Philosophy.
The fundamental Truth embedded in the Wisdom-Philosophies of the
East—the Higher Yogi Teachings—is the impregnable doctrine of the One
Self in the many selves—the many selves in the One Self. This fundamental
Truth underlies all the Oriental Philosophies which are esoteric in their
nature.
Notwithstanding the crude and often repulsive conceptions and practices
of the masses of the people who represent the exoteric, or popular, phase
of the teachings (and these two phases are to be found in all regions) still
there is always this Inner Doctrine of the One Self, to be found to those who
look for it.
Not only is this true among the Hindus; but even among the Mahommedans,
of all countries, there is an Inner Circle of Mystics, known as the Sufis, holding
to this Truth. And the inner teachings of the philosophies of all ages and
races, have held likewise. And the highest thought of the philosophers of the
Western races, has found refuge in this idea of the Over-soul, or Universal
Self. But, it is only among the Yogis that we find an attempt made to explain
the real nature of the manifestation of the One in Many—the holding of the
Many forms in the One Self.
Before proceeding to the consideration of how the One becomes as
Many, as expounded by the Higher Yogi Teachings, it becomes necessary
to speak of a matter upon which there has been much confusion and
misunderstanding, not only on the part of the students of various Oriental
Philosophies, but also upon the part of some of the teachers themselves.
We allude to the connection between The One—The Absolute—in Its
essence—and that which has been called the One Life; the Universal Life,
etc. Many writers have spoken of the Universal Life, and The One, as being