kaleidoscope of _maya_.

Nor can there be any purpose in the pursuit of either religion or
philosophy other than this attainment; nor does the unceasing practice of
rites and ceremonies; of contemplation; renunciation; prayers; fasting;
penance; devotion; service; adoration; absteminousness; or isolation,
insure the attainment of this state of bliss. There is no bartering; no
assurance of reward for good conduct. It is not as though one would say,
"Ah, my child, if thou wouldst purchase liberation thou shalt follow
this recipe."

No golden promises of speedy entrance into Paradise may be given the
disciple. Nor any exact rules, or laws of equation by virtue of which the
goal shall be reached. Nor yet may any specific time be correctly estimated
in which to serve a novitiate, before final initiation.

Many indeed, attain a high degree of spirituality, and yet not have found
the key of perfect liberation, although the goal may be not far off.

Many, very many, on earth to-day, are living so close to the borderland of
the new birth that they catch fleeting glimpses of the longed-for freedom,
but the full import of its meaning does not dawn. There is yet another
veil, however thin, between them and the Light.

The Buddha spent seven years in an intense longing and desire to attain
that liberation which brought him consciousness of godhood--deliverance
from the sense of sin and sorrow that had oppressed him; immunity from the
necessity for reincarnation.

Jesus became a _Christ_ only after passing through the agonies of
Gethsemane. A Christ is one who has found liberation; who has been born
again in his individual consciousness into the inner areas of consciousness
which are of the _atman_, and this attainment establishes his identity with
The Absolute.

All oriental religions and philosophies teach that this state of
consciousness, is possible to all men; therefore all men are gods in
embryo.

But no philosophy or religion may promise the devotee the realization of
this grace, nor yet can they deny its possible attainment to any.

Strangely enough, if we estimate men by externalities, we discover that
there is no measure by which the supra-conscious man may be measured. The
obscure and unlearned have been known to possess this wonderful power which
dissolves the seeming, and leaves only the contemplation of the Real.

So also, men of great learning have experienced this rebirth; but it would
seem that much culti