ecause of the fact that
the minds of those who had these glimpses of consciousness were not
prepared or trained to fully understand the nature of the phenomena. They
found themselves in the spiritual presence of Something of awful grandeur
and spiritual rank, and were completely dazed and bewildered at the
sight. They did not understand the nature of the Absolute, and when they
had sufficiently recovered they reported that they had been in the
"presence of God"--the word "God" meaning their particular conception
of Deity--that is, the one appearing as Deity in their own particular
religious creed or school. They saw nothing to cause them to identify
this Something with their particular conception of Deity, except that
they thought that "it _must_ be God," and knowing no other God except
their own particular conception, they naturally identifying the Something
with "God" as they conceived Him to be. And their reports naturally
were along these lines.

Thus the reports of all religions are filled with accounts of the
so-called miraculous occurrences. The Catholic saint reports that he "saw
of light of God's countenance," and the non-Catholic reports likewise
regarding God as he knows him. The Mohammedan reports that he caught a
glimpse of the face of Allah, and the Buddhist tells us that he saw
Buddha under the tree. The Brahman has seen the face of Brahma, and the
various Hindu sects have men who give similar reports regarding their own
particular deities. The Persians have given similar reports, and even the
ancient Egyptians have left records of similar occurrences. These
conflicting reports have led to the belief, on the part of those who did
not understand the nature of the phenomena, that these things were "all
imagination" and fancy, if indeed not rank falsehood and imposture. But
the Yogis know better than this. They know that underneath all these
varying reports there is a common ground of truth, which will be apparent
to anyone investigating the matter. They know that all of these reports
(except a few based upon fraudulent imitation of the real phenomenon)
are based upon truth and are but the bewildered reports of the various
observers. They know that these people were temporarily lifted above the
ordinary plane of consciousness and were made aware of the existence of a
Being or Beings higher than mortal. It does not follow that they saw
"God" or the Absolute, for there are many Beings of high spiritual growth