The spiritual life

(Martin Jones) #1

Devotion and the Spiritual Life. 71


studylaiddowninthe Indianbooks; noreven


themasteryofthesixty-threesciencesintowhich


allhumanlearningisdivided. Whenwespeak


ofthePathof Knowledgewemeanmorethan


intellectual learning; we meanthe pathwhich


leads to spiritual knowledge, that is, to the

knowledgeoftheONE,oftheSELF,theseeking,


thefindingBrahman,forbyknowledgeHemay


be found, byknowledge He may be entered


into. And therearesomewhochoosethePath


of Knowledge unallied to Devotion, and who


tread that Path ever, life after life, until the


right to Liberation has beengained. Let us
trytorealisethe stepsof sucha path. First,


there must be the recognition of the ONEon


whom all worlds are built, of the ONE, the


SELF eternal and unchanging that throws out


universes,as a spider throws out its web,and


drawstheminagain^-theoneExistencewhich


is at the root of all, supreme,incognisable by


humanthought: knowledgerecognises theOne


without a second. The next stage in that


knowledge,inrecognisingthe One,isthereali-


sationthatallthingsthattakeonseparateforms

musthaveanend,thatinverytruththereisno


separatenessintheuniverse,butonlyappearance

of separation; the One withouta second who


*"Mundakopaiiishad,"i,I.7.
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