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24: O spiritual youth! Praise thou God that thou hast … |
This people, all of them, have pictured a god in the realm
of the mind, and worship that image which they have made
for themselves. And yet that image is comprehended, the
human mind being the comprehender thereof, and certainly
the comprehender is greater than that which lieth within its
grasp; for imagination is but the branch, while mind is the
root; and certainly the root is greater than the branch. Consider
then, how all the peoples of the world are bowing the
knee to a fancy of their own contriving, how they have
created a creator within their own minds, and they call it
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the Fashioner of all that is—whereas in truth it is but an
illusion. Thus are the people worshipping only an error of
perception.
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But that Essence of Essences, that Invisible of Invisibles,
is sanctified above all human speculation, and never to be
overtaken by the mind of man. Never shall that immemorial
Reality lodge within the compass of a contingent being.
His is another realm, and of that realm no understanding
can be won. No access can be gained thereto; all entry is
forbidden there. The utmost one can say is that Its existence
can be proved, but the conditions of Its existence are
unknown.
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That such an Essence doth exist, the philosophers and
learned doctors one and all have understood; but whenever
they tried to learn something of Its being, they were left
bewildered and dismayed, and at the end, despairing, their
hopes in ruins, they went their way, out of this life. For to
comprehend the state and the inner mystery of that Essence
of Essences, that Most Secret of Secrets, one needs must
have another power and other faculties; and such a power,
such faculties would be more than humankind can bear,
wherefore no word of Him can come to them.
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If, for example, one be endowed with the senses of hearing,
of taste, of smell, of touch—but be deprived of the
sense of sight, it will not be possible for one to gaze about;
for sight cannot be realized through hearing or tasting, or
the sense of smell or touch. In the same way, with the
faculties at man’s disposal it is beyond the realm of possibility
for him to grasp that unseeable Reality, holy and
sanctified above all the sceptics’ doubts. For this, other
faculties are required, other senses; should such powers
become available to him, then could a human being receive
some knowledge of that world; otherwise, never.
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