Collected Works (Vol. II)

230 THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS back and back, like a biograph out of order, and there’s no sort of connection between one and the other. Hullo, what’s that? Why, there’s a holy man near that Bo-Tree. He'll tell me what it all means.’ Poor silly old Lord of the Universe! Had he carried his-memory back one more step he’d have known all about Jehjaour and the con- spiracy, and that he was a Srotapatti and had only one more birth; and might well have put in the 311,040,000,000,000 myriads of aeons which would elapse before lunch in rejoicing over his imminent annihilation. ‘““¢Venerable Sir!’ said Mahabrahma, who had assumed the guise of a cowherd, ‘I kiss your worshipful Trilbies :! I prostrate myself before your estimable respectability.’ ‘Sir,’ said the holy man, none other than Our Lord Himself! ‘thou seekest illumina- tion!’ Mahabrahma smirked and admitted it. ‘From negative to positive,’ explained the Thrice-Honoured One, ‘though Poten- tial Existence eternally vibrates the Divine Absolute of the Hidden Unity of proces- sional form masked in the Eternal Abyss of the Unknowable, the synthetical hiero- glyph of an illimitable, pastless, futureless PRESENT. ‘© «To the uttermost bounds of space rushes the voice of Ages unheard of save in the concentrated unity of the thought-formulated Abstract; and eternally that voice formu- lates a word which is glyphed in the vast ocean of limitless life.2 Do I make myself clear?’ ‘Perfectly. “Who would have thought it was all so simple?’ The God cleared his throat, and rather diffidently, even shamefacedly, went on: ‘¢* But what I really wished to know was about my incarnation. How is it I have so suddenly risen from change and death to the unchangeable ?’” . ‘“‘ ‘Child !’ answered Gautama, ‘ your facts are wrong—you can hardly expect to make 1 Feet. 2 This astonishing piece of bombastic drivel is verbatim from. a note by S. L. Mathers to the ‘‘ Kabbalah Unveiled.” correct deductions.’ ‘Yes, you can, if only your logical methods are unsound. That’s the Christian way of getting truth.’ ‘True!’ replied the sage, ‘but precious little they get. Learn, O Mahabrahma (for I pene- trate this disguise), that all existing things, even from thee unto this grain of sand, possess Three Characteristics. These are Mutability, Sorrow, and Unsubstantiality.’ ‘All right for the sand, but how about Me? Why, they defixe me as unchange- able.’ ‘You can define a quirk as being a two-sided triangle,’ retorted the Saviour, ‘but that does not prove the actual existence of any such oxymoron.! The truth is that you're a very spiritual sort of being and a prey to longevity. Men’s lives are so short that yours seems eternal in comparison. But —why, you’re a nice one to talk! You'll be dead in a week from now.’ ‘“*] quite appreciate the force of your remarks !’ said the seeming cowherd; ‘that about the Characteristics is very clever; and curiously enough, my perception of this has always just preceded my death for the last six goes.’ ‘¢ Well, so long, old chap,’ said Gautama, ‘I must really be off. I have an appoint- ment with Brother Mara at the Bo-Tree. He has promised to introduce his charming daughters , ‘“*Good-bye, and don’t do anything rash !’ ‘Rejoice! our Lord wended unto the Tree !2 As blank verse this scans but ill, but it clearly shows what happened. XI. ‘©The ‘Nineteenth Mahakalpa’ brought out its April Number. There was a paper by Huxlananda Swami. ‘‘ Mahabrahma had never been much more than an idea. He had only lived six days. 1 A contradiction in terms. 2 Arnold, ‘' Light.of Asia.”