Liber Aleph

THE BOOK OF WISDOM OR FOLLY 201 Zr De Heresia Manichæa (Of the Manichæan Heresy) HESE Philosophers, or shall I not say Misosophers and Pseudo-Sophists, have been hard put to it to explain the Mystery of the Existence of their Evil. They have cried, frothing with Words, the Evil is Illusion. But if so, that Illusion is Evil, whence came it, and to what End? If their Devil created it, who created that Devil? All their contention resolveth to this Dilemma of Change in a Changeless, Falsity in a True, Hate in a Loving, Weakness in an Almighty, Duality in a Simple, Being as they define their God. Nor do they see that they restrict their God (whom yet hey would have to be All) by admitting Opposites to this Nature, ever when they sum these Opposites as Illusion, since Illusion is the Denial of His Truth. But the Indians, seeing this, seek Escape by denying all Duality soever to their God, or True State, I speak of Parabrahaman and of Nibbana, thus in any Reality of Thought rather denying Him or It than destroying Illusion. But in our Light we have no Need of any Denial, and accept all, yea Illusion itself, discriminating only in our Minds between Phenomena by Comparison with some convenient Standard, for the Purpose of maintaining the Order of our Conceptions in Respect of the Relation of any Being with its Environment. t