The Star in the West

THE NEW WINE 197 down to Hell . He may become spontaneously , in the twinkling of an eye , a St. Francis preaching to his little sisters the birds , or Egg - Nogg who persists in a state of abnormal flatulency , because he considers himself identical with a bottle of ginger - beer . The state of illumination above mentioned is by no means an easy one to attain to , and the study of philosophy alone helps us , if we follow it under the shaded light of a critical scepticism ; for as a chemist reduces his compounds to their component parts , and then to their elementary conditions ; so must we dissect all philosophic arguments which rise up antagonistic to our true selves — that is in harmony with our false selves - seducing our sense to pluck the fruit which is pleasant to the eye , or inducing our understanding in despair , to cast itself down from the pinnacle of the temple into that abyss below , which is the world . Then in the end we shall find all these philosophies are but types of the One , that all things are a unity , that no con tradiction can or does exist , and that there is a universal harmony ; then , as that terrific night engulfs all and envelops us , O children of the Day ! Let us rise up with the whole dawn of our understanding , encircle and an nihilate this dismal unity , and conglobe all into a per fect nothingness , an ineffable bliss — attainment is ours . It matters little whether we With Fichte and the Brahmins preach That Ego - Atman sole must be ; With Schelling and the Buddha own Non - Ego - Skandhas are alone ; With Hegel and — the Christian ? teach That which completes , includes , absorbs Both mighty unrevolving orbs In one informing masterless Master - idea of consciousness ,