208
THE STAR IN THE WEST
Why do our thoughts
so idly clatter ?
I do not care one jot for matter ,
One jot for spirit , while you say
One is pure ether , one pure clay .'
In pure Idealism , objects have no independent
exist
ence ; but
in the
above , which
is no
less
than
pure
Hylo -Idealism , they have . Yet none to the individual
brain , until
they
have
been brought
into
reciprocal
relationship
to it. If the
outer
world is an illusion ,
then the inner world of self is but a delusion , a mere
mirrored
reflection
of shadows
cast by some blinding
sun ; so hope
some
of us , as Orpheus did
when
he
sang :
This world
is shadow -shapen of
The bitterness
of pain .
Vain are the little lamps of love !
The light of life is vain !
Life , death , joy , sorrow, age and youth
Are phantoms
of a further
truth .
This
is
but
the
chant
of
the
Brahmin
and
the
Buddhist as it has
risen and fallen
over
the East for
hundreds
and thousands
of years .
There no sun shines , no moon , nor glimmering
star ,
Nor yonder
lightning , the fire of earth
is quenched ,
From
him , who alone shines ,
all
else borrows
its
brightness
,
The whole world bursts
into splendour
at
his shining
.
Kathaka Upanishad
,
v,
15
.
The veil
of
Maya shrouds
the true aspect
of
things
;
it
cuts
off
the outer from
the inner world
,
rendering
the former
esoteric
,
and the latter
exoteric
.
This idea
of
the All
as
the One
,
is
magnificently
described
in
1
The Sword
of
Song
,
Pentecost
,
vol
.
ii,
p
.
183
.
The Argonauts
,
iv,
vol
.
ii,
p
.
110
.