Magick Without Tears

THE 0=2 EQUATION 57 experienced "Samadhi" (this word conveniently groups the higher types of vision 4 ) to regard normal life as "illusion" by comparison with this state in which all problems are resolved, all doubts driven out, all limitations abolished. But even beyond Atmadarshana comes the experience called Shivadarshana,s in which this Atman (or Brahman), this limit-destroying Universe, is itself abolished and annihilated. (And, with its occurrence, smash goes the whole of the Advaitist theory!) It is a commonplace to say that no words can describe this fmal destruction. Such is the fact; and there is nothing one can do about it but put it down boldly as I have done above. It does not matter to our present purpose; all that we need to know is that the strongest prop of the Monist structure has broken off short. Moreover, is it really adequate to postulate an origin of the Universe, as they inevitably do? Merely to deny that there ever was a beginning by saying that this "One" is eternal fails to satisfy me. What is very much worse, I cannot see that to call Evil "illusion" helps us at all. When the Christian Scientist hears that his wife has been savagely mauled by her Peke, he has to smile, and say that "there is a claim of error." Not good enough. N. It has taken a long while to clear the ground. That I did not expect; the above propositions are so familiar to me, they run so cleanly through my mind, that, until I came to set them down in order, I had no idea what a long and difficult business it all was. Still, it's a long lane, etc. We have seen that "Two" (or "Many") are unsatisfactory as origin, if only because they 4. "Vision" is a dreadfully bad word for it; "trance" is better, but idiots always mix it up with hypnotism. 5. Possibly almost identical with the Buddhist Neroda·Samapatti.