Page:Prabôdha chandrôdaya, or, Rise of the moon of intellect- a spiritual drama ; and, Âtma bodha, or, The knowledge of self (microform) (IA prabdhachandr00krsnrich).pdf/11

INTRODUCTION. 7 The methods adopted by different philosophers as stated above have all one aim—that of subjecting the mind or extinguishing it; for as long as it is allowed to play its part, the experience of the sub- jective, or self is impossible, since it is the mind that has objectified itself into universal matter and things. Unless, therefore, the mind is extinguished, or one completely retires within himself, subjective eXperiences could not be realized. For this reason, the anthor of this spriritual Drama has chosen the mind and its appendages—the passions—as actors, in order to give the readers a clear idea of the power the mind exerts in keeping from us the true knowledge of the self or the universal soul, and in tempting those who are attached to its illusions to undergo all sorts of pain, rebirth, etc.

In the Christian Bible, the mind is personified as the Devil, Its origin is said to be angelic, It has been known as the Devil on fecount of its revolt against God, its master, It was this that crept stealthily in the form of a snake into the mind of the first created, Adam and Eve,and diverted their attention from their godlike eondi- tion to- worldliness, and caused their “fall,” for which all the Christian world has to suffer eternal daranation unless they acknow- ledge the Christ, or Budhi gf&, their Saviour, and follow him in order to inherit the redemption he has offered to his followera. This redemption is the purification from the the original sin, brought by Adam on all the human race hy forgetting his own identity with Divinity, the original self and falling into the snares of the mind, otherwise called maya or illusion—which made him think that he was separate from Divinity.

This was the First Sin in which according to the Bible, the whole human race has participated, To save mankind from this sin, and to save them from the eternal damnation of Rebirths, Christ says:— true expiation and salvation preached by Christ, the Budhi of the author of this work, We are afraid that this explanation of the Biblical allegory of the fall of the angel, subsequeutly called the Devil, both by the Jews and Christians and also of the first man, the origin of sin, and the means pointed out for its redemption, or absolntion, in the New Testament, will never be accepted by the present followers of Moses and Christ. This would affect their cherished doctrines of the duality of God and the universe, and of �
 * T and my father are ons.” The knowledge of this was and is the