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Religious Conceptions and Feeling 207

the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here the original Greek for “ Word ” is Logos. This is not quite the same as the Hindu “ Devotion," or “ Holy Utterance,” which we shall meet again in its ﬁnished eXpression as Brahma. The Logos originated in the philosophy of the Stoics and the Nee—Platonists: it is intellec- tual rather than emotional. But the two are alike in this: they seek the creative power and the urea... tive plan in the mind or heart of the universe rather than in its mechanical manifestations. We shall see farther on how very peculiar is the treatment which the Hindus gave to this important and original con-- cept, led on thereto by the melancholy genius that may be supposed to preside over the hot sombre land. For the present, and in this connection, we may be satisﬁed to see the origin of this seemingly mystic: idea exposed to our eyes with a degree of clearness that is not obscured by its mythological coloring. Like almost all other important religious ideas of the Hindus this idea, when analysed patiently with the help of their rich literature, sheds light on the seeming mysteries of other religions.