attain to a state of eternal conscious bliss, till he intuitively realises that he is not the wretched miserable soul of the world with a limited knowledge and bliss; that, on the other hand, he is one with Isvara, with the Universal Ego, perfect in knowledge and bliss which are in themselves eternal and never obscured.

10. When the disciple is taught this grand truth, there naturally arises a doubt as to how this can be. The Upanishad as well as the Teacher points out the line of argument by which the disciple may form a fair intellectual conception of it. But a mere intellectual assent to the truth of the proposition does not amount to that realisation which consists in the individual Ego feeling and acting as if he is one with the Universal Ego, with Isvara himself. To this end man must intently dwell in thought on the Divine Being, the universal Ego, while regarding himself and Isvara and the Teacher as the one Atman; loving the atman, the Divine Self, above all, as his own very Self, casting away the limited self as something non-existent, keeping away from the mind all alien thoughts, being completely immersed in Him as both the end and the means in one. Gradually the light of the Divine Sun sheds its lustre upon the ever-expanding and purifying means, by which the soul sees better in the light of the omniscient wisdom of Isvara. The

ever-increasing knowledge of the real truth only heightens his love and devotion to Isvara. By thus constantly dwelling on the Divine Self in loving meditation, the mind is purged of all its dross and becomes perfectly pure. When the Buddhi becomes completely serene, Isvara, the Divine Self, is reflected in it as He is, and then Jiva becomes one with Isvara, the Buddhi being absorbed in His all-illumining and all-absorbing Light. Then he has reached the goal of the path; he has been liberated; he has attained nirvana, the supreme self-conscious Bliss.

11. One cannot reach the summum bonum indicated above without attaining perfection in knowledge and devotion. Both the intellect and the heart must be equally expanded and perfected before a thorough intuitive realisation of one's own True Self can be attained. They must in short combine into unity in the Self. At any particular stage of spiritual progress of man, his intellect and heart may be found to have not reached the same stage of progress. Some are more devotional than intellectual, some more intellectual than devotional. But neither of them can be developed very far without the aid of the other or without stimulating that other to further development. An intense devotion to the Divine Being or to the Teacher however vaguely imaged will not fail to lead the intellect to see more clearly the nature of man in