for that would straighten itself out in time.  But it is far more serious than this, for the teaching inevitably leads to the accompanying teaching that all is Illusion or Maya, and that Life is but a dream—­a false thing—­a lie—­a nightmare; that the journey along the Path is but an illusion; that everything is “nothing”; that there is no soul; that You are God in disguise, and that He is fooling Himself in making believe that He is You; that Life is but a Divine masquerade or sleight-of-hand performance; that You are God, but that You (God) are fooling Yourself (God) in order to amuse Yourself (God).  Is not this horrible?  And yet it shows to what lengths the human mind will go before it will part with some pet theory of metaphysics with which it has been hypnotized.  Do you think that we have overdrawn the picture?  Then read some of the teachings of these schools of the Oriental Philosophy, or listen to some of the more radical of the Western teachers preaching this philosophy.  The majority of the latter lack the courage of the Hindu teachers in carrying their theories to a logical conclusion, and, consequently they veil their teachings with metaphysical subtlety.  But a few of them are more courageous, and come out into the open and preach their doctrine in full.

Some of the modern Western teachers of this philosophy explain matters by saying that “God is masquerading as different forms of life, including Man, in order that he may gain the experience resulting therefrom, for although He has Infinite and Absolute Wisdom and Knowledge, he lacks the experience that comes only from actually living the life of the lowly forms, and therefore He descend thus in order to gain the needed experience.”  Can you imagine the Absolute, possessed of all possible Knowledge and Wisdom, feeling the need of such petty “experience,” and living the life of the lowly forms (including Man) in order “to gain experience?” To what Depths do these vain theories of Man drive us?  Another leading Western teacher, who has absorbed the teaching of certain branches of the Oriental Philosophy, and who possesses the courage of his convictions, boldly announces that “You, yourself, are the totality of being, and with your mind alone create, preserve and destroy the universe, which is your own mental product.”  And again the last mentioned teacher states:  “the entire universe is a bagatelle illustration of your own creative power, which you are now exhibiting for your own inspection.”  “By their fruits shall you know them,” is a safe rule to apply to all teachings.  The philosophy that teaches that the Universe is an illusion perpetrated by you (God) to amuse, entertain or fool yourself (God), can have but one result, and that is the conclusion that “everything is nothing,” and all that is necessary to do is to sit down, fold your hands and enjoy the Divine exhibition of legerdemain that you are performing for your own entertainment, and then, when the show is over, return to your state