Certainly, whatever may be our opinions as to whether God, as we understand the term, talked to Moses, giving him such explicit commands as the great leader afterwards laid down to his people accompanied by the insurmountable barrier to dissent or discussion, “thus saith the Lord,” we can but admit that the prophet was possessed of intellectual power far in advance of his time, and his laws did indeed, save his people from self destruction, through uncleanliness and strife, and dense ignorance.

The ten commandments have been the “word of God” to all men for lo! these many ages, and even Jesus could but add one other commandment to those already in use:  “Another commandment give I unto you—­that ye love one another.”

To sum up the evidences of cosmic consciousness, or Illumination, as reported in the case of Moses, we find: 

The experience of great light as seen on Horeb.

The “voice” which he calls the voice of “The Lord.”

The sudden and momentary fear, and humility.

The shining of his face and form, as though bathed in light.

The subsequent intellectual superiority over those of his time.

The perfect assurance and confidence of authority and “salvation.”

The desire for solitude, which caused him to die alone in the vale of Moab.

The intense desire to uplift his people to a higher consciousness.

CHAPTER VIII

GAUTAMA—­THE COMPASSIONATE

Gautama, prince of the house of Siddhartha, of the Sakya class, was born in northern India in the township of Kapilavastu, in the year 556 B.C., according to the best authorities, as interpreted and reported by Max Muller.

The Japanese tradition agrees with this, practically, stating that O Shaka Sama (signifying one born of wisdom and love) was born as a Kotai Si, crown prince of the Maghada country.

We have the assurance that as a youth, Gautama, like Jesus, exhibited a serious mindedness and an insight into matters spiritual, which astonished and dumbfounded his hearers, and the sages who gave him respectful attention.

Some accounts even go so far as to state that at the very moment of his birth the young prince was able to speak, and that his words ascended “even to the gods of the uppermost Brahma-world.”

Divesting the traditions that surround the birth and early life of the world’s great masters, of much that has been interpolated by a designing priesthood, we may yet conclude that a certain seriousness, and a deep sympathy with the sorrows of their fellowmen, would naturally characterize these inspired ones, even while they were still in their early youth.

It is evident that the young Prince Siddhartha was subject to meditation and that these meditations led at times to complete trance.