Cosmic Consciousness | Page 9

make abnegation of this world which is
transitory, and thou makest abnegation of the next which will last
forever."
However, the phrase, "self-abnegation," predicates the concept of
sacrifice; the giving up of something much to be desired, while, as a
matter of truth, there arises in the consciousness of the Illumined One, a
natural contempt for the "baubles" of externality; therefore there is no
sacrifice. Nothing is given up. On the contrary, the gain is infinitely
great.
Manikyavasayar, one of the great Tamil saints of Southern India,
addressed a gathering of disciples thus:
"Why go about sucking from each flower, the droplet of honey, when
the heavy mass of pure and sweet honey is available?" By which he
questioned why they sought with such eagerness the paltry pleasures of
this world, when the state of cosmic consciousness might be attained.
The thought of India, is however, one of ceaseless repudiation of all
that is external, and the Hindu conception of mukti, or cosmic
consciousness, differs in many respects from that reported by the
Illumined in other countries, even while all reports have many
emotions in common.
Again we find that reports of the cosmic influx, differ with the century
in which the Illumined one lived. This may be accounted for in the fact
that an experience so essentially spiritual can not be accurately
expressed in terms of sense consciousness.
Far different from the Hindu idea, for example, is the report of a
woman who lived in Japan in the early part of the nineteenth century.
This woman was very poor and obscure, making her frugal living by
braiding mats. So intense was her consciousness of unity with all that is,
that on seeing a flower growing by the wayside, she would "enter into
its spirit," as she said, with an ecstacy of enjoyment, that would cause

her to become momentarily entranced.
She was known to the country people around her as _Sho-Nin_,
meaning literally "above man in consciousness."
It is said that the wild animals of the wood, were wont to come to her
door, and she talked to them, as though they were humans. An injured
hare came limping to her door in the early morning hours and "spoke"
to her.
Upon which, she arose and dressed, and opened the door of her
dwelling with words of greeting, as she would use to a neighbor.
She washed the soil from the injured foot, and "loved" it back to
wholeness, so that when the hare departed there was no trace of injury.
She declared that she spoke to and was answered by, the birds and the
flowers, and the animals, just as she was by persons.
Indeed, among the high priests of the Jains, and the Zens (sects which
may be classed as highly developed Occultists), entering into animal
consciousness, is a power possessed by all initiates.
Passing along a highway near a Zen temple, the driver of a cart was
stopped by a priest, who gently said: "My good man, with some of the
money you have in your purse please buy your faithful horse a bucket
of oats. He tells me he has been so long fed on rice straw that he is
despondent."
To the Occidental mind this will doubtless appear to be the result of
keen observation, the priest being able to see from the appearance of
the animal that he was fed on straw. They will believe, perhaps, that the
priest expressed his observations in the manner described to more fully
impress the driver, but this conclusion will be erroneous. The priest,
possessing the enlarged or all-inclusive consciousness which in the
west is termed "cosmic," actually did speak to the horse.
Nor is this fact one which the western mind should be unable to follow.

Science proves the fact of consciousness existing in the atoms
composing even what has been termed inanimate objects. How much
more comprehensible to our understanding is the consciousness of an
animate organism, even though this organism be not more complex
than the horse.
There is a Buddhist monastery built high on the cliff overlooking the
Japan Inland sea, which is called a "life-saving" monastery.
The priests who preside over this temple, possess the power of
extending their consciousness over many miles of sea, and on a
vibration attuned to a pitch above the sound of wind and wave, so that
they can hear a call of distress from fishermen who need their help.
This fact being admitted, might be accounted for by the uninitiated, as a
wonderfully "trained ear," which by cultivation and long practice
detects sounds at a seemingly miraculous distance.
But the priests know how many are in a wrecked boat, and can describe
them, and "converse" with them, although the fishermen are not aware
that they have "talked" to