251
however, disfigured and distorted, through ignorance, superstition and prejudice, are then taught to him for the purpose of being proclaimed to the world at large. It is needless for me to explain these truths here as their enunciation in the book is sufficiently plain. Thus fortified and instructed Sensa prepares for the final struggle. During these preparatory stages the passions of the physical man are, as it were, dormant, and Sensa is left alone for the time being. But they are not entirely subdued. The decisive battle is yet to be fought and won. Sensa begins to enter on the higher spiritual life as a preacher and spiritual guide to men, directed by the light of wisdom which has entered his soul. But he cannot pursue this course for any length of time before be has conquered his foes. The moment for the final struggle of the last initiation soon arrives. The nature of this initiation is very little understood. It is sometimes represented in vague terms as a terrible ordeal through which an initiate has to pass before he becomes a real adept. It is further characterized as "the baptism by blood." These general statements do not in the least indicate the precise nature of the result to be achieved by the neophyte or the difficulties he has to encounter.
It is necessary to enquire into the nature of the psychic change or transformation which is intended to be effected by this initiation before its mystery is understood. According to the ordinary Vedantic classification there are four states of conscious existence, viz., Viswa, Tajasa, Pragna, and Tureeya. In modern language these may be described as the objective, the clairvoyant, the ecstatic, and the ultra-ecstatic states of consciousness. The seats or upadhis related to these conditions are the physical body, the astral body, the Karana Sarira or the Monad and the Logos. The soul is the Monad. It is, as it were, the neutral point of consciousness. It is germ of pragna. When completely isolated no consciousness is experienced by it. Its psychic condition is hence compared by Hindu writers to Sushupti—a condition of dreamless sleep. But it is under the influence of the physical body and the astral body on the one side, and the sixth and seventh
