"Love is more great than we conceive, and death is the keeper of unknown redemptions."
They are from his higher Self; from the illumined "Dominion of Dreams."
CHAPTER XV
METHODS OF ATTAINMENT: THE WAY OF ILLUMINATION
Oriental philosophies recognize four important methods of yoga.
Yoga is the word which signifies "uniting with God." From what has gone before in these pages, the reader will understand that unity with God means to us, the uncovering of the god-nature within or above, the human personality; it means the attainment and retainment in fullness of cosmic consciousness. We do not believe that any one retains full and complete realization of cosmic consciousness and remains in the physical body. The numerous instances to which we allude in former chapters, are at best, but temporary flights into that state, which is the goal of the soul's pilgrimage, and the only means of escape from the "ceaseless round of births and deaths" which so weighed upon the heart of Gautama.
The paths of yoga then, are the methods by which the mind, in the personal self, is made to perceive the reality of the higher Self, and its relation to the Supreme Intelligence—The Absolute.
The various methods or paths are pointed out, but no one, nor all of these paths guarantees illumination as a reward for diligence. That which is in the heart of the disciple is the key that unlocks the door.
These paths are called:
Karma Yoga; Raja Yoga; Gnani Yoga; Bhakti Yoga.