completes this trinity and makes it a quaternary?[1] Of course this Light of the Logos. As I have already said, it is a sort of Light that permeates every kind of organism, and so in this trinity it is manifested in every one of the upadhis as the real jira or the ego of man. Now, in order to enable you to have a clear conception of the matter, I shall express my ideas in figurative language. Suppose, for instance, we compare the Logos itself to the sun. Suppose I take a clear mirror in my hand, catch a reflection of the sun, make the ray reflect from the surface of the mirror--say upon a polished metallic plate--and make the rays which are reflected in their turn from the plate fall upon a wall. Now we have three images, one being clearer than the other, and one being more resplendent than the other. I can compare the clear mirror to karana sharira, the metallic plate to the astral body, and the wall to the physical body. In each case a definite bimbam is formed, and that bimbam or reflected image is for the time being considered as the self. The bimbam formed on the astral body gives rise to the idea of self in it, when considered apart from the physical body; the bimbam formed in the karana sharira gives rise to the most prominent form of individuality that man possesses. You will further see that these various bimbams are not of the same
- ↑ The reflected image of the Logos formed by the action of this Light, or karana sharira, may be considered as the fourth principle in man, and it has been considered by certain philosophers. But in reality the real entity is the light itself and not the reflected image.
