PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY 275 



most exalted kind of rationality, for there can be nothing 

 more rational than to know the divine fountain of All, 

 by entering into its own understanding. 



" All numbers are multiples of one, all sciences con- 

 verge to a common point, all wisdom comes out of one 

 centre, and the number of wisdom is one. The light of 

 wisdom radiates into the world, and manifests itself in 

 various ways according to the substance in which it 

 manifests itself. Therefore man can exhibit reason in 

 a threefold manner : as instinct, as animal reason, and 

 spiritual intelligence. The knowledge which our soul 

 derives from the physical and animal elements is tem- 

 poral ; that which it derives from the spirit is eternal. 

 God is the Father of wisdom, and all wisdom is derived 

 from Him. We may grow into knowledge, but we 

 cannot grow or manufacture knowledge ourselves, be- 

 cause in ourselves is nothing but what has been deposited 

 there by God. Those who believe that they can learn 

 anything real and true without the assistance of God, 

 who is Himself the truth and the reality, will fall into 

 idolatry, superstition, and error. But those who love 

 the luminous centre will be attracted to it, and their 

 knowledge comes from God. God is the Father of 

 wisdom, and man is the son. If we wish for know- 

 ledge we must apply for it to the Father and not to 

 the son. And if the son desires to teach wisdom, he 

 must teach that wisdom which he derived from the 

 Father. The knowledge which our clergymen possess 

 is not obtained by them from the Father, but they learn 

 it from each other. They are not certain of the truth 

 of what they teach, and therefore they use argumen- 

 tation, circumvention, and prevarication ; they fall into 

 error and vanity, and mistake their own opinions for 

 the wisdom of God. Hypocrisy is not holiness ; conceit 

 is not power; slyness is not wisdom. The art of de- 

 ceiving and disputing, sophisticating, perverting, and 

 misrepresenting truths, may be learned in schools; but 



