Book Description

World greet thee! From thy sources have come the languages of the world, in which men have expressed the thoughts arising in their minds-thy word symbols have made possible advanced thinking and expression of thought. From thy thinkers and teachers have come the root ideas which have since grown into many a religious and philosophical tree, with bud, leaf, flower, and fruit. To thee may be traced the great philosophical conceptions and religious truths that have animated and inspired man's thought for centuries. Thy hundred centuries of deep thought and meditation upon the Mysteries of Existence- the Secret of the Absolute-have proved as the leaven which has lightened the bread of life, and has raised the sodden mass of materiality and changed its character so that it may be partaken of without harm by reason of the transforming power of thy leaven!The history of India runs back for many centuries, the Hindus themselves claiming that their records and traditions carry them back over a period of a hundred centuries-10,000 years-and that back of even this great period of time their people existed and had their successive civilizations and periods of race rest. Centuries before our present civilization had dawned-centuries before the Christian religion was established-centuries before even the time of Abraham, and still longer before the time of and the practical beginning of the Jewish religion-the Hindu teachers of philosophy had formed great schools of thought, which in turn had been subdivided by their followers, the teachings of which have come down along the line of the centuries even unto to day. The Vedas and the Upanishads were written centuries ago-beyond the time of recorded history-and have been handed down from teacher to pupil ever since. Before the days of the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt, India's great religious and philosophical teachers had formulated their doctrines and founded their schools of thought. Surely such antiquity of teaching, and the corresponding vitality of the doctrines which has kept them alive and vigorous through the passage of these great periods of time, must arrest our attention and command our respect.