VML-2/19/02

[Guest guest]

" The other world, O Gautama, is the fire. The sun is its fuel. The

rays are the smoke. The day is the flame. The moon is the embers. And

the stars are the sparks. In this fire the gods pour libation of

faith and from this libation king Soma is born " So on he goes. " You

need not make oblation to that little fire: the whole world is that

fire, and this oblation, this worship, is continually going on. The

gods, and the angels, and everybody is worshipping it. ? Man is the

greatest symbol of fire, the body of man. " Here also we see the ideal

becoming practical and Brahman is seen in everything. The principle

that underlies all these stories is that invented symbolism may be

good and helpful, but already better symbols exist than any we can

invent. You may invent an image through which to worship God, but a

better image already exists, the living man. You may build a temple

in which to worship God, and that may be good, but a better one, a

much higher one, already exists, the human body.