56 
MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS 
Visions of the objects of their devotion. But these people 
have not so much as asked themselves the original question of 
"How come?" which is our present subject. Sweep them into 
the discard! 
M. Beyond Vishnarupadarshana, the vision of the Form of 
Vishnu, beyond that yet loftier vision which corresponds in 
Hindu classification to our "Knowledge and Conversation of 
the Holy Guardian Angel," is that called Atmadarshana, the 
vision (or apprehension, a much better word) of the Universe 
as a single phenomenon, outside all limitations, whether of 
time, space, causality, or what not. 
Very good, then! Here we are with direct realization of the 
Advaitist theory of the Universe. Everything fits perfectly. 
Also, when I say "realization," I want you to understand that 
I mean what I say in a sense so intense and so absolute that it 
is impossible to convey my meaning to anyone who has not 
undergone that experience. 3 
How do we judge the "reality" of an ordinary impression 
upon 
consciousness? 
Chiefly by its intensity, by its 
persistence, by the fact that nobody can argue us out of our 
belief in it. As people said of Berkeley's 'Idealism' - "his 
arguments are irrefutable but they fail to carry conviction." 
No sceptical, no idealist queries can persuade us that a kick in 
the pants is not 'real' in any reasonable sense of the word. 
Moreover memory reassures us. However vivid a dream may 
be at the time, however it may persist throughout the years 
(though it is rare for any dream, unless frequently repeated, 
or linked to waking impressions by some happy conjunction 
of circumstances, to remain long in the mind with any 
clear-cut vision) it is hardly ever mistaken for an event of 
actual life. Good: then, as waking life is to dream, so-yes, 
more sol-is Religious Experience as above described to that 
life common to all of us. It is not merely easy, it is natural, 
not merely natural, but inevitable, for anyone who has 
3. I have discussed this and the following points very fully in Book 4, Part I, pp. 
63-89.