Ever since humans started walking on this planet, approximately two billion years ago, at some point in time, we have all asked ourselves one or more of the following questions:
 
Who or what am I? Where did I come from? Why are there so many other creatures somewhat similar to me? What are the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, the Stars, and why is there so much empty space in between? Why are celestial bodies spherical, and what keeps them suspended in space? Is there any particular significance to the arrangement of the celestial bodies of our solar system? What is physical matter, and where does all the energy of the physical universe come from? Is there a creative power beind it and, if not, how can we explain such a mystery? If there is such a power—a God—where is it and what does it look like? If there is such an entity as the Devil, what is its purpose?
 
Why does the universe expand, and can the theory of the Big Bang be taken seriously? And how can we explain the fact that, according to cosmologists, there is an enormous amount of unaccounted-for mass in the universe? Are the luminous dots we see in the night sky Stars, or are they something else? Why is the Earth flattened at the poles, and was it hot when it was first created? How can we explain the fact that air temperature decreases with altitude (although it should actually increase as we get closer to the Sun and the thermosphere)? And why does this phenomenon reverse itself three times (as altitude increases) before we leave the atmosphere?  Also, are we sure that the reasons given for the poles being colder and the equator being warmer than the rest of the Earth are the correct ones?

How can the Sun supply heat and light for billions of years, and never exhaust its power? Is the given explanation of nuclear fusion acceptable?  When was the Universe created? Why do Saturn and Jupiter have an almost identical composition to that of the Sun, but are not hot?  How was the universe created?  Will it ever end, and if so, when? Are there other solar systems in our Galaxy? Are there other intelligent life forms in the universe? Why does the Moon affect the tides and the menstrual cycles of women, and why is there no magnetism on it?  What are Black Holes, and how do we explain time, space, electricity, magnetism, and gravity?
 
What is the real cause of global warming? Are the laws of Newton and Einstein still valid today? Should we pay any attention to the multitude of new sub-atomic particles that are discovered daily? Why are there exactly 92 chemical elements? And why are some of them radioactive?  Why are some gases heavier than metals?  What are heat and cold, and how can we explain the fact that vapors rise against the pull of gravity?  What is light, where does it come from, and where does it go when we switch if off? And how do we explain the fact that photons and gamma particles supposedly have no mass?
 
What is love and why do we experience pain when we are separated from the things and people we love? How do we explain the mind, the senses and emotions? Is there such a thing as free will, or is everything beyond our control? Why does everything in this world seem to have an opposite, and what is the meaning of the different sexes? Why are women more emotional than men, and why do they have frailer bodies?
 
What is sleep? What are dreams made of, and why are they not recorded in our subconscious memory, like the rest of our experiences? Will we ever fully understand and conquer disease?
 
What is birth, and did we exist before we were born into this world? Is death the end of our existence, or will we continue to exist after death?  If so, where will we go?  Do such phenomena as reincarnation, transmigration of the soul (metempsychosis) and sin really exist? If so, what constitutes sin?  What is the Law of Karma? Do the likes, dislikes and preferences that we exhibit since early childhood prove that we were humans before this lifetime? What causes someone to be born blind or mentally retarded?
 
Will we ever be able to explain intelligence, consciousness, faith, pleasure and pain? Why is every human being in a desperate and continuous search for happiness, and can we ever achieve it? What is right and what is wrong? What determines whether we are happy or unhappy, and to what extent? Is what we experience through the senses real, or is it just an illusion?
 
What is the purpose of human life and creation itself? What regulates the multitude of electrochemical processes of the unimaginably complex phenomenon called life?   Did life appear on this planet as the result of a random combination of chemical elements, and when did life first appear on Earth? Why do we have 46 chromosomes, and not a different number? If our ancestors were apes, why can we not find any trace of some intermediate species? What caused the disappearance of prehistoric animals, and how can we explain the fact that so many species continually become extinct? If animals don’t possess intelligence, what is instinct? Nowadays, there seems to be a continuous trend towards evolution. Will this ever change?

If man is the most evolved animal species, why do some animals display talents so extraordinary that humans could never match them?  Do animals also have a soul?  If so, is there an afterlife for such souls? Why is it that everything in the body comes in pairs? The brain is split into two halves, as are the lungs and the heart. We have two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two arms, two legs, two testicles, two ovaries, two kidneys, etc. What is the fuel that supplies energy to all life forms? The obvious answer may seem to be food!  But is this really so? Could humans or other life forms ever live without food?
 
How do we explain documented phenomena such as levitation, and mysterious and controversial cases of spontaneous combustion?  What are addictions and why are they so difficult to overcome?  Is there anybody on Earth who knows everything there is to know about all subjects? If so, how can this be achieved? Can one learn how to perform miracles? Is there any validity to the phenomena of chance, coincidence, luck or random occurrence, considering that everything could be preordained? Why is there so much suffering in the world, and how can we reconcile this with the idea of a just, loving and compassionate God?
 
If you have come this far, and all these questions haven’t prompted you to close the book and stop reading, it can mean one of two things—you are either very patient or extremely curious. Whatever the case may be you deserve to be congratulated for your persistence.
 
The point that we wanted to make was that we are not as smart as we think we are, and that our understanding of the world could do with some improvement. Though our intelligent, probing minds will always seek greater knowledge, we are far from fully understanding the true purpose and meaning of life.
 
We may well be smarter than all other living creatures—smart enough to formulate the questions, but not sufficiently intelligent to know the answers! Our formal education does not help; that could be because we are not smart enough to learn, or perhaps because our teachers are not doing their jobs as they should. But it could also be that our method of studying is inadequate, or that we are taught the wrong doctrines. What we think we know is like a drop in the ocean of knowledge. But we ignore even that much. We are unaware of the extent of our ignorance. We are so busy focusing on our achievements, that we lose sight of what could and should be accomplished. We investigate the world of phenomena, which is unreal, and neglect to probe the metaphysical aspects of life.

We ignore the fact that the invisible is more real than the visible—the subtle being the cause, the gross, the effect. We are so taken with appearances that we disregard substance. We believe in what seems to be, and fail to see what really is. We mistake illusion for reality.  We waste our lives running after the elusive happiness in the outside world, and fail to see that we are searching in the wrong direction. If we have not been successful in achieving lasting peace and true wisdom so far, it is either because such goals are unattainable, or because we do not know how to go about obtaining them.

What are we doing wrong? We believe in the information supplied to us by the senses, and ignore the fact that the senses were not designed to perceive reality or substance, but only illusion or appearance. This misleading information is fed into the brain, which processes it and comes up with answers. It is little wonder that we are wrong so often!  What we learn in schools and universities does not make us wiser, but only more egotistical, and our ability to perceive reality decreases in proportion to the growth of our ego. From an objective point of view, ego would appear to be synonymous with ignorance, and is the only barrier to achieving true wisdom. Ego can be equated with mind, but mind is the instrument we use to reach the truth.

Should we, therefore, be distrustful of the mind? —at least as far as the discovery of ultimate reality  is concerned?  That is exactly what we are trying to suggest! If we continue to follow the dictates of the mind, we will never be able to disentangle ourselves from the inextricable web of ignorance that keeps us barred from reality.  The mind will only allow us to understand enough to inflate our ego, so as to impair any further learning.  But it will never enable us to find the Ultimate Truth.  It will mislead us, deceive us, lie to us, confuse us, tempt us, rob us, cheat us, bewilder us, disappoint us, mesmerize us, use us, and ultimately destroy us. But it will never let us escape from its grasp. This is because, apart from being the creator of the physical, the astral and the causal universes, the universal mind—also known as the Devil—has the function of keeping souls tied down to this level of existence so that they may evolve. It accomplishes that by living inside us and controlling our thoughts, our actions, our hopes, our desires, our emotions and our destiny.

In reality, humans have little reason to be proud of their intelligence. They really don’t have anything to be arrogant about, since they are more akin to puppets than truly autonomous beings. To solve the enigmas of our world, we must find some source of unshakable knowledge and truth. We could explore religion, philosophy and science, but they have all failed so far to provide us with satisfactory answers. There is also mysticism—a system of contemplative meditation aimed at achieving direct knowledge and experience of the Divine. But why study mysticism, one may ask? As will become clear in the following pages, this discipline is the most effective means of transforming us into wiser and better human beings. Although the process of evolution goes on without interruptions, the changes take place too slowly to be perceptible. And here we are not talking merely of the so-called evolution of the species, which, by the way, is almost non-existent, but of that of cosmic intelligence and consciousness.  Animal species do not evolve; they just change to adapt to the ever-changing environment.

Well, mysticism makes it possible to observe the process of evolution firsthand, on us.  But mysticism is not limited to providing information; rather, it equips us with the necessary understanding to free our soul from the bondage of mind and matter forever. When practiced under the proper guidance, mysticism produces a miraculous metamorphosis in the individual. Such teachings enable us to become part of the management of creation, rather than being mere blind and helpless puppets. And if we aspire to such lofty heights, we must, sooner or later, learn how everything works in the complex machinery of the universe. It is true that our current level of understanding is so limited that we cannot comprehend most of the intricate workings of the various planes, but there is a way of expanding one’s own capacity for grasping and understanding these mysteries. And mysticism enables us to do just that.
      In the next chapter, all four possibilities will be examined individually, to determine which of them can be of assistance in our quest.