“Now, attend and listen. The senses meet the object, and from their contact sensation is born; thence results recollection. Thus, as the sun's power through a burning-glass causes fire to appear, so through the cognisance born of sense and object, the mind originates, and with it the ego, the thought of self, whom some Brahman teachers call the Lord.
“The shoot springs from the seed; the seed is not the shoot, both are not one and the same, but successive phases in a continuous growth. Such is the birth of all animal life.
“Ye that are slaves of the self and toil in its service from morn until night, ye that live in constant fear of birth, old age, sickness, and death, receive the good tidings that your cruel master exists not. Not within fire or deep within the earth, but only in the minds of the evil ones who seek to rule mankind through fear.
“Self is an error, an illusion, a dream. Open your eyes and awaken. See things as they are and ye will be comforted. He who is awake will no longer be afraid of nightmares. He who has recognised the nature of the rope that seemed to be a serpent will cease to tremble. He who has found there is no self will let go all the lusts and desires of egotism.”
(Chapter: The Spotless Eye of Truth)