Master sets before himself, time becomes an extremely important factor. The special working which the Master undertakes in relation to the members of his Circle not only touches and affects these members themselves, but also those who are closely connected with the members of his Circle.
The Circle constitutes the most important particular feature in relation to which and through which he adjusts his spiritual duty towards humanity. This particular feature has come into existence as a result of close links and connections of several lives. Master not circumscribed by Circle Every Master has such a Circle of very close disciples, but it does not in any way create a limitation on his inward consciousness. In his God-state the Master finds himself in the centre of the universe as well as in the centre of Everything, and there is no Circle to circumscribe his being. In the infinity of non-duality there are no preferences. The Circle exists only in relation to the duty and work which the Master has undertaken in the phenomenal world. From this point of view, the Circle is as much a reality as the Himalayas.

Part I
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DEATH

THE worldly man completely identifies life with the manifestations and activities of the gross body. For him, therefore, the beginning and the end of bodily existence are also the beginning and end of the individualised soul. Identification of soul and body All his experience seems to testify to the transitoriness of the physical body, and he has often witnessed the disintegration of those physical bodies which were once vibrant with life. Hence he is naturally impelled to believe that life is conterminous with bodily existence.
As the worldly man considers death to be the cessation of life, he gives great importance to it. Death as background of life There are few who contemplate on death for prolonged periods; but in spite of the fact that most persons are completely engrossed in their worldly pursuits, they are impressed by the incident of death when confronted by it.
Apart from giving a general background to the scene of life, death also assumes an accentuated and overwhelming importance among the multicoloured