Over and aver again, it is repeated throughout history. The theme, beneath its constantly changing trappings, always remains the same. Each an attempt by an individual, or a group, to describe the indescribable quest, each a reflection, and only a reflection, of the urge to know the unknowable. The goal has been variously described as the Philosophers Stone, Immortality, Oneness with Nature, Perfection, the Truth and the Grail. The search is looked on as the Great Work, the Way, the Path to Righteousness.
All philosophers seek the same end - only the terminologies are different.
This difference in terminology leads to misunderstanding between the varying belief systems, which is most regrettable as each is driven by the same internal force. The pattern of the search is cyclic. One starts at the beginning and progresses, only to return to the point of origin. It is the cycle seen in the sun, progressing through the hours of the day and the seasons of the year. The sun rises in the morning, growing steadily towards midday and the time of its greatest strength, then moves on to its glorious ending at sunset, where it will rest through the night.