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diff --git a/old/55940-0.txt b/old/55940-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ef9c112..0000000 --- a/old/55940-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2469 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Theosophy and Life's Deeper Problems, by Annie Besant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Theosophy and Life's Deeper Problems - Being the Four Convention Lectures Delivered in Bombay at - the Fortieth Anniversary of the Theosophical Society, - December, 1915 - -Author: Annie Besant - -Release Date: November 12, 2017 [EBook #55940] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEOSOPHY, LIFE'S DEEPER PROBLEMS *** - - - - -Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Bryan Ness and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - THEOSOPHY AND LIFE'S - DEEPER PROBLEMS - - - - - _Copyright Registered_ - All Rights Reserved - - _Permission for translations will be given_ - BY - THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE - Adyar, Madras, India - - - - - THEOSOPHY AND LIFE'S - DEEPER PROBLEMS - - _Being the four Convention Lectures delivered in Bombay - at the Fortieth Anniversary of the Theosophical - Society, December, 1915._ - - BY - ANNIE BESANT - _President of the Theosophical Society_ - - THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE - ADYAR, MADRAS, INDIA - - T.P.S., LONDON; T.P.H., BENARES; - INDIAN BOOK DEPOT, BOMBAY - 1916 - - - - -FOREWORD - - - The lectures really need no Foreword. They are frankly propagandist, - being delivered in the City of Bombay, on the occasion of the return - to that city for the first time since the Anniversary held in Framji - Cowasji Hall, on December 7th, 1882, with 15 delegates present. The - little seed there planted in India by our Founders has grown into a - mighty tree. May it continue to spread ever more widely its branches, - and may its leaves be for the healing of the Nations. - - ANNIE BESANT - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - Lecture I GOD 1 - - Lecture II MAN 25 - - Lecture III RIGHT AND WRONG 47 - - Lecture IV BROTHERHOOD 73 - - - - -THEOSOPHICAL CONVENTION - -LECTURES - - - - -GOD - - - FRIENDS: - -Amid the excitements of the present National Week, amid all the -Conferences on matters of importance to the Nation, amid the -discussions--industrial, commercial, political--which are agitating -this great City, and will agitate it during the next week, we, of the -Theosophical Society, have ventured to invite you here to consider -not the passing concerns of the moment but the perpetual concerns of -the life dealing with the eternal interests, the life wherein alone -permanence can ever be found. - -I have chosen for the subject of our Convention Lectures, those -great problems of thought which ever challenge the attention of the -highest mind of man. That question of questions of the nature, of our -conception, of God; the nature of man, his relation to the Universe -in which he finds himself--the evolution of an intelligent spiritual -Being amid the transitory phenomena of passing worlds; then that -profound question of conduct, what is Right and what is Wrong? is -it possible to find a standard of ethics? is it possible to find a -canon of conduct which will guide us in that tangled path of action -which is one of the hardest problems of human life? Then, lastly, the -meaning of Brotherhood, on what it is based, in what it consists, what -duties it imposes upon us, what is to be our attitude to our brethren -on every side. These questions, that on these four mornings we are to -consider, are not questions of the passing time, but are the problems -that confront humanity at all the stages of its evolution. Not only -is that so, but in this alone can we find peace, amid the turmoil of -the world; not in the constant struggles of outer life may peace be -found, but in the heart of peace which abides in the ETERNAL, that can -remain peaceful in the midst of storms, amid friends, amid enemies, -amid neutrals; only in the Peace of the ETERNAL may the human Spirit -find abiding rest. When that centre is found, when that knowledge of -God which is eternal life has been realised by man, then, and then -alone, can action be wisely taken, not swayed by passion, not moved by -prejudices, having nothing to gain which the outer world can give and -nothing to lose which that world can take away; asking for nothing, -desiring nothing, save to be an instrument of the Will that works for -Righteousness, seeing in the world around us the field of action where -God is working, and where we can be co-workers with God. There, and -there alone, can you work above the guṇas, using them for the Divine -purposes, but not permitting yourself to fall under the glamour of -their phenomena; making use of all: of the passions of man, of the -aspirations of man, of the good and of the evil, turning them all -to send man forward on the path which God has marked out for human -progress. That is the high activity which finds its expression in -Service, and that can only be where God has been realised, and where -the Spirit of man, consciously one with the Spirit Eternal, sees -everywhere one Will, one Wisdom, and one Activity, and men, in all -their different workings, the instruments whereby the Divine Will is -worked out in evolution. - -Hence, our study in these four morning hours is not apart from the -day's activity, but is really the source, the spring, of that activity; -and so, loving all because in all the Self abides; seeing the inner -Self, unblinded by outer appearances; thus may work the messengers -of the great Hierarchy that guides our world. It is to a treading of -the path that leads to Service, it is for that, that I invite your -attention to these profound problems of the spiritual life of man. - -Now, to-day, we are first to consider the nature, the existence, of -that One Life in which we all subsist, and the views that man has taken -thereof. - -Let me say at the very outset, that there is a common view to-day -among many thoughtful, among many good men, that it does not much -matter what a man believes providing that his conduct is right. That -is a half truth, not a whole truth, and it is the natural reaction -from the Middle Age view in Europe that it did not matter what a -man's conduct was provided that his beliefs were orthodox. Such a -view has not only been found in mediæval Europe, but also has been -found in India herself. You will find among Indians to-day, as still -among some Christians, that the all-important matter is belief in -certain dogmas, and that where those are held conduct is comparatively -unimportant. We all know men in all faiths who are orthodox, as it -is said, in belief, but whose lives are worldly lives, and sometimes -not even of a very high worldly character. Now, a century or so ago -that view was so common that men were persecuted, men were penalised, -because of a difference of theological views. If men did not believe, -at one stage, the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, then -their fate was, at first, the stake, then later the prison, and still -later, slander, social ostracism, and disabilities under the law of -the land. In England, that is now largely swept aside, and we have the -opposite exaggeration: "Let a man think as he will; but let him be a -good citizen, a good man." But that leaves out the profound truth that -"man is created by thought, and as a man thinks, so he is"; conduct -is not independent of thought, for thought is the spring of conduct, and -so it is written in the _Bhagavaḍ-Gīṭā_, that "a man is compacted, -composed, of his beliefs," and as a man believes, so he is. You have to -make, however, a distinction between beliefs conventionally accepted, -and the real belief, which is the conviction of the heart, out of -which action arises. And so, I urge on you to-day that right-thinking -on the great truths of life is a most important part of the whole of -your conduct. The better your thought, the better will be your life. -The truer your thought, the more candid and transparent will be your -actions. But _remember that it must be your own thought_, and not -the thought of your neighbour, not the thought of authority, not the -thought of a book, however ancient and however sacred, not the thought -of a great man, however true for him; the thought that moulds conduct -is the thought of the actor, and every man is responsible for his own -thinking; the repetition of the thought of another is useless and even -mischievous. Be not then afraid to think, even about God Himself. Do -not think it is blasphemous to enquire; do not think it is blasphemous -to doubt. Doubt is the stage which comes before a larger and truer -thinking. You doubt your past thought, because you are opening up -new vistas of thought and the past is lying behind you. The man who -never doubts never really thinks; and there is a wholesome, a healthy -scepticism which is the forerunner of a nobler and a truer faith. Think -as far as you can. It is true that from the very Highest thought and -speech fall back unable to go farther; but as far as you can think, -as far as your intellect is able to grasp, to investigate, to argue, -think your freest and your noblest, and you will grow by your errors -as well as by your truths. Do not then fear to think; do not fear to -be called unorthodox; try your best to think truly and accurately, and -trust in Truth, who never betrays her servant. The determination to -think your highest, the determination to think your best, may lead you -into some desert for a time, but there are gardens on the other side of -the desert. You may have to cross many a desert, many a torrent which -seems to sweep you away; but I, who ventured all to seek for Truth, who -left family, friends, religion, because their religion had become to me -untrue, I bear you witness that such unbelief is the way to a higher, a -greater, and a serener faith, and that those who are unwilling to lose -the life of the past will not be able to advance into the life of the -future. - -Now, let us, with regard to our thoughts of God, realise that there are -two lines towards knowledge. The first is the way of the intellect, -which deals with metaphysics, which deals with philosophy, which -gradually lifts a man out of superstition, out of narrowness, out of -ignorance, and carries him as far as human intellect can go. Along -those lines exercise your intellect, think your best, but remember, -that it is written that not by intellect shall the Self be found, -and the path of realisation is not the path of the intellect. It is -the path of the conquered senses, of the conquered mind, when in the -"quietude of the senses and the tranquillity of the mind, the man -beholds the glory of the Self". That is realisation: that is the only -knowledge: that is Eternal Life. By the intellect we reach the highest -philosophy, and let none dare to despise philosophy, which rises up to -peaks of knowledge, which are the glory of the human race. But, on the -other hand, remember that it is the pure in heart who see God. It is -the conquest of the lower nature which enables us to breathe the air in -which the higher nature lives; and not by intellectual research, not -even by devotion itself, but by sinking into the depths of your own -being, by searching within, there where the Self abides; by casting -aside everything that changes; by saying to the senses: "You are not -I"; by saying to the mind: "You are not I"; by saying to the highest -intelligence: "You are not I"; in the silence, where the mind has -naught to say; in the silence, where the senses are not heard; in the -depths of yourself, one with the Supreme Self; there, and there only, -shall you realise that you yourself are one with the Self Universal. A -hard path, a difficult path, the outcome of the practice of lives of -self-abnegation and of service; but once you have realised God, you -can never doubt again. An intellectual argument may be overthrown by -keener logic, by larger grasp of facts; but the man who once has seen -the Face of God, he never again can doubt that God is, that God is All. -That is the Self-realisation of the Mystic. That is the triumph, not -of the intellect but of the Spirit; then the Spirit which is Divine -recognises its kinship with the Spirit Omnipresent, and when once, as -I have said before, you have found God within yourself, then, and only -then, will you find Him in every one in everything, around you. That is -the triumph of the Spirit. That is the Peace of the ETERNAL. - -And now, let us turn to man's conceptions of God, and see how they have -changed. And, in doing this, friends, let us seek for the kernel of -truth which underlies even mistaken beliefs; for, man is so constituted -that no error can hold him long in bondage save by the truth that -that error conceals. Just as you may have the husk, the shell, and -the kernel within it, so in every error that dominates mankind there -is a kernel of truth that gives it its nutritive power. Only when you -recognise the kernel of truth will you be able to convince a man of the -husk of error. - -Now, looking back to early times in our race, we find what is called -Polytheism; and that you practically find everywhere. You find it very -very strongly in the first half of the Hebrew _Old Testament_, as is -called the Hebrew part of the Christian Bible. If you read that, what -is the God that you find? Clearly, a God of limited power, a God of -limited knowledge, what in the talk, the jargon, of the day is called -a "tribal God". In the early story told by the Hebrews, the conception -of God is very limited. You find Him "walking in the garden in the cool -of the day," and calling out to the man he had created: "Adam, where -art thou?" You find him a little later--when men have multiplied and -begun to build a tower which in their ignorance they think will reach -up to heaven--saying; "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their -language, that they may not understand one another's speech." For "now -nothing," he said, "will be restrained from them, which they have -imagined to do". And so, we read, that "the Lord came down to see the -city and the tower, which the children of men builded," and he confused -the speech of the builders, so that they were scattered abroad and -could not build their tower. And the Babel of Tongues is a phrase in -English, because it was the Tower of Babel from which all the languages -on earth originated! You find him again with his chosen people, the -children of Abraham, leading them into the land he gives them; and -then you come across the remarkable statement that "the Lord was with -Judah," one of the tribes, and he drove out all "the inhabitants of -the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, -because they had chariots of iron". You see at once that you are in -the realm of a very limited kind of tribal God. Of course, I know that -in the days when the Bible was regarded as verbally inspired, as God's -Word, they said these statements were an accommodation to the ignorance -of man; but that is only the desperate effort of the believer in -verbal inspiration to infuse the knowledge of later days into the form -of ancient fables. You and I recognise at once that where thoughtful -Christians are concerned, these are to them old ideas, that you have -here the local God, the tribal God, and that the God of the Hebrews of -the early days does not claim to be the only God, but only the chief -one, the chief for his own nation: "Who among the Gods is like unto -Thee, O Jehovah!" That is the position of the Hebrews, and they have -their own National God. To go away from him is treachery to the State. -To disbelieve in him is punishable with death, because it is treason to -the Nation, and such punishment was not so much regarded as a religious -persecution as a State penalty. As a State and social sanction, the -worship of Yahveh was maintained among the Hebrews; it was the State, -the National, Religion. He conquered the Gods of the Philistines, He -fought with the Gods of all the other people round about, each with -their own God. - -Then you come to a new aspect. The people of Israel are scattered; -they are carried away captives into Babylon. They come into touch -with the great Theologies of the East, and then a new view of God -is taken by their writers. You may draw a line in the Hebrew Old -Testament between the post-Babylon, and the pre-Babylon views of God. -That is done now by every scholar. The pre-Babylon view is that of -the Tribal God, one among many; the post-Babylon view is the sublime -conception drawn from a great eastern faith, and then we find poetic -and splendid phrases regarding God. He is the "High and Lofty One who -inhabiteth Eternity, whose Name is Holy". There you have a spiritual -thought. You are no longer within the region of the tribal Gods. You -are out of the region of the local Deities; you have passed on into -a great and spiritual world, where God inhabits Eternity, and where, -in another splendid phrase, it is written: "God made man in the image -of His own Eternity." There you have the later conception, there the -God Universal; and with that, one remarkable fact that you must never -forget, that in the later writing God is recognised not as what we call -the Author of good only, but the Author of evil also. It is written in -the Prophet Isaiah: "I am the Lord, and there is none else; I form the -light and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord -do all these things." It is written again: "Shall there be evil in a -city, and the Lord hath not done it?" You must realise that where God -is seen as "the One," when there is "none else," then He is the Author -of all, and not only of the particular line of narrow morality that -belongs to the evolving human kind. So also in the _Bhagavaḍ-Gīṭā_ -you find the phrase of Shrī Kṛṣhṇa: "I am the gambling of the -cheat." I shall come back to that in order to point out to you its -meaning, but at the moment I only ask you to remember that in what is -now called the Christian Bible, not in the Hebrew part of it only, -but in the Christian part as well, you find that same conception of -one "Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world," that -shows itself in every form, that cannot be divorced from anything that -exists. And so, in a very splendid psalm, again post-Babylon, you have -the psalmist saying: "If I go up into Heaven, Thou art there; if I -make my bed in Hell, behold, Thou art there also; if I take the wings -of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there -shall Thy Hand guide me, and Thy Right Hand lead me." Heaven or Hell, -what are they? passing phenomena of human evolution. If God is found -in Heaven, he is also found in Hell; only in Heaven he is the Bliss -of Unity with the Law; in Hell He is the Pain of Law disregarded, and -that, in order that by the suffering caused by the onward rush of the -disregarded Law, He may teach the lesson of obedience to the Law, the -lesson which the man refused to learn by precept, and must therefore, -for his own future safety, learn by experience. Now that idea is -eastern. When the Christians wrote the New Testament, they narrowed -this profound idea of God. - -They brought also, those post-Babylon Jews, they brought also the -Babylonian conception of an Evil Spirit over against the Good, the -great idea in Zoroastrianism of the opposition between Hormazd and -Ahriman, that coloured all the Christian concepts. The Satan of -Christianity, the Satan of the Christians, is the Ahriman of the -Zoroastrians. And so also with the Eblis of the Musulmāns. He is -the enemy of God. There you come down, as it were, to the planes of -practice. Two forces quarrel for the mastery and we call them good and -evil, recognising the duality of the flesh and the Spirit. We take -that duality, and we put one over against the other. We forget that -the flesh is necessary for the unfolding of the Spirit. We forget that -matter is the necessary field in which the Seed of Divinity shall -develop into the manifest God, and so we lose the Unity. We live in -the realm of duality, and we make opposites, as they are in practical -life, of those two sides of Deity, the Spirit that informs, the matter -that makes action possible. Zarathushtra has, behind his duality, that -"Boundless Space" which is really the description of the all-enveloping -nature of God Universal; and when we deal with Hinḍūism, we find -there the explanation of those rather fragmentary truths that come -down to us along other lines. We have finally that terrible blunder -of the Christian, who makes God, all love--as in truth He is--giving -forth from Himself--for He is the only creator, One, "there is none -else"--the Spirit Satan, who is the embodiment of hatred; and you -find, finally, that in the great struggle, according to the common -Christian belief--which intellectual Christians are outgrowing, you -must not forget--you find in the final result of the struggle, that it -is not God, but Satan that is the conqueror, for "the bottomless pit" -is full to overflowing, while Heaven is a city with walls around it, -and with a comparatively limited number of inhabitants. But that is not -the deeper teaching of Christianity; it is the crude popular view. If -you go through the writings of S. Paul, what is written there? You find -it is written that the day shall come when the Son, who is God, shall -be "subject to Him who put all things under Him, and God shall be all -in all"--God in Satan, God in Hell, God in the wicked, evolving them -to righteousness. And so in the very centre of the Christian teaching -you find that "God is all and in all," and is it not also written in -_Al Qurān_, which largely reflects the popular necessary teachings of -the time, is it not written by the great Prophet of Arabia, that "All -shall perish, save His Face"? Everywhere is God; God is everything; in -everything He is the ultimate good, the inevitable fate of man. - -But now what does this Polytheism mean? There is a truth in it. For -every Nation has its own Ḍeva, as we should say; its own Angel, as -the Christian and Musalmān would say. These subordinate hosts, these -Angels and Archangels, these Ḍevas and Ḍevīs, they are all superhuman -intelligences, working out the will of God the Supreme. Think for a -moment of Astronomy. There was a time when this little world was the -centre of the Solar System, when fixed, with the Waters below and the -Waters above, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars also, circled around our -Globe. Science gradually found out that the universe was larger than -the Solar System; that the Universe had many Suns and many systems. -It found out that our globe went round the Sun and not the Sun round -our globe. The world was lifted out of this position of superiority -and thrown out into space, one among myriads of worlds; that was the -heresy for which Giordano Bruno died. He proclaimed the multiplicity of -worlds, and that the Sun was the centre of our system, but that there -were other worlds and other Suns. In the old days that was a frightful -horror, for he turned everything upside down. What can you do with -Christian teachings if our globe is one among many? Christ died for -this world. Did God die for a grain of dust in an endless Universe? -The whole dignity of our world was lost. Then they said that Christ -ascended up into Heaven, but Bruno said that there was no "up" and no -"down". Our world with space below it; our world with space above it. -Where then is Heaven? Where is Hell? Where is Heaven? Where is the -Throne of God? Where the right hand of God where Christ is sitting? -Where did He go to on that Ascension day? Where is He to be found -in this unlimited space? And so they said: "Oh! burn him, get rid of -him, send him to find the worlds of which he talks." So they burnt him -and scattered his ashes, and joyed that he was dead. But Bruno lived -still although the body was dead, and Science, Science triumphed, -although its votaries were burnt, were racked, were imprisoned. They -took Galileo and forced him to his knees to confess that he had -been mistaken; "and yet it moves," were the whispered words of the -Scientist, who did not dare to face the horrors of the Inquisition. -And so Science triumphed, and now, what do you find? Not only that our -Sun is, to us, a stationary body and the world goes round it; but that -ours is only one of many systems, and that all those systems and their -Suns go round another Sun, and that is not the last, and again that -is not the last; for all those masses of systems, they also go round -a still higher Sun, and so concentric circles of worlds, of systems, -of Universes, without end that human eye can pierce, without end that -human mind can grasp; and so we begin to realise that the local Gods -of the past, they have their places, all circling round the One who is -the centre of all life, "the One without a Second". All Universes rise -and fall in Him. All Universes are born and die in His immensity. No -thought may limit Him. No mind may grasp Him. He is the All, the One, -the Omnipresent, and His Life lives in the Angels and Archangels, lives -in the Ḍevas of all the systems, and in all they are His Ministers, -carrying out His Will. - -And so there arose what is called Pantheism. God is All and in all. -Now there is a great difference between the Pantheism of the West as -embodied in Spinoza, and the Pantheism of the East, that you find in -the Veḍas, that you find in the Zend-Avesta, that you find in the old -dead Religions of Egypt, of Greece, of Rome. The Pantheism of the -West is one Divine Existence with certain attributes, the Spinozean -Pantheism. It is the Formless Boundless Existence. Not quite the -Nirguṇa Brahman, the "Brahman without attributes". His Pantheism is -as cold and uninspiring for conduct, as the Nirguṇa Brahman would -be if that were the last word of Hinḍūism. Infinite, All-embracing, -All-in-holding, out of Space and Time, that is the central thought of -every great philosophy, Musalmān, Hinḍū, Zoroastrian, I might almost -say Christian--though that is more doubtful, for it is more rigid, -and narrowed by being confined more or less within the conceptions of -the Bible. If you go to the great Musalmān Doctors of the ninth and -tenth centuries A. D. you will find magnificent descriptions of the -All-God. In That is said to exist not only what has been, not only what -is, but that which shall he, and all eternally existent, all that is -conceivable, all that is inconceivable, all is in Him. It is the -same as the Aḍvaiṭa-Veḍānṭa--if you take away from that the -conception of the Saguṇa Brahman, and the devotional side of Shrī -Shaṅkarāchārya in his sṭoṭras--the One without a Second, embracing -all, conceiving all, all-existing, one Now, without past, present, -and future, nothing to be excluded. But then comes the next step, the -Saguṇa Brahman, the "Brahman with attributes," that is not a second, -but the One in manifestation. He manifests a part of Himself. Said -Shrī Kṛṣhṇa: "I established this Universe with a portion of myself, -and I remain"; all-transcending, all-embracing, the manifested God, -limiting Himself by manifestation. And so Manu speaks of Him as "a -mountain of light," the generating Light; the One with attributes, -but the attributes belong to the manifestation. They might vary -perchance in another age, in another Universe. Then there go forth -from Him the three great manifestations, Will, or Power; Wisdom, -or Self-Realisation; Activity, or Creative Intelligence, and that -threefold manifestation, of Power, of Self-Realisation, of Creative -Intelligence, that is the root of every Trinity, as it is called, -that you find in the ancient and in the modern worlds. Three forms -of Manifestation inherent in one Existence, the creative Power, -that brings a Universe into existence, called Brahmā among Hinḍūs; -the sustaining all-preserving Power, that maintains a Universe, -all-permeating, all-preserving, that is called Viṣhṇu; and He into -whom all re-enters, the Destroyer, the Regenerator, He into whom all -returns that a higher form may reappear, that is Mahāḍeva, Shiva, the -Supreme Bliss. - -Naturally among a people unmetaphysical and unphilosophical, you get -a division which in truth does not exist. They see three different -Deities and quarrel over them, where there is only One, showing -Himself in the three essential forms for a Universe which comes, which -lives, which passes; and hence you have the Shaiva and the Vaiṣhṇava -fighting the one against the other. I saw the other day in the caves of -Elephanta, the Arḍha Shiva Arḍha Viṣhṇu, the Hari-Hara, which is -said in the legends to be the combination of the twain in one. A -fanatic was worshipping one and depreciating the other, it is said, and -the image of Viṣhṇu changed, and became half Mahāḍeva and half -Viṣhṇu, and the double image smiled upon the worshipper, to remind him -that the division was in man and not in God. - -So also there are hosts of Ḍevas, for the eastern Pantheism includes -the innumerable forms in which God-in-all expresses Himself, and so we -have Polytheism in a higher form. You need not be afraid of words, for -that is the all-embracing truth. Polytheism asserts the existence of -the Ḍevas and Ḍevīs, who carry out the Will of the Supreme. "Not for -the sake of the Ḍeva is the Ḍeva dear, but for the sake of the Self -is the Ḍeva dear." Only as the manifestation of the Self is the Ḍeva -seen, as you, in your turn, are manifestations of the same Self. But -the Ḍeva is a more highly evolved manifestation than you are. These -innumerable ministers of the Supreme Will, they also are manifestations -of the One; they mar not the Unity. And so in the Veḍas you chant to -all of them; and so in the Zend-Avesta you invoke them all. - -Now the Western will tell you that all these Ḍevas of yours are the -personifications of the elements; that Agni is not a being, but is the -Fire personified. You must turn that right upside down, if you want to -make it true. Agni is not a personification of the element Fire; but -Fire, the element, is the material expression of Agni, his body, his -vehicle, by which he shows himself in the world. And that is your key. -Ignorance personifies an Element. Knowledge sees a Being whose material -expression is an Element. Ignorance sees the physical. Knowledge sees -in everything physical a manifestation of the One Self, showing Himself -in a limited form for the helping of His world. And so the higher -Occultist may address Agni, the Ḍevarāja of Fire, and, below Agni, -countless hosts of those who are called Fire Ḍevas, or Fire Elementals, -all expressions of his nature, all using a special type of matter in -the world. Hence you hear that when the world was built, the elements -came forth, and each had the Life-principle within it. Fire came forth, -but Agni, the Ḍevarāja, was the Life-principle within the fire-matter, -and so with Varuṇa for water, and so with Kubera for earth. You have -within every Element, nay, within everything that you call a law in -nature, you have a Life-principle, a Ḍeva, or Angel, call him what you -will, names matter not, provided that you realise that the Self which -works in you as man, works in all these Beings in ascending ranks of -hierarchical power; but they all are expressions of the one Divine -Will, and the One works in all of them, and "the wise see the One, -although they call Him by many names". - -Now there you have the whole truth: God is everything and in All. -God is manifested in countless forms, in countless grades of living -intelligences, and each has its own place, and the Ḍevas come forth -from Brahmā, as later from Him come forth vegetables and animals -and men. There is only the One Life, but it is manifest in infinite -forms--Pantheism-cum-Polytheism, God-in-a-Universe. Now, if you -realise that, if you understand that, all these many Ḍevas and Ḍevīs, -these many Angels and Archangels, are only expressions, phenomena, -manifestations, of the One, just as you are. Then, you will realise -that all these, carrying out the Divine Will, are the hearers of -prayer, are the guardians of mankind; some are guardians of Nations, -others the guardians of special areas smaller than Nations, but -all are agents of the One. When the peasant prays to the form that -he worships, and asks for help, that is really a prayer to the One -Supreme, which is answered by His minister, the Ḍeva who is addressed -by the peasant; and if you talk to the peasant here in India, you will -find that most, if not all, of them realise the One behind the many, -and know, that the One alone is God, although they appeal to those -who are nearer in evolution to themselves, as they ask a Collector -rather than the King. And so we begin to realise that Polytheism has -its truth, and only needs to be understood. Then all Nature becomes -living, beautiful, sympathetic, God smiles in everything. The thinker -should realise it, and then none will ever blur the Unity by the -multiplicity of manifestations. Thus you come to the whole truth, and -find it living, exquisite, a perpetual joy. All Nature lives and loves. -There is but One Life, but One Existence, but one Supreme Omnipresent -Being. We cannot call him Spirit, because Spirit is the antithesis of -Matter, and Spirit and Matter blend in Him. So we call Him the ONE -WITHOUT A SECOND. In the boundless realms of space, in the infinity of -Universes, that ONE is expressing Himself in countless ways, but all is -a manifestation of Himself. He the One Thinker; from Him, all thought -comes forth. He, the one Actor; from Him all activities proceed. All -our human words of right and wrong, of good and evil, those are limited -to the evolving lives in relation to each other. There is nothing that -can be excluded from the One and Universal. In Him, all is well, all -is highest and best. And, when we come to deal with Right and Wrong, -we shall see how this works out, how it gives us a human standard, -a standard by which we may guide our steps. But, for this morning, -I will leave with you that Supreme Ideal: that there is but the One -in All, in Everything; the lowest dust beneath your feet has the One -within it; the highest Ḍeva in the highest heaven is but another -expression of the One. You express Him, the animal expresses Him, the -vegetable expresses Him, the mineral expresses Him. How else shall -they live, save in Him who is life? How else shall they evolve, save -in Him who is manifesting Himself through them? Be not afraid to love -the world, which is one of His manifestations, one of His thoughts; but -see Him everywhere and in everything, and so shall everything become -spiritualised. Let Him speak to you through the world, as He speaks to -you through the Spirit. He speaks in every breath of air; He speaks in -every leaf on the forest tree; He speaks in the foam and crash of the -Ocean's breaking billows; He speaks in the solitude and silence of the -Mountain. There is none other. There is nothing else. He is the One -Existence. And as you realise that, you share His power, and you share -His peace. - - - - -MAN - - -FRIENDS: - -I will ask you to remember the point at which we had arrived when -the first lecture was concluded. We had studied the nature, the -existence of God, and we had come to the point where we realised one -all-pervading Life, the One without a Second, the One Life permeating -every form from the lowest mineral to the highest Ḍeva, nay--the Lord -of the Universe, Īshvara Himself. He also is an embodiment of the -Supreme Self, showing forth infinite Power, Wisdom and Activity, the -attributes of the Self, showing them forth in supreme measure. But -even in Īshvara Himself, the Lord of the Universe, we recognise that -He is an embodiment, and that, as is written in the _Bhāgavaṭa_, there -are many Īshvaras, many Shivas, Viṣhṇus, Brahmās, each triplet the -centre of a Universe, each the Īshvara of a Kosmos. Realising that, -then, as our foundation, and that everything in a Universe, in its -measure, is animated by the One Life, inspired by the One Energy, moved -by the One Will, we then descend from those great heights to study -one phase of the embodiments, that which we know as MAN. Realise that -Man is only one grade in this mighty hierarchy of existences, that, -beginning with the mineral, passing onwards through the vegetable, then -ascending through the animal, culminates in Man, more and more of the -Supreme Life shown out stage by stage. You may remember how the great -commentator Sāyaṇa pointed out that the Supreme Self in the mineral -shows out only the quality of existence. Passing onwards to vegetable -and animal, He shows out there the attribute of consciousness. -Passing onwards to Man, He reveals Himself in fuller measure--Man, -who remembers what is past, who forecasts that which is yet to come. -While man heads these ascending grades in our normal world, we -yet pass onward in thought to the great hierarchies of Super-Men, -of Ḍevas--Angels, call them what you will--then still onwards and -onwards, ever in ascending grades of Power, of Wisdom and of Activity, -until we reach those mighty Spirits who stand, as it were, around -Īshvara Himself, His Viceroys in the mighty Empire of our system, all -subordinates and ministers, who carry out the will of the Supreme Lord. - -Now in this great Ladder of Life, Man occupies what we may call a -middle place. The characteristic of Man is that in him there is a -warfare of Spirit and of Matter, striving for the mastery. In the -mineral, in the vegetable, in the animal, there you find Matter is -supreme; Spirit is most deeply veiled in the mineral, rather less -veiled in the vegetable, still less in the animal. When we come to Man, -in his lowest condition we find that Matter is still triumphant; then -a struggle begins, and at last Spirit shows himself triumphant. Matter -is spiritualised by the indwelling Life, and instead of being a fetter -and a clog it becomes a vehicle, an expression of the indwelling, the -directing, Spirit. The interest then of Man is that in all the stages -of his long evolution the struggle is going on. First we see Matter -is supreme. Gradually as Mind develops, the lowest manifestation of -the Spirit, the struggle becomes marked; then slowly and gradually -evolving, ever further and further, in the Saints, in the Sages of our -race, we find the triumph of the human over the animal, the triumph of -the Spirit over Matter; it is that mighty evolution that is the subject -of our study this morning. - - * * * * * - -Where shall we begin? We must necessarily begin in the bosom of Īshvara -Himself, whence come forth the human Spirits, the Jīvāṭmās. For is -it not written that as millions of sparks go forth from the flaming -fire, so do the Jīvāṭmās go forth from Īshvara Himself; or again, do -we not find it said by Shrī Kṛṣhṇa, speaking as the Supreme -Īshvara: "A portion of Myself--Mamāmsha--a fragment of Myself, going -forth into the world of Matter, draws round itself the senses, and -mind as the sixth." There you have the definition of Man. A portion -of Īshvara Himself, a fragment of that illimitable Life, thrown down -into the world of Matter, which incases the fragment within itself, -which that fragment is destined to turn into a vehicle for the unfolded -powers of God. As a seed is cast into the ground and within that seed -lie hidden every power, every beauty, every possibility of the tree -that sent it forth, so from the eternal Tree of Life of God Himself -the seed is cast into the soil of our world, impotent, helpless, -nescient--knowing nothing at first. But, inasmuch as it is a seed of -God, it is destined to unfold Divine Powers, and to become in the -course of ages the image of That from whom it has come forth. And -so we find it written in the _Bṛhaṭ Āraṇyaka_, showing the contrast -between the Supreme Āṭmā, the Paramāṭmā, and the Jivāṭmā, -the human Spirit: "All-powerful the one, but powerless the other." -In the one, all power manifests; in the other, every potentiality is -present. And so, you find also in the later religion of Christianity, -that it is declared by the mouth of the Christ Himself: "Be ye -therefore perfect, as your Father which in Heaven is perfect." I -ask all of you to realise what lies in those words of the Christ; -as God in Heaven is perfect, such is the destiny of the children of -men; not always to be weak and frivolous, not always to be childish -and impotent, but to become, in the course of ages, _perfect_ as God -Himself is perfect. That, and nothing less than that, is the destiny of -every one of you. You may delay it; you may retard it; you may wander -in many bye-ways and lose ages of time; but what is time, however long, -to you who are eternal, for whom there is no limit of space or time, -inasmuch as your essence is the essence of God Himself. Nothing less -than that, your Future. - -But now, let us look at this Seed of Divinity and ask: How it is to -develop, how it is to grow into splendour so illimitable? For though -you be sons of a King, though your heritage be sure in the future, -you may yet, if you will, grovel in the mire; you may, if you will, -forget your birthright; you may think yourselves children of the -dust, while you are children of Īshvara; but you must at last come -to your inheritance, for the Divine Will in you cannot be ultimately -frustrated, and your destiny, your Divine destiny, must be worked out. - -Now, we have a fragment of Divinity embodied in flesh. Under what -conditions, by what laws, is that fragment to evolve, to unfold its -powers? There are two great laws under which that Seed of Divinity -must develop into manifested God. The one, the Law of Reincarnation; -the turning of the wheel of births and deaths to which every one -of us is bound; where freedom can only come to us by realising our -Divinity; whence we may not escape until the law is utterly fulfilled. -And the second, the Law of Karma, that law of the Divine Nature in -which everything exists related, bound together, by simultaneous -co-existence; hence, when out of that Eternity any portion of the -Divine comes into space and into time, you have causation, where -before there was simultaneity. You have what you call causation, -which is only the coming into appearance and recognition of the real -simultaneity of all. In God all is; in man all becomes; but that is the -only difference; and what you call causation is nothing more than the -unfolding in time, which is succession, of that which ever exists out -of time in the Supreme. Let us then see how the law works, and it works -through many stages, it works through endless ages. We have our Divine -Seed--a child-Spirit, let us call him--born into our world. He is not -left there alone, to find out by long experience only how evolution -must proceed; for, out of previous Universes, out of past evolutions -in other worlds, there come to the helping of these infant children of -Man, Those who have passed through the earlier stages, and have become -superhuman in Their knowledge and Their power. There are two ways of -finding out the existence of a law. One, the way in which, surrounded -by the laws of nature that we may not change nor violate, unknowing -that they exist, unconscious that they are around us, we are like a man -in a darkened chamber, where there is no light to see his environment, -who knocks himself up against one thing or another and bruises himself -in the knocking. By the bruising, he finds out the obstacles; by the -pain that he suffers, he finds that he can only move without pain in a -certain direction. That is the scientific way. Every law of nature that -has been so far discovered by Science has been discovered by experience -which has turned ignorance into knowledge. Take Roger Bacon, one of -the early chemists in the days when to investigate was heresy, in the -days when to understand was crime. He was a monk, but a monk with the -soul of a scientist in him. He experimented with chemical substances. -He knew nothing about them. He did not know that putting these two -together made a new and useful substance; that putting another two -together made an explosive substance, that scattered everything around. -He put together whatever he could find. What was the result? One time -he was stretched senseless on the floor of his cell; another time -a finger was blown off; another time an eye was blown out; onward -and onward he went, with that dauntless courage, that interminable -patience, which make the truly scientific man, who looks on knowledge -as the supreme good. Struck senseless he came to again, and began again -his work: missing a finger, he used the rest for new experimentation: -when one eye had gone, the other remained with which he could still -see. And, by such pain, by such loss, such infinity of dangers, Science -slowly won its way to its knowledge of the laws around it. Inviolably, -unchangeably, God manifests in Nature. - -The result of the long experimenting is that now, when the young man -goes into the laboratory, textbooks are ready for him. A professor -is there to warn him where the dangers of investigation lie. "Do -not put," he will say to him, "nitrogen and chlorine together; if -you put them together without certain precautions, you will find -yourself in fragments and your laboratory will be destroyed." The -boy in the laboratory now does not experience the dangers of earlier -investigators. That, for him, is done. Men have come to show him the -way, and the experience of the Past is the guide to the knowledge of -the Present, and the warning to the dangers of the Future. So with -Man. There were Professors, there were Teachers, round the infant -races of our Globe. We call them Ṛṣhis; we call them Saints; we call -them God-illuminated men; we call them Sages; Founders of Religions; -and They said to infant humanity, as the Professor says to the boy in -the laboratory: "Do that, don't do the other. Here lies safety; there -lies danger. Take our experience as a guide, and you will realise -the existence of the law; your happiness lies in your obedience, in -your conformity with law." Hence, infant humanity started with the -advantages of Sages to guide it who proclaimed the law. - -Now, for a moment, put yourselves by imagination in the position of one -of those infant races, hearing the words of the Teacher, and willing -to learn. "If," said the Teacher, "you follow that course of conduct, -misery will result." You may remember the words of the Lord Buḍḍha, -that "as the wheels of a cart follow on the heels of the ox, so misery -follows on the commission of evil. As the wheels of the cart follow the -heels of the ox, so happiness follows on the commission of right." And -why? because, as we shall see to-morrow, right is harmony with law, and -wrong is discord with it. And, as the law cannot be broken, as the law -itself is inviolable, the man who dashes himself against it is like the -ship that dashes against a rock; the rock remains unmoving, but the -ship is shattered into pieces. So is it with the law, the expression of -the Divine Nature. - -Now the recognition of law was helped by those declarations of the -Teachers. For when a man, disobedient and careless, committed a wrong -act, he suffered; and then he said: "I was told that I should suffer; -after all, the Teacher was right; I have made myself miserable by -disobeying the law." And the earlier lessons of man ran along these -lines. - -Let us see how it worked out. A savage. His passions are his guides. -He knows none other. He wants and takes; he desires and grasps; but -he is living among others who also want and take, who also desire -and grasp, and, there is a conflict between the desires of one man -and another. We will follow one man: He sees his neighbour's wife; -desires her; he takes her; perhaps, kills the husband--he is quite a -savage, remember. He sees in his neighbour's tent food that he wants; -he strikes the man down, and takes away the food. And he thinks: "I -have done well; I am happy; I have gained a beautiful woman; I have -gained food; I am no longer hungry. This is the path of happiness for -me." But he has made enemies. The friends of those whom he may have -struck down in his licentiousness, they are his enemies, and presently -he has to die, perhaps is killed in revenge. But, what we call Death -is only the striking away of the body in which the Spirit eternal is -dwelling, and this ignorant creature, when the body is struck away, -finds himself in the midst of people whom he robbed and murdered during -his life on earth. He is surrounded by enemies; he finds on the other -side antagonism and hatred; and he learns in the other world--the -world we call Preṭaloka or Kāmaloka--he learns there that to do these -things means sorrow, and that pain is the ultimate result of the desire -unjustly satisfied. It makes a little impression upon him. But during -his life, he has not only robbed and murdered: he has loved; perhaps -he has loved the woman he stole; perhaps he has loved the child that -was born of her. Those little seeds of love remain. The Spirit carries -them with him as he passes out of the body, and when he has suffered -in Preṭaloka the result of the evil he has done, he passes on to -Piṭṛloka and to Svarga, to enjoy the good that he has accomplished; and -the seed of love, selfish probably, desiring gratification, finds in -Piṭṛloka satisfaction, and the power to love increases. And where there -has been a seed of unselfish love, perhaps where the wife was ill, -and the husband sat up at night, tending and nursing her although she -was no longer a source of pleasure, but only a source of trouble and -annoyance; that unselfishness grows out of love, even the animal love, -or lust of the possessor, that remains as a little bit of unselfish -seed to bear flower in Svarga. When he reaches Svarga, and finds there -again the wife and the child he loved, then that little seed of love -begins to grow, and grows through the life, the heavenly life, of -happiness that he leads, and that is transmuted into a greater power -of loving, which he brings back with him to his next birth, so that he -finds himself on a higher plane of emotion than that he lived on in the -last. - -Now in the savage the growth is very slow. Hundreds of lives sometimes -pass and little change is seen. But where the Sages I spoke of are -present, there the growth is more rapid, for there comes in the -recognition of the law, and the understanding of the sequence of -events. The man comes back again for many births, until he comes back -as an average common-place semi-civilised man. As a savage, he has -hardly any power of thought; through the lives that pass the power of -thought has grown. And now, you come to a man who, in a comparatively -civilised country, is born as an ordinary mediocre man--"the man in -the street," we often call him. Now his experience is more varied. He -has many loves and hates, many unjust desires, but also some higher -aspirations; and as he goes through a life, the result of his own -past, he gathers together fresh experiences, whereof presently more -faculty will be manufactured. Just as a sea-gull, sweeping through -the air, sweeps down into the ocean, catches a fish, comes up again -and flies away to feed upon the fish, so does the human being, out -of the great expanse of life in the higher world, sweep down into -physical existence to gain the food of experience there. He carries -it away through the gateway of death, and feeds upon it in the worlds -on the other side of death. Again, more fully and more subtly than -in the early stages of life, he reaps the result of the evil that he -has done; but his mind is now larger, his mind is more intelligent, -he traces the evil act bringing about the suffering, and that is -imprinted on the tablet of the mind. Then he goes on into Svarga, and -there turns over the good experience he has gained. The experience in -love-emotion, that turns into higher powers of loving, greater desire -to serve, greater recognition of the claims of others upon him, until -he has formed a better and higher love-emotion, ready to return with -him to his next experience of life. But he has also gathered much -thought; he has gained experience in knowledge; he has exerted mental -faculties. He gathers up all the mental experiences and these he works -up into intellectual faculties. Is it not written that man is created -by thought, and what a man thinks upon that he becomes? The life of -Svarga is a life of changing experience into faculty. Every experience -that you are making now, intellectual experience, you will weave into -mental power on the other side of death. Whatever you may have gained, -whatever knowledge you have acquired, that you carry with you through -the gateway of death, and you work it up into mental power during your -life in Svarga. You may have been weak in some faculty, in judgment, -we will say, and you made many errors in judgment here: you suffer for -them on the other side of death. You remember them in Svarga, and you -build up that experience into an increased power of judgment, and you -bring that back with you as an innate quality, and it shows itself in -your childhood as part of your intellectual equipment. And, so with -every faculty, with reason, with memory, with logic, with the power -of understanding; not one of your efforts here is wasted; they all -come back to you as food-experience in your heavenly life. You brood -over them, you change them into faculty, and that faculty is yours for -evermore. For that passes on into the intellectual side of the Spirit, -as the emotions pass on into the moral, which is the wisdom side; -and so, you come back to earth with higher intellectual power, with -greater moral faculty. That continues, on and on, life after life, and -when you are born into the world with high ability, it only means the -many lives you have studied, the many lives you have laboured in, the -many after-death periods during which you have assimilated. - -See how the process resembles your life here, which is, indeed, its -reflection on the physical plane. You take food; you are satisfied. -That food passes down, and is digested. The nutritive part of that is -assimilated, and your brain, your muscles, your nerves, all grow by the -assimilated nourishment; and when it is assimilated you begin to feel -hungry again. You have used up what you took, and you are hungry for -more food, in order that you may grow again; and then, you have again -another meal, and the whole process is repeated. - -So in your spiritual life also. You take the food of experience; you -digest it; you assimilate the nutritive part of it, and by that you -unfold the hidden powers of the Spirit, and, when you have assimilated -all, when nothing remains to be transmuted, then in the heavenly world -you are hungry for more experience, and your hunger brings you back to -birth in the world in which that hunger can be satisfied. That is the -Law. That is the Law of Reincarnation. - -As you grow more and more in stature, your growth becomes more rapid. -And at last, a time comes, when you say: "I have had enough of this; -I no longer care for power--it ends in disappointment; I no longer -care for wealth--it is a burden rather than a joy; I no longer care -for the things that break in the enjoyment; I no longer care for the -things that perish in the using." And then there sets in the discontent -with the transitory goods of this world; there sets in that which is -called Vairāgya--dispassion. The objects no longer attract; and then -the man that has this Divine discontent within him begins to seek for -the permanent, begins to look for that which will satisfy; and there -is nothing that can satisfy the Divine Spirit in man save God Himself, -the Illimitable Life and Love. And so, as an English poet wrote--an -old-fashioned poet: - - When God at first made man, - Having a glass of blessings standing by, - Let me, He said, pour on him all I can; - Let the world's riches which extended lie - Contract into a span. Then strength first made its way, - Then beauty followed, wealth and power and pleasure. - At last, when all was gone, God made a stay. - Perceiving that at last of all his treasure - Rest in the bottom lay. - For if I should, said He, - Bestow this jewel also on my creature, - He would adore my gifts instead of me, - And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature, - So both should losers be. Then let him keep the rest, - But keep them in repining restlessness. - Let him be rich and weary, that at last, - If goodness move him not, yet restlessness - Shall toss him to my breast. - -Now that is the truth. There is nothing in all this world that does not -break in your hands, when you have it. God is like a mother, and He -dangles in front of His children all the joys, the glittering baubles, -that earth can give. And, in front of one He dangles wealth, saying: -"Come, my child, and grasp the wealth." And the child, in trying to -grasp, puts out his power, and his strength develops, and his will -develops, and in the struggle to be rich many of the faculties of the -man and the power of will are developed, and when that has been done, -and the child grasps the bauble--it breaks. For the value was in the -struggle and not in the possession, for the Divine Spirit in man. -The Divine Spirit in man can never be satisfied with gold or wealth. -If a mother took up her child and carried it always, as some foolish -men would have God carry us, then when the child ought to be walking, -strengthening its legs, tumbling down and picking itself up again, it -would have been carried in its mother's arms, until when it was 6 or 7 -or 8, it would be paralysed, and would never grow into a man at all. -And so it is with God's child, Man. "Struggle," He says. "See all the -beautiful things I have here for you." For God is in all the objects -of sense. God is in everything that attracts; there is no attraction -save in God, the only fair. And so, He hides Himself in gold, and He -hides Himself in pleasure, and He hides Himself in Power; and He -hides Himself in fame; and when the child has exerted himself and -gained the desirable object, God slips out of it and the attraction -vanishes, and so we grow and learn. It is the only way. We grow strong, -intellectually strong, morally strong, until nothing has power to -attract save the one supreme attraction, God Himself. - -And so it is written, that when a man becomes weary he begins to -abstain from the objects of the senses. And then come the strange -words: "The objects of the senses turn away from the abstemious dweller -in the body." Why? because God is in them, and when they no longer -attract they have done their work, and they turn away to educate some -less developed man; and then, it is written, that the taste for them -still remains, but even the taste for them vanishes away when once -the Supreme is seen. There lies the truth. You feel distaste for the -lower only when you have seen the higher. When you have seen the -Supreme Beauty, the fragments of that Beauty down here can no longer -mislead; you see God in them, and keep a grateful memory of all that -they have taught you, in that they have led to the realisation of the -God hidden in them, the treasure which remains. When you have gained -the knowledge, the realisation of God, what has earth left, that earth -can give? He is all power; He is all might; He is all beauty; He is -all love; and you learn to know that nothing that has attracted you -can perish in its permanent reality. Although the form may break, and -change into another, it only increases your treasure in the riches -of the Supreme. You love a woman; it is well; for love is the great -purifier and the great uplifter of human hearts; but remember that her -loveliness is but a fragment of the Divine Loveliness, and that all -that attracts in her is the beauty of the Self shining forth through -the beauty of the form. - - Not for the sake of the wife is the wife dear, but for the sake of - the Self the wife is dear; not for the sake of the husband is the - husband dear, but for the sake of the Self the husband is dear; not - for the sake of the son is the son dear, but for the sake of the - Self the son is dear. - -But the wife and the husband and the son are rightly dear, because -there is dwelling in them the glory of the Self, and that remains for -ever, with all that has made it beautiful to you on earth; for God is -Love, and love can never die; and all the loving and beloved Jīvāṭmās, -that have been embodied in many forms, remain as your companions -through the everlasting ages of the Future. - -Now when a man has learnt Vairāgya, then comes the great period of -Service. No longer does he work for anything for himself, but to carry -out the Divine Will in Evolution. Has not Shrī Kṛṣhṇa said that -He acts perpetually? Because, "if I do not act," He says, "all these -worlds would perish." "I have nothing to gain," are His words. But -they would perish, save for Him, and He goes on to say: "Let the -wise man, acting with me, render all action attractive." Action is -only a clog, is only a fetter, after man has gained all its fruit in -experience, when it is not done for the sake of sacrifice. But when -the action is consecrated to the Service of God and Man, that action -becomes wings that uplift, and not fetters that clog, the advancing -Spirit. And so, in the arrangement of castes that we have in India, -there is one great lesson that comes out. The Shūḍra, the lowest -caste, is the man who serves all. But the highest, above all castes, -the Sannyāsī, what is he but the Servant of humanity, reproducing on a -loftier plane the Service in which a Shūḍra is taking his first lesson -down here? The Shūḍra learns service to others, and accumulates what -he learns; the Vaishya learns to sacrifice material wealth in charity -to others; the Kṣhaṭṭriya learns to renounce life itself in defence -of others; the Brāhmaṇa learns to renounce all for knowledge, that he -may teach others. Then caste has taught its lessons, and the highest -of all services are the services done for the sake of sacrifice by -the liberated Spirit, the Paramahamsa, the man who has gone beyond -the illusion of the Separated Self. So wisely was planned the ancient -order, full of true significance. - -The only other point that you have to remember is that all this is done -under inviolable Law. "As you sow, so shall you reap." There is a great -verse in a Christian Scripture too often forgotten by Christians: "Be -not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall -he also reap." No use for substitution; no putting on of an imputed -righteousness; no safety by a Saviour; you must reap your own harvest, -you must work out, earn, your own salvation for yourself. But this -remember: that your only limitation in taking up the strength of God -lies in you, and not in Him. That is where the doctrine of so-called -Divine Grace comes in. As the Sun shines all around you, as the Sun -shines upon your house, you may close all the shutters, and say: "I -don't want light; I shut my windows and my doors against the incoming -rays of the Sun." So may you say to the Supreme Sun, the Light and -the Life of the Universe: "I shut against you the doors of my heart; -I don't want you to penetrate within me. I close my doors; I close my -windows; your light shall not illuminate my Soul." And the answer of -the Divine is: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man open, -I will come in." There lies what men call Divine Grace. The grace is -ever there, shining upon your closed shutters. You may shut your door; -there is no change in the effulgence of the Sun. And so there is the -Divine Light ever around you. You turn your backs upon it, and you say -that it is dark; you have refused to see the Light, and you dwell in -the shadow that you yourselves have made. Well, stay there, as long -as you will. Play with the toys, as long as it pleases you. But know, -that the day will come when the breaking of the toys will leave you -desolate, and then you will open your hearts to the Supreme Love, and -say: "Light, come in, and fill my heart with Thyself, for Thou and I -are one, we were never separate; and I, the child of Man, recognise my -birthright, and I claim, in the Self-realisation of my Divinity, the -fruition of my life as Man." - - - - -RIGHT AND WRONG - - -FRIENDS: - -The problem that we have to consider this morning is one of great -complexity and of great difficulty. Confusion as to "What is Right," -as to "What is Wrong," is unfortunately very general among all, even -among educated people. The standard of Right, the canon of Right, that -is a matter that ought to be placed on some definite principle, some -intelligible axiom; and, if instead of such definite foundation, you do -not realise on what the standard is based, the result is necessarily -a confusion of conduct, a doubt as to how Right and Wrong are to be -determined. And so, sometimes, almost in despair of a rationally -intelligible law, you find people saying that Right is absolute, is -always the same invariably for man at all stages of evolution. The -result of that has been, both in the East and in the West, that a -standard of conduct laid down for the Yogī, the Sannyāsī is held to -be the standard to be held up before the comparatively undeveloped -man. The Sermon on the Mount, among Christians; the teaching of the -_Bhagavaḍ-Gīṭā_, of action without desire for fruit, among Hinḍūs; -these are regarded as universally binding; and the result is a divorce -between theory and practice, between the conduct which is actually -followed and the theory which is intellectually accepted. You find a -striking instance of that in the West, where the Sermon on the Mount, -nominally regarded as binding on every one, is entirely put aside as -regards the vast majority, and is held to have no bearing on National -conduct, or the treatment of one Nation by another. You find, for -instance, a Bishop of the Church of England who declared that if any -Nation followed the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount it could not -exist for a week. That is literally true. For if, when a man stole your -coat, you gave him your cloak, the result would be that the thief would -be doubly clothed, the honest man would go naked. If, when a man was -struck on the one cheek, he turned to the striker the other cheek, then -the oppressor and the tyrant would have free course, and the doctrine -of non-resistance of evil would triumph over the resistance which -means liberty and progress. And so, in the West, which has as a rule -a fair amount of common-sense, and is not too much given to logic in -practical matters, they resist evil, they resist the oppressor, they -strike back when a blow is given, and they do not submissively bow to -every tyrant and every injustice. Yet, unless you bring into accord -theory and practice, you have no rule of conduct which in any way is -an inspiration for life. Similarly in the East, where the doctrine is -taught in the _Gīṭā_ that action should be undertaken without desire -for fruit. There you have a doctrine for the Yogī, like Arjuna, to -whom the Song of the Lord was given; but if you say to the man of the -world, if you say to the man who does not regard the Divine Will as the -binding rule of conduct, "work without desire for fruit," you paralyse -his activity, for there is no other motive sufficiently strong to move -him to action. To work without desire for fruit means that your own -will is so consciously in accord with the Will of God, that you work as -earnestly for the benefit of the world as the ordinary man works for -fame, for power, or for money. That is the highest rule of conduct; but -if you teach the highest to the half-developed, you give them no ideal -at all which is practical, by which they can guide their lives; and the -result of that in India has been a paralysis of action, and a yielding -unduly to oppression and injustice, as the Sannyāsī would yield. Now -Hinḍūism, as taught by the Sages, was not of that type. Hinḍūism has -always had a relative morality. The whole of that part of its teaching -which divided society into castes according to evolution, the unfolding -of the spiritual life, is a recognition that ḍharma, duty, depends on -the stage of evolution reached by the man. The ḍharma of the Shūḍra -is not the ḍharma of the Kṣhaṭṭriya or of the Brāhmaṇa. The -Kṣhaṭṭriya is to keep order, he is to repress evil, he is to -encourage good, he is to punish the wrong-doer; but the Brāhmaṇa, the -ideal Brāhmaṇa, he ought to suffer any wrong done to him, for it is not -his ḍharma to resist. And so, it is written, that a man by following -his own ḍharma, he attaineth to perfection. That it is better to -follow your own ḍharma though imperfect, than to follow the ḍharma of -another, for the ḍharma of another is full of danger. That has been -forgotten in India, though, nominally, the caste system has persisted. -And so, with the teaching of the Āshramas; the duty of the student, -the Brahmachārī, is not the duty of the Gṛhasṭha, the householder, -and when that is forgotten and when the duties of the householder are -put on the shoulders of the student, you have then a debilitated race -of youth that is not allowed to grow to the stature of manhood which -follows youthful celibacy. The duty of the householder is not the duty -of the Vānaprasṭha; the duty of the Vānaprasṭha is not the duty of -the Sannyāsī; for the Sages, the Ṛṣhis that built the foundation of -Hinḍūism, they knew that morality was relative, and gave an evolving -ethical teaching suited to the evolving children of Man. Let us then, -with that preface, try to find some common principle to which we can -refer Right and Wrong. - -Realise, first of all, what morality means. I give it the definition -that I have given elsewhere: "Morality is the Science of harmonious -relations between intelligent beings." There is no morality for the -mineral; there is no morality for the vegetable; there is no morality -for the animal. Those are in the group under evolutionary law which -compels them to go forward by the tremendous struggle for existence. By -that struggle certain qualities are evolved--the qualities which are -the bases of the humanity which is to be born into the world. There is -a stage where there is no morality; where the creature is not immoral, -but, is not-moral, is unmoral--without morality. He has not reached -the stage where conscious obedience to law is possible for him; and -so, as he is without the knowledge of good and evil, you cannot claim -from him obedience to a law of Right and Wrong. Not only so, but taking -that as our first point--that there is a stage where morality cannot -exist because of the want of self-consciousness--the next point that -you must realise, in establishing a Science of Morality, is a clear -understanding of the meaning of the word "law". Now "law" may be a -command made by a human legislature, or made arbitrarily by the ruler -of a Nation, changeable, therefore, with an arbitrary penalty attached -to its transgression. But the moral law, like all laws of Nature, -is not a command either to do, or not to do. It is a declaration of -conditions which produce certain definite results. Chemical law does -not tell you, you _must_ put hydrogen and oxygen together and produce -water. You may produce water or not as you like; you are perfectly free -to make it or not to make it; but the law is that if you put hydrogen -and oxygen together at a certain temperature under a certain pressure, -then you must produce water. It is a statement of conditions, followed -by unchangeable result. A law of Nature, therefore, is not violable. -You cannot change it. Nothing can prevent the formation of water, if -only the conditions for its production are present. Nothing can ever -produce water unless the conditions for its production are present. -You cannot change it; that is a law. But, according to your knowledge -of law is your freedom in a realm of law. The ignorant man goes about -in Nature buffeted by her laws, crushed by some, helped by others; to -him the happenings are matters of chance, for he knows not the laws -amid which he lives. Cabined, crippled, rendered helpless, he stands -before an inexorable Nature, and knows not how, or whither, he should -move. But the man of knowledge, knowing the laws around him, walks -with perfect freedom in a realm of law; he balances one law against -another, he utilises laws that help, he neutralises laws that oppose -him, and in proportion to his knowledge is his freedom; for, as it has -well been said: "Nature is conquered by obedience." Obeying, he is -free. Now the moral law is a natural law, not an artificial one. It is -an expression, as are all the laws of Nature, of Īshvara, who is the -life, the sustenance, of His Universe. The moral law cannot be broken; -the moral law cannot be changed; it is the will of God in Evolution; -and, by that alone may Right and Wrong be tested. That is Right which -helps evolution forward; that is Wrong which opposes the Divine Will -in Evolution. There is your standard, or canon, of Right and Wrong. -Oh! you say, that is not a rough and ready definition, or standard. -No; it requires knowledge. And so the Ṛṣhis, the great Teachers, have -given certain commands--morals to be followed by the ignorant, based -on the one supreme law of conformity to the Divine Will in Evolution. -We are told by Vyāsa: "To do good to another is Right; to do evil to -another is Wrong." We are told by the Christ: "Do unto others as ye -would that they should do to you." But take those two moral commands, -and see whether under all circumstances they should be obeyed. As a -rough rule of conduct--yes; for the masses of people--yes; but can a -King obey Christ's command, or a Judge "do unto others as" he "would -that they should do unto" him? When he has a murderer before him in -the dock, and he sits to administer the law of the land, may he say: -"I must do to the murderer as I would that he should do to me, and I -must not sentence him to punishment because I would not wish to be -so sentenced"? All these general commands as to action are limited in -their scope, are modified by surrounding conditions, depend on the -position of the person. You and I have no right to lock up in a room -another person because he has injured us; but the Judge has the duty -of locking him up, if he has transgressed the law of the land and -prison is the appointed punishment. Another precept was given by a very -practical man, Confucius. He was asked: "How shall we behave? What word -is there which defines our duty? shall we return good for evil, as the -great Sage Lâo-tsze has declared?" And Confucius, being a practical -statesman, answered: "Is not 'Reciprocity' such a word? If you return -good for evil, with what will you recompense good? Recompense good -with good, and evil with justice." Now there you have the law of the -State. The law of forgiveness, the law of returning good for evil, is -the law for the man aspiring to lead a spiritual life. It is a duty on -the Path of Holiness; it is a duty of one aspiring to become a Saint or -a Yogī. It is the law for the individual conduct which raises the man -from the brute to the God; but for the State, that is not the law. For -the Nation, the stage of evolution has not yet been reached which can -return good for evil, and allow an enemy to overrun the country and to -have his will upon the people. - -And so, in dealing with morality, as in dealing with every Science, you -must use your brains as well as your emotions, and you must judge the -consequence of actions in order to guide your path. - -Looking then at it in this way, we must see what "evolution" means. It -means that at first progress is secured by inviolable laws of Nature, -that press upon a whole class. As I said, the mineral, the vegetable, -the animal, they cannot resist the law; they cannot evade it; they -are compelled by an inner instinct to conform themselves to the law -of their nature, imprinted upon them by the hand of Īshvara Himself, -and so you have no mental struggle. The wild beast in the forest, he -develops keenness, swiftness, shrewdness, cunning, because without -them, he perishes. When you come to the savage, the law of evolution -is very much the same. The savage is without the knowledge of good -or of evil, and that is recognised everywhere. Most of you will know -the Jewish legend, how God created a man and a woman and placed them -in a garden, so that they might enjoy the fruit of every tree in the -garden save the one tree that was forbidden, the tree of the knowledge -of good and evil. Then comes in the curious point that God gives His -creatures a command: "You shall not eat of that tree"; but, having no -knowledge of good and evil, they could not know that disobedience was -evil and that obedience was good; and, as the fruit was attractive -and desirable, they ate and gained the knowledge, which they had been -forbidden to acquire. And so you have the curious condition that the -"fall of man" is brought about by his ignorance of Right and Wrong; he -does the Wrong unconsciously, and so gains the knowledge of distinction -between good and evil. Now while it would be a terrible injustice that -their ignorance should be counted as a sin, for which any of us, their -descendants, should perish everlastingly, yet if you look on the story -as a symbolical representation of fact, it becomes most illuminative -and helpful. For the first stage in the emergence of the human race -from the innocence and the ignorance of the animal and the animal-man -lies in the experience of good and of evil, which brings happiness in -assonance with the law and unhappiness in discord with the law. The -savage knows no Right or Wrong. You remember the most typical case of -the Missionary, who wanted to point out to an Australian savage that he -should not, when he was hungry, have eaten his wife. He was short of -food, the poor man, and was very very hungry; his wife was the handiest -form of food; he killed her and ate her. "Oh!" but said the Missionary: -"That was very wrong," and as there was no word in the savage's -language for "wrong," he said: "That was not good." "I assure you," -said the innocent savage, "she was very good." There was no idea there -of any "good" except physical gratification, and as the flesh of the -wife stilled the hunger of the man, "she was very good," he answered. -Now there was no Right or Wrong there. The man was unmoral; he only -knew the gratification of his own desires; he followed them blindly; -but that, as with Adam and Eve, was the road to progress. He would want -his wife presently, and he would miss her. The gratification of hunger -was a momentary pleasure, but the presence of the wife was a continual -help and service. And so, presently, that man would think that it was -a mistake to kill her: "I had better have been hungry for a few more -hours, and have kept my wife." And the first idea dawns upon him that -the gratification of a momentary want is not the path to a lasting -happiness. Both are temporary, of course, but one is longer than the -other. Now the first lessons of the savage come along that line. The -white man gives the savage drink; the savage likes it; he gets drunk; -but he finds in the morning that he has a very bad headache; if the -attraction of the drink is greater than the fear of headache, he goes -on drinking and drinking, until he dies perhaps in delirium tremens. -And looking at it all, after death, the savages profit by that; and -they say: "This drink makes us ill; this drink shortens our life; this -drink brings unhappiness at last"; and they learn after very many such -experiences that intoxication is Wrong; but they cannot learn this -without the experience. They cannot gain knowledge without knowing the -pair of opposites, one of which is good and the other evil; and all -the first evolution of the savage depends on his gathering experience, -which shows him that going with the law of health means happiness in -the physical sense, going against it means unhappiness. Now the savage -takes a very long time to learn this. But he is not left, as I pointed -out to you yesterday, only to the gathering of experience. Some wise -man, the Founder of a religion, or nowadays a Christian or Musalmān -Missionary, says: "Don't touch drink; it will make you miserable." -He breaks the command. How many Hinḍūs, how many Musalmāns to-day, -forbidden by their religions to take strong drink, break the religious -command and suffer thereby. How many Princes of Rājpuṭāna have died -in middle age owing to excessive drinking; so that you find a number -of young Princes succeeding to the gadi, their fathers having fallen -victims to the curse of European drink. The old Princes in Rājpuṭāna, -Musalmān and Hinḍū, are the men who have followed the law of their -religion, and have abstained from strong drink. Is that not a lesson to -the younger men who follow them? You can see the result of the lesson -in the improved temperance of the younger generation of Indian Princes -to-day. They have learnt the lesson by the experience of others, -instead of by the bitter fruit of experience in themselves. - -For the elders who have died, not only is there the command given by a -religion, but there is the experience on the other side of death. Now -of all the miseries which can follow a man into the world after death, -of all the miseries, the results of drink are perhaps almost the most -terrible. There is a constant craving, for not in the physical body but -in the senses of the Sūkṣhma Sharīra, lie the craving, the desire, the -longing for sensual gratification; and, if a man has been drunken, if -he has been profligate in his life, he finds himself tortured on the -other side of death by the drink he cannot enjoy, by the craving of the -sex instinct which he cannot gratify. Torn by the agony of longing, -frustrated by the impossibility of gratification, there is branded -on that soul, as with a red-hot iron: "It is foolish to yield to -gratification that brings about the misery that now I am suffering." He -has to starve out the craving by non-satisfaction, and the agonies of -starvation are his doom. And so is impressed on the lasting memory of -the man the knowledge that suffering follows on the undue gratification -of the passions of the body. That comes back in the next life--or after -many lives--that comes back in an innate distaste for this form of -sense-gratification. You say: "Would it not have been better that he -should have been spared this long experience?" Nay, it would not have -been better; for you are only finally rid of a craving, when you cease -to desire that which gratifies it; and the teaching of pain kills the -_desire_, whereas the enforced abstinence, not killing the desire, -would ever leave you a prey to the possibility of temptation. That is -why the striking of the transgressor by the disregarded law, is the -veriest mercy in the long life of Man. - -Most of you have been evolved without craving for drink; most of you, -if you have touched it, have thrown it aside as distasteful. It has no -power over you; it has no attraction for you; you turn away from it -with disgust, as that which cannot tempt; and the only way of reaching -that point is to have had experience of the evil, and to know that it -is the womb of pain. Now out of this grows one great lesson for those -of you who are more advanced. You know that sometimes, you who are -fathers and mothers, you know that against all precept, against all -training, against all prayer, your son goes wrong. You have told him: -"My boy, to give way to passion is ruinous"; you have told him: "If you -yield, you will suffer in your manhood." He disregards your prayer; he -disregards your commands; the wild youth goes on; he will have his way. -In that moment of parental agony, in that moment of despair, remember -that doctrine of the Omnipresence of God that I spoke of in the first -discourse: "If I go down into hell, behold, thou art there also," and -realise that God--who loves your child more than you can love, more -wisely as well as more intensely--has allowed that soul to go down into -hell in order that He may meet him there in his degradation and his -agony, and teach him by the lesson of pain, when he would not learn by -the lesson of precept, that there is a law that none may disregard and -live in happiness. For God is the Pain that comes to the transgressor -from the disregarded law, as He is the Bliss that comes to the man who -is in harmony with law. - -Now if you realise these great truths, you will understand how morality -must change with the upward evolution of the individual man. When -you see wrong-doing in the undeveloped, when you see evil in the -savage--whether the savage who is an anachronism in civilised society, -or the savage who in his own native conditions--you will realise that -that man is only beginning to learn the lessons of morality, and must -learn them by dashing himself against the laws he knows not. And so, -gradually, he grows out of the unmoral state into the beginning of -the moral state, when he knows a little distinction between Right and -Wrong, and often chooses the Wrong, because of the temporary pleasure -that the yielding to the Wrong affords. And then he has the lesson I -have just spoken of, until, within his innermost nature, he has branded -the evil to be avoided. Now it is no merit to any one of us that we do -not murder a man. We do not want to do so, because we have done it very -often in the past, and have found that the fruit thereof was pain. We -do not want to do it now, and the not wanting to do a particular wrong -is the proof of moral growth. I know how often we are inclined to say: -"Oh! How admirable is the man who struggles against evil." Yes. It is -admirable for a man to struggle against temptation, to see him fighting -against his lower nature. He is a hero in the struggle. But greater -than the man who struggles is the man who has transcended the struggle, -and who does the Right naturally, because he loves the Law and feels -no inclination to turn towards wrong. That is not so often remembered. -The man who has conquered in past lives, the man who has risen above -the temptations that his younger brother struggles against, he is at -a higher stage of evolution, for he chooses with full conviction the -concord with the will of God. That means that the Divine Will in his -own Spirit is emerging, and that quality, the Divine Will in the man, -is the sign of approaching Liberation. - -Come to another point, where you do not know in a particular case, -what is Right and what is Wrong. To the more developed man, it is no -longer a conflict between the "Right and Wrong" that he knows. It is a -conflict between two duties, and he does not know whether of the twain -is the one that he should follow. There you come to the agony of the -opening Spirit, the unfolding God within, who is faced by two paths, -and knows not which is the right one. Some arguments on one side, some -arguments on the other. "Which of the two paths shall I take? How may -I know what is the will of God?" That is the agony of the Soul whose -will is set to the Right, but who does not know the Right under the -conditions which surround him. What does it mean? It means that he -lacks experience. For Conscience, that which tells you "this is Right, -that is Wrong," is only the accumulated experience of your past, which -has registered certain facts in the nature that you bring into the -world with you as that fruit of experience. You have murdered--you have -suffered; you are born with the instinct that murder is wrong. You have -robbed--you have suffered; you are born with the instinct that theft is -wrong. That does not exist in the savage. Take a savage child, and you -will find that your precepts carry him up to a certain point, and you -can go no further. You can awaken in him the result of past experience, -but you cannot give him a Conscience, an experience, which he has -not yet acquired. But you, you have a great fund of Conscience, a -compelling voice, which says: "kill not," "steal not," "don't give way -to lust which injures another"; you take it for granted that is Right, -and that knowledge is the outcome of your past experience. But now, you -do not know what is Right and what is Wrong. Why? Because, you have not -had the experience to enable you to judge in a new condition, to enable -you to see the Right in an environment that you have not been in -before. When a fresh step forward is to be taken, when a new knowledge -is to be gained, what shall you do? You have to act. First, use your -best intelligence; think as far as you can. Then try to put aside the -bias which the inner desire is apt to imprint upon your thinking. -Try to put aside all questions of personal gain, all questions of -personal loss, everything which makes you more inclined to take one -path or the other. It is a difficult thing to do, and it implies -considerable training before you can thus neutralise the inner desires -of your nature. Do your best; and then having used your intelligence, -having put aside your desires, try, in that tranquillity of mind and -senses, lifting up your heart to God, or Master, to see which is the -higher path. Sometimes an inner voice will whisper to you and give you -guidance; sometimes a Ḍeva may help you and suggest the better path; -sometimes you are left to find your own way. Having done your best, -decide; and when you have decided, act; for you have done all you can. -Then watch the results; see what is the outcome of your decision; -and you will discover by that outcome whether you judged rightly or -wrongly. If you judged wrongly, do not regret. You did your best, and -you have gained a new experience by the blunder, and it will help you -in the future. If you have done right, you are stronger for the future; -you have solved a new problem and gained a new knowledge. Sometimes -you may come to a point in your evolution, where you have to face -the question of following your conviction of the inner law of Right -against every impulse that presses you to take a lower path. You have -grown to the point where new ideals attract. You have begun to realise -that the claim of humanity is greater than the claim of individuals -with whom you are connected. You have come to the point to which all -must come, to the point where to follow the Right is martyrdom, and -where to follow the Wrong is easy and is regarded as praiseworthy by -those around you. My Brother, if you have come to that point, be glad -with exceeding joy; for it means that you have gone beyond the normal -evolution of your race, and that which is Right to the men and women -around you has become Wrong to you, who have caught a glimpse of a -higher law. And then, surely comes the question: "Will you stand by -the fruit of your glimpse, alone, unhelped, unsupported, unregarded? -Will you follow Conscience that bids you take the path alone, or -will you follow the voice of the multitude, still at a lower range -of evolution?" It is the choice of the Hero; it is the choice of the -Martyr. Better to die, you will feel, than to bow to a lower law than -that which your Spirit has learnt to recognise. To tell a lie is to be -debased; to tell a lie is to lose the vision of Truth; to tell a lie -is to put a bandage round your eyes, and to refuse to see that which -is already glimpsed. And if for you it is easier to face calumny, -ostracism, the cold shoulder of friends, the hatred of Governments, -and, if against all these things, you say: "It is easier to suffer than -to lie," then you are taking your place amidst earth's Heroes, and you -are serving your day and generation. But make no mistake; the choice is -not as easy as it seems. The worst enemy of the martyr and the hero is -the inner enemy, not the outer--the love that pleads with you to falter -in your duty; worse than all, the inner doubt. "Can I really be Right, -when every one around me tells me I am Wrong? Can I alone see what -ought to be done? All these good men and women, honourable, faithful, -good citizens of the world, tell me that I am mistaken and headlong. -Is it not conceit, is it not vanity, to set my solitary choice against -the wisdom of the aged, against the experience of my time?" Ah! that is -a worse enemy than any outside pressure, for the outer you can resist, -but the inner saps the very essence of your strength; the time comes -when you are able to say: "Right or Wrong, whether it leads me to -heaven or to hell, I follow the Inner Voice, which is the best guide I -have; and, if it leads me wrong to-day, I shall know the Right by my -blunder to-morrow." I know that means courage beyond the normal, but -that is the courage that the Martyrs have shown, and posterity rewards -them, if contemporaries destroy them. For it is true, as Giordano -Bruno said, going to the stake: "To know how to die in one century is -to live for all centuries to come." And so, again, he taught what he -called "the heroic life". "It is better to try nobly and to fail, than -ignobly not to try at all." That is the great inspiration for those who -have caught a glimpse of the higher. Follow your own higher, whatever -it may be, and whithersoever it may lead you; for the inspiration comes -from the highest yet manifest within you, and not to follow it is to -be a traitor to the Truth you see. Thus, by study of the Divine Will -in Evolution, by trying to see where one stands in the long climbing -upwards, every man ultimately, must be the supreme and final judge of -Right and Wrong for himself. - -But remember: you should not blame your neighbour because he does -not see with your eyes. You should not despise those who think you -are wrong, but weigh their blame, and see how much of reason there -is therein. Remember also that in this struggle upwards, full weight -should be given to the experience of the race as well as to your own. -You should not despise nor flout those laws which keep the mass of -the people in the path of decency and of good citizenship, and you -should remember the warning of Shrī Kṛṣhṇa, so pre-eminently wise: -"The standard that the wise man sets, by that the people go." To take -your own road alone means a tremendous responsibility, as well as an -act of heroism, for others may follow, unknowing, where you have -deliberately chosen your path. Others less prepared by self-discipline -and training may rush in after you where you have opened the gateway; -and so, in your action, by which the blind must judge you, you must -consider your circumstances as well as your vision of the Best. Only -when to yield is treason to the Highest in you, should you set yourself -alone against the world. "Tangled," said Shrī Kṛṣhṇa, "Tangled is -the path of action," and that is true. Therefore you must develop your -intellect; therefore you must train your will; therefore you must try -to illuminate your judgment; no headlong, thoughtless action must be -taken on the first impulse towards an unaccustomed path. - -There is one thing that I have often said, and that I will here repeat, -especially for my younger friends, whom I welcome to our meetings here. -I would say to them: If you want advice, and ask: "Shall I disobey the -customary law, and go my own way?"--then wait. The wanting of advice is -the sign that the Spirit in you has not yet spoken with the compelling -voice that you ought to obey. I have had boys come to me and say: -"Shall I disobey my father? this refusal to obey seems to be the right -path." My answer invariably has been: "My boy, if you are doubtful, as -you must be since you ask me, then obey your father and mother, and see -what the result is; for, when the Spirit speaks, no outside advice is -wanted." The great decisions of the Spirit are made in solitude, and -they are not made by the advice of man. If you want others to support -you, if you want the opinion of others to buttress you up, then the -chances are, when the moment of stress comes upon you, you will quiver, -you will say to your adviser: "Oh! you have advised me to do this; see -what trouble it has brought, and I must suffer for it." And so, I have -never advised, nor will advise, a great act of sacrifice. O crowd of -thoughtful men and women, I say to you: "Choose your highest and follow -it unflinchingly." But if any one of you comes to me and says: "Shall I -sacrifice this? shall I sacrifice that? shall I disregard the other?" -I say: "My friends, the decision is with you and not with me. Your own -conscience must guide you. Your own intelligence must direct you. As -I cannot suffer for you, I will not advise." For one has no right to -impose upon another a sacrifice one is willing to face for one's self. -I know my own strength and weakness. I am accustomed by many lives of -aspiration to judge what path I shall follow. But shall I follow the -path that I see to be Right for me, the path of suffering, and invite -others to enter on it, who may not be prepared to face the pain? No; -the decision towards pain must be made by the open vision of the one -who affronts the suffering; otherwise, in the stress of the agony he -may wish he had chosen the easier and the smoother path. The pioneer -must know his strength; the pioneer must be ready for the stones that -pierce his feet, for the thorns that tear his flesh. Let no weakling -enter on the path of that higher, more strenuous, endeavour. We want -pioneers. But we want pioneers of courage, of heart, of strength, of -endurance, that no danger can daunt, that no peril can paralyse. Only -such are worthy to come into the ranks of the pioneers, who make the -path along which humanity shall march in days to come. And if you say -to me: "Why should we go? Why should we suffer that others may tread -smooth? Why should our flesh be torn that others may walk in ease?"--my -answer is: "Unless the Spirit is so unfolded in you that the path of -progress is to you the path of happiness, so that when the feet are -bleeding, when the flesh is tortured, you can look up with a smile and -say: 'Lord, I have come to do Thy will'; until the path to you is the -only path of happiness, you had better tread the accustomed ways of the -men and women around you." - -For there is a time in evolution, when all wish for aught the world can -give has vanished from the human Spirit; when there is no desire for -aught save that God's will may be done on earth, as it is done in the -higher realms of wisdom; when to be allowed to suffer in order that -that Will may be done is a joy beyond all earthly joy, is a delight -beyond anything that the world can give. Realise that the Martyr and -the Hero die, because death is the most joyous thing that they can -meet, knowing that by their death the world's progress is improved. -Unless you feel this in you, then travel along the road that for you -is Right; for the consent of the intelligence, the consent of the -conscience, the realisation of God, these alone are the strength of the -Hero; these, in the midst of the very flames of martyrdom, enable him -to smile with joy, for vision of the future that he sees. - - - - -BROTHERHOOD - - -FRIENDS: - -We have arrived now at the last of the four Convention Lectures, and I -will ask you to recall for a moment the path that we have trodden on -these three days. - -First you remember we considered the nature, the existence of God, -His all-pervading Presence, His all-embracing Love and Power. Then we -turned to the study of Man, and we saw that man evolved, grew from a -Seed of Divinity into the tree in the likeness of the father-tree, -whence the seed was thrown into the world. That he evolved under two -great Laws: the "Law of Reincarnation" and the "Law of Causation, -or Karma". Yesterday, we considered the complex problem of Right -and Wrong, tried to understand the tangled path of action, and to -understand also how, by realising our highest capacities of the moment, -we could rise higher and higher in Knowledge, in Power, and in Love. -To-day we close our study by looking at the "Law of Brotherhood," -trying to understand what it means, seeing what it implies, -endeavouring then, in the understanding, to see the principles on -which a stable Society may be builded, and to glance forward into the -near future of Humanity, with the changed ideals which will illuminate -the Coming Race. - -Now, this word, "Brotherhood," has been used for many ages and held to -cover many different ideals. First of all, let us take the fact that -"Brotherhood" does not and cannot connote equality, save in blood, in -essence; rather does it connote inequality of age and development. As -you know, you have the proclamation talked of so much in the French -Revolution, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," and it has been taken for -granted by many that Liberty and Fraternity imply the middle term, -Equality. Now what is meant by the word "Equality"? If it be meant that -all men are equal in their origin, that every man is born of the Divine -Nature, that every man ultimately will reach the manifested Divinity, -in that sense Equality is true. We all come forth from God, we all -return to God, bearing with us the harvest of our long evolution, -having unfolded potentiality into power. In the beginning and the -ending, men are equal, equally divine in their beginning, equally -divine in their ending; there all men stand on a common platform. But -in the long course of evolution from the seed to the full-grown tree, -in the long unfolding of Divinity, of God manifest in the flesh, in -the long changing struggle between Spirit and Matter, there the races -of mankind stand at different stages of their pilgrimage, and they are -not on a common level, but are divorced the one from the other: While -in Spirit all men are equal, in the flesh men are radically unequal; -for Nature, in her long evolution, knows nothing of equality, and -protests continually by facts against the theory of the eighteenth and -the early nineteenth century. Where is the equality between the man -of genius and the fool? Where is the equality between the stalwart -and healthy man and the man who has inherited a terrible disease? -Where is the equality between the cripple and the athlete? Between -the Saint who has nearly accomplished his pilgrimage, and the savage -who stands at the beginning? It is of no use to repeat a phrase that -flies in the very face of facts and of Nature. Brotherhood connotes -inequality of age, inequality of capacity, and inequality of duty. The -duty of the elder brother is not the duty of the babe in the cradle. -You do not crush the infant of a year old with the heavy burden of the -family that lies on the elder brother, who has passed out into the -struggle of life; and you need to get rid of the cant of a phrase and -to understand the reality of life. You have to realise that the most -that can be asked--because the most that is possible--in the building -up of Society, is that no man shall artificially, by a man-made law or -custom, be placed at an unfair disadvantage so far as those around -him are concerned, but that there shall be equality before the law, -equality of rich and poor before the law, equality of every citizen -in the face of the law. Moreover, you ought to make it your ideal to -give to every man equal opportunities; but you must remember that the -radical inequality lies _in the power to grasp an opportunity_ when it -comes; there is the radical natural inequality that no human society -and no human law can obviate. - -But if you realise Brotherhood then you come to a new conception. You -imagine the building of a social system, in which every man who is -born into it shall have the opportunity of developing every faculty -he brings with him into the world. A social system wherein from every -member of the Society there shall be demanded social service according -to his capacity, and to every member shall be given social helping -according to his needs. You change the law of struggle into the law -of life; you change the brute law of the struggle for existence into -the social law of sacrifice. You begin to realise, as Huxley said, -quoting a statement of a Master, an Indian Ṛṣhi, that while the -brute progresses by the law of the survival of the fittest, the man -progresses by the law of self-sacrifice.[1] There you come to the -higher ideal and you see that in an elder brother there is inequality -of age, and therefore inequality of capacity, therefore inequality of -power, and therefore inequality of duty. By the law of love, the strong -exist not for tyranny but for service, and where the weakest members -are found there the tenderest compassion protects them, and saves them -from being trampled under foot. Therefore was it said by one of the -great Prophets of our race, by the Christ of Judæa: "Let the greatest -among you be as he that doth serve." Great is the strength evolved, but -for helping not for trampling; and so the inequalities of Nature are -redressed by an infinite compassion. - -Let us see how in the ancient world these principles, or the denial -of these principles, has worked. Now the ancient ideal of Kingship -is drawn from the perfect example in the great White Brotherhood of -the Ṛṣhis of the race, wherein you find a graded order. They call -themselves the "Elder Brothers" of mankind. Those whom we call Masters, -because of Their greatness, They love better the name of Elder Brothers -on whom lies the duty of guidance, of protection, of helping, in order -that the younger brothers of our Humanity may come to stand where -They are standing. There is the perfect Brotherhood. These, older in -evolution than ourselves, wiser because of that longer evolution, these -Jīvanmukṭas, these liberated Spirits, They, who are free by right, -become bound to our earth by love. They remain waiting for the growth -of Their younger brethren; They use Their wisdom to guide them; They -use Their power to protect them; They use Their age to strengthen and -sustain them. There is the ideal of Brotherhood, where Brother means -the Servant of mankind. - -And from that early recognition of the Elders in the childhood of -the Root Races of the world, you come to the first great historical -exemplification, the Divine Dynasties, the Divine Kings, as you find -them in Egypt, as you find them in India, to go no further back to -that earlier civilisation of the fourth Race, where in the City of the -Golden Gate, of which the Chinese tell us, the Divine Emperor ruled -with mighty power, and built the great Toltec race into a world-wide -dominion. I will not go back so far, nor will I pause on Egypt, -because here, in India, we have in the still living literature of the -ancient days, the duties laid down which fall upon the Elder Brother -in a Nation, who in those ancient days was the recognised King of the -people. You find ideal Kings, like Shrī Rāmachanḍra, and you can see in -His life, as you can see in the description of the duty of the King, -what, from the standpoint of the Elder Brothers of the race, was meant -by the position of the King. His life is not a life of enjoyment, but -of service and of sacrifice. It is written, that the King remains -awake, in order that his subjects may sleep; that the King toils, in -order that his subjects may enjoy; that the King faces danger, in -order that his people may be protected; that he is the Supporter of -the State, the Guardian of the weak, the Dispenser of Justice to his -people, the Father of the fatherless, and the Husband of the widow. -And so in early days the Ṛṣhi comes to the court of the King, and -questions him how he is ruling his younger brothers. "Have you seen," -asked Nāraḍa, when He came to a later dynasty, no longer divine; "have -you seen that the artisans are provided with all the materials that -they need for their manufactures and industries? Have you seen that -the agriculturists have a store of seeds, that they are provided with -water, and with agricultural implements? Do you take care that your -soldiers receive their wages? Do you take care that the widows and -orphans of those who have died for you in battle are well provided -for and carefully tended?" And so, this Elder Brother of the race, -coming to this man, divine no longer, but only a human copy of the once -manifested Divine King, pressed on him the duties of his station, and -demanded whether those duties were being rightly exercised. Out of that -great ideal of Kingship has grown the reverence for the modern King, -though he be of smaller stature, and has not often fulfilled his duties -well; for that ideal has printed itself on the heart of mankind, and -the passionate love, the intense loyalty, that go out to a King, who -is in any sense worthy of Kingship, show how the human heart loves to -reverence and to honour, where high power and great position are in any -way worthy of the privileges enjoyed. - -And always one great warning went out to those ancient Kings, as spoken -by Bhīṣhma, the Master of Ḍharma, when the blameless King -Yuḍhiṣhthira went to him to ask as to the duties of the Elder Brother -of the Nation. He bade him remember that behind the King was the Law, -the Divine Law, which none might break with impunity. And then those -famous words were spoken that every King should daily remember: "Take -care, O King, of the weak, not of the strong; take care of the weak, -for the tears of the weak undermine the throne of Kings." That is the -great lesson for modern rulers. You may have enemies, you can fight -them and conquer them; you may have difficulties, you can surmount -them and turn them into steps upwards; but take care of the poor, take -care of the miserable, take care of the starving of your realm. For -of these, said Bhīṣhma, to whose cry no man listens, the cry enters -into the ears of God, who calls on His representative to give account -for the miseries of the poor, and who avenges their wrongs by the -destruction of the careless King. Now there lies the old ideal. - -But many of the States of the past were built on the denial of this -great Law of Brotherhood. Look at Babylonia; look at the later Egypt; -look at the so-called Republics of Greece; look at the masses of -the people under the Roman Empire; what do you find? You find that -every great Empire of the later past has been built on a foundation -of the misery of the lowest of the people. You find that the vast -majority in these Empires were slaves--slaves in name, as well as in -reality. Brotherhood was denied; the weak were trampled on; strength -was used to plunder and not to cherish; with the result that every -such Empire has faded from the pages of history. When we want to know -their stories we have to burrow in their sepulchres, for they built -against the Law of Brotherhood, and the Law has broken them into -pieces, and they are dead. Now of all the ancient Empires, Babylonia, -Assyria, Nineveh, Egypt, Greece, Rome, all these have passed away; -only one Nation remains of that splendid circle of civilisations in -the past; only one people, contemporary with those mighty Empires, is -still a living Nation; they are dead, nay, they are buried, and only -the fragments of their bones remain; but one of their contemporaries -lives in our modern days, for the India, that traded with Babylonia -in the might of her prosperity, is a living Nation in the twentieth -century. And why? because in her teaching, because in her religion, -because in her literature, she taught the Law of Brotherhood, though -later she ceased to live it out in practice, and then began her long -downward course. The old theory of the castes was a law of Brotherhood; -the Shūḍra who serves, said Manu, he is to be the younger child in -your family. There is no humiliation in being a younger child in a -family; there is no shame in being one of the juniors of the circle -of brothers and sisters; nay, it means the enjoyment of the tenderest -compassion; it means a gentle protective attitude; it means that when -anything is wanted, the younger shall have what there is and the elder -shall go without. That was the old ideal of the Shūḍra, who was to -be the young and undeveloped soul. Let him in the National household -be the cherished youngling of the family; let him be as your younger -son. Then came restrictions with the growing age of the soul. The -Vaishya--he was to accumulate wealth; he was to enjoy; he was to be -the centre of the great family life, the parent, the supporter of the -whole National household. Certainly wealth was to be acquired, but in -order to be dispensed--wealth to support the remaining Orders in the -State. And that charity that you still find in India, the charity which -is of the older days rather than of to-day, is still ingrained in the -whole Vaishya caste. For though they will gather wealth--pie by pie, -anna by anna, rupee by rupee, they give it away in lakhs and crores -for the use of the people. All that is wanted in this charity is to -change the direction. There is no use in letting fertilising water run -over rocks, because they were once fields; turn it into the fields of -to-day, which will then blossom as the rose. I say of the charity of -this great wealth-caste, the merchants, the traders, of modern India, -that they should turn the wealth they give away so largely into the -fertilising streams which will nourish the National fields. Their -duty as brothers who are working for the National household, is not -only to build temples, to gild the outside of those temples of Ḍevas. -What is the use of a temple, if the worshippers are not there? And if -you let your youths grope through their studies without knowledge of -religion, of what avail to build a temple which will be left empty by -them in their manhood? It is the young who need training in religion -and in morality, and such education is stopped for lack of the Vaishya -liberality. Education is left in the hands of Government, whereas it is -the duty of the householders of the Nation. Education under National -control, Education in which religion shall form an integral part of -the curriculum, that is what India is demanding to-day, and what many -are struggling to gain. That Central Hinḍū College which we built -in Benares, which has now flowered into the great Hinḍū University, -in that you have an attempt, partly frustrated, I admit, to have a -University under National control; down in the South, in the great -foundation of a merchant of Madras, Pachaiyappa, there you have also -the possibility of building up out of a College, a University under -National control. - -And remember that in this matter, the Indian States under their own -Princes are showing the way in which Education should be developed. -H. H. the Nizam, the Ruler of Hyderabad, was first of the Indian -Princes who gave the order that in every State school in his realm -religion should be taught. The religion of Islām to the Musalmāns, -the Hinḍū religion to the Hinḍūs. And he took our textbooks from the -Central Hinḍū College in order that his Hinḍū subjects might be -taught along liberal orthodox lines; it was a Musalmān Minister of -Education who sent out the decree that through the kingdom of Hyderabad -every child should be trained in his father's religion, and that -religious education should be a part of the duty of the State. And -then, H. H. the Maharaja of Mysore took up the same line, and in the -State Schools of Mysore, religion is an integral part of education. So -it is in some of the Rājput States; so it is in some of the Kathiawar -States; and these Indian Princes are showing the way to a religious -education, that shall be National without being sectarian, that shall -not proselytise, that shall not turn boys away from their ancestral -faith, but shall respect the religion of the parents, and bring up the -children in the faith into which they were born. But you see how the -realisation of this needs the charity of the great Vaishya caste, in -order that the money may be available which shall make the schools -under National control the equals of the Government establishments. - -Then, in that caste system, you come to the Kṣhaṭṭriya, from whom -more was demanded than from the Vaishya. He had the right to splendour; -he had the right to enjoy; he had the right to wealth; but on one -condition: he must be willing to sacrifice everything, if the safety -of the people demanded it. From him was asked the offering of limb, -the offering of life. If he ruled, he must be first in the battle -as well as first in the pageant, and he must learn to give up life, -family, love, and all that makes life joyous, if the people were in -need of protection, and if the order of the State were threatened. -And then came the Brāhmaṇa, the teacher, the wise man, the educator -of the people. He was not to be wealthy save in wisdom; he was not -to gratify desires, but was to be the mouth of God, pure in conduct, -ascetic in life; he was to show that the wise man needed not wealth, -and that the duty of wisdom was to teach the people. A splendid theory, -carried out for many ages. All is in confusion now. The ḍharmas of the -castes have broken into pieces, and with the ḍharmas the reality has -disappeared. And so the Brāhmaṇa the elder brother, is a lawyer, a -merchant, a physician, or anything else, an engine driver sometimes, -but seldom a teacher from a sense of ḍharma. And with the old duty, the -old reverence has passed away; for only when the elders live up to -their duties can the youngers be asked to give them reverence. And so -now, Indian Society has to be rebuilt. It has lived, as I have said, -because the Law of Brotherhood was its centre, its theory, though its -practical denial brought on it the judgment of decay. We find now in -our India a mass of conquered people, a slave population in everything -but name. The "untouchable" too often goes so foul in body, so foul -in speech, in food, that the cleanly shrink from personal contact, -and they are left in their foulness, their degradation. But if it be -true that the tears of the weak undermine the throne of Kings, what -of the denial of Brotherhood which has made this lowest population in -our midst? The sweeper, the scavenger, those who perform the hardest -duties in Society, they are trampled under foot. India cannot live, if -she persist in that denial of Brotherhood, which leaves one section of -her population untouchable by the remaining cleanlier people. They were -conquered, they were trampled on, they were made outcastes, every foul -duty was made their work; they were sacrificed to keep you clean; they -were untouchable that you might be refined; they were left in ignorance -that you might be educated; and they were degraded that you might be -raised. Do you think that the cries of the miserable have not entered -into the ears of God? And He looked upon India, and made a stern -decree: As you enslave your brethren, you shall yourselves be enslaved. - -What ought to be the attitude of Society towards the man, the class, -that makes possible cleanliness, refinement and delicacy of life? If -you had to clean out your own foul places, if you had to sweep your -yards and your streets, would you be as delicate, as refined, as you -are to-day? But if these men and women do these humble offices in order -that you may live in cleanliness, ought you not to repay them with -gratitude and not with contempt, with respect and not with opprobrium? -They make your lives possible; your children will have to do these -things, your wife and your children, if the scavengers are not there to -do the work, and you treat contemptuously those who make possible your -civilised life. There lies your crime as a Nation against Brotherhood, -and India need not expect to stand high among the Nations of the world, -until she sets herself to this work of redeeming her own outcaste -population. You are not alone. Other Nations are similar to you. In the -country whence my body comes one-tenth of the population is degraded, -like your one-sixth. One-tenth of the London population die in the -work-house, the prison, the hospital. But I am bound to say to you, -though I am sorry to say it, that you remain asleep while England is -awake to her duty to her outcaste population, and she is beginning to -redeem them from the degradation in which hitherto they have lived. She -is educating them, and where education is, there refinement inevitably -follows. She is beginning to realise that the lowest work ought to be -the shortest. That the lowest work has a right to decent living. That -if a man be sacrificed to social necessities, he should be repaid by a -leisure which would enable him to live above the degrading tendencies -of the necessary surroundings of his work. The British are building -houses for them, they are educating their children, they are helping -them to live in decency, and so, they are gaining the right to enjoy -the freedom they have won. And to you, my Indian brethren, I would say, -that if you hold up your hands to Īshvara and pray that liberty may be -your own, those hands will never be filled with liberty until you have -poured out freedom among your own people, and have begun to redeem your -miserable slave population. For Justice is the Divine Law. Those who -oppress shall be oppressed; those who trample shall be trampled on; -those who make others outcastes shall be outcastes themselves. Until -you obey the law of Brotherhood in your dealings with these younger -brothers, ignorant, degraded, helpless, you will not win the smile of -the Ḍeva of India, nor have His mighty force running upon your side to -redeem. But you are waking up, you are beginning to realise your duty. -Schools must be scattered over the whole country for the education of -the submerged classes; every such school is a temple of Brotherhood, -and is quickening the coming of the salvation of the Indian Nation. - -And now, finally, what is individual duty as regards Brotherhood? -First, to realise that the very condition of the spiritual life is -to see the same Self in all equally dwelling. The Self dwells in the -outcaste as in the Brāhmaṇa, dwells in the most degraded as in the -purest and the noblest; and there is one law of the spiritual life, -that as you pour out to others, so shall your own vessel be filled -with the water of life. Each of us, then, has a duty as a brother. We -are the elders of those younger brothers of our race, and the Law of -Brotherhood for the coming Society is, as I said, that every man born -into a civilised community shall live under conditions that enable him -to develop to the utmost every faculty that he brings with him into -the world. That is the law of the coming civilisation. Every child -born among you has a right to develop all that he has within him. -No obstacles should be placed in his way. Facilities of development -should be given. Some are not your equals, but you must not therefore -stunt their growth. Every man has the God-given right to develop all -that he possesses within him. You must put no artificial barriers. You -must make no difficulties which shall be insuperable to them. You must -help by virtue of your own longer evolution. You must learn together, -in order that you may know the fulness of the Divine Life. But there -is this great difference between the life of Matter and the life of -Spirit. If on this table I had a heap of golden coins, and if I said -I would give them to you, what a rush there would be for them. But -why the rush? Because you know that with every gold mohur given away, -there is one less to give away to those who are behind; and so every -one wants to be in front, for suppose there is not enough to go round? -Sometimes men might try to grasp two or three, so that they may have -for the future as well as for the day. It is the law of matter that -it perishes in the using; hence there is always struggle; hence it -generates divisions, it is the parent of quarrels. But if you knew that -there was enough for all, there would be no struggle; if you knew the -last would be as the first, there would be no fighting. The law of the -Spirit is quite other, for the Spirit lives by giving, not by taking. -The Spirit increases by using, he does not waste. As the Spirit has -three great aspects of Will, of Consciousness, of Intellect, these -are the priceless possessions that we have, and that we can give away -without fear of wasting. I have a truth that you have not, and go out -and proclaim the truth among you; am I the poorer because you know the -truth, or do I know the truth all the better, because in giving it I -have appropriated it more thoroughly than I did before? There is no -wastage, there is no diminishing; my truth is mine; and when I have -given it to every one of you, and you all possess that truth, mine is -no lesser. Truth never wastes in the sharing. As you can light one -candle from another, and the flame never diminishes though you light a -thousand from it, so it is in the case of truth. Knowledge lights new -knowledge, so that the total illumination grows greater and not less. -Hence if you have knowledge, do not give it among those who already -share it, but go out to the ignorant and give it to them. If you are -wise, your duty is to make others wise, and not to sit in your own -study and enjoy the wisdom as though it were a miser's treasure to -gloat over. Knowledge that is not shared becomes a cancer in the brain, -and the power to know diminishes and is finally lost, when you refuse -to share with your ignorant brother that which you acquired from the -boundless stores of Nature. And Purity? Are you pure, in order that you -may wrap your garments round you and say to the impure: Stand aside. -I will not be polluted. O my friends, the purity that can be polluted -is not purity at all, but a garment cast over impurity, hiding it from -the world. Purity cannot be soiled; purity cannot be stained; and the -duty of the pure is to go out among the impure, in order that they -may be purified and lifted to the higher standard. Some I know, would -say: "Level down. Pull the educated down. Pull the Brāhmaṇa down. -Pull the rich man down. Let us have equality." Equality of what? Of -ignorance, of misery, of poverty, of general wretchedness? Nay; lift -up the poor to the level of the rich, and let all be comfortable, -and none have superfluities. Lift up the ignorant by learning, and so -let all be happy in the enjoyment of the treasures of the mind. Go -among the sinners, the foul, and the debased, and raise them up to -your own purity, and so let the whole nation be pure and educated and -healthy and well-fed. And of this be sure--it is written in a Christian -Scripture, and is written hundreds of times in your own--"God has made -of one blood all the Nations of the earth." Is there one man among you -who has not the right to lift up his eyes and say to Brahman: "I am -Thou"? Is there one man to whom we can deny the glory of the indwelling -Divinity of Spirit? If that be so, and you know it is so, then as your -body may have all the life-blood poisoned if a snake sheds his venom -into the lowest part of the body; if that poison circles in the blood -through all your body, your head and your limbs begin to be paralysed, -and your whole body suffers; presently your body will die, though the -wound was only in the foot. So it is with the Nation. If the poison -is in the foot, in the lowest part of the National body, it spreads -through the whole of the Nation, and no part of it is strong. If one -man be poor, no rich man is perfectly happy in the enjoyment of his -wealth. If one man be ignorant, no wise man can rise to the highest of -his mental faculties. If one man be diseased, the health of the whole -Nation is lowered. Oh! Nature is always teaching it to you. Plague -begins in a filthy quarter of the town, but it spreads to a palace. In -London, in the miserable dwelling of the seamstress, when she makes a -ball-dress for a Court Ball, she at times stitches into it her fever, -which is the outcome of starvation; and the ball-dress carries it down -to the house of a noble, and so it catches the fair daughter of the -family. She catches typhoid, and she perishes of the fever generated -in the London slum. You cannot separate yourselves; you are brothers -whether you will or not. You change your bodies; not one of you will go -out of this hall with exactly the same body as you had when you entered -it; some particles of your neighbour's body have come into yours. Some -of yours have come to me. If you are diseased, you infect others; if -you are healthy, your health infects others; if you are drunken, you -communicate the poison of drink; if you are plague-stricken, the plague -germs run from you to the healthy man. God has so bound us together -that we cannot break the chain. Bound as brothers in suffering we must -be, if we will not be brothers in love, in health, and in compassion. -And so, to you, my brothers, I say: Take heed to yourselves; you stand -with the greatest opportunity opening before you, mighty possibilities -lie in the near future, which are yours if your hands are pure and your -hearts are clean. No Nation has lived, where its poor were despised. -The fragments of the past warn you of the dangers of your present. -Live the Law of Brotherhood; rescue the miserable; teach the ignorant; -feed the starving; nurse the diseased; and, on our India, on her -future, the Ḍeva of India shall pour out His blessing, when she lives -the law that she has always recognised in theory. That Future shall be -mightier than her Past has been, a resurrection of the Spirit, and the -spiritualisation of the flesh. - -[Footnote 1: "The law of the survival of the fittest is the law of -evolution for the brute; the law of self-sacrifice is the law of -evolution for the man."] - - -Printed by Annie Besant at the Vasanta Press, Adyar, Madras. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations - in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and - punctuation remains unchanged. - - Footnote placed at end of respective chapter. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Theosophy and Life's Deeper Problems, by -Annie Besant - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEOSOPHY, LIFE'S DEEPER PROBLEMS *** - -***** This file should be named 55940-0.txt or 55940-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/9/4/55940/ - -Produced by Larry B. 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